Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

After determining the next strategy for the Liaodong campaign and the plan for governing Northeast China, the Privy Council quickly compiled them into documents and transmitted them to the front lines.

Sun Chengzong finally breathed a sigh of relief after learning that the ultimate goal was to capture Shenyang.

He was genuinely afraid that someone in the imperial court might act rashly and demand that the Liaodong armies continue fighting.

The fact that the court is now turning its attention to governance undoubtedly brings him comfort:

"Yuan Gong was a true prime minister!"

"Assisting the emperor above, managing the balance of yin and yang below, handling all matters with utmost order and efficiency."

With him in court, we have nothing to worry about!

What pleased him most about the Liaodong campaign was that the imperial court rarely gave arbitrary orders.

Under Yuan Keli's repeated restraints, the emperor's demand to delegate power to the front lines was fully implemented.

Sun Chengzong only needed to make demands on the rear, and rarely encountered unnecessary interference.

He himself was the same, only deciding whether or not to fight, rarely interfering with the specific command.

As a result, the soldiers on the front lines became increasingly daring, and ultimately achieved a great victory.

When Hou Shilu and his men charged forward at breakneck speed, even Sun Chengzong was surprised that his men had such audacity.

Looking back on everything that had happened, Sun Chengzong now feels as if it were all a dream.

He even felt a little reluctant, even though he knew the front lines were difficult to sustain:

"Is this all there is to it?"

"The Jurchens, who have plagued Liaodong for over a decade, are about to be pacified just like that?"

Why do I feel like I'm dreaming?

Since being promoted and given important positions by the Tianqi Emperor, Sun Chengzong has focused his efforts on Liaodong.

After the current emperor reinstated him, he has kept him in Liaodong without moving an inch.

It can be said that Sun Chengzong's entire career can be attributed to this matter.

Now that the result has been achieved, he can't help but feel a sense of loss.

Fortunately, the imperial court's order to establish Liaodong, Liaoxi, and Liaoning provinces and one prefecture, along with the Liaohe River Inspection Office, gave him a renewed sense of purpose.

He knew that after pacifying the Jurchens, he would still have things to do.

However, before that, he still needs to make arrangements for the last battle and take Shenyang completely.

As far as he knew, Huang Taiji's retinue was still in the city. Although the man himself might have fled, the retinue and his belongings should be seized intact.

To relay orders to the front lines and arrange for soldiers to continue transporting supplies.
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At this time, 50,000 troops had gathered on the Shenyang front.

Leaving aside the troops participating in the Hunhe Battle, after Yang Yufan led the Restoration Army to Hupiyi, they quickly continued their advance towards Shenyang.

His 14,000 men were newly armed and equipped with firearms, bringing much-needed ammunition supplies to the front lines.

Qin Liangyu, who had been left behind by Man Gui in the west, also arrived in Shenyang with the help of various Mongol cavalry units.

They numbered 14,000 in total.

What was even more surprising was the arrival of Hong Chengchou and Geng Zhongming.

He originally planned to bring up 10,000 Japanese soldiers who were training in the rear to encircle and annihilate the Bordered Blue Banner on the opposite side.

Unexpectedly, Amin and Mangultai were equally quick to seize the opportunity and also slipped away after learning that Huang Taiji had evacuated.

Hong Chengchou's troops were mostly infantry, so they naturally couldn't catch up.

After careful consideration, he recaptured Kaiyuan and Tieling, leaving 10,000 newly transferred troops to defend the cities, while leading another 10,000 troops to join forces with other armies in Shenyang.

Thus, more than 50,000 troops gathered outside the city of Shenyang.

Man Gui, who had already been recognized by the Privy Council as the Commander-in-Chief, felt both immense pride and some pressure.

The needs of 50,000 people for food, drink, and sanitation are considerable, and many were injured in the freezing weather.

He must capture Shenyang as soon as possible and lead his army to occupy it.

Inside the camp, Man Gui, who had been confirmed to be transferred to the position of Governor of Liaoning and was allowed to choose his fiefdom in the Liaoning Protectorate, could not hide his smile.

He knew the court wanted him to conquer his fiefdom and the protectorate, but he didn't care because the court had already given him enough preferential treatment.

When he was enfeoffed as a prince, his achievements were slightly less than those of a prince.

When he was granted the title of marquis, the emperor specially adjusted the military merit system to promote him to the rank of marquis.

Grateful for the emperor's favor, he felt it was time to prove himself and let the world know he was not a good-for-nothing.
"Are all the artillery pieces ready?"

"And where are the tunnels dug by the engineers now?"

Cao Wenzhao, who was familiar with firearms, said:
"The artillery was ready long ago, and some gun positions have been observed."

"Their cannons are difficult to move on the city walls. Once the battle begins, I am confident that we can take them down in one fell swoop."

Li Jiucheng, who was in charge of digging the tunnel, said:
"General Liu recalled some aspects of the defenses of Shenyang."

"He pointed out several weak points in the city wall, where tunnels had been dug."

"But whether it can be destroyed remains to be seen tomorrow."

Man Gui took this very seriously, because he had used the same method when attacking Liaoyang last time.

Li Jiucheng had a nickname in the army at this time: "The Tunnel General"—

He previously distinguished himself in Yizhou and Liaoyang by digging tunnels.

He was quite dissatisfied with this title, but in order to gain merit, he had no choice but to put up with it for the time being.

Upon confirming that all departments had completed their preparations, Man Gui immediately issued the following order:

"We will officially attack the city tomorrow."

"We must not stop until we have breached the city walls."

He ordered the Japanese soldiers brought by Hong Chengchou to lead the charge, with his own Dongping army serving as the supervisory force. He resolved not to stop until the last Japanese soldier was dead.

Hong Chengchou was naturally not distressed by the lives of the Japanese; on the contrary, he was quite pleased with it.

Because the number of Japanese soldiers killed or wounded, regardless of their number, was not counted as part of the Ming army's losses.

In other words, Hong Chengchou has only achieved merits and has never suffered a defeat.

Man Gui also placed the last arriving Japanese soldiers at the front for this reason. Otherwise, the losses from the siege would be too great, and his achievements would be tarnished.

Therefore, he had already ordered Kong Youde to go to Hupi Post Station and bring over the 10,000 Japanese soldiers who had arrived earlier. If all the Japanese soldiers under Shenyang City died, they would be sent to replace them.

Under his orders, the next day, all kinds of cannons from the Ming Dynasty launched a fierce bombardment.

The Jurchens in the city initially refrained from retaliating, but after Geng Zhongming led the Japanese to attack the city, they had no choice but to open fire to disperse them.

Then they were subjected to concentrated artillery fire from the Ming army. The various types of cannonballs that were brought up quickly rendered the Jurchen artillery ineffective.

The Japanese soldiers, who were close to the city wall, raised their muskets and fired at the Jurchen soldiers on the wall.

Because their old firearms and bows and arrows had similar ranges, they were soon met with a hail of arrows.

Both sides endured casualties and exchanged fire, creating a truly spectacular scene.
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Generals like Man Gui watched from the rear and were very satisfied with the performance of the Japanese soldiers.

These men were spirited and fearless, truly qualified servants. Man Gui also said to Hong Chengchou:

"Governor Hong is truly talented in training troops!"

"They managed to train a group of Japanese into an army so quickly."

Hong Chengchou stroked his beard and smiled, saying modestly:

"It's just training according to the imperial court's regulations and being organized according to the garrison system."

“These Japanese are ignorant of the greater good; the only way to entice them is with profit.”

"They were naturally fearless in the face of death in order to obtain the reward."

Hong Chengchou enforced military law quite strictly in the Japanese-led army.

Qi Jiguang's military law of collective responsibility in battle had already been implemented among the Japanese.

If even one person dared to retreat, Hong Chengchou would kill an entire squad, and the superior officers would also be punished.

These men, trained under strict military law, had long been instructed to only dare to advance and not to retreat in the slightest.

Soon, a group of Japanese soldiers rushed to the foot of the city wall and began to set up ladders.

Some samurai wielding Japanese swords charged forward with great courage.

If the elite troops of the Jurchens were on the city walls, they would not be able to defeat them.

However, the Jurchens left behind almost entirely the elderly, the infirm, the disabled, and slaves in Shenyang.

How could they possibly defeat samurai who made a living by killing?
After the Japanese soldiers stormed the city walls, they began to retreat in defeat.

The Ming generals, including Man Gui, who were watching from the rear, all felt something was amiss.

Because the Jurchens before them seemed too easy to defeat, seemingly crumbling at the slightest touch:
"Something's wrong!"

"Something's not right with the Jurchens in the city!"

"Could it be that Huang Taiji really did run away, leaving behind only expendable pawns, just as some have speculated?"

There is much speculation that Huang Taiji may have already fled.

Since there was no definite direction, the only option was to take Shenyang first.

Seeing how easily the defenders on the city wall could be defeated, Man Gui immediately felt that it was certain:
Huang Taiji was not in the city; he had taken all his elite troops out with him.

Having made this judgment, and unwilling to be further delayed by Shenyang, he immediately ordered the Ming army to escort the city, intending to capture it in one fell swoop.

Hong Chengchou then said:

“Something is definitely not right in the city. Even if the Jurchens left behind were all old and weak, they shouldn’t be so powerless.”

"General Man, please wait a moment and let those Japanese go in first."

These words sounded sincere, but they also reflected his own calculations.

If there hadn't been an ambush, everything would have been fine; his Japanese troops had achieved the feat of breaching the city.

If there were an ambush, it would only be Japanese soldiers who would die, and Hong Chengchou himself didn't care.

As the Governor-General of Andong, Hong Chengchou's words carried considerable weight.

After being persuaded like this, Man Gui's somewhat feverish mind immediately calmed down:

Regardless of Hong Chengchou's scheming, as the commander-in-chief, he deserves some credit.

On the contrary, if a mistake is made unintentionally, one may become a laughing stock.

Therefore, he gave the order:
"Activate all tunnels and begin demolition immediately."

"If the explosion is successful, let the Japanese troops of the Andong Army attack first."

The engineers who had dug the last section of the tunnel under the cover of the battle received orders to immediately begin demolition.

Shenyang was a major city to the Jurchens, but to them, it was nothing special.

In addition, Liu Xingzuo had pointed out the weaknesses in the city's defenses, and soon, with several loud bangs, several sections of the Shenyang city wall were blown open by gunpowder.

The Jurchen generals on the city wall shouted orders to organize people to block the breach.

But at this time, the Jurchens on the city wall were engaged in fierce fighting, so how could they spare anyone?

Soon, large groups of Japanese soldiers swarmed in, and the resistance organized in the city was almost completely ineffective.

Upon seeing this, some Ming generals smiled, while others felt something was amiss, thinking that Shenyang had fallen far too easily.

After experiencing the tunnel blast attack, they did not believe that the Jurchens were unprepared for this.

In its current state, how can it be considered an enemy?
Therefore, they believed that the Jurchens must be plotting something.
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Saharan did indeed have a plan in mind within the city.

He had fewer than three thousand genuine Jurchens under his command, and most of them were old, weak, sick, or disabled. Of course, he knew he couldn't hold out.

So his initial idea was to kill as many Ming soldiers as possible, preferably taking them all to hell with him.

Who would have thought that the Ming army was so cunning, actually using Japanese auxiliary troops to deplete their forces.

The troops brought here now are Japanese, not the elite Ming army that was expected.

"What a pity! What a pity!"

As the Japanese swarmed in and rapidly advanced towards the palace, Sahalian sighed, knowing that if he didn't act soon, he would have no chance once he was discovered.

He immediately ordered his men to fire the signal cannons, and at the same time waved large flags throughout the city.

Upon receiving his signal, the Jurchens in the city immediately forced the Han slaves to start a fire.

Fires broke out everywhere in the city of Shenyang.

Soon, with the ignition supplies placed in advance, fires broke out all over the city, leaving almost nowhere to hide.

Unaware of Sahalian's scheme, the Jurchens were at a loss as they watched this scene unfold. They had no idea that Sahalian intended to burn them alive as well.

They shouted and charged in all directions, trying to escape through the gaps opened by the Ming army.

The Japanese who had just entered the city were in the same situation, and the two sides engaged in a bloody battle, with people dying every moment.
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The Ming generals outside the city were also shocked by what they were seeing.

Because they never expected that the Jurchen general defending the city would be so decisive, knowing that if they couldn't hold out, they would burn the entire city down.

It's important to know that the troops inside weren't just the ones attacking the city; many of them were their own people.

This approach of preferring to burn rather than leave anything for the enemy made them feel the opponent's ruthlessness.

"The Jurchens have capable men!"

"No wonder His Majesty didn't demand that we definitely capture Huang Taiji."

A Ming general sighed.

He had realized that taking down Huang Taiji under the protection of such a loyal and resolute general would not be easy.

Even if the Jurchens were to die, Huang Taiji, as their leader, could still escape under the protection of these people.

Other generals inquired whether to send men to put out the fire or to bring back the Japanese soldiers from the city.

But no one answered; they simply watched as Shenyang was engulfed in flames. (End of Chapter)