stubborn thief

Three days.

Huang Taiji didn't sleep for three whole days.

He had been speculating on Liu Chengzong's strategic intentions in joining the war.

I don't understand.

At first he thought that Liu Chengzong went to the southern desert to show off his military power in exchange for support from the tribes in the southern desert, but Liu Chengzong cut off Ajige's retreat and pushed his army to the pass of the Greater Khingan Range.

Later, he thought that Liu Chengzong wanted to cooperate with the Ming army, but this guy ignored the Ming army at all, and he did not see any way of coordinating troops. It seemed that he just wanted to compete for the reputation of Khan on the grassland.

Even when Huang Taiji began to besiege Liu Chengzong's northern detachment, he thought that crossing the Greater Khingan Range was just a tentative attack by Liu Chengzong. If he encountered resistance or casualties, he would retreat to the western foot of the Greater Khingan Range.

Really, Emperor Chongde once thought that Liu Chengzong's eastward attack was because he was angry with him for scolding him.

He doubted his own moral character and never thought that Liu Chengzong had great ill will towards him.

It was not until E'linchen led 10,000 Mongolian cavalry into the heart of Khorchin that Huang Taiji led the Eight Banners Army to withdraw from the Greater Khingan Range and rushed to support Khorchin.

Huang Taiji finally realized what a psychopath Liu Chengzong was.

This starving ghost from Shaanxi just came here to eat.

The marching speed that the Eight Banners Army was proud of was fully demonstrated on the way to support Korchin.

They could roll up their armor and travel 200 miles in a day and night. The marshal's army following behind them could travel 100 miles a day without even getting caught up in the dust from the horses' butts.

However, the gang did not try their best to pursue them.

They were like a group of madmen, gathering their troops at the pass of the Greater Khingan Range, then scattering to attack, sweeping across the pastures of the two banners of Kalachin again, and sweeping through the Ongniud, Aohan and Naiman tribes like a hurricane, turning the grassland into a river of blood. Then they chased into the edge of the Korchin grassland with a cloud of dust covering the sky, connecting the camp for fifty miles, robbing and killing, capturing prisoners and seizing livestock.

By the time Huang Taiji, who was busy supporting Korchin, received the news, several tribes that had been affiliated with the Later Jin since the time of Ligdan Khan had disappeared forever on the vast grassland.

Of course, this is just the news that Emperor Chongde heard from the old people of various tribes.

It’s actually not that tragic.

The troops Liu Chengzong sent to gather the various tribes were not that large, and they were not that cruel.

He simply assigned troops to the Chahar nobles in his Northern Yuan camp and asked them to pacify the various tribes and win over people and livestock.

These tribes on the eastern foothills of the Greater Khingan Range are all Chahar's old subordinates and acquaintances. When Ligdan Khan betrayed Chahar, the leaders of these tribes were the backbone. They will definitely not end up well in the Marshal's Office.

So their only choice was to flee to Khorchin and complain to Emperor Chongde.

In fact, when Taiji Xuantu issued an order to execute only the evil leaders, the various tribes put up almost no resistance, and the small nobles rushed to drive their leaders' herdsmen, cattle, sheep and horses to join them.

The situation is better than people.

Liu Chengzong had troops all over the mountains and plains pressing on him, and facing the personal expedition of Emperor Daiqing, he was not crushed like Ligdan Khan, but was advancing eastward.

Now that the Dai Qing have retreated, why are the remaining small tribes still struggling?

But Liu Shizi is also under a lot of mental pressure.

Because the Eight Banners nobles were indeed good at fighting, and the Eight Banners soldiers were indeed brave.

It was not that the Marshal's army was unable to travel 200 miles a day, but that Liu Chengzong was unwilling to pursue them relentlessly.

Ever since Liu Shizi ordered the pursuit, his main task for the past three days has been not only to lead the army to press forward on the Khorchin grassland, but also to transport the wounded generals and soldiers in the north to Yuanshangdu in the rear for proper treatment.

During the few days when the Eight Banners besieged the northern detachment alone, the northern camps suffered nearly 2,000 casualties of varying degrees, with more than 500 killed in action. The general Wang Chengen was even wounded by an arrow and had to retreat to the rear.

Of course, such losses are indeed huge.

But for Liu Chengzong, after understanding the entire process of the battle, it was not that his soldiers and generals were incompetent.

Quite the opposite.

After the Marshal's Army was ambushed by Ding Guodong's Yanqing Special Forces Camp and was split into two, the Wuyuan Camp of Mo Nan Wang Chengen and the Shuofang Camp of He Huchen rushed to rescue and join the battle. In addition, the chariot camp of Feng Rang's Linliang Brigade was deployed on the spot to stabilize the position and make it possible to hold the position, thus turning the defeat into a confrontation.

They played well.

The casualties were heavy, not because our soldiers were afraid of fighting, but because the enemy was indeed brave and unique.

It was so special that Liu Chengzong found the battle weird and even funny.

They are two specialized troops targeting the Ming army's heavy armored groups.

Needless to say, the Marshal's Army established by Liu Shizi was the well-equipped elite Ming army since the establishment of the Shizi Camp.

They had better quality standard armor, guns with longer range and greater power, and stronger organizational capabilities, hoping to kill a large number of Ming troops in a short period of time during battles and confrontations, and win the battle.

Liu Chengzong summarized the intelligence at all levels on the battle in the north, as well as the spoils obtained from cleaning up the battlefield, and concluded that the Eight Banners Army was at the other extreme.

The weapons captured by Feng Rang's chariot camp on the battlefield included almost none of the standard weapons listed in the regular army's drill manual.

There were no spears, and the length of long swords and spears was at most eight feet. Short weapons were mostly axes, hammers and short spears. Even war bows with a force of over a hundred pounds were reduced to melee weapons within three to five steps in actual operations on the battlefield.

In other words, at least among the Eight Banners soldiers who were fighting against the Northern Marshal's Army, they were all using melee weapons and had no idea of ​​fighting in formations at all.

Feng Rang's battle report, like that of the commander-in-chief of the northern detachment, reported this characteristic of the enemy army in great detail.

Firstly, Wang Chengen was injured and unable to submit battle reports. Secondly, He Huchen and Ding Guodong were both caught in the melee and did not have a clear understanding of the overall situation on the battlefield.

And this was not the first time that Feng Rang fought against the Eight Banners of the Later Jin Dynasty.

As early as the Sarhu period, he served with Cao Yao in the Beijing Army Firearms Battalion, fought together, and was defeated together.

This time, as a general, he fought in the chariot camp, which gave him a deep understanding of the Eight Banners Army from a higher perspective.

The Eight Banners soldiers he described in his battle report were a cunning and brave nine-headed monster.

When the Niulu Zhangjing of the Eight Banners attacked the camp under the command of a great noble, they would hide the focus of their attack and launch an all-round attack on the entire camp in a very erratic and erratic manner.

It looked like a large army was being assembled, but in fact, it was like a nine-headed monster all of a sudden, with the dead soldiers making a way and charging in all directions of the army formation.

The elite cavalry armed with long swords were behind, and they would rush in when they saw a gap. Their goal was very clear, which was to destroy the army's organization.

This kind of tactic seems very stupid, as if one does not take human lives seriously and attacks in the face of gunfire.

But in fact, the tactics are simple and extremely efficient, and will cause great mental pressure on the enemy forces in a defensive position.

There is nothing special about this kind of tactics, but being able to use it skillfully means that the generals at all levels have a very strong control over the soldiers. Liu Chengzong was also unwilling to pursue and attack the Eight Banners Army because of this way of fighting.

Because he realized that if the battle in the north only had a chariot camp of 3,000 people and 3,000 Eight Banners soldiers, the Marshal's army would definitely win and even defeat the Eight Banners soldiers.

The larger the scale of the battle, the more uneven the strength and degree of eliteness of each battalion will be. Those with less than 10,000 soldiers are all elite soldiers. They are not only not afraid of this kind of sudden attack, but will also be overjoyed.

However, the more troops were deployed, the easier it was for the weak soldiers to be defeated by this method of breaking through the enemy's formation. One or two battalions were driven out and defeated, which led to a large-scale collapse.

Liu Shizi, who was on the way of pursuit, thought to himself, this opponent is not easy to chase, and it is easy for him to ambush and defeat him, so why should I chase him?

Therefore, he simply ordered the Tangqi to rush into the heart of Khorchin, search for E'linchen, and pass on his orders.

Let E'linchen take his soldiers and run as far as they can, and try their best to get back to a place where there is support. There is no need to fight with Daiqing anymore. As long as they can bring back the spoils of the expedition against Khorchin, it will be considered a great achievement.

In Liu Shizi's heart, he thought that E'linchen was quite capable in fighting.

But he didn't know that the victory in the Liaoze battle was not as glorious as E'erlinchen described in the battle report.

The talk of annihilating 5,000 enemies is pure nonsense.

How could two armies composed of Mo Nan cavalry fight such a fierce battle?

In a battle, ten thousand cavalrymen cannot surround five thousand cavalrymen, not to mention that it is impossible for the two sides to fight a battle. The Khorchin tribe is not stupid. It is obvious that they are at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, so why would they stay to fight a battle?

In fact, the total force of both sides exceeded 15,000 people and 13,000 mules and horses. After the initial encounter, they dispersed into small forces of various sizes and ran around on the edge of the swamp on the southern Horqin grassland.

We fought into swamps, woods, and Gobi Deserts until both sides could no longer see the enemy or find their subordinates. The entire army was chasing each other, tumbling and tumbling all the way into the heart of Korchin.

However, E'linchen had more soldiers and was able to free up his hands to cut off the main traffic routes leading to the Xing'an Mountains battlefield. Seeing that no large number of enemy troops fled in that direction, he guessed that he had won.

So he sent a battle report to Liu Shizi.

On this point, E'erlinchen of Ordos and Badali of Khorchin actually had the same idea during the battle.

Neither of them considered themselves as direct subordinates of the Marshal's Office or the Daiqing Empire. They both wanted to preserve their strength as much as possible and were unwilling to get close to their main forces.

E'linchen was unwilling to stay by Liu Chengzong's side, and Badali was unwilling to lead his troops to Huang Taiji's side.

So the two of them had an excuse and tacitly led their troops to Korchin.

There was no other reason. Both of them knew the strength of their subordinates. Their troops would be crippled in one round on the battlefield where the Marshal's Office and Dai Qing's main force were fighting.

E'linchen was unwilling to smear the flesh and blood of the Mongolian soldiers south of the desert on Liu Chengzong's throne, and Badali was equally unwilling to destroy the Khorchin tribe on Daiqing's foundation.

At the same time, both sides have their own shortcomings.

E'linchen did not have strict constraints on his subordinates. Although these 800 to 900 "nobles" under him were all from humble origins, they were all very unruly. They joined the army just to rob and would not listen to his grand strategies at all.

The Khorchin nobles on Badali's side were also dissatisfied with Emperor Chongde's abolition of the title of Khan and the large-scale conscription of soldiers. A few rebellious leaders took their tribes back home as soon as they encountered the enemy.

This then led to a larger-scale rout.

It was similar to the situation when Ming army generals were forced to go to war. They were forced into battle because there was no unity of internal thinking, and all they needed was an excuse for their collapse.

Compared with the complete annihilation of the enemy in E'linchen's battle report, the battle report sent by Badali to Huang Taiji was much more obedient.

They told Emperor Chongde clearly that our reinforcements had been defeated, and the mountains and plains were filled with enemies, making it impossible to fight them. We could only lure the enemy deep into our territory and lead them into the Khorchin grassland. Come and support us quickly!

When Huang Taiji saw the battle report, he almost went crazy.

The Khorchin tribe can be said to be the number one enemy that Nurhaci and Huang Taiji, two generations of Later Jin Khans, used marriage and alliance to disintegrate and annex.

As early as the time of Nurhaci, Khorchin was the only powerful alliance in Northeast China capable of competing with the Later Jin Kingdom.

The reason why it has become what it is today is entirely the result of the Aisin family's consistent political tactics for more than a decade, which have continuously divided and absorbed it.

Just last year, an internal conflict led by young nobles broke out in Khorchin. Garzhusaitel, the leader of the Seven Taijis of the Right Wing of Khorchin who refused to be recruited by the Later Jin Dynasty, was killed, symbolizing that the traditional aristocratic power of Khorchin as an independent regime had been completely deprived.

Until this year, this great annexation that lasted for more than ten years finally came to an end. The carefully cultivated seeds finally grew into big trees, and the fruits can be picked by the Daiqing Empire.

Before they had time to taste it, the Mongolian troops from the Marshal's Office rushed into the Khorchin grassland.

How could Huang Taiji bear this?

He must rescue Korchin.

He would rather risk being pursued by Liu Chengzong and take the risk of dividing his troops, with Dorgon leading 5,000 cavalry as the rear guard, while he personally led the main force to rush to the rescue of Korchin.

As a result, Khorchin was not in any danger, but the Naiman and Aohan tribes behind were attacked. Huang Taiji was so angry that he wrote a letter to blame Dorgon.

Dorgon was also wronged.

The order he received was to cover the rear, not to fight Liu Chengzong with swords.

Of course, he would lead his troops to follow Huang Taiji wherever he went, as long as the main force was not caught up or attacked.

Who knew that Liu Chengzong didn't care about him at all and just pursued the other affiliated tribes?

Dorgon was blamed and angrily planned to set up an ambush near the tribes under Khorchin to ambush the marshal's army and destroy their prestige.

As a result, they waited for two days without seeing any pursuers. They even met with the Mongolian tribes south of the desert after E'linchen was blocked by Huang Taiji and dispersed.

Huang Taiji led his army into the Khorchin grassland, and his troops scattered in all directions, launching attacks and pursuits on the various tribes in the south of the desert who were looting people and livestock. Within a few days, dozens of battles were fought around large and small lakes in the northern part of Khorchin.

We win more than we lose, but the enemy is very good at running.

He was also worried that Liu Chengzong would continue his attack.

As a result, they received the good news from Dorgon that Liu Chengzong had retreated. The 40,000 to 50,000 troops only reached the left wing of Khorchin before being stopped by Liaoze. They neither continued to advance towards Shenyang nor towards Khorchin, but retreated honestly to Xing'an Mountains.

This result made Emperor Chongde feel greatly relieved. He thought that it must be the Ming Dynasty's Chongzhen Emperor who played due role and began to send Ming troops to disrupt Liu Chengzong's rear food supply route.

As soon as Huang Taiji had a short respite, he entered the post-war state, dispatched trusted nobles to the various Niulu of Khorchin to investigate the losses, and sent people back to Shenyang to mobilize supplies and start providing relief to the Khorchin tribes.

Provide relief to those who can, and if the tribes are severely damaged, simply merge them into the Eight Banners.

However, this happy mood only lasted for less than two days in Huang Taiji's heart.

Soon he received another piece of news from Dorgon that Liu Chengzong had indeed retreated his troops, but not far.

A large number of Han troops are still entrenched between the Xilamulun River and the Chaganmulun River on the eastern foot of the Greater Khingan Range. Their movements are strange, as if... they are farming.

Moreover, according to the information provided by the Naiman prisoners who escaped from the Marshal's camp, Han Khan's army was building a city in the Greater Khingan Range, between the Xilamulun River and the Baicha River.

It seems like these people don't plan to leave! (End of this chapter)