The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 192 Sun Chuanting Senses the Crisis (I)

After the 5,000th headquarters began to cross the river, Sun Chuanting quietly left the crowd.

The cold wind in Hetuala in February was biting. Even though he had wrapped a fur coat under his cotton armor, the bone-chilling chill still penetrated his lungs. Sun Chuanting tucked his neck into his cotton armor and, ignoring the disdainful looks of Kang Yingqian and others, rode northward under the escort of his personal guards.

"Where is Sun Ducha going?"

Sun Chuanting said without even turning his head: "Su Ziqiao!"

Hetuala is surrounded by water on the west and north sides, and hills on the east and south sides. On weekdays, there is only one wooden bridge for traffic to Fushun, and this bridge is called Suzi Bridge.

Three days earlier, Ye Bu Shou arrived at Hetuala and discovered that the Suzi River had frozen over completely. The ice was thick enough for carriages and artillery to pass through. After Ye Bu Shou reported this, Liu Zhaosun decided to march his army across the frozen river.

The scene of the bloody battle on Hunhe River is still fresh in our minds, and no one is willing to cross the river on the bridge.

When Liu Zhaosun and his men arrived at the battlefield, they discovered the wooden bridge had been demolished by the Jiannu, leaving only enough space for a single horse to pass. The Kaiyuan army on the west bank numbered over 10,000, and crossing the river would take at least half a day. Artillery was out of the question, but fortunately, the Jiannu on the other side had already fled.

However, the Suzi Bridge became a useless existence. Under Sun Chuanting's insistence, Ping Liaohou reluctantly sent a hundred auxiliary soldiers to cut wood and reinforce the bridge deck to prevent the so-called accident.

Compared with the Hunhe River, the Suzi River is much narrower. It is the dry season now, and the two banks are less than two hundred steps apart, which can be covered by bows and arrows and muskets.

The flag team in front of the 5000th headquarters has already landed, but the flag team behind has not yet started crossing the river.

"What can I do? Arrogant soldiers and brave generals, I know that the army will never return!"

Sun Chuanting looked up to the sky and sighed.

In the 1643th year of Chongzhen (), after saying this, Sun Chuanting left Tongguan to fight a decisive battle with Li Zicheng, and was eventually killed in the battle. Half a year later, the Ming Dynasty collapsed.

History always repeats itself in surprising ways. Now, Sun Chuanting actually said the same thing.

"Sun Ducha, we're here!"

The personal guard pulled the reins, and Sun Chuanting stopped the horse. He took out a coconut ladle from his fur coat with great effort, shook it in his hand, and found that there was still some wine. He tilted his head back and took two gulps to warm himself up.

Under the Suzi Bridge, 120 auxiliary soldiers drawn from various camps, under the command of the captain, shouted slogans loudly and lifted a heavy pine tree and fixed it on the bridge deck.

Compared to yesterday, the battlefield remained largely unchanged. The two dismantled bridge piers on the west bank remained empty. The planks removed from the bridge deck hadn't been replaced, leaving a hole large enough for a carriage to sink.

"Treating military orders as a joke? How can you act like this?"

Sun Chuanting was cursing loudly when he saw Pu Bazong, the bridge repairman, stumbling over on the ice. Without even being able to stand still, he saluted Sun Chuanting.

"Sun Ducha, why are you here? There are still Jiannu on the East Coast!"

Sun Chuanting pointed at the missing bridge pier and asked loudly, "What's going on? General Liu asked you to repair the bridge, and is this how you do it?!"

Pu Gang, captain of the Third Banner Team of the 2000th Headquarters, had fought through the bloody Battle of Hunhe River, was a fierce fighter with many clever ideas, and was a capable general under Deng Changxiong's command. However, he had one flaw: he loved drinking, and after drinking, he also liked to fight.

Two days before departing from Kaiyuan, Pu Gang and several other flag captains drank together. After getting drunk, they argued about the merits of the bloody Battle of Hunhe River and got into a fight with Cheng Liang of the First Flag Captain. Fortunately, they were quickly separated by the others. When Deng Changxiong learned of this, he dismissed him from his position as flag captain. Yesterday, he heard from Ping Liaohou that they needed an officer to oversee the bridge repairs, so he sent Pu Gang.

"Sun Ducha is wise. The trees on the surrounding mountains were all cut down by the Tartars. What they couldn't cut down was burned. My brothers worked hard for a long time before they found a few pine trees."

Sun Chuanting was startled. Huang Taiji had been prepared, his actions unintentional. By fortifying the city and clearing the countryside, leaving no grass or trees for the Kaiyuan army, he intended to force the army across the river on the ice.

What traps are there on the East Coast?

"With the Jiannu's scheme, this battle will be difficult to win. Without trees, there's no need to build a bridge? Go, pass on my order to dismantle all the oxcarts and build a bridge with planks!"

Pu Gang was surprised: "Sun Ducha, I should lead the troops across the river. It is not my job to build a bridge. Besides, those auxiliary soldiers will not let me dismantle the carriage..."

Sun Chuanting glared at Pu Gang and said word by word, "This bridge is the lifeline of life and death. A single move can affect the entire army. It concerns the safety of the entire army! Pu Gang, no matter what you did before or how many soldiers you led! Now that you have been assigned here, you are under my jurisdiction and must obey my orders."

"It's Chenshi. If the river is still impassable in an hour, you, me, and the tens of thousands of soldiers before us will all be dead without a burial place! But before the army is destroyed, I will kill you first!"

Pu Gang was so emboldened by these words that he ripped off the bonds, gritted his teeth, and tied them around his arms. He shouted, "Since this bridge is so important, why didn't the inspector tell you earlier? I'll repair the bridge today, even if it costs me my life. If this delays military action, I, Pu, will take my own life!"

After Pu Gang finished speaking, he blew a bamboo whistle, and the auxiliary soldiers immediately gathered around. Pu pointed to the densely packed ox-drawn carts on the shore two miles away and roared, "Put down what you are doing and follow me to find wood!"

Sun Chuanting watched the crowd walk away, his expression slightly relaxed, and said to the four personal soldiers behind him, "Follow me back. Kang Yingqian and the others will definitely not allow it to be demolished."

The personal guards agreed and rode their horses to escort Sun Chuanting. Suddenly, behind them, from Su Ziqiao's side, several auxiliary soldiers screamed in surprise.

"The Tartars have crossed the river! The Tartars have crossed the river!"

Sun Chuanting was shocked and quickly pulled the reins and looked over there.

The guards rode forward and stood in front of Sun Chuanting. Two of them drew their bows and arrows, and two raised their pistols, keeping watch on all sides.

Hearing the screams of people and horses in the distance, Sun Chuanting thought that something bad was going to happen and ordered the guards to report to Ping Liaohou immediately. The guards hesitated for a moment and quickly turned around and left.

Five or six Hou Jin soldiers had rushed to the west bank. The leading general was tall and majestic, standing on his horse in armor, looking towards this side.

The remaining two guards fired heavy arrows, but the enemy general blocked them with his small shield. Just as they were about to fire again, someone on the bridge shouted, "We are surrendered Liao people, you are not allowed to shoot! Let General Liu come forward to speak! We have an important report!"

Seeing the guards were unmoved, the other side continued to shout, "There are only six of us with us, and we are sincere rebels, not Tartar spies!"

Sun Chuanting took a closer look and saw that those people were all lightly dressed, without armor or weapons, and judging from their accents, they did not sound like Jiannu.

He rode forward, ordered the guards to stop shooting, took two steps, and shouted to the man, "I am Sun Chuanting, the military governor of Fushun. If you have anything to say, please speak to me. May I ask the name of this righteous man?"

The leader dismounted and was about to jump onto the shore. The guards drew their swords to stop him, but were repelled by Sun Chuanting.

"The criminal Liu Xingzuo has something important to report."

Sun Chuanting was shocked. He had heard Zhang Dong and others talk about Liu Xingzuo. This man was originally from Kaiyuan. In the 40th year of the Wanli reign, he was humiliated by the Kaiyuan garrison commander and led his entire family to flee to the Later Jin.

Liu Xingzuo was not only talented, but also "smart and considerate". He was highly respected and appreciated by the old slave. He married Nurhaci's daughter and became a retainer like Li Yongfang and Tong Yangxing.

During Lao Nu's reign, Liu Xingzuo held the highest official rank among all Han officials and was also the fastest promoted. Nurhaci once gave him his own mink coat as a token of his favor.

Sun Chuanting was quite surprised that such a high-ranking figure of the Later Jin Dynasty would now take the initiative to surrender.

Sun Chuanting helped Liu Xingzuo up, looked the queen up and down, and said with a smile: "Well, Ping Liaohou should have crossed the river by now. Mr. Liu, please follow me back to the camp to rest..."

Liu Xingzuo said anxiously:

"What! Cross the river? You can't cross the river! You absolutely can't cross the river!"

Sun Chuanting heard the tone and knew that Liu Xingzuo was in possession of confidential information, so he quickly said:
"Why not?"

Liu Xingzuo grabbed Sun Chuanting and said anxiously, "Huang Taiji has set up artillery ambushes on the opposite bank. The soldiers will be bombarded if they cross the river!"

"Cannons? How many?" Sun Chuanting asked curiously.

"No less than a hundred!"

Sun Chuanting was shocked. Zhang Dong and his colleagues from the Intelligence Bureau knew nothing about such important information!
He was full of confusion and said, "Impossible! The Jiannu have no copper mines and lack gunpowder. How can they produce so many cannons?"

"Some of the copper was bought from Korea, and some was smuggled from western Liaoning." Liu Xingzuo, breathless, issued another warning: "It's not just artillery. There's a large army ambushed in Hetuala, all equipped with flintlock rifles. Furthermore, the White Lotus Sect is trying to cut off your food supply. Zu Dashou has already set out with 10,000 Liao soldiers, preparing to attack from behind..."

Liu Xingzuo took a breath and concluded, "Huang Taiji said that General Liu would die in Hetuala just like Du Song!"

Sun Chuanting stayed there. Although he had been prepared, he had not expected the situation to be so serious. "Zu Dashou from Liaoxi is also taking advantage of the situation to rob people?"

"Zu Dashou and Huang Taiji have a special relationship. Everyone in Liaozhen knows it!"

Liu Zhaosun suddenly asked, "Du Song, how did you die?"

"At Sarhu, Du Song ignored the advice of his generals and insisted on splitting his forces to cross the river, leaving all the baggage and artillery behind. After crossing the river, he split his forces to attack Jiefan City! The eight hundred retainers he led were besieged by the two Yellow Banners and the Red Banner. While trying to break through, Du Song was shot dead by Daishan with an arrow and had Huang Taiji chop off his head."

Sun Chuanting looked at Liu Xingzuo and said in surprise:
"How did you know?"

Liu Xingzuo said anxiously, "I'm right here! Lord Sun, this is extremely urgent. Stop talking about this and immediately stop the army! Otherwise, Ping Liaohou will be the next Du Song."

Sun Chuanting looked up to the south. The soldiers of the 5,000th headquarters were like a colony of ants, densely covering the entire river surface. The generals and flags of the 1,000th and 2,000th headquarters began to prepare to cross the river.

"Don't worry, Marquis Ping Liao has never been defeated in battle, and he will win this time too. He is not Du Song. Come with me to see Marquis Ping Liao!"

(End of this chapter)