Chapter 2466
In view of the fact that the situation in Liaodong was already developing in a direction unfavorable to the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, the Haihan Army stationed there also strengthened monitoring measures for the battle situation in order to grasp the battlefield situation in a timely manner.
Although the Haihan Army would not directly participate in the war between the two countries, it still sent troops to conduct reconnaissance near the north shore of Liaodong Bay, and landed grandly on the coast near Panshan County, dispatching small groups of cavalry to openly operate in the area.
This behavior did not attract attacks from both warring parties. On the contrary, both the Ming and Qing armies were very wary of the Haihan army appearing here and took the initiative to keep a distance from them to avoid unnecessary conflicts. In the current delicate situation, neither warring party wants to provoke Haihan, giving him an excuse to send troops to interfere in the current war situation.
After the spring of 1647, the war between the Ming and Qing Dynasties resumed. The two sides once again invested heavily in fighting on a battlefield less than a hundred miles wide between the southern foot of Lu Mountain and the mouth of the Shuangtaizi River. To the west of this battlefield is Jinzhou City, the current outpost of the Ming Dynasty, and to the east is Pingchuan. As long as the Ming army breaks through this front, it will reach Shenyang City, the capital of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, three hundred miles away.
The situation at this time was quite similar to when the Qing army invaded Shandong eight years ago. One side was like a wolf and a tiger, and the other side was struggling to support it. However, the roles were now reversed, and the offense and defense changed hands. After the continuous war of attrition, the Qing army He is no longer as brave as he once was. After investing a lot of money in equipment upgrades, the Ming army's combat effectiveness has indeed improved qualitatively compared to the past, and it can obviously suppress its opponents in head-to-head confrontations.
If the Qing army did not still maintain a large number of cavalry and had a slight advantage in mobility, I am afraid that this line of defense would not have been able to survive the continuous fierce attacks of the Ming army for a few days.
In late April, the Ming army finally broke through Panshan County, an important town on this front. The defeated Qing army retreated more than a hundred miles in one breath, and only regrouped at the Liaozhong-Liaoyang line, trying to continue relying on the water system of the Liao River Basin. resistance.
However, the flow of the Liaohe River system is not large, and the river surface is often only more than ten or twenty feet wide. Soldiers with better water quality can even swim across it with arms. It is not difficult to build pontoons to allow large troops to pass. The Ming army's artillery power was obviously superior, and it was able to clear a landing area across the river from a distance.
Therefore, the implementation of this countermeasure by the Qing army was not ideal, and it could only last for a day and a half at most. Once other places upstream and downstream were breached, the defenses on the entire river bank would collapse. Although there are many tributaries in the Liao River Basin, it was ultimately unable to stop the Ming army's offensive. In less than ten days, the entire Liao River defense line was broken.
At this time, the forward camp of the Ming army was less than a hundred miles away from Shenyang. There were only two options left in front of Huang Taiji. One was to concentrate the remaining Qing forces to defend Shenyang City and fight the Ming army here to the death; the other was to give up. Shenyang retreated to the north, preserving its strength as much as possible, and looking for a suitable opportunity to make a comeback in the future.
But at this time, Huang Taiji's physical condition was already extremely poor. He thought that even if he evacuated Shenyang, he might not be able to make a comeback. Therefore, he decided to pass the throne to his ninth son Fulin in advance, and he would lead the Qing army to evacuate Shenyang in advance and go to the Wuliangha area further north to start over again. And he himself continues to stay in Shenyang, no matter whether he wins or loses, he has no intention of leaving.
At the end of May, Fulin succeeded to the throne in the Forbidden City in Shenyang, and his reign was named Shunzhi. Since Shunzhi was only ten years old at this time, he would still be assisted in power by his uncle, Prince Rui Dorgon. Shunzhi and Dorgon took away the elite Eight Banners and the few remaining money in the treasury, leaving Huang Taiji to lead 50,000 Qing troops to stay in Shenyang.
In June, the main force of the Ming army arrived at Shenyang City. Three days later, 200,000 Ming troops completed the siege of Shenyang City and launched an offensive. Hundreds of artillery pieces surrounded Shenyang City and bombarded it for several days, blasting all the city gates into rubble. After the city was broken, the two armies fought bloody battles in the city for three days and finally captured Shenyang City. Huang Taiji finally led more than a hundred guards to huddle in the palace, refused to surrender, and finally set fire to himself. However, he did not directly fall into the hands of the Ming army.
In the original history, Huang Taiji should have died of illness four years ago. However, under the influence of various unexpected factors in this time and space, he accidentally lived for four more years, which was a profit. At this time, only eleven years had passed since Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor in Shenyang.
However, shortly after the Ming army captured Shenyang City, Haihan issued a notice to Daming. In view of the fact that Haihan's domestic military industry department had to carry out equipment upgrades and maintenance, production had to be suspended for a period of time. The arms equipment that was supposed to be delivered to Daming within the year, Delivery time will probably need to be delayed by about a year. Considering that the funds for Daming's purchase of these arms originally came from the special loan provided by Haihan, Haihan decided to waive the loan interest during the delay period.
This is actually the content of the agreement secretly negotiated between Chen Yixin and Huang Taiji earlier. As long as the Ming army conquers Shenyang, Haihan will suspend military assistance to the Ming Dynasty. As for whether the Manchus can seize this breathing opportunity to make a living, that is not something Haihan needs to worry about.
By leaving such an escape route for the Manchu and Qing dynasties, Haihan's intention was also to let the Manchu and Qing dynasties continue to divert Ming's attention and prevent Ming from turning around and quarreling with him immediately after annihilating the Manchu and Qing dynasties. On the other hand, if the two families continue to fight, Daming will have to continue to rely on the assistance provided by Haihan, which will also help Haihan further obtain various benefits from Daming.
Stopping supply means that Ming will no longer be able to rely on its superiority in weapons and equipment to suppress its opponents. However, the current situation is obviously in Ming's favor. Even without Haihan's assistance, Ming is unlikely to stop at this time.
After the Ming army captured Shenyang, they rested for more than ten days and then continued to march north, obviously intending to wipe out the remaining forces of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
However, the northeast of Shenyang is full of large mountains and hills, and it is difficult for large troops to form combat formations here. However, the Qing army can rely on its familiarity with the terrain and stronger mobility to launch surprise attacks in the mountains and forests from time to time, coming and going like the wind. It was difficult for the Ming army to take precautions.
After leaving Shenyang and marching north for only a hundred miles, the Ming army encountered more than forty large and small attacks, resulting in nearly a thousand casualties. This also made Yang Sichang and others who were supervising the battle on the front line realize that the nearby environment was not suitable for the Ming army's operations. Method, if you continue to use the previous set of tactics, it will only increase casualties.
Moreover, the Ming Army's ammunition inventory is running low at this time. If the firearms troops continue to serve as the main force to perform combat missions, supply will become a huge problem. But if it were to be replaced by cold weapon troops, their combat effectiveness could no longer satisfy Ming Dynasty.
(End of chapter)