Chapter 78: Scorched Earth, Decisive Battle at Shenyang

What followed was a great escape in the truest sense…

There were fifty thousand Jiannu behind them.

This was the most formidable armed force currently outside the Shanhai Pass. In that last terrible defeat where the Great Ming lost over forty thousand men, the Jiannu had fielded only about sixty or seventy thousand troops. And now, there were definitely more than fifty thousand pursuing them. The losses Wild Boar Skin suffered attacking Yehe City were still unknown, but Hurhan’s seven thousand-plus troops had joined him. Moreover, they were driven by boundless rage. Wild Boar Skin’s son had died—the pain of losing a child! Additionally, his sworn brother from youth, E Yi Dou, who had shared life and death with him, was also dead. One could imagine how furious Wild Boar Skin was at this moment. If they were caught, surrendering probably wouldn’t even save their lives.

With less than five thousand Ming Army soldiers in total, they fled under this pursuit that loomed like a dark cloud descending upon a city, running until they became like Liu Bei at Changban Slope.

And they were even worse off than Liu Bei.

At least Liu Bei had a Zhang Yide. They didn’t even have a Zhang Yide.

Yang Xin ran as fast as they did.

At a time like this, no one could afford to care about others. Everyone just let their horses run flat out, relying on their own skill. Behind them were fifty thousand Jiannu who were nearly insane. Any pause would mean being swallowed up.

If you poke a hornet’s nest, you must be prepared for the consequences.

They soon passed Zhonggu Fortress. Li Ruzhen immediately joined the fleeing ranks. In truth, he had long been prepared to flee, just waiting for the news. Then came Tieling, followed by Fan River. All these recently recaptured fortresses were abandoned once again. They hadn’t actually planned to defend them in the first place; there was nothing to defend anyway. Relying on his many horses, Yang Xin was the first to charge into Yilu City. This was the Ming Army’s former forward defensive outpost, also the boundary between Tieling Garrison and Shenyang Central Garrison. Along the main road north from Shenyang, there were only these cities plus Puhe, along with some smaller outer forts and the outermost Liaodong Frontier Wall.

This was the Ming Army’s defensive system.

The Liaodong Frontier Wall formed the outer ring, with each city as a center, filled in between by numerous forts.

Moreover, it was a system where all civilians were soldiers, or perhaps there were no civilians at all, only Military Households similar to production and construction corps. It was a very effective defensive system, but only if the garrison system hadn’t been corrupted. Once the garrison system was corrupted, it became useless.

But this small city…

“Abandon it!”

Yang Xin said while gnawing on a roast lamb leg in the Yilu defense commander’s office.

By now, the fleeing Ming soldiers from behind had arrived one after another. Losses along the way were minimal. Thanks to the advance warning from Cao Wenzhao and the other man, the Ming Army hadn’t been trapped in Kaiyuan. The Jiannu only arrived after they crossed Qinghe, but the latter’s horses had already run over a hundred li and couldn’t compare to the Ming Army’s horses that had rested overnight. Catching up was nearly impossible.

Of course, any Ming soldiers who fell from their horses, were injured, or fell behind were certainly done for.

“Commander-in-Chief, we cannot abandon it!”

The defense commander immediately knelt and wailed upon hearing this.

They were all local Military Households. There were two thousand households here, two companies from Tieling Garrison. The actual numbers were unclear; desertion among garrison Military Households was common. Yilu City had a circumference of four li, basically a fairly sizable fortress. But these hereditary officers had essentially become local gentry. They couldn’t bear to leave their properties behind; they would rather surrender to the Jiannu than leave.

These were Jin Yuhe’s reserves.

More importantly, this place hadn’t been lost before.

If Li Ruzhen abandoned Yilu, it would mean losing territory again.

“Abandon it. We must abandon it. We only have this many fighting soldiers. How many men does the Commander-in-Chief plan to use to defend it? A city like this would need at least two thousand to have a chance. Then how many would be left to defend Shenyang? We only have these five thousand who can fight right now, and even among these, a thousand have to be returned to He Shixian. Do you plan to rely on those conscripts back in Shenyang?

Not only must Yilu City be abandoned, but Puhe behind it must also be abandoned. The nearby forts must be abandoned too. Concentrate all forces to defend Shenyang to the death. Also, gather all the commoners from each city into Shenyang. Take all supplies; burn anything you can’t take, and leave immediately. Wild Boar Skin has no grain. The grain from Kaiyuan and Tieling is gone. Empty the supplies from these fortresses too, so he can’t get a single grain. Right now, the Hun River isn’t frozen yet, enough to block Wild Boar Skin on the northern bank. If he can’t take Shenyang, he can’t plunder grain. Within a few days at most, he’ll have to retreat.

But his first wave of attack will certainly be the most ferocious.

Defending Yilu won’t stop him.

With fifty thousand Jiannu attacking from all sides, assaulting day and night in shifts, two thousand defenders would be exhausted to death. The same goes for Puhe. Even if we return to Shenyang, we can only watch helplessly, wasting precious fighting soldiers for nothing and providing some replenishment to Wild Boar Skin. So abandon them all and let him attack Shenyang. Then we concentrate our elites to defend Shenyang. Wait until Wild Boar Skin’s grain runs out and he retreats; then we counterattack and retake all the cities.

The survival of the Li Family depends on this battle.

As long as you repel the Jiannu, you’ll be the foremost hero of Liaodong. Then you can cite old age and injuries in a memorial, and basically retire to the Capital City.”

Yang Xin said.

The defense commander was still pleading desperately, but Li Ruzhen was completely under Yang Xin’s mental control now. He wouldn’t care about the losses abandoning Yilu would cause these local gentry! He had nothing here to hold him back; after all, he had spent nearly forty years in the Capital City, even his accent was different now.

Immediately, Li Ruzhen issued the order to abandon the city.

That night, Yilu City and its surrounding forts were completely emptied. The Jiannu, exhausted from the pursuit, had already stopped at Tieling. No matter how much Wild Boar Skin wished he could flay Yang Xin alive immediately, he couldn’t have his cavalry run non-stop for three hundred li day and night. In fact, only a small number of elite Jiannu made it to Tieling. The vast majority couldn’t run past Zhonggu Fortress. They were roughly as Yang Xin guessed: they had marched south from Yehe City yesterday evening, taking a night to reach Weiyuan Fortress. Originally, they planned for Hurhan to hold Kaiyuan while they rested at Weiyuan Fortress before launching an attack. But as soon as they entered Zhenbei Pass, they encountered Hurhan’s messenger and learned Kaiyuan was lost. Wild Boar Skin had to give up resting at Weiyuan Fortress and march south to attack directly.

Then there was this shameless Yang Xin, who actually ran faster than a rabbit. The Jiannu, having already run over a hundred li, had to pursue without rest. By Zhonggu Fortress, it was nearly two hundred li.

This was the cavalry’s daily limit.

Making it to Tieling required exhausting many warhorses to the death.

But Yilu City was truly beyond reach now.

The Ming Army fared slightly better. From Kaiyuan to Yilu City was still within the cavalry’s limit. After these cavalrymen ate their fill in Yilu City, they immediately drove the Military Households from the city and surrounding forts south. Now, the horses brought from Kaiyuan played a huge role. After all, there were only a few thousand people, and civilian horses were plentiful. By dawn, they reached Puhe. After a short rest, under pressure from Li Ruzhen—or rather, Yang Xin—the soldiers and civilians of Puhe City and its surrounding forts were also driven, complaining bitterly, toward Shenyang. As for the supplies in these cities and forts that couldn’t be taken, the Capital Garrison soldiers, following Yang Xin’s orders, set them on fire. These scoundrels didn’t even spare people’s houses; anything flammable was burned to ash.

They were no good at fighting, but aiding Yang Xin in his tyranny came without hesitation.

By noon, they returned to Shenyang.

And at this time, Wild Boar Skin reached Tieling.

The Jiannu vanguard setting out from Tieling entered the still-burning Yilu City. Faced with an empty Yilu City, those Jiannu had to slaughter their exhausted horses for food. They truly had nothing else to eat; even if they had carried dry rations, they had finished them on the road earlier.

Well, if they liked it that way!

Yang Xin had no mind to worry about Wild Boar Skin now.

Because Xiong Tingbi had arrived.

“Do you think I don’t dare kill you!”

Xiong Tingbi said through gritted teeth, half-drawing the Imperial Sword.

He truly regretted it now—regretted bringing this scoundrel to Liaodong. Although Yang Xin had brought him a great victory, an unprecedented great victory, beheading over two thousand, killing Wild Boar Skin’s son, killing Wild Boar Skin’s most important minister. Such a victory was almost unbelievable; even he felt a bit dizzy looking at the pile of Jiannu heads and Abatai’s corpse before him. But the problem was…

Now he had also drawn Wild Boar Skin here.

Originally, Wild Boar Skin was entangled with Jin Taiji at Yehe City, while he, in the south, was reorganizing the army, setting up defenses, and waiting for reinforcements. It was perfect. Even if Wild Boar Skin took Yehe City, he couldn’t continue south to attack Shenyang. Next would be winter; the heavy snow would seal the mountains, and the Jiannu would have to hole up for winter. One could say until spring next year, there would be no more warfare in Liaodong. That period was enough for reinforcements to arrive and supplies to be fully stocked.

In the original history, that’s how it was.

Wild Boar Skin captured Yehe City, and afterward, there were no major clashes between the two sides. The following spring, Wild Boar Skin resumed his attacks. Although the Ming Army lost Puhe in August, Wild Boar Skin’s attack on Shenyang was blocked on the periphery. He Shixian even launched small counterattacks to retake several forts. Subsequently, as reinforcements from various parts of the Great Ming continued to increase, the situation was bound to improve further.

And then…

Xiong Tingbi was impeached.

Then Yuan Yingtai replaced him, ending in a complete defeat. Coupled with Wang Huazhen, the favored disciple of the Donglin Faction leader, these two key Donglin figures utterly destroyed the Liaodong situation.

Now, Xiong Tingbi’s Liaodong strategy had been ruined by Yang Xin.

“Military Commissioner Xiong, Wild Boar Skin doesn’t have a single grain of food right now!”

Yang Xin said nonchalantly.

“But he has fifty thousand elite soldiers!”

Xiong Tingbi said, sheathing the Imperial Sword.

He was just trying to scare him. Even if he really wanted to chop off this scoundrel’s head, he had to repel Wild Boar Skin first.

“Those fifty thousand elite soldiers need at least two thousand shi of grain per day. In five days, that’s ten thousand shi. As long as he can’t take Shenyang, he can’t plunder grain. Then in a few days, he’ll have to retreat. All we need to do is withstand his first wave of attack. Can’t we even manage that?”

Yang Xin said.

“What if the Jiannu cross the river downstream? Do you think the Hun River is really an impassable barrier?”

Xiong Tingbi said.

“Are He Shixian at Hupi Post and Chai Guozhu at Liaoyang just for show? Liaoyang still has over ten thousand Sichuan Army troops. Even if these are infantry without horses, is holding the Hun River really so difficult?”

Yang Xin said.