The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 261: A Song of Ice and Fire
On the second day of November in the first year of Chongzhen's reign, 30,000 foreign Liao people who crossed the river to attack the city were repelled by the Ningyuan defenders.

After the fire attack, the defenders used red cannons to bombard the fleeing troops outside the city.

Finally, the sound of a bugle call came from the central army formation on the east bank, and the surviving Kaiyuan soldiers and civilians immediately retreated eastward like a tide.

Zu Dashou sent his elite retainers down from the city walls to pursue the fleeing enemy. The retainers brandished their swords and hacked away at the stray Liao civilians who had fallen behind, cutting their way all the way from the city walls to the other side of the river.

It was not until the guards' muskets sounded and more than a dozen murderous servants were knocked off their horses that the remaining servants reluctantly retreated to the city wall.

After dark, the burning shield carts, hook ladders, and trench-filling carts below the city illuminated half of Ningyuan City.

The charred corpses gave off a disgusting stench, which attracted flocks of crows. Millions of large birds ate leisurely among the corpses.

The siege equipment abandoned by the foreign Liao people piled up into a mountain, with no end in sight.

The servants retreated to the foot of the city wall and burned all the chariots, shield carts, and ladders abandoned by the Kaiyuan army with cotton, gunpowder and other materials.

The northwest wind was blowing, as if telling the sadness of the battlefield.

That night, the mournful sound of bamboo flutes resounded throughout the Ningyuan battlefield.

I don’t know whether the performers were the defenders in the city or the foreign Liao people on the opposite side.

The flute sounds mournful and plaintive.

Across a shallow moat, tens of thousands of people were listening quietly.

After nightfall, rice grains fell from the sky. The snowflakes grew heavier and heavier, soon covering the corpses all over the ground.

The plains of western Liaoning turned into a vast expanse of white, and in the silence, it seemed as if nothing had happened.

Ping Liaohou ordered all tribes to count the casualties, and soon learned that the number of Liao people and foreigners who finally retreated to the east coast was less than 23,000.

In other words, Kaiyuan lost more than 7,000 people on the first day of fighting.

The defenders were more tenacious than he had expected, and Liu Zhaosun secretly rejoiced that he had a backup plan.

If he were to rush forward with these hundreds of thousands of people regardless of the consequences, he would probably end up with a bloody nose and a miserable defeat.

In addition to the loss of personnel, the loss of siege equipment was also serious. More than half of the combat equipment such as shields, carts, hooks and ladders were lost and had to be rebuilt.

All tribes and Niulu suffered casualties, and the Mongols and Jianzhou suffered particularly heavy casualties.

After the attempt to dig the city wall failed, more than ten Niulu Ezhen were trapped in shield carts and burned to death.

Liu Zhaosun was worried that these newly surrendered foreign tribes would collapse.

He summoned Dudubulhangu and his two confidants overnight and asked them to calm the people's hearts as soon as possible.

The two men informed their followers:
Ping Liaohou will provide a large sum of money to compensate the casualties.

Tomorrow’s siege will be led by Han Chinese, so there is no need to worry about becoming cannon fodder.

In order to guard against the defenders' night attack on the city, each camp strengthened its fortifications in the snow, the trenches were widened and deepened, and secret sentries were added to the periphery.

Northwest of Ningyuan, Kaiyuan Central Army Headquarters.

After inspecting the camps, Liu Zhaosun returned to the central military tent. Without taking a rest, he asked the guards to call Deng Changxiong and Wang Erhu.

The three of them carefully reviewed the day's battle. Finally, Liu Zhaosun concluded:
"At present, the people in Ningyuan City are willing to work hard, and the Red Barbarian cannons are very powerful. It is reasonable for our army to suffer setbacks."

Deng Changxiong and Wang Erhu both looked ashamed.

Neither of the two Imperial Guards soldiers directly participated in today's siege. However, the two commanders commanded the ant-like attack on the city walls by 100,000 Liao foreigners. Despite vastly outnumbered troops and equipped with siege equipment, the outcome was unacceptable to both of them.

After all, it only took the Kaiyuan army one day to capture a strong city like Hetuala.

Liu Zhaosun shook off the snow on his fish-scale armor, ordered the guards to brew two cups of hot tea, and handed them to the two men personally.

"Generals, take heart! Victory and defeat are commonplace in war. Ningyuan is the strongest city in western Liaoning. Zu Dashou has been managing it for many years. Now, we have the support of elite troops from the nine frontiers, ample supplies, and advanced firearms. It's certainly not an easy city to capture."

Liu Zhaosun raised his teacup and said confidently:
"At this rate today, we'll be able to capture the city soon."

Deng Changxiong listened, put down his teacup, and said anxiously:

"Sir, the soldiers are fine. You saw it when you inspected the camp just now. The morale of the army hasn't been affected much. However, I am worried about the foreign Liao people who are participating in the war. If the war drags on for too long, things will inevitably change."

Liu Zhaosun leaned his head on the hand, a thoughtful look on his face, and turned to look at Wang Erhu.

The commander of the Third Guards Army said solemnly:

"Sir, if we take this city at this rate, I'm afraid fifty to sixty thousand men will die. I'm worried that the Mongols won't be able to withstand it in a few days."

Liu Zhaosun and Wang Erhu nodded in agreement.

This is not surprising. These foreigners joined the army to conquer Liaoxi to rob things. After all, they were not combat soldiers. Asking them to fight Zu Dashou was obviously too much to ask.

When the Liao people are fighting in a favorable situation, they are full of vigor and bravery. However, if their attack is frustrated and casualties occur, they are in immediate danger of collapse.

From Shenyang to Ningyuan, they were invincible all the way. No city could hold out for more than half a day, and they were almost all taken in one go.

A terrifying thought suddenly flashed through Liu Zhaosun's mind: Was he really going to repeat Nurhaci's mistakes and be defeated at the gates of Ningyuan? He quickly dismissed this strange thought.

"Don't worry, the earthen wall will be built tomorrow night, and the tunnels will be dug to the bottom of the city the day after tomorrow. They have dug over a hundred tunnels, and as long as one of them can blow up the main city, we will win. By the way, Wang Zengbin attacked Juehua Island tonight, and he should have succeeded by now."

At the end of his speech, Liu Zhaosun suddenly stood up, pointed at Ningyuan City on a snowy night, and said with emotion:
"The earthen city is built, the tunnels are dug, first we will conquer the people's hearts, then break through the city walls. Within three days, we will chop off Zu Dashou's head."

~~~~~
On the evening of the tenth day of the eleventh month of the first year of Chongzhen, Wang Zengbin led the cavalry battalion to attack Juehua Island at night.

Juehua Island is located sixteen miles south of Ningyuan City. It is surrounded by the Liao Sea on three sides and faces the Liaoxi land across the sea to the west.

Before the Battle of Ningyuan, Zu Dashou stored some food and grass on the island, planning to let the Ming army on the island attack the flank of the Kaiyuan army to contain Liu Zhaosun's attack on Ningyuan.

The island's garrison strength was about 1, with a commander from the Central Front (see note ) as the chief commander.

When the defenders learned that the Kaiyuan army had arrived in Ningyuan, they immediately stepped up their defenses, set up fortifications on the coast, and added artillery.

In November, the floating ice on the seashore of western Liaoning was slow to melt. As a cold current passed by, a thick layer of ice formed on the sea surface.

In order to prevent the Kaiyuan army from crossing the sea to attack, the defenders built trenches on the shore, placed iron caltrops to block horses, and set up layers of defense. Chariots were connected behind the trenches to form a chariot camp for strict defense.

On November 12, the wind and snow were very cold and biting. The trenches dug by the Ming army were quickly filled with snow. The sea was covered with thick ice, allowing people to walk and ride horses.

The garrison commander urgently ordered the navy to go out to sea to intercept the Kaiyuan army. However, the navy warships docked at Juehua Island were frozen by sea ice and could not go out to sea.

The defenders had no choice but to endure the cold wind and heavy snow and chisel the ice all night long. The soldiers' fingers were frostbitten, which was a horrible sight.

Juehua Island is in danger.

Wang Zengbin rode on a cold-resistant Korchin horse, full of energy and vigor.

In the light of the guards' torches, teams of elite cavalry passed by under the big banner. They were quickly landing on Juehua Island along a newly formed ice road.

On the morning of the 13th, a tide of Kaiyuan elite cavalry suddenly appeared on Juehua Island.

The fingers of the Ming army musketeers trapped in the chariot camp were frozen and they could not fire. With the help of portable tiger squat cannons and divine fire flying crows, the cavalry quickly broke through the chariot camp.

A steady stream of cavalrymen stepped on the thick snow, like a black iron stream, sweeping across the entire island.

They first rushed to the middle road, then turned to attack the east mountain, and then joined forces to attack the west mountain.

Most of the defenders on the island were sailors, who were not good at hand-to-hand combat, and were caught off guard by the sudden enemy attack.

Under the siege of the well-equipped and fierce Kaiyuan cavalry, the 5,000 Ming troops collapsed and surrendered after only half an hour of resistance.

Wang Zengbin ordered the first battalion to clear the battlefield, the second battalion to be on guard outside, and the third battalion to guard the captured Ming army merchants and civilians.

There were seven or eight thousand merchants and civilians on Juehua Island, who came from all over western Liaoning. After the Ningyuan Campaign broke out, they heard that the Kaiyuan army was as atrocious as the Jiannu and that Ping Liaohou himself enjoyed cannibalism, so they followed the Ming army and retreated to Juehua Island.

"General Liu never kills people indiscriminately. The Han people of Liaodong worship him as a god, and every household has a tablet for him. How dare you, the ignorant people of Liaoxi, slander General Liu!"

When Wang Zengbing heard the confessions of the captured merchants, he became furious, but in the end he strictly abided by military law. He only beheaded a few stubborn generals and ordered to treat other soldiers and civilians on Juehua Island well.

On that day, the cavalry battalion cleaned up the spoils of battle.

In this battle, more than 2,000 ships from Juehua Island were captured, and more than 82,000 stones of grain and grass stored on the island were seized, as well as countless types of gunpowder, firearms, and military equipment.

The official office of Xishan Tunbao on Juehua Island.

Next to a blazing bonfire, Wang Zengbin, along with two civil affairs officers and a pacification officer, were counting the captured money and grain according to the account book.

A Ming army officer was tied up and brought in front of the crowd.

"Sir, we caught a big fish! It's a commander!"

Wang Zengbin put down the account book and glanced at the commander.

Wang Zengbin saw that the man was wet and his beard was covered in ice, so he asked what happened.

The flag captain had a wound on his face. Their flag team suffered heavy casualties during the attack on Xishan.

"This bastard brought his servants to guard the back mountain and killed several of us. When he couldn't win, he jumped into the sea and committed suicide. Boss Wang, we can't let him die so easily..."

Wang Zengbin waved his hand to interrupt and asked the guards to lift the prisoner's head.

An angry and tired face with bloodshot eyes.

"What's your name?"

"I am... I am the former commander Zhao Lujiao. If you want to kill me, then kill me. Don't say any more..."

Zhao Lujiao was soaked all over, shivering from the cold, and speaking incoherently.

Wang Zengbin was amused by him and laughed out loud:
"It's so cold, you jumped into the sea, thinking you could swim back? Kaiyuan doesn't kill prisoners. Come, change him into clean clothes and take him back to Ningyuan! Hand him over to the Marquis of Ping Liao for his fate!"

Note:
1. Founded in 1428, the third year of the Xuande reign of the Ming Dynasty, Zhongqianso (Zhongqian Qianhu Suo) is the full name of the Zhongqian Qianhu Suo. The fortress is roughly square, 510 meters from east to west and 502 meters from north to south. Qiansuo has a long history, being the first fortress outside Shanhaiguan and a historically contested site.

(End of this chapter)