Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 219 Chain Reaction
August 8, night, Jinghai.

As night falls, the unbearable summer heat has slowly subsided, and a slight breeze blows, bringing a little coolness.

There were constant noises and clamors coming from a temporary camp located at the river bend. In some tents, one could even hear the faint sobbing and wailing of women, as well as the wanton laughter and panting of men.

A group of teachers sent by Jinghai County to entertain the troops delivered rice, grain, wine and meat to the army, and then fled from the military camp, fearing that they would be harmed by this group of soldiers.

Thieves come like combs, and soldiers come like rakes. As ordinary people, we have to stay away from these people as soon as possible.

Although these soldiers from Liaodong went south to quell the rebellion, their actions were probably no different from those of the rebels. They looted property and caused the same harm to the local area.

The county magistrate ordered us to send wine and meat to these soldiers and serve them well, probably because he hoped they would leave Jinghai as soon as possible and destroy less local villages and towns.

We ordinary people have suffered a lot from all this commotion!

I heard that the rebels in Shandong seemed to be from the Liaodong military town. Over a period of more than half a year, they captured more than a dozen prefectures, counties and towns, causing hundreds of thousands of people to be displaced and tens of thousands of people to be killed.

Therefore, in the eyes of local people, these Liaodong people are not good people. It would be best if they could fight to the death and go to see the King of Hell together.

The officers and soldiers from the Liaodong towns who were summoned to the south to quell the rebellion naturally disdained to pay attention to the complaints and curses from the prefectures, counties, and towns along the way.

It was a very hard journey after traveling thousands of miles, sleeping in the open air and eating and drinking in the wind, and I was also complaining a lot in my heart.

For them, it is their due to take advantage of the situation and seek some benefits.

It can't be that we men suppress rebellions for the court and quell insurgent armies for the local areas, but end up with nothing, right?
"Brother Lianghuan, what do you think our chances of success are in suppressing the rebellion in Dengzhou?"

In a tent in the center of the main camp, Ningyuan Lieutenant General Zu Dabi and Shanhaiguan Deputy General Wu Xiang sat opposite each other. A pot of warm wine and a few simple side dishes were placed on the table. The flickering candlelight illuminated their slightly tired yet resolute faces.

Zu Dabi raised his wine glass, gently clinked it with Wu Xiang's, and asked softly, "I've heard that Li Jiucheng, Kong Youde, and the others have already occupied Denglai, amassing over a hundred thousand troops, and their power is expanding rapidly. The troops of several towns in Shandong and Hebei have all been defeated by the rebels, and they are becoming increasingly arrogant, intending to establish themselves in Shandong."

"As a result, the imperial court had no choice but to mobilize troops from Ningyuan, Shanhaiguan and other garrisons outside the Great Wall to quell the rebellion. Although our troops outside the Great Wall are powerful and their combat effectiveness far exceeds that of the rebels, we only number a little over 5,000, which is a bit weak. If we were besieged by the rebels' superior forces, we would suffer a lot!"

"Is Zanyu (Zu Dabi's courtesy name is Zanyu) scared?" Wu Xiang drank the wine in the glass and asked with a smile.

"To be honest, Brother Lianghuan, I'm a little scared," Zu Dabi said. "But I'm not afraid of death, nor am I afraid that we won't be able to defeat the rebels. I'm worried that if all the troops we brought from outside the Great Wall were consumed by the rebels, the overall situation in Liaodong would be extremely dangerous."

"The tens of thousands of troops in our various garrisons outside the Great Wall were already overwhelmed by the Jiannu threat, constantly on the defensive and suffering repeated defeats. If all our 5,000-plus troops were lost in Denglai, it would be a serious blow to our Liaodong region. If the Jiannu got wind of this, they would definitely not let this opportunity slip by, and they might even come to take advantage of us again."

"Last September, the Jiannu launched a massive siege on Daling City, trapping my brother inside. For a time, our Liaodong towns were in dire straits. I'm worried that if we mobilize our troops, the Jiannu might stir up some new trouble."

"What's there to worry about?" Wu Xiang said nonchalantly. "As long as the Liaodong towns carefully guard their forts and cities and don't engage in open-air battles with the Jiannu, why should we be afraid of a large-scale Jiannu attack? The Jiannu may be fierce and capable of fighting, but if they want to take down our forts and cities one by one, I'm afraid they'll be in for a lot of trouble!"

"Besides, the Jiannu just fought us in Liaodong last year. We suffered heavy losses, but they lost less in terms of manpower and supplies. I don't believe they would attack again this year without any rest. As for Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde, they are just clowns. Although they made such a big scene in Denglai and gathered a hundred thousand people, they are nothing but chickens and pottery dogs in front of our Liaodong military garrison."

"Brother Lianghuan..." Zu Dabi was speechless when he heard this.

These words are too arrogant!

This elder brother (Zu Dashou)'s brother-in-law always spoke beautifully, but he fought very badly. He rarely won against the Jiannu, and even the most basic gains were not much.

Like the Battle of Dalinghe last year, when the Jiannu dispatched tens of thousands of armored cavalry to surround Daling City, trapping his brother inside, Sun Chengzong, the governor of Ji and Liao, ordered Wu Xiang and Song Wei to lead troops to rescue it.

Unexpectedly, the Wu and Song armies failed to break the siege twice. Finally, when they encountered an ambush by the Jiannu at Changshan, fifteen miles away from the Daling River, Wu Xiang fled without a fight, causing the entire army to be defeated. The military supervisor Zhang Chun was captured, and his brother was subsequently forced to surrender to the Jiannu.

If the Liaodong generals had not interceded for him and covered up the course of the battle in various ways, Wu Xiang might have been executed by military court on the spot by Sun Chengzong.

Of course, Wu Xiang was not the only senior general who fled in this battle. Song Wei, who was known for his courage and daring to fight, was also the first to run back to Ningyuan City when the battle was unfavorable.

As the saying goes, the law does not punish the masses, and the fact that the Liaodong military garrison was united in purpose forced the court to not hastily deal with the defeated generals such as Wu Xiang.

After all, the strategy of the Liao people defending the Liao land had long been a consensus in the court since Sun Chengzong proposed and implemented it. If they were severely punished for their defeat on the battlefield, it would offend these Liaodong military towns (generals) and thus lose the hearts of the "Liao people".

Therefore, after the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Dalinghhe last year, except for the dismissal of Sun Chengzong, the governor of Ji-Liao, the generals of the Liaodong towns received almost no substantial punishment.

Less than half a year after being stripped of his official position, Wu Xiang was reinstated as the deputy general of Yongping.

When the imperial court issued an edict ordering Liao soldiers from various towns outside the Great Wall to enter the Great Wall to quell the rebellion and eliminate the Denglai rebels, Wu Xiang was appointed deputy general of Shanhaiguan, and accompanied the Liao town's rebellion suppression army, including military supervisor Gao Qiquan and general Jin Guoqi, to go south to Shandong to quell the rebellion started by Li, Kong and others.

In fact, in the eyes of the Liaodong generals, they did not take these rebels seriously.

This was because rebel leaders like Li Jiucheng, Kong Youde, and Geng Zhongming were all former military officers from the Dongjiang Garrison. Compared to the Liaodong Garrison, they were considered third- or fourth-rate troops, "roving without attacking" and "attacking without winning." Their combat effectiveness was low, almost comparable to that of the Korean army, and they were always despised by the Liaodong Garrison. Although the Dongjiang Garrison frequently reported victories to the court during Mao Wenlong's reign, claiming to have destroyed several Jiannu strongholds one day and beheaded hundreds the next, the Liaodong military leaders considered them nothing more than jokes. These military exploits were either false pretenses or exaggerated, with no real gains at all.

Unlike our Liaodong military garrison, we chopped off the heads of real Jurchen Tartars, and the victories we achieved were not exaggerated (officials from the Ministry of War expressed deep doubts about this statement).

However, although they somewhat looked down on Li Jiuchen and Kong Youde, they were still somewhat wary of the 100,000 troops and countless sophisticated firearms they possessed.

Even if there are 100,000 pigs, when they gather together, they still pose a considerable threat. If we fail to deal with them, the result may be like ants biting an elephant to death.

For now, the foundation of the Liaodong generals is the army in their hands and their ability to cope with the attacks of the Jiannu, maintain the entire Liaodong situation from collapsing, and prevent the Jiannu from endangering the capital and shaking the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.

If the Liaodong military garrison was severely weakened and unable to cope with the Jiannu's relentless invasion, then there would be no point in their existence.

You should know that in the battle of Dalinghhe last year, the towns in Liaodong were severely damaged by the Jiannu, more than 10,000 elite troops were wiped out, and more than 70 Ming army generals were captured, including high-ranking generals such as guerrillas, lieutenant generals, and generals.

As a result, when the Liaodong Army was ordered to go south to quell the rebellion, only more than 5,000 soldiers were mobilized out of the 70,000 soldiers on paper.

There is no other reason. The military force has been depleted too much over the years, and it is difficult to free up "extra" troops to go to Denglai.

"Father! ...Uncle!"

As the two men drank and recounted their stories, a young general entered the tent. After bowing, he said in a deep voice, "Just now, the military supervisor sent an order requiring our troops from Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan to break camp and march at 8 a.m. tomorrow, aiming to reach Changyi by the second day of the eighth month (August 29th)."

"Hmm?" Zu Dabi frowned upon hearing this. "Why is the military supervisor so anxious? Could it be that the Denglai rebels have already captured all of Shandong and are also attacking Henan and Hebei?"

"Uncle, I guess the military supervisor may have been provoked and wants to rush to Shandong as soon as possible to gain some credit." The young general replied with a smile.

"Oh, what has provoked our military inspector?" Wu Xiang also showed some curiosity.

"Half a month ago, General Huang Long of Dongjiang Town led his troops in a surprise attack on Dengzhou Water City, crushing the rebel navy and achieving the first major victory since the rebellion began." The young general replied respectfully, "Today, a commendatory decree from His Majesty and the Ministry of War arrived from the capital, appointing Huang Long as the Left Commander-in-Chief, a Thousand-House Guard, and awarding him three hundred taels of silver."

"Has Huang Long's report of victory been confirmed?" Zu Dabi was astonished. "With the limited strength of Dongjiang Town, could they really have shattered the Dengzhou water city and destroyed all the rebel navy warships?"

"Uncle, since His Majesty and the Ministry of War have sent this decree of reward, I believe it confirms Huang Long's achievements." The young general gave a wry smile and said, "Thus, while the rebels are wreaking havoc in Denglai and Tumi Shandong, and all other armies are suffering defeat, only Huang Long's troops in Dongjiang Town have achieved this great victory. It is the only bright spot in the midst of a thousand silent forces, and it must be valued by His Majesty and the Ministry of War."

"It's said that the reason Dongjiang Town was able to defeat the rebel navy was because General Huang Long recruited several gunboats from the overseas Xinzhou people to assist in the battle. Their powerful artillery suppressed the rebel counterattacks, allowing them to approach Dengzhou Water City and launch a large number of divine fire crows to attack the numerous warships of the rebel navy stationed in the harbor, thus achieving victory in the battle."

"People from Xinzhou?" Zu Dabi glanced at Wu Xiang. "I seem to have heard of them somewhere. ... Where do they come from? How could they be so powerful that they could help Dongjiang Town defeat the rebel navy?"

"Three years ago, a group of foreign merchants claiming to have drifted to the Xinzhou Continent went to Pi Island to exchange food for refugees from Liaodong, and they became connected with Dongjiang Town." Wu Xiang thought for a moment and said, "Last year, they also dispatched two gunboats to help Dongjiang Town repel the Jiannu attack, achieving the so-called Pi Island victory, capturing and killing over 1,500 people."

"I heard that after the war, as a reward to the Xinzhou people and to facilitate better communication between the two sides, Shen Shikui, the deputy commander of Dongjiang Town, gave them a small island as a shelter, for the purpose of collecting refugees and conducting trade."

"In other words, Huang Long relied on the people of Xinzhou to achieve this so-called great victory?" Zu Dabi showed a look of disdain after hearing this.

"Uncle..." the young general smiled, not without envy, and said, "No matter how Huang Long won this great victory, the credit undoubtedly belongs to him. Furthermore, after this battle, the troops in Shandong and Hebei were emboldened. Following the orders of Shandong Governor Zhu Dadian, they have all marched to Changyi. I'm thinking, if we arrive too late, we might not even get a sip of soup!"

"Humph, even if they're all just trying to grab the credit, they shouldn't be so eager!" Zu Dabi curled his lips and said, "If the rebel navy warships hadn't been burned by the Dongjiang Town, they would still have a way to retreat. Under the threat of the imperial army, they might not have insisted on fighting to the death."

"But now, the rebels have lost their boats, and their escape route overseas has been cut off. This may very well force them into desperate situations, even to the point of a desperate fight. The backlash should not be underestimated. Anyone who thinks they can be bullied and approaches the rebels first will be in great trouble!"

"Uncle means..."

"The military supervisor ordered us to reach Changyi by the second day of August. I'm afraid our men won't be able to handle such a hasty journey. Even if we manage to arrive on time, how much fighting power will we still have? ... Then, don't let the rebels take advantage of us!"

"Zanyu is absolutely right!" Wu Xiang nodded and said, "We, the Liaozhen troops, are here to gain merit, not to deliver our heads to the rebels. If we lose our strength, not only will we lose the Liao army's fighting spirit, but we will also lose our capital. That would be very bad."

"Father, uncle, if we disobey the Inspector's orders and rush to aid Shandong, we will offend him..." the young general said worriedly, "When the court allocates money and food, he might use this to control us."

Every year, the imperial court allocated as much as five or six million taels of silver to the Liaodong towns as military expenditures. If the military supervisor Gao Qiquan could just trip them up or make things difficult for them, that would cost him hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. The impact was huge, and he was not someone who could be offended easily.

"Huang Long is really lucky. He relied on external forces to take the first place in suppressing the rebellion and received a generous reward from the court." Wu Xiang was stunned for a moment, then said bitterly, "Now, we have no choice but to fight the rebels with our lives. In the end, we may not get any advantage!"

"Oh, after all, Huang Long was the first to quell the rebellion, and he also owed a lot to the people of Xinzhou overseas."

"Xinzhou people? ...Father and mother, after we defeat the rebels, we in Liaozhen must find out their true intentions. They actually did such a big thing!"

(End of this chapter)