The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 245 Liaoshen Campaign
Many years later, when imperial historians sought to explain the battle to the public, they would not dwell on how many enemies the Kaiyuan army had killed, how many cities they had captured, or how much wealth they had reaped. These academic historians would recount the Liaoxi Campaign from a more profound perspective, imbuing it with lofty historical significance.

In an annals of the empire's early campaigns, the author described it this way:
"(The Liaoxi Campaign) was the first successful implementation of Taizu's strategy of transforming Xia people into barbarians in the barbarian regions (referring to the areas ruled by the pseudo-Ming Dynasty in the 17th century). This war was like the morning star before dawn, bringing light to the dark barbarian lands. From then on, the empire marched from one victory to another..."

If you find the description in the annals dull and boring, you should follow the footsteps of Ping Liaohou and return to the Liaoxi battlefield in the third year of Taichang to personally experience the glorious years of the early rise of the empire...

July of the second year of Taichang.

Troops from Kaiyuan, Jurchen, Korean, and Mongolian tribes arrived in Fushun one after another, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians threatened Liaoning and Shenyang with the force of a mountain pressing down on one's head.

On the road, there was an endless stream of soldiers, horses, and food carts, and tribal mountain people from remote areas continued to join the team.

With 30,000 guards as the core, a huge army of about 300,000 people has gathered under the city of Fushun.

The number of 300,000 is more than double the number of the Jurchen-Mongol coalition forces when Nurhaci attacked Shenyang.

At this point in history, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the young dragon-slayer had transformed into a dragon. Kaiyuan completely replaced the Later Jin or Qing dynasty, becoming a powerful force threatening the Ming dynasty—at least, on the surface.

To enforce strict military discipline, soldiers' representatives and instructors repeatedly lectured the soldiers on military discipline throughout the march. While such lectures were unnecessary for these veterans, they were crucial for the young men of various ethnic groups participating in a war for the first time. Before the war broke out, it was crucial to ensure they thoroughly understood Kaiyuan's military discipline and the true character of Liu Zhaosun.

According to Kaiyuan military law, any foreigner or Han Chinese who participated in the battle and violated the law, whether by looting or harassing the local area, would be beheaded immediately upon discovery. Meanwhile, those who captured and killed Liaoxi scouts and performed military merit were rewarded with silver on the spot.

On the official road from Kaiyuan to Fushun, pacification soldiers were busy carrying out executions every day, beheading able-bodied men who violated military law. Fire soldiers carried heads on long poles and ran into the endless line of able-bodied men to show them to the public.

Using both kindness and force, and being decisive in killing and punishing, this is Liu Zhaosun's only way to command the army.

By the time more than 900 heads fell to the ground, the people who had participated in the war had a deeper and more intuitive understanding of Kaiyuan military law.

Especially those foreign young men who were participating in the war for the first time, after seeing what they saw and hearing from some of the tribesmen who had participated in the bloody battle of Hunhe River about the deeds of Ping Liaohou who angrily killed 3,000 Mongolian foreigners, they all gave up their intention to enter the city to burn, kill and loot.

The army's discipline was boosted.

After rectifying the military discipline, before leaving Fushun and marching into western Liaoning, Liu Zhaosun decided to first resolve his worries, namely the two cities of Liaoshen, not far from Fushun.

After the Battle of Hunhe, Wang Huazhen, the governor of Liaodong, was stationed in Liaoning and Shenyang, which were nominally under the influence of the imperial court.

Of course this is not the case.

Liaodong believes in the law of the jungle.

After the Kaiyuan forces withdrew from Shenyang, Liaozhen immediately took over.

Mao Wenlong's position as lieutenant general was replaced by Zu Dale, and Zu's army of about 3,000 soldiers entered Shenyang. Zu Dashou's ambition was certainly not limited to western Liaoning. He had long wanted to occupy the city of Shenyang.

Unfortunately, neither the imperial court nor Liaozhen could completely control Liaoning and Shenyang.

The Liao people were fierce and good at fighting, and they had their own weapons after the bloody battle of Hunhe.

Although Zu Dale was ferocious, he was helpless in the face of these unruly people who dared to kill even the Jiannu. He never dared to confront them head-on. After all, the Later Jin soldiers, who were stronger than the Liaozhen, had been defeated by the Liao people. He did not want to repeat Ding Bi's fate.

Kaiyuan Intelligence Bureau and trading companies have many locations in Shenyang, and many stores have Kaiyuan spies stationed there, and even special forces soldiers.

Compared with their ancestral home in western Liaoning, the Han people and foreigners in Shenyang City were not averse to Ping Liaohou. Many people even volunteered to act as spies and detectives, constantly transmitting intelligence back to Kaiyuan through Fushun.

If nothing unexpected happens, the Kaiyuan Army's capture of Liaoshen will be smoother than the Later Jin Army's capture of Liaoshen in history.

Despite this, Liu Zhaosun still made full preparations. He planned to use diplomacy first and then force, first subdue Wang Huazhen, use Wang Jinglue's standard battalion as an internal supporter, stab Liaozhen in the back, imitate Nurhaci's approach, fire at Liaozhen at the critical moment, and peacefully occupy this big city.

Naturally, Kang Yingqian was needed to act as a lobbyist.

After the Liaoxi Campaign broke out, Liu Zhaosun sent people to recall Kang Yingqian, Yuan Chonghuan, and Ma Shiying, and at the same time restored Deng Changxiong's position as commander of the Second Army.

He urged several of his confidants to work together in solidarity and fight the Liaoxi battle that would determine the fate of history.

As for Song Yingxing, his third brother, Song Yingsheng, had colluded with the East Depot to massacre the Kaiyuan military and civilians, committing heinous crimes. If nothing unexpected had happened, Song Yingsheng, with Zu Dashou's help, would have fled to Shandong, preparing to instigate a rebellion by the Sixth Imperial Guard, capture and kill Jin Yuji, and defect to the imperial court. Liu Zhaosun knew that Song Yingxing was innocent of his crimes, having been implicated by his brother. However, to prevent him from being beaten to death by the people, he transferred him from Qinghe to Kuandian, secretly imprisoning him and saving the life of this noble son from a humble family.

On August 15, the eve of the army's departure, Kang Yingqian was ordered to sneak into Shenyang to persuade Wang Huazhen, the governor of Liaodong, to submit to Ping Liaohou as soon as possible.

Wang Huazhen was overly enthusiastic about Kang Yingqian's lobbying. He received Kang, an inspector whose rank was far lower than his own, as the governor of Liaodong. The standard of the banquet was much higher than the reception after the bloody battle of Hunhe last time.

General Kang was flattered.

Without waiting for Lao Kang to give him his ancestral Vajra Powder, Wang Jinglie left his seat and bowed deeply, expressing his willingness to surrender to Kaiyuan and be a pawn of Ping Liaohou.

Kang Yingqian quickly supported the Liaodong governor.

The two friends smiled at each other, and they had a tacit understanding in their hearts.

That night, the two men no longer talked about military affairs or mundane matters, but only talked about their feelings and mentioned the brothel business in various places in Liaodong.

Everyone has seen the changes in Kaiyuan in the past two years. Everyone in Liaodong knows that Kaiyuan's power has long surpassed that of the Later Jin during Nurhaci's time.

And what about the Ming Dynasty that Liaozhen relied on?

The nine frontiers were short of food and money, civil unrest was raging everywhere, and factional strife was raging within the court. Zu Dashou had shouted his name at the top of his lungs, but he had only managed to summon a mere few thousand foreign troops, who were now stationed at Shanhaiguan and dared not leave to reinforce.

To be fair, even if we go back twenty years, the elite soldiers and generals during the three major expeditions of the Wanli Emperor would probably not be a match for the Kaiyuan Army.

Wang Huazhen was of course very clear about this. He also knew that it would not be long before Liaodong, Liaoxi, and Liaoshen where he was now, would all belong to Liu Zhaosun.

This is a trend that is unstoppable.

Wang Huazhen earned tens of thousands of taels of silver in Kaiyuan in recent years.

Of course, the money is not free.

Although Wang Huazhen was a Jinshi, like most civil servants of that era, he had no loyalty to speak of. If he had any loyalty, it was to money.

He was appointed to Liaodong because he was ostracized, and when he arrived in Shenyang, he was prepared to die.

Since you are not dead, you should live well for the rest of your life.

While he still has some friendship with Kang Yingqian, he should defect to him now and give advice to Ping Liaohou. When the emperor enters the pass, he may still have a seat in the court.

~~~~
Late at night, after paying a heavy price, Liaozhen Yebushou finally detected the movements of the Kaiyuan army.

That night, Ye Bushou reported to Zu Dale that countless Kaiyuan soldiers were coming from the direction of Fushun.

"General! Their flags are like a moving forest, and their weapons and armor are so densely packed that you can't see the end. Their number must be around 200,000."

Ye Bushou finally added that there seemed to be Khorchin Uriankhai Mongols and Jurchens from Jianzhou Haixi in this army.

"Get lost! How could Liu Zhaosun have so many people? Why didn't you say one million?"

Zu Dale, who was drunk, became furious when he heard that Ye Bu Shou had not given his report.

According to the predictions made by the three brothers earlier, Liu Zhaosun could mobilize a maximum of 20,000 soldiers to fight south. 20,000 was the limit for Kaiyuan, and 200,000 was too much.

Of course, with Zu Dale's understanding, it would probably be difficult for him to understand the meaning of the vast ocean of people's war.

However, Zu Dale still showed the level of a Liaodong general. He immediately jumped up, brandished his whip, and lashed Ye Bushou, telling him to get off and continue his investigation.

"Get lost! If I can't figure this out, I'll chop you up!"

After saying that, he raised the wine jug and gulped down the wine.

Ye Bushou strictly followed Marshal Zu's order and got out. He never appeared again after that.

On the morning of July 17, the vanguard of the Kaiyuan Army arrived in Shenyang and set up a wooden city camp on the north bank of the Hun River.

The auxiliary troops and prisoners of war quickly built a pontoon bridge, and teams of cavalry crossed the Hunhe River and conducted reconnaissance around Shenyang.

Although Zu Dale was brave, he was far inferior to Liu Zhaosun. He simply did not have the courage to repel the enemy on the north bank.

Like most Ming army generals, he often chose to defend himself when facing a strong enemy.

When the Kaiyuan army began to cross the river, the defensive fortifications around Shenyang had just been completed.

However, the details of these defensive fortifications and troop deployments were handed over to Ping Liaohou by the Industry and Commerce Department and the Intelligence Department long before the Kaiyuan Army set out.

On August 18, the Battle of Shenyang broke out.

Deng Changxiong, commander of the Second Guards Army, commanded 3,000 Jianzhou prisoners to push shield carts close to the city wall.

Arrows rained down densely and cannons roared.

Seeing that Liaozhen was well defended, Deng Changxiong ordered the follow-up troops not to launch a strong attack for the time being.

He first sent dozens of Mongolian cavalry to approach and scout the Liaozhen position.

Zu Dale sent his servants to attack and quickly repelled the Mongols, beheading eight of them.

This small victory gave Zu Dale a huge illusion that the Kaiyuan army was nothing special.

In addition, some time ago, when Liu Zhaosun had not arrived, the Liaozhen cavalry had won several victories under the city of Fushun and captured hundreds of Mongolian heads.

Zu Dale, who had survived hundreds of battles, decided that this was an opportunity, an opportunity to completely wipe out the Kaiyuan army.

So, Zu Dale, who was addicted to alcohol, drank a lot, picked up his wine gourd, and led all his servants, more than a thousand people, to attack.

He planned to kill Liu Zhaosun and give his brother Zu Dashou, who was far away in Shanhaiguan, a surprise.

(End of this chapter)