Inside Shanhaiguan, Li Qin looked at the military report in his hand, which was being submitted by his younger brother, Li Wenqi.
He nodded in satisfaction.
His worst fears ultimately did not come true.
Jinzhou was eventually captured.
Li Wenqi has also completely incorporated the 20,000 garrison troops of Jinzhou.
According to Li Wenqi's report, many of the so-called 20,000 garrison troops in Jinzhou were actually elderly, weak, women, and children.
There are only about seven thousand people with combat capabilities.
He had already reorganized and incorporated these seven thousand-plus people into his own ranks.
They said that when they fight against the imperial army in the future, they should let them lead the charge.
But what made Li Qin happiest was that the huge group of enemies from Jinzhou was finally gone from behind him.
In case we lose a battle against the imperial court in the future.
I can completely retreat to my hometown outside the Great Wall without worrying about being blocked.
At the end of the military report, Li Wenqi said that he would soon lead the army to Shanhaiguan to join him.
After putting down Li Wenqi's military report, Li Qin picked up Li Xuanshang's military report, in which he had already led his army to clear out the military fortresses and cities in Liaoxi.
According to Li Xuanshang's description, these military fortresses and cities basically surrendered on their own initiative upon seeing his large army, with very few putting up a firm resistance.
He will soon be able to lead his army to clear out these military fortresses and cities in western Liaoning.
Li Qin wrote a note at the end of the military report, instructing him to expedite the process.
He then looked at Li Wenqi's military report and made a comment, instructing him to take over the seven thousand men recruited from Jinzhou, as well as the other several thousand elderly, weak, sick, and disabled men.
All of them were assigned to Li Xuanshang, who was instructed to command them to attack the city. Li Xuanshang was also told that after capturing a military fortress, he should organize the surrendered and captured soldiers into a surrendered army camp.
To distinguish them, let them fly green flags and call them the Green Flag Battalion.
Let them charge ahead and take over those cities.
Let him lead his 20,000 infantrymen to hold the line from behind.
Try to minimize casualties among our 20,000 headquarters personnel.
My current assets consist of just over 100,000 yuan.
Those are all treasures; we can't let them suffer too many casualties.
He plans to lead them into a decisive battle against the imperial court in the future.
This military report also served as a reminder to Li Qin regarding the handling of surrendered soldiers.
I should also come up with a plan for these surrendered soldiers.
After all, conquering the world in the future will require military strength, and his own force of over 100,000 men is clearly insufficient.
We need a much larger force.
However, recruiting and training those farm boys was too time-consuming.
Moreover, the only area under my effective control right now is Liaodong.
Currently, it is already difficult to support its own army of over 100,000 in Liaodong alone.
The troops that I want to form into combat-ready forces immediately will rely on these surrendered soldiers.
Li Qin immediately wrote a letter to his younger brother, Li Wenqi, instructing him to treat the officers who had surrendered during the Battle of Jinzhou with kindness.
He would bring them all to Shanhaiguan and offer them high-ranking official positions and generous salaries.
Is it worth spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones?
After all, they were the first to voluntarily surrender during their own rebellion.
The goal is to leave the impression on the armies you're about to face that surrendering will guarantee you high-ranking positions and generous rewards.
Finally, Li Qin looked at some other military reports.
After capturing Shanhaiguan, he controlled the passage to the capital.
On the very first day of occupying Shanhaiguan, he had already sent countless spies to infiltrate the capital, Jizhou, Tianjin and other places.
He was tasked with constantly monitoring the court's movements and reporting them to him promptly.
According to the news that just came back, all three major military camps in the capital have been assembled.
Moreover, all kinds of troops, weapons, and provisions are being prepared, and laborers are being recruited from various places.
Most importantly, Li Qin learned some news that surprised him the most.
That is, Emperor Zhu Qizhen of the Great Wu was actually going to personally lead an expedition.
They said they would personally lead an expedition against him to avenge the death of the crown prince.
This was the most unexpected thing for Li Qin.
He originally thought he would be facing a famous general like Zhang Fu.
But now it's Zhu Qizhen, an emperor who has never been on the battlefield, who is in command.
He suddenly felt his chances of winning were skyrocketing.
However, Li Qin was also concerned about one thing: the emperor's personal expedition.
The imperial court will certainly deploy all its elite forces; the imperial guards from the capital will all be there.
He will be facing a lineup far more impressive than ever before.
It's estimated that the imperial court's meritorious officials and generals will all come along.
However, the thought that their commander was actually Emperor Zhu Qizhen came to mind.
He suddenly felt less afraid.
I even felt that the advantage was on my side.
With the emperor personally leading the expedition and the court's elite forces deployed, the scale of the operation must have required some preparation time.
Li Qin then looked at the intelligence reports sent back by his spies in Jizhou and Tianjin.
The troops in Jizhou and Tianjin are also assembling and will likely join the main army on the expedition.
Li Qin paid the most attention to Jizhou, which was adjacent to the capital and was an important town to the north of the capital.
There are 70,000 elite troops stationed in Jizhou. They are well-trained and well-supplied, and they can definitely go toe-to-toe with his Liaodong troops.
Especially Zhao Shuaizhen, the garrison commander of Jizhou, was a fierce general who fought against the Tatars on the grasslands for many years.
They set out together with the imperial army of over 200,000, plus tens of thousands of troops in Tianjin.
That would be an army of nearly 300,000.
He has at most around 100,000 in Shanhaiguan.
I am in an extremely disadvantageous position.
However, his best news was that this pack of tigers was being led by a pig.
For some reason, as long as Emperor Zhu Qizhen was on the other side, he felt that the game was in the bag.
However, I still need to improve my strength as much as possible.
I still have Zhang Hengshuo leading 30,000 troops in Liaodong.
But what they had to face was 40,000 Jurchen cavalry.
I wonder what decision Wanyan Jian is planning to make?
He should have already received my letter.
He should be making a decision soon.
Once he leaves with the Jurchen cavalry, Zhang Hengshuo's 30,000 troops can be transferred to his side.
Moreover, once Wanyan Jian's 40,000 Jurchen cavalrymen arrived on the battlefield, they would be able to fight even without his intervention.
As long as he appears on the battlefield, he can tie down a large number of the imperial army.
After all, the Jurchens have come to the battlefield; you can't possibly be completely unprepared, can you?
You must leave a large number of troops to contain them.
That would greatly reduce your stress.
He had already written to Zhang Hengshuo, instructing him to report any actions taken by the Jurchens to him immediately.
As for Shanhaiguan, Wei Xiaokuan, whom I recently appointed, is currently repairing a section of the Great Wall in the northwest of Shanhaiguan.
He said that once that place was breached, the enemy could circle around to the rear of Shanhaiguan.
Therefore, repairs are necessary.
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