Narasutai was favored, and Nanchu lived well because of his sister. But after all, he was not relying on himself. As a man, he did not want to miss the opportunity to make a name for himself.
Zhu Youxiao certainly had no idea of the unexpected gains after the reward. He just wanted to lay a foundation first and use his kindness to the remnants of the Yehe tribe to increase his chances of obtaining the jade seal.
Zhu Youxiao must have thought of the imperial seal, which was an object of extraordinary political significance. Even though he was already the emperor, having it or not would not affect this fact.
But getting the so-called imperial seal symbolizes the destiny, the silent blessing of heaven, and the loyalty of the subjects.
Indeed, it is said that the imperial seal, brought to the desert by Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty during his escape, played such a role in feudal society. It is also said that this imperial seal is the "He Shi Bi," a jade piece from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the subject of a famous story.
Regardless of whether it is true or false, Zhu Youxiao will try to get it back. The Later Jin is the immediate enemy, and Lin Danhan is the next target.
There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. The attack on Ligdan Khan was not for the imperial seal, but for the purpose of northward expansion, so that the entire territory of the empire would be under the Ming flag.
By killing Ligdan Khan and obtaining the imperial seal, wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?
As to whether this imperial seal was carved from the "He Shi Bi" or was taken away from the Ming Dynasty after the Battle of Tumu, it is actually not important.
Even after clearing all the lands in between, it is not impossible to make a fake one.
Of course, these ideas and arrangements are long-term plans. The most important thing at the moment is to make full preparations and eliminate the Jiannu as soon as possible.
The battle plans were then distributed to the various combat units, who began to actively prepare and act one after another. The goal was simple: to weaken the Jiannu as much as possible before the major counter-offensive in the winter and spring of the following year.
The war has been going on till now in accordance with the strategies and tactics designed by Zhu Youxiao.
When two countries or two armies go to war, strategy and military strategy are certainly crucial. But ultimately, a long-term war is a battle of resources, finances, manpower, technology, and consumption—all of which are part of a nation's overall national strength.
Regardless of which factor, the Ming Dynasty was far superior to the Later Jin. As long as there were no internal factional strife, no external discord between generals, sufficient food and wages, and excellent weapons, there was no reason why they could not defeat the Later Jin.
The noose was getting tighter and tighter, and with the fortress as a stronghold, it was moving step by step towards the area ruled by the Later Jin Dynasty.
The Ming army in western Liaoning advanced from the mouth of the Liaohe River and successively occupied Niangniang Palace, Yingkou, and Yaozhou Post; the Ming army in southern Liaoning, backed by Gaizhou Guard, successively occupied Boluoguo, Tangchi Fort, and Shimen Pass.
The two Ming armies connected the occupied areas and advanced towards Haizhou Wei in a pincer formation from two directions.
Although the captured forts were small and abandoned by the Jiannu, after strengthening the defenses and increasing their weaponry, the 1,500-man garrison would still become a stronghold that the Jiannu would have to pay a heavy price to recapture.
The Jiannu army could no longer afford the loss of manpower, but the Ming army's defense, relying on its powerful firearms, could at least achieve a one-to-one exchange of casualties.
A one-for-one exchange of offense and defense was already a very impressive number, but for the Jiannu, it was still an unbearable price.
The Jiannu also realized that the Ming Empire had to rely on its endless manpower and massive amounts of supplies to wear them down and exhaust them.
Faced with the trenches and breastworks that the Ming army could quickly build, even without tall city walls and even though they could obtain food and supplies by capturing the strongholds, the Jiannu army still did not dare to act rashly after weighing the pros and cons.
Three of the four Liaonan guards had been lost, and Haizhou Guard was also facing increasing military pressure. If Haizhou Guard was lost, Liaoyang would only have Anshan as a barrier, and the Jiannu would have to withstand the Ming army's advance even if they retreated.
Tong Yangxing led 4,000 Han soldiers to defend Haizhou City, while Yuetuo led the Red Banner Army to maneuver in Haizhou. Nurhaci also wanted to use firearms to defend the city and cavalry to contain the Ming army.
However, the Ming army's advance and compression were not limited to southern Liaoning. The Dongjiang headquarters also divided its troops into two routes. One route used Zhenjiang as its base, successively occupied Tangzhan Fort and Xianshan Fort, and pressed into Fengcheng.
The other route, backed by the navy, went up the Yalu River, occupied the five forts of Kuandian, Dadian, Yongdian, Changdian and Xindian, and approached Jianzhou Wei.
Nurhaci realized that the Ming army at its headquarters in Dongjiang had received reinforcements and could not allow the Ming army to advance steadily. He then dispatched Jirgalang to lead the Zhenghong Banner, and Tong Yangxing's brother Tong Yangzhen led 3,000 Han soldiers to reinforce the two banners of Jianzhou Guard and stationed in Benxi.
At this point, although the Later Jin Dynasty adopted a strategic contraction, facing the siege of the Ming army from all sides, it had to occupy important positions and expand its defense line.
However, the Ming army in western Liaoning had not made any major moves and was eyeing the Liaoze River covetously. Nurhaci had to station the main force of the Eight Banners in Liaoshen just in case.
Through intelligence from all sides, Nurhaci increasingly felt the growing strength of the Ming army. The most obvious was the increase in the number of cavalry in southern Liaoning and Dongjiang.
In fact, this is not difficult to guess and judge. The Ming army in western Liaoning reoccupied Guangning and reopened the horse market with the Chahar and Inner Khalkha tribes, which enabled them to obtain horses nearby.
Going out to sea from Jinzhou, whether to Gaizhou or Fuzhou in southern Liaoning, or via Lushun and then to the Dongjiang headquarters, is much more convenient and faster than before.
Of course, the war horses obtained by Liaonan and Dongjiang headquarters can only meet the needs of infantry riding, and there is still some gap compared with the flying cavalry.
Good war horses are very expensive, and it was not easy for the emperor to come up with the money to buy a large number of horses. Moreover, this would be of great help to improve the mobility of the Liaonan Corps and the Dongjiang Headquarters.
Riding for travel and dismounting for combat did indeed lower the quality of warhorses. The enhanced mobility of dragoons, coupled with horse-drawn field artillery, significantly increased the Ming army's combat effectiveness.
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