When Li Yan talked about the number of people in the Eight Banners Army in Manchuria, no one was too surprised.

There are not many Jurchens in the first place. The Eight Banners of Manchuria that were able to form about 70,000 people before were all due to the absorption of the savage Jurchens and the conversion of a small number of Mongolians, Hans and even Koreans into the Eight Banners of Manchuria.

However, the fighting power of the Eight Banners of Manchuria was indeed fierce in the past, which fully explained what is meant by "the Jurchens are invincible if there are not even ten thousand Jurchens".

However, with the significant increase in the firepower of the Ming Dynasty's new army, such as flintlocks, bright artillery, tiger squat cannons, and grenades, as well as the significant improvement in other equipment levels, the Jurchens' strong combat effectiveness in cold weapon combat was greatly reduced.

Restricted.

What's more, the combat effectiveness of the Manchuria Eight Banners Army of the Qing Dynasty was originally inferior to that of the Nurhaci and Huang Taiji periods.

In addition, in the past, the Qing captives were supported by the cannons and muskets of King Sanshun, but in the Battle of Yangzhou, almost the entire army of Kong Youde's army was destroyed, which also reduced part of the Qing captives' combat power.

Thinking of this, the officials of the Military Academy were even more excited and full of confidence in this Northern Expedition.

Zhu Dadian then asked: "Approximately how many Qinglu Green Camp troops are there now?"

Li Yan said: "The Green Camp Army of the Qing Dynasty mainly came from surrendered government troops, shun troops and even bandits. In the past, the Qing Army actually had high requirements for the quality of the Green Camp Army soldiers.

But after the Battle of Yangzhou, the Qing army would probably relax restrictions in this area in order to increase its troop strength as soon as possible.

Therefore, the Staff Department estimates that there are at least 150,000 Green Camp soldiers in the four provinces of Shaanxi, Shaanxi, Beizhili, and Shandong, and may even be as many as 200,000."

Some people couldn't help but frown when they heard the figure of 150,000 to 200,000 - this number was quite large. Even if the combat power was not high, it would bring considerable obstacles to the Ming army's Northern Expedition.

"Is it possible to instigate some of the Green Camp Army to rebel?" Yang Tinglin stood up and said, "Now that the Qing captives are in obvious decline, I believe it shouldn't be difficult to instigate a rebellion against the Green Camp Army, right?"

Li Yan smiled and said, "It's not difficult. The Military Intelligence Department is already doing this, but we won't see the results until we launch the Northern Expedition."

Hearing this, many people nodded.

If some of the Green Camp troops could be instigated to rebel, the Ming Dynasty would undoubtedly be more certain of winning this time.

After discussing military strategy and military situation, the ministers of the Military Council then discussed issues such as logistics and military supplies...

This military meeting was held for three consecutive days before it was finally concluded.

When the time came to September 17, the Shaanxi Front troops divided into four groups and simultaneously launched a battle to regain Xi'an Prefecture, Yan'an Prefecture, and Yulin Town.

A few days later, Yulin City.

Looking at the slowly opening city gate and a simple "Ming" flag raised at the top of the city, Li Guo and Gao Yigong couldn't help but look at each other.

Gao Yigong said: "Again, the green battalion soldiers are defending the city, and they just open the door and offer sacrifices to the city? It seems that it will not be easy for us to fight a battle."

Previously, after the Qing rebels tightened their defense lines in Shaanxi, the remnants of the Shun army led by Li Guo and Gao Yigong took advantage of the situation and occupied the new and old Anbian camps, Liushujian and Ningsai camps in the west of Yulin Town.

After receiving Lu Daqi's order asking them to recover Yulin Town, the two marched eastward along the Inner Great Wall.

I thought there would be a lot of fierce battles. After all, Yulin Town is an important frontier fortress with many forts surrounding the city.

Unexpectedly, as they walked all the way under the banner of the Ming Army, the forts and gates they encountered were either empty or only garrisoned by old, weak and remnant soldiers. When they saw them, they opened the gates and offered sacrifices to the city.

In this way, within a few days, the two men arrived at the foot of Yulin City with their soldiers and horses.

I originally thought that since Yulin City was strong and dangerous, the Qing captives would have sent people to guard it, right?

Unexpectedly, the Qing captives even abandoned Yulin City.

After listening to Gao Yigong's words, Li Guo sighed: "This means we are flying the banner of the Ming Army. If we are flying the banner of Dashun, even if there are only a thousand green soldiers in Yulin City, they will probably hold on."

Gao Yigong showed a complicated expression and said: "What do you mean by that? Dashun is gone. Once we capture Yulin Town, we will accept the reorganization of Governor Lu. Let's forget about the past. "

Li Guo sighed and said, "It's time to forget - it's not easy for people like us to survive."

Then he looked south again, "Going south along the Wuding River is Mizhi. I wonder when we can go back and have a look."

Gao Yigong said: "You have to be brave enough to meet the villagers. After you accept the reorganization, tell Governor Lu that you can go back for a few days. I won't go back. I don't have that face."

Li Guo said: "I'm afraid Mizhi doesn't have many living people who know you now."

Gao Yigong felt that the more he talked about these things, the more frustrated he became, so he said: "Stop gossiping and hurry into the city. Now that Yulin has fallen, we must recover the sacred trees and Fugu as soon as possible. Otherwise, if we want to make contributions in the future, it may not be so easy." ."

After talking about fighting horses, we should first lead the troops into Yulin City...

Xi'an Fucheng, which is also the county seat of Chang'an and Xianning, is where Li Dingguo and Lu Daqi successfully reunited.

But when the two met in the city that had been destroyed for the most part, neither of them showed any joy at having recovered an important city.

"I've met Governor Lu." Li Dingguo saluted Lu Daqi with clasped fists.

Lu Daqi had been a supervisor in Shaanxi for nearly a year, and he was no longer as particular as before. He himself also wore a military uniform instead of a civilian dress.

He raised his hand and said: "There is no need to be polite at Li Junmen, just sit as you like."

Li Dingguo was not polite and sat down on a stone pillar, but his posture was very upright.

Lu Daqi looked at Li Dingguo and sighed: "This time we conquered Xi'an, we didn't fight a single big battle. The Qing prisoners we destroyed were no more than machine guns, and they were all green soldiers. Even the city of Xi'an was destroyed by the Qing army, and the entire people of Xi'an were destroyed. It’s not even one in a hundred, I’m afraid it will be difficult to explain to His Majesty.”

Li Dingguo also frowned and said, "Who would have thought that the Qing captives would retreat so decisively."

Lu Daqi said: "It's still too late for us to take action - if we launch troops in late August, the Qing captives in Xi'an Prefecture may not be able to escape, at least some of them will be left behind by us."

Li Dingguo didn't answer.

The time for the Shaanxi front army to launch the war was set by the Military Council, with the purpose of coordinating the actions of the armies of the other three fronts. Therefore, there was nothing that could be done to let the Qing captives in Shaanxi escape.

Lu Daqi was actually not very satisfied with the Military Affairs Council. He felt that with the radio station, he, the governor, had been subject to some undue constraints, so he wanted to take advantage of the unsatisfactory war and unite some people to report to His Majesty. Seek restoration of the more liberal governor-general powers that existed before.

Li Dingguo was his first target.

Who would have thought that Li Dingguo would not accept this statement.

'I don't know if this kid didn't understand, or if he didn't want to get involved in court matters.'

It was difficult for Lu Daqi to speak openly about matters involving court politics. If Li Dingguo didn't answer, he could only give up.

Then he said: "Since the Qing captives gave up Xi'an, they must have chosen to abandon Shaanxi and retreat to Shanxi.

Next, if we want to achieve our goal of forcing the Qing captives to send more troops to the west, we must attack Shanxi."

Li Dingguo finally answered and said: "That's how it should be."

Lu Daqi asked: "What do Li Junmen think about the attack on Shanxi?"
Chapter completed!