Hearing the news that Xie Wenjun was about to give birth, Xia Nan was a little hesitant.

Emotionally speaking, he wanted to wait for Xie Wenjun to give birth to a child before leaving, and see his second child with his own eyes. But intellectually speaking, the war machine is already in operation, and seeing that it is about to leave in the next two days, delaying the itinerary of tens of thousands of troops for personal matters is not what a mature leader should do.

Just when he was entangled, Sun Yuanhua and Sima De came to Nanyuan to ask for a meeting.

Xia Nan hurriedly said to the two: "You guys came just in time, I can't make up my mind, whether to go on the expedition immediately, or wait for the child to be born in a few days......"

Sun Yuanhua replied without hesitation: "This still needs to be said, of course, it will be said after the birth, this is related to the future lord of the Qiong Navy, what is more important than this?" How many days the army waits, a few days earlier and a few days later, the rogue will not be able to go to the sky. ”

Sima De chimed in: "That's what we're here for. This expedition is quite risky, and if you offend the general, if you make a mistake, it will greatly damage the morale of the whole army, and it is different with a hand-picked heir. ”

Xia Nan smiled bitterly, feeling that they hadn't considered Ah Jiu at all, and Xie Wenjun, the heir of the main house, was the real son. He was tempted to ask, even if an heir was determined, could an infant lead them to war?

However, he also knew that in ancient times, there was no XX doctrine or XX thought, let alone revolutionary beliefs, and the military was very dependent on people, especially the army of Qiong Haijun, which was actually closer to a private soldier in the skin of officers and soldiers, and he was the spiritual pillar of the whole army. As long as he has three strengths and two weaknesses, even if he does not fall into the struggle for power between factions, the army is not far from decline. At this time, his descendants, even if they were just a baby, could successfully unite everyone and not be leaderless.

"Okay, I'll listen to your opinions, and postpone the departure for a few days."

Xia Nan, under the advice of Sun Yuanhua and Sima De, postponed the expedition and waited for the day of Xie Wenjun's childbirth with peace of mind. After more than a month of hard work, he is about to become a father for the second time, and because it involves an heir in the true sense, this time he is more nervous than last time.

Fortunately, Xie Wenjun's stomach was very competitive and did not let him wait too long, and two days later, Xie Wenjun gave birth to a baby boy weighing eight pounds and six taels safely, and the mother and child were safe. According to Xia Nan's good name, this little guy is called Xia Hua.

This baby boy who attracted Quan Lingao's attention made everyone fall into excitement, whether it was gender or the identity of the biological mother, this little guy met all the political conditions of Xia Nan's successor, and there was no controversy. William, the only one who supported Maria and Ah Jiu, also died down after Xia Nan's beating.

Xia Nan also breathed a sigh of relief, so that the Qiong Navy had a legitimate "prince", and his worries no longer existed.

On October 25, the ninth year of Chongzhen, Xia Nan, who had no worries, set off with a large army and began the journey of fighting for the world.

According to the plan of the Military Aircraft Staff Office, the main force headed straight to Shandong, while Murong Longcheng led the marines, escorted by half of the main warships of the navy, to the area of Lushun again to deal with the Qing army.

Liaodong Peninsula, Haizhou Weiyi City.

Dense cavalry units passed by the deserted post city and headed straight south. Under the banner of the white flag, a young general in his twenties walked slowly among the stars and the moon of the generals.

A middle-aged general asked: "Prince Rui, my subordinates don't understand, why don't you divide your troops to garrison after passing through Haizhou and other post cities, so as not to make a comeback of thieves and have a chance?" ”

The young general who was surrounded by everyone was the commander of the recovery of the cities in southern Liaoning, Prince Heshuorui, and the famous Dolgon. He smiled lightly and replied, "Mafuta, let me ask you, where did the thieves come from?" ”

The middle-aged general known as Mafuta is a member of the household department, and the Nala clan is also an older and powerful figure. He wondered a little and said, "Didn't you come from the sea?" Is it possible or from the land? ”

"According to those who fled back, the thieves crossed the sea and attacked Lushun first, and then Jinzhou and Gaizhou. They have a characteristic that the land division has limited troops, but the naval division has fierce artillery fire, and they like coastal warfare rather than advancing from one city after another on land, which can be described as coming and going like the wind, and it is difficult to guard against. "If we disperse our forces to garrison all the post towns, it will be a good idea to play into the hands of the enemy and give them a chance to break through." ”

Mafuta asked puzzledly: "How can you be sure that thieves will only swim along the coast?" ”

"They relied on their ships and artillery to conquer the coastal Lushun, Jinzhou, Gaizhou and other places one after another, but they alone spared Fuzhou, which was far away from the sea, and this alone can be affirmed that their purpose was not to occupy southern Liaonan, but to harass and contain us, just like Mao Wenlong of Phi Island back then. We don't need to defend an inland post city like Haizhou, we just need to speed up, rush to Gaizhou, Jinzhou and other places, and hold these important places, even if the thieves come back, they can't set off any storms, so they can only return in a huff. ”

If Murong Longcheng could hear this, he would also admire Dorgon's vision. Dolgon had never fought against the Marines, and through mere analysis and reasoning, he was able to grasp the operational characteristics and tactical intentions of his opponents.

Someone else asked: "Prince Rui is high." However, the task given to us by the emperor is to recover southern Liaoning, just hold these points, and let the thieves know the difficulties and retreat, I'm afraid it won't work, right? In this case, as soon as we withdraw our troops, won't these places be handed over to others? ”

Dolgon smiled, "It's definitely not okay to come around and force the thieves back and then clap their hands and leave, but it is even more undesirable to hoard heavy troops to defend them, the Qing Dynasty's troops are limited, and good steel has to be used on the blade." The thieves have come from afar across the ocean, and their supplies are limited, and they will definitely retreat after a raid, and the next time they come will be months away. During this time, it is completely possible to renovate and strengthen the post cities in Gaizhou, Jinzhou, and Lushun to resist warships and artillery. When they make a comeback, they may not be able to easily break through these post cities. ”

Ma Futa was a little embarrassed: "But the warriors we invited are good at face-to-face fighting, longer than field battles, let them defend the city, and it is a remote post city in southern Liaoning, which is overkill." ”

"It's not easy. The warriors of the Qing Dynasty were better at field warfare, so the matter of defending the city could be handed over to the Han army. Aren't these Han people the best at defending the city, give them more men and horses, and let them go back to their old jobs. ”

Everyone laughed and said, "What Prince Rui said is that the Han people's ability to shrink into the shell of a turtle to defend the city is first-class. ”