sbdcsierra Chapter 114: Unstoppable
Chapter 114: Unstoppable
Today, Jiaozhou City has firmly fallen into the hands of Yao Er and Jiang Xuefeng.
When they led their troops to Jiaozhou City, Yao Er tied up the captured Ke Yongsheng in front of the two armies. Seeing this, the officials of Jiaozhou City no longer resisted, but opened the city and surrendered.
It's not that there was no large army in Jiaozhou City. It was because the Qing army that Ke Yongsheng brought with him when he took office was not large. The core combat force was defeated in one battle by Yao Er and others. The troops in Jiaozhou City were assembled during this period and had no loyalty to him at all. In addition, most of the officials and gentry in Jiaozhou City were still loyal to the Ming Dynasty, so Jiaozhou was taken without a single soldier.
After taking Jiaozhou City, Yao Er and Jiang Xuefeng were not in a rush to expand further. They knew that their foundation was not stable and their troops were scarce. The most urgent task was to use Jiaozhou as a stronghold to gather the scattered troops.
This time, Yao Er and Jiang Xuefeng did not continue to expand. They began to gather troops with Jiaozhou as the center. Soon, their troops had gathered 25,000 people, and they were still increasing!
Most of these people were rebels who had been dispersed by Ke Yongsheng. They had gathered 100,000 people, but after being defeated by Ke Yongsheng, some of them joined the Qing army, but the majority chose to disperse.
After hearing that Yao Er's Ming army had defeated Ke Yongsheng with a weak advantage, they came from all directions to join them. When they captured Jiaozhou, even more troops came to join them.
The composition of these defectors was quite complex. Besides the scattered rebel forces, there were also remnants of the previously defeated Ming and Dashun armies that had fallen behind during their retreat. Even some troops in Jiaozhou City that had defected to the Qing court were accepted by Yao Er and Jiang Xuefeng. After all, their current military strength was pitifully small, and expanding their forces was a top priority.
Yao Er carefully selected veterans from this group, adding them to his own ranks. The five hundred elite soldiers who had originally followed him served as junior military officials and officers at various levels. With the large number of war horses seized from Ke Yongsheng, Yao Er quickly assembled a cavalry force of over five thousand men.
Jiang Xuefeng, however, had other plans. Adhering to the People's Army's traditional recruitment principles, he recruited loyal and reliable individuals from the refugees of Jiaozhou City. Hearing the promise of food and the opportunity to contribute to the Ming army, the refugees eagerly signed up. In a short period of time, Jiang Xuefeng's team had recruited 5,000 men. However, to ensure the combat effectiveness of his own army, Jiang Xuefeng only transferred over a hundred key personnel and instructors from the People's Army to conduct intensive training for the new troops, hoping to quickly establish combat effectiveness.
Fortunately, Jiaozhou City possessed a vast stockpile of firearms, ammunition, and raw materials. Seizing the opportunity, Jiang Xuefeng acted decisively, issuing a recruitment notice throughout the city to recruit skilled craftsmen and quickly establishing a Firearms Bureau. The artisans toiled day and night, diligently crafting and refining firearms and ammunition. After all, the People's Army, unlike ordinary military forces, consumed enormous quantities of weapons and ammunition during combat, necessitating a sufficient supply.
As for the remaining troops, Yao Er and Jiang Xuefeng were not idle either. After a simple reorganization, they selected their capable men and carried out short-term training for them.
On the Qing side, they sent General Yang Wanxing to garrison Jining Prefecture, where they were in confrontation with Shi Kefa and Yan Yingyuan.
Fang Dayou, the Qing-appointed governor of Shandong, defended Jinan with all his might. Wang Aoyong, the minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, appointed to pacify Shandong and Henan, stationed in Qingzhou in an attempt to stabilize the situation. However, the Qing army was already understrength. Yang Wanxing, wary, launched two tentative attacks, but found Shi Kefa's army to be rock-solid and unbreakable, so he decided not to advance rashly. Fang Dayou and Wang Aoyong were even more precarious. With only a few soldiers at their disposal, they were barely able to defend the city, leaving them with no energy left to actively engage in battle. They could only live in constant fear and defend the city.
In late September, at Qingdaokou Harbor, the sea breeze blew gently, and a huge fleet slowly approached the shore with its sails bulging, which was quite spectacular.
"Xuanzhu, let's say goodbye now. I wish you a smooth journey and immediate success!" On the deck, Chen Zilong said goodbye to Zhang Huangyan with a sincere face.
"Brother Chen, see you later!" Zhang Huangyan also returned the gift solemnly, with reluctance and expectation in his eyes.
This fleet was specially dispatched by Emperor Chongzhen to support Shi Kefa.
While the march northward to Shandong was a triumphant one, with the speed of recovering lost territory astonishing, this rapid expansion also exposed numerous problems. The shortage of troops and officials was particularly prominent.
Emperor Chongzhen decided to form the Denglai Navy and march north. At the same time, he carefully selected a group of capable officials from the central government to urgently enrich the local official team in Shandong and fill the vacancies.
Chen Zilong and Zhang Huangyan volunteered to go to the front. Although Emperor Chongzhen was reluctant to let them go, he was concerned about the overall interests of training talents and consolidating the territory. He reluctantly appointed Chen Zilong as Shandong Councillor and Prefect of Dongchang Prefecture, and Zhang Huangyan as Shandong Councillor and Governor of Denglai, entrusting them with important tasks.
At this moment, the fleet docked safely at Qingdaokou. The two were about to go their separate ways and return to their respective posts, shouldering the heavy responsibility of defending the land and ensuring the safety of the people.
At the same time, Emperor Chongzhen also selected 10,000 elite troops from various towns and 3,000 from the new army, and marched north to Shandong to strengthen local combat capabilities.
At Qingdao Port, Yao Er and Jiang Xuefeng had already been waiting with their troops for a long time.
This time, Yao Er was ordered to lead troops to escort Chen Zilong and other officials to Jining Prefecture to ensure their safety on the journey; the military and political affairs of the Denglai area were handed over to Zhang Huangyan, and Jiang Xuefeng was in charge of the combat tasks in the Jiaolai area. The division of labor was clear and everyone performed their duties.
Of the soldiers who went north to Shandong, only two thousand elite soldiers drawn from various towns and one thousand new troops were left to guard the Denglai area. The rest of the main forces rushed to Jining Prefecture, ready to fight at any time, and fully prepared for the large-scale attack that the Qing army was very likely to launch next.
Upon his arrival, Zhang Huangyan faithfully followed Chongzhen's orders and took charge of the military and political affairs of Qingzhou Prefecture, Dengzhou, Laizhou, and other regions. Although Denglai, along with parts of Qingzhou, had returned to Ming rule, the situation remained complex and thorny. Some county towns were still occupied by Qing officials, who stubbornly resisted. Furthermore, some rebel and Dashun armies maintained their own independent systems and refused to actively align themselves with the Ming.
To eliminate the hidden dangers in the rear and consolidate the foundation of his rule, Zhang Huangyan decisively dispatched Jiang Xuefeng to lead his troops. Following this order, Jiang Xuefeng led his troops northward from Jiaozhou, directly approaching Laizhou and Dengzhou. Along the way, he mercilessly killed any stubborn resistance he encountered, regardless of whether they were from the Yi army, the Dashun army, or the Qing army. Those who willingly laid down their arms and sincerely surrendered were properly reorganized and brought under his command.
Wherever the Ming army advanced, it was unstoppable. Officials and citizens in Qingzhou, Dengzhou, and Laizhou responded with a swift response, offering food and drink to welcome the imperial army. Soon, most of these areas returned to Ming rule, severely damaging the Qing forces. Chen Jin, the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, was forced to retreat to Dengzhou and put up a last-ditch resistance.
During this expedition, a contingent of the Dashun Army, led by their leader Zhao Yingyuan and former Ming Dynasty official Yang Yulin, arrived in Jiaozhou to surrender. This contingent had previously been active near Qingzhou, causing considerable turmoil in the local situation.
Zhang Huangyan had been racking his brains for some time over how to capture Qingzhou City. When he heard about this, his eyes suddenly lit up and he personally invited the two of them to the hall for questioning.
"Greetings, sir!" Zhao Yingyuan and Yang Yulin walked into the hall and were secretly surprised to see that Zhang Huangyan was so young and promising. They hurriedly bowed and paid their respects.
"Do you two know the current situation in Qingzhou City?" Zhang Huangyan asked straight to the point after greeting the two.
"Wang Aoyong, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, appointed by the Qing court to pacify Shandong and Henan, is currently stationed in Qingzhou. He has been actively recruiting troops and his influence is growing." Zhao Yingyuan pondered for a moment before reporting truthfully, "Furthermore, Qingzhou is a strategic military stronghold, with towering walls, a deep moat, and extremely tight fortifications, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack."
"Yes." Zhang Huangyan nodded slightly, frowning, and sighed softly, saying, "Now that we've recaptured most of the Denglai region, Qingzhou City must be even more vigilant and on high alert. It seems that taking Qingzhou will be no easy task..."
"Sir, do you want to take over Qingzhou?" Yang Yulin, who was standing aside, keenly grasped the key information and asked softly.
"Exactly!" Zhang Huangyan looked directly at Yang Yulin with a determined gaze and pressed, "Do you have any good ideas?"
"I do have a plan, but I don't know if it will work." Yang Yulin raised the corners of his mouth slightly, kept it a secret, and said with a smile.
Yang Yulin, a former Ming Dynasty official, defected to the Dashun Army when it marched into Shandong. Unexpectedly, the Dashun Dynasty emerged and faded even faster, a flash in the pan. Li Zicheng fled Beijing in defeat, and the main force of the Dashun Army in Shandong quickly withdrew, leaving the officials who had defected to the Dashun Dynasty without a pillar of support.
As Qing officials aggressively moved in, their living space became increasingly limited. This time, as the Ming army marched north to compete with the Qing for Shandong, Zhao Yingyuan and Yang Yulin deliberated, considering the Qing as a foreign invasion, a foreign race, and ultimately unreliable for long-term support. So, they decided to try their luck with the Ming army.
"Oh? Tell me quickly!" Zhang Huangyan's spirits suddenly perked up when he heard that, and he urged impatiently.
"Yingyuan, Wang Aoyong, who is in charge of pacifying Shandong, is your fellow villager." Yang Yulin looked at Zhao Yingyuan with a smile, a hint of cunning in his eyes.
"Yes, I used to be his personal bodyguard. Later, I accidentally revealed a private secret of his, and he scolded me severely. In anger, I left him." Zhao Yingyuan nodded, not yet understanding Yang Yulin's deeper meaning. "He learned of my whereabouts before and sent someone to contact me, trying to persuade me to surrender, but I flatly refused."
"Sir Zhang, if we let Ying Yuan go to find Wang Aoyong, what do you think about Qingzhou City..." Yang Yulin smiled without saying a word, his eyes full of hints.
"Oh?" Zhang Huangyan was so smart that his eyes lit up when he heard that. He said, "This can..."