Chapter 94: Only one page of the household registration book remains

Those who could rise to the position of general in the Ming army had learned some skills in strategic situation deduction from their superiors and colleagues. Before this, Zhao Lujiao and other generals had calculated the situation across the Taiwan Strait around the end of May and June.

The conclusion was that the Later Jin army would only attack the Ming army camp on the west bank of the Sancha River first. As long as they defeated the group of chariot camp soldiers, the elite Ming army in Haizhou city would be killed.

The Tartars didn't even need to climb ladders to attack the city. After just two or three months of siege, Haizhou City would be in a state where people would eat each other's bones while cooking.

The Ming army's countermeasure was to plunder food and civilians nearby. This would prevent the Eight Banners from farming near Haizhou and increase food reserves in the city.

Of course, this is just a strategy for defending the city. With two generals present, the Ming army cannot expect to break the current situation by defending Haizhou City.

Therefore, Zhao led a guerrilla force under the jurisdiction of Shanhai Town to go to Lushun and other places in the south, and urged Dongjiang Town to send out a navy to land in Haizhou, Gaizhou and other places to expand the scope of the Ming army's activities in southern Liaoning.

Of course, if Dongjiang Town intends to move north, the Ming army may be able to connect the three states of Haigai and Fu before the autumn of this year.

As for the east bank of Sancha River, Li Hao, who is in charge of external affairs, will be fully responsible. As long as there is no large group of Eight Banners cavalry crossing the river, the camp on the west bank will be relatively safe.

"The old slave has come in person?"

Li Hao took a deep breath. If he could transport the catapult to the foot of Liaoyang City, he would rush into the city and take the old slave's head even if his health dropped significantly.

He was now terrified that Nurhaci would fall ill and die. He was so worried about it day and night that he couldn't even eat.

"We are 70% sure. Many craftsmen from Shenyang have come here, and the shipbuilding speed of the Beiying Tartars has greatly increased."

This is what Zhao Lujiao is afraid of.

The Jinzhou general thought about the current situation. The only two battles that would allow him to personally go to the front line to supervise the fighting were the attack on the Ming army camp on the west bank and the siege of Haizhou City, and they might not necessarily show up in person.

"There are more than 3,000 brothers in Haizhou City, and five commanders. General Zhao will take the three commanders to stay here, and I will take Zu Dashou and other veterans back to the west bank. There are also surrendered soldiers and civilians in the city, which are enough to defend the city. If anything goes wrong, I will personally lead the troops to help."

The reason for leaving three camp commanders is simple. Together with Zhao Lujiao, each person is responsible for one side of the city wall.

This combination would have no problem defending Haizhou City.

Nodding in agreement, Zhao Lujiao instructed: "After Li Shuai returns to the west bank, order the military supervisor Bi Zisu to put pressure on Ningyuan and send generals to Yizhou, Guangning and other places in the north to prevent the Five Camps and Khorchin from moving south again. As long as we hold out until June, we can transport food from the sea, and then we will be safe."

He is very concerned about food supply.

Li Hao took note and pointed out some of his most capable middle-level officers and more than a hundred elite cavalrymen. The reinforcements only included Zu Dashou, a general in charge of Shanhaiguan and their servants, who left in a hurry after packing up.

There is still some time before dark, and the military situation is urgent, so we can't delay at all.

……

Ming army camp on the west bank of Sancha River.

For Shang Kexi, who was lying in the military tent, the past two or three months had been more dreamy than the previous two years.

His father's death was avenged, and his mother, grandparents and other relatives were also avenged. The new godfather found it as easy to chop Tartars as to chop firewood. In a month or two, he could hand over hundreds or even thousands of Tartar heads to the Ministry of War.

It seems that as long as he follows his godfather Li Hao, he can kill all the Tartars and return to his hometown Haizhou.

Therefore, he worked very hard in training the recruits, eating and sleeping with them, and sometimes even personally teaching them how to use firearms such as the three-barreled gun on horseback.

But when Shang Kexi learned that his godfather had already captured Haizhou City but did not take him with him during the siege, he felt somewhat regretful.

Among his five brothers, the remaining four were working in Dongjiang Town and Lushun, as well as his cousins ​​such as Shang Keyi. He wanted to send someone to tell his brothers about this good news, but unfortunately the situation changed and he was unable to do so.

"Li Shuai is back, Li Shuai is back."

While Shang Kexi was thinking, several voices suddenly came from outside the military tent, and then the number of torches gradually increased, and the news that the commander-in-chief had returned to the camp spread again from far to near.

"Everyone, get up, dress simply, and follow me to meet your grandfather."

He stood up and kicked the recruits who shared the tent with him one by one to wake them up. Many of them were young, and some of them were adopted as his godsons.

Shang Kexi was given a surname by the commander-in-chief and a name by Marshal Mao Wenlong of Dongjiang Town. He was very popular in the Jinzhou army. These young recruits naturally took advantage of the situation to climb up the ladder and acknowledged Shang Kexi as their godfather.

The recruits who were kicked awake got up one after another, groped for their clothes in the dark, and put them on quickly. In order to prevent accidental discharge, only a few generals were allowed to light oil lamps in the military tents, and the soldiers who were not on duty at night could not even touch torches. They were already used to this way of dressing and undressing.

The clever Shang Kexi put on a cloth body armor and skirt armor, and after walking out with the recruits, he ordered his godsons to put his armor in order with the faint light of nearby torches.

The Jinzhou army had not fought for dozens of days and had only participated in training. The soldiers were full of energy. After learning the news that the commander-in-chief had returned to the camp, 50 to 60 percent of the soldiers ran out of the tents and prepared to greet him.

Even in the reinforcement camps of Ningqian and Guancheng next door, the number of torches increased greatly. Although they were not sure whether their commander-in-chief or main general had returned, the general of Jinzhou had killed thousands of Tartars in a row and had a high prestige among the soldiers in various camps. It would be a good idea for the thousand-man commanders and battalion commanders to show their faces to General Li.

Fortunately, Lu Yingjiao, who was in charge of staying behind in the Jinzhou army, had experience. He sent cavalry in advance to pass orders back and forth in front of various military tents, ordering all the squad leaders, flag commanders, centurions and other low-level officers to manage the soldiers under their command well and not to go to the vicinity of the central army tent without the commander-in-chief's summons.

This prevented the soldiers from being trampled.

The rest of the thousand captains were allowed to go to the central army tent to receive orders. Shang Kexi had a special status and was a real captain, so he was actually allowed to go with several trained soldiers recruited from the city.

The soldiers in the surrounding camps immediately exclaimed in admiration, which made Shang Kexi feel proud.

Not everyone can see the Marshal if they want to.

He ordered someone to borrow a torch and asked one of his godson to hold it and walk beside him so that the soldiers along the way could see his face clearly.

In front of the central army tent, the torches were even more dense, and the captains from all directions gathered together according to their respective military towns. It seemed that only captains at the level of Qianzong could enter the tent.

Shang Kexi was a little disappointed, but then Li Erniu, a close confidant of the coach, strode over and pulled him in.

The various glances coming towards him in front of the tent gave Li Shuai's godson a great sense of satisfaction, and he tried his best to behave normally.

There were only a dozen officers with ranks sitting in the big tent, and the captains could only stand and listen to orders. Shang Kexi found the position of the Jinzhou generals and stood behind Huang Long, who he liked the most.

"Yongxi is here, I just need you to do something."

Li Hao, who was listening to various military intelligence from the generals under his command, noticed the appearance of his godson and suddenly spoke.

Shang Kexi was flattered and hurriedly took a few steps forward, "Godfather, please speak."

The Jinzhou general did not tell him what to do right away, but asked about other things instead.

"You seem to have several brothers. Who are they? How many cousins ​​are there?"

Shang Kexi hurriedly replied, "There are five brothers in my family. My son is the fourth oldest. I have my elder brothers Shang Kejin, Shang Ke'ai, and Shang Kehe, and my fifth brother Shang Kewei. I also have two cousins ​​Shang Keyi and Shang Xinxin, all of whom are serving in Dongjiang Town, in Guanglu Island, Lushun, and other places."

When Li Hao heard this, he knew that these people were all loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

Before Shang Kexi surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, only his page was left in his household registration book. All of his brothers, relatives and family members, numbering hundreds in total, were killed by the Tartars.

However, the Shang family has the gene for having many children and good fortune. As long as enough time is given, the family population will recover quickly.

"After Zhang Pan and Zhu Guochang died in battle, who will be in charge of the navy in the Lushun area?"

Li Hao asked again.

"Years ago, Marshal Mao was in charge personally. I can't say who is in charge now. Maybe it's Mao Chenglu."

The Jinzhou general issued an order: "Even if it is Mao Chenglu, you have a relationship with him. You pick 15 good soldiers from the Guancheng to recruit, and I will send you 10 Jurchen soldiers. You cross the river overnight and travel day and night to the direction of Lushun.

When you get there, use whatever methods you can, be it civil or military, and have the navy from Lushun, Changsheng Island and other places go north, and send troops to help defend Sancha River. Your brothers should also mobilize, Haizhou City has been recovered, and the Shang brothers should go home. Let the military and civilians in Liaonan Jian move north, there are not many Tartars left south of Haizhou. "

Although the morale of these battalions of chariot soldiers was good, their fighting capacity was indeed poor. Li Hao did not dare to let the Eight Banners soldiers cross the river in large numbers. He could only call on the Dongjiang Navy to use large and small boats to guard the Sancha River.

Shang Kexi was both surprised and delighted, and immediately took the order to go out and prepare.

The Jinzhou general was preparing to make trouble for Bi Zisu. His brother controlled the Ministry of Revenue, so it was time to ask for money to plan the conversion of carriages into cavalry.

At least his standard camp must be restructured quickly.

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(End of this chapter)