Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 157 Shake the egg to break the yolk, cut the earthworm in half

"To plow the court and sweep away the enemy's lair?!" The generals of Liaoxi were all shocked!
They weren't unaware of the principle of taking advantage of a weakness, and this was something Dongjiang Town had been doing all along, but these were just minor skirmishes. Now it seemed the Emperor was about to get serious! But was this the right time? The Jurchens had a hundred thousand troops marching straight towards the capital, and how many elite troops could the capital possibly muster?!
Sweeping away the enemy's lair is exhilarating, but what if they win the battle, but Beijing falls and the Ming Dynasty collapses? Wouldn't all their efforts have been in vain? Who would reward them, who would provide them with funds and provisions to support their troops?!
It was precisely because the plan was so outrageous, sounding like a fake order, that Zhu Youjian sent Cao Huachun to read the imperial edict aloud on the spot to increase its credibility, rather than issuing a mere official document.

Zhu Youjian appointed Cao Huachun as a supervising eunuch to accompany the army on expeditions. The supervising eunuch had the right to report on others' activities, but was not allowed to interfere with command. He had no one else available and hoped that Cao Huachun could quickly develop his military skills through experience.

Of course, in addition to the imperial edict, Cao Huachun also brought more detailed military orders: This northern expedition to Liaodong would be led by Mao Wenlong, the Earl of Dongjiang, as the commander-in-chief, bearing the seal of the Grand General Who Conquers the Barbarians. Zu Dashou, the General Commander of Jinzhou, and Man Gui, the General Commander of Ningyuan, would respectively command the left and right wing cavalry, under the command of Mao Wenlong.

Zhao Shuaijiao, Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, and He Kegang were ordered to go to Beijing, without leading a large army back to reinforce the capital. They were permitted to bring their personal guards and household servants, traveling light to aid Beijing. Upon their return, they would assume command of the three major camps. Yuan Keli remained to guard Shanhaiguan.

Jinzhou and Ningyuan can be partially abandoned, with only a few hundred soldiers left to guard them and maintain order within the cities, while the main force from Liaoxi is pushed forward.

If you encounter a fortified city, you can bypass it; only attack smaller fortified towns. Kill all those who shave their heads or wear queues and cannot speak Han Chinese. Pack up the Han Chinese and bring them back to develop southern Liaoning; kill those who refuse to leave. Loot resources if you can; if you can't take them, burn them down, breach the riverbanks, and set fire to the coal mines.

In short, the Ming Dynasty won't be able to reclaim Liaodong anytime soon, but the Jurchens won't have an easy time either. No amount of rites, music, or education can compare to the power of swords; only greater barbarity can counter barbarity.

On the third day of the siege of Zunhua, Governor Wang Yuanya stood atop the city wall, anxiously waiting for reinforcements, but none arrived. He could only watch helplessly as the Jurchens built shield carts and siege ladders. Zunhua was known as the largest city in eastern Jizhou, a bustling commercial center. The city walls were large and deep enough, but there were not enough troops to defend it.

Only a few thousand garrison soldiers were stationed in Zunhua because Zunhua was already inside the pass, and normally, it wouldn't face enemy attacks. Wang Yuanya could only mobilize the able-bodied men in the city and demolish houses to defend it. However, as warfare had progressed, the gap between professional soldiers and ordinary civilians had widened considerably, and the nature of warfare was vastly different from that of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Huang Taiji's 40,000-strong ambush force failed to ambush any Ming reinforcements and had to retreat in frustration. The Jurchen army of 80,000 launched a fierce attack on Zunhua City. On the first day, spies disguised as refugees and merchants infiltrated the city, causing chaos and helping the Jurchens capture the southern part of the city. A fierce street battle ensued, lasting a day and a night. Wang Yuanya, unwilling to surrender and fearing capture, hanged himself in the government office.

In fact, Zunhua City and Santunying were very close, only half a day's journey by horseback. The fall of Zunhua thoroughly shocked the officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty, and the people felt boundless anger, believing they had been deceived.

Not long ago, the Ming Dynasty was winning victory after victory. People were proud of their Ming identity, and even their tax payments had become much more proactive. At least the court's performance made them feel that their taxes weren't entirely embezzled and could still be used to support the army. But how did such a favorable situation turn out like this?

A few days ago, officials questioned the emperor's overreaction, but after the fall of Zunhua, they became much more subdued. The current issue is no longer whether to send troops to annihilate Huang Taiji, but whether the capital can be defended. Shocked, angry, and fearful, the court's scholars, unable to go to the front lines, have taken up their pens, launching a fierce impeachment against the Governor-General of Jiliao: "Yang Hao holds a large army, yet he is cowardly and afraid of the enemy. If the soldiers cannot fight, what is the use of raising them?! Your Majesty, please recall Yang Hao, and appoint a more courageous and capable minister to the position of Governor-General."

Zhu Youjian gave a cold laugh and said, "Now that Santun is besieged, how can we recall them?! We can discuss merits and demerits after the war. It's pointless for you to impeach us any further now!"

Zhu Youjian's orders couldn't reach Santun Camp, and his only communication with Yang Hao was a memorial sent on the third day of the first lunar month, in which Yang Hao reported his situation. However, despite the lack of complete communication between the two, Zhu Youjian still took the initiative to shoulder the responsibility.

At the court assembly, Zhu Youjian threw a stack of impeachment memorials in front of the assembled officials and said calmly, "Why are you all panicking? Didn't I tell you long ago that the Jurchens are powerful and difficult to resist? The enemy is still a hundred miles away, and you're already throwing yourselves into disarray. You say Yang Hao is afraid of the enemy and doesn't want to fight, but have you all forgotten the lesson of our army's reckless advance at Sarhu, which led to a disastrous defeat?!"

"A fist needs to be pulled back before it can be thrown with force!" This was Zhu Youjian's explanation to the court and the public. "Only by drawing elite troops from various garrisons and gathering them in the capital, and relying on the city's defenses, can we be qualified to confront the Jurchen army."

Qin Liangyu was once again in command. The three thousand White-Spear Guards within the Forbidden City could not be mobilized. Without her own elite troops, the old lady's strength was greatly diminished. She proposed that her son lead the White-Spear soldiers to rush to the rescue a thousand miles away, but the distance between the two places was too far, and the White-Spear soldiers were not cavalry. By the time they arrived, a month and a half would have passed. Moreover, a forced march would take too much damage to the army, greatly reducing their combat effectiveness, and they would need a long period of rest before they could be used again.

Therefore, they decided to send the White-Spear Soldiers down the river and then have the Fujian Navy transport them north. The White-Spear Soldiers were not numerous, only a few thousand men, but elite troops were rare. In fighting the Jurchens, ordinary soldiers were not very effective and might even desert. A decisive battle was not simply about piling up troops, but about assembling elite troops and rationally allocating them to form a cohesive force.

On-the-spot command relied on Qin Liangyu, while macro-level coordination depended on Zhu Xieyuan. Even the selection, numbers, and routes of reinforcements from various garrisons were all planned by the Ministry of War. The first reinforcements to arrive in Beijing were a hastily assembled force of 10,000 men by Lu Xiang-sheng, the governor of the six prefectures of Beizhili.

Zhu Youjian ordered him to select a vanguard, choosing 1,000 elite soldiers from the 10,000 miscellaneous troops to fight in the field outside the city, while the rest would go to Beijing to defend the city. There was not a real shortage of ordinary soldiers in the capital. The original structure of the Beijing Garrison was there, and there were also many security forces. In total, there were no less than 100,000 troops, which was enough to fill the walls of Beijing, and there were still reserves.

However, warfare is not about comparing numbers on paper; morale has a huge impact. It was common for hundreds of thousands of peasant soldiers to be chased and scattered by a few thousand elite Ming soldiers. Most of the Ming soldiers were not much stronger than the peasant soldiers.

(End of this chapter)