The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 402 He is back
Elli agreed loudly, gave a standard greeting to the young Qing Emperor, turned around and walked towards the Blue Banner formation, and began to prepare for the siege.

As he left, he glared at Sahalian and Duoduo, the two flag owners casting contemptuous glances at Amin's youngest son. The remaining older flag owners remained silent, their faces showing varying expressions.

In fact, the Qing army was not sure of victory in the siege of Shenyang this time. Although the Qi army was almost completely wiped out, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. The combat effectiveness of the army under Emperor Wu Ding was witnessed by all the flags, especially the young flag owners. Of course, their fathers all died at the hands of Liu Zhaosun.

More than two hundred poorly equipped bannermen, under the whipping and cursing of their master, began to push shield carts and ladder carts, crossing ditches and bumps, and approached the city wall with difficulty.

A muffled thunder-like explosion was immediately heard two miles away, followed by a thick white mist rising from the city wall. The Jing'an Fort, which was 3.5 meters high and 40 meters in circumference, was hidden in the white smoke like the Penglai Fairy Mountain in a fairyland.

Du Du looked at the white smoke of gunpowder, and then at the siege equipment with wood chips flying everywhere due to the field artillery fire, his eyes were a little blurred.

He knew very well that the outcome of the Battle of Shenyang was not in the hands of the Qing Dynasty. Ultimately, it still depended on the two allies in the south and the east.

However, these two allies seem unreliable.

The Baoyi soldiers crossed the trench and soon arrived under the fort. Some of them began to shoot at the defenders with muskets, bows and arrows, while more were busy setting up ladders and preparing to attack the city.

Suddenly, all the gunfire on the city wall stopped. When the eunuchs craned their necks to look around, balls of fire suddenly flew out from behind the battlements. Bamboo tubes filled with kerosene were thrown down from the city wall, exploding into countless tiny flames in the air, sticking to people like rice cakes. A shield cart that had just approached the base of the city wall was immediately hit by five or six bamboo tubes. The fire was blazing, and accompanied by bursts of screams, several fireballs rushed out of the shield cart...

The emperor turned his attention from the city wall to the front. He looked at Goshiha, who was standing under the banner, and ordered the strong Jianzhou warrior:
"Obai,"

"The slave is here!"

"Go to Kuandian and urge Li Shunyi to hurry up and bring a few more white-armored soldiers. If he dares to act cunningly again, you might as well learn from Liu Zhaosun. Do you know how Liu Zhaosun dealt with Jiang Hongli?"

Aobai was like a brown bear that had just woken up from hibernation. He shook his mountain-like body, knelt on one knee, and said murderously:

"Master, I know, I'll do it right away!"

~~~~~~
When Du Du arranged for Oboi to go to Kuandian to urge the Korean allies, Kang Yinggan was also busy urging the allies of Da Qi.

At dusk on July 12, the first year of Wuding, at Yongning Gate in Shenyang.

"When will Burhanggu's cavalry arrive? And the Khorchin cavalry!"

Liu Xingzuo hesitated for a moment, then said to the Prime Minister:

"Lord Kang, Xicheng Beile is in a standoff with the Zhenglan Banner in Fushun, and reinforcements are difficult to come by. The Khorchin cavalry is being held back by Ligdan Khan. Bumbutai said he would send 500 cavalry."

The Qi cavalry was completely annihilated in the capital. The 3,000 elite cavalry, along with their chief officer Wang Zengbin, were killed or wounded by bandits, plague, and explosions. In the end, only 800 cavalry escaped back to Liaodong.
The Western Expedition Army still has 2,000 cavalry, but distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, and it is not known whether Deng Changxiong and his men are dead or alive.

It is obviously unrealistic to expect 800 cavalrymen to fight against the Qing cavalry. This is also an important reason why Kang Yingqian and others chose to shrink the defense line. Without the support of cavalry, the combat radius of the infantry was greatly reduced. The troops were originally small in number, and going out to fight would only lead to them being divided and surrounded by the Qing army and defeated one by one.

"Five hundred is fine. Send out scouts to meet them. Instruct the Mongols to cross the Liao River before sunset today. The Civil Affairs Department will prepare food and fodder supplies. Also, give each of these riders two more horses to ensure they don't run out of horsepower when the battle comes."

Kang Yingqian knew that Bumbutai's life was not easy. She had to prevent Lin Khan from launching a surprise attack and control the troops of various tribes to prevent the Mongols from plundering the border.

Kang Yinggan stretched his shoulders and sighed deeply. As the prime minister now, he issued orders on behalf of the little emperor every day. He didn't know how expensive food and fuel were, and the expenses were huge. Everyone asked him for money, food, military supplies and weapons. Although there were other ministers to help share the worries, all matters ultimately required the final decision from Prime Minister Kang. All the chores combined almost exhausted all the energy of this old man. Whenever he was exhausted, he would realize how difficult it was for Liu Zhaosun.

Liu Xingzuo took out another piece of information from his pocket and read it quickly:

"The Jiannu attacked Jing'an Fort at noon. The main attack was led by the Bordered Blue Banner led by Elli, consisting of approximately 3,000 men and over 300 bannermen. Around 3 p.m., Jing'an Fort was still in the hands of the defenders."

"Zheng Yishi fought well. If he had held out for a few more hours, the Mongolian cavalry would have arrived."

Qi Jin said worriedly, "With only a thousand men, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for long. The Tartars also have artillery." Kang Yingqian's tone became firm, as if he were possessed by Emperor Wu Ding, his white beard trembling as he said,
"We have to defend it even if we can't! Only if we defend it will we get reinforcements!"

He looked towards Jing'an Fort and said excitedly:

"Let's follow Emperor Wuding's lead and launch a night raid on the Bordered Blue Banner tonight to give Amin's son a surprise."

When Kang Yingqian said this, a hint of pride appeared between his brows, as if he had suddenly become seven or eight years younger, and had returned to the battlefield of Sarhu in the 47th year of Wanli, where he fought side by side with Liu Zhaosun.

He snatched the teapot from the guard's hand and took a sip with his neck tilted back.

"How's the gate repair going?"

Xie Guangkun stepped forward and replied to Prime Minister Kang: "Well, the river water has risen, and it will be more difficult for the Tartars to cross the river and attack Pinglu Fort."

"Old Xie, you have done a good job in civil affairs. Now that we have repelled the Jiannu, I will make you the Minister of Works. You know the bad custom of the Ming Dynasty that only Hanlin scholars could enter the cabinet, but we don't have this rule in the Great Qi..."

Kang Yingqian put down the teapot and began to chatter endlessly about his promises to Xie Guangkun.

Qiao Yiqi, who was standing next to him, couldn't stand it anymore and laughed out loud. He patted Xie Guangkun on the shoulder and laughed out loud:

"Thank you, Director. Prime Minister Kang has already promised the position of Minister of Industry to two people: the workshop's chief officer, Lei Jiangtou, and the Chamber of Commerce's general manager, Liu Yue'er. You are the third one..."

Xie Guangkun was speechless.

~~~~
The sluice gate Kang Yingqian mentioned is actually the sluice gate on the Pu River.

The Pu River originates from Xianglong Mountain in the southeast of Tieling, flows southwest, and enters Shenyang from Wangbin Township.

During the middle period of the Jiajing reign, the imperial court built a water conservancy gate on the Pu River to use the water of the Pu River to prevent enemy troops from invading Shenyang. Later, the gate fell into disrepair and could no longer raise the water level to defend against the enemy. The enemy cavalry crossed the Pu River as if it were flat ground, often appearing in the west of Shenyang in an instant, looting and harassing the people at will, and the Ming army was unable to resist.

During the Wanli reign, local officials attempted to repair the gate several times, but due to the huge cost and difficulty in raising funds, the project was shelved.

After Qi Jin led his team to inspect the gate last month, he believed that the gate was very important for resisting the attacks of the Jiannu and was the lifeline of northern Shenyang. He suggested that it be repaired immediately.

Under the joint efforts of the civil administration and auxiliary troops, a new sluice gate was built on the site of the old one. Located at Pinglu Fort, the new gate was 1.5 zhang high and 2.5 zhang wide. When the river water accumulated, it would raise the water level, preventing enemy troops from crossing.

In addition, Xie Yang also led people to build an enemy tower more than five meters high next to the gate. Once the Jiannu invaded from the north, the defenders could send troops to resist the enemy from the enemy tower at the gate, or the nearby watchtower and Xiaoheilintai.

Kang Yinggan was still thinking about riding with Qi Jin to the Puhe Water Gate to see if there were any omissions, but his eyes suddenly became dizzy and he stumbled and almost fell. Pei Dahu and Wei Zhao hurried forward to support the Prime Minister, and Qiao Yiqi hurried forward to feed his old partner some water.

Kang Yingqian suddenly realized that he was old.

He forced himself to stand up straight, ready to walk down the city wall. When he lifted his legs, he felt a pain. After all, he was over sixty years old. Thinking of that disappointing son, he wondered how Kang Guangxu, born to Lao Wang next door, was doing in Kuandian now.
As Prime Minister Kang was walking down the city wall, he suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from afar.

"General Kang, I haven't seen you for a long time. You've been promoted again!"

Kang Yingqian looked towards the city wall following the sound. When he saw the man clearly, his cloudy eyes suddenly brightened up and he exclaimed:

"You're back, great!"

(End of this chapter)