One hundred and fifty thousand?!

Zhu Linmiao's voice echoed in the tent, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

The Long Wei Army and the Broken Battalion had indeed defeated Hong Chengchou's more than 100,000 Qing troops before, but at that time, the enemy not only divided his troops and advanced, but also the Ming army quickly surrounded Nanjing with the assistance of the naval division, completely disrupting Hong Chengchou's deployment.

However, this time the capture was close at hand, leaving very little room for the Ming army to rotate, and it was difficult to effectively pull the enemy formation. In addition, after Jianyu crossed the river, he would soon be able to threaten Nanjing, and Duoduo could completely replicate the tactics of the last Ming army to encircle and send reinforcements, and the Ming army would have to fight hard against the Qing army several times his own in order to protect the national capital.

Zhu Linmiao threw out another bad news, "According to the scouts along the Yangtze River, because of the extreme cold this winter, many tributaries of the Yangtze River have frozen, causing the water level of the Yangtze River to be more than 30% lower than in previous years." ”

The officers present here are well aware that the dry season of the Yangtze River is from December to March of the following year, and the water flow is relatively small, and if the water level is further lowered in the cold winter, it will be extremely easy to cross the river. Everyone couldn't help but think of the scene of Boluo people smuggling across the Qiantang River on foot last year.

"At present, the rivers near the old estuary of Zhenjiang, Yangzhong, Jiangyin and Jingjiang are all less than 30 zhang wide, and even the big boats of the sailors are impassable in a few places." Zhu Linmiao said in a deep voice, "Yes, this battle will be very difficult. ”

He paused, and although he saw that the generals were nervous, excited, and contemplative, none of them showed a look of fear.

After a series of victories in the past two years, the Ming army has long since lost the situation of being afraid of building and captivating like a tiger. Instead, there is an indomitable domineering, a confident momentum that can defeat the enemy, no matter how strong he is!

Zhu Linmiao nodded with satisfaction and continued: "Although there are many soldiers and horses, the combat power is far from our army, and the final victory will still be Ming's!"

"However, since the enemy situation has changed, we must also come up with a new deployment plan to deal with it." As he spoke, he motioned for Shi Lin to unfold the map, "The core strategy of this battle is still to take advantage of the fact that the thieves do not know the reality of our army, lure them to go deeper, and then outflank them in multiple ways.

"It's just that with the current 36,000 men and horses of our army, it is difficult to completely block the retreat of 150,000 captives. If we are unable to wipe out the enemy and let it rush into the hinterland of Nanzhi, it will be extremely harmful to our people, so it is imperative to increase our troops. ”

He pointed to the vicinity of Shaoxing on the map, "I have ordered the day before yesterday to transfer 8,000 soldiers and horses of the Zhejiang army to the north, and we will arrive in Jiangning in a few days." Nearly 4,000 imperial battalions of the Taizheng Dynasty have been organized into the Nanzhi garrison and are now on standby in Liyang. In addition, 3,000 Fujing garrisons were transferred to Shaoxing to be responsible for the local garrison in Zhejiang. ”

Although Zhu Linyuan's imperial camp was a traitor, most of its soldiers were Jiang Zhengxi's subordinates, and they were still relatively loyal to the imperial court. After the previous review one by one, after purging the traitors in the army, it was okay and workable.

In addition, the situation in Huguang is nearing the end, Qin Zuoming, Yang Zhan and Zhai Shiqi are chasing down the remnants of the rebels, the loyal battalion is sitting in Jingzhou and Yuezhou, and the Yongning Wang is controlling Wuchang, which can be safe. Therefore, the 12,000 troops of the 10,000 Yuan Ji Department can also enter the south along the Yangtze River to help in the war. ”

The Yangtze River Marine Police Fleet under Luo Ming's headquarters will also be transferred to Nanzhili to help in the battle on the same day, just in time to carry the Jiangxi army together. The warship went down the river and soon sailed to the port of Jiangning, and it was definitely able to catch up with the decisive battle.

Zhu Linmiao continued: "In this way, our army can gather 60,000 troops in Nanzhi. If Changsha can be recovered quickly, there are more than 13,000 Zhejiang and Sichuan troops to be recruited. ”

In the early years of Longwu, Zhu Linwei only had a few thousand soldiers and horses, and now as the Ming Dynasty gradually regained its territory, more and more troops could be mobilized. Even if they fought on the two fronts of Sichuan and Nanzhili, it would not be difficult to gather 70,000 troops.

You must know that these 70,000 horses were organized and trained according to Zhu Linmiao's brand-new plan for the reorganization of the Ming army, and they are not at all the same as the "army" of 300,000 or 400,000 during the Chongzhen, Hongguang and other dynasties. Even if it is a local garrison with poor combat effectiveness, it can throw off the old Ming army in terms of equipment, morale, training, and other aspects, not to mention the elite field army. This is also Zhu Linmiao's confidence in daring to use 60,000 horses to fight against Duoduo's 150,000 captives.

"When the Jianjun crosses the river and goes south, I will try to lure him deep into the south for about 100 miles," he drew two circles on the map, "and then the field army will surround the enemy on the inner flank and crush the captives with lightning speed." Then the 24,000 garrisons in the outer ring will be responsible for clearing it, and it must not let the thieves escape and cause trouble! ”

This is also the reason why he wants to leave a team of men and horses for neighboring Zhejiang - beware of a small number of routs to the south.

Zhu Linmiao stopped saying and looked at the generals again, "Next, let's plan the specific deployment." ”

Immediately, an officer said: "Your Majesty, the key to this battle is to know where the thieves crossed the river as soon as possible, so that our army can arrange the encirclement in advance." ”

Zhu Linmiao smiled and pointed at Li Dingguo, "It is most appropriate to leave this matter to the Swift Battalion." General Li, I ordered you to lead your troops to patrol the line from Zhenjiang to Jiangyin, but there are signs of thieves crossing the river, so immediately go to Jiangning to warn you. ”

The Swift Battalion had been a rogue for a long time, and under the pursuit of officers and soldiers, they were extremely good at concealing their whereabouts and "running away". Although there are nearly 300 miles of areas on the south bank of the Yangtze River that need to be guarded against, with their ability to "wander", the patrol pressure is not too large, and they will not be discovered by the Jianyu.

Li Dingguo immediately saluted and said: "The last general will live up to Your Majesty's expectations!" He felt that Deng Shan was tugging at the corner of his clothes, and suddenly reacted and shouted, "Yes!" ”

Immediately, another person said: "The water master's side is also the key point." If the thief can cut off his retreat on the river while he is heading south, he will be in chaos. ”

Zhu Linmiao shook his head slightly, "The Yangtze River is dry, and the big ship of the sailor is very easy to run aground, and the small boat is afraid that it will be difficult for the enemy to fight the cannons on the shore, so I am afraid it can only have the effect of harassment." ”

"Your Majesty, when the siege is closed, the men and horses that break behind the enemy are the most dangerous......"

"The last general is willing to lead the Dragon Guard to go there!"

"Your Majesty, although grain and grass can be transported along the wooden track, it still needs to be escorted and hoarded......"

"The last general can take on this responsibility!"

"The choice of surrounding terrain is also extremely important, and it is necessary to choose a number of suitable places for ambush in advance."

"Okay, let's discuss where to ambush first......"

Although Zhu Linmiao is now the Son of Heaven, the generals in the tent seem to have returned to the time when he led the Dragon Guard Army to conquer everywhere, without any sense of restraint and extremely efficient.

By dinner time, the detailed combat deployment had been completed, and Zhu Linmiao was about to order the meeting to eat, but he saw Zhang Jiayu staring at the map in front of him and thinking: "Your Majesty, the last general was just thinking, the thief just broke more than 100,000 horses in Jurong the previous time, but why was he able to gather another 150,000 troops so quickly?" ”

Zhu Linmiao was also stunned when she heard this, "Yuanzi is talking about ......"