Gao Mingheng and others heard Gao Huan's words and saw that he was so pessimistic, and felt that Hedong and Beizhi could not be protected, so they naturally had no reason to be optimistic.

They were originally excited to come over and were preparing to help Gao Huan reinforce Hedong, but now they don’t know what to do.

Gao Mingheng asked: "What does the so-called Yellow River defense line mean?"

Gao Huan waited for him to ask, and said in a deep voice, "What I mean is to build a line of defense against the rebels and the Qing army's southward advance to the south with the dangerous places in the north and south of the Yellow River."

Gao Huan paused and continued: "Now Li Zicheng took Hedong and wanted to go north to Zhizhi. Jiannu stationed his troops outside Shanhaiguan and was eyeing Beijing. The two competed for Beijing, and no matter who wins, they would lead the army to continue to move south!"

Everyone's movements of eating steamed buns were slower.

Li Zicheng is fine, but if Jiannu goes south, it will be really terrifying.

In the last Xingyang War, the Zhongwu Army claimed to be a great victory, but the generals knew the truth.

The Zhongwu Army killed tens of thousands of people in battle, which can be said to be the biggest loss since its establishment.

Chen Yongfu said: "What the Marquis said is reasonable. If Li Chuang wins, he will definitely unify the world. Jiannu enters the pass and must also drink horses and Yangtze River."

Gao Huan nodded slightly and continued: "Li Zicheng and Jiannu, I thought Jiannu's army was sharp, and Li Zicheng was probably not an opponent. Therefore, this line of defense is planned to guard against Jiannu!"

This made everyone feel terrified, and Gao Mingheng couldn't help but think of the tragic history of the Han people during the Jin and Song dynasties.

During the Jin Dynasty, the Hu people moved inwardly, and the Great Wall did not play a role, and the Great Wall was not in his hands during the Northern Song Dynasty.

Now the front line of the Great Wall is almost unprepared. If you don’t prepare in advance, let Jiannu rush? You may go directly to Jiangnan and flow directly.

The shame of Jingkang, the two-legged sheep during the Five Barbarians' invasion of China? These are the past that the Han people were unwilling to look back on.

Given the weakness of the Ming Dynasty today? The Qing army would occupy Northern China like the Jin people? It seems that there is no big problem to divide the river with the Ming Dynasty.

Gao Mingheng asked: "Since ancient times, guarding the river must be defending the Huai River? Very few people lost the Yanshan line? Why did the Marquis insist on the Yellow River defense line if they can still defend Henan and Shandong?"

Gao Huan said in a deep voice: "Since ancient times, many people who only guard the Huai River have no far-reaching plans, but they are just a corner of peace? They intend to protect Jiangnan? But they will eventually be unable to escape the fate of overturning. Henan and Shandong are the barriers of Jiangnan. If they are in my hands, they can attack and retreat. If they abandon the two provinces and do not defend? And defend Jiangbei, their momentum will be reduced. They are showing their timidity to Jiannu, so they want to be safe? They cannot be obtained!"

Gao Mingheng raised his eyebrows and knew that Gao Huan’s ambition was not just to save Jiangnan? Instead, he wanted to retake Hebei.

The Battle of Feishui in the Eastern Jin Dynasty? It defeated the Former Qin Dynasty, but did not do anything later. The Southern Dynasty, which only guarded the Huai River, was mostly in a corner.

Among them, except for Liu Yu, who once occupied Shandong, Henan and Guanzhong, most of the rest did nothing, and in the end they were unable to do anything, and they were destroyed by the north.

There are many factors that cause this phenomenon. One of them is that most of the Southern Dynasties only want to be at peace in their spirit, while most of the dynasties that emerged in the north had the ambition to unify the world.

In Gao Huan's view, although guarding Huai can continue the country's destiny, it cannot change its destiny.

Gao Huan wanted to defend Henan, Shandong, and protect Jiangnan only had the option after failure. His first goal was to regain Hebei and rebuild unification.

This made Gao Mingheng admire Gao Huan's spirit and felt that Gao Huan was very energetic, but there seemed to be no successful precedent for defending Henan and Shandong.

Seeing his expression, Gao Huan said loudly: "Henan and Shandong must not give in easily. I thought that the court could imitate the Tang and Song dynasties and recruit envoys. He set up a major vassal in Shandong and Henan to manage two provinces. Shandong is aimed at the north, Henan is blocking mountains and Shaanxi, and choose those who are both civil and military, and collect military salaries with generous amounts and affordable expenses. In Jining, he set up a good position in the world to show that the world will not forget the old capital, and it is expected to overcome this."

Gao Huan wanted to be a vassal of Prime Minister Henan and Shandong, but would the court agree to it another way, even if it agrees, it would be very difficult to keep it.

After all, the Great Wall defense line lost its effect in all the time, and the Han regime would eventually be repelled to the Huaihe River line.

Gao Mingheng frowned, "The Yellow River has an ice age of about three months every year. During this period, Jiannu Iron Cavalry can cross the river by stepping on the ice, how can he defend?"

Although Gao Mingheng also did not want to give up Kaifeng, he had to ask clearly before he could decide the destination of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Kaifeng City.

At this time, Yang Yan and others had already hung up the map. Gao Huan immediately greeted him, and everyone wiped their mouths and surrounded him seriously.

Last time, the Qing army took advantage of the ice to cross the river and entered Henan, leaving a deep impression on everyone.

Guarding the Yellow River can usually be called a natural barrier, but once it freezes, the natural barrier will no longer exist and the defense line will become fragile.

At this time, Gao Huan pointed to the map, "If the Qing army enters the pass, defeats Li Zicheng, and occupy Hedong and northern Zhili. In this section of Guanzhong, there is Li Zicheng, and we mainly defend the section of Henan and Shandong. Among them, there is Mangshan in the section from Shanzhou to Hulaoguan. Even if the Yellow River is frozen, we only need to defend the gap in Mengjin County. The places where Jiannu can break through are mainly in the section from Xingyang to Huai'an."

The current Yellow River does not go to the northeast of Shandong and enters the sea, but to seize the Huai River to the south.

After the Yellow River passes through Hulao Pass, it flows eastward to Kaifeng, then turns southeast, passes Xuzhou to Huai'an, and then increases the water volume and the temperature is high. It is not a rare weather. The Huai River will not freeze most of the time, and even if it freezes, the ice age will be very short.

Therefore, the main location of the Qing army's breakthrough in the Yellow River defense line was still in the eastern part of Henan.

Gao Mingheng said: "The last time Jiannu crossed the river from this section, which lasted hundreds of miles long, could become a breakthrough point. Jiannu was a cavalry and could not defend himself at all!"

Gao Huan nodded, "Defense is really impossible. Therefore, he cannot defend completely passively."

Everyone was a little surprised when they heard the word, and couldn't help but look at Gao Huan to see what plans he had.

Gao Huan pointed to the map, "This is Taihang Mountain, this is Yimeng Mountain in Shandong. They are all on the north bank of the Yellow River. In order to restrain Jiannu's attack and ensure that the south bank lasts for three months, this governor is preparing to send two elite troops to approach Taihang Mountain and Yimeng Mountain respectively. At the same time, the counties in eastern Henan must shrink the soldiers and civilians into the main cities before the Yellow River freezes."

Gao Huan said in a deep voice: "If the Qing army crosses the river through the ice, we will firmly clear the fields on the south bank and drag the Qing army to eastern Henan, Taihang Mountains and Yimeng Mountains from behind to harass them. When the Yellow River is about to thaw, we will launch a counterattack again, and perhaps we can keep the Qing army on the south bank."

Gao Huan's plan, to be precise, almost covers four places, including Hedong, Beizhi, Henan and Shandong. It is very large. Is it very big to operate? It requires unified command and dispatch, and also requires strong execution capabilities of subordinates.

This is also the reason why Gao Huan planned to establish a vassal state in Henan and Shandong.

Gao Mingheng pondered for a while and said seriously: "What does the marquis need us to do?"

Gao Huan said in a deep voice: "This governor needs the Chief Secretary to operate Kaifeng like an iron barrel. As long as Kaifeng and Xuzhou are present, the Qing army will not dare to go too deep and destroy it! In addition, this governor will also send a cavalry into Kaifeng to increase the threat to the Qing army."

Gao Mingheng thought for a while and said in a deep voice: "Yes!"

Gao Huan said again: "Finally, I still need the command of the Kaifeng army!"

Gao Mingheng and Chen Yongfu looked at each other. The two were silent for a long time. Gao Mingheng thought about it and said, "If it is true as the Marquis expected, the Qing army would defeat Li Zicheng and lead the army to move south in large numbers. The military and civilians of Kaifeng can obey the Marquis' orders!"

(Not tonight, I'll be confused, I'll make up for it tomorrow.)
Chapter completed!