Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 526 Hate Dawn
Daishan looked back at Nurhaci, then glanced at Huang Taiji. Finally, under the gaze of everyone, he slowly bowed to Nurhaci and said, "My Lord, I still believe that we should suspend the attack on Shenyang and withdraw the army back to the border."

"Great Prince! I said I can issue a military order!" The next moment after he shouted this, Dalhan suddenly felt as if someone was pulling at the corner of his clothes from behind.

Daishan sighed inwardly and turned to look at Dalhan and the others. "Dalhan, it's just like the Khan said. If the rear is unstable, the front will be uneasy. This isn't just a matter of clearing out the enemy. I don't doubt your bravery, and I believe you can lead your troops to eliminate the Ming troops roaming the mountains. But this is only a temporary solution. Once your troops withdraw, I'm afraid the Ming army will return. At that time, the military order you issued will become a death warrant. What we should do now is to integrate our forces, strengthen our defenses, and completely eliminate our worries. Shenyang is here, and it can't escape."

"Grand Prince, even if it's true." Darhan was about to continue his rebuttal when he felt a clear force pulling him back. Turning around, Darhan discovered that the person pulling him back was Nurhaci's other son-in-law, Shumulu Yangguli. Yangguli was slowly shaking his head, his lips moving slightly up and down. Darhan couldn't hear Yangguli's voice, but he could read his lips: "Stop talking. Are you going to oppose both the Grand Prince and the Fourth Prince at the same time?"

In Yangguli's view, the situation was clear. The Khan had called this meeting because the Great Beile Daishan had proposed to the Khan Nurhaci that the attack on Shenyang be suspended. While the reason was to stabilize the rear, Yangguli suspected that the real reason was related to the defeat of the two Red Banners today. Although Yangguli also believed that the troops should not be withdrawn at this time, he still had a keen political sense. Even though he and Dalhan both belonged to the Yellow Banner directly under Nurhaci and were both sons-in-law, it was unwise to oppose the two great Beiles simultaneously.

Darhan was stunned and looked at Nurhaci. Darhan could certainly oppose the two great beiles at the same time, but the prerequisite was to get Nurhaci's support.

However, in Dalhan's eyes, Nurhaci still acted like a neutral arbitrator. The only slight difference from before was a gratified smile on Nurhaci's face. This smile was directed at Daishan.

Darhan saw but couldn't understand the subtle smile, but he quickly calmed down. He nodded to Yangguli, then lowered his head silently.

Silence, silence was all he could do.

The first and fourth beile spoke in unison, and the young men of the two yellow flags remained silent. Nurhaci felt that he could make the final decision.

"Grand Prince." Nurhaci looked at Daishan. This made Huang Taiji feel empty.

"Your son is here." Daishan responded carefully, assuming an extremely respectful attitude.

"Early tomorrow morning, you and Yuetuo will still lead your troops to attack Shenyang. But the two red flags will only attack fiercely for a while and then retreat to the camp. After that, lead your troops to retreat towards Fushun." Nurhaci ordered.

"Yes." Daishan accepted the order.

"Fourth Prince." Nurhaci turned his head.

"Your son is here." Huang Taiji replied respectfully.

"I want you to take the elite cavalry with two white flags and bypass Shenyang City after the infantry with two red flags withdraw. Advance towards the main camp of the Liaoyang reinforcements and assume an offensive posture, but do not launch an attack. As long as the other party sends elite cavalry to drive you away, retreat immediately." Nurhaci ordered.

"Yes." Huang Taiji accepted the order.

"Cherge." Huang Taiji remained sitting and called again.

Niuhulu Qierge was originally standing behind Nurhaci. When he heard the call, he ran to the open space in front of the desk and knelt down. "Your servant is here."

"After daybreak, send someone to notify the two blue flags," Nurhaci ordered, "and have them withdraw the siege immediately and retreat to Sarhu City as soon as possible."

"Yes." Cherge accepted the order.

"Dalhan." Nurhaci looked at Dalhan.

"Your servant is here!" Dalhan kowtowed respectfully.

"I want you to take two thousand elite cavalrymen of the Bordered Yellow Banner and stay behind in the camp. Tomorrow at noon, light a fire and raise smoke to make the Ming army think we are still cooking. Wait until most of the troops retreat, and then run back on your own." Nurhaci ordered.

"Yes." Dalhan hesitated for a moment, but still accepted the order.

"Yangguli." Nurhaci turned his sidelong glance at Yangguli into a direct look.

"Your servant is here!" Yangguli also kowtowed respectfully.

"I want you to take two thousand elite cavalrymen of the Plain Yellow Banner and send them out in all directions to stop and kill the Ming army's cavalry scouts. Do your best to prevent the Ming army from spying on our army's true movements." Nurhaci ordered.

"Yes!" Yangguli accepted the order without any hesitation.

"Everyone else," Nurhaci retracted his gaze and ordered with a sigh, "Pack up yourselves and retreat in an orderly manner tomorrow morning."

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War makes people hate dawn.

For those who were accustomed to war, the sun rising above the horizon meant the end of the peaceful and tranquil night.

At dawn, before the cockcrow, the soldiers guarding the city walls woke up on their own. The few who didn't wake up on their own were also shaken awake by their comrades.

The soldiers had already slept in their clothes and had no time to wash. After removing their warm straw mats and animal skins, they immediately devoured the hard, salty bread they had been given the previous evening. For some of them, this might be their last meal.

The first to get busy were the fire soldiers, who had to light the braziers that had been prepared before the enemy appeared, so that other soldiers using firearms could use fire in time when they needed it.

To protect the firewood from the cold of morning dew and frost, each brazier was covered with a densely woven straw mat. When the mat was removed, a pile of firewood doused with kerosene lay underneath.

Each fireman carried a tinder. Like the water bags, the tinder had been distributed the previous night. While these tinders weren't particularly refined or high-end, as long as they weren't leaking, they would still be able to burn for two or three days.

With a gentle puff, the smoldering tinder ignited into a bright flame. The fireman didn't use the tinder flame directly to light the firewood beside him. Instead, he first pulled a ball of hay with tinder from the gap between the firewood piles. He stuffed the burning hay into the brazier, and soon a thick cloud of smoke rose.

The fireman blew air into the fire and closed the lid to suffocate the flame on the tinderbox. When the firewood was burning fiercely, the fireman pulled off the lid of the tinderbox.

He didn't want to light the tinder again, but to put it out completely.

Next to the increasingly fierce flames, the fireman used his calloused thumb and index finger to gradually extinguish the scattered smoldering fires. When the last fire was extinguished, the fireman had a usable tinder.

In the outermost trench of Shenyang City, a brazier was lit and a Portuguese musket was placed on the barrel. At the same time, a pyrotechnician was lucky enough to get the third fire starter.

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After about a quarter of an hour, the sky turned completely bright.

In this flash of light, Sun Chuanting, the Shenyang Inspector General, gazed from atop Yongning Gate Tower into the distance, catching sight of a cloud of dust. Within the cloud, numerous crimson-based slave flags rose. Sun Chuanting knew these were the elite troops led by the minor slave chieftain, Daishan.

The commander in charge of Yongning Gate's defense was Xu Chengming, a high-ranking military commander who had participated in the Battle of Sarhu. Like He Shixian and You Shigong, Xu Chengming had escaped the disaster because he was in the Southern Route Army, under the command of Li Rubai.

At this time, Xu Chengming, fully dressed, was standing on the city gate without a gatehouse, looking at the same scenery with Sun Chuanting behind him.

"Fire!" Xu Chengming held his sword, staring intently at the slowly approaching cloud of dust. According to past experience, in less than half an hour, the cloud of dust would collide with the outermost Ming army positions.

The signal gun was right next to Xu Chengming. As soon as he gave the order, the artillerymen immediately pulled the red-hot iron rod out of the brazier and inserted it into the fire port.

Boom, boom.
After a few empty, unarmed cannon shots, the entire city of Shenyang awoke. Every position in the city and beyond quickly went into combat readiness. And within the city, the reserve troops were also dragged from their barracks by military officers at all levels after these few cannon shots. Shenyang, like a sophisticated war machine, was set in motion by the approaching enemy forces.

"Get up, get up!" Captain Tang roared as he donned his armor and paced between the barracks. "Everyone, get up!"

Last night, the Tang team's total of fifty men was replenished. Sun Chuanting filled the vacancies left by the fifteen deaths and serious injuries with just one signature.

The troops sent with Sun Chuanting's signature were five "veterans" from other units who had been separated, and ten soldiers who had never seen blood. After the personnel arrived at the team, Captain Tang dispersed them into ten tents.

Su Qingying's unit had lost one soldier and one seriously injured, so they were assigned two soldiers, one veteran and one newcomer. These two soldiers reacted to the signal cannon in completely different ways. The veteran soldier woke up at the sound of the cannon, and by the time Captain Tang roared the first blast, he had already donned his cotton-clad, iron-clad armor. Meanwhile, the newcomer, who looked even younger than Su Qingying, trembled and hesitated.

Nearly 80,000 soldiers and civilians, including 40,000 troops, gathered in Shenyang. Shenyang's circumference was only nine miles and thirty paces, making it impossible to deploy troops. Therefore, despite having been fortified for ten days, there were still many "new recruits" in the city who had never experienced life and death.

Of course, the new recruits only wanted food, not to fight the enemy. But as long as they ate this little imperial ration, their thoughts were irrelevant. The civil and military bureaucrats at all levels responsible for Shenyang's defense would force them to fight the enemy, forcing them to become veterans or corpses.

Last night, the Jin army sent three waves of cavalry to the outer defenses of Shenyang in the darkness, attempting to stop the Ming engineers from digging trenches. They were eventually dispersed by the Ming cavalry. At about the same time, two "recruits" who attempted to escape under the cover of darkness were recaptured by the supervising officers.

The two deserters were still alive, no longer having to fight on the front lines. But their survival was already over; only inevitable death awaited them. As soon as Sun Chuanting, the highest civil official stationed in Shenyang, and He Shixian, the highest military officer, signed the report sent to Liaoyang, the two deserters would be taken to the military training ground and publicly executed, just like their predecessors. Their families would also have all their property confiscated, and the men would be reduced to slavery, and the women to maidservants.

"What are you doing?" The sergeant put on his full body armor and saw that the new recruit was still dawdling, so he turned around and waved at him. "Hurry up!"

"I, I don't want to go. I don't want to die!" The recruit shook his head, his whole body trembling. He almost couldn't sleep all night. The thought of going out to fight today made him too scared to sleep.

"Damn it! If you keep dawdling, I'll make you the head of the platoon!" The sergeant's face showed obvious contempt.

Mercy is certainly not lacking on the battlefield, but it will never be shown to cowards who fear death. For those who survive the fighting, cowardice is a burden, even less of a burden than cannon fodder.

"I, I don't." The recruit's breathing became extremely rapid, as if the person standing in front of him was not a friendly force, but a ferocious enemy.

Boom, boom, boom.
Shortly after the artillery fire died down, the drums began to beat, signaling the official assembly. Military orders were as firm as a mountain; within two and a half hours of this signal, all assigned units were to gather at the designated location.

The sergeant, growing impatient, walked over, grabbed the new recruit, and shoved him out of the tent. "Damn it! If you keep shaking, I'll send you to the supervising officer as a spy." After kicking the new recruit out of the tent, the sergeant turned around and helped the new recruit retrieve his arm armor and helmet.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Line up! Do you still want to eat breakfast?" Captain Tang stood in the open space in the center of the camp, shouting loudly. His eyes wandered among the ranks and suddenly locked onto a new recruit who was not dressed tightly.

Captain Tang quickly walked up to the new recruit and slapped his helmet off. "You dare to wear your helmet crookedly? Are you looking for death? Pick it up! Put it on again!"

"Yes!" The new recruit was already extremely nervous. Captain Tang's roar almost frightened him to the point of peeing his pants.

"Everyone, check your gear!" Captain Tang shouted, waving to the last few soldiers who were running into the line. "If you don't want to die, tie your gears up tight! Even the slightest gap will allow the blades and arrowheads to penetrate and kill you!"

Compared to the outside of the city, the conditions inside were much better, at least allowing the reserve team to leisurely eat a hot meal. After counting the number of people, Captain Tang led the completed team to line up in front of the kitchen shed.

It’s still the same kitchen shed, the same cook, and the same bowl of thick vinegar-flavored porridge and fermented black beans.

The cook silently served breakfast to soldiers one by one and collected the empty bowls one by one.

The cook sighed as he watched the soldiers leave. Then, looking down at the bottom of the pot that had been scooped dry, he sighed again.

The pot would be scooped clean from the morning meal, but there would always be some left from the evening meal, which would then be scooped clean again the next morning. This went on every day for seven days.

(End of this chapter)