Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1118 Leaving
"Victory! Victory! Our army defeated the Jiannu in Liaodong! We captured Shenyang! The eight banners of the Jiannu were completely wiped out in one fell swoop! Our army won a great victory! A great victory!"

Just as Wang Jinwu led his troops into the city, an express message of 800 miles to the capital was being delivered back by fast horses all the way. As the news arrived at the rear of the Liaoxi Corridor from Liaodong, then entered Shanhaiguan, and went straight to the capital along the way via Jizhou, countless people were shocked, and then overjoyed in an instant.

Since Nurhaci launched his rebellion during the Wanli period and the Ming army suffered a disastrous defeat at Sarhu, the Jiannu became an indelible shadow of the Ming Dynasty and has always hung over this empire.

Especially during the Ji Yi Rebellion, the Jiannu, led by Huang Taiji, directly entered the Great Wall, fought all the way to the capital, and showed off their strength at the gate of the Ming capital, shocking the world.

At that time, the emperor, officials and people of the Ming Dynasty were all worried about this. Moreover, due to the bandits within the country, the entire country was riddled with holes and was on the verge of collapse.

Many people felt the signs of the Ming Dynasty's collapse, and were even more worried that the court would collapse under such internal and external troubles. But no one expected that only ten years later, the Ming Dynasty would actually have a day of revival.

With Zhu Shenzhu's Jingnan Rebellion, he directly captured the capital and took control of the government. Later, he ascended the throne through the abdication of Emperor Chongzhen. The Ming Dynasty became different from then on.

Not only did he solve the problem of bandits, but he also stopped the Jian Nu army which was at the peak of its power. He rectified the administration of officials, opened up maritime trade, and through a series of measures he eased the financial situation, stabilized the local areas, and restored production. Over the years, the domestic situation of the Ming Dynasty has gradually improved and the political situation has gradually stabilized.

Although most people felt all this, and admitted that Zhu Shenzhui was much better than Chongzhen as emperor, and that the Ming Dynasty had a faint sense of rejuvenation, many people felt that the Liaodong Jiannu was not so easy to deal with.

Moreover, over the years, except for the initial Battle of the Great Wall and the subsequent Siege of Jinzhou, the Ming Dynasty did not fight a major war with the Jiannu on the Liaodong battlefield, and even tried its best to avoid a large-scale war with the other side. In order to better defend, at the instruction of the emperor, the original military farming policy in Liaodong during the Yuan Chonghuan period was directly cancelled, and the Liao people in the Liaoxi Corridor were directly relocated to the interior. As a result, except for the main cities and fortresses on the Ningjin line, the Liaoxi Corridor became an uninhabited area, and even completely abandoned the defensive tactics originally adopted by the Ming Dynasty.

This change made many people dissatisfied, and they felt that the emperor was too weak in the Liaodong war. Instead of sending troops to garrison the territory that was finally conquered, he directly abandoned it and only carried out key defense of a few cities and fortresses. How could he defeat the Jiannu in this way?
But even so, Zhu Shenzhu still forcefully implemented his strategic deployment in Liaodong, and was not moved at all. The reason is very simple. Liaodong is different from the interior. The military strength and combat effectiveness of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong are limited, and it does not have the ability to directly confront the Eight Banners. In this case, if you defend everywhere, you will inevitably fall into the possibility of being defeated one by one. In addition, Yuan Chonghuan's so-called Liaodong farming has no benefit at all. Moreover, because of the farming, once the harvest comes, it will attract the Jiannu to take the initiative to attack, harvest food, and abduct the people. How can this be used for military purposes? It is clearly aiding the enemy.

Change the previous strategic deployment, focus on defense and even carry out flexible defense when necessary, regardless of the gains and losses of one place. As long as the exits of Shanhaiguan and the Liaoxi Corridor are controlled by the Ming army, the Ming Dynasty will be able to implement a military and economic blockade of the entire Liaodong.

This tactic has played a good role in these years, and it is precisely because of this that the Jiannu's life has become increasingly difficult. After the Ming army reformed the military system and improved its finances after the emperor, it solved the needs of military pay and supplies, which also allowed the Ming army's combat effectiveness to begin to recover.

After several years of preparation, the Ming Dynasty finally launched a full-scale attack on Liaodong. After the battle in Liaodong began, although the Ming army made good progress and there were often reports of victory from Liaodong, no one believed that the Ming Dynasty could really win Liaodong in one battle and completely solve the problem of the Jiannu in Liaodong.

So when the battle report of the Ming army's capture of Shenyang (Shenyang) and annihilation of the main forces of the Eight Banners was sent back via an express route of 800 miles, everyone who heard the news could hardly believe their ears.

What? Jian Nu was destroyed? Shenyang was taken? Is this true? Countless people were skeptical, but the war report could not be false. When the news spread, although many people still found it hard to believe, the joy brought by the great victory made everyone extremely happy.

Gaoyang, Sun Chengzong hadn't slept for three days. Since the news came that the Ming army began to attack and besiege Shengjing, Sun Chengzong's sleep, which was not much every day, became even less. He now basically stayed in the study every day, and added countless records to the map hanging on the wall. His eyes wandered on the map from time to time, or stayed at the location of Shengjing and stared for a long time, muttering to himself. Although he had lost a lot of weight, his spirit was always in high spirits.

"Almost...almost..." After a short nap of less than an hour, Sun Chengzong woke up again. The first thing he did when he woke up was to ask the General Senate Office whether there was any military report. When he learned that the military report had not arrived yet, Sun Chengzong stared at the map again, muttering as he read, his eyes shining.

The situation in Liaodong is not just good now, it is very good! With the Ming army attacking Shengjing, the battle of Liaodong has reached the most critical moment. Once the Ming army takes Shengjing, the battle of Liaodong will be completely won. Not only can they capture the capital of Jiannu, but they can also eliminate the main force of Jiannu's Eight Banners in this battle. Even if there are still Jiannu who escaped and resisted stubbornly in Liaodong, they will not be able to do anything.

As the former commander of Ji-Liao, Sun Chengzong had dreamed that he would one day lead the Ming army to conquer Shengjing and completely solve the Jiannu problem. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so in his lifetime, and as he grew older, the elderly Sun Chengzong could no longer return to Liaodong to lead the army, which was a pity for him.

Because of this obsession, Sun Chengzong paid special attention to the war in Liaodong. Because of this, he understood the key to this war and kept a close eye on the changes in the war situation.

Just as Sun Chengzong was watching intently and calculating how long it would take to capture Shengjing, there was suddenly a noise outside.

"What's going on? Didn't I tell you not to make any noise in the mansion these days?" Sun Chengzong was displeased and turned to the door and shouted. Usually, whenever Sun Chengzong spoke in the study, someone would answer immediately outside the study, either his youngest son Sun Hao or a servant arranged by Sun Hao.

But today was strange. After Sun Chengzong finished speaking, no one outside answered his question, which made Sun Chengzong frown.

Standing up, Sun Chengzong strode to the door and pushed it open. Looking around, Sun Hao and the servants who usually waited at the door were not there. Sun Chengzong couldn't help but feel a little angry. At this time, there was a burst of noise outside, which seemed to come from the front yard. Because it was far away and Sun Chengzong was old and his ears were not working well, he didn't hear clearly what the noise was about.

Just as Sun Chengzong was about to continue calling for help and ask someone, he saw his son Sun Hao stumbling over from the front yard. Because he ran too fast, the boy accidentally tripped when entering the backyard and almost fell. He half-knelt on the ground and quickly supported himself with his left hand, stood up shakily, and continued to run towards Sun Chengzong.

Seeing this, Sun Chengzong was furious. He was usually very strict with his children. It was fine if his son was not good at studying, but how could he become so impetuous? How could he be so flustered?
Just when Sun Chengzong was about to reprimand Sun Hao, he saw Sun Hao running, dancing and shouting, "Great victory! Great victory! Hahaha! Great victory in Liaodong! Father! Father! Great victory in Liaodong! The Jiannu are finished! The Jiannu are finished!"

Sun Chengzong was stunned for a moment, swallowing back the reprimand that was about to come out of his mouth. He stared at Sun Hao and asked hurriedly: "What did you say? What great victory? What great victory in Liaodong?"

Although Sun Chengzong had expected it and heard clearly what Sun Hao shouted, he still couldn't believe it was true. In his opinion, from the news sent back yesterday, the Ming army did have a huge advantage in Shengjing, and it was only a matter of time to defeat Shengjing. However, according to Sun Chengzong's judgment, it would take some effort to really take down the Ming army in Shengjing. Now the Eight Banners in Shengjing still have the ability to garrison, and the real victory or defeat is far from the final moment. Even if it is faster, it will take at least half a month.

But now Sun Hao said that the great victory in Liaodong meant that the Jiannu were finished. How could this be possible? Did he serve as a soldier for so many years in vain? Did he fight so many battles in Liaodong in vain? When did the Jiannu become so useless? Did they become paper-mache?

"Father, it's true! It's true!" Sun Hao ran to Sun Chengzong in two steps and said excitedly, "The express delivery of 800 miles has reached the capital. The General Senate just sent a report from Liaodong. Our Ming Dynasty won a great victory in Liaodong and has captured Shenyang! The main force of the Eight Banners of the Jiannu was annihilated in Shenyang, and countless Jiannu nobles and ministers were captured. Elder Wang has led his troops into Shenyang!"

"Ah!" Sun Chengzong was so surprised that he couldn't help but tremble slightly. He asked anxiously: "Where is the military newspaper? Where is the military newspaper?"

"Here, I'm reading it for you..." Before Sun Hao could say that he would read the military newspaper to Sun Chengzong, Sun Chengzong reached out and snatched the newspaper away.

Opening the military report, Sun Chengzong squinted his eyes to read the contents. The contents of this military report were very detailed, and it was exactly the same as the military report Wang Jinwu sent to the emperor. Sun Chengzong first glanced at the military report, and then read it word by word.

The military report detailed the tactics Wang Jinwu used to successfully carry out the blast, open a gap, and then lead his troops to attack Shengjing and win the war.

As Sun Chengzong understood the contents and compared them with the previous battle situations, he finally understood why Wang Jinwu was able to capture Shengjing so quickly and win a great victory.

This tactic was simply out of the blue, and no one had ever used it before. But Wang Jinwu used it, and it worked so well, which was incredible. But these were all side issues. The key was the great victory in Liaodong. Although the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and Dorgon of Jiannu had escaped, the main forces of the Eight Banners and the nobles of Jiannu were wiped out in this battle. Moreover, the Ming army was still chasing Dorgon and looking for the whereabouts of Bumbutai and the little emperor. Even if they could escape, it would not take long for them to be found.

Moreover, after this battle, the overall situation in Liaodong was settled, and the Jiannu could be said to have been completely resolved. Even if Dorgon and others had not been captured, they could not cause any trouble. It can be said that the Liaodong issue that had troubled the Ming Dynasty for 30 years was solved from then on, and the Ming Dynasty had no worries about the recovery of Liaodong.

"Good! Good! Good!" Sun Chengzong smiled brightly, saying three good words in a row, and laughed out loud. This laugh was so hearty, the Jian Nu had always been a thorn in his side, and now that the Jian Nu was destroyed, he had no regrets, so how could he not laugh?
On the side, Sun Hao was also very happy to see Sun Chengzong laughing so happily. He knew too well the knot in his father's heart. Now that he finally saw the result, he was naturally happy after he was relieved. But soon Sun Hao felt something was wrong, because Sun Chengzong stopped laughing after laughing a few times, but the expression on his face was still full of smiles, and he stood there motionless.

"Father? Father?" Sun Hao felt something was wrong and hurried forward to ask, but Sun Chengzong did not respond at all, and the smile was still frozen on his face. Seeing this, Sun Hao hurriedly held Sun Chengzong's hand, but he could not feel his pulse. He reached out again and found that Sun Chengzong had stopped breathing.

In an instant, Sun Hao burst into tears and cried loudly while holding Sun Chengzong's body...

(End of this chapter)