Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 268 Mysterious Combat Power Must Be Suspicious (Part 1)

Historically, Emperor Chongzhen was essentially driven mad by the three powerful clans of Puzhou, the eight imperial merchants, and the Jurchens.

Right now, Zhu Jue is driving the three major powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou crazy.

They were really going crazy with worry.

The Hanzhong army was advancing steadily towards their stronghold, but Huang Taiji was still bargaining with them.

What do they do?
If they cannot withstand the fierce attack of the Hanzhong army, even if Huang Taiji were willing to send troops to rescue them, it would be too late.

The Hanzhong army's advance was incredibly fast, and it would take time for the Jurchens to gather their forces and rush over from Liaodong. If they couldn't hold out during this time, their stronghold would be captured by the Hanzhong army.

The question is, what will they use to hold off the Hanzhong army?

Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong did have a considerable number of men, but these men were a rabble with virtually no fighting ability. The Hanzhong army could easily defeat them, like cutting melons and vegetables.

If Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong were to rely solely on themselves, they certainly wouldn't be able to withstand the Hanzhong army's frenzied attacks.

What should I do?

Zhu Jue had already taught these guys how to seek help from the Jurchens, so naturally he wouldn't teach them again.

He still needs to teach Sun Chuanting how to deal with these traitors and Jurchens.

Around 9 a.m. that day, just after he had finished reviewing the memorials, Sun Chuanting strode in, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then raised his hand and said, "Bo Ya, you've worked hard. Come, sit down and let's talk."

Sun Chuanting quickly and respectfully sat down.

Zhu Jue then ordered Wang Chengen to bring a map of northern China, spread it between the two of them, and then solemnly asked, "Well, Boya, has the ice and snow in Liaodong completely melted?"

It’s hard to say.

Sun Chuanting thought for a moment before carefully saying, "The ice and snow south of the Hun River have completely melted, and the Hun River is now navigable. However, we are unable to explore the area north of the Hun River yet, and I do not know whether the ice and snow there have melted."

Is it impossible to investigate the area north of the Hun River?
Zhu Jue looked at the map and then asked, "What about the main channel of the Liao River? Have all the ice floes inside melted?"

With such a large flow rate in the main channel of the Liao River, the floating ice inside would naturally have melted long ago, and even if it hadn't melted, it would have been washed into the sea long ago.

Sun Chuanting nodded repeatedly and said, "The ice and snow on the main channel of the Liao River usually melt faster than that on the Hun River. The floating ice on it has already melted by now."

Then why can't you find out the situation north of the Hun River?

Zhu Jue pointed to the map and asked, "Then why don't you send fast naval ships to explore the north along the main channel of the Liao River?"

Isn't this to prevent the Jurchens from discovering it?

Sun Chuanting explained in detail: "Your Majesty, if we send fast naval ships northward along the main channel of the Liao River, it is very likely that we will alert the Jurchens. They will most likely guess that we are going to continue our northward advance."

Why worry about people guessing at this point?
Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "If we don't send our fast naval ships northward along the main channel of the Liao River, the Jurchens will definitely know that we want to continue advancing northward."

Now that so much territory in Liaodong has not been recovered, how could we possibly stop our advance? There's no need to even think about it; we certainly won't stop. Huang Taiji knew that without even guessing.

Therefore, at this time you don't need to worry about alerting the enemy. Just send your fast naval ships north along the main channel of the Liao River to thoroughly investigate the situation to the north.

Is this necessary?

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting cautiously said, "Your Majesty, the main channel of the Liao River is outside the Liaodong Border Wall. Although the Liaodong Border Wall is in disrepair and has gaps everywhere, the remaining base of the wall is still much higher than the river surface."

"Your humble servant dares to say that even if we send fast naval ships to investigate, we still won't be able to find out the situation in the Shenyang and Tielingwei areas, unless we send scouts to accompany the fast naval ships ashore to investigate."

I didn't send you to investigate the situation in the Shenyang and Tielingwei areas.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly, then pointed to the map and explained in detail: "Bo Ya, the reason I specifically asked you to return to the capital this time is because our strategy for recovering Liaodong needs to be adjusted slightly."

Yun Teng's army has already invaded Qinzhou and Liaozhou. If he takes Qinzhou and Liaozhou, he might wipe out the strongholds of the three powerful clans and the eight imperial merchants in Puzhou. I even ordered Yun Teng to carry out a massive looting spree, plundering everything in his path—shops, fields, grain, and wealth—to intimidate the three powerful clans and the eight imperial merchants of Puzhou.

The three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou certainly did not want their strongholds to be destroyed and their businesses to be ruined. Moreover, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong could not withstand Yun Teng's fierce attack. I even secretly suggested that they seek help from the Jurchens.

In this situation, the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou would definitely frantically seek help from the Jurchens, asking Huang Taiji to send cavalry to help them withstand Yun Teng's attack and repel or even annihilate the Hanzhong army.

Once Huang Taiji sends cavalry to support the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants in Puzhou, you can easily take the south bank of the Hun River. You can also gather a large army to cross the river at the appropriate time and pretend to besiege Shenyang.

At that time, Huang Taiji will definitely be in a hurry to recall the cavalry. Once he recalls the cavalry, Yun Teng will be able to put on a show and continue to advance into the strongholds of the three major clans and eight imperial merchants in Puzhou.

In their desperation, the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou will surely seek help from Huang Taiji again. At that time, you should withdraw your army back to the south bank of the Hun River, and Huang Taiji will most likely send cavalry to support you.

"We'll play like this, letting Huang Taiji's cavalry charge back and forth until they're exhausted."

Uh, is this how you play it?
Sun Chuanting carefully examined the map and then cautiously said, "Your Majesty, Shenyang is more than two thousand li away from Taiyuan Prefecture. If we add the distance of the detour through the border, it is more than three thousand li."

In other words, it would take at least a month for Huang Taiji to receive the news and send reinforcements, and it would also take at least a month for the reinforcements there to receive the news and return.

This round trip took more than three months. If we add the time for gathering troops and preparing to set off, as well as the time for sending out scouts to investigate the situation and even engaging in battle after arriving, it would take at least four months.

The ice-covered period in Liaodong has now lasted for more than half a year. Under these circumstances, we can only play with them once a year. If we want to make them exhausted, we would have to play with them at least several times, which would take several years.

Your Majesty, I dare to ask, is it really necessary for us to play this game?
"At this moment, the combined land and naval forces in Liaodong number seven or eight hundred thousand. Even if we directly march over and besiege Shenyang, it would only take us a year at most to take it."

You don't know what happened in history.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "Boya, if we directly besiege Shenyang, Huang Taiji will definitely fight us with all his might."

Although our Liaodong army, both land and naval forces, numbered as many as 700,000 to 800,000, only 400,000 chariot soldiers and 50,000 cavalry could actually be used to besiege the outskirts of Shenyang.

At this point, Huang Taiji must have more than 50,000 cavalry under his command. We might not be able to defeat him in open battle with just our cavalry.

Huang Taiji will definitely use his cavalry advantage to deal with us. Even if he abandons Shenyang and leads his cavalry to Liaoyang and Haichengwei to burn, kill, and plunder, we will suffer heavy losses.

Therefore, we have absolutely no need to engage in a direct confrontation with the Jurchens; the losses would be too great. We should play them slowly, forcing them to constantly dodge and weary them. This way, we won't suffer any losses.

Historically, this is how the Jurchens and the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou operated, driving Emperor Chongzhen to madness.

As a result, the Jurchens took over the Ming Dynasty without losing any troops or soldiers. It was as if they had simply picked up the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty for free!
Playing this way won't cause any losses, but the problem is that it takes too long.

Sun Chuanting said cautiously, "Your Majesty, at this rate, it will probably take us at least four or five years to recover Liaodong."

What is this.

Zhu Jue smiled slightly and said, "We are not short of food and supplies right now, and I have ordered people to lay the railway towards Liaoyang. Even if the world is frozen over, we can still travel by land."

After you take the south bank of the Hun River, you can even have the soldiers and civilians in Liaodong grow more grain and raise more pigs, which can then be sold to the capital to make money.

The people and soldiers of Liaodong can enjoy a life of plenty and comfort, while the Jurchens are constantly toyed with and exhausted. Why not?

That makes sense. Anyway, Liaodong has no shortage of food and supplies, so it's fine to stay for a few years. The key is to minimize the losses.

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

I'm glad you understand.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then pointed to the map and explained in detail: "If we want to deal with the Jurchens, the key is to control the movements of their cavalry. Therefore, you still need to send fast naval ships to investigate the main channel of the Liao River."

If the terrain west of the Liao River is conducive to scouts hiding, you can even send scouts there to keep a close watch on the movements of the Jurchen cavalry.

Oh, so sending naval fast ships to the north to scout was to monitor the movements of the Jurchen cavalry.

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting slowly nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

(End of this chapter)