Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 249 Amin Abandoned, Prisoners Everywhere (Part 2)

Amin, the garrison commander of Liaoyang, was killed by Cao Bianjiao, and the remaining 50,000 troops all surrendered!
Upon hearing the news, Sun Chuanting quickly arranged the defense line along the Taizi River and then hurriedly rushed to the capital.

At this time, the capital city was like a city from another era. Huge horse-drawn carriages were running everywhere in the streets and alleys, and ordinary people had become accustomed to gathering under the huge platform canopies to wait for their carriages.

Even many court officials were too lazy to ride in their own carriages anymore, because riding in a horse-drawn carriage was both convenient and warm.

The strange sight of ordinary people sitting together with officials of the fifth, sixth, and even third and fourth ranks gradually appeared in these horse-drawn carriages.

Zhu Jue even issued an imperial decree that no matter how high an official's rank, once they boarded a horse-drawn carriage, they were not allowed to put on airs, and ordinary people were exempt from bowing while on the carriage.

Otherwise, if every official who comes up has to stand up and bow, and every official who comes up has to stand up and bow, it would exhaust everyone.

He even changed into civilian clothes and secretly rode a horse-drawn carriage around to take a look, fixing anything that was problematic.

Under his full management, the passenger transport system in the capital developed rapidly, and even the passenger routes expanded from the capital to the wharves outside the Haihe River and Jizhou Town.

Early that morning, around dawn, Wang Yingchao's fleet carefully passed through the channel created by the icebreakers and arrived at the dock outside the Haihe River.

As soon as Sun Chuanting stepped ashore, he was utterly astonished by the enormous carriage.

At that time, the railway tracks had not yet been laid in Liaodong, so naturally there would be no such thing.

Furthermore, in order not to affect his command of the great battle, Zhu Jue did not order anyone to mention these things to him.

He was naturally taken aback when he suddenly saw such a huge carriage.

At that time, there weren't many passenger railcars running from the outer wharf of the Haihe River to the capital. After he arrived in Tongzhou City and boarded a passenger railcar to the capital, he was so shocked that he could hardly close his mouth.

These enormous carriages were everywhere in the capital!

When he arrived at the main hall of Yuxi Palace, completely bewildered, Zhu Jue had just finished processing the memorials and had not yet left the palace.

After the emperor and his minister exchanged greetings, Zhu Jue couldn't help but ask, "Bo Ya, what's wrong? Why did you suddenly come back?"

This guy, judging from his expression, looks like something serious has happened.

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting realized what was happening and quickly explained in detail: "Your Majesty, Amin has indeed led the Liaoyang city garrison to break through the siege, and Huang Taiji has also gathered more than 100,000 troops about forty miles north of the Taizi River in preparation for a surprise attack."

Your humble servant specially mobilized 200,000 chariots and 10,000 war chariots to intercept Huang Taiji's reinforcements. Who would have thought that Huang Taiji would only send out scouts to investigate before hastily withdrawing his troops.

Without reinforcements, the garrison of Liaoyang was quickly surrounded by 40,000 cavalry. Amin was also killed by the transformed dragon. The remaining 50,000 Jurchen infantry, exhausted and paralyzed, surrendered without resistance.

It turns out to be great news!

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue was overjoyed and said, "You mean we haven't lost a single soldier?"

They were all exhausted and could barely hold their weapons, so naturally we suffered no losses.

Sun Chuanting nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, the Jurchen infantry were powerless to resist, and we did not lose a single soldier."

Great.

Zhu Jue said with a face full of satisfaction: "It seems that the siege strategy is really good. In the future, as long as we have enough troops, we can surround the Jurchens and wear them down. Anyway, we have plenty of money and food, so it doesn't matter how long it takes."

You also think the siege tactic is good?
Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I also think that the strategy of encirclement is good. Therefore, I want to build a city in the valley on the south bank of the Taizi River to block the passage from Shenyang to Dingliao Right Guard."

In this way, we have effectively surrounded Dingliao Right Guard. The valleys are completely barren; without food supplies from Shenyang, I estimate the Jurchens in Dingliao Right Guard won't last more than a few months.”

You want to besiege Dingliao Right Guard?

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then ordered Wang Chengen to bring out a map of Liaodong for a closer look.

He looked around for a while before pointing to the valley upstream of the Taizi River and asking, "Can a small merchant ship like the Zhiyuan sail across this section?"

Can not be done.

Sun Chuanting slowly shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, there are too many shallows in this section, and there is not much water in the upper reaches of the Prince River before summer. In many places, the water is less than half a zhang deep."

Your Majesty has already sent men to test it, and small merchant ships simply cannot pass through, nor can 400-ton warships. Your Majesty has also inquired in detail with the soldiers and civilians nearby, and they said that section can only be traversed by rafts or flat-bottomed boats with a draft of less than three feet. "How many people and how much grain can it carry?"
Zhu Jue asked bluntly, "How much material does a flat-bottomed boat with a draft of less than three feet weigh?"

Are those small boats even considered usable material?

Sun Chuanting estimated, "They said that a flat-bottomed boat can only carry a few hundred catties of goods at most. If calculated by weight, it should be less than ten catties."

Does this mean a single ship can carry several bushels of grain or a few people?

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue slowly shook his head and said, "These small boats have too little carrying capacity; they are not worth building in large quantities."

The problem is, if we don't build thousands or tens of thousands of these small boats, we can't transport many people or much grain in one trip. How do you plan to build a city and besiege it then?

Sun Chuanting pointed to the map and explained in detail: "Your Majesty, I have sent people to investigate. The Taizi River valley, from the end of the plain west of Liaoyang City to the middle of this valley, is quite wide. We only need to cut down some trees along the river to build a passage."

"We can easily travel by land, using horse-drawn carriages and even chariots to transport people and supplies. The entire distance is less than a hundred li, and carriages and chariots can cover it in a day."

By land?
No!

Zhu Jue slowly shook his head and said, "Bo Ya, you're taking a bit of a risk. You only considered the distance, not the problem of the Jurchens."

The Jurchens are from the mountains; they are particularly skilled in mountain warfare. If they simply block this mountain road, our army will be cut off in half, and that will be a real problem.”

I have naturally considered the issue of the Jurchens.

Sun Chuanting nodded slowly and said, "Your Majesty, I feel that doing this is a bit risky, which is why I came to the capital to seek your opinion."

Your humble servant has been pondering this grand plan to recover Liaodong for a long time. Although we have now captured Liaoyang City, Dingliao Right Guard is like a nail stuck in the middle of our recovered area, and we cannot leave it unremoved.

If we don't remove this thorn in our side, we might be attacked from both sides when we besiege Shenyang. Even if we don't attack Shenyang first, but instead build a defensive line on the south bank of the Hun River, we still have to guard against the Jurchens launching a surprise attack from Dingliao Right Guard.

The Right Guard of Dingliao is a real nuisance.

Although Liaodong has many plains, it also has many mountains. In terms of area, the mountains in Liaodong are actually larger than the plains.

If they fail to capture Dingliao Right Guard, it would mean that the Jurchens would occupy most of Liaodong, which, although mostly mountainous, is still tens of thousands of square kilometers of territory.

The key is that Dingliao Right Guard is still three or four hundred miles southeast of Liaoyang City. With this thorn in their side, they need to deploy at least forty or fifty thousand troops to defend the outer perimeter of that mountainous area.

This is without them attacking Shenyang.

For now, they only need to defend the west and south sides of that mountain area. If they were to attack Shenyang, the north side of that mountain area would also need to be defended, which would require even more defensive forces.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, and then decisively said, "Then let's take the south bank of the Hun River first, and leave Shenyang for the time being."

After spring begins next year, you should quickly organize the military and civilians to cultivate the land. Once spring cultivation is complete, we will mobilize thousands of small Zhiyuan merchant ships to transport all 280,000 troops to the south bank of the Hun River to establish a defense line.

Then we will send cavalry to clear the Jurchens from the plain between the Taizi River and the Hun River. Once the Jurchens have been cleared from this plain, we will mobilize 50,000 chariots and troops to march south and build a city directly on the north bank of the Taizi River, thus blocking this valley passage.”

Oh, surround it from the north!

Dingliao Right Guard already had a valley passage leading to Shenyang, so they didn't need to build any roads. Moreover, it was only twenty or thirty li from the northern mountain pass to the north bank of the Taizi River. If the Jurchens dared to block them in this section, their cavalry could arrive in less than a quarter of an hour.

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. It is indeed much safer to encircle from the north than to build a mountain road from the west."

If you think it's okay, then it's fine.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then asked, "Any other questions?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, what should we do with the Jurchen infantry we captured this time?"

These infantrymen include Jurchens, northern barbarians from the Tatar tribes, and even captured soldiers and civilians from Liaodong. Their composition is far too diverse; I truly do not know how to handle them.”

Oh, and this time they also captured 50,000 Jurchen infantrymen, which can be considered a rare and great victory.

(End of this chapter)