The news that Li Guo's attack was blocked soon reached Wang Shuo.In advance, before the army launched an attack on the Manchus, the military headquarters guessed that the Manchus would not be idle for nearly two years when they used Wang Shuo to pacify the south and try to raise funds.They must have established an impregnable line of defense to block the attack of the Northwest Army while developing weapons.It's just that what this line of defense is, where it is located, and how strong it is, because the Manchus adopted extremely strict secrecy methods, Wang Shuo and they are not very clear.This was also one of the reasons why Wang Shuo was reluctant to bypass those guard fortresses and attack Shenyang directly.The main means of defense of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was the strong fortress composed of those guards, or other means, once the main attack of the troops was blocked, the troops in the rear fortresses came out to attack the Northwest Army, and the Northwest Army was in danger of being surrounded and destroyed.Another major reason is that he is running out of money again.In an environment where there was no strong enemy around, only the troops of the two military regions were sent to attack, and all the troops were not pressed, also because of financial constraints.It was not until Aobai attacked Hetuala that Wang Shuo realized that Li Dingguo would not be able to defend the spring of next year, so he had to transfer the Northwest Military Region to join the attack on the Manchu Qing Dynasty.Now, because Aobai attacked Hetuara and withdrew half of his troops, the Manchu army defending Shenyang was less than 300,000, and Li Guo was not in danger of being wiped out by the other side.However, after such a long period of attack, the financial resources of the northwest government soon ran out of supply.Liang Min had already warned him that the current financial resources of the northwest government could only support him like this for another three months, that is, after next spring, at the beginning of summer.The war dragged on until next summer, and regardless of the outcome of the attack on the Manchus, he had to withdraw his troops and wait until the government had sufficient financial resources before he could start the war again.In other words, if he could not eliminate the Manchu Qing this time, he could only wait three or five years later, when the country had money again, before he could think about the issue of destroying the Qing.This is something that Wang Shuo can't accept no matter what.Wang Shuo sat in the command post of the military headquarters in Shanhaiguan, looking at the map on the table, and was worried.Judging from the news transmitted back by Li Guo on the front line, the Qing army's "Maginot Line" extended from Zhangyi in the north to Dongningwei in the south, which is now Liaoyang, and the Liaodong Metropolitan Office of the former Ming Dynasty reached the vicinity of Benxi in the east, and was integrated with the front and left and right guards of Dingliao, drawing a circle and encircling the plains south of Shenyang.Further east, you will enter the mountainous area, where there is the Great Wall built by the former Ming Dynasty in order to prevent the Jurchen from expanding westward.In this icy and snowy land, it is unrealistic to go into the mountains to attack the Great Wall, the road is difficult and dangerous, the mountain is steep and the road is slippery, and the artillery cannot pass.Soon the first year of Greater China will pass, and the New Year will be celebrated again.Unable to bypass this line of defense, he could only hope that Li Dingguo's side could hold on.But Zheng Chenggong said that the coast on the North Korean side thawed late, and before the third lunar month, the big ships could not approach the coast and transport the large troops over.Then, even if Li Dingguo defended the old city of Hetuala, it was impossible for his large army to arrive in the spring, and there was still not enough time.If the time to win is about the same, he can also go back to Beijing to coax Liang Min to hold on a little longer and give him an extra month.Judging from the current situation, Hetuara is in danger, and Aobai can break through the city at any time.The reconnaissance and mapping brigade is ready to receive the withdrawal of Li Dingguo's remnants at any time.Wang Shuo was at a loss, and Li Yan and Song Xiance came in.Song Xiance held a telegram in his hand, and shouted with joy: "General Dingguo has been saved" Wang Shuo looked at him unhappily and said: "I can still let Li Dingguo die in Hetuala, I would have ordered the reconnaissance and mapping team to use hot air balloons to throw flower bombs to stop Aobai's advance and cover their retreat before Hetuara fell." ”Song Xiance shook his head and said: "It's not this method, it's General Dingguo himself who thought of a way to hold Hetuala" "Oh" Wang Shuo was a little surprised.In his opinion, the fall of Hetuara is already a sure thing, and Li Dingguo cannot have a way to defend it.He couldn't help but ask curiously: "What way did he think of?"
Li Yan replied: "In the past, we only thought of Aobai attacking sharply, and we didn't think deeply.As Ao Bai continued to attack, his soldiers were also constantly attrition, and the sharpness of his attack was also decreasing.In the beginning, the hot air balloon only transported the ammunition needed by the general to defend the city, and it was difficult to meet the needs.However, with the continuous casualties of the Qing soldiers, the amount of ammunition needed to defend the city will continue to decrease.Now, General Dingguo's ammunition is sufficient, and he plans to use a hot air balloon to transport a corps of the Nanjing Military Region on the other side of the port to Hetuala.If Zheng Ying's army reaches Hetuala, Aobai will undoubtedly be defeated" Wang Shuo looked at Li Yan and then at Song Xiance, and couldn't help laughing.He said: "A hot air balloon can hold several soldiers to go from the port to Hetuara a few times a day, and you have to plan out the time when the hot air balloon can't rise in bad weather, you have calculated that you didn't use a hot air balloon to transport troops, isn't this a joke Wait for these 20,000 people to be transported to Hetuala, the daylily is cold" Song Xiance smiled slightly: "We didn't calculate this matter at the beginning, we always looked at it intuitively, and we didn't think it was good, and we really didn't think about it carefully."
But General Dingguo seems to be forced by Aobai, so he can only calculate this carefully.If a hot air balloon does not need to fly too high, it can carry up to four people and make a round trip once a day.They have more than 200 hot air balloons, which means that a hot air balloon can add 800 soldiers to Hetuala in one day, so it is impossible for Ao Bai to capture Hetuala.Now, General Dingguo has sent the hot air balloon to transport troops for ten days, which is close to half of the troops of the Nanjing Military Region.In ten days, General Dingguo will be able to launch a counterattack and completely defeat Aobai" Wang Shuo was stunned when he heard this, and he didn't say a word for a long time.Song Xiance and Li Yan were confused.What is wrong with this general, why don't you speak, he doesn t want Li Dingguo to hold Hetuala, it is impossible Wang Shuo's eyes rolled back and forth, and finally, his gaze fell on the table, where there was a map of Liaodong.Suddenly, he smashed his fist on the map, and there was a "bang" sound, which scared Li Yan and Song Xiance away.I only heard him shout loudly: "Send a telegram to Beijing immediately, and ask Li Tianyu to make a thousand hot air balloons for me within ten days, and not allow me to delay for a day After fifteen days, I want to be here, see those 1,000 hot air balloons and send a telegram to Wang Jianguo and Bai Wenxuan of the Second Army who landed at Yingkou, asking them to abandon the attack on Gaizhou and Haizhou, march in the starry night, and advance to Benxi to reach Benxi and hold there, which is victory.