Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 332 Huang Taiji's "Strategic Planning"

Shengjing, November 15, 1636.

Emperor Huang Taiji of the Qing Dynasty stood in front of the arrow tower on the city wall of Shengjing, his black fox fur cloak fluttering in the north wind, a thin layer of snow falling on his shoulders.

He squinted and looked southwest, towards Ningyuan, which was also the route Ajige was taking with his 12,000 iron cavalry on their raid.

A cold wind swept across the battlements, carrying snowflakes, while the sounds of warhorses neighing and armor clashing echoed from below.

The banner of the Plain White Banner fluttered like a shadow in the wind, and Ajige's vanguard had disappeared into the depths of the snow.

Huang Taiji unconsciously rubbed the antler pattern on the hilt of his waist knife with his thumb. It was from a magnificent male deer he had hunted in the snowy plains of Hetu Ala twenty years ago.

The deer's antlers gleamed amber in the sunlight, like the frost that had formed on the dagger at that moment.

“When my twelfth brother goes, the Ming people will surely think that I am settling old scores with the Qing Dynasty…” A cold smile appeared on his lips.

Zu Dashou in Ningyuan City must be reinforcing the city walls in fear and anxiety, unaware that an even greater danger lurks in the snowy plains of Liaodong.

Ten days ago, when the Korean envoy Kim Yu stood in the Chongjeongjeon Hall and said with his neck stiffened, "Our small nation serves the Ming Dynasty as if it were our father," he knew it was time to let these Goryeo people taste the iron hooves of the Eight Banners once again.

Furthermore, they need to understand who their true masters are.

Bugle calls could be heard in the distance; it was the troops of the Bordered Blue Banner gathering.

Dorgon is currently stationed in Liaoyang with the main force of the eastern expedition, waiting for the beacon fire at Ningyuan to rise before he will join me on the frozen Yalu River to rush towards Seoul.

Huang Taiji suddenly remembered his father Nurhaci's dying words, "To take Korea is like picking a ripe peach," but this peach just happened to grow right next to the Ming Dynasty's fence.

A snowflake stuck to his mink collar and melted into a water droplet.

This reminded him of the military parade outside Shengjing City twenty days ago: the quivers of the Mongol Eight Banners were filled with whistling arrows, the musketeers of the Han Army's Wuzhen Chaoha were practicing three-stage firing in the snow, and even the wild Jurchens of the Hurha tribe were wearing iron armor.

At this moment, these blades are hidden behind Ajige's feints, like a hunter's trap, waiting for the Koreans to step into it.

"Your Majesty, it's time to return to the palace," Fan Wencheng's voice rang out from behind.

Huang Taiji did not turn around, but simply raised his hand to catch a snowflake, watching it turn into nothingness in his palm, just like those carefully woven schemes, where the real and the illusory are both deadly traps.

"Do we really need to do all this... just for show?" A dissatisfied voice suddenly came from the side.

Huang Taiji turned to look at Prince Daishan, the Prince of Li, on his left, and asked blankly, "Great Beile, do you have any words of advice for me?"

Before the words were finished, a sudden gust of north wind swept snow into the arrow tower, causing the copper bells hanging from the beams to jingle.

"..." Seeing Huang Taiji's displeased expression, Daishan's heart skipped a beat. He was startled by the new Qing emperor's ruthlessness, and immediately suppressed his arrogant demeanor, bowing slightly as he said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I... have nothing to say. However, I believe Korea is nothing more than a ripe fruit..."

Huang Taiji stared into Daishan's eyes, seemingly trying to find out his true thoughts.

"Does the Grand Prince think that our feint attack on Guan Ning, while actually launching an eastern expedition against Korea, is entirely unnecessary?"

“Your subject dares not speak presumptuously,” Daishan said, his demeanor becoming even more respectful.

"The most important matters of the state are sacrifice and war." Huang Taiji sighed inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged. "Although our Great Qing has rarely suffered defeats when facing the Ming and Korean armies, and has repeatedly gained an absolute advantage on the battlefield."

"But our Great Qing must not take the matter of conquest as lightly as drinking water and eating. You must know that the population and territory of both the Ming and the Koreans are many times larger than those of our Great Qing. If we are arrogant and complacent when facing war, or even negligent, we will end up in a situation of defeat and annihilation."

"Our Great Qing has a small population and limited reserves. If we suffer a major defeat, it will damage our very foundation. The Ming people may suffer defeat after defeat in front of our Great Qing, but after a few years, they will recover more quickly and make a comeback."

"But my Great Qing cannot afford too many defeats. Even when we achieve a glorious victory, we must consider the number of casualties we suffer. Great Prince, you must know that the foundation of my Great Qing is too weak!"

“The Ming army is like weeds that can’t be cut down, but we…” As he spoke, he clenched his fist, and chunks of snow burst from between his fingers, “If one of our soldiers dies, it will take eighteen years to make up for it!” “Your subject has learned much.” Daishan solemnly knelt on one knee and bowed deeply to Huang Taiji.

Although he said this, he was quite dismissive of it, thinking that Huang Taiji's move was just a charade and a pointless exercise in dealing with the Eight Banners troops.

At this juncture, even a fool could see that the Qing army was about to strike Korea, determined to completely conquer this fickle vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, there was another crucial objective in conquering Korea: to plunder people and resources to replenish the Qing Dynasty's war expenditures.

Destroying Korea would also eliminate the military threat on the eastern front for our Great Qing, and make full preparations for a future all-out attack on the Ming Dynasty.

As early as April, the Qing Dynasty had reached a preliminary consensus to attack Korea at an opportune time.

Therefore, Huang Taiji began to make arrangements, sending troops to break into the Great Wall again and raid the Ming capital area to exert military pressure on the Ming army.

On the other hand, they went to great lengths to spread rumors that the Qing Dynasty was in constant strife, with several factions vying for power and creating the illusion that the Qing Dynasty was on the verge of collapse.

All of this was paving the way for the attack on the Qing Dynasty, and was intended to conceal the true strategic intentions of the Great Qing as much as possible.

However, Huang Taiji continued to send envoys to Korea to intimidate the Korean king and his ministers with force, hoping to make them submit to the Qing Dynasty.

After receiving a rather defiant response from the Korean king and his ministers, Huang Taiji declared that he would launch a large-scale military campaign against Korea starting in November, and even told them the specific route of attack.

These bizarre maneuvers left Daishan speechless, and even many princes and banner leaders were completely baffled.

Why go to such lengths to create such a dizzying smokescreen when it's just fighting a small country like North Korea?

Could it be that you've been reading too much Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
Or were they just using their clever words to deceive and bewitch people?

Why do they have to resort to these deceptive tactics, like the art of war?
Look, in order to cover the eastern expedition a month later, they actually dispatched more than 12,000 elite Eight Banner troops to rush towards Ningyuan in order to disrupt the Ming army's military deployment.

In the dead of winter, over ten thousand Manchu soldiers braved the freezing weather, lying on ice and snow, to put on a show for the Ming army in the direction of Ningyuan. This forced the Ming army to refrain from taking any rash action after learning of the attack on Korea.

Is this necessary?
Even if my Great Qing did not send troops there, but simply stationed these 10,000 elite Eight Banner troops in Yizhou (present-day Yixian County, Liaoning) and Guangning (present-day Beizhen County, Liaoning), the Ming army would probably not dare to make the slightest move and could only cower in the city and watch the fall of Korea.

On this Liaodong battlefield, once the Ming army left that tortoise-shell-like castle, they were nothing more than flocks of pigs and sheep waiting to be slaughtered on the open winter plains!
However, Huang Taiji was, after all, the Great Khan—no, no, now the Emperor of the Great Qing. Although I was the head of all the princes, I could not arbitrarily disobey his decisions.

“Sigh…” Dai Shan glanced at Huang Taiji, who was still standing on the city wall, and sighed softly in his heart.

Huang Taiji stood atop the arrow tower until the last banner disappeared into the vast snowfield.

The cold wind whipped up tiny snowflakes that stung his face, but he was completely oblivious.

His right hand instinctively pressed against his chest, where the secret report he had just received was hidden.

"Shen Shikui's troops in Dongjiang Town have strengthened the defenses of Tieshan, adding countless guns and cannons, and increasing the number of soldiers by more than two thousand..."

He clenched his fist so tightly that his nails almost dug into his palm.

"Dongjiang Town, what a bunch of clowns!"

No one can stop the advance of the Qing Dynasty's iron hooves, nor can anyone save Korea from defeat.

North Korea, this ripe fruit, must be eaten!
As dusk deepened, the corner towers of Shengjing appeared and disappeared in the wind and snow.

"Go back to the palace!"

Huang Taiji turned and walked towards the city steps. The sound of his boots crunching on the frozen bricks mingled with the shouts and drumbeats coming from afar, echoing for a long time in the empty sky.
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(End of this chapter)