Chapter 67: Where to Go

The troops of the Shandong Field Camp fled all the way to Laizhou, where they were met by the troops led by Sun Yuanhua, who repulsed the pursuing rebels.

Although the rebel army led by Li Jiucheng was in high spirits, it was cold and freezing, and the wind and snow were heavy, making the roads difficult. The infantry could not keep up with the team, and only some of the cavalry carried out the pursuit. They were soon exhausted and could not move. When they reached Laizhou, they were blocked by the government troops led by Zhang Tao, so they withdrew their troops and returned.

In this battle, although the rebels were able to defeat the entire Shandong Field Camp, they failed to inflict heavy losses on the government army. Although the government army suffered heavy losses in supplies, its elite main force was basically intact. After retreating to Laizhou, they were slightly reorganized and set up camp under Laizhou City.

The city gates of Laizhou had long been closed. Zhu Dadian, Xie Sanbin, and others urged the generals to appease the routed troops again and again, and only then did they suppress the clamor of the routed troops demanding to enter the city.

After an emergency meeting of the officials and gentry in the city, Prefect Zhu and County Magistrate Hong immediately summoned the paojia in the city, ordering the rich households to contribute grain and the poor households to cook. They made a large amount of coarse grain pancakes and steamed buns, which were lowered from the city wall in baskets. In addition, they once again asked the gentry in the city to “donate generously.”

The gentry of Laizhou, who had already suffered heavy losses, once again “donated generously.” Last time, it was when the rebels were attacking under the city, and the gentry were trying to save their lives. Although it was painful, they were still willing. Now, tens of thousands of government troops were gathered outside the city. They had just been defeated, lacked food and clothing, and it was cold and freezing outside. If there was no food to send them away, it was not impossible that they would first sack Laizhou City. One by one, they were unwilling but had to donate money and grain.

The common people in the city were also forced to contribute. For a time, Laizhou City was in a state of chaos, and the sound of crying shook the sky. Sun Yuanhua, Zhu Dadian, and Xie Sanbin urged the generals of each camp, and after a lot of effort, they finally suppressed the routed troops outside the city.

Zhu Dadian and others entered the city and temporarily stayed in Sun Yuanhua’s governor’s yamen in Laizhou Prefecture. He first received the leaders of the Shandong Field Camp in batches, and comforted them with warm words, asking them to restrain their troops and prepare to meet the rebels. He also received the generals under Sun Yuanhua and praised them for their “loyalty to the country.” Finally, he received Huang Ande.

Huang Ande was not a court military officer, but just a leader of the militia. Zhu Dadian’s reception this time could be called a “special honor.” Of course, Zhu Dadian was not only to repay his life-saving grace, but also a measure to win over Lord Lu.

This Lord Lu’s militia was not only brave, but also had the posture of an elite army in every move. It was by no means comparable to ordinary militia. No wonder his small stockade could stand firm in Huangxian County and could also help Sun Yuanhua defend Laizhou.

It seemed that to wipe out the rebels, he still had to rely on the power of the local gentry and powerful families. Zhu Dadian casually talked with Huang Ande for a few words. Hearing that he was from a hereditary military household in Shandong, he praised him a few words and also rewarded him with fifty taels of silver.

After everything was settled, Zhu Dadian sat alone in the signing room, still feeling shaken. He was by no means a timid person who was afraid of death, but such a sudden turn of events, where victory and defeat were reversed overnight, was really hard to bear. Thinking of how he had spent endless effort just to urge the local government forces to advance, and how he had worked his heart out to maintain morale and discipline after finally arriving at Dengzhou City, he was almost exhausted. He didn’t expect that such a small mistake in the rear would lead to a complete defeat.

Thinking of the tens of thousands of troops outside the city, although they had temporarily settled down, they had just been defeated, and it was difficult to continue to supply them with food and pay for a long time. I am afraid it will be difficult to suppress them, and there are many Liaodong people in the army. If they are “seduced” by the rebels, Zhu Dadian can hardly sleep or eat at the thought of this. For a time, he sighed long and short, and paced around the room in a state of anxiety.

With the rout of Dengzhou, another frenzy of mutual attacks arose in the court. For a time, all factions made a big fuss about this matter, and memorials of impeachment were submitted one after another. Chongzhen’s desk was piled high with memorials of impeachment.

“It’s all nonsense without substance!” he said, impatiently throwing a memorial impeaching Xie Sanbin aside and standing up. The eunuchs and maids around him raised their eyelids slightly. Seeing that he had no intention of going out and did not seem to want tea, they quickly lowered their eyes and stood there without breathing.

He had originally thought that conquering Dengzhou was just a matter of this year, but he didn’t expect that Zhu Dadian would fail at the last moment, letting the rebels burn the grain depot and break the siege in one fell swoop. The thirty thousand-strong army, including the Guanning camps, which the court had spent a lot of money to maintain and were known as the iron cavalry, were actually routed at Dengzhou City and fled all the way to Laizhou.

Now, tens of thousands of troops were gathered in Laizhou. They had no food and no supplies. It was cold and freezing. If it was not handled properly, I am afraid there would be another mutiny.

Chongzhen sighed heavily. Mutiny, mutiny. In these years, the government army had rarely brought him good news in battle, but they were always mutinying. In the past, when his father was alive, although he rarely held court, such things rarely happened. When his elder brother was on the throne, everything was controlled by Wei Ni, and mutinies were also rare.

It had only been five years since he ascended the throne, but there had been constant mutinies, floods, and droughts. Was it because his virtue was not enough? Or was it even more terrible: was the fate of the Ming Dynasty about to end?

At this thought, he couldn’t help but be startled and secretly cursed himself for his wild thoughts.

Most of the grain transported to Qingzhou had been lost, and it was necessary to re-transport it. This alone made him heartbroken. Although grain was tight, there were still many stocks in the official granaries in Tongzhou and Jiangnan, but the high transportation costs always shocked him.

Thinking of how Zhu Dadian had recently submitted a memorial about the floods in the entire province of Shandong, from the inland to the coast, all the prefectures and counties had suffered from major floods. Zhangqiu, Xincheng, Qixia, Jinxiang, and other places had repeatedly suffered from floods, and he was requested to exempt them from taxes and provide relief. To rescue the troops of the Shandong Field Camp, not only could they not count on the grain of Shandong Province, but they also had to allocate additional grain to relieve the people…

Thinking of what a bitter face the Minister of Revenue would have, he became more and more restless.

There was a shortage of money, a shortage of troops, a shortage of grain, and also a shortage of capable officials. Although there were many officials, few of them could get things done. Chongzhen had originally planned to dismiss Sun Yuanhua from his post and strip him of his official rank once Dengzhou was conquered, but in the current situation, if he really drove Sun Yuanhua away, I am afraid the situation in Dengzhou and Laizhou would be even more difficult to clean up. Gao Qiqian mentioned in his secret memorial that this time, the defeat of Dengzhou was entirely due to Sun Yuanhua leading his troops to meet them, so that the entire army was not wiped out. Even Zhu Dadian was saved by Sun Yuanhua’s subordinates.

And Zhu Dadian and Xie Sanbin’s memorials also mentioned Sun Yuanhua’s response. It seemed that this Sun Yuanhua was still a person who could do things conscientiously.

“However, this old fellow is really hateful!” Chongzhen thought. If it weren’t for his improper handling at the beginning, how could Dengzhou have been so rotten!

At this thought, he couldn’t help but hate Zhu Dadian even more for “betraying my grace.” If it weren’t for his incompetence, how could he be so indulgent towards Sun Yuanhua!

On the imperial desk, there were several memorials impeaching Zhu Dadian for “corruption” and Sun Yuanhua for “colluding with the Liaodong people.” Each of them was well-founded. If it were up to him, he would have liked to issue an edict to dismiss them and bring them to the capital for strict interrogation, but the current situation was really not suitable for changing commanders in the middle of a battle.

The only thing to do now was to quickly transport grain and supplies to Laizhou to supply the army to prevent any changes. Thinking of this, he forced himself to cheer up and returned to the imperial desk.

Although the rebels had won a great victory and captured countless supplies, after the excitement of victory passed, Li Jiucheng, Kong Youde, and others found that their strategic situation had not changed much. Although the encirclement of the government army was broken for a while, the main force of the government army still existed, and their own side was just prolonging its last breath.

After some calculation, they now had two choices: either take advantage of the momentum of the great victory, when their own morale was high and the government army was newly defeated and short of food, to gather the whole army and attack. If they could inflict heavy losses on the government army, the court’s attitude might soften. Or they could set sail and flee to Dongjiang.

The former had some certainty, but this place was hundreds of li away from Laizhou. It was icy and snowy outside, and their own food was also scarce, and they did not have many winter clothes. If they traveled all the way to Laizhou to fight, they would lose many men due to hunger, cold, and fatigue along the way. Even if they barely reached the city, I am afraid it would be difficult to fight with the government army.

The latter was to escape for their lives, and the certainty was great. They had hundreds of ships from the original Dengzhou and Laizhou navy and the Tianjin navy that they had captured at the beginning, as well as a batch of ships from the Dongjiang Town that had defected to them. Although they could not take away all the men and horses, it was still possible to transport the main generals and most of the direct-line troops.

As long as they could leave Dengzhou smoothly, there were many islands in the Bohai Bay. It would not be difficult to find a foothold. They could also echo the old Dongjiang troops scattered on the various islands in the Bohai Sea. The difficulty was that once they went to sea, they would be drifting on the sea, and there would be no way to raise food and supplies. Without food and supplies, this lone army would sooner or later be in chaos without a fight.

At that time, besides surrendering to the Tartars, there would be no other way out.

But this choice was very difficult for them to accept. Most of them had defected to Dongjiang because they could not bear the oppression of the Manchu Qing, and they had a strong resistance to the Tartars. They could not take this road unless they were at the end of their rope.

“No, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll go to Korea!” Li Jiucheng said. “The Li Dynasty is weak, and its military preparations are not strong. We can go to Korea and occupy a piece of land, gather the comrades of Dongjiang, and maybe we can have a new situation!”

“That’s the only way,” although Kong Youde agreed, he did not think much of Li Jiucheng’s idea. Although the Li Dynasty was weak, it was after all a country. In these years, in order to guard against the Tartars and the Dongjiang Town that had taken over their nests, they had also deployed heavy troops along the Yalu River. After their side went to sea, they would no longer be able to coerce men and horses. Although most of the men and horses on the various islands of Dongjiang had a gap with the current commander-in-chief, Huang Long, they had also fought with each other more than once, and the contradictions were sharp and complex. It was not certain that they would all obey their orders.

They could only rely on their own direct-line troops to fight hard. One death meant one less. And the court would inevitably join forces with Korea to suppress them…

However, the Bohai Sea was largely frozen in winter. If they were not careful after going to sea, the fleet would be trapped in floating ice, so they could only continue to defend Dengzhou. At least they had to wait until early spring next year, after the ice had thawed, before they could make plans.