Sun Chengzong was also very excited. Although the situation in Liaodong had been improving, it had only just now turned around. The Jiannu were surrounded by enemies on all sides, and there seemed to be no good strategy except to retreat.

However, what surprised him was that the emperor was still as steady as an old dog. Instead of urging the battle, he took the initiative to order the armies to rest.

Sun Chengzong knew the emperor was preparing another major operation. Given the current rate of military production and transportation capacity, it would take at most half a year for the various armies to have sufficient food and ammunition before another major operation was sure to begin.

In fact, Sun Chengzong did not know all the emperor's thoughts, nor did he know why he was so calm.

The current situation of the Later Jin Dynasty is indeed very bad, but it is not much worse than the lowest point in history.

At the beginning of Huang Taiji's accession to the throne, the Ming army had the fortified city of Ningyuan in the west, Mao Wenlong of Pidao in the east, Korea was also hostile, the Mongolian tribes in the northwest, and the Solon and other tribes in the Heilongjiang River basin in the north.

Moreover, the Later Jin Dynasty encountered a severe famine soon afterwards. If it were not for Lord Yuan selling grain to the Mongols, the Later Jin Dynasty would have collapsed from hunger.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao did not underestimate the current disadvantage of the Later Jin Dynasty. He did not urge the battle, but accumulated strength and prepared to strike the Later Jin Dynasty again.

Not urging the war to start, nor did it mean a complete cessation of hostilities. Zhu Youxiao also issued a secret order, ordering the Liaonan and Dongjiang headquarters, as well as Xiong Tingbi in Liaoxi, to continuously harass and fight in rotation, so that the Later Jin would not rest.

Zhu Youxiao initially scheduled the time for another major counterattack at the turn of winter and spring. On the one hand, this would facilitate the Liaoxi army's crossing of the Liaoze River; on the other hand, the Ming army's equipment should have been replaced, and the food and ammunition reserves would be sufficient to support a major military operation.

Another point is that according to historical knowledge and the intelligence collected, the food reserves of the Later Jin Dynasty were already very small, or even about to be exhausted.

The loss of southern Liaoning and the attacks and burning of fields that the Ming army would undertake in the autumn would greatly accelerate the onset of famine in the Later Jin.

With the famine, the situation of the Later Jin Dynasty will be very bad. If the forces from all sides join forces, it is very likely that the Later Jin Dynasty will be half-destroyed.

Moreover, chaos within the Later Jin Dynasty is also a high probability event. This depends on the role of Nara Zhongming. The most fatal thing is that the surrender of the barbarians and the lack of unity among the people of the Later Jin Dynasty are the most fatal.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao had to play it safe and wait for his own combat power to increase and the enemy to weaken before launching a large-scale attack.

If we act too hastily and fail, it may give the Later Jin a chance to catch its breath.

The three Ming armies were pressing hard, making up for the weaker allies of Korea and the Mongolian tribes. This forced the Later Jin to focus on dealing with them, leaving them unable to rob the Mongols of their cattle, sheep, and horses, as well as Korea's food and population.

With food supplies running out and no way to replenish them through looting, it was foreseeable what kind of impact the famine would have on the Later Jin.

After Sun Chengzong sat down, he submitted the compiled military reports one by one, especially mentioning Liu Xingzuo, and asked the Emperor how to deal with him.

Sun Chengzong believed that it was right to give Liu Xingzuo a promotion and preferential treatment after he rebelled against the Ming Dynasty, but he had reservations about whether he could trust him.

In other words, Mr. Sun wanted to keep Liu Xingzuo in the capital, giving him a nice-sounding but empty official position without giving him actual military power. To put it bluntly, he was just keeping him around for show.

Zhu Youxiao did not make a final decision on this. In his opinion, although doing so was safe, it showed distrust and would not achieve his goal.

Of course, history is history. He also has to see Liu Xingzuo and examine him before deciding whether to reuse him.

In addition to Liu Xingzuo's placement, the emperor also made a secret arrangement to summon Xiong Tingbi and Mao Wenlong to Beijing to meet him and report on their work.

Sun Chengzong thought that the two should be summoned separately, and that autumn would be a more appropriate time. Zhu Youxiao had no objection to the timing, but he disagreed with the arrangement of separate summons.

"I know General Sun is worried about discord between Xiong and Mao," Zhu Youxiao slowly explained. "But in the grand plan of pacifying Liao, discord between generals and commanders, and the division of the army, is a grave taboo. The Liao and Dongjiang garrisons are the main forces in the campaign. If we can't maintain unity and close coordination, we'll ultimately jeopardize the outcome."

Sun Chengzong was indeed a little worried. In his opinion, under the current circumstances, it was time to replace one of Xiong Tingbi and Mao Wenlong.

Of course, he was more optimistic about Xiong Tingbi, who came from the imperial examination system and was a man of both civil and military talents, and was not very fond of Mao Wenlong, a general who came from a self-taught background.

"If Xiong Tingbi and Mao Wenlong can work together and unite sincerely, wouldn't it avoid the drawbacks of changing generals at the last minute?" Zhu Youxiao did not reject Sun Chengzong's proposal, but he did not agree to it rashly either.

History has proven that the war situation in Liaodong kept getting worse, largely due to the frequent changes of people in the court.

During Xiong Tingbi's first term as governor of Liaodong, he had suppressed the momentum of the Later Jin. If the civil servant Yuan Mingtai had not been replaced, Liaodong might not have fallen.

When the old bear came out for the second time to clean up the mess, the civil service group brought out Wang Huazhen to share power and hinder him. If the emperor had not acted decisively, the tragedy of history would have repeated itself.

Now, after several defensive counterattacks, the situation in Liaodong has been reversed, which also means that the cause of pacifying Liaodong has entered a critical stage. If we can achieve our goal without changing the generals, it would naturally be the best option.

The key is that there are no suitable candidates to replace the generals. Although there are many senior generals, they are either unfamiliar with Liaodong and the Jiannu, or they lack experience and are difficult to convince the public.

Anyway, Zhu Youxiao felt that apart from Teacher Sun and Teacher Yuan, he really couldn't trust anyone who could succeed Xiong Tingbi or Mao Wenlong. Even Teacher Sun, in his mind, was only barely qualified.

"Your Majesty is prudent and cautious, and I admire you." Sun Chengzong did not insist too much. After all, there was no final decision. It would be best if Xiong and Mao could put aside their past grudges as the emperor said.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!