Chapter 2453
The news that the Haihan fleet suddenly appeared on the coast of Gaizhou was sent to Shenyang City as quickly as possible, causing an uproar immediately. The upper echelons of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties all knew that Shang Kexi was currently negotiating with three other countries in Jinzhou. However, the negotiations had not yet ended, and the Haihan Fleet had already approached its key areas. Such movements naturally made Huang Taiji nervous. He immediately issued an order, ordering Abatai, Duoduo, and Dorgon each to lead 20,000 troops to assemble in Gaizhou, and all garrison fortresses under the jurisdiction of Gaizhou Guard and Haizhou Guard entered wartime status.
One day later, the urgent report sent back by Shang Kexi from Jinzhou also arrived in Shenyang. Only then did Huang Taiji realize that the negotiation situation had taken a turn for the worse and turned into a situation where the three opposing parties joined forces to force the Manchus to accept the terms of reconciliation.
This was originally expected by Huang Taiji, and he had even thought that his opponents might use war as a bargaining chip, but this was not a big threat to the Manchus. Because Huang Taiji believed that Haihan's military power was limited to Jinzhou, and the Ming Dynasty and North Korea were both capable of falling at a single touch. Even if there was a war, the Manchu Qing Dynasty was fully capable of fighting one against three, and it was nothing more than killing more people. That’s all. Anyway, now one trip to Ming Dynasty can bring back hundreds of thousands of people, so there is no need to worry about the losses in this area.
However, Huang Taiji did not expect that the Haihan army had already prepared for war in advance. The troops were already on the border before the negotiation was over. It seemed that as long as the negotiations in Jinzhou broke down, the Haihan army would immediately take action in Gaizhou. If the Ming Dynasty really sent 300,000 troops from the west to form a pincer attack with the Haihan Army, the situation would be really dangerous.
At this time, it seemed that there were only two options left in front of Huang Taiji, either accepting the reconciliation conditions proposed by the other three parties in the negotiations, or seeing the truth on the battlefield. Of course, regardless of winning or losing this battle, the reconciliation conditions mentioned in the negotiations will automatically be invalidated.
Last winter, the Qing army invaded the Ming Dynasty and fought all the way to Shandong. They even captured the city of Jinan. However, the Haihan army never intervened in the war in the Ming Dynasty from beginning to end. This made Huang Taiji think that there was no possibility of a fight between the Haihan and the Ming Dynasty. There is a large-scale joint military operation, so they can confidently and boldly start peace talks with Haihan. But unexpectedly, this seemed to be a misjudgment, and the two countries were silently preparing for a let-down war.
Although there is no signal from the Ming army to send troops from the direction of Shanhaiguan at this time, this is normal. If the 300,000 troops pour out of Shanhaiguan at this time, they will not be able to stay in the wild all the time. They will have to wait for a clear order before taking action. . The Ming army will have to wait until they get out of the pass. Once they get out of the pass, this battle will probably have to be fought.
Whether this battle can be fought or not has also aroused heated discussions among the top management of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. However, the difference between the main war faction and the peace faction is also very obvious. Officials who have experienced fighting with Haihan almost all believe that this battle is invincible. If they fight hard with the Haihan army, the Qing army will probably be severely damaged. The main battle officers were all officials who had never encountered Haihan's army on the battlefield. Even with all the previous achievements in front of them, they still did not believe that Haihan could pacify Liaodong with tens of thousands of troops.
Of course, the final decision had to be made by Huang Taiji. The year before last, he personally led the army to invade North Korea and had a direct confrontation with Haihan. According to the news sent back by Shang Kexi from the front, the Haihan people claimed that they only invested 4,000 troops in the battle on the bank of the Datong River, but in the end they relied on their positions to successfully block the Qing army with twenty times that strength.
Huang Taiji had a very deep memory of that confrontation, which was one of the main reasons that prompted him to send Shang Kexi to Jinzhou for peace talks. The combat advantage of the Haihan Army was so obvious that Huang Taiji really couldn't think of a decisive battle with it.
After a day and night of discussion, the voices of the peace faction finally prevailed, and Huang Taiji made a decision logically. It was still necessary to focus on the overall situation and avoid fighting with the sea without being prepared for war. Han launched a decisive battle.
Huang Taiji immediately drafted an order and sent it to Jinzhou as quickly as possible. As long as the letter can be delivered in time, it is possible to avoid the outbreak of this war. After the sea-land air confrontation near the Gaizhou coast lasted for three days, Tao Donglai and his party evacuated the area first. At this time, the number of Qing troops gathered near the coast exceeded 10,000, and there were thousands of cavalry who patrolled near the coast every day and deliberately showed their whereabouts to warn Haihan. It can be seen that the Northern Fleet's pressing has indeed achieved excellent results, and the Qing army is very nervous about this. This is exactly the effect Tao Donglai wanted to achieve. But whether it succeeds or not, we have to go back to Jinzhou to wait for news.
On the way back, Yang Sichang asked Tao Donglai a question: "If the Manchus and Qing Dynasties refuse to reconcile and choose to go to war, will they really want to fight with them next?"
"Even if they choose to go to war, the primary target will not be our country, so whether to fight or not will probably depend on your country's opinion." Tao Donglai did not answer the question directly, but kicked the ball back to Yang Sichang.
This reason is not complicated. Haihan's interests in the north are mainly concentrated in Jinzhou and Fushan County in Shandong. For the Manchu Qing, Jinzhou cannot be invaded and Fushan County is out of reach, so it is extremely uneconomical to go to war with Haihan. , the Manchu and Qing Dynasties would naturally list the easy-to-handle soft persimmon like Ming Dynasty as their first target. After the war started, if Haihan did not invest a large number of troops in the direction of Liaodong, the Manchu Qing Dynasty would definitely spread all its anger on the Ming Dynasty.
If the Ming Dynasty concentrates the power of the whole country to resist, and at the same time develops a truly comprehensive cooperation with Haihan, it may still have a chance to make a comeback, otherwise it will probably just be a repeat of the last winter. Yang Sichang did not immediately respond to Tao Donglai. He felt that the Haihan people were using this move as an excuse to suppress the Manchu Qing Dynasty. If the two countries really cooperated, the Haihan people would undoubtedly benefit the most.
At this point, Yang Sichang also became confused as to whether the outcome the Haihan people wanted was peace or war. But judging from the current situation, Haihan will be the winner no matter what the outcome is. And if Ming Dynasty chooses the wrong direction, it will most likely lead to an unprecedented war.
Tao Donglai's ship did not go back to Dalian Bay from Lushun, but directly docked somewhere on the west coast of Jinzhou, allowing the VIPs on board to land, and then transferred to a carriage to return to the Nanguanling camp. At this time, the good news was that Tao Donglai and his group had already visited Gaizhou, and he was still waiting for Shenyang City's decision.
Ten days later, negotiations resumed. Shang Kexi announced the latest instructions from Shenyang. The Manchu and Qing Dynasties will accept the reconciliation conditions led by Haihan and agree to sign a joint armistice agreement with the three countries.
(End of chapter)