Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

Within the capital, people were filled with anxiety. Although ordinary citizens were unaware that the emperor was not in the capital, the martial law in the city and the soldiers rushing through the streets signaled the tense situation.

Outside Huairou City, north of Beijing, dust billowed. After two days of fighting, not only had Huairou City not been captured, but the Zheng Hong and Xiang Hong Second Banners had also suffered heavy losses, with over a thousand men killed in action.

At this moment, Yue Tuo gripped his riding whip tightly, his eyes fixed on Huairou City, and shouted, "What the hell? How come there are so many Ming soldiers in this city?"

Du Du added from the side, "The garrison in Huairou City numbers no less than twenty or thirty thousand!"

In Du Du's mind, he no longer wanted to fight the Ming army. Their mission was to plunder people and wealth, not to attack cities. If they lost morale at Huairou, it would be a net loss. Even if they managed to capture Huairou, they wouldn't gain much, because Huairou was a semi-military town, not a prosperous residential city.

Just then, a Qing scout rode up to Yue Tuo and urgently reported, "General, tens of thousands of Ming troops are currently flanking our army to the north!"

"Damn it, where did all these Ming soldiers come from? Aren't they all in Shaanxi?"

"General, let's abandon the attack on Huairou. Our main purpose on this trip is to plunder!" Du Du said from the side.

"What if the Ming army outflanks us from behind if we don't capture Huairou?" Yue Tuo questioned.

"Prince Rui (Dorgon) will enter the pass through Qingshankou in a few days. If this Ming army comes out of the city to pursue us, we can turn back and wipe them out. If they don't pursue us, we can ignore them and let them guard Huairou!"

Yue Tuo paced anxiously back and forth. After a moment of contemplation, he nodded: "Withdraw. Attack Tongzhou!"

Yue Tuo did not believe that Tongzhou still had 30,000 to 40,000 troops. He thought he could lure the Huairou garrison out of the city for a field battle. Once they lost their artillery firepower, he was confident that he could defeat the Ming army with equal numbers of troops!

After Yue Tuo issued the order to retreat, the Qing troops that had attacked Huairou withdrew like a tide.

Standing on the city wall, Lu Xiang-sheng stared intently at the retreating Qing army.

At this moment, Li Fuming, the General of Shanxi, ran up to Lu Xiangshan and asked, "Lord Lu, the Qing army has retreated! Should we pursue them?"

"Leave two thousand soldiers to clean up the battlefield, while the remaining troops join forces with Yang Guozhu's outflanking troops and follow the Qing army heading south!"

"yes!"

Half an hour after the Qing army withdrew, Lu Xiang-sheng began to lead more than 30,000 troops, closely following the Qing army, towards Tongzhou.

at the same time.

Zhu Jian and Hong Chengchou, who were traveling north from Xianghe to Tongzhou, received news that the Qing army was heading towards Tongzhou. Immediately, Hong Chengchou ordered Cao Bianjiao to lead the vanguard of 5,000 men to meet the enemy. They were as fierce as tigers and as mighty as tigers. Each of them led 10,000 troops to the left and right wings to protect the vanguard.

Hong Chengchou and Zhu Jian's Yongwei Battalion, totaling over 20,000 men, formed the central army and steadily advanced northward.

During this military command, Zhu Jian did not disturb Hong Chengchou, but instead observed Hong Chengchou's methods of using troops.

He discovered that Hong Chengchou was much as described in history: he was a steady and capable military strategist.

"Chengchou, there's no need to be so nervous, you're even sweating..." Zhu Jian said with a smile.

Hong Chengchou was not worried about the war, but about Zhu Jian. The emperor was in the army. If they were defeated, his life or death would be a small matter, but the Ming Dynasty would be in grave danger.

When Emperor Yingzong was arrested, at least the Empress Dowager and the Prince of Cheng were in charge. Now, the court is divided and suppressing dissent, and the Crown Prince is still young. If Zhu Jian were arrested, it would be the end for them...

"I am not worried about the war, but about Your Majesty..." Hong Chengchou said, wiping away his sweat.

Zhu Jian was slightly displeased: "I have legs, I can walk by myself, and besides, no one knows I'm in the army!"

He felt that in these people's eyes, the emperor was just a figurehead; after Emperor Wuzong, no emperor had ever personally led an army into battle... This led everyone to believe that the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were raised by women in the inner palace...

No sooner had Zhu Jian finished speaking than a group of scouts approached Hong Chengchou: "Reporting to Your Excellency, General Cao is engaged in battle with the Qing army's vanguard!"

"Order the left and right flanks to advance!" He then glanced back at Zhu Jian: "Your Majesty, please wait a moment. I will lead the troops there!"

Zhu Jian suddenly said, "Gao Jie! Lead 10,000 troops to support Cao Bianjiao!"

The surrendered general Gao Jie, standing to the side, was taken aback, then quickly replied, "This subordinate obeys!"

After Gao Jie rode away from the central army, Hong Chengchou looked at Zhu Jian with suspicion: "Your Majesty, now is the perfect time to formally encircle them. Why are you engaging in battle?"

"Dorgon is coming!"

"I intend to send Yue Tuo eastward to join forces with Dorgon, thus avoiding a two-front war!"

Hong Chengchou frowned slightly, somewhat surprised: "Dorgon!"

Zhu Jian nodded: "Dorgon's forces are about the same as Yue Tuo's, with the Plain White and Bordered White Banners as the main force, and Haoge leading the Plain Yellow and Bordered Yellow Banners as support!"

After hearing this, Hong Chengchou stared blankly at Zhu Jian. The emperor had changed so much in the year he had not seen him. He remembered that when he left the capital for Shaanxi at the beginning of the tenth year of Chongzhen's reign, the emperor trusted Yang Sichang completely and all military matters were discussed through Yang Sichang. But now, the emperor was extremely knowledgeable about the military affairs of all sides!

Just as Zhu Jian and Hong Chengchou were talking.

Outside Tongzhou, Cao Bianjiao was engaged in a bloody battle with the vanguard battalion of the Qing army led by Lausa.

After the first wave of Ming muskets fired three rounds, Cao Bianjiao personally led his troops to charge into the enemy lines and engage the Qing army in hand-to-hand combat.

In an instant, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and shouts of killing filled the air.

Half an hour later, Du Du led the reinforcements of the Qing army to arrive and directly suppressed Cao Bianjiao's offensive.

Just as the Qing army was preparing to expand its gains, Gao Jie led 10,000 reinforcements to arrive in time to support Cao Bianjiao's troops and stabilize the retreating situation.

At this moment, Hu Dawei and his fierce Tiger Clan were also heading towards the battlefield to encircle it.

Yue Tuo, who was covering the rear, saw tens of thousands of Ming soldiers coming to meet him and cursed incessantly: "Damn it, where did all these Ming soldiers come from!"

An hour later, the sky gradually darkened, and the sunlight cast long shadows of the people fighting in the bloody battle.

Behind Yue Tuo, Lu Xiang-sheng personally led the vanguard to attack Yue Tuo's rearguard of the Qing army.

At this time, 80,000 Ming troops and 40,000 Qing troops, totaling 120,000 men on both sides, clashed in Tongzhou, and the capital was in imminent danger.

As night fell, both sides shifted to a defensive posture and disengaged.

At this time, Hong Chengchou's troops and Lu Xiangshan's troops had joined forces, with more than 70,000 troops stretching for several miles.

The Qing army was in a similar situation, holding their ground in one place while sending out a large number of scouts towards Qingshan Pass to seek support from Dorgon's forces.

At this time, Dorgon had just finished looting Qian'an and was temporarily encamped in the city, preparing to march west to Tongzhou the next day to join forces with Yue Tuo's troops...

"Isn't it strange that there are no garrison troops in Jizhou?" Hauge asked Dorgon as he approached.

"Why do you think so?" Dorgon countered.

"I think the Ming army has laid an ambush!" After saying that, Hauge stared intently at Dorgon, observing his reaction.

"Does Prince Su mean we should withdraw our troops now and return to Shengjing?"

Both Dorgon and Hauge were political savvy. Whoever advocated for the withdrawal of troops would have to bear the responsibility, and any benefits gained would be taken away by the other. Therefore, neither of them would give an inch.

"Uncle Wang is the commander-in-chief, and I will obey Uncle Wang's command!" Hauge was not fooled, but he had a feeling that the Ming army had laid an ambush, otherwise there would have been no garrison in Jizhou.

The reason there are no troops stationed here now is that the Ming court has redeployed its military forces to another location.

"In that case, tomorrow I will send scouts to Tongzhou to explore the route, and after we join forces with Yue Tuo's troops outside the capital, we will make further decisions!"

Dorgon planned to test the Ming Dynasty's defenses in the capital. If the defenses were weak, he might be able to storm the capital and destroy the Ming Dynasty. If he couldn't take it, he would then try to conquer the south!

If he could truly capture the city, his military achievements would be on par with Huang Taiji's, and at that point, his power would be equivalent to half of Huang Taiji's...