The officials in Jizhou City did not dare to hide the open letter sent by Huang Taiji to Jizhou, and they really couldn't hide it, so they immediately sent someone to send the letter back to the capital.

After the cabinet got the letter, it didn't dare to send it to Chongzhen immediately, and Huang Taiji's tone in the letter was arrogant, and he had already put himself on the same level as the Ming Emperor. The cabinet ministers felt that it was not appropriate to send the letter to the emperor solemnly, no matter what Chongzhen reacted to.

If you don't respond, it seems a bit weak, and the words that respond are equivalent to admitting that Huang Taiji is qualified to discuss right and wrong with the Ming Emperor, which virtually elevates Huang Taiji's status, which makes it difficult for the cabinet ministers to accept. Therefore, after a little discussion among the ministers, it was decided to ignore the letter.

They thought that as long as the Houjin army was driven back to Guanwai next, then Huang Taiji's questioning of the Ming Emperor would be over. What's more, after handing over the letter to the emperor, if the emperor asks them to come up with countermeasures, and they feel that they can't come up with a foolproof solution, then it is better to simply hide the letter.

Huang Liji and the others had a good idea, but since Huang Taiji sent an open letter, the Jinyiwei and the Social Investigation Bureau on the front line could naturally get the content of the letter, so Chongzhen still learned the content of the letter.

Chongzhen obviously does not approve of the cabinet's non-response approach. If Houjin hadn't broken the barrier, but just sent people to distribute some leaflets in the customs to disturb the public, Chongzhen wouldn't mind adopting the cabinet's current handling method.

But now Huang Taiji has broken through with a large army, and behind this open letter is the army of tens of thousands of Houjin who are showing off their might. If Da Ming didn't respond, wouldn't he have tacitly acquiesced in Huang Taiji's reason for sending troops in his letter to be legitimate, and he had defeated the morale of his own army before the war began, and Chongzhen would definitely not accept it.

So after reading Huang Taiji's open letter, Zhu Youzhen asked Wang Chengen to send a message to the cabinet, asking the cabinet ministers to come up with a countermeasure to refute Huang Taiji's excuse for reversing black and white and using strong words to send troops.

However, the cabinet ministers wrote 3 or 4 texts in a row in two days, but they failed to satisfy Chongzhen. At the same time, the situation on the front line is getting worse day by day.

After the soldiers and horses of the right wing of Houjin broke through Da'ankou, they defeated the Ming army that rescued Da'ankou five times in a row within 3 days, and captured the three small cities of Malanying, Malankou and Da'anying, and hundreds of remnants of the Ming army who had retreated from these places retreated to Shimen Town, 20 kilometers west of Zunhua City.

However, the right wing of Houjin continued to send men and horses to pursue, driving the remnants out of Shimen, cutting off the connection between Jizhou and Zunhua. At this time, Zuo Liangyu and Mao Yuanyi had just arrived in Jizhou City, and the two who could not know the details of Zunhua City did not dare to venture forward, so they could only send a part of their troops to defend the Mashen Bridge, which was 10 kilometers away from Shimen Town, and then inquire about the details of Zunhua after stabilizing the situation.

At this time, even Mao Yuanyi could not confirm whether the operational plan set by the General Staff could continue to be implemented. Because all the previous plans of the General Staff Headquarters were based on the fact that the two cities of Zunhua and Santunying could hold back the main force of Houjin and prevent it from moving south.

Even, even if the Santun camp is lost, as long as Zunhua City can be kept from losing. Because Jizhou Town transferred a large number of military supplies from all mouths of the Great Wall, they were all placed in Zunhua City. If Houjin captures Zunhua, then Houjin will make up for the biggest defect of long-distance attacks and insufficient materials.

It is now the end of October of the lunar calendar, and by mid-November, it will inevitably begin to snow in the north, and if the Houjin army cannot open Zunhua City before mid-November, then it is necessary to consider returning to Shenyang as soon as possible. Otherwise, the heavy snow will close the mountain, and the Houjin army will be blocked in the pass.

No matter how hard-working the Jurchen Eight Banners were, it was impossible for them to return to Shenyang safely across thousands of miles of snowfields under the condition of insufficient food. If they did, they would all be supermen wearing underwear.

However, if the Houjin army is allowed to capture Zunhua now, then the Houjin army, which has relieved the food shortage crisis, can not only rely on Jiancheng to defend until the spring of the next year, but also send an elite army to make a detour through Fengrun or Yutian, or attack Jizhou City before and after, or continue to attack Tongzhou, Hexiwu and even Tianjin in the south.

As a result, the current situation has become, whoever controls Zunhua City will have the initiative on the battlefield. Now the only ones who can support Jizhou City as soon as possible are the five new-style army divisions stationed in the capital. The garrisons of Tongzhou and Hexi could not move, the troops in Tianjin were insufficient, and the Ming troops in Liaoxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Baoding and other places were now far away from quenching their thirst.

The new army under the name of the Gyeonggi Governor's Office has undergone nearly two years of training and rectification, and the General Staff Department has a good understanding of the combat effectiveness of these new armies. Therefore, Mao Yuanyi and others believe that the only force that can be used in the Gyeonggi area to save the emergency is these new armies.

Therefore, Mao Yuanyi and other staff officers of the wartime base camp in Jizhou believed that the main force of the new army should be allowed to go forward to Jizhou as soon as possible, and then the whole army should go north and seize the area of Shimen Town and Baozi Town.

If Zunhua had fallen by then, the new army of nearly 40,000 people would have been able to slowly retreat to Jizhou, so that it would not be eaten by the Houjin concentrated forces.

Sun Chengzong was interested in this plan, but when the cabinet and hundreds of officials heard that the main force of the new army was exhausted, the capital would be in an undefended state for the next seven or eight days, waiting for the official armies of Baoding and Henan to go north to defend them, and they immediately made a fuss.

Even Huang Liji and Xu Guangqi, who have never interfered in the military, did not agree with this plan, and the six divisions of the Gyeonggi Governor's Mansion were exhausted, and only the Jinyi Guard and the Patrol Police Station were left in the capital, as well as the imperial guards guarding the palace. But everyone knows that these people can suppress local security, catch thieves or pretend to be ghosts, and let them be responsible for the defense of the city, no one is at ease.

In the eyes of the General Staff, Zunhua is very important and determines the future direction of this war. But for the bureaucrats and gentry in the capital, how can a mere Zunhua city be compared with the safety of the Jingshi. Everyone's net worth and life, Daming's Sheji Sect Temple is all in this 49 city, if there is a case, who will be responsible?

Some officials even wrote to Chongzhen, saying that Sun Chengzong went out with all the forces of the capital and left the emperor in an undefended city, and God knows if he had any other ideas. The Song Taizu Chenqiao Mutiny back then was really not far from today's situation.

This is the first time Chongzhen has seen that regardless of whether he is a member of the Eunuch Party or the Donglin Party, he is so united in opposing something. Sun Chengzong obviously couldn't resist such pressure from public opinion, so he could only express his position to Chongzhen, or still follow the plan agreed earlier, leaving the third division of the new army and two recruit training battalions to garrison the capital, and he himself carried two divisions of the new army to support Jizhou.

The General Staff represented by Sun Chengzong compromised, but Chongzhen was a little hesitant. Let Sun Chengzong go out with half of the new army, whether he can defeat the army blocking the road in Houjin and rescue Zunhua City, even Sun Chengzong himself is not sure, he can only answer Chongzhen with encouragement to the king.

Huang Taiji sent troops to cover the area near Zunhua, so that the Ming army could not get information about this area, what was he preparing to attack the city with all his might? Or are you going to encircle the point and send reinforcements?

If Zhu Youzhen was allowed to choose, he would inevitably choose the latter. Although his military literacy is not as good as that of Sun Chengzong and others, under the influence of later war films, his understanding of war strategies far exceeds that of these generals of the Ming army.

Zunhua City is indeed very important to Huang Taiji, as long as he captures Zunhua City, he will be invincible in this expedition. Because the wealth and population in Zunhua City are enough to compensate for the consumption of this dispatch. And the Mongol tribes also passed this war, which can be regarded as standing on the alliance position of the post-Jin Huaming.

However, how to capture Zunhua City will determine whether Huang Taiji can use this war to prove his military command ability. If the Jurchen armor soldiers lost too much during the siege, even if Huang Taiji achieved the purpose of sending troops, he would lose the confidence of the soldiers of the Eight Banners in him.

As a militarized organization, these Jurchen soldiers were willing to be loyal to a military commander who could command them to victory on the battlefield. Dai Shan recommended Huang Taiji to inherit the position of Jin Da Khan, using the reason of talent and virtue. In the eyes of the Jurchens, Caide Guanshi is not a very good word.

Nurhachi conquered the white mountains and black waters by force, not his own talents. Dai Shan used this reason just to tell everyone that Huang Taiji, the younger brother, has a relatively generous personality, and let him come to power as the Great Khan, so that everyone will not be liquidated. And Huang Taiji, who has no outstanding performance in military operations, must rely on them, the Baylors who have made great martial arts for Houjin.

Huang Taiji led the army to bypass the Ningjin defense line and attack Zunhua, which has proved his vision for military strategy. Now, as long as he captures Zunhua at the lowest cost, his expedition will be considered a success.

There is no *, artillery, if you want to capture the fortified city defended by a veteran like Zhao Shujiao, you must either buy Neiying and seize the city gate; Either it is to learn the best tactics of the People's Liberation Army in later generations and encircle the point to send reinforcements.

In any era, the most important thing in defending a city is to build up the morale and hope of the defenders. If there is no army to help outside, there is no city to defend inside. If the reinforcements to rescue Zunhua are defeated, then the Zunhua defenders, who have lost hope, will inevitably collapse.

Therefore, the new plan proposed by Mao Yuanyi is the most secure, otherwise once Huangtaiji successfully encircles the point and captures Zunhua City, then in front of the Houjin army, it will be a smooth road. The remaining three divisions of the New Army will inevitably not be able to go out of the city to fight, and the Ming troops who have arrived from other areas will not have to be counted on.

After Chongzhen rejected Sun Chengzong's proposal, he returned to the harem and asked Wang Chengen to refuse the request of the cabinet and the general staff, and he needed to think carefully before he could come up with a decision.