Chapter 162
Jinzhou, General Pingliao's Mansion.
Zu Dashou also learned from his channels that Cheng Shijie of Ning Haijun had another great victory. He had five battles and five victories, and achieved a record of more than 700 beheadings.
Zu Dashou has not expressed his position yet, but Wu Xiang sighed: "Cheng Shijie still has a way of fighting. He can win such a difficult battle... Zu Shuai, judging from the situation, it will be difficult for Jian Nu to succeed." Haizhou has taken advantage, should we send some troops there to help Ning Haijun?"
Wu Xiang's meaning is very obvious. This is a good opportunity to gain military exploits. Don't let it go!
Zu Dashou's face was a little gloomy. It wasn't that he didn't want to take advantage of this military merit, but he couldn't trust Wu Xiang. If Guan Ningjun was allowed to go up, Ning Haijun's steady victory would be broken.
Perhaps seeing Zu Dashou's concerns, Zu Dashou said happily: "This battle has attracted the attention of the whole country. It would be inappropriate for our Guan Ning army to continue to stand aside and watch. Do you think we should take advantage of Jiannu's lack of defense to pull out a few soldiers?" A stronghold closer to Jinzhou, or let me lead a group of elite troops to Lushun to join the war, so that I can give an account to the imperial court?"
Zu Dashou stood up with a cry and stared at Wu Xiang with sharp eyes: "Fight, fight, fight, you know how to fight, but you don't even think about it. Is Jiannu really that easy to fight? Do you really think that Jiannu is a soft persimmon?"
Wu Xiang hurriedly explained: "Commander Zu, what I mean is that we are not really fighting. We send thousands of horsemen to ride over. Naturally, everyone will be happy to win. The defeat has nothing to do with our Guan Ning army. Anyway, this battle is between Cheng Shijie and Wu Xiang." He has full command, we are just cooperating with him in fighting!"
It was okay for Wu Xiang not to speak, and he became angry as soon as he opened his ancestor's birthday: "How was the battle of Daling River? The imperial court mobilized no less than 100,000 elites, but in the end, they were not slaves in batches. They were annihilated on the banks of the Daling River, especially our Guan Ning Army, which suffered heavy losses, and we still haven’t regained our composure until now!”
Wu Xiang shrank his head and did not dare to speak anymore.
Wu Sangui said with a smile: "What my uncle said is absolutely true. That boy Cheng Shijie just won a few battles by luck. What's so big about it? Once Jiannu gets ruthless and fights to the death with him, he will definitely not be able to hold on!"
Wu Xiang pondered and said: "Zu Shuai means to wait and see?"
"Liang Huan, uncle Zhang, and you all must remember that these soldiers and horses are the capital for us to settle down in this troubled world. Our prosperity and wealth are all dependent on this. Every step must be done with caution. We must be cautious and act on impulse. It’s undesirable!”
Zu Dashou softened his tone and continued: "Besides, even if Haizhou wins, what good will it do to us? It's okay to lose. If we win, there is no guarantee that the imperial court will not become overheated and vigorously support Ning Haijun. A large amount of military pay and weapons were allocated to them, but our Guan Ning army got nothing in the end!"
"What Master Zu said is absolutely true!"
Hearing this, Zu Dalue and Zu Dabi felt their hearts tremble.
In the Battle of Daling River, the ancestral army suffered heavy losses. It is absolutely impossible to say that this revenge is not wanted. However, Zu Dashou has changed. As the head of the Zu family, they will never contradict Zu Dashou in front of Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui.
Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui came all the way to celebrate their ancestor's birthday and hosted a banquet for Wu Xiang and his son. After three rounds of wine and five delicious dishes, Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui and his son left Jinzhou.
Zu Dabi and Zu Dalue were in a bad mood. Although they did not have an attack at the banquet, they kept drinking uncontrollably.
Seeing that Zu Dashou was not there, Zu Dabi stood up suddenly and was about to go to the backyard to find Zu Dashou and tell him clearly. But just as he stood up, Zu Dale grabbed Zu Dabi's hand and said, "Second brother!"
Zu Dabi said angrily: "What are you doing?"
"do not go!"
"I'm going to go, and I'll ask him if he's frightened by the Jiannu!"
"Second brother, the eldest brother will not agree. He is no longer the eldest brother he was before!"
Zu Dabi angrily kicked the table. This table was made of Qinggang wood and weighed five to six hundred kilograms. Zu Dabi only slightly kicked the table, but his kick was enough to kill him. pain.
"hiss……"
Zu Dashou walked out slowly at this time. He looked at Zu Dabi and said, "Are you drunk? Someone bring me down to wake up!!"
"I'm not drunk!"
"You're like this, how can I trust you?"
Zu Dabi was ecstatic: "Brother means..."
"Hui'er has been staying in Jinzhou for a longer time. You take someone to bring Hui'er back!"
Zu Dabi felt a little disappointed: "Yes!"
"Nowadays, the ground in Liaodong is not peaceful. Please bring more men and horses, bring...three thousand or not six thousand cavalry, and take Hui'er over!"
Zu Dabi was ecstatic: "Yes, brother!"
The six thousand cavalry are the only assets that Brother Zu can bring to the table now. Most of these six thousand cavalry are of Mongolian descent. When the Later Jin Dynasty attacked Mongolia, Lin Dan Khan's Ujumqin, Sunit, Haqite and other tribes defected to Lin Dan Khan's allies and brother-in-law Shuolei Jinong in order to escape the war. Some also defected to Huang Taiji, and some Part of them surrendered to Zu Dashou.
Taking advantage of the Mongolians' proficiency in riding and archery, Zu Dashou gave these Mongols excellent armor and equipment, plus their generous treatment. Their combat effectiveness was among the best among the Guan Ning Army. They followed Zu Dashou in the east and west campaigns. With the enhanced equipment of the Mongolian cavalry, they can compete with the Jiannu red-armored soldiers on the battlefield. Of course, to be fair, they are even worse than the white-armored soldiers.
Brothers Zu Dabi and Zu Dale each led 3,000 cavalry, totaling 6,000, and brought half a month's worth of dry food with them to Haizhou. Zu Dashou was taking his adopted daughter Li Hui home in the name of it.
This name is actually to guard against certain people within the Guan Ning Army.
Zu Dashou said: "When you arrive in Haizhou, you have to accept Cheng Shijie's orders. Even if you use up all 6,000 cavalry, you must not retreat without permission."
Zu Dabi said excitedly: "Brother, don't worry, there are no cowards in our family!"
Zu Dabi and Zu Dale moved very fast, traveling at a speed of two to three hundred miles a day, and it took four days to finally arrive at Baliwan Town. When they saw Cheng Shijie, Cheng Shijie was meeting Huang Long, the commander-in-chief of the Dongjiang Army.
Huang Long and Zu Dashou had the same purpose. He did not follow Cheng Shijie's order and went north from the Yalu River to attack Jiannu's hometown of Shenyang.
"Cheng Shuai, you don't know something. Now Shenyang is already an empty city. Those who can move have been moved. Erdeniqiqige (Zhezhe) took Princess Gulun and other children to Horqin in early October. Save your relatives!"
Cheng Shijie suddenly realized that this time Huang Taiji was fighting a last-ditch battle. He had moved his family members in advance. In Horqin Mongolia, he and Huang Taiji had the same relationship as wearing the same pants. What's more, the distance was too far, and sending troops to launch a surprise attack would simply cost lives.
So, since then, Chen Dayong's troops may have been in vain.
"Precisely because I just learned that Shenyang has become an empty city, I brought 18,000 elite members of the Dongjiang Army here to listen to Hou Chengshuai's orders!"
"And I!"
Zu Dabi bowed towards Cheng Shijie and saluted: "Zu Dabi, on the orders of Commander Zu, led 6,000 elite Guan Ning troops to support Commander Cheng. Dale and I, 6,000 of us, will fight wherever Commander Cheng points out!"
"good!"
Cheng Shijie said well, but in fact he didn't have much hope for Guan Ning's army. On the contrary, he believed that Zu Dashou sent 6,000 people here specifically to create a place for the Jiannu Gang.
These 6,000 Guanning troops are in Haizhou. Cheng Shijie needs to send at least 5,000 to 6,000 troops to keep them in check. If he wants to use infantry to keep the cavalry in check, he must bring in Thunder Cannons and Flying Thunder Cannons.
Since then, Cheng Shijie has had a sense of powerlessness with a mustache.
Pig teammates.
Just like during World War II, Germany once evaluated the Italian army this way: If Italy is the enemy, ten German divisions can destroy Italy. If Italy is an ally, unfortunately, I will send fifty divisions to support it.
Cheng Shijie feels like this now, but there is no way. Guan Ning's army is still the Ming Dynasty's army, at least it is still a pretty capable army. However, the uncertainty of this army is too great, so Cheng Shijie must guard against them.
Of course, this cannot be said openly, it can only be done secretly.
Cheng Shijie smiled and said, "Come here!"
Meng En, Wu Sheng's second apprentice, has now become the commander-in-chief of Cheng Shijie Communications Bureau. Of course, Wu Sheng has also been promoted. He is now the commander-in-chief of the Guards Department. Although they are both commander-in-chief, Wu Sheng's status is slightly higher than that of Meng En. This That's for sure.
Meng En said: "Commander, let the brothers of Dongjiang Army and Guan Ning Army live here first, and kill the sheep for meat today~!"
"yes!"
Meng En looked at the signal Cheng Shijie gave him. When Cheng Shijie was talking about the Dongjiang Army, he tapped the table three times with his left hand. When talking about the Guan Ning Army, he tapped the table five times with his right hand, three long and two short.
Meng En placed the Guan Ning Army in the left camp of the Ning Haijun Army, and the Dongjiang Army in the right camp. Keeping Guan Ningjun at ease with the Chinese army is not only a superficial trust in Guan Ningjun, but also the most effective supervision of Guan Ningjun.
You must know that Cheng Shijie's guard commander is the commander with the highest firearms equipment in Cheng Shijie. The thunder cannon alone is equipped with 32 whistles, a total of 256, and the flying thunder cannon also has 18 whistles, a total of 72. .
If the six thousand Guan Ning Army moves, the Guards of Ning Navy can teach Guan Ning Army what iron and steel are.
Twenty-four thousand reinforcements arrived at Baliwan Camp and placed these troops. Although Cheng Shijie was fully prepared, it was not an easy task and it took most of the day to do it.
The gang leader had the foresight to set up a big pot, light a fire, and start cooking. These soldiers have been hungry all day, and we must give them a good meal as soon as possible.
The food arrangements for the officers of the Guan Ning Army and the officers of the Dongjiang Army are the same, with no limit. The gang leaders in each army came out immediately and kept working. Even if Ning Haijun's cooking soldiers were exhausted, they could not make two more meals. Meals for four thousand people.
With the joining of Dongjiang Army and Guan Ning Army, the efficiency has been improved a lot. The first is the salted fish, fry it in a pan with some oil, and soon the fish smell will come out.
Then there are large pieces of mutton. Add the oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar to the mutton and cook it into a thick mutton soup. Then mix the potato noodles, pull them into potato noodles as thick as bean sprouts and throw them into the pot. Cook until the foam is flying and the aroma is fragrant. Tangy.
Zu Dabi looked at the mutton in the bowls of Guan Ning's soldiers. Each piece of mutton was at least half a catty in size. He was stunned. Although Guan Ning was the richest army in the Ming Dynasty, it was inferior to Ning Haijun. Too many.
Yes, Cheng Shijie did not have the military spending of the imperial court, but he went to get 2.8 million taels of salt from Emperor Chongzhen. This was a huge sum of money. If placed in the hands of others, these salt citations would be worth 1.79 million taels. A thousand taels of silver, but in Cheng Shijie's hands, the iodized salt he sold was worth 12.6 million taels of silver, which was four and a half times that of ordinary salt.
This is the huge profit from technology monopoly. The military expenditure that Guan Ningjun gets is only 30 to 40% from the national treasury, and he has to manage it up and down. But Cheng Shijie doesn't need to manage it. Even if he manages something with high potential, it is basically worthless. In addition, you can also share some money from high starting and diving.
Especially after one year of farming, Cheng Shijie's net profit exceeded four million taels of silver. Even if Ning Haijun expanded five times, he could still afford it.
Faced with plenty of food and water, six thousand Guanning troops plus more than 18,000 Dongjiang troops are not a small number.
Zu Dabi said uneasily: "Cheng Shuai, are you... spending too much money?"
Huang Long said with a smile: "Cheng Shuai is a rich man, don't worry, you can't live without him. Why don't you work for Cheng Shuai and eat a few meals from him?"
Huang Long calmly picked up a large bowl, which could be said to be a basin, and filled it with a pot of mutton noodles. He also ordered two pancakes, crushed the pancakes into pieces, put them into the basin, and started to devour them.
Cheng Shijie's bowl was of real size, and he was enjoying the mutton soup with a little chili oil added...
Zu Dale laughed while eating: "Jiannu sent out nearly 80% of his elite troops to attack Haizhou. They originally wanted to take Haizhou with overwhelming force, but now it has become a war of attrition. They Our national strength is far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty, and our human, financial, and grain reserves are not the same as those of the Ming Dynasty. Haizhou cannot be conquered for a long time. Cheng Shuai, you are poisonous!"
Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "The best way to deal with powerful enemies like Jiannu is to use national power to consume them bit by bit and crush them. Since they can be defeated by consumption, only fools would fight with them in the wild." !”
Zu Dabi asked in surprise: "Could Shuai Cheng want to keep going like this until Jian Nu retreats?"
"Of course not! They came all the way and slaughtered many soldiers and civilians of the Ming Dynasty. They have to pay a price, right? The territory of the Ming Dynasty is not their back garden. They can come and leave as they please!"
Cheng Shijie punched a head of garlic, blew off the garlic skin, and said with a faint smile: "When the time comes, I will fight back vigorously. If I don't beat the shit out of them, my surname is not Cheng!"
Cheng Shijie's generosity allowed the soldiers of Guan Ning Army and Dongjiang Army to enjoy a feast that they might not even be able to eat during the Chinese New Year. During this meal, the soldiers of Guan Ning Army and Dongjiang Army all had round bellies and hiccups.
General Guan Ning was warmly entertained and enjoyed a sumptuous meal. Cheng Shijie also gave each of them a Tang straight knife that sharpened iron like mud, and a set of armor made of fine steel. These generals of Guan Ning Army were so happy that they couldn't find the north.
Guan Ningjun is not poor, but compared with Ning Haijun, they are really poor. They have no choice. Steel mining is difficult, and it is a controlled material. Unlike Cheng Shijie, who mines iron ore and makes steel by himself behind closed doors.
Nowadays, the general knows how expensive a pair of armor is. A pair costs two to three hundred taels of silver, and it is not always possible to buy it.
The opportunity for Cheng Shijie to wait was actually heavy snow, because Jiannu's troops had too many cavalry, and Cheng Shijie's cavalry troops were too few. Once the war went against him, Jiannu would run away, and he would not be able to catch up.
But the problem is that things will be different once it snows. As long as the snow exceeds 30 to 40 centimeters, the war horses will not be able to run. And without a permanent military camp, the Jiannu will definitely suffer a large number of non-combat attrition.
On October 23rd of the fifth year of Chongzhen, the blizzard that Cheng Shijie had been looking forward to was finally coming.
"There will be a heavy snowstorm within three days."
Cheng Shijie asked more than one old farmer who had the ability to see the clouds and the sky. In order to avoid accidents, he consulted more than a hundred farmers over fifty years old who had the ability to see the clouds and the sky.
"The time has come!"
Cheng Shijie punched the table, looked at Guan Ningjun, Ning Haijun, and the generals of the Dongjiang Army and said, "Mr. Song, write a letter of challenge!"
Song Xiance bowed and said, "Yes!"
Song Xiance immediately wrote more than 400 words in a letter of challenge. Cheng Shijie glanced at it and said, "You're weak!"
"Soft?"
Song Xiance was a little puzzled: "What's so soft?"
"The gauntlet is too soft!"
Cheng Shijie thought for a moment and said, "I said, you write it!"
"yes!"
"Huang Taiji, you've pissed me off. If you dare, come to Baliwan and fight to the death in three days!"
"That's it?"
"Yes, that's it!"
Cheng Shijie said: "You can add a few more words. East of Bali Bay, it is a flat land with a radius of dozens of miles. If you have the guts, come here. If you don't have the guts, go home and take your children!"
Song Xiance felt that Cheng Shijie was too vulgar, but the problem was that Cheng Shijie gave the order in front of the generals, so he could only obey it.
Sun Zhicheng felt his forehead pounding. Of course, he knew that in the current situation, Cheng Shijie could not be demoted. When the generals left, Song Xiance took out the letter of challenge, but it felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
"Cheng Shuai!"
"There are no outsiders here, just call me Uncle Master!"
"Yes, uncle, now..."
Sun Zhiyi smiled bitterly and said: "You can now mobilize civilians to pretend to be elite soldiers of the Ning Navy and stand ready at Bali Bay. You can also send a partial army to go around to the rear of Jiannu and attack Jiannu from the front and rear... In this way, Jiannu will surely be defeated. If we fail to fight and collapse, if our army continues to take advantage of the situation to cover up the enemy, Jiannu will definitely be defeated."
Sun Zhiman's words won Song Xiance's admiration. He smiled and said: "Master Sun's words make sense!"
"There are plans. I have many plans. The General Staff has no fewer than ten plans for this battle. Why would I rather give up my plans and fight in the wilderness with Jiannu? Moreover, the terrain is conducive to Jiannu. ?”
Song Xiance shook his head: "I don't know!"
Sun Zhiman also shook his head.
Cheng Shijie said loudly: "I don't want to play tricks with the Jiannu. Instead, I want to fight openly and openly with the Jiannu. I want to confront the Jiannu head-on with real swords and real guns. I want to smash the myth of the Jiannu with one hammer. What can I say?" There are less than ten thousand Jurchens and they are invincible. I will kill these squeamish girls and make them wet their pants when they see the flag of our army!"
"this……"
Cheng Shijie looked at Sun Zhiman and said with a smile: "Are you trying to say that this head-on approach is stupid and we will die a lot of people?"
Sun Zhiman nodded and said: "Yes!"
"But if you want to eliminate the Jiannu slaves as soon as possible, this is the best way. To defeat the Jiannu slaves as soon as possible and destroy their confidence and pride, this is the only way!"
Song Xiance nodded and said: "Commander, if we can really defeat Jiannu in one battle, when the two armies face each other in the future, if Jiannu is timid before fighting, we will be able to shed a lot of blood. Therefore, in this battle Even if you sacrifice a few more soldiers, it’s worth it!”
"That's it, send the letter of war to Jiannu!"
"yes!"
…
In the Qianshan area, on a high hill, this hill can overlook the entire defense system of Qianshan Town. Huang Taiji's Khan King's tent was built here.
After more than half a month of testing, Huang Taiji could not find any loopholes in Ning Haijun's defense, nor did he know how to break the situation. Now his food reserves were running low, and his morale was rapidly declining at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Now Huang Taiji is also riding a tiger. This is the first time he encountered a city that he wanted to attack but failed to capture, and he wanted to fight a battle that he couldn't win. The last time was in Ningyuan, when his father Nurhachi was in command. Under Ningyuan City, relying on the strong The Ming army, which defended the city with heavy artillery, broke through their attack.
But since he ascended the throne, Huang Taiji has never fought such a frustrating battle.
This kind of defense line can only be described as "cutting off descendants." If you want to gnaw down this line of defense, don't try to take any tricks. Just take human lives to fill it. Considering how shameless this line of defense is, if you want to gnaw it down, It is impossible not to kill tens of thousands of people.
The most terrible thing is that taking down this defense line is just the beginning. From Qianshan to Taizi River and then to Haizhou, there is a defense depth of more than a hundred miles. Even if the Qianshan defense line is broken, Haizhou's defense system is still intact. Well, who knows what evil tricks the Ming army has prepared and waiting for them!
Sad!
Huang Taiji felt that he was becoming less and less energetic.
Of course he was out of energy. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in half a month. How could he be in good spirits?
Yue Tuo smiled bitterly and said: "King Khan, the Ming army is too tightly guarded. Unless they are willing to leave the trenches and open their camps to fight our army, it will be difficult for us to defeat them!"
Huang Taiji looked gloomy and said displeased: "It's impossible. The Ming army is determined to destroy us. How could they..."
While they were talking, a Jiannu scout ran into the big tent rolling and crawling.
"Report to King Khan, great joy!"
"Overjoyed?"
Huang Taiji's brows furrowed: "What a great joy to this King Khan!"
"The Ming army has issued a challenge. They are going to fight my army in Bali Bay!"
Huang Taiji hurriedly reached out and took the letter of war. On the cover of the letter of war, the words "War Letter" were neatly written in official calligraphy. Inside were Cheng Shijie's original words.
Huang Taiji rubbed his eyes. It was not fake. It was also stamped with Cheng Shijie's big seal: General Cheng of the Conquest, General Ning Haijun, Liaodong Economic Envoy, Control of the Dongjiang Army...
These big seals prove this is no joke.
"Ha ha!"
Happiness came so suddenly that Huang Taiji couldn't believe it.
(End of chapter)
