activa-t Chapter 105 A God-Given Opportunity
Chapter 105 A God-Given Opportunity
Shaanxi is still experiencing drought this year.
Because of its proximity to the Yellow River and some of Gao Yingxiang's measures, Fugu managed to achieve a decent summer harvest.
However, these harvests were not enough to allow the rebels to be free from worries about the rear.
They had originally planned to get more supplies from Yang He, and things were fine for the first few months. But ever since Li Wanqing actually surrendered to Yang He and became a guerrilla general of the Ming Dynasty, the supplies sent by Yang He have become less and less.
By October, the supplies delivered were even scarcer.
Faced with this situation, Gao Yingxiang was deeply worried.
He and Zhou Lun had initially planned a feigned surrender to obtain more supplies from the government to make up for their own shortages. However, the situation had changed. Li Wanqing's attitude was ambiguous; although he had not officially broken away from the rebel army, he no longer obeyed Gao Yingxiang's commands.
What's even more crucial is that Gao Yingxiang placed Li Wanqing's troops in Gushan Fort with the intention of preventing the leaders of the various tribes from forming cliques, thus deliberately splitting them up.
Who would have thought that this very action would lead to the current situation? Gushan Fort blocked Gao Yingxiang's main route south, and Li Wanqing's troops, originally stationed there as a southern shield, have now become a thorn in his side.
If Gao Yingxiang wanted to lead his troops south to join Wang Jiayin, he would have to pass through Gushan Fort. If Li Wanqing prevented him from passing, Gao Yingxiang would have to lead his troops to fight directly and capture Gushan Fort, otherwise he would have to detour hundreds of miles to the west.
As a result, what seemed like a good arrangement at the beginning has now become a major headache for Gao Yingxiang.
In addition, Gao Yingxiang's attitude towards Zhou Lun has gradually changed over the past few days.
Perhaps it was because of Zhou Lun's sworn brotherhood with Li Wanqing, or perhaps it was because Zhou Lun was concealing something from Li Wanqing. Even though Gao Yingxiang still outwardly valued Zhou Lun, the two were no longer as close as before. Even when Gao Yingxiang privately summoned Gao Guiying to his residence, his attitude towards his niece was slightly different, a fact Zhou Lun was well aware of.
As the situation developed, Gao Yingxiang began to reflect on whether his decision to go north and occupy Fugu was right or wrong, and he even regretted agreeing to Zhou Lun's feigned pacification and tricking Yang He out of money and grain.
If they had followed Wang Jiayin south back then, the situation might be completely different now. Not long ago, after Wang Jiayin captured Yan'an Prefecture, he occupied a large area in eastern and central Shaanxi. Within his sphere of influence, he controlled nearly ten counties, as well as the prefectural city, and his military strength nearly doubled.
Although Wang Zuogua and his men suffered a defeat and heavy losses in Hancheng, failing to clear the road to Tongguan, their strength had still greatly increased. This change made Gao Yingxiang extremely envious and secretly regretful.
As for the matter of pacification, the rebellion of Li Wanqing's troops made him deeply regretful. He had given up Li Wanqing's troops for a mere sum of money and grain; it was a huge loss.
But now that things have come to this, there's no use in regretting it. Seeing that continuing like this would only leave him stranded in his isolated city, neither Wang Jiayin's continued expansion in the south nor Yang He's eventual troop deployment and defeat of Wang Jiayin would be good for Gao Yingxiang.
Caught between two sides in Fugu, he was caught in a dilemma, and his hair turned almost white with worry.
Just as Gao Yingxiang was racking his brains about future developments, an event occurred that suddenly changed the entire situation in Shaanxi.
On the second day of the tenth month, Huang Taiji of Liaodong suddenly took a route through Mongolia, using the Mongol Kharachin cavalry as guides, and personally led the Eight Banners army, bypassing the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line defended by Yuan Chonghuan, and detoured through the Mongolian region. He launched a surprise attack on the vulnerable passes of Longjing Pass and Da'an Pass in the Jizhou defense area of the Ming Great Wall, breached the walls and entered the pass, and his army marched straight towards the capital.
In less than a month, the elite Eight Banners troops from Liaodong magically stormed into the Great Wall.
After Huang Taiji entered the Great Wall, he divided his army into three routes and swept through the enemy lines with unstoppable momentum. The Ming troops along the way were no match for him, and some even surrendered voluntarily.
Although Yuan Chonghuan, the military governor of Jiliao, led his elite cavalry to Jizhou before Huang Taiji, for some reason he did not take the initiative to defend it and watched helplessly as Huang Taiji broke through the wall and entered the pass.
After the Eight Banners troops entered the Great Wall, Yuan Chonghuan's main force neither took the initiative to engage the enemy nor intercepted them at various levels. Instead, they followed behind at a distance, "escorting" Huang Taiji's main force all the way south.
When the news reached the capital, Emperor Chongzhen was greatly alarmed. On the one hand, he hurriedly issued an edict ordering garrisons in various regions to resist the Eight Banners invasion; on the other hand, he sent someone to give Yuan Chonghuan orders to stop the Eight Banners troops and prevent them from breaking through easily.
In addition, Emperor Chongzhen summoned his civil and military officials and nobles to begin preparations for the defense of the capital. To ensure the safety of the capital, on the advice of his officials, he also issued an urgent dispatch, ordering all military garrisons around the Ming Dynasty to quickly bring their troops to the capital to defend the emperor.
On November 1, Huang Taiji, who encountered no resistance whatsoever, began his attack on Zunhua.
In just three days, Zhao Shuaijiao's reinforcements were completely annihilated in Zunhua. Commander Zhao Shuaijiao died on the battlefield, Zunhua fell, and Governor Wang Yuanya committed suicide.
On the eighth day of the eleventh month, Huang Taiji, having captured Zunhua, continued to lead his troops in a fierce attack on Jizhou City.
Yuan Chonghuan's reinforcements arrived near Jizhou on the 12th but remained stationary, replying to Emperor Chongzhen that they would seek an opportunity to send troops to rescue the city, in order to avoid a repeat of the defeat at Zunhua.
Unexpectedly, Huang Taiji was merely making a feint in Jizhou. Right under Yuan Chonghuan's nose, he withdrew his troops and bypassed the city, leading his main force southward and successively capturing Shimen, Sanhe, and other places.
By the time Yuan Chonghuan realized what was happening, Huang Taiji's main force was only 120 li away from the capital. Yuan Chonghuan was terrified and gave chase, even ignoring the fact that the local garrisons in Shunyi and Tongzhou were still engaged in fierce battles with the Eight Banners. He rushed directly to the capital and set up defenses on the outskirts of the city before Huang Taiji arrived.
Without Yuan Chonghuan's Liaodong cavalry blocking their way, Huang Taiji calmly captured the gates leading to the capital. His troops continued forward, and in just two days, the Eight Banners army arrived in the capital, where the Eight Banners cavalry circled the city, displaying their might.
Upon hearing the news, Emperor Chongzhen in the Forbidden City was both anxious and furious.
With the capital in dire straits, the order to come to the aid of the emperor was swiftly relayed to all regions. The first to receive the order were Beizhili and Shanxi, which were closest to the capital.
Leaving aside Beizhili for the moment, the Eight Banners troops had already reached the capital, and the available forces had already arrived on the outskirts. However, facing the formidable Eight Banners elites, the Ming army, lacking cavalry, could not withstand them on foot.
As for Shanxi, upon hearing the news, General Wang Guoliang of Shanxi dared not delay and immediately led his troops toward the capital.
No sooner had Wang Guoliang left than Gao Yingxiang in Fugu received the news.
After all, Fugu is only separated from Shanxi by the Yellow River, and for the past six months, Wang Guoliang's main force has been stationed on the opposite bank of the river to prevent Gao Yingxiang from crossing eastward into Shanxi.
Although Wang Guoliang made temporary arrangements before leaving, leaving some troops to garrison Hequ and Baode, such a major event could not be concealed even if he wanted to. Moreover, it wasn't just Wang Guoliang who received the order to come to the aid of the emperor; the same order was also given to those in Shaanxi.
For the sake of the safety of the capital, the various border troops that were originally prepared to cooperate with Yang He in suppressing the rebel army, including the Gansu and Ningxia border troops who had just arrived, no longer cared about Yang He's affairs.
If the capital were to fall, the Ming Dynasty would be doomed, if not destroyed. In such a critical moment, the banditry in Shaanxi could only be put aside for the time being, and the rescue of the capital should be the priority.
Thus, the various armies set off overnight to rush to the rescue of the capital. This sudden move left Yang He in Shaanxi completely dumbfounded. His carefully laid plans, with troops being drawn from various locations almost in place, were now thwarted by the capital's crisis and the withdrawal of forces, rendering his plans utterly useless. Meanwhile, Wang Jiayin, Gao Yingxiang, and everyone else were grinning from ear to ear.
"A golden opportunity! A golden opportunity indeed!"
Upon learning of this and confirming that Wang Guoliang had left Shanxi to rescue the capital, Gao Yingxiang was overjoyed and danced with delight.
With Wang Guoliang gone, the Ming army left in Hequ and Baode consisted only of the old, weak, sick, and disabled. In addition, troops from Shaanxi also came to the aid of the emperor, and the pressure on the rebel army was greatly reduced.
Gao Yingxiang, who was troubled by the situation, immediately saw an opportunity to break the deadlock.
Since Li Wanqing's garrison at Gushan Fort blocked the southward route, why not take this opportunity to cross the Yellow River eastward? While Wang Guoliang was rescuing the capital and his forces were depleted, he could directly enter Shanxi, thus turning the situation around.
Gao Yingxiang was extremely decisive. After repeatedly confirming the intelligence, he quickly made the decision to cross the sea to the east. Just as he gave the order and was preparing to cross the sea, another piece of good news arrived, which made him even more overjoyed.
Because of the abnormal weather in recent years, Shaanxi has experienced consecutive years of drought and particularly cold winters.
The drought caused the Yellow River, which usually has a large flow, to have a significantly lower water level than in previous years after entering the dry season. In November, the weather suddenly turned unusually cold. Less than half a month later, just three days after Wang Guoliang led his troops to the capital to defend the emperor, the Yellow River froze over.
The Yellow River freezing over is not uncommon; it has happened many times throughout history. But this time, the ice is more solid than before, and the timing is particularly coincidental.
Upon hearing the news, Gao Yingxiang was both astonished and incredibly excited. In his view, this was entirely the will of Heaven! If it weren't for the arrangement of Heaven, how could such a coincidence happen? The Yellow River never freezes earlier or later, but it just happened right after Wang Guoliang left, when he was preparing to cross the river to the east. What else could it be but the will of Heaven?
"Destiny is in my hands!"
The thought suddenly flashed through Gao Yingxiang's mind.
That very day, they sent people to walk on the frozen Yellow River to confirm that the riverbed was completely frozen solid, so that not only could people walk on it, but even horses could pull a cart.
Without further hesitation, he immediately issued the order to cross the sea to the east.
He left Liu Zhe's troops to garrison Fugu, while the entire army, with Wang Er's troops as the vanguard, crossed the frozen river on foot without even needing boats.
After reaching the other side, Gao Yingxiang made some preparations and immediately began his attack on Hequ.
Before attacking Hequ, he sent people into the city to persuade them to surrender, but to no avail. The next day, he began the attack on the city.