readx; Zhu Youzhen's strategy for Liaodong is actually very simple, and it can be summed up in one sentence: abandon Liaodong, reject the mountain customs, and defend the Beijing division. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Let's talk about abandoning Liaodong first, this is the first step of Liaodong's strategy. It seems simple to say, it is nothing more than to abandon all the cities outside the Guan, such as Ningyuan, Jinzhou, and Dalinghe, and withdraw all the border troops and population into the Shanhaiguan. Zhu Youzhen had already thought about the advantages of this, which not only shortened the supply line but also saved a lot of food and salary; It can also concentrate the scattered forces in the pass, so that the Houjin army will lose the opportunity to fight a war of movement, a war of annihilation, and a war of reinforcements around the point.

But this seemingly simple first step is actually the most difficult step, because there are two extremely difficult obstacles to overcome. First of all, public opinion, the infamy of losing the land is too ugly to hear, and no one can afford it. The officials of the Ming Dynasty in this time and space were basically tendons, only knowing how to keep the enemy out of the country, and not understanding strategy and tactics at all. Besides, Zhu Youzhen just said that "the land of the ancestors will not give up an inch of land", and now if he openly takes the initiative to give up a large area of land in Liaodong, how should the ministers view him, will there be fierce resistance?

For the common people, the imperial court has increased the "three salaries" year after year, which are basically used in Liaodong. Now that the Guanning defense line has finally been built, the emperor said that he would give up, wouldn't it chill the people?

The second major obstacle is the border army. Zhu Youzhen knew very well that generals like Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang had actually become warlords on one side of the separatist side, and they completely regarded Liaodong as their own territory and the border army as their own private army. Most of the soldiers under their command also owned land and families in Liaodong, and now Zhu Youzhen asked them to retreat into the Guannei, which was tantamount to depriving them of all their belongings that they had worked hard for several years or even decades, and they would definitely meet with strong resistance. The slightest carelessness may provoke a mutiny or even defection to the enemy, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

But no matter how big the obstacle is, Zhu Youzhen still made up his mind to give up Liaodong for the time being. As the saying goes, long-term pain is better than short-term pain, although this move will inevitably bring great losses in the short term, but it is better than consuming it all the time and annihilating the whole army in the end.

This is also the biggest reason why Zhu Youzhen must come to Liaodong in person, because only he, the emperor, has enough authority to deter the border troops and make them retreat obediently. As for the issue of public opinion, Zhu Youzhen intends to create a "failure" so that Liaodong does not seem to give up on his own initiative, but is defeated and lost, so that only the responsible generals need to be punished slightly. Anyway, the Ming army was defeated repeatedly in Liaodong, and it is not unusual to be defeated again.

The second step of the Liaodong strategy is to reject the mountain customs, which is also closely related to the first step. Because the border troops must retreat to Shanhaiguan first, this "first pass in the world" can no longer be abandoned. Because Shanhaiguan is not only not far from the Beijing Division, but more importantly, it is close to the Bohai Sea, the terrain is dangerous, and it is an excellent defensive battlefield.

Here, Zhu Youzhen decided to adopt Wang Zaijin's plan and build another heavy city outside the current city. In this way, it can not only avoid the situation of Houjin condescending to attack the city, but also give full play to the advantages of firearms.

In addition, Zhu Youzhen chose Shanhaiguan as the bottom line of defense, and Zhu Youzhen also fully considered the influence of the Bohai Sea. Although the Houjin army has the best cavalry in the world, it has no navy at all; Although the strength of the sailors of the Ming Dynasty is also very weak, it is stronger than Hou Jin. If Huang Taiji really came to the city, the Ming army could completely sail the battleship to the coastal sea outside the pass and shell the enemy from the sea. This is a mobile battery, and there is no need to worry about being attacked by the Houjin army.

In addition, transporting grain and salary to Shanhaiguan by sea also has more advantages than land transportation. Land transportation must use a lot of manpower, and the speed is slow, often before the grain arrives, more than half of it is eaten by the people who transport the grain; However, as long as there is wind, the sea transport occupies less manpower, the volume is large, and the speed is fast, in this era when there are no trains and cars, it is really much more convenient than the land transport carried hand in hand.

The reason why he chose Shanhaiguan instead of Ningyuan, which is also near the sea, or somewhere else, is precisely because Zhu Youzhen fully considered the special geographical and climatic factors of the Bohai Sea. The Bohai Sea is an inland sea, and most areas will freeze in winter, including Tianjin Wei and other places south of Shanhaiguan, which will form thick sea ice, and ships will not be able to dock. Moreover, the Houjin army could still wade through the ice, and Juehua Island was destroyed because of this.

However, in the Bohai Sea, there is an ice-free port, that is, Qinhuangdao Port, which is now Shanhaiguan. The reason is also simple, because there are large rivers flowing into the south and north of the Bohai Sea, the Liao River in the north, the Haihe River and the Shandong River in the south, but there are no big rivers near Shanhaiguan to enter the sea. Fresh water has a lower salt content than seawater and is more prone to freezing, so the location of Shanhaiguan can be described as unique, and such a strategic place, of course, Zhu Youzhen must firmly defend it.

As for the specific observance of the law, Zhu Youzhen intends to focus on the reorganized Zu Dashou Department, especially the Guanning Iron Cavalry brought out by Li Chongyao, which should be the core of the Shanhaiguan garrison. This army should not only defend the city, but also be able to be dispatched at any time to harass the Houjin soldiers and civilians in Liaodong, so that Huang Taiji can also taste the taste of "the enemy is stationed and I am disturbed".

As for the Mangui, Zhao and other departments, they were stationed in Jizhou, Xuanfu, and Datong directions, because Zhu Youzhen knew that the Mongols would sooner or later fall to Huang Taiji, and the Houjin army entered the customs six times in history, and the first five times were through the Mongolian steppe and broke through the above-mentioned areas. Zhu Youzhen didn't expect Man Gui and Zhao Shujiao to be able to stop the Houjin army, as long as it could play a role in early warning and delay. And there is no need to fight hard with the enemy, just defend the city, because the real target of Houjin's attack is not there.

The third and most critical step of the Liaodong Raiders is to defend the Beijing Division. Because Zhu Youzhen thought that there was no more suitable battlefield than the Beijing Division to deal with the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry.

First of all, the Jingshi is of extremely important political significance to both the enemy and us. For the Later Jin, the capture of the capital of the Ming Dynasty, of course, is a great temptation, the first time in history Huang Taiji led the army into the customs, it was to take the Beijing Division, resulting in the "change of his own side".

And for the Ming Dynasty, Jingshi must not be lost, because this is the seat of the emperor and the imperial court, and the fall means the death of the country. Therefore, as long as there is a foreign enemy attacking the Beijing Division, the soldiers and horses of the King of Qin in the world will gather to respond, and the soldiers and civilians in the Beijing Division will also share the same hatred for the enemy and rise up to kill the enemy.

For Zhu Youzhen himself, this also happens to respond to the saying that "the Son of Heaven guards the country". The emperor is a banner, and if the emperor fights on the front line, it will naturally be a great incentive for all the subjects of the Ming Dynasty. And if the capital is forced to move south like the Southern Song Dynasty, it will greatly shake the determination of the Chinese people to resist the Manchus, greatly reduce the prestige of the emperor and the imperial court, and even without the Tartars, the country may be in chaos by itself!

Of course, Zhu Youzhen doesn't want to be like Emperor Chongzhen in history, and really have a "king dies". To some extent, he was even a little looking forward to Huang Taiji coming to attack Jingshi!