Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 336: Victory and the Strategy to Drive Out the Enemy

Wei Chao received the emperor's instructions and left the Southern Study to deliver his orders. Wang An glanced at Wei Chao's back, then back at the emperor behind the imperial desk. He seemed about to say something, but his lips moved several times, never opening. Silence returned to the Southern Study, with only the sound of memorials being turned over.

Liu Ruoyu was systematically sorting the memorials into piles when his expression suddenly changed. He quickly closed the memorial he was currently working on and placed it on its corresponding pile. Then he quickly picked up the one that had caused his expression to change, and began flipping through it. Only after he finished reading did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Liu Ruoyu picked up another memorial he had placed separately and quickly walked to the imperial desk. "Master, these two are from Liaodong. The first one is the Tangbao."

Zhu Changluo put down his pen and turned his head, his expression changing like Liu Ruoyu's.

To be honest, his mindset was quite complex. Zhu Changluo didn't really want to see the news from Liaodong at this moment. He hoped that February or March would pass in the blink of an eye, and he would then learn that Liaozhen was safe and that Liao and Shen were both alive. But this was impossible. Time would only pass day by day. He had done everything he could, but he still had no idea whether Liaozhen would fall that day.

Zhu Changluo took the newspaper from Liu Ruoyu's hand, opened it, and an unconcealable smile immediately appeared on his face.

This was a victory report. It was quite long, detailing almost the entire battle. But to summarize it simply, on February 11th of the first year of the Taichang reign, the rebels, numbering tens of thousands, attacked Fengji. They engaged Li Bingcheng's defenders and Zhu Wanliang's reinforcements, resulting in casualties on both sides. The next day, February 12th of the first year of the Taichang reign, the Jin troops stormed Fengji's northern walls, but were unable to capture them. At noon, upon seeing the arrival of most of the Liaoyang reinforcements, they retreated. The Ming army chased the rebels back to the fort, but did not penetrate deeply to block their advance.

In this battle, Li Bingcheng and Zhu Wanliang's troops captured a total of 86 heads and captured three bandits alive, including a lieutenant general, Jibu Kata. The two Ming armies suffered a total of 259 casualties, including seven deserters killed in battle.

"Good! Good!" Zhu Changluo read it several times before closing the newspaper.

Seeing the emperor so happy, Wang An also stood up and walked to the imperial desk. He gave Liu Ruoyu a look, and Liu Ruoyu immediately understood. He knelt down with his senior brother and shouted, "Master is wise, congratulations!"

"Wang An." Zhu Changluo called.

"I'm here." Wang An replied.

"Draft an imperial edict." Zhu Changluo was in high spirits, speaking much faster. "Order the Ministry of War to promptly verify the head and award merit according to established regulations. Also order the Ministry of War to verify the casualties of Li Bingcheng and Zhu Wanliang's troops, remove their names from the register, and issue compensation. No further delays are allowed."

"Yes." Wang An silently took the emperor's words to heart. He then asked, "Master, should we draft this victory report into a notice and announce it to the capital?"

Zhu Changluo thought for a moment and replied, "Let's not talk about it for now. It's not a big victory, so let's just enjoy it ourselves. Otherwise, if we really win, it will be difficult to report it."

"My lord is wise." Wang An replied.

"You guys get up." Zhu Changluo picked up another leaflet from Liu Ruoyu's raised hand.

"Yes."

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As Liu Ruoyu stood up, he heard the emperor say to him, "Go and get the maps of Liaozhen, Liaobei, and Liaodong."

"Please, Master, this servant is stupid." Liu Ruoyu asked in confusion, "Isn't Liaozhen Liaodong?"

"Eastern Liaodong." Zhu Changluo looked down at the memorial in his hand and said, "That's the area around Kuandian, Yiyang, and Qinghe. It's close to both the Jiannu and the Joseon. And also to Zhenjiang."

"Yes." After hearing this, Liu Ruoyu understood.

The reason why Zhu Changluo wanted to look at the map was because the second book was "Respectfully Submitting a Memorial to Expel the Enemy" written by Xiong Tingbi, which recorded Xiong Tingbi's new plan. He needed a map to know where the location stated in the memorial was.

Coincidentally, Xiong Tingbi had written and sent this memorial almost ten days earlier. However, since it was not an urgent matter, it was not sent by express delivery, so it arrived in Beijing almost at the same time as the special delivery of the Ministry of War.

The map Zhu Changluo ordered Liu Ruoyu to retrieve was the same set of maps Xiong Tingbi always carried with him. After Xiong Tingbi redrawn the map of Liaozhen, he not only gave a copy to each of his commanders in Liao but also sent a copy to Beijing. After arriving in Beijing, the map was redrawn twice, placed in the Ministry of War and the Imperial Archives.

This set of maps was not kept in the South Study, but in the Inner Shelf Library, located north of the South Study and south of Yuehua Gate. This room was specifically set aside to store important but infrequently used materials.

Liu Ruoyu trotted out of the Southern Study. Zhu Changluo then said to Wang An, who had just sat down to draft an imperial edict, "Wang An, bring us all the memorials Xiong Tingbi has submitted since his visit to Liao."

"Yes." Wang An quickly put down his pen and walked over to a shelf used to store memorials. This shelf contained old memorials that Zhu Changluo considered important and might be reviewed again. Zhang Quan's memorial, for example, was placed here.

Wang An quickly found the compartment where Xiong Tingbi's memorials were stored. This compartment was exclusively occupied by Xiong Tingbi. Wang An took out all the memorials from the compartment and selected those after July of the 47th year of the Wanli reign. He returned to the imperial desk and placed the memorials where they were convenient and out of the way. "Master, here they come."

"Yeah." Zhu Changluo was still struggling with the "Respectfully Submitting a Memorial to Expel the Enemy Soldiers".

After a while, Liu Ruoyu directed two eunuchs working in the Neijiageku to return to the Nanshufang with a map and walked to a wooden rack used to hang maps.

At this time, Zhu Changluo had finished reading the "Memorial to Expel the Enemy" and was reviewing the memorials from his old friends.

"Master, which one would you like to see first?" Liu Ruoyu asked. "The entire Liao." Zhu Changluo picked up a memorial titled "Respectfully Submitting a General Outline of War and Defense" and another titled "Respectfully Submitting a Revised Outline of War and Defense" and walked over to the shelf.

"Yes." Liu Ruoyu picked up the top scroll from the arms of the first eunuch in the inner cabinet, and immediately two eunuchs working in the South Study came over to help him hang up the map.

The "Memorial on the General Outline of War and Defense" was submitted by Xiong Tingbi to the late Emperor Wanli in November of the 47th year of the Wanli reign. Its core content focused on defense, encirclement, harassment, and attack, as well as its request for 180,000 soldiers, 3.24 million silver, and 1.08 million grain. This corresponded to the earlier "Memorial Requesting the Dispatch of Troops and Generals from Nearby Garrisons," "Memorial Requesting the Dispatch of Military Equipment," and "Memorial on the Urgent Need for Talented Generals."

The "Memorial on the Revision of War and Defense" was submitted by Xiong Tingbi to Emperor Taichang after the Battle of Puhe on August 21st of the previous year. However, this memorial was actually a hindsight, as Xiong Tingbi's strategic deployment had already changed before this.

According to the deployment in "General Strategies of War and Defense", Weiyang and Kuandian in the southeast, Qinghe in the south, and Chaihe and Sanchaer in the north are all places where heavy troops need to be stationed for the purpose of "defense today" and "suppression tomorrow".

But in reality, even before the Battle of Puhe, Xiong Tingbi had already adjusted his military deployment according to the memorial in his "Memorial on the Reform of War and Defense." After numerous field investigations, he found that garrisons in places like Yiyang, Kuandian, Qinghe, Chaihe, and Sanchaer were unnecessary, undefensible, and unreliable due to supply lines being unavailable. A sudden attack would simply be a gift of lives and food. Therefore, he focused his strategic focus on the areas surrounding Shenyang and Liao.

The above-mentioned places were only treated as buffer zones, with neither heavy troops nor food reserves. As long as Nurhaci's army attacked, the small number of garrisons could be withdrawn at the right time.

Following this line of thought, when the Battle of Puhe began, the defenders of Chaihe, Sanchaer, Puhe, Yilu, and surrounding forts quickly gathered in Shenyang, confronting the majority of the Eight Banners. Ultimately, Nurhaci did not launch a general offensive, and the two sides remained largely in a standoff, with only a few small-scale battles breaking out in local areas.

But the court didn't care whether you were able to defend Shenyang or not. In the eyes of many, forcing Nurhaci to retreat with force and defending Shenyang was not much of an achievement. Since Xiong Tingbi stated in his "General Principles of War and Defense" that places like Chaihe and Sanchaer were heavily guarded, they couldn't be lost. Even if the rebels retreated, it would be useless for the Ming army to recapture those places.

This is why you, Xiong Tingbi, suffered a crushing defeat and lied about military intelligence. How could a large-scale military conflict involving tens of thousands of troops on both sides last only two days, resulting in only 300 casualties? Even if the enemy retreated, wouldn't you, Xiong Tingbi, take advantage of the situation and pursue and kill them?
As for changing strategy, that's even more wrong. This is a fundamental mistake. How can our great Celestial Empire's hundreds of thousands of soldiers just retreat and not advance? You, Xiong Tingbi, have been defending Liao for almost two years. Why are you still staying in your shell?

If the emperor had not sent Xiong Tingbi a secret letter expressing his continued support for his strategy, Xiong Tingbi would not have dared to publicly submit the "Memorial on the Revision of War and Defense Strategies", saying that those places that he had once regarded as important places, although dangerous, actually had no great strategic value. They could only serve as a large watchtower to monitor the movements of most of the enemy troops.

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Zhu Changluo took the "General Notes on War and Defense" and "Revised Notes on War and Defense" and looked through the map of the entire Liao Dynasty from north to south and from west to east, flipping through them from time to time for comparison.

Zhu Changluo glanced at it a few more times, then turned and walked towards the imperial desk. He put down the "General Memorial on War and Defense" and picked up the "Respectfully Submitting a Memorial on the Expulsion of Slaves." "Take it down and hang it up in Liaobei."

"Yes." Liu Ruoyu immediately ordered the eunuch to change the map.

Seeing this, Wang An simply left his seat, put the pile of memorials and war reports on a wooden tray, and followed the emperor.

"You are so thoughtful." Zhu Changluo was in a good mood and praised him.

"It is because of my meticulousness that I dare to serve my master." After hearing the praise, Wang An's face immediately broke out into a happy smile.

The Liaobei map covered the same area as the entire Liao map, but was smaller, resulting in greater detail. Yet Zhu Changluo was still dissatisfied. Even on the more detailed Liaobei map, the mountains, rivers, and hills were merely flat, and the cities were all square, with little distinction. The entire map lacked even a single contour line. After examining it, one could only roughly determine where a mountain or river lay. As for their height, the width of the rivers, or the time required to traverse them, they had no idea.

In Zhu Changluo's view, Xiong Tingbi's "masterpiece" was a defective product, but now, he could only rely on this thing to find out Xiong Tingbi's strategy of expelling slaves.

If the "Gailüe Shu" is an improvement on the "Dalüe Shu", then the "Zhu Nu Shu" is a refinement of the "Gailüe Shu", with the emphasis on "disturbance".

Xiong Tingbi wrote in his "Two Strategies" that "they would select the most elite and brave men to serve as patrols and patrols to capture the outposts and kill the bandits, so that the bandits would not dare to cross the border lightly."

The "Memorial to Expel Slaves" mentioned that the troops advanced in two directions: one was the southwestern local soldiers under the command of General Chen Ce, and the other was the mobile troops led by Mao Wenlong.

The southwestern local troops will be divided into two groups operating within the Liaozhen Great Wall. One group will disperse eastward to Weining, Yiduqiang, Yaju, Qinghe, Sanyangyu, Magendan, Dongzhou, Wendehen, and Fushun. The other group will disperse northward to Puhe, Yilu, Hui'an, Sanchaer, Baijiachong, Fu'an, Chaihe, Tieling, and Kaiyuan. These two groups will operate simultaneously, repeatedly harassing the enemy and cutting off their escape routes. The enemy will be exhausted and will not dare to enter or leave our territory at will.

However, the southwestern local soldiers had to disperse northward to the vicinity of Kaiyuan and Tieling, and would inevitably come into contact with Mongolian tribes such as Chahar and Inner Khalkha.

Xiong Tingbi still holds a relatively negative and reserved attitude towards the idea of ​​using barbarians to attack barbarians, that is, to unite with the Mongols to fight against the slave chieftains. In his "Expulsion of Slaves", he expounded on his views on the Mongols:

First, the Chahar tribe. Several of the Chahar tribe's major clans were descendants of remnants of the Yuan dynasty, and with centuries of grievances between the two sides, they could not be trusted. Furthermore, while the Chahar tribe had tens of thousands of soldiers under their command, they operated independently, only nominally recognizing Ligdan Khan, a direct descendant of the Golden Family, as their common leader.

Xiong Tingbi believed that Lin Danhan himself lacked foresight and was simply relying on bargaining with the Ming to gain advantages in order to establish his own prestige. In the 47th and 48th years of the Wanli reign, he received silver for two consecutive years without actually sending troops to engage in direct battle with the Zhen people.

The Khalkha tribes closer to northern Liaoning were all descendants of the Taining and Fuyu Guards. Although they were affiliated with the Chahar tribe and regarded Ligdan Khan as their common leader, they were essentially independent tribes, neither obeying orders nor decrees. As the saying goes, "Although they were affiliated with Han, they were not very obedient to orders." Furthermore, there were also animosities among the Inner Khalkha tribes. Over a decade earlier, Zaisai had been at odds with his uncle Nuantu, and at one point, the situation had escalated to the point of building a city to prepare for the invasion. With their disunity and limited strength, they were unable to control the bandits.

However, Xiong Tingbi also wrote that relations between the Inner Khalkha tribes seemed to have improved after Nurhaci captured Zaisai. This was not a major concern for the Ming Dynasty, as Mongol refugees gathered in the Liaoshen region reported that Chaohua and Nuantu were actively negotiating a truce with Nurhaci and offering cattle and sheep to redeem Zaisai.

Ultimately, Xiong Tingbi concluded that using barbarians to attack barbarians was unreliable; to resist and destroy the slaves, one had to rely on oneself. The most important role of the various Mongol tribes was to prevent them from taking advantage of the situation and causing chaos in the Liao garrison, especially the Inner Khalkha tribe. They had to be carefully guarded against completely turning to Nurhaci's side over Zaisai's capture.

(End of this chapter)