The arrival of spring indicates that the rainy season is coming, but this spring, there is very little rain in Liaodong, which makes the war prepared much faster.

In mid-April, artillery arrived in Jinzhou.

The General's Office immediately had martial law and no one was allowed to approach, including unauthorized sergeants, technicians from Anning Fort, began to assemble artillery day and night.

Su Tiancheng had arrived in Jinzhou, and Xu Eryi stayed in Ningyuan's governor's office to handle all matters.

Zu Dashou, Wu Sangui, and Wu Xiang, all followed him to Jinzhou.

The General Office, officers and above who were stationed at the Guanning Jin defense line, and officers and above who were commanding and above in Jiangning Yingwei were all waiting for orders. The Battle of Daling River is about to begin.

Everyone was excited. After two months of preparation, they were waiting for the final offensive order.

A map was hung on the wall and a sand table was placed in the middle of the room.

Su Tiancheng stood in front of the sand table, and everyone surrounded the sand table.

"Liu Tiehan, let's introduce the situation around Dalinghe City."

Liu Tiehan walked forward, and he still served as the commander of the scout camp. The hardest part during this period was the scout camp, which continued to investigate and figure out all the situation around Dalinghe City.

"The Later Jin Tartars stationed in Dalinghe City are divided into two parts. The first part is stationed in the city. For more than a month, they have strengthened the city walls, and red-clothed cannons were set up on the city walls. The second part is stationed on the edge of the riverbed about one mile away from Dalinghe City. They built fences here, and the Tartars in the city are stationed in turn. In addition, the scout camp also found that all the Tartars families stationed in Dalinghe City have been withdrawn, and almost all the soldiers left in the city are from the Later Jin."

"In terms of related logistics transportation, when Yuetuo and Kong Youde entered Dalinghe City, they carried a large amount of food and grass, and the transportation team was almost endless. According to the scout's vision, it is estimated that these food and grass will be enough to last for about 30,000 people for about half a year. In other words, Yuetuo was preparing to defend Dalinghe City to the death. Even if they were surrounded, they could maintain it for a long time. This was also the lessons learned from our Ming army."

"The Later Jin Tartars stationed in Dalinghe City were mainly Han troops. The soldiers stationed on the periphery were all Han troops. The costumes of the Han troops were different from those of the Eight Banners Army. They were almost all black, which was easy to identify."

"For this period of time, the Later Jin Tartars stationed in Dalinghe City have been very cautious. Because their families have been moved, it is impossible for anyone to get in with Dalinghe City. At the same time, the Later Jin Tartars are also very vigilant about the surrounding situations on the outer line of defense."

......

After Liu Tiehan finished speaking, Su Tiancheng spoke with a smile on his face.

"Everyone knows the situation. It seems that our opponents Yue Tuo and Kong Youde are not simple. Moving away the family of Daling River can save money. Once the war occurs, the soldiers who are defending the city can last longer, with a full half year of food and grass. It shows how determined they have made. Maybe they still think that after the opportunity is ripe, attack Jinzhou City. My Ming army will not be able to siege Daling River for more than half a year, not to mention half a month. It won't be possible for half a month."

"The arrangement of Yuetuo and Kong Youde outside the Daling River City was also a matter of great difficulty in attacking. The edge of the riverbed was also an easy-to-defense and difficult-to-attack terrain, but we must break through this line of defense. This means that we will pay a greater price. If the Later Jin soldiers who are defending the periphery cannot persist, they will definitely withdraw to the city, and we will not be able to wipe out them all."

"The biggest threat to us is the red cannon. The red cannons set on the city wall are not vegetarians, they are life-threatening. Therefore, our attack must be planned thoroughly, and we must try our best to save time and reduce casualties. My consideration is to attack Dalinghe City this time and drain 150,000 troops."

When Su Tiancheng said this, everyone's eyes began to shine. The Ming army on Guanningjin defense line was always big, and it was impossible to remove all of them. Nearly half of the 150,000 were close to half. This shows that more than half of the soldiers still had to defend the city.

Zu Dashou and others were even more anxious. If Su Tiancheng did not arrange them, they would have to obey orders and could not disobey their orders. However, attacking Dalinghe City was their dream task. No matter how much the price they paid, they would have to participate.

"Fifty thousand people were drawn from three places. The Guanning Army stationed in Shanhaiguan was drawn 50,000 people, General Wu Sangui was responsible, the border troops stationed in Jinzhou and Ningyuan were dispatched 50,000 people, General Zu Dashou was responsible, Jiangning Camp was dispatched 50,000 people, Left Deputy Chief Commander Sun Chuanting was responsible, and the 150,000 army was unified commanded by the governor and chief Hong Chengchou."

"All officers and soldiers who have been transferred must obey unified command and specific deployment. For the next meeting, we will discuss it again. From tomorrow, the drawn sergeants will start to act in a unified manner. Within five days, all will be gathered in Jinzhou City. If there is any delay, military law will be carried out."

Yue Tuo felt glad for his correct decision.

Moving away family members is not that simple. The Han army's families are easy to talk about and cannot ignore the command. However, the families of the soldiers of the Zhenghong Banner, including some officers, are not moved away just by saying this. But from the perspective of defending the city, these families cannot continue to stay in Dalinghe City. In case of a war, these people will be the biggest drag. Moreover, the small Dalinghe City, which can accommodate about 100,000 people, is simply a disaster.

Yue Tuo was not polite at all. No matter whose family members were, they would move away and return to Shenyang. As for what kind of life these families rely on, he would not be able to take care of so many of them at the moment. His most important task now is to defend the city.

It was Yue Tuo's idea to establish a defensive position on the edge of the riverbed one mile away from Daling River City. And as soon as he arrived in Daling River City, the project began without any delay. As for whether there would be any Ming soldiers to harass them during the construction process, Yue Tuo had never thought about this problem at all. In his eyes, the Ming soldiers were all turtles, all trash who stayed in the city and did not dare to leave the city.

The emperor once instructed that Su Tiancheng, the governor of Ji Liao of the Ming Dynasty, was very powerful and must be careful that he must not underestimate the enemy. Yue Tuo did not know about Su Tiancheng's affairs and did not pay special attention to it.

The Daling River City was not built for a long time. In the Battle of Daling River in the fourth year of Chongzhen, Daling River City had not been completed. It was less than ten years ago. After Yuetuo came to Daling River City, he spent a week looking around and repairing and caring for some not very solid city walls.

The twenty red-clothed cannons transported were placed in four directions, and each place was filled with five red-clothed cannons. These cannons can play a huge role in defending the city.

Yue Tuo was also satisfied with Kong Youde. The Han army stationed in Dalinghe City had nearly 30,000 people. The Eight Banners Army looked down on the Han army. This discrimination came from the bones and could not be changed. Therefore, after coming to Dalinghe City, Yue Tuo put forward strict requirements for more than a thousand Red Banner soldiers, not to bully others. Everyone was a grasshopper on the same rope. If something happened to each other, it would be really troublesome. I am afraid that Dalinghe City would be handed over to Daming.

No matter what, Yue Tuo has always been in the army, and his long-term battle has also made him understand many things.

After arriving in Dalinghe City, Yuetuo had a good attitude towards Kong Youde and had airs, but when making decisions, he usually discussed with Kong Youde. Yuetuo knew very well that he needed to rely on Kong Youde. In Dalinghe City, unity and harmony between the two were the most important. If they were not compatible with each other, it was the greatest danger.

Yue Tuo is indeed capable when commanding the battle. From this perspective, Kong Youde can be convinced and there are generous parts in his character. Relatively speaking, there are not so many roundabout thoughts. It is precisely because of understanding this detail that Kong Youde can live in peace with Yue Tuo. At this time, when thinking about the many ideas Geng Zhongmin gave him, Kong Youde sighed a lot. If this were in the Ming army, many contradictions would definitely erupt, and the corresponding means were used. The conflicts and frictions between the generals would minimize the combat effectiveness of the troops.

Yue Tuo was not very concerned about the many arrangements of the Ming army, and his understanding was still a bit fixed. He believed that the Ming army could not attack Dalinghe City. Although the emperor highly praised and valued Su Tiancheng, the governor of Ji Liao in the Ming Dynasty, Yue Tuo felt that the combat effectiveness and level of the Ming army were like that. As for Ajige's miserable defeat in the pass in the ninth year of Chongzhen, there were many other factors. Perhaps it was because of some accidental factors that brought together that caused such a huge loss.

There are 30,000 soldiers stationed in Dalinghe City, which is a very strong force. Relying on the dangers of Dalinghe City, even the Eight Banners' children would not be easy to attack this city, let alone military forces.

In this regard, Yuetuo and Kong Youde have different understandings. In setting up defense lines outside Dalinghe City, Yuetuo's real thoughts were to make breakthroughs. In other words, after stationing in Dalinghe City for a period of time, he waited for an opportunity to attack Jinzhou City. Regardless of whether he could take down Jinzhou City, at least he would form an attacking situation. Just defending Dalinghe City, in Yuetuo's view, was a bit cowardly. If he was in charge of so many soldiers, he could not make any achievements, so he was still a warrior of the Qing Dynasty.
Chapter completed!