Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 143 Feint to the East, Attack in the West: A Tai Chi Tale (Part Two)

Zhu Jue had actually come up with a plan to recover Liaodong.

He was waiting for the first batch of wheeled boats and ships to be built.

He frequents the shipyard.

He saw it all. The first batch of more than 20 ships passed the sealing test without any problems. That meant that the assembly of steam engines, boilers, water turbines, and cabins had already begun long ago.

Wang Zheng also told him that the first batch of more than twenty ships would be completed in the next few days.

Early that morning, around 1:00 AM, after reviewing the memorials, he couldn't wait to head straight to the shipyard with Zheng Zhilong, Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others. This time, he brought a full seven or eight hundred cavalrymen, most of whom were Imperial Guards soldiers who had been re-equipped with muskets.

Yesterday evening, Wang Zheng sent someone to report that the first batch of ships had been completed, and he could finally send someone to explain his strategy for recovering Liaodong to Sun Chuanting in detail.

At this point, only about twenty wheeled boats remained in the shipyard's dock waterways. The assembled boats had already left the waterways and were cruising back and forth on the Tonghui River.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Jue couldn't help but be overjoyed.

With more ships, he could not only send people to communicate with Sun Chuanting, but also quickly transport grain and supplies to Liaodong.

Although the current wheeled boats and ships are only about 800 liang (a unit of weight), they can carry 100,000 jin (a unit of weight) of supplies when fully loaded. Ten boats would carry over a million jin (a unit of weight), and fifty boats would carry five million jin (a unit of weight). Even if they are only half-loaded to avoid affecting speed, they would still carry 2.5 million jin (a unit of weight).

The key advantage is that the boats and ships are fast, and once they reach the inland sea, they can sail even under a little moonlight at night.

Traveling day and night, it would only take a little over a day to get from the capital to Shuangtaizi River and Daliao River, and a round trip would take less than three days.

In other words, he can transport supplies to Liaodong at least ten times a month, which is at least 25 million catties.

He was just pondering what supplies to send to Sun Chuanting when Wang Zheng arrived upon hearing the news, bowing and saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and asked directly, "How is it, Liangfu? Have these wheeled boats and ships been tested and are they ready to use?"

Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I had them take it out for a test around 5 a.m., and they have been testing it for more than two hours now. There are no problems, and it is ready to use."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "Can we board the ship here? We don't need to go to the Tongzhou Canal Wharf, right?"

This is natural.

Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, the scaffolding erected along the waterway can all be used as a dock."

That'll do.

Zhu Jue then asked, "Is it alright if I borrow these boat-handling craftsmen from you for two or three days? I want them to take the boat to Liaodong and teach the accompanying Imperial Guards how to handle the boats."

That's no problem at all. There are only a few dozen artisans here, but I have thousands.

Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "No problem."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue waved his hand and said, "Alright, send someone to order them to bring all the boats to the outside of the waterway and line them up in order to take turns carrying the Imperial Guards onto the boats."

Wang Zheng quickly bowed and hurried away.

Zhu Jue then beckoned to a young eunuch and solemnly said, "Lu Zhi, have you remembered the plan to recover Liaodong?"

Lü Zhi was a chief eunuch under Wang Chengen. He was the most obedient and clever, so Wang Chengen put him in charge of communicating with Sun Chuanting.

Lü Zhi nodded repeatedly and said, "This servant will remember."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Where's the map? Did you bring it?"

Lu Zhi quickly took out a neatly folded map from his bosom and said respectfully, "This servant always carries it with me."

This map is classified; it outlines the general steps for the recovery of Liaodong. We must not let the Jurchens or any traitors see it.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then solemnly said, "You must always carry this map with you and not show it to any unrelated people. After you arrive in Liaodong, have Bo Ya add the specific layout of the Shuangtaizi River defense line and the Daliao River defense line."

Also, every time you go there, ask Boya what he needs. Report what he needs, and I will allocate resources for you to transport it. If the grain is not in urgent need, then don't use your ships; I will send grain transport ships to transport it for him.”

Lü Zhi nodded repeatedly and said, "This servant understands."

That should be about right.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Go, order the Imperial Guards to begin boarding the ships and preparing to depart. Remember, no one except inner court officials and their confidants is allowed to board the ships."

Lu Zhi quickly cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "This servant will remember."

After saying that, he turned and strode away.

As Zhu Jue watched the Imperial Guards board the ships, his thoughts drifted to Liaodong. Judging by the time, the Jurchen cavalry would probably reach the west bank of the Liao River in the next couple of days. He wondered how well the border wall was being repaired there, and whether Huang Taiji would launch a fierce attack with his cavalry.

At this time, Huang Taiji had indeed led his cavalry to the west bank of the Liao River.

He was staring blankly at the city wall, which was about ten feet high. How could this be?

Sun Chuanting actually repaired the wall to a height of about ten feet in just over ten days, and the arrow stalks on it are almost fixed!
He couldn't see it clearly from a distance; he didn't know whether the wall was just haphazardly piled up or solidly constructed.

If it were just piled up haphazardly, it would definitely collapse with a single push, and if you built some siege engines to ram it, it would also fall down.

The problem is, he still doesn't dare to get within two miles of the Ming army's city wall.

This is because the Ming army may have cannons on the city walls.

He was quite familiar with the power of artillery. There were cannons on the walls of Shenyang and Liaoyang, and he had even ordered people to test their power. A mere graze could be fatal.

His father was grazed by a shell, and no matter what he did, he couldn't be healed and eventually died.

He wouldn't dare rush up and eat that shell.

He thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Dorgon, lead your men to the border wall and see if it was just haphazardly piled up or solidly repaired with lime and rice mortar. Be careful, there might be cannons on the border wall."

I!
Whenever there's danger, just let me go!
You're just afraid I'll take your Khanate.

"Be careful," you say, but every time you say that, you're thinking, "I hope I don't accidentally die."
Dorgon was furious.

He still has no solution to the problem.

If he dares to disobey orders, he will at least be imprisoned until death.

This old man may look gentle, but he's actually ruthless.

He had no choice but to wave his hand to summon his men, arrange them in formation, and rush towards the border wall.

Of course, he wasn't so angry that he wanted to bang his head against the wall. He just wanted to rush to about a hundred paces from the wall, order his men to fire a volley of arrows, and at the same time check whether the cracks in the bricks of the other wall were filled with lime mortar, and then turn around and run away.

If there were no cannons on the side wall, this wouldn't be a big deal for them; the real fear is that the Ming army would bring cannons up to the side wall.

Fortunately, the terrifying roar of artillery did not sound when they rushed within two miles of the border wall.

Dorgon felt relieved and immediately took the longbow off his back and raised it with one hand.

This means that everyone carrying a longbow should prepare to fire their arrows.

Unexpectedly, when they were still more than a hundred paces away from the wall, and before they had even drawn their longbows, a series of crackling sounds suddenly came from the wall, like firecrackers.

Oh no, muskets!
Dorgon felt as if he had been punched in the chest; some of the unlucky ones had already fallen from their horses.

It seems that the Ming army's muskets could fire in rapid succession.

He glanced up briefly at the wall, then turned his horse right and shouted, "Retreat!"

The Jurchen cavalry immediately spun in an arc and retreated rapidly.

On the wall, Sun Chuanting scanned the area through binoculars for a while, then solemnly said, "Bordered White Banner, Dorgon, this guy seems to be at odds with Huang Taiji. Order a halt to firing, don't waste bullets."

Dorgon didn't suffer much loss this time; he only lost a few men and was injured a few dozen.

This was all because the 70,000 chariot troops had not yet arrived, and there were only about 20,000 musketeers on the border wall. The total number of musketeers in this section of the border wall was less than 1,000. It would not be easy to hit the Jurchens who were galloping on horseback. Moreover, Sun Chuanting did not order continuous firing, so he was just lucky.

Upon seeing this, Huang Taiji couldn't help but frown.

Why are there musketeers everywhere in the Ming army?

Although the musketeers on the side wall don't seem numerous, they can pose a threat to their cavalry.

They could have used their range advantage with mounted archery to harass the Ming soldiers on the side wall and inflict some damage, but now that they are going up there to shoot, there will be casualties, which would be a losing proposition.

Since cavalry cannot attack cities, it seems they can only wait for the infantry behind them.

At this moment, Dorgon had already ridden back at breakneck speed.

He asked hastily, "Well, did you see it clearly? Was the Ming army's border wall just piled up or built up?"

Dorgon replied without hesitation, "I see clearly that there is white lime mortar in the gaps between the stone slabs and bricks, so it must have been laid there."

This is going to be troublesome.

Even if infantrymen come, they might not be able to break through this wall.

Huang Taiji frowned and pondered for a while, then waved his hand and said, "Send the order to retreat five miles and set up camp."

(End of this chapter)