On the twenty-fifth day of the first month of the third year of Taichang, Kaiyuan's army continued to advance westward and crossed the Liao River. The 350,000 soldiers and civilians were invincible.
On the 26th, the Haizhou garrison killed the general, surrendered the city gate, and surrendered to the Third Guards Army.
On the 27th, Xiping Fort was captured by the Second Guards Army, and the general fled to Guangning.
On the 28th, Liu Zhaosun received a report from Wu Ahengtang. Wu Aheng had led twelve warships and 2,000 naval personnel to set off from Pi Dao, North Korea, to reinforce the battlefield in southern Liaoning. Wu Aheng estimated that the fleet would arrive in Lushun in early February to cooperate with the battle against Liao Town.
On the 28th, nearly 400,000 troops set out from Haizhou and attacked western Liaoning and southern Liaoning in two directions.
In the southern direction of Liaoning, Yuan Chonghuan, Qiao Yiqi, and Wang Erhu will serve as the main generals. They will lead the Third Guards Army, the Fourth Army and 50,000 foreign Han civilians, a total of 120,000 troops, from Haizhou and Yaozhou to the south, and stay with the Kuandian direction. The Fifth Guards Army launched an attack at the same time and raided southern Liaoning.
The combat order Liu Zhaosun gave them was:
Attracting Zu Dashou's rescue, the east and west sides quickly advanced toward the seaside in a pincer-shaped offensive. Use the fastest speed to capture Jinzhou and Lushun, thereby cutting off the enemy's retreat in southern Liaoning and preventing the ancestral army from taking ships to sea and escaping to Shandong.
Liu Zhaosun specifically reminded Yuan Chonghuan that the navy led by Wu Aheng had dispatched from North Korea and would soon arrive in Lushun to join them. The Third and Fourth Armies must annihilate the enemy forces in southern Liaoning as soon as possible, then cross the sea by boat and land in Weihaiwei, Shandong.
Yuan Chonghuan not only wanted to capture southern Liaoning this time, but also commanded the Liaodong Navy and two Guards troops to launch a landing operation involving nearly 10,000 people.
After the two Guards troops landed at Weihaiwei, they went to Wendeng as soon as possible to rescue General Anyuan and the Sixth Guards Army - if Jin Yuji was still alive - in addition to the magistrates and magistrates from all over Dengzhou who were close to Kaiyuan. , and of course Yuan Keli himself also needs to be protected as soon as possible.
Kang Yingqian judged that the imperial court would soon liquidate Shandong officials, and those officials who had exchanged interests with Liaohou would be retaliated against, especially Yuan Keli, the governor of Denglai.
Yuan Keli will definitely not be able to serve as governor. Maybe this brother will be sent directly to the prison of the Zhenfu Division and be tortured to death.
If these officials are ignored, it will be difficult for anyone to cooperate with Kaiyuan in the future.
The operations in the western direction of Liaoning were personally directed by Liu Zhaosun.
The Liaoxi Corridor is the main attack direction of the Kaiyuan Army this time, and it is also the main battlefield for both sides.
The Kaiyuan Army committed its main forces to western Liaoning: the First and Second Guards Corps, the old troops of Jianzhou Xianglan Banner and Zhengbai Banner, as well as the Mongolian Uliangha, Duoyan and other troops, and Korean volunteers, with a total strength of more than 250,000 .
After the capture of Xiping Fort, Kaiyuan Army sentry horses frequently scouted in the direction of Guangning, and the city of Guangning also sent troops to fight at night. The two sides broke out in many fierce and bloody scout battles along the Liaoxi Corridor.
With the addition of the Kaiyuan Cavalry Battalion, Liao Zhenye gradually became unable to resist and was forced to retreat towards Guangning.
Xiping Fort is one of the most important forts in western Liaoning. Xiping Fort was captured, and the surrounding Liao garrison garrison surrendered one after another.
Liu Zhaosun continued to attack westward without stopping, and soon approached Guangning.
After Guangning's commander-in-chief Zu Dabi heard that all his three brothers had been killed, he hated and feared the Kaiyuan army. Seeing Liu Zhaosun leading hundreds of thousands of horses to the west and approaching him, he quickly sent people to check for leaks and make repairs. City wall to consolidate city defense. With Zu Dabi's efforts, the north and south side walls of Guangning were raised to four feet, and they were built with a second floor of square brick roofs, and the inner entrance was gradually added with stacks. Compared with before, it is obviously much stronger.
Because Shenyang fell too quickly, the construction period left for Zu Dabi was too short. He had to urgently mobilize tens of thousands of civilians around Guangning to make the people work day and night, often using whips. Suddenly, complaints arose among the Liao people.
In addition, servants were sent to lay mines and set up camps and artillery at Huangtu Ridge, Yixiantian and other places near Guangning. Fifteen Hongyi cannons shipped from Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan arrived in Guangning ahead of schedule.
Regarding the defensive layout, Zu Dabi had serious differences with his generals.
Guangning guerrilla Sun Degong, general Jiang Chaodong and others suggested concentrating their forces inside the city and implementing the strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the country. Withdraw all the soldiers, horses and defensive equipment outside the city into the city, move the Hongyi cannons up, place them on all sides of the city wall, set them up on the main city, and bombard the Kaiyuan army from high altitude.
General Zu Dabi insisted on setting up camps outside the city as used by the Ming army, and placed the artillery outside the city.
Sun Degong was scolded by the coach for being timid and afraid of the enemy, and was humiliated in public.
Faced with so many dangers, Zu Dabi still felt that it was not enough and felt that he might not be able to stop Kaiyuan's army.
Unlike his third brother Zu Dalue, who was violent and violent, Zu Dabi had a cautious temperament and looked forward and backward when encountering difficulties. Until the Kaiyuan army sentry horses crossed the Sancha River, Guangning's defense was still undecided.
On February 1, Ping Liaohou's division moved to Dongchang Fort. On the second day, the main force crossed the Sancha River.
Kaiyuan's army was large in number and deployed in the wilderness.
According to historical records, "As far as the coast in the south and the mainland of Guangning in the north, the front and back are like a stream, the head and tail are missing, and the flags, swords and halberds are like a forest."
On February 2, Kaiyuan Army besieged Guangning, and the Second and Third Guards Corps launched a strong attack from the east, south and north gates.
On the third day, Liu Xingzuo and others responded, fire broke out in all directions in Guangning city, and the army's gunpowder depot was carefully ignited.
Seeing that the defeat was certain, guard Sun Degong prepared to capture Zu Dabi alive and offer the city of Guangning to Ping Liaohou.
With the help of General Jiang Chaodong, Zu Dabi rushed out of the door in a hurry. Sun Degong led the remaining troops to surrender to the Kaiyuan Army, which occupied Guangning City at the cost of 300 casualties.
Lewen
