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Chapter 799: Understand the Heart of People
"If you were Lin Danhan and Huang Taiji, would you still have the mood and energy to attack the Warrior Camp? If they knew that Jinzhou was an empty city, do you think they would dare to approach it rashly?"

But Hong Tao was not moved at all. In addition to his deep understanding of human nature, he also had another consideration, which was communication. With the communication conditions in ancient times, even if several horses died every day, it was basically impossible to have a comprehensive view of the battlefield from hundreds of miles away.

When Lin Danhan and Huang Taiji learned that Haizhou Weicheng had been captured, all the stored food and supplies had been burned, and Jinzhou had fallen into the control of the Ming army, the Shanhaiguan defenders and the Warrior Battalion should have also begun to attack from the east and west, and the news would most likely not have been delivered to Lin Danhan and Huang Taiji in time.

They could only rely on their experience to realize that the Mongolian army that pretended to attack Shanhaiguan was not in a good situation, but whether they dared to dispatch troops to rescue immediately was another matter.

Hong Tao thinks it is highly unlikely that they dare to do so. As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, one is afraid of ropes for ten years. In previous battles with the Ming army, the Jurchens and Mongols lost because the mantis stalked the cicada while the oriole was waiting behind. This time, who can be sure that the Liaoxi Corridor is not a trap?

It was not easy to find out the situation. It would take at least three days to go back and forth. Even if troops were sent to rescue immediately, it would probably be too late. Moreover, Huang Taiji himself did not know where the Ming army that attacked Haizhou Weicheng was located, and whether they would ambush along the way.

When Huang Taiji learned that there were no Ming troops near Jinzhou City, his brain was boiling, and he couldn't figure out all kinds of things. Then he began to doubt all kinds of things. He might have had the courage to risk his life to rescue the enemy, but now he probably didn't have it anymore.

They would most likely believe that the Liaoxi Corridor was a trap. As soon as the main force of the Jurchens passed Jinzhou, the Ming Army would suddenly appear from behind them, recreating the tragic scene of Tashan Fort that year.

Of course, Hong Tao didn't have a God's perspective and could guess everyone's thoughts. He might be a fool who didn't care about anything. But he had a way out. If he didn't have time to encircle and annihilate the Mongolian army outside Shanhaiguan, he wouldn't suffer much loss.

The Warrior Battalion and the Northeast Regional Command could retreat to the seaside at any time, using simple positions and naval guns for effective cover, waiting for the Shanhaiguan defenders to send their main force to rescue them.

Even if we take a step back and think about it, if Huang Taiji and Lin Danhan were loyal to each other and were willing to risk their lives for each other, and sent all their main forces to keep the Warrior Battalion, Hong Tao would not only not feel distressed, but would also be secretly happy in his heart.

Relying on the convenience of naval ships, the main force of the army can be transported from Dagukou, Luanhekou, and Shanhaiguan to any location in the Liaoxi Corridor at any time and place, and then launch a counter-encirclement.

It is easier to send troops eastward from Shanhaiguan. Come on, let's fight a decisive battle. Let's go all in. Let's fight on the plains to see which is more powerful, the muskets and artillery, or the bows and horses.

If the Ming Dynasty won, most of the main forces of both the Jurchens and the Mongolian left wing would be wiped out in the Liaoxi Corridor. They would not be able to recover within five years at the shortest, and would most likely have to migrate northward and eastward with their entire clans to avoid being taken advantage of by the Ming army.

If the Ming Dynasty lost, it would not be the end of the world, but only a serious injury. The remaining Northern Dusi, Naturalized Dusi and Northwestern Dusi could withdraw troops at any time to fill the vacancy of Shanhaiguan. In addition to the 100,000 new troops in Lanzhou, the defensive force was still sufficient, but it was unable to launch an attack in the short term.

Comparing the two, it is a situation where the winner takes all and it doesn't matter if you lose. This is very consistent with Hong Tao's way of thinking and is a standard Hong strategy.

"...I don't dare to take risks..." Yuan Keli put himself in the emperor's shoes and thought about it carefully. After a while, he had to admit that the emperor's speculation was more likely. Five days later, two war reports that arrived almost at the same time once again proved the emperor's correctness. The war report delivered by the army via a rush said that the Mongolian and Jin allied forces besieging Fuyu City began to retreat.

The battle report sent by the Warrior Battalion via the naval transport ship said that the Mongolian army outside Shanhaiguan was surrounded in Xinglin Fort, Zhonghou Qianhu Suo, Guangning. After a day of fierce fighting, they suffered huge losses. Seeing that reinforcements were not arriving, they chose to surrender directly.

The naval scouts deployed near Jinzhou only found a few unidentified cavalry, and never saw the appearance of the Mongolian or Jurchen army. After learning that the battle outside Shanhaiguan was over, they boarded the ship through Songshan Port and evacuated safely.

It was originally a passive rescue and siege operation, but they changed their thinking and shifted their attention away from the battle point. They scanned the overall situation, fully utilized the advantages of naval ships in quickly deploying troops, made a feint to the east and attacked in the west, then surrounded the point and attacked the reinforcements, and also used the empty city plan.

They took the initiative back by force and led the enemy around by the nose, making them suspicious, unable to distinguish falsehoods, and unable to focus on one thing and lose sight of the other. In the end, they annihilated 8,000 enemies and captured 8,000, with minimal losses, and it was another big victory that was sure to win.

From the navy to the army and then to the new army, they have begun to make post-war summaries and reviews, converting the combat process and details into text and maps, and incorporating them into their respective training materials.

The reputation of Emperor Jingyang as a god of war once again spread throughout the army. Now, even if the emperor said that all guns should be thrown away and everyone should go into battle holding an embroidery needle, most of the soldiers would not dare to have any doubts.

In addition to the army treating the emperor as a god of war, the common people, who were fooled by the lengthy and exaggerated descriptions in "Ban Yue Tan" and "Shang Bao", also regarded the emperor as the patron saint of the Ming Dynasty and no longer feared the enemy.

Even more outrageous was the Prime Minister of the Sun and Moon Bank, Oyani. This female profiteer who was guzzling money from every corner of her body actually issued another three million taels of bonds in one go in the name of purchasing warships, armor, and weapons for the army and navy and further consolidating the border.

Then she happily wrote a memorial to the emperor, saying that she had prepared funds to develop business inland along the Yangtze River. With just one order, branches in Nanjing, Anqing, Jiujiang, Wuchang and other places would open in minutes, and small loans and farm loans to support the new policy would be available at any time.

Even though Hong Tao knew that she was just taking advantage of the situation to strengthen the Sun Moon Bank, he couldn't criticize her and could only swallow his loss. He also told her that any future large-scale bond sales must be approved by him in writing.

"Minister Wang, we need to speed up the work of rainproofing muskets and artillery. In addition to thinking of ways to improve the mechanical structure, we need to think more broadly and not just focus on the flintlock mechanism."

In addition, there was a worrying matter that greatly affected his acceptance of the praise from all levels. Fuyu City was besieged for 21 days. Facing the Mongol-Jin coalition army equipped with only more than 2000 muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons, the 120-man army suffered more than casualties.

Judging from the results of the battle, the casualty rate was very low and completely within the acceptable range. However, after carefully studying the time and manner of the casualties, Hong Tao immediately summoned Wang Zheng, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Industry, to the palace and put forward higher requirements.

(End of this chapter)