Diaoyutai.

Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin are counting the troops from each unit.

"Your Majesty, Xiyao's 20,000 elite troops are stationed in Tongzhou. They only lost a few hundred men in the battle with Liu Wenyao. Fangliang's 30,000 troops were mostly destroyed. He personally led 5,000 men to collect food and grass, and the rest were taken into my command. I currently have 25,000 troops under my command, and Li Guo, Zongdi (Yuan Zongdi), and He Jin's troops each have 15,000 troops."

Li Zicheng nodded.

The total strength of the Shun army is nearly 100,000. Not counting Liu Xiyao's 25,000 men, the Shun army can now mobilize 70,000 troops.

It can be said that there are many soldiers and generals!

Of course, these 70,000 people are not all elite.

If they were all elite troops, he would have captured Beijing long ago.

"How many civilians and common people are there in the camp?"

"Your Majesty, there are about 30,000 civilians in the camp."

"Thirty thousand?" Li Zicheng was a little surprised. Before the siege, the total number of laborers and civilians was at least seventy or eighty thousand. How could there be such a large loss?

"Yes, Your Majesty. We have lost thirty thousand people in the days of siege, and another ten thousand civilians have fled."

Li Zicheng sneered and didn't take the news seriously. They were just peasants, so even if they all died, there was nothing to worry about.

"In addition..." Liu Zongmin thought for a moment and continued, "About 4,000 Ming army surrendered soldiers ran away. If they hadn't run away, our army would have more troops!"

The indifferent expression on Li Zicheng's face disappeared in an instant, and was replaced by worry.

This is not good news.

The escape of four thousand people is a signal. If the attack fails, more and more people will escape.

Li Yan, the counselor, frowned, thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I propose to recall all of General Liu Xiyao's troops and use them to deal with Wang Yongji's Guanning Army."

As a border defense force built with great investment by the Ming Dynasty, the Guanning Army had such a great reputation that Li Yan had to pay attention to it.

Li Zicheng said nothing and looked at others.

Military advisor Song Xiance, left assistant Niu Jinxing, and the rest of the generals all thought about this issue seriously.

Regardless of whether there are conflicts between each other, when facing such a critical issue, the conflicts should be temporarily put aside.

This is a matter of life and death, there is no need for infighting.

Liu Zongmin looked at the others, shook his head and said, "Mr. Li, I don't think it's necessary!"

"First, Tongzhou is the eastern gateway to Beijing. Liu Xiyao's 20,000 elite troops can not only prevent Chongzhen from escaping, but also resist the Guanning Army that is restraining Wu Sangui and Liu Wenyao's Shandong troops."

"Secondly, Wang Yongji only has 6,000 soldiers and our army has 100,000! What can he use to fight our army?"

"Besides, in addition to Liu Xiyao's 20,000 men, our army still has more than 40,000 elite troops, and the total number of troops that the Ming court can mobilize is only 40,000 to 50,000. So I think it's unnecessary!"

Li Yan frowned and shook his head again: "No, no! Although the Ming court can only mobilize 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers and horses, if they fight our army in one decisive battle, our army may not be their opponent."

Li Zicheng stood up with some dissatisfaction: "Mr. Li, what do you mean by that?"

Li Zicheng was very dissatisfied with Li Yan's words that boosted the enemy's morale and destroyed his own prestige. Since the Northern Expedition, he had destroyed eight of the nine frontier armies of the Ming army, but he did not think the Ming army was that powerful.

"Ahem!" Li Yan coughed heavily a few times. "Your Majesty, our army currently has 60,000 elite troops, 20,000 of which are stationed in Tongzhou, and the remaining 40,000 are camped near Diaoyutai. If the Ming court sends elite troops to raid our army from the east, our army will be in chaos! By then, the defeat will be overwhelming, and even a million-strong army will be in vain!"

"Mr. Li, you are wrong!" Niu Jinxing smiled faintly, "Although our army's spies in the city are gone, according to previous news, the Ming court has very few people to use! The three major camps are full of old, weak and sick people. They are good at defending the city, but forget about field battles. The Jinyiwei, Dongchang, Wucheng Bingmasi, and Yongwei Battalion have more than 10,000 people in total. Counting Tang Tong and Wang Yongji's troops, there are only 20,000 people who can fight in the field at most!"

"Nothing to fear."

"If they dare to fight in the open, our army will take advantage of the situation and charge into the city."

"Well, I think what Niu Zuofu said is right!" Military advisor Song Xiance agreed immediately.

After analyzing the situation, the other generals also reported their support for Niu Jinxing's point of view.

Li Yan smiled bitterly and stopped talking.

Those who have different ideas cannot work together!

Before the Northern Expedition, he advised Li Zicheng to follow the example of Zhu Yuanzhang in building high walls and storing up grain.

The Ming court occupied the Central Plains and the southern part of the country, the Jiannu in the north and Liaodong, and Zhang Xianzhong in the southwest. At this time, we should recuperate and preserve our strength, and let the Ming court and the Jiannu fight each other.

When both sides were defeated, Shun's army marched north and took over the whole country.

But Li Zicheng and his brothers were short-sighted and insisted on launching the Northern Expedition at this time.

Now, Beijing has been under siege for a long time and the Ming army will arrive soon to support the king.

I couldn't attack, and I couldn't retreat, so I was caught in a dilemma.

Seeing that no one agreed with his point of view, Li Yan simply said: "Your Majesty, since all the generals do not agree with my point of view, please give me an army and I am willing to go and prepare food and grass."

"Mr. Li, don't be angry. Generals, please just talk about the facts..." Li Zicheng advised.

"Your Majesty, I am not angry. I just want to prepare food and fodder."

Seeing Li Yan's firm attitude, Li Zicheng could not say anything else and could only nod and agree: "Then I will give you 3,000 soldiers to transport grain, how about that?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" After receiving the order, Li Yan stood up and left alone.

After Li Yan walked away, Niu Jinxing said unhappily: "Your Majesty, Mr. Li's control over the battlefield situation is obviously not as good as before, alas."

"Yes, it's a pity that a strategist doesn't plan things." Song Xiance echoed.

Li Zicheng waved his hand, indicating that he should not continue this topic. After all, Li Yan was a counselor of Dashun. Even if he is no longer useful now, he had made great contributions in the past.

"We will continue the siege tomorrow! But what Mr. Li said makes sense, so I have made some changes to the deployment of troops."

After hearing this, all the generals stood up straight.

"Zongmin, Li Guo, you lead your 30,000 infantrymen and 20,000 civilians to continue attacking Xizhimen, Fuchengmen, and Xibianmen early tomorrow morning."

"I obey the decree!"

"I obey your orders!"

After receiving the order, the two returned to their original positions.

“Zongdi, you lead the cavalry under Zongmin and Li Guo, and station them outside Chaoyang Gate with our troops to prevent the Ming army from leaving the city for a surprise attack.”

"I obey your order!" After receiving the order, the two men returned to their original positions.

"All the soldiers and horses of He Jin are on their armor and ready to join the battle at any time. If Zongmin's troops attack the city, you will rush into the city; if the Ming army attacks outside the city, you will be responsible for supporting Zongdi."

"I obey your order!"