weaving

Chapter 1515 Chen Jiugao Takes Charge in Tongzhou
The Jurchen puppet Qing army, unable to capture Jizhou, did not linger there but instead split into several groups and raided Tongzhou, Xianghe, Baodi and other places.

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On the ninth day of the eleventh month, the capital of the Ming Dynasty was placed under martial law, and the city's defenses were deployed.

The imperial court issued a proclamation, ordering Feng Yuanhuai, the military commander of the Ministry of War's standard battalion, to be stationed outside Zhengyang Gate; the right battalion of the standard battalion to be stationed outside Xizhimen and Fuchengmen; Tang Yu, the commander of the sixth battalion of the Divine Machine Army, to be stationed outside Xibianmen; Ding Liuzhi, the commander of the sixth battalion of the fifth army, to be stationed at the southwest corner of the city; Zhou Wei, the commander of the seventh battalion of the fifth army, to be stationed at Gaomiao outside Yongdingmen; and Yang Yun, the commander of the second battalion of the fifth army, to be stationed outside Zuo'anmen.

Meanwhile, Liu Bin of the Second Battalion of the Divine Machine Army was dispatched to garrison the earthen platform outside Guangqumen to defend the river embankment, and ambushes were set up in places such as Panjiayao and Zhanggongsi; Su Xianze, the commander of the Central Army of the Zhengbiao Battalion, was stationed in the area of ​​Sanzhongci outside Dongbianmen; Pan Longyue of the Second Battalion of the Divine Pivot Army was stationed in Songlinli outside Chaoyangmen; and Li Shouheng of the First Battalion of the Divine Pivot Army was stationed in the Erlizhuang area.

In addition, Zhong Kouying, the central commander of the Sixth Battalion of Shenshu, Fang Hongji, the central commander of the Vanguard Battalion of Zhengbiao, Liu Shangli, the central commander of the Right Vanguard Battalion of the Fifth Army, Li Ang, the central commander of the Right Vanguard Battalion of Shenshu, and Jiang Tengjiao, the central commander of the Right Vanguard Battalion of Shenji, were dispatched to lead troops to garrison Niufang Village outside Dongzhimen.

Furthermore, Zhou Zhao, the commander of the first battalion of the fifth army, Tang Zongyao, the commander of the left vanguard battalion of the fifth army, Chen Ruhui, the commander of the left vanguard battalion of the Shenshu vanguard, Yin Weihan, the commander of the left vanguard battalion of the Shenji vanguard, and Yang Guoying, the commander of the Zhengbiao battalion, led their troops to garrison at the North Training Ground outside Andingmen.

Meanwhile, Du Hongfang, commander of the Shenji First Battalion, led his troops to garrison near Muxuyuan outside Deshengmen. Under his command were Du Kai, Wang Yueran, and Xue Sishi, as well as Zhou Liao, a guerrilla commander, who led troops to defend the earthen city outside Deshengmen.

Chen Jiugao, as the vanguard commander of the Shenji Battalion, had defeated the rebel leader Li Zicheng in Kaifeng and the Jurchens in Liaodong. Therefore, he was highly valued by Emperor Chongzhen and the court.

He was assigned to garrison Tongzhou, which would not only protect the city's grain and supplies, but also form a defensive alliance with the garrison in the capital. Furthermore, it would allow him to address the grain supply problem for Chen Jiugao's army nearby, thereby relieving the pressure on the capital's food supply.

Accompanying Chen Jiugao to Tongzhou were Deputy General Fu Yingchong, as well as guerrillas Chen Shihhu and Fu Tingfu. These old brothers who had fought alongside the slaves in Liaodong were once again fighting the slave bandits together.

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November 10th.

The Jurchen puppet Qing army arrived as scheduled, and more than 10,000 Jurchen infantry and cavalry troops launched a fierce attack on Tongzhou for two days.

Although Chen Jiugao fought twice, his victory was due to the strength of the Xuanfu Army under Zhang Cheng, the Earl of Yongning, not to his own great ability or the bravery of his Shenji Battalion.

But he could only swallow these words; how could he dare to say them to Emperor Chongzhen?
"Like a mute eating bitter melon, unable to express the bitterness," perfectly describes Chen Jiugao's feelings at this moment.

However, Chen Jiugao was still a general of the Ming Dynasty. Although he was terrified, he was good at putting on a show. Before leaving, he distributed all the rewards he had received and five thousand taels of silver from his private savings to his soldiers.

Although each soldier only received one tael of silver, compared to other battalions, everyone was still very pleased, since only Chen Jiugao had done this.

Moreover, Chen Jiugao also put aside his pride. Since leaving the capital, he personally inspected each camp every day, and from time to time stood among the soldiers, shouting inspiring slogans.

You know what, his actions really did stabilize morale and boost the troops' spirits.

After all, the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion's vanguard did indeed defeat the rebel leader Li Zicheng when they reinforced Kaifeng, and they did indeed defeat the Jurchens in Liaodong. These two battles are real, and they did indeed make contributions in them.

This made them more or less afraid of the Jurchens, unlike other camp leaders who turned pale at the mere mention of the Jurchens!
With the genuine support of Fu Yingchong, Chen Shih-hu, and Fu Ting-fu, he actually managed to defend Tongzhou City and force back the Jurchen army of ten thousand men.

The Jurchen armies on the left and right flanks split into several groups, showing no intention of forcibly attacking the fortified city. Seeing that Tongzhou was difficult to capture, they further split into several groups and headed south to harass Wuqing, Dong'an, Yongqing, and Bazhou. ...

Emperor Chongzhen summoned Hong Chengchou, the military governor of Jiliao, and ordered him to lead the Liaodong troops back to reinforce the capital.

However, Hong Chengchou reported that the Jurchen king Haoge had personally led more than 50,000 Tatar soldiers to invade Jinzhou. The Liaodong soldiers dared not leave without permission, lest they be taken advantage of by the Jurchens.

Left with no other option, Emperor Chongzhen had to issue an edict stating, "Since Hong Chengchou is unable to oversee the Jizhou garrison, the Jizhou governorship shall still be established to strengthen the defense of the capital region."

Finally, an imperial edict was issued to Liaodong, ordering Hong Chengchou to be in charge of guarding the Liaodong barrier. Another edict was issued to Fan Zhiwan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, to concurrently serve as the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, and to oversee the military affairs of Jizhou, Yongping, Shanhaiguan, Tongzhou, and Tianjin, in order to resist the Jurchen invasion and fulfill the responsibility of protecting the capital region.

However, Fan Zhiwan, fearing the might of the Jurchen army, firmly declined the appointment and even wrote to the court requesting to resign and return to his hometown.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was furious and ordered the Jinyiwei general Fan Zhiwan to be arrested immediately and sent to the Zhenfusi prison for trial.

The task of resisting the Jurchen invasion required someone to take charge. After discussion among several senior officials of the court, Emperor Chongzhen decided to replace Fan Zhiwan with Zhao Guangbian as the Right Vice Minister of War and concurrently the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, in charge of the military affairs of the towns of Ji, Yong, Shan, Tong, and Jin, in order to resist the Jurchen invasion and fulfill the responsibility of protecting the capital region.

November 11th.

Emperor Chongzhen then appointed Wang Aoyong as Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and sent him to Tongzhou.

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On November 11th, the imperial edict mobilizing troops to defend the emperor was finally delivered to Xuanfu Town.

In fact, as early as November 10th, the Earl of Yongning had already received a message from Niu Sheng, and was already aware of the Jurchen invasion.

However, he did not tell outsiders until the imperial court issued a proclamation to mobilize troops to defend the emperor, at which point he summoned all the generals of the town to the commander's mansion for a meeting.

Although the capital region was in grave danger, Zhang Cheng was not in a great hurry.

Because he knew that the Jurchens could not pose a direct threat to the capital at present, his isolated army had only ventured deep into the heart of the Ming Dynasty to plunder people, money, and wealth, and had no intention of attacking the capital.

Moreover, Zhang Cheng, the Earl of Yongning, also had his own plans. This time, his journey to the capital to defend the emperor was not the same as it had been in the eleventh year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

At that time, Zhang Cheng was just a minor cavalry captain in the right wing battalion of the garrison. He could not decide his own actions and had to obey the military orders of Lu Xiang-sheng, the then governor of Xuan-Da. He could only arrive early and never late.

But now, the situation is different.

Zhang Cheng was already a dignified General of Zhenshuo and Commander-in-Chief of Xuanfu Town, and was even granted the title of Earl of Yongning. Moreover, he also shouldered the responsibility of supervising the military affairs of seven towns including Baoding and overseeing the military affairs of suppressing bandits in the five provinces of the Central Plains.