Compared with the short-term confrontation on the frontal battlefield, the Liaodong battlefield was a continuous offensive. The Ming army continued to transport new troops and supplies from Shandong, and the Jeju Island cavalry took turns to fight. After regaining the Lushun and Dalian areas, they relied on trench fortifications to defeat the troops who rushed in for reinforcements.
The Qing army continued to expand northwards.
Relying on Lushun to carry out military operations in southern Liaoning, it effectively contained the Qing army in eastern Liaodong. Shengjing General Ang Bangzhang Jingdadu suffered from insufficient troops and was unable to support himself in the east and south directions, so he had to make urgent reports to the Qing court.
Requesting additional troops to assist in the war. At the same time, the Ming army's offensive in southern Liaoning also stabilized the base in North Korea in the east, making it impossible for the Qing army to mobilize enough troops. When the weather is cold and the river is closed, the Qing army may not be able to attack again.
It's easier.
Moreover, the North Korean side killed the envoys sent by the Qing court, officially announced that it would "help the Ming Dynasty conquer the Qing Dynasty", and abolished the "Jiangdu Peace Treaty". It not only provided food and supplies for the Ming army, but also stationed tens of thousands of troops on the banks of the Yalu River, clamoring to gather ten troops.
Wan “Northern Expedition to avenge humiliation”.
North Korea's position was important, and Zhu Yongxing used it as the basis for counterattacking Liaodong, but he did not count on North Korea's soldiers. Let's not talk about whether North Korea's 100,000 troops could be gathered together. Even if there were 100,000 troops, North Korea's "40,000 defenders"
The historical record of "being defeated by three hundred Qing troops" is nothing more than a mob.
Therefore, Zhu Yongxing was very polite to the envoys from North Korea and said in Xianzong's letter that "since the righteousness is clear, there is no shame in being overthrown", "If we send troops to cross the Liao Dynasty and attack directly at the nest, the king's army will attack the south and we will attack the west.
Then the filth can be swept away." He praised it with words such as "righteousness and awe-inspiring" and gave many gifts. However, in terms of military deployment, Zhu Yongxing did not ask North Korea to send troops. Instead, he made requirements for materials and sent craftsmen and machines.
, went to North Korea to set up an arsenal.
The establishment of the Northeast First Theater Command marked the first step in the military region system envisaged by Zhu Yongxing to fight against the Northeast.
"Long live, long live. Long live!"
After shouting "Long Live Shan", Pi Xiong, who had been promoted to King of Qianyang, stood up and respectfully received the imperial edict. After arranging the imperial envoys, he sat down with the generals to talk.
"I fought hard to get His Majesty's permission to serve as the commander-in-chief of this war zone." Pi Xiong smiled and pointed to the big box in the hall, and said gratefully: "The Holy One is kind. I'm afraid that my old bones can't bear the cold, so I'm so kind.
Reward me with a mink fur blanket. I can only repay you with death, so that I can live up to the great grace of the Holy God!"
It was not just the leather bears who were rewarded, it was more or less different. The ones who were given the overall military rank were at least leather scarves, leather gloves, and high-waisted leather boots. There were many official positions at that time. It can be said that there were many people who were rewarded, including basically the current First War Zone
of mid- to high-level generals.
Therefore, when Pi Xiong said this, all the generals quickly stood up, cupped their hands towards the south and said, "Long live the Holy Ming, God's grace is mighty."
After Pi Xiong finished his performance, he sat down and pondered for a moment. He then said, "Coming out of the first battlefield in Northeast China, Your Majesty hopes that we can let go and fight! The port facilities in Lushun are getting better and better. The fortress is getting stronger day by day. In the future,
Logistics supplies will arrive directly at Lushun or North Korea. In other words, our base will be transferred directly from Denglai to Liaodi, which can be said to be a big step forward. At present, the main force of the Tartars is contained in the Hejian area of Zhili.
Liaodong is empty, it’s time for us to show our talents!”
It's good to have empty troops. But it's also true that the land is vast and the people are sparse. It's limited by the lack of mobile troops. Although the infantry is not afraid of the Qing army when they attack in groups, they have to rely on themselves to obtain all the food and supplies they need. In this way, it's easy.
This shortens the attack time and prevents the travel distance from being too deep.
But the establishment of the first theater is not only the army, but also more than 500 large and small ships and 2,000 marines. In this way, relying on the maneuverability and transportation of the sea route, the Ming army can still launch an attack on the coastal areas first
and occupation.
"From the intelligence point of view, the population of Yaozhou is relatively large, and plundering may be valuable." The Liao land is desolate and desolate. It is difficult to find a densely populated and relatively wealthy place. It can only be a relative term.
Yaozhou is equivalent to the Yingkou area in later generations, with Haicheng County in the north and Gaiping County in the south. The Manchu Dynasty implemented separate governance for Han and Manchus. Gaiping County was mainly inhabited by Han people. During the period when the Qing Dynasty implemented the customs policy, the Qing government also
Occasionally, special edicts made exceptions. In the eighth year of Shunzhi, in order to prevent "the land of Longxing from being too barren", the Qing government recruited some people from Zhaoyuan, Shandong and other places to move to Gaiping.
Pi Xiong's plan for the operation was to rely on the navy, or to land operations at weak enemy defenses, or to replenish supplies nearby, while the main force of the army would launch an offensive from the Liaonan Peninsula or western Liaoning, or to feint to attract the Qing army, or to attack directly.
. Therefore, he is not very interested in this somewhat sneaky operation. He hopes to do something bigger, more effective, and a military operation that can occupy a more favorable situation.
Liaodong, to be precise, should be the area east of the Liaohe River, which is now the eastern and southern parts of Liaoning Province and the southeastern part of Jilin Province. The reason why it is called the Northeast Theater is because Zhu Yongxing believes that this title is not comprehensive enough and too excessive.
It is general and often easily confused. Of course, this also has a lot to do with Zhu Yongxing's territorial standards.
In order to establish the first theater in the Northeast, Zhu Yongxing transferred Hu Guozhu and others from the Dangshuo Army, and also transferred nearly a hundred mid-level and low-level officers from other armies. With this, it was logical to break some of the possible obstacles in the armies.
signs of change.
As a general who is relatively familiar with Liaodong, Hu Guozhu believes that this may be an opportunity for him to continue to be promoted. Because as long as he is in the Dangshuo Army, his highest position is not higher than command, and overpowering or ostracizing Prime Minister Xia is obviously not in his mind.
As expected. Most of the Dangshuo army were Wu Sangui's old troops, and Zhu Yongxing repeatedly transferred them. Firstly, some people were indeed familiar with Liaodong, and secondly, they disrupted the original system, installed officers from the martial arts hall, and cultivated new loyalty chains.
As the deputy commander-in-chief, with only one Pixiong who is over eighty years old, Hu Guozhu feels that his future is very bright. Of course, he still needs to establish meritorious service so that he can take over the authority of commander-in-chief in the future.
After weighing the strength of the Ming and Qing armies in Liaodong, Hu Guozhu put forward a more positive and relatively stable battle plan. "Our army is in Lushun. Jinzhou currently has 13,000 infantry, 500 hussars, and 1 dragoon."
Fourteen hundred, not counting the new recruits from the Navy and North Korea. According to intelligence analysis, the Liaodong Qing army only had less than 8,000 soldiers under the command of General Shengjing, and it also had to garrison Shengjing, Xingjing, Phoenix City, Yi
Prefecture, Niuzhuang, Jinzhou, Jinzhou, Liaoyang, Xiongyue, Fuzhou, Ningyuan, Guangning, Tieling, Kaiyuan and other places. Even if only the smallest number of garrisons is left, excluding the more than two thousand who have been successively eliminated by our army
People, the total number of the Qing army now is only more than 5,000."
After a pause, Hu Guozhu looked around at the generals and noticed Pi Xiong's appreciative gaze, so he continued: "Why don't you read the article in the 43rd issue of Jiangwu Hall, which talks about strategic maneuvers and tactics?
Mobile and battlefield maneuverable.”
"The last general has read it." After Yu Qi became a senior general, he knew that he was inexperienced and had a short time. If he wanted to catch up, he had to study hard and fight bravely. Therefore, he paid special attention to the journals of Jiangwutang and collected them extensively.
Read more, "It says: In terms of tactical mobility and battlefield mobility, our army lacks cavalry on land and is definitely not as good as the Tartars; but in terms of strategic mobility, our navy is powerful. If it were not deep inland and lacks rivers, our army would be inferior to the Tartars.
The Tartars are incomparable."
"General Yu really has a strong memory." Hu Guozhu praised it, moved his finger on the map, and said: "Look, everyone, if the navy is dispatched from Lushun, the vast coastline of western Liaoning and eastern Liaoning can be reached anywhere, and it is better than the Qing army.
The cavalry must be fast. If the raid on Yaozhou is used as a diversion, and the troops in Fengcheng and Kuandian are ordered to feign an attack, the number of Qing troops faced by our headquarters will be reduced. Then our army will be dispatched to conquer Fuzhou, attack Gaizhou, and fight with Xiuyan and Fengzhou.
If the city and Kuandian are connected in a line, the situation in Liaodong will be greatly advantageous."
"Since our army is stronger than the Qing army in terms of long-distance maneuvers, well, that is, strategic maneuvers, the general thought that we could carry out a few more landing operations to make the Qing army even more exhausted." Yang Yanfeng had been thinking, and now he had some realizations.
He opened his mouth and said: "For example, western Liaoning, like the Jinzhou area, we call it the Northeast Theater anyway, so we don't need to divide it into Liaodong and Liaoxi, right?"
"Yes, the Northeast War Zone does not distinguish between Liaodong and Liaoxi." Pi Xiong smiled and nodded, and said: "This is the wisdom of the Holy One, allowing us to have nothing to worry about. In my opinion, we can occupy Juehua Island first, then garrison troops, and then
Attacking Ningyuan (now the Xingcheng area) is not only an attack and harassment, but also a response to the overall situation."
Juehua Island is located in the sea more than ten kilometers southeast of Ningyuan and nine kilometers away from the seaside. It is in the shape of a long gourd and covers an area of 13 square kilometers. Its terrain is higher in the south and lower in the north. It is the largest island in Liaodong Bay. Relying on the Navy, plus Juehua
The Qing army on the island was very small, and the Ming army was able to seize it in one fell swoop. Once Juehua Island was captured, they could attack Ningyuan from a short distance, and attack Guangning Qiantunwei (now Suizhong County), Jinzhou, and even Shanhaiguan from a far distance.
In other words, based on Juehua Island, the Ming army can directly threaten the military key points in the Western Liaoning Corridor and cut off the Qing Dynasty's retreat. This is very helpful for the current frontal battlefield operations.
Zhu Yongxing independently established the Northeast First War Zone, and did not specify the combat tasks very specifically. He mainly wanted to give the frontline generals more room to perform. However, the situation of the entire war would be communicated on time in the form of briefings as the generals' operational direction.
basis.
Pi Xiong came from the General Staff and had a good understanding of Zhu Yongxing's thinking and behavior. Therefore, he could see more broadly and think deeper than the generals here, and he could better understand the intentions of Zhu Yongxing and the General Staff.
"Commander-in-chief——" Yu Qi and Yang Yanfeng's eyes met, both had the same question, but as a subordinate, Yang Yanfeng was obviously more suitable to ask some inappropriate questions, "If our army spreads out too much,
If the Tartars send reinforcements urgently, the pressure will be on us——"
Hu Guozhu shook his head secretly. This was the result of not understanding the emperor. This kind of question seemed to protect the interests of this war zone, but in fact it was the opposite.
"Us?" Pi Xiong glanced at Yang Yanfeng meaningfully and said calmly: "One is declining, the other is rising. The whole country is playing chess. We are all Ming troops. The pressure here is great. Will the Holy Father ignore it?"
"The last general made a mistake, please punish me, Commander-in-Chief." Yang Yanfeng was shocked and hurriedly left his seat to apologize.
"Lieutenant General Yang, it doesn't have to be like this." Pi Xiong waved his hand and said earnestly: "Read more of the newspaper and think more about what the Holy One said. You will know what the Holy One hates most, and you will also understand the His hard work and wisdom."