The next day, Deng Ming brought several Shandong people to inquire about Yu Qi's situation in detail.

Yu Qi has been operating in Shandong for more than ten years, and his strength is indeed considerable, with a large amount of grain and gunpowder stored in the cottage, and there are also a lot of weapons. Although the combat effectiveness of these heroes cannot be compared with the regular army, they are still much stronger than ordinary people, so they were not defeated by the Qing army in one fell swoop.

However, by asking Deng Ming, he also confirmed that Yu Qiqian was indeed forced to rebel, and there was no extensive tandem and organization in advance. At the beginning of the uprising, they fought on their own, and many rebels would not have gone to join Yu Qi's division if it were not for their defeat; Moreover, after the Qing court imposed a ban on the sea in Shandong, Yu Qi did not secretly obstruct, sabotage, or take in a large number of fishermen, let alone try to smuggle with Zhoushan, so Yu Qi did not have any intelligence sources and forces in the coastal areas.

The uprising that once swept most of Shandong has now reached its final moment, and the rebel armies from all walks of life have been broken by the Qing troops who entered Shandong, and now most of them are hiding in the cottage like Yu Qi. Although the main force of the Qing army was moving south, the rebellious army still did not dare to come out of the cottage. Because the main transportation routes and prefectures were all in the hands of the Qing court, the rebel army could not communicate and coordinate with each other, but the Qing court's troops could be quickly reinforced.

After learning that Deng Ming was considering landing in Shandong, Gao Yunxuan and others were of course very welcome, and they said that as long as the invincible Sichuan army entered Shandong and defeated the central forces of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the righteous army could take advantage of the situation again and cooperate with the Sichuan army to eliminate the local forces in Shandong. Gao Yunxuan assured Deng Ming that the Shandong Righteous Army was actually still very powerful, but there had been too many field defeats in the past six months, so a large number of rebel soldiers were pessimistic and disappointed in the future, and fled home from the team. As long as the Sichuan army can defeat the Qing army on the territory of Shandong, so that everyone can see that the Qing army is not invincible, the righteous army can quickly recover its vitality.

Therefore, Gao Yunxuan and others believed that the Sichuan army's operation in Shandong could be regarded as a local operation, and the righteous army could undertake many tasks such as reconnaissance, occupation, defense, and transportation, and could also serve as a commando when the Sichuan army was besieging the city. Gao Yunxuan said that his division has a wide range of contacts, and he can find sincere collaborators in every county, so he doesn't have to worry about whether the officials in the rear are reliable. In short, they gave Deng Ming the impression that the Sichuan army would not be worried about finding collaborators and people in Shandong.

After listening to the achievements of the Sichuan army at the dinner table, the five people in Shandong had a superstitious worship of the combat effectiveness of the Sichuan army, Gao Yunxuan said that Shandong is a three-year-old child knows that Deng Mingnai is a hero, and when he said this, Wu Yue'er also nodded desperately on the side.

However, Deng Ming did not immediately agree, but asked Gong Yan about his next strategy after the Shandong people left.

"Do they have the means to mobilize 50,000 men and no less than 20,000 soldiers at once?" Gong Yan asked straight to the point.

"Nope." Deng Ming shook his head, when talking about the supply problem after the landing just now, these people said that they needed to return to Qixia, let Yu Qi and the heroes who were hiding there come forward, and send disciples to contact the local Haoqiang, and then come to lead the Ming army ashore after they have an eyebrow.

"Let's fight it out in the canal." Gong Yan replied quickly. Although he was reluctant to Deng Ming to stay and fight the Qing army at first, it was difficult to withdraw as the two sides continued to gather momentum. Now tens of thousands of Qing troops are gathered in the area of Fengyang Mansion and Huai'an Mansion, if the Ming army suddenly retreats, they will definitely have to go south and plunder, otherwise they will not be able to explain to the soldiers from all walks of life. If this kind of thing happens, even if the southeastern governor is miraculously safe, the next time the Ming army crosses the border, it will not be welcomed as before.

And with the confrontation between the two armies, the attention of the officials and gentry of the whole country was also attracted, and they saw that the Ming army had robbed the Cao Yun in a big way, and then enjoyed the harvest in the heavy army of the Qing court, and whether it was Shandong or Nanjing, they were helpless to take this Ming army. Chongzhen Dynasty Qing army attacked the Ming court for the fourth time, lingered in the territory of the Ming court, and even grazed for several months, fattening the livestock before exiting the pass, probably only that incident is comparable to the scene of the Sichuan army this time.

The difference is that the current Qing army has the desire and posture to attack, if the Qing army first flinched in the confrontation with Deng Ming, and Deng Ming foiled it according to the plan and then calmly left, then the officials of the whole country will be reminded of the situation in the Ming and Qing dynasties twenty years ago, but the roles are reversed. In that case, the prestige of the Manchus would be dealt a heavy blow again, and more officials would think that although the area controlled by the Ming army was small, the general situation of the world was still uncertain.

"If our army is repulsed, then the situation in our army will be set back by two years." This time, it was Deng Ming's turn to explain the unfavorable conditions for the decisive battle at this time: "Even if our army wins, if the losses are too great, most of the fruits of victory will fall into the hands of others, such as Jiang Guozhu, Zhang Changgeng and the three feudatories in the south, they will definitely laugh." ”

"Sometimes I have to gamble, and if I win the bet, I will win the Central Plains, how can I take the world without risking? And it's just a two-year setback, and it's not a clean loss all at once. Gong Yan believes that Deng Ming's gambling capital is stronger than Li Zicheng's back then, Gong Yan saw the vigorous development of Sichuan, a large number of retired veterans and military training in the pavilion unit so that Deng Ming did not worry about the problem of rebuilding the army; Now that the war is defeated, you can also close the door to cultivate, and then find an opportunity to gamble with the Manchus - if you talk about the strength of the gambling book, Gong Yan feels that Sun Kewang before the civil strife between Deng Ming and the Three Kings is about the same; The immediate consequence of the defeat is that the rapid development of western Sichuan will be interrupted, and Deng Ming will lose the ability to subsidize the Allied forces.

"How can anyone take the world without risk?" Deng Ming muttered to himself. The main reason he invited Gong Yan over today was to explore the possibility of launching a large-scale guerrilla war in Shandong to support the frontal battlefield of the canal. And Deng Ming thought that he was good at head-to-head confrontation, while Gong Yan had rich experience in guerrilla warfare, so Deng Ming asked if Gong Yan had a good strategy.

"Nope." Gong Yan denied Deng Ming's idea: "The Shandong Righteous Army has completely collapsed, and now they can only hide in the cottage and wait for death, and they don't have the courage to rush out and confront the Qing army at all." If you want to make a scene, no matter whether you win or not, at least you have to dare to go out, even if it is to surround a county or something. ”

Gong Yan thought that Deng Ming's plan was wishful thinking, the Shandong Righteous Army had been destroyed, and unless the Sichuan Army made a great victory on the canal that caused a sensation in the whole country, then the Shandong Righteous Army might be able to come back to life.

"Those heroes are different from the gentry, the power of the gentry is in the countryside, and the power of the heroes is in the prefecture and county." Gong Yan believed that Yu Qi could not form the basis of guerrilla warfare as envisioned by Deng Ming, and that most of the heroes of the rivers and lakes were gathered in the cities, and their influence on the peasants was far less than that of the gentry. If Yu Qi can take a few county seats, then the heroes will soon be able to pull out a team when they walk the streets and alleys. However, since the uprising, the Shandong Righteous Army has not taken any county seat, but has been forced to the countryside and mountains by the green camp, which is equivalent to being isolated from their original circle of influence: "Yu Qi's chest has no ambitions, since it is a rebellion, don't be afraid of death." He and the other heroes' henchmen are in various cities, so they should buy off the officers of the county town and rebel directly in the city. And for the sake of safety, he pulled his most loyal disciples and disciples out of the city, built banners and formed teams outside the city, and then went to attack the city with great fanfare—it was safe at first, but those allies, the green camp and friends who had dealings with him were still in the city, and they couldn't find a chance to respond to Yu Qi. ”

Gong Yan believed that before the Sichuan army captured several county seats, Yu Qi could give Deng Ming very limited help, far from what those Shandong people said. If Deng Ming wanted to light beacons all over Shandong, he still needed the support of the Shandong gentry, and it seemed that for the time being, the Shandong gentry were still biased towards the Qing court, at least until Deng Ming showed enough strength to protect them, and would not change his neutral position. Yu Qi can certainly be a middleman, much better than Deng Ming himself to go to the mess, but as long as the army that is enough to defeat the Qing army in Shandong does not appear on the land of Shandong for a day, it is impossible for the gentry to leave the lives of the whole clan to contain the Qing army and echo the decisive battle between the two armies in the south of the Yangtze River.

"The most important thing is," Gong Yan saw that Deng Ming was still a little hesitant, so he further pointed out the shortcomings of the Shandong Righteous Army: "The leader of the Shandong Righteous Army is a hero rather than a gentleman, which is actually very dangerous. Because the gentry can call on the clan elders in the village, they bring out simple peasant boys, they may not be able to fight, they have never seen the world, but they obey orders, and because they have never been anywhere, they will follow the patriarch, these soldiers are the best to bring. shout and follow the reading man, a show can convince them; And the heroes are different, no matter how loyal their apprentices are, they can't compare to the descendants of the same clan and township, and they are too smart, they know where to run when the situation is not right, and the relationship between masters, brothers, fellow villagers, and peers with complex factions is not clear at all. As a result, no one obeys anyone, and those who serve as soldiers do not listen to the words of the officials, and even think about stumbling over the commander all day long and replacing themselves as the officials. No," Gong Yan shook his head again and again as he said: "There is no way to count on this kind of soldier, it's okay when the wind is downwind, but it can kill you when the wind is against the wind, and it's not uncommon for you to vomit blood when you're angry." ”

Gong Yan's opinion is very clear, that is, Deng Ming had better put away other thoughts, the Shandong Righteous Army could not help the army land, and it could not create a momentum to distract the attention of the Qing army.

"The art of war is to be right, to win by wonder, our army is so majestic, and it is a dignified battle with the Tartars. It's a big gamble, as long as you win, half of the world will be in hand. Although it is a bit similar to the situation of the emperor back then, the chips in the emperor's hand are not as many and so good as yours. The next sentence shows that Gong Yan also heard some rumors about Deng Ming's use of soldiers: "Don't just think about putting on makeup as a tartar, and then stealing the camp while people are eating and sleeping." ”

"I didn't plan to do this all the time," Deng Ming hurriedly defended: "This is the idea of the Zhejiang army; What Gong Shangshu just said is also my consistent proposition. ”

Gong Yan nodded with satisfaction: "The prince of the country is like a stream, and he is not stubborn, which is the atmosphere of the British master." ”

"Gong Shangshu has won the award. I understand, let's fight with the Tartars in Yangzhou. After Deng Ming finished speaking, he was silent, fell into deep thought, and after a long time, he tapped the table: "I think Shandong can still be used." ”