The main camp of the Later Jin army and the old slave’s tent.
With more than 300 killed and 500 to 600 wounded, the total casualties reached nearly 1,000, making the atmosphere in the tent very solemn.
Of course, the Han army and the Mongols suffered the most casualties, and there were only one or two hundred real Later Jin troops.
Among the generals present, Li Yongfang was the most nervous.
He was the one who instigated Sun Degong to rebel and sent the traitor, but he did nothing and so many people were killed and injured in vain. It cannot be said that he bears a great responsibility.
"The setback in the siege was within my expectations."
The old slave pondered for a moment with a sullen face, then raised his head and said, "Our army excels in field battles, but is incompetent at sieges. We've already seen this at Xiping Fort. Guangning City is strong and has many artillery pieces, so this weakness has only just become apparent, but it's not a bad thing."
Although the Later Jin army captured castles such as Fushun, Shenyang, and Liaoyang, Fushun surrendered, while Shenyang and Liaoyang were mainly caused by internal traitors, and there were no fierce sieges.
Although the attack on Xiping Fort caused considerable casualties to the Later Jin army, the manpower and weapons of the defenders could not compare with those of Guangning City.
The old slave frowned and said with some confusion, "However, Wang Huazhen actually understands military affairs and has a very methodical defense, which surprised me."
As he spoke, the old slave turned his gaze towards Li Yongfang, his questioning tone obvious.
Li Yongfang quickly stood up and bowed, reporting, "Your Majesty, according to my humble intelligence, there are over 10,000 reserve troops in Guangning City. Besides the Governor Wang Huazhen, there's also the Prefect Gao Bangzuo. The highest-ranking military officer is Lieutenant General Jiang Chaodong..."
Dabeilu Daishan looked at his nephew-in-law Li Yongfang and asked, "The intelligence is quite detailed, but who in the city is knowledgeable about military affairs and good at defending the city? Wang Huazhen, Gao Bangzuo, or Jiang Chaodong?"
Li Yongfang did not give a clear answer, but said respectfully, "Wang Huazhen is untrained in military affairs and boasts, underestimating the enemy; Gao Bangzuo served as Deputy Military Commissioner of Tianjin and Military Commissioner of Jizhou; Jiang Chaodong, as a lieutenant general, once fought against the Chaohua tribe of Mongolia."
Third Prince Manggurtai was a rough and rude man to begin with. He snorted upon hearing this and said, "The Great Prince asked you who in the city is knowledgeable about military affairs and good at defense. Just give a definite answer. Why are you saying so much and leaving me to guess?"
The old slave glanced at Manggurtai, and the rough man quickly lowered his head and shut up, but his contempt for Li Yongfang did not diminish in the slightest.
Fourth Prince Huang Taiji had been deep in thought. He raised his head and suggested to his father, "Father, I think we can imitate the Battle of Liaoyang. We should leave Guangning alone and attack the forts west of Guangning. The Ming army's food storage area is in Youtunwei. If we can capture it, it doesn't matter if Guangning is lost."
Nurhaci pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "This is a very good plan. Let's do it tomorrow. Daishan and Amin will lead their troops westward, displaying their banners. I will lead my troops to form a false siege outside the city, while Manggurtai and Huang Taiji will lead their troops to hide in Xinli. If the Ming army leaves the city, we will pursue and attack them from both sides."
"Yes, I obey your command!" Everyone stood up and received the order, and went forward to direct the action separately.
During the Battle of Liaoyang, the governor Yuan Yingtai originally planned to defend the city strictly and defeat the Later Jin army with the help of the strong city.
But Nurhaci was extremely cunning. He divided his troops into two parts. One part of the Later Jin army ignored Liaoyang and rushed around the city towards Shanhaiguan as a feint. The other part hid behind and waited for an opportunity to move.
Yuan Yingtai was afraid that Shanhaiguan would be lost, so he immediately lost his composure and hastily dispatched troops to pursue the Later Jin army. He also ordered General Li Bingcheng and others to set up three camps five miles west of Liaoyang City to intercept them.
Seeing that the Ming army had fallen into a trap and was leaving the city, Nurhaci led his troops to attack back, first defeating the Ming army's pursuers, and then joining forces with the rear army to attack the three major camps of the Ming army outside the city.
Although the three camps of the Ming army fought hard, they had no strong city walls to rely on, and were eventually defeated one by one, and the soldiers scattered everywhere.
Afterwards, the Later Jin army launched a large-scale attack on the city. Commander Yuan Yingtai defended the city to the death, but the army was in chaos and the defenders were insufficient. In the end, the city was breached by the Later Jin and Liaoyang fell.
Huang Taiji's suggestion was to repeat the same trick, lure the Guangning Ming army out of the city, defeat the Ming army in a field battle, weaken the Guangning defenders, and shake the morale of the defenders and cause panic.
If the Guangning Ming army remained unmoved, then they would attack Youtunwei and seize Guangning's important grain storage area. As long as they succeeded in looting and razing the surrounding areas, Guangning, an isolated city, would not matter much even if they failed to capture it.
This strategy was thorough and detailed. Whether the Guangning defenders stayed put or fell into the trap and left the city, the Later Jin army could achieve its goal. It was just a matter of the size of the results.
For Nurhaci and the Later Jin army, Guangning City was not the focus. The main goal was to defeat the Ming army and loot food and supplies.
There was no term for "economic crisis" at the time, but the Later Jin was isolated in a corner and could only produce limited materials. In order to win over the various Mongolian tribes, it could only plunder the Ming Dynasty to survive the crisis.
Even so, the Later Jin Dynasty suffered from famine several times in history, and only survived due to the stupidity of the Ming generals in Liaodong.
The night was not peaceful. The Later Jin army outside the city was busy making arrangements, and the defenders inside the city were also on high alert, guarding against enemy night attacks and continuing to set up and build street fighting fortifications in preparation for a desperate battle after the city was captured.
………………
It was not yet dawn, but the sky was starting to look a little pale.
The palace servants in the Forbidden City had already started cleaning and working, but no one dared to make loud noises outside the Kunning Palace.
However, Zhu Youxiao, who was used to going to bed late and getting up late, was still gently awakened by the person next to him.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, aren't you attending the morning court today?" Zhang Yan didn't understand her new husband's habits, and she thought that "the king not attending the morning court" seemed to be a sign of incompetence and laziness, and she also had her own responsibility.
Zhu Youxiao forced himself to open his sleepy eyes, and only when he saw that it was the queen did he calm down. Ever since he lost his temper, no one dared to wake him up so early.
"No morning court, sleep a little longer." Zhu Youxiao stretched out his arms and hugged Zhang Yan's soft body, muttering, "Don't wake me up early in the future."
Zhang Yan opened her mouth, but finally gave up and slowly closed her eyes in the young emperor's arms. However, her eyelids trembled slightly, indicating that she was not asleep.
Last night's lovemaking was Zhang Yan's first time, but Zhu Youxiao was already very experienced. The girl's shy and painful expression made Zhu Youxiao unable to stop, filled with a sense of accomplishment.
Zhu Youxiao was exhausted from his already established work and rest habits, and after repeated campaigns, he was already reluctant to attend the morning court. And since the emperor was getting married, how could he not get a few days of wedding leave?
Mm, it feels so comfortable to hold Zhang Yan, so fragrant and soft...
The young emperor soon fell asleep again, his breathing was even, his expression was peaceful, and he seemed to have a faint smile on his face.
Zhang Yan secretly opened her eyes and looked at her husband carefully in the increasingly bright morning light coming through the window.
Because of her father's anger, she felt panic and uneasy, fearing that she would be disliked by the young emperor.
Fortunately, my husband seemed to have forgiven his father's mistakes and was quite enthusiastic towards me last night.
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