Historically, Sun Degong was able to scare off Wang Huazhen and capture Guangning City with only a thousand rebels. This must have really surprised and been hard for me to believe.
"Your Majesty, the vanguard has arrived at the foot of Guangning City, and there is no movement on the city wall." The communications soldier rode over, jumped down, knelt on one knee, and reported respectfully.
The old slave didn't seem surprised by this and said, "Let's set up our formation first and investigate thoroughly. Oh, and tell Manggurtai not to rush into the attack."
"Yes." The signalman responded, jumped on his horse, and sped away.
The old slave raised his eyes and beckoned, "Yongfang, come here."
After Li Yongfang defected from the Ming Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty, he was highly valued. The old slave even married his granddaughter, the daughter of his seventh son Abatai, to him, making Li Yongfang the first Han Chinese "Efu" in the history of the Qing Dynasty.
Because Li Yongfang was a native of Liaodong and a former general of the Ming Dynasty, he was very familiar with the situation in the Ming Dynasty and had many connections.
Therefore, the old slave made full use of his talents and made Li Yongfang the "spy chief" of the Later Jin Dynasty, engaged in intelligence and rebellion work.
Li Yongfang also did an excellent job. The spies he sent out were spread all over Liaodong. Some of them acted as traitors, some opened the gates to surrender, some created chaos, and some helped to instigate rebellion. He could even find out what was happening in the capital.
When the Later Jin army captured Shenyang City, the internal support contributed greatly. "More than a hundred Liao clans had connections with Li Yongfang." These "clans" were all influential families in the local area, which shows Li Yongfang's ability to influence the business.
The Ming Dynasty was also well aware of Li Yongfang's potential threat, and spared no effort to win over Li Yongfang and made various promises, but none of them could shake Li Yongfang.
For example, Wang Huazhen sent Sun Degong to incite Li Yongfang to rebel. Not only did this attempt fail, but Sun Degong was actually bribed and incited by Li Yongfang. It was truly a case of losing more than gaining.
The traitor Li Yongfang came forward and bowed respectfully, "Khan, I have summoned you, my humble servant. What can I do for you?"
The old slave smiled and raised his hand to signal Li Yongfang to ride side by side with him.
Li Yongfang didn't dare to do that. He fell behind by half a horse's head, bowed slightly, and waited for his grandfather's instructions.
"If Sun Degong escapes back to Guangning, can he regain Wang Huazhen's trust?" The old slave asked without turning his head, gently whipping his leather boots with a horsewhip.
Li Yongfang replied cautiously, "Wang Huazhen relied on Sun Degong as his confidant and followed his every word. Despite the defeat at Shaling, the general and lieutenant general are dead, and Sun Degong holds the highest rank. Even if someone were to point fingers, Wang Huazhen wouldn't necessarily believe them."
After a pause, Li Yongfang continued, "Furthermore, I have already sent an insider to Guangning. If Sun Degong fails, the insider can still create chaos."
The old slave nodded slightly, smiled, and said, "The elite troops of the Guangning Army have been defeated at Shaling, and the remaining garrison is weak. Seeing our army approaching the city, the people will surely be in a state of panic. If there is also internal support to create chaos, it will be easy to capture the city."
"The Khan is wise," Li Yongfang complimented. "How ridiculous, Wang Huazhen, so arrogant, even writing a letter to urge the Khan to surrender to the Ming Dynasty. How foolish."
Hahahaha, the old slave heard something so funny and burst into laughter. After a while, the old slave said with a smile: "If we can capture Wang Huazhen alive, we will make him read the letter again. Such a joy is rare in the world!"
"Your Majesty is absolutely right." Li Yongfang chimed in, "When I think of Governor Wang, a prisoner, reading the letter urging Your Majesty to surrender, I can't help but laugh."
The old slave imagined the scene described by Li Yongfang again, burst into laughter again, and urged his horse to gallop towards Guangning City.
……………..
Guangning City was silent, and the atmosphere was calm, with only the governor's banner fluttering in the wind. But within the city, preparations were already underway, and arrangements had been basically completed.
In view of the fall of Shenyang and Liaoyang, Xiong Tingbi closed the city gates after entering the city, allowing only entry but not exit, and blocked the news to prevent the Later Jin army from learning about it and rushing to attack the city.
Beheading Sun Degong and other rebel generals and displaying their heads in public was merely a deterrent. The investigation of traitors and the elimination of hidden dangers also began after the city was sealed off.
Vital places such as granaries, government warehouses, armories, and gunpowder depots were all guarded and elite troops were sent to protect them.
Residents of the city were assigned to volunteer militias based on their baojia system, led by government officials to maintain public order and conduct inspections. Any suspicious individuals were apprehended.
Foreigners stranded in the city were the focus of investigation and screening, and were interrogated by the Jinyiwei. Even those who were innocent and had no suspicion were concentrated in a house and guarded by soldiers.
Not to mention, after this series of measures, more than a dozen Later Jin spies were actually discovered. Some were Han Chinese, some were Mongolians. All of them were beheaded in public and hung in various places in the city.
There are definitely some fish that slip through the net, but it is no longer possible to cause trouble in the heavily guarded city.
Xiong Tingbi also sealed all the city gates with bricks and stones, and clearly told the soldiers and civilians in the city that it was impossible to escape from the city. If they wanted to survive, they had to defend the city.
As the saying goes, one must be in danger before he can survive. Without this, it is impossible to arouse the determination and will of the soldiers and civilians in the city to fight to the death.
Guangning City had ample food and military supplies, including over 200 artillery pieces, some of which were improved European-made falconets from the Zhengde era, and others were domestically produced tiger squat cannons.
Of course, these cannons are not as powerful as the Red Cannons, but they can also play a big role in defending the city.
In addition to artillery, the Ming army also had many of its favorite three-barreled guns and bird guns, which they were less willing to use.
In the past two or three days, Xiong Tingbi worked hard and only slept for more than two hours a day. Finally, he felt confident that Guangning City could be held.
On the city wall, looking at the surging Later Jin army, Xiong Tingbi's face was calm and he appeared composed.
The reason why he did not raise his banner was, of course, that he wanted to trick the Later Jin army, making them underestimate the enemy and causing more deaths during the siege.
As an old soldier, Xiong Tingbi could see clearly that the Later Jin army looked aggressive, but they did not carry any siege equipment. Or, the siege equipment was in the rear team and had not been transported up yet!
There is nothing to be afraid of. Even if the Later Jin army were all monkeys, it would be difficult for them to climb up the towering city wall.
His eyes flashed, and Xiong Tingbi saw a captain of the Jinyiwei named Ma walking up to the city wall, followed by two Jinyiwei men carrying quivers.
What interested Xiong Tingbi was that Captain Ma was holding a strong bow, which was the standard crossbow of the Ming army and should have been picked from the armory.
An eight-stone bow, Xiong Tingbi secretly admired it. At least this Captain Ma was quite strong. You know, the largest bow in the Ming Dynasty army seemed to be only eight stones.
Ma Chengfei, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had no idea that Xiong Tingbi was interested in him. He walked to the battlements of the city wall and looked into the distance.
The Later Jin army was still coming in droves, and the vanguard had already deployed outside the city gate, probably to prevent the Ming army from suddenly opening the city gate and attacking.
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