Time continues to advance, crossing 1616 into January 1617.

Liaodong is bitterly cold, the river water is frozen, and the hydraulic machinery cannot be used. The people who fled still inevitably froze to death and suffered frostbite. In order to demonstrate the superiority of the 'revolutionary army' system and enhance social cohesion, Zhou Qingfeng ordered the guards to be dispatched to take care of a large number of frail children. As for the old and seriously ill, they really had no choice but to give up.

The 'revolutionary army' set up thousands of large shelters around the city. Wooden planks and earth are used as building materials, and hollow walls are built for insulation. The interior is set up with an earthen kang, and even the door is set into two lanes to avoid the entry of cold air to ensure that the room temperature is above zero for 24 hours.

In order to carry out these relief measures, Stone had to stop work and take out thousands of tons of coal that had been hoarded for heating. Trained workers in the factories are sent down to the grassroots level to supervise. The high-level leaders of the 'revolutionary army' could not sit in a warm room and sit idle, so they made rounds every day and every night to strictly investigate and deal with all kinds of violations of law and discipline.

The forces that the 'revolutionary army' is now gathering are not easy to come by and must be cherished. Now is not the time when the stingy people are reluctant to have the supplies at hand, and if a large number of refugees cannot survive and there is a turmoil, everyone will be doomed. Just survive the coldest two months and wait until spring blooms.

But at such a point in time, Jiannu, who had been in Shenyang for half a year, took action.

Haizhou City.

The earth is frozen and snow is falling.

Zhou Qingfeng, who was wearing a leather jacket, stood on the city wall and exhaled white air, looking at the road to the north with a gloomy face. Dog-pulled sleds occasionally appear outside the city, and they are the only land transport available in winter. Even if it was freezing, he tried his best to have limited contact with the outside world, so this dog sled appeared.

It's just that sleds are easy to build, but dogs are hard to find, and horses are inconvenient to move in the snow. Nowadays, there are only a dozen or so sleds traveling to and from the four guards of the peninsula, barely ensuring that information is constantly available in various places. A few days ago, news came from Wang Kunpeng's security department that the Jurchens in Shenyang had taken action. Zhou Qingfeng immediately rushed over.

When the sleigh reached the bottom of the city, only a small crack was opened in the city gate for people to enter. There were two people up and down the sled, one was Wang Kunpeng. This kid has become a lot bolder after mastering the technique. Many of his subordinates have also been cultivated, and their ability to carry out field activities in winter has been greatly improved, and the efficiency of external spying has been significantly improved.

Zhou Qingfeng came down from the city wall, and Wang Kunpeng pulled another person on the sleigh and said: "This is our 'revolutionary army' young marshal." ”

The other will tremble and fall to his knees. Zhou Qingfeng stepped forward to help, only to find that the other party was an elderly woman. Wang Kunpeng reminded on the side: "Tell us what you saw in Shenyang, young marshal." ”

The old woman immediately wailed and said, "My lord, please be the master for us." When the Tartars occupied Shenyang, they arrested people everywhere, first my two sons, and then my daughter-in-law and grandson. Last month, even my old man was arrested. ”

"Say it matters." Wang Kunpeng shouted impatiently on the side.

The old woman wept and continued, "I was also taken by them to cook, and I saw that many caravans had suddenly come to the city recently. They are all Han Chinese, but they speak with accents but not from Liaodong. I have heard that they came from the Mongol territory and brought with them a lot of armor and weapons. The chieftains of the Tartars in the city were overjoyed, and dragged them to drink. ”

Wang Kunpeng took out a broken arrow from his pocket and handed it to Zhou Qingfeng, saying, "This old woman's family is finished, she escaped to Liaoyang by herself." It's just that Liaoyang City is closed and does not contain any outsiders, and our scouts have found her. This was secretly brought by her from Shenyang. ”

Zhou Qingfeng took the arrow, and at first glance, it was a newly created armor-piercing triangular pyramid, and there were vague marks left on it. He even guessed the word 'Datong'. Wang Kunpeng explained: "This is not our arrow from Liaodong, it is from the side of Datong Town on the nine sides. I don't know if it was the one who lost his conscience just to make money, and sold the military funds to Jiannu on a long detour. ”

"It's those Jin merchants who forget their righteousness, and they also jumped out in advance." Zhou Qingfeng flicked the arrow in his hand and ordered someone to place the old woman down, "How much military money did Jiannu get?" ”

"It's not clear, it's hard for our people to get close to Shenyang. But judging from the few words that the old woman said, the number will definitely not be small. Wang Kunpeng said with hatred, "We have already emptied all the arsenals in Shenyang, and all the craftsmen have been relocated, and if the Jiannu occupies Shenyang, there will be more slaves for farming." But now they were being given swords, guns, arrows, and armor. ”

With the armament, Jiannu was able to expand the army. Nurhachi originally had tens of thousands of troops in his hands, but they lacked iron weapons, and when they were poor, they could only use bones for arrowheads. Now he not only obtained a large number of ordnance from the Ming army in Liaodong, but the Jin merchants were still providing them with supplies.

Wang Kunpeng continued: "His subordinates intercepted the letter issued by Li Weihan, the governor of Liaodong, to the Ming court, saying that the Ming army of Jiannu who captured Fushun and Shenyang alone had more than 9,000 horses and countless armors. Although most of the ordnance was decayed, the Kennu had to be repaired. They don't care about human life at all, and what they gain is bound to be huge. ”

"What about the grain? Is there enough food for Jiannu? Zhou Qingfeng asked.

"Not enough." Wang Kunpeng said with certainty, "Our people have secretly approached Shenyang, and they have killed a large number of people before the winter. However, the people who died were the Han people who were captured by them as slaves, or the Han people who were robbed of their grain. The Jurchens themselves took advantage of it and were able to eat enough, which was much better than the days of nesting in the ravine in the past. ”

The war has disrupted agricultural production, refugees have fled in large numbers, and many places in eastern Liaoning have not even had time to harvest last year's autumn grain. Even the 'revolutionary army', an organization that does its best to protect the population at the bottom, is dying. In the places where Jiannu and Ming Court didn't care about the lives of the common people at all, the starvation was a large number of corpses.

According to historical records, during the more than ten years when the Manchu Qing Dynasty was wreaking havoc in Liaodong, the population of Liaodong dropped significantly. In fact, the people of the Northeast in later generations have been migrating from other places. The original Liaodong natives were almost extinct. And this history is constantly playing out around Zhou Qingfeng.

In 1616, the grain production in Liaodong was greatly reduced, and the Ming court no longer transported grain to the occupied territories, so it is conceivable that Nurhachi would not be satisfied. The management of the slave society was extremely crude and simple, and the Jurchens did not produce, and when the plundered food population was consumed, they would start war again.

"When the weather warms up in February and March, Jiannu will inevitably attack Liaoyang. The morale of the Ming army is now extremely low, and Liaoyang cannot hold it at all. When Liaoyang falls, Haizhou is their next target. Zhou Qingfeng closed his eyes slightly, and the entire map of Liaodong appeared in his mind, "How is the Ming army doing over there?" ”

"Yang Hao sat in Shanhaiguan and did not move, but Juniper went out to Jinzhou, and Liu Wei went to Guangning. Li Weihan, the governor of Liaodong, was trapped in Liaoyang and had been begging to retreat. Ming Ting refused to allow him to live or die, but he did not give him supplies. Recently, that guy has sent quite a few people to contact our 'revolutionary army', and it seems that he intends to take refuge. ”

Zhou Qingfeng nodded. Li Weihan was trapped in Liaoyang, although it was cold, it was like being roasted on a fire, which was extremely uncomfortable. In October last year, that guy sent someone to contact him, but instead of saying that he wanted to surrender, he wanted to appease the 'revolutionary army'. Zhou Qingfeng was too lazy to deal with this kind of idiot, so he didn't pay attention to him at all. At the point where he was going to die or live, Li Weihan didn't care about his face and directly asked for surrender.

Surrender?

All the people in Liaoyang City who can run have run, leaving tens of thousands of old and weak families who are reluctant to leave. The former could not run, and the latter regarded the 'revolutionary army' as an enemy. But if Liaoyang is given to Nurhachi, it will be too cheap for the other party.

According to the plan of the high-level of the 'revolutionary army', locking up Gaizhou is the bottom line of resistance to the invasion of Jiannu. Gaizhou, the western gate of the Liaodong Peninsula, must not be lost, and once it is lost, it will not be able to stop the enemy's superior forces from attacking at all. Therefore, Zhou Qingfeng planned Haizhou to the north of Gaizhou as the front line and strategic buffer of the struggle against the enemy, and he would retreat to Gaizhou if he could not hold it.

What if the strategic buffer continues to extend to Liaoyang, which is more than 50 kilometers away?

"Kunpeng, you send someone to Liaoyang and ask Li Weihan if he is willing to fight a losing battle? If he is willing to fight, I will allow him to evacuate Liaoyang with some remnants of the defeated army and personal belongings. If he doesn't want to, then wait for death. ”

Wang Kunpeng immediately understood what Zhou Qingfeng meant, "My subordinates understand, so I will send someone to do it." ”

The dog sled left Haizhou City in a hurry, and Zhou Qingfeng informed Xu Bing and others in the rear of his thoughts. That night, Li Weihan, who was trapped in Liaoyang, got the news from Zhou Qingfeng. Because there are Jurchens in the north and a young marshal in the south, he is like a mouse in a bellows in Liaoyang, angry at both ends.

In the second half of last year, Nurhachi kept sending people to get Li Weihan to surrender. The governor of Liaodong gritted his teeth and did not agree. But now it's the depths of winter, and the whole city is in a desperate situation. With a large number of frozen corpses thrown from the walls into the moat outside every day, he had to think about his own way out.

Whether it is a barbarian or a thief, Li Weihan is actually unwilling. He still had great illusions about Da Ming, but Ming Ting wouldn't let him go. When Zhou Qingfeng came to the proposal of retreating after defeat, the governor of Liaodong finally lit up his eyes - if you lose the battle and retreat, the imperial court can't blame me, right? If you really can't do it, you will lose your official position and be dismissed, which is better than giving your life.

This time it was really an instant hit, and Li Weihan immediately sent his cronies to Haizhou to discuss the matter. Zhou Qingfeng allowed him to take the troops with him, and the gentry could also leave. However, goods must be inspected on a restricted basis, and vandalism of the city is not permitted. The 'revolutionary army' must be left with enough benefits, otherwise it will really besiege the city.

Li Weihan has been in Liaoyang for half a year, and he doesn't have any hole cards in his hand. He happily agreed to Zhou Qingfeng's request and summoned the Ming army and the gentry who were trapped in Liaoyang to discuss. He said bluntly to everyone: "The 'revolutionary army' is about to attack the city, and this official is determined to break through, are you willing to go with this official?" ”

The gentry in the city had already received the news, and everyone had already recognized the situation. The slave chieftains in the north are savage, and the young marshals in the south are fierce, and no one wants to stay and wait for death, so they will still evacuate. Although some people insist on taking all the family property away, Li Weihan is not a fool like this who wants money and lives at all.

By mid-January, Zhou Qingfeng sent a battalion of the Guards to attack Liaoyang, and the people who were monitoring Li Weihan after controlling the city gate were evacuated. The Guards have completed the expansion of the second phase of 5,000 people, and a battalion of more than 1,000 people can be described as strong and strong, with distinct armor, which is very different from the evacuated beggars of the Ming army.

When Li Weihan drove out of the city, he saw one group after another of well-disciplined and well-trained soldiers, and he couldn't help but lament in a long voice: "False, false, this world is about to change hands." ”

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