Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 482 Attack on Haizhou (Part 1)

On October 20th, Haizhouwei was completely covered by a light snowfall.

The pale gray sky hung low over the city, as if it might collapse at any moment and bury this desolate land completely.

A thin layer of snow had accumulated on the crenellations of the city wall, and when the north wind blew, it drifted away in a flurry.

He Shoushan hunched his neck and tightened the collar of his cotton armor even more.

The armor he wore, belonging to a Han Chinese Plain White Banner captain, had copper studs that were worn smooth and shiny, and rust could even be seen showing at the edges.

As the garrison commander of Haizhou City, he stood on the arrow tower of the south gate, his gaze sweeping across the vast white wilderness to the endless snowfield to the south. His heart felt as if it were filled with ice, chilling him to the bone.

"Commander, you've been standing here for half an hour." The voice of the personal guard He Fu came from behind.

This young man was his cousin from Baoding Prefecture. Ten years ago, he followed him to surrender to the Qing Dynasty in Daling City and then joined the Plain White Banner of the Han Army. He was considered his closest confidant.

At that moment, he was holding a greasy mink coat, his hands trembling from the cold, and his voice was thick with nasal congestion: "This wind is like a knife. If I stand here any longer, my ears will probably freeze off."

"He Fu, how long do you think this snow will keep the roads blocked?" He Shoushan's voice was carried by the wind, scattered and fragmented.

He Fu draped the fur coat over his shoulders ingratiatingly, smiling obsequiously: "What, sir, are you still hoping the road will be open? In my humble opinion, it would be best if it remained closed until spring! After a few more heavy snowfalls, the road will be sealed off, and those Ming bastards won't be able to get through."

"The Ming army still dares to come?" He Shoushan curled his lips. "Where did they get the guts? Years ago, Huang Long led tens of thousands of elite troops to try and take advantage of the situation, but didn't they get their heads chopped off by our Qing cavalry? Now, those remnants of the Liaonan garrison are probably hiding in Gaizhou, not even daring to leave the city gates."

“You’re right, sir!” He Fu put his hands to his mouth and breathed heavily. “Two months ago, they tried to come to Haizhouwei to beg for money, but when they encountered the three hundred armored cavalry of the Bordered Yellow Banner, they were so scared that they all ran back to Gaizhou. They didn’t even dare to stay in Yaozhou, which they had conquered.”

He Shoushan snorted but didn't reply.

Several years ago, in the Battle of Gaizhou, Ajige led several thousand armored cavalry to defeat Huanglong, who was routed and killed in battle. He then advanced south, capturing several Ming fortresses and eventually reaching the walls of Lushun.

If it weren't for the warmer weather, the renewed activity of the Ming navy providing a steady stream of supplies and weaponry, and the arrival of several hundred musketeers from the new China to rescue us, perhaps our Great Qing could have wiped out the entire Liaonan garrison in one fell swoop, pacified the Liaodong Peninsula, and completely eliminated this vital enemy.

However, after this battle, Liaonan Garrison was never able to recover and could no longer pose a threat to our Great Qing.

Although the Ming Dynasty later reappointed a general in an attempt to reorganize southern Liaoning, its strength was far from what it used to be, with its troops numbering only four or five thousand and remaining entrenched in three coastal fortresses: Lushun, Jinzhou, and Fuzhou.

Unexpectedly, when our Qing Dynasty dispatched a large number of troops to Jinzhou to fight against the Ming army, the Liaonan garrison dared to break out again, joining forces with the Xinhua people to capture Xiong Yue, Gaizhou, and Yaozhou, and even attempted to attack Haizhou.

When our Qing Dynasty's Bordered Yellow Banner 300 armored cavalry launched a fierce attack, they immediately scared the Liaonan garrison into retreating all the way back to Gaizhou.

However, our Qing forces were insufficient for the time being, and we did not take advantage of the situation to recover Yaozhou, using it as a buffer against the Ming army.

Now it is early winter, the weather is getting cold, and heavy snow is falling. Presumably, the Ming army will not attack in such cold weather.

Although he was not too worried about the Ming army attacking from the south, the city of Haizhou where he was stationed was in a very difficult situation.

In order to defeat the main force of more than 100,000 Ming troops in Jinzhou, the Qing Dynasty mobilized almost all available troops and supplies to the front line.

The Haizhou Guard, which originally had 1,200 troops stationed there, has been reduced to only these Han Chinese Eight Banners armored soldiers after several mobilizations. There are only about 60 of them, more than 20 of whom were Ming prisoners captured from Xingshan two years ago. They were exceptionally promoted to the Han Chinese Eight Banners because of their diligence and loyalty.

The remaining 130 or so able-bodied young men were selected and took turns guarding the area, armed with hastily made wooden spears.

At this moment, dozens of bondservant soldiers were standing on the city wall, shivering, and they looked utterly useless.

The city's residents and ordinary citizens?

Most of them were elderly and weak Han slaves, and some were family members left behind by the Han Eight Banners. Women, children and infants made up more than 80% of them. Let alone fighting, they were lucky if they could just stand on the city wall with hoes to make a show of themselves.

To make matters worse, there was no surplus food in the city, and everyone was barely surviving on bran and moldy old grain.

Those Han slaves resorted to stealing grass and tree bark to stave off hunger. With the weather turning cold, it's estimated that most of them will freeze and starve to death.

It's better if they die, at least we can save some food.

Otherwise, if these Han slaves steal fodder, wouldn't the cattle and horses go hungry?

He turned to look north, his heart sinking even deeper.

The troops in Liaoyang were pitifully few, consisting of only fifty-odd armored cavalrymen from the Manchu Eight Banners Bordered Yellow Banner, plus more than two hundred old and weak Han infantrymen.

If there is an emergency in Haizhou, they most likely won't come to the rescue; guarding Liaoyang is their priority.

As for Shengjing...

He heard that the emperor had taken away all the Eight Banners guards, and even the palace guards were few and far between. It was practically an empty city, guarded only by strong women, teenagers, and "loyal and diligent" bondservants.

I wonder what the situation is like in Jinzhou now, and I have no idea how long our Great Qing will remain locked in this stalemate with the Ming army. Sigh, how come the Ming army has suddenly become so formidable?

An unconfirmed message came from Shengjing, saying that Prince Wuying, Ajige, was wounded by Ming army cannon fire a month ago, and by the time Bayala's personal guards brought him back to the camp, he had already died from his injuries.

He Shoushan was skeptical of this news, believing it to be a rumor spread by the Ming army in an attempt to undermine the morale of the Qing army.

Who was Ajige? He was the emperor's twelfth brother, a noble member of the royal family, and the Prince of Wuying. In the battles against the Ming army, he was victorious in every battle and rarely suffered a defeat. How could he have been killed by cannon fire on the front line of Jinzhou, among hundreds of thousands of troops?
Well, it's probably just a rumor!
He Shoushan shook his head, about to turn around and leave the city wall to return to the government office.

"Sir, look over there!" He Fu suddenly tugged at his arm, his voice trembling.

He Shoushan's heart skipped a beat, and he turned around abruptly to look in the direction the man was pointing.

At the edge of the southern snowfield, several dark dots appeared faintly, like ink drops falling on rice paper, gradually spreading out.

He rubbed his eyes. Damn it, could it be that he'd been looking at the snow for too long and his eyes were playing tricks on him?
In the blink of an eye, the black dots multiplied and became denser, eventually forming a gray-black tide that surged toward Haizhou City.

"That's...that's a pack of wolves?" He Fu's voice trembled like leaves falling in the autumn wind. "Or, it's our Qing army..."

"Shut up!" He Shoushan hissed, feeling as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart.

Those weren't wolves at all!
Those are flags, those are soldiers!

It was an offensive banner fluttering in the wind and snow!

Although the distance is too far and the flag cannot be seen clearly, it is definitely not the army of my Great Qing.

The sheer force and the dense formation suggested a force of more than a few thousand people.

The problem is, does my Great Qing still have an army of this size within its borders?

"Enemy attack!" He Shoushan drew his sword and roared, "Ming army is attacking!...All personnel on high alert!"

"Go quickly and gather all the soldiers in the city!" He Fu was pushed by him and stumbled down the arrow tower.

Some of the bondservants on the city wall also noticed the unusual situation outside the city. They craned their necks to look out, and their whispers hummed like a swarm of startled bees in the cold wind.

"Don't panic! Everyone guard the battlements!" He Shoushan roared, trying to make his voice sound calm. "Quickly, quickly, grab your weapons and prepare to meet the enemy!"

In the snow, a large army was slowly approaching.

At the very front were cavalry, numbering about six or seven hundred, their warhorses crunching through the snow.

They wore dark cotton armor, and the red tassels on their helmets stood out starkly against the white snow.

Behind the cavalry was a dense mass of infantry, their ranks impeccably orderly, long spears and muskets slung over their shoulders, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

What alarmed him even more was that there were countless sleds in the middle of the procession, and it seemed that they were carrying... several cannons!
The cannons were pulled by a dozen or so horses, leaving deep ruts in the snow.

"My lord, how many people are there..." a Han Chinese Eight Banners commander cried out in a low voice, his face contorted with grief.

He Shoushan gritted his teeth, shaded his eyes with his hand, and roughly estimated: "At least...at least four thousand people!"

"It's over..." The Han Chinese Eight Banners commander looked back at the increasingly chaotic Haizhou City, his face ashen. "Four thousand men? With this city, I'm afraid... I'm afraid we can't hold it! My lord..."

"We must hold on, even if we can't!" He Shoushan's face was also filled with despair. "The laws of our Great Qing army state that anyone who abandons a city will be executed! Therefore, our only chance to save our wives, children, and families is to fight to the death!"

The military law of our Great Qing Dynasty was severe, stipulating that "any general or officer who abandons a city and flees shall be sentenced to death and have his or her family's property confiscated."

In the third year of Chongde (1638), Huang Long, the general of Liaonan Garrison, led 5,000 elite troops to launch a surprise attack on Gaizhou. Liu Wuyuan, the Han Army Banner Commander, was beheaded for abandoning the city, his property was confiscated, and his wife, children and family were all demoted to bondservants.

Conversely, if a soldier dies in battle, his family will be provided for, his sons will inherit his position, and his wife and children will be given land and houses.

For example, in the Battle of Songshan in the fifth year of Chongde (1640), the eldest sons of Nomqi, a Mongol Zuo Ling (military commander), and Liu Yuliang, a Han Army Banner Commander, who were killed by Ming artillery fire, both inherited their fathers' positions.

Furthermore, the families of fallen soldiers can continue to receive half of the deceased's salary and are exempt from taxes and corvée labor.

If the offspring are young, they will be supported by the banner's public treasury until they reach adulthood.

Therefore, for the sake of his wife, children, and family back home, He Shoushan had no choice but to fight to the death and dared not abandon the city and flee.

"Clang clang clang..." The dull sound of bells rang out over Haizhou City, striking the hearts of everyone like a death knell.
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(End of this chapter)