Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Liaodong, Daling River.

Huang Taiji also received the news thanks to the tireless communication of the soldiers of the Bordered Yellow Banner.

When he heard that his eldest son Hauge had been shot dead, he couldn't believe it.

Because since they started the rebellion, no one of such high status has died in battle!
He couldn't believe the news was true, so he shouted to the person who came:
"Say!"

"Who sent you?"

"Why are you spreading false news to disrupt our army's morale?"

He glared at the other person with his fierce eyes, as if he was going to push him out and execute him if they had a disagreement.

The messenger shouted:
"Khan, this is true!"

"Aobai was also shot dead, along with several guards."

He mentioned several names and even took out letters from some people in the Bordered Yellow Banner, which made Huang Taiji believe it:

His eldest son really died, shot to death by a musket in Dongjiang Territory.

This made him feel extremely sad. After all, the one who died this time was his first child.

Thinking of his joy when Haoge was born, Huang Taiji was extremely sad about his death.

However, as the Khan, he had no time to feel the pain of losing his son, because he soon realized that Amin, the leader of the Bordered Blue Banner who was in charge of the Korean War, might have thoughts about the Bordered Yellow Banner:
It is possible that Amin swallowed up the Yellow Banner and established his own regime in Korea.

This is a huge hidden danger for him, even if there is a slight possibility, it is not acceptable.

This made him quickly hold back his grief and ordered:
"Let Yanguli come over and lead the troops to North Korea immediately."

"I want him to avenge my child and cut his enemy into pieces!"

He ordered Yangguli, the general of the Plain Yellow Banner, to go to Korea immediately to take over the Bordered Yellow Banner.

As Nurhaci's son-in-law and the current top general of a non-family name, Huang Taiji has full confidence in Yangguli's ability and prestige.

He believed that if he went to Korea, he would be able to avenge Hauge and prevent Amin from annexing the Bordered Yellow Banner.

As for himself, he still planned to lay siege to the castle in front of him. He believed that he would be able to capture Dalinghe Fort and seize the weapons inside in a few days.

Then he would take those artillery and bypass the grassland to break through the pass. Many cities in the Ming Dynasty could not withstand the bombardment of the red cannon.

Then he could resolve his own crisis by plundering the Ming Dynasty.
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However, Huang Taiji only considered these things and forgot that the news of Hauge's death could not be concealed at all.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty also arranged people to spread this news.

Soon, the court's strategy was transmitted to Dalingh Fort through armboard communications, and the defenders of Dalingh Fort shouted the news of Hauge's death on the battlefield.

They were more determined to defend the city and more confident that the Ming Dynasty could win the war.

In particular, the spies lurking among the Jianlu learned of the court's strategy through the flashing lights on the signal tower, and spread the news that the Bordered Yellow Banner had no owner and that Huang Taiji intended someone to be the banner owner.

Ajige, Dergelei and others were all restless and hoped to sit on the throne of the leader of the Bordered Yellow Banner as rumored.

Abatai was even more confident because he always claimed to be the best among all the beiles.

In addition, he was a beile of the Bordered Yellow Banner, so when the position of the banner leader became vacant, it would naturally be his turn.

He is the most popular among the rumors, and there are also rumors that his son-in-law Li Yongfang supports him.

This made Huang Taiji very dissatisfied and he became wary of Abatai:

If he really handed over the position of leader of the Bordered Yellow Banner to Abatai as rumored, Abatai would only think that it was what he deserved and would not feel grateful.

Moreover, some Han officials might support Abatai, which made him even more vigilant.

As he had Han officials under his command, he knew how flexible the Han people's minds were. Once Abatai had the support of Han officials, he would become his biggest enemy.

This made him exclude Abatai from his mind first, but he had not made up his mind about who would take the position of the leader of the Bordered Yellow Banner.

Just as Niu Jinxing analyzed, those people are the most qualified. If Huang Taiji bypasses them and lets others be the flag owners, many people will be dissatisfied.

Especially under Niu Jinxing's planning, many beile who were loyal to Huang Taiji before felt that they were qualified. They also believed that after three years of the Khan's reign, they should be rewarded for their contributions and made the leaders of the banners.

This gave Huang Taiji a headache, so he could only urge the Beile to continue fighting bravely. It seemed that he wanted to select the leader of the Bordered Yellow Banner from among them.

The newly built fortress of Dalinghhe Fort therefore faced its greatest test.

Not only were there attacks from the south, east, and west, but there were also fearless attacks from the north—

The purpose was to tie up the troops in the north of the city and prevent the other three sides from receiving support.

Fortunately, the soldiers in Dalinghe Fort were not only full, but also had some excess. Huo Weihua had recruited many people from Dongning Island before.

After the battles in the past few days, these people have become qualified fighters.

This meant that He Kegang didn't have to worry about insufficient troops, as there were always enough people on the city wall.

Moreover, during the construction of Dalinghhe Fort, the new military thinking was fully implemented, and the defenders on the city wall were able to fully utilize their firepower advantage.

The number of enemies that could attack the city wall at the same time was limited due to space constraints.

Even if Jianlu had 50,000 soldiers, they could not rush in. At most, they could be used for rotation to maintain the siege force.

Except for the soldiers attacking the city walls, most of the Jianlu soldiers could only watch from behind because their artillery was destroyed and their bows and arrows had insufficient range.

Even though the Han soldiers built siege weapons such as catapults under Huang Taiji's reprimand, they were destroyed by artillery fire on the city walls.

This gave He Kegang more and more confidence to hold on, and he believed that Dalinghe Fort could be defended forever.

Until now, there have been very few casualties among the soldiers on the city wall, and the Jianlu have not even completely destroyed the arrow-proof sheds on the city wall.

This meant that the defenders of Dalinghhe were rarely hit by arrows, and the other means used by the Jianlu could not threaten them at all.

Huang Taiji became more and more frightened as he looked at the castle, and he became more and more determined to take it. Especially under the shadow of the death of his eldest son Hauge, he had to win and maintain the majesty of the Khan.

After convening all the generals to discuss, Huang Taiji decided to fill the trench in front of Dalingh Fort regardless of casualties.

However, the trenches of the bastion are different from traditional trenches. They not only contain water, but also provide side firepower.

Any enemy who tried to cross the trench would be killed by the artillery.

It would take a lot of deaths to fill the trench.

The warriors of the Eight Banners could not die casually. Huang Taiji thought of the rumors in the army and set his sights on Li Yongfang:

"You lead your soldiers to fill a section of the ditch."

Li Yongfang's face turned pale when he heard this, knowing that this was a mission that would lead to his death.

This made him disregard Huang Taiji's dignity and resist:
"Khan, it's not easy to fill the trenches."

"Why not capture people from Liaodong and have them fill the gap?"

They planned to capture Han people from Liaodong and use them to fill the trenches.

But Huang Taiji didn't have the time, and it would be more effective to use the people than the army. The people might get into chaos before they even reach the trenches.

In addition, he wanted to subjugate the Han people and use them for his own benefit, and did not want them to flee Liaodong after hearing about this. He rebuked Li Yongfang:
"Are you going to disobey?"

"Why don't you take the troops and go!"

Li Yongfang looked at the other beile expectantly, hoping that someone would speak for him.

But no one, including his father-in-law Abatai, said a word.

It would be best if the Han soldiers could die, otherwise do we have to let the Eight Banners warriors fill in?
Li Yongfang had no choice but to accept the order. Han officials such as Tong Yangxing looked at him with sympathy. Some Mongolian generals also looked unhappy, worried that there were not enough Han soldiers. Huang Taiji asked them to fill the trenches.

Now they could only hope that Li Yongfang's men could fill the ditch. Under the threat of death, the Han soldiers showed great creativity and made weapons such as shield carts in the hope of defending against artillery fire.

However, the Red Cannon and Lu Gong Cannon on the city wall turned their ideas into delusions, and many people who pushed shield carts to fill the trenches were killed by artillery.

Li Yongfang felt heartbroken when he saw his subordinates die, because these people were his support and the foundation of his life.

But under the watchful eyes of Degelei and others nearby, he could only hold back his pain and yell:

"Keep moving forward, I'll kill anyone who turns around!"

The Jianlu archers were also standing behind, watching them eagerly.

These Han soldiers could only rush forward under the artillery fire. When they were about 300 meters away from the city wall, they began to be shot and killed by arrow-shaped bullets.

When they were about 200 meters away from the city wall, conical shells began to be fired, and more artillery on the city wall began to bombard with shotgun shells.

The closer they were to the city wall, the more intense the fire became, and many Han soldiers died along the way. Every time they advanced a certain distance, more people fell.

The defenders on the city wall couldn't bear it anymore and kept shouting at them to turn around and run away. But these Han soldiers who were completely conquered by the Jianlu still walked past like zombies.

Seeing this, He Kegang ordered the soldiers to put aside their sympathy and continue to kill them all in front of the trench as before. Otherwise, the trench would be filled up and they might be the ones to die.

The defenders of Dalinghe could only mechanically load their muskets and shoot them with ammunition, but Li Yongfang's Han soldiers continued to rush forward.

Even at night, the people behind pressed on to the front, forcing those in front into the trenches.

This is the cruelty of Li Yongfang. He wanted to use the bodies of these people to fill a section of the trench.

Such a cruel method not only frightened the Dalinghe defenders on the city wall, but also surprised the Jianlu at Li Yongfang's cruelty. At the same time, they also felt that they had learned a method to drive more Han people to fill the trenches in the future. Even if they died, their bodies would still be useful.

He Kegang and the others watched this scene angrily, almost biting their teeth to bleed. But he could only give the order:
"Use incendiary bombs to cremate those people!"

Order the soldiers to throw incendiary bombs and burn the bodies.

There were even some kerosene cans that were thrown out by catapults.

This is a by-product of refining kerosene from petroleum. Products such as gasoline and diesel, which have not yet found a use, have all been made into incendiary bombs.

Dalingh Fort stores a lot of it, which can be used as fuel when necessary.

The oil fell on the water and would not settle. Suddenly, a raging fire ignited on the surface of the trench, and there was a foul smell of corpses.

The soldiers on both sides watched this scene in silence, shocked by the cruelty of this war.

Not to mention the Dongning soldiers who had just joined the army, the Jianlu had never fought such a fierce battle since they started their rebellion.

In the Battle of Ningyuan, they attacked for only three days, losing about 500 soldiers. Then they captured Juehua Island, killing more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians on the island, burning houses and more than 2,000 ships, and seizing more than 82,000 shi of grain.

The Battle of Ningjin lasted for more than 20 days, and the actual siege time was also about three days. The losses were even smaller than those in the Battle of Ningyuan. In addition, many castles were captured, and when the troops withdrew, they also demolished the two cities of Dalinghe and Xiaolinghe.

Now they have lost more than a thousand people in the siege of the newly built small castle of Dalinghebao, and the number of casualties is unprecedented. And the war is going to be more brutal, and more people are going to die.

This made Daishan unable to help but persuade Huang Taiji:

"Or forget it!"

"If we can't take it, we'll just go around it."

"Didn't we fail to capture Ningyuan and Jinzhou before?"

"They didn't dare to chase them out."

Huang Taiji coughed a few times as he smelled the smoke coming from the wind, and said to the generals around him:

"The Ming army built a castle like this in just a few months. What if they build one in Liaodong in the future?"

"Are you going to keep circling around and bet that they won't come out?"

This made the generals silent, and they understood why Huang Taiji was determined to capture the castle.

He was really frightened by the speed of construction and the solidity of Dalinghhe Fort, which made him wonder what would happen if there were many such fortresses throughout Liaodong?
This kind of castle with a capacity of 3,000 people is not a big city like Ningyuan and Jinzhou. It is possible that the Ming Dynasty built such small fortresses everywhere.

Therefore, they must capture Dalinghhe Fort and make the Ming army's strategy fail!

After reaching this understanding, the generals no longer cared about Li Yongfang's feelings and forced him to continue leading the Han soldiers to attack the city.

After Li Yongfang issued the order, the Han soldiers burst into tears. Many of them said that they could fire cannons and guns, and make equipment, and begged the Jianlu to show leniency.

But how could the Jianlu's military orders be shaken? Under the pressure of swords and guns, they could only endure the fear and move forward.

Those who dared not resist even had stones tied to their bodies and sank directly to the bottom of the water when they reached the trench.

Faced with this situation, He Kegang was somewhat helpless, because even if he threw incendiary bombs, they would not burn the bottom of the water.

He could only lament that the moat was still imperfect and that more trenches should be dug in front of the castle, divided into those with water and those without water.

In this way, with the Han soldiers disregarding casualties, a section of the trench in front of Dalingh Fort was finally filled.

At least half of the tens of thousands of Han soldiers under Li Yongfang died.

The rest of them just stared at the scene in front of them in a daze, without any trace of life in their hearts anymore.

Huang Taiji took a quick look and knew that this Han army was temporarily useless. However, he was not worried about this because there were still hundreds of thousands of Han people in Liaodong.

If they could capture Dalinghhe Fort and take out the artillery inside to use in siege, they could also plunder more people from the Ming Dynasty, and the number of Han soldiers would be countless.

Now, he looked at the trench that had been filled with great difficulty, and after nightfall, he ordered his soldiers to attack.

This was the most effective way of attacking a city that he had observed. At night, the Ming soldiers on the city walls would not be able to see clearly what was happening in the distance and would be unable to shoot accurately.

That way their losses would be smaller, and the soldiers wouldn't know how many people died around them.

The Jianlu were now at their peak, and their soldiers were truly fierce. Under heavy fire, they attacked the city wall for the first time.

They thought that the low walls of the bastion could be easily attacked.

However, the new type of grenades dealt them a heavy blow.

The all-round shooting from the city wall without blind spots caused many Jianlu to fall under the city.

After they died, He Kegang ordered his people to spray flaming oil and throw incendiary bombs to prevent the Jianlu from climbing up the city wall by stepping on the corpses.

As the sky brightened, this night siege was ultimately declared a failure.

During this night, the Jianlu lost nearly three hundred people.

This made many Jianlu high-ranking officials feel a little bit uncomfortable, but Huang Taiji felt that he saw hope of breaking the city. As long as this happened a few more times, Dalinghe Fort would be broken.

However, at this time, He Kegang also thought of how to destroy the filled trench again. He bombarded that section of the trench with artillery, and then threw incendiary bombs to burn the bodies buried inside.

The filled trench soon became full of potholes and required new crews to be sent to fill it.

When Li Yongfang saw this situation, she almost knelt down and cried.

Huang Taiji also watched this scene in silence and did not order an attack on the city.

But he did not lead his troops to withdraw, but only ordered them to rest.

Just when some people thought that he had to find a way to get the soldiers to continue attacking the city, a piece of news came from Korea that shocked all the top leaders of the Jianlu Army. It also prompted Huang Taiji to order the camp to be broken up and the entire army to head to Korea.

Because Yangguli, whom he sent to Korea, died, also shot to death by a musket.

This was another high-ranking general who died in battle after the Jianlu general Haoge. The interval was less than half a month, and he was also in Korea.

This made Huang Taiji unable to concentrate on attacking Dalinghe Fort, and he ordered the entire army to break camp and teach North Korea a lesson.

He wanted to use the victory of attacking North Korea to wash away the defeat at Dalinghe! (End of this chapter)