Time continued to move forward, passing the year 1616 to January 1617.
Liaodong was bitterly cold, the river was frozen, and the hydraulic machinery could not be used. The refugees inevitably froze to death and frostbite. In order to reflect the superiority of the 'Revolutionary Army' system and enhance social cohesion, Zhou Qingfeng ordered the Imperial Guard to take in a large number of weak children and take care of them. As for the old and seriously ill, they had no choice but to give up.
The 'Revolutionary Army' built thousands of large shelters around the city. They used wood and mud as building materials, and hollow walls for insulation. The inside was equipped with earth kang, and even the door was set into two to prevent cold air from entering, ensuring the room temperature was above zero for 24 hours.
In order to thoroughly implement these relief measures, Shi Dong's steel factory had to stop work and take out thousands of tons of coal to heat the house. The trained workers in the factory were sent to the grass-roots level to supervise. The 'Revolutionary Army' couldn't sit in a warm room and idle, so they patrolled every day and night, strictly investigating all kinds of violations of the law.
The 'Revolutionary Army's' gathered power was hard to come by, so it must be cherished. Now was not the time to be stingy, if a large number of refugees couldn't survive and there was a riot, everyone would be finished. As long as they survived the coldest two months and waited for the flowers to bloom in spring, everything would be fine.
But at such a time, the Kennu who stayed in Shenyang for half a year took action.
Haizhou City.
The earth was frozen, and snow was falling.
Zhou Qingfeng, wearing a leather jacket, stood on the city wall and exhaled white gas, looking at the road to the north with a gloomy face. Dog sleds occasionally appeared outside the city, which was the only land transportation that could be used in winter. Even if the weather was freezing, he tried his best to make limited contact with the outside world, so the dog sleds appeared.
It was easy to build sleds, but dogs were hard to find, and horses were inconvenient to move in the snow. Now there were only a dozen sleds between the four provinces of the peninsula, barely ensuring that information from all over the country was continuous. A few days ago, Wang Kunpeng's Ministry of Security sent news that Shenyang's Female Zhenren had taken action. Zhou Qingfeng immediately rushed over.
The sleds arrived at the city, and the city gate was only opened a small gap to let people in. Two people came down from the sleds, one was Wang Kunpeng. This kid has become a lot bolder after mastering the technique. Many of his subordinates had also gained cultivation. Their ability to move about in the wild during winter had greatly increased, and the efficiency of spying had increased significantly.
When Zhou Qingfeng came down from the city wall, Wang Kunpeng pulled another person on the sleigh and said, "This is the young marshal of our Revolutionary Army."
The other person was about to kneel down while trembling. Zhou Qingfeng stepped forward to help her up, only to discover that she was an elderly woman. Wang Kunpeng reminded him, "Tell our future marshal what you saw in Shenyang."
The old woman immediately wailed, "My lord, please give us justice. After the Tatars occupied Shenyang, they arrested people everywhere. First they took my two sons, and then they took my daughter-in-law and grandson. Even my old man was arrested last month. "
"Get to the point," Wang Kunpeng shouted impatiently from the side.
The old woman sobbed and continued, "I was also arrested to cook. I saw a lot of caravans suddenly come to the city. They were all Han people, but their accent was not from Liaodong. I heard they came from the Mongols by a detour, and they brought with them a lot of armor and weapons. The Tatars leaders in the city were very happy and even invited them to drink. "
Wang Kunpeng took out a broken arrowhead from his pocket and handed it to Zhou Qingfeng, saying, "This old woman's family is finished. She escaped to Liaoyang by herself. But Liaoyang city is closed and doesn't accept any outsiders. Our scouts found her. She secretly brought this from Shenyang. "
Zhou Qingfeng took the arrowhead. At first glance, he could tell it was a newly forged armor-piercing pyramid. There were blurry markings on it when it was forged. He guessed that it was' Datong '. Wang Kunpeng explained, "This is not our Liaodong arrowhead. It came from Datong Town on the nine borders. I don't know which heartless person sold military supplies to the Kennu for money. "
"It's those Jinshang merchants. They also jumped out early." Zhou Qingfeng weighed the arrowhead in his hand and ordered his men to settle the old woman down. "How much military supplies did the Kennu get?"
"I'm not sure. It's hard for our people to get close to Shenyang. But from what this old woman said, it's definitely not a small amount. " Wang Kunpeng said hatefully, "We had almost emptied Shenyang's armory and relocated all the craftsmen. The Kennu occupied Shenyang, so they had more slaves to farm. But now, there are people giving them swords, spears, arrows, and armor. "
With military supplies, the Kennu could expand their army. Nurhachi had tens of thousands of troops, but they lacked ironware. When they were poor, they could only use bones for their arrowheads. Now, not only did he get a large amount of Liaodong Ming Army's military supplies, the Jinshang merchants were also providing them with a steady stream of supplies.
Wang Kunpeng continued, "This subordinate intercepted the Liaodong Inspector Li Weihan's memorial to the Ming court. It said that the Kennu captured Fushun and Shenyang's Ming Army. They obtained more than 9,000 horses and all kinds of armor. Although most of the weapons were damaged, the Kennu will definitely repair them. They don't care about human lives, so their gains will be huge. "
"What about food? Do the Kennu have enough food? "Zhou Qingfeng asked.
"Not enough." Wang Kunpeng said confidently, "Our people sneaked near Shenyang. They had a large number of deaths before winter. But those who died were the Han people they captured as slaves or the Han people who had their food stolen. The Venerable Nun had a big advantage. She could eat her fill and it was much better than her days in the mountains. "
The war destroyed agricultural production. Refugees fled in large numbers. Many places in Liaodong did not even have time to harvest last year's autumn crops. Even the Revolutionary Army, an organization that tried its best to protect the people at the bottom of society, died. The Kennu and the Ming court did not care about the lives of the people. The starving people turned into corpses in large numbers.
According to historical records, the Manchurian Qing wreaked havoc in Liaodong for more than ten years. The population of Liaodong declined greatly. Later generations of northeasterners actually migrated from other places. The original natives of Liaodong were almost all dead. And this history continued to play out around Zhou Qingfeng.
In 1616, Liaodong's food production was greatly reduced. The Ming court also no longer transported food to the occupied land. It could be imagined that the Nurhachi would not be satisfied. The management of a slave society was extremely rough and simple. The Venerable Nun did not produce. When the food they plundered was consumed, they would start another war after tasting the sweetness.
"When the weather warms up in February or March, the Kennu will definitely attack Liaoyang. The morale of the Ming Army is extremely low. Liaoyang cannot be defended. When Liaoyang falls, Haizhou will be their next target. " Zhou Qingfeng closed his eyes slightly. A map of Liaodong appeared in his mind. "How is the Ming Army doing?"
"Yang Gao is in Shanhai Pass and there has been no movement. However, Du Songqian went to Jinzhou and Liu Da went to Guangning. The Governor of Liaodong, Li Weihan, is trapped in Liaoyang and has been begging to retreat. The Ming court does not allow it but does not give him supplies. Recently, that guy has sent a lot of people to contact our Revolutionary Army. It seems that they intend to join us. "
Zhou Qingfeng nodded. Li Weihan was trapped in Liaoyang. Although it was freezing, it was like being roasted on a fire. It was extremely uncomfortable. Last October, that guy sent people to contact him. However, he did not say that he wanted to surrender. Instead, he wanted to recruit the Revolutionary Army. Zhou Qingfeng was too lazy to deal with this idiot and ignored him. Now that he was in a desperate situation, Li Weihan did not care about his face and directly asked to surrender.
Surrender?
Everyone in Liaoyang who could run had run away. Only tens of thousands of old and weak people and aristocratic families were left. The former could not run and the latter regarded the Revolutionary Army as their enemy. But if they gave Liaoyang to Nurhachi, it would be too easy for him.
According to the plan of the Revolutionary Army, locking Gaizhou was the bottom line to resist the Kennu invasion. Gaizhou, the western gate to the Liaodong Peninsula, must not be lost. Once it was lost, there would be nothing left to defend against the assault of the enemy's superior forces. Therefore, Zhou Qingfeng planned Haizhou to the north of Gaizhou as the frontline and strategic buffer against the enemy. They would only retreat to Gaizhou if they could not hold on.
What if the strategic buffer continued to extend to Liaoyang, which was more than 50 kilometers away?
"Kunpeng, send someone to Liaoyang and ask Li Weihan if he is willing to fight a losing battle. If he is willing, I will allow him to leave Liaoyang with some defeated soldiers and personal belongings. If he is not willing, then he can wait for death. "
Wang Kunpeng immediately understood Zhou Qingfeng's meaning. "I understand. I will send someone to do it."
The dog-pulled sled left Haizhou City, and Zhou Qingfeng relayed his thoughts to Xu Bing and the others who were at the back. That night, Li Weihan, who was trapped in Liaoyang, received news from Zhou Qingfeng. Because of the Jurchens in the north and the Young Marshal in the south, he was like a mouse in a bellows in Liaoyang, suffering from both sides.
In the second half of last year, Nurhachi kept sending people to ask Li Weihan to surrender. The Liaodong Inspector gritted his teeth and did not agree. But now it was late winter, and the whole city was in a desperate situation. Every day, a large number of frozen corpses were thrown from the city wall into the moat outside. He had to consider his own escape route.
Whether it was to join the barbarians or the rebels, Li Weihan was actually unwilling. He still had great hopes for Daming, but Ming Ting would not let him go no matter what. When Zhou Qingfeng sent the proposal of retreat after defeat, the Liaodong Inspector's eyes finally lit up. If I retreat after defeat, the court can't blame me, can it? If worst comes to worst, I'll lose my position. It's better than dying.
Li Weihan immediately sent his trusted aides to Haizhou to discuss the matter. Zhou Qingfeng allowed him to take the troops, and the officials could also leave. But the goods had to be restricted and checked, and they were not allowed to deliberately damage the city. They had to leave enough benefits for the Revolutionary Army, or they would really attack the city.
Li Weihan had been in Liaoyang for half a year and did not have any trump cards. He readily agreed to Zhou Qingfeng's request and gathered the Ming Army and officials trapped in Liaoyang for a discussion. He bluntly said to everyone, "The Revolutionary Army is about to attack the city, and I'm determined to break out. Are you willing to go with me?"
The officials in the city had long received the news, and everyone had already understood the situation. The slave chiefs in the north were barbaric, and the Young Marshal in the south was fierce. No one was willing to stay and wait for death, so they would probably retreat. Although some people insisted on taking away all the property, Li Weihan did not care about these fools who valued money more than their lives.
In the middle of January, Zhou Qingfeng sent a battalion of the Imperial Guard led by Gao Daniu to attack Liaoyang and control the people behind the city gate to monitor Li Weihan's retreat. The Imperial Guard had completed the second phase of the expansion of 5,000 people. A battalion of more than 1,000 people could be said to be strong and well-equipped, with bright armor. It was a world of difference from the evacuated beggars of the Ming Army.
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