Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 121: The Way to Win
The sky gradually darkened, and the lights in the hall flickered.

There was smokeless charcoal burning in the stove, and the temperature was just right. Exhausted Yue Ling lay there quietly for a while.

Lin Daiyu raised her little hand and gently played with Yue Ling's hair, then silently looked at Yue Ling's profile, sizing him up curiously.

"It's going smoothly, I guess. But things are definitely heading in a bad direction."

After thinking for a while, Lin Daiyu comforted him, "A general should be wise, trustworthy, benevolent, brave, and strict. Brother Yue has all five of these qualities, so what can't he do? Just do what Brother Yue thinks is right, and you will definitely be right."

Hearing this, Yue Ling couldn't help but smile and said, "Sister Lin is indeed very smart. She has mastered the military books by heart after reading them for a few days."

Lin Daiyu's cheeks flushed slightly, and she wanted to cover Yue Ling's mouth with her hands, but she couldn't do it, so she stamped her feet and said, "I shouldn't show off in front of Brother Yue, but please don't tease me anymore."

……

Liaodong, Ningyuan City,

Ningyuan City, located in the Liaoxi Corridor, is the first important border town after leaving Shanhaiguan, about 200 miles away from Shanhaiguan Pass.

A large number of Jianzhou Jurchen soldiers gathered here, as if they were using this place as an outpost. Among them was Huerhan, who had been defeated by the King of Qin at Shanhaiguan not long ago.

General's Mansion, Council Hall,
Nurhaci's most powerful general, Eyidu, withdrew from the front line against the Jurchens in Haixi to lead the attack on Dachang together with Huerhan.

Eyidu was a veteran among the Jianzhou Jurchens. They had been close friends since before Nurhaci started his army. After joining Nurhaci, they conquered various Jurchen tribes without losing a single battle. With him here to take charge, even if they had just lost a battle, the gloom was swept away.

Eyidu sat in the main seat in the hall, and smiled and comforted Huerhan who sat below him: "You are new to our army, so you still lack experience on the battlefield. Of course, the blame is not all on you. Who would have thought that the prince of Dachang would lead 5,000 cavalry to support the border first, and he would also charge into the battle himself."

"You've already become the crown prince, but you're still working so hard."

Hu Erhan was indeed unwilling to accept the result. "If Geng Bingwen's men had not defected at the last minute, it would be hard to say who would win or lose now!"

Looking at the Liao general opposite him, Hu Erhan asked again: "Liao Jin, did you find Mu Lin?"

Ningyuan garrison commander Liao Jin shook his head and said, "I haven't heard from him yet."

Eyidu tried to smooth things over again, saying, "Okay Huerhan, without their help, we might still be stuck in Liaodong Town. You have done a great deed by making peace with them, and this time at most your merits and demerits will be offset. You need to be more careful in what you do next."

Huerhan had no choice but to agree and stopped talking.

Eyidu looked at the people in the field again and said calmly, "The Crown Prince of Dachang has always been famous. If we defeat him here, what obstacles will there be for him to enter the capital in the future? Besides, we just received news from the Northern Barbarians. Now they have marched into Dachang and seized Datong Prefecture and are heading towards the capital."

"In this case, even if we only hold down the Crown Prince of Dachang here, he will be attacked from both sides. Could it be that he can bring down the heavenly soldiers and generals to fight against many enemies alone?"

"Our plan remains unchanged. If we can't hit them with one strike, we'll lure them first. They are the ones who are anxious. Hu Erhan should strengthen communication, and Liao Jin should organize the troops to prepare for the enemy."

The two of them bowed and said, "As you command."

……

While the Jurchens were discussing their next move, the King of Qin was also in the hall discussing matters with the generals and officers at the level of a thousand households.

"The original number of soldiers under the Liaodong rebel general Geng Bingwen was 83,000, but considering the actual situation, this number must be greatly discounted. The entire Jianzhou Jurchens have about 100,000 cavalry, but most of them are conquering the Haixi Jurchens. As mentioned in the story a few days ago, most of them are mobile cavalry, which has a deeper meaning of restraining us."

"The Beijing army will surely arrive at the pass in less than ten days. By then, the force at Shanhaiguan will have increased from less than 10,000 to 110,000 elite soldiers. And we have the support of the Governor-General of Liangzhe, who is still at sea. Naturally, we have the upper hand."

To boost the morale of everyone present, the King of Qin pointed to the map on the table and said, "I have already established two new forts in the Liaoxi Corridor, between Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan City, namely Yong'an Fort and Ping'an Fort, 50 miles apart."

"I don't need to explain the benefits of the fortress warfare method. I am here to personally lead the army to restore Dachang's control over Liaodong. Only by taking back the land step by step can we achieve our goal."

"These two forts will solve the problem of garrisoning the army and ensure the smooth flow of subsequent food supplies. Even if it takes time, they must be built. In the near future, I will send cavalry to protect them. We must build a fort before the army arrives."

All the soldiers present nodded.

The King of Qin then asked Yan Song, the commander of Shanhaiguan, "Are there any recent news about Ningyuan City?"

Yan Song bowed and replied, "After Huerhan led his troops to flee into the city, there has been no movement yet, but the Jurchens seem to have regarded that place as a decisive battle site, and have been continuously transporting supplies into the city, as if they are determined to hold on."

The King of Qin shook his head. "It's probably just a trick. If they really want to fight us, it will only help us. Ningyuan City is in the middle of the Liaoxi Corridor. If we hold on without supplies from the rear, it will become an isolated city. Even if we want to fight a decisive battle, it would be more likely to be in Liaodong Town or Shenyang Guard, which is closer to the Jianzhou Jurchens."

"Once our army is assembled, we will attack Ningyuan City as soon as possible..."

After leaving the meeting hall, the King of Qin returned to his temporary residence. There were not many servants serving him around, but he was used to it after half a lifetime of military service.

But I have been having severe abdominal cramps recently, and I am afraid that the old illness has not yet healed.

The King of Qin sat beside the couch, holding a bowl of medicine soup, and sighed deeply, "If we can really win the battle quickly, it will be the best for my current situation. But if I underestimate the enemy and rush in, and something goes wrong, it will lead to a disaster. And I didn't know that my body is so weak that my hands felt weak during the last charge. It's really not a good sign."

"We are just waiting for Yin Taihe to arrive and share some of the responsibilities of commanding the troops."

At the right time, the King of Qin drank the medicine soup and was about to rest on his bed when he heard someone outside reporting, "Your Highness, there is a war report from the capital."

"Capital?"

The King of Qin immediately stood up, walked to the door in two steps, took the letter from the soldier, unfolded it and frowned again.

"As expected, as expected. This Jurchen must have conspired with the northern barbarians to lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

After thinking about Yue Ling who stayed in the capital, the King of Qin sat back on the couch calmly.

"Little did they know that the one I left in the capital was the tiger."

The King of Qin raised his lips and put the letter away. "Once I have rested, I can wipe out the bandits in one fell swoop. It won't be a problem!"

Ten days passed in a flash, and the reinforcements from the Beijing camp arrived as scheduled. Yong'an Fort, 50 miles away from Shanhaiguan, also rose from the ground.

The King of Qin immediately stood in front of the camp gate. He felt much more relaxed and even his complexion looked much better.

Yin Taihe stood behind the Qin King's horse, clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "Your Highness, it has been raining all the way, and the road is muddy, which has delayed the march. Otherwise, we could have arrived two days earlier."

The King of Qin shook his head and said, "It's not a big deal. The most important thing now is to build Ping'an Fort as soon as possible, so that we can push our food and supplies forward and bring our artillery closer to Ningyuan City."

"Send more men, put more sentries, and be more careful."

Yin Taihe quickly agreed.

"Your Highness, there is one more thing. When I was heading north, I heard that the northern barbarians were heading south. Now that the Jurchens are avoiding fighting, they probably don't have much power. It would be better to send some people back to garrison the capital. Once the capital is lost, even if we conquer all of Liaodong, it will be meaningless."

The King of Qin waved his hand and said, "I have received the war report. The Northern Barbarians have passed Datong Prefecture and divided their troops into three groups and marched south. The total number of troops is said to be 150,000, but I am afraid there are not even 100,000. Yue Ling is holding on in the capital, and there must be a way to wipe them out. Don't worry too much."

Seeing that the King of Qin trusted Yue Ling so much, Yin Taihe, who had his head lowered, couldn't help but frown again.

"Okay, no need to ask any more questions. Build the fort first, and then approach Ningyuan City. Focus on the matter at hand, or you will fall into the trap of the Northern Barbarians and the Jurchens."

"As ordered."

Now, the King of Qin brought the army from Liaodong, including 5,000 cavalry, 2,000 heavy armored soldiers, 3,000 light armored soldiers, more than 70,000 infantry, as well as chariot battalions, musketeers, artillery, and more than 10,000 various miscellaneous soldiers. The guards at Shanhaiguan remained motionless and were only responsible for the safety of the grain routes. With an army of this size, it was enough to pacify Liaodong.

However, the key lies in a question of time.

Although the King of Qin believed in Yue Ling, he had made an agreement with Yue Ling to return to the capital in three months, so he would not break his promise. The King of Qin knew that this was still a bit risky in terms of strategy. The importance of Liaodong was self-evident, and the Northern Barbarians were equally anxious.

The King of Qin's current plan was to suppress the rebellion first and then wipe out the isolated northern barbarians who had invaded deep into the country.

However, the key to strategic success lies in how quickly he can defeat the rebels, otherwise he will be in trouble.

After many days of preparing for war, sending spies to investigate far away and gathering information from all sides, the King of Qin now has a general understanding of the garrison situation of the Liaodong rebels and the Jurchen troops.

Ningyuan and Guangning, as the exits of the Liaoxi Corridor, each have 15,000 troops, led by Geng Bingwen's favorite generals, the brothers Liao Jin and Liao Fen. The two brothers were first bribed by the Jurchens, and now they are as close to the Jurchens as if they were on their honeymoon.

The commanders of the Jurchen cavalry were Eyidu and Huerhan, who were relatively well-known in Liaodong and the King of Qin had heard of them. They each led a cavalry unit stationed in Ningyuan and Guangning.

The Liaodong Governor Geng Bingwen himself was not in a hurry to come to the front line, and he was still stationed in Liaodong. He had gathered a lot of garrison troops and horse bandits, about 50,000 people in the city. Not counting those who were farther away and could not provide support for the time being, Gaizhou, Liaoyou, and the King of Qin were currently facing these enemies.

"That means that Liao Jin and Hu Erhan are now guarding Ningyuan City, with a total of 30,000 main forces of infantry and cavalry?"

In the temporary tent of Ping'an Fort, the soldiers heard the news and couldn't help but get ready to fight.

The King of Qin thought: "Although Ningyuan will not be the place for the final battle, they may not resist stubbornly. We still need to be careful and try to reduce the damage."

"We will surround the city from the east, south and west, leaving only the north gate open for them to escape. If they escape, we will occupy the city and pursue them with cavalry. If they don't escape, we will find another way."

On October 21, the Dachang army launched its first attack on the rebels.

On that day, it seemed as if God had known about the war that would take place today, which is why there were layers of dark clouds in the sky and the dim sunlight, which made people feel depressed.

In late October, Liaodong had also entered the early cold season. The cold wind blew, bringing up some flying sand, which only made some crisp sounds when it blew on the armored soldiers, while the soldiers stood still like a city wall.

The King of Qin set up a lookout tower high on a hillside and personally directed the attack on the south gate of the city.

Under the command of the central army's flag signals, the army began to line up three miles away from the city wall.

The chariot camp was lined up in a row in front of the army formation, which could protect against the damage caused by the artillery fire from the city walls to the greatest extent. The first line after that was the artillery camp.

The Dachang Artillery Battalion was equipped with 50 Portuguese cannons, as well as various copper and iron cannons made by traditional methods. Portuguese cannons could fire three or four miles, while most of the traditional cannons could only fire within two miles. Ningyuan City also had traditional cannons.

But taking the height of the city wall into account, even the King of Qin, who possessed advanced artillery, had to cautiously sacrifice some firepower to achieve a longer range.

The Ningyuan City defenders on the city wall began to waver slightly when they saw the dark masses of soldiers below the city.

They were originally subjects of Dachang, so how many of them were willing to rebel?
However, because there were superiors in the city and Jurchens supervising the battle, they did not dare to be negligent and pointed their cannons at the Dachang army.

Liao Jin stood on the south city gate, looking into the distance, and noticed something was wrong.

"Lord Huerhan, at this distance, it is difficult for the cannons on our city walls to cause damage to them, but they lined up according to this and pointed their cannons at us. It is really weird."

Huerhan carefully observed the formation and asked in doubt, "The cannons they use are different from yours?"

Liao Jin shook his head. "I've never heard of this before. The cannons used on the walls of Shanhaiguan and the cannons used on our walls are of the same specifications."

Huerhan frowned slightly. He didn't think that the King of Qin was a fool who couldn't understand the range of the artillery, but he didn't know what the King of Qin meant at the moment.

It was hard to see clearly from a distance, so Hu Erhan had to give the order: "Strike first and we will open fire."

The defenders on the city wall received the order, loaded ammunition, and fired first.

After a burst of roar, the smoke gradually dissipated, and it was seen that in front of Dachang's army, the defense vehicles of the chariot camp were hardly damaged, and most of the shells hit a few dozen steps away from the army. Huerhan suddenly felt that something was wrong.

But the next second, before he could give another order, wisps of green smoke rose from the Dachang army, and cannons roared. A moment later, screams could be heard from the city wall. The battlements were blown to pieces, and the corner towers were blown to pieces. The destructive power was beyond his imagination...

　感谢西海岸浅唱、泥伯的指环、麦当劳叔叔（迫真）、神战之锋、天天向上啊11、斯巴拉西内、书友28665、书友15462、烟雨锁孤城、浮红尘、暗夜的叶叶、玖什玖彼岸花、skd033、carrotl、书友14180、携月揽星辰、o0病态天使0o、羞碳穆、KIRA风无痕、一只闲鹤、1鴥彼晨风1、三天一次一壶酒两斤肉、书友52932、书友01644、弗瑞德里希IV、落夜雨_、灵音的月票，感谢大家的支持
　　
　
(End of this chapter)