My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 188: How did the Battle of Songjin turn into the Battle to Defend Shengjing?
Although it was difficult for them to accept the "voluntary" cession of territory to the Ming Dynasty.

But what Zhu Cilang said was indeed correct!

Even if the Ming Dynasty really returns this territory to them, then in the near future, this land might really be occupied by the Jiannu again and invade Mongolia again!
After all, it was the Jiannu who were defeated by the Ming army, not them!
The Jiannu might be afraid of the Ming army, but they certainly would not be afraid of them!
Perhaps in order to make up for the post-war losses, they will plunder Mongolia even more crazily.

In that case, why not hand over this territory to the Ming army?

As long as the Ming army was stationed here, the Jiannu would not be able to break through here and attack Mongolia.

Isn't this a good thing for them?

Besides, if you really want to be picky, Mongolia was destroyed by the Jiannu long ago, and all of Mongolia's original territory was taken over by the Jiannu.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has defeated the Jiannu, they have enough reasons and strength to incorporate the whole of Mongolia into their territory!

Thinking of this, Abunai lost his temper no longer.

When he looked at Zhu Cilang again, his expression was full of decadence and helplessness.

"If that's the case, then let it be! Tayingzi will belong to the Ming Dynasty from now on. I hope the Ming Dynasty can keep its promise and not let the Jiannu invade Mongolia again!"

"Also, regarding the reward, I need to think about it."

Zhu Cilang was not surprised by Abunai's answer.

Because he had made his words so clearly, Abunai had no reason to refuse.

Even if Abunai went crazy and insisted on taking back Tayingzi, Zhu Cilang would not refuse.

But what he could guarantee was that on the very night Abunai took back Tayingzi, the "Jiannu" would launch a surprise attack at night and forcibly capture Tayingzi!
Then, when most of Abunai's soldiers were killed, the Ming army would "arrive in time", drive away these "Jiannu" and capture Tayingzi.

To put it bluntly, if Abunai doesn't want to be decent, then Zhu Cilang doesn't mind helping Abunai to be decent.

But fortunately, Abunai still wanted to be respectable, so Zhu Cilang didn't need to take any more action.

Then, Zhu Cilang smiled slightly.

"Then I'll be waiting for your good news!"

After saying this, Zhu Cilang walked away with steady steps.

However, just as he left, Zhu Cilang couldn't wait to say to Fang Zhenghua beside him:
"Hurry up and let Li Ruo Lian come to see me."

When he said this, Zhu Cilang's eyes sparkled with excitement, as if he was planning something important.

Not long after, in another room, Zhu Cilang saw Li Ruolian who had hurried over.

Just as Li Ruolian was about to salute, Zhu Cilang quickly reached out and stopped him.

Then Zhu Cilang quickly ordered:

"Li Ruolian, immediately send someone to Jinzhou with 300,000 taels of silver. Give this money to Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Shize, and have them use it to bribe Abunai's Mongolian generals."

"And they promised to give them official positions and rewards as long as they were willing to surrender to the Ming Dynasty."

"In short, we must recruit as many of these Mongolian cavalry as possible to surrender to the Ming Dynasty."

When Li Ruolian heard this, how could she not understand what Zhu Cilang meant?
Is the prince planning to steal Abunai's girl?
After reacting, Li Ruolian quickly responded:

"My minister obeys."

Not long after, a team of hundreds of people quickly assembled and headed straight for Yizhou City with 300,000 silver coins.

Watching the team walking away, Zhu Cilang showed a smile, which was a bit cunning and a bit proud.

He had not originally intended to steal Abunai's girl, but when he saw Abunai's hesitation, he suddenly had this idea.

It was decided to recruit some Mongols from Abunai's cavalry to strengthen the Ming army.

At this time in the late Ming Dynasty, the Mongols actually did not have any deep feelings towards Mongolia.

After all, Mongolia was destroyed by Nurhaci more than ten years ago, and these Mongols were nominally stateless.

Some of them were absorbed by the Jiannu and became the Eight Banners of Mongolia, and some were absorbed by the Ming army and became the border troops of the Nine Frontiers.

Of course, more people returned to their nomadic life and became ordinary people.

But their lives have never been easy.

At this time, as long as Zhu Cilang was willing to give high positions and generous salaries, he believed that he would definitely attract many Mongols to come and join him.

After all, in this war, the Ming Dynasty defeated the Jiannu. As long as these people are not stupid, they know who to surrender to.

But if this is the case, when Abunai returns, he will probably be so angry that he vomits blood, right?
But of course, this is not something Zhu Cilang should worry about.
That night, Yizhou City seemed to be shrouded in a heavy haze, and the night was so thick that it could not be dispelled.

Abunai declined the room arranged for him by Zhu Cilang and still came to the outskirts of Jinzhou City, living in a tent with his personal soldiers.

Perhaps only in this way can he feel a little more at ease.

At this time, Abunai was alone in the tent. The candlelight in the tent danced restlessly in the breeze, pulling his slightly lonely figure against the tent wall and distorting it.

That night, Abunai seemed to be bound by invisible shackles and did not even step out of the tent door.

But his heart was like surging waves, unable to calm down for a moment.

Even if Qiqige wanted to come and see him, Abunai refused.

Because Abunai knew better than anyone that this decision would affect the future of the entire Mongolia.

Should it continue to maintain a relatively independent state, or should it truly "surrender" to the Ming Dynasty?

Abunai didn't know how to make a decision. In this long dark night, he repeatedly weighed the pros and cons.

Sometimes he frowned, sometimes he sighed, but until the sky turned pale and the dawn light quietly sprinkled on the tent, he still did not find the answer that satisfied him.

At this time, he was still unaware that on this sleepless night, 300,000 taels of silver had quietly arrived in Yizhou City under the escort of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Soon, this silver will be used to bribe those weak-willed Mongolian generals and bring them into the arms of the Ming Dynasty.

And Abunai is still kept in the dark and has no idea what is about to happen!
But this is not Abunai's fault.

After all, Abunai would never have thought that the dignified Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty would want to poach his girlfriend at this time, right?
At the same time, deep in Liaodong.

Huang Taiji led 20,000 defeated soldiers and finally arrived near Shengjing after several days and nights of non-stop riding.

Along the way, he looked at the elite soldiers who had followed him into battle and were full of vigor, but now most of them were dead or injured, and his heart was filled with bitterness and unwillingness.

Recalling the tragic scenes on the battlefield, Huang Taiji felt as if his heart was being pierced by thousands of needles, causing him unbearable pain.

Along the way, he vomited blood at least three times, each time more serious than the last.

By now, he couldn't even ride a horse, and was carried back in a sedan chair that was temporarily stolen from a city he passed through.

Huang Taiji sat in the sedan chair, looking at the remnant army, feeling mixed emotions for a moment.

Once upon a time, he went to war with the ambition to dominate the Central Plains, thinking that he could bring greater glory to the Qing Dynasty!
But who would have thought?
But now it has ended up like this!
Is it true that God no longer favors the Qing Dynasty?

Huang Taiji sighed in his heart, and a deep feeling of frustration surged in his heart.

But Huang Taiji was a great hero after all. Even in such a desperate situation, he could quickly adjust his state.

Along the way, he forced himself to stay awake, dragged his exhausted body, and constantly comforted the generals around him.

Because he knew that the morale of the army at this time was the key to whether the Qing Dynasty could continue to survive.

Defeat was inevitable. If the remaining soldiers continued to fail, the entire Qing Dynasty would be doomed to failure!

So, while comforting his soldiers, Huang Taiji also took all the responsibility for the failure of the war on himself without hesitation!

To put it simply, the reason for the defeat this time was due to his poor command as the commander-in-chief and his failure to see through the Ming army's tricks. It had nothing to do with all the soldiers.

Not only did the soldiers not commit any fault, but each of them was a meritorious official!

And this so-called "merit" was actually just that these soldiers escorted him back to Shengjing!

Although it was a bit far-fetched, no one dared to say anything.

Because most people know that the reason why Huang Taiji said this was to stabilize the morale of the army, so that the soldiers would no longer worry about the punishment after defeat, and would be able to put down the burden in their hearts and cheer up again.

Secondly, it is to unite the few people who have left and make preparations in advance!

After all, Huang Taiji knew in his heart that even though he had returned to Shengjing, the war was far from over.

Because now there are spies reporting every day that Zu Dashou is approaching Shengjing with an army of 100,000!

This news was like a sharp sword hanging over Huang Taiji's head, which could fall at any time.

At this critical moment of life and death, how to repel the 100,000 Ming troops and defend Shengjing is the most urgent matter at the moment. Nothing else matters.

During this period, Huang Taiji did not forget to send people to contact Dorgon, Jirgalang and Ajige.

Huang Taiji eagerly hoped that they could bring some good news.

He no longer expected these brothers to win the battle. As long as they could bring back the troops alive, he would be satisfied!
But Huang Taiji knew very well in his heart that this was probably impossible.

After all, this is a war, how can there not be casualties?

Right now, he just hopes that fewer people will die, and that they won't be nearly wiped out like him.
But it is obvious that Huang Taiji is destined to be disappointed.

Because Dorgon's entire army had already been annihilated.
On the other side, the army led by Zu Dashou was like a bound beast during the march, and every step forward seemed extremely difficult.

Three days had passed in a flash since the start of the expedition, yet the army had traveled very little distance.

A rough calculation shows that they have only advanced less than sixty miles in these three days.

But this is not Zu Dashou’s fault!
If possible, Zu Dashou certainly hopes to travel as quickly as possible to complete the task of recovering the lost territory.

But he couldn't do it at all!

This is because the Jiannu used various means to prevent them from pursuing them when they were retreating.

Along the way, the Jiannu would cut down trees in the mountains and forests on a large scale, and then dump these trees on the ground in a haphazard manner, entangled with each other, forming a natural barrier.

When passing through the mountains, the Jiannu deliberately caused landslides, causing a large amount of rocks to roll down from the top of the mountain and pile up in the middle of the road.

Some of the rocks were even as big as houses, completely blocking the road. As for the bridges along the way, they were completely destroyed by the Jiannu, and in some places, the river was even deliberately widened.

Faced with such a situation, what can Zu Dashou do?

He could only give decisive orders, asking the soldiers to clear all obstacles and build various bridges along the way.

Fortunately, I brought a lot of laborers and supplies with me this time, which came in handy now.

Fortunately, there is good news.

That is, according to the information obtained by the spies, no trace of the Jiannu was found in the surrounding area, and Huang Taiji had already led the remnants to Shengjing!

It seems that Huang Taiji was really frightened by the Ming army this time, and he only wanted to escape back to Shengjing.

This is undoubtedly good news for Zu Dashou.

After all, he had not originally intended to engage in a head-on confrontation with the Jiannu on this expedition.

His goal was very clear, which was to recover the lost territories occupied by the Jiannu step by step according to the original plan.

As for the rest, it doesn’t matter!

Soon, the obstacles ahead were cleared and the army set out again, heading deep into Liaodong.
At the same time, on the Ming Dynasty Navy side.

Everything is proceeding in an orderly manner according to the original plan.

Just yesterday, the Guanning Cavalry led by Cao Bianjiao completed their mission and boarded the warship back to the Ming Dynasty.

As the warships slowly leave the port, they will soon land in Tianjin and return to the capital.

More than 30,000 people left with them.

However, these more than 30,000 people did not go to the capital, but to Liaodong!

But this time, Zheng Zhilong did not go back with them, but chose to stay.

Because he has more important things to do!
That is to deal with the upcoming 30,000-strong Jiannu army!

But of course, Zheng Zhilong still had some self-awareness.

He knew that even though the number of the Ming navy was more than four times that of the Jiannu, if a real fight broke out, they would still be no match for the Jiannu.

After all, the Ming navy excelled at naval battles but not at land battles. In addition, the enemy was composed entirely of cavalry, making this battle even more impossible to win.

But it doesn’t matter, because Zheng Zhilong and Huang Fei also have their own style of fighting.

During the past period of time, Huang Fei did not dare to slack off at all and continued to strengthen the original fortifications and city walls.

Then they buried chevaux de frise stakes and set various traps around the area.

Each cannon was polished to a shine and already loaded with ammunition, just waiting for the arrival of the Jiannu!

Finally, after waiting for a day and a night, the 30,000 cavalry of the Jiannu finally arrived here in a menacing manner.

When they saw the newly reinforced tall city walls, dense defense facilities and hundreds of warships docked on the shore, Jirgalang and Ajige widened their eyes in shock, their hearts filled with shock and anger!
Jirgalang could not help but secretly groan in his heart:
How could the Ming army be so well prepared? I'm afraid they'll return empty-handed this time!
Ajige could not help but roar angrily:
"Damn Ming army, they actually dared to build a city here. Do they really think this is their territory?"

"If I had known this would happen, I should have brought more siege equipment!"

Faced with such a situation, Jirgalang and Ajige were completely helpless.

You have to know that they only brought cavalry this time and could not carry any siege equipment. This resulted in them being unable to attack the city at all and could only worry from a distance.

What made them even more fearful was that there were shiny cannons mounted on the city walls. Those cannons were like ferocious beasts with bloody mouths, ready to devour their lives at any time.

The Ming warships were also equipped with many powerful cannons. As long as they got close, the Ming army would open fire without hesitation!
If he left like this, Jirgalang and Ajige would be unwilling to let him go.

I came all the way here from Jinzhou, and finally saw the enemy but was unable to do anything about it. It's really embarrassing to tell others about this.

So after discussion, they launched two rounds of exploratory attacks.

For a moment, the Jiannu people rushed towards the city with roars, but what greeted them was a fierce artillery fire.

boom!
boom!
boom!
In an instant, the air was filled with smoke, and shouts and screams were intertwined.

The shells exploded among them, raising clouds of dust and flesh.

After two rounds of attacks, the Jiannu side had suffered hundreds of casualties, and the land outside the city was dyed red with blood.

Moreover, it can be seen that these people not only died from artillery fire, but many also died from various traps dug in advance by the Ming army!

When they saw this scene, Jirgalang and Ajige finally calmed down completely and no longer dared to get close easily.

At this moment, they all knew in their hearts that the current situation was extremely unfavorable to them.

Want to attack?
No siege engines!

They wanted to transfer artillery from Shengjing, but distant water could not quench immediate thirst. The round trip would take at least half a month.

Moreover, even if the artillery was delivered, the Ming army could completely abandon the city and sail into the sea with the advantage of warships.

When they let their guard down, the Ming army would come back with their ships, and then they would be caught in an endless war of attrition.

Just when Jirgalang and Ajige were in despair and didn't know what to do, Huang Taiji's letter finally arrived.

"Report! My Lords, this is a letter from His Majesty!"

A fast horse suddenly came galloping from a distance, and then a man dismounted from the horse, panting and took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Jirgalang and Ajige.

The two looked at each other, both with shock in their eyes.

Because their intuition told them that there must be some bad news.
But then, Jirgalang couldn't wait to open the letter.

However, the content of the letter was like a heavy hammer, hitting his heart hard.

Jirgalang's face instantly turned ashen. He widened his eyes and said in disbelief:

"How could this happen? We actually lost to the Ming army?"

Ajige also came over to read the letter, with an expression of disbelief on his face.

"What the hell is going on? Losing is one thing, but we actually lost 70,000 elite soldiers?"

"And the Ming army is approaching Shengjing?"

"Damn it! Why is this happening?"

At this moment, Jirgalang and Ajige were almost mad with anger!
They never imagined that such a big change would happen when they were away for only a few days.
How did the Battle of Songjin turn into the Battle to Defend Shengjing?
It turned out that Huang Taiji told them in the letter that the battle of Liaodong had been a disastrous defeat and the Qing Dynasty had lost 70,000 elite troops.

Now the 100,000-strong Ming army is approaching Shengjing step by step, and the situation is precarious. They must return to Shengjing as soon as possible to provide rescue after receiving the letter.

If it's too late, Shengjing might not be able to be saved!

After a moment, Jirgalang said with regret and resentment:

"It's all our fault for splitting up our forces so easily that we fell into the Ming army's trap and ended up like this."

"If we hadn't divided our forces, we might not have suffered such a complete defeat!"

Ajige was also so angry that he gnashed his teeth and said angrily:

"Damn the Ming army! They're so cunning! They don't dare to fight us head-on, they just resort to trickery and schemes!"

They complained and cursed, but they all knew in their hearts that it was too late to say anything now.

The most important task at the moment is to lead these 30,000 troops back to Shengjing for rescue as soon as possible.

They knew very well that Shengjing was the foundation of the Qing Dynasty. Once it was captured, the entire Qing Dynasty would be in danger of being completely destroyed.

As for the Ming navy in front of them.
They have no time to care about it at the moment.

Anyway, according to the information they had received before, the more than 10,000 Guanning cavalry seemed to have been transported back to the Ming Dynasty by the Ming Dynasty Navy, and now there are only less than 100,000 Ming Dynasty Navy left here.

Although the Ming navy had a large number of troops, they were all infantry and could not fight deep into the hinterland of Liaodong. At most, they could only occupy this coastal area.

Compared with the safety of Shengjing, this threat is simply not worth mentioning!
So, Jirgalang and Ajige had a brief discussion, and then gave a decisive order, leading more than 30,000 cavalrymen to gallop towards Shengjing.

For a moment, the sound of horse hooves was like thunder, stirring up clouds of dust. Their departing figures looked so embarrassed in the afterglow of the setting sun.

On the city wall not far away, Zheng Zhilong and Huang Fei saw all this.

Zheng Zhilong raised the corner of his mouth slightly, looked at Huang Fei with a smile and said:

"Just as the prince expected, the Jiannu are about to withdraw."

Huang Fei nodded and said:

"Yes, the Crown Prince is very clever. How could the Jiannu be his opponent? We must carefully plan our layout in Liaodong."

As Zhu Cilang's father-in-law, Zheng Zhilong had always maintained frequent correspondence with Zhu Cilang. In addition, sea transportation was much faster than land transportation, so he had already known the news of the victory in the Battle of Songjin.

However, in Zheng Zhilong's view, this was completely expected!

It would be abnormal if the Ming Dynasty lost this battle!

When the 30,000 cavalry of the Jiannu completely disappeared in the distance, Zheng Zhilong and Huang Fei began a new round of deployment.

First, a group of craftsmen and soldiers were arranged to build watchtowers at important coastal strongholds to closely monitor the movements of the Jiannu and to promptly transmit information if there were any abnormalities.

At the same time, craftsmen were organized to further transform the existing fortifications, not only strengthening the city walls, but also digging deeper and wider moats around the walls, and setting up obstacles such as spikes in the river to make it difficult for the Jiannu to approach.

In addition, they reorganized the warships, with some of them docked in the port as mobile artillery positions to support land defense at any time.

Another part of the warships formed a patrol fleet, cruising in the near-shore areas to prevent the Jiannu from launching sneak attacks from the sea.

In short, they wanted to take advantage of the Jiannu's defeat and quickly occupy this area.

Moreover, they have enough confidence that they don't have to worry about the Jiannu causing trouble again in the short term.

Because once the Ming army's subsequent plans can be successfully implemented, this area will completely belong to the Ming Dynasty.

By then, they can use this place as the center to impose a tighter blockade on the Jiannu!

(End of this chapter)