"Wait!" Dorgon was a little confused when he heard that Li Dingguo was going to cut off his food supply.

He patted his head and asked Fan and Hong, "Gentlemen, you just said that Li Dingguo wanted to cut off my food supply?"

"Yes," Fan Wencheng said first, "Shi Tingzhu went south to fight and support the war, so he didn't need food supplies, but we can't. Li Dingguo knew this very well, so he sent troops to cut off our food supply and forced our army to retreat."

"Cut off my food supply?" Dorgon had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem, and said unhappily, "Can he cut off my food supply?"

"Your Highness doesn't believe it?" Fan Wencheng asked.

"Of course not," Dorgon replied.

"May I ask where the prince's food and fodder are transported from?"

“Ship it from Kaiyuan.”

"Who will carry it?"

"The Mongolian herdsmen carried the goods."

"As far as I know, the Mongolian herdsmen responsible for transporting food and fodder are all the old, weak, sick and disabled in the tribe. May I ask, Your Majesty, what are the chances of victory if they encounter the Ming army?"

"This..." Dorgon was silent for a while, and said stubbornly: "I can send troops to support and protect the grain route."

"How many troops does the prince plan to send? How will they protect us?" Fan Wencheng continued to ask.

"The Ming army sent 2,000 cavalry to cut off the food supply route. Why don't I also send 2,000 cavalry to protect the food supply route?" After Dorgon finished speaking, he felt that it was inappropriate and immediately changed his words, "Let me think about it."

In ancient times, transporting food and fodder was a science.

Generally speaking, the army has a portion of stored grain, and subsequent grain and fodder are transported continuously through the grain roads.

This can not only prevent the army from having too much baggage, but also minimize the pressure of guarding food and fodder.

(The military needs to store food and fodder in a centralized manner, and centralized storage requires fire prevention, waterproofing, and theft prevention, which requires a large number of personnel. If there is too much food and fodder, there will be too many people responsible for guarding it, resulting in a surge in non-combat personnel in the army.)

Dorgon was indeed able to send troops to protect the grain transport team.

But the problem is... there is more than one grain transport team.

The grassland was so large that there were several or even dozens of grain transport teams.

Two thousand cavalrymen gathered together could only protect one grain transport team.

Dividing the troops for protection would lead to the problem of dispersed forces and the Ming army being unable to resist.

"The grassland is so vast, how could Li Dingguo know where my food supply route is?" Dorgon asked Fan Wencheng.

"In the Battle of Huaerying, the soldiers under Li Chengdong surrendered to Li Dingguo in an organized manner. Although those people did not know the exact location of our army's food supply route, they could still remember the approximate location." Fan Wencheng reminded.

"Ah! Li Chengdong is a bastard who is always causing trouble but can't do anything good!" Dorgon cursed in a low voice.

"There is indeed a risk that my food supply route will be cut off, but I can give it up and send troops south like Shi Tingzhu did to fight and support the war!" Dorgon was still a little unconvinced.

"Your Highness has a good idea, but the problem is that there is not enough food," said Hong Chengchou.

"Not enough to eat?" Dorgon didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

Hong Chengchou began to explain: "According to my experience, in the area east of Dalinghe Fort and west of Haizhou, there are only five castles located on the Ming army's grain route! They are Dujiatun, Xiping Fort, Pingyangqiao Fort, Wujiafen and Xining Fort!"

"Even if these castles are filled with food, they are only enough for the prince's tens of thousands of troops to eat for a few days. After the food is eaten, the prince will have only two choices. One is to attack Dalinghe Fort or Haizhou and continue to fight to support the war, and the other is to retreat helplessly!"

"So...that's it!" After listening to the explanations of Fan Wencheng and Hong Chengchou, Dorgon finally realized the seriousness of the problem.

He first looked in the direction where Gao Wengui disappeared, and then his eyes fell on Fan and Hong: "Do you two have any countermeasures?"

"There is definitely a solution, but it requires Your Majesty to make a choice!" Fan Wencheng said a wise saying.

Seeing that Dorgon remained silent, Fan Wencheng said directly: "I have three plans."

"First, we will march north to look for the Ming army that has cut off our food supply. Once we find them, we will destroy them immediately."

"Second, divide the troops! Leave some to continue the confrontation with Li Dingguo, and the rest to go north to search for the traces of the Ming army."

"Third, call back Shi Tingzhu and order him to go north to protect the two routes!"

After listening to Fan Wencheng's three strategies, Dorgon was the first to rule out the third option.

He had finally cut off the Ming army's food supply. Once Shi Tingzhu was transferred back, the Ming army's food supply would be restored.

He then ruled out the first option.

Moving the troops northward meant no longer tying down Li Dingguo's main force.

At that time, Li Dingguo could go south to attack Shi Tingzhu or go north to pursue him.

After eliminating two options in succession, Dorgon only had one option left.

He seems to have a choice, but in fact he has no choice.

"Divide the troops," Dorgon said quickly, "Immediately divide the troops to chase the Ming army. We must catch up with them and ensure that our army is safe on both sides!"

"Your Highness, please choose a good general and dispatch the troops!" Lekedehun bowed and saluted beside him.

"Let Tan Tai lead 4,000 soldiers to pursue them!" Dorgon said after hesitating, "That Ming army only has 2,000! Our army has 4,000 against 2,000, so the advantage is still obvious!"

After receiving the order, Tan Tai did not dare to delay and immediately led 4,000 cavalry to chase after them.

The two cavalry units rushed towards the grassland one after the other.

Tan Tai's departure meant that Li Dingguo regained his military advantage near Guangning.

In terms of quantity.

Li Dingguo had 18,000 soldiers.

Among them, there were 8,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry.

In addition, there are a large number of guards who are not in the combat sequence.

These people can defend the city, but they cannot go out of the city to fight in the field.

Dorgon had 16,000 combat soldiers, all of whom were cavalry or mounted infantry.

Li Dingguo soon learned the news of Dorgon's division of troops through scouts.

He did not rush to send troops, but waited.

A day later, on the first day of August, Dorgon was the first to receive bad news: a grain transport team was attacked by the "Eight Banners Army" ten miles north of Zhenjing Fort, suffering heavy casualties and all the grain and grass were burned.

There was a problem with his food supply!