As for the total strength of the Ming army in Liaodong at present, except for Liaozhen, which is the strongest and can compete with the main force of the Jiannu, the troops in Liaonan and Dongjiang headquarters are unable to withstand the concentrated attack of the Jiannu.
If the Jiannu did not engage in direct confrontation with the Ming army in western Liaoning, but instead voluntarily gave up Liaochen and attacked the Dongjiang headquarters or the Ming army in southern Liaoning, they would at least have a clear advantage in terms of military strength.
The Dongjiang headquarters consisted of three armies, with a strength of 24,000 to 25,000 men. Adding the expanded cavalry, the entire army would not exceed 30,000 men.
In southern Liaoning, there are two divisions from Dongjiang and three divisions from Dengzhen. Excluding the troops defending the recovered land, the mobile forces are counted as four divisions, which is more reliable.
Similarly, the four alliances had a total of 32,000 to 33,000 troops, and they did not have the advantage to crush the entire Jiannu army.
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao considered it over and over again and felt that it was a bit presumptuous for the three parties to move at the same time, forcing the Jiannu to divide their troops to resist and thus fall into a completely passive position.
Of course, if the Jiannu wanted to defeat the Ming army in southern Liaoning or the Dongjiang headquarters, they would have to pay a huge price.
Now is not the time for the Battle of Sarhu, and the Ming army is not a force cobbled together from Liaoning, Sichuan, Gansu, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places, which is short of food and pay, has low morale, and has not yet been integrated.
With the current weapons and equipment and fighting spirit of the Ming army, it would be very difficult for the Jiannu to defeat the Ming army in southern Liaoning or the Dongjiang headquarters.
Despite this, Zhu Youxiao still had to try his best to achieve a decisive victory in pacifying Liao.
"Jianzhou is a place that the Jiannu must defend and will not give up, right?" After listening to the Liu brothers' supplementary stories, the emperor found a chance and asked.
The emperor still insisted on the idea of attacking the enemy's must-defend territory, forcing the Jiannu to divide their forces, and thus weakening the forces they could assemble.
Liu Xingzuo thought for a moment and replied cautiously, "Jianzhou is where I launched my rebellion, and it holds extraordinary significance. I believe the Jiannu will not give up easily."
"What about Liaochen?" the emperor continued, "Liaochen or Jianzhou, which one is more important?"
Liu Xingzuo looked embarrassed, as it was really difficult to answer this question.
For example, one is an ancestral residence, which is passed down from ancestors and has great significance; the other is a new house, which is large and spacious and comfortable to live in.
Liu Xingren blinked his eyes, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I think Liao is more important than Jianzhou."
Zhu Youxiao smiled faintly and said nothing, but his eyes showed encouragement.
Liu Xingren reorganized his thoughts and said, "Although I ascended the throne and established the country in Hetuala, Jianzhou, after the capital was moved to Liaoyang, all my relatives moved away. I heard that Hetuala is in great ruins..."
After being accustomed to eating delicious food, who would want to eat cornbread and pickles? After being accustomed to living in a luxurious house, who would want to reminisce about the good old days?
The words were rough but the logic was sound. Zhu Youxiao believed that this was what Liu Xingren was saying.
Furthermore, retreating to Jianzhou would have meant that the Later Jin had reached its end and could only linger. Don't assume the Jurchens were a monolithic group, or that they would simply flee in the face of disaster.
Therefore, if Liaoning is lost, it will not only be a serious political and military defeat, but also a heavy blow to people's hearts.
If possible, Jiannu would naturally want both the old and new capitals. But when faced with a choice, Liaoshen is clearly more important than Jianzhou.
Zhu Youxiao became more certain of his new plan, and asked the Liu brothers about the strengths and weaknesses of the Jiannu and the mountains, rivers and streams of Liaodong, so that he had a better idea of the situation.
Returning to the throne, Zhu Youxiao said with a gentle smile, "The Ministry of War has already informed you of the court's arrangements, right?"
"Your Majesty, I have already understood." Liu Xingzuo bowed and said, "First, go to the martial arts school to study, and then arrange for a military post."
Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Learning martial arts is a must for military officers. You must study diligently and not be careless or lazy. Next year, there will be a major war in Liaodong. Whether you can lead the troops into battle will also depend on your performance in martial arts."
After a pause, Zhu Youxiao's face turned serious, and he said in a deep voice: "I intend to hand over the most elite and powerful army of my Ming Dynasty to you, but it depends on whether you have the ability to do so and whether you can make me feel at ease."
Liu Xingzuo and Liu Xingren hurriedly bowed and expressed that they would never let the emperor down and would work hard in martial arts.
Zhu Youxiao seemed pleased and satisfied, and gave them a few more words of encouragement before ordering the two to leave.
After the two men left the hall, the emperor thought for a while, then stood up and walked to the sand table, stroking his chin and studying it.
Since Jianzhou ranks second, Jiannu is unlikely to mobilize its main force to protect it; since Liaochen is Jiannu’s top priority for defense, facing the heavy troop restraint of Liaozhen, it must leave behind a considerable number of troops.
With this judgment, the Dongjiang headquarters' troops were ordered to move north along the Yalu River, break through Tonghua, and then attack Jianzhou directly.
How many troops could the Jiannu use to defend? According to current intelligence, there were only two banners. Even if reinforcements were drawn from Liaoning and Shenyang, it would only be two banners at most.
If you can reinforce, can't I transfer troops? Taking advantage of the speed and convenience of sea transportation, transferring two or three detachments from southern Liaoning to join the battle can still create a troop advantage on the local battlefield.
If a stalemate could be formed in Jianzhou, and Liaozhen launched another attack, with the support of the Ming army in southern Liaoning, the Jiannu in Liaoshen would be crushed.
This is good. We can launch them one by one and see how the Jiannu deal with them, and then we can respond accordingly.
Giving the Jiannu room to choose seems to be better than forcing them to have only one path to take.
Moreover, the fall of the Khorchin tribe meant that the Jiannu lost their buffer zone with the other Mongol tribes. After this shock, the five Inner Khalkha tribes should have become more resolute in their pro-Ming stance.
If the five Inner Khalkha tribes were assisted by part of the Ming army, they could have entered the Jiannu-occupied area from the Liaohe area and attacked Kaiyuan and Tieling... Tieling would have been a pretty big city in later generations!
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