nucmednet Chapter 747 First Encounter with Hauge
Chapter 747 First Encounter with Hauge
To the left of Dorgon's army, another force comprised the Plain Blue Banner troops. Leading them was none other than Huang Taiji's eldest son, Prince Hauge of the First Rank.
Unlike the outwardly refined Dorgon, Hauge was strong and powerful. Among the Manchu nobility, Hauge was renowned for his exceptional strength and unparalleled bravery on the battlefield. He began accompanying his father on campaigns at a young age, and at seventeen, he personally killed Beile Ezaitu of the Mongol Jarud tribe, accumulating numerous military achievements. In Hauge's view, the reconquest of Liaonan was merely using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, a simple formality. He was somewhat dismissive of his father's solemnity, and the fact that Dorgon had been given the title of commander-in-chief was a thorn in his side. After departing from Shengjing, he deliberately distanced himself from Dorgon's right wing, each going their own way.
"Such an expedition is sufficient with a portion of my Zhenglan Banner troops. We can pacify Liaonan in less than a month," Hauge proudly told his men.
His subordinates naturally flattered him, saying that Prince Su was a skilled warrior and that a few remote post towns in Liaonan were no problem for him.
Just months earlier, the Marines had selectively captured Lushun, Jinzhou, and Gaizhou, as Dorgon had predicted, during their attacks on various towns and cities in southern Liaoning. These towns were all near the coast, ideal for naval artillery cover. Following Liu Ye's strategy, Li Fei did not garrison these cities after their capture. Instead, he contacted Su Hongtu and dispatched two companies from Shandong to Lushun, securing the southernmost stronghold of the Liaodong Peninsula as a forward position to contain the Qing army. Therefore, the Qing army's southward advance encountered little resistance, easily recapturing towns and cities like Haizhou and Gaizhou.
The initial success emboldened Hauge, making him arrogant and complacent. In his view, the Ming army's attack on Liaonan was merely a surprise attack, taking advantage of the Qing's lack of heavy garrisoning in those areas. He believed that as long as they engaged in open battle, the Ming army would flee at the mere sight of them, proving utterly ineffective. With this mindset, he led his troops on a forced march, leaving Dorgon behind, intending to single-handedly recapture all the post towns on the Liaodong Peninsula and claim most of the credit for this armed campaign.
When Dorgon learned of the movements of the left-wing army, he merely sneered and said nothing more. Hauge had always acted as if "Father Emperor is the greatest, I am second only," disregarding other banner leaders and even his uncles and elders. It was normal for him to be greedy for merit and act rashly; let him be.
Ten days later, Hauge's army arrived in Jinzhou without removing their armor or saddles.
Liaonan was devastated, and Jinzhou was no exception. There were hardly any people for miles around. After Jinzhou was captured, no one was stationed there, and it had already shown signs of desolation, with weeds growing inside the city.
Although the Qing army was entirely mounted and possessed great mobility, the continuous forced marches had caused their food supplies to run out. Therefore, Hauge ordered the entire army to temporarily garrison Jinzhou Post Station and sent men to find nearby villages to solve the problem of food supplies.
Meanwhile, the Qiongzhou naval task force, having been resupplyed with food and fresh water from Dengzhou, had arrived near Jinzhou. It wasn't that Li Fei and his men had some kind of premonition that Hauge had penetrated deep into enemy territory and stationed himself in Jinzhou; rather, Jinzhou was the first important city they passed through on their way north from Lushun.
On the surface of Jinzhou Bay, aboard the massive Yongle-class warship "Shandong," Li Fei used binoculars to observe the movements in Jinzhou, where the blue flag fluttering atop the city walls came into view.
"Huh? The original garrison of Jinzhou has been almost completely wiped out by us. What's going on with the Plain Blue Banner? Could it be that the Tartar army is so fast that all of its main force has arrived in Jinzhou?"
Boerhu, standing behind him, replied, "According to the intelligence department, the ones heading south this time are Prince Rui, Dorgon, and Prince Su, Hauge. Dorgon is the banner lord of the Plain White Banner, and Hauge is the banner lord of the Plain Blue Banner. Since they are attacking the Plain Blue Banner, then Hauge must be the one in Jinzhou City."
Li Fei put down his binoculars and thought for a moment before saying, "The intelligence says that Dorgon is the commander-in-chief, but the Plain White Banner has not been raised in the city. So it is highly likely that Hauge was greedy for merit and acted rashly, getting ahead of Dorgon."
Borchu's eyes lit up: "Young master, since Hauge is so reckless, why not take advantage of the other army's absence and have a proper battle in Jinzhou?"
"Intelligence says that the Great Khan of the Tartars attaches great importance to this expedition, and is willing to fight a losing battle to eliminate the threat right next to his bed. He has sent an army of twenty to thirty thousand. Even if they have divided their forces, Hauge's army alone is at least ten thousand. Our marines only have about two thousand men. A direct confrontation is definitely not an option. We must outsmart them," Li Fei analyzed. "We will rest on the ship tonight and start our operation tomorrow."
Borhu asked, "Should we bombard Jinzhouyi City directly?"
“If we’re going to fight, we should fight them hard. A few shots at the city walls that don’t really hurt them won’t have much effect,” Li Fei said leisurely. “The Tartars never carry provisions when they go on campaign; they rely entirely on looting on the spot. Let’s start by taking down their troops who are collecting provisions. We’ll wipe out a few of them, anger Hauge, and then lure him out of the city.”
The next morning, the gates of Jinzhou City swung open, and the thunder of hooves echoed as several cavalry units emerged from the city, each heading in a different direction. Their mission was to search for nearby villages and plunder their provisions to supply the army's needs.
The person in charge of this grain requisition task was a Niru Ejen named Taktan. He divided his men into several groups, one in each of the four directions, while he himself led seventy or eighty men westward.
One of his servants asked him, "Master, the sea is to the west. Should we try our luck to the south to find food?"
Taktan whipped his warhorse and grinned, "You know nothing! The Han villages here were almost wiped out by the Great Khan a few years ago, and most of the remaining able-bodied men have moved to Qing territory. To find a village, you'd have to walk dozens or even hundreds of miles. But the coast is different. There are fishermen there. They may not have much grain, but they always have fish and shrimp. A bit of fish is better than nothing. Bring back a few hundred pounds of fish and shrimp, and that'll be enough to complete today's task."
His subordinates then realized that he had a shortcut in mind, and that they could also slack off, so they all praised him, saying, "Master is wise!"
Taktan laughed heartily and led dozens of his men on horseback at breakneck speed, quickly reaching the sea. But before they could see any fishermen, they spotted a long line of imposing ships, like small mountains, anchored not far from the shore, with hundreds of small sampans fully loaded with soldiers rowing ashore.
"What's going on?" Taktan and his men were stunned. They had followed Prince Su in countless battles, large and small, but all of them were inland field battles. This was the first time they had ever seen a large-scale amphibious landing like this. Just who were these people?