There was already a layer of snow on the ground, and it was still falling, landing on hands and faces.
Nurhaci shook off the snow on his body, walked into the house, and took off his hat. Someone behind him took it politely, and then took the cloak that the old slave threw back.
Sitting in the middle chair, Nurhaci waved his hand and ordered: "Yangguli, you sit down too!"
"Thank you, King Khan." Shumulu Yangguli was also considered a "founding father". He married Nurhaci's daughter and was granted the title of Super-Pin Duke, whose status was second only to Beile.
After a long pause, Nurhaci slowly said, "In your opinion, the Ming army, which has occupied half of Jinzhou, has stabilized its position and is difficult to break through?"
Yangguli bowed and said, "I believe that a fierce attack is not the best strategy. The Ming army relies on fortifications and firearms, which will cause heavy casualties to our army."
Nurhaci nodded, sighed helplessly, and said: "Just like the attack on Guangning City and Amin's defeat at Port Arthur, we must not repeat the same mistakes!"
Yangguli thought for a moment and said, "Although the Ming army's defense is strong, it is still difficult for us to defeat them in a field battle."
Nurhaci gave a wry smile and said, "But they won't fight with our army in the open. What can we do?"
Nurhaci was very angry about Daishan's setback and retreat to Jinzhou City. With the winter offensive approaching, the Ming army's occupation of Luda was a powerful deterrent.
But he did not rush to punish them, but sent Yangguli and others to check. During this period, Nurhaci received news that the rear was attacked, and he hurriedly sent the third Beile Manggurtai to lead the army, but he found nothing.
Similarly, the Bordered Blue Banner led by Second Prince Amin had no chance, and Chen Jisheng's Dongjiang Army also retreated early.
After this battle of harassment from all sides, Nurhaci was not only annoyed, but also found that the Ming army did not have the ability to confront the Later Jin army head-on.
In other words, blockade and siege, as well as containment and consumption, were the strategic objectives of the Ming army.
Although he realized it, it did not mean that Nurhaci had a way to crack it. Instead, it gave him a lot of headaches.
It was very simple. If the Later Jin wanted to "have a prosperous people and a rich country", it could only plunder the Ming Dynasty. This was also the national policy, or strategy, formulated by Nurhaci.
But it is difficult to rob now, mainly because the strategic contraction of the Ming army has made the bandit strategy of the Later Jin Dynasty encountering great difficulties.
The blockade, siege, and constant harassment further exacerbated the financial and material supply difficulties of the Later Jin Dynasty.
Of course, if we're talking about support, we can certainly do it. Even if there's a shortage of food and supplies, it's impossible for everyone to starve to death. The land will produce some output, and fishing and hunting will also yield some harvest.
But this support, or maintenance, came at the cost of continuous weakening. The Ming Dynasty and the Mongolian tribes were all watching eagerly, waiting for the opportunity to pounce.
Therefore, without people, livestock, and money, the alliance formed with the Mongolian tribes through marriage would fall apart; if it could not grow and develop, for the Later Jin Dynasty, it would be almost like waiting for death.
Although the Later Jin had won numerous battles since its rebellion against the Ming, the overall strategic situation was not optimistic. Up to now, only the Khorchin tribe had been formally allied.
Although the Inner Khalkha also intermarried and made oaths with the Later Jin, they pretended to obey and secretly kept in touch with the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, Nurhaci asked the Inner Khalkha to sever ties with Chahar, but they also refused.
Not to mention the Chahar tribe. Lin Danhan took the silver from the Ming Dynasty and contemptuously called Nurhaci "the lord of 30,000 Jurchens on the waterfront". He also detained the Later Jin envoy Shuo Se Ubash, which was full of hostility.
There was also Korea, which participated in the blockade of the Later Jin Dynasty. Although it was relatively weak, Nurhaci believed that the timing was not right and it would not be easy to attack and conquer it.
First of all, although Korea helped the Ming Dynasty, it never sent troops to directly participate in the war since the Battle of Sarhu (Laonu released 5,000 Korean prisoners).
Now the Later Jin Dynasty is struggling to deal with the Ming Dynasty, and the Mongolian tribes are restless. Attacking Korea is really a hassle and will only add more enemies to themselves.
Secondly, it is easy to defeat the North Korean army, and it is not too difficult to occupy large tracts of North Korean land, but it is not easy to surrender, and it is even more difficult to digest.
The most important thing is whether the Ming army can sit idly by, which is obviously impossible. At least 20,000 troops will be dispatched, which will take two or three months to go back and forth. How can they deal with the siege from all sides?
Besides, if you don't attack the Dongjiang Army, which is the biggest threat, and attack North Korea instead, wouldn't that be putting priorities aside? Besides the people, how much supplies can you take from a poor, mountainous country like North Korea?
Nurhaci had no idea how many times he had considered the pros and cons, and he felt that if he had to fight, he would attack the Dongjiang Army first, and then Korea.
Of course, there is more than one target for the winter offensive. From the original Ningyuan and Juehua, to Yizhou and Tieshan where the Dongjiang Army is entrenched, plus the current Lushun in southern Liaoning, there are already three options.
In terms of looting targets, the primary targets should be Ningyuan and Juehua; from the perspective of eliminating threats, the targets are Dongjiang and Lushun.
But it is not easy to attack Dongjiang. At most, the Dongjiang Army can be driven from Yizhou and Tieshan to the islands. Their foundation cannot be damaged, and they will come back again.
Moreover, even if we captured Yizhou and Tieshan, we would not be able to station troops there to garrison them, at least not for a long time.
As for Lushun in southern Liaoning, they should be able to capture it by mobilizing a large force to attack it. However, according to the descriptions of Amin, Daishan, and Yangguli, heavy casualties were unavoidable.
The key point is that the cost of heavy casualties to reoccupy Lushun, how much practical significance does it have? It was abandoned in the first place, so if it is recaptured, can it be garrisoned for a long time?
Nurhaci stroked his forehead and found that Dongjiang and Lushun were somewhat useless.
If we only occupy territory but fail to destroy or severely damage the Ming army, we will not be able to fundamentally eliminate the threat of harassment and attacks.
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