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Chapter 296 Two peaches kill three soldiers
Liaodong, Linghe Fort.While the Ming Dynasty court was busy with the imperial examination, the Jurchen leader Nurhaci was also discussing matters with many generals in this strong fortress, and his expression was not relaxed.

Since the Ming army abandoned Liaodong Town and used 30 million border residents to return to Shanhaiguan at an extremely fast speed, this land that was not very peaceful has become increasingly chaotic.

It took almost four months for the Jurchen army to advance from east to west to Gaizhou Guard, occupying the largest and most fertile land.But the Mongolian ministries and the Koreans were not idle either. They also included Guangning Guard, Ningyuan Guard and Kuandian Liubao into their sphere of influence from north to south and from south to north.

Although these two areas are not very large, their strategic locations are very critical.Guangningwei and Ningyuanwei are the only passages to Shanhaiguan. After being occupied by the Mongols, the Jurchen army wanted to march westward.You have to fight with the Mongolian tribes before you can see Shanhaiguan.

Kuandian Liubao is even more troublesome. It is located on the north bank of the Yalu River. The land is fertile and suitable for farming, and it can provide enough food and grass for the army.If the North Korean army gains a foothold here, it can attack northward at any time and penetrate directly into the hinterland of Liaodong.

There is a Chinese saying that is apt: How can one allow others to sleep soundly on the side of the couch?If the Jurchens wanted to regain the glory of their ancestors, they had only one choice: to go west into the hinterland of the Han people. There was little development in the grasslands to the north and the mountains to the south.

But if you want to go west, you must first get rid of the Mongolian tribes blocking the road and the Koreans taking the back route. Otherwise, you will neither be able to go out nor settle down, and you will have to stay in Liaodong without going anywhere.

Of course Nurhachi could see this step, so he immediately called back the second Belle Daishan from the expedition to the Savage Jurchen, leaving only the eldest Belle Chuying to continue to hunt down the Ula tribe.

At first, the Jurchen army's advance southward was relatively smooth. Before winter, they captured Xindian Fort outside the border wall, cut off the connection between Kuandian Fort and Dadian Fort, and trapped thousands of Korean defenders. Living like a turtle in a urn.

Throughout the winter, the two sides fought over Kuandian Fort.The North Koreans did not know what kind of indigestible food they had eaten this time, and they launched a desperate attack regardless of casualties. Even though they never gained a big advantage, a passage was suddenly opened at the beginning of spring, and the people trapped in Kuandian Fort were trapped. Several hundred defenders took them back.

This incident made Daishan, who was in charge of fighting southward, very angry. He even had a quarrel with his uncle Shuerhaqi. If Tang Gugu and a group of generals hadn't stopped him, the two would have fought each other.

When the news reached Hetuala, Nurhachi, who was in the capital, first reacted that Shuerhaqi was arrogant and disobedient to his command.This third brother fought bravely and was the most capable assistant around him at the beginning of the army.

But as more and more soldiers and horses are in hand, the territory under rule is getting larger and larger, and they are becoming less and less united.Especially after going to Beijing to pay tribute, I learned the way of life of the Han people. I often wore exquisite silks and satins, and I always mentioned the pride of the title granted by the Han emperor when I opened and closed my mouth.

This time when he led his army to fight in Kuandian, Shuerhaqi already complained about being subordinated to Daishan, and it was normal for him to disobey orders.Nurhachi had no choice but to send his trusted generals to persuade him with his own handwritten letter.

However, before sending people, Nurhachi was more thoughtful and asked the soldiers who delivered the message to personally inquire about the situation on the front line. Then he realized that this time he might have wrongly blamed his third brother, but that Daishan's order was a little weird.

According to the soldiers, Daishan ordered the entire army to withdraw to Xindian Fort to rest and recuperate after losing the battle. Shuerhaqi resolutely refused to continue the fierce attack and captured Kuandian Fort in one fell swoop.The two quarreled over whether to return or advance, and it was not just the two coaches who participated in the quarrel. Almost all the generals were involved. The numbers were evenly matched, and no one could convince the other.

This made Nurhachi a little puzzled. It was not like the Jurchens had never fought against the Koreans on the north bank of the Yalu River in the past, and they had never been so strenuous.If the Ming army had not suddenly withdrawn this time, leaving a large area of ​​unclaimed land to occupy, he would not have called Daishan back, let alone sent the main force south to Kuandian.

Daishan and Shuerhaqi were both the most capable generals under their command. They were accompanied by hundreds of white-armored and red-armored soldiers. Their original intention was to take down Kuandian Six Forts in one go. Without giving the Koreans a chance to breathe, how could they eventually fight? What has become like this?

In order to solve the mystery in his heart, Nurhachi simply stopped sitting in Hetuala and led a thousand elites to Xindianbao, intending to see with his own eyes and hear with his own ears his son and brother's explanations for the ineffectiveness of this battle.

It's okay not to listen. After listening to Daishan and Shuerhaqi's explanations, Nurhachi almost died of sadness.It’s not that Dai Shanmu was disrespectful and unfavorable in his command, or that Shuerhaqi took credit and was arrogant and refused to obey orders. It’s that the combat effectiveness of the Koreans has improved a lot, especially in terms of weapons, equipment and supplies.

In the land of Liaodong, four military forces, namely the Ming Dynasty, Mongolia, Jurchen, and Korea, gathered.Among them, the Ming Dynasty army has the best equipment, the Mongolian army is good at riding and shooting and has the fastest speed, and the Jurchen army has average infantry and cavalry and is tenacious in fighting.

The North Korean army's equipment is the worst. Most of the time, the soldiers don't even have enough to eat, and they look like a bunch of beggars.Not to mention armor, except for officers, any soldier who can wear leather armor is considered an elite.

Therefore, the North Korean army's combat effectiveness is also the weakest. Unless they go to an area they are familiar with, it is basically a face-to-face matter.Often a hundred or ten Jurchen cavalry can overwhelm a Korean army of several hundred. It is common for a small number to defeat a large number.

But the North Korean army that appeared in the Liubao area of ​​Kuandian seemed to be completely different. The people were still the same. Some generals had been fighting and killing the Jurchens for more than ten years, and they couldn't be more familiar with them.

But the morale suddenly increased a lot. Facing a Jurchen army with a similar number, they not only refused to retreat but dared to take the initiative to attack, but also fought so hard that it was difficult to say who won and who lost. It was basically a tie.

The reason for all this, according to Daishan and Shuerhaqi, is that the North Korean army also has a team similar to the White Armored Soldiers.A dozen or dozens of them gathered together and rode horses around the periphery of the battlefield, charging wherever the fighting was tense.

These soldiers will wear a kind of gray-black iron armor, with the chest and back integrated into one body. The other parts are covered by armor pieces of the same texture. They wear bucket-like helmets and hold short spears made of fine steel. They are almost like The sword cannot penetrate and the arrow cannot hurt.

If you want to fight in close combat, use blunt weapons. These soldiers come out in a pile and are never left alone. The short spears are longer than iron bones and axes. The white-armored soldiers' iron armor and cotton armor can't withstand it. One poke will create a hole. .

(End of this chapter)