The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 599 Iron Bucket Formation, White-Spear Soldiers
The Ming Dynasty suddenly launched a campaign to encircle and annihilate them.

Yongle Mountain was surrounded by an iron barrel.

As the scouts Nurhaci had sent to various locations to keep up with the reports, his heart sank to the bottom.

The Ming army that came to besiege them this time probably numbered more than three million!
To the west, on the Tatar sea, there are thousands of giant ships resembling city walls, which represent hundreds of thousands of troops.

To the north, the Heilongjiang River is teeming with centipede-shaped boats, numbering in the thousands, which must have carried at least hundreds of thousands of people.

The situation to the east was even more incredible. The entire line from the Heilongjiang River, the Asuri River, and Pipa Lake to Shuangchengwei was densely packed with camps, too numerous to count. That numbered at least two million troops!
In addition, there were 400,000 troops who had set up camp in the Shuangchengwei area beforehand, which brought the total to more than 3 million.

Young Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, what grudge do I hold against you?
You actually mobilized so many troops to besiege my less than 30,000 men!
To be honest, Nurhaci was somewhat desperate.

Can they take on a hundred enemies single-handedly?
That is impossible.

Moreover, the Ming army outnumbered them by more than a hundred times.

They have no chance of winning.

However, he is not the kind of person who gives up easily.

He felt he still had a chance!
As for what the opportunity was, it was naturally to use the familiar terrain and vast territory of Yongle Mountain to deal with the Ming army.

It's true that the Ming army was incredibly large.

Yongle Mountain is also frighteningly large.

If we calculate it in acres, Yongle Mountain is at least several hundred million acres!
In other words, even if all three million Ming troops rushed into Yongle Mountain, there might not be enough land in hundreds of acres to accommodate even one person.

Besides, the Ming army couldn't possibly be spread out like that. As the commander, he knew very well that spreading out his troops in such a vast mountainous area would be suicidal.

The Ming army would definitely gather into groups and advance into the mountains, each group having at least tens of thousands of men; otherwise, they might be defeated one by one.

Based on this calculation, the Ming army could at most be divided into more than three hundred groups and enter the mountains from all directions.

Yongle Mountain stretches four or five hundred li from east to west and more than two thousand li from north to south. Adding it up from all directions, it stretches five or six thousand li.

If the Ming army were to disperse into more than 300 groups and enter the mountains from all directions, the distance between each group would be at least ten or even several tens of miles.

With such a huge gap, he could easily use the familiar terrain to move around freely. If he could keep moving for more than half a year, the Ming army would have to retreat.

Because only they could endure the harsh winters in Yongle Mountain; the Ming army certainly couldn't.

This is their opportunity.

As for whether it can last for more than half a year, that is entirely possible.

This is mountainous terrain. No matter how powerful the Ming army was, they could only travel about twenty miles a day by crossing mountains and valleys. It would take them almost half a year to travel from south to north through Yongle Mountain.

Can he really rise to prominence in less than six months?
While Nurhaci was considering how to escape, Qin Liangyu was already preparing to lead her army to suppress him.

On the 30th of April, around noon, the sun was shining brightly.

Pipa is located more than a hundred miles south of the lake, the former site of Shuangchengwei and the Sichuan Army's main camp.

Smoke was already rising from the vast, sea-like camp, where hundreds of thousands of soldiers were preparing for lunch.

At this moment, the faint sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from the north, and a large Qin-character flag quickly came into view of the lookout.

The General Who Guards the East has returned to his camp!
The camp, which resembled a vast ocean, suddenly erupted in a deafening roar, as countless people cheered.

They were just waiting for their commander to return to camp. Once the commander returned, they could go into the mountains to pursue and annihilate the Jurchens, which would be worth tens of thousands of military merits!

Qin Liangyu, accompanied by over a hundred personal guards, sped to the front of the main tent amidst cheers.

Immediately afterwards, a series of command flags were waved from the arrow tower next to the main tent. All the deputy commanders, assistant commanders, and guerrilla generals hurriedly dropped their rice bowls, mounted their horses, and galloped towards the main tent.

Before long, dozens of generals gathered in the command tent.

Qin Liangyu sat high in the main seat, slowly surveyed the crowd, roughly counted the number of people, then stood up, cupped her hands towards the north and said: "By order of His Majesty, this campaign must maintain overall progress. Anyone who dares to disobey military orders, underestimate the enemy and advance recklessly, or is greedy for merit and advances recklessly, even if a great victory is achieved, will be beheaded and displayed to the public!"

The generals quickly cupped their hands and bowed, saying, "Your humble servants will obey His Majesty's orders."

Qin Liangyu then said with a stern expression, "I have made it clear to you all that anyone who dares to lead their troops out of the range of the neighboring army's telescopes to pursue the Jurchens will be executed without mercy!"

The generals quickly cupped their hands and said in unison, "We understand."

Qin Liangyu nodded slightly, then said loudly, "Go back and study the map carefully, remember your marching route, prepare food at 5:45 AM tomorrow, break camp and assemble at 3:45 AM, and march at 7:00 AM. Go."

The generals responded with a roar, strode out of the tent, and then rode off in all directions.

On the first day of the fifth lunar month, the Gengzi day, before dawn, it was still pitch black.

Suddenly, torches, like a sky full of stars, lit up the Sichuan Army camp. Then, commands were given, and bonfires were lit all over the place.

This means they're preparing to march forward; otherwise, why would they get up so early in the morning?

The Jurchen scouts on the distant mountain peaks, seeing the endless bonfires, quickly ran to the hillside behind them and lit their own bonfire.

This was used for communication at nightfall, similar to the signal fire. Nurhaci was currently in the newly built stone fortress about a hundred miles to the north.

Upon receiving the message, he couldn't help but look puzzled.

Is it only the southern route of the Ming army that is advancing into the mountains this time? Or are the other three routes just bluffing?
He waited for a long time, until dawn broke, but still no news came from other directions.

Now, he was at a loss for what to do.

He originally thought that the Ming army in the east was the main force for the campaign.

Because there were too many Ming troops on the eastern route, accounting for more than half of the Ming army in this siege.

The Ming army in the southern route initially numbered around 400,000, and no reinforcements were sent afterward.

He believed that the Ming army should block the southern route and advance from the east.

Unexpectedly, the Ming army in the south made the first move.

How do we run now?
Should they rush forward to find an opening and break out of the encirclement, or should they head north?

This is truly a difficult decision.

If they head south to meet the Ming army, find a gap in the southern route, and break out of the encirclement, they can return to the more familiar Changbai Mountain.

At that time, they might even be able to find their clansmen and continue to grow and expand.

If they flee directly north, they might be able to evade the next six months as long as they keep fleeing, since Yongle Mountain is more than two thousand li long from north to south.

In other words, if they simply fled north, they could avoid encountering the Ming army and survive the year.

Both of these seem to be very good choices.

However, this is only a good option if the only Ming army option is to advance into the mountains from the south to encircle and suppress them.

If the Ming army in the south is followed by other Ming armies, or if Ming armies from other directions also enter the mountains to encircle and suppress them, or even if the Ming army intends to attack from both the north and south, then both of these options are quite dangerous.

He frowned and pondered for a long time, but decided to wait and see how things went.

By this time, the sun had already risen, and the 400,000 Sichuan soldiers had packed up their tents and lined up in long rows.

With the Qin banner pointing north, dozens of groups of people immediately strode out and headed straight for Yongle Mountain.

They traveled on foot, without riding horses or carrying any grain carts.

These guys didn't slow down at all after they ran into the mountains; they walked through the towering peaks as if they were on flat ground!
The Jurchen scouts were all startled by what they saw.

They might not even be able to outrun that speed.

If these guys were allowed to reach the foot of the mountain where they are, they probably wouldn't be able to escape.

Soon, the Jurchen scouts on the mountain peaks all rushed north down the mountain and fled in panic.

Qin Liangyu was well aware that there were very few Jiannu people within a range of ten or twenty miles south of Yongle Mountain, because they also had scouts on the outer mountain peaks.

Their scouts could even spot the Jurchen scouts with binoculars, but to avoid alerting the Jurchens and letting them know that they were the main attackers, they didn't send anyone to surround and kill the Jurchen scouts.

Qin Liangyu knew very well that it was unlikely they would engage in close combat on the very first day.

She led Ma Qiancheng and his men northward at breakneck speed, covering more than twenty miles in about half a day, until they arrived at the valley where they were to camp.

At this time, the two groups of people next to them were still running in the mountains and forests.

Qin Liangyu did not slack off at all. After the army entered the valley, she led Ma Qiancheng and her personal guards to climb to the top of a nearby mountain.

Immediately afterwards, she took the large binoculars carried by her bodyguard and began to scan the area.

She carefully scanned the area but found no trace of the Jurchens. Then she solemnly said, "Qiancheng, order the troops to set up camp and let the soldiers get some rest."

This isn't a battle that can be ended in a day or two. The Jurchens are so slippery; I reckon we'll have to pursue them to the very end to completely wipe them out.

Just like the other generals under her command, Ma Qiancheng bowed and said, "This subordinate obeys."

After saying that, he ran down the mountain in a flash and ordered the camp to be set up.

Qin Liangyu stood alone on the mountaintop, carefully scanning the forest to the north once again.

She knew very well that if the Jurchens realized they were surrounded by an ironclad formation, they would definitely try to break out, and the seemingly sparse forty groups of men to their south were the best direction for their escape.

This time, the Jurchens definitely can't escape.

However, they must be extremely careful.

If one group of troops is ambushed by the Jurchens, even if other groups manage to surround them, that group will certainly suffer heavy casualties.

This battle involved 400,000 against less than 40,000, and yet the casualties were still heavy; that was her dereliction of duty.

(End of this chapter)