After not seeing each other for several months, Hu Dabao is much stronger than before, no longer as skinny as before, and he speaks with full energy.

But his one-eyed dragon costume remained unchanged. Although he was wearing the armor of the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers, he looked more like a pirate.

Yang Zhen looked at him, thinking about what he said, and finally nodded, indicating that he agreed with his point of view.

When the Manchu Tatars rebuilt Xiongyue City, they unexpectedly built a bastion. They even built a bastion in Gaizhou City behind them. On the one hand, it certainly shows that this Dorgon does have his brilliance.

On the other hand, it also shows that Dorgon's mentality has undergone some subtle changes.

By doing this, is he switching from offense to defense?

You must know that in the past, the Manchu Tatars had always maintained an offensive, basically chasing various Ming armies, rarely thinking about repairing the city and fortifications, and assuming a defensive posture.

So they are now starting to learn how to build more bastions on their own, does that mean they have to switch from offense to defense?

Although the addition of bastions to the city where the Tartars were stationed seemed to be detrimental to Yang Zhen's subsequent battles, the grand strategic situation revealed by this sign made Yang Zhen somewhat happy.

This shows that the rapid rise of the Manchu Tatars since Nuerhachi has shown signs of fatigue. Although it cannot be said that it has reached the end of its strength, it has at least been curbed to a certain extent.

Yang Zhen remembered that last year, he had destroyed the gang of profiteers along the border in Xuanfu and interrupted an extremely important source of food, ironware, saltpeter, sulfur and other materials for the Manchu Tatars. To this day, other

The consequences should also be reflected.

Thinking back to the fact that the Manchu Tatars sent a mission to Hanyang City not long ago to ask the Li Dynasty to borrow troops, grain, and ships to help them fight, Yang Zhen's heart became clearer.

"Haha, this Ruijun Prince Dorgon is a ghost, but the reason behind this makes sense after thinking about it. They captured so many heavy artillery pieces by us during the battle at Guanma Mountain

, as long as you have some knowledge, you should really worry about us using heavy artillery to attack their city!"

Yang Zhen did not express his innermost judgment directly, but he gave an explanation that everyone could understand. Everyone nodded in response.

In Yang Zhen's view, the conquest of the East and the Ping Lu will be a general war. Seeking victory on the battlefield is only one aspect, and it is a relatively difficult aspect. In addition, there are other aspects that require a multi-pronged approach.

For example, economic warfare, try to eliminate the external sources of supplies for the Tatars as much as possible, and cut off their trade channels with the profiteers entrenched at the borders of Xuanfu.

In many people's minds, it seems that Manchu Tatars mainly rely on archery and archery to win battles, but in fact this is not the case.

During the Huang Taiji period, the Manchu Tatars were no longer a pure cold weapon force. Their firearms equipment was even higher than that of the Ming army, and the firearms equipment were much more sophisticated than the Ming army.

It is these firearms and equipment, coupled with the bow and horse riding and shooting that they are already good at, that make them so powerful in combat that they seem to be invincible in the world.

However, all teams with a relatively high degree of firearms have a common weakness compared with teams that use cold weapons, and that is their heavy reliance on material supplies from the rear, especially specific material supplies such as gunpowder projectiles.

The Ming Dynasty had a large population, and by the end of the Ming Dynasty, although its national strength was exhausted, it was still far better than the small country of Donglu and Houjin. But why was it that despite repeated defeats, it could not defeat the small Donglu and Houjin?

There are of course many reasons for this, but one factor cannot be ignored, and that is that after the rise of the Jurchens in Jianzhou, the Ming army of the Jin Kingdom, which went out to conquer the Eastern Han Dynasty, relied too much on logistical supplies from the rear.

It was as if they no longer knew how to fight without a strong city to store food and shelter, and without enough cannons and ammunition to suppress the enemy's offensive.

In the end, for them, all they had to do to conquer the Eastern Pinglu was to keep building the city, keep asking for food and wages, keep asking for reinforcements, and keep stocking up on ammunition. There was no other way they could think of.

This is a true portrayal of how the Ming Dynasty fell apart after the end of Wanli's reign until it was overwhelmed by heavy financial burdens.

However, this terminal illness that eventually led to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty and the collapse of the world has now shown some early signs and symptoms in the so-called Qing Dynasty full of Tatars.

For Yang Zhen, if the Manchu Tatars want to build a city or build a bastion, that's good. Then go ahead and build it. It's best to start from Xiongyue City and go all the way north to Liaoyang City, Shengjing City, and Fushun City.

To their home base, the city of Hetuala.

In Yang Zhen's view, with the current national strength of the Manchu Tatar Qing Dynasty, if they did this, they would not have to do anything else, and they would be unable to do anything else. Sooner or later, their national strength would be exhausted and they would perish without a fight.

Of course, Yang Zhen couldn't explain the complicated relationship at the moment, and there was no need for him to tell everything about it when facing the generals on the North Road.

"Here, the Governor pioneered the bastion method when he was in Songshan City, and its defensive effectiveness has long been verified. If the Governor has the intention to go north in the future, he cannot take Dorgon's construction of additional bastions lightly!"

Lu Pinqi, the commander-in-chief of the North Road Assistance Guard, saw that Yang Zhen had calmed down from his initial surprise and seemed not to take Dorgon's building of additional forts seriously, so he immediately reminded Yang Zhen.

"Moreover, recently the Manchu Tatars over Xiongyue City seem to have shown signs of going south to build forts at Shipeng Mountain and even Xuguan Fort. If Dorgon had people build forts at Xuguan Fort and Shipeng Mountain, it wouldn't take much.

With just a few cannons, our road heading north from Fuzhou City will be cut off!"

"Oh? Is this possible?"

After listening to what Lu Pinqi said, Yang Zhen raised his head to look at Hu Dabao again, and saw Hu Dabao nodding and saying: "According to personal inquiries from my humble position, I am afraid that Mantatar has already chosen an address and may start construction at any time. Over there at Xiongyue City

The construction is about to be completed, but the quarries in the Shipeng Mountain area are still working day and night, and the stones are piled up like mountains, which is proof."

"Yes, Governor, if the Governor intends to go north, we must go north as soon as possible. If they wait until they have built the castle fort in Xuguan Fort and stationed troops and horses, it will be even more difficult for us to cross the river in the future.

Got it!"

After Lu Pinqi and Hu Dabao reported the situation to Yang Zhen, Xu Changyong, who was sitting on the side, also eagerly opened his mouth to express his thoughts.

"If the governor has no intention of going north for the time being, then it is better to ask our old Xu Duo to send light cavalry to go north to defeat the Manchu Tatar craftsmen and people who are building the city on the old site of Xu Guanbao, so as to interfere with and delay the progress of their city building. In short

, we cannot allow them to smoothly block our way north from Jinhai Town!"

"The way to the north of our Jinhai Town? Hahahaha, Brother Xu, you think too highly of Dorgon, and your vision is still limited to the land opposite Jinhai North Road!"

After listening to what Xu Changyong said, Yang Zhen couldn't help laughing at first, and then pointed out the narrowness of his vision.

"You can send small groups of troops from time to time to monitor the Fudu River area of ​​Guanma Mountain in the north, or harass the troops sent by Dorgon to build the city there. However, there is no need to take it too seriously."

Yang Zhen not only didn't care at all about Dorgon's approach of recruiting manpower to overhaul the castle, but he also seemed a little happy to see it succeed.

Therefore, as soon as he said what he said, not only did Xu Changyong widen his eyes and scratch his head, not understanding what he meant, but Lu Pinqi, Zhang Degui and others were also confused as to what kind of medicine Yang Zhen bought in his gourd.

"Haha, if Dorgon is willing to build a city, then let him build it with all his strength. Anyway, the cities and fortresses he builds in the future will belong to us sooner or later. The better he builds them now, the easier it will be for us in the future!"

"What does the governor mean? In the future, when we conquer the Eastern Pinglu and march northward, we will not go through Xiongyue, Gaizhou, or overland?"

When Lu Pinqi heard what Yang Zhen said, he saw Hu Changhe, Gao Chengyou and the other generals in the navy battalion thinking thoughtfully, with joy on their faces. He immediately reacted in his heart and somewhat understood Yang Zhen's intention.

"Who said that conquering the East Pinglu must take the land route? Since we in Jinhai Town carry the word "sea", we have to eat from the sea. If we can't go by land, can we take the sea route?"

Yang Zhen's idea was of course to take the sea route.

Seeing that Lu Pinqi also realized this, he smiled and said to everyone: "Although we have won several battles, the situation on land is still that the enemy is strong and we are weak. Since the enemy is strong and we are weak on land, then

Of course we must exploit our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, and of course we must use our own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses!"

When Yang Zhen said this, everyone suddenly came to their senses, including Xu Changyong, who also slapped his forehead and lamented why he had never thought of the sea route, which made everyone laugh.

"Haha, Lao Xu, you guys are cavalrymen and are used to fighting on land. You always think about problems from the perspective of land warfare offensive and defensive. You need to correct this shortcoming in the future. If you encounter problems, you can ask the naval battalion for their opinions.

Ask Hu Changhai more about their thoughts.

"We must know that the sea around us is definitely not just a natural moat to isolate the enemy from ourselves. If used properly, it will definitely become a thoroughfare for our Jinhai Town to conquer the East and make achievements in the future, and a thoroughfare extending in all directions!"

"only--"

"Just what?"

Yang Zhen saw that everyone was speechless for a moment but his old subordinate Xiang Ma Zhuang, the artillery commander guarding the camp in Fuzhou City, seemed to have something to say, so he immediately asked him.

When Ma Zhuang saw that his hesitant behavior attracted Yang Zhen's attention, he stopped being cautious. He took a step forward, stood up from behind the generals, bowed and clasped his fists and said to Yang Zhen:
Chapter completed!