In the hot summer, the three provinces of the Central Plains turned into huge disaster areas, with hungry people everywhere.
At this time, it had been more than a month since the flood broke its banks, but the disaster became more and more severe. The Yellow River burst its banks at Tongwaxiang. The gap was now more than ten miles wide. The Yellow River completely changed its course and flowed northeast. After more than a month
After flooding, the Daqing River finally flows out to sea in Lijin County, Jinan Prefecture, and flows into the Bohai Bay.
All the prefectures and counties along the Daqing River were flooded.
Anshan Lake was formed due to the excavation of Anshan Mountain to connect the river to Linqing, and the Wenjue River was diverted. Due to the injection of water from the Yellow River, a brand new large lake was formed, and the Liangshui Lake, which had been almost silted up, was restored.
It has recovered, and even Anshan Lake, which was about to be silted up and destroyed by reclamation in the late Ming Dynasty, has now expanded.
Forming the North Dongping Nanan Mountains, the area reaches one million acres.
The eight-hundred-mile Liangshan water park is back again.
The major diversion of the Yellow River has brought not only these, but the Yellow River flows north, and the river channel that originally went south has lost water after the rainy season and is drying up. Because it was originally an above-ground river, it is now turning into a high embankment.
It separates the Yishu River and the Huaihe River system and becomes the watershed between them.
Further downstream, the Huaihe River, which was originally occupied by the Yellow River, has lost its ability to reenter the sea after hundreds of years of siltation, raising the riverbed, and losing water from the Yellow River upstream.
The Huaihe River can only enter the Yangtze River through Hongze Lake and the canal, and then enter the sea through the Yangtze River.
Now the Yellow River takes over the Daqing River and flows into the sea, but the Daqing River channel is narrow and cannot accommodate large amounts of water. Once the water volume increases, the new river channel will inevitably burst and flood again.
There are 34 disaster-stricken prefectures and counties in the 800-mile disaster area in Shandong.
This great flood brought the Ming and Qing armies to a standstill, and the Qing army suffered a greater blow. Jinan became an isolated city for a time, and Changqing and Licheng were both submerged by floods.
Xuzhou, an important town that was originally located next to the Yellow River and the canal, ended up with the Yellow River drying up and the canal being washed away by a new river channel in Dongping. Xuzhou, a battleground for military strategists, suddenly lost its transportation advantages.
In Xu Dingguo, Henan, Li Ji rebelled, and the Qing troops of Xu and Ying were cut off again.
Although the flood of the Yellow River dealt a heavy blow to the Yuyuan Army, Li Huajing, Liang Min and others were not washed away. Instead, they continued to raise the flag after the flood of the Yellow River. The hungry people everywhere had no choice but to join in. Instead, they
Li Huajing and others are even more vocal.
Li Huajing united with people from all walks of life in eastern Shandong and gathered at Dongping Lake. Taking the eight hundred miles of water as a new base camp, he took advantage of the flood to launch attacks on various prefectures and counties. In addition, Liu Zeqing's general Zheng Longfang and Yao Wenchang who were in the Yanxu area also
Launch an uprising in response and gather together.
At this time, Zhu Yihai did not launch another major offensive in Denglai, but instead scaled back.
He personally guarded Denglai, then Jin Gongyu led the Shence garrison in Qingzhou, Liu Shixun led an army in Haizhou, and Meng Xian led the Zhongsu garrison in Qingdao.
Not only did he not attack Jinan and Xuzhou, he even transferred several imperial camps to Liaodong. Instead, he launched an offensive against Liaodong at this time.
When it comes, the dragon wags its tail to catch him by surprise.
If you, the Tatars, defend the fortified city in the Central Plains, I will go around and attack Liaodong and open up a new battlefield.
Shen Tingyang took Gaizhou first and then Fuzhou, while Zheng Zhilong and Huang Binqing took Lushun.
The Ming army broke through the sea, Gai, Fu, and Jin. The most fertile areas in southern Liaoning were successively conquered by the Ming army. Faced with the Ming army's retreat, the Tatars could only hurriedly order Liaodong to recover again.
Liaodong moved to the sea during the Nurhaci era.
It started from Kuandian Fort in the upper reaches of the Yalu River in the east, passed through Tongyuan Fort in the north of Phoenix City, and reached Tianzhuang Terrace at the mouth of the Liaohe River in the west. It took the initiative to abandon the three areas covering the Jin Dynasty and only sent troops to Haizhou, which the Ming army had abandoned, to defend Liaoyang.
The auxiliary king Shuosei personally moved to Haizhou to guard it, and urgently mobilized the Mongolian tribes to send troops to reinforce Ningyuan, Jinzhou, Liaoyang, and Haicheng. Facing the Ming army entering the Liao Dynasty, they did not dare to easily go south to capture Gai, Fu, and Jin.
However, when the Ming army captured four towns in southern Liaoning, there were not many casualties. For example, Haizhou was captured by Geng Zhongming in a sneak attack, and the 2,500 Mongolian soldiers in Gaizhou simply abandoned the city and fled.
The situation in Fuzhou was similar. The Mongols who were stationed abandoned the Manchu soldiers and ran away. The Manchu soldiers did not regard this as a big enemy and just ran away.
The people in Lushun tried to escape but failed, and were surrounded by Zheng Zhilong.
The trapped Qing army could only resist stubbornly, but Zheng Zhilong's men were strong and strong, and they captured Lushunkou first. The artillery on the gunboats bombarded the infantry landing, and easily captured the former Jinzhou Zhongzuo City, and then advanced by sea and land.
Fight all the way to Jinzhou Acropolis.
The Acropolis of Jinzhou was renamed Ninghai by the Qing government, and it was guarded by the Qing Dynasty. However, facing the Ming army, which was completely superior in terms of numbers and equipment, the Qing army defending the city alone could not hold on for long.
The Ming fleet arrived at Jinzhou Bay, and the artillery was brought ashore and pulled under the city. The artillery fired fiercely, and the soldiers dug trenches under the city and blasted it. It took only seven days to capture Jinzhou.
After capturing Jinzhou City, Geng Zhongming led his troops to the east, swept the Changshan Islands, and then went straight to the Yalu River, landed on Pi Island, and reopened Dongjiang Town.
The number of Qing troops on these islands was very small. Many Geng Zhongming didn't know what was going on when they came over. Some of the Qing troops stationed on the big islands had already fled.
There were also some Han troops stationed there, some of whom were from Dongjiang Town, and some of whom were Geng Zhongming's old subordinates. Naturally, they immediately changed their flags to greet them.
Geng Zhongming went to Dongjiang, while Zheng Zhilong and Shen Tingyang led troops to sweep the Qing army's fortresses and villages on the Liaonan Peninsula. The main force was wiped out, and the remaining fortresses and villages naturally fled or surrendered. Those who held on
, but it is already too stubborn to resist for long.
In the Liaonan Campaign, the Ming army was caught off guard by the Tatars. The entire campaign advanced smoothly and achieved great results. It started with Geng Laoer launching a rebellion in Haizhou and ended with him wiping out the Changshan Islands and reopening the Dongjiang River.
The Ming army captured the Liaonan Peninsula with very few casualties.
The Qing army was completely passive during the entire battle. Geng Zhongming first stole Haizhou and then attacked Liaoyang. Although they defended Liaoyang, they were looted and raided by Geng Laoer, causing heavy losses. Then Shen Tingyang led the imperial camp to kill, and then
Then Zheng Zhilong and Huang Binqing came again.
A steady stream of elite reinforcements from the Ming army arrived, but the Tatars had no troops to mobilize at this time. They had previously transferred most of the troops inside and outside the pass to the south. After Zhu Yihai occupied Denglai, he also moved the troops in the Gyeonggi area.
Many troops and horses were mobilized to go south.
The rebellion in Mobei Mongolia also restrained many Mongolian soldiers and horses in southern Mongolia.
The result was an empty Liaodong. Ning, Jin, Liao and Shen were too busy to take care of themselves. They had no troops to mobilize, and no generals to take charge. They watched the Ming army quickly wipe out Liaonan.
In the end, we can only mention the forbidden sea again and voluntarily abandon the coastal areas of Liaodong.
After losing such a large area of land in southern Liaoning, but not making any progress in the Central Plains and other places, the Tatars can be said to be vomiting blood with anger.
In Dengzhou City.
Zhu Yihai looked at the memorial sent by Zheng Zhilong. He proposed to dig a river in the Jinzhou Isthmus between Jinzhou Bay and Dalian Bay. In this way, the southern area of Jinzhou would become a large island, and there would be no need to worry about the Qing army attacking.
As long as we repair the mountain fortress on Dahei Mountain across the river and garrison an army, it will be completely stable.
The narrowest part of the Jinzhou Isthmus is less than ten miles. This area is also flat land. It is not difficult to dig. There are many people there now. It is enough to mobilize some grain and get some tools. After digging the river, we can dig it again.
Build a city wall less than ten miles away on the south bank and build some forts to make it absolutely stable.
"I remember that when Mao Wenlong was in Dongjiang, he seemed to have proposed such a plan. It seems that the Ministry of War later agreed, but the Ministry of Household Affairs had no money. Later, Zhang Pan of Lushun dug it himself, but was betrayed by the rebels and led the Qing army to sneak attack on the country.
defeat?"
"Your Majesty has a good memory, this is indeed the case." Liu Chao replied.
Zhu Yihai looked at the map of Liaodong and dug a ten-mile canal, or a deep trench. It was indeed not difficult. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was thousands of miles long.
The center of Liaodong is undoubtedly Liaoyang. From the establishment of Liaodong County during the Warring States Period to the rise of the Later Jin Dynasty, Liaoyang has always been the core of the entire Guanwai. It was not until Nurhaci established the capital in Shenyang that it began to become the new center of the Guanwai.
For Zhu Yihai at the moment, he has no intention of attacking Liaoyang or even Shenyang, but he will not give up in Liaonan.
One hair move affects the whole body.
A skin island at the mouth of the Yalu River can strategically contain the Qing army, let alone a Liaonan one.
If necessary, Zhu Yihai actually only needs to control one Jinzhou. The sea, cover, and restoration can all be done without fighting for a while. If the Jinzhou isthmus is excavated, it will indeed be beneficial to defense.
After all, digging a river is considered a natural hazard.
Of course, even Phi Island could fall back then, so just digging a river would not make it possible to sit back and relax.
"How much does it cost to dig a river, build city walls, and forts?" Zhu Yihai asked.
"It is estimated to be quite a lot, but there are many evacuated refugees over there now. They can be requisitioned for free and given food. It can save a lot."
“Is it faster to dig a river or to build a city?”
"If we dig according to the depth and width of the Grand Canal, it will definitely be faster to dig the river. But if we just erect a simple earth wall or wooden fence, it will definitely be faster to erect the wall."
Zhu Yihai calculated carefully. According to the general canal standards, it would be about three meters deep, sixty meters wide, and ten miles long. This project is not too big. If there is a hook machine, a small boss can undertake it.
If you just use manpower to dig, it is actually not difficult if you have enough manpower.
One person can dig about two cubic meters of earth in one day, and this canal is about two million cubic meters of earth. Ten thousand people can dig 20,000 cubic meters in one day, and two million cubic meters in one hundred days.
If there are more people, we can save some time. Even if we dig more and three squares a day, it only takes two months. If there are 20,000 people, it only takes a few months.
If the canal is dug narrower and is dug according to the standards of a moat, the amount of work will be smaller.
Of course, it cannot be too narrow or shallow, otherwise it will be easily filled.
But in general, digging the Jinzhou Isthmus is indeed similar to building a moat. The Tongzi River in Beijing is more than fifty meters wide and five meters deep.
Now there are a large number of evacuated people in southern Liaoning organized to dig rivers.
The excavated soil can be used to build a city wall thirty to fifty meters apart on the south bank of the river, dig the river to repair the city and protect the slopes, build forts at the same time, and add a few small bastions. The success is not high, but it is more labor-intensive.
.
But if you hurry up, it is estimated that two months will be enough.
Zhu Yihai can transport grain from Dengzhou to supply it.
After the river is dug, the benefits are obvious. Indeed, the peninsula will become an island in the future. There is no need to worry about attacks by the Qing army. Dalian Lushun still has a lot of land suitable for farming. When the time comes, it will be cultivated and defended.
Even Lushun is a natural ice-free port and an excellent military port, and Dalian is also a very good port.
Once the river is dug, a line of defense will be built in the back, and then Jinzhou City, Dalian Port, and Lushun Port will naturally be erected. Then a navy will be stationed in Lushun, Dalian, and then on the Daheishan Mountain to the north of the river, in the former Goguryeo Bisha. On the basis of a mountain city, repairing and strengthening a fortress and stationing a team of troops will not only strengthen the mountain, it will be like a nail being driven firmly here.
Lushun and Denglai face each other across the sea, watch and help each other, and can completely block the Bohai Bay, constantly threatening Liaodong.
"Looking at it this way, it is indeed worth repairing. After the repairs are completed, people can be settled on Jinzhou Island to concentrate on farming. I sent a message to Liaodong Governor Shen Tingyang to let him do it quickly."
