Ming Empire

Chapter 250 Cao Bianjiao Returns

On a plain about seventy miles northwest of Liaocheng, the troops led by Cao Yue and Cao Bianjiao finally joined forces.

"Cousin, I finally see you again." After punching Cao Bianjiao who was running towards him quickly, Cao Yue hugged Cao Bianjiao tightly with tears in his eyes, and laughed loudly: "Cousin, seeing you I don't know how happy I am to lead the army to break through the encirclement and go south safely."

Cao Bianjiao, who had mixed feelings in his heart, hugged Cao Yue tightly, and also punched Cao Yue in the chest: "Fifth brother, I'm so glad that our brothers meet again. You are so amazing, this time you are in Liaocheng. Ergun was defeated and fled, regaining the entire Shandong. Jiannu has the upper hand, and you can inflict heavy damage on it. I can only worship you for your military talent!"

"Cousin, you're absurd," Cao Yue looked back at the 5000 troops he had brought, and said with a smile, "Actually, my younger brother just changed his tactics and equipped the army with a large number of firearms. With firearms as sharp weapons, It’s just a heavy blow to Jiannu. There’s nothing new about it. As long as enough firearms can be produced, anyone can defeat Jiannu in battle. Jiannu are just a group of uncivilized barbarians with low overall productivity. As long as I am Ming The military and civilians are not pedantic, and it is easy to defeat them with our advanced technology. In the days to come, we brothers can fight side by side and defeat Jiannu together."

"Fifth brother, you like to talk big too," Cao Bianjiao punched Cao Yue in the chest again and wiped his eyes, "But Brother Wei likes your arrogance, and now you are the nemesis of Jiannu, Dorgon has nothing to say The superior force has all been defeated by you, and this battle will not be so difficult in the future."

"Cousin, let's talk about everything after we return to Liaocheng and settle down. I want to talk to you about the current situation and your post after you return!" Hearing what Cao Yue said, Cao Bianjiao was taken aback, with a look on his face A little unnatural, but finally nodded: "Well, when we settle down, we two brothers can have a good chat."

Cao Yue originally led his army to leave Liaocheng and headed for Linqing, but after hearing that Cao Bianjiao was leading his army towards Liaocheng, he took a group of troops and left Linqing to meet Cao Bianjiao.Today's Liaocheng has become a transit base for the Northern Expedition of the Ming Dynasty. Most of the troops brought by Hong Niangzi are placed here, and the military supplies transported to the north are also temporarily stored here. Cao Yue plans to let Cao Bianjiao's troops rest at this time.

These tens of thousands of horsemen and Hong Niangzi's tens of thousands of subordinates are all extra-military troops of the Ming Dynasty Guards. Cao Yue plans to reorganize them after the war subsides, and all of them will be in the order of the Ming Guards.How to reorganize and who will lead the army after reorganization, he will not decide these things immediately, and will definitely discuss with Cao Bianjiao and Hong Niangzi before deciding.

According to Cao Yue's arrangement, Cao Bianjiao placed the men and horses he led outside Liaocheng City, and then entered the city with Cao Yue.

Cao Yue set up a sumptuous banquet to meet Xichen for Cao Bianjiao.Cao Bianjiao also responded to Cao Yue's request and told the battle process of the troops he led during this period.

Only then did Cao Yue know that the food, gunpowder and other items in Datong City were almost exhausted, so Cao Bianjiao had no choice but to abandon the city and attack.

If the situation in the city is good, he will not abandon the city and take the initiative to attack.After all, the geographical location of Datong is very important, it is the gateway for guarding Jiannu to invade the Central Plains from the Mongolian plateau.Especially when most of the north fell, the status of Datong became more and more important, like a sharp knife stuck in the enemy's body, threatening the safety of Jiannu at all times.

This time he took the initiative to attack, Cao Bianjiao just left thousands of old, weak, sick and disabled to continue guarding Datong, and did not give Jiannu the opportunity to easily capture Datong City.After all, there are still tens of thousands of people in Datong City, and they will also become the force to defend the city.Jiannu, who became angry from embarrassment, would definitely massacre the city if he breached Datong City.Cao Bianjiao's decision to abandon the city and leave the attack was made after a lot of hesitation, to abandon the tens of thousands of people in Datong City, as well as those traveling to the old, weak, sick and disabled, and Datong, an extremely important city. Could not bear.

After several unsuccessful attacks on Datong City, Jiannu withdrew most of the main force, leaving only 4 to [-] horses to besiege Datong City.These besieged troops are mainly servants with weak combat effectiveness.Cao Bianjiao attacked from the city by surprise, easily defeated these troops, and immediately attacked in the direction of Beijing.His strategy also gave an explanation to the thousands of old, weak, sick and disabled people and tens of thousands of people who stayed behind in Datong.

The Ming army did not abandon them, but instead searched for an opportunity to attack Beijing, and the capital who took back Daming went. Even if Datong City eventually fell to Jiannu, no one could complain about the Daming army led by Cao Bianjiao.Compared with Beijing, Datong City is much less important.No bloody general of the Ming Dynasty would give up the chance to recover Beijing. No one can blame Cao Bianjiao for doing so.

But Cao Bianjiao finally sighed: "Fifth brother, Datong is the place where you achieved your reputation and the foundation of our Cao family. As a brother, I will not give up this strong city unless I have to. It is still not heard. The news of the fall of Datong City shows that Jiannu is still unable to capture Datong City. We must find a way to recover the north as soon as possible, rescue Datong, and not let the soldiers and civilians of Datong down!"

"Cousin, I fully understand your helplessness. After all, most of the north has fallen, and Datong has become an isolated city. The cost of tens of thousands of horses is not a small amount. It will be difficult to sustain it after a long time. However, there are still tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Datong City , they will be able to fight against the enemy and resist the siege of Jiannu. Now that Dorgon is too busy to take care of himself, he should not have the opportunity to send a large number of reinforcements to attack Datong. He will still take measures to continue the siege, so Datong should still be able to hold on. When we stand firm in Shandong When the heels are over, continue the Northern Expedition, regain Beijing, Jiner will recover the entire north, drive the Jiannu out of the pass, and finally wipe them out, and then Datong will be safe!" Then Cao Yue also made some of the arrangements he made, Cao Bianjiao was informed of the arrangements including the naval warships preparing to attack Tianjin Wei, and his plans to gather heavy troops to fight Jiannu in Cangzhou.

Hearing what Cao Yue said, Cao Bianjiao was of course surprised. He didn't expect Cao Yue to have such a big appetite, and he was not afraid of the comprehensive defense of hundreds of thousands of Jiannu, and continued to attack northward, and even adopted the method of dividing troops.

"Fifth brother, aren't you afraid of a total defeat in case of failure?" Cao Bianjiao couldn't help expressing his worries.

"Jiannu didn't know that our navy had already attacked Tianjin Wei from the sea. They gathered most of their forces on the Cangzhou line south of Beizhili. Attack Cangzhou, and attack Jiannu on both sides!" Cao Yue was not worried at all, and said confidently: "I was worried that there would not be enough generals around me who could stand alone, but now that your cousin is back, don't worry about it. , we two brothers work together, we will definitely defeat Jiannu."

"Fifth brother, how are you going to arrange it?" Cao Bianjiao asked with a pun.

He wanted to know how Cao Yue planned to arrange him and his troops.

(End of this chapter)