My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 171: In this battle, there is no strategy, only hard fighting!!!
Inside the tent, the atmosphere was as heated as a burning fire.

Everyone was discussing what to do next.

Suddenly, at this moment, a general in the crowd stood up suddenly, his face flushed, and shouted loudly:
"Sir, Your Majesty is so brave and fearless. How can we hide in this city and wait for death? And watch Your Majesty fight a bloody battle with the Jiannu outside?"

"In my opinion, it would be better to take the initiative and attack the Jiannu camp, then join forces with your majesty's army, and with both internal and external support, we can wipe them out completely!"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately echoed loudly:
"Correct!"

"We can't be cowards. Even if it means risking our lives, we must be loyal to His Majesty and the Ming Dynasty!"

For a moment, everyone responded, emotions were high, and morale was unprecedentedly high.

Zu Dashou looked at the excited crowd in front of him, feeling relieved. He nodded slightly, then said solemnly:

"Everyone, I'm afraid you don't know yet, but just now, the Jiannu brought 30,000 Ming people from somewhere."

"But these civilians are not used for logistical support or to build fortifications."

"In my opinion, Huang Taiji is trying to use these 30,000 civilians as a shield to force Your Majesty to submit."

"If Huang Taiji really sends these people to lead the charge, Your Majesty, out of kindness and love for the people, will certainly not dare to launch an attack rashly."

"This puts our army in a dilemma."

When everyone heard this, they were so shocked that they were speechless for a moment. It seemed that they had not expected that Huang Taiji would come up with such a cruel idea!
A hot-tempered general suddenly became furious, slammed the table and cursed:

"Damn Jiannu, how could you be so despicable and shameless! Huang Taiji, you old thief, how could you be so cruel?"

"None of the Jiannu are good people!"

"I wish I could eat his flesh and sleep on his skin!"

The other generals were also filled with righteous indignation and started cursing. They were so excited that they even cursed Huang Taiji's eighteen generations of ancestors to vent their hatred.

Upon seeing this, Zu Dashou quickly raised his hand to signal for everyone to be quiet, and then said with a serious expression:

"His Majesty the Emperor has personally led the army not only to recover the lost territory of Liaodong and defend the Ming Dynasty, but also to rescue us soldiers trapped here!"

"At this point, the only way for us to repay your majesty's trust and kindness is to die!"

After hearing this, all the generals saluted and said in unison:

"Sir, just give the order! We'll do whatever you say! We'll go through fire and water, no matter what!"

Zu Dashou nodded with satisfaction, then said in a deep voice with a firm gaze:

"In that case, I will not waste any more words! When you return, immediately prepare the army."

"Each of you should select brave men from your army to form a cavalry charge team and wait for my orders at any time."

"Once the time is right, we will launch a surprise attack immediately."

"If this battle is successful, you and I will both be heroes of the Ming Dynasty, and our names will go down in history!"

"But if we unfortunately fail, then you and I will shed our blood on the battlefield and rest here forever, which can be considered as our final contribution to the Ming Dynasty."

After hearing this, all the generals laughed in unison.

"It's only right! I'm willing to die for the Ming Dynasty!"

Although in the original history, these soldiers were ultimately unable to withstand the attack of the Jiannu and chose to surrender.

But this does not mean that we can unilaterally think that they are all traitors who are afraid of death.

After all, when the war just started, they held out for the Ming Dynasty for two full years!

In the end, they were forced to surrender when they ran out of ammunition and food and had no backup!
If Chongzhen had not led the army in person, they might still have chosen to surrender when they ran out of ammunition and food.

But now, this will never happen again.
Because they were accompanied by Chongzhen who led the army in person, they knew that they had no way to retreat.

Fighting to the death is the only option for these generals!

There is no other way to go!
Afterwards, everyone sat together again and discussed the raid plan.

For a moment, the tent was filled with a tense yet exciting atmosphere, as a surprise attack was about to take place.
The night faded away quietly without anyone noticing, and the sky in the east gradually turned pale.

Soft light slowly fell on the Ming army camp.

Inside the tent, the soldiers had already woken up from their sleep and quickly packed their equipment.

In the kitchen, smoke rose up and the rich aroma of food filled the entire camp.

The soldiers sat together, had a quick breakfast, and then quickly returned to their units under the command of the officers!
For a moment, the sounds of bugles and commands echoed in the camp, and all the soldiers were in high spirits and full of fighting spirit.

Zhu Cilang also left Xingshan Fort with Chongzhen at this time, and then led the army, like a steel torrent, towards the trenches that had been dug before.

After joining forces with the troops previously stationed next to the trench, the army crossed the trench one by one and marched towards Songshan.

Songshan is strategically located and is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The entire city stands on this land like a solid rock.

For the Ming army, entering this area is equivalent to truly stepping into the battlefield that determines the fate of the country!

Zhu Cilang was riding on a tall black warhorse. He was wearing gorgeous armor. In the sunlight, the metal pieces on the armor were shining with a cold light.

Gazing at the road ahead, Zhu Cilang's blood boiled in his heart.

Because he knew that the war was finally about to begin!

Then he spurred his horse and slowly followed the team.

According to common sense, when the Jiannu were digging the trench, the soldiers of Songshan should have gone to stop them, but why did they do nothing and just watch the Jiannu dig the trench?

The reason is very simple. While the Jiannu were digging trenches, they also sent a large number of elite troops to surround Songshan.

This resulted in the defenders of Songshan being unable to break through the encirclement and unable to stop the Jiannu from digging trenches.

After all, the total strength of the Songshan defenders was no more than 5,000. If they launched a rash attack under the siege of the Jiannu army with its absolute superior strength, it would undoubtedly be like an egg hitting a rock.

At that time, not only will it be impossible to stop the Jiannu from digging trenches, but it may also lead to the loss of Songshan.

Once Songshan falls, the entire battle situation will become passive and the consequences will be unimaginable!
Therefore, for the defenders of Songshan, holding their positions and defending Songshan is the top priority!
As for the rest, they really can't do anything about it.
The commander of Songshan had already known that the army was about to arrive at Songshan, so early in the morning he sent out hundreds of scouts to gather information.

After receiving the order, the scouts headed straight towards Xingshan.

Not long after, they saw the mighty army of 200,000 coming towards them!

Such a spectacular scene really left them stunned.

Soldiers were everywhere in the mountains, with flags flying and swords and guns in hand, as if a sea of steel was coming towards them.

After being stunned for a long time, they quickly came to their senses, sent some people back to report the news, and the rest went to meet the army!

When the commander of Songshan heard the news, he immediately summoned his soldiers to go out of the city to welcome them.

Near noon, they finally saw the mighty army of 200,000 and Chongzhen who led the army in person!
"Your Highness, Wang Bolang, the Guardian General of Songshan, pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Upon seeing the emperor and the crown prince, General Songshan and other generals immediately knelt on the ground.

Chongzhen rode on his horse, glanced at the people kneeling on the ground, and said in a calm voice:

"Everyone, please get up. No need to be polite."

When the generals heard this, they all stood up.

Immediately afterwards, the army stationed around Songshan, and Zhu Cilang and Chongzhen brought the five guards of Jingjun, Jinyiwei and Tengxiang into Songshan.

One thing must be made clear, that is, the real plot of the emperor leading the army in person is very different from the plot in the TV series.

In TV dramas, the emperor who leads the army in person often leads his soldiers to charge directly and is always at the forefront!

But the reality is often not the case!

After all, as the ruler of a country, the emperor shoulders the heavy responsibility of caring for the people of the world, and he would never rashly lead his soldiers into battle as soon as he arrived at the battlefield.

In the thousands of years of Chinese history, except for a very small number of emperors who would directly lead soldiers into battle, most emperors would choose to sit in the central military tent when they personally led the army to war!

Through careful planning, accurate judgment and effective command, he controls the actions of thousands of troops.

As the saying goes, plan your strategy from behind the tent and win the battle thousands of miles away. This is what an emperor should do!
After all, everyone knows that the battlefield is full of dangers. Once the emperor, as the supreme commander of the army, is injured or unfortunately killed on the battlefield, the entire army will instantly fall into chaos and collapse without a fight.

It will eventually lead to the failure of the entire war and may even lead to the destruction of the country!

Zhu Cilang naturally understood this logic, so as far as the current situation was concerned, he had no plans to lead people directly to the battlefield.

Of course, Chongzhen couldn’t go either!
Otherwise, if Chongzhen died, he, the prince, would have to succeed to the throne in front of his coffin!
It may have been a good thing in the past, but now it really cannot be called a good thing.

At this moment, Zhu Cilang had already brought his men to the top of the city wall of Songshan and was using a telescope to observe the situation in the direction of Jinzhou.

Unfortunately, the distance was still too far and he could not see anything. He could only see some Jiannu soldiers moving around not far away, obviously coming to gather information.

This place is less than twenty miles away from Jinzhou, and Jinzhou is where the Jiannu army is located.

This means that the Ming army is now only twenty miles away from the Jiannu.

As long as the Jiannu are willing, they may launch an attack at any time!
The current situation is on the verge of breaking out!
However, Zhu Cilang was not worried about this, because as long as he had the hot air balloon, he could always keep track of the Jiannu's every move. Then, Zhu Cilang instructed Li Ruolian beside him:

"let's start!"

Li Ruolian instantly understood what Zhu Cilang meant, and then waved to the soldiers behind him.

Well, after receiving the order, the soldiers took action quickly.

I saw them skillfully open the box containing the hot air balloon parts and begin to assemble them in an orderly manner.

After a while, two huge hot air balloons slowly rose from the walls of Songshan City.

There is a striking dragon pattern painted on the hot air balloon. Under the sunlight, the dragon pattern seems to come alive, constantly flying in the air, looking very majestic!
It was almost noon and the sun was getting hotter.

Seeing that the Jiannu army on the opposite side had not made any movement for the time being, the Ming army also started to cook. After all, only when they were full would they have the strength to fight.

Soon, the aroma of food filled the camp.

The movements of the Ming army were naturally seen by the Jiannu scouts.

Although they knew that the Ming army had hot air balloons, which gave them a certain advantage in intelligence reconnaissance, the Jiannu still sent out many scouts to investigate the situation.

Therefore, Huang Taiji learned about this as early as when the Ming army began its march.

However, Huang Taiji was not surprised by this, as if everything was within his expectations.

At this time, the atmosphere in Huang Taiji's tent was extremely solemn and depressing.

Many generals gathered together, including Daishan, Yuetuo, Huang Taiji's eldest son Haoge, and Oboi and others.

According to the original historical records, Huang Taiji's other brothers, such as Dorgon, Ajige and others should also be here at this time.

However, due to Zhu Cilang's previous strategy of dividing the troops, which led to them going to Mongolia and Shengjing respectively, Huang Taiji seemed to be short of talent for a while.

Huang Taiji was not a fool. He had actually realized long ago that the two previous divisions of troops were probably conspiracies carefully planned by the Ming army.

The purpose is to force them to split up.

But even though he understood that this was a conspiracy of the Ming army, he could do nothing about it.

After all, the situation at the time forced him to make the previous decisions.

Besides, even though there are no more 50,000 soldiers and horses, aren’t there still 30,000 Han people acting as human shields?

In Huang Taiji's view, these 30,000 civilians may be more useful than 50,000 soldiers!
Immediately afterwards, Huang Taiji glanced at everyone with a stern expression, his eyes revealing an unquestionable majesty.

Then he slowly opened his mouth and said:
"Everyone, I won't say any more. Today's battle is related to the fate of the Qing Dynasty. Life and death depend on this battle!"

"You must proceed with caution and not make the slightest mistake!"

"In this battle, we must not only capture the Liaodong region, but if we're lucky, we might even be able to capture the Ming Emperor and seize the Ming empire!"

"By then, the Ming Dynasty will be ours!"

"After we conquer the Ming Dynasty, I will give you whatever you want!"

After hearing this, everyone was naturally excited and bowed their hands and said:
"Your Majesty, rest assured. We will do our utmost, even to the death!"

At this moment, even Daishan, who had been a little shaken about this matter before, immediately became very alert after hearing Huang Taiji's passionate words.

Because things have come to this point, there is no point in saying more. Only by fighting to the death can we win a future for the Qing Dynasty!
Then, Huang Taiji stood up, waved his hand, and ordered:
"All units begin to prepare their armies and set out immediately!"

If it were in previous wars, Huang Taiji would definitely use some strategies or carefully deploy tactics such as surprise attacks.

But now, all these strategies are useless.

Because once the Ming army's hot air balloon took off, they could see everything happening within ten miles.

It was as if the Ming army had a pair of clairvoyant eyes. No matter how carefully they deployed their assault teams or used other strategies, the Ming army would quickly detect them and take effective countermeasures.

Since this is the case, Huang Taiji simply stopped wasting time and energy.

There is no strategy in this battle, it's simply a head-on confrontation!

Of course, the 30,000 civilians who were used as human shields were not included.
Contrary to what most people believe, the Eight Banners Army of the Qing Dynasty was not simply heavy cavalry, but an all-round combat army composed of heavy cavalry, light cavalry, infantry, musketeers, and artillery.

After long-term training and actual combat, the various arms have good coordination and can flexibly adjust tactics according to different battlefield situations.

However, due to the two previous divisions, the current team consists of only more than 20,000 heavy cavalry, more than 20,000 light cavalry, 18,000 infantry, and about 3,000 musketeers and artillerymen.

In addition, there were originally some Han Eight Banners and Mongolian Eight Banners, but they all followed Dorgon to Mongolia to fight Abunai.

In addition, there were young and strong men temporarily recruited from Yizhou. Most of these young and strong men had never been on the battlefield. After only two days of brief training, they were hastily incorporated into the army.

Of course, not all troops had to follow the main army to fight a decisive battle with the Ming army.

After all, Jinzhou has not been taken yet!

Huang Taiji was well aware of the strategic importance of Jinzhou. He did not want Zu Dashou to suddenly rush out of Jinzhou City and attack him from behind while he was fighting fiercely with the Ming army.

If that were to happen, it would be terrible, and the entire battle situation might be reversed.

Therefore, the defense of Jinzhou is of vital importance and must be ensured to be foolproof!
Therefore, Huang Taiji planned to send 10,000 troops to continue to besiege Jinzhou when the war broke out to prevent Zu Dashou from breaking through!

Ten thousand people may seem a little few. After all, there are still about fifteen thousand Ming troops in Jinzhou City!
But things are not that simple.

Because Huang Taiji had already completed the complete encirclement of Jinzhou City and dug trenches and set up fortifications around the city.

Moreover, the moat outside Jinzhou City is wider and deeper than the moat outside Xingshan, and it is crisscrossed and bottomless.

Without the support of a large army from outside, it would be impossible for the people inside to break out.

The reason why Hong Chengchou was able to break through several times before was entirely due to the cooperation between the two sides.

But now there is no one to celebrate Zu’s birthday, so these ten thousand people should be enough!
Excluding these 10,000 men, Huang Taiji's total military force this time was roughly 80,000. If we add the 30,000 Han civilians who acted as human shields, it would be 110,000 men!

Compared with the 200,000 Ming troops, the gap in military strength is still huge!

Not to mention that the Ming army also had hot air balloons, new artillery and firearms!
In the eyes of most people, retreating at this time is the wisest option.

But now that we have come to this point, there is no point in saying any more!
The arrow is now on the string and must be shot!
Soon, the army was reorganized. At Huang Taiji's command, the army immediately set out and headed towards Songshan!

And walking at the front of the team were countless Han people.

They were dressed in rags, looked pale and thin, cried and shouted constantly, and their eyes were filled with fear and despair.

Because they probably already know what they're going to do.
But they were powerless to change the status quo and could only be driven forward by the Jiannu.

Anyone who doesn't want to leave or tries to escape will be immediately killed by the Jiannu troops behind them!

In order to prevent the Ming army from opening artillery bombardments, many civilians were pulled into the middle of the team and became the Jiannu's personal human shields.

Some Jiannu soldiers even tied the people to the back of their horses, completely disregarding their lives!
Just like that, as soon as the army set out, hundreds of civilians were killed.
These people were originally ordinary people in the Liaodong region, but they became innocent victims in this war. Their fate was ruthlessly swept away by the torrent of war and they could only go with the flow.

But war has always been cruel!
At the same time, in Jinzhou City, Zu Dashou was leading a group of generals standing on the city wall and watching this scene coldly.

The Han generals behind him were already extremely angry and wanted to leave the city immediately to rescue these innocent people.

But they are all veterans who have been through many battles and know that they cannot act impulsively at this time.

Because now is not the best time to break through.

If they break out at this time, they will face tens of thousands of main forces of Dorgon. With such a huge disparity in troop strength, they have no chance of winning and will be wiped out!
By then, not only would their lives be in danger, but Jinzhou City would also fall into the hands of the Jiannu!
Once Jinzhou is lost, the entire battle situation will fall into a more passive position, and the war will become more difficult to fight.

Therefore, they could only suppress their anger, bury it deep in their hearts, and wait for the right opportunity to take revenge!

Only after the army led by Huang Taiji gradually disappeared from everyone's sight did Zu Dashou lead everyone back to the city.

At this time, Jinzhou City was already a busy scene.

In order to prepare for the impending breakout, countless door panels and beams were removed by the soldiers and transformed into huge "door panel bridges" using ropes and nails.

The length is about ten meters and the width is about two meters, and they can be combined when used.

In order to make these "door bridges" stronger, they even demolished Zu Dashou's government office.

This was prepared for breaking out by crossing the trenches dug by the Jiannu.

After all, you can't rush out and then spend time filling the trenches before attacking. That is obviously unrealistic.

Zu Dashou breathed a sigh of relief at the scene before him, then turned back to look at the generals around him and asked with a firm gaze:
"Have you prepared everything I told you to do?"

The generals hurriedly bowed and replied respectfully:
"Don't worry, sir. Everything is ready."

Zu Dashou had previously instructed that anyone preparing to follow him in a raid must write down their name and place of origin on a piece of paper and keep it in a safe place.

In this way, when the war is over, we can not only count the number of people and understand the casualties of the battle, but also ensure that the fallen soldiers receive the appropriate compensation.

Of course, if the Ming army was completely defeated in this battle, all this would be meaningless!

However, in the eyes of everyone, the Ming army will definitely win this battle!

After all, the emperor personally led the army to fight, which undoubtedly gave all of them a shot in the arm. In their minds, there was no possibility of failure at all!
(End of this chapter)