"The governor previously captured Juehua Island and harassed Ningjin in western Liaoning, forcing Shuosei to personally guard Ningyuan City and not dare to leave without permission. He even sent troops from Mongolia to reinforce western Liaoning. No soldier in western Liaoning dared to leave.
The last general was able to calmly deploy his troops in Liaodong. Previously, the last general attacked Liaoyang. Although the Tatars who defended the city were tenacious, they failed to capture it, but they also forced the Liaodong Tatars to panic."
Under the big tree on Lianyun Island, Geng Zhongming and Shen Tingyang reported on the current situation in Liaodong. Generally speaking, they were quite optimistic.
There were not many Tatars outside the Pass now. They were constantly migrating into the Pass and were mobilized. Elite troops were stationed in Beijing and sent to the front lines.
It can be said that the Tatars outside the pass are no longer drawing one out of three. Basically, all the official bannermen have been drawn out, and even more than half of the Yuding and Youding have been drawn out. In addition, the Han military flags in Liaodong and the Han people are also being drawn out.
This time the Ming army's multi-channel linkage made things worse outside the Pass. Even though Shen Tingyang didn't seem to have fought many battles in western Liaoning, this kind of coastal naval landing and delivery and battalion-based harassment operations made the situation worse. The Tatars have the biggest headache.
If you want to intercept and contain them, it's very difficult.
We must always be on guard against them coming to attack the city, and we must send troops to garrison it. Otherwise, if there is a defensive loophole somewhere, the Ming army may gather together to besiege it at any time, or even leave after the attack.
However, if we do not concentrate our forces to intercept the Ming army, but instead divide our forces for garrisoning, and the strength of the troops seems to be stretched thin, the final result will be that nothing can be done. We can barely mobilize a few mobile troops, but because of the small number of troops, we dare not stay too far away. Castle, and then the Ming army moved along the coast, coming in and out, with the navy to support them, and they couldn't stop it at all.
All I could do was tired of running around and watching the Ming army looting everywhere.
Although the cities and fortresses were defended, and even some forts were able to defend themselves, villages that lacked the ability to defend themselves were inevitably plundered, with their population, livestock, money and food taken away, and even post stations, bridges, and roads destroyed. These were all It makes people very angry and uncomfortable.
Not to mention that the Qing army in western Liaoning was imprisoned in the city, and even young men had to be temporarily mobilized to assist in defense. These undoubtedly affected production and increased military expenditures.
In contrast, the Ming army's tactics of breaking up into parts and harassing the coast did not lead to a big battle, but the harvest was still pretty good.
Geng Zhongming's success in Liaodong is also related to the containment and cooperation in western Liaoning.
"The Four Guards in Southern Liaoning are the richest source of money and food for the Tatars outside the customs. This time we can take advantage of their emptiness and raid them hard."
The Four Guards in Southern Liaoning mentioned by Geng Zhongming refer to the original Haizhou Guard, Gaizhou Guard, Fuzhou Guard and Jinzhou Guard in the Ming Dynasty. They are exactly the so-called areas rich in water conservancy and native products.
I think back then, in the first year of Tianqi, Mao Wenlong, a trained guerrilla under the governor of Guangning, Wang Huazhen, led more than 200 soldiers to the coastal areas of eastern Liaoning, recruited Liao people to restore Liao territory, occupied Lushun, Pidao and coastal islands, and then invaded southern Liaoning. The various places greatly restrained Hou Jin's attack on western Liaoning.
Under Mao Wenlong's harassment and attack, Nurhaci could only force the coastal residents to retreat to a place sixty miles away from the sea, and move the people of Jinzhou to Fuzhou.
Let Liu Xingzuo manage the Han people in Sanwei.
From the Apocalypse to the early years of Chongzhen, the Ming and Qing Dynasties fought over Lushun several times.
Liu Xingzuo was dissatisfied with Nurhaci's Manchu-Han policies and intended to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and surrender to the Ming Dynasty. When the incident was revealed, the Tatars massacred 100,000 people in Fuzhou.
After that, a more thorough ban on relocation and maritime ban was implemented on the two prefectures of Jin and Fuzhou. The residents of Fuzhou rushed to the north after killing those who had not been exhausted, and drove all the men and women of Yong and Gai to the north.
Only 20,000 Mongolians were left to guard the city. The Liao people stopped farming and abandoned hundreds of miles of land.
Sixteen locations were designated along the coast, with one hundred people stationed at each location.
During the Nurhaci era, the sea was forcibly removed and military defense areas and residential areas were demarcated. The dividing line started from Gushan in the east, passed through Tongyuan, and ended in Gaizhou in the west, forming a pattern in which Han people farmed inside and Yi people defended outside.
Since Mao Wenlong was killed, Dongjiang Town has been in a state of decline. Since then, it has experienced several civil strife. In the Tatars and internal strife, Dongjiang has been unable to play any role. When Denglai rebelled, Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and others voted for the Jin Dynasty, even more
This allowed Hou Jin to greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of firearms and naval forces.
The strategic deployment outside the customs during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty also had its shortcomings. First of all, although there were sea control tactics earlier, they were not paid enough attention to. There were 300,000 troops stationed in the battlefield in western Liaoning, but the maximum number of troops in the east coast of Liaoning did not exceed 30,000. Moreover, Mao Wenlong wanted to
The troops are deployed on the coastal islands, and the troops are scattered, making it difficult to achieve greater results in each operation.
Once Mao Wenlong dies, Dongjiang will be even less useful.
In fact, in Zhu Yihai's view, the Ming Dynasty at that time had no choice. First of all, although the Ming Dynasty's navy was stronger than the Tatars, it was not a real navy. After being unable to defend Port Arthur, it was difficult to retreat to the islands and form an effective navy.
Without deterrence, the imperial court could not supply more troops and horses overseas.
In addition, the composition of Dongjiang Town is complex and difficult to control, which ultimately led to Dongjiang's failure.
For the Tatars, the Dongjiang River had indeed seriously threatened them, forcing them to forcibly move to the sea. You must know that this sea moving order basically gave up most of the peninsula, starting from Gaizhou in the west and ending at the mouth of the Liaohe River.
, and the Tongyuan Fort in the middle is between Benxi and Fengcheng, two hundred miles away from the mouth of the Yalu River.
However, under the influence of the Little Glacier at that time, Liaodong was actually the same as Guan Nei, suffering from disasters every year. However, agricultural development in Liaoshen was lagging behind. Crops were ripe only once a year, and the yield was far lower than that in Guan Nei. At that time, the cultivated land in Siwei in southern Liaoning accounted for
It covers more than half of the cultivated land in Liaodong.
However, the Tatars were forced to take all the land 400 miles along the coast without occupying it, leaving them facing a serious food crisis.
But just in this bad situation, Hou Jin fought his way out, punched Mongolia, kicked North Korea, entered the customs several times to plunder, and finally captured western Liaoning and finally entered the Central Plains.
Before entering the customs and after conquering Dongjiang, the Tatars had actually begun to restore the coastal areas.
Although the surrendered generals such as Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming were resettled in Haizhou with their troops, the four guards in southern Liaoning also broke the original ban on moving to the sea and started farming again.
After several years of recovery, it has actually recovered well.
The Han people cultivated the land, the Mongols garrisoned it, and some Manchus supervised and guarded it.
That's the pattern.
However, precisely because the original four hundred miles of coastal land was restored, the guards were diluted.
During the Nurhaci period, Gaizhou was once garrisoned by 20,000 Mongolians, but now there are only 2,500 troops stationed in Gaizhou city. They are mainly Mongolians, with fewer Manchus and a small number of Han people.
And after several deployments, the 2,500 Qing troops guarding the city of Gaizhou were no longer elite enough. They were mainly composed of Yu Ding and You Ding. There were even very few artillery pieces in the Gaizhou city defense, and there were no red cannons.
All the red cannons have been transferred to the Central Plains.
Geng Zhongming was not bragging when he said he could easily win Gaizhou.
Although he did not capture Liaoyang, it was not that he could not capture it, but he did not want to suffer too many casualties. Soldiers and horses were his capital. If he failed to fight for it, he, the Duke of Liao, would naturally be unstable.
But Gaizhou is not as good as Liaoyang. There are no red cannons here, and the city defense is not as strong as Liaoyang. The defenders, the strong men in the city, money and food, etc. are not as good as Liaoyang. What's more important is that it is close to the sea, and the Ming Navy is there to help. Geng Zhongming Naturally, you have to show off your abilities and flex your muscles.
Otherwise, the Admiral of Liaodong will not have any weight in his words in front of the Governor of Liaodong.
Shen Tingyang also knows the situation of the four guards in southern Liaoning. They only have 10,000 people in total, and they are still second-line troops. Geng Zhongming has just returned from the Liaodong raid. Claimed to be fifty thousand troops, Shen Tingyang received a report that he had about thirty thousand troops under his command.
No matter how many are new recruits and how many are strong men, the number is truly astonishing.
Of course, the emperor gave Geng Zhongming only 5,000 troops in Dongjiang Town, plus 1,800 auxiliary troops, for a total of 6,800. In addition, Dongjiang was given some quotas for regiment training.
From now on, the imperial court will need to pay for these things.
Shen Tingyang now has strong soldiers and horses under his command. He has 5,000 Royal Marines, plus 5,000 infantry, a total of 10,000 Royal Camps. In addition, Zhang Guozhu, Gao Jinzhong, Li Chengdong, and Zhang Tianlu are attached, and they have also recruited many new soldiers. Come.
The emperor gave each of the four generals 3,000 troops, and another 12,000. Although most of them were new soldiers, many were even bandits recruited in Hebei.
However, the Qing army here in Liaodong is not strong anyway, and is only half as good in comparison.
The Four Guards in Southern Liaoning and Haizhou had been attacked, burned, and wiped out by Geng Zhongming.
Now Gaizhou is besieged and has become an isolated city.
With the 2,500 defenders, even if all the young men in the city were temporarily recruited to defend the city, Geng Zhongming was not afraid at all.
"Report!"
A supervisory soldier came quickly.
"Master Governor, Deputy Governor Li Chengdong sent someone to report urgently that the Tatar soldiers in Gaizhou City abandoned the city and fled!"
Shen Tingyang and Geng Zhongming were both stunned.
The Qing army in Gaizhou City was in great panic when they saw the Ming army's land and sea meeting, and finally faced Geng Zhongming's troops who appeared under the city, with no fighting spirit at all.
The Mongols in the city were shocked and fled out of the north gate.
These Mongolians suddenly abandoned the city and fled, which caught Geng Zhongming's troops outside the city by surprise. Moreover, these people were determined to break through. They were very fierce and desperate. Geng Zhong's battalion in the north of the city was directly broken through.
When Xu Degong arrived, seeing how fierce they were, he simply ordered to let them go and let them break away. The reason was that they should not be restrained when they returned to the army, but in fact he was unwilling to fight forcefully.
"Report!"
"Commander-in-Chief Xu Decheng has invaded Gaizhou City and recaptured Gaizhou!"
Xu Degong sent the Mongols to break through the encirclement and march north, taking advantage of the situation to enter the city and report their victory.
Although Shen Tingyang let Geng's troops escape from the Qing army in the city, he did not punish him. In front of Geng Zhongming, he praised Geng's army for being brave.
Geng Zhongming felt relieved when he heard his praise, as long as he didn't blame him.
"The Tatars fled north. General Mo is willing to lead his troops to pursue them, and they must be annihilated!"
Shen Tingyang waved his hand.
"Forget it, don't chase the poor bandits, don't stop them when they return to the army, just run away. Anyway, if you run away, the monk can't run away from the temple. Go first to Gaizhou City."
"General Xu entered Gaizhou first and should be remembered for his first contribution!"
"Let's go to Gaizhou City!"
The battle plan to capture Gaizhou City had not yet been drawn up. As a result, the Mongols in Gaizhou City abandoned the Manchu Tatars and ran away. The Manchu Tatars had few soldiers and wanted to command Han soldiers and Han people to defend the city, but Xu Degong directly When they entered the city, the Han soldiers even turned against the enemy in front of the battle line and killed all the Tatars to welcome the king's army!
Shen Tingyang got on the boat and crossed the Daqing River to Gaizhou. On the boat, he personally presented his victory to His Majesty the Emperor of Laizhou!