The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 518: Sarhu Past (Wishing all readers a happy Dragon Boat Festival)

When talking about Yang Hao who had been dead for many years, people who used to know Yang Jinglie, such as Pei Dahu and Jin Yuji, were all sad.

Yang Jinglie's past came to mind.

This old man with tenacious vitality did not die in the Ulsan battlefield when Wanli aided Korea, nor did he die in the Battle of Sarhu (as a commander-in-chief, he should have gone to war with the army), nor did he die on the way of Kaiyuan Army entering the pass to "support the king", and finally died inexplicably in the capital.

When Liu Zhaosun was in Kaiyuan, he heard this sentence:

The Liao soldiers are good at marching, and the generals are good at surviving.

It means that Liao Zhen was good at running away during a battle, while Yang Jinglüe was good at preserving himself during a battle.

The disastrous defeat in the Battle of Sarhu was a huge tragedy for Liaodong and the entire Ming Dynasty.

Past experience guide for the future.

Although thirteen years have passed since the Battle of Sarhu, reviewing the lessons learned from this war is naturally of great significance to Liu Zhaosun, one of the parties involved in the battle.

In August of the 46th year of the Wanli reign, Nurhaci captured Fushun and other cities in Liaodong. Emperor Wanli was determined to "plow the house and sweep the holes".

The bureaucratic machine of the Ming Empire began to operate rapidly.

At this time, the Korean envoy reported that the Jiannu would not only attack Liaoshen, but also break through Shanhaiguan and enter the pass to plunder.

Emperor Wanli, who had been inactive for more than 20 years, finally began to attend court. He was busy mobilizing troops and raising military pay.

Due to the recurrence of his old illness, the old emperor felt dizzy and had to instruct the chief minister Fang Congzhe to convey the order to the Ministry of War, who immediately sent letters to convey the order to the governors, generals and commanders in various places: select strong soldiers, reorganize the troops and equipment, and launch an expedition when the opportunity arises to eliminate border troubles.

Next, the Ming Dynasty gathered the best troops in the world and besieged Hetuala in four directions, but was eventually defeated at Sarhu.

Now the emperor has exhausted the national strength, mobilized 80,000 troops, and sent three elite forces to attack Pyongyang together, determined to win.

Although the Ming army and the Qi army were not comparable in combat power, and the Korean army and the Eight Banners of the Later Jin were not the same concept, the battle thirteen years ago was quite similar to the current situation on the Korean battlefield.

In Liu Zhaosun's view, there was nothing wrong with his father-in-law's strategy of dividing and conquering, but there were serious mistakes in the specific implementation.

When the emperor personally led the army to fight, the elite Ming troops were wiped out at Tumu Fortress by the Oirat Mongols. After that, Ming generals tried their best to separate their forces when marching and fighting, and deploying troops. This was called "divide and conquer".

During the three major expeditions of the Wanli Emperor, the Ming army used the strategy of dividing and advancing to attack together to deal with the rebellion of the Mongolian leader Haobai and to quell the rebellion of the Miao chieftain Yang Yinglong.

Sarhu has a rugged terrain, low mountains, and dense forests everywhere. The trails are not suitable for large-scale military operations, and the logistics of 70,000 to 80,000 people cannot be solved.

What Yang Hao did was nothing more than the traditional skills of the Ming army. Dividing the troops was the optimal solution under common sense, and there was nothing to blame.

If this strategy could be effectively implemented (Du Song did not rush forward, Li Rubai did not wait and see, Ma Lin did not split his troops, and the four forces coordinated with each other), the Eastern Army would act as a decoy, Li Rubai would intensify the offensive, Du Song and Ma Lin would achieve a surprise victory, and Nurhaci would have no chance of survival.

The original upgraded version of Chenghua Li Ting eventually became the death knell of the Liaodong war.

As for announcing the time of the expedition against the Jiannu in advance and publishing the strength of various Ming troops (although there was a certain exaggeration, the 80,000 Ming troops were advertised as 470,000), this was nothing more than Yang Hao's strategy of confusing the enemy with troops. In addition to intimidating Nurhaci, the actual time of the expedition was also five days later than what was announced in the official newspaper.

To be fair, from the perspective of the Later Jin Dynasty, in a battle of the scale of Sarhu, knowing whether the Ming army general who came to attack them was Du Song or Du Bai, Ma Lin or Niu Lin was actually not worth a penny.

Because this is an open conspiracy and an open secret, everyone knows it without saying anything.

In the middle and late Wanli period, when the government was in a state of chaos, looking throughout the Ming Dynasty, there were no more than ten generals who were truly knowledgeable about military affairs and who understood the situation in Liaodong and were capable of commanding troops. If you counted them on your fingers, there would be no more than ten of them. They were either Zhang Rusong, Li Rusong, Ma Lin, or Niu Lin.

Therefore, even if you ask a scholar who seldom goes out who the court will send to sweep the holes and plow the court this time, as long as the scholar is not autistic, he can guess most of the answer.

Not to mention the Dragon and Tiger General who came from the Liaodong border army, had the assistance of Li Yongfang, and was well versed in Ming Dynasty politics.

Keyboard warriors in later generations always like to criticize Sarhu for not dividing its troops, and mock Yang Hao for releasing the news of the four armies advancing in advance. They also criticize Yang Hao for having no sense of confidentiality of intelligence, and for only knowing one side of the story.

If Yang Jinglue's strategy of dividing the troops and attacking together could be implemented thoroughly, if Yang Hao had been bolder and stayed in Du Song's army, dispatching other troops in time, then in the 47th year of Wanli's reign, why would the Ming army have to worry about not being able to wipe out the enemy?
However, this plan was too perfect, but it was impossible to implement it given the situation of the Ming Dynasty at that time. From the first day the four armies set out, various bugs emerged one after another.

First of all, the four armies did not trust each other. The southern troops and the northern troops were like water and fire. Liu Jing and Yang Gai did not get along with each other. Several generals regarded Yang Jinglüe as a defeated general. They did not trust him at all and just wanted to finish the battle as soon as possible and go back to their own homes.

Du Song not only divided his troops, but also divided them again and again. The original strategy of dividing and attacking together was turned into a divided and separate attack by several generals.

Yang Jinglie repeatedly urged them to finally reunite near Hetuala and then divide their forces to attack, but no one listened to him.

Yang Jinglie repeatedly reminded the four main generals to keep in touch at all times during the march, but no one listened to him.

The only person who resolutely implemented Yang Jinglue's battle plan was Liu Jing, the commander of the Eastern Army, who had the worst relationship with Yang Hao and was as hostile as fire and water.

As the weakest of the four armies, the Eastern Army was actually just a decoy force, whose purpose was to confuse Nurhaci and make him think that the Eastern Army was the main force, thus allowing Du Song and Ma Lin to take advantage of the opportunity.

Liu Jing overachieved this mission. After Dusong and Malin were defeated, the Eastern Route Army continued its advance towards Hetuala. Before entering a Later Jin ambush, Liu Zhaosun appeared in this time and space. In short, Nurhaci led the Later Jin army to an absolute advantage in manpower on every battlefield at Sarhu, with either 30,000 troops against 10,000 or 20,000 against 5,000.

In this case, how could the Ming army not be defeated?

~~~~~
"What else did Qing'er say?"

Emperor Wu Ding turned his back to Jin Yu Ji and stared at the map of Korea on the wall of the big tent. The map was jointly drawn by Francesco, Ginique and Kim Eung-ha. It was skillful in technique and elegant in color. It also combined the natural and cultural aspects of various parts of Korea, showing different colors and exuding a strong oriental classical beauty.

"She told my husband to maintain effective communication between the various units to ensure that the separate attacks could eventually converge into a combined force and not be defeated piecemeal by North Korea."

"Hahaha, defeat them one by one?"

Liu Zhaosun looked back at Empress Dowager Cisi and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"The Third Corps alone can fight half of Korea. I have eight corps in Korea now! I want to see how Li Jong defeats them one by one!"

Seeing the emperor's arrogant expression, Jin Yuji couldn't help but recall the story of the attack on Hetuala. She carefully put away the letter from Yang Qing'er and persuaded her husband:

"Your old problem is about to come back before the battle even begins. Although North Korea is weak, its population is more than ten times that of the Later Jin. Besides, when you attacked Hetuala, Huang Taiji was already at the end of his strength, and it was still so difficult for him to fight. Now..."

Emperor Wuding knew what Jin Yuji wanted to say. He adjusted his armor while listening patiently to what Empress Dowager Cisi said.

"I know that pride always leads to failure. Jin Yuji, you know that the arrow is on the string and must be released."

The Empress Dowager Cisheng asked in surprise, "What arrow is on the string?"

Liu Zhaosun put on his helmet. At this time, two guards brought the retired emperor's Liquan magic spear and placed it at the camp gate.

"I am well-versed in the topography and terrain of Korea, as well as the battlefield situations. I personally traversed many of these places in the past, as did Deng Changxiong and his men. This is the advantage of location. This winter has been exceptionally cold, and Korea's harvests have declined year after year, making food particularly scarce this year. This is the advantage of timing. The Qi army has ample food and fodder, and morale is high. The people of Korea, fed by the food distributed by Qi, are deeply grateful to me. This is the advantage of people. Not to mention our army's advanced firearms and unparalleled combat power. Furthermore, I and the Ministry of War have already made comprehensive plans before the battle, so rest assured, Queen Dowager, there is absolutely no chance of failure this time."

Emperor Wu Ding spoke a lot in one breath, without blushing or breathing hard. He paused for a moment and concluded:
"I am personally leading the army this time to rescue the Korean people, kill the local tyrants and divide the land, purge the ministers of the Yangban class, cleanse the royal family of the Yi clan, provide food and clothing to the people, and let them live and work in peace.

"You must remember that the most important thing for the people is to have enough food to eat. In comparison, all the virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, the inheritance of the teacher's teachings, and the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues should take a back seat. If you can solve the people's food problem, they will regard you as a sage king and will not care who you kill..."

Jin Yuji remained silent.

From the beginning to the end, Empress Dowager Cisi was always somewhat dissatisfied with this behavior of using any means to achieve the goal.

However, as her understanding of Emperor Wuding deepened, this dissatisfaction gradually disappeared, and Empress Dowager Cisi showed more and more obedience to her husband's state policies.

She certainly would not embarrass her husband in front of the retired emperor, especially in front of his ministers.

"Don't worry. I've already made preparations for what Yang Qing'er instructed me to do. Do you know where Liu Xingzuo went?"

"what?"

The Empress Dowager Cisheng shook her head and then remembered that she had not seen this intelligence chief for several days.

Emperor Wu Ding put on his armor, gently put his arm around the beauty's slender waist, and said with a low smile:
"He and Zhang Dong, one inside and one outside, one in the open and one in the dark, one lurking in Seoul, the other liaising with the three armies. Right now, the entire Suoyi Guard is incredibly busy, busy with these two tasks. Every two weeks, a rider on a horse will dismount from the battlefield to report to me the details of the Eastern and Western Armies."

"Every half a day?" Jin Yuji opened her mouth wide in disbelief. Although she was a woman, she had at least participated in several battles and knew how difficult it was for Tangma to transmit intelligence, not to mention traveling hundreds of miles back and forth in a foreign country in winter.

"Speed is of the essence in war, and intelligence is even more so. The key to a coordinated attack is the smooth flow of information between the two sides."

The retired emperor looked at the gradually darkening tent, took his hand from Jin Yuji's waist, picked up the thin needle on the lamp, and gently pricked the wick, and the surroundings suddenly became bright.

"Three armies, without communication, in a foreign land, their commanders busy vying for merit, fighting on their own, unsure of advance or retreat, attack or defense. Even if Yue Wumu were reborn, he would be like a blind man riding a blind horse, approaching a deep pond in the middle of the night."

"I am not the emperor's father-in-law. I will never make the same mistake the Ming army made at Sarhu."

Jin Yuji gently hugged Emperor Wuding, as if trying to calm his restless heart.

Dongfang Zhu gave a wink, and Pei Dahu and the guards immediately retreated. Before leaving, Eunuch Dongfang did not forget to close the curtain of the tent and stood guard at the Liu gate himself.

In the end, only the retired emperor and the Empress Dowager Cisi were left in the big tent. From time to time, the dull sound of field artillery bombarding the city walls could be heard outside the tent, like muffled thunder in the distant sky.

"I ordered the artillery battalion to prepare for a full-scale siege, bombarding Pyongyang day and night, in order to..."

Liu Zhaosun looked sideways at the dark night outside the tent. A little red flame appeared on the artillery position two miles away, like a ghost fire in the dark night.

Emperor Wu Ding was about to continue speaking, but he felt a burst of fragrance penetrating his heart, and suddenly Jin Yuji sealed his lips.

(End of this chapter)