Four hundred and twentieth chapters alienate the Jurchen
The tongue of fire turned into a fire dragon, roaring and rampaging, destroying everything in front of it; the heat turned into a heat wave, flopping and rolling, making people feel like they were trapped in hellish lava.
Houses, warehouses, firewood, grain...all are burning, and the whole city is steaming.
Mengkulu was so anxious that he took two steps forward, but then stepped back. The heat wave was overwhelming and the flame was so high that it burned his face so much that it hurt, and his eyebrows were singed.
The eyes of the old mother and young children at home were filled with red fire, and the smoke was rising. In addition to the crackling sound, you could occasionally hear screams and wails coming from the fire.
Boom! A house had its beams burned off and collapsed violently, sending up sparks of dust that shot into the sky.
Loud crying came from behind, and several strong women couldn't help the sorrow in their hearts and howled loudly.
Everything was gone, including houses, food, belongings, as well as the old and the weak who stayed at home. There were only a few who could escape from the raging flames.
Soon, their lives, too, would be harvested mercilessly by the enemies outside the city. The deafening bursts of gunfire and angry shouting made the soldiers and civilians of the Jianlu army in the city face even more cruel facts.
The Dongjiang Army's attack was slow and slow, with heavy musket fire taking turns, and the commandos kept approaching. Both sides were paying casualties, but the number of captives was much larger.
Finally, several commandos used their shields as cover, rushed into the city gate, quickly planted mines, lit the fuses, and evacuated quickly with their shields on their backs.
A moment later, a deafening loud noise suddenly erupted, and thick black smoke spewed out from the city gate like a monster. Sawdust, gravel, and dust flew into the air, obscuring the view.
After the explosion, the battlefield instantly became quiet. The line of sight was blurred, and the attacking troops needed to observe the results of the battle. The heavy musketeers also temporarily lost their target.
The smoke dissipated quickly in the autumn wind. Although the view was still unclear, the blasted fort gate could be confirmed. The debris blocked behind the fort gate was also blown everywhere by the blast of air.
A shrill whistle sounded, and the musketeers who had been waiting for a long time let out an excited shout and charged forward with their bayonets drawn.
The roar of heavy muskets sounded again, and lead bullets were fired at the city head in rows, suppressing Jianlu who was stunned and dizzy, and covering Paoze as he rushed into the city.
A loud bang broke out again in the east, and similar operations were carried out on the other side of the siege. For the Jianlu, whose defense force was extremely weak, this was the last knell, and their fate began to count down.
As a new soldier, Li Baoshan didn't have much fear at this time. He felt excited amidst the shouts of his comrades around him.
Shouting in the same way, he and his comrades rushed into the city gate despite the sparse arrows. There was light in front of them, both the sun's rays and the sky-high firelight.
Dozens of Jianlu appeared in front of them. They howled and rushed forward waving their swords and guns in a desperate and desperate struggle.
Together with his comrades, Li Baoshan picked up the gun, took aim briefly, and then pulled the trigger.
Gunshots exploded, white smoke rose, and the Jianlu soldiers on the opposite side fell to the ground. Li Baoshan's ears buzzed a little, but then he took big steps and rushed forward with his comrades, shouting to kill.
The comrades around him were equally excited and gave Li Baoshan great courage. Jianlu had only a few people, and the city was burned by fire. Victory was already in his hands, and all that was left was to harvest Jianlu's life.
Anyone can fight against the wind, even new recruits will have an extraordinary desire to fight.
Muskets were firing continuously, and more and more soldiers rushed into the city. Not only did they have sharp weapons, but they also had an absolute advantage in strength.
It was impossible to attack in depth. No one could withstand the ferocious beast in the sea of fire. Soon, the musketeers rushed up the city wall and attacked and fought along the city wall.
Li Baoshan pulled out his bayonet from the enemy in front of him. She was a strong woman, but she was wielding a scimitar and was shot. She rushed forward crazily and was easily killed by him.
Looking at the strong woman with disheveled hair and gnashing teeth, Li Baoshan had no mercy. He kicked her out, pulled out the blood-stained bayonet, trampled on the corpse, and continued to move forward.
"The First Clan"
As a Liao native, no one has ever seen the tragic situation after being killed, raped, and plundered by the Jianlu. Unarmed, old, weak, women, and children were regarded as nothing more than pigs and dogs by the Jianlu, without any mercy.
Now, it's Jianlu's turn to pay his blood debt with blood. God will repay the debt, but who will God spare?
The battle will end soon, and the Dongjiang Army and others will not be able to extinguish the fire. The goal has been achieved, or there may be remaining captives, but it is no longer relevant.
Liu Xingzuo immediately sent a messenger to report the situation to Guo Dajing. The infantry group did not need to continue advancing towards Hetuala and could instead head towards Crow Falcon Pass.
At this point, the long-distance raid commanded by Guo Dajing himself can be said to have come to an end. After breaking Crow Falcon Pass, they can retreat to the Kuandian area and rendezvous with the main force of the special operations battalion.
But the situation has now entered a more critical stage. If Crow Falcon Pass cannot be breached quickly and Jianlu's reinforcements arrive, the Dongjiang Army will be in a dilemma of being attacked from both sides.
Therefore, after Liu Xingzuo sent a messenger, he waited for the lancers to eliminate the Jianlu in the city, and then quickly retreated to join the main force after a brief reorganization.
The reinforcements sent by Jianlu from Liaoshen will take the road from Fushun, Sarhu, and Gulezhai to Hetuala. The Dongjiang Army changed its route in advance and advanced towards Crow Pass. It was able to temporarily avoid the front of Jianlu's troops and win the victory.
more time.
Regarding this situation, Guo Dajing and his generals had discussed it in advance and believed that although the front and rear attacks seemed unfavorable, the danger was not great.
First of all, the troops mobilized this time are sufficient. As long as the Haizhou Guard can contain the main force of Jianlu, Jianlu's tactics of adding fuel to the fire can only create more opportunities for the Dongjiang Army to severely damage the enemy.
What's more, the Jianlu reinforcements and the Crow Falcon Pass defenders seemed to be able to flank the Dongjiang Army. How could the Dongjiang Army and the special operations battalion not be flanking the Crow Falcon Pass defenders?
The key lies in Guo Dajing's confidence in his own army's attack and his full preparation for this.
After receiving the report from the messenger sent by Liu Xingzuo, Guo Dajing immediately ordered the troops to turn to Crow Falcon Pass. It was almost a hundred miles away and was expected to arrive within three days.
The development of the war to this stage is reasonable, but also somewhat beyond Guo Dajing's expectations.
First, the Jianlu troops were actually in such a quandary. It was obviously the right decision to avoid the main Jianlu force in Liaoshen and attack the weak points in Liaodong.
Secondly, the Jianlu's combat power has declined, especially the lessons of the Zunhua War have not been learned.
If you think about it carefully, this is relatively normal. There were not many remaining captives who escaped, and it was too embarrassing. Dorgon probably did not want to tell the details of the battle and learn from it as experience and lessons.
So far, the Dongjiang Army has suffered little loss, and the Jianlu reinforcements tactics they hoped for have been frustrated one after another. Even if the Jianlu reinforcements come to 18,000, they are still sure of victory.
"Hetuala has been completely destroyed and burned into ruins." Fang Zhenghua couldn't help but laugh. He didn't lean back and forth. He was already forcing his patience. "It's a pity that I couldn't see it with my own eyes!"
However, Fang Zhenghua still regrets that he did not see it with his own eyes, so the description in the memorial was inevitably not vivid enough.
Guo Dajing laughed twice and said to himself: If I have a camera, I can take some pictures for you and show them to Chongzhen. Then there will be pictures and the truth!
"If Commander Guo makes great achievements again, the imperial court will definitely reward him with great rewards." Fang Zhenghua looked at Guo Dajing and said with a smile: "Sui built a captive army to surround the capital, and Commander Guo destroyed his capital. It is a bad retribution. It has restored the prestige of the Ming Dynasty.
It’s also exciting.”
Guo Dajing smiled, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you so much, Eunuch Fang, for your compliment. Guo just wants to pacify Liao and destroy the captives as soon as possible and get rewards, but he doesn't care much about it."
The conversation changed, and Guo Dajing added: "Of course, Long live the wise and powerful warriors, I will certainly not hesitate to reward the meritorious soldiers."
Fang Zhenghua nodded repeatedly and said, "Long Live has said many times that meritorious deeds will be rewarded with no less than a title, and Marshal Mao is a ready example."
Hehe, I don’t know how heartbroken Chongzhen is and how regretful he is!
Guo Dajing cursed, but as he said, he really didn't care much about the reward.
But making Chongzhen happy is indeed very beneficial to Dongjiang Town. The increase in population, the purchase of war horses, and the deployment of military materials such as saltpeter, sulfur, iron, etc. have greatly improved the strength of the Dongjiang Army.
If such intensity can be maintained, Guo Dajing is absolutely sure to accelerate the process of Ping Liao. In fact, this is a win-win situation and is beneficial to both parties.
Chongzhen should also know that pacifying Liaodong means that huge investment can be reduced. Liao's salary has overwhelmed the court, so he is naturally anxious.
Similarly, the Dongjiang Army's defeat of the Jianlu could also enable thousands of soldiers and civilians to enter a safe and peaceful life. Let alone Nanshan, war is not a hopeful and ideal state.
For Guo Dajing, the victory over Liao and the enemy was a milestone, but it was not the end of his life. The war would continue, but it would no longer be in Liaodong.
To the north, you can conquer the Mongolian tribes, attack Huduntu, and completely solve the border troubles in the north of the Ming Dynasty; to the south, you can calm down the domestic unrest, so that more people of the Ming Dynasty can live and work in peace and contentment.
Looking further ahead, Guo Dajing also wants to compete with the Zheng family, the maritime overlord, to take back the huge profits from maritime trade and use them for the construction of the Ming Dynasty and to save the people of the Ming Dynasty who are in great disasters.
There are also Western colonists who have entered Asia. The first ones to go to war are the Dutch who stole Taiwan and the Spaniards who massacred the Chinese in Luzon.
The goal is very ambitious, but Guo Dajing is very young and has enough time to achieve it. He can afford to wait twenty, thirty, or even forty years.
Guo Dajing temporarily put aside these thoughts and said to Fang Zhenghua: "After this battle, Jianlu's decline became more obvious. Guo intends to report to the court to launch a political offensive against Jianlu, divide and disintegrate, so as to achieve Ping Liao as soon as possible."
Fang Zhenghua looked happy and said, "I wonder what Commander Guo has to say. Can you tell the Za family first?"
Guo Dajing laughed and said: "I just want to express my humble opinion and ask Eunuch Fang for guidance."
The reason why Jianlu is called this is simply because it is the Jianzhou they originally occupied. But the division of the entire Jurchen people is not that simple.
Before Lao Nu unified the Jurchen tribes, the Yehe Tribe, Hada Tribe, Ula Tribe and Huifa Tribe all had some strength. It was only due to the mistakes of the Ming court and Li Chengliang's cover that Lao Nu was given a chance.
This process was naturally bloody and cruel. Many people from the Yehe tribe and other tribes died. It can be considered a blood feud.
However, the Jianzhou Jurchens used both kindness and power to finally stabilize the situation and merged with other tribesmen to become the Manchus.
But the situation is changing, and people's hearts are even more changeable. If you follow the Jianzhou Jurchens to fight in the east and west, you can get enough benefits, so you have no complaints. But if the Jianzhou Jurchens decline, it is normal for the sediment to reappear.
Just like the various Mongolian tribes that surrendered to Jianlu, although they were not openly enemies of the Ming Dynasty, they still sent people to follow Jianlu and rob and profit.
But if the Jianlu tree were to fall, it would be normal for the hozens to scatter.
"Can the Jurchens be divided?" Fang Zhenghua expressed doubts about Guo Dajing's idea and did not really believe that Jianlu would be in civil strife.
Guo Dajing smiled faintly and said: "It is better to have civil strife, but not to make Jianlu jealous. Even if other Jurchen tribes do not have this intention now, can we give them multiple choices? When Jianlu is at the end of his rope, will they be willing to be buried with him?"
The human heart is the most complex and changeable thing. Guo Dajing did not expect that the alienation plan would have immediate results. As long as the seeds were sown in Jianlu's heart, they would take root and sprout at the right time.
You still have to rely on yourself in everything, and this purpose will never change. As long as you continue to attack the Jianlu, the decline will become more obvious, and the Jurchen tribes, and even the Mongolian tribes, will have greater changes in their psychology and attitude.
Fang Zhenghua seemed to have some realization, and nodded slowly while thinking.
Regardless of whether it's useful or not, you don't have to pay too much anyway. It's just a decree from Banzai or a policy from the court.
Guo Dajing's strategy was as simple as assigning places to live in the Yehe, Hada, Ula and Huifa tribes, giving official positions to the leaders, and giving rewards to those who had made contributions in the Ping Liao and extermination of the captives.
At present, it seems a bit whimsical and a bit ridiculous. But from quantitative change to qualitative change, it takes a process. Whether it is successful or not depends on the changes in the situation.
To put it more vividly, it is as if the imperial court now appoints Hauge as the commander of the Jianzhou Guard. He will sneer at it, and other slave chiefs will also laugh at Ming for such a low-level and ridiculous tactic of alienation.
But when Jianlu is defeated, will Hauge have any idea and accept this choice? Will other slave chiefs trust Hauge absolutely by then?
"Guo Shuai's plan is very clever. Miscellaneous people will also come forward to help Guo Shuai." Fang Zhenghua finally expressed his agreement. Although it was not very important, this gesture still made Guo Dajing very happy.
Chongzhen's trust in eunuchs was not much worse than that of Emperor Tianqi. Especially after being stimulated by Jianlu's entry into the pass and Yuan Chonghuan's deception, he would use eunuchs even more.
Guo Dajing had no special discrimination against eunuchs, but all corrupt and bad officials were his enemies, including eunuchs.
In his opinion, Fang Zhenghua was a nice person. At least, he would not interfere with him or cause any obstacles to him, and he had no reason to offend him.