Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 307 Playing to Strengths and Avoiding Weaknesses: Tai Chi Retreat (Part 1)
Sun Chuanting reported that the Jurchen cavalry had already launched an attack, and the remaining Jurchen infantry in Liaodong numbered less than 50,000. He suggested that they take advantage of the situation to launch a strong attack, capture Shenyang and Fushun Pass, and recover Liaodong in one fell swoop.

After reading it, Zhu Jue frowned and fell into deep thought.

At this point, the question of how many infantrymen the Jurchens had to recover Liaodong was no longer about how many artillery pieces they had.

He certainly knew how many cannons were on the walls of Shenyang and Fushun Pass. Sun Chuanting had already found out and reported it to the emperor long ago.

The Jurchens don't have many troops left in Liaodong, but they have a lot of cannons on their city walls. If we launch a direct attack, we don't know how many casualties we'll suffer.

The key point is that at this moment, the biggest threat from the Jurchens is not the infantry inside the city, but the Jurchen cavalry outside the city.

Sun Chuanting had already discovered that the Jurchen cavalry numbered at least seventy to eighty thousand.

Cavalry are incredibly fast and swift, and the firearms and cannons of that era simply couldn't restrain them. It's not that the firearms and cannons of that era were inferior to the Jurchen cavalry, but rather that the firearms of that era weren't very effective against the Jurchen cavalry clad in padded armor, and the cannons of that era couldn't move quickly enough to keep up with the speed of the Jurchen cavalry.

If they cannot annihilate the Jurchen cavalry, the threat from the Jurchens will still exist even if they recover Liaodong. They will still need to deploy a large number of troops in Liaodong.

This was clearly not the outcome he wanted.

Therefore, he wanted to use their own methods against them, playing a feint attack on the Jurchens, wearing them down until their cavalry were exhausted, and then annihilating them in one fell swoop.

It seems a bit too hasty to launch a full-scale attack after only two attempts.

Besides, they don't need to be in a hurry at all right now.

Song Yingxing had already begun developing large steam engines, and a 1,000-jin cannon could be built in one or two years at most. Not to mention that the range of a 1,000-jin cannon could reach more than ten miles, its blasting distance would definitely be farther than that of a 500-jin cannon. Even if it was only two or three miles farther, they would still have an advantage in range.

All they need to do is drag over the cannons weighing over a thousand pounds and bombard the city walls. They can easily take Shenyang and Fushun Pass without suffering any casualties.

Therefore, there is no need to rush into a direct attack at this moment. They only need to continue to use feints and diversions until they can mass-produce cannons weighing a thousand catties each.

However, since the Jurchen cavalry had all fled to Shanxi, it seemed a waste of the opportunity not to take advantage of the situation and do something.

So, what should we do?
Zhu Jue frowned and pondered for a while, then decisively said, "Go and tell Boya to take advantage of the Jurchen cavalry's attack to build a pontoon bridge, send 200,000 chariot soldiers across the river to form a defensive formation on the north bank of the Hun River, and then send people to build a city."

This city must be able to accommodate at least 100,000 troops. After the city on the north bank of the Hun River is built, we will also need to build a bridge connecting the two cities. This will make it much easier for our army to cross the river and attack, and it will also make it much easier to besiege Shenyang and Fushun Pass.

Tell Boya to take advantage of the time while the Jurchen cavalry are in Shanxi supporting the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou to complete the construction of the city on the north bank of the Hun River. As for the bridge over the Hun River, I will order people to prepare the construction materials. Once the city is completed, I will send people to build the bridge.

His mission this year is to connect the north and south banks of the Hun River, and incidentally, to liberate the Liaodong soldiers and civilians enslaved by the Jurchens on the north bank of the Hun River.

Lu Zhi bowed repeatedly and said, "This servant understands."

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully again, and then instructed, "Tell Boya to be careful of Jurchen spies, and not to send cavalry to rescue the Liaodong soldiers and civilians enslaved by the Jurchens before the city on the north bank of the Hun River is completed."

The rescue of the Liaodong soldiers and civilians must be arranged after the city is built. If any Liaodong soldiers or civilians come to join us while the city is being built, do not let them participate in the construction. Have Boya send ships to take them to a safe place to farm.

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

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then waved his hand.

Lu Zhi quickly cupped his hands, bowed, and took his leave.

Soon, more than ten small Zhiyuan merchant ships outside the dock waterway headed straight for Liaodong.

The Haihe Shipyard was much closer to Liaoyang, where the Liaodong Military Command was located, than Shenyang was to Liaozhou and Qinzhou. Around noon the next day, Sun Chuanting received the imperial edict.

That afternoon, a pontoon bridge was erected across the Hun River.

Early on the third day, 200,000 chariot soldiers and 10,000 Wuhan Iron and Steel tanks were already neatly lined up on the north bank of the Hun River, forming a triangular square with a radius of more than ten miles along the riverbank. Immediately afterwards, more than 200,000 able-bodied men from Liaodong crossed the river one after another and began frantically digging foundations on the north bank.

Upon hearing the news, the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong on the north bank of the Hun River swiftly overthrew the guards and flocked to surrender.

Sun Chuanting followed Zhu Jue's instructions completely, not letting anyone participate in the city's construction at all, and directly sending boats to take them to a safe place in the rear to farm.

Upon receiving the news, the Jurchens stationed in Liaodong immediately dispatched fast cavalry to deliver the report, chasing after Huang Taiji.

At this time, the Jurchen cavalry were still galloping across the Khorchin grassland. The fast cavalry sent by the Jurchens from Liaodong chased after them for several days, and only caught up with them when the cavalry stopped to set up camp that afternoon.

As the sun set, in the western part of the Horqin Grassland, in the seemingly endless Jurchen camp, a rider galloped in from the east, heading straight for the commander's tent.

Huang Taiji was sitting cross-legged on a woolen blanket outside the command tent, preparing to eat some roasted meat by the campfire, when the fast riders had already galloped to the vicinity of the command tent. Soon, a personal guard came running with an urgent report in his hand, bowing and saying, "Report, Great Khan, a report from the Great Prince on an 800-li express."

Is Shenyang under siege?

Huang Taiji showed no sign of anxiety. He calmly took the urgent report and almost spat out blood when he read it.

He originally thought that leading his cavalry to Shanxi to scare away the Hanzhong army would only take a month or two at most, and then he could rush back. It wouldn't even take two months. With the artillery in Shenyang and Fushun, the infantry left behind in Liaodong would definitely be able to hold out for one or two months.

Moreover, when the Ming army encountered cities with many cannons mounted on their walls, they would usually adopt a siege tactic and would never launch a direct attack.

Shenyang and Fushun Pass were well prepared for a siege, and the food supplies inside were enough to last at least three months.

Therefore, they were not afraid of being besieged at all.

He was also thinking that if Sun Chuanting chose to besiege him, he could use the speed advantage of his cavalry to find an opportunity to defeat them one by one.

Who would have thought that Sun Chuanting didn't even bother to besiege Shenyang and Fushun Pass; instead, he built a city directly between Shenyang and Fushun Pass!
This time, the Ming army's city was built on the north bank of the Hun River. If the Ming army swarmed out of the city, it would take less than an hour to besiege Fushun Pass, and less than a day to besiege Shenyang City.

More importantly, after the Ming army built a city on the north bank of the Hun River, the Liaodong soldiers and civilians they had enslaved would all rush there upon hearing the news!

As a result, no one farmed the land on the north bank of the Hun River.

They don't know how to farm, and most of their able-bodied men have become cavalrymen, while their elderly, women, and children are all staying at home enjoying their lives.

This time, Sun Chuanting completely cut off Liaodong's grain supply!
If he could drive the Ming army back to the south bank of the Hun River, he would definitely not hesitate to turn around with his cavalry and run back to drive the Ming army away.

The problem is, they have at least 200,000 chariots and tens of thousands of armored vehicles set up an impenetrable fortress on the north bank of the Hun River. If cavalry charged in, they would be committing suicide!
Moreover, with food supplies cut off in Liaodong, he needed to go and rescue the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants in Puzhou.

Otherwise, if Shanxi's food supply were to run out again, they would have no food source at all, and they would truly starve to death.

Therefore, he still had to go and save the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou.

The food supply in Liaodong was about to run out, and he couldn't let the food supply in Shanxi run out as well.

As for the Ming army building the city, he couldn't stop them at all; even if he led his cavalry back, he couldn't stop them.

Chariots are naturally superior to cavalry, and the enemy's chariots outnumbered his cavalry by more than double. For him to lead his cavalry back to stop the enemy from building the city would be suicidal.

The problem is, if the Ming army builds a city on the north bank of the Hun River, not only will the land around Shenyang and Tieling be left uncultivated, but Shenyang and Fushun Pass will also become difficult to defend.

The Ming army was only a few dozen miles away from them, and they didn't even need to cross the river. They could reach Fushun Pass in an hour, and it wouldn't take them more than a few hours to reach Shenyang. They couldn't even open the city gates. If the city gates were opened, the Ming army could launch a surprise attack.

They can't keep the city gates closed forever. Putting aside Fushun Pass, there are hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Shenyang. Their daily consumption of food, drink, and sanitation is enormous. Can they keep the city gates closed forever?
He was truly furious. The situation in Liaodong was extremely unfavorable for them. What could they do?

(End of this chapter)