Under the leadership of Deputy Commander-in-Chief Lin Qingye, the Guanliao Dengjin Navy launched a large-scale anti-smuggling operation in the Bohai Sea area.
As long as a merchant ship is discovered, it will be boarded and inspected regardless of its identity.
Find out the clues and deal with them immediately.
For those without background, the boats and people were seized together.
What awaits them will be interrogation by Dengzhou Governor Yuan Shu.
The guilty ones are convicted according to the law, and the innocent ones are released after a verbal education.
For those who have background and strong background.
All were handed over to the Embroidered Uniform Guard for handling.
No one knows how to use torture better than the Jinyiwei!
Once you are in prison, the best option is to confess honestly.
Otherwise, they will be greeted with inhumane torture.
The imperial prison seems to be only in the capital.
In fact, wherever there are Jinyiwei, there is the imperial prison!
For those who have background but are involved with the prince.
According to the original plan, the Ming army only detained the ship and cargo, and did not detain any crew members.
However, those on board would rather be detained along with the ship and cargo than return empty-handed.
For a time, the prison in Dengzhou Prefecture was overcrowded.
The Ming Dynasty strictly cracked down on smuggling, but the situation on the Qing side was more miserable.
In the Eight Banners military camp outside Liaoyang City, Dorgon was reporting military intelligence to various units.
"The Ming army captured Gaizhou in the evening of the day before yesterday. Except for the 17 forts including Fenghuang, Zhenjiang, Samaji, Xiuyan... which are still in the hands of our army, the rest of the places in southern Liaoning have all fallen into the hands of the Ming army!" said Tunqi of the Bordered Blue Banner.
The seventeen fortresses mentioned by Tunqi were originally the territory of the Dingliao Youwei of the Ming Dynasty.
It was occupied by the Jiannu in the first year of the Tianqi reign and was placed under the management of the Bordered Blue Banner.
After listening to Tunqi's report, Dorgon waved his hand and signaled him to leave.
He, Fan Wencheng and Man Dahai were the only ones left in the military tent.
Man Dahai asked Dorgon with a worried look on his face: "Uncle Wang, how is the progress of the smuggling of materials?"
Dorgon said nothing and looked at Fan Wencheng.
It means to let him answer.
Fan Wencheng stood up and bowed to the two of them, then said, "Your Excellency, the smuggling business is not going smoothly. In fact, before the Ming navy went to southern Liaoning, our army had already moved the smuggling location to Haeju, the capital of Hwanghae Province in Korea."
(The Joseon Dynasty divided the country into eight provinces, similar to the provinces of the Ming Dynasty. The chief of the province was called the Panshu, and the capital was the permanent office of the Panshu. Joseon imitated many place names of the Ming Dynasty. Haeju here is located in Joseon and was a very famous port at that time.)
"Because our army evacuated in a hurry and it took time for the message to be passed on, many merchant ships were unaware of the situation and continued to smuggle goods to southern Liaoning."
"No ship has appeared from Haizhou, North Korea recently. If nothing unexpected happens, these ships have all gone to southern Liaoning..."
Man Dahai blinked his eyes. "That is to say...the ships that were supposed to deliver goods to us were discovered by the Ming army?"
"It should be, and there is a high probability that he has been detained by the Ming army." Fan Wencheng replied.
"The situation is getting more and more difficult!" Dorgon sighed, "First we lost Haizhou, then we lost Liaonan. If this continues, the Qing Dynasty will perish in my hands!"
"Uncle Wang, don't blame yourself," Man Dahai began to persuade him, "When you took over the Eight Banners, the Qing Dynasty was already in decline. It's a miracle that you can still stop the Ming army south of Liaoyang."
Dorgon shook his head: "You think too simply of the Ming army! It's not that the Ming army can't capture Liaoyang, but that they don't want to attack."
"Why?"
"Because they are waiting for the right time."
"What time?" Man Dahai was a little confused.
"It's time to stabilize the rear!" Dorgon pointed to the huge map on the table and said, "Liaoyang is in the north, Jinzhou, Fuzhou, and Gaizhou are in the south!"
"The prerequisite for attacking Liaoyang is to have a stable rear area. In addition to Yizhou, Guangning, Songjin, the Ming army's rear area also includes Jinzhou, Fuzhou and Gaizhou!"
"Before Shang Kexi evacuated southern Liaoning, he took all the young and strong people and food with him, leaving behind only a group of old, weak and sick people with nothing. Although these people have little fighting power, the people of Liaodong are tough and they will try every possible way to survive before starving to death."
"This will be a huge hidden danger to the rear of the Ming army! That's why Wang Yongji did not launch the Battle of Liaoyang!"
After listening to this, Man Dahai suddenly realized: "So that's why the Ming army hasn't made any major moves recently, this is the reason!"
Dorgon did not continue speaking, and the scene fell into silence.
Seeing this, Fan Wencheng took two steps forward and said to Dorgon, "Your Highness, the Ming navy has already entered Gaizhou. Wang Yongji no longer has any worries. If nothing unexpected happens, the Battle of Liaoyang will be launched soon."
Dorgon shook his head, stared at the map in front of him and asked, "Mr. Fan, what do you mean...?"
"It's time to burn our boats!"
"What do you mean?" confused Man Dahai asked hurriedly.
He was afraid that Fan Wencheng and Dorgon would plot against him, so he had to get to the bottom of this matter.
"Mr. Fan means that the army will leave Liaoyang and head north!" Dorgon explained.
"Abandon Liaoyang?" Man Dahai guessed doubtfully.
Dorgon waved his hand and said, "It's not abandonment, but leaving a troop to defend Liaoyang to contain the main force of the Ming army. The rest of the troops will go north into the grassland, bypass Liaoze and attack Guangning behind the Ming army. As long as Guangning is captured, we can keep an eye on Songjin and force Wang Yongji's main force to return for support."
"At that time, we can not only surround the enemy and attack the reinforcements, but also attack Wei to save Zhao, which is killing two birds with one stone!"
"This... this is too risky, isn't it?" Man Dahai was frightened by this bold idea. "If... if Liaoyang is lost, Shengjing will be wide open! Shengjing is the capital of the Qing Dynasty. If the capital is lost, the Qing Dynasty may..."
"It doesn't matter whether Shengjing is lost or not. Hetuala is the birthplace of the Qing Dynasty. As long as it is not lost, the Qing Dynasty can make a comeback at any time!" Dorgon said seriously.
"That won't work!" Man Dahai kept shaking his head. "We know nothing about Guangning's situation. What if we go there rashly and get ambushed by the Ming army?"
"Guangning has 20,000 soldiers, 10,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry!" Dorgon said slowly, "This news was said by Wu Sangui himself, so it should be correct."
Twenty thousand soldiers and horses!
Man Dahai was still not sure of victory. He frowned and asked, "How strong are these 20,000 soldiers? Who is the enemy's commander?"
"The enemy's commander is Li Dingguo!" Dorgon gritted his teeth and said, "The individual combat strength of his soldiers is average. With the same number of troops, our army will surely win."
"How many troops should we send out?"
"Thirty thousand!" Dorgon's expression was firm and his eyes were cold.
"What if Li Dingguo stays in the city?" Man Dahai asked one last question. "Bypassing Liaoze means we can't carry a lot of baggage, especially siege equipment! We can't attack the city without siege equipment, right?"
"Don't attack the city!" Dorgon drew a big circle with his finger on the place that the Ming army had recovered. "In the previous six raids, the Eight Banners soldiers gained a lot. If Li Dingguo hides in the city and doesn't fight, we will loot these places like we did in the previous raids!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
