In early May of the sixth year of Chengshun, the Western Liaoning Corridor.
Ningyuan Zhongyousuo, this small city in the Western Liaoning Corridor, has experienced a hundred years of ups and downs, the Ming Dynasty, and the Eastern capture of people, and it has welcomed its third owner: the Great Chu Empire!
The Chu army occupied this place without any effort at the end of April, but this place was voluntarily abandoned by the Dongluo people. Before withdrawing, the Dongluo people destroyed almost all the facilities in the city that could be destroyed.
As for money and food, nothing was left behind. Even various houses and buildings were burned as they could be burned.
Even all the wells in the city were polluted by the rotting corpses dropped by the Eastern captives.
Therefore, although the Chu army seemed to have obtained a city, in fact the city was no different from ruins. Because there were so many ruins in the city, it was difficult to even get drinking water. Therefore, in the first few days after the Chu army entered the city, they were all Mainly stationed outside the city.
Because the cleanup project was relatively large and the city was originally small, the Chu army simply did not let a large number of main forces enter the city to garrison. They just treated it as a military fortress and stationed thousands of people.
A large number of main troops are stationed in the wilderness south of Zhongyou Station, and are relatively close to the seaside.
The main reason why the main force is deployed at the seaside is to more conveniently obtain supplies at sea, and at the same time to cover the navy's transport fleet to dock and load and unload supplies.
In the Battle of Western Liaoning, the Chu Empire's logistical supplies were carried out simultaneously by sea and land. On the one hand, a large number of civilians were mobilized to form a large number of transportation groups, and a land route was built from Tianjin Wei to Shanhaiguan, and then Shanhaiguan was used as a transfer station to transport land to various front lines. supply lines.
There is also a direct sea transport to the east, along the coast for nearby supplies.
Especially with the gradual eastward advance, the main force of the Chu army was hundreds of kilometers away from Shanhaiguan in the rear. As the distance lengthened and the difficulty of land transportation gradually increased, the Chu army also increased its supply by sea. intensity.
The troops directly under the Third Army and the Ninth Army currently stationed at Ningyuan Zhongyou Station captured the First Cavalry Corps and the Guards Cavalry Detachment in Jinzhuang one step ahead of schedule, and captured the Third Division of the Guards at Xiaotuan Mountain Fort. , the Sixth Mixed Regiment of the Second Division captured the Eighth Army of Xingshui County Fort and Baitayu Fort. The above-mentioned troops totaled more than 100,000, half of which relied on sea transportation for supplies.
Many ships of the Chu Empire were loaded with various supplies from various coastal ports in the rear, and then transported to the north under the escort of naval warships.
Some of these ships docked and unloaded at Shanhaiguan, while others unloaded at several small ports along the way, while others unloaded at the newly occupied Ningyuan Zhongyou Station.
The reason why all supplies are not transported to Ning Zhongyousuo is purely because the material throughput of these ports is limited...
The Chu Empire's hundreds of thousands of troops consumed a huge amount of materials, and there were also many ships mobilized from the rear.
However, there are relatively few ports that can reliably dock and unload cargo, and the throughput of these ports is also relatively limited.
Among the series of ports in the Western Liaoning Corridor, only the port at Shanhaiguan can berth a large number of ships, because this place has undergone two years of infrastructure construction by the Chu Army. Not only have various defense facilities in Shanhaiguan been improved, but a military port with numerous berths and hoisting facilities has also been built.
Nowadays, the port terminal at Shanhaiguan can meet the throughput of materials consumed by hundreds of thousands of troops in an emergency.
In the previous two cold winters, when the Youhang Canal froze and the northern land was frozen, the Chu army used sea transportation on a large scale to transport supplies to the northern garrison.
Although there are some problems of one kind or another, it can still be transported.
But except for Shanhaiguan, there are no large-scale ports in some coastal areas of the Liaoxi Corridor that the frontline has just occupied. Some of them are just primitive small ports. These small ports can berth a small number of large ships, but don't expect to be able to berth them. A large number of ships are berthed at the same time, and there are not enough berths at the pier...
Supporting facilities such as hoisting facilities and dock warehouses are even more insufficient.
Even if the engineering troops of the Third Army and the engineering troops of the Navy's Beiyang Fleet worked day and night to expand and build the docks of Ningyuan Zhongyou Station, they could not accommodate the huge maritime transport fleet of the Dachu Empire.
Therefore, the Chu army's maritime transportation can only be dispersed to various ports for unloading, and then continued to be transported to the front line through land transshipment.
With the urgent construction of Ningyuan Zhongyousuo Port, this place will become the main material transfer station for the follow-up operations of the Third Army of the Dachu Empire and the Guards.
According to the plan of the Logistics Department, this port will be responsible for supplying at least half of the supplies to the frontline army in half a month.
In this regard, General Zuo Yingzhe, commander of the Third Army, was actually still a little dissatisfied, but there was nothing he could do.
Land transportation is too troublesome, requires too many people to be mobilized, and is slow. The most critical thing is that it will face the threat of Eastern captive cavalry.
Although the Chu army had already defeated 20,000 Dongfeng cavalry at Guangning Zhongqian... But the Dongfang people did not only have 20,000 cavalry...
They also have tens of thousands of cavalry, and the Monan Mongolia controlled by the Dongjiu people also includes the Duoyan Sanwei area.
The Mongolian cavalry in these areas can also threaten the security of the Chu army's supply line in the Liaoxi Corridor in the south.
Speaking of this Duoyan Sanwei, its changes are very interesting!
From the changes in Duoyan Sanwei, we can basically see the changes in the Ming Dynasty's domestic and foreign policies during the four decades of Wanli, Tianqi, Taichang, and Chongzhen.
In the early years, especially after being beaten by Qi Jiguang, the three guards of Duoyan basically chose to submit to the Ming Dynasty honestly.
Therefore, in the middle and late Wanli period, the three Duoyan guards were loyal vassals or mercenaries of the Ming Dynasty.
Regardless of the name, the Duoyan Three Guards at that time were used by the Ming Dynasty.
After the Dongji people rose up, the Ming Dynasty continued to win over and support the three guards of Duoyan, and used their strength to continue to suppress the Dongji people.
However, changes gradually occurred later. First, Lin Dan Khan of the Chahar tribe of Monan Mongolia ambitiously wanted to unify Monan Mongolia and launched a war of conquest against many Monan Mongolian troops.
In this process, many Monan Mongolian tribes turned to the Eastern Captives to protect themselves, including some of the tribes of Duoyan Sanwei.
Part of the reason why these Duoyan Sanwei tribes betrayed the Ming Dynasty was that the Ming Dynasty chose to cooperate with Lin Dan Khan...
In the early years, the situation in Monan Mongolia was very complicated. The Ming Dynasty, Dongji people, Lindan Khan and other tribes in Monan Mongolia got together and united and fought for their own interests.
Monan Mongolia during this period was actually a piece of loose sand. Instead of relying on their power, the Eastern Captives were threatened by them. The Ming Dynasty was also able to obtain the power of Lin Dan Khan and part of the Duoyan Three Guards.
But things have changed since more than ten years ago... On the one hand, after Huang Taiji came to power, he gradually stabilized his internal situation and shifted his strategic direction, changing the main direction of expansion from western Liaoning to Monan Mongolia and the Korean Peninsula. Conquer these areas to obtain people, money, food, livestock and other materials.
Monan Mongolia simply cannot hold off Huang Taiji's Eight Banners army!
As for the Ming Dynasty, after Chongzhen came to power, its foreign policy underwent major changes. The previous co-optation and differentiation gradually disappeared...replaced by a tough foreign policy...
The changes in Duoyan Sanwei are a typical manifestation of this policy.
As Lin Dan Khan, who was better with the Ming Dynasty, gradually went to war and tried to unify Monan Mongolia, some of the tribes of Duoyan Sanwei fled to the east in order to protect themselves.
But at that time, some tribes still chose to be neutral or defect to the Ming Dynasty...
It's just that perhaps Chongzhen and his ministers misjudged, were arrogant, or had some other messy reasons... They actually gave up on their previous strategy of wooing and supporting the three guards of Duoyan.
As a result, the remaining Duoyan Sanwei tribe who did not defect to the Eastern captives finally defected to the Eastern captives in order to protect themselves.
Chongzhen's actual records record that in the early days, there were Chaohua, Nuantu, and Guiying tribes outside the Guangning Great Wall. There are thirty-six gatekeepers in the Sanxie of Jizhen. All are rewarded. As a result, both China and foreign countries welcomed the imperial edict and revoked their rewards. The barbarians were in a state of excitement. If you are hungry outside the Great Wall, please ask for millet. The superior refuses to do so, and the crime comes out of nowhere. So all the tribes in the east gathered together and fled, and the Qing Dynasty collected all the tribes and could no longer do anything on the border.
Don't worry, because this passage is an official history written by the Donglu people, you have to read it carefully and slowly.
For example, if you are hungry outside the Great Wall, please ask for millet. Shangjian refused, and the guilty one was out. Just reading this sentence, you would think that the Ming Dynasty was stingy, or that Chongzhen had no brains and directly kicked Duoyan Sanwei into the hands of Dongji.
In fact, the Duoyan Three Guards had been divided into many parts at that time, some of which had defected to the East, some were conquered by Lin Dan Khan, some remained neutral, and some defected to the Ming Dynasty.
When the Ming Dynasty abandoned the Duoyan Three Guards during this period, it actually gave up only a small part of them... As for the other Duoyan Three Guards, they had long since defected to the East to kidnap people...
But the people who captured the people from the east did not write about this situation...but they cherished the words like gold. The first mentioned the thirty-six families, and the second mentioned the barbarians.
So, when you see 'Will be hungry outside the Great Wall, please millet. The superior refuses to do so, and the crime comes out of nowhere. 'During this period, you will subconsciously think that it is the entire thirty-six families of Duoyan... In actual circumstances, there were only a few tribes of the three Duoyan tribes who were neutral or biased towards the Ming Dynasty. They approached the Ming Dynasty for help... but were killed by Chongzhen. Refused.
This section, "Then all the tribes in the east gathered together and fled, and the Qing Dynasty collected all the tribes, but nothing could be done about it" is even more ridiculous.
At first glance, it seems that the three Duoyan guards defected to the Eastern captives after Chongzhen refused to rescue the three Duoyan guards. However, in fact, the Eastern captives had already recovered some tribes through war more than ten years ago, and some tribes were Lin Danhan was forced to flee to Japan to protect himself...
The three Duoyan guards eventually defected to the East, largely due to Lin Dan Khan's attempt to unify Monan Mongolia. They had some relationship with the Ming Dynasty, but the relationship was not that big...
To put it bluntly, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was difficult to protect itself, and it simply did not have enough ability to determine the overall direction of the Duoyan Three Guards. It was just that they did not continue to win over them.
But without going into detail, if you just look at the Ming history or the actual records of Chongzhen written by the people from the East, you will come to the conclusion that the reason why the three guards of Duoyan defected to the East was because Chongzhen was too stupid...
History books, especially the official history compiled by the later dynasties of the previous dynasties, must be viewed with suspicion and dialectics. Otherwise, the history you see is just the history of the previous dynasty that the later dynasties want you to see.
"Five Dynasties Rivers, Mountains and Winds"
Because the words you see are not 100% accurate, but most likely they are missing the mark. If different words record the same thing, then what you see will be completely different.
The above paragraph is the true record of Chongzhen compiled by the Dongji people.
How should I put it, although Chongzhen is quite stupid, he is not stupid enough to force the entire Duoyan Sanwei to the Dongji people...
Even if he is stupid, his ministers will not be so stupid...
There must be a more complicated and deep-seated reason here, but a closer look is enough to write a historical paper of hundreds of thousands of words. Those who are interested can learn about it on their own.
However, from this record, we can still understand that during the Chongzhen Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's policy towards the three guards of Duoyan changed dramatically.
I won’t comment on the good or bad of this change in policy. I’ll just talk about the results: During the Tianqi period, the Duoyan Sanwei, who served as the northeastern barrier of the Ming Dynasty, completely changed from the mercenaries of the Ming Dynasty to the enemies of the Ming Dynasty after the Chongzhen period...
Not only did the Dongjiu people's strength increase greatly, but the border areas such as Jizhen, Miyun and even Xuanda were directly exposed to the Dongjiu people's military front.
The Eastern captives later detoured through Mongolia and entered Beizhili from Xifengkou. This was the bitter fruit of the Ming Dynasty's overall failure in managing Duoyan Sanwei.
This also led to the fact that when the Chu army entered the Liaoxi Corridor, the north also faced the threat of the Duoyan Three Guards under the control of Dongluo.
This is also the reason why the Third Army deployed heavy troops in the north!
On the front line of Jizhen, there was the Sixth Army under the Third Army. At this time, they were also heading towards the direction of the three guards of Duoyan!
At the same time, on the north side of the Liaoxi Corridor, the Eighth Army also advanced eastward along the Great Wall on the north side of the Liaoxi Corridor. Basically, the main force of the Third Group Army there was the First Cavalry Army, the Ninth Army and the troops directly under the group army, as well as The Guards troops maintained the same rhythm.
It was to cover the flanks of the main force in the south.
The entire Northeastern Campaign was not just about attacking a few checkpoint cities in the southern part of the Western Liaoning Corridor, but a large-scale battle spanning hundreds of kilometers.
The Western Liaoning Corridor is the main battlefield, but there is also the Seventh Army in the direction of the Liaodong Peninsula. At this time, the Seventh Army has also made an offensive posture and even attacked the Dongji people several times to threaten the Dongji people in Fuzhou and other places. , to prevent them from being transferred back to Jinzhou on a large scale.
In the direction of Jizhen, the Sixth Army marched eastward, threatening the three guards of Duoyan.
In the Xuanda and even Miyun front lines, the Second Group Army, also with the cooperation of the Tumote Department, began to launch an offensive against the eastern tribes of Monan Mongolia.
Several independent cavalry brigades and regiments, including the Second Cavalry Corps under the Second Group Army and the Fifth Cavalry Division in the Miyun direction, and tens of thousands of cavalry have launched large-scale campaigns in the eastern Monan Mongolia region.
The entire Northeastern battlefield covers a very large area. From the Xuanda line to Jizhen, to the Western Liaoning Corridor, to the Liaodong Peninsula, and finally to the Pidao line of the Koryo Peninsula, there are soldiers of the Chu Empire everywhere.
For this all-out offensive, the Dachu Empire has invested nearly 300,000 ground troops, and currently more than 200,000 troops are directly participating in front-line battles.
This does not include thousands of transport ships of various sizes and hundreds of warships of various types in the navy.
This does not include the various transport groups and battalions organized by the Logistics Department, consisting of hundreds of thousands of young civilians and soldiers from the Ming army.
The battle between the Chu Empire and the Dongjiu people was not just in the Liaoxi Corridor, nor just in the Ningyuan City line.
Otherwise, Dongluo would not be so passive, unable to even dispatch reinforcements.
It was really a multi-front battle, and the troops in other directions were restrained. The Dongluo people could no longer mobilize more troops.
In order to cope with the Chu army's all-out attack and to support the western Liaoning front line, the Dongji people had already organized all the remaining young men from their various Eight Banners into the army, and subsequently recruited all the servants from the Koryo Peninsula. .
However, the combat effectiveness of these young and strong servants recruited later was too poor and they would not play a big role on the battlefield.
The Dongji people could only rely on their original main force to resist, so they fell into a situation of insufficient strength and gradual defeat.
The Northeastern battle between the Chu Empire and the Dongji people was an all-out war. In fact, the competition was not about the bravery of the soldiers on both sides, nor the tactical strategies of the generals.
But a direct competition for national strength!
Unfortunately, the national strength of the Dongji people was far inferior to that of the Great Chu Empire. They were backward in all aspects, including population, money and food. They were unable to resist the Chu army's almost non-tactical all-round advance.
The cities in Guangning were just finished, and Ningyuan City in the back was also in crisis.
The various Dongli tribes that retreated all the way from the front fled back to Ningyuan City, and by the way, they also spread panic to the more than 10,000 Dongniu defenders in Ningyuan City.
Ever since the Chu army's vanguard reached Jinzhuangyi, the Dongjie defenders in Ningyuan City had begun to panic.
On the sixth day of May, after the Eighth Army of the Chu Army successfully crossed the Ningyuan River in the upper reaches and captured Xingshui County Fort and Baitayu Fort, the Dongjie garrison in Ningyuan City became even more panicked...
On May 13, the Ninth Army of the Third Group Army and the troops directly under the group army, which had rested for a long time in the area of Guangning Zhongyou Suo, continued to advance eastward and soon reached the west bank of the Ningyuan River.
Ningyuan City is on the west bank of Ningyuan River!
The forces of both sides faced each other across the Ningyuan River!
On May 15th, taking advantage of the rising water period in summer, the water level of the Ningyuan River was relatively high. The navy of the Da Chu Empire dispatched a large number of small and medium-sized warships along the river to provide sufficient fire support for the army troops and to cover the army troops in building pontoon bridges.
The navy's naval gun firepower is much stronger than the army's field guns.
With the navy's naval gun fire cover, and the army's own large number of artillery arrayed on the shore, the Eastern defenders on the opposite side didn't even have the courage to approach the engineering troops that attacked the Chu army's pontoon bridge...
The only option was to place more than a dozen artillery pieces from a distance and bombard the Chu army from more than a thousand meters away.
Because the opponent's artillery was few and the distance was long, although it caused certain losses to the Chu army, it still could not stop the Chu army from forcibly setting up a pontoon bridge and starting a large-scale crossing of the river.
In the afternoon of May 17, the pontoon bridge was first completed and the Chu army began to cross the river on a large scale.
At this time, the eastern garrison in Ningyuan City saw that the long-distance artillery bombardment failed, and saw that the Chu army was about to cross the river in a large scale. Unable to sit still, they immediately sent a large number of troops out of the city to attack directly.
They braved the Chu army's fierce artillery fire and charged once in the evening, but the result was very bad, because the Chu army's artillery was so fierce that they suffered heavy casualties, leaving hundreds of corpses behind...
The attack during the day was too threatening, and they were almost directly exposed to the Chu army's artillery. For this reason, they changed their tactics and waited until nightfall to launch a larger attack!
They wanted to break through the interception of the Chu army's beachhead troops, directly attack the Chu army's troops crossing the river, and attack the Chu army halfway across the river.
However, the Chu army's beachhead troops, supported by a large amount of firepower from their own side, were as stable as Mount Tai and once again repelled the Dongji people's night attack!
After the failure of the large-scale night attack, the Dongjiu people were still determined to launch several small and medium-sized night attacks that night, trying to counterattack under the cover of night.
On the Ningyuan River in the south outside Ningyuan City, gunfire rumbled and fires shone all night long.
After dawn the next day, the captives gradually retreated.
The Chu army sent people to clean up the battlefield. When the beachhead troops began to advance under the cover of a large number of field artillery that had crossed the river, what they saw were the corpses of at least two thousand Dongjiao people!
A large-scale attack yesterday afternoon, another large-scale attack after nightfall, and several small and medium-sized attacks at night left the Dongjiao people with more than 2,000 corpses and countless injured.
It can be seen that the Dongji people were ruthless in order to prevent the Chu army from crossing the river... If they could lose so many in the offensive battle, they really had to grit their teeth and fight again. Maybe all the supervising troops would go into battle on a large scale. The deserters were killed.
However, due to their lack of strength, they were unable to break through the Chu army's beachhead firepower.
That is to say, most of the Dongjiu people's attacks were at night. In the darkness, the Chu army's artillery hit rate was not high enough, and the fighting was extremely chaotic. Otherwise, the Dongjiu people's casualties would be even greater.
The reason why the Dongji people were so determined was because they knew very well that once the main force of the Chu army, especially the large number of Chu army artillery, was allowed to cross the river smoothly, it would be impossible to hold Ningyuan City.
Anyone who knows a little bit about the Chu army knows that the Chu army's ability to attack difficult areas is unstoppable and even unsolvable.
In the field battle, the Dongjiu people might be able to fight back and forth with the Chu army, just like the previous ferry attack. Regardless of whether it was successful or not, and how many casualties there were, at least the Dongjiu people could still fight with the Chu army. Give it a dozen.
But holding on to the city and waiting for the Chu army to attack...
That's the result of a unilateral bombing!
Previously, the Dongji people were still somewhat doubtful about the Chu army's ability to attack fortresses, so when they were at Guangning Zhongqian Post, they came to wait for reinforcements...
As a result, more than 20,000 defenders suffered heavy casualties under the fierce bombardment of the Chu army, unable to hold on for several days.
Although Ningyuan City is larger and has more troops, it cannot hold out for a few days if it is bombarded unilaterally.
This has nothing to do with the morale of the defenders...
Under the bombardment of batches of 48-pound, 24-pound, and 18-pound howitzers, courage was all in vain...
The defenders of Ningyuan City also knew this very well... so they once wanted to directly block the Chu army from Ningyuan River!
For this reason, they did not hesitate to use tens of thousands of troops to launch attacks in turns, but they were defeated by the fierce firepower of the Chu army.
It wasn't until there were more than 2,000 corpses in front of the formation and countless wounded that the attack was finally given up in frustration and it was dark again!
At about ten o'clock that morning, when several senior generals of the Dongji people in Ningyuan City saw a large number of Chu army's heavy artillery also beginning to cross the river, they all had an idea:
It's over!
Ningyuan City is doomed!
One of them said: "What should we do now?
Beiledao next to him gritted his teeth and said: "What else can we do, retreat!"
"The Chu barbarians are so powerful that we cannot defend Ningyuan City by relying on us. Not only will we not be able to defend the city, but we will also destroy tens of thousands of our Qing elites in vain!"
"We are now going to Jinzhou to join the emperor's central army, and then we will fight to the death with the Chu barbarians under Jinzhou City!"
On May 18th, the more than 40,000 defenders of Ningyuan City who tried to cross the river but failed, abandoned the city before a large number of Chu troops could cross the river!
Then he ran all the way towards Jinzhou!
