Chapter 2460
From the end of 1644 to the spring of 1645, the Ming Dynasty and the Manchu Qing Dynasty once again launched a brutal tug-of-war outside Shanhaiguan. The participants on both sides suffered heavy casualties. Ming Dynasty knew that if it could not hold back and allowed the Qing army to break through Shanhaiguan, it would probably lead to a complete collapse. The Manchu Qing also knew that it was unlikely that they would be able to invade the Ming Dynasty and plunder supplies and people as easily as before. If they could not completely defeat the Ming Dynasty on the frontal battlefield, the war would turn into a long-term war of attrition, which would not be an advantage to the national power. It is definitely not a good thing for the Manchus.
The two families were furious, and Haihan took the opportunity to make a fortune from the war. The Ministry of Commerce went all out to conduct various large-scale transactions with the Ming Dynasty and the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Both countries had huge demands for funds and combat supplies during the war, and Haihan saw the opportunity to lower the purchase prices of various raw materials and increase the selling prices of various industrial products and combat supplies.
It is not only the Haihan Ministry of Commerce that makes a lot of money, but also the garrisons in Liaodong, Shandong, Zhejiang and other places responsible for executing these transactions. The area under the jurisdiction of Chen Yixin and Shi Diwen has expanded significantly in the past year, so the request for garrison expansion was naturally approved. At the same time, the Ministry of National Defense made new adjustments to the overseas garrison establishment north of the Taiwan Strait.
The Beihai Theater Command was established, which has jurisdiction over Dengzhou, Shandong, Jinzhou, Liaodong, and all the garrisons at the Datong River base in North Korea. Nanguanling Camp in Jinzhou is the location of the headquarters, and its jurisdiction includes the Liaodong Peninsula, Shandong Peninsula, Korean Peninsula, and the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. area.
The East China Sea Theater Command is established, which has jurisdiction over all the garrisons in Ningbo, Zhejiang, Jeju Island, North Korea, and Sasebo Base, Japan. Ningbo Zhoushan Dinghaigang Base is the location of the headquarters, and its jurisdiction covers the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang from the south of Haizhou Bay to the north of the Taiwan Strait, North Korea Jeju Island, Kyushu Island Region, Japan.
The top commanders of these two headquarters are Chen Yixin and Shi Diwen respectively. Thanks to the large increase in population after the expansion of their jurisdiction, they finally have a relatively sufficient source of troops to realize the expansion. And Haihan also needs to maintain relatively strong troop deployment in these areas, so that if the Ming Dynasty suddenly collapses, Haihan can send troops in time to clean up the mess and avoid allowing the Qing army to move south in large numbers and impact the wealthy areas of the Ming Dynasty.
But at this time, something happened in North Korea that caught Haihan off guard. At this time, King Li Zhen of North Korea had completely taken control of the domestic military and political power. After six or seven years of recuperation after he ascended the throne, the economic situation of the entire country also improved significantly. The new army formed with the help of Haihan has a strength of more than 8,000. All the senior officers in the army have studied in Haihan and received military training. Its combat effectiveness is no less than that of any of Haihan's affiliated armies.
Perhaps it was the increase in national and military power that made Li Zhi a little arrogant. In the summer of 1645, he publicly issued a petition against the Qing Dynasty, stating that he would send troops to Liaodong to attack the Manchu Qing Dynasty in order to avenge the Qing Dynasty's oppression and invasion.
Although Chen Yixin immediately sent a telegram to the diplomats stationed in Seoul to negotiate with North Korea after learning the news, and asked Li Zhi to cancel the order to send troops, Li Zhi, who was eager for revenge, did not listen to his advice and ordered the North Korean troops to cross from Uiju. Crossed the Yalu River and launched an offensive against the Manchu-controlled areas.
At this time, almost all the main forces of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were deployed on the battlefield along the Liaodong Bay. They never expected that North Korea would have the courage to launch a surprise attack on itself, and they were not prepared for it. They were defeated at the beginning of the battle. . Such a battle situation made Li Zhi even more convinced that his decision to take the initiative was the correct strategy, and he suggested that Haihan directly send troops to Gaizhou Guards to form a pincer attack from the east and west with the Korean army, which might give him a chance to complete his victory in one battle.
However, Chen Yixin did not agree with the North Koreans' ideas. Although this new army had been established for a certain period of time, was trained and armed in full accordance with Haihan's arrangements, and had a certain combat effectiveness, it did not actually participate in the new army after its establishment. In large-scale battles, actual combat experience is obviously insufficient. The north bank of the Yalu River is a relatively unfamiliar area for this army. The hundreds of miles from Yizhou to Shenyang are all mountainous areas. The terrain is very complex. It is difficult to achieve the ideal level in terms of marching speed and logistical support. This will Allow the opponent sufficient time to organize a counterattack.
Once the Qing army launched a counterattack, Chen Yixin was not optimistic about the Koreans at all. This country had almost never won an independent war against the Manchus in the past, and its self-confidence was not as sufficient as Li Zhi thought. What's more, Haihan is now desperately squeezing oil and water from the Manchus. A rash war will cause Haihan to suffer considerable economic losses. Chen Yixin now needs a lot of funds to expand the strength of his troops, so naturally he is not willing to go to war easily.
Chen Yixin called Seoul to express that Haihan would not immediately take military action against the Manchus in the Liaodong Peninsula, and hoped that North Korea would also accept the situation and not let the situation deteriorate further.
However, at this time, Li Xie, who knew that the frontline troops were advancing in great strides, could no longer listen to Chen Yixin's advice. He still did not order the withdrawal of troops. Instead, he encouraged the frontline generals to continue advancing north. Even if they could not defeat Shenyang City, they would at least capture the city south of Shenyang. Benxi County pushed North Korea's border line 300 miles north.
Dreams are beautiful, but reality is cruel. The Korean army was ambushed by the Qing army at Lianshanguan, eighty miles south of Benxi. After a hard day and night of fighting, only 50% of the troops escaped from the battlefield and successfully retreated. Afterwards, these Qing troops originally deployed in Shenyang pursued all the way south and drove the Korean troops back to the south of the Yalu River. In the process, the North Korean army lost about a quarter of its troops, and many senior military attachés were killed.
Although the North Korean army also eliminated many local armed forces of the Manchu Qing Dynasty during this raid, the final collision with the iron plate was so seriously injured that more than half of the new army unit that was finally formed was lost in one fell swoop. , the losses can be described as quite heavy. It is said that after Li Zhi received the news of the disastrous defeat on the front line, he did not sleep a wink for five days and five nights, which shows that he found it difficult to accept this defeat.
At this time, there were also some unfavorable voices in the Korean court. They believed that one of the reasons for the defeat was that Haihan, as an ally, did not send troops to cooperate in time, which allowed the Qing army to unscrupulously concentrate its forces to deal with the single-handed attack into the interior of Liaodong. of the Korean Army. Although no one dared to hold Haihanjun accountable, Chen Yixin was very dissatisfied and informed Li Zhi that officials who publicly expressed such views must be punished to ensure that the diplomatic relations between the two countries would not be affected.
Although Li Zhi was forced to do so, he also believed that Haihan's refusal to send troops was the main reason that led to the defeat of the Korean army, and he complained in private. But at this time, Haihan's eyes and ears in North Korea were all-pervasive, so Li Zhi's complaints in the palace were still grasped by the Haihan intelligence agency. (End of chapter)