On the twenty-second day of the first month, Su Tiancheng set off from Ningyuan, accompanied by Zu Dashou and Deng Hui.

He first had to go to Jinzhou to have a look.

The importance of Jinzhou is self-evident, it is a place to be fortified in history, Jinzhou is an important town in Liaodong, and it is the only place for Liaodong to pass through Beijing, the terrain here is dangerous, one side is close to the sea, it is the source of the Guanning Jin defense line, holding Jinzhou, it is equivalent to choking the neck of Houjin, Houjin wants the army to enter the customs, and it is the best choice to break through the Guanning Jin defense line.

A few years ago, Huang Taiji or Azig led a large army from Mongolia to make a detour, enter the pass through Xifengkou, and plundered the territory of the Ming Dynasty, which was really a helpless move, because the Houjin could not break through the Guanningjin defense line. This sounds a little strange, according to the logical thinking of modern people, you can't beat the Guanning Jin defense line, just bypass it, the real Guanning Jin defense line, that is, from Jinzhou to Shanhaiguan more than 400 miles of several important towns, as well as fortresses and strongholds along the way, the Ming army does not dare to fight with the Houjin Eight Banners field war, the Eight Banners Army can swagger around Jinzhou and Ningyuan, attack Shanhaiguan, take the opportunity to enter the customs and plunder, and even break the Ming Jingshi.

This is a very naïve idea, even if Nurhachi and Huang Taiji have great confidence, they dare not face hundreds of thousands of troops in disregard, the Guanning Jin defense line is stationed with the heavy troops of the Ming Dynasty, of which the Shanhaiguan garrison is called 500,000, there are really 200,000, Ningyuan garrison 50,000, really, Jinzhou garrison 80,000, it is also real, these sergeants, including the sergeants in the fortress and stronghold, that is to say, Houjin desperately attacked Shanhaiguan, and there are 130,000 troops behind, And it's not that ten days and a half months may not be able to capture Shanhaiguan, just the 130,000 troops behind him may make Houjin unable to sleep.

Entering the customs through Mongolia sounds good, but the road is long. It was extremely difficult to pass through the grasslands and deserts, and the army entered the customs from Shanxi, only occasionally, for the purpose of looting, robbing money and plundering people. I'm going to run away.

It's a pity that Su Tiancheng understands the situation that the 330,000 troops stationed on the Guanningjin defense line are very ineffective in combat.

It is said that in the face of Houjin for a long time, there are often fights, and the border army of the Guanningjin defense line should be very good, but unfortunately the actual situation is not like this, which is also because of the drag of two aspects. The first is military salary, the imperial court does not have so much silver, it is difficult to feed the 330,000 army, relying on the military tun, the sergeants can't support themselves at all, so the mutiny situation always exists, and the position of the Guanning Jin defense line is too important. The imperial court demolished the east wall to make up the west wall, and it has been fooling. Even if the situation has been better in recent years, it is difficult to maintain the expenses of the 33rd Army, not to mention that the number reported by Shanhaiguan is 500,000.

The second is that the Houjin cavalry is too powerful, and the Ming border army focuses on holding the city, and rarely starts a field battle with the Houjin Eight Banners. They are good at field warfare, which also prompts the Ming border army to stay in the city, and it is easy not to go out of the city to fight, and after a long time, the border army is used to holding the city.

And the border army is still quietly changing. It has become the army of a certain family, and the more prominent performance is the border army of Shanhaiguan, which has always been under the control of Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui, and has gradually gained some taste of private army, if it were not for the rapid rise of the Jiangning battalion, I am afraid that this phenomenon would be a bit serious. Fortunately, Su Tiancheng took the Jiangning battalion to the Guanning Jin defense line, whether it was Zu Dashou or Wu Sangui, he did not dare to look for death, and he must resolutely obey the command.

The thirty-third army, sticking to the Guanningjin defense line, became an unbreakable defense line of Houjin, but unfortunately, this defense line is too stiff, so many years have passed, it is known that the road is stubbornly defended, even if the Beijing division is in danger, it does not dare to easily mobilize the army, afraid that the defense line is empty, and it is broken through by Houjin, so several times, Houjin brought into the pass from Datong and plundered the land of Gyeonggi, and the heavy troops of the Guanningjin defense line are watching, which is really a huge irony.

At the same time, the thirty-three armies could not protect the surrounding people, so they knew that the road was cowering in the city, fortress and stronghold, Su Tiancheng couldn't help but be a little puzzled, what did so many troops do, and what was the purpose.

In fact, if there are more than 150,000 elite soldiers on the Guanningjin defense line, the three places will be well connected, and the Houjin will not dare to look at this place. In other words, there are 70,000 Jiangning battalion soldiers stationed here, 330,000 border troops, and a maximum of 100,000 people.

As the governor of Jiliao, Su Tiancheng has a very headache, that is, how to feed so many large troops, he does not have such great ability, and the imperial court cannot afford to raise it, so it is the primary task to reduce the border army on a large scale and strengthen the combat effectiveness of the army.

Liaodong is so desolate and has so much land, and the allocation to the dismissed sergeants can just be resettled on the spot, and there are still ways, but the retrenchment will touch the interests of the officers.

On the 23rd day of the first month, Su Tiancheng arrived in Jinzhou.

The defense of Jinzhou was already the overall responsibility of Sun Chuanting, the commander of the left deputy imperial history and the Jiangning battalion, and of course the officers of the border army did not dare to say anything, and they had already known the prestige of the Jiangning battalion.

Sun Chuanting took all the officers stationed in Jinzhou to welcome Su Tiancheng.

Looking at the many officers, Su Tiancheng had a calm face. Didn't speak.

Sun Chuanting knew what the problem was, the number of officers was too much, the number of officers in the Jiangning battalion had always been strictly controlled, and no increase was allowed, and the officers were all outstanding, whether it was the commander of the guard or the hundred households below, they were all charging ahead, and there would never be a turtle cowering behind.

After entering the mansion, Sun Chuanting spoke a little helplessly.

"My lord, Xiaguan has been stationed in Jinzhou for more than four months, and many situations are helpless, Jiangning Battalion soldiers, there are 40,000 people stationed in Jinzhou, these 40,000 people are enough to defend a radius of hundreds of miles, but those who can be stationed in Jinzhou, there are 80,000 border troops, in addition to the 50,000 people guarding Jinzhou, there are 30,000 people distributed in the castle and strongholds, this Jinzhou City, there is no need to garrison so many troops, it involves the border army, and the Xiaguan is also very helpless."

"Tell me what can be done to solve this problem, tell me the truth."

"Xiaguan must be telling the truth, the best way is to remove, leave a maximum of 30,000 people, the rest are all retrenched, fortresses and strongholds are also necessary to guard, but it can not be used as a focus, Jinzhou's defense line must be moved forward, it is best to caliber the Daling River area, if you can take Dalinghe City, you can also reduce the border army on a large scale."

Su Tiancheng had already walked to the side of the map.

Sun Chuanting pointed to the map and continued to speak.

"My lord, you see, Dalinghe City is like a source, as long as you hold here, the Jinzhou, Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan in the back are safe, the terrain of Dalinghe City is dangerous, and the scope of control is very wide, if the Houjin Tartars want to invade my Jinzhou and Ningyuan generation, no matter where they attack, it will be difficult to avoid the garrison of the Dalinghe, at the same time, even if the Houjin Tartars invade the periphery of Jinzhou and Ningyuan from other places, the army of Dalinghe City can be divided into two to exterminate the Houjin Tartars who entered the Guanning Jin defense line, Reinforcements from the Golden Tartars after the blockade. ”

Su Tiancheng nodded, it seems that Sun Chuanting has carefully observed the terrain around Jinzhou in the past few months.

"Yes, Dalinghe City is indeed very important, as long as you control Dalinghe City, the castles and strongholds within the Guanning Jin defense line, you can eliminate a large number of them, these castles and strongholds, it is difficult to play a real role, the sergeants guarding it do not dare to come out to fight, watching the Tartars loot, each castle and stronghold, it is impossible to garrison a lot of troops, in fact, the troops are scattered."

"My lord, Xia Guan also thinks like this, Guanning Jin Defense Line, it is enough to focus on the layout of four defense lines, the first line of defense is Dalinghe City, the second line of defense is Jinzhou City, the third line of defense is Ningyuan City, the fourth line of defense is Shanhaiguan, the configuration of the strength of each line of defense is also different, Dalinghe City is the focus, followed by Jinzhou, Ningyuan again, and Shanhaiguan is the most rear."

Su Tiancheng smiled.

"Lord Sun, your understanding is very good, as long as you guard Dalinghe City and strengthen the protection of Jinzhou and Ningyuan, I am afraid that the Houjin Tartars will not be able to reach Shanhaiguan, and the whole army will be wiped out, so Dalinghe City is very important."

"What your lord means is that you are going to attack Dalinghe City and take this place back."

"That's for sure, how can you allow others to snore next to the couch, the Houjin Tartars occupy Dalinghe City, like a needle, pierced in our hinterland, who can bear it, and the confrontation with the Houjin Tartars, it is not a matter of a while, we must build Liaodong well and stabilize here, so as to be able to find an opportunity to fight with Houjin."

"My lord, the lower officials are willing to lead the soldiers to recover Dalinghe City."

"What's the hurry, it's the first month of the year, I've thought about it, around June, take Dalinghe City, and use half a year to completely restore Dalinghe City, if the Houjin Tartars dare to attack, let them experience the taste of bloodshed."

Hong Chengchou's eyes lit up and he rubbed his hands.

"My lord, Xia Guan is willing to be the vanguard, and he will definitely take Dalinghe City."

"There are more people than you are anxious, Chongzhen's four-year battle of Dalinghe, in the hearts of many people, is a scar, lingering, I'm afraid that when the time comes, there are people who ask for war, but we must be sober, the importance of Dalinghe City, for Houjin, is also supreme, they will do everything they can to defend here, so we must make all the preparations, foresee all the situations, we have no way, only to take Dalinghe City, a lot of things, Only then will it be possible to begin implementation, including the dismantling of the border army. ”

"Xiaguan understands, my lord, Xiaguan is still the same request, when attacking Dalinghe City, Xiaguan is willing to be the vanguard."

Su Tiancheng looked at Sun Chuanting and shook his head helplessly. (To be continued......)