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

Chapter 660: Guanning Army’s Thoughts

Zhu Shenzhui issued an edict in his capacity as regent, which was approved by the Cabinet and the Imperial Household Department, conferring upon Wu Xiang the title of Earl of Changxing and upon Zu Dashou the title of Earl of Zhongyi.

The rest of the Guanning Army generals were rewarded, either by promotion or by giving titles to their sons and wives. In addition, Zhu Shenzhu also wrote a letter to Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou, recognizing their contributions in Liaodong over the years and encouraging them, saying that the Guanning Army was the pillar of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong. Over the years, the court owed the Guanning Army a lot for various reasons, but the Guanning Army still guarded the border for the country and fought on the battlefield, which was really not easy.

Zhu Shenzhui was now in charge of the government and hoped that they would restrain the Guanning Army, garrison Liaodong, and continue to defend the country against foreign aggression. In addition, Zhu Shenzhui also gave Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang a privilege, that is, they did not need to be restrained by external forces when fighting in Liaodong, but only needed to stop Huang Taiji from heading south.

Zhu Shenzui told them that the court's bottom line was Shanhaiguan. As long as Shanhaiguan was not lost, the Guanning Army could defend the area north of Shanhaiguan as they pleased. The eunuchs sent by the court to supervise the army would not restrict their military actions too much, nor would they be held accountable for the gains and losses of a single place or city.

In other words, the imperial court gave the Guanning Army great autonomy on the battlefield. As long as the Guanning Army could defend Liaodong, the imperial court would not force the Guanning Army to fight a field battle with Huang Taiji in the hope of regaining lost territory. Nor would the imperial court limit the Guanning Army's combat power to one city or one place, forcing them to fight desperately when they knew they could not win, ultimately allowing Huang Taiji to seize the opportunity to defeat them one by one and thus causing a great defeat.

The arrival of the imperial edict surprised Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou. They had been worried about the great changes in the court and didn't know what to do for a while. So they figured out an attitude of burying their heads in the sand and pretending to be ignorant.

But after all, the Guanning Army is the army of the imperial court and the first line of defense against Huang Taiji. Once the capital is stabilized, they will inevitably think of them in Liaodong and will adopt a corresponding attitude.

But no matter how they thought, Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou did not expect the court to issue such an imperial decree. It was really unexpected. They originally thought that the court would at most maintain the status quo, or re-send the Liaodong governor and the military supervisor eunuch to Liaodong to continue the previous Liaodong strategy. But they never expected that Zhu Shenzhui would be so bold as to give the Guanning Army great autonomy and give Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou the title of earl.

Can the Guanning Army fight? Of course they can!
The Guanning Army was the most elite army of the Ming Dynasty. Since the Ming Dynasty was defeated in the Battle of Sarhu, the Liaodong War became the top priority of the Ming Dynasty. During the Tianqi period, Emperor Tianqi appointed his teacher Sun Chengzong to supervise Ji and Liao, and the Guanning Army was also established at this time.

It has been more than ten years since Sun Chengzong founded the Guanning Army. Not only is the Guanning Army the best-treated and best-equipped field force in the entire Ming Dynasty, it also has powerful field cavalry and all kinds of firearms. Even in field battles, the Guanning Iron Cavalry and the Eight Banners are not afraid of fighting each other, and each has won and lost with equal numbers.

However, the Guanning Army also had many problems. The first was that the number of Guanning Iron Cavalry was too small. On the surface, there were 30,000 Guanning Iron Cavalry, but in reality there were only 3,000. Moreover, most of these 3,000 were in Wu Xiang's hands, and the rest were in the hands of Zu Dashou and other generals.

Although the Guanning Iron Cavalry was capable of fighting, their insufficient numbers meant that they could not play a decisive role on the battlefield. Moreover, most of the ordinary Guanning troops were just infantry, and they were no match for the elite Eight Banners who came and went like the wind in field battles, so they could only rely on defense lines to garrison.

There are many reasons for this situation. Let's not talk about the others for now. The biggest reason is that there is no money. The annual military expenditure in Liaodong is huge. The military expenditure in Liaodong alone accounts for most of the entire fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty, and it is often insufficient. Under such circumstances, it is considered good for the Guanning Army to have such combat power. However, after Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he was determined to recover Liaodong and repeatedly asked the Guanning Army to take the initiative to go to war with Huang Taiji. This put great pressure on the Guanning Army.

And there is another point, that is the issue of the Ningjin Defense Line. The Ningjin Defense Line was first set up by Sun Chengzong. The purpose of Sun Chengzong's building the Ningjin Defense Line was to recover Liaodong, using the castle as a stronghold to steadily advance, thereby oppressing the living space of the Jiannu in Liaodong.

This line of defense played a huge role back then. Sun Chengzong's strategic plan was also well implemented, and it really put Nurhaci under a lot of pressure. The Later Jin Dynasty was almost on the verge of collapse at that time.

But this was a different time. Sun Chengzong's operation at the time was based on a comprehensive economic blockade of Liaodong, and he had the full support of the court, especially the full financial support of Wei Zhongxian, which led to the victory at that time.

But later, Yuan Chonghuan ascended to the position of the commander-in-chief of Ji-Liao, and Sun Chengzong's blockade strategy against Liaodong was destroyed. In addition, after Huang Taiji ascended the throne, he not only obtained a huge amount of materials through smuggling from the Ming Dynasty, breaking the Ming Dynasty's economic blockade of the then Later Jin, but also attacked Mongolia and expelled Lin Danhan in cooperation with the Khorchin and Chahar tribes, thus changing the entire situation. At this time, the finances of the Ming Dynasty also changed because Emperor Chongzhen killed Wei Zhongxian. The court could not even collect taxes, so how could it meet the huge military expenditures for the Liaodong war? Since Chongzhen ascended the throne, Liaodong's military expenditures have been seriously insufficient. The shortage of military expenditures naturally led to the inability to maintain the Ningjin defense line, and even the combat effectiveness of the Guanning Army declined a lot.

Just imagine, the Guanning Army had to maintain the army's combat and ensure the stability of the defense line, and even recover Liaodong when the military expenditure was insufficient. How could this be done? Moreover, Emperor Chongzhen paid special attention to Liaodong, and he did not care about the actual situation and ordered the Guanning Army not to lose a city or a place, let alone avoid fighting. As a result, whenever Huang Taiji led his troops to attack, the Guanning Army knew that they could not win, but they did not dare to retreat. They could only bite the bullet and stay alone, and were eventually surrounded and defeated one by one.

This was the case with Zu Dashou's defeat at Dalinghe. Didn't Zu Dashou, who had fought all his life, know that Dalinghe was undefendable? Of course he understood this truth, but facing the strong pressure from Emperor Chongzhen, he could only risk defending Dalinghe to the death. In the end, he ran out of ammunition and food and failed to break out. He could only pretend to surrender to paralyze the enemy and escape alone.

But now that Zhu Shenzhui has given them autonomy on the battlefield, the situation is different. Once the war breaks out, both Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou will have the right to be flexible and autonomous on the battlefield. If they can defend, they will defend. If they can't, they can retreat tactically. They don't have to worry about the gains and losses of a city or a place. Even if they lose the front line of defense, it is not a big problem. The key is to defend Shanhaiguan. As long as Shanhaiguan is in hand, there will be no problem as long as Huang Taiji cannot attack Shanhaiguan.

This right was unprecedented, and Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou were extremely surprised. They were both experienced fighters, and they knew that once they had this right, the battle in Liaodong would be much easier. As long as they did not advance alone, the entire Guanning Army would be united and the rear would be stable, even if they could not defeat Huang Taiji in a field battle, they would have no problem garrisoning.

In addition, he did not have to worry about the consequences of being punished by the court for voluntarily giving up the defense line. In addition, the title of earl made him very excited. The title of earl was the highest honor for a military general in the Ming Dynasty. Qi Jiguang fought all his life without a single defeat, but he was not awarded the title in the end. Li Chengliang, the general of Liaodong, had been in Liaodong for decades and was the biggest military leader in the Ming Dynasty, but he was only awarded the title of Earl of Ningyuan in the end.

Now Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou have both become earls, one is the Earl of Changxing and the other is the Earl of Zhongyi. How can they not be ecstatic?

It was for these reasons that Wu Xiang, Zu Dashou, and other generals of the Guanning Army in Liaodong stood on Zhu Shenzhu's side without hesitation, expressing their support for Zhu Shenzhu's regent and their attitude of obeying the imperial edict. As a result, there was no turmoil in Liaodong, and everything remained the same. In fact, it was even better than when Chongzhen was in power.

"Brother Lianghuan, your ideas have always been better than mine. You have to make the decision on this important matter. Now Huang Taiji intends to repeat his old tricks. How should my Guanning Army respond? Please teach me, Lianghuan." Zu Dashou said to Wu Xiang, his face full of expectation.

Wu Xiang thought for a moment and asked, "What's the situation in Jinzhou now?"

"Huang Taiji went to war and left Daishan in Shengjing. Daishan is not an easy person to deal with. The two red flags under his command showed an intention to attack. Although I know that Daishan did this to suppress my troops and fear that my Guanning Army would come to support us, I have to be on guard! Once the troops are mobilized, the Ningjin defense line will have loopholes. Although the court has given us autonomy for now, what if..."

Wu Xiang nodded. Zu Dashou was right. Some things should be prepared for the worst. And battlefield autonomy should not be used in this way. Having the Ningjin Defense Line in hand would be of great benefit to the garrison in Shanhaiguan. They must not give it up unless it is absolutely necessary. Once lost, they could never get it back. And the most important point was that Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou knew in their hearts that the reason why the court gave them this right and made them earls was because of the Guanning Army. The Guanning Army was stationed in Liaodong, and they were the generations of generals in Liaodong. Their roots were in Liaodong. Once Liaodong fell into the hands of Huang Taiji and the Guanning Army lost all its territories, was there any need for the Guanning Army to exist?
By that time, the court would not have to intervene, the spit of the people in the world would be enough to drown them. Without their territory, the Guanning Army would become rootless and useless. Even if they were earls, what would it matter? Since the court could confer titles and take them away, they knew this clearly.

"Your troops must not move!" Wu Xiang said this firmly, and then he added: "The troops at Shanhaiguan cannot move either. Once Huang Taiji enters from Jizhou, Shanhaiguan will be short of troops and he will most likely turn around and attack. If he takes Shanhaiguan, you and I will both die without a burial place."

"It has only been a short time since the Jisi Incident. You and I both know how passive we were back then. It would be better to report this matter to the court as soon as possible and let the regent handle it properly."

"Report to the court?" Zu Dashou was stunned. According to Wu Xiang, the Guanning Army should keep its troops on hold, neither return to defend nor provide reinforcements, and continue to garrison Liaodong. As for Huang Taiji's situation, let the court solve it on its own. Is this feasible?
(End of this chapter)