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Chapter 227 Great changes in Liaodong
At noon, a dozen figures slowly appeared on the hillside to the north of the post road, all riding horses and wearing armor. Two of them were even more heavily armored. From the top of their heads to their toes, they were tightly wrapped in fine metal armor. A vigilant gaze showed through the slits in the mask.

If the Ming border troops were here, they would immediately recognize the origins of these people.Those wearing leather armor and iron helmets are the Jianzhou Jurchen Knight Cavalry Army, and those wearing red fish scale armor are the Red Armored Soldiers. Their combat effectiveness is even better than that of the Knight Cavalry Army.

The Jianzhou Jurchens had completed the unification of various tribes at this time. After Nurhaci annexed part of the Haixi Jurchens, the population under his control increased sharply, and the original tribal management method was no longer applicable.

In the 29th year of Wanli, Nurhaci reorganized his tribe and organized 300 Jurchens into one Niulu. Each Niulu had one Niulu Ezhen, and second-generation sons were assigned to assist in managing households, fields, and military registrations. Si Zhangjing specializes in paperwork, accounts, and grain taxes.

Four more flags, yellow, white, red and blue, were set up above Niulu Ezhen. Brothers and nephews with outstanding military exploits were appointed as flag masters. They controlled about 200 Niulu and discussed family affairs together.Therefore, there were neither Eight Banners nor Manchus at this time, and could only be called the Jurchen Four Banners.

300 times 200, that’s only 6 people. Isn’t it a bit small?Yes, in fact, the population of Jianzhou Jurchens under their control at this time was far more than 6, but the pure Jurchen population was indeed only this small.

The rest, such as the Han people in Liaodong, the Mongols, the Koreans, and the prisoners of war captured in each battle are all regarded as property, not people, so they are not included in the Niulu.

In the event of a war, each Niulu would send dozens to hundreds of soldiers to accompany the army, while the remaining old, weak, women and children would give birth at home.At the same time, some slaves also had to go on expeditions with their masters, so even though there were only a few Jurchens on paper, tens of thousands of troops could be gathered quickly in a real fight.

Adult Jurchen men are called bannermen. Each bannerman must learn bows, horses, and swords from a young age. After adulthood, they will be tested. Those who pass the test will be infantrymen, and those with excellent results will be cavalry.

After these recruits go to the battlefield, they are promoted according to the number of enemy heads they kill. When they kill more than a hundred enemies, they can wear red armor. They are regarded as combat heroes in this Niulu and receive special treatment and honors.

From among the red-armored soldiers, experts in cavalry and archery were selected to wear white armor, called bagara, also called white-armored soldiers.White-armored soldiers wear three layers of armor when fighting. The innermost is thigh-length chain mail, the middle is cotton armor, and the outermost is iron plate armor.

In fact, these are no longer soldiers, but more like non-commissioned officers of later generations. They are all veterans with rich combat experience and strong combat effectiveness. They have experienced the baptism of many battles and survived from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood.They can understand the general's combat intentions very accurately, and have the courage and ability to defeat many with one.

In encounters or when the enemy is evenly matched, white-armored soldiers can often fight to the death, greatly inspiring friendly forces.Morale is almost equal to luck in the cold weapon era. Whoever has more has a higher probability of winning.

"Daizi, it seems that the rumors are true. The Ming army has withdrawn and even the passes have been abandoned. I will take people there to find out the truth first!" A red-armored soldier lifted up his mask and put up a pergola to look at Crow Falcon Pass. After a while, he turned around and said behind him.

"Don't be careless. Ming people have always been cunning. Ama often told me about the Three Kingdoms. Among them is the story of Zhuge Liang using the empty city strategy to repel the enemy. You two ride over and come back after seeing clearly!"

The person called Daizi was a young man of about 20 years old. He was young but very calm. After looking around, he did not approach the pass immediately. Instead, he pointed behind him and called two men wearing shabby leather armor. When they came over, they didn't even give them horses and let them explore the way with their lives.His name is Aixinjueluo. In ancient Tang Dynasty, he was the fourth son of Nurhaci's concubine. His mother was the concubine Niu Hulu, the daughter of Bokezhan.It has been nine years since he was 15 years old and he has followed his father in the Northern and Southern War. He is currently under the Yellow Flag, Niulu Daizi.

Half a month ago, there were rumors that the Ming army was making big moves near the border wall. At the time when the eldest brother Chu Ying and the second brother Daishan were leading troops to attack the remnants of the Jurchen Ula in Haidong, the city of Hetuala was empty of troops and the situation was a bit critical, so they had to stay in the city. Awaiting assistance.

But the Ming army could not come after waiting for a while. Nurhaci felt something was strange, so he sent out a few reconnaissance cavalry, planning to risk getting close to the side wall to see if a large number of Ming troops had gathered. He couldn't keep his wife stupid and wait for the man to be stupid. Wait.

Originally, it was not his own son's turn to do this job, even the son of a concubine was still a son, so he accidentally died when he went deep alone.But Tang Gu had to take the initiative to ask for help. At this time, the Jurchens still respected men who fought bravely, so they simply sent two red-armored soldiers to follow him, which was regarded as the last kindness of the father.

"Slave dog, have you really seen clearly that there is no one there?" About two-quarters of an hour later, two slaves ran back panting and reported that the gate of Crow Falcon Gate was open and there was no one there.This made Tang Gugu very confused and whipped him.

"Old slave, I dare not deceive my master. There is indeed no Ming army at the gate, and not even a border citizen can be seen. We also reached the second pass, which was also empty and unguarded!" The whipped slave covered his left face with his hand. He knelt down and kowtowed, and while kowtowing, he told the details of entering the customs again.

"Daizi, it's better for me to wait and take a closer look. It's better to go back and report it to the Great Khan." The red armored soldier stretched out his hand to stop Tang Gugu's whip that was about to be drawn. It would be useless to beat the slave to death. The abnormal situation here must be I saw it with my own eyes, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to explain it to Nurhachi.

Two hours later, the small team led by Tang Gugu rushed back to Hetuala City in a dusty journey. Without stopping or taking a breath, they got into the tent of the Great Khan and reported what they saw and heard at Crow Falcon Pass. Ten told Nurhaci face to face.

At this time, Nurhachi already knew his destiny. The wandering around in his youth and running around in middle age made him look older than his peers. His light eyebrows and slender eyes were like the old wolf king in the mountains and forests, faintly showing a murderous aura.

Nurhachi also found the abnormal performance of the Ming army a bit unexpected. Two months ago, he received definite news that Li Chengliang, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong Ming Dynasty, died in Liaoyang. It is not yet known who the new commander-in-chief will be.

enemy?Enemy?benefactor?opponent?helper?Nurhachi is really conflicted about his relationship with Li Chengliang.It seems that no matter how you define it, it makes sense, but it's not accurate.

But no matter what the relationship is, it cannot affect his layout. At present, the Ming Dynasty is experiencing serious internal strife, its national strength is getting weaker year by year, and the military strength in Liaodong is also getting worse day by day.

This was a God-given opportunity. Without the threat from the west, he could more calmly collect the Jurchen tribes in the east of the sea, then contact the Mongolian tribes in the north, and guard against the Koreans in the south.

(End of this chapter)