Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 334 Guangshun Pass, Sarhu

Qingheyi Town is five or six miles out of Guangshun Pass. Xiaoqing River and its tributary that flows from the northeast and converges here will become the foundation for the future prosperity of Qingheyi Town.

But now this foundation is facing challenges.

From here, walk another thirty miles southeast along the main stream of Xiaoqing River, and you will reach the location of Hada City, the former location of the Hada tribe.

Hada City is also a mountain city, built in a valley east of Xiaoqing River, with only a gap on the west side that is only forty or fifty feet wide.

Three miles southwest of it, on the west bank of the Xiaoqing River, is a small fortress called Liuhe Fort.

A mountain city and a fortress guarded the road from the upper reaches of Xiaoqing River to Guangshun Pass.

Yu Zigao was personally guarding the mountain city, with 800 soldiers from the Tianshu Camp and 2,000 soldiers from the Kaiyuan border; Zhang Shenwu was the general guarding Liuhe Fort, with 500 soldiers from the Tianshu Camp and 1,000 soldiers from the Kaiyuan border.

But now Nurhaci personally led his army to their south.

Yu Zigao looked solemnly at the Jurchen soldiers in the south. There are already 30,000 of them here, right? They cover the entire southern valley.

With so many people, will Nurhaci come here in person, or divide his troops into two groups and lead them to Huifa?

The city of Huifa is to his east.

There are two ways to go. One goes around Xifeng, which is still the territory of the Yehe tribe, and goes to Liaoyuan Military and Civilian Mansion on the bank of the Dongliao River.

The other route goes southeast along the Xiaoqing River, reaches the Huifa River Valley, and then turns northeast.

Jianzhou is located south of the Hunhe River.

Now that the 30,000-strong army has arrived in the Xiaoqing River Valley, once Nurhaci's personal army, which is now staying in the upper reaches of the Huifa River Valley, arrives here, it means that the Jianzhou Jurchens will not choose to first capture Huifa and Ula, which are farther away from Kaiyuan, from the wider Huifa River Valley, but will instead prepare to cut off the Ming Dynasty's route through Guangshun Pass to support the Liaoyuan Military and Civilian Government.

Bigger and more determined appetite!

Now, Nurhaci was at the junction of the former Jianzhou Jurchens, Hada and Huifa tribes, and he was not actually hesitating.

To the southwest, from here, it leads directly to Fushun Pass from Hunhe River; to the northeast, it leads to Huifa City where the wide Huifa River Valley is located; to the northwest, it leads to Hada City located in the Xiaoqing River Valley.

Since this is a transportation chokepoint, it is naturally a strategic location and also a trading place.

But in the past, the main commodity traded here was actually just grass.

Nurhaci came to the hillside of a small hill again, his eyes fixed on the huge rock in front of him.

The handwriting is still clear: The Great Jin Taizu defeated the Liao army at Jieshan and rested his horse and stood on the stone.

This is inscribed in Chinese, and next to it is the Jurchen script of the time. When Nurhaci created the Manchu script, he asked someone to translate it. It says: On May 5, the second year of the founding of the country, my father Ata led his family and tribe to gather at Fan'an'er Plain. He captured many people, so he called Mouke Bojin.

This happened nearly 400 years ago, when Wanyan Aguda founded the Jin Dynasty and called it Shouguo. Emperor Tianzuo of Liao led an army of 100,000 to wipe out the Jurchen Wanyan tribe. Wanyan Aguda had only 10,000 men, but he defeated the Liao army.

"There are not even ten thousand Jurchens, but they are invincible!"

Nurhaci looked at the stone carvings, his eyes sparkling: "The Khitans spread this rumor in the past. Now, let the Han people know that since we Manchus are descendants of the Jurchens, we will be even more brave! Now, how many elite soldiers does the Great Jin have?"

Now he organized the Eight Banners, established a country and proclaimed himself emperor, and the country was also called the Great Jin. He was a wise emperor who blessed all nations, and his reign was called Tianming.

"One hundred thousand! One hundred thousand!"

The place where he stood was only a few feet high.

The flat area below was occupied by his personal soldiers.

Hearing Nurhaci's question, everyone responded like a thunderous roar.

"The Han people regarded us as barbarians and drove us away from our homeland, but in return, our Great Jin Kingdom had eight banners with 100,000 elite soldiers!" Nurhaci pointed to the north, "Without the Great Wall, they can only be locked in the original fortresses of the three tribes. What do you think, are they so scared that they can only retreat to some fortresses and abandon here, or do they want to lure us to Huifa and Wula, and then come out from Guangshun Pass and Fushun Pass to block here?"

"Obey the Emperor's orders!"

Nurhaci snorted: "No matter what they are planning, let's go back to Hada and capture Yehe! Huifa Ula is isolated and is already meat in our belly!"

"Your Majesty!"

"When the Jin Dynasty defeats the Ming Dynasty, destroys Yehe, and seizes Liaodong, we will also carve the bravery of the Eight Banners soldiers of the Jin Dynasty next to this!"

In his eyes, it was as if the Tatars were dead, sitting back and watching him reap the greatest rewards.

But this was also the main reason why Nurhaci decided to rebel against the Ming Dynasty: How similar was the declining Tatar Khanate to the seemingly powerful Khitans back then?

They are the ones who are actively planning for the Ming Dynasty this time, and they are the ones who have to struggle desperately while their combat power is weak.

Is breaking through the Ming border a signal for a joint attack? No, the closer they are to the Ming army, the more opportunities they will have for the Manchus.

Let them consume the lives, food and military supplies of the Ming Dynasty first.

Nurhaci looked to the southwest, then mounted his horse and galloped towards the Xiaoqing River Valley Pass in the northwest.

The vanguard has advanced into Hada City and has a smooth passage along the way.

The Ming army's contraction of its defense line at Liaoyuan Military and Civilian Government just confirmed his judgment: the Ming Dynasty was more afraid of him, and the Ming Dynasty wanted to be weak first and then strong.

Although the Khanate claimed to command thousands of miles of territory on the left and right wings, it was actually extremely weak; although the Great Jin had lost three parts of land, its military strength was at its strongest.

If he doesn't put more pressure on the Ming Dynasty, he will be waiting for his demise!
A hundred miles away, Nurhaci joined in with his personal troops more than two hours later.

The Jurchen army south of Hada City and Liuhebao suddenly reached nearly 40,000.

Yu Zigao's face was of course solemn: there were only more than 4,000 people in total.

Judging from Jianzhou's posture, is it going to attack Guangshun Pass and attack Kaiyuan first? Then the situation of Yehe's defense against Khorchin in the north will become extremely bad: the food supply will be completely cut off.

"The chieftain of the enemy really came here in person! Send a message to Guangshun Pass, our Tianshu Camp can hold out for seven days! However, the military supplies must be sufficient and the reinforcements must be timely! Send a message to Fushun, and Governor Xiong will be able to determine the situation!"

He stared coldly toward the south.

Do you dare to go directly to Qingheyi Town under the nose of this mountain city and fortress? It also seems like a natural pocket.

Nearly 40,000 troops are certainly a lot, but the valley is only two miles wide and there is a river in the middle.

Since the Tianshu Camp is guarding this pass, no matter how many people there are, they can't get through easily!

"Go tell Zhang Shenwu not to be idle at night!" Yu Zigao snorted coldly, "If you treat our Tianshu Camp as an ordinary border army, the Jianzhou Jurchens will suffer a great loss tonight!"

The formal confrontation between the Jianzhou Jurchens and the Ming Dynasty began in the south of Hada City.

Outside Fushun Pass, Yagu Pass, and Kuandian Liubao, they were just on guard against each other.

The messenger was speeding in the night, while Xiong Tingbi was in the more important Fushun.

This place is not as close to Nurhaci's lair as Yagu Pass, but it is easier to march here.

It was easy for them to go there, and it was also easy for the Jianzhou Jurchens to come here.

Previously, Nurhaci's personal army had reached Sarhu via the Suzi River, a tributary of the Hun River, which made Xiong Tingbi think that he would attack Fushun Pass directly. Now that Ye Buhui had not received any response, Nurhaci had gone upstream again. Although the first step of the Jianzhou Jurchens was still to take back the land of the three tribes, they had to be wary that this was a strategy to lure the Ming army out of Fushun Pass to attack Hetuala City.

Most of the Jurchen territory is located between mountains, which is naturally suitable for encirclement using geographical advantages.

Now Xiong Tingbi needs to make a difficult decision.

"Futai, this is an arithmetic problem."

"Tell me something."

Xiong Tingbi looked at Tao Chongdao.

Because of his special relationship with Gong Zhenglu, Tao Chongdao has been retained in Liaodong since last year.

"Since Ye Bushou risked his life to go to Hamgyong Province in North Korea to investigate and confirmed that what Mr. Gong said was true, then it's easy to say."

Tao Chongdao mentioned Gong Zhenglu, and then sighed: "Poor thing, I just found out about his wife and children..."

"Although Mr. Gong is in the enemy camp, he has his country in his heart. He sensed something was wrong, and there has been no news since he sent the last message. I'm afraid he has met with an accident." Xiong Tingbi also sighed, and then took over Tao Chongdao's words, "You mean, the Jianzhou Jurchens still occupy Hamgyong Road, and they need at least 15,000 troops. The Hetuala tribe has to defend, and from Kuandian Liubao to Fushunguan, at least 30,000 to 40,000 troops must be left. There are already 30,000 troops south of Hada City, and it is clear where they will focus their attack?"

"That's exactly what I think." Tao Chongdao nodded. "The Jianzhou Jurchens originally claimed to have only 30,000 to 40,000 cavalry and 40,000 to 50,000 infantry. In fact, the number of elite soldiers available should be only 50,000, or at most 60,000. Mr. Gong also said the same thing. Last year, we attacked Huifa and Ula and captured more than 100,000 young and strong men. Now we really have more than 100,000 soldiers available. However, the generals and soldiers of Huifa and Ula are weaker than the elite soldiers of Jianzhou, so we should just count them as 100,000."

At least 10,000 elite soldiers should be left to defend the victory in Korea, to guard against the Ming Dynasty's attack from Kuandian Liubao, Yagu Pass, and Fushun Pass, and to guard the headquarters. Previously, the Tianshu Camp discovered that several thousand cavalry had gone to the territory of the wild people and Jurchens, and sent another 3,000 to the Ming Dynasty...

Prior to this, 30,000 troops had approached Hada City, so the military intelligence was naturally reported to Xiong Tingbi earlier.

What is on the way now is nothing more than confirmation that Nurhaci has gone there in person, and the army heading in that direction has reached nearly 40,000.

Xiong Tingbi could not act rashly. After thinking for a while, he said, "The Jianzhou Jurchens are risking their lives. We cannot judge them by common sense. They are not good at attacking cities. The situation in Jinzhou is still unclear. It is better to defend this place!"

After that, he walked out and asked, "Go and urge the Beijing camp to reach Shenyang within four days. Once they get there, the governor's office will have prepared food and military supplies, and they don't have to walk the second half of the way. The governor's office will find a way to get them there."

"Yes!"

On the way back, he said, "Since the Beiyang Fleet has been ordered to arrive near Changzi Island, there is no need to worry about North Korea. They still have to suppress the rebellion, and even if they can send troops to help, they can't send many."

"Governor, there are only 6,000 reinforcements. Is that enough?" Tao Chongdao asked worriedly. "There are 10,000 outside Guangshun Pass and 30,000 to defend..."

"Although Kuandian Liubao is not the main attack direction, we still have to defend it. We dispatched the Tianshu Camp there to provide assistance, and dispatched half of the Dingliao Jingying soldiers to wait here. It is rare now." Xiong Tingbi was very determined, "There is no need to be greedy for merit and advancement. The Jianzhou Jurchens are looking forward to hearing good news from the Jinzhou area, and so are we. It won't take too long, at least a few days, at most half a month. If we hold on during this period, the Jianzhou Jurchens will hear the bad news, and the situation will be different!"

He sent people to the south to urge the Beijing camp to rush to Shenyang and then turn to Fushun in the east. He also had to pay attention to the preparation and progress of the reinforcements transferred from Hui'an, Sanchaer, Huabaochong, Fu'an and other forts in the north to Guangshun Pass and go to Hada City.

After finding out the direction of the enemy's main force, it is natural to provide reinforcements nearby and then fill the troop gap in Fushun from afar.

It is a bit like Kaiyuan filling Hada, Tieling filling Kaiyuan, and Fushun filling Tieling.

The shortage of troops in Fushun was supplemented by the 5,000 Beijing troops. They set out from Dingliao, mainly consisting of chariots and infantry, and could only go to Shenyang via Benxi, which was a easier route.

As for the Tianshu Camp in Liubao, Kuandian, since everyone in the camp is very skilled, we would like to ask them to go directly north from the Great Wall to Guangshun Pass.

In general, it is still better to send 5,000 reinforcements from Kaiyuan to Hada City from Guangshun Pass, and then send them to Tianshu Camp in Liaodong to merge the two into one, which will probably play a greater role.

Late at night, the sound of horse hooves came from the north, and Xiong Tingbi was woken up from his sleep.

"Nearly 40,000? Nurhaci went there in person?"

"That's right. Since the chieftain has established a country and proclaimed himself emperor, he has already embroidered a triangular false dragon flag. The new cavalrymen who have arrived in Xiaoqing River Valley are all elite cavalry, the Zhenghuang Banner guard organized by the chieftain."

Xiong Tingbi was really worried now. He paced back and forth with a frown on his face.

In terms of the speed of reinforcement and the strength of the defenders, isolated cities such as Huifa and Ula were easier to capture.

Nurhaci actually chose to attack Hada City and approach Guangshun Pass. He might have seen that Liaodong now needed to divide its troops to defend various places, so he concentrated his army to attack one place instead of preparing to slowly erode and build up his strength.

If he succeeds, it will be difficult to transport food and military supplies for the entire winter...

"Governor, beware of the Jianzhou cavalry of the Jurchens heading north as mentioned by the Tianshu Camp!" Tao Chongdao also rushed over. "If the Kaiyuan defenders in Guangshun Pass still focus on defending the border wall, they will attack from the east of Qingheyi Town in the territory of Yehe tribe, and Hada City will be attacked from both sides. Those thousands of cavalry blocking the northwest valley of Hada City can stop the Ming reinforcements!"

He pointed to the map and explained the possibility.

From the latest military intelligence, the two men who had been communicating for many days and Xiong Tingbi's advisor all came to the same conclusion: Nurhaci's strategy was to concentrate forces and launch a fierce attack.

The Ming border troops here are having a hard time defending, and their anxiety will naturally spread to the west. The war situation in Jinzhou will probably also be restricted.

It feels like I'm losing sight of the big picture.

Xiong Tingbi thought for a while, then gritted his teeth and said, "Since Governor Yuan has given me the power to temporarily control the Liaodong border troops and the Liaojing camp and the personal troops, then pass on my military order! The 30,000 guards and Liaohai guards left in the Kaiyuan area will immediately rush to Hada City, leaving only the guards of the border wall forts. Instruct the Fushun Qianhu Suo and Dongzhou Fort guards to set out tomorrow morning and must arrive at Fushun Pass with this governor's standard-bearing battalion before dark tomorrow. The day after tomorrow morning, leave Fushun Pass and set up camp at Sarhu!"

"Futai, besiege Wei to save Zhao?"

"It's not a siege!" Xiong Tingbi said, "There are only 4,000 soldiers at most. But if the enemy chieftain attacks Kaiyuan with all his strength, he will have to consider whether to mobilize a large army to gather at Sarhu, and then attack Hetuala directly through Su Zige! If he thinks that the Ming Dynasty can only focus on Jinzhou first and can only defend the east, then he is very wrong!"

Xiong Tingbi showed a resolute look on his face: "I want to tell him that the reason why we were mainly on the defensive before was because I was sure that the Ming Dynasty could wipe out the Khanate's army! Now that I am personally leaving Fushun Pass, he should think about it: Have the Tartars been defeated? Is this a strategy of encircling Wei to save Zhao, or is the entire Liaodong army ready to come and wipe out Jianzhou!"

At this time, whether it was the undercurrent in the south of the Ming Dynasty or the battle situation at the border between Jianzhou and the Ming Dynasty, they were all waiting for the battle situation from the Jinzhou area.

The Ming soldiers hoped for a clear outcome of the battle, while Nurhaci hoped that Jianzhou's efforts would lead to a more stalemate there.

Before dawn, when the night was darkest, the Ming army attacked Hada City and Liuhe Fort from the south.

This seemed like a little trick, and the Jianzhou Jurchens did not take it too seriously. They just confronted it and drove it away with the soldiers on duty at night.

After all, the total number of Ming Dynasty defenders in front of them was only a small number, and the Ming troops coming from both sides of Xiaoqing River were only dozens of people.

What use can firing a few guns and shooting a few rockets be?
Instead, they wanted to ride faster and leave more military achievements.

Then, several places on both sides of the Xiaoqing River suddenly exploded like a landslide, and the huge explosion woke up all the soldiers on both sides.

Yu Zigao only opened his eyes to take a look, then closed them again: "Go back to sleep and let them worry about it."

Nurhaci, however, came out of the tent wearing a warm fur coat, and looked at the camp, which was in a bit of chaos, with a gloomy and uncertain face.

Of course, we can't just start attacking as soon as we arrive. We have to rest for a night.

But now, seeing the two large pits that were blown up at the front army, he looked at the camps of the central and rear armies.

...Did these damn Han people bury a lot of such explosives in different locations after they withdrew their defense line?
Why didn't the army that arrived earlier thoroughly explore the place where they would set up camp? Of course, digging the ground is necessary to bury explosives.

He was not very familiar with the craftsmanship of the Tianshu Camp.

Yu Zigao had been here with his men for several months. What kind of work could not be done? What traces could not be covered up?
What’s more, it has snowed and is snowing now.

The Ming army had already used this tactic of burying landmines, and the Tianshuying Camp was just using it in a more sophisticated way.

If you want to attack Hada City and Liuhe Fort safely, you should think twice and decide whether you should continue to lay the mines!

The Tianshu Camp had first caused some minor disturbances for the Jianzhou Jurchens, but a bigger disturbance was on the way...

(End of this chapter)