"Finally back in Liaodong!"
After Tengge led his troops across the river, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Since the retreat to the north began, he had been living in constant fear, lest the Ming army launch a large-scale pursuit.
Fortunately, Yuan Chonghuan did not send troops to pursue them.
Tenge first ordered his soldiers to rest for half a day, and then ordered his men to keep a close watch on Hauge.
Only then did I have the mind to ask about the situation in Shengjing.
"The Ming army should have already crossed the Liao River. What is the situation in Shengjing now?"
Upon hearing Tengge's question, the Jurchen who came to meet him smiled wryly and said, "Ezhen, the situation in Shengjing is not bad."
"But the situation of our Later Jin is that it is about to collapse."
This was quite strange, and Tengge didn't quite understand it.
What do you mean by that?
"What do you mean Shengjing is fine, but our Later Jin is failing?"
The man quickly began to explain.
It turns out that after the Ming army crossed the Liao River, they did not rush to attack Shengjing, but only sent a small number of troops to monitor the garrison in Shengjing.
He then dispatched a large force south to seize grain from Liaodong.
Then they also recovered the ports on the Liaodong Peninsula.
Relying on these ports, the Ming Dynasty's grain was continuously transported to Liaodong.
They even sent many craftsmen to build numerous camps in southern Liaoning.
The man sighed, "It seems the Ming army is determined to wear us down."
"Even if winter comes and the Ming army retreats from the vicinity of Shengjing, they will not withdraw back into the interior of the pass."
"Instead, they will spend the winter in southern Liaoning."
"Then let's wait until next spring..."
The man didn't finish his sentence, but Tenge already understood.
The weather in southern Liaoning is similar to that in northern Zhili, and being surrounded by the sea on three sides, it is not as cold in winter.
The Ming army retreated to this point and relied on the advantages of the peninsula for defense.
Their own Manchu troops were also powerless to repel them.
Once the weather warms up, the Ming army will regroup and fight again.
But by then, it would no longer be an eastern expedition, but a northern expedition.
"At that time, the Ming army was well-trained and well-fed, while our Later Jin army was exhausted, lacking food and clothing... Alas, this was indeed a difficult situation!"
"The Ming Dynasty's national strength far surpasses that of our Later Jin. If we get bogged down in a protracted war, our Later Jin will indeed suffer losses."
Tengge sighed.
However, he quickly put the matter aside.
As for next year's matters, let me worry about them next year.
The most urgent task at hand is to quickly send Hauge to Shengjing and then enthrone Yue Tuo.
"How many troops has the Ming army deployed around Shengjing? Can our troops break through the encirclement?" Tengge asked again.
The man nodded immediately.
“You don’t need to worry, Ezhen. Although the Ming army has trapped Shengjing, their main concern is preventing the troops inside from leaving the city.”
"If the troops outside want to go in, the Ming army doesn't bother to stop them."
Tengge was slightly taken aback, then sighed and said, "The Ming army is indeed cunning!"
"They know that our Later Jin is short of food, which is why they don't care if we send reinforcements to Shengjing!"
"The more troops are stationed in the city, the more food will be scarce in Shengjing."
"But if that's the case, then it's good news for us too."
"Let's continue our advance."
Meanwhile, in Shengjing City, Daishan and his son Yue Tuo also gathered together.
Both of them looked extremely tired.
"The Ming army is actually taking a steady and methodical approach, not in a hurry."
"What should we do?"
In fact, both of them knew that the Later Jin dynasty might not be able to withstand this hurdle.
Even if we survive this year, we'll be finished next year.
But they can't help but harbor illusions.
What if the Ming army goes mad and insists on attacking Shengjing, resulting in heavy casualties and being unable to attack the Later Jin for several years?
What if the Ming army had a change of heart and refused to withdraw in the winter, insisting on freezing in Liaodong, and then the Later Jin took the opportunity to win a victory?
While the probability of these events occurring is low, they are not entirely impossible.
Dai Shan and Yue Tuo have reached the point where they believe in winter.
They were counting on General Winter's help.
However, the Ming army's current movements have completely shattered all their hopes.
Dai Shan sighed:
"Alas, southern Liaoning is a peninsula, wider in the north and narrower in the south."
"When the Ming army retreated to Jinzhou, they managed to hold off the Khan for a long time with only a few thousand remnants of their troops."
"If the 200,000 Ming troops retreat, even if we take advantage of the cold winter weather, we will not be able to defeat them!"
Yue Tuo shook his head in distress.
"I heard that the Ming army transported grain from the southeast directly to southern Liaoning along the sea route."
"In addition, the Ming army took away our autumn grain."
"We not only lack the right timing and location, but I'm afraid we'll also lack the right people!"
Without food, how can we fight a war?
I'm afraid that the Ming army won't even need to attack the city. They can just put up a notice saying that they've surrendered to the Ming Dynasty and they'll get food.
That would cause unrest among the people of the Later Jin.
"It's difficult, so very difficult!"
The father and son looked at each other and burst into tears.
"How did we end up in such a mess!"
"If we had known this would happen, we should have gone to defend Guangning City and then surrendered directly. It would have been better than this!"
At that moment, someone gently knocked on the door.
"Banner Master, are you inside?"
The father and son quickly wiped away their tears, then deliberately closed the windows to darken the room so that others wouldn't see their tear stains.
After doing all this, Dai Shan finally spoke, "Come in."
"What brings you here?"
The person outside didn't dare to come in, and stood at the doorway saying:
"Reporting to the banner lord, this is news from Goryeo."
"The Great Khan has finally changed his mind. He has returned to Liaodong with several thousand soldiers and should be able to return to Shengjing in a few days."
"Hmph, what's the use of coming back now?" Dai Shan sneered. "If he had brought back those 30,000 men all alive and well, that would have been fine."
"Bringing back only a few thousand people is completely useless!"
However, at this moment, Yue Tuo waved his hand at him.
“Father, it’s better for Hauge to come back than not to come back at all.”
"If he doesn't come back, who will take the blame?"
After listening, Dai Shan pondered for a moment and then nodded.
"That's true."
He turned to the doorway and said:
"Then make some preparations and wait for the Great Khan to return to the capital."
Soon, news of Hauge's return to the capital spread throughout Shengjing.
The banner chiefs and princes secretly gathered together behind the backs of Daishan and his son.
"Good! It seems Tengge has accomplished his task!"
"We should step up our preparations in the next few days."
"Once Hauge enters the city, we'll seize the opportunity to put Yue Tuo in the imperial robe."
They had all given up on Hauge and no longer wanted to acknowledge him as their Khan.
The flag leaders exchanged glances, then spoke in unison:
"Then it's settled!"
For the next few days, everything was peaceful inside and outside Shengjing.
The Ming army not only did not attack the city, but also withdrew some of its troops.
They deliberately allowed the Jurchens to transfer troops to Shengjing.
Qin Liangyu and Li Ruolian stood on a wooden tower, looking at the distant city of Shengjing.
Both of them had joy on their faces.
"Our Great Ming Dynasty is truly getting better!"
Qin Liangyu was extremely happy.
"General Li, you are young and probably don't know what happened back then."
"When I led troops to Liaodong last time, the imperial court kept delaying and making excuses about the grain and silver provided."
"So before the battle even started, morale and fighting spirit were severely damaged."
"And this time, the imperial court really gave out the money very generously."
Li Ruolian nodded indifferently.
"With the Holy Emperor in power, the court officials will naturally not act recklessly."
After giving a casual reply, he pointed to a group of Jurchen soldiers about to enter the city and asked:
"General Qin, it is said that the Khan of the Jurchens is in that army."
"Are we really not going to stop them?"
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