novelhk Page 2549
Page 2549
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Chapter 3413 Even the Top Strategist Has Vowed
Liaoyang.
"what?"
Wanyan Zongfu was shocked: "Are the powerful clans of Bohai colluding to surrender to the Ming?"
Wanyan Xiyin, who rushed over, said, "I don't know who spread the rumor, but it has already spread throughout the capital."
"Court officials of various ethnicities are kowtowing to the palace to plead guilty, claiming that they have no intention of rebelling."
"It must be the work of Ming spies, what a vicious scheme!" Wanyan Zongfu gritted his teeth.
It wasn't a spy sent by the Ming Dynasty, but rather an idea that Yang Pu gave to Wanyan Zongpan.
This old man, gravely ill and near death, truly lives up to his reputation as Aguda's top strategist; his first move was a vicious scheme that aimed to kill and destroy his spirit.
In the Liaodong campaign, the Jurchen elite forces were few; the Bohai army was the main force, followed by the Han, Khitan, and Xi peoples.
The powerful clans and families of various ethnic groups were still observing the situation and had not yet made up their minds to betray the Jin and surrender to the Ming. Instead, they wanted to observe the situation first.
Yang Pu spread rumors directly in the capital of the Jin Dynasty, causing the Jurchens and Bohai people to become suspicious of each other.
This is an open conspiracy, and there's no way to resolve it.
Take Wanyan Zongfu for example. Although he guessed that someone was taking advantage of the situation to cause trouble, from the moment he heard the news, he would no longer trust those powerful families of Bohai.
Because of the rumors, the powerful Bohai clans, in order to protect themselves, are very likely to actually surrender to the Ming Dynasty.
Wanyan Zongfu asked, "What should we do?"
Wanyan Xiyin said, "Order all the armies in Liaonan to withdraw to Hesuguan City, and all the Jurchen elites should also go there."
"Furthermore, order all families of all ethnic groups to be sent to Liaoyang as hostages!"
"No,"
Wanyan Zongfu shook his head.
"Isn't this blatantly a sign of distrust towards all ethnic groups?"
"If things go wrong, it could drive them to revolt."
Wanyan Xiyin analyzed:
"Firstly, our army is not strong enough and cannot be dispersed to defend the city. We must gather our troops in one place."
"But we cannot withdraw all our troops to Liaoyang, otherwise Guangning and Jinzhou will be in danger. Therefore, we must consolidate our forces, and Hesuguan City is the key point."
"Regardless of whether the various ethnic groups in Bohai will rebel, we should gather our troops there."
"Secondly, if any ethnic group rebels, they will not dare to act rashly after gathering their troops."
"If they are scattered in different places, they will surrender the city with their troops when the Ming army comes to the city."
"Thirdly, we took our elite troops there and, under the pretext of convening a meeting with the generals, detained them all."
"This will prevent a rebellion. Then, under the pretext of protecting their families, we'll have them send their families to Liaoyang."
Wanyan Zongfu hesitated.
He's an honest man and wouldn't want to do something like that.
Wanyan Xiyin asked, "Any other methods besides this?"
Wanyan Zongfu gritted his teeth and said, "This is the only way!"
...
The first batch of Ming troops to cross the sea numbered only three thousand, with Zhang Xian as the vanguard general.
Zhang Xian was from Sichuan. Before Zhao Yuan conquered all of Sichuan, he had already joined the army, half voluntarily and half involuntarily.
The navy stationed in Japan was also brought back to fight, and a large number of merchant ships crossed the Bohai Sea together.
He appointed Ying Xuan as a naval admiral.
Ignoring Lushun, the fleet headed straight for Changsong Island (Changxing Island).
There were only beacon towers on the island, no garrison, and no fortified villages.
Since the Jurchen navy was virtually nonexistent, stationing a large army on the island would simply be handing food to the Ming army.
Zhang Xianbing occupied Changsong Island without bloodshed, and more than 300 merchant ships carrying laborers and grain lined up at the port to wait for unloading.
There were more than 8,000 laborers transporting the grain, while there were only 3,000 soldiers.
Ship after ship of grain was unloaded at Changsong Island.
Warships patrolled the nearby waters, attacking any vessels that attempted to approach.
After unloading, the British dispatched more than ten warships to escort the merchant ships back to Shandong to continue transporting troops and grain.
It took a full month to transport the goods, but a storm occurred en route, forcing them to seek shelter in port for several days.
When Zhao Yuan arrived at Changsong Island by boat, more than 40,000 soldiers and more than 10,000 laborers had already gathered there.
There was no immediate fighting; troops were still being transported.
However, they sent two thousand light cavalry to the coast to gather intelligence.
"Your Majesty, we have encountered a large force of Jin soldiers. They are leading the people and their wealth northwards."
Our scouts were driven away by Jin cavalry, suffering dozens of casualties.
"Your Majesty, Lushun is deserted. The Great Wall at Zhendonghaikou, Huacheng County, and Huacheng Pass are all completely empty."
"Your Majesty, people from the Jin Kingdom have come to Fuzhou to seek refuge."
“They claimed to be of the Bohai ethnic group and were forced to migrate north. They took advantage of the night to escape.”
"Our scouts approached Fuzhou City and found the city ablaze with fire. The Jin soldiers had burned down all the houses inside and outside the city."
"Your Majesty, there is a large force of enemy cavalry in the direction of Hesu Pavilion, and our scouts are unable to approach..."
With intelligence reports being sent back one after another, Zhao Yuan was basically certain that the Jin commander-in-chief intended to hold Hesuguan to the death, and that all the villages and cities further south were under scorched earth.
Just then, a new batch of troop transport ships brought another piece of military intelligence: the Jin army had abandoned the coastal route, leaving all the cities along the way empty, and was withdrawing all its troops to Jinzhou.
The current situation is clear: the Jin state intends to defend Jinzhou, Guangning, Hesuguan, and Posulu to the death.
Leaving aside the Posu Road at the mouth of the Yalu River, let's just talk about the other three cities.
No matter which city Zhao Yuan focuses his attack on, the other two cities will send troops to its aid, and the fighting will eventually turn into a decisive battle.
"Occupy Fuzhou first!"
Since the Jin state has abandoned Fuzhou, Zhao Yuan might as well take it.
He ordered Yang Zaixing and Zhang Xian to each lead a vanguard to land, while Hua Rong and Deng Chun led infantry and cavalry to follow.
As the crowd entered Fuzhou City, they found the entire city reduced to charred ruins.
"The Jurchens are desperate," Yang Zaixing joked.
Zhang Xian said, "Once we have set up the defenses, let the laborers come and clean up."
Deng Chun then ordered his troops: "Send men to investigate the wells inside and outside the city to see if they are blocked or poisoned."
"Bring some livestock and let them drink well water first."
Everyone was very puzzled: why did the Jurchens abandon Fuzhou and the cities to the south?
Even if they wanted to reduce their troop strength, they could simply deploy some troops in those cities and let the Ming army slowly gnaw them down one by one.
Who would have thought that not only was the eldest prince of the Jin Dynasty colluding with foreign enemies, but the Jin Dynasty's founding strategist was also causing trouble.
It's so absurd that no one would believe it even if it were made into a story.
The next day, tens of thousands of laborers entered the city and slowly cleared out the charred ruins.
Many wells in the city were blocked, and a few were poisoned.
Extracting poisons in ancient times was not easy, nor was it a strong point of the Jurchens; they couldn't find that many poisons on short notice.
Zhao Yuan then dispatched a small number of troops to occupy Huacheng County and Huacheng Pass.
He led the emperor's personal guards and heavily armored infantry, leisurely arriving at the tidied-up Fuzhou City.
The city was filled with military tents, and all the original houses had been burned down by the Jin soldiers.
"Your Majesty, we have captured an enemy spy who claims to have been sent by Liu E to deliver a message."
"Your Majesty, someone is sneaking out of the mountains to the east. They say they are a servant of the Yang family from Tiezhou (Tangchi)."
"His Majesty......"
For several days in a row, more than a dozen spies were caught.
Zhao Yuan didn't care much about ordinary letters of trust, but Yang Pu's handwritten letter was quite interesting.
"To His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty: I, Yang Pu, a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) from Tiezhou in the Liao Kingdom, sought refuge with Aguda because my clansmen were suffering..."
"I am deeply sinful, and now I have no choice but to die."
"I hope Your Majesty will conquer Tiezhou and treat the Yang family well."
"We could relocate the Yang family to Youzhou, where a few acres of meager land to cultivate would suffice..."
"I have already sown discord between the Jurchens and the Balhae, and it is now widely reported in the Jin capital that the various Balhae tribes wish to surrender to the Ming..."
After reading the letter, Zhao Yuan was stunned for a long time.
Is Aguda's top strategist still alive?
And they even actively helped him to sow discord?
For the Jin state, Hesuguan City (Gaizhou City) could not be lost, not only because it was located on a strategic route.
"Hesuguan" is the name of a Jurchen tribe, but these three characters can be further broken down.
Chapter 3414 Waiting to Collect the Corpse
Hesu means iron.
"Guan" was the name of an institution in the Liao Dynasty, similar to a "chang" in the Song Dynasty.
Hesu Pavilion, also known as the iron smelting site!
Tangchi County, under the jurisdiction of Hesuguan Road, was formerly Tiezhou of the Liao Dynasty.
Once Hesuguan City is lost, the Ming army will continue its advance northeast and will soon be able to occupy the Jin Kingdom's second largest ironworks!
If the Ming army continued to advance north, they could have captured Tongzhou, formerly part of the Liao Dynasty.
At this moment, Wanyan Zongfu and Wanyan Xiyin personally led their troops to garrison Hesuguan City.
There are more than 10,000 Jurchen soldiers here, including even boys as young as thirteen or fourteen.
There was no other way but to go all out and risk everything. Wanyan Zongfu conscripted men with ruthless cruelty.
There were also more than 40,000 soldiers from Bohai, Khitan, Xi and Han people, including a large number of teenagers.
Some recruits didn't even have armor, just a bunch of random weapons.
"The Ming army is still reinforcing its troops and transporting supplies. Large fleets, often numbering in the dozens or even hundreds, frequently sail towards the sea near Fuzhou."
Wanyan Xiyin said,
"More troops from Guangning Prefecture must be transferred here to defend the city."
Guangning Prefecture is roughly equivalent to Panjin City. Its seat was located in the north of Panjin City, and the first Privy Council of the Jin Dynasty was established there.
The Jin dynasty's conscription of men was insane, but the Ming dynasty's troop and grain transport efforts were equally insane.
Thousands of private merchant ships were requisitioned. Although the freight rates were low, the merchants were willing to earn their hard-earned money.
Firstly, there's no shortage of military orders, so they can make money by repeatedly shipping goods.
Secondly, the Bohai Sea has calm waters and is unlikely to be frequented by pirates, making it relatively safe to go out to sea.
The number of Ming troops stationed in Fuzhou City has exceeded 70,000.