Chapter 2851
The root of all problems ultimately comes down to the demand gap for labor. It seems that as long as enough people can be introduced to the Liaodong region, the current problems that hinder development can be easily solved.
But to obtain the high-quality immigrants that Chen Yixin expected, the only way to do it is to put pressure on Ming Dynasty, and this will involve policy changes in the fields of politics, military, diplomacy, etc. It may not be so easy for the Executive Committee to make up its mind.
After landing in Gaizhou and traveling north for several days, the group finally arrived at Shenyang City, an important town in Liaodong.
Shenyang City is located on the north bank of the Hun River. Its construction history can be traced back to 300 BC. General Qin Kai of the Yan State built a Hou City here to garrison troops to resist the East Hu. In the third year of Yuanzhen of the Yuan Dynasty, this place was renamed Shenyang Road and came under the jurisdiction of Liaoyang Province. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, it was renamed Shenyang Zhongwei. More than two hundred years later, it was captured by the Jin army and later designated as the capital and renamed Shengjing.
During the 30 years when the Manchu and Qing dynasties occupied Shenyang, they carried out extensive construction projects in the city and built a large-scale palace city. Until the Haihan Army captured it, Shenyang had always been the political, military, economic and cultural center of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and was also the largest city in the entire Liaodong region.
Several young people have become accustomed to hearing Chen Yixin tell the history of the Haihan Army's battle to capture the area wherever they go. Since Shenyang is the capital of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the center of Liaodong, there will naturally be a fierce battle.
"The Battle of Shenyang, I believe you have read relevant reports in newspapers before, but the actual battle situation is indeed more difficult than the publicly reported information. After all, this is the capital of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and it has extraordinary conditions for them. It’s impossible to give it away”
On the way across the Hun River by boat, Chen Yixin briefly told everyone about his experience in attacking Shenyang City.
Ever since the Haihan Army captured Gaizhou Acropolis, the Manchu Qing Dynasty had realized that the situation was not good, so they also tried to mobilize troops and generals to try to block the Haihan Army's Northern Expedition. However, such an attempt did not have the effect they expected. Relying on its strength advantage, the Haihan Army continued to advance step by step, and successively captured the two major cities of Haizhou and Liaoyang, and directed its troops towards Shenyang.
By this time, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties had no choice but to deploy their defense line with Shenyang City as the center. They gathered tens of thousands of soldiers and horses on both sides of the Hun River, vowing to block the Haihan Army from Shenyang City.
The Haihan campaign also concentrated almost all the regular troops in the northern region. Even the troops stationed in North Korea and Shandong were mostly mobilized to the front line of Liaoyang to participate in the combat operation against Shenyang. For this reason, Haihan also took the initiative to cease the war for several months to rest and recuperate, waiting for the deployment of participating troops and combat materials.
The Haihan Army did not choose to launch the offensive when the Hun River was frozen, but chose to launch the offensive in early summer. Although it seemed that there was an extra natural chasm in the Hun River, it also avoided the low temperature season that is most unfavorable for field operations. Moreover, after the Hun River thaws, the inland river fleet specially formed by the Northern Fleet can go upstream from the Daliao River estuary in Liaodong Bay, enter the Hun River, and reach the city of Shenyang.
The voyage of this inland river route is several hundred miles, and it has no advantage in transporting supplies. However, the main task of the inland river fleet is not to transport supplies, but to clean up the river and serve as a means of transportation for troops to cross the river and attack the city.
Although the Manchu and Qing Dynasties invested a large number of troops and horses in the plain south of the Hun River in an attempt to interfere with the Haihan Army's crossing operations, the Haihan Army's weaponry and equipment advantages were too great, and combined with the use of long-range artillery strikes at all costs, the Eight Banners Army almost Unable to effectively resist the Haihan Army's offensive on the frontal battlefield, every encounter resulted in heavy casualties. In fact, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were not unaware of the gap between the two sides. Years of combat experience showed that there are two most taboo environments for fighting the Haihan Army. One is the plains, and the other is attacking fortified areas. Both environments can make the Haihan Army Take full advantage of your firepower.
The Qing army's only chance of victory was to defend the city and fight a war of attrition with the Haihan army. The Haihan Army's combat method has extremely high requirements for the supply of combat materials, which prolongs the fighting time. As long as the Haihan Army's logistics cannot keep up, it will naturally choose a truce and withdraw.
However, the experience of losing several cities in the south also proves that simply defending is not enough. When it comes to the offensive and defensive stage of the city, the Haihan Army's ability to demolish city defenses is also terrifying. Although Shenyang City is known as the strongest city in Liaodong, it may not be able to withstand the artillery fire and explosive blasts of the Haihan Army.
Therefore, the stupid way the Manchus came up with was to extend the combat time as much as possible to consume the combat supplies of the Haihan Army. While blocking the Haihan Army's cross-river offensive on the south bank of the Hun River, they also sent a small group of troops to the south to conduct raids on the Haihan Army's supply lines.
Although such a stupid method would inevitably cost a lot of casualties, it did have the consumption effect that the Manchus expected. For a time, the Haihan Army could only slow down the pace of its attack to prevent ammunition from being consumed too quickly and causing a disconnect in logistics supplies.
Compared with the previous sieges, Haihan's offensive in Shenyang was much slower. On the one hand, it was because the Qing army increased its battlefield investment and resistance, and on the other hand, it was also because Shenyang was too far away from Haihan's rear. The long distance and lengthened supply routes will affect the combat efficiency of the front line.
Combat materials need to be shipped from Jinzhou or even Denglai, to land in Gaizhou, and then to the front line in Shenyang. The land route from Gaizhou to Shenyang alone is more than 300 miles long. Even if there is no Qing army attack on the way, it will take at least three or four days to reach the destination.
"The Shenyang Campaign was the furthest large-scale combat operation inland since the establishment of the Haihan Army. Since we can no longer achieve convenient troop projection and material transportation by sea, our shortcomings have begun to be exposed on the battlefield."< br>
Recalling that war, Chen Yixin still had a look of regret on his face: "If more mules and horses could have been prepared in advance, perhaps the frontline operations would have been much smoother."
At that time, Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom were personally commanding the operations on the front line, and one of Chen Yixin's main tasks was to be responsible for logistics support. However, due to the objective conditions at the time, even if the logistics department tried its best, it would be difficult to fully meet the operational needs of the front line. Therefore, the battles at that time often lasted for three to five to seven days, and they had to stop for one or two days to wait for supplies to arrive.
A small Hun River stopped the Haihan Army. It took more than half a month before the Haihan Army finally made a breakthrough and established a position on the north bank of the Hun River.
Of course, the Qing army also paid a heavy price for this, with more than 20,000 casualties on the south bank of the Hun River. Basically, five Niulu's establishments were consumed every day, and even the troops that had recently entered the battlefield were destroyed on the same day. During this period, as many as hundreds of officers at all levels were killed, and more than a thousand of the so-called elite Baya soldiers were lost.
(End of chapter)