"The path leading to Jianzhou is here." Gou Zhenhuai pointed his staff at Gushan Fort and extended it eastward. "The Military Intelligence Department has sent people to investigate repeatedly. It's wide enough for cavalry to pass."

Mao Wenlong said slowly, "I will lead my army to camp at Yi Wall Fort and Weizi Valley, raise the flags, and contain the enemy at Yagu Pass."

After the test of actual combat, if we want to explain what tactical style the army is most confident in, it is undoubtedly relying on positional defense.

Trenches, breastworks, deer entanglements, fences, barbed wire, plus muskets and artillery.

Whether it was the Ming army in southern Liaoning, western Liaoning, or eastern Liaoning, they all believed that with sufficient food and ammunition, they could withstand attacks from enemies three to four times their number.

In other words, Commander Mao Wenlong led the three-combat army to hold their ground, confident that they could resist at least 50,000 Jiannu.

Could the Jiannu army now mobilize 50,000 troops? According to the analysis and judgment of Mao Wenlong and others, unless they gave up Liaoshen, they would not have such a force.

Moreover, the Liaodong Ming army was not an isolated combat group. It was already connected with the Liaonan army, and they were just two attacking directions, so they could definitely get effective reinforcements.

In fact, although the Dongjiang Town's military strength was not as strong as that of the Liaonan Group, Mao Wenlong and others believed that after being reinforced by the troops of Dengzhen, if they put all their strength into a fight, they would not be afraid even if the Jiannu came in full force.

In the vast Liaodong region, the Jiannu's defenses were stretched thin, with numerous holes exposed. Jianzhou Garrison was only one of them; Dongjiang Town could also leave Fengcheng, advance towards Lianshan Pass, and join forces with the Liaonan Corps to lay siege to Liaoyang.

However, at the military meeting chaired by Yuan Keli, neither Xiong Tingbi nor Mao Wenlong agreed with this battle plan.

It seems safe, but it is the least efficient. It cannot effectively utilize the width of the area and pull the Jiannu troops, making it difficult for them to cope with the situation.

Therefore, Dongjiang Town will continue to launch operations against Jianzhou Guards. Moreover, it can also use its own military advantage to strike more fiercely at the Jiannu flags of Ajige and Dudu.

Gou Zhenhuai continued to arrange the battle plan. In addition to the various Ming troops that were attacking Jianzhou Wei in different directions, Mao Chenglu's troops that had already moved north along the Yalu River would also receive reinforcements.

In other words, an entire army will attack Jianzhou Guard from the northeast. Let's see how the two flags of Jiannu can resist?

This was truly a full-army operation. In addition to the two brigades in Deng Town responsible for defending important places such as Fenghuang City and Zhenjiang, all five brigades in Dongjiang Town were mobilized (Zhang Pan's troops had been replaced by the newly formed brigades), and 40,000 troops besieged Jianzhou Wei, determined to win.

"All units, upon receiving your orders, prepare immediately and commence the operation in three days." Seeing Gou Zhenhuai complete his arrangements, Mao Wenlong stood up, bowed, and said in a deep voice, "In this pacification of Liao, our Dongjiang garrison will be the first to achieve merit and report this victory to His Majesty and the imperial court."

Mao Wenlong glanced at the generals, narrowed his eyes, and added, "I won't say much. You all know that military law is ruthless. Our Dongjiang Town has been built from scratch and has long been blessed by the emperor. Now is the time to repay his service with death. It's a choice between a title for my wife and children, or death by military law. Do you understand?"

Clatter, clatter! Armor clattered, and the generals stood up one after another, bowed their hands and said with emotion: "If you are afraid of death, don't join the army. The teachings of the Holy Spirit are above, and we, the generals, will never fear the enemy or death."

"Good." Gou Zhenhuai clapped his hands and smiled, praising, "My Dongjiang Town only has heroes who sacrificed their lives on the battlefield, but no cowards who fled in defeat."

"As long as we are not afraid of death and the soldiers are brave, what do we have to fear from the Qing army?" Kong Youde was reluctant to put out his cigar and just waved it and shouted.

Mao Wenlong nodded and smiled. His words were rough but his point was correct. It was just that simple.

Leading by example is indeed the only way to boost morale and military spirit. Of course, soldiers also need to have enough food to eat, and it is best if they have a sense of hatred in their hearts.

By this point in the war, the Ming army in Liaodong had indeed acquired the strength to decide the outcome of the war with the Jiannu.

Even without considering the advantage in weapons and equipment, the hundreds of thousands of Ming troops with sufficient food and wages, most of whom were Liao people who had hatred for the Jiannu, were able to defeat the Jiannu.

……………….

In southern Liaoning, Tashanpu, Xiong Tingbi was stationed here, which was equivalent to the front-line command center.

Lao Xiong did the same thing as Mao Wenlong, setting up an incense table and leading the generals to pay homage to the capital and celebrate the emperor's birthday.

After the ceremony, Xiong Tingbi had just returned to the headquarters when the Military Intelligence Department came to report. According to the latest intelligence, after the mobilization, the Jiannu in Liaoshen showed signs of moving out.

"I expect that the old slaves will come in full force to achieve their goal." Xiong Tingbi was not surprised by this. He asked the Military Intelligence Department to continue collecting intelligence, and he summoned all the generals to prepare for the war.

Before the generals arrived, Xiong Tingbi wrote a letter and sent it to Gaizhou to inform General Yuan. Then, he spread out paper and picked up his pen to write a secret memorial to the emperor.

"I will certainly launch a massive attack before all the food and supplies are exhausted, and fight our army to the death. This is the ingenious strategy of Your Majesty..."

Old Bear grinned, feeling that this flattery was a bit off, but it was also true that His Majesty had indeed anticipated this. Or rather, most people would make such an analysis and judgment, including the military officials and Commander Yuan.

If we don't launch an attack, we will just sit there and wait for death. When the Ming army gets closer and closer and food and supplies are scarce, I'm afraid we won't even have the basic conditions for launching an attack.

As for luring the enemy deep into our territory and defeating them one by one, the Ming army obviously did not give the Jiannu such an opportunity, and the reality did not allow it.

In fact, the Ming army that crossed the Haicheng River was not in a hurry to attack the city, but set up camp and surrounded the Haizhou City step by step.

This style of fighting left the two red flags of Yuetuo and Jirgalang with no opportunity to take advantage. Several cavalry harassments could not pose a threat to the Ming army, and they were afraid of the Ming army's deep trenches and barriers, so they were almost ineffective.

Seeing that the Ming army was steadily advancing to the foot of Haizhou City, they continued to build camps and fortifications along the city, slowly besieging the city.

Nurhaci, far away in Shenyang, finally decided to take action, but this had already allowed Xiong Tingbi's strategy to succeed. While shortening the supply line as much as possible, he launched a decisive battle with the Jiannu.

The slow and steady advance and the gradual encirclement of Haicheng gave Nurhaci the feeling that there was an opportunity to turn the situation around.

Since ancient times, the most taboo in besieging a city is being attacked from both inside and outside. Xiong Tingbi believed that Nurhaci would see this and most likely come to rescue the city when the Ming army's siege was imminent.

In Nurhaci's view, with two thousand Jurchen soldiers and thousands of Han troops guarding the city, the Ming army would inevitably suffer losses if they wanted to capture the fortified city, and it would be difficult to break through in a hurry.

When he arrives with his army, the Ming army may be trapped in a fortified city, with exhausted soldiers and horses. A coordinated counterattack from both inside and outside should allow them to taste the long-awaited victory.

But what Nurhaci didn't know was that when the Ming army formed a semi-encirclement of the city, Haizhou City could be captured at any time.

Times have changed, and so have the methods of attacking cities. In addition to directly bombarding the city with artillery, there is another method of breaking through the city, which was the first time even the Ming army had tried it.