On the eighteenth day of the first month of the third year of Taichang, Liu Zhaosun led his troops to fight in Shenyang.
The garrison general Zu Dale underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly. He lost all his servants and retreated to the car camp.
Wang Huazhen bribed the gunners at the city head and fired at the carriage camp. The ancestral army suffered heavy casualties and the entire army collapsed.
Zu Dale was desperate and surrendered to Marquis Ping Liao.
However, Liu Zhaosun did not let Zu Dale go.
In Shenyang City, all the male members of the ancestral family who were higher than Yan Ling Dao were killed.
The Zhenfu soldiers found millions of silver and countless grains and cloth in the General's Mansion. Liao Town's many industrial and mineral deposits in Shenyang were all taken over by Ping Liaohou.
The Marquis of Ping Liao ordered some of the money and food from Liao Town to be used to provide compensation for the casualties to Waifan, who worshiped him and called him the Khan of Heaven.
On that day, the army was stationed outside the city to rest, and Ping Liaohou set up the Chinese army's tent at the north gate of Shenyang. This was the place where Hou Jin was defeated in the bloody battle of Hunhe River.
On the 19th day of the first lunar month, Ping Liaohou summoned Qiao Yiqi, Kang Yingqian, Yuan Chonghuan, Deng Changxiong, Wang Erhu, Wang Zengbin, Ma Shiying and others to discuss the next battle against Liaoyang.
Shen and Liao were only one hundred and fifty miles apart. Zu Dalue was defeated in Shenyang, and the defenders of Liaoyang were like frightened birds.
The ancestral family's garrison in Liaoyang was weak, far inferior to that in Shenyang, with only a thousand men.
All the generals suggested that Liaoyang should be persuaded to surrender and capture this big city without any bloodshed.
Liu Zhaosun also did not want to suffer too heavy losses of soldiers. The occupation of Liaoshen was only the beginning, and the capture of Guangning, Ningyuan, and Shanhaiguan was the focus.
At present, Liu Zhaosun and the three brothers of the ancestral family have become blood feuds. They will later capture three cities in western Liaoning. I don't know how many people will die.
The Marquis of Ping Liao ordered Ma Shiying to arrange the surrender of the Liao Town generals in the city and rushed to Liaoyang to persuade them to surrender.
Civil Affairs Chief Xie Yang reported on the army's food and grass consumption. Liu Zhaosun frowned and everyone was dumbfounded.
The more than 10,000 shi of grain that Sun Chuanting had hoarded in Fushun were all used up within five days of the war, leaving only 2,000 shi left, which he expected to eat in three days.
The logistical problem of a 300,000-man army is basically unsolvable in this era.
The number of troops Liu Zhaosun commanded on the battlefield before was no more than 30,000, and all of them were well-trained soldiers and auxiliaries who obeyed orders.
This time, he was suddenly asked to command more than 300,000 troops, and a considerable number of them were farmers and herdsmen who had never been on the battlefield.
In this situation, even if Han Xin is reborn and Bai Qi travels through time, he may still be unable to do so.
After the war started everything went well.
Liu Zhaosun ignored the most critical supply issue.
He had been fighting with his adoptive father for many years, and had been fighting in various places in the past two years. He basically understood the affairs of the army, but matters outside the battlefield, such as food and grass supply and resource allocation, were not Liu Zhaosun's specialty.
It seems that there are many problems with too many people, and it may easily lead to collapse.
Some of the battles in history where a small number of people defeated a large number were basically because the side with more troops had problems with food and grass, which ultimately led to a major defeat.
At present, merchants from all over Liaodong are still continuously delivering grain and grass to the front line in exchange for the salt they want.
However, the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of people cannot rely solely on this kind of commercial transportation.
"General Liu, the food and grass delivered to the front line from various places every day is barely enough for the army, but if we continue to fight in western Liaoning later, I'm afraid..."
The further you go to western Liaoning, the greater the risk of transportation, and the enthusiasm of merchants for transportation will also weaken.
Liu Zhaosun asked Xie Yang to sit down, stood up and paced back and forth in the tent. After a while, he raised his head and looked at everyone:
"In this case, we will feed on the enemy and rob all the way from Shenyang to western Liaoning. Every time we break through a city, we will divide the money and food of our ancestors until Shanhaiguan."
After everyone dispersed, Ping Liaohou left Kang Yingqian alone.
It had been almost two months since the two had seen each other. In the past two months, Kaiyuan had experienced too many things.
The corruption of general officials was unimaginable. People who Liu Zhaosun thought were loyal and reliable in the past turned against him in the end. People who he thought were honest and loyal turned out to be embezzling millions.
However, the first few people who followed him have remained the same as before. To use a popular term among later generations of time travellers, they have never forgotten their original intentions.
Liu Zhaosun had heard from Yuan Chonghuan that Kang Yingqian traveled to both sides of the Yalu River in Kuandian every day, recruited Korean refugees, preached the Kaiyuan policy to foreigners, and won the support of Yizhou gentry. It can be said that he did a lot of practical things.
The purpose of calling Kang Yingqian back this time was to restore his position in Kaiyuan and let him be his right-hand man to help him move forward.
After experiencing many things, Liu Zhaosun reflected on whether past policies were too lenient and pedantic.
Just like Kang Yingqian in Kuandian, he will also reflect on whether it was appropriate to do whatever it took to pursue power.
Yesterday, the Marquis of Ping Liao went on a killing spree and almost wiped out Zu Dalue's family. Kang Yingqian looked at him dumbfounded. Such Liu Zhaosun was actually a bit strange in his eyes.
"I remember that Kang Supervisor often persuaded me to directly annex North Korea, move the North Koreans to Liaodong, and kill all those who resisted."
Liu Zhaosun was seeking the golden mean. He was neither as pedantic as before nor could he become a mad king like Nurhachi.
"After Zu Dashou is eliminated, my next step may be to take action against North Korea."
Kang Yingqian looked shocked after hearing this.
He thought that the action Liu Zhaosun mentioned was to kill everyone like Shenyang did.
Thinking of what he had seen and heard in Kuandian these days and the scenes of interacting with those foreigners, Lao Kang hesitated.
"The Marquis of Pingliao... Xiaguan saw in Kuandian that the Koreans in Yizhou also knew the etiquette of the Celestial Dynasty, so there was no need to kill them all. Besides, since the Marquis of Pingliao occupied western Liaoning, the imperial court would definitely send troops to Shanhaiguan, and Kaiyuan should guard Shanhaiguan. Better prepare for a decisive battle with the imperial court, rather than expand Korea and massacre foreigners..."
The imperial court might not be so concerned about the Houjin Mongols who burned, killed and looted, but they would definitely fight to the death against a rebellious Kaiyuan.
Liu Zhaosun looked at Kang Yingqian's careful eyes, suddenly stood up from his seat, patted Kang Jianjun on the shoulder, and laughed loudly:
"Good! It seems that you have not wasted your time in Kuandian. I am very pleased that you have changed so much!"
When Kang Yingqian heard what Liu Zhaosun said, the huge stone hanging in his heart finally fell to the ground, but he heard Marquis Pingliao continue:
"After Hetuala, the former Marquis Ping Liao died. Kang Jianjun, have you ever heard of Dog Town?"
Kang Yingqian looked at Liu Zhaosun blankly, wondering what he was talking about.
"Dog Town is a small town. During the Hongwu period, the daughter of the White Lotus Sect ran away from home and broke into Dog Town. She treated everyone in the town well, but in the end she was insulted by the residents of the town as a prostitute. In the end, the big cabinet led the sect The crowd came and wiped out the entire town..."
"I thought hard about it until one day, I suddenly understood."
Kang Yingqian was puzzled and said:
"What does Marquis Pingliao understand?"
"No matter how the outside world treats me, I will treat the world with the heart of a saint. This is the greatest arrogance."
Kang Yingqian could understand this.
"Marquis Ping Liao, I actually have something to ask, and now that I have reached this point, I have the courage to ask."
"Kang Supervisor, please tell me."
Kang Yingqian raised his head and looked outside the tent, looking at the gloomy sky.
"I heard that your adoptive father Liu Wei once believed in Buddhism. I wonder if you believe in Buddhism as well. That's why he never kills easily. His behavior is obviously different from that of other generals."
Liu Zhao and Sun pawed and laughed.
"Hahaha, I don't believe it, but occasionally I will deliver sentient beings, physical salvation."
Kang Yingqian didn't know what physical transcendence was, but in order not to appear too ignorant, he just nodded thoughtfully.
"What did I just say?"
"arrogant."
"Yes, arrogance."
Liu Zhaosun continued:
"Treat the world with the heart of a saint, treat everyone, including your enemies, and let them bully you, threaten you, and ultimately threaten the safety of your family."
"Being extremely mean and unkind to oneself is the greatest form of arrogance."
"If there is one person in this world who cannot be ignored, and there is one person who cannot be disrespected, then that person must be myself."
When Liu Zhaosun said these words, the obsession that had been condensed for many years suddenly dissipated.
"Back then, guest soldiers came to aid Liao, and they were kind to Liao Town. The Li family and the ancestral family jointly built slaves to trap us, and countless people died. My adoptive father and his subordinates all died in Liaodong. Liao Town is Dogtown.”
“The world doesn’t need a dog town!”
"That's why I want to kill them all."
On the 21st of the first lunar month, Kaiyuan's army marched into Liaoyang.
The army continued to gather troops along the way, and military households and foreign troops gradually joined in.
Before arriving in Liaoyang, Liu Zhaosun had more than 350,000 troops under his command.
The army surrounded Liaoyang and cut off the connection between Liaoyang and western Liaoning.
On the 23rd of the first lunar month, Wang Erhu led the Third Guards Army to defeat the Liao Town troops who came from Shisanshan and Guangning to reinforce Liaoyang, beheading 800 people and routing 3,000.
On the 24th of the first lunar month, in despair, the Liaoyang defenders opened the city gate and surrendered to Ping Liaohou.
The news spread back to the capital, and the court was shocked.
Emperor Taichang was forced to temporarily abandon various places to fight the rebellion. The Ministry of War planned to mobilize the elite soldiers of the Nine Borders and the southern chieftains to rush to Shanhaiguan to fight the Kaiyuan Army.
All the cities of Liao and Shen were annexed, and Kaiyuan's power expanded unprecedentedly.
Kang Yingqian led everyone to persuade Jinbiao, and persuaded Marquis Pingliao to take the opportunity to found a country and establish a title, proclaim himself emperor in Shenyang, boost the morale of the army, break through the western Liaoning, enter the pass, and establish a lasting hegemony.
Liu Zhaosun did not obstruct these efforts.
It's just that it's still too early to call himself emperor.
In the main tent of the Chinese army, Marquis Ping Liao took the city defense force plan sent by Guangning Xizuo and slowly looked at his subordinates.
"Everyone, military morale is important, but time is more important to us. Proclaiming emperor will only slow down the process."
"The war has just begun."
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