Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 141 Surprise Attack to Recapture Lost Territory (Part 2)

While Huang Taiji was still hesitating in the Yanqing Prefecture and Huanghua Town area, a sudden upheaval occurred in Liaodong.

Sun Chuanting then went berserk, leading 40,000 cavalry across the Shuangtaizi River and charging all the way to the west bank of the Liao River!

There are no cities in this area. The only four fortresses were destroyed by the Jurchens themselves. Moreover, Huang Taiji had taken all his main forces away. The millions of acres of land between Shuangtaizi River and Daliao River were cultivated by only a few dozen Niru (a unit of land measurement system) and tens of thousands of slave households.

The slaves they were in charge of were all original soldiers and civilians from Liaodong Town.

In other words, the actual Jurchen slaves on this land numbered only a few dozen Niru (military units) and at most a few hundred people.

At this moment, the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong Town had not yet been completely suppressed by the Jurchens. When their own cavalry came, they grabbed hoes and carrying poles and beat up the Niru (military units) guarding them.

Sun Chuanting recovered this large area with almost no effort.

Immediately afterwards, he actually moved all the infantry and able-bodied men who were building the Shuangtaizi River defense line to the west bank of the Daliao River, preparing to begin building the defense line.

Around noon that day, Huang Taiji was sitting in his command tent, staring blankly at a plate of boneless meat, when a fast rider suddenly came galloping from the north.

A moment later, Hilgen strode in carrying something that looked like a memorial to the emperor, bowed and said, "Reporting, Your Majesty, an urgent report from Haizhou Guard, delivered by express courier."

Huang Taiji took it and glanced at it, then couldn't help but sneer.

This Sun Chuanting was indeed careless and reckless.

There was a reason why he didn't station any troops between Shuangtaizi River and Daliao River.

This is because if he were to arrange troops, he would need to deploy at least tens of thousands. Otherwise, given that the place has no natural defenses, it simply wouldn't be able to withstand the Liaodong cavalry.

He didn't have enough troops to guard the area between Shuangtaizi River and Daliao River. If he assigned too few, they might just be easy prey for the Liaodong cavalry.

Therefore, he did not arrange for any troops to guard that place.

He was also thinking that Sun Chuanting had underestimated the enemy and was recklessly advancing to the west bank of the Liao River.

In this way, he could launch a surprise attack on Sun Chuanting, annihilate the main force of the Ming army in Liaodong on the west bank of the Liao River, capture the Shuangtaizi River defense line, and even advance to the Jinzhou and Daling River line.

He ordered his men to demolish almost the entire border wall stretching for hundreds of miles between the Shuangtaizi River and the Daliao River, leaving only a small section visible on the west bank of the Shuangtaizi River.

In other words, the area to the north is now flat and indefensible. He can lead his army directly into the Liaohe River basin from the north without having to cross the Liaohe River!
Now he no longer needed to hesitate.

The young emperor of the Ming Dynasty didn't fall for the trap, but Sun Chuanting did. Naturally, he ran back to deal with the border troops in Liaodong.

After a brief moment's thought, he decisively ordered, "Send word to all troops to quickly pack up their tents and assemble. We will depart at 1:00 PM, with the cavalry going first and the infantry following behind. We will return to Liaodong."

At this moment, in the Forbidden City, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, in the kitchen of the Kunning Palace, Zhu Jue was having a meal with Empress Zhang, Empress Zhou, and Xiao Zheng Chenggong.

At this time, Xiao Zheng Chenggong would enter the palace every morning at Chenshi (7-9 AM) to accompany Empress Zhang, and would not return until after dinner around Youshi (5-7 PM).

The little guy wasn't shy at all anymore. He would grab and eat any fish or shrimp that Empress Zhang or Empress Zhou offered, and sometimes he would even raise his hand to ask for other dishes.

Empress Zhang and Empress Zhou doted on this exquisitely beautiful little one, constantly serving him food, peeling shrimp shells, and picking out fish bones, keeping themselves very busy.

Zhu Jue, however, took on the role of a strict teacher.

This little guy is a future naval commander. He will most likely be the one leading the troops in future maritime battles, so we can't spoil him.

He thought for a moment, then asked with a stern expression, "Success, have you ever read or written anything?"

The little fellow nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I get up promptly at 3:45 AM every day to study and learn to read for an hour. In the evening, I listen to my mother read to me for another hour before I go to sleep."

Yes, Not Bad.

This little fellow is the heir of the Marquis of Nan'an. Although it might seem a bit funny to say "this humble subject," there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Zhu Jue then said sternly, "As for martial arts, you will be leading troops into battle, so your martial arts skills cannot be neglected."

The little fellow nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I practice martial arts with the palace eunuchs for an hour every morning and afternoon without fail."

Seeing this, Empress Zhang said with pity, "Alright, Your Majesty, Chenggong is still young. Four hours a day of studying and practicing martial arts is already tiring enough. Let him eat properly when it's time to eat."

My dear sister-in-law, a doting mother often spoils her son.

Before Zhu Jue could speak further, Fang Zhenghua strode in carrying a memorial, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, Lord Sun has sent an urgent report from eight hundred li away."

He took the memorial and glanced at it, then frowned slightly. It seemed he had underestimated Huang Taiji.

The two have already clashed twice. Huang Taiji seems to be led by the nose and has taken many unnecessary detours, but the result of the two clashes can only be considered a draw.

The first time, Huang Taiji lost four or five thousand men, and he also lost four or five thousand men; the second time, he did not fall into the trap in Yanqing Prefecture, and Huang Taiji also did not fall into the trap in Changping Prefecture.

Huang Taiji was quite capable; he had prepared a backup plan, and so did Huang Taiji. This guy actually ordered his men to demolish almost the entire hundred-mile-long border wall from Shuangtaizi River to the Liao River, leaving only the section on the east bank of Shuangtaizi River as a decoy! Fortunately, he didn't order the foundation of the original border wall to be dug up, and the bricks and stones on the border wall were only scattered on the ground and were not transported away.

Sun Chuanting has already ordered 30,000 infantrymen and 40,000 to 50,000 able-bodied men to work hard on the repairs. It is estimated that the wall will be about ten feet high in about ten days, at which point it should be able to stop the Jurchen cavalry without any problem.

However, the Liaodong border troops were not yet equipped with muskets and cannons, and they could only exchange arrows with the Jurchen cavalry on the border walls, which would likely result in heavy casualties.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then stood up and said, "Sister-in-law, Xiao Hui, I have something to attend to. Please enjoy your meal."

After saying that, he lifted his foot and walked towards Yuxi Palace.

Empress Zhou watched his retreating figure and sighed softly, "Alas, Your Majesty is too tired; you can't even eat in peace."

If the real Emperor Chongzhen had heard these words, he would probably have been so angry he would have vomited blood.

Is this what you call tiring?
Emperor Chongzhen in history often worked day and night without rest, exhausted like a dog, but unfortunately, it was all in vain.

Zhu Jue was not going to work for nothing. He had to take the area between Shuangtaizi River and Daliao River, and he couldn't afford to cause too many casualties to the Liaodong army.

After arriving at the main hall of Yuxi Palace, he ordered someone to summon Lu Xiang Sheng, while he himself stared at the map and pondered it carefully.

Unexpectedly, before Lu Xiang-sheng arrived, Fang Zheng-hua strode in carrying a memorial and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, General Huang has sent an urgent report from eight hundred li away."

Zhu Jue took the memorial and looked at it, his face immediately becoming solemn.

As expected, Huang Taiji had planned this all along.

This guy probably just received the news and is already preparing to leave.

The scouts sent by Huang Degong have all discovered that the Jurchens in Huanghua Town and Yanqing Prefecture are packing up their camps.

Fortunately, this guy still has to detour through the Chahar Grassland and the Horqin Grassland to reach the west side of the Liao River before he can turn south. This journey is more than two thousand miles long, and it would take the cavalry at least ten days. Sun Chuanting's side can barely repair the border wall to about one zhang high.

However, it would be too late for the chariots and soldiers from the capital to get there now, because it is more than a thousand miles from the capital to Jinzhou, and more than three hundred miles from Jinzhou to the west bank of the Liao River.

A horse-drawn chariot can only travel a little over a hundred miles a day at most, and for long-distance raids, the horses' stamina must be maintained. After pulling about a hundred miles a day, the horses need to rest.

Based on this calculation, it would take at least thirteen or fourteen days for the 70,000 chariot troops from the capital to reach the west bank of the Liao River. Only the 10,000 chariot troops from the Three Garrisons Camp could reach the west bank of the Liao River before the Jurchen cavalry.

With 10,000 chariots, 40,000 cavalry, 30,000 infantry, and 40,000 cavalry, holding off the Jurchen cavalry of about 50,000 should not be a problem. The problem is to minimize casualties.

The soldiers of Liaodong Garrison were not yet equipped with muskets. They were at a great disadvantage when they used bows and arrows to exchange fire with the Jurchen cavalry. Many of the Jurchen cavalry wore cotton armor, and with the help of their warhorses, their arrows could shoot farther than those of the infantry. Meanwhile, the standard equipment for 10,000 chariot soldiers was only a little over 3,000 muskets. With hundreds of miles of border wall, their firepower was not much when spread out.

How to do it?

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Xiang-sheng finally strode in, cupped his hands, and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then handed over the memorials from Sun Chuanting and Huang Degong.

Lu Xiang-sheng took the memorial and read it carefully. His face turned solemn as he said, "Your Majesty, it seems that Boya's side will suffer heavy casualties."

I cannot allow the Liaodong army to suffer heavy casualties.

Zhu Jue asked bluntly, "How many muskets do you have left in your inventory?"

There aren't many left.

Lu Xiang-sheng sighed slightly and said, "Currently, the Beijing garrison infantry is only equipped with 10,000 muskets, and there are about 1,000 muskets left in stock. It will take about a month to gather 10,000 muskets."

This number of muskets is far from enough.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Cheng'en, quickly order someone to borrow a hundred carriages from the warehouse. Have the Imperial Guards quickly wrap the nine thousand muskets and their ammunition in oilcloth and load them onto the carriages. The remaining one thousand soldiers equipped with muskets should quickly get on the carriages and escort the muskets to the Tongzhou canal wharf."

"Tell them to borrow fast naval vessels docked at the Tongzhou canal wharf and quickly escort the muskets to the west bank of the Liao River to find Boya. Then have Boya select 10,000 border infantrymen and have them quickly learn how to operate the muskets."

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen immediately bowed and hurried away.

Zhu Jue then instructed in detail: "Jian Dou, you should also have 10,000 infantrymen equipped with muskets under your command quickly take 1,000 muskets to the Tongzhou canal wharf. When you see any fast naval ships coming from the south, borrow them and rush to Boya's place."

Furthermore, you ordered someone to send word that Ying Yuan should immediately lead 10,000 chariots from the Three Garrisons Camp to the west bank of the Liao River to support Boya, and that 70,000 chariots from the capital should also set off immediately to head towards Boya.

Huang Taiji had already demolished hundreds of miles of border wall, so they would definitely rush over to take a look. They no longer needed to hide their tracks, so they set off immediately and headed towards Liaodong as fast as possible.

"By the way, Jiandou, you can also take advantage of the Jurchen invasion to reorganize the defenses around the capital and blockade all entrances and exits to the border from Juyong Pass to Huanghua Town, and even north of Jizhou Town, for a period of time, so that Huang Taiji cannot receive the news that we have sent chariot troops to support Liaodong in time."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng immediately bowed and hurried away.

Zhu Jue looked down at the map again, a cold smile creeping onto his face.

Huang Taiji still wanted to play a surprise attack on him. What good would it do to push down the wall? Go get shot!
(End of this chapter)