"Don't let the cellars go, especially those in big houses."
At noon, after Wu Gao retreated, the Bohai Navy easily occupied Tieling.
However, all the food for the soldiers and civilians in the city was transferred. Except for a dozen military households who had no time to leave, the rest of the soldiers and civilians were arranged by Wu Gao to go south in advance.
Zhu Gaoxu did not rush to pursue, but selected two groups of officers and soldiers captured by the Bohai Navy and asked them to report the performance of the Southern Army in this battle to western Liaoning.
"Your Highness, if you do this, Wu Gao will suffer."
Looking at the two teams of officers and soldiers leaving, only Chen Chang among the generals who understood the meaning of Zhu Gaoxu's actions laughed.
"Even if I don't have to do this, I'm afraid he won't be able to lead the army for long."
Zhu Gaoxu chuckled: "We lost 30,000 guards and the Tieling Guards. I would be surprised if my eldest brother can still lead the army again."
No one knows Zhu Yunwen better than Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Yunwen can accept failure, but he cannot accept failure after a general defends himself.
Wu Gao must have explained to himself why Thirty Thousand Guards was lost, and he must have mentioned the importance of Tieling. Now that Tieling is lost again, he may soon roll to the south.
"Get out of here, don't come back..."
Thinking that Wu Gao was going to be driven south, Zhu Gaoxu finally felt relieved.
It is true that even if Wu Gao is in Liaodong, it will be difficult to stop him from taking Liaodong.
Just fighting with him feels like punching cotton, but if he retreats, he has to disgust you again before retreating, which makes Zhu Gaoxu very uncomfortable.
"It would be great if the court could kill Wu Gao."
Meng Zhang, who was bullied by Wu Gao, said angrily, but Zhu Gaoxu shook his head: "That's not okay."
"Huh?" Meng Zhang and others looked up in confusion, and Zhu Gaoxu also noticed their hatred for Wu Gao and others.
Such emotions undoubtedly reminded Zhu Gaoxu of how after Zhu Di became emperor, his generals retaliated against the Southern army generals, causing many generals to be idle for revenge and finally died in depression.
He didn't want something like this to happen to his subordinates, so he had to prepare early.
"Everyone is his own master. He is not at fault, but he has contributed to our Ming Dynasty."
"If there is really a mistake and resentment, you should put your resentment on the person who forced us into trouble."
As soon as Zhu Gaoxu spoke, Wang Yi understood his attitude and immediately changed his tone: "That's true. Many Liao soldiers in the wounded barracks know that we have been wronged and do not even retaliate against our abuses."
After Wang Yi agreed, everyone was embarrassed to continue to hate Liao Bing and Wu Gao. Although they still thought so in their hearts, they could not say it out loud.
"Your Highness, it's all figured out!"
When Zhu Gaoxu expressed his stance, Xu Sheng also rode his horse from far away in the street. After reining in his horse, he took out a few books.
He handed it to Zhu Gaoxu and explained based on the contents of the book: "In this battle, we killed 1,467 enemies, captured 1,724 people, and obtained more than 3,000 sets of armor and many weapons, and also recovered many iron cannonballs.”
"In terms of casualties, we have 476 killed and 1,312 wounded."
"More than four hundred stones of grain were found on those soldiers, and more than three thousand stones of grain were found in many cellars in the city."
"This food is enough for the brothers to eat for five days!"
Xu Sheng brought good news. It can be said that including the time spent on the journey, there was almost no food loss in Datieling this time, and the Bohai Navy's rations could still support the army for forty-two days.
The only thing that made the generals unhappy was the loss of nearly five hundred brothers.
"Did you get Tieling's "Fish Scales Atlas"?"
"I didn't get it. It was probably taken away by Wu Gao. However, we found the grain book in the commander's office that had not been burned. He Limu and the others calculated based on the grain in the grain book and the yield per mu, and estimated that Tieling should have More than thirty-six thousand acres of farmland.”
Zhu Gaoxu asked Xu Sheng, and he gave Zhu Gaoxu the answer.
Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu immediately turned to the commanders and said: "The commanders of the fifth and third battalions who crossed the river first today will compile a list of the hundreds of families who have made their first contributions before resting tonight. The brothers who have made contributions will be listed according to the list. Thirty acres of land will be granted per head, so that they can write letters to their families to come south to Tieling to settle down and farm.”
Zhu Gaoxu gave a reward, and then said: "Before they went south, the more than 30,000 acres of cultivated land outside the city were given to the captured officers and soldiers for cultivation. In addition, the seventeen households in the city who had not left were also divided according to their heads. Divide ten acres of cultivated land.”
"Your Highness, your grace!" After hearing Zhu Gaoxu's arrangement, all the commanders bowed in return, while Zhu Gaoxu nodded and began to give Wang Yi instructions.
"With Wu Gao's temperament on the way south and defending the city in Tieling, I am afraid that he will drag all the three thousand-household settlements on the road from Tieling to Shenyang and go south, trying to strengthen the walls and clear the country to disintegrate our army."
"When the horses cross the river, you lead three thousand cavalry all the way south. You can intercept as many people and food as you can. Don't confront Wu Gao head-on. His good days are numbered."
"Yes!" Wang Yi agreed, then turned around and went to work.
"Your Highness, Wu Gao is a capable man. Can the court really replace him?"
Xu Sheng, who had just returned, did not know Zhu Gaoxu's previous arrangements, so he asked suspiciously.
Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu nodded firmly: "It would be nice if he could gain something by abandoning Tieling this time, but our brothers are all very well protected. He has nothing to use as a reward, and secondly, he lost Tieling, the gateway to northern Liaoning. He left three thousand households to us, how can the court still trust him?"
"Isn't that such a pity..." Xu Sheng looked regretful: "I feel a little uncomfortable not being able to defeat him on the battlefield."
"really……"
"There's nothing I can do. This old boy is like a loach, and he doesn't dare to confront us head-on."
Xu Sheng's words won the approval of everyone. Obviously they all wanted to defeat Wu Gao head-on on the battlefield.
Zhu Gaoxu, on the other hand, chuckled: "For someone like him, defeating him won't make him feel uncomfortable. Instead, having him stand with us as a minister and comrade is a kind of torture for him. "
"Your Highness, do you want to subdue him?" Chen Chang, who was standing aside, told Zhu Gaoxu what he was thinking. Zhu Gaoxu did not hide it and nodded directly:
"You have also fought against him. We have come up with real evidence to discuss. If there were no field artillery and matchlock guns, and you each led 5,000 troops to fight against Wu Gao's 5,000 troops, would you be confident that you could defeat him? "
Zhu Gaoxu glanced at everyone, but except for the courageous Xu Sheng and Chen Chang who stepped forward, the other commanders looked at each other in confusion and no one stepped forward.
In fact, Zhu Gaoxu himself knew very well that if there was anyone in his hands who could defeat Wu Gao, Fu Rang was the only one, and the rest were Lin Su, Zhang Chun, Chen Chang, Wang Yi, Xu Sheng and Ta Shi. It is difficult to win against Wu Gao for sure.
Wu Gao is only ninety-nine in his forties. If he can be conquered, he can still guard the border for the Ming Dynasty for ten or even twenty years, which can save Zhu Gaoxu a lot of things.
Not only him, but also Gu Cheng, Qu Neng, Muchun, He Fu and others from the Southwest Corps were also the talents Zhu Gaoxu wanted.
The valuable thing about this group of people is that either father and son are brave and good at fighting, or they are still strong and can guard the border for the Ming Dynasty for many years.
For Zhu Gaoxu, just thinking about giving up such a talent is very uncomfortable.
Zhu Gaoxu didn't quite believe in the so-called saying that one county can produce the talents of a country. If this is really the case, then why are only Liu Bang, Zhu Yuanzhang and others able to achieve great unification among so many people who have started rebellions in prefectures and counties throughout the ages.
Zhu Di had several famous generals under his command, but Zhang Yu was old and Zhang Fu, Chen Mao, and Meng Ying were still young. Only Zhu Neng could hold up the Yongle Dynasty, but he died of illness while on an expedition to Annan.
The remaining Qiu Fu, Zhang Wu and others are just generals and cannot support a big scene at all.
If Zhu Gaoxu really sat back and watched General Jingnan squeeze out and retaliate against General Jianwen, as happened in history, then their father and son would be prepared to exhaust themselves to death.
"You have to hurry up..."
Looking at the dazzling sky, Zhu Gaoxu roughly calculated the time.
As expected, Dao Gan Meng in the southwest rebelled again, and this time Dao Gan Meng had to face the encirclement and suppression by Muchun and others, and was probably defeated much faster than in history.
He has to speed up, but the key to whether he can quickly capture Liaodong lies with Cui Jun...
"The entire army will dismount and rest, and we will set out again in half an hour!"
When Zhu Gaoxu put his thoughts on Cui Jun, Cui Jun was reining in his horse to let the 5,000-horse infantry who had been marching for a whole morning dismount and rest.
There was a sour smell on their bodies, which was due to the fact that they had been sleeping outdoors in the Changbai Mountains for more than half a month, and their clothes had been damp for a long time and had not been washed and dried.
"Brother Fu, where are we now?"
Compared with his handsome face before departure, Cui Jun was now unshaven. It was probably difficult for Zhu Gaoxu to recognize him when he saw him.
"We have just passed Xiuyan (Xiuyan). We only need to walk another three hundred miles of mountain road and then we can reach the boundary of Jinzhou."
"At that time, you will see Luanma Station. Go south along the official road. After walking two more stations, you will reach Jinzhouwei (Dalian). Go south, and after passing Muchangma Station, you will reach Jinzhou Zhong. Zuosuo (Lushun)."
Fudaha made it very clear, but also expressed his attitude, that is, he would definitely not attack the officers and soldiers with Cui Jun.
Cui Jun naturally knew how to get to Jinzhou from Luanmayi, but what he cared about was the mountain road, and he had no intention of letting Fudaha go to Jinzhou with him.
To put it bluntly, he brought five thousand horse infantry who had gone through a winter of mountain training, but he really looked down upon Fudaha and the thousands of wild Jurchens under his command.
Taking them with you will easily slow down your marching speed.
Before he set off, His Highness told him that he needed to go south to Jinzhou quickly, so he and his brothers only rested for three hours a day along the way. The rest of the time was either rushing or guarding against the officers and soldiers searching the mountain.
However, it seems that Wu Gao led the main force of Liaodong Dusi to the north, so the patrol force in southern Liaoning was weak, and they quickly bypassed the stone forts.
In half a month and 1,300 miles of mountain road, he couldn't even remember how he led his brothers to get here.
But he knew that it was less than 400 miles away from the mission assigned by His Highness.
"We must get there within three days..."
Cui Jun was cruel, and Wu Gao was also cruel.
On the second day after abandoning Tieling, Wu Gao led his army to withdraw to Shenyang City.
Along the way, he led Puhe and three other military households from three thousand households to the south, creating a "white land" with no human habitation in the north of Shenyang.
Not only that, he also sent the military households from Shenyang and the three thousand households to Liaoyang City in the south, and at the same time reinforced the city walls of Shenyang.
After seeing the power of the Bohai Navy's field artillery, he did not plan to build peripheral defenses, but planned to rely on the solid walls of Wengcheng and Shenyang to defend to the death.
His actions were no problem from a military perspective, especially for the Bohai Navy, which was short of food.
However, fighting is not just military, it is also political.
These actions of Wu Gao successfully aroused the hostility of the military attachés in northern Liaoning.
There was not a single civilian or military household to be seen in the busy city of Shenyang. There were only soldiers from Liaodong.
They shuttled through the streets and alleys, transporting all kinds of things needed to defend the city, such as artillery, stones, mace shots, etc., to the city wall horse trail.
After passing through these people, Geng Gui halted his horse at the door of the Yamen, dismounted and walked into the Yamen.
Like Shenyang City, the Yamen was equally busy. Soldiers were constantly moving money and food from Shenyang's treasury to reward the army, while Wu Gao was sitting in the middle hall, writing a memorial by hand.
Geng Feng walked into the middle hall and saw the memorial written by Wu Gao.
But after just a glance, he said: "More than 80,000 people north of the Hun River have moved to Liaoyang, but there are complaints below, and many people say they will write to impeach you."
"Let them..." Wu Gao didn't care about the impeachment of this group of people. Seeing this, Geng Feng sighed and continued:
"I checked the storage warehouse and the treasury. The food in Shenyang City is enough to support my more than 32,000 people for half a year, but are you sure we can hold Shenyang?"
Wu Gao was stunned by Geng Wei's words. He was indeed not sure that he would be able to capture Shenyang under Zhu Gaoxu's attack, but he had no other choice.
The reason why Tieling City was able to achieve a lot of gains was because they took advantage of the Chaihe River and took advantage of the Bohai Navy to divide their forces to cross the river and attack to gain the results.
But now Shenyang City is north of the Hun River, and the Hun River is long, and the Ming army is not as fast as the Bohai Navy, so it will be very difficult to recreate the Battle of Tieling.
The defense of Shenyang City can only start by defending the urn city and city walls.
Wu Gao's refusal to answer made Geng Feng feel cold.
He believed that he was no match for Wu Gao in the art of war, but now Wu Gao did not dare to answer this question openly, which meant that the garrison in Shenyang this time was a desperate defense.
When he thought of the power of the Bohai Navy's field artillery that day, Geng Ping's heart was filled with a layer of gloom.
"It only takes us two days to get here from Tieling, and it may only take one and a half days for the rebels. Counting the time it takes for their herds to cross the river, they may be able to reach Shenyang City at noon tomorrow."
"The rebels don't carry much food. As long as they can hold Shenyang City for a month, the siege will be lifted."
Wu Gao explained the situation, but he and Geng Gu both understood one thing, that is, could they really hold Shenyang City for a month under Zhu Gaoxu?
No one answered this question. Perhaps their hopes were placed on reinforcements from Daning and Shandong.
It's a pity that their hopes were shattered in the end.
Following the sound of footsteps, a dark-faced general trotted into the yamen, causing Wu Gao and Geng Feng to look at him.
"Marquis of Jiangyin, the common people of Yan have rebelled and have now occupied the two mansions of Beiping and Yongping!"
The general walked into the middle hall, and the news he brought made Wu Gao and Geng Gu look at each other subconsciously, and their moods sank to the bottom.
"Xilulu..."
Just when Wu and Gao received the news, there was an anxious cry outside Changping City, and tens of thousands of troops gathered more than ten miles south of the city to form a formation to face the enemy.
Both sides are flying banners with the word "朙", but the difference is that on one side, the general's banner is "fang", and on the other side, it is "Yan".
There were many soldiers in the Ming Dynasty, about 30,000, while those in the Yan army were few, just over 20,000.
These 50,000 people lined up to meet the enemy, but the distance was only more than 200 steps.
"Your Highness, Fang Zhao and Yu Tian really led their troops out of the city just as those herdsmen said."
In front of the Yan Army's formation, Qiu Fu and Zhu Di were talking excitedly, while Zhu Di was constantly looking at the formation of Fang Zhao's regiment.
After just watching for a while, Zhu Di understood the situation of this corps.
He pointed with his horsewhip at the junction of the left and right wings of Fang Zhao's regiment, and said in an old manner: "This Fang Zhao has not brought a large army to run in, so he wants to come out of the city to attack me. In a moment, you can lead your regular troops to insert into his center. Zhu Neng and Chen Wu I will lead 2,000 cavalry to encircle him on the right wing, and I will personally lead 3,000 men to encircle him on the left wing."
"Your Highness, isn't this inappropriate? We don't know Fang Zhao's strength yet. What if they bring firearms?"
Qiu Fu was worried about speaking, but Zhu Di was confident: "Listen to me, let alone 30,000 people, even 100,000 people, I will show it to you!"
"For me, Fang Zhao's thirty thousand people are as simple as herding sheep."
During this battle, he left Zhang Yu, Meng Shan and others to garrison Yongping and Peiping to prevent troops from Daning and Shanhaiguan from taking advantage of the situation.
Twenty thousand people were enough for him to defeat Fang Zhao's thirty thousand people.
"Bang the drum!"
Zhu Di raised his whip high, and soon the drum cart behind him began to beat the drums. In the Ming army formation opposite, Yu Tian, the guard general of Juyong Pass, also looked at the unsmiling general next to him.
"Captain, the Yan army is about to attack."
Yu Di opened his mouth, and Fang Zhao also nodded: "I see, Yan common people underestimate the enemy, please wait and see how I capture him."
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned back and ordered: "Beat the drum!"
Not long after, the sound of drums echoed in front of the formations of the two armies. Thirty thousand Ming troops advanced with their guns drawn, followed unhurriedly by a thousand cavalrymen on the left and right.
In contrast, the Yan army only had 15,000 infantry advancing with guns, but there were 5,000 cavalry constantly roaming on the left and right.
When the two armies approached a hundred paces, the archers on both sides were already ready. They drew their bows and released arrows when they came to a distance of fifty paces.
The rain of arrows fell, but it did not slow down the pace of both parties. Occasionally, someone fell down after being hit by an arrow, but was quickly dragged away by the person behind him.
After the distance between the two sides got closer, the Ming army archers retreated into the formation one after another. On the contrary, the Yan army archers drew back their bows in an orderly manner and took the three-foot long spear from the person behind them.
This calmness made Yu Tian, who was following Fang Zhao, feel uneasy, and Fang Zhao also darkened his face.
"kill!!"
Two spear phalanxes collided, thousands of spears collided, people kept falling down and being dragged away, and new people kept filling in.
At this time, Zhu Di, Zhu Neng, and Chen Wu began to command five thousand cavalry to advance, intending to outflank Fang Zhao's left and right wings.
"Move the cavalry on the left and right to stop the common people of Yan!"
Fang Zhao noticed Zhu Di's intention and made adjustments immediately.
Soon, two thousand Ming army cavalry on the left and right wings began to step forward to block Zhu Di's five thousand elite cavalry. Zhu Di himself rode a yellow gelding, holding a spear and his cavalry and rushed towards the front of the one thousand cavalry.
Compared with the collision of spears between the main soldiers of the Chinese army, the collision between the cavalry of the two sides was more impactful.
The mission of the Ming army's cavalry is to resist, so they cannot use cavalry bows to pull cavalry shots, and can only use long soldiers to collide with them to block them.
The dull sound of horse hoofs sounded on the plain. Zhu Di personally led the cavalry to rush to the enemy's formation, waving their spears, roaring like thunder, and filled with murderous intent.
"kill!!"
"Neighing——"
The sound of flesh and blood clashing filled the ears. Some people were injured and fell off their horses, and were trampled into corpses by those who came from behind. Some people were excellent in equestrian skills, but as soon as they returned to their horses, they were greeted by the spear of another cavalry. They regretted falling off their horses. .
"Follow my banner, you will go wherever I go!!"
"yes!!"
Zhu Di, riding a tall horse, rushed out from the middle of the enemy formation. He held a long spear in his hand and was as powerful as a rainbow. The Yan army cavalry beside him who cut through the Ming army cavalry with him responded one after another.
They turned their horses around and launched a second attack.
Compared with the brave and capable Yan Army cavalry, the Shanxi cavalry had not participated in the border preparation mission for many years and had been stationed in Hetao for many years. Therefore, when they broke out of the encirclement and saw many familiar faces disappearing around them, they He no longer had the courage to make a second attack with the Yan army's cavalry.
"Change to the riding bow!"
The cavalrymen Qianhu left and right gave orders and blew their wooden whistles at the same time.
Under his orders, the more than 800 surviving cavalrymen changed to bows and arrows, preparing to fight with Zhu Di's cavalry.
Seeing this, Zhu Di immediately reined in his horse, abandoned them, and took a circuitous route to Fang Zhao's rear.
"Captain! The common people of Yan are taking a detour to rear our army!"
"The rear army is stationed, don't give him an opportunity to take advantage of him!"
Fang Zhao calmly gave the order, but the untrained corps quickly exposed fatal gaps after hastily changing their formations.
A road of four or five feet appeared between the rear army and the central army, and this was what Zhu Di was waiting for!
"Boys! Follow me!"
Zhu Di took the lead and rushed towards the gap with guards on the left and right.
The commander of the rear army tried to direct the rear army to close up, but the speed of conveying the order could not be faster than the speed of Zhu Di's cavalry.
In an instant, the spears collided with the cavalry, the soldiers were knocked away, the horses were stabbed and fell down, and the spears broke.
Zhu Di led his army to cut off the connection between the rear army and the central army, and began to surround the rear army, coercing them back.
This scene is like a shepherd dog dividing a flock of sheep. No matter how strong the sheep are, once they loosen their position, they will only end up being trapped.
Zhu Neng and Chen Wu had been waiting for their Royal Highness. Seeing that the rear army was being intercepted and intercepted, the two of them immediately led the army to abandon the right-wing Ming army cavalry, and covered up the Chinese army who had no time to change their formations.
"The central army is replaced by the rear army!"
Fang Zhao realized something was wrong, but his consciousness was as backward as his military orders.
Before the news reached the rear, Zhu Neng and Chen Wu led two thousand cavalry to launch an assault from behind the spear formation.
Two thousand cavalry penetrated the formation, and without the hindrance of the spear formation, they could rampage through the central army unscrupulously.
As Zhu Di said before the war, he dealt with 30,000 people, just like a herdsman herding sheep.
The central army was attacked, which caused the morale of the soldiers in the front army to drop, and they were constantly beaten back by the main soldiers of the Yan army.
"Captain! We are defeated, retreat!"
Yu Tian's face flushed with anxiety, and Fang Zhao looked at the disrupted central army and the retreating front army in disbelief.
"withdraw……"
He had no choice but to give the order, and Yu Quan quickly went to command the central army, reorganizing some of the undisturbed soldiers into the rear army, and abandoning the rear army that had been carried away and part of the disrupted central army.
They began to retreat in formation, and when Zhu Di saw this, he immediately shouted: "Fang Zhao is defeated and retreats, and those who surrender will not be killed!!"
"Fang Zhao is defeated and retreats. Those who surrender will not be killed!!"
The voice of the Yan army frightened the trapped rear army. They formed a circular formation to defend themselves. They were constantly hit by arrows from the cavalry led by Zhu Di. Their morale was already at the bottom. When they heard that the governor Fang Zhao was defeated, their positions were in chaos. .
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhen, the commander of the Huailai Guard, looked in the direction of the front army and the Chinese army. Only then did he realize that the Chinese army was disrupted, and the front army and part of the Chinese army began to form formations and retreat.
"Brother, we lost the battle and let the Chinese army get dumped. If we retreat to Juyong Pass, we will be punished. It's better to surrender."
Several thousand households persuaded Liu Zhen. Liu Zhen was already soft-hearted. When he heard what everyone said, he ordered the entire army to put down their weapons.
Soon, thousands of rear troops threw down their weapons. Upon seeing this, Zhu Di did not stay to greet them, but directly abandoned them and went to kill Fang Zhao who was retreating.
It was easy for the cavalry to chase down the infantry on the plains. Seeing Zhu Di and Zhu Neng abandon the remnant soldiers who were abandoned by themselves, Fang Zhao turned pale.
He knew very well that he could not retreat step by step from Changping to Juyong Pass, so if he wanted to break out, he could only retreat with his cavalry.
With tens of thousands of infantry under his command, it was absolutely impossible for him to survive under Zhu Di.
He was still hesitating, but Zhu Di had already attacked with more than 4,000 cavalry.
They used cavalry bows to attack the Ming army on the left and right sides, and there were always soldiers in the middle.
After only retreating for more than ten miles, the team was only 89% of what it was before the retreat.
Retreating all the way and being suddenly pursued by Zhu Di all the way, Fang Zhao's spirit almost collapsed.
It's obviously a crushing round of 30,000 vs. 20,000, but why is it so difficult to get here?
"Return to the teacher!"
After walking more than twenty miles from noon to dusk, until he saw Juyong Pass, Zhu Di ordered to rein in his horse and grinned.
In contrast, Fang Zhao, who fled back to Juyongguan in a hurry, found out after an inventory that he only brought back 7,000 of the 30,000-strong army. He wanted to cry but had no tears...
"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": In the fifth month of the fifth month, Jiawu, broke Fangzhao, conquered Changping, recruited thousands of people to surrender, and tens of thousands of soldiers in ten months.
(End of chapter)
