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Chapter 1551 Jining Prefecture

December 1st.

After the Jurchen general Abatai was defeated at the walls of Qihe, he immediately dispatched fast horses to summon the Jurchen cavalry that were plundering outside, in preparation for a joint attack on Qihe.

However, it would take time for the various groups of bandits to retreat, so he led the remaining 1,500-plus bandits south across the Daqing River to attack Changqing County in order to replenish their supplies.

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Meanwhile, the enemy cavalry attacking Leling had already reached Yangxin County, while the enemy bandits attacking Shanghe were heading towards Qingcheng County.

On the third day of the twelfth lunar month, Yangxin County was captured by the Jurchens, and the county magistrate Zhang Yuqing died for his country.

On the same day, another Jurchen force attacked Qingcheng County but failed to capture it. They withdrew their troops and fled south. On the fourth day, they rushed to Xincheng County and immediately launched an attack from all sides. They captured Xincheng County that afternoon.

Wang Yuzhen, a martial arts graduate from Xincheng County, fought bravely and died for his country. His family members, including Wang Yupeng, Wang Yucai, Wang Yujin, Wang Yuxian, Wang Yubi, Wang Yuying, Wang Yubin, Wang Yuman, Wang Shiju, Wang Shizhan, and Wang Shiqi, all died resisting the enemy.

In addition, there were two major families in the city, the Bi and Zhang families, such as Bi Shen, Bi Zhuo, Zhang Jiongran, Zhang Bingran, Zhang Yingran, and Zhang Chongran, who refused to submit to the Jurchens and fought bravely but were killed.

December 4th.

A group of bandits who were originally heading to attack Jiyang County, seeing that Jiyang was well-prepared, moved south along the Xiu River, passed Zhangqiu but did not attack, and went straight to Zouping County, where they circled the city and spyed on it.

This Jurchen force consisted of two thousand armored cavalry, over eight hundred infantry, and five to six thousand able-bodied men and women they had captured along the way.

What the Jurchens did even more ruthlessly was that all the people they captured, regardless of gender, were required to have their heads shaved immediately.

As a result, these people dared not run away again, because if they were discovered by the government troops or the people, they would be regarded as invading Jurchen invaders and killed on the spot.

This is also the viciousness of the invaders. Once the people of the Ming Dynasty are captured, they will suffer endless misery and become cannon fodder for their plunder of the Ming Dynasty. Even if they survive to go to Liaodong, they cannot escape the fate of becoming slaves.

At that time, there was a tribute student named Wan Zhong in Zouping County. When he first heard the alarm that the Jurchens were invading, he wrote a letter to Qiu Lei, a fellow townsman, asking him to send some people to help Zouping County strengthen its defenses and guard against the Jurchens' attack.

Qiu Lei, courtesy name Wenshi, was a native of Zouping, Shandong. In his youth, he joined the army in Liaodong as a student. He was quite brave and made meritorious contributions, rising to the rank of commander. Later, he was captured and punished for plundering with Zuo Liangyu.

Qiu Lei was a true man; he took all the blame, allowing Zuo Liangyu to escape punishment and be imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's prison.

In the thirteenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, Zuo Liangyu donated 10,000 taels of silver to the court to save Qiu Lei, enabling him to escape punishment and be released from the Ministry of Justice prison. Later, he went to Liaodong to serve as a general to pardon Qiu Lei's crime. Now, he serves as a deputy general under Zu Dale, the assistant commander of Songshan.

Out of consideration for their past relationship, Qiu Lei immediately dispatched Zhang Jun, the garrison commander, with 28 Liao soldiers under his command to come to the rescue overnight. They are now already in Zouping City directing the city's defenses.

The fifth day of the month.

The Jurchens used captured young men as cannon fodder to fill in the city moat, push ladders to the foot of Zouping City, hang the ladders on the crenellations, and the Jurchens swarmed up the city, thus beginning the battle to defend Zouping.

Zhang Jun, the garrison commander of Liaodong, led the Liaodong soldiers to be the first to kill the slaves. Liu Yi, Han Zhiqi, Zhang En, a student from Zouping, and others also bravely went forward, which greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers and civilians defending Zouping.

Under Zhang Jun's command, the defending soldiers and civilians worked together to overthrow the siege ladders. They then threw wood and straw salvaged from demolished houses down to the city walls, along with flammable materials such as kerosene and sulfur, which they ignited with torches, finally burning down the siege ladders hanging on the battlements. The fierce battle raged until noon when Zhang Jun, the Liaodong garrison commander, spotted several riders in armor on the west side of the south gate. Recognizing them as Jurchen Meile Ejen, he knew them well, having long served in Liaodong.

He immediately ordered the garrison soldiers to quietly move the cannons over and bombard the area where the cavalry were located. The Jurchen Mele'ezhen immediately spurred his horse and fled.

After a day of siege, seeing that Zouping was well-defended and not easy to conquer, the Jurchens led their troops away under cover of night and disappeared without a trace.

During the defense of Zouping City, Zhang Jun suffered a cut to his left arm, five Liao soldiers died in battle and were all buried in Zouping City, while eighty-nine Zouping soldiers and civilians died and one hundred and twenty-seven were wounded. Zouping student Cheng Duan was also killed by the Jurchens who climbed the city walls while defending the city.

Fortunately, Zouping City was saved, so the casualties were worth it!

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The Jurchen Tan Tai's troops marched north from Neihuang County, passed through Huilong Town and entered Zhangde Prefecture in Henan Province. They then moved north from Linzhang County into Guangping Prefecture, captured Cheng'an, attacked Feixiang, and burned, killed and looted along the way.

One of the groups of Jurchens led by Shuo Tuo reached the city of Junxian on the second day of the twelfth month. However, as soon as the Jurchens arrived, the cannons on the city wall began to fire. The Jurchens realized that the city of Junxian was well-defended, so they turned around and fled to Huaxian.

December 2nd.

Shuo Tuo personally led a force of Jurchens to the walls of Fan County. At this time, there were no garrison troops in Fan County. Although the county magistrate Wu Guangyin summoned the gentry and able-bodied men in the city to defend the city, how could they withstand the ferocious Jurchen cavalry?

In less than half a day, Fan County fell. County Magistrate Wu Guangyin was killed, and local gentry Wu Yihua and Wu Yimai had their heads cut off and hung at the entrance of the government office for climbing the city walls to resist the Jurchen attack. The people and scholars in the city were massacred, and countless others were taken away.

On the fourth day of the twelfth month, at the hour of Si (9-11 AM), Shuo Tuo led the Jiannu to the city of Caozhou.

At this time, there were only 660 garrison soldiers and 1,000 temporarily recruited local militia in Caozhou City, but the city walls alone had more than 2,400 crenellations.

Moreover, cannons and gunpowder on the city walls were extremely scarce, and the city's defenses were very weak. Although Han Zhizhou, the governor of Yanxi, personally led the soldiers and civilians in the city to defend it to the death, it was only a matter of time before Caozhou fell.

The fifth day, at 9:00 AM.

The Jurchens finally climbed the city wall from the southwest of Caozhou using ladders. Li Ke, the Vice Commissioner of Caozhou, fought bravely and refused to surrender. He was shot in the left rib by the Jurchens and bled to death. Dong Zhenguang, the commander of the central army, went to his rescue but was also surrounded by the Jurchens and killed for refusing to surrender.

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Meanwhile, a major battle is also unfolding in Jining Prefecture...

On the third day of the twelfth month, about three hundred enemy cavalry appeared under the city of Jining. They scouted around the city and when they reached the vicinity of the east gate, they were intercepted by five hundred elite cavalry sent by Luo Rucai. They abandoned more than twenty corpses of their companions and fled.

On the fourth day, large groups of Jurchens began to arrive, setting up camps on the north and west sides of Jining and manufacturing siege equipment, seemingly intending to launch a strong attack on Jining.

At this time, in addition to more than 4,500 cavalry, Luo Rucai's Cao camp also had more than 2,000 infantrymen arriving. Luo Rucai left only 500 infantrymen outside the city to assist in the defense, and transferred 1,500 infantrymen into Jining City to strengthen the city's defenses.

Han Guangcang, the prefect of Jining, was originally reluctant to let Luo Rucai's men enter the city, but the situation was critical and the Jurchen army could arrive at any moment, so he could not worry about anything else.

Fortunately, Luo Rucai only sent 1,500 infantrymen, all of whom were stationed on the city walls, posing no possibility of trouble within the city. Even so, Han Guangcang repeatedly emphasized the importance of ensuring the food and drink supply for Cao Cao's troops entering the city, to prevent any unforeseen problems.