The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"Chen Wang!"

Huang Taiji swept away the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on the desk and let out a roar.

His heart was filled with resentment and bitterness.

He has already led his troops away from Guan Ning, and the army has arrived at Julu.

Huang Taiji felt a chill in his heart. He clenched his teeth and stared at the wrinkled map on the table.

The Eastern Route Army had been advancing with unstoppable momentum and had already entered Laizhou Prefecture.

But at this very moment, the main force of the Jingnan Army suddenly appeared at the foot of Yidu City, the capital of Qingzhou Prefecture.

In just three days, Yidu was captured by the Jingnan Army.

If it weren't for Ajige's decisive action in leading his troops back along the coast, the entire Eastern Route Army would likely have been wiped out in Dengzhou and Laizhou.

Battle reports from Jining came three times a day, each one a report of urgent military needs.

Dorgon's central army was trapped in Jining, relying on the fortified city, and could only barely maintain a defensive posture.

A feeling of powerlessness welled up in Huang Taiji's heart.

From the moment he ascended the throne, he worked tirelessly day and night, never daring to slack off for even a moment.

They planned meticulously and laid out a detailed strategy.

Finally, they captured the Ming capital, swept across the north, and finally achieved their goal of conquering the Central Plains.

However, all of this collapsed halfway because of Chen Wang.

The Jingnan Army's momentum was like a tiger, unstoppable, and the city of Jining was on the verge of collapse.

He wanted to take Guan Ning first, so he secretly contacted Wu Sangui and communicated with the generals and officers of Guan Ning in secret.

However, Wu Sangui was killed by Chen Wang's men first, and his head was hung above the city gate.

Zu Zefu burned the confiscated letters on the city wall, swore an oath of blood with the generals of Guan Ning, vowed to fight to the death, and distributed all of Zu's family wealth in Guan Ning and Guan Ning.

Zu Zefu's determination to die inspired all the officers and soldiers of Guan Ning, and everyone was of one mind and united as one.

The Guan Ning Army filled their last gap.

They rediscovered what they had lost twenty years ago, in Shenyang, in Guangning, and in Sarhu—courage.

The Jingnan army rushed through the night, crossed the sea by boat, and traveled all the way to Guanning.

The addition of tens of thousands of elite Jingnan troops transformed the originally weak Guan Ning defense line into an insurmountable barrier.

He abandoned nearly 10,000 troops under the Guan Ning Pass, yet he was never able to cross the line.

It is no longer possible to conquer Guan Ning.

It was absolutely impossible for him to do so, at least with the troops under his command.

Although he still has nearly 70,000 troops under his command, the Mongol cavalry are not good at attacking cities, and he cannot abandon all the elite troops of the Eight Banners at Guan Ning.

If he were to risk everything and deploy the elite troops of his Eight Banners, he might be able to capture Guan Ning.

But what happened after Guan Ning was captured?

At that time, most of his elite troops had been lost. He could neither suppress the various banner leaders nor restrain the Mongol vassals. He also had no way to confront the main force of the Jingnan Army, which was marching north with high morale.

Huang Taiji discovered that things had come to this point.

The only path he could choose.

In reality, only one remained.

"Chen Wang..."

Huang Taiji's eyes were bloodshot, filled with a chilling murderous intent.

Is this what you've been plotting?

Zuo Liangyu led three divisions of the Jingnan Army out of Shuzhou and headed north to Yidu, cutting off the eastern route army's advance and blocking Ajige's eastern route army outside Dengzhou and Laizhou.

The Jingnan Army stationed troops along the Fei and Teng lines in Shandong, cutting off their route to attack Shandong.

Chen Wang led the main force of the Jingnan Army in a fierce attack on Jining City, firmly controlling all the troops they could use in the north in the Jining area.

On the western route, the two divisions of the Jingnan Army in Hanzhong Town occupied Huaiqing and Fengqiu, protecting the territory of Henan.

For the past two months, Hauge has remained confined to Weihui Prefecture. In fact, due to the urgent situation in Jining, he has had to divert some of his troops to aid Jining, and has been forced to continuously shrink his defensive lines.

Everything Chen Wang is doing now is extremely familiar to Huang Taiji.

"How brave!"

Huang Taiji clenched his fists and stared intently at the map on the table.

All of Chen Wang's current plans and arrangements are a replay of the Battle of Yangzhou.

Every step Chen Wang took, every move he made, was clearly a reenactment of the Yangzhou battle plan.

He blockaded Shandong, held fast to Guanzhong and Ningxia, and protected Henan, gradually compressing the battlefield space, all in order to make Jining the site of the decisive battle—this vast plain with no natural defenses.

This is a naked conspiracy.

Chen Wang wanted to force him to mobilize the entire nation's army for a decisive battle on the vast and flat Jining Plain.

There were no clever schemes or tricks to employ, only head-on battles, cavalry charges, entangled battle formations, and close-quarters combat.

Chen Wang intends to use a grand formation and upright banners to achieve a decisive victory in one battle on the open fields of Jining.

In open field battles on the plains, there is no cover whatsoever.

It was pieced together.

It refers to the commander's ability to lead.

It was the officer's on-the-spot decision.

It is about the quality control of officers.

It is the soldiers' training courage.

Such a large-scale battle.

Huang Taiji knew this clearly.

Once you lose.

The defeated side will fall into an abyss of no return, never to recover.

The morale, fighting spirit, and fighting spirit of one side will be completely shattered by defeat, casting a dark shadow over the entire force.

From then on, whenever they faced off again, the defeated side would recall the scene of their defeat.

Just like the Ming army after the Battle of Sarhu, the Battle of Kaitie, and the Battle of Guangning.

When facing the Qing army, the Ming army was naturally at a disadvantage in morale and felt fear.

When they win, they dare not pursue; when they lose, they flee in panic; when they are defeated, their army collapses like a mountain.

And apart from that.

The most profound impact.

This will be the backlash from his conquest of the outer Mongolian vassals.

The Mongol cavalry that had entered the pass far exceeded the total number of his troops, reaching tens of thousands.

If things go smoothly, these Mongol cavalrymen from the outer regions will undoubtedly become the most powerful ally of the Qing Dynasty.

However, once a series of setbacks are suffered, especially the defeat of such a large-scale battle involving more than 100,000 men, it can be devastating.

As long as Chen Wang sends a letter, the outer Mongol vassals will definitely turn against him without hesitation and join the Jingnan Army.

The morale of the various banners is now wavering, and the Mongol tribes in the outer regions are also making frequent moves.

Huang Taiji did not want to fight this war.

He didn't want to gamble everything.

Everything that the Qing Dynasty possesses today is the result of hard-won achievements over the past decade or so.

Huang Taiji understood perfectly.

By now, he has read many books.

He had seen a sentence in the Gongyang Commentary.

"Can revenge still be taken after nine generations? It can be taken even after a hundred generations."

The Mongol Yuan dynasty had ruled the Central Plains for nearly a century.

After establishing his dynasty in Nanjing, Zhu Yuanzhang vowed to launch a northern expedition to pacify the northern kingdoms, but he was still not satisfied.

Hongwu launched thirteen northern expeditions, reaching as far as Buyur Lake, destroying the Yuan court and nearly wiping out the Golden Family.

During the Yongle reign, he led five expeditions to the northern deserts and thrice plundered the enemy's territory.

Later generations continued to wage war against the Mongol Yuan dynasty, and the once incomparably powerful Mongol tribes were scattered and dispersed, and they have not yet recovered to this day.

During the Jiajing and Longqing reigns, a powerful ruler emerged from the various Mongol tribes—Altan Khan. During Altan Khan's reign, he repeatedly invaded the Ming Dynasty from the south, and in the 29th year of Jiajing's reign, he besieged Beijing, creating the Gengxu Incident.

Then Anda defeated the opposing Uriyangkhai and Oirat tribes to the north and west, occupied Qinghai, and forced the Mongol overlord, Dalai Khan, to move east to the Liaohe River bend.

However, the final result was a triple blow from the Ming court in terms of military, political, and economic aspects.

Anda eventually accepted the tribute and became the Shunyi King of the Ming Dynasty and the ruler of the Jin Dynasty.

It was precisely because of the Ming Dynasty's containment of the Mongols that the Mongol tribes continuously weakened, which enabled the rise of the Qing Dynasty.

Otherwise, Mongolia would not have been defeated by the Qing Dynasty and become its vassal.

The actions of the Ming Dynasty over two hundred years truly demonstrated what it means to be able to restore order even after nine generations.

Throughout the past thousand years, countless similar events have occurred, such as Emperor Wu of Han's Northern Expeditions and Emperor Taizong of Tang's conquests of the barbarians.

The old story of Chenghua's plowing of the court is still fresh in my mind.

Huang Taiji felt heavy-hearted.

Chen Wang now governs the southern kingdom, using the emperor to command the disobedient, and his ambition to seize the throne is blatantly obvious.

Once they have achieved great merit and established a great career, they can use their reputation for victory to force Emperor Ming to abdicate.

Even if they escape back into the pass now, Chen Wang will never let them go.

The old story of the decline of the Mongol Yuan dynasty will repeat itself.

The Ming army once marched thousands of miles north to pursue the Yuan court at Buyur Lake.

Shenyang is only a thousand miles from the north, so how could Chen Wang let them go?

Beneath the walls of Jining, the cries of revenge were Chen Wang's declaration of his stance.

Once defeated and forced to retreat beyond the Great Wall, the Jingnan Army will pursue them to the ends of the earth.

When that time comes, only destruction awaits them; there will be no other way out.

"Can't lose..."

Huang Taiji muttered to himself.

He knew perfectly well what was going on in his mind.

This is a battle we have to fight, whether we want to or not.

Chen Wang didn't give him any other choice at all.

Huang Taiji felt remorse.

He was cautious and prudent throughout his life, knowing full well the difficulty of achieving great things with small means, but in the end, he was still too hasty.

He shouldn't have led his troops to capture the Ming capital before the time was right.

It was his own choice that allowed Chen Wang to completely break free from constraints and firmly grasp the legitimacy of righteousness.

Otherwise, no matter how strong and well-equipped Chen Wang's army was, he would still need to continue to build up his strength.

Leaving aside how to break free from the constraints of the Ming court, even if it truly grasped the reins of power in China and ordered a northern expedition, it would still take a great deal of time to accumulate military strength.

They occupied the land outside the pass, and with the advantage of terrain and cavalry, they were invincible.

Although the Jingnan Army accepted the surrender of a large number of Ming soldiers, as well as troops from the Daxi and Wanmin armies, its total number of cavalry was still only seventy to eighty thousand.

The number of cavalry available for the Northern Expedition was even smaller.

To accumulate enough cavalry to support the Northern Expedition, the Jingnan Army still needs to continue building up its cavalry force.

No matter how powerful the infantry is, it is difficult to replace the role of the cavalry.

Once on the grasslands beyond the Great Wall, it was the cavalry that truly determined victory.

Most importantly, if Chen Wang wanted to go north beyond Shanhaiguan or the Great Wall, he would have to spend a lot of gold, silver and grain to sustain the war.

If they hadn't entered the pass and captured the capital, and Li Zicheng had occupied the northwest, Chen Wang wouldn't have been able to focus all his attention on them in a short time.

But now, they are inside the pass, and the situation no longer allows them to evacuate again.

Huang Taiji understood that if he withdrew his troops at this point...

The various Mongol tribes outside the capital would likely mutiny as a result, and thus side with the Jingnan Army.

Having lost the important vassal state of the Mongols, returning to Liaodong would be no different from sitting and waiting for death.

Huang Taiji examined the map in front of him, recalling the movements of the Jingnan Army over the past few months.

As the situation unfolded gradually, the details and context became clearer in Huang Taiji's mind.

Those seemingly scattered military movements.

At this moment, a brilliant killing move was revealed, much like the black and white pieces on a chessboard.

Beads of sweat gradually seeped from Huang Taiji's forehead, and his breathing became increasingly heavy.

Huang Taiji's face gradually turned paler and paler as he moved the military flag in his hand.

Huang Taiji discovered a terrifying fact.

From the moment they entered the pass, from the very beginning of the Battle of Yangzhou.

Chen Wang had already calculated and planned everything...

From the initial siege of Xuzhou, to Li Yan's troop deployment northward, to their establishment of contact with Li Yan, and finally their determination to attack the capital.

Li Yan seemed to have many opportunities in the Battle of Yangzhou, but from beginning to end, he had absolutely no hope of victory.

Every step they took, every decision they made, precisely followed the path Chen Wang had laid out.

"So...it all started in Yangzhou, and it was all part of your plan..."

Huang Taiji clenched his teeth and fists, his knuckles turning white from the force.

"What a deadly move."

"What a brilliant move..."

The previously scattered marks on the map have now merged into one, resembling a gradually tightening net.

Huang Taiji's gaze shifted from Jining and headed west, eventually reaching Huaiqing and Yangwu in Henan Province.

He did not previously believe that the biggest reason Chen Wang would lead his troops north was...

It was precisely because Chen Wang placed his two strongest divisions and two battalions under Hanzhong Town in Yangwu and Huaiqing that he was able to achieve this.

But it seems that this was exactly the arrangement Chen Wang made to lower his guard.

In addition, there was the deployment to hold the line along the Huai River.

This made him determined to summon the Mongol vassals to enter the pass and attack Guan Ning.

Wu Sangui's subsequent betrayal was also within Chen Wang's expectations.

By killing Wu Sangui, Chen Wang cut off the path of Guan Ning's defection and incited the Zu family's determination to avenge their grievances, thus completely binding Liaodong to his war chariot.

A large net targeting him was being woven at this moment.

The tent flap was lifted, and a messenger dressed in a uniform brought news from the Northwest.

"Li Zicheng, following imperial orders, led 150,000 troops out of Xi'an to launch a fierce attack on Tongguan!"

This military report should have been the news Huang Taiji had been eagerly awaiting. If it had come half a month ago, he would have been clapping and laughing with joy.

The Shun army came from the west, attacking them from both sides, which was enough to make the Jingnan army suffer from attacks from both sides and unable to defend itself.

But now it's all too late.

At this moment, Huang Taiji simply raised his head slowly, his gaze passing over the flickering candlelight, and looking at the place where Huaiqing was on the map.

"So... you even foresaw this step..."

His voice was low, carrying a hint of barely perceptible fatigue.

Chen Wang had anticipated Li Zicheng's potential interference, so he stationed the elite First Division of the Hanzhong Garrison in Huaiqing to guard against enemies from the northwest.

Hauge's forces are currently weak.

They were utterly incapable of attacking the Henan region.

The Jingnan Army has gathered in Jining, and the Jining defense line is on the verge of collapse.

Hauge was no longer of any use in Weihui Prefecture, so the only option was to transfer him to Jining to stabilize the situation.

But after Hauge led his troops to withdraw from Weihui Prefecture.

The troops led by Zuo Guangxian were thus liberated.

The Jingnan Army in Jining thus gained another major boost...

The light inside the tent gradually dimmed until the guards tiptoed in and lit the candles.

Under the dim firelight, Huang Taiji finally realized that he had been sitting in his tent from noon until dusk.

The candlelight flickered gently in Huang Taiji's eyes, reflecting only a cold desolation. (End of Chapter)