Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 356 Too Close to Ming Dynasty

Only at this time did Nurhaci feel the true power of the Tianshu Camp.

"Defend Hetuala to the death!" He said to Huerhan and Fei Yingdong in a tragic voice, "The longer we defend, the further the people of the Eight Banners can go!"

Hu Erhan and Fei Yingdong had tears in their eyes: "Your Majesty, rest assured, we will stop them here and swear to live and die with this city!"

Nurhaci held their shoulders tightly with both hands one by one: "Don't live and die together! Half a month! In just half a month, we can cross the Songhua River to Aodong and rebuild Huhan City as the new capital. The two of you will follow and fight, one retreats to Feierhu in the southeast of Songhua Lake, and the other to Dongbian City. Yangguli and Zhuying, I have ordered them to march quickly to bypass Huifa City and attack Ula City from the north and south. I must personally resist the harassment of the Ming army that has reached the Babaogou area. I must also suppress the people of the Four Banners!"

In fact, the relocation of Hetuala City had already started a long time ago and had lasted for nearly a month.

But Nurhaci had to continue to stay in Hetuala, just as the Ming Dynasty's civil and military officials considered: if a newly established country was defeated without even defending the capital, how much morale would be left?

Now it is the four banners that were organized in the early years that are left behind. These are Nurhaci's trusted elite troops. How could he bear to let them all die in Hetuala?
The atmosphere was tense inside and outside the city.

To the west of Hetuala, the main force led by Liu Jing appeared there. Xibao and Houbao had been captured, and only Toudaobao was left to the north of Suzi River. Once Toudaobao was also captured, the Ming army would not have to worry about the Jianzhou soldiers coming back to Hetuala from the ravine north of Toudaobao through Liudaobao and Wudaobao.

To the southwest of Hetuala, the Tianshu Camp launched a surprise attack from Zaotu Mountain and broke through Erdao Fort, but did not hold on there.

From Yahu Pass, to Hetuala, one must pass through this valley entrance, and Nurhaci must recapture it. As a result, the Tianshu Camp did not hold on, so they recaptured the empty fort and had to send food over. When the grain team was attacked, the Tianshu Camp first seized the grain, then broke the Erdao Fort, looted some food and military supplies, and then hid in the mountains south of Hetuala City.

Under such circumstances, there was no need to recapture the Erdao Fort next to the city of Hetuala in the southwest. It would be better to deploy defenses on the east side of the river and on the south side of the river west of the city.

As a result, two days later, the Tianshu Camp appeared again in Babaogou, east of Hetuala City and upstream of Suzi River.

That was the Jianzhou Jurchens' retreat route.

The only way to retreat smoothly is to take this wide valley all the way to the east city.

This Dongbian City was later known as Tonghua. Dongbian City was located in the mountains. To the north of the mountains was the wider Huifa River Valley, and to the south across the mountains was the Yalu River. If Tonghua could be defended and Ula City could be captured later, the wide Huifa River Valley could still be controlled.

Nurhaci planned to stay in Aodong in the future. This was the Shangjing Longquanfu, the capital of Bohai State, which was later destroyed by the Khitan.

Aodong is not far from the city of Ula in the northwest, and to the southeast is the Tongmen River Valley of the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, which is Yanbian in later generations.

Although the southwest is hundreds of miles away from Dongbian City, if it is abandoned, the already captured North Korean Hamgyong Province will become even more unsafe, and it may only be able to retreat to the area around the mouth of the Tongmun River.

Of course, this is just a middle-level strategy that Nurhaci had no choice but to adopt: the Suzi River Valley cannot be defended, and Huifa City and Hada City are also difficult to defend even if they are captured. He can only consider defending the eastern city and capturing Ula City.

First of all, we have to solve the problem of retreat and protect the Eight Banners people at the Jianzhou Jurchen base camp, so that they can turn eastward into the East City and then retreat to a farther place.

At this moment, Yu Zigao was hiding in the mountains east of Hetuala.

Zhang Shenwu came up to him, chewing the dried venison he had robbed from the Jurchens, and said, "My Lord, although we are here a little early, judging by the wheel tracks in the ditch, the Jurchen thieves have probably been retreating eastward since the New Year."

Yu Zigao also ate in silence.

"They know that Hetuala cannot be defended!" Zhang Shenwu asked, "Right now, the first to retreat are the Jurchens. If we want to stop the enemy chieftain, we still have to defend this ravine like we did in Hada City."

Yu Zigao also knew the situation was like this, so it was even more difficult to make a decision.

Nurhaci was indeed cruel. Hetuala was prepared to abandon the city strategically rather than defend his capital and establish his prestige to resist the attack of the Ming Dynasty.

In that case, his Great Jin Kingdom can be considered to be established. After all, although you are an enemy country, you cannot attack and destroy me, so my country can be considered a stable and powerful regime.

But he is now strategically prepared to abandon the defense, which is naturally to seek breathing time and wait for a counterattack in the future.

If the Tianshu Camp wanted to stop them, they would have to face their full military strength when they actually retreated. This was different from defending Hada City, the Jurchens wanted to seize a way out.

The current location of Tianshu Camp is also different. Without Guangshun Pass behind them, they are truly an isolated army.

Looking at Zhang Shenwu, Yu Zigao asked, "Brothers, do you know what it means to defend this ravine to the death?"

"Of course I know." Zhang Shenwu nodded, his expression solemn, "Maybe even if we all die here, we can't stop it."

They could make preparations in advance in Hada City, but there was no strategic location to defend in the area around Babaogou, and the enemy was much more familiar with the area than they were.

The Tianshu Camp had already fought a battle in the Babaogou area, and the Nanbabao was in a dilapidated state, with no time to reinforce the fortifications.

Even if Liu Jing and his men are chasing after them at that time, the main force who wants to break through them and head east must be more than ten thousand soldiers.
Yu Zigao looked around again and said, "The mountains in this area are not very steep. What we need to block is the valleys between the mountains, which cannot be moved. If a small group of them come over the mountains and attack together, not only will we be unable to stop them, but we may also be in danger of being wiped out."

"My Lord, what should we do?"

Yu Zigao looked towards the east and thought for a long time before making up his mind: "We should attack the city first! There are many valleys in the east. They may run to Huifa City on the other side of Liuhe River, or they may run to Dongbian City. We can't stop them with only 2,000 people. Let's attack the city first! When Zhang Yonghou hears the noise, he will know that we can't stop them. There are reinforcements coming from the west. I hope he can make a quick decision and block them from the east along the north bank of Suzi River first!"

At this moment, Wang Mingshi hurried over again.

"The number of Jurchen spies scattered outside the city has suddenly increased several times. The brothers ahead have already met and fought with them! There is a lot of commotion in Hetuala City. More than 10,000 people have left the east gate and gathered on the north bank of the lake."

Yu Zigao stood up suddenly and said, "It's too late. He's running so fast! Send my order, go straight down the Babao ditch. First break through the enemy army, then defend the mountain pass. Ask those who are nimble to send a message to Zhang Yonghou as soon as possible, saying that Nurhaci has left the city and is preparing to flee eastward, and the enemy army will not defend Hetuala to the death. We must intercept them now. Ask him to lead the elite cavalry eastward!"

The city of Hetuala is not a regular square city, but is built on the mountain.

On its southeast side is a small mountain range that is dozens of miles deep and about ten miles wide. To the north of the mountain range is the Suzi River.

It was obvious that Yu Zigao had nearly two thousand men hiding in the mountains, and they were trying to find the Jurchen spies, after all, the scouts of both sides had met each other.

Some people directly sniped and killed the other party without leaking the information, while others saw some unusual movements from afar and went back to report.

In short, the Jurchens knew that their Ming army was hiding here.

Zhang Shenwu asked: "Why don't we go to the lake and attack the East Gate?"

"It's too late. It will take an hour to get there. Nurhaci will never sit and wait to be trapped in the city. After all, he left the city first. When we get there, he will run away from the Suzi River."

After gritting his teeth, Yu Zigao said, "It is a bad idea to defend Babaogou to death! But since we have to do it, we can only fight to the death. Once Nurhaci dies, we will avenge our brothers, and the Jurchen bandit army will immediately lose morale and act on their own. Pass on my order, eat while walking!"

To the north of the Suzi River Valley, Jiefan Village in the Hun River Valley has re-raised the flag of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Ying received an order from Nurhaci and he had retreated to Qingyuan.

"Brother, there is no time to lose, let's set off quickly!" General Eyidu, who had followed Nurhaci for many years, advised Zhu Ying.

"...If we withdraw from Qingyuan so quickly, the Ming army will find out and rush to help Hetuala even faster." "The emperor has his own arrangements!" Eyidu said, "The forts west of Hetuala have been lost. After the Ming army recaptured Jiefan Village, they can send reinforcements to Hetuala without restraint. Now speed is of the essence. Yangguli must have already set out as ordered. If we don't leave, we will probably be blocked at the mouth of the Huifa River by the Ming army coming out of Guangshun Pass. It is easier to bypass Huifa City and go to Wula City via Liuhe."

"How despicable!" Zhu Ying was very unwilling, "Are we just going to abandon Hetuala City like this?"

"Even if we lose Hetuala City, we can still take it back in the future! If we lose people, we lose everything." Eyidu urged, "Big Brother, give the order quickly!"

Nurhaci wanted to train many heroes, so even though Eyidu was a general himself, he had to respect the "crown prince" of the new Jin Dynasty.

Zhu Ying looked far to the south and could only order the army to quickly assemble and set off.

After months of hard work, the Hada City and the Hunhe Valley area that they had finally recaptured had to be abandoned again. This time, the entire Suzi River Valley and the original base camp of the Jianzhou Jurchens also had to be abandoned.

Eyidu's guess was correct. Guangshun Pass learned that Yangguli had abandoned Hada City and was taking quick action.

"Khorchin has already begged for peace. Tell Buyanggu that he doesn't need to personally escort his people westward! Now that the Jianzhou Jurchens are retreating, if he wants to abduct some of the Jianzhou rebels, he should quickly send troops to the east to reinforce Ula City and stop them!"

With Yuan Keli and Xiong Tingbi around, the direction of the Liaodong war had been studied extensively, and several possible developments had been pre-judged.

If the Jianzhou Jurchens were prepared to avoid the Ming Dynasty's attack and save their people even if they lost territory, what would be the approximate location of the next line of defense? Nurhaci had envisioned it, and Yuan Keli and others could certainly think of it.

The mountains and rivers are there. The length of the supply line determines the strength of the Ming army. With the combat power of the Ming border army, if the logistics are not a problem, the Jianzhou Jurchens at this moment will not be defeated.

They could not defend the Huifa River Valley, which was the widest in the area; they also could not defend the Suzi River Valley, which was too close to the Ming border wall.

Therefore, military orders were issued in advance to the commanders in charge of various areas regarding what strategies to adopt in response to various battle situations.

Now the main general in the Kaiyuan area invited the Yehe tribe to "pick peaches" together, and they had to quickly enter the Xiaoqing River Valley to Huifa City, and also set up defense lines at the mouth of the Huifa River and to the south of Huifa City to prevent the Jianzhou Jurchens from retreating to the north in this direction.

Even if the Jianzhou Jurchens eventually wanted to go north, they had to go around the seaside further east.

If they were not planning to go north but south instead, then the Ming army along the entire Huifa River Valley would be able to form an encirclement in the north.

At this moment, the news of the great victories at Jiefanzhai and Suzihe had just reached Beijing.

The royal army has already approached the city of Hetuala. Victory should be only a matter of time. It is just a matter of how many enemy troops can be annihilated and whether Nurhaci and other chieftains can be captured and killed.

The winter plum blossoms are in full bloom, and some plants in the garden behind the palace have begun to sprout.

Zhu Changluo walked through the palace garden and came to Wansui Mountain. He stood in front of the holy temple holding a new telescope and then sighed: "It's not easy!"

From the crude prototype when Galileo first arrived the year before, to the later efforts to develop more suitable glass, with the help of more precise mathematical calculations and more sophisticated manual polishing, this handheld telescope took more than a year to succeed.

Now Galileo is here, and Kepler has also been called here by him.

He only arrived at the end of last year, and Zhu Changluo had not had time to meet him after returning from Liaodong.

"I heard that your expertise in optics played a big role in the final adjustment of this telescope."

"I am happy to serve you, Your Majesty."

Zhu Changluo smiled and nodded: "With it, your research will be smoother, and my soldiers will also have a powerful weapon! Liu Ruoyu, give them each one of the fur coats donated by Korchin and Tumed. Polish the large astronomical telescope quickly so as not to delay their research. Also, go to the Privy Council and inform Tian Shumi to first allocate manpower to polish a batch of these handheld telescopes as soon as possible and send them to Liaodong."

"The slaves obey the order."

He was in a good mood.

Even though flintlock rifles had not yet been mass-produced and reconnaissance tools such as telescopes were inconvenient to use by hand, the Ming army was able to achieve great victories against powerful enemies.

Not only will the general trend be established, but there will be more and more powerful weapons.

"Go back to the Qianqing Palace and summon all the scholars from the Academy of Scientific Research." He ordered, "There is a new coal mine in Chengde Prefecture, and we will need some powerful tools to dig it out in the future. It is difficult to drain water and ventilate the environment with human power. Last year, I was in Liaodong and watched water being boiled in a furnace. I had some ideas. Let's see if the scholars can brainstorm and create a powerful tool!"

In Zhu Changluo's opinion, the steam engine was first improved due to its application in coal mining.

After several years, Baijiayuan has cultivated some young people who are knowledgeable in various miscellaneous subjects, and the Academy of Research has gathered more and more offerings.

When the telescope was first invented, everyone who saw it felt their horizons were broadened.

For the people of the Ming Dynasty, this thing has a very simple and familiar name: Clairvoyance.

That is the legendary magical power of immortals and Buddhas!
After they have achieved results, we will give them new topics.

The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are conquering more territory for the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty court wants to firmly hold on to this vast territory, it must find a way to improve the efficiency of transportation and communications.

Zhu Changluo certainly hoped to see trains running in the Ming Dynasty during his lifetime.

While the emperor was preparing for the more distant future, the various provinces of Korea, after hearing of the mutiny in Seoul, had to make decisions about what was happening at hand.

In Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, Tao Chongwang has been honored as a guest of honor, negotiating terms with Kim Gyeong-seo and other Korean officials who now control Seoul as an angel.

Now he was more confident, and just looked at them calmly: "General Jin, do you understand? If you think that the Ming Dynasty wants to annex Korea, it's not impossible. Anyway, the new king will be surnamed Zhu. If you don't want to, you can still kill me. God's grace is great. If the people of Korea want to have long-term peace and stability, they can't always have disputes among the old scholars and relatives. Your country's problems, look through the history of China, which one has not been there before? You can't learn from the Ming Dynasty, so why not let the Ming Dynasty do it."

Jin Jingrui and others remained silent.

"From now on, we will be as close as one family. Your Majesty will treat all ethnic groups as Han people, and will never divide them into different levels like the Mongols did. Your descendants will be able to become officials in the Ming Dynasty if they are successful in learning; you will also be able to assist the new king in governing Korea as meritorious officials if you have made meritorious contributions now. During the Han Dynasty, Korea was actually part of the Chinese land, but now it has returned to its homeland; it has both the name of a vassal state and the reality of a vassal state, but the ruler is appointed by Your Majesty."

He looked at Jin Jingrui deeply: "Could it be that General Jin's military remonstrance was not for the recovery of Hamgyong Province and for the people of Joseon, but for the throne of Joseon?"

Tao Chongwang has clearly drawn the bottom line of the Ming Dynasty. Now Jin Jingrui has to choose whether to become a "traitor" who rebels and usurps the throne for the throne.

The Ming Dynasty always has reasons to attack and is an army of justice.

The Ming envoy in front of him was very arrogant. He didn't care about the concerns of the Ming dignitaries and looked like he deserved a beating.

But he was a Ming envoy after all.

Behind him was the Ming Dynasty, which was so powerful that it made people feel powerless. It was the Ming Dynasty that helped Korea drive out the Japanese pirates who almost destroyed them more than ten years ago.

(End of this chapter)