The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 585 Strategic Mistake
Tonight is October 15th. The moon is bright in the sky, and the cool moonlight is scattered all over the ground, with high visibility. This reminds Jia Huan of the unforgettable summer nights he spent with his grandfather in the countryside when he was a child. At that time, the moonlight was like water, fireflies were like lights, and the cool breeze was so beautiful and comfortable.

However, this is western Liaoning, not Jiangnan, and it is only mid-October in the lunar calendar, so what blows towards us is not the cool breeze of the summer night, but the bone-chilling cold of the north. There will be no fireflies, and what is flashing ahead may be the sharp sword light of the Jurchens. Danger is lurking everywhere.

At this moment, Jia Huan and others were very cautious and on high alert. They did not dare to gallop on their horses, but just drove their horses slowly forward to avoid alerting the Jurchen cavalry or the Jin cavalry that might be close by.

Because after Nurhaci occupied Shenyang and Liaoyang two years ago, he had announced the establishment of a country with Liaoyang as its capital, named the country Jin, and called himself the Great Jin Kingdom. However, the Great Jin did not recognize this and continued to call it Jiannu or Donglu.

Jia Huan and his companions walked for more than an hour under the cover of night, and a magnificent city appeared in their sight. It was Ningyuan City, a majestic city built between mountains and sea.

Ningyuan City is backed by mountains to the north and faces the sea to the east. It is located between Shanhaiguan and Jinzhou City, about 300 miles away from both. Its location is extremely important and it is surrounded by fertile land. It is an excellent place for military settlement. An army stationed here can be self-sufficient in food and support the front line.

In addition, Ningyuan City can also respond with Juehua Island on the sea. As long as an army is stationed on the island, it can provide mutual support with Ningyuan City, making the enemy have to deal with both ends. Originally, there were garrisons on Juehua Island, but after Xiong Tingbai abandoned Ningyuan City, he withdrew the garrisons on the island as well, completely abandoning this strategic location, which is really puzzling.

Jia Huan pulled out a monocular from his bosom and observed carefully. He saw that Ningyuan City was dark and stood quietly in the hazy night. There was no torches, no flags, and no patrolling sentries on the top of the city.

"How strange, there is no one here." Wu Sangui muttered in a low voice with a strange look on his face.

Sun Chengzong was also frowning in thought. Jia Huan whispered, "Shi Tou, go forward and scout. Be careful!"

Xing Wei nodded silently, dismounted, bent over and quickly moved towards the city wall, his movements were as light and agile as a civet cat. Wu Sangui couldn't help but praise: "Master Wei is so agile!"

About an incense stick of time later, Xing Wei came back and said with a strange look on his face, "Third Master, the city gate is open, there's no one inside, it's a dead city!"

Jia Huan and Sun Chengzong looked at each other and decided to go into the city to check it out themselves. So they rode their horses and arrived at the foot of the city in a blink of an eye. They found that the suspension bridge over the moat was still there and the city gate was wide open. There was indeed no one around, and everything was weird. If Jia Huan and others had come with a large army, they would have suspected that this was an "empty city plan" set up by Nurhaci.

They rode across the drawbridge and into the city. The streets were empty and quiet, with only the sound of horses' hooves echoing. The city gates were intact, and the houses in the city were also intact. For some reason, Xiong Tingbai did not cause any major destruction when he evacuated.

Was it because they were in a hurry to evacuate Ningyuan City and didn't have time to destroy the city? This didn't make sense, it was just a fire anyway. Or was it that Xiong Tingbai was reluctant to destroy the city he had built with so much effort?

Jia Huan and his companions rode their horses around the street but did not meet anyone. Finally, they abandoned their horses and climbed up to the top of the east city wall.

It has to be said that although Ningyuan City is not particularly large, its length and width exceed 800 meters. The city wall is more than 8 meters high and more than ten meters thick. There are city walls built outside the four city gates and the moat is large and deep. The defense is absolutely top-notch. With such unique conditions and nearly 100,000 troops under Xiong Tingbai's command, can he really not defend this place?

Sun Chengzong looked gloomy, standing on the top of the city wall and looking east, he said angrily: "It seems that Nurhaci did not pursue at all. Xiong Tingbai was afraid of the battle and fled the city, abandoning the Liaoxi Corridor. This is a major strategic decision-making mistake. I will definitely report him."

At this time, Jia Huan finally understood why Xiong Tingbai looked different after returning to the city yesterday. He probably came to Ningyuan City for reconnaissance yesterday, but found that the city was still there and Nurhaci didn't come at all. So he knew that something was wrong, but in order to cover up his own decision-making mistakes, he still insisted that his strategy of clearing the city had worked.

Unfortunately, Xiong Tingbai probably didn't expect that he and Sun Chengzong would dare to risk leaving the city and go deep into Ningyuan City for field investigation. Naturally, his lies were self-defeating.

Xiong Tingbai was finished now. It had been confirmed that he hastily abandoned Ningyuan City without finding out the truth, and destroyed the Liaoxi defense line that he had painstakingly built up over the years. This alone was enough to get him beheaded, not to mention the fall of Jinzhou and the suffering of the two princes. If it was confirmed that he delayed the rescue, I'm afraid Emperor Qiansheng would be so angry that he would kill his entire family. After all, there were only three adult princes left, and one died and one was captured. How painful and humiliating it was!

Wu Sangui obviously also realized the seriousness of the problem, and said nervously: "There is no time to lose, the two imperial envoys, please return to the customs immediately."

Obviously, Wu Sangui was afraid that Xiong Tingbai would take risks to cover up his crimes and kill people to silence them. After all, there were many crises outside the Great Wall, and Xiong Tingbai could easily send a group of soldiers, disguised as Jurchen cavalry, or bandits, to kill them halfway and then blame the crime on the Jurchens.

However, Sun Chengzong shook his head and said, "Rest here for one night, and continue to spy in the direction of Jinzhou tomorrow."

Sun Chengzong has always been meticulous and rigorous in his work. Now that he has come here, how can he give up halfway? Naturally, he has to fully understand the situation on the front line. How can he report to the emperor if he doesn't understand Nurhaci's intentions and movements?

Wu Sangui looked at Jia Huan, and the latter nodded, obviously planning the same thing.

"Damn it, I met two nerds who didn't care about their lives." Wu Sangui cursed inwardly, and finally he could only follow orders in disappointment. After all, he was an imperial envoy, holding the Shangfang Baojian, and he could kill the guerrilla generals and below first and report later, and he, Wu Sangui, happened to be a guerrilla general. Everyone took shelter and rest in the tower, because the terrain here was high and easy to guard, and it was close to the city gate. If there was an enemy, they could quickly escape on horseback.

On the second day, at daybreak, Jia Huan and others were awakened by the sentry on duty. They rushed out of the city wall and looked east. Sure enough, there was dust flying. It turned out that a cavalry was galloping towards this side.

Wu Sangui used all his strength to look, his face changed, and he blurted out: "It's the Jiannu cavalry, about twenty of them, you two sirs, mount your horses and leave here quickly."

As they were talking, the Jurchen cavalry had come much closer. They could be clearly seen with the naked eye that there were indeed more than twenty of them. Judging from their hairstyle and clothing, they were undoubtedly Jurchen cavalry.

These Jurchen cavalrymen were extremely fast and had strong physiques. Their powerful aura could be felt even from a long distance away. Although their numbers were small, their momentum was like that of thousands of troops, which was chilling. Wu Sangui and others were all terrified.

It is generally acknowledged that the combat effectiveness of the Jurchen cavalry is far superior to that of the Jin army, not to mention that they currently have an advantage in numbers. Wu Sangui only brought twelve brothers with him. If they were to engage in a head-on confrontation, they would probably be slaughtered in the first encounter.

At this moment, even Sun Chengzong became nervous and said anxiously: "Ziming, hurry up and leave."

Jia Huan shook his head and said, "It's too late. Their horses are fast. We will be caught up soon. It's a dead end. It's better to defend the dangerous place... Hey, these Jiannu don't seem to have discovered us. Let's hide quickly and don't show our heads."

As Jia Huan had expected, these Jurchen cavalrymen were probably scouts exploring the way. In addition, it was just dawn and the light was dim, so they did not notice Jia Huan and his companions. They just galloped to the front of the moat, stopped their horses, and looked around vigilantly.

Seeing the city gates wide open and everything quiet, the Jurchen cavalry were confused and started discussing loudly, but unfortunately no one could understand the dialect.

Jia Huan's mind moved, and he whispered, "Guerrilla Wu, have the brothers ambush on both sides of the city gate. The Jiannu will probably enter the city to investigate, and then you can follow my orders and attack."

Seeing that Jia Huan was still so calm and commanding in an orderly manner, Wu Sangui could not help but admire him secretly, and quickly took his eleven brothers to ambush on both sides of the city gate.

"Shi Tou, your arrows are accurate. You stay on the top of the city and watch. Make sure no one escapes." Jia Huan ordered again.

Xing Wei nodded, and quickly moved to the parapet above the city gate, standing on one side of the battlement with a bow and arrow in hand.

Tie Niu said in a buzzing voice: "Third Master, what about me?"

"Stay here to protect Lord Sun's safety." Jia Huan said.

Tie Niu was a little disappointed, but he still said, "Okay!"

At this time, the Jurchen cavalry outside the city gate began to enter the city for reconnaissance, but they only sent two riders, and the others were on guard outside the city. It seemed that the other side was not stupid either.

The two Jurchen cavalrymen who were in the lead crossed the suspension bridge carefully, looked around in front of the gate of the city wall, and probably found that there was no enemy. They turned back and waved, and immediately four more riders followed.

It is worth mentioning here that the 瓮城 of Ningyuan City is semicircular, wrapping the main city gate, with enemy towers built on it. This is to prevent the enemy from besieging the city gate on a large scale, and to increase the defensive space while compressing the space of the attacker.

Six Jurchen cavalrymen entered the city wall, looked around cautiously, and finally entered the main city gate. Wu Sangui and his eleven brothers were lying in ambush on the enemy towers on both sides of the main city gate. Seeing the Jurchen cavalrymen coming in, they were so nervous that their hands were sweating, but they did not dare to take action without Jia Huan's order.

At this time, the six Jurchen cavalrymen had already entered the city gate. If they went further, they would find their mounts tied on both sides. However, Jia Huan still had no intention of giving orders. Wu Sangui bent his bow and drew his arrow, holding his breath, as if his heart was about to burst out of his throat.

Six Jurchen cavalrymen entered the city gate and saw that the streets were empty. They turned back and shouted a few words. The Jurchen cavalrymen outside the city immediately urged their horses to rush in, leaving only two riders to stand guard across the moat.

(End of this chapter)