stubborn thief

June 11, afternoon.

The fragrant wind blows up sand, and yellow dust rises to the sky.

The Eight Banners Army was divided into twelve formations and marched westward.

On the day when Liu Chengzong's troops reached the desert and decided to make a detour, Huang Taiji ordered the troops to rest on the grassland for sixteen hours.

He was not considering tactics. He didn't care about tactics at all.

Because he received a letter sent from Shengjing five days ago. Wei Qi, who stayed behind in Shengjing, said in the letter that there was a beacon fire at Fushun Pass and the city of Hetuala, the former site of Jianzhou, had been burned down.

Before the main force of the Eight Banners went out to fight, Huang Taiji ordered troops from the Niulu outside the Great Wall to come to Beijing to assist in the defense. The more than 400 soldiers who came from Huifa City, without even wearing armor, encountered nearly 10,000 enemy cavalry at Hunhe River outside Fushun Great Wall. They were outnumbered and only two of them escaped into Liaodong.

Who would have thought that he would be beaten up in his hometown of Jianzhou!

Afterwards, Wei Qi sent troops out of the pass to investigate, and found that there was indeed an army divided into two routes. The chariot camp was deployed at the mouth of the Hunhe River, and the cavalry went down along the Suzi River. Within one day, they successively captured the villages of Jiefan, Gule, and Bamardun, and approached Hetuala.

The male members of the village who were under the banner were taken away by Huang Taiji, and the women and children who were good at using bows and guns were also transferred away by Wei Qi. The only ones left were the oldest and the weakest of the old.

Zuo Liangyu's Batu Camp was not interested in fighting and just let little Zhamu's Dalahan Army do the work.

The urgent news from Shengjing was like a sledgehammer, hitting Huang Taiji on the head.

It was even more confusing than Liu Chengzong who crossed the river in the windy and sandy weather and looked up to see the Eight Banners in a long snake formation laid out in front of him.

Huang Taiji couldn't figure it out.

Dorgon almost got the point.

He thought they had been deceived, and the Tangqi hanging in front to block the battlefield were just a cover - so far, Dorgon was absolutely right.

But then things went wrong. He said to Huang Taiji very firmly: "This is a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain!"

He said that Liu Manzi was sure that we could not catch up with his baggage, so he ordered the prisoners to escort the baggage westward when they crossed the border, while he himself led elite troops eastward, first attacking Jianzhou outside Fushun Pass and then attacking Shengjing, leaving us without any way to take care of both ends.

If he returns to support Shengjing, the baggage can be safely transported across the Greater Khingan Range and his elite troops can also escape; if he goes after the baggage directly, he may not be able to catch up and may even lose Shengjing.

He made a thorough analysis in Huang Taiji's military tent, and his arguments were very logical.

Therefore, Dorgon suggested that they should return to defend immediately and save Shengjing first. They should not let Liu Chengzong continue to make trouble like this, otherwise the country would be destroyed at any time.

In fact, whether the country would be destroyed or not, Dorgon's words were somewhat alarmist.

In fact, Duoduo was a person who didn't care about things. Dorgon was the de facto leader of the two white flags, that is, the two yellow flags of Jianzhou Jurchens in the old Khan's era. The Suzi River area was their hometown.

Although we no longer live there, we can't let the thieves from the west burn it down.

The two white flags are now eager to return home. As the leader of the flags, Dorgon must at least express his position to Huang Taiji and go back!

Tudor is a staunch supporter of this suggestion.

The youngest prince of the Ai family did not think that Dorgon was right. In fact, he did not have the ability to judge.

He just wanted to go back to Shengjing to listen to opera.

Duoduo didn't want to fight this war from the beginning. As the eldest son of the Aisin family, he has all the shortcomings.

He is playful, greedy for money, cruel, lustful, likes to make trouble, cannot fight, is good at running away, and is not an accurate archer.

When shooting a roe deer, the arrow could hit Dorgon's thigh, causing his brother to be bedridden for several months.

As early as a few years ago, Huang Taiji asked his brothers for advice on planning a war plan against Mongolia, Korea and Ming Dynasty.

Others would first fight Mongolia and then conquer Korea, and then fight the Ming Dynasty when they had accumulated enough wealth.

Duoduo is not like that. He is purely profit-oriented. He thinks that Mongolia and North Korea are all poor people. Don't bother with them. We will just catch the rich ones and beat them.

It’s the same whether I attack the Guanning Army or Beijing, so it’s better to attack Beijing directly. I can’t defeat the Jinzhou Army, and I’m still scared.

So he felt that there was no point in provoking the poor and domineering Liu Chengzong.

Especially now.

Although Duoduo had no military ability at all, this did not prevent him from doubting Huang Taiji's military ability.

I followed Fourth Brother in the war for more than a month. This was burned, that was robbed, and I had to march north and south every day. I was led by the nose until I was about to stick out my tongue.

Even after fighting for such a long time, I still can't find where Liu Chengzong is. I haven't even seen him once.

There is only one good thing about Duoduo. He has been embarrassed among his brothers since he was a child, but he doesn't think being embarrassed is a big deal at all. He has immunity to it.

"That Liu Chengzong is like a ghost, leading tens of thousands of people floating around on the battlefield. Unless he wants you to catch up with him, you won't be able to catch up with him in three days, and you won't be able to catch up with him in three months."

Duoduo said to Dorgon, "This fourth brother is still not convinced. His hometown has been pointed out, but he is still gritting his teeth to chase after him. Can he get the money back if he catches up with him?"

Huang Taiji did not care much about the opinions of Jianzhou and the two white flags. His roots were in the two yellow flags of the Haixihada tribe.

But he really couldn't make up his mind.

After all, Dorgon’s judgment was not without basis.

The army that disturbed Jianzhou appeared just a few days after they left the border, which matched the time Liu Chengzong needed to rush to the border of Fushun after leaving the border.

The situation made Huang Taiji very confused, and he was so anxious that his buttocks were on fire and boils appeared.

He wondered if Liu Chengzong was really a military genius. After burning Liaoyang, he attacked Jianzhou, used the baggage to transfer his main force out of Liaodong, and then turned around to attack Shengjing?

Can you really play him around in the palm of your hand?
Emperor Chongde was not convinced.

He sent Wu Bai from the vanguard camp to investigate, and he broke through the Tangqi's blockade and ran into the Shuofang camp soldiers left by Liu Chengzong in the west. He had a slight upper hand in the attack, but He Huchen showed the momentum of reinforcements on the side and scared Wu Bai back.

This intelligence obtained before the battle gave Huang Taiji a reason not to withdraw his troops.

The main thing is that he knew very well that it would be useless to withdraw troops at this time.

Firstly, there are no soldiers in Shenyang now. As long as Fushun Pass is breached, the eight hundred cavalrymen can march straight in and break through along the Hunhe River.

Huang Taiji pulled out almost all the male men in the banner, and there were no decent garrisons left in Liaodong.

Secondly, Liu Chengzong's military prowess was so fierce that it only took him three days to capture the fortified city of Liaoyang and plunder the Liaoshen countryside. If he had the time to lead his troops back for reinforcement, he would probably return to only Shengjing, which had been burned to ashes.

He also agreed with Dorgon's suggestion to retreat, but he was unwilling to return empty-handed and fight such a humiliating battle.

So he stayed for a day and waited for new news from the rear.

In the early hours of this morning, he received mixed news from behind.

The good news is that the army did not attack Fushun Pass, and did not even reach Hetuala, but retreated northward. It seems that it was not Liu Chengzong's main force, but Liu Chengzong divided his troops.

This shows that Liu Chengzong is still within the range that humans can deal with.

Dividing the troops and forcing the enemy to divide their forces is what any general would try every possible means to achieve, and Liu Chengzong did it himself!

And the bad news.

The reason why the Marshal's Army did not attack Hetuala was that there was no need to attack. Well... Hetuala rebelled himself.

Unlike what Liu Chengzong imagined, there were not many Jurchens in the former Jianzhou area, but there were some Han people under the Eight Banners and former Ming troops.

When Nurhaci invaded Liaodong, he subjugated the Ming army that voluntarily surrendered to Li Yongfang, and at its peak his force exceeded 10,000 men.

It's just like conquering Liaoyang and moving the Han people in the south city to the north city.

Who is stupid enough to not stay in a good place? Li Yongfang made great contributions to Nurhaci. People like Sun Degong, Shi Tingzhu and other three brothers, and the cities of Liaoyang were all instigated by him to rebel and become the son-in-law of the Jin Dynasty. He opened a mansion in Hetuala.

However, in the later period of Nurhaci, because the old Khan killed Han people, and Li Yongfang was a Han Chinese, Han people in various places rebelled, which made him suspected. He gradually lost power politically and his influence was not as great as before.

After Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, he re-employed Li Yongfang, but he was on guard against them and isolated them outside Liaodong.

The main person appointed was his eldest son Li Yangeong, also known as Yingge.

He served as Jiala Zhangjing and one of the three ministers of the Ministry of Personnel.

However, the six ministries of Daiqing are similar to the six yamen of the Marshal's Mansion. The person who really manages things is still the banner master, Beile. Most of the official positions only provide people with a rank and their actual effects are very limited.

Two years ago, Li Yongfang died of illness. Yingge led the six Niulu left behind by him to settle in Hetuala.

It was he who rebelled in Hetuala.

Li Yangeng felt that he was almost finished.

When his father surrendered to the Jin Dynasty, he was in his teens, at the age when he could distinguish good from evil and was passionate. He saw Nurhaci going crazy, and later Amin and others called his father a barbarian slave, which made him dissatisfied with everything about the Eight Banners nobles and he kept on secretly causing trouble.

During the reign of Nurhaci, he assisted the Han people of Fuzhou in escaping from the Later Jin Dynasty, and was the source of Nurhaci's suspicion of Li Yongfang.

After Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, he helped Liu Xingzuo and his brothers escape to Dongjiang, and also informed the Ming Dynasty of the news on the eve of the Battle of Dalingh.

Nothing happened before, firstly, Li Yongfang protected him, secondly, the Han people had great power in the Later Jin, and thirdly, there were enemies from Dongjiang.

Now that Li Yongfang is gone, the Han people in Liaodong have been almost killed by Nurhaci, and the Dongjiang Army led by Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi have surrendered to the Later Jin.

Many people in Dongjiang knew that he had helped Liu Xingzuo and his brothers, and this matter could no longer be concealed.

Death is near.

Therefore, as soon as the troops of Zuo Liangyu, Xiao Zhamusu and Feng Rang arrived at a position forty miles away from Hetuala, Li Yangeng responded by setting fire to the city. He led six Niulu, carried his father's coffin, and joined Zuo Liangyu.

In fact, Zuo Liangyu appeared outside Fushun Pass at this time. The reason why the time difference caused Dorgon to misjudge was nothing else but that he was lost.

Feng Rang, Zuo Liangyu and Xiao Zhamusu are all outsiders.

When we reached the mountains east of Kaiyuan, we got lost in the old forest and it took us three days to find the Hun River.

Liu Chengzong thought that Feng Rang had fought at Sarhu and was familiar with the place. In fact, he was like a blind man. What Feng Rang was familiar with was walking from Shenyang to Fushun. That was how troops were sent out from Sarhu back then. They were beaten not long after they left the border.

He is not familiar with the outside world at all.

On the contrary, the Tangqi sent by Liu Chengzong to inform them to retreat moved in a small group. They were not afraid of being discovered by the enemy and exposing their military situation. They slipped along the border wall and arrived at Sarhu one day earlier than Zuo Liangyu.

He ran around everywhere but couldn't find his own people. He was afraid of being caught by hunters, so he hid in the mountains and was almost scared to death.

So when Zuo Liangyu and others actually started to act, they had already learned that Liu Chengzong was preparing to retreat across the border.

Therefore, they fought and retreated quickly, robbed several villages, and happened to see Hetuala spontaneously combust, so they took the prisoners and surrendered soldiers and ran away.

Huang Taiji still doesn’t know what Li Yangeng has done behind his back. When he and Dorgon saw the news, they went crazy.

Dorgon was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. He was shocked when he heard the question: "Ying, Yingge rebelled... Is it fake?"

Even if Kong Youde and Shang Kexi rebelled, they never thought that Li Yangeng would rebel.

That is Li Yongfang's son. His whole family is married to the Aisin family and is an affiliated family. How could they rebel?
Both of them were people with very quick minds. Almost in an instant, they saw through the phenomenon of Li Yangeng's defection and saw the essential problem that Dai Qing would face next: neither the Han people nor the Mongolians could be trusted.

Since Huang Taiji ascended the throne, he has had great trust in the Han and Mongolian generals under his rule.

Because after Nurhaci's selection, those who could be forced to rebel rebelled, those who could be forced to run away ran away, and those who could be killed were killed.

Most of the remaining people had committed unforgivable crimes against the Ming Dynasty or the Northern Yuan Dynasty and had shaved their heads. Only the Later Jin Dynasty could provide them with a shelter, so they could be employed with great confidence.

Just like Li Yangeng, as the son of Li Yongfang, let alone defecting, even if he was surrounded by Ming troops on the battlefield, he had to fight to the death and had no chance to surrender at all.

But the situation is different now.

No matter how great the crimes these Ming traitors committed against the Ming, at most they only committed crimes in a town in Liaodong, surrendered a city, and fought a few battles.

Could there be a greater crime than Liu Chengzong's conquest of three borders and subjugation of five towns?

It was just like a small traitor meeting a big traitor and integrating into the group without any resistance.

The key killer move, shaving the head, was useless to Liu Chengzong.

According to the report from Kong Youde who escaped back, the army under Liu Chengzong had an appearance between the Ming Army and the Jin Army, and looked very much like the Jin Army wearing Ming Army armor.

What Daishan saw near Shengjing was all Mongolian soldiers with various braids.

This guy is still a big Khan.

Huang Taiji got so angry that his blood pressure rose when he thought about this.

You are a good Han Chinese, but you gave up being an emperor and lowered yourself to become the Khan of the Northern Barbarians. You even learned from them to rob the border.

As a result, when I proclaimed myself emperor, the eunuch Gao Qiquan wrote an article to ridicule me, saying that I was at the same level as Zhang Zhi.

What's the difference between you leading the northern barbarians to attack Shaanxi and the Yuan Dynasty Emperor Kublai Khan leading the Han army to fight for the Khan throne in Karakoram?

Of course there are differences. Liu Chengzong came to the throne legitimately.

Liu Chengzong was the designated heir in the will of Khan Ligdan. The will was recognized at the kurultai assembly, and he was elected Khan by the votes of the taijis.

Until this morning, Huang Taiji blocked the news of Li Yangeng's defection and decided to continue the march.

During the march, he adjusted the formation and placed all the Han troops with guns and artillery of more than 10,000 people, including Geng Zhongming, at the front line, with the Eight Banners and Mongolian Corps watching them to prevent any chaos during the battle.

We have learned from our mistakes and should be more cautious in employing Han people in the future.

Huang Taiji is going to follow Nurhaci's old path.

Just as they were marching southward in three rows in a horizontal formation, the three generals, including Jin Yuhe, the third-class Jiala Zhangjing of the Han army on the far right, Wu Keshan of the Mongolian tribes, and Hauge of the Zhenglan Banner, received reports from the soldiers one after another that there were horses and men vaguely seen marching in the wind and sand to the right rear.

Hauge sent a few cavalrymen to leave the army, climb up the sand dunes and look into the distance. After just one look, they ran back to the formation and said, "Enemy, enemy army, it's Liu Chengzong!"

No need for return.

To the right and rear, behind the undulating sand dunes, first a row of tall flags with the word "Marshal" inscribed on them appeared in the dust, followed by rows of spear heads.

The tall helmet and spear of Bozhou appeared and disappeared on the sand dunes. The cavalrymen wearing red armor straddled the backs of the strong Hequ war horses, their bodies rising and falling with the rhythm of the war horses. The body armor under the red cloth rubbed and collided with the leg armor plates, constantly making rhythmic and crisp sounds.

The Marshal's cavalrymen, chewing dried meat mixed with gravel, approached the enemy.

Gradually the sound of hammering iron could be heard. There was commotion on the right wing of Dai Qing's army. People looked to the flank in fear, but everything was hidden in the sand and dust, and no one knew where the sound came from.

The messengers galloped in the Eight Banners formation.

Suddenly there was a roar of artillery fire and flames burst out on the sand dunes.

Iron bullets were flying, dozens of them bombarded the army formation from the other side of the sandstorm. The sound of wailing horns suddenly rang out, and it seemed to cover the battlefield from all directions amid the sound of booming waist drums.

Huang Taiji ran out of the imperial tent pulled by an ox cart and looked north.

The wind blows away the dust.

The leading cavalry galloped like a torrent, rolling up sand snakes and rushing down from the sand dunes.

Afterwards, a large army stretched out horizontally, and before the troops arrived, dust had already surged down from the sky like a sea tide, enveloping the three battalions on the right wing. (End of this chapter)