"We will attack Hetuala after the spring. What do you think is better, we should join our forces together or divide them up to attack?" Wang Yongji asked all the generals present.

No one spoke.

The question was too serious for them to answer.

Seeing that no one was talking, Wang Yongji said again: "The terrain is also a big problem. We have to find a way to send people to investigate in advance. Otherwise, it is easy to be ambushed by the Jiannu and lead to defeat."

Wu Sangui thought for a moment and suggested, "Governor, there are many surrendered Jiannu soldiers in the various armies. We can let them lead the way when the time comes."

"We can indeed let them lead the way, but the loyalty of the surrendered soldiers is limited. To be on the safe side, I think it is better to explore the road conditions in advance."

After Wang Yongji said this, a new question arose.

If we attack together, we only need to explore the situation of one road.

But if we divide our forces into several groups to attack, we need to explore several roads.

This not only requires a large amount of manpower and material resources, but also faces the threat of Jiannu cavalry.

"General," Gao Yigong suddenly asked, "I think the most urgent thing is to decide whether to split or join the troops, and then choose a route to advance. When the time comes, each unit will send out elite scouts to explore the road. Even if we are defeated when we encounter the Jiannu, we can still retreat safely."

"That's wrong!" Li Xianzhong waved his hand. "The battle plan cannot be formulated too early, otherwise it may be leaked. The Battle of Sarhu was defeated because of the leak of military intelligence."

Wu Sangui said confidently: "There are no outsiders among you present. You are all the backbone of the army who are deeply trusted by the court. Who would leak military information?"

"Ha!" Li Xianzhong didn't say anything and sneered.

Although he did not explicitly say that Wu Sangui was a suspect, the meaning of his sneer was self-evident.

Wu Sangui knew that the more he explained, the greater the suspicion would be, so he simply sneered and kept silent.

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly turned cold.

"General Li," Wang Yongji looked at Li Dingguo, "Do you think it is better to combine our forces to advance, or to attack separately?"

Li Dingguo thought for a moment and said, "I think that whether we divide our troops or unite them, we must investigate the conditions of each road."

"Why?" Wang Yongji asked puzzledly.

"There are four ways to attack Hetuala from Liaodong!" Li Dingguo pointed to the map on the shelf and said, "The first is to go south from Tieling to Sanchaerbao, pass Shangjian Cliff and reach Jiefanzhai behind Sarhu, and then to Gulezhai, Maerdunzhai, and Hetuala."

"The second route is to go east from Shenyang, pass Fushun and Fushun Pass, and arrive at Sarhu..."

"The third route is to go east along the Taizi River from Liaoyang, and after leaving Qinghe Fort, you will reach Yahu Pass, and behind it is Hetuala."

"The fourth route is to go north from Kuandian Fort and pass Abudaligang to Hetuala."

"Whether attacking or defending, you must be familiar with the conditions of these four roads. Otherwise, you will be completely in the dark when attacking, and you will not be able to organize defense according to the terrain advantages when defending."

"I understand the reason," Wang Yongji nodded and said, "but you can imagine how much manpower and resources it would take to investigate four roads at the same time."

"It's okay actually. Winter is here anyway and the scouts are just sitting there doing nothing. We might as well send them out to investigate. It would be best if there are results, but our army can bear it if there are no results." Li Dingguo replied with a smile.

Wang Yongji began to think.

Pathfinder is not as easy as imagined.

The first problem is not to get lost!

It is easiest to get lost on mountain roads.

Not only is it easy to get lost on mountain roads after heavy snow, it is also life-threatening.

If you want to find out where each path ends, you have to explore deeper.

The number of personnel needs to be doubled.

As the number of personnel increases, it is necessary to establish simple food routes.

The consumption of food and fodder also increased.

After careful consideration, Wang Yongji decided to follow Li Dingguo's advice.

The army that pacified Liao first gathered the scouts from various units together, and then divided the troops into three groups.

Except for the road going south from Tieling, the other three roads have all been explored.

While the army was busy pacifying the Liao Dynasty, Zheng Chenggong in Fujian was also busy.

At this time, he had already received news from the court ordering him to send troops.

He did not set out immediately, but waited for his second uncle Zheng Hongkui to meet him.

Zheng Hongkui went to sea.

They said they were going to fight pirates, but in reality they were selling the flag of Zheng’s caravan to passing merchant ships.

If a merchant ship bought his flag, he would order it to pass.

If the merchant ships did not comply, he would order the navy to bombard them in the name of fighting pirates.

Although there were cannons on merchant ships, they were inferior to those of the Fujian Navy in both quantity and quality.

In order to avoid losing both money and people, merchant ships had no choice but to pay to avoid disaster.

On October 25, Zheng Chenggong, who was ready, came to Zheng Zhilong's yard, intending to say goodbye to him.

Shi Lang stopped Zheng Chenggong at the gate and said, "Young Master, please stay."

"What's wrong?" Zheng Chenggong asked.

"The general is meeting an important guest and it is not convenient to see you now. Please go back for the time being, and I will come to invite you after the general has finished meeting the guest." Shi Lang replied.

"How could a guest be more important than me?" Zheng Chenggong complained deliberately.

"Master, please forgive me. I don't know the other party's identity either."

"Okay then," Zheng Chenggong turned around and then turned back.

He looked at Shi Lang quietly without saying a word.

Shi Lang felt a little uneasy when being stared at. He subconsciously took a half step back and asked, "Master, is there something wrong?"

"There is one thing indeed," Zheng Chenggong stepped forward, "I heard before that someone in the Zheng caravan was smuggling to the Jiannu, so I investigated for a while, but found nothing."

Shi Lang pretended to be confused even though he knew the truth: "Master, you are worrying too much. The Zheng caravan did start out by smuggling, and it has not stopped yet."

"But the principle is not to smuggle to Liaodong and North Korea. All merchant ships in the caravan strictly abide by this rule!"

"No!" Zheng Chenggong shook his head coldly, "Someone broke the rules."

"Who?" Shi Lang asked calmly, "Master, please tell me his name, and I will immediately capture him and confront him face to face."

"Just kidding!" Zheng Chenggong said with a big laugh.

"Young Master, please stop making jokes like this in the future. It's not funny at all." Shi Lang laughed.

What he didn't notice was that there was a hint of indifference in Zheng Chenggong's smile.