Chapter 2467
With the level of national power of the Ming Dynasty at this time, it was indeed beyond the capabilities to support a 200,000-strong army to fight in the Northeast for a long time and kill the remnants of the Manchu Qing forces that were fleeing in all directions.
Especially in terms of logistical supplies, because the Manchus and the Qing Dynasty implemented measures to strengthen walls and clear the country during their retreat, it was difficult for the Ming army to obtain supplies from the warring areas. Now most of the supplies needed by the 200,000-strong army had to be transported from within the pass. There are nearly 100,000 civilians on the transportation line responsible for the transportation of baggage alone, and the long distance makes the supply of materials non-timely.
With so many combatants, the supplies and funds consumed every day are astronomical. If a quick victory cannot be achieved locally, the Ming Dynasty will not be able to bear such consumption, and will soon have to apply for a huge loan from Haihan. .
Although the Manchu Qing lost the city of Shenyang, it had been stationed in the Northeast for many years and its foundation was still very deep. It could still organize a large number of cavalry to fight guerrillas with the Ming army. The follow-up war has not yet entered winter, and the Ming army on the front line is already complaining endlessly.
On the one hand, the Qing army changed its strategy of frontal combat. Now it came and went quickly and showed no hesitation in fighting. It was difficult for the Ming army to concentrate its forces to carry out an annihilation campaign. On the other hand, the Ming army still could not properly solve the supply problem, resulting in frequent frontline troops. There was a shortage of supplies such as food and grass, which greatly affected combat effectiveness.
Until the early winter of this year, the Ming army's combat operations in this area had not made much progress. The court had no choice but to let the Ming army outside the pass retreat to Shenyang first, and at the same time withdraw most of the troops into the pass. After all, most of the troops who went out to fight were mobilized from inland state capitals. Now that the war has come to an end, it is time for them to return to their original bases.
The Ming troops who stayed outside the pass to garrison Jinzhou, Shenyang and other places were basically from Liaodong, and now they have recovered their original garrison locations. But in order to regain this lost land, Ming Dynasty spent more than twenty years. And if it weren't for Haihan's help, I'm afraid there would never be a chance to regain the Shenyang area.
Of course, Haihan did not just watch the excitement in this process. After Chen Yixin got the news that the Manchus had lost Shenyang, he quietly sent troops to the mouth of the Daliao River and set up a camp.
When the Ming army arrived here, Haihan announced that this place had been taken over by Haihan. From now on, the area south of the mouth of the Daliao River would be under the jurisdiction of Haihan.
Of course, the boundary demarcation concessions that Huang Taiji made to Chen Yixin in the previous negotiations had not reached this point, but now that the Manchu Qing had retreated to the north of Shenyang and could no longer take into account the boundary division with Haihan, Chen Yixin would naturally not be polite. It’s up to you as much as you can occupy.
When the Manchu and Qing dynasties first requested peace talks with Haihan, Chen Yixin once asked the Manchu and Qing dynasties to give up all the areas south of the connection between the Daliao River and the mouth of the Yalu River. Although the Manchu Qing Dynasty never agreed to this condition, now that the Manchu Qing Dynasty can no longer take care of the Liaodong Peninsula after its defeat, it can be regarded as a curve to realize Chen Yixin's bold idea.
The entire Liaodong Peninsula area was now under the control of Haihan. Although there may still be local officials and armed personnel from the Manchu Qing Dynasty remaining in some areas, these do not affect the overall situation and only require a little effort to clean up.
The Ming Dynasty did not have a good response to Haihan's blatant seizure. Everyone in the government and the public knew that the court's ability to regain large areas of land in Liaodong relied on the assistance given by Haihan. To fall out with Haihan was tantamount to asking for trouble. Moreover, Haihan at this time is no longer the same as it was in the first few years. After occupying large areas of land in Shandong and Liaodong, Haihan's troops stationed in the Bohai Bay area have also increased. Not only are there maritime armed forces like the North Sea Fleet, which has an absolute advantage in combat power, but the army's strength has also grown to nearly 20,000 people.
Currently, the Northern Theater Command under the command of Chen Yixin has one brigade of army troops deployed in each of Liaodong, Shandong and North Korea. In addition, there are independently organized cavalry regiments and artillery regiments in the direction of Liaodong. Although these troops have not participated in wars in the past two or three years, the various military exercises that occur every year still make the outside world clearly aware of the strength gap between themselves and the Haihan Army.
Although the Ming Dynasty still sent envoys to negotiate with Chen Yixin, hoping that Haihan could return the recently occupied land in Liaodong and restore the actual line of control between the two sides to the area stipulated in the 1639 Jinzhou Peace Treaty, this attempt without any confidence was naturally not Chen Yixin resolutely rejected Ming's request and claimed that "Haihan's control of these areas was to rescue the local Han people and help them completely escape the fate of being enslaved by the Manchus."
The envoys of the Ming Dynasty were naturally dissatisfied with this statement and once again emphasized that these areas had been the territory of the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years and that the Ming Dynasty was the orthodox ruler of these areas. However, this statement was obviously unconvincing in front of Chen Yixin.
Chen Yixin reminded the other party that Haihan, like Ming Dynasty, was also governed by Han people, so he was also qualified to rule areas where Han people lived.
This statement is quite explicit. It is obvious that Haihan's goal is not just the Liaodong Peninsula. The Ming Dynasty's ruling area may become Haihan's territory at some point in the future, and even the entire dynasty will be replaced by Haihan. .
When the frustrated envoy brought the news back to the capital, it inevitably caused a lot of chaos in the Ming Dynasty. Even the peace-promoting officials who had been advocating peaceful coexistence with Haihan in the past few years could not avoid such sharp conflicts at this time. The opinions of the war-promoting officials were more direct, believing that the court should take advantage of the large number of people inside and outside the pass. The troops were all in combat mode and immediately launched an offensive on the spot to drive the Haihan army, whose foothold was not stable, back to Jinzhou.
If we don't act quickly, in a few more years Haihan will complete the garrison construction in this area, and then it will become an iron barrel formation like Jinzhou, and it will be even more impossible to recover.
But even if he wanted to take action, Ming had to face the actual situation on the ground. Haihan's troops were almost always stationed near the coastline, and they could receive supplies and support from the sea at any time. Even if the Ming Dynasty sent out a large army to surround these garrison locations, it would be difficult to carry out a battle of annihilation against the Haihan Army.
And if this is done, it will definitely give Haihan a reason to use force. At that time, the choice of the battle location may not be up to Haihan. The entire coastline of the Bohai Bay may become a landing site for the Haihan Army, and the closest point to the capital is only three hundred miles away. Once a war begins, the capital will quickly fall into the opponent's attack range.
(End of chapter)