"Repairing the broken city wall by pouring water into ice?! So, Yang Zhen really has a few capable people under his command."

Huang Taiji listened to the situation described to him by Jilharang and Guarjaturai in person. After thinking about it for a while, he understood the reason. For a while, he did not hide his reaction to Yang Zhen and his subordinates.

Praise for the method.

But when he thought about this, his ultimate move of using heavy artillery to siege the city might be greatly compromised, and the siege might really last for a long time, and he began to feel a little depressed.

Because Huang Taiji had left Shengjing for more than 20 days, the grain and grass reserves he brought with the army from Shengjing this time were not much left.

Even if the troops and horses of each banner live frugally, they may not be able to hold on for long, let alone fight for a long time.

If it were in other seasons, such as spring, autumn, and especially summer, the lack of food and grass for the soldiers and horses of the various banners would not be a serious problem. After all, people can hunt and horses can eat grass.

However, under the ice and snow like today, once the army is short of food and grass, it will be impossible to obtain decent supplies from the mountains, forests and snowy fields in a short time.

It seems that it is indeed time to make a decision as soon as possible.

Huang Taiji secretly made up his mind. Since Zhenjiang Fort could not be captured quickly, once the surrender failed, he must divide his troops across the river as soon as possible and plunder grain, grass, people and livestock from the court people to make up for the lack of his own army.

Thinking of this, Huang Taiji suddenly remembered a detail reported by Jirharang and Tu Lai just now, and asked: "Just now, I heard you mention that you have been bombarding the city with heavy artillery these past few days, and Yang Zhen's side,

But there’s no decent counterattack?”

Hearing Huang Taiji's question, Zhen Guar Jia Tulai, the Qinglu Zhenghuang Banner Gushan'e who was ordered to divide his troops to garrison Weihua Island, immediately answered truthfully:

"In answer to my master, the truth is exactly like this. My servant and King Huaishun shelled the east wall of Zhenjiang Fort from Waihua Island. It is clear that there are heavy artillery at the top of Zhenjiang Gate, and the range is enough to hit Waihua Island, but in the past two days, they have only fired

One shot.

"Also, after the Yajiang River froze, I and King Huaishun were ordered to lead their troops to Weihua Island, blocking the only way out on the east side of Zhenjiang Fort. If the soldiers and horses in the city had any intention of escaping, then that night would be the last

Opportunity. But the servants and King Huaishun were lying in ambush nearby all night, but there was no movement in the city, which is really puzzling."

"oh?"

After hearing the answer from his confidant Guarjiaturai, Huang Taiji just said thoughtfully, and then turned his eyes to Jierhalang, the king of Zheng County.

"Prince Zheng, how is the situation at the west gate of Zhenjiang Fort?"

"Well, the situation at the west gate of Zhenjiang Fort in the past few days is almost the same as what Tu Lai said. However, the emperor's question today reminded me of something."

Recently, Jierhalang has been personally stationed at the west camp of Zhenjiangbao City in accordance with Huang Taiji's order, so he basically knows everything about Tangshan Gate City.

"That day, the emperor ordered Gang Atai to take advantage of the snowy weather to come in for reconnaissance, which caused a commotion on the city. This incident was not surprising.

"But just after the sentinel Artai left, nearly an hour later, there was another commotion on the city for a while, which lasted almost until dawn before it became quiet.

"Looking at it, it seems that there are more people patrolling the city, but it doesn't quite seem like it. There must be more people and horses, and the march is a bit slower. Now that I think about the posture, it seems like they are looking for something valuable."

Huang Taiji's intention to try to recruit Yang Zhen again is still limited to the scope of his knowledge on that day, and he has not mentioned it to Jierhalang.

Therefore, even now, Jierhalang does not know that Huang Taiji sent Gang Atai to brave the wind and snow that day to approach the trench of Zhenjiang Fort, not for close reconnaissance, but for a letter of surrender to the enemy.

However, when Jirharang said this, Tu Lai suddenly seemed to have some realization and quickly raised his eyes to look at Huang Taiji who was sitting on the couch.

At this time, Huang Taiji had obviously realized what might be behind Yang Zhen's abnormal reaction in Zhenjiang City in the past few days.

——Could it be that the previous letter had an effect?

——But if Yang Zhen really wants to surrender, then he should send someone out of the city to contact him, right?

——Is it just like the situation in Dalinghe City back then, where the generals in the city couldn't agree on the same opinion?

Huang Taiji frowned and pondered for a long time, and finally felt that there was still the third possibility. In other words, the generals in the city had different opinions, and Yang Zhen was undecided. This was the most likely possibility.

After all, I have shown considerable sincerity this time, and I believe Yang Zhen cannot be completely unmoved.

When Huang Taiji thought of this, he first looked at Jierhalang, then at Fan Wencheng and Gang Lin, and saw the latter two nodding towards him.

At that moment, he no longer hesitated and turned to Jierhalang and said: "Prince Zheng, do you know that in the wind and snow that night, I ordered Gang Atai to personally lead a small team of elite cavalry to approach the north west wall of Zhenjiang. Why?

thing?"

Among all the people present, only Jierhalang did not know that Huang Taiji still had an attempt to recruit Yang Zhen, and had already asked Gang Atai to deliver a letter of surrender to Zhenjiang Fort.

Although Jierhalang felt that what happened that night was a bit strange, he did not think about recruiting Yang Zhen to surrender.

After all, many of the things Huang Taiji did in the past were unexpected, and Jierhalang was not used to it and was too lazy to think about it.

However, Huang Taiji asked this question at this time, which immediately aroused his suspicion. Could it be that that night, Gang Atai bypassed him and did not enter his camp, and left the Garbush Xianchao of the Bajala camp with the blue flag?

You have to enter the long fortress of the siege by yourself. Do you really have an ulterior plan?

However, what is this plan that is hidden from him and not informed by him?

"This——, could it be that the emperor's master specially asked people to come and observe closely, but he had a deeper meaning?"

Jierhalang already had suspicions in his heart, and was secretly unhappy that Huang Taiji had made other plans without telling him, but in front of Huang Taiji, he just asked a question cautiously.

"It was also because I had not yet made up my mind that day, so I did not make it public. Judging from the recent situation, the matter of sending people to Zhenjiang Castle to recruit Yang Zhen should be decided as soon as possible."

"Recruit Yang Zhen?!"

Jierhalang never expected that Huang Taiji actually planned to send people to Zhenjiang Fort to recruit Yang Zhen to surrender. At this moment, when he suddenly heard Huang Taiji's words about recruiting Yang Zhen to surrender, he was stunned and full of anger.

"That's right, it means recruiting Yang Zhen to surrender. I have thought about it and found that if we want to defeat others without fighting, this is the only shortcut."

"Master, I understand my master's painstaking efforts. I don't want our soldiers of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty to suffer too many casualties in retaking the Zhenjiang Fort, so I just hope to win without a fight."

Jierhalang actually understands and understands Huang Taiji's thoughts.

Because after the unexpected fall of Zhenjiang Castle, Jierhalang did not immediately mobilize troops and horses to launch a massive counterattack. The reason was also because he considered the huge cost of leading his army to storm the fortified city.

"But Yang Zhen's mind has always been cunning and unpredictable. He is best at hiding the truth and fishing in troubled waters, and he has always been full of hostility towards our Qing Dynasty. If he pretends to open the city to surrender, but actually lays an ambush in the city, the result will be unpredictable.

"Or maybe he simply used the opportunity of leaving the city to pretend to surrender to get close to us, and then did other unpredictable things. Wouldn't it be that we fell into Yang Zhen's trick? Master, we must not ignore this!"

Ji Erhalang's remarks can be considered reasonable and well-founded.

Because Yang Zhen had indeed resorted to many tricks before and deceived the Qing captives several times.

There are some things that Huang Taiji himself has not forgotten.

However, the current situation in the Qing Dynasty is somewhat different, especially Huang Taiji's current prestige and physical condition are not as good as before. All of this has caused his mentality and many of his considerations to be very different from before.

Although Huang Taiji is currently outside Zhenjiang Fort, he has more than just Zhenjiang Fort in his heart.

For him, it was of course entirely possible to risk thousands of troops and capture the Zhenjiang Fort.

As long as he doesn't pay any price and sacrifices at all costs, the mere Zhenjiang Castle will be completely out of his sight.

But after Zhenjiang Fort was captured, what about the so-called Zhuanghe Fort City, Fuzhou City, Jinzhou City, Lushunkou, and other garrisoned cities and fortresses under the control of Jinhai Town?

Do you really want to continue to lead half of the main force of the Qing Dynasty and fight against it with real swords and guns?

If you do this, the men and horses you have in your hands may be wiped out in just a few cities. By then, will the Qing Kingdom still be yours?

Of course Jierhalang would not consider these issues, but Huang Taiji had to consider these issues clearly.

However, correspondingly, if the recruitment and surrender of Yang Zhen is successful, the benefits, or the temptation, that can be brought to him are too great for him to be tempted.

In the original history, Huang Taiji's attitude towards Zu Dashou was also the same.

The reason why he never gave up the idea of ​​recruiting Zu Dashou to surrender was because he started recruiting surrender at the Battle of Daling River in the fourth year of Chongzhen's reign and continued until he successfully surrendered in Jinzhou City in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen's reign. This is also the reason.

That is, for Huang Taiji, once Zu Dashou surrenders, many fortified cities in western Liaoning will not need to be fought at all, and they will definitely surrender.

In the original history, the development of the Songjin War and the situation in western Liaoning was almost exactly the same as Huang Taiji's judgment. After Zu Dashou surrendered in Kaicheng, Jinzhou, Xingshan City surrendered without a fight. Wu Sangui, who was stationed in Ningyuan City, gave up Ningyuan and retreated all the way to Shanhaiguan.

The Ningjin Defense Line, which stood tall on the land of western Liaoning for decades, no longer exists.

Of course, in this life, especially now, Huang Taiji did not see this result, nor could he see it coming, but he firmly believed that his strategy would not only be successful, but also profitable.
Chapter completed!