The port city of Yingkou was built on the tidal ditch on the south bank of the Liaohe River, and the so-called tidal ditch refers to the newly created land formed by the sediment washed down by the Liaohe River. When the tide is high, these ditches are flooded by the tide, so they are called tide ditches by the locals.

For the city of Yingkou, these tidal ditches are not only natural canal passages, but also the city's sewer channels. After these tidal ditches were repaired and connected, a network of water canals was formed that connected the entire city. However, because of the canals in the city, the outer wall of Yingkou City is not a common square, but a semi-open polygon. The inland-facing side has a walled city, while the sea-facing side is just a street connected by warehouses and shops, separating the inner city from the docks.

On the south side of the street there is a ditch parallel to the wharf, and there is a wooden bridge on the east and west sides of the ditch for access. In the event of war, the ditch became a natural trench, and the defenders could block the two wooden bridges to prevent the enemy from rushing into the inner city.

Of course, when the Akito designed this, it was not aimed at the attack of the sea army, but the attack of pirates against it. However, whether there are pirates in the closed Bohai Bay is really a question. As for the construction of the city walls facing inland, it was halted after the Manchus took over the city.

In line with the Ming people's idea of designing a defense facing the sea, the Manchus also did not think that the city's defense facing the inland part should be very complete, after all, the inland facing Yingkou was the rear of the Manchu Dynasty. As a result, the city of Yingkou has become a rare open city in this era.

The walls facing the inland side are extremely low, and they look like half-built walls, which are between 23 and 25 meters according to the new weights and measures of the Ming Kingdom. On the sea-facing side, a whole strip of terraced houses is used as a wall.

Therefore, when the Ming army shelled the watchtowers on the east and west sides of the wharf, killing or driving away the Qing troops stationed in the watchtowers, there was no resistance to the entire wharf. And when the Ming army transport ship approached the dock to land, Yingkou City was already in chaos.

The management of the city of Yingkou is actually different from most cities in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but it is more similar to the management of several seaport cities in the Ming Dynasty. When the city was in the hands of the Ming people, it adopted the management model of the city hall and the autonomy of the chamber of commerce. After the Manchus took back the management of the city, in order to continue to increase the city's tax revenue, only a garrison was added to the city to supervise the collection of taxes and urban security.

It should be said that although the Manchus at this time began to slowly degenerate and become corrupt, the whole nation was still on the rise, so the Manchu officials were still able to accept some enlightened and effective concepts. When they saw that the Ming people could manage the city well and pay taxes effectively by using the city hall and the chamber of commerce, they did not have to change the city according to their own rules, but chose to follow the old methods of Ming management.

As a result, although the Manchus took ownership of the city, the power to manage the city remained in the hands of the city's chamber of commerce. And as the Sihai Trading Company, which basically monopolized the city's trade, it naturally became the real master of the city.

Although Shenyang had previously issued an order requiring the Yingkou garrison to seize the staff, shops, and warehouses of the Sihai Trading Company, in fact, the Yingkou garrison only sent a team of soldiers to stand guard in front of the Yingkou garrison of the Sihai Trading Company. Unlike the Manchurians in Shenyang, Yingkou garrison Deshan understands one thing very well, once the city loses the Ming merchants, it is equivalent to an abandoned city.

After all, Yingkou is full of swamps and saline-alkali land, which is not conducive to tuntian or grazing, and the Manchus and Han people living here rely on trade to eat. In the past few years, everyone has relied on the wharf of Yingkou to live a more comfortable life than the people of Shenyang, but now because of the bad things made by Fan Yongdou, but the livelihood of the people of Yingkou will be cut off, and it is naturally difficult to gain the recognition of the locals.

As a trading port controlled by the Ming people, the Sihai Trading Company regarded Yingkou as its own private property, and naturally did not allow Yingkou merchants to participate in the speculative activities of the Shenyang Stock Exchange to prevent disrupting Yingkou's economic activities.

Therefore, when the people of Shenyang were crying and grabbing the land, the losses of the Yingkou people were mainly in the depreciation of the Qing Dynasty, but Yingkou was a trading city after all, and most merchants would not hoard paper money, but would only hoard materials, so their losses were not so heavy. Only a few firms that secretly participated in stock market speculation can be regarded as blood mold.

The branch of Sihai Trading Company in Yingkou is located in the northwest of the Bell and Drum Tower in the center of Yingkou City, which is a large courtyard house with three entrances and three exits. The meeting hall of the Yingkou Chamber of Commerce is in the west cross courtyard of the front yard, the Yingkou City Hall is on the east side of this compound, and the Yingkou Garrison Mansion is on its west side. The front yard of the garrison mansion and the cross courtyard of the Yingkou Chamber of Commerce meeting hall are just separated by a wall, and a small door is also opened here in order to facilitate the garrison to come over to discuss matters.

When the garrison Deshan heard the sound of shelling from the wharf, and learned from his subordinates that the Ming army was coming from the sea, his first reaction was not to send someone to ask for help outside the city, but to rush to the Yingkou Chamber of Commerce next door from the small gate in the front yard, and grabbed Zhao Anming, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, who was discussing with everyone, and wanted to run away, and shouted loudly: "Lao Zhao is not good, the Ming army is coming, we have to hurry out of the city to the barracks to take refuge..."

Zhao Anming hurriedly grabbed him and said: "I'm a Ming person, don't panic when Deshan is guarded, you came just in time, let's hurry up and discuss, we can't let the war destroy Yingkou City." How many people's lives are in the city, and once the army is allowed to fight in the city, everyone will really go bankrupt. ”

Only then did Deshan react, this friend seemed to be the target of the Ming army's rescue. Only then did he let go, but he still said anxiously: "The Ming army is coming, you Ming people must be fine, but we are full of people." Since you don't have to run away, then I have to evacuate the people out of the city quickly..."

Zhao Anming immediately stopped him and said: "Now the Ming army is not clear about the military deployment in the city, your city garrison has run, how can the Ming army stop, it will inevitably be the whole city, and the situation will be uncontrollable." The character of the army is much visible to everyone, even if it is the army of the Ming Dynasty, we dare not rest assured.

Besides, you are the garrison of the city, and you have the responsibility of guarding the land, if you run out of the city now, I am afraid that it will be difficult to explain to Shenyang in the future. Now the Shenyang side is holding back enough energy to clean up the personnel of the Manggu Guge Gege family, you are from the blue flag and were recommended by Gege to serve as the garrison of Yingkou, you have nothing to worry about others looking for trouble, and now you are running out of the city, isn't it an excuse to give others in vain? ”

Deshan was suddenly a little dazed, and he muttered: "But I'm not abandoning the city, I'm going to report to the barracks." Lao Zhao, you know, as far as the less than 400 Han soldiers in the city, let them press down on the streets, let them go into battle to kill the enemy, they don't make a big mess, they are already very worthy of my usual care. If I stay in the city, am I not looking for death? ”

In addition to the identity of the manager of the Yingkou Branch of the Sihai Trading Company, although he also has the identity of the Ming Social Investigation Department, he is not from an intelligence organization like Jinyiwei after all, but an intelligence officer who has become a monk halfway. In him, there is obviously more of an ordinary person's color than the intelligence officer's consciousness.

Ordinary people who have a cat or a dog will have feelings after a long time. What's more, Zhao Anming personally participated in the construction of the city from scratch. When Yingkou was still a shack, he had already appeared here. Every street and every building in the city was not painted on drawings, but engraved in his heart.

It is precisely because of his dedication to the city that Zhao Anming is naturally unwilling to let the city be destroyed in an avoidable war. For him, the city represented more than eight years of his life and memory, not just a trading port that could be destroyed.

Therefore, he tried his best to hold on and said: "Deshan is guarded, and you may not be able to live if you go out of the city." But if you stay here, we can try to preserve the city. You've been here for two or three years, and many of your relatives live in the city, can you bear to see them have nothing?

Winter was approaching, and it was impossible for the Ming army to stay in the city for long. As long as we keep Yingkou, then we can hope to see the port reopen, but if the war destroys the city, our hard work of the past few years will be truly ruined. Do you really have the heart to watch the people of the city be forcibly displaced before winter arrives? ”

Deshan was stunned for a moment, although he had never tried to live a life of displacement in the winter in Liaodong. But he had seen with his own eyes that when the Mandate of Heaven Khan captured Shenyang and Liaoyang, the miserable life of those Han people after they were driven out of the city, and losing their residence in such a winter was no different from waiting for death.

Yingkou City also had a population of more than 10,000 at this time, of which one-third were Manchurian. Deshan thought hard for a long time, and finally sat down on the chair next to him, sighed and said, "Okay, my life will be in the hands of your President Zhao." Tell me, what are we going to do to keep this city from being destroyed by war? ”

Zhao Anming and several businessmen in the council hall suddenly had joy on their faces, and he immediately said: "What I mean is that if you come tomorrow, you will descend to Ming, and if you leave Ming, you will return to Qing anyway." As long as the two sides are not allowed to fight in the city, most of the people and shops in the city will be saved, and the soldiers on both sides will not find an excuse to plunder the city..."

As the main drafter of this combat plan, Army Staff Officer Li Yan was one of the second batch of personnel to board the Yingkou wharf. He won this opportunity from Sun Chuanting, in addition to taking the lead for Sun Chuanting, he also hoped to restrain the army from destroying the city too much.

Different from the emperor's idea, more than ten years after the establishment of the General Staff, he was no longer satisfied with the emperor's guiding ideology of the Houjin war. By the twelfth year of Chongzhen's reign, the northern border army system had been basically reorganized, the number of graduates of the army officer academy had exceeded 5,000, and even the soldiers of the field army had basically replaced the old, weak, sick and disabled, and had become a professional army with strict military discipline and thorough training.

Young and courageous grass-roots officers, obedient and reliable soldiers, and abundant logistics supplies all made the officers and men of the Ming New Army eager to try their own minions on the old enemy in the north. Some of the officers of the Ming army who had experienced the defeat in Liaodong hoped to wash away their shame and avenge their deceased colleagues and fellow villagers.

Therefore, the operational plan formulated by the General Staff of the Army did not stop at Yingkou. And if you want to implement the follow-up plan, then it is most beneficial for the Ming army to obtain a complete Yingkou, after all, a ruin cannot provide any help to the Ming army.