weaving

As early as the 27th day of the intercalary eleventh month, eight Jurchen spies arrived at the city of Kaizhou, but were repelled by the garrison troops organized by Kaizhou generals Li Ying and Mao Yinglong using cannons.

Meanwhile, Bai Jinbao, a centurion, led his troops out of the city to pursue and intercept the enemy. He captured one of the Tartars alive and seized two warhorses and one mule. Zheng Youde, a battalion commander, also seized a warhorse.

Two days later, several hundred Jurchen cavalrymen came from the north.

Lieutenant General Wang Guoxian was in charge of the defense of Kaizhou City. Seeing that the Tartars were numerous, he knew that Kaizhou City could not be defended. So he led the soldiers and civilians in the city to form a battle formation outside the city, ready to fight the Tartars to the death.

Not long after the battle began, Li Ying and Mao Yinglong, the garrison commanders under Wang Guoxian, and Huang Shiqian, a student from Kaizhou, were shot to death by the enemy with arrows. Their morale was greatly damaged and they were on the verge of collapse.

At this critical moment, the main force of the Yuan Battalion cavalry, led by General Yuan Shizhong of the Yongyi Army, arrived in time and immediately joined the battle, charging straight into the Jurchen main camp.

You should know that Yuan Shih-chung has been holding back his anger for a long time!
Since he was placed under the command of the Earl of Yongning, he initially underwent reorganization in Wu'an County, Zhangde Prefecture, Henan Province, and trained there for about half a year. After that, he moved his camp to Xuanfu Town and began to change his uniform, followed by a series of combined exercises involving infantry and artillery, as well as infantry and cavalry artillery.

In short, Xiao Yuan's camp wanted to fight and make a name for itself!
After weeding out the weak and retaining the strong, Xiao Yuan's battalion was equipped with superior armor and weapons, as well as standard muskets and handguns. It was also equipped with tanks, supply wagons, and various types of artillery, and could be said to have undergone a complete transformation.

Moreover, ever since the Marquis of Yongning accepted the pacification, he first gave the selected elite soldiers a resettlement allowance, and thereafter he paid them every penny of their wages on a monthly basis.

Even the elderly and weak soldiers who were not selected were registered as households and settled in Zhangde Prefecture, Yongning Earl's controlled area in southern Ji, or Xuanfu Town.

Everything is for the best. The once wandering bandits now have their families settled in a good manner, they have been given new equipment, are well fed and cared for, and receive their pay on time every month.

From top to bottom, from generals to soldiers, everyone in Xiao Yuan's camp was filled with gratitude and thought of how to repay the kindness shown to the Earl of Yongning!

It was only after Yuan Shizhong repeatedly volunteered that he was appointed as the vanguard of the army, penetrating deep into the southern part of the capital, and thus appeared in time at the gates of Kaizhou, saving the entire city's soldiers and civilians.

Yuan Shizhong led his 1,300 elite cavalrymen, charging into the enemy ranks like divine soldiers descending from the sky. The Jurchens initially had the upper hand, but with Yuan Shizhong's arrival, the battle situation immediately reversed.

The Jurchens were ultimately no match for Yuan Shizhong's brave and resolute army, leaving behind more than a hundred corpses of the enemy before retreating.

…………

On the 26th day of the intercalary eleventh month, Zhang Cheng, the Earl of Yongning, received a new order from the Ministry of War: he was to lead his troops to Yanzhou in Shandong immediately to intercept the Jurchens, seize the opportunity to recover Linqing, protect the Grand Canal, and ensure the smooth flow of grain transport.

To avoid revealing his true strength too early, Zhang Cheng ordered his generals to lead their troops southward along the western side of Daming Prefecture, entering Yanzhou Prefecture from Dongming County of Daming Prefecture.

At the same time, all generals were required to avoid fighting the main force of the Jurchens as much as possible during the advance. They could only fight when they encountered small groups of Jurchen cavalry, but after the battle, they had to immediately move to another place and must not be caught up by the main force of the Jurchens.

His main reason for doing this was to avoid a decisive battle with the Jurchens too early. He planned to wait until the time was right before setting up the battlefield and luring the Jurchens into a trap.

Because at this moment, the Jianzhou Jurchens have just entered the important capital region of the Ming Dynasty. Their morale is high, their military strength is strong, and their men and horses are fat. Once a stalemate is established, they will be eager to defeat us so that they can free up their hands to plunder various places.

With such intentions, the enemy will surely be exceptionally fierce and difficult to deal with when they fight.

However, if they split up and plunder in different directions, and each group of bandits has made some gains, they will become greedy and only think about protecting the wealth, people, and women they have plundered. They will certainly not fight to the death.

Moreover, after months of plundering, they must be exhausted. Every time they conquer a city, they have to fight a big battle. Over time, their mental and physical strength will be greatly depleted, and they will not be as strong as they are today, making them easier to deal with.

...Turge, the Gushan Ejen of the Bordered White Banner of the Manchu Jurchens, led a large army of rebels as the deputy commander of the attack on the Ming Dynasty, advancing towards the Dongchang-Jining line and directly threatening Yanzhou.

On the 27th day of the intercalary eleventh month, the Tuerge bandits reached Dongchang Prefecture. General Ma Dai commanded the defense of the city effectively, and the bandits retreated. He then divided his troops to attack other places.

On the 28th, a group of enemy cavalry attacked and captured Yanggu County. The county magistrate, Chen Suxin, and the instructor, Xing Qidao, were captured by the Qing army and disappeared without a trace. The clerk, Sun Dezhong, escaped.

On the same day, another group of enemy cavalry reached the city of Dong'e, but failed to capture it and retreated. They returned the next day, launched a surprise attack, and captured the city, which was then plundered by the enemy cavalry.

On the 29th, Turgh led the Jurchens to attack Dongping Prefecture, and Kou Wenying, the judge in charge of the river, fought bravely and died.

Fortunately, Luo Rucai led Cao's troops to the scene in time, and a fierce battle ensued, driving back the Jurchen forces under Turge, thus saving Dongping Prefecture.

Turgh did not linger in Dongping Prefecture. After failing to capture the city, he did not stay there but immediately led his troops south, heading straight for Jining Prefecture.

December 1st.

The Tuerge tribe of the Jiannu captured Wenshang County. The county magistrate, An Shaoxian, and the county assistant, Shen Wentai, were captured by the enemy and died resisting. The enemy looted the area for two days and then rested briefly.

Meanwhile, Luo Rucai, seeing that the enemy had fled to the border, led his more than 4,000 cavalrymen in hot pursuit. Taking advantage of the gap in Turge's looting in Wenshang County, they arrived at the city of Jining ahead of schedule.

But what angered him again was that Han Guangcang, the prefect of Jining, refused to let Luo Rucai's guest army into the city. However, he was willing to provide Luo Rucai with supplies and suggested that Luo Rucai's Cao camp could be stationed in the area of ​​the Martial Arts Hall and the Bala Temple in the east of the city.

This place is near the moat and is surrounded by water on three sides, with only the northeast side lacking river protection. The terrain is also slightly higher, making it a perfect defensive position to complement the city of Jining.

Luo Rucai, having angrily retreated from Linqing City last time, was not punished but was gently admonished by the Earl of Yongning. Now, he dared not lose his temper again and had no choice but to lead his troops to garrison at the martial arts hall.

…………

On the 28th day of the intercalary eleventh month, after Tan Tai's cavalry left Daming Prefecture, they advanced to the city of Nanle. He set up seven camps and built hundreds of cloud ladders.

On the 29th, they launched a fierce attack on Nanle County from all sides. Although the soldiers and civilians defending Nanle fought desperately, they were no match for the enemy due to the disparity in strength.

In the afternoon, the enemy troops climbed ladders up the city walls from the southwest corner of Nanle City. The soldiers and civilians defending the city fought desperately, engaging in fierce street battles, but their resistance seemed so weak and powerless in the face of the devilish enemy troops.

Just at this critical moment, a Ming Dynasty army suddenly appeared north of Nanle County, raising a cloud of dust as they headed straight for Nanle City.

Seeing this, Tan Tai had no choice but to abandon the attack on the city. He led the enemy out of the west gate, crossed the Fan River, and headed straight for Neihuang County.

Even so, Duan Wenxuan, the former magistrate of Haifeng County, Wei Jian, a scholar, and Cui Xun, the clerk, were killed by the enemy in the street fighting. More than half of the houses inside and outside the West Gate and South Gate of Nanle were also burned down.

Tan Tai's quick reaction was commendable, as the cavalrymen of the Tengshe Battalion of the Yongyi Army, led by Wei Zhice, were charging up from the north. Had Tan Tai not run fast, he would likely have suffered significant losses.

…………

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, Neihuang County was captured by Tan Tai. (End of this chapter)