"Have you found Li Dingguo's whereabouts?" Dorgon looked at Hong Chengchou in confusion. "What do you mean, Mr. Hong?"

"Your Highness, what I said just now did not contain any metaphor, only literal meaning," Hong Chengchou replied.

Dorgon was even more surprised. "Li Dingguo is nearby. Are you still looking for him?"

Hong Chengchou explained seriously: "Li Dingguo first withdrew his troops from Zhen'an Fort, and then divided his troops to attack the Eight Banners soldiers outside Weijialing Pass and Huaerying City. After that... there was no news of him. If I am not mistaken, he has already hidden himself."

"Hide? In addition to tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, he also has a large number of artillery. Where can he hide even if he wants to?" Dorgon grabbed the braid on his head and said, "Besides, there is no point in hiding! I want to attack Wang Yongji's rear and cut off his food supply. If Li Dingguo hides and does not fight, I can do whatever I want."

"Ah!" Hong Chengchou sighed, "Your Highness will know whether it makes sense or not soon."

Dorgon didn't understand what was going on, so he had to lead his troops south.

To the south of Weijialing Pass is Zhenbian Fort, and further south is Zheng'an Fort.

The two castles had long been empty. Although Dorgon captured the city without bloodshed, he did not get a single grain of food.

He had no choice but to continue heading south.

After Zheng'an Fort is Guangning City.

Dorgon's army camped along the Xisha River, twenty miles northeast of Guangning City.

After setting up camp, Fan Wencheng and Hong Chengchou took the initiative to come before Dorgon.

"Has Your Majesty noticed anything unusual along the way here?" Hong Chengchou asked first.

"There is something strange," Dorgon nodded, frowning, "I didn't meet any civilians on the road, and I didn't grab a single grain of food!"

"Your Highness, what you saw is what I am worried about." Fan Wencheng said, "While the Ming army was reducing its forces for defense, they were also clearing the fields. So our army will not be able to obtain food and supplies through fighting, and will face a big problem."

"Food route!" Hong Chengchou gave the answer for Fan Wencheng.

After hearing this, Dorgon's expression immediately became serious.

Before sending out his troops, he made two plans.

If Li Dingguo accepted the battle.

He used superior forces to defeat Li Dingguo head-on, and after the victory, he continued to move south to eye Songjin.

If Li Dingguo did not fight.

He bypassed Guangning and went south to plunder, using war to support the war while cutting off Wang Yongji's food supply, forcing Wang Yongji to return.

Now that Li Dingguo has cleared the countryside, he cannot use war to support war.

We can only build food routes and transport food and fodder.

This is a huge trouble!

In fact, the Eight Banners Army played an indispensable role in Li Dingguo's implementation of the policy of fortifying the city and clearing the countryside.

Fortify the walls and clear the fields cannot be implemented just because you want to.

Especially in places like the Central Plains, where the population is dense and cities are numerous.

The population is too large and the city cannot accommodate it.

There are many cities and many officials.

Each official has different abilities and execution capabilities.

Some people strictly enforce it, while others deal with it in a sloppy manner.

The final result was that the defense was not completely cleared, giving the enemy the opportunity to fight and support themselves.

The situation in Liaodong is different from that in the Central Plains.

The population here is relatively sparse.

After Nurhaci killed the poor and the rich, the number of people in Liaodong dropped sharply.

After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, he invented cannibalism.

(Huang Taiji entered the pass and plundered the people to Liaodong to farm for the Jiannu. After the harvest, in order to save food, he slaughtered the people who farmed the land. The saved food was also called cannibal food. When there was not enough food for the people, he continued to enter the pass and plunder, and the cycle repeated.)

The last time the Eight Banners Army entered the pass to plunder was seven years ago.

During this period, they killed many civilians in order to save food.

Only one in ten people in Liaodong are left.

In contrast, after the Ming army entered Liao, they maintained strict military discipline and bought and sold at fair prices.

So when Li Dingguo issued the order to fortify the city and clear the countryside, the people immediately took all their belongings and ran to the nearby cities.

Those who did not want to enter the city also fled to the mountains for refuge.

Dorgon could not find any trace of the people, so he could not steal food from them, let alone support the war by fighting.

For the army, having a food supply route or not are two completely different concepts.

An army without food supply is like a dog on a chain.

No matter how ferocious, it can only move within the length of the chain.

If you want to increase the range of movement, the owner needs to increase the length of the chain (extend the food channel).

An army without food supplies is like a wolf.

Go wherever you want, appear and disappear at will, without any restrictions.

"The food supply is indeed a huge problem!" Dorgon had to frown again.

Because he often frowns, deep wrinkles have appeared on his forehead, making him look even older.

"Report!" The scout suddenly came to the tent to report: "The Ming army's artillery left very deep wheel tracks when they retreated, and the cavalry also left a lot of horse hoof prints. I followed these tracks all the way to Guangning City. I wanted to investigate in detail, but was forced to retreat by the Ming army's scouts."

"In other words, Li Dingguo's main force withdrew to Guangning?" Dorgon asked.

"I just followed the trail all the way to Guangning City. I dare not guess anything else." The scout replied.

"Back off."

"Yes," the scout turned and left.

Dorgon looked at Fan and Hong and asked, "Gentlemen, what good ideas do you have?"

Hong Chengchou and Fan Wencheng looked at each other in silence for a while, and then slowly said, "Our army's current food supply route is from Kaiyuan to the Mongolian grasslands, and then from the Mongolian grasslands to here. The food supply route is already long enough, and it is simply unrealistic to extend it further."

"We can't attack without food supplies. Mr. Hong, do you mean we shouldn't attack?" Dorgon asked unhappily.

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