Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 387 The Eleventh Year of Chongzhen

The eleventh year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign (1638) could have been considered the most stable year for the Ming Dynasty in the past decade.

In the first month of the year, Liu Guoneng, who had conquered the land, surrendered to the imperial court in Suizhou, Huguang. More than 50,000 of his troops laid down their armor and were immediately granted the rank of garrison commander and placed under the command of Zuo Liangyu.

In April, Zhang Xianzhong, the Eighth King, accepted the imperial court's offer of amnesty in Gucheng.

In July, the Prince of Shunyi surrendered in Xinyang, Henan.

In August, Li Wanqing, who had been in Henan, also submitted to the emperor.

In November, Luo Rucai, the chief of the bandits known as "Cao Cao," led more than twenty leaders, including Yizhangqing, Xiao Qinwang, Yitiaolong, Guo Tianxing, Wang Guoning, Chang Guoan, Yang Youxian, and Wang Guoen, from Junzhou (present-day Junxian County, Hubei Province) to Taihe Palace on Wudang Mountain to surrender to the supervising eunuch Li Jizheng.

Overjoyed, Li Jizheng immediately sent a letter to Xiong Wencan, who then sent people to summon Luo Rucai and others to Xiangyang. A grand banquet was held at the Governor's Mansion, and Luo Rucai was appointed as a guerrilla commander, with his troops stationed in Shangjin, Fangxian, Zhushan, Baokang, Nanzhang and other places.

However, Luo Rucai refused to accept official positions and receive grain rations, preferring to work as a mountain farmer in the countryside.

Subsequently, bandit leaders such as Hun Shiwan, Zheng Shiwan, Shi Fanwang, Tuotianwang, Ziweixing, and Yiziwang surrendered to the imperial court.

For a time, the trend of bandits surrendering became widespread.

Even those who did not surrender, such as Ma Shouying, Ge Liyan (He Yilong), Zuo Jinwang (He Jin), Liu Xiyao, and Lin Yangcheng (i.e., the five battalions of Ge Zuo), entered a low ebb due to their weak and isolated forces and went into hiding in the mountains.

Li Zicheng's forces in Shaanxi also suffered repeated defeats and fled into the mountainous area at the junction of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Hubei provinces in August. Under the encirclement and suppression of tens of thousands of troops under Hong Chengchou, they could no longer pose a threat and their destruction was just around the corner.

The internal strife that had plagued the court for ten years now seemed to have been initially quelled.

As for the Liaodong Jurchens, who were considered a scourge to the Ming Dynasty, they also stopped causing trouble in the eleventh year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, and the situation was able to ease relatively.

Although in January of the tenth year of Chongzhen (February 1637), the Jurchens sent more than 2 troops to defeat Korea, a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and forced it to betray the Ming and surrender to the Jurchens.

However, in March of that year, Shen Shikui's troops in Dongjiang Town achieved a brilliant victory—the Battle of Tieshan, which dealt a heavy blow to the Jurchens who were at the height of their military power.

In this battle, the four thousand Ming soldiers stationed at Tieshan, relying on the city's strong defenses and the sharp firearms provided by the people of Xinzhou, resisted the siege of tens of thousands of Jurchen-Korean allied forces for more than forty days, killing and wounding thousands, and finally forcing the Jurchens to retreat in defeat.

In July, the Dongjiang naval force, together with several gunboats from Xinzhou, decisively defeated the Korean navy at the mouth of the Han River, destroying and capturing more than 60 Korean ships and killing, wounding, or capturing more than 4,000 Korean soldiers.

This battle essentially annihilated the Korean navy, eliminating it from being a threat to Dongjiang Town and even the Liaohai region.

In August, in order to punish the Koreans for betraying the Ming Dynasty and surrendering to the enemy, Shen Shikui's troops in Dongjiang Town, after requesting the Governor-General of Jiliao and the Ministry of War, sent more than 3,500 soldiers to join forces with the people of Xinzhou to attack Dongnae Prefecture (now Busan), an important town in southeastern Korea. They killed and wounded more than 6,000 Korean soldiers and captured 42 local military and political officials, thus restoring the prestige of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, Huanglong's troops stationed on the Liaodong Peninsula, taking advantage of their naval strength, frequently attacked Jurchen villages and garrisons, harassing them relentlessly by advancing one soldier a day, causing the Jurchens a great deal of trouble.

Under these circumstances, in addition to building cities and garrisoning troops in Haizhou (now Haicheng) and Fenghuangcheng (now Fengcheng) as a precaution, the Jurchens also stationed more than 10,000 elite Eight Banner troops in Liaoyang to deal with the Ming army's attack.

At that time, the newly appointed Minister of War, Yang Sichang, submitted a memorial reiterating the principle that internal pacification must precede external resistance, and strongly advocated for compromise with the Jurchens and the cessation of hostilities.

In March of this year, Fang Yizao, the governor of Liaodong, sent Zhou Yuanzhong, a blind fortune teller, to Shenyang to sound out their intentions.

The Slave chieftain Huang Taiji treated Zhou Yuanzhong with great courtesy and stated, "If there is a clear agreement, we will withdraw our troops and return east."

After learning of this, Yang Sichang suggested that Emperor Chongzhen allow Fang Yizao and the chief eunuch Gao Qiqian to act as they see fit and begin peace negotiations with the Jurchens.

After hearing the report, Emperor Chongzhen tacitly approved it.

The decades-long war in Liaodong seemed to be gradually subsiding at this time.

If this peace treaty with the Jurchens is successful, then the Ming Dynasty will see a great situation in that year, with internal strife quelled and external threats quelled.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty might be able to catch its breath a little.

However, as Yang Sichang's negotiations with the Jurchens gradually became public in the court, they immediately sparked fierce criticism from court officials and launched a political campaign to impeach him.

Although, under Chongzhen's protection, Yang Sichang avoided being impeached and dismissed from office, a group of censors, led by Huang Daozhou, the Junior Chamberlain, were also demoted.

However, due to the fierce opposition from his ministers, Emperor Chongzhen no longer dared to express clear support for the peace talks.

Seeing this situation, Fang Yizao, Gao Qiqian and others also became cautious and dared not do anything "expedient" again, and stopped negotiating peace with the Jurchens.

Perhaps feeling mocked and humiliated by the Ming Dynasty (and of course, also considering not giving the Ming Dynasty a chance to recuperate), the slave chieftain Huang Taiji was furious and issued an edict to attack the Ming Dynasty. Dorgon was appointed as the general in charge, with Hauge and Abatai as his deputies, to command the left wing troops. Beile Yuetuo was appointed as the general in charge of military affairs, with Dudu as his deputy, to command the right wing troops. The two armies advanced into the pass and launched a major invasion southward.

At the end of September, two armies broke through the border wall at Qiangziling and Qingshanguan.

They crossed Qian'an and Fengrun, met at Tongzhou, circled around Beijing to Zhuozhou, divided their army into eight parts, and marched along the Taihang Mountains and the Grand Canal from west of Beijing to Shanxi, sweeping all before them.

In October, Liangxiang, Zhuozhou, Fucheng, and Weixian fell.

Governor-General Wu Aheng of Jiliao led his troops back to reinforce the city, but was defeated and killed. The eunuch Deng Xizhao fled without a fight.

Faced with the fierce offensive of the Jurchen army, Emperor Chongzhen urgently ordered troops from all over the country to come to the aid of the emperor, and bestowed upon Lu Xiangsheng the imperial sword, appointing him as the supreme commander of all the reinforcements.

On the night of October 15th, Lu Xiang-sheng led 20,000 troops in a four-pronged attack on the Jurchen camp, but suffered a major defeat.

On the same day, Liu Bolu's more than 7,000 troops under Gao Qiqian were also defeated by the Jurchens at Lugou Bridge.

The situation suddenly became tense. On the 19th, Emperor Chongzhen ordered his ministers to guard the various gates of the capital and issued an edict to urgently dispatch troops from Shaanxi to provide reinforcements.

Before the refugee army had been completely stabilized, Governor-General Hong Chengchou and Governor Sun Chuanting were urged by the imperial edict to defend the emperor and had no choice but to lift the siege and lead their troops north to provide relief.

On November 9th, the Jurchen army besieged Gaoyang. Sun Chengzong, the former Grand Secretary, Liaodong Supervisor, and Junior Tutor, personally led his family to the city to defend against the enemy. After the city fell, except for his six-year-old grandson and his mother who did not survive in the city, his entire family of over a hundred people perished, shocking the court and the public.

"Is there not a single capable fighter in the Ming Dynasty?" Zhong Minghui, Xinhua's plenipotentiary envoy to the Ming Dynasty and commissioner of the Liaohai Colonization Area, slammed the battle reports he had just received onto the table, his face gloomy.

By this time, it was December 5th (January 8th, 1639). The Jurchens had been invading the interior of China for more than two months, capturing more than 30 cities and passes, defeating more than 100,000 Ming troops, killing one governor, three generals, and more than 40 officers and generals above the rank of garrison commander, while suffering negligible losses, as if they had entered an empty land.

These results were simply unbelievable. The Ming Dynasty's defenses were as flimsy as paper, and the hundreds of thousands of government troops were like sheep encountering tigers and wolves, collapsing at the first touch. They couldn't even manage a simple maneuver.

When the Jurchens crossed the border wall and stormed into the interior, Zhong Minghui immediately rushed from Ku Niang Island (now Haiyang Island) to Changshan Island (now Dachangshan Island in Liaoning) to meet with Shang Kexi, the deputy commander-in-chief of Liaonan. He asked Shang Kexi how the tens of thousands of officers and soldiers stationed in Liaonan Town (after the Battle of Tieshan, the Ming court split Dongjiang Town and appointed him as the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town to reward Shen Shikui for his merits, while Huang Long's troops were separately established as Liaonan Town) would deal with the Jurchens' large-scale invasion of the interior.

Shang Kexi mentioned that General Huang Long, under the orders of the Liaodong Governor, was preparing to launch a flanking attack on Yingzhou and Haizhou at an opportune time to divide the Jurchen forces.

However, it was autumn and winter, and the coastal waters were gradually freezing, making it impossible for the navy to coordinate battles. This would instead greatly benefit the Jurchen cavalry in their open-field rampages, making it unlikely that Liaonan Garrison could shake the Jurchen defenses. Under these circumstances, Huang Long's forces could only reluctantly put on a show of force, hoping to put some military pressure on the Jurchens.

Not long after, Shang Kexi said in a sarcastic tone that Shen Shikui of Dongjiang Town had plundered several times in Korea over the past year and should have a well-trained and well-supplied army. He suggested that they should launch an attack from the rear, strike directly at the Jurchen stronghold, and perhaps force the enemy to withdraw their troops and return north, thus saving the court from its crisis.

Upon hearing this, Zhong Minghui merely gave a few bitter laughs and offered no response.

Sending troops out in winter has always been a major taboo for Dongjiang Town. Not only is there no superior navy to assist them, but they are also easily pursued and annihilated by the Jurchen cavalry on the desolate winter plains.

The slightest misstep could lead to a crushing defeat.

Although Shen Shikui gained considerable fame last year due to the great victory at Tieshan, he probably wouldn't have the courage to risk the harsh winter and the annihilation of his entire army to raid the Jurchen rear, and he would be even more reluctant to lose his hard-earned capital.

Compared to attacking the Jurchen flanks and rear, he mostly preferred to send his troops to sweep through the coastal counties, towns, and villages of Korea.

Despite the fact that the Jurchen army had deployed its main force and wreaked havoc on the capital region and Hebei, they still maintained sufficient troops to counterattack in order to guard against sneak attacks from several Ming armies, including those in Guan Ning, Dongjiang, and Liaonan.

On September 28, just as Dorgon and Yue Tuo led their troops to break through the border wall and enter the pass, the Jurchen chieftain Huang Taiji ordered Jirhalang and Shuo Tuo to provide support in the Ningjin area and contain the Ming army outside the pass.

On October 2nd, Huang Taiji ordered Dodo to lead 5,000 elite cavalry from the Eight Banners to garrison Liaoyang in preparation for a possible surprise attack by the Ming army under Huanglong.

On the Liaodong battlefield, the Ming army suffered more than 60% of its main field forces in more than ten years of continuous defeats, and it can be said that it had basically lost the ability (courage) to launch an offensive.

Knowing full well that the Jurchen defenses were weak, they still dared not abandon the fortified city, but gathered their main force to launch an attack on the heart of the Jurchen territory, like "a man with a missing arm who cannot lift a knife when he sees it."

This only adds to the regret!

Faced with this perilous situation, Zhong Minghui felt extremely helpless.

Surely we at Xinhua can't just roll up our sleeves and get to work ourselves, can we?
Although, after years of development and planning, Xinhua has established a paramilitary force of nearly 1,500 troops in the Liaohai region—the Liaohai Self-Defense Army—and equipped it with a large number of firearms, even if Xinhua were to send all its troops over to the Jurchen army of 100,000, it could only cause a small ripple at most before being completely annihilated by the enemy.

Needless to say, Xinhua also needs to station corresponding military forces in its strongholds on Kuniang Island, Baengnyeong Island, and Tamna Island (i.e., Jeju Island) to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the situation.

If someone steals your home, all your hard work over the years will be for nothing.

In addition, Xinhua also had to help Gwanghaegun, who had seized the throne and restored his kingdom, defend his base on the Kangnyeong Peninsula, so there was no way to spare any extra troops.

Seeing that he could not change the course of the war, a frustrated Zhong Minghui immediately returned to Ku Niang Island by boat, intending to devote all his attention to the task of gathering refugees.

This time, the Jurchens launched a large-scale invasion into the interior of China, and the entire Hebei and Beijing-Tianjin region will inevitably be devastated, creating an estimated number of millions of refugees.

Since they couldn't stop the Jurchens from running rampant, they had no choice but to do everything they could to comfort and take in these war-torn refugees.

In this harsh winter, refugees who have lost their homes and food will face only death if they receive no relief.

Zhong Minghui dispatched several waves of messengers, ordering the Guangzhou merchants to immediately organize ships and, at all costs, transport as much food as possible to the north to accommodate the refugees.

On November 12 (December 25, 1638), after receiving news of the fall of Gaoyang City and the deaths of Sun Chengzong and his family, he immediately became restless.

After loading the two large ships anchored on Ku Niang Island with grain, he mustered two hundred self-defense troops and sailed toward Tianjin Port.

However, upon approaching the coast, they discovered that sea ice blocked the harbor, preventing entry. Moreover, due to tidal forces, large areas of ice had accumulated along the coast, forming ice walls two to three meters high.

Therefore, Zhong Minghui ordered the ships to change course and head south, anchoring at Dengzhou.

Unexpectedly, Dengzhou, the core hub of the Ming Dynasty's defense line in the Bohai Sea, sent all of its more than 3,000 garrison troops to the capital after receiving the imperial edict to defend the capital. As a result, in order to guard against potential dangers, it closed its gates and prohibited any foreign ships from entering or docking.

Even though Zhong Minghui sent people ashore to identify themselves and inform local officials that they had come to provide disaster relief and "comfort" the suffering people, it was all in vain.

However, he was still refused entry by the governor's office and ordered to leave, forbidden from trespassing into Dengzhou Port.

At this time, the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, for the sake of vigilance and defense, not only temporarily conscripted more than 3,000 troops from the surrounding garrisons to be stationed at key passes in various parts of Dengzhou, but also mobilized and gathered 2,000 militiamen to defend the city walls, added 3 new artillery emplacements at Danya Mountain, and rebuilt the water city that was destroyed during the Dengzhou Rebellion.

They even recalled 20 patrol boats that were patrolling the Miaodao Islands to strengthen their naval defenses.

At this critical juncture, you people from Xinzhou actually want to use grain to relieve the people and recruit them. Aren't you just causing trouble for our Dengzhou and Laizhou area?

If refugees gather and cause trouble, damaging the Dengzhou border defenses, who will bear the responsibility?

However, the people of Xinzhou have been active in Liaohai, Shandong and other places for many years, providing silver and grain relief and helping tens of thousands of refugees, and have accumulated a good reputation.

This time, they brought two grain ships, showing their benevolent intentions, so we couldn't just drive them away so roughly.

Therefore, the Dengzhou-Laizhou governor's office issued a document allowing the grain ships from Xinzhou to temporarily anchor at Changshan Island in the open sea, and the refugees who needed "comfort" could be transported there by small boats.

Zhong Minghui was speechless at the excessive caution and prudence of the local officials in Dengzhou and Laiyang.

With the Ming armies of Huang Long and Shen Shikui guarding Liaohai, Dengzhou, located in the rear, was far too tense to be acting so alarmed and paranoid.

Changshan Island was under the jurisdiction of Dengzhou Guard and was the core of the patrol and defense zone of the Miaodao Islands. As early as the Hongwu period, three beacon towers and one water fortress (located on the west side of South Changshan Island, now Quezui Bay) were built on South Changshan, North Changshan and Miaodao. The permanent garrison was a general flag officer, who was stationed on the island and managed by the Miaodao captain (a seventh-rank official).

According to patrol regulations, a signal for peace is sent to Dengzhou Guard every day.

If encountering enemy activity, light three smoke signals and hold the position while awaiting reinforcements.

When Zhong Minghui arrived at Changshan Island with two grain ships, he handed over the official document from the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou to Liang Tianqiu, the commander of Miaodao Island, and was immediately warmly welcomed.

Xinhua ships frequently traveled between the Liaohai region and had long established extremely close relationships with these local tyrants. During festivals and holidays, they would often receive various gifts and subsidies from Xinhua people, who treated them like their providers.

Furthermore, the Jurchen invasion of the interior caused turmoil throughout the north, cutting off the supply of various materials. The two grain ships brought by the new Chinese were a great reassurance to the isolated island garrison.

This means that no matter how tense the situation becomes, there will be no shortage of food on the island.

Moreover, a fully armed Xinhua guard team has been stationed on the island, which provides them with an extra layer of security.

However, everyone still hoped that the Jurchens would stop causing trouble in Hebei and the capital region and go back home as soon as possible.

In this freezing weather, the Jurchens kept breaching cities and capturing strongholds. No one knew how many civilians would be slaughtered, or how many refugees would be displaced and eventually die of cold and hunger.

Damn it, what if the Jurchens invade our Shandong territory?
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(End of this chapter)