The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

Huang Taiji was tall and fat, with a dark red face. When he spoke, he spoke too forcefully, and saliva flew from his yellow teeth. His face was full of fat and trembled. His long, raven-like tail on his head kept swaying back and forth. His narrow eyes, like those of a hawk, stared at the group of people kneeling on the ground.

"Prince Li! Tell me first! When I ordered you to escort the grain supplies here, what instructions did you give to Loto before you left?!"

Huang Taiji's gaze swept across the group of people, finally settling on an old man kneeling at the very front.

The old man was dressed in luxurious clothes and had never worn armor in the army. He wore a black fox fur hat and had a lion's nose, a wide mouth, narrow eyes, a mustache, and a goatee. He vaguely resembled Huang Taiji.

However, he was much thinner.

This person was none other than Daishan, the former Grand Prince. After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, he was granted the title of Prince Li.

Daishan was nine years older than Huang Taiji, and at this time he was already fifty-seven or fifty-eight years old. He looked older than his actual age, like a withered old man.

This time, the Tartars' main grain and supplies camp north of the Xiaoling River was burned down by a Ming army unit that was calling itself the "Ningyuan Vanguard Camp".

Logically speaking, since Daishan had already led his troops to transport a batch of grain to the front lines, this matter should have been unrelated to Prince Daishan.

However, he was the one who had been in charge of that grain supply camp before. It was because he took three thousand Bayara and Alihachaoha of the Plain Red Banner with him when he left the camp that the rear was left vulnerable, which allowed the Ming army that launched a surprise attack to take advantage of the situation.

In that sense, the burning of the Tartars' grain supply camp was also related to him.

However, because Prince Li's status was so high, no matter how Huang Taiji asked, no one dared to utter a sound.

Now that Huang Taiji was directly questioning Daishan to his face, all the other kneeling princes and nobles turned their gazes to Daishan.

"Your Majesty asked me how I instructed Loto before my departure, and I truly do not know how to begin. I was ordered to oversee the grain supply camp, responsible for the transportation of grain, with a total of twelve Niru under my command! I was ordered to escort the grain to the front lines of Jinzhou, Songshan, Xingshan, and Tashan. None of these four cities have been captured yet. I started the transport with ten Niru, receiving only two or three Niru in each location, and supervising a group of 'ha' (a derogatory term for a group of people)! It was already a miracle that I managed to retain two Niru!"

"As for Loto, I gave him everything I needed to say before I left. Now that Loto is dead, there's no way I can prove anything to him. So, it's better to say nothing!"

"However, I have considered the other questions Your Majesty has asked. Since hearing about the incident at the grain supply camp last night, I have been pondering where this Ming army came from, and I have been completely baffled. It was only after receiving the detailed report this morning that I suddenly understood!"

"I believe that since this Ming army was able to avoid the troops and ambushes stationed by Your Majesty in places such as Tashan, Xingshan, Songshan, and Jinzhou, there is no other way to do so except by water! Therefore, I guess that this Ming army must have taken the sea route and sailed directly from Ningyuan to Songshan! There is no other explanation!"

"If Your Majesty asks where this Ming army has retreated to after their successful surprise attack, I believe they have retreated to the sea outside the mouth of the Xiaoling River! There is no other explanation!"

After Prince Li, Daishan, finished speaking, the people in the hall seemed to come alive instantly. Some were dumbfounded after hearing Daishan's words, some seemed to understand something, and others couldn't help but nod frequently.

Regardless of how the people in the hall behaved, Prince Li, Daishan, spoke clearly and calmly, making him sound much more level-headed and articulate than Huang Taiji had just spoken.

After listening to Daishan's words and observing the performance of others, Huang Taiji realized that the losses in the grain and provisions camp were mainly due to the lack of elite Eight Banner troops left behind.

The reason why there were too few elite Eight Banner troops left to guard the grain and provisions camp was mainly because the troops that Daishan had brought from Shengjing were insufficient. In the end, it was because I underestimated the enemy and was careless, and it had little to do with Daishan's arrangements.

Upon realizing this, Huang Taiji slumped down, then waved his hand and said to the kneeling crowd below, "Get up! I have lost my composure!"

After Huang Taiji said this, the people kneeling below all stood up, but no one dared to say anything.

At this moment, Huang Taiji said to those around him, "Give seats to Prince Li, Prince Wuying, Prince Raoyu, Prince Nikan, Prince Gongshun, Prince Huaishun, and Prince Zhishun! Let them sit and talk!"

Those who were called upon immediately knelt down and bowed, then took their seats on the two additional rows of chairs that had been set up in the hall.

Although Huang Taiji did not make any special arrangements, the people who sat down automatically formed a row of Manchus and a row of Han Chinese.

Prince Li, Daishan; Prince Wuying, Ajige; Prince Raoyu, Abatai; and Prince Dorobele, Nikan, sat in the left row; while Prince Gongshun, Kong Youde; Prince Huaishun, Geng Zhongming; and Prince Zhishun, Shang Kexi, sat in the right row.

"Just now, Prince Li said that the Ming army that attacked my grain supply camp may have come from the sea, and now that they have retreated, they may still be lingering in the sea outside the mouth of the Xiaoling River. Your words have relieved me of much of my confusion!"

"However, whether what you said is right or wrong, we still need to send people to investigate in person to find out the truth!"

"However, our army's supplies have already been burned. With the remaining provisions of each unit, I fear that my personally led expeditionary force cannot sustain this campaign for any longer!"

After the people who had been offered seats were seated, Huang Taiji immediately spoke in a gentle tone. At that moment, Huang Taiji seemed like a different person; the storm of anger just moments before had instantly turned into a calm and sunny day.

"Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexi, and Shi Tingzhu! How long will it take for your Heavenly Blessed Soldiers, Heavenly Assisted Soldiers, and the Wuzhen Chaoha Battalion to take Songshan?!"

Shi Tingzhu was a dark-skinned, burly man with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes. He stood among the crowd in the main hall. Although he was not yet qualified to be given a seat, this veteran traitor was not of low status. He was in charge of the only artillery unit in the Manchu Eight Banners, namely the "Ujen Chaoha" Battalion, and was the Angbang Zhangjing of the "Ujen Chaoha" Battalion.

The reason why the "Ujen Chaoha" battalion is said to be the only artillery unit in the Manchu Eight Banners is that, to this day, the army of the "Three Shun Kings" still nominally has its own banner and number, and does not belong to any of the Manchu Eight Banners, but is directly under the command of Huang Taiji.

Among them, Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming's armies were bestowed the title "Heaven-Blessed Army" by Huang Taiji.

Shang Kexi's army was given the title "Heaven-Assisted Army" by Huang Taiji.

However, the army of the new traitor "Three Shun Kings" and the Wuzhen Chaoha Camp, which was controlled by the old traitors Tong Yangxing and Shi Tingzhu, were both Han army camps and were skilled in using firearms, so they were often used together.

During this siege of Songshan, the Manchu Eight Banners army was mainly used to ambush and intercept reinforcements, while the army of "Three Princes" and the "Ujen Chaoha" battalion of the Manchu Tartars were used as the main force to attack Songshan City.

At the beginning, Huang Taiji took Wu Yingjun Wang Ajige as his vanguard and led the Tianyou and Tianzhu troops of the "Three Shunwang" army. Using various cannons in the "Three Shunwang" army, especially twenty "Hongyi cannons", they made unstoppable progress and destroyed more than a dozen forts and enemy towers on the outskirts of Jinzhou and Songshan, killing thousands of Ming soldiers stationed in these forts and enemy towers.

However, they encountered a setback when they reached the city of Jinzhou. The city was tall and sturdy, and there were also "Hongyi cannons" on the city walls. The army of the Three Princes did not dare to get too close. However, the farther away they were, the less powerful the "Hongyi cannons" they carried became.

After failing to capture Jinzhou after a prolonged siege, Ajige urged the army of "Three Shun Kings" to attack another city on the outskirts of Jinzhou—Songshan City.

They thought that if they couldn't take Jinzhou, taking Songshan would be no problem, so they came to attack Songshan.

However, to their surprise, they were unable to capture Songshan City, which was much smaller than Jinzhou City.

Because Songshan City, where Jin Guofeng and Xia Chengde were stationed, also had a large number of cannons, including several "Hongyi Cannons" from the time when Yuan Chonghuan was the commander of the Jiliao region.

The high elevation of Songshan City significantly increased the range of artillery fire from the city walls.

Although Ajige himself didn't care about the casualties of others and kept urging the attack on the city, the army of "Three Shun Kings" was truly willing but unable to make the breakthrough.

Later, even when Ajige's Bordered Red Banner Bayara personally took to the battlefield, he repeatedly stormed the city walls only to be driven back down time and time again.

Upon learning that Jinzhou and Songshan had been unable to be captured after a prolonged siege, Huang Taiji could no longer remain seated in Shengjing City and personally led his troops to the front lines.

Upon Huang Taiji's arrival, he relieved Ajige of his command and ordered him to lead his troops to the front lines around Tashan City to set up an ambush for the Ming Dynasty reinforcements coming from Ningyuan.

At the same time, Huang Taiji also brought his "Wuzhen Chaoha" battalion from Shengjing, which was the "heavy artillery force" built by the Manchu Eight Banners themselves.

But the result was no different.

The so-called "Hongyi cannons" brought by the "Wuzhen Chaoha" battalion were made by the Manchus themselves. They were heavier, had longer barrels, and larger calibers, but their range was not as far as the "Hongyi cannons" in the "San Shun Wang" battalion.

After several attacks, both sides suffered heavy casualties, and the battle for Songshan has now reached a stalemate.

Under normal circumstances, Huang Taiji could continue the siege, attacking the city while simultaneously besieging reinforcements, since he had nothing else to do anyway.

But now, Ningyuan's reinforcements have arrived and have already burned their own grain and supplies camp, so the strategic plan of besieging the point and attacking the reinforcements seems to be doomed to fail.

If we cannot capture Songshan City as soon as possible, then this costly and exhausting campaign will probably yield little result!