Pi Island.
The level of security remained high, but a festive atmosphere was mingled with it. The opening of the supply and marketing cooperative further enhanced the New Year's atmosphere.
Nearly a year of material shortages had fueled a surge in consumer enthusiasm among the military and civilian population. Not to mention the more expensive items like silk, cotton, tobacco, alcohol, sugar, and tea, but needles and thread were essential for daily life.
"This is sponsored by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce." Wang Yining accompanied Mao Wenlong and other generals in the market and introduced them. "The prices of the goods are not high, and they are not here to make money."
Mao Wenlong smiled and nodded, saying, "I have heard of this. I think it's for Minjue, or to please His Majesty!"
Gou Zhenhuai bought a bottle of liquor and held it in his hand, laughing, "They're also planning for the long term. Once Dongjiang Town expands and its population increases, their reputation will also be well-known. After the Liao Dynasty is pacified, they will be the most powerful merchants."
Wang Yining said, "If they can make a return trip without empty-handed, they'll make more money. Dongjiang's production is still low, so we need to continue to find ways to increase it."
Mao Wenlong pondered for a moment and said, "If we can stabilize Luda, we can expect to conquer the four guards in southern Liaoning. If we can occupy southern Liaoning, we can try to conquer the right guard of Liao."
If you draw a straight line from west to east from Gaizhou Wei to Dingliao Youwei (the seat of which is Fenghuangcheng), you can see Mao Wenlong's idea.
This was equivalent to occupying the entire coastal area of Liaodong with a depth of nearly 100 miles, and connecting it with the Liaonan war zone.
Taking a step back, if southern Liaoning were stable and the Dongjiang Army occupied the Zhenjiang area, they would be able to provide a complementary advantage. With one east and one west, the Later Jin would be caught off guard. This, as described in military books, would create a pincer attack.
The northern part of Zhenjiang (Dandong) area is mostly mountainous and hilly with rich and vast forests. It not only has ginseng, medicinal materials and mountain products, but also animal furs. These are all specialties of the Liaodong region and are also in-demand commodities for export.
Gou Zhenhuai smiled and said, "Pacifying Liao is the first priority, and producing is the second. Lord Wang needs to take more care of the current situation."
The words were not too clear, but they reminded Mao Wenlong that the military should not interfere in politics. Fighting is their job, and it is better to stay out of things like production and the economy.
To put it bluntly, the Dongjiang Army's mission is to pacify Liaodong, not to formulate military plans for production purposes. While it would be better to occupy a larger territory, don't force it.
Mao Wenlong immediately understood and hurried to make amends, saying, "General Gou is absolutely right. I agree. Once our army's strength increases, we will capture Zhenjiang, seize Liaoyouwei, and coordinate our offensive and defensive efforts with southern Liaoning. This will force the Eastern Tartars to retreat to Liaoning and remain trapped until they perish."
Wang Yining nodded repeatedly, hoping that the territory and population would increase so that he could better implement the court's intentions and achieve self-sufficiency as much as possible.
Leaving the market, everyone bought some goods and chatted and laughed casually. A few officers who hurried over destroyed the relaxed and leisurely atmosphere.
After listening to the report, Mao Wenlong and Gou Zhenhuai hurriedly said goodbye to Wang Yining and rushed back to the military camp.
Everyone wants to have a peaceful year, but the Eastern Tartars obviously won't let you have your way, they launched an attack.
………………
Da Beile Daishan led the Zhenghong and Xianghong banners, along with several thousand Mongolian and Han vassal soldiers, and stationed in Fuzhou. Their vanguard reached Luangu Pass, overwhelming Lüda.
Second Prince Amin led the Bordered Blue Banner, and Eighth Prince Huang Taiji led the Plain White Banner. They advanced into Zhenjiang, seemingly intending to attack Sinuiju and Tieshan.
Under this superficial feint, Lao Nu personally led the two yellow flags, Manggurtai's blue flag, and more than 10,000 Mongolian and Han vassal soldiers, crossed the frozen Liao River, and marched towards western Liaoning.
Except for Du Du, the leader of the Bordered White Banner, who stayed behind to guard Liaoshen, the Later Jin Dynasty mobilized almost all of its mobile forces in both feint and main attacks, and launched an all-out attack in order to achieve success.
The reason why western Liaoning was chosen as the main target of attack is actually simple. It was mainly for the purpose of looting.
The value of Luda and Dongjiang is relatively much smaller. At most, they can repel the Ming army and return to the island, but they still cannot fundamentally solve the problem of being harassed.
Historically, the Dongjiang Army had easily occupied the abandoned Port Arthur fortress of the Later Jin several times, but the Later Jin did not regard it as a major threat. This shows the Later Jin's contempt for, or helplessness towards, the coastal areas.
Since attacking Luda and Dongjiang could not inflict heavy damage on the Ming army and could not loot much supplies, it is not surprising that the Later Jin Dynasty set its sights on Ningyuan and Juehua.
Ningyuan and Juehua were the last strongholds of the Ming army outside the Great Wall. If they failed, Shanhaiguan would be the only barrier left.
Therefore, the Ming army could not abandon the defense and must defend with all its strength.
Because of its importance, the stored food and supplies must have been very sufficient. The amount of rice and beans transported from Youwei Tun alone after the abandonment of Guangning was astonishing.
After comprehensive consideration, only by attacking Ningyuan and Juehua could the Later Jin Dynasty resolve the economic crisis that had already begun to emerge.
That’s right, since the defeat in Guangning at the beginning of the year, the Later Jin, which had not gained much, felt increasingly short of food and supplies under the blockade set up from all sides.
History always repeats itself. The current situation of the Later Jin is very similar to the situation before the Ji Si Rebellion.
That was the first time that the Later Jin invaded the interior of the country. Huang Taiji personally led tens of thousands of troops, bypassed Mongolia, broke through the border wall, and headed straight for the capital.
Judging from the results, Huang Taiji's looting was successful, and he seized a large amount of supplies and a large number of people.
But from a military perspective, sudden invasion and plundering is an outright military adventure.
As long as the Guanning Army, which the Ming court built with huge investment, had the slightest desire to take the initiative to attack, would the Later Jin dare to risk leaving its base empty and launch a long-distance raid and advance deep into the enemy's territory alone without any rear support or logistics?
A deeper look into the reason why the Later Jin had to take the risk revealed that after the defeat in the Battle of Ningjin, they gained nothing and returned empty-handed, and an unprecedented famine broke out in the Later Jin.
According to the Qing Shilu (Records of the Qing Dynasty), "At that time, there was a great famine in the country. A dou of rice cost eight taels of silver, and people even resorted to cannibalism. Although the country had abundant silver, there was no foreign trade, so silver was cheap and other goods were expensive."
Silver was useless, there was no place to buy food! People even resorted to cannibalism, which shows how severe the famine was.
It was under the pressure of the great famine that Huang Taiji had to take a risky move to survive the crisis. Fortunately, he succeeded.
Therefore, the Ji Si Rebellion was not a far-sighted plan or a military genius, but just a crazy action caused by starvation.
Nurhaci now has a similar idea. He must implement the strategy of "fighting to support war". This is the only way to prevent the economy of the Later Jin Dynasty from collapsing.
By launching this attack, Nurhaci was also taking a risk. He risked that after failure, a large amount of stored food would be consumed, and the economic crisis would become even more serious.
You know, the food consumption is very different when fighting and when staying still.
Normally, if you drink some porridge and do less exercise, at least you won't starve to death; but on the battlefield, soldiers have to fight desperately, and they have a lot of mental pressure and exercise. You have to at least provide them with solid food to keep them full, right?
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