Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 390 Showdown (Part Two)

The tenth day of the first month of the twelfth year of Chongzhen's reign (February 12, 1639).

In the depths of winter, the entire earth is covered with a thick layer of snow, and the north wind howls past, whipping up ice shards.

From the direction of Tieshan, a dark, imposing army was advancing through the snow, its men like dragons, its horses like tigers, displaying great military might.

He Ridele, the deputy commander of Dongjiang Town, stopped his horse on a high slope, raised his monocular telescope, and looked towards Yizhou City in the distance.

"Sir, do the Koreans really know how to open the city gates?" Chen Ce, the adjutant beside him, rubbed his frozen hands and exhaled a puff of white breath.

He Ride sneered and pulled out a secret letter from his pocket. The edges of the letter were worn and frayed: "A personal letter of surrender from Jin Chenghuan, the prefect of Yizhou, 'I am willing to recover the land for the Ming Dynasty, even if I die, I will have no regrets.' For more than a year, the Koreans have been forced by the Tartars to pay tribute and conscript soldiers, and they have long been suffering terribly."

"What if this guy is trying to trick us?" Chen Ce's face showed a hint of worry.

"Then let's just break through the city and charge in!" He Ride glanced back at the several artillery pieces moving in the middle of the column. "The gunners of the Xinzhou people are no pushovers! Several cannons will be right up to the city gate. Let's blast them to smithereens. With the fighting strength of the Koreans, how can they stop us?"

"That's true!" Chen Ce nodded. "These Koreans were already intimidated when they saw our Ming Dynasty flags before the battle even started. If we bombarded them with cannon fire a few more times, they'd definitely lose their nerve!"

"After the city falls, all those who have colluded with the enemy will be beheaded and their heads displayed, and all their possessions will be confiscated." He Ride put away his binoculars, lightly nudged his horse's flanks, and headed down the slope. "In addition, all the city's inhabitants will be relocated to Tieshan, and all their grain, cloth, iron, gold, and silver will be taken with them. After this battle, Yizhou City will no longer need to exist!"

"Yes, sir!" Upon hearing this, Chen Ce felt a surge of excitement in his heart.

Although He Ride did not explicitly order the "sweeping of the city," the complete relocation of the people of Yizhou and the emptying of the city's supplies were undoubtedly a form of plunder.

"Brothers, hurry up! Take Yizhou, drink hot wine, and grab gold and silver!"

A low murmur of response rang out from the ranks, the clanging of armor against scabbards particularly jarring in the snowy night.
-
At midnight, three red lanterns suddenly lit up on the beacon tower at the south corner of Yizhou City, standing out starkly against the dark city wall.

The Ming scouts who had infiltrated the city immediately blew their bird whistles, and the city responded with a clear signal.

"Creak..." The heavy city gate slowly opened a crack, and a Korean officer poked his head out, waving anxiously: "Quick! Get in the city! The Qing supervisor is drunk, and the guards are all our own people!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ce glanced at the dark city gate, then gritted his teeth and waved his hand forward: "Charge in!"

A troop of heavily armored vanguard soldiers swarmed through the city gate and charged into the city.

After passing through the barbican and then another city gate, the view suddenly opened up. Yizhou City was silent under the night sky, like a huge beast lying prone in the wind and snow, completely unaware that it was about to face a fatal blow from its hunter.

As Chen Ce spurred his horse into the crossroads, he saw a middle-aged man in a Korean official robe kneeling in the snow. It was none other than Kim Seong-hwan, the governor of Uiju.

"Your humble servant... respectfully welcomes the royal army!" Kim Seong-hwan's voice trembled as he pressed his forehead against the snow. "For over a year, the people of Yizhou have been yearning day and night for the banners of the Ming Dynasty!"

Upon seeing this, Chen Ce felt a sense of relief.

This is a sure thing!

He jumped off his horse and helped him up, only to find a broken blade hidden in the man's sleeve, which startled him.

Kim Sung-hwan smiled bitterly: "If the royal army doesn't arrive, I will commit suicide tonight to die for my country... That's better than being a dog for the Tartars again!"

"Lord Jin, you are truly righteous! Our Great Ming will never fail you!" Chen Ce patted him heavily on the shoulder. "Let's go, and follow me to reclaim Yizhou and raise the banners of the Great Ming once more!"
-
By daybreak, Yizhou City had completely changed hands.

Ming soldiers searched house to house for "traitors" who were colluding with the Qing, and piled up the seals and account books issued by the Qing in the city and set them on fire.

Teams of Korean laborers were mobilized to load rice and grain stored in the government granaries onto horse-drawn carts and oxcarts, preparing to transport them to Tieshan.

Not a single grain of rice should be left for the Tartars to eat!

"Not a single foot of cloth can be given to the Tartars!" An old Korean woman suddenly rushed to the grain cart and cried out, "Sir, this is our lifeline for getting through the winter!"

A Ming soldier stepped forward and dragged him away, saying, "If you want to live, come with me to Tieshan!"

Before long, fires broke out one after another in the city, and thick smoke billowed straight into the sky.

Jin Chenghuan staggered to He Ride, the Ming army's commander-in-chief: "General, the Heavenly Army's actions will leave the people in the city with no way to survive..."

“Lord Jin…” He Ride grabbed his wrist and said in a sinister tone, “After we leave, do you think the Tartars will let Yizhou City go? Hmph, in the Tartars’ eyes, you are ‘enlightened’! Tell me, when the Tartars come, will they appease us or massacre the city?”

"..." Kim Il-hwan stood there dumbfounded.

"Either come with us, or wait for the Tartars to come and massacre the city. Lord Jin, the choice is yours!" After saying this, He Ride turned and walked towards a magnificent mansion.

“Yiju, just like that, destroyed…” Kim Il-hwan watched as squads of Ming soldiers kept knocking on house after house, his heart filled with endless sorrow.
-
"What are the new Chinese doing?" He Ride asked his guards as he walked out of the inner bedroom with satisfaction, tying his clothes as he did so.

"Reporting to Your Excellency..." The guard glanced furtively at the erotic scene in the bedroom and swallowed hard. "The Xinhua people have looted the ancient books and cultural relics in Yizhou City, filling several large carts. Oh, and by the way, they also obtained more than a thousand Korean women from General Chen."

"What would the new Chinese do with looting several truckloads of ancient books and cultural relics?" He Ride asked in surprise. "Those things can't be eaten or exchanged for money."

He could understand the idea of ​​kidnapping women; they were mostly meant to be transported to Beiying Island or their own New Zealand mainland to satisfy the marriage needs of countless single immigrant men.

But the fact that they stole several truckloads of ancient books and cultural relics is baffling.

Previously, the army set off from Tieshan and successively captured the cities of Yanzhou and Longchuan. The more than two hundred Xinhua soldiers who came with them also packed up various books and cultural relics from the mansions of wealthy merchants in the cities and transported them back to Tieshan.

Meanwhile, the government troops in Dongjiang Town plundered gold, silver, and valuables to the extreme, filling their pockets with bulging purses and reaping a bountiful harvest.

Could it be that Xinhua has hired a group of scholars to meticulously study and analyze these classic texts and documents that have been passed down through generations?

How strange!
-
On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, as dusk fell, Yizhou was engulfed in flames.

Tens of thousands of people from Yizhou, young and old, were escorted by Ming soldiers and made their way south.

“In the early years, this city was an important trading port for trade between Korea and our Great Ming. After the Bingzi War, the Qing army strictly restricted the exchanges between Korea and the Ming, and even forbade the Koreans from supporting our Dongjiang Town through this place.” He Ride looked back at the red light soaring into the sky from Yizhou City, and a sigh appeared on his face.

“After that, Uiju became a place for the Qing to stockpile and transfer supplies from Korea, and it was also a necessary stop for the so-called Korean mission to the Qing. This time, its complete destruction will surely make the Qing feel very distressed.”

"In this way, we can report back to the imperial court!"

“Oh, what a mess this is!” Wang Shuo, the Left Assistant Commander of Pi Island, sighed. “The Tartars are burning, killing, and looting within our Ming territory, wreaking havoc on the land. We, on the other hand, have gone to the Korean border, destroying cities and villages, causing utter destruction to the local area, yet the Tartars themselves have suffered no harm. After this mutual slaughter, it seems that no one has benefited except the Tartars.”

“Old Wang, you can’t say that,” Chen Ce said with a smile. “Xinhua said that the Tartars’ rampage in the capital region and Hebei, and their devastation in Shandong, are all aimed at weakening the economy and livelihood of the people in northern China. This area has been ravaged and is in dire need of production. How can it possibly supply the needs of the Liaodong garrisons and my Dongjiang garrison?”

"Damn it, the Tartars' intentions are truly vicious. Once the entire north is completely destroyed by them, our military towns at the front will become like water without a source or a tree without roots, and we will be unable to continue our stalemate with the Tartars."

"That's true, but if we destroy North Korea as well, could we salvage the situation a little?"

"At the very least, it will prevent the Tartars from easily obtaining grain, cloth, and precious iron from Korea."

"..."

A north wind suddenly rose, carrying sparks from Yizhou City across the snow-covered plains.

The procession moved further and further away, leaving only the crimson flames behind them, turning the snowy night blood-red.

(End of this chapter)