Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 334 Scheming for a Piece of Land!
On December 20, 1636, a biting north wind, carrying the salty smell of the Yellow Sea, swept towards this isolated island, and the icicles on the cliff edge gleamed with a dark blue hue in the twilight.

Four converted Fujian-style ships were quietly moored in the natural harbor on the east side of Baengnyeong Island. The red five-star flag on the masts fluttered in the sea breeze, its bright red contrasting sharply with the deep blue sea, making it particularly eye-catching.

On the dock, several tall pulley booms rhythmically rose and fell, creaking and groaning. Thick hemp ropes, taut with the weight of the cargo, slowly hoisted the goods from the Fujian-style ship.

Dark-skinned, ragged North Korean laborers, their backs hunched, trudged along as they carried goods onto horse-drawn carts.

Once the wagons were loaded with goods, they drove along the gravel road toward the massive fortress a few hundred meters away, kicking up clouds of dust.

The island's architectural style is also full of a strange fusion beauty. The original messy and low Korean-style wooden houses, which exuded the smell of raw wood, stand side by side with the newly erected rows of tall and sturdy brick and stone houses.

Some of the brick and stone houses have sharp edges and corners, and the walls still have some wet mud, showing their newness and toughness.

On the north side of the island, thick smoke billows from the chimneys of the earthen kilns, rising into the air.

Dozens of North Korean laborers, dressed in tattered padded jackets, carefully stacked newly fired bricks into neat piles under the loud shouts and instructions of the craftsmen.

Each brick still carried the residual heat from firing, emitting a faint smell of charcoal in the cold wind.

"Don't let your guard down, keep a close eye on the sea conditions!"

An officer dressed in a gray-blue military uniform with a long sword at his waist climbed the watchtower, carefully observed the surroundings through binoculars, and then turned to the two observation posts stationed there and gave them stern orders.

His voice sounded particularly cold and stern in the cold wind, carrying an unquestionable authority.

Since the Xinhua Liaohai Colonization Team occupied this small island two years ago, it has undergone tremendous changes.

The entire military fortress has been continuously expanded, and its scale has increased more than tenfold compared to its original size, with immigrant reception points scattered everywhere.

Along the docks, fortified villages, and workshops, several angular fortifications made of cement bricks and stones were erected, with cannons pointing their dark muzzles towards the sea.

The political affairs hall inside the military and political building was warm and inviting.

The flickering flames in the charcoal brazier cast intermittent light and shadow on the map of the eight provinces of North Korea on the wall.

The "General Zhong" that Huang Long mentioned—Zhong Minghui—was wrapped in a thick brocade quilt and was curled up in a tiger-skin soft chair in a very unladylike manner.

His eyes looked slightly tired, but he still stared intently at the map of North Korea, his brows furrowed, lost in thought.

"General!" A soldier rushed over, panting, and respectfully presented him with an urgent report delivered by a sentry ship, his voice tinged with tension and unease.

Zhong Minghui slowly reached out and took the urgent report.

He unfolded the paper, his eyes quickly scanning the words on it:

"...On December 2nd, the slave chieftain Huang Taiji personally led an army of 12 men from Shenyang, marching in a mighty force towards Korea."

"On December 9, the main force of the Jurchen army arrived at the Yalu River and, taking advantage of the river being frozen, crossed the river in three routes."

"On December 14, the Jurchens captured Uiju, a key town on the Korean border, and the Korean general Kim Jun-gil was killed in battle."

"On December 15, a force of more than 12 Han and Mongol bannermen from the left wing of the Jurchens attacked Tieshan, but was met with fierce resistance from the Dongjiang garrison, resulting in the Jurchens losing several hundred soldiers."

"On December 16, the Jurchens captured Anju, and the Joseon governor Nam I-heung committed suicide by self-immolation."

"..."

"Wow, the Jurchens' offensive is fast enough!" Zhong Minghui gently placed the urgent report on the small table next to him, then tilted his head and looked at the map of Korea on the wall again.

His fingers tapped unconsciously as he pondered a solution.

"Somebody come!"

After a while, Zhong Minghui broke free of the brocade quilt and tried to stand up from the soft chair.

However, the cold and fever of the past few days have left him very weak.

As soon as I stood up, I felt a wave of dizziness, and stars were flashing before my eyes. I staggered for a moment and then sat down heavily.

These days, he has been lying in bed in a daze, in a state of alternating sleep and wakefulness.

Last night, after taking the medicine prescribed by the doctor, drinking a large bowl of ginger soup, and sweating profusely under a thick quilt, my condition improved slightly.

Today, he forced himself to get out of bed and went to the government office to deal with the backlog of affairs.

Unexpectedly, after sitting for only a short while, they received news of the Jurchen invasion of Korea.

In the preceding months, the Jurchens had been making frequent moves, and all sides were speculating about their next offensive objectives. Zhong Minghui had also convened military and political officials from the colonization team to discuss the Jurchens' military intentions.

Initially, it was widely believed that the Jurchens were aiming for Guan Ning, continuing their attacks on the Ming army in the Ningjin direction to further weaken their strength and prepare for breaking through the Ming army's defenses and entering the capital region.

However, as more and more intelligence information came in, it was discovered that the Jurchen forces they had assembled were extremely large.

They not only mobilized the Manchu, Mongol, and Han Eight Banners troops within their territory, but also recruited various Mongol tribes from the Khorchin and Chahar regions to come to Shenyang to join them.

Meanwhile, the Jurchens also collected a large amount of military equipment, food, and siege supplies in various places to continuously strengthen their war preparations.

Zhong Minghui immediately realized that the Jurchens' military actions were anything but ordinary; they must be planning a major strategic military operation.

Entry?

Or perhaps an expedition to Korea?

Zhong Minghui was unsure about either of these speculations. He only vaguely remembered that in the original historical timeline, the Jurchens had bypassed the Ningjin defense line several times, breaking into the Great Wall from Mongolia and wreaking havoc on the Ming capital region, Hebei, and Shandong, almost turning the north into a wasteland and greatly weakening the Ming's economic and military strength.

However, he had no way of knowing the exact time of each entry into the country.

As for the expedition to Korea, he only knew bits and pieces of information, including the general process and outcome.

In short, the Jurchens completely crushed Korea, relentlessly humiliated it, and finally succeeded in "conquering" it, severing its tributary relationship with the Ming Dynasty.

It is said that the Jurchens also abducted more than 500,000 Korean civilians, as well as a large amount of gold, silver, grain and other supplies. This series of plundering greatly strengthened the Jurchens' own power.

In this battle, the Jurchens attacked and plundered like the wind, encountering almost no fierce resistance. In just over ten days, they advanced more than 400 li, leaving the Joseon Kingdom "helpless," its army routed and powerless to fight back.

Without external intervention, North Korea would be doomed.

One day, a clerk casually mentioned that the year of Bingzi was about to pass, and only then did he realize what was happening.

The Jurchen invasion of the Ming Dynasty was known as the Bingzi Campaign.

Immediately, he mobilized all the resources of the Liaohai Colonization Team and began to make full preparations for this war.

Although Xinhua is currently powerless to stop the Jurchens from launching a large-scale invasion of Korea, let alone save Korea from defeat, it can still do some subtle maneuvering to use this war to gain the greatest benefit for Xinhua.

"team leader!"

"Commander!"

Upon receiving the summons, Li Zhishang, the commander of the Liaohai Fleet and a naval captain, and Zheng Dayuan, the person in charge of Bailing Island, rushed over and bowed to Zhong Minghui, who was sitting on a tiger-skin chair.

"Li Zhishang, has your Liaohai Fleet thoroughly investigated the geography and hydrology of the coastline surrounding North Korea over the past two years?" Zhong Minghui asked directly.

"Reporting to the captain." Li Zhishang's face showed a hint of difficulty. "Since I took office in the Liaohai Squadron more than a year ago, although I have been patrolling the coast of North Korea and constantly surveying the geographical and hydrological conditions, I have not yet completed the exploration of all the sea areas surrounding North Korea."

"Leaving aside the east and south coasts of North Korea, are you familiar with the hydrological conditions of the west coast?"

"Our Liaohai Fleet has a basic grasp of the hydrological and geographical conditions of the waters along the coast from the mouth of the Yalu River to Chungcheong Province in North Korea."

“Very good.” Zhong Minghui stood up from the tiger-skin armchair, walked to the map of the eight provinces of North Korea on the wall, and pointed towards Seoul. “Is the Han River frozen at this time of year?”

“The Han River freezes over in winter.” Lee Ji-sang immediately understood what Jong Myung-hui meant and replied confidently, “It is simply impossible to sail from the estuary into the Han River and reach Seoul.”

“Oh…” Zhong Minghui shook his head with some regret, then pointed to an island near the mouth of the Han River, “So, will the waters near Ganghwa Island freeze?”

“No,” Li Zhishang replied. “Although the climate here is cold in winter, the surrounding sea has a high salinity and strong currents, so the temperature required for freezing is much lower than that of freshwater rivers.”

"Can your two armed ships from the Liaohai Fleet block the sea route between Ganghwa Island and the mainland?"

"This..." Li Zhishang hesitated upon hearing this. "Captain, we only have two warships. I'm afraid we're not up to the task of blocking the passage between the island and the mainland..."

Although Ganghwa Island is not large, it still covers an area of ​​over 400 square kilometers. Even if it were just a matter of blocking the sea route between the island and the mainland, it would be something that two armed ships could not accomplish.

"Then what if we only block the ferry crossings near Monisan Castle (the Joseon royal family's refuge palace) on the south side of Ganghwa Island?"

"No problem!" Li Zhishang breathed a sigh of relief.

“Da Yuan.” Zhong Minghui turned to look at Zheng Da Yuan, the person in charge of Bai Ling Island.

"General." Zheng Dayuan, who was of Liao ethnicity, liked to call this decisive "chieftain" General.

How many people are currently on the island?

“More than nine thousand six hundred,” Zheng Dayuan replied. “A few months ago, the Jurchens ravaged the capital region and Hebei, causing hundreds of thousands of refugees. Ku Niang Island and Changshan Island simply couldn’t accommodate them all, so several thousand people have been transferred over the past few months.”

"Is there any extra space available for shelter?"

“If we mobilize the thousands of refugees on the island to cut down trees to build houses and dig tunnels to build sheds, we can accommodate another two or three thousand people,” Zheng Dayuan said cautiously. “However, if we take in too many people, our food reserves may become insufficient.”

“There’s no need to worry about the food. I will instruct the Second Shipping Company to expedite the loading of food from the south…” As Zhong Minghui was speaking, he suddenly felt a little dizzy and reached out a hand to support himself against the wall.

Upon seeing this, Zheng and Li quickly stepped forward and helped Zhong Minghui to sit on the tiger-skin soft chair, carefully covering him with a brocade quilt.

"General, why don't you take a rest? No matter how big the problem is, nothing is more important than your health." Zheng Dayuan looked at him with concern.

“It’s alright.” Zhong Minghui leaned back gently in the warm, soft chair, a wry smile on his face. “It’s just a fever, it’s not enough to kill me.”

"Da Yuan, in addition to ordering the refugees on the island to expand the temporary shelters, immediately carry out an emergency mobilization to organize all the refugees who have previously participated in military training and distribute them with weapons, equipment and protective gear."

"General, are we going to attack Korea now?"

"With the Jurchens launching a large-scale invasion of Korea, the country will inevitably descend into chaos in the coming months, and most areas will lose their social order and political function. Under these circumstances, we must plan ahead and prepare to actively intervene in the Korean situation to reap sufficient benefits."

“Population, food, and supplies are all things we urgently need. Instead of letting the Jurchens benefit from the many good things that Korea has accumulated, we should take them all away in advance.”

As he spoke, he paused for a moment and gestured for Zheng Dayuan to pour a cup of hot water.

"In addition, there are large tracts of well-developed farmland in the Anxi Protectorate of Korea (present-day Haeju City and Kangryong Peninsula region of North Korea) near Baengnyeong Island. Moreover, it is located by the sea. If it were occupied, it would be enough to support hundreds of thousands of Ming refugees."

"Therefore, let's send troops to seize it and secure a large enough territory for our Liaohai colony!"

"As for how to do it, just follow the pre-prepared plan."

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the government hall suddenly became heated, and a new plan and action were about to unfold.
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(End of this chapter)