Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 136 Azig's wishful thinking
A tried-and-tested tactic used by the Manchu and Qing dynasties against the Ming Dynasty's officers and soldiers was to encircle a point for reinforcements.

Regardless of whether there are heavy artillery or not, as long as the city cannot be captured easily, the Manchu Qing will use this tactic.

Because the losses in siege battles, especially in siege battles that are determined to defend the city, will be huge, and the Manchus have few people, so they will use encirclement points to provide reinforcements.The advantage they take advantage of is also their invincibility in field battles.

Regardless of whether the Manchus entered the customs before or after entering the customs, they mostly followed this principle.

This battle of Xuanfu is actually the same.

Although Azig did not lead the army to defend Xuanfu City, he had achieved his goal of attracting the Ming army to attack and then engage in a decisive battle with the Ming army in the wild.

Azig ignored a Ming army and marched along the Great Wall to occupy Zhangjiakou. He led his troops across the Yang River and formed a formation with his back to the water.

The Eight Banners Manchuria and the Eight Banners Mongolia were on the two wings in front of the formation, and in the middle were the Eight Banners Han army and the armies of Kong Youde and Shen Zhixiang.Firearms and artillery in front, each line 5-6 men deep.

The entire military formation was deployed in a horizontal formation on the front line, with antlers and spears in front of it, and artillery and musketry cavalry on the left and right.The front was constructed entirely of firearms, and the rear of the artillery battalion would be guarded by shields and shotguns.Cold weapon troops mainly using bows, arrows, guns and knives were deployed on the rear front.

After the armies of both sides approached each other, the Ming army Ye Bushou and Jianlu Tanma returned to their respective groups and stopped fighting each other.At this point, the protagonist of the war changed from the scout battle to the main force duel.

When Emperor Chongzhen arrived with his army, he was shocked when he first saw the Jianlu army formation in the distance.

The Jianlu army formation in front of them had uniform uniforms and clear flags. This alone gave people a sense of oppression, as if the opponent was a regular army.

Emperor Chongzhen's previous opponent was Li Zicheng's Dashun Army, but he wore all kinds of clothes. Even the military uniforms of the same general were all varied and very different.

Although the army led by Emperor Chongzhen himself was better than Li Zicheng's Dashun Army, it was far inferior to the Jianlu army in front of him.The reason is also very simple. Emperor Chongzhen's army was patchwork, and there were soldiers who had been converted from prisoners.

Originally, all his teachers would change their uniforms after they returned to Beijing.However, it’s not too late!
The Jianlu Army Formation also shocked Emperor Chongzhen. The Jianlu Army was fully equipped with firearms. According to visual inspection, firearms should account for more than half of the total, and the format was unified. There was no shortage of artillery and muskets.Judging from the formation, they must have mastered the method of shooting in sections or taking turns to continue shooting.

The power of sophisticated firearms is definitely stronger than cold weapons, there is no doubt about this.

In addition, although the Jianlu army in front of them faced a force twice their size, there was no trace of panic on the faces of their soldiers. Instead, they were all full of confidence, and they even seemed to be eager to His performance in fighting and meritorious service was completely fearless.

Emperor Chongzhen had to admit that this Jianlu army was the most elite army he had seen so far.

As the most capable general, Zhou Yuji was naturally on the Chinese side.He was next to the emperor at this time and said with a stern expression: "Your Majesty, Jianlu formed a formation with his back to the water. This is a situation that only allows victory but not defeat. Once the battle breaks out, everyone will fight tooth and nail! And looking at Jianlu's formation, It should be propelled by firearms, supplemented by cavalry to act according to the opportunity."

There have been many instances in Chinese history of fighting against the enemy.Generally speaking, if you use it well, it is very useful; if you use it poorly, you will be in a desperate situation.Generally speaking, it is mostly used in situations where one's own forces are not dominant.

Jianlu had many firearms, which was indeed a headache.Due to the lethality of firearms, the enemy in person is likely to be defeated by it.For an ordinary imperial army, in this formation, as long as the general's servants are killed by firearms, the whole army will inevitably collapse, and then encounter the pursuit of the Jianlu cavalry, and a complete defeat is inevitable.

Emperor Chongzhen was thinking in his mind, while looking at the Jianlu army formation with clairvoyance, thinking about how to fight better with this Jianlu army?
At this moment, I saw a cavalryman coming out of the Jianlu army formation, riding towards the Ming army.

It was obvious that the other party had something to say.

Therefore, the Ming army did not fire cannons or arrows or anything like that, they just waited for the cavalry to come over.

Sure enough, the cavalry reined up their horses and stopped within a stone's throw of the Ming army, and then shouted loudly: "Is the Emperor of Ming here? We, Prince Heshuoying of the Qing Dynasty, have something to say to the Emperor of Ming!"

As soon as Zhou Yuji heard this man's accent, he said to Emperor Chongzhen: "This is the Han accent of Liaodong. He was originally a Han."

Emperor Chongzhen listened and nodded to Fang Zhenghua.

So Fang Zhenghua replied loudly: "How dare the rebel of Ming Dynasty claim the throne in front of Lord Long Live?"

The Jianzhou Jurchens were a tribe under the jurisdiction of Liaodong Dusi. They raised their troops to rebel. Isn't that the rebellion of the Ming Dynasty?

The Han Tatar ignored this, and after confirming that the Ming Emperor was there, he shouted loudly: "Our Highness has said, I heard that the Ming Emperor is very brave, do you dare to fight with our Highness without any bodyguards?" pick?"

Hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was a little confused. Isn't it true that there is no such thing as a one-on-one battle between generals?Why did Azig, who built the army, actually propose to challenge him to a duel?

If you don't know Jianlu, you must have watched too much "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", right?
He remembered that there was a saying in later generations that the slave chiefs on the Jianlu side had a copy of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and liked to learn the art of war from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

I don’t know if this is true, but the other party’s suggestion of a one-on-one duel between generals sounds right!
The two armies put on a posture. In the age of firearms, they still want to fight one another?

After hearing this, Fang Zhenghua, fearing that Emperor Chongzhen would agree, quickly admonished him: "Long live my lord, Jianlu is full of tricks. I have never heard of Jianlu talking about a one-on-one fight before, just in case there is any fraud!"

Zhou Yuji, who was on the side, also quickly said: "Your Majesty, Jianlu often snipers and kills enemy generals, so you must be careful!"

Emperor Chongzhen heard this, but before he could say anything, the Tatars over there were already laughing and saying, "Don't you dare? You coward, just wash your neck and wait."

After he finished speaking, he raised his hands to signal, and suddenly there was a sound of ridicule from the Tatar army formation in the distance.

Hearing the Tatar's words and the noise from the army formation on the opposite side, Jin Zhensun, the commander of Biaoying camp directly under the Imperial Palace, immediately became angry and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, with his status, how can he have a duel with cats and dogs? I want to fight you. Do you dare to challenge the pseudo-emperor to a single challenge?"

The Tatar ignored Jin Zhensun at all and started to turn around.

Azig, who was in the Jianlu army formation, looked around and felt very satisfied.

In fact, he had already figured out how the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty could agree to challenge him in a duel!You know, that's the emperor, not a general!
In this case, he still sent people to provoke, which could boost the morale of the army and also lower the morale of the opposite Ming army. Why not do it!

Even if we take a step back and say that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty really got the idea and agreed to the one-on-one challenge, wouldn't that mean he would have made a lot of money!Before the two armies start fighting, if you capture or kill the emperor on the opposite side first, the war will be easier to fight!

Anyway, no matter how you calculate it, it's a good deal.

But who would have thought that the men sent out seemed to have turned back and continued to talk to the Ming army.

This time, Azig felt a little strange.

Isn’t it about to turn around already?Is it possible that the Ming Emperor agreed to a duel?

This is impossible, right?Then the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is no longer a young boy. How dare he do such a childish thing?
Not only he thought so, but everyone including Kong Youde and others were also very surprised.

They had truly experienced the emperor's incompetence, and they had no choice but to lead their troops to join their former life-and-death enemy.Now, this emperor actually has the courage to accept the challenge of single combat in front of the battle?

There were many Princes Heshuo in the Qing Dynasty, but there was only one emperor in the Ming Dynasty.Just because of the inequality, wouldn't the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty still be stupid enough to accept this obviously unfair request?
While they were thinking about it, they saw that the man who had been sent out had already returned on horseback, and then reported to Azige, who was a little confused: "Your Highness, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty agreed to a duel before the battle!"

After hearing this, almost everyone thought it was impossible!
No, Shuosei immediately said to Azig: "Could it be someone pretending to be the emperor who came to challenge him?"

If it was said that the emperor himself really came to challenge him, even though he was young, he couldn't believe it was true.

When Azig heard it, it was very possible.

In a one-on-one fight, both sides are wearing armor and even have masks. Who can tell who is who?Select the most capable person from the Ming army to fight with himself, the prince?

Although Azige believed that he was brave, he never thought that he was the best in the world.Just in the Qing Dynasty, he was not known as the No. 1 Batu Lu.

Therefore, Azige dare not say that he can defeat anyone in the Ming army, but if he wants to challenge the Ming emperor in a one-on-one battle, then he is definitely willing to do so. Besides, he is not stupid!

So, he immediately sent an order and asked who in the army had seen the Ming Emperor?

As a result, even surrendered generals such as Kong Youde were not qualified to meet Emperor Chongzhen, let alone others.At this time, Azig was stumped.

He said that he was the one who challenged him to a duel before the battle, but the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty agreed. However, he was worried that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty might be a fake. He kept doubting this, which immediately made him appear timid, and in turn boosted the morale of the Ming army. .

This move is quite a bit like shooting yourself in the foot!

Fortunately, Kong Youde and others reminded him, and Azig immediately sent people to Xuanfu City to retrieve the Ming officials.No matter what, they always knew the emperor.

What surprised Azig was that the Shanxi merchant king Deng Ku came over after hearing the news and reported to Azig: "Your Highness, I also secretly saw the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and recognized what he looked like!"

As soon as Azig heard this, he was immediately happy, so there was no need to worry about whether a few Ming officials would lie to others.

So, he said to Wang Dengku: "I will challenge the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to a duel later. You can go with me on horseback to confirm whether the person in front of you is really the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

When Wang Dengku heard this, he was very happy and quickly replied: "Thanks to His Highness for giving this villain such a chance, I will have to watch that dog emperor being beaten to death by His Highness in front of my eyes."

He did meet Emperor Chongzhen. After all, Emperor Chongzhen stayed in Xuanfu City for a few days and even held a public trial. Many people in Xuanfu City had seen him.

In terms of body shape, Azig was tall and long-armed, and he looked like a powerful man at first glance; but if the current emperor just looked at him, he would be obviously one size smaller than Azig.Regardless of previous rumors about how capable the current emperor is, at least in Wang Denku's opinion, Azig must be the more powerful one!

After all, this prince of the Qing Dynasty came from fighting since childhood.Whether it's body or experience, he can obviously beat the emperor.

In this way, you can watch it with your own eyes and take revenge!

But who knows, Azig listened and said calmly: "I will not kill him directly, at least I will capture him and show him to others!"

When he said this, he was already imagining in his mind: He brought the living Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in front of Dorgon and others, and asked them to guess who this person was?They definitely couldn't guess it, but they definitely knew that Hong Chengchou. He was so shocked that he revealed his identity, and Dorgon and others were immediately shocked...

Thinking of this, Azig couldn't help but smile proudly.

At this moment, the people around him were already reminding him: "Your Highness, the Ming Army has also sent people over."

When he came back to his senses, Azig saw a Ming cavalry coming to talk.

The two sides communicated and finally confirmed the process of the one-on-one match between the coaches of both sides.

Everyone in the armies on both sides was waiting for this unforgettable scene.However, relatively speaking, the expectations of the two sides are still different.

On Jianlu's side, everyone was very happy to hear that the Ming Emperor really agreed to a duel and would soon have a duel with their Prince He Shuoying.

"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had his head caught in a door, yet he still dared to agree to a duel. Isn't this asking for death?"

"Who gave this emperor of the Ming Dynasty such a good face? He only dared to agree after being humiliated a little before the battle. He is indeed a foolish emperor!"

"I guess the emperor of the Ming Dynasty did have a lot of trouble. Once he was slapped by those sycophants, he didn't know how high the sky was. We in the Qing Dynasty will not tolerate him. Now we are in for a good show!"

"..."

The Han people in the Jianlu Army had a somewhat complicated mood.

Call the emperor stupid, he is really stupid!The emperor would actually agree to such an outrageous thing as a duel. Is it possible that the emperor is still going to take action when all the generals in the imperial court are dead?I have never heard of such a thing!

If the emperor is brave, then he is really brave.The two armies coming to challenge each other are not something ordinary people would dare to face!

They expected Azig to win, but they also felt a little unspeakable about the emperor they had once loyal to being captured or killed right in front of the two armies.Maybe it would be better if they should do this?
As for the imperial officers and soldiers, they also had different thoughts.Of course, this idea is definitely not a bad idea.

Many soldiers had full confidence in their emperor, especially those who had seen the emperor lift a thousand-jin cannon, and felt that it was definitely possible to defeat Jianlu with the emperor's courage.

However, more people have never seen it with their own eyes and only heard about it.

Not only did I hear that the emperor raised a thousand-jin cannon, but I also heard that the emperor subdued the thieves with one move while riding alone at Guguan Pass.

Since it’s just hearing about it, my confidence is inevitably a bit lacking.I feel that he is the emperor after all, and when talking about the emperor, there must be some exaggeration.If it is an ability that is eight or nine points, it would be okay to praise it as ten points; but if it is only four or five points, it would be hard to say.

You know, the person the emperor wants to challenge now is a slave chief among the Jianlu who is said to be very powerful.Originally, the Jianlu were more powerful than the Rogues, and with the addition of a very powerful slave chief, could his emperor still win?

Different from the last one-on-one duel, this time it was a one-on-one duel in front of the real two armies, and he was still the coach of both armies!The winning side will definitely have high morale; the losing side will have trouble with the coach, which will be a big problem.

Especially on the court side, if something happens, it will happen to the emperor, and the consequences will be even more serious.

No matter who it was, everyone thought at this moment that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had obviously suffered a huge loss by agreeing to Prince Jianlu’s duel!

Zhou Yuji and other generals also wanted to stop this obviously unfair duel, but Emperor Chongzhen had decided that they could only be very helpless.

In response, Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said to them: "Why, you don't have confidence in me yet?"

Jianlu is recognized as the most powerful one, that so-and-so Obai!The first one to attack Shangpi Island and create a gap to solve the serious problem of Jianlu's inner circle, he was awarded the title of No. [-] Batulu in the Qing Dynasty by Huang Taiji.

Although Azig is powerful, he is probably not as powerful as Obai.

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen would not joke with his own life.

No, just listen to his instructions to Zhou Yuji and other generals: "I agreed to the duel in order to cause chaos among the captives. As long as there is chaos, it will be difficult for their firearms to show their advantages..."

The army led by Emperor Chongzhen was a patchwork army. The firearms were all firearms from their original army, and many of them had been used for a long time.In the entire military, the firearms equipment rate is only about 30.00%.

Although it is actually possible to use firearms to fight Jianlu, it is obvious that the casualties in the fight will be huge.If there were other ways to avoid it, he still wanted to avoid it.

This army is the seed army for his future expansion. If he can save a few people from dying, he will die a few less people!

Zhou Yuji and others listened to the emperor's thoughts. After looking at each other, they stopped trying to persuade him.Because they felt that the emperor's method was indeed a feasible method and they could trust it.

So, according to the emperor's request, they returned to their respective armies to prepare.

Finally, it was time for both parties to agree on a duel.

On Azig's side, he led a group of personal guards and Wang Denku rode to the front of the formation first.

On the side of the imperial army, Fang Zhenghua and the same number of personal guards also escorted Emperor Chongzhen to the front of the formation.

Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the front of the formation.

Azig and Emperor Chongzhen stopped more than 200 steps away from each other, and then each sent one person to confirm the identity of the other side.

On Wang Dengku's side, he approached on horseback and confirmed that it was indeed the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He gritted his teeth and said, "Emperor Dog, do you know who I am?"

(End of this chapter)