Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 531: The Strategy of Attacking the West and Plundering the South
"Break a fight? Ha! I'd like to," Daishan began, but before he could finish, Nurhaci cut in and snatched the conversation away. "But has that old dog Li Bingcheng left the city?"

"He should have come out when we lifted the siege today." Amin quickly looked at Nurhaci and replied.

"He saw you were leaving camp, so he followed you out, hoping to collect some heads to send to the emperor to curry favor. He would never have come out before you left camp." Nurhaci sighed again. "Xiong Tingbi's order to each town is to fortify the city walls and clear the countryside, to defend but not attack."

During the days of the battle, the Jin army captured or killed some Ming messengers carrying messages and intercepted a large number of letters. Regardless of the length or content of the letter, Xiong Tingbi would always add a sentence to the letters sent to the defending generals: "Defend the city first, and do not give me an opportunity to exploit it."

At this thought, Nurhaci slammed his hand on the table in anger. "He's challenging us, showing weakness, sending people back and forth on both sides of the Hun River, and he's almost sending women's clothes to He Shixian. But that brainless brute is like a dog on a leash by that barbarian bear, refusing to leave the city! Even the bear himself has become a cowardly old turtle, his reinforcements stopped at the south bank of the Hun River! No matter how loud the noise from Shenyang, this old bastard refuses to move, instead he just keeps digging ditches and piling up earth! Why the hell didn't he dig up his own grave too!?"

Nurhaci initially planned to use the tactic of "baiting the dog and then beating it to death with sticks".

During the first few days of the Jin army's advance on Shenyang, Nurhaci refrained from ordering an assault. Instead, he repeatedly dispatched small cavalry units to march back and forth along the Hun River, acting like a lost and disoriented fly, hoping to lure He Shixian out of the city to capture and kill him. If He Shixian only sent a few others out, he would signal weakness, leaving a few corpses as bones, and then send more troops, making He Shixian think he had a big catch. If He Shixian underestimated the enemy and fled the city, elite cavalry lying in ambush would swarm out and surround him. If the Jin cavalry could keep He Shixian company, the prepared infantry would advance rapidly, hoping to exploit the chaos and capture Shenyang as quickly as possible.

Nurhaci had even planned out the steps and who to send. He Shixian, who had previously dared to leave the city walls to fight and even pursue the enemy, suddenly became a coward, remaining locked up inside the city walls like a young wife who refused to leave. Even the cavalry who were driving the scouts were extremely restrained, not going deep into the city walls, and only stopping after getting two miles away.

With no other options, Nurhaci shifted his strategy to a siege, attacking the city from three sides. He deployed troops to attack the city from three sides, but he didn't attack with all his might. He always maintained at least 30,000 elite troops and constantly dispatched cavalry scouts to monitor the movements of Ming reinforcements. If Ming reinforcements attempted to rescue Shenyang, he would decisively dispatch troops to disrupt their advance.

However, the reinforcements arriving from all over converged on the south bank of the Hun River, southwest of Shenyang, and once there, they remained stationary. The Ming troops supporting Shenyang, seemingly blind and deaf, completely ignored the fierce fighting outside the city walls and focused solely on civil engineering projects some twenty miles from the city. They dug trenches and piled up earth. Nurhaci even thought that if he stayed any longer, Xiong Tingbi would build him a fortress on the spot.

"What should we do next?" Amin recoiled in shock at Nurhaci's loss of composure, but continued, "We can't just go back empty-handed, can we? To fight the Ming, many tribes under the Bordered Blue Banner have squeezed out their own food supplies. Spring plowing has just ended, and many families don't even have enough food to eat. If we call off the war, who knows how much trouble it will cause."

"We have no choice but to retreat," Daishan took the initiative, relaying Nurhaci's words. "Like the Khan said before, a forced attack on Shenyang is impossible. Shenyang's three-meter-high walls are backed by twelve trenches, and there are elite soldiers and artillery all around. If we risk our lives, even if we kill all 100,000 men, we still won't be able to take it down. The Fourth Prince and I agree."

Huang Taiji was stunned at first, then nodded.

"If Shenyang doesn't work, try another place! Fengji, Hupi, and Weining—don't these three places all lead to Liaoyang?" Amin frowned, his heart aching as he thought of the widespread food shortages among the Bordered Blue Banner. If they didn't find a place to plunder, many people would simply not survive.

"We need to move to another location. But not Fengji, Hupi, or Weining," Nurhaci muttered, as if talking to himself. "To take Liaodong, we must take Liaoyang. To take Liaoyang, we must conquer Shenyang. No other place will do."

After preliminary field investigations and several exploratory attacks, Nurhaci was completely certain that Weining, Fengji, and Hupi were not the key passes to capture Liaoyang.

Weining Camp was nestled between mountains and rivers, its terrain difficult to penetrate. While not a formidable barrier, it was still easily defended and difficult to attack. A large army couldn't deploy, and could only attack bit by bit, gradually attriting the enemy. As long as Liaoyang sent reinforcements, Weining would be impossible to capture.

Fengji and Hupi served as a supporting force for each other. If one city was besieged, the other would provide support. Before both cities could be captured, reinforcements would arrive from Liaoyang. If the Jin army chose to forcefully attack Fengji and Hupi, Shenyang would likely not receive any assistance. Instead, they could simply contact the garrisons of the surrounding forts to recapture Fushun. At that point, the Jin army would be forced to retreat hastily, facing the pursuit of the combined forces of Liao, Fengji, and Hupi.

Once Shenyang gains a foothold in Fushun, it will be a complete tactic. Even if they are not completely swallowed up, they will suffer heavy losses.

Only by attacking Shenyang could they eliminate the worries of attacking Liaoyang. But the facts had already proven that Shenyang could not be taken. Even if they wanted to besiege the city and attack its reinforcements, they couldn't. Xiong Tingbi was in no hurry, not even crossing the river. If the Jin army wanted to besiege Shenyang, they could do so. If they wanted to attack Shenyang, they could do so. Xiong Tingbi was certain that the Jin army could not take Shenyang.

Furthermore, Nurhaci judged that the Ming reinforcements to Shenyang wouldn't necessarily remain inactive. If the Jin army truly launched a desperate all-out attack on Shenyang, Xiong Tingbi's reinforcements would likely cross the river and march north while the Jin army was suffering heavy losses, catching them unawares. At that point, they would be using a fresh army to attack their old one, using a well-prepared army to attack the unprepared.

"Then where is the Khan going to move to?" Amin didn't think there was any other place for the Jin army to feast on.

"The Ming Dynasty still has strength. The Crown Prince is even wiser than the Emperor." Nurhaci leaned forward, leaning against the table, his eyes filled with resentment. "Our only option now is to temporarily abandon the Liao invasion and instead attack the Tatars to the west, or plunder Korea to the south, waiting for the right opportunity." Nurhaci's decisive retreat was also to preserve strength for these two lesser options. If they fought to the bitter end at the gates of Shenyang, the Tatars would likely arrive before they could even launch a raid.

Amin thought for a moment, and the expression on his face gradually softened. He stood up, stepped out of the line, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the Blue Banner! Please command me!"

"No rush. It takes time to formulate a new strategy. There's no need to rush in the next one or two days." Nurhaci waved his hand. "Besides, there are still some things to do."

"A scene?" Amin was puzzled.

Nurhaci looked at Daishan. "Daishan, since this is your idea, you should talk to Amin about it."

"Yes, Great Khan." Daishan bowed respectfully to Nurhaci before addressing Amin. "Amin, this is the case. To maintain morale, I suggested to the Great Khan that we withdraw our troops not on the pretext of a failed attack, but rather on the grounds that we needed to strengthen our defenses after the Ming army's brazen surprise attack. The Great Khan was wise and accepted my suggestion. Therefore, before we attack west and south, we need to temporarily retreat to the rear and appease the tribes attacked by the Ming army."

Nurhaci was very pleased with Daishan's willingness to take the blame. He returned the favor and came out to "support" Daishan: "Daishan's considerations are correct, and it is indeed necessary to strengthen the rear. Our spies have discovered that the cunning bear bandits have formed a hunting guerrilla battalion composed mainly of southwestern chieftain soldiers, and some escaped remnants of the Yehe tribe have also joined. This hunting battalion does not participate in direct combat on the front line, but only conducts guerrilla harassment in the rear of our Great Jin. This is truly despicable. If we allow them to wreak havoc, not only will it undermine food production, but it will also shake the morale of our Great Jin army."

"I understand." Amin looked at Daishan deeply, and then glanced at Huang Taiji inconspicuously.

Amin was aware of the struggle for the throne between these cousins, but he remained on the sidelines. It seemed that Daishan had been suppressed by Nurhaci due to the affairs of the Yuetuo and Shuotuo brothers, and even the Bordered Red Banner had been explicitly given to Yuetuo, clearly significantly weakening Daishan's power. Amin speculated that if Daishan were indeed removed, the Fourth Prince, Huang Taiji, would likely take the throne.

However, it now seems that Daishan's position as the crown prince has not been fundamentally shaken. Tianming Khan still trusts this great beile and just wants to give him a warning.

As for the Third Prince Manggurtai, no one thought he could still compete for the Khanate. From the moment Manggurtai murdered his mother, he was completely cut off from the Khanate. As long as Nurhaci was not too old to know what was going on, he would never allow such a person to become the crown prince.

"Are those southwestern chieftains making a lot of trouble?" Amin came back to his senses in the blink of an eye.

"It's a big deal, but overall it's not too serious," Nurhaci said. "Only some small tribes on the outskirts have been affected. So the withdrawal has caused some dissatisfaction among the young men."

"They just don't understand the Khan's thoughts and can't see the situation clearly," said Amin.

"It's not good to see too clearly." Daishan interjected quietly.

Amin was startled and didn't respond to Daishan's words. "Great Khan, have any tribes in my Bordered Blue Banner been harmed?"

"Yes." Nurhaci thought for a moment. "If I remember correctly, two small tribes under the Bordered Blue Banner, with less than half a Niulu population, were ambushed by the Ming army. One of them was severely affected. All the remaining men were killed, and many women died as well. But compared to the Bordered Red Banner tribe whose entire village was massacred, they were still lucky."

"Which one?" Amin glanced at Daishan, and a hint of "realization" of his mistake suddenly appeared in his mind.

"It seems to be a branch of the Nara clan of the Hada tribe. It is stationed near Hetuala." Nurhaci said, "You can go and take a look."

"Yes, Great Khan," Amin replied, "I will go with the compensation."

"I'll pay for the compensation from my account." Nurhaci waved his hand and turned back.

"I'm here." Cherge knelt down on the spot.

"After returning, prepare the compensation to the affected tribes as soon as possible." Nurhaci ordered.

"Yes! I will obey the Khan's order." Cherge kowtowed in response.

"The Khan is holy and merciful!" The three beiles present all kowtowed and praised the emperor.

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The Hada tribe was separated from the Hulun Kingdom and was founded around the beginning of the Jiajing period. It was named after the Hada River where it was located. Because it was adjacent to the Yehe tribe in the north and south, it was also called Nanguan by the Ming Dynasty.

In the tenth year of the Wanli reign, Wang Tai, the Beile of the Hada tribe, died. His son Daishan ascended the throne. Wang Tai's remaining sons, led by Menggebulu, refused to submit and began fighting each other. The Ming dynasty, the suzerain state, intervened repeatedly, but ultimately failed to fundamentally resolve the internal strife within the Hada tribe. As the Yehe and Jianzhou tribes rose in power, the Hada tribe, mired in internal conflict, completely lost its chance to compete for Jurchen supremacy.

In the 27th year of the Wanli reign, Nurhaci, then still the Beile of Jianzhou, captured Hada City and forced Menggebulu, the Hada Beile who had emerged victorious in a civil war, to surrender. After Menggebulu's surrender, Nurhaci initially ordered him to be cared for, but later executed him for attempting to murder him. The Hada tribe had effectively been annexed by the Jianzhou tribe. By then, the tax inspector, Gao Huai, had already taken office, and the entire Liaodong region was in chaos, a situation the Ming court ignored.

In the 29th year of the Wanli reign, Nurhaci married his 12-year-old daughter Manggusi to Wulgudao, the son of Menggebulu, hoping to permanently subdue the Hada tribe through marriage.

But in the same year, the general Ma Lin was impeached and dismissed by the tax supervisor Gao Huai, and Li Chengliang was sent to Liaodong again.

Upon his arrival, Li Chengliang, hoping to restore the separatist status quo among the Jurchen tribes, sent forces to pressure Nurhaci into releasing Wuergudai and returning his people. At the time, Nurhaci was still in the "modest and respectful period before Wang Mang usurped the throne" and dared not openly defy the Ming court or disobey Li Chengliang's orders. Consequently, Wuergudai was returned to his people and made a Beile, resuming control of Hada.

However, bullying the weak was a tradition of the Tatars and Jurchens. After Hada was re-established, it was repeatedly raided by Yehe and other Mongol tribes. Wuergudai sought help from the Ming, but Liaodong Town was already in dire straits and could not provide assistance. Soon after, famine struck the Hada tribe. Destitute and destitute, Wuergudai led his people to seek refuge with his father-in-law, Nurhaci. The Hada tribe was once again declared extinct.

After the Hada tribe was incorporated into the Jianzhou tribe for the second time, it was divided and reorganized several times. Although a small number of its members were assigned to the Zhenglan Banner under Manggurtai due to their connections with Manggusi, the majority of its members followed the old rules and remained in the two yellow banners under Nurhaci, as well as the bordered blue banner inherited from Shuerhaci's former subordinates.

After all, when they attacked the Hada tribe, the two brothers were far from fighting to the death.

(End of this chapter)