Qin Yiming, who had always been steady, did not immediately say what he thought, but asked Zhu Sidao again: "Long live, what is the current battle situation in Xiayi?" Did the casualties of Du Yinxi in the Battle of Yucheng be large? Zhu Si first handed over the two battle reports to Deng Kai and asked him to circulate them to everyone, and then said: "The battle report I got the day before yesterday said that the five armies of the imperial camp fought in Yucheng at the beginning and killed 38,700 Qing troops, but their own losses were greater, with 107,000 killed, and the five armies of the imperial camp in the encirclement are currently only 110,000 people, and they have lost half of their troops in this battle. Grain and grass were burned and 40,000 stone were taken, and 200,000 stone remained. And today, Wang Yuncai of Yongcheng sent another battle report, saying that tens of thousands of Qing cavalry had been attacking Xiayi for two days, and they were almost taken down by the Qing army several times, and they were repelled again and again by the death squad led by Wang Yuncai. ”

Qin Yiming thought for a while, and said to Zhu Si: "Although the five armies of the imperial camp have lost more than half of the battle, Dolgon's strategy of encircling them seems to show that he does not have a very good way to eat the five armies of the imperial camp immediately. However, although the city of Xiayi is small, once the city is broken, our army will be blocked by the enemy of Xiayi on the road to Yucheng in a short time. Dolgon sent troops to attack Xiayi, and this is the purpose. Zhu Si said: "Old General Qin also thinks that the enemy of Xiayi should not be underestimated, especially the men and horses in Wang Yuncai's hands, the equipment and training are very poor, otherwise, how could he let a group of cavalry attack the city several times with a strong city and dozens of cannons." ”

Deng Kai reminded at this time: "Long live, could the enemy of Xiayi be a trap set for us by the Tartars?" Qin Yiming said firmly: "Even if it's a trap, we have to give it a try." Zhu Si nodded, expressing his agreement with Qin Yiming's idea, Qin Yiming said again: "Long live, morale can be boosted, since the enemies of Xiayi are all cavalry, our army should use cavalry against cavalry to attack this enemy." ”

Zhu Si pondered for a moment and said, "Old General Qin means to knock on the mountain and shake the tiger?" Qin Yiming nodded and said, "Exactly, the minister thinks that if our arrival can't make Dolgon feel frightened, then it is very likely that he will choose to fight our army to the death in Yucheng." Zhu Si asked puzzledly: "Didn't we come to Yucheng precisely to fight to the death with Dolgon?" ”

Qin Yiming shook his head and said: "We are going to have a decisive battle with Dolgon, should we do it in this way, based on the experience of the ministers in Liaodong and Shanhaiguan fighting with the Tartars for many years, Dolgon besieged Hong Chengchou, and will definitely adopt the method of digging isolation trenches on all sides." Then if we hope to fight together with the five armies of the imperial camp in Yucheng, the plan is likely to fall through because the five armies of the imperial camp are already trapped. What's more, if Dolgon thinks that he is very sure that he can completely annihilate the main force of our army in Yucheng, then he will definitely let Zilharang come to reinforcements at all costs, and give up the defense of Luoyang and Kaifeng. In this way, Li Dingguo in Tongguan was mostly infantry, and he could not follow Jierharang to Yucheng closely. That is, we will not have any advantage in terms of total strength at that time. ”

Zhu Si didn't speak for a long time, and after thinking for a long time, he said: "General Qin's analysis is very reasonable, it is necessary to annihilate the enemy in Xiayi as soon as possible, especially to deter Dolgon from daring to fight a decisive battle with our army in Yucheng, this is one of them; The second is that I still have some confidence in whether I can win the decisive battle with Dorgon in Yucheng. In particular, if we can quickly annihilate the enemy of Xiayi, we will engage Zilharan before he reinforces Dorgon. If such a situation can be formed, even if our army is forced to fight Dorgon, there should be no problem. Moreover, even if our army cannot win the battle of Yucheng, it will definitely cause Dolgon to suffer heavy losses, and once he, the regent, breaks his wife's book, the balance of power within the Tartar ruling class will be broken. Therefore, I came to him desperately, no matter what the final victory or defeat is, as long as we can kill and injure a large number of his living forces, this account is a good deal. ”

All the generals praised: "Long live Lord Shengming!" Zhu Siyi waved his hand and said: "Hey, I just used the old general's thinking to play a little, after all, I have never experienced a decisive battle between the two armies, and the old general's words really woke up the dreamer." For the enemy of Xiayi, I want to personally command all the cavalry of the imperial camp to attack it. Zhu Si's words shocked the four of them, and the generals who had just boasted about the emperor's sage immediately began to oppose him.

Zhu Si said firmly: "Don't worry, this is not the first time I have been on the battlefield, and I am still assured of the combat effectiveness of the imperial cavalry." Seeing that Zhu Si had made up his mind, the ministers no longer insisted, Qin Yiming said a few words of advice to Zhu Si on behalf of the generals, telling him to be careful, Zhu Si nodded in agreement, and immediately issued an order.

"Hussar General Ma Wannian (grandson of the great hero Qin Liangyu) listens to the order!" "The last general!" "Tomorrow's third watch, order all the cavalry of the imperial camp, and rush to Xiayi with me, and even have lunch on the road. Advance and slow down, and during this sixty-mile journey, we must take care to conserve horsepower, so that we can then be fully engaged in battle. ”

Ma Wannian replied with a 'no' and said: "Long live don't worry, we will definitely march like this, and we will definitely be able to reach Xiayi before the time of Chen." Zhu Si nodded and said, "Okay, we must try our best to wipe out the enemies besieging Xiayi, so that Dolgon can't get any information." And Wang Yongqiang, you want to do this......" Wang Yongqiang said: "No! ”

After Zhu Si made a secret arrangement, he said to Qin Yiming: "Old General Qin, the brigade will be led by you, and it is up to you to decide when to set off, as long as you arrive before the enemy army in Xiayi escapes, and let them taste our killer weapon when the time comes." Qin Yiming also said: "Order." ”

Then Zhu Si asked Zhang Fulu to take out a thing, and took it into his hand in person, came to Ma Wannian and said: "This is a gift that I have prepared for you a long time ago, but I have never planned to let you go into battle, because your Ma family has been loyal for generations, and your father and mother only left you as a single seedling before they died in battle." If you have an accident, I'm sorry for Old Taijun Qin, sorry for your father Ma Xianglin, and sorry for the heroes of the Ming Dynasty. ”

As he spoke, he opened the gift again, and a pair of armor that seemed to be very ordinary appeared in front of everyone. Zhu Si said: "This is the Mingguang armor that I customized for you, saying that it is the Mingguang armor, but this armor looks like an ordinary cotton armor from the outside, so that you can wear it like an ordinary cavalry, but the armor inside is all plated with gold, the beauty of the sky and the earth is incomparable, and the protective power is several times stronger than ordinary armor." Put it on, and you and I will go into battle to kill the enemy! ”

(End of chapter)