"During the Battle of Ningjin, Mr. Yuan could only retreat into the city and did not dare to aid Jinzhou eastward. He was criticized by the late emperor as "the old man is too angry". Now he is building Jinzhou and the Daling River, spending countless money and food. Will he make the same mistake again?"
On the territory of Dongjiang Town, Guo Dajing criticized Yuan Chonghuan. It was at best inconsistent with the system, but it could not be called a serious crime.
It was not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty for subordinates to have disagreements with their superiors and to file lawsuits with the emperor.
Guo Dajing did not hide his views, he just spoke to Fang Zhenghua in such a straightforward manner, and he captured this point.
Although Governor Ji Liao is a superior, he is not Guo Dajing's direct chief. The conflict between Liao Town and Dongjiang Town has long existed. Guo Dajing's words can be said to be complaints, but the injustice he suffered is also real.
Fang Zheng's face turned as dark as water. When Guo Dajing mentioned the late emperor, he had obviously complained about Chongzhen. At the very least, it meant to accuse the emperor of not knowing people well.
At this moment, the soldiers hurried in, saluted, and handed the newly received notification to Guo Dajing.
Guo Dajing took a look at it, then stood up, walked a few steps, and presented the notice to Fang Zhenghua.
Governor Yuan had adopted various means to suppress Dongjiang Town, and the news sent this time made his intentions more obvious.
In December of the first year of Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan ordered Denglai to impose a strict maritime ban, "all commercial ships are not allowed to have illicit affairs."
Not only seizing the money and grain due to Dongjiang Town, Governor Yuan also had to cut off Dongjiang Town's way of purchasing grain and supplies and conducting business with the outside world.
Historically, the Denglai Sea Ban was a "slash in the throat" of Dongjiang Town, which was extremely vicious. But now, Guo Dajing had already seen ahead and made preparations in advance. It can be said that Yuan Chonghuan made the wrong calculation.
With a sarcastic sneer, Guo Dajing sat in his chair and waited quietly for Fang Zhenghua to finish reading the report, frowning and speechless for a moment.
As long as I am here, the fierce Jianlu cannot defeat Dongjiang Town, and the insidious control blockade cannot defeat Dongjiang Town.
Fang Zhenghua realized that Dongjiang Town, or rather Mao Wenlong, had become a thorn in Yuan Chonghuan's side and a thorn in his flesh.
However, I don’t know whether this was a personal grudge between Yuan and Mao, or whether the imperial court ordered Yuan Chonghuan to be cruel to Mao Wenlong.
"I hope Lord Yuan will be so multi-pronged and ruthless towards Jianlu." Guo Dajing sneered and said, "The battle between Dongjiang Town and Jianlu is about to begin. Lord Yuan is really 'generous in helping and providing help in times of need'!"
At this time, the sea was banned and Dongjiang Town's outsourcing and trade channels were blocked. Founder was really powerless to argue.
Unless the target of Jianlu's attack was not Jinzhou, but Jinzhou and Dalinghe. But from the intelligence point of view and careful analysis, this possibility is unlikely.
Dongjiang Town was about to face a large-scale attack by Jianlu, but the governor of Jiliao did not have a ship of grain and rice supplies to support him, and even banned the sea. It is not surprising to say that he was in collusion with Jianlu.
Guo Dajing said no more and stood up to leave, leaving Fang Zhenghua with a helpless sigh.
Have you exhausted all your tricks? Guo Dajing breathed in the cool air and walked back to his residence calmly, as if nothing happened.
However, since the Denglai sea is closed, the impact will not be significant. Food supplies shipped from the south are still flowing smoothly. What's more, a lot has been accumulated in advance, which is enough to last for several months.
There is also a bumper harvest in Jinzhou this year, and food for the soldiers and civilians can be guaranteed. As long as there is food, Dongjiang Town will not be in chaos and can continue to compete with Jianlu.
I thought it was a decisive move, but I didn't expect it would have little impact on Dongjiang Town!
Guo Dajing sat in the chair, closed his eyes slightly, and couldn't help but sneer.
Stupid or not? Yuan Chonghuan, who couldn't even know himself and the enemy, thought he could kill Mao Wenlong by grabbing Dongjiang Town's neck, but it turned out to be a big dream.
That's right, Yuan Chonghuan has been living in a dream, a dream weaved by himself. I don't know if he woke up from his dream when he was cut to pieces with a thousand knives.
Guo Dajing thought for a moment, took out a pen and paper, and began to write a letter to the Military Intelligence Department.
The battle between Dongjiang Army and Jianlu was about to begin, but Yuan Chonghuan attacked the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town. He really couldn't bear this tone.
Regardless of whether it works or not, people must spread rumors in the capital to make the suspicious Chongzhen feel ill.
In addition - Guo Dajing has another idea. Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, he will try it after the war. It will not only slap the face of the imperial court, but also discredit Yuan Governor.
………………
Shenyang.
Huang Taiji put down the information in his hand, looked up at Fan Wencheng, and said slowly: "Xiandou, I understand what you mean, but our army has sent out most of its troops to attack Jinzhou, how can we lose?"
Regarding the attack on Jinzhou, Fan Wencheng made several attempts to persuade Huang Taiji not to attack Jinzhou himself.
The reason is also very simple. If it fails like the battle of Ningjin, it will be another blow to Huang Taiji's prestige.
Of course, there are drawbacks to this.
Firstly, since Huang Taiji is not in command, the other bannermen may not be too active. If there are slight casualties, they may avoid fighting to preserve their strength.
Secondly, Huang Taiji did not think that 40,000 troops could not capture Jinzhou. Even if the Port Arthur Fort was strong, it was only a small area. If it could destroy all Dongjiang Town's operations in Jinzhou, it would be considered to have achieved its goal.
In other words, Huang Taiji would personally supervise the battle and use the victory to once again increase his prestige.
What's more, he also wanted to find trouble in the battle and suppress Mang Gurtai.
Fan Wencheng bowed and said: "King Khan, I thought that attacking Jinzhou would be a fierce battle. The enemy was waiting for work, and he must have built a solid defense for more than half a year. The defeat of the two red flags clearly illustrates the problem."
"The most worrying thing is the enemy's sharp firearms, especially the Hongyi cannon." Fan Wencheng increased his tone and emphasized the four words "Red Yi cannon."
In Ningyuan and Jinzhou, Jianlu saw the power of Hongyi cannon when they were attacking the city. When they lost, they also felt fear in their hearts.
Huang Taiji frowned slightly and said slowly: "In this Khan's opinion, the Hongyi cannon is only powerful, the rate of fire is very slow, and the damage is not serious. Besides, you can't be afraid just because the enemy's firearms are sharp. attack."
The battle with the Ming army will not stop, and the action will not be affected by the presence of Hongyi artillery. For this launch, Jianlu has also made relatively complete preparations, and there are surprisingly many vehicles and other equipment.
"There is no obstacle to taking a detour to enter the customs. The only thing to worry about is Liaonan and Jinzhou." Huang Taiji raised his voice and emphasized: "If we don't defeat the threat that reaches our heart, how can we launch with confidence?"
"I also believe that if we attack Jinzhou violently, we should at least severely damage Dongjiang Town and eliminate the threat." Fan Wencheng said: "The Khan King has a body of thousands of gold, and it is really not suitable to lightly enter the battle and take such risks."
Huang Taiji shook his head helplessly and said: "In the current situation, if I don't personally conquer the country, how many banner leaders, Baylor, will fight to the end?"
Needless to say, Amin and Mang Gurtai, even Daishan, also had the intention of preserving their strength. Dorgon and Duduo's two white flags were out of Huang Taiji's sight, and their performance was questionable.
Huang Taiji also knew that Jinzhou was difficult to fight, but it must be fought. For this reason, he had estimated that if the casualties were between five and six thousand, it would be bearable.
Being able to break through Jinzhou is equivalent to severely damaging Dongjiang Town. Without the land base and the Ming court's suppression, Dongjiang Town is basically disabled, and it is difficult to have a chance to recover.
With a population of more than 100,000, and a lot of money, food and supplies, the harvest gained from capturing Jinzhou was enough for Jianlu to greatly alleviate the difficulty of lack of supplies.
Although Huang Taiji's words made sense, Fan Wencheng always had such inexplicable worries in his heart. Not to mention 30,000 to 40,000 troops, even if 50,000 to 60,000 troops were deployed, he did not have much confidence in whether he could win in Jinzhou.
He couldn't explain why, but he felt that Dongjiang Town was becoming more and more different from his previous impression. From the beginning of the war to aid Korea to the defeat of the two red flags, there was an unexpected change.
What made him even more puzzled, and even a little frightened, was the strange way that Dongjiang Town was predicting the enemy and seizing the advantage step by step.
Is it a coincidence, or is it really possible to predict the future?
When Fan Wencheng carefully reviewed and analyzed, he discovered that after the Dongjiang Army self-supported the Korean War, several operations were carefully prepared and stuck at the time when Hou Jin was most difficult to take into account.
As for the action to regain Jinzhou, the Dongjiang Army mobilized tens of thousands of troops. After careful arrangements and preparations, it was able to launch a large-scale campaign when Huang Taiji personally conquered the Chahar tribe.
According to the speed of material transportation and personnel movement at that time, it would be difficult to complete such a large-scale preparation work in only a few months.
To put it bluntly, the Dongjiang Army should have predicted Hou Jin's actions and therefore prepared in advance and moved accordingly.
The sowing discord against Huang Taiji and the senior officials of Houjin is even more terrifying. Without a deep understanding of what happened in Houjin and insight into people's hearts, such rumors would not have been fabricated.
If it hadn't been for the spread of these rumors, there would have been no signs of splitting among the senior leaders of Houjin, and the flag-bearers Baylor would not have been so fearful of Huang Taiji, becoming a roadblock to Huang Taiji's progress.
Seeing that his persuasion had no effect once again, Fan Wencheng felt helpless and could only hope that the attack would go smoothly and that Huang Taiji's prestige would be enhanced to facilitate the implementation of future plans.
It was not easy for Huang Taiji to pass this resolution during political discussions by detouring into the customs and looting the capital. Running thousands of miles without a rear meant great risks, and it was foreseeable that he would be opposed by the banner leader Baylor.
In addition, the feudal reforms that Huang Taiji wanted to carry out and his plan to become emperor all required prestige and strength to be realized.
It is impossible to eliminate dissidents without bloodshed, even in internal battles. But Huang Taiji must control the limits and not allow Hou Jin to decline in civil strife.
In other words, we need to use more strategies and draw more allies, and try not to engage in a fight with swords.
The biggest advantage of Huang Taiji is the status and power of the Khan. No matter how unwilling Amin, Mang Gurtai and others are, they cannot openly resist the orders of the Khan, especially on the battlefield.
"My humble opinion is that even if King Khan is conducting his own expedition, he will also be sitting in command. For specific command of the battle, he should designate a certain Baylor or banner leader." Fan Wencheng retreated to the next best thing and made another suggestion.
After the battle was won, Huang Taiji, who fought in person, would naturally gain both fame and fortune; but if the war went unfavorably, then the responsibility would be passed on to the frontline commanders, such as Mang Gurtai.
Huang Taiji pondered for a moment, understood what Fan Wencheng meant, nodded slightly, and said: "It is not too late to make a decision on the specific combat deployment before the battle."
After a pause, Huang Taiji said: "Forty thousand troops were launched, and the food and grass raised was only enough for half a month. Although our army has no long-term battle plan, we still need to prepare more."
With Jianlu's current supplies, it is difficult to provide more food and grass. Moreover, Jianlu does not intend to fight for a long time in attacking Jinzhou. What he wants is a quick attack.
To put it bluntly, Jianlu had basically lost the material basis for a long-term siege of the city.
Fan Wencheng bowed and said: "I will go and continue raising money now, and it will not affect the large-scale dispatch of the army after the river freezes."
Huang Taiji smiled and said, "Xiandou, please go down!"
Fan Wencheng retreated, and Huang Taiji leaned back in his chair, caressing his forehead and lost in thought.
The actual situation of Houjin is not optimistic, although on the surface it seems that the two major threats of North Korea and Mongolia have been eliminated, and the encirclement and blockade network built by the Ming Dynasty has been broken.
However, the small population, weak foundation, and backward production methods have become the three major chronic diseases that restrict the development of Houjin, making its development almost stagnant.
According to the current preliminary statistics on the quantity of grain and grass supplies, the grain reserves will be exhausted by April or May next year.
In other words, if we can't break through Jinzhou and grab a wave, if there are no other purchasing channels, the outbreak of the Great Famine is certain.
Therefore, attacking Jinzhou not only eliminates the threat that reaches Liaoshen, but also alleviates the shortage of gold, grain and grass materials through looting.
But conversely, if the attack on Jinzhou fails, the food and grass supplies consumed by the army will inevitably accelerate the arrival of the great famine, making the situation of Houjin even worse.
Under such a predictably bad situation, Huang Taiji had to take a detour into the customs as a solution and consider the specific details of the plan in advance.
Running long distances is not an easy task. Even though most of the captives are cavalry and are very mobile, they still need to eat and rest. People and horses are the same.
As a relay station that could provide food, the Karaqin tribe in Jibei was very important. It not only allowed the long-distance traveling Jianlu to have a good meal and rest, but also guided the Jianlu to enter the pass.
When Huang Taiji was conquering the Chahar tribe, the Karaqin tribe had already defected to Houjin and sent troops to help in the battle.
Lin Dan Khan's westward migration made the tribes of Eastern Mongolia no longer dare to be enemies with Hou Jin, and all adopted the strategy of surrender and alliance.
Huang Taiji's thinking gradually became clearer, and he felt that the success rate of entering the customs through a detour was high. The key was how to persuade Daishan and other Baylor banner leaders to agree to this military operation, which was almost an adventure.
At the same time, the Dongjiang Army entrenched in Jinzhou in southern Liaoning must also eliminate the threat to the Houjin ruling area.
"Come here." Huang Taiji sat up straight, called the guards outside to come in, and ordered: "Summon Fushun, the prince-in-law, to come and see you."
As the intelligence leader of Hou Jin Dynasty, Li Yongfang, the prince-in-law of Fushun, made a huge contribution to Hou Jin Dynasty. He was also the first Ming army general to surrender to Jianlu, which had a very bad influence in Liaodong.
Huang Taiji summoned Li Yongfang to inquire about the details of Jinzhou.
Because the Dongjiang Army had traveled so far, the spies and outposts of Jianlu were unable to learn the specific situation of the Nanguan defense line until Xiaoheishan and Hongzui Fort.
This made Huang Taiji feel unsure, and he had to think of Fan Wencheng's advice. If his personal expedition was defeated again, his prestige would be damaged, which would be another major obstacle to detouring into the pass.
The resistance from within often made Huang Taiji upset, but it strengthened his belief in becoming emperor.