Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"There's no way to make a fool of yourself!"

Looking at the situation on the battlefield in the distance, Kong Zhenyun cursed angrily.

The siege of Khorchin by the various armies of Heilongjiang and Ligdan Khan was something he strongly promoted.

This war should have started last year, but it was postponed due to insufficient preparation.

After the beginning of spring this year, thanks to his active efforts, Ligdan Khan finally led 20,000 troops and joined forces with the Ming army to besiege Khorchin.

Everything was going well; the Ming-Mongol allied forces were winning battle after battle and had reached the heart of the Khorchin region.

Just as they were about to completely eliminate the Khorchin, the Jurchen reinforcements arrived, instantly changing everything.

With their firearms, the Ming army was no longer particularly afraid of the Jurchens. Even if they couldn't catch up with the cavalry, once they formed defensive battle formations, the Jurchens would mostly dare not charge.

The disastrous defeat at the Battle of Daming demonstrated that they were simply no match for the Ming Dynasty's firearms.

The Jurchens are currently relying on the mobility of their cavalry to barely maintain an advantage in battles against the Ming army.

The Ming army gradually shed its fear of the Jurchens, but Ligdan Khan's men were terrified of the enemy. They even fled during today's decisive battle, leaving only the Ming army behind.

This led Kong Zhenyun to hurl insults, deeming Lin Dan Khan utterly useless:
Ambitious but incompetent, cowardly as a mouse.

"This person is utterly hopeless and not worthy of any trust."

The fact that the usually refined and scholarly Kong Zhenyun could be so furious shows just how angry he was.

Zhang Tongchang, who was also observing the battlefield nearby, had the same anger on his face. But he was able to control his emotions, lowered his binoculars, and said:
"Don't get too angry!"

"Isn't this something that was expected?"

"If Ligdan Khan were truly capable, why would the imperial court support him?"

"It would be best to have someone as ambitious but incompetent as Khan. There's no need to worry about the Mongols emerging like Nurhaci."

Kong Zhenyun also knew that Lindan Khan's incompetence was a good thing for the Ming Dynasty, but he was angry that he had spent too much effort on this person.

If he hadn't fled during the Jurchen invasion last year, I wouldn't have been punished and exiled to the northern desert.
Now, because of his escape, I haven't been able to achieve my full goal. The opportunity to be granted a title that was within my grasp has been forcibly given away.

Thinking about this pained him, and he felt that he could no longer trust Lin Danhan in the slightest.
"I was truly blind to have ever placed my hopes on such a person!"

"Lord Jiangling, what do you suggest we do now?"

How can we continue this battle?

Zhang Tongchang glanced at the distant battle situation. After the retreat of the Chahan troops, the various Ming armies had formed defensive formations.

The Jurchens had no intention of launching a full-scale attack; clearly, they couldn't afford to waste time.

However, the more this was the case, the more he wanted to wear down the Jianzhou Jurchens, and he discussed the matter with Kong Zhenyun:
"The Emperor sent us to attack the Khorchin in order to contain the Jurchen forces."

"Judging from the banners raised by the Jurchens, the two Yellow Banners are the ones that have come this time."

"Although we don't know the exact number, it's no less than ten thousand."

He misjudged this point, because the two Yellow Banners didn't send that many people; only a little over six thousand came.

The others were Mongols conscripted by Huang Taiji and incorporated into the two Yellow Banners.

However, this does not affect the conclusion, Zhang Tongchang said:
"According to the intelligence department's estimate, the Jurchens had a maximum of 240 Niru. If each Niru had 300 men, that would be 72000 armored soldiers."

"If these soldiers are eliminated, the Jurchens will have to replace them with reserves, and their combat strength will be far inferior to before."

“Since the first year of Chongzhen’s reign, the Ming army has killed at least 10,000 real Tartars.”

"Now we'll tie down 10,000, and Governor Hong will tie down another 10,000."

"The number of Jurchen soldiers with combat capabilities at the front is at most 40,000."

"With the fighting strength of the Guan Ning Army, they are more than capable of fighting them!"

This conclusion also pleased Kong Zhenyun somewhat.

Although the greatest credit for this attack doesn't belong to them, they were originally positioned as a secondary force.

For him, winning was the most important thing, and at this moment, he was thinking about repaying the emperor.

Zhang Tongchang was the same; he did not necessarily want to claim credit.

For him, the timing of the destruction of the Khorchin was irrelevant; he couldn't possibly rise to the rank of Duke based on such an achievement. Nor would the Jiangling Duchy, spanning five hundred li, expand as a result.

On the contrary, cooperating with the main battlefield to defeat the enemy would make the emperor value him more, believing that he has a strategic vision and can be responsible for managing the Northeast.

So the two quickly reached an agreement and communicated the strategy to the Andong Protectorate, the Liaodong Front Committee, and the Privy Council Wartime Committee.
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The War Committee took Zhang Tongchang's hypothesis very seriously and ordered the Liaodong front to conduct a full investigation. The Jinyiwei spies planted among the Jurchens were also mobilized at great cost.

Ultimately, through messages sent by Ning Wanwo, Li Yangeng, and others, the imperial court confirmed that the number of genuine Tartars at the Niuzhuang front was indeed only over 40,000.

The remaining 20,000 men were Mongols in disguise, posing as Huang Taiji's personal guards.

After this was confirmed, the Liaodong Front Committee erupted in cheers, because the opportunity they had been waiting for had finally arrived: the Guan Ning Army could fight a decisive battle against the Jurchens.

Sun Chengzong stroked his beard and said:
“I felt something was wrong when the Jurchens sought a decisive battle a few days ago.”

"I didn't expect it to be a bluff, an attempt to scare us."

You Shilu said with some shame:
"We were too cautious and failed to discover the Jurchens' trick."

Sun Chengzong waved his hand and said:
"Do not blame you!"

"His Majesty said: Large-scale military operations must be conducted with caution."

"It is better to lose than to be defeated."

"At that time, our soldiers were not well-trained and could not be said to know the enemy, so it was not wrong to be cautious."

"Now that the various armies have been fighting in rotation for several months, they have basically trained themselves. They also know the strengths and weaknesses of the Jurchens, so now is the perfect time for a decisive battle."

Then, he asked with concern:

How are you feeling?

"Can you keep going?"

You Shilu has been working tirelessly for the past few months and is already suffering from various illnesses.

But faced with this opportunity, he answered without hesitation:
"Please give the order, Commander-in-Chief, and I will fight with all my might!"

Sun Chengzong shouted "Good!" but was still somewhat worried and asked:
"Should we send someone to assist you? I'll transfer Ma Shilong over." You Shilu reluctantly nodded and said:

"It would be fine to bring Captain Ma over; it would make things easier for me with him here."

"The court now requires the main general to stay in the rear to command, while the task of charging into battle is handled by generals such as Cao Wenzhao and Sun Yingyuan."

Both of them were battle-hardened generals who led the imperial army and earned great prestige on the battlefield.

Sun Chengzong, considering that the imperial court indeed advised against high-ranking officers charging into battle, nodded and said:

"Then you should prepare well and not waste this opportunity."

He petitioned the court to transfer Ma Shilong, the military commander of Shanhaiguan, to the front lines, and also requested the court to order all armies to contain the Jurchens.

Yuan Keli fully cooperated with him, strictly ordering Hong Chengchou and Mao Wenlong to contain the two Blue Banners, and ordered Ningyuan Earl Li Zunzu to lead the Golden Horn Guard westward to block the two Yellow Banners of Khorchin from returning south.

Meanwhile, due to You Shilu's illness, he ordered Yang Jiamo to take priority in this battle and lead the Liaonan army into battle first.

You Shilu was stationed in the rear to command, waiting for an opportunity to dispatch the Guan Ning army to advance.
-
Yang Jiamo never expected that he would get the opportunity to lead the attack on the battlefield at night.

He laughed heartily and looked around at his generals, saying:

"The imperial court has ordered us to lead the attack. Do you all have the confidence?"

Cao Bianjiao and others shouted "Yes!" Yang Jiamo praised them, saying:

"it is good!"

"Use me in the first battle, and I will win."

"This is His Majesty's expectation; he hopes that the Ming army will all have such courage."

"Order: If we win this battle, all soldiers will be granted at least one li of land, and their hereditary positions will be promoted one rank!"

This was an imperial edict issued by the emperor to encourage them to achieve merit.

Upon hearing the news, the entire Liaonan garrison erupted in cheers, wishing the Jurchens were right before their eyes so they could immediately charge into battle.

Having just joined the army, they had no idea how powerful the Jurchens were.

Their experience of capturing barbarians these days made them realize that although the Jurchens were fierce, they were no different from wild beasts.

The practice of distributing land to captured barbarians fueled their motivation to fight the Jurchens.

Tempted by the promise of land and hereditary positions, they were filled with longing and utterly fearless.

The same was true of the generals in the army; most of them were filled with excitement and were eager to make a name for themselves.

Only Lu Xiang-sheng, who had come with the Tianxiong Army and served as its military commander, was somewhat uneasy.

Because he simply did not believe that this army, which had been formed for less than three months, had the strength to contend with the Jurchens:
"Isn't this just sending them to their deaths?"

Why did the imperial court make this arrangement?

Feeling uneasy, he approached Yang Jiamo and said:
"General Yang, do you really think this new army can stand against the Jurchens?"

"If the Jurchens were so easy to defeat, how could things have come to this?"

Yang Jiamo's expression turned solemn, and he said sternly:
"Commander Lu, what do you mean by this?"

"The decision to engage in the decisive battle was made by the imperial court. Are you trying to undermine the morale of our army before the battle even begins?"

Lu Xiang-sheng couldn't bear this accusation, and explained very sincerely:

"It's not that I want to demoralize the troops, but rather that I have doubts in my heart."

“If Lu had other intentions, he wouldn’t have sought out the general in private.”

Yang Jiamo's expression softened a bit, realizing that Lu Xiang-sheng meant well.

Considering that Lu Xiang-sheng's mentors were Sun Cheng-zong and Yuan Ke-li, he patiently explained:

"Whether we can win or not, we have to fight this battle."

"If Liaonan Garrison wants to form an army, it must go through this battle."

Lu Xiang-sheng also knew that a strong army must be tempered in the fires of war, otherwise he would not have brought 10,000 Tianxiong soldiers with him.

But he couldn't bear to send newly enlisted soldiers to the battlefield.

As the ancients said, "A scholar cannot be recruited without education."

“It will take the imperial court at least three months to train a new army equipped with firearms.”

"It's too cruel to send these people to the battlefield now."

Yang Jiamo disagreed, saying:

"cruel?"

"Go to the border regions and see for yourself what cruelty is."

“The barbarians will never give you a chance to train. When they attack, even the border residents will have to fight.”

"These Han Chinese from Liaodong have already received a great favor for being rescued, and now it is time for them to repay the kindness they have received."

"Go ask them if they are willing to fight the Jurchens?"

Lu Xiang-sheng remained silent upon hearing this, knowing there was no need to ask.

During this period, he had observed the Liaonan army's training before directly deploying them to the battlefield to capture barbarians.

Fueled by past hatred, these people showed no mercy to the barbarians they encountered. The subsequent reward of land distribution further motivated them to continue capturing barbarians.

In addition, with Ai Nanying and others promoting the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, these people now not only hate the Jurchens, but are also filled with contempt for them.

If you try to stop them from going to the battlefield now, they'll drive the person who tries to stop them out first.

Therefore, although he knew the outcome of this battle was uncertain and the casualties were difficult to predict, Lu Xiang-sheng still had no choice but to obey orders and lead the Tianxiong Army into battle.

Distrustful of him, Yang Jiamo assigned Lu Xiangshan to lead the Tianxiong Army as a reserve force. They were tasked with temporarily repairing fortifications on the battlefield to prevent a rout should the fighting turn against them.

He personally led 40,000 troops from southern Liaodong to prepare to meet the main force of the Jurchen army at Niuzhuang. (End of Chapter)