A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 149 The situation changes

(11)

At midnight, explosions occurred simultaneously at the four gates of Hetuala City in the east, south, west and north. The turmoil in the inner city had not yet subsided, and the entire outer city also became chaotic.

In this chaotic environment, Lu Cheng easily left Hetuala City, rushed to the outside of the city, met with Ding Xian and others, and rode away.

On the other side, Ding Xiuhe and the 1200 cavalrymen he led began to attack some tribes of the Later Jin Dynasty at nightfall. Every time they found a tribe, they would rain arrows and throw a few explosive packs before withdrawing. They had no desire to fight, just to cause chaos in those tribes.

After a night of turmoil, the tribes of the Later Jin Dynasty were in a state of disarray. Many herdsmen dared not go out to herd their horses. Every tribe gathered together and took strict precautions to prevent Ding Xiu's cavalry from launching a sneak attack.

This also allowed the special forces team with Zaisai to safely reach the meeting point and meet up with Ding Xiu's cavalry team.

Afterwards, Lu Cheng also caught up with several special forces members, and everyone gathered together and headed towards Haizhouwei.

They returned to Haizhouwei smoothly. The special forces members who had been busy for several days went back to rest, and the cavalry teams also went back to rest.

Arriving at Lu Cheng's residence, Zaisai bowed to Lu Cheng and said, "Zaisai thanks General Lu for rescuing me. If it weren't for the general, I'm afraid Zaisai would still be trapped in the cage."

"Chief Zaisai, you don't have to be polite. The Mongolian tribes are allies of the Ming Dynasty. We have a common enemy, so we should unite against the enemy and help each other."

"Zaisai will never forget the general's generosity. After returning, I will definitely send cattle, sheep and horses to repay the general's kindness. In addition, my Khalkha tribe is willing to make peace with the general forever and form a brotherly alliance."

Lu Cheng was also delighted when he heard this. He was waiting for this sentence: "Chief Zaisai is too polite. From now on, we will be the most loyal allies. Come on, Chief Zaisai, now that you have arrived at my Haizhou Guard, you must take good care of yourself and recuperate."

Lu Cheng arranged a banquet to entertain Zaisai and his two sons, and summoned Ma Bojun, the commander who stayed behind, to inquire about the battle situation in Shenyang.

When Nurhaci's army invaded this time, Shenyang had already made sufficient preparations. It checked the public security in the city, strengthened the city defense, and also used powerful weapons such as explosive packs and bombs.

Moreover, the general He Shixian, a brave and resourceful general, was ordered to guard Shenyang this time, and he did not give Nurhaci any chance to break through the city wall.

Now, Lu Cheng’s actions in Hetuala City should have been reported to Nurhaci. I believe Nurhaci will soon become unable to sit still.

Moreover, although Ding Xiu's harassment among the tribes of the Later Jin Dynasty did not cause much damage, it also caused panic among the people on the entire Later Jin grassland.

In this case, if Nurhaci dared to stay in Shenyang and continue to attack the city, Lu Cheng's troops would definitely go deep into the Later Jin again and massacre the tribes.

As for dividing the troops to attack the city, Nurhaci didn't dare to take the risk yet. The Later Jin had so little wealth. If the battle was really won, his reign as Khan would be over.

Sure enough, in the evening of the next day, news came via carrier pigeon that Nurhaci, who had besieged Shenyang for several days, had returned empty-handed again.

The Battle of Shenyang, like the previous Battle of Haizhou, was a victory.

After these two consecutive victories, the morale of the entire Liaodong was boosted, and the soldiers of Liaodong were no longer afraid of the Jiannu.

At the same time, Lu Cheng also sent people to send some of the heads that were cut off this time to Liaoyang.

Although Lu Cheng did not directly participate in the Shenyang Defense War, he played a crucial role. In addition, the heads Lu Cheng sent were also a great contribution.

After the great war ended, Lu Cheng sent away Zaisai and his 500 cavalrymen, and sent Ding Xiu with cavalrymen and some personnel from the logistics department to go deep into the grassland to take over the cattle, sheep and horses donated by the Khalkha tribe and do business with them.

This time, Ding Xiu went to the grassland with a large amount of glass, soap, silk, tea and other supplies.

This time, the Khalkha tribe presented Lu Cheng with a thousand war horses and three thousand cattle and sheep, which was definitely enough for Lu Cheng to digest for a long time.

Moreover, the Khalkha tribe lost so many cattle, sheep and horses at one time, and its own strength was weakened to a certain extent.

Lu Cheng also wanted to train Khalkha to be his younger brother, so as to facilitate the recovery of the entire Mongolian grassland in the future, and naturally would not let Khalkha fall into trouble.

Therefore, Lu Cheng directly asked the Khalkha tribe to be his agent, responsible for selling various commodities of Haizhouwei to the various tribes in northern and western Mongolia.

In this way, Lu Cheng can directly supply the distributors without having to worry about retail. The Khalkha tribe will naturally expand this profitable business.

Moreover, Lu Cheng specially sent several shopkeepers who were very good at doing business to assist the Khalkha tribe in selling these goods to further places. This was a completely mutually beneficial process.

These communities of interests with interconnected interests can be more reliable than the relationship between allies.

It is worth mentioning that when Lin Danhan learned that Lu Cheng had successfully rescued Zasai, in order to show his magnanimity as an elder brother, he also gave Lu Cheng two hundred war horses as a reward.

But compared with Khalkha, this thing is really not enough.

After this incident, the Khalkha tribe also realized that Ligdan Khan was unreliable, but they did not show it now.

However, since someone offered to give him something, Lu Cheng would gladly accept it no matter how little it was. It would be a waste not to take advantage of a good deal.

Not long after, the eunuch from Yanjing City came to Liaodong again to reward the generals of Liaodong.

This time, Lu Cheng was promoted from the third-rank General Zhaoyong to the second-rank General Dingguo, and was responsible for governing the four guards in southern Liaoning, thanks to his contributions in killing several important figures of the Later Jin Dynasty and disrupting the Later Jin Dynasty's Hetuala City.

In other words, from Anshan in the south to Lushun and Dalian, all became Lu Cheng's jurisdiction.

Of course, Lu Cheng’s direct territory was still Haizhou Wei, but he had the right to govern and mobilize troops over Gaizhou Wei, Fuzhou Wei and Jinzhou Wei.

The other three guards in southern Liaoning recruited their own soldiers and were responsible for defense.

But if a war breaks out, Lu Cheng has the right to mobilize troops from the other three garrisons to participate in the battle.

Of course, if the other three guards were attacked by the enemy, Lu Cheng would also be responsible for assisting in defense and rescue.

In addition to Lu Cheng, generals such as He Shixian also received some rewards.

What is interesting is that Xiong Tingbi, who was in charge of the entire Liaodong region, did not receive any commendation or reward from the imperial court.

Afterwards, Lu Cheng also learned about the situation through some intelligence reports from the capital. After two consecutive victories, the ministers in the court regained their confidence. They believed that the Jianzhou Jurchens were not a concern, Nurhaci was just a paper tiger, and the Battle of Sarhu was just a fluke.

In fact, many officials have impeached Xiong Tingbi, believing that Xiong Tingbi has been in charge of Liaodong for more than a year but has never recovered the lost territory. He only knows how to passively defend and has not been proactive.

Some officials even suspected that Xiong Tingbi deliberately exaggerated his military achievements and deceived the court.

Some people even accused Xiong Tingbi of only asking the court for money and food, and not understanding the emperor's difficulties at all. He spent a lot of food and money, but only got a few passive defenses in return.

In fact, looking through the phenomenon to the essence, the reason why Xiong Tingbi was impeached by so many people was that the court could no longer provide food and wages to the soldiers in Liaodong.

Since Xiong Tingbi took charge of Liaodong, the imperial court has been imposing additional taxes on the people of the world to provide for Liaodong. But how much money can be scraped from the poor people of the world?

During this year or so, the number of troops in Liaodong has recovered to more than 100,000, and the monthly consumption of food and wages is not a small amount.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Youxiao, who had just come to power, was also overwhelmed. Naturally, he had no good feelings towards Xiong Tingbi, who asked for money every day.

In addition, after Zhu Youxiao came to power, he began to use Wei Zhongxian to deal with the Donglin Party.

The eunuch party and the Donglin party were fighting fiercely, and Xiong Tingbi was somehow dragged into it. Every day, Zhu Youxiao's desk was filled with impeachment memorials.

Under such circumstances, Xiong Tingbi defended himself on the one hand, and resigned on his own initiative on the other hand, and often cursed the court officials for their inaction at home.

After the news was reported back to the court, Zhu Youxiao considered it and approved Xiong Tingbi's resignation. He then sent Yuan Yingtai, a member of the Donglin Party, to replace Xiong Tingbi as the new governor of Liaodong.

When Lu Cheng learned the news, he went personally to see Xiong Tingbi off.

Xiong Tingbi only told Lu Cheng to do his best to defend Liaodong and protect the people of Liaodong.

After sending Xiong Tingbi away, Lu Cheng returned to Haizhouwei and called over a plain-looking subordinate wearing coarse linen clothes. He asked, "Old Bao, how many people are there in the Intelligence Department now?"

"Your Excellency, the Intelligence Department currently has a total of 658 operational personnel, mainly distributed throughout Liaodong, with some in the grasslands, Jiangnan, the capital, and other places."

"How many people are there in the capital?"

"There are sixty-five registered intelligence personnel in the capital, and we have also recruited some peripheral personnel and two small gangs."

"Arrange another fifty good fighters, and I will send you ten special forces members to follow behind Master Xiong. If necessary, rescue Master Xiong."

In fact, Xiong Tingbi's life should not be in danger this time, and he will be used again later. But just in case, Lu Cheng still arranged some people to guard him secretly, which can be regarded as a return for Xiong Tingbi's kindness.

"Yes, sir, I will go down and arrange it right away."

In addition to the special operations team, Lu Cheng also has a group of non-staff members under his command, which is the Intelligence Department that is specifically responsible for intelligence.

Moreover, the Intelligence Department also has many elite personnel, some of whom are veterans drawn from the field army, and some who were eliminated from the special forces selection. They are considered to be operational personnel slightly inferior to the special forces. They are mainly responsible for collecting and compiling intelligence, as well as doing things that are not convenient to be put on the surface.

At present, the intelligence department has been established for nearly a year and has acquired a certain level of strength and can operate independently.

The Later Jin Dynasty sent assassins and spies many times to try to infiltrate Haizhou Guard, but they were discovered and dealt with in time by the intelligence department.

Now, with the growth of the special operations team and the intelligence department, Lu Cheng no longer needs to be an assassin or carry out assassinations himself.

As the leader of a force, Lu Cheng’s more important task is to stay in charge and coordinate the overall situation.