Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 320 Jinzhou, Tashan

Nurhaci was also smart.

He did not plan to have Tang Guda stab the Ming Dynasty directly on the front line, but still obediently followed the arrangements of the Ming Dynasty.

But betrayal on the battlefield is not the only thing that would add more pressure to Ming Dynasty's Liaodong.
His plan was to launch a surprise attack on the Yehe tribe, which had lost its defense, in the name of the wild Jurchens, but to leave behind some small items of the Ming army that had been collected from many battlefields over the years.

Those things couldn't prove anything, nor could they allow the Ming Dynasty to confirm that the Jianzhou Jurchens were pretending to be the Wild Jurchens: After so many years of exchanges, why couldn't the Wild Jurchens collect some old Ming army swords and armor from various places?
But the Yehe tribe was not completely confident in the Ming Dynasty.

As long as the Yehe tribe puts tribal interests first and puts in less effort, the Ming Dynasty will have to put more effort into the Liaohe area which they have already conquered.

It was just as Dai Qing said, Nurhaci was waiting for the situation to occur in order to interrupt the Ming Dynasty's Liaodong sea route.

If it can happen, a whole winter is enough to do a lot of things.

At this moment, his fourth son Tang Guda had already arrived in the southwest of Jinzhou.

"The Ming army will definitely let us lead the way, Beizi..."

Hearing this, Tang Gudai looked at him and said with a serious face, "Adapt to circumstances."

As the fourth child, he is twenty-four years old.

But now he has a son who is almost seven years old.

Last year, he married the daughters of two beiles of the Ula tribe. Among the people who followed him now were the elders from his "concubine's family".

The war situation is dangerous. We can only let others manipulate us here, so of course we are worried.

The area around Tashanbao in front is garrisoned by the Ningyuan Zhongzuo, and not far to the southwest is the Ningyuan Guard.

In terms of terrain, the area becomes much wider after passing through Tashanbao from Shanhaiguan. In the north, after crossing the Nv'er River, you will reach Jinzhou, and the entire Northeast is now open.

The Jinzhou area was extremely important to the Ming Dynasty.

Originally, Tang Guda had no such understanding, and the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty would not tell him.

But before setting off, Nurhaci explained everything clearly and in detail.

Not only does its location determine all this, but if heroes all over the world want to take Liaodong, they will also focus on Jinzhou first.

Along the way, the Ming Dynasty Liaodong Gaizhou Guards who set out with them to reinforce the Jinzhou defense line were extremely nervous, and the baggage supply from the hinterland of Liaodong to the direction of Jinzhou Yizhou was endless.

Tang Guda was of course in a bad mood because he was going to the most dangerous place: knowing that sending someone to "reinforce" the Ming Dynasty was almost like sending him to death, why did he still let him come?

Are you going to abandon him like your eighth brother and Mukushi?
Fortunately, I soon felt relieved, which made me feel surprised and happy.

The good news was that the Gaizhou Guards were going to head towards Dafu Fort, where the Nv'er River flowed into the Ming border wall and then led to Jinzhou, but they did not have to go there, but instead headed towards Wanghaitai on the bay south of Tashan Fort.

The seaside, at least it’s not the front line facing the elite troops of the Tatar Khanate.

Then he was shocked, really frightened.

Wanghaitai is located on a peninsula that stretches out into the ocean. A large bay is formed on the north side of the peninsula. The peninsula is named Hulutao because it is shaped like a gourd.

What shocked Tang Guda was that after he and his 3,000 Jurchen "elite soldiers" arrived here, they crossed the Zhaiershan Fort defense line stationed on the westernmost side of the peninsula and saw a terrifying army.

How many people are needed?

The most shocking thing was that the person who led the way respectfully said to the two generals in front of him: "Duke Ying, Marquis Ningyuan, the people have arrived and are quite obedient."

Who is the Duke of Ying? Tang had no impression of him in ancient times.

But... Ning... Yuan... Hou?
He had never seen Li Chengliang, but he had heard his father and the elders of the clan talk about him many times.

The person in front of me... seems to be about the right age...

Moreover, the subordinate generals behind him had already changed their expressions.

Li Chengliang squinted his eyes and looked at him, then glanced at the people behind him, as if he was just looking at ordinary livestock, and then said nonchalantly: "Are you Nurhaci's fourth son?"

"...Is it General Li...in person?"

Tang Guda's heart was filled with shock and fear. At this moment, he remembered his father's words: the most important thing is to find out the news about Li Chengliang, who has been promoted to the title of Ningyuan Marquis!

Now he found out, but he only saw Li Chengliang staring at him with his eyes wide open: "You look a bit like your father when he was young. Since you are here, you should obey my orders. Young Master Zhang, shall I arrange it for you?"

"it is good!"

Zhang Weixian was overjoyed. He led 10,000 troops from Beijing to support Liaodong, but when they arrived here, of course Li Chengliang was in command.

Zhang Weixian did not refuse. He knew his own worth. With a big shot like Li Chengliang, why not hold him in trust?
This is actually the emperor's good intention, and it is also a reminder: Please ask Marquis Ningyuan to actively integrate into the group of meritorious officials, and please ask Duke Ying to seize this opportunity to make meritorious contributions led by Marquis Ningyuan.

Therefore, among the 10,000 soldiers of the Beijing Camp, Zhang Weixian himself only had a mobile battalion of less than 3,000 people.

Li Chengliang understood what the emperor meant: give him another chance to make meritorious contributions, but his identity must be corrected.

After all, the lineage of the Duke of Yingguo is an old ducal family. There is no reason why the Ningyuan Marquis or even the future Ningyuan Duke should not have good relations with the Duke of Yingguo.

Especially don’t think that arriving in Liaodong is like a tiger returning to the mountains.

It would be beneficial to Li Chengliang's descendants to take care of the young Duke of Ying.

So Li Chengliang handed the newly arrived Jurchen soldiers to Zhang Weixian: Even if they were not attacking, they could be sent to the front when needed. The premise was safety.

Li Chengliang stared at Tang Gudai and said in a calm voice: "To tell you the truth, I have already ambushed troops here. This gourd is full of surprise troops, and no information can be leaked. You stay here. Since it is said that you are for the Ming Dynasty to use, then before I send the order, no one can leave and no one can move! Anyone who disobeys the order will be executed!"

So Tang Guda was arranged to stay there first, and then he found that the military supplies here were extremely abundant.

It was as if half of Liaodong’s supplies were piled here.

The north of the peninsula where Wanghaitai is located has a wide harbor and deep water. In summer, the peninsula on the south side of the bay can block the wind and waves; in winter, there is only a thin layer of ice at most.

So now he saw a port of enormous size.

You can wander around in this camp without anyone bothering you.

Tang Guda looked at the docks, the number and size of the ships moored there and the berths, and couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

It doesn't seem to be prepared just for such a small sea vessel.

The supplies here don't seem to be prepared just for the less than 15,000 people including them.

Tang Guda remembered what his father said that the Tatars might try to break through the Jinzhou area. He also thought about what Li Chengliang said about the ambush there a long time ago. He couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart and became restless.

Does Ama know this?
He heard from his father that he was also preparing to return to Jianzhou to take charge of the overall situation, so he didn't have to worry too much about his safety.

What is the overall situation? What is the safety?
Tang Guda knew nothing about it, but the situation here became tense the day after he arrived.

The scouts were constantly coming and going, and Li Chengliang's military orders were soon passed on to each camp.

"Be prepared to engage the enemy at any time!"

Tang Gudai was even more confused: This is already the seaside, what kind of enemy can we fight here? The Ming border wall is still there, what kind of enemy can come here?

……

The Ming Dynasty can always detect some unusual movements outside the border wall.

Xiao Daiqing was active in the area west of Jinzhou and Yizhou, and the Ming Dynasty had already discovered it.

Border information was continuously sent to the capital. After reading it, Zhu Changluo sighed: "It is indeed Jinzhou..."

During the previous discussions, an important official analyzed Xiao Daiqing's previous attack habits, which mainly focused on Jinzhou and Yizhou.

But it was not just because of this, because Zhu Changluo was now thinking of one of the three major battles that he was familiar with.

Hulutao, Tashanbao, Jinzhou...

Sure enough, the logic of war is always the same. According to the characteristics of the terrain, the key defense areas are always selected in some familiar places, and the same is true for attacking.

"After taking Jinzhou, Liaodong will be closed off. The little bad guy finally made a move!"

Tian Le was very excited.

"...He has tried so many times but failed to break into Jinzhou, and now he dares to make a move? Is this a trick?"

"It's not up to him!" Tian Le said with certainty, "We were so domineering towards the Jurchen tribes just for today. The Liaodong border troops went out of the border wall to sweep the area, also for today. If he is not made to believe that the Liaodong people outside the border share the same hatred and the Ming army is stretched thin, how can he make up his mind?"

Zhu Changluo looked at the map quietly.

Yes, the Ming Dynasty has a bigger appetite, and the Tatars also have a bigger appetite.

In fact, each side has seen through each other's strategic intentions. It just depends on who can gain a tactical advantage first.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to save Liaodong, it had to pass through the Tashan area next to Hulutao. If they could capture Jinzhou and then hold on to this place, the entire Liaodong of the Ming Dynasty would be gone.

If the Tatars want to save the situation, the best way now is to achieve this strategically: capture Jinzhou and cut off the sea route!

After some trouble, Zhu Changluo suddenly smiled and said, "It has become the National Army."

Tian Le looked at him in confusion.

"No wonder when the Shading Company was selecting ports in Liaodong, you insisted that they set up a port in Hulutao so that there would be a sea route to Guangning."

"Of course." Tian Le said, "From Shanhaiguan to Tashanbao, we can rely on the narrow terrain of the coastal road to slowly push back. But after Jinxi, it's different." Tian Le said, "Although I have never served in Liaodong, I know the beautiful mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty very well."

"You Xizhi is my fortune, and the Ming Dynasty's fortune."

Zhu Changluo sincerely lamented that the Privy Council headed by Tian Le had been making plans for various possibilities since a long time ago, and now he had to just keep calm.

"It will begin soon." He looked a little gloomy, "But I hope the border troops on Xiaojian Mountain and Hongluo Mountain haven't suffered too much damage."

It is very difficult to fake a scene on the battlefield, especially against an opponent like Xiao Daiqing who is familiar with the Ming army.

Therefore, there must be a place that was breached with heavy casualties.

This will make the big fish take the bait, and they will think that the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty was too arrogant and squeezed the combat power of Liaodong too much, wanting to achieve too big a goal at once. For this reason, he even underestimated the possibility of the opponent breaking through the defense line, or the troops and military supplies really could not keep up with a battle of this scale.

This is the moment when Zhu Changluo needs to suppress his anxiety and just wait.

(End of this chapter)