Daming: Stealing Chen Yuanyuan at the beginning

Chapter 58 The Battle of Huaiqing, Three Walls

On September [-], after more than a month of dispatching troops, the armies of Manchu and Shun met in Qinyang, Huaiqing Prefecture.

The long-awaited Battle of Huaiqing, a battle concerning the fortunes of the Ming, Dashun, and Qing Dynasties, has finally begun grandly.

The camps of the two sides stretched for more than ten miles, facing each other far away.

Azig was restless, and for the first time in so many years of leading troops to fight, he had an ominous premonition.This premonition lingered in my heart and cast a lingering shadow.

He really couldn't figure it out, why didn't Li Zicheng run away?Instead of running away, how dare they launch a counterattack, and forced the Qing soldiers to withdraw from Xi'an and Tongguan!
Wu Sangui explained: "Prince Ying, we Han people have a saying that rabbits bite people when they are in a hurry. Now Li Zicheng is a red-eyed rabbit who is in a hurry and started to jump up and bite people."

But later, the momentum became more and more wrong.Wu Sangui still underestimated Li Zicheng's determination to counterattack, and also underestimated the powerful fighting power of the peasant army in a desperate situation.

Li Zicheng is indeed biting, but he is not a red-eyed rabbit, but a one-eyed wolf!

Azige became angry from embarrassment and massacred the city in Taiyuan, taking the lives of 40 people in Taiyuan to vent his anger.The numerous crimes committed by the Tartars have added another sum.

Then it was detected that the peasant army stormed Huaiqing Mansion, and Azig hurriedly led the troops to Qinyang.The Huaiqing mansion cannot be lost. If it falls into the hands of the peasant army, it will be difficult for Kaifeng in the east to protect itself, and Zhending and Baoding in the north will also be seriously threatened.

At this time, Azig was running around in the tent, like ants on a hot pot.He took the regent's letter and roared: "The regent said that he has ordered Doduo to lead the army to support him, but what about the Doduo people, where did he go when he died?"

Soldiers are pressing down on the border, but no reinforcements are seen. If you are not in a hurry, there will be ghosts!
Azig claims to command [-] troops, but in fact the main force is only [-], some of them are full soldiers, and some are Wu Sangui's Guanning Iron Cavalry.The remaining [-] to [-] soldiers were all Ming soldiers and bandits recruited along the way, so they could not be counted on.

The Peasant Army on the opposite side has as many as 20 people. Li Zicheng's elite troops are almost out, and it is said that there are [-] heavy cavalry.

"How should we fight this battle?" Azig asked, spreading his hands.

Shang Kexi kept a gloomy face and said nothing, Wu Sangui put his hand on his forehead and asked tentatively: "Prince Yu didn't come to help in time, it's not my fault. Can we retreat to Baoding Mansion and temporarily avoid the enemy's sharp edge?"

Azig also wanted to retreat, but just as soon as he thought about it, he couldn't help shivering.

For many years, he has been fighting openly and secretly with Dorgon. Although he has not broken his face, the two sides are wary of each other and have deep suspicions.At this time, retreating without fighting, wouldn't it be a trick?

"Others can retreat, but this king has no way to retreat! Forget it, this fierce battle is inevitable, at worst, shroud in horse leather." Azig's tone was old-fashioned, and he no longer had the high-spirited spirit he had when he was in Tongguan.

But in the Dashun military camp, it was a different scene.

"Has everything been arranged?" Li Zicheng asked.

All the generals replied in unison: "Report to Your Majesty, everything has been properly arranged!"

Li Zicheng's one-eyed shot a cold light, and said: "He, Azig, has been chasing me for so many days, and once forced me to sleep and eat, now it's time for him to pay back this old debt."

Li Guo interjected: "More than that, we want to avenge Gao Yigong and the people of Taiyuan!"

Song Xiance also said: "Slaughter my compatriots, this enmity is irreconcilable!"

"Liu Fangliang, you come to lead the battle, remember it, and use the old method to lure the enemy. Li Guo, you sit with me in the central army, and this time I will let you be the main commander. Liu Zongmin, lead the army and postpone it."

Li Zicheng quickly issued an order, drew out his long knife, and shouted: "The three armies will fight together, victory and defeat will be determined today!"

……

When the morning sun rose into the sky, Liu Fangliang rushed to the enemy camp with [-] infantry, and the battle began.

Wu Sangui commanded [-] Guanning iron cavalry to fight. Guan Ning's iron cavalry had a three-eyed firecracker in their hands, and they shot while riding wildly.

The Dashun infantry at the front dropped a group, and Guan Ning's iron cavalry rushed into the formation. Instead of shooting, they held three-eyed firecrackers and smashed them down like hammers. Many people's heads burst, and blood spurted from their brains .

The cavalry came and went and clashed, and the Dashun infantry struggled to support, and the formation gradually became disorganized.After fighting hard for another stick of incense, Liu Fangliang ordered: "Retreat!"

As soon as the military order was given, the infantrymen changed from the rear to the front and ran away. As they ran, many gold, silver and jewels fell from their bodies.

Wu Sangui hurriedly reined in his horse and shouted: "This is a common trick used by thieves to lure the enemy. Don't chase, let alone get off your horse to pick up the gold and silver on the ground!"

This is true. In the past, the peasant army used this method to lure the enemy. Many Ming troops were fooled, and even Sun Chuanting himself suffered a big loss.

Although Wu Sangui has been stationed outside the pass all year round, he has always paid attention to and studied the tactics of the peasant army, and he still knows their strategies.What's more, only the enemy's [-] infantry troops were defeated, and there was a large army waiting behind them. No general with any sense would take risks rashly.

But Azig didn't think so. He saw the peasant army throwing away their armor and fleeing, and ordered Wu Sangui to pursue them.

"Prince Ying, don't be fooled, this kind of trick is obvious..."

Before Wu Sangui finished speaking, Azige said: "The enemy is powerful and we have few soldiers, so we should take advantage of their retreat and kill them with all our might. Of course, this king can also see that the enemy's vanguard is pretending to be defeated, but We rushed over and attacked them fiercely, until their feigned defeat turned into a real defeat, and the enemy is just lifting a rock to shoot themselves in the foot!"

"Fight more with less, the most important thing is to overwhelm the enemy in terms of morale! Wu Sangui, do you have other thoughts in your heart? You remember, since you let my people enter the customs, you have betrayed the Han people, and you will never be able to do so for the rest of your life." Get rid of this fact!"

One sentence made Wu Sangui speechless, Azig became suspicious, Wu Sangui sighed sadly, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and lead the troops in pursuit.

After chasing for several miles, the enemy troops fleeing in front scattered in all directions.Wu Sangui raised his eyes and felt a chill running down his spine. Sure enough, the enemy had an ambush, and it was a heavy armored cavalry force of about 3 people!
The spears are like a forest, and the armor is shining.This is Li Zicheng's carefully built ace unit, the famous Dashun heavy armored cavalry, also known as the "Three Walls" because of its special fighting style!
The heavy armored cavalry was divided into three teams, the front and the back, and the flags they played were red, white, and black. The flags rolled in the wind, and the hula-la rang non-stop.

The biggest feature of heavy cavalry is that both soldiers and horses are armored, and both men and horses are armed to the teeth.

Needless to say, the cavalry is naturally fully equipped, covered tightly, with only eyes exposed, holding a spear in hand, like a god.

War horse equipment is also extremely heavy and cumbersome, mainly including horse face, chicken neck, horse body armor, breastplate and so on.

"Horse face" is a long and narrow piece of metal protection with holes on it, which mainly protects the face of the horse. The armor is made of armor pieces, and there are buckles in the front that can be buckled; the "horse body armor" is the main armor on the horse, and it is about the same length as the horse.

In addition, Li Zicheng's heavy armored cavalry also adorned tiger-striped skirts under the horse body armor, which can not only prevent arrows, but also add prestige.

"Ming History Biography of Li Zicheng" records: "Li Zicheng's cavalry troops each have two or three war horses. When training, they always use the open belly as a manger. After long-term training, the war horses see people. Bared teeth wanting to eat, like a tiger or a leopard."

There was a strict rule in Li Zicheng's army that capturing mules and horses in battle was the same as beheading the enemy, and receiving a high reward; capturing weapons received a medium reward, and capturing gold and silver received a low reward.

This shows how much Li Zicheng attaches importance to heavy cavalry.It is precisely because of this that he was able to reverse the situation in the later stage and beat the Ming army to the point where they were powerless to fight back.

The so-called "Three Walls Tactic" is also recorded in history books: "Before the battle, there are [-] horses, which are called the Three Walls. The former looks back, and the latter kills them. The battle was invincible, the cavalry pretended to be defeated to lure officers and soldiers, and the infantry led With [-] spears, the stabbing is like flying, and the horse soldiers fight back, all of them are victorious."

The specific combat skills of the heavy armored cavalry is that the cavalry holds the bridle in the right hand, holds the gun in the left armpit, and makes a crescent moon.After a round of rushing, the left and right hands are switched, and there is no fixed number of such repeated assaults until the victory is won.

In front of the heavy armored cavalry, Guan Ning's cavalry looked a little thin.The heavy armored cavalry is fully equipped, while Guan Ning's cavalry is only half equipped. The coverage area of ​​the armor is far inferior, and the visual impact and deterrent effect are very different from the appearance alone.

When Li Guo saw Wu Sangui, he was filled with hatred and cursed: "Wu Sangui, the dog thief, you are a sinner of our Han family for all eternity. Today is the day you die! Take your life, I will avenge Gao Yigong and the people of Taiyuan." revenge!"

Then he waved his big knife and roared at the top of his lungs, "Attack!"

The first group of heavy armored cavalry marched neatly, and their horses marched side by side, which really looked like a thick and solid iron wall.The clanging sound of the armor was piercing and heart-piercing.

The war horse walked slowly at first, and then galloped up, the hoofs of the horses were flying, and the momentum was like overwhelming mountains and seas, and like mountains pressing down on top.

Wu Sangui's complexion changed drastically. He had seen the power of the "three walls" during the battle at Shanhaiguan. If he hadn't asked Man Qing for help, Guan Ning's iron cavalry would not be able to defeat the "three walls" no matter what.

Just at this time, the spies from the army came to report: "Prince Pingxi, our camp was surrounded by Liu Zongmin's army, and Prince Ying escaped!"

When Azig escaped, he must have taken away more than 1 Manchu and Qing cavalry in the army.Without the help of the Manchu cavalry, wouldn't the Guanning iron cavalry be wiped out?

Wu Sangui cursed secretly, and finally lost his mind and shouted: "Retreat, retreat quickly!"

(End of this chapter)