Chapter 564: Who Gets Hetu Ala City?

The marriage alliance matter had been dragging on for quite some time. Ever since witnessing the great victory of the Ming Dynasty, everyone had begun harboring such thoughts—even the King of Joseon, who originally had no such intention, now entertained the idea of a marriage alliance.

Zhu Youxiao felt not the slightest goodwill toward these fellows who wanted to become his father-in-law.

A bunch of old bastards—are they trying to take my life?

Zhu Youxiao didn't dare go along with this, and it gave him a terrible headache.

This matter wasn't easy to refuse either—once he refused, it would make it seem like he was treating them poorly.

In this era, one of the most important ways to maintain relationships was marriage alliances—marrying one's daughter to the Emperor.

Zhu Youxiao really didn't want to be their convenient son-in-law. With Bumbutai as precedent, these people now had a reason for marriage alliances, which made things very difficult to handle.

Zhu Youxiao rubbed his temples, looked at Chen Hong, and said directly: "Alright, let's leave this matter as it is for now."

There was no particularly good solution at the moment, so he could only drag it out and deal with the specifics as they arose.

Chen Hong knew His Majesty was in a bad mood, but there was nothing he could do to help with this matter, so he didn't dare say anything rash.

If he made His Majesty's mood even worse, he might very well end up being disciplined—the loss would outweigh the gain.

Chen Hong hastily bowed and replied: "Yes, Your Majesty."

After news of the victory arrived, everyone was celebrating.

Zhu Youxiao was overwhelmed with problems, but this damned business couldn't be spoken of, nor could he discuss it with anyone else—he could only stew in his own frustration.

Meanwhile, at the front, the Ming army could be said to be charging forward at breakneck speed.

On the eastern route, after eliminating Hong Taiji, Lu Xiangsheng led his men in relentless pursuit, charging straight toward Hetu Ala. His goal was simple—to take Hetu Ala in one battle. Along the way, they encountered no significant resistance and could be said to have advanced unopposed.

On the central route, after taking Fushun, Sun Chuanting was also advancing at breakneck speed. Some of his troops even abandoned their baggage and traveled light. He had only one objective—to reach Hetu Ala as quickly as possible.

As for Xiong Tingbi on the western route, although he was also hurrying, he was nowhere near matching the pace of Lu Xiangsheng and the others. Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.

Although he had won his battles quite handily before, they had essentially served little purpose. Charging at breakneck speed to Hetu Ala was simply impossible—the distance was too great. No matter how fast he ran, he could never arrive before Lu Xiangsheng and the others.

So he might as well stop rushing and advance steadily instead. If those two were defeated, he could still arrive in time to serve as their reinforcements. Thus Xiong Tingbi advanced in fits and starts, clearing out enemies along the way, carrying the principle of "steady and sure" to its absolute extreme.

Within Sun Chuanting's camp.

Zhang Zhao came before Sun Chuanting and said somewhat dejectedly: "Commander, our men have spotted Commander Lu's scouts. They've already reached Hetu Ala ahead of us, though it seems they haven't launched an attack yet."

"Still a step too late." Sun Chuanting let out a faint sigh, his tone tinged with helplessness.

Zhang Zhao himself also felt rather terrible about it.

For them, this counted as a failure. Although the battle for Hetu Ala hadn't yet begun, as long as the city hadn't been taken, Lu Xiangsheng would never let them make a move.

You couldn't snatch credit that way—all they could do was wait.

Under these circumstances, the morale of the entire army was low. Everyone now knew Hetu Ala was a piece of fat meat—Hong Taiji was already dead, and the resistance there couldn't be all that resolute.

Even if it were resolute, it wouldn't matter—taking the city wouldn't pose any real difficulty. Both Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting himself had full confidence in that.

Under such circumstances, it was first come, first served. Besides, this was the Jurchen capital—there were plenty of good things inside. Once they charged in, just looting alone would net them a fortune. Who wouldn't want that?

During the march, Sun Chuanting had frequently used such promises to entice his soldiers and boost morale—and still they had arrived a step too late.

Glancing at the somewhat disheartened Zhang Zhao, Sun Chuanting said helplessly: "Enough, no more waiting. Take our men and turn around—we're going to attack the Old City."

With that, Sun Chuanting turned his horse around and rode off.

There was no point in staying here any longer—he wouldn't be waiting for a request for reinforcements from Lu Xiangsheng.

Not far from Hetu Ala there was a fairly important city—the Old City. He'd go there first, launch an attack, grab some loot, and placate his men. Otherwise, with morale sinking, trouble could easily brew.

Sun Chuanting made this choice without hesitation.

The Old City was built in the fourteenth year of Wanli on the ruins of the "Jianzhou Old Camp." It wasn't far from Hetu Ala, and by distance, it was the most suitable target to attack.

It also had a relatively large population and counted as one of the Jurchen's more important cities—perfect for taking it down.

Beneath the walls of Hetu Ala, Lu Xiangsheng also heard his subordinates' report.

Upon hearing that Sun Chuanting had already left, Lu Xiangsheng burst into laughter. He turned to look at Cao Wenzhao and said with some smugness: "See that? I told you so, didn't I? He's gone! They wouldn't just wait around for us here."

Hearing this, Cao Wenzhao nodded in agreement and said: "Let's attack quickly. After we take Hetu Ala, we still need to go elsewhere—we can't let him grab all the credit!"

Cao Wenzhao's tone was excited, his face was excited too—he was so worked up he was practically trembling.

But Lu Xiangsheng neither agreed nor disagreed—he simply said nothing.

It was normal for everyone to compete for credit, but sometimes things couldn't be taken too far.

His own achievements this time were already substantial—not only had he killed Hong Taiji, but he had also fought the only major pitched battle.

Now he was about to take Hetu Ala as well—this was already a tremendous accomplishment. In this campaign against the Jurchen, his force should be the one with the greatest merit.

He needed to know when to stop—he couldn't drink up all the soup himself. He should eat the meat and leave some broth for others; otherwise, there would be trouble.

The same applied within the military—even for the sake of comradeship, things couldn't be taken too far.

Lu Xiangsheng decided that this time, when attacking Hetu Ala, he would take a few extra days and attack slowly, preferably with minimal casualties.

This place would become an important stronghold of the Ming in the future—take it slowly, win a war of maximum benefit with minimum destruction.

Give Sun Chuanting and his men some time to capture more cities.

Lu Xiangsheng had a high regard for Sun Chuanting and his men's abilities, and he knew they were formidable.

As long as he gave Sun Chuanting and his men a few days, they would certainly strike out in all directions and rack up plenty of credit—which happened to align perfectly with his own thinking.

For himself, it was also a good chance to polish his reputation.

The last battle against Hong Taiji had already been easy enough. If this time he didn't expend some effort, it would make the enemy look utterly pathetic.

Under such circumstances, his own achievements could easily be diminished. So better to fight for a couple more days and let them put up a fiercer resistance.

Cao Wenzhao naturally had no idea what Lu Xiangsheng was thinking. He quickly fixed his gaze on Lu Xiangsheng, waiting for the order so he could lead his men charging in personally and take the city.

"Set up camp." Lu Xiangsheng glanced at Cao Wenzhao and said.

This order left Cao Wenzhao somewhat bewildered.

In Cao Wenzhao's view, there was no need to set up camp at all—they should charge straight in and take Hetu Ala in one fell swoop.

What was the point of setting up camp? Were they going to stay here for the night?

Looking up at the blazing sun in the sky, Cao Wenzhao was speechless.

What hour was it even now? Were they already planning to stay here for the night?

They could clearly take the city and go inside to stay!

In Cao Wenzhao's view, there was no need at all to wait until sunset before they could take the city of Hetu Ala.

Lu Xiangsheng didn't explain either, but said directly: "We've just been through a great battle, and now we've been running at full speed all the way. The soldiers' bodies are also quite fatigued. We still need to let them rest — they can't keep fighting any longer.

"We've already arrived here first. The credit is ours, and no one can take it away. So let's just rest here for a while."

"Rest well. With good physical condition, we can take Hetu Ala very easily tomorrow. That would be excellent, and it would also let the soldiers suffer fewer casualties."

Cao Wenzhao had no way to refute this reasoning. Although he felt that Lu Xiangsheng hadn't told the whole truth, he nodded directly.

On this matter, what Lu Xiangsheng said made a great deal of sense. After all, everyone had been running at full speed ever since the last battle. Though they weren't utterly exhausted now, they truly should rest properly.

Under these circumstances, there was nothing wrong with Lu Xiangsheng's proposal. To reduce casualties, nothing done was excessive.

Among the New Army there was one guiding principle: effective strength was the most important thing.

Lost weapons could be remade, lost cities could be retaken, but soldiers who died were gone forever.

A veteran soldier was truly precious.

So resting today and taking Hetu Ala tomorrow wasn't anything strange.

At this moment, within the city of Hetu Ala, one could say the mood was one of utter gloom and despair.

For a time, there was actually no one who could make the decisions.

Both Hong Taiji and Daišan were dead. What remained in the city were all the old, the weak, the women, and the children — none but the crippled and the maimed.

The elder generation of brothers — for instance, Hong Taiji's brothers — each had their own ideas.

And Hong Taiji's son Hooge also had his own ideas at this time.

It was only that with no leader among them for the moment, no one could overawe the others into submission. But they hadn't started fighting yet. With a great army pressing on the city from outside, making a scene now would be unseemly.

And among them, some had other thoughts stirring — for instance, a man named Jirgalang.

Jirgalang was not Nurhaci's son; he was the son of Surhaci. And Surhaci had died at Nurhaci's hands. The two brothers had turned against each other not long ago.

Although two of Surhaci's sons had been killed, Amin and Jirgalang had been spared.