weaving

Chapter 921
The Ji Liao army came as one, not to mention that now is the critical moment of the imminent war.

Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao, did not want to see any splitting behavior between them. After all, the Xuanda Army was there to compete. Facing the already united Xuanda Army at this time, there should be no more disputes within Jiliao. It's not okay to make others read a joke.

On the second day, Hong Chengchou, the supreme commander of the Jiliao army, had to go to the army of Tang Tong, Bai Guangen and Ma Ke in person.

Hong Chengchou was normal to Tang Tong and the other three. First, he gave them admonishment, telling them to always keep in mind the overall situation and to closely cooperate with the friendly forces.

Then there was some consolation, promising that after the war, they would not only repay their merits to the imperial court, but also try their best to make Ma Ke and Bai Guangen redeem their previous crimes as they wished, and also try their best to supplement the soldiers and horses they lost in the Liao War.

For old warlords like them, the bravery of the whole army depends entirely on the attitude of the general. Governor Ji Liao came to the camp to give such admonition and comfort, and they naturally had no excuse not to be brave.

At the same time, several people also knew the key to this battle, and they all expressed their opinions to let go of the previous matter, and showed their general style, and instead spoke for each other, making Hong Chengchou secretly nod and applaud.

Although at this time Tang Tong, Ma Ke, Bai Guangen and others colluded with the local military leaders and gradually formed factions, but there was no intention of fighting openly and secretly among them.

Even Wu Sangui, although he started with the support of his family and elders, he could not do without the support of his uncle Zu Dashou, but in Wu Sangui's heart, he might not have the idea of ​​breaking away from his uncle's influence, or even replacing him.

The governor of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou, took advantage of this to control the various army leaders separately, but also tried his best to make them cooperate with each other, and also to prevent them from forming a faction.

Now on the bright side, the friction between the generals of the Ji Liao Army has passed. Everyone, including Hong Chengchou, is unwilling to make the conflicts between the various battalions within the Ji Liao Army public.

As for how each of their chief soldiers will appease their subordinates when they go back, that is their own business. If they don't even have this ability, there is no need to stay in the position of chief soldier.

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The rules of the Ming Dynasty are like this, the civil servants are responsible for drawing up the battle strategy, and the generals are responsible for beheading the generals and capturing the flag in front of the battle, and in the end how to distribute the credit of each person depends on the opinions of those superior civil servants.

Therefore, such rebellious generals as Tang Tong, Ma Ke, and Bai Guangen should look at Governor Hong Chengchou, Chief Army Zhang Ruoqi, Futai Qiu Minyang and others, and dare not offend them.

Today, the battalions of the Ming army located in the north of Songshan Mountain are all in action. They are stationed at the northern foot of Rufeng Mountain and Shimen Mountain in sequence according to the planned sequence.

Some were making attack and defense equipment, others were making rafts for crossing the river, and equipment for building pontoon bridges, and rows of light boats were carried over.

It is obvious that the battalions have already started to prepare the river crossing equipment. In fact, it is difficult to attack the Naughty River with these alone, but due to the rush of time, it is impossible to make more adequate preparations.

According to the preliminary strategy drawn up by Governor Xingyuan, Tang Tong's Miyun Army will attack along the north bank of the Naughty River and attack westward early tomorrow morning, assuming a posture of attacking Baimiaobao.

At the same time, he had to display the river-crossing equipment and be ready to fight across the river at any time. His side had to be loud enough to attract the attention of the Qing army.

While Bai Guangen and Ma Ke began to cross the river to attack the north bank while Tangtong was advancing westward.

Bai Guangen launched the offensive first on the west side, crossed the river directly, and attacked the north bank of the Daughter River with all his strength, while Ma Ke launched the offensive on his east side, slightly later than Bai Guangen.

Hong Chengchou demanded that the two of them must fight for real. If they can cross the Nvnu River in one fell swoop, it will be a great achievement. If they can't attack the north bank, as long as they can attract the main force of the Qing army, the meritorious service can also be defeated.

Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of the Ningyuan Regiment, led Ningyuan to make a strong attack and launched the final offensive. His main attack was at the confluence of the Nuerhe River and the Xiaoling River.

Once Wu Sangui attacked the north bank, and then attacked five or six miles forward, he would be the south gate of Jinzhou City, and he was the main force of the Ming army to break the siege of Jinzhou.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, also had high hopes for him, and specially ordered Chen Jiugao, the former commander of the Shenji Battalion, to concentrate more than half of the artillery of the Shenji Battalion, suppress the artillery fire on the other side here, and fully assist Wu Sangui in the battle.

The key to this battle is whether the three generals Tang Tong, Ma Ke and Bai Guangen can attract the attention of the main forces of the Qing army, and how many main forces of the Qing army can they attract?
If they didn't use their lives before the battle and failed to attract the attention of the Qing army, Wu Sangui's side might not be able to do much.

That's why Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao, went to the camp of Tang Tong and the other three to cheer them up before the battle today, in order to further clarify his interests to the three of them.

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In fact, if the Ming army wanted to break the siege of Jinzhou, they would eventually have to cross the river. It was nothing more than a choice to go north and cross the Nuer River or go east to cross the Xiaoling River.

It can also be seen from the terrain alone that from Shimen Mountain and Huangtu Ridge to the edge of Xiaoling River, due to the narrow terrain and not many plains, it is difficult for our own troops to deploy.

Such a wave can only pass through a few thousand people. Such a battle is tantamount to refueling tactics, while the Qing army can quickly mobilize troops in the east and north of Jinzhou City, deploying several times, or even ten times the number of troops .

This is also the reason why Hong Chengchou did not support Zhang Cheng's attack on the Xiaoling River to the east. He could not cross enough troops at one time, and the Qing army could adopt the tactics of outnumbering the few every time.

However, the combat power of the Ming army was already weaker than that of the Qing army, and the consequences would be unimaginable if they were defeated by the crowd.

But attacking the Nuerhe River to the north is different. As long as you cross the Nuerhe River, you will have a flat river in the north, and then face Jinzhou City directly.

Once the Ming army really crossed the Naughty River, it would be an unbearable burden for slaves. Although Huang Taiji had already left the front line of Jinzhou, Dorgon and others were not waiting for it.

Therefore, they will not fail to see this, and they will definitely gather heavy troops to intercept the Ming army, and the battle between the two sides on both sides of the Nuer River is inevitable.

Now the key is to see whether Tang Tong, Ma Ke, and Bai Guangen can achieve the strategic goal that was pre-booked and attract the attention of the Qing army.

Because Wu Sangui's attack was the focus of the Qing army. Once they crossed the river, they would face Jinzhou Nanguan.

However, Zu Dashou in Jinzhou City is also an extraordinary person. Once he sees the artillery fire here, he will definitely seize the opportunity to go out of the city to fight with the slaves, and attack the Qing army in the east of Jinzhou City back and forth, so as to increase the chances of Wu Sangui and others crossing the river and winning. probability.

The key to this battle is the word "fast".

Each battalion must act quickly in accordance with the military strategy and military order, and must not be procrastinated. They must be one step ahead of everything, and when the Qing army has not reacted, quickly break through the estuary where the Nuer River flows into the Xiaoling River.

As long as the Ming army stood firm on the north bank and built pontoon bridges on the river, the battle would be considered a great victory.

At that time, the soldiers and horses of the generals of the Ming army, such as Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tingchen, Zu Dale, etc., will be able to drive to the north bank continuously, and they will not be afraid of the attack of the Qing army.

What's more, there are also the standard camps of Hong Chengchou, Qiu Minyang, Yao Gong and others, all of which are also very powerful forces.

And the original intention of the Ming army was not to defeat the Qing army in a field battle. After their large troops crossed the river, as long as they approached slowly and relieved the siege of Jinzhou, they would be considered a victory.

In short, tomorrow's battle will indeed be a big deal, and one bad thing is the decisive battle between Ming and Qing with hundreds of thousands of troops.

On the opposite side is the ferocious Tartars like tigers and wolves. These hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses fight, but life and death are unpredictable, and misfortunes and fortunes are only fleeting. No matter whether you are a general or a soldier, you may die on the spot.

Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao, wandered among the battalions, trying his best to cheer up all the generals. Even the chief eunuch Wang Chengen made a very gloomy statement: "Tomorrow's battle, dare to retreat timidly, and refuse to fight for national strength. Or, our family will definitely report the truth to the emperor, so that he will die!"

Fuchen Qiu Minyang and Procuratorate Yao Gong also toured the battalions and said a lot of words of encouragement, which aroused the morale of the generals.

Especially Ma Ke and Bai Guangen, the two chief soldiers, they never left when they arrived. Apart from encouraging and consoling, they even declared that they would bring their standard battalion with them. If they had difficulty crossing the river, their standard battalion would also We will do our best to reinforce and fight the slaves together.

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When Hong Chengchou finished handling the military affairs and came out of the camp again, the sun was already setting and the night was gradually falling.

Looking at the past, whether it is the northern foot of Rufeng Mountain, the northern foot of Shimen Mountain, or even further east to the north of Huangtu Ridge, there is a sea of ​​banners and military camps. .

The dots of lights in the camps have been turned on. Among these camps, there are many camps of soldiers and civilians. Although their camps are simpler, they are all brightly lit. of various equipment.

Tomorrow's battle, whether it is Ma Ke, Bai Guangen, etc.'s first attack to attract the Qing army, or Wu Sangui's strong attack to force the crossing, will require a large number of wooden rafts and pontoons. Naturally, the more these equipment, the better.

Not only that, Zhu Tingxie, the Liang Dao in charge of logistics, under the supervision of the great eunuch Wang Chengen, collected many fishing boats, some of which were collected by the Xuanfu Army before, and were requisitioned by Governor Xingyuan.

These many fishing boats traveled north along the west bank of the Xiaoling River, and transported them to the south bank of the confluence of the Nuer River, so that they could quickly build the pontoon bridge Wu Sangui needed to cross the river.

Although Daming has become a skinny camel, it is still much bigger than a horse after all. Under the high-speed operation of the frontline army, all kinds of materials are still continuously collected.

Of course, although these fishing boats were all docked on the south bank, many soldiers were sent to guard them. After all, they had to prevent the Qing army from sneaking across the river and destroying the boats that had been collected with great difficulty.

The camp of Tang Tong, the general soldier of Miyun, was set up at the westernmost end of the northern foot of Rufeng Mountain. From the foot of Rufeng Mountain to the bank of the Nuu River, there were all his military camps in Miyun Town, layer upon layer, closely connected.

With Tang Tong's always cautious style, they set up many fires two hundred steps away from the camp to prevent the Qing army from sneaking in at night. Even the bank of the Daughter River was full of dense patrols. .

Bai Guangen's Jizhen army camped three miles east of Tangtong. Although it was also in full swing, it was much worse than Miyun Town. After all, despite the new defeat, the morale of the army was still not as good as before.

However, Bai Guangen also understood in his heart that if he didn't perform well in this battle, it would not be as simple as dismissal and questioning, and it might even affect his family.

Therefore, he didn't dare to take it lightly, so he called several of his relatives into the army tent that night, and comforted him with warm words. In addition to promising benefits, he even distributed a large amount of gold and silver on the spot.

He even called several generals and guerrillas from Ji Town to his tent, and told them their interests, and declared that if the attack was not good tomorrow, he would not survive, and they were even ahead of him!
Ma Ke's Shanhailing camp is three miles east of Bai Guangen. He experienced a big defeat last time, so he was naturally very cautious this time.

He even personally led the generals and guerrillas in the town, inspected the battalions one by one, sympathized with the soldiers of each battalion, and promised generous rewards to encourage them to fight bravely tomorrow.

The quietest one was the Wu Sangui Ningyuan army camp, but its quietness was only on the outside. The lights in each camp were also brightly lit, and the civilian servants accompanying the army were also busy making all kinds of equipment.

And the reason why it seems to be extremely quiet from the outside is all due to the well-organized scheduling, each performing their duties, so there is no chaos at all, everything is orderly, without a trace of noise.

This is the performance that a strong army should have. Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, it seems that only the Xuanfu army can compare with it!
There were flying banners everywhere, dense Ming army camps spread for more than ten miles, people shouted and neighed constantly, and there was an aura of gold and iron horses.

Strings of colorful signal lights, piles of lit bonfires, and rows of dragon-like torches swam inside and outside the camps, adding bright colors to the army camps.

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At the highest point of Huangtuling, a table of eight immortals is placed here. Zhang Chengzheng, the general of Xuanfu and general of Zhenshuo, Zhang Ruoqi, the commander of the army, and Zhang Dou, the former soldier of Ning, are sitting around the table.

There are some grilled pork chops, stewed chicken, grilled fish and other wine and dishes on the table, but they have no intention of eating wine, and their eyes can't be separated from the little campfires that are faintly visible in the north.

"I still don't understand why the governor didn't use the Xuanfu army to fight."

Zhang Dou complained, picked up the wine cup and drank it down, and said: "This family raises a few children, but not all of them will be successful. Could it be that the Xuanfu's strong army was abandoned in order to balance the military merits of the towns' generals?"

"Snapped."

He dropped the empty wine cup heavily on the table, and said again: "I really can't figure it out."

Zhang Ruoqi squinted at the side, and said with a sneer: "Director Hong, you intend to help Wu Sangui in Ningyuan. If the limelight in this battle is once again captured by the Xuanfu army, Wu Sangui will have no chance!"

(End of this chapter)