The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 44 Jing'an Fort

"Brother Mao, how's the progress on the red cannons that Commander Liu asked you to build a while ago? Why don't you take them to Kaiyuan?"

"You know, Liu Zhaosun hasn't even touched a Korean beauty these days. I heard him say in his dreams: Nurhaci, take my cock!"

"You said that the Red Barbarian Cannon can really destroy an area dozens of miles away with a single shot, and is even more powerful than the God of Thunder and the Goddess of Lightning?"

On the official road from Shenyang to Kaiyuan, large groups of Ming army soldiers came rolling in. Their red mandarin duck coats and gray war horses merged into a torrent of iron and blood, spreading from the plains to the hills, with no end in sight.

Mao Yuanyi, covered in dust and looking like a bereaved family, rode on a mule and said little along the way, completely unlike his usual talkative self.

Are you still the unruly boy in the Jinglüe Mansion?

Although Qiao Yiqi is no longer a teenager, he is as energetic as a teenager. At this moment, he and Mao Yuanyi are riding side by side, and he is talking incessantly.

It has been two days since the Eastern Army left Shenyang, and Kaiyuan City is now right in front of them. More than 6,000 southern soldiers under Liu Zhaosun's command have survived by chance, and the morale of the 5,000 new troops is high. As long as they don't have to train, they are happy.

Qiao Yiqi, the former military supervisor of the Korean army, was appointed by Yang Jinglue to officially replace Kang Yingqian and become the military supervisor of Liu Zhaosun.

Mao Yuanyi hung his head and said nothing. The mule under him snorted, stood still, and looked lovingly at a mare that passed by.

Yesterday, Liu Zhaosun couldn't help but killed some rioters, but it did not deter the Liaozhen forces from surrendering. Instead, it aroused all the new and old grudges between the southern soldiers and Liaozhen.

Under the constant stimulation of Liu Zhaosun and others, and the continuous expansion of the power of the southern soldiers, Li Rubai, the eldest brother of Liaozhen, who had been clamoring to become a monk, felt that his power was being drained and decided to come out again.

After announcing that all his difficult and complicated illnesses had been cured, Liaodong General Li Rubai finally regained his position as the top leader in Liaozhen.

It can be seen that power is not only an aphrodisiac, but also a good medicine.

Although Li Rubai was not as good at fighting as his father Li Chengliang, he was obviously better at dealing with his own people.

After Liu Zhaosun ordered the hunt down of the rioters, Li Rubai immediately sealed off the two cities of Liaoshen and sent people to seal up all the food, fodder, horses and other supplies that the court had allocated to the Eastern Army.

Li Rubai sent someone to send a report to the capital, which said that the southern soldiers had rebelled and were slaughtering Liao people in Shenyang. Moreover, there were also accomplices of Liu Zhaosun in the Liao town. In an emergency, the guilty minister Li Rubai had to turn the tide and act according to his own discretion.

The censors' impeachment of Yang Hao came as expected. This time, they no longer used the clichés like "the governor has no achievements" but exposed that he condoned the southern soldiers, brought disaster to Liaodong, colluded with the White Lotus Sect, incited the Liao people, and intended to take them to defect to the Jiannu.

If such a memorial was submitted, even if Wanli wanted to protect Yang Hao, he would probably be unable to do so.

Not to mention the serious crimes of slaughtering the Liao people and allowing the soldiers to rebel, even the charge of colluding with the White Lotus Sect was enough for Yang Jinglie to be executed at Caishikou.

The Ming Dynasty had always maintained a zero-tolerance attitude towards the White Lotus sect and other religious groups. From Taizu to Shizong, successive emperors brutally suppressed the White Lotus sect.

During the Jiajing period, members of the White Lotus Sect fled the interior and colluded with Mongolia, becoming a serious threat to the imperial court.

Before Li Rubai sent the memorial, he used the excuse of the rebellion of the southern soldiers and the unrest in Liaoning and Shenyang to "politely escort" Yang Hao's entire family out of the city, and asked the governor to find a safer residence.

This certainly did not mean that Li Rubai had a change of heart and wanted to let Old Yang go. He just wanted to prove Yang Hao's crime of treason, and then force this group of southern soldiers to be caught in a dilemma between the imperial court and the Jiannu, and finally fall into a desperate situation.

The governor did not suffer much injustice, but Mao Yuanyi was not so lucky.

The two cannon barrel models that were being cast were pushed over and smashed to pieces by the Liao soldiers. When Mao Yuanyi stepped forward to stop them, two of his front teeth were knocked out, and now he can't speak without leaking his mouth.

In recent days, thanks to the active efforts of Kaiyuan General Ma Lin, the Kaiyuan city defense troops have:
General Ma Lin had 8,000 foreign soldiers under his command, garrison commander Liu Zhaosun had 12,000 soldiers under his command, General He Shixian had 8,000 combat soldiers, guerrilla Yu Chengming had 2,000 regular soldiers under his command, Lieutenant General Shi Fengming had 2,000 soldiers and horses, and Lieutenant General Li Ketai had 1,500 soldiers and horses.

In addition, some Liaozhen generals who hold a neutral stance are still watching, and it is not ruled out that they may participate in the battle to defend Kaiyuan in the future.

The two small Mongolian tribes, Aitu and Subudi, are still fence-sitting.

They were very afraid of the large number of Ming soldiers who suddenly appeared around Kaiyuan.

However, in view of the fact that the wise Khan Nurhaci had been invincible in previous battles, the Mongols, while swearing a solemn alliance with Malin, Liu Zhaosun and others, also sent people to contact the Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty.

They told the Jurchens all about the Ming army's strength and weapons and equipment, and said that if necessary, they could serve as vanguards for the Jin Kingdom and attack some small forts around Kaiyuan.

These are all variables in the coming war.

Li Ketai and several other Liaozhen lieutenant generals who defected to the Liaozhen army judged that the Mongols would help the Ming army attack the Later Jin. The reason they gave was that when Li Chengliang was alive, Liaozhen and these small tribes got along quite well.

Liu Zhaosun believed it was now necessary to consider these Mongols as part of the enemy camp. He had no faith in these steppe tribes. The Mongols were behind several successful blitzkriegs by the Later Jin in Liaodong. Most of the Liaodong warhorses were stationed in the cities of Liaoyang and Shenyang. The Liaozhen generals defending the cities all claimed that Liaoyang and Shenyang were defenseless and that their warhorses could not be used to reinforce Kaiyuan. Consequently, the Kaiyuan garrison was currently short of warhorses, and staff members like Mao Yuanyi were forced to ride mules.

Yang Hao used his authority as the general manager to suppress them, but it was useless. The generals in Liaozhen were not afraid of anyone now. They were just waiting for Nurhaci to attack Kaiyuan as soon as possible and kill Liu Zhaosun and his men.

The appearance of Liu Zhaosun highlighted in advance the various deep-seated contradictions between Liaozhen and the imperial court, Liaozhen and foreign soldiers, and within Liaozhen itself.

In comparison, the warhorse was only the most insignificant issue among the flags.

In the end, after all the talk, Ding Bi and the others said they were only willing to accept cash to buy the horse.

The price they offered to the Kaiyuan defenders was: one horse, three thousand taels of silver.

This is no longer a question of whether to buy a horse or not, but a question of whether to aid the enemy.

All the generals stationed in Liaoshen had grievances with the Southern troops, although Ding Bi was not one of the core members.

Perhaps because Tieling was too close to Kaiyuan and Kaiyuan had a large military force, he felt afraid. He was worried about Liu Zhaosun's revenge, so he gave up Tieling early and led his servants and soldiers to flee into Shenyang City, saying that he wanted to reinforce Liaoshen.

In this way, the two cities of Liaoshen, which were originally the most solid cities of the Ming army in Liaodong in history, have now become gathering places for the surrendered forces of Liaozhen.

"Red Cannon, I'm going to Kaiyuan to rebuild it. What I hate most now is not the slave chieftain Nurhaci, but Li Rubai, that bastard Li Rubai! I'm going to destroy Liaozhen with one cannon! Kill all those soldiers!"

Mao Yuanyi suddenly raised his voice, changing his usual gentle and elegant image, and whipped the affectionate mule horse hard. He left Qiao Yiqi, who was bewildered, and sped away towards the back of the garrison commander Liu Zhaosun.

South of Kaiyuan City, Jing'an Fort.

Liu Zhaosun, Ma Lin, He Shixian and other generals, escorted by their family members, rode their horses into the fort through the south gate.

Jing'an Fort has a circumference of three miles, with two gates in the north and south. The city wall is built of earth. There are fourteen civilian settlements, including Yangmudawu Tun, Wangduoluoji Tun, Huangnigang Tun, Wanggui Tun, etc.

There are three piers and towers along the border, including Guangshun Guanmen Tower, Heqi Tower and Xinjiazi Tower; there are twelve piers and towers in the center, including Changling Tower, Songshandun and Wanggui Tower.

The officer guarding the fort was an old subordinate of Kaiyuan Deputy General Yu Hualong, a short and fat captain named Wang Lian. There were 500 government troops in the fort.

When General Wang Qian heard that several superiors were coming, he waited at the South Gate early. Yu Hualong introduced this man to Liu Zhaosun. General Wang Qian looked at the garrison in front of him who was a dozen years younger than himself, and heard that this was Liu Zhaosun who defeated the Bordered Blue Banner and killed Amin. He was stunned for a moment before saluting his superiors.

Liu Zhaosun was quite interested in Jing'an Fort, so he said to Wang Lian:

"Captain Wang, Jing'an Fort is a battleground for the bandits. The army is still resting. Why don't you take me around and tell me about the situation here?"

Wang Lian quickly nodded in agreement. Jin Yinghe was also quite interested in Jing'an Fort, which was known as the largest fort in the Ming Dynasty, so he followed to listen to General Wang Qian's introduction.

Inside Jing'an Fort, a north-south street runs through the entire fort. There are two thick fort gates at both ends of the street, and there is a moat outside.

There was a constant stream of carriages and pedestrians in the fortress, and Mongolian and Jurchen merchants were coming and going, hawking their wares along the streets. A group of children ran past the three warriors, laughing and chasing after a Cuju ball.

All he saw was a peaceful and bustling scene, even more prosperous than some small towns in northern Zhili. What he saw was completely different from the chaos and war that Liu Zhaosun had imagined.

"Captain Wang, has there never been a war here?"

The three of them climbed to the top of the pier and looked into the distance. The fat man Wang Lian kept wiping the sweat from his forehead. It seemed that he was used to a life of luxury.

"Why wasn't there a war? During the Jiajing period, the Yehe and Hada tribes fought many fierce battles here, and the Jianzhou Jurchens also launched many wars against Hada."

"Oh."

Only then did Liu Zhaosun realize that he had entered a barbaric land.

"Later, the imperial court established a Jurchen horse market at Guangshun Pass. Your Excellency, please see, it's located just south of Qinghe River, west of Guangshun Pass."

Liu Zhaosun looked in the direction pointed by General Wang Qian, and saw that two miles north of Jing'an Fort, the water of Qinghe River was flowing slowly, like a jade belt surrounding the fort, and the ferry was still going back and forth.

"It's difficult for vehicles and pedestrians to cross; this is the natural barrier of Jing'an Fort."

Liu Zhaosun looked thoughtfully at the wide and deep defense belt of the river, silently planning the defense map of Kaiyuan in his mind.

(End of this chapter)