Chapter 60: The Eunuch Who Holds the Pen
At noon on February 10th, outside the east gate of Fuzhou City.

Nearly eight hundred able-bodied men from southern Liaoning wearing various types of armor formed a three-row military formation, and two crude ladders were being pulled forward by several oxen.

Behind the hook ladder were more than 40 strong men from the Haixi Jurchens. They were responsible for pushing the hook ladder to the two enemy towers on both sides of the city gate tower, and working together to hang the large hook at the top of the ladder on the battlements of the city wall.

On the south side of the Liaoxi Army's able-bodied men's formation were more than 150 elite cavalrymen from Dongjiang Town. They were mainly responsible for harassment, so everyone had both war horses and pack horses.

Between the two military formations, the main generals of the Liaoxi and Dongjiang armies were gathering together to discuss tactics and military operations in the next few days.

"Brother Tianqiong, if you follow your way, the two hundred miles of land from Gaizhou to Fuzhou will become a dead end and a mortal enemy. No matter how reckless Jirgalang is, he will not dare to go south with only a thousand cavalry."

After roughly understanding the glorious achievements of the Liaoxi Army along the way, Mao Wenlong smacked his lips and considered the possible pursuers.

According to General Li's subordinates Zu Kuan and others, there is a Tatar army consisting of five Niulu and several hundred baoyi slaves one or two hundred miles to the north of them, and its commander is suspected to be Jirgalang, one of the four young beiles.

The Liaoxi generals were all very sure that Jirgalang had appeared outside Ningyuan City around January 23rd and 24th. It was clear that this was a small cavalry unit that Lao Nu had separated from the Eight Banners Army with the intention of hunting down General Li and other Liaoxi generals.

"If they can keep up with General Li's speed, then this group of Tartars must have only brought fodder and beans from Jinyou to Sanchahe. And from Sanchahe to Fuzhou, General Li has been clearing the land, so Jirgalang must not have been able to get supplies.

In the past two years, there has been a wave of Han people fleeing in southern Liaoning. There are very few Tartar manors south of Gaizhou, and the villages and forts had carried out a large-scale grain collection before the New Year, so there is no surplus grain and bean fodder at all.

If this group of Tartars want to march south to attack General Li, they will either have to mobilize civilians and food from Haizhou and Liaoyang, or go directly to the villages and forts along the way to grab the last rations and this year's seed grain. Even so, the beans they need for their horses are far from enough, because most of the grass and beans were taken away during the grain collection a year ago."

As the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town, Mao Wenlong was well aware of the movements of the Tatars in southern Liaoning. Starting from November of the previous year, the Bordered Blue Banner had requisitioned most of the surplus grain, bean fodder, and idle animal power.

This meant that the Eight Banners would go on an expedition in a month or two, so he led his troops northward to harass around the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, intending to tie up part of the troops of the two blue banners.

The land in the Gaizhou and Fuzhou areas had been plundered years ago, and even in the villages and forts that were not captured by the Liaoxi Army, there was no surplus food.

You must know that the grain collected before the Eight Banners expedition only left enough food and seeds for the bondservants and bannermen to last until the spring, and everything else was collected.

General Li thought the same thing and said, "I had forgotten about this. I thought the Eight Banners Army would soon catch up with us, so I stayed in Gaizhou City for less than a day before hurriedly heading south."

Although he did everything from burning, killing and looting, he neglected the supply issue of the Later Jin army and thus underestimated his free time.

"Oh, there is also the issue of firewood and charcoal." Li Hao remembered something else. "When I went south, I took down the main door panels of each village fort and manor and burned them. As for the rest of the charcoal, firewood, and straw cloth, I took away everything that could be taken away, and burned everything that could not be taken away, leaving nothing for the Tartars."

The free time for attacking the big city should be more than five or six days. It would be extremely difficult for an ox cart carrying rations, beans, fodder, and firewood to march sixty miles a day. Jirgalang's reinforcements would not arrive within a few days.

After hearing what the Liaoxi commander said, Mao Wenlong's eldest son Mao Chenglu was extremely impressed. "The general's methods are so good that even the great Tartars like Manggurtai and Amin would give him a thumbs up. When they plundered the Han people, they were not able to be so meticulous."

As he spoke, he clasped his hands together and bowed to the air.

This winter is exceptionally cold. Without firewood for heating, even if there is a room to shelter from the wind and rain, a normal person can't survive more than a few nights.

After laughing, Mao Wenlong said: "If they do it on the first day, don't blame us for doing it on the fifteenth. Gaizhou to Fuzhou is a dead end. If we can capture Fuzhou, I estimate that we can at least survive for a month. If tens of thousands of Eight Banners troops come with siege equipment, we will abandon the city and retreat south. If only a few thousand cavalry come, we will fight them."

There are 260 miles from Lushunkou to Fuzhou City. Mao Wenlong wanted to transfer some more troops here. Together with these Liaoxi troops, there would be 1,500 to 1,600 troops to fight with the Bordered Blue Banner. In this way, the pressure from the Dongjiang River will be reduced in the next two years.

"There's no rush. After we take Fuzhou, Marshal Mao and I will have a good discussion. In May and June of this year, we will have a joint operation with Dongjiang Town in the Liaoxi direction. Let's finalize a charter first, and then we will send troops to attack Guangning, Haizhou and other places in March or April."

Li Hao had his own plans. After the trip to Liaodong and Liaonan, he would actually lead the troops in Jinzhou. Then he would have to consider leading the army in a fierce battle. The general of Dongjiang was half-believing and half-doubting. The number of Tartar heads of General Li was really frightening, which indirectly confirmed the fact that he had killed all the way.

But he was a little bit unconvinced. Having fought with the old slave for seven or eight years, he was still clear about the strength of the Ming army.

If there were one or two more such powerful generals, the Eight Banners and the old slaves would have to go back to Hetuala and live with blind bears in the deep mountains and forests.

After all, General Li was a friendly soldier who was willing to fight to the death behind enemy lines, so Mao Wenlong couldn't openly question him and kept silent.

Seeing that the Haixi Jurchen men were almost done with putting up the two ladders, General Li gave the order:
"The Tatar servants from the White Banner Lord's Mansion will be the first wave to attack the city, followed by the Jurchen men who surrendered in Gaizhou City, and the Jurchen men from various villages. After this wave of people are gone, I will go to climb the ladder, and you will be ready to enter within 30 to 50 steps. When I open the city gate, Cao Wenzhao will lead the team to attack the east gate and the city wall first, and the rest of the teams will enter in turn."

A group of Haixi Jurchens surrendered in Gaizhou City. After that, he began to pay attention to accepting the surrender of Haixi Jurchens. After all, attacking the city would still consume the strength of the people.

"There are two Niulu and one or two hundred armored Tartars in Fuzhou City, and there are several hundred other able-bodied men. If General Li's troops cannot defeat them, they can retreat to thirty to fifty steps outside the city. Our Dongjiang Town will cover the general's retreat."

Mao Wenlong kindly reminded that he admired the young Li Hao and did not want him to die in Fuzhou City.

The Tartars loved to hunt down the defeated Ming army the most. Therefore, in the various battles fought by the Liao in recent years, being the rear guard was often a difficult job. If one was not careful, the entire army would be wiped out.

"I still have to discuss military matters with Marshal Mao in the city." Li Hao laughed and ordered his men to attack the city.

……

Beijing Imperial City, Silijian, northeast of Coal Hill.

"Ancestor, Ancestor, I, your son, have brought you something good."

Before anyone could reach the official quarters of the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, Liu Yingkun came screaming to let people know that he had returned alive from Ningyuan.

Wei Zhongxian, dressed in a bright red python robe and a three-peaked hat, put down the precious Hu brush in his hand and his face became slightly displeased.

He planned to teach his unruly son a lesson later.

"Ancestors, a great victory at Ningyuan, a great victory at Ningyuan."

After entering the door covered in dust and dirt, Liu Yingkun, who had been traveling for twelve days, finally met his ancestor Wei Zhongxian.

"Great victory in Ningyuan?" Just this sentence made Wei Zhongxian give up the idea of ​​reprimanding and teaching Liu Yingkun a lesson.

This was exactly the good news he needed most.

"That's not all." Liu Yingkun forced an ugly but pleasing smile on his wrinkled face and took out a letter from his arms. "There was a captain named Li Hao under the command of Yuan Chonghuan, the former military commander of Ning, who killed the chief Daishan in front of the battle. I personally brought back his head."

"Yuan Chonghuan... Li Hao... Daishan." Wei Zhongxian first went through these names, and after repeating them once, he realized what was going on and stood up and asked hurriedly, "Is it Daishan, the second son of this old slave?"

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(End of this chapter)