Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 166: Troubled Coaches (I)
December 20, 1611. Fushun City.
Nurhaci stood on the city wall, braving the biting cold wind and flying snowflakes, and stared towards the west for a long time.
The wise Khan of the Great Jin Dynasty, who nurtured many nations, has been very troubled recently.
Although the Great Jin remained invincible on the battlefield since the uprising in July this year, Nurhaci knew very well that it was not a great achievement for tens of thousands of people to bully and capture a castle guarded by a few hundred or at most one or two thousand Ming soldiers.
Not to mention that over the past decade or so, the wise Khan had deliberately spent money lavishly and bribed many spies in advance, and many fortresses were opened by internal help.
There was no other way. As the power of the Little Ice Age intensified, Liaodong became increasingly destitute, and the military households of the Ming Dynasty had long been extremely poor. Therefore, a little favor from the wise Khan could often achieve great results.
However, that was all. With the current strength of the Jin Dynasty, taking Fushun was already the limit. Further west was a big city like Shenyang. Such a fortress might be taken down, but it would definitely take a long time and incur huge losses.
The Jin Dynasty only had 60,000 strong men, and if the loss was too great, there was no way to make up for it. Moreover, the Southern Dynasty would definitely make a big move, so Shenyang and Liaoyang could not be touched at this moment.
It's a pity that there are so many gold, silver, grain, and equipment in the two big cities of Shenyang and Liaoyang, as well as at least 500,000 people around the two cities! It would be great if we could capture all these people and make them bondservants!
Yes, although these southern barbarians usually look down on us Jurchens, when a knife is really on their necks, they are more obedient than anyone else!
At least she is much more obedient than that Yehe woman!
Thinking of this, Nurhaci secretly touched his chest: That night, the woman named Donggo was gentle and charming on the surface, asking for everything she wanted. But when she took off her clothes, she turned out a dagger! Fortunately, he has been in good health these years and has a quick reaction. This dagger only left a long but shallow wound along the left side of his chest, otherwise he would have been sweating for a month.
Damn, doesn't this woman like me? How could this happen? After so many years of tribal feuds between the Jurchens, isn't it normal for women to marry their father's murderer? Why is this Dong Ge so upset that I killed his father?
Unfortunately, this woman had to temporarily appease the Yehe people who had just been incorporated into the Eight Banners. So even though he was cut, Yingming Khan had to suppress the matter and report to Donggo's room every day, pretending to be a loving couple.
But Yingming Khan has always been strong in the Jurchens, at least since he started his army as a teenager. He suffered such a loss, which was very depressing...
"Father Khan, Father Khan."
"Hmm? Huang Taiji, what's the matter?"
"The spy who was gathering information in Shanhaiguan has returned."
"Oh? Okay! Huang Taiji, call your brothers and Fei Yingdong and the others, and let's go into the house and talk."
…
"Your servant Wei Qi pays homage to the Khan."
"Well, you are Fei Yingdong's ninth brother, right? Yes, the people of the Guarjia clan seem to be very capable. Tell me, what did you find out when you went to Shanhaiguan this time?"
"Damn it, Great Khan, I saw the procession of the Southern Dynasty's crown prince at Shanhaiguan... In the following days, all the soldiers from other border towns of the Southern Dynasty began to change their clothes. They were all brand new, thick cotton armor, cotton hats, and cotton boots. I couldn't get a close look at the weapons, but judging by the gleams when the Southern Dynasty soldiers occasionally took them out to wipe them, they were all brand new and top-quality swords."
"Hmm... I've heard for a long time that the crown prince of the Southern Dynasty is obsessed with business and is very good at doing business. It seems that it is not false."
"Hahahaha~~ The royal family of the Southern Dynasty is so corrupt, they deserve to be attacked by us!"
After letting his men laugh at Zhu Youdong, Nurhaci asked, "Wei Qi, what is the direction of the Southern Dynasty's army?"
"I have been following the Southern Dynasty's army from Shanhaiguan. They set out from Shanhaiguan on December 1st and marched very quickly, reaching Liaoyang on December 15th. Along the way, soldiers from Liaozhen joined them one after another, and the crazy people from Kuandianwei also landed at the mouth of the Liaohe River and joined the army in Liaoyang. On the 16th, the Southern Dynasty's army set out from Liaoyang and headed north, probably heading to Shenyang."
"Hmm..." After thinking for a while, Nurhaci suddenly looked up and said, "Huang Taiji, how many spies have you sent to Shanhaiguan?"
"Father Khan, please forgive me. There are three teams of twenty people."
"Wei Qi, you're the only one back?"
"Great Khan..." Guarjia Weiqi finally started to cry, "The Southern Barbarians' Jinyiwei are really powerful. They are so elusive. Sometimes we walk in front of the army, sometimes we hang behind. Even so, we are often caught and tortured by Jinyiwei. If we are not careful in answering, we will be detained. I was caught and tortured once. Fortunately, I started practicing Southern Dynasty Liaodong dialect according to the Fifth Prince's request a few years ago, and I have been growing my hair for a few years, so I was able to cope with it."
"Um……"
Nurhaci stood up and paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, feeling even more anxious.
According to his original plan, he was not going to publicly raise the flag against the Ming Dynasty before Li Chengliang died. Who knew that Xiao Bozhi of Kuandian Guard was really too much, which aroused strong indignation within the army and made it difficult for him, the Khan, to control it. In addition, his "communication" with the Japanese was discovered, and the punishment imposed by the Ming Dynasty was really unbearable. So he started his army several years earlier than originally planned.
Although the Jin Dynasty has swallowed up Yehe now, except for the remnants of the Dong'e and Wanyan tribes hiding behind the six forts in Kuandian and the Jurchens scattered in the deep mountains and old forests in the north, it has completed the great cause of unifying the Jurchens. However, it lacks a few years of hard work to assimilate the nearly 100,000 people of the two major tribes, Wula and Yehe. The internal situation of the Jin Dynasty is actually not very stable at the moment.
Besides, Lao Li is not dead yet!
In October this year, he was very happy when he heard that the Ming Dynasty appointed Yang Hao as the commander-in-chief. In his opinion, as long as the elite soldiers and generals of the Ming Dynasty who had been trained in the war against Japanese invaders and aiding Korea were defeated this time, even if Lao Li returned to Liaodong, he would be powerless.
But now listening to Wei Qi, the momentum of the Ming army this time is a little different.
First of all, it is about military preparation and logistical support. For Nurhaci, who always takes Ming as his ultimate combat goal, he is very aware of the current predicament of the military towns in Ming. Otherwise, he would not be able to lay down an efficient intelligence network in the entire Liao town so easily.
Other military towns are far away, so let's not talk about them. Let's just talk about Liao Town. The servants of the generals are of course well fed and well clothed, but what about the ordinary military households? It's a bit exaggerated to say that they are hungry and poorly clothed, but it's really not much better. As for swords, spears, halberds, and bird guns? Some are rusted, some are burst, and there are really not many that are sealed and can be taken out and used at any time.
Nurhaci didn't read much, but he remembered the words "enough soldiers and enough food" said by Zhuge Liang in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" firmly in his mind. The land output of the entire Jin Dynasty has often been poor in recent years. The baoyi below are slightly better, but there have been a lot of people who have died of freezing or starvation every year. Even so, the soldiers of the entire Eight Banners were really well-equipped and well-trained.
But now, with the Ming Crown Prince who was only the nominal commander in chief taking action, at least this time the Ming army will have no problems with equipment and food.
In addition, the Ming Dynasty did not attach importance to intelligence work, and had no idea about anti-espionage. Because of this, the entire Liaodong was almost transparent to the Great Jin. But now?
This is a really bad omen.
"Father Khan, Wei Qi just said that the crazy people from Kuandian Guard also went to Liaoyang. So should we turn around and attack Kuandian Guard first?"
That's right, Zhu Youdong's idle son in the past made Kade Nurhaci very unhappy in recent years. After so many years of tossing and turning, whether it is Jianzhou Jurchen or today's Dajin, there is actually very little strategic maneuvering space, and trade has also been greatly affected. Although the swallowing of Yehe will , in terms of combat power, equipment, and food and wages, it is still a little worse than the same period in the historical plane.
Therefore, when the Fourth Beile Manggurtai heard that the Kuandian guards had come out in full force, his first reaction was to take this opportunity to capture Kuandian.
"Haha, Manggurtai, my silly son, why don't you think about it? The soldiers of Kuandian Guard dared to leave their families at this time, so there must be someone to help them defend the city."
"Who? Who dares? Could it be the lowly Dong'e tribe?"
"Shut up!" He Heli, one of the five ministers below, was from the Dong-E tribe. Even if the Jin Dynasty united as one, it might not win the battle, so how could they start a war at this time?
Nurhaci made a comforting gesture to He Heli, who had already turned furious, and said, "It must be the Koreans who came to help Kuandian defend the city."
"Hahaha, those sticks are really vulnerable. Father Khan, please let your son lead the Zhenglan Banner to Kuandian and capture all six forts."
"Ah..." Nurhaci felt a headache when he saw Manggurtai, who had almost no other shortcomings except bravery. He waved his hand, sat back in the main seat and said, "Kuandian Liubao is right there, they won't run away. As long as we can defeat the main force of the Southern Dynasty in Shenyang, the Koreans in Kuandian Liubao will have no choice but to run away. So, Manggurtai, don't be anxious."
"Now, the situation is very clear." After holding down Manggurtai, Nurhaci said solemnly: "The southern barbarians are timid and dare not divide their forces, so all the troops for this battle are gathered together. According to my estimation, the southern barbarians will set out from Shenyang and head straight for Fushun. The city wall of Fushun is still not solid enough. Moreover, the warriors of my Great Jin are best at field battles but not good at defending cities. Therefore, pass down the order, the entire army packs up and retreats from the border wall. We will wait outside the border wall for those southern barbarians to come and die!
In addition, as the saying goes, if the name is not right, then the words will not flow. We Jurchens have been bullied by the Southern Dynasty for too long. I have pondered for a long time and finally wrote the manifesto of the seven great hatreds. Now you have people hang it up and post it all over Fushun City!"
