Dashun Yongchang

As for the others, urge the soldiers of all ministries to check their equipment and tell them the significance of this battle.As long as we can encircle and annihilate the Qing army in Kaocheng, we will cut off half of the Azig army's retreat going south. If we wipe out the Qing army around Suizhou, then the Azig army will be cut off by our army back road.

As long as most of the Azig army can be encircled or wiped out, the southward campaign launched by the Qing army will not be far from failure.With the national strength of the Qing Dynasty, they will not be able to launch such a large number of times, so as long as we win this battle, we will take back Beijing sooner or later..."

Chapter 365

When Li Zicheng called the generals for a pre-war meeting in the camp outside the city, the generals of the Qing army in Kaocheng were also discussing whether to retreat.Kaocheng county government was relatively stable before the Ming Dynasty. At that time, it was relatively close to Yifeng City. However, after the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River flooded frequently. Cao County is closer.

Nikan and Tong Tulai ordered Bahana and Kerkun to attack Cao County, which actually echoed Luo Luohong and Shang Kexi's attack on Kaocheng. If the actions of the two armies are successful, then Ah The Jige army and the Duoduo army formed a line, so that Jining and Guide could be separated and isolated.

When Cao County was successfully attacked by the Bahana and Korkun troops, Kaocheng was still in the hands of the Shun Army. After Li Zicheng personally took reinforcements to recover Cao County, he gave the Kaocheng defenders an order to retreat, allowing Luo Luohong to retreat. , Shang Kexi entered Kaocheng.

However, Li Zicheng ordered the defenders of Kaocheng to retreat. His purpose was to bring the Qing army, Luo Luohong and Shang Kexi, closer to him, so as to shorten the distance between his main force and the Qing army.

In the previous preparations for the war, more than ten thousand people in Kaocheng had been moved to Guide Mansion and Feng County by the Shun Army. Therefore, although the Qing army captured Kaocheng, what they got was just an empty city. Although the Qing army did not set fire to the city, they still destroyed most of the grain stored in the city.

After exhausting all their efforts, they only took down an empty earth city, which greatly affected the morale of the Qing army.In addition, the cavalry of the Qing army who fled from Cao County brought the news that the reinforcements of the Shun Army had arrived in Cao County, and the Han soldiers except the Manchus did not want to move.

Although Luo Luohong is Yue Tuo's son, he did not inherit his father's military talent. Although he wanted to urge Shang Kexi to send troops to rescue Bahana and others, he obeyed Shang Kexi's opposition .This kind of weakness is also rare among the Manchus. Although this made the Manchu generals in the army dissatisfied, it won the support of most Han generals.

Shang Kexi’s reason for opposing sending troops to Cao County is that if the cavalry troops led by Kerkun are all besieged by the Shun army, then it doesn’t make much sense for them to send troops to rescue Cao County, because the cavalry strength in their army may not be as strong as Kerkun’s. The strength of the cavalry led.

If the whole army is dispatched to Cao County, with their exhausted army that has just fought the siege battle for several days, they will go to Cao County, not to mention how much morale and combat power the low-ranking soldiers have left, it will not be able to catch up with the time alone .Maybe he went to Cao County to rescue him, but in the end he became the object waiting for others to come to rescue him.

Therefore, Shang Kexi felt that it would be better to send someone to Cao County to inform Bahana and Kerkun to come to Kao City to join him, and they would guard the city to meet each other.After all, after losing Cao County, Kaocheng has become a very important node connecting the two armies of the East and the West. Instead, the army laid a solid nail between the Qing army's east and west armies.

The only thing that Shang Kexi and others did not expect was that they did not wait for the defeated army of Bahana and Kerkun, but instead waited for the endless stream of Shunjun troops.Luo Luohong, Shang Kexi and a group of Manchu and Han generals gathered in the second hall of Kaocheng County Yamen in this cramped living room, and had a heated discussion about the current situation of our army.

Shang Kexi's confidant general Xu Erxian thought that he should retreat as soon as possible, and not be blocked by the Shun army in the city, otherwise "with three or four thousand headquarters commanding four or five thousand suspicious soldiers and defending an isolated city without food and assistance, it must be impossible to defend."

But the Manchu generals in the living room did not believe that Bahana and Kerkun would be wiped out by the Shun army and could not come to join him. Jiala Ezhen Chuku said: "With Kerkun's ability, bring these six hundred vests , without ten times as many cavalry, it is impossible to stop him from fleeing. If six thousand cavalry from the Shun Army arrive in Cao County, then we will die if we go out of the city? Do you think that most of our infantry can withstand the impact of thousands of cavalry in the wild? ?”

Chu Ku's conclusion immediately left the evacuation party speechless. They wanted to evacuate Kaocheng because they felt that Kaocheng could not be defended, but even if Kaocheng could not be defended, there was still a city wall that could support them. Those who are defending, if they are going to be rushed into the wild by thousands of cavalry, then this army will cross faster.If such a situation really occurs, then they may be able to wait for a turnaround in the test city.

Mele Erzhen Kuruk also said immediately: "Maybe Bahana and Kerkun just retreated to their army and joined Nikan and Tonturai. Compared with their meeting with us, they obviously joined our army Convergence will be safer.

Since we have notified Bahana of the information about taking Kaocheng, presumably Nikan and Tong Tulai will not give up on Cao County after they get the news. mean something.

Besides, if we evacuate from Kaocheng, where should we retreat next?From Kaocheng to Zhengzhou, there is almost no terrain that can be defended. Are we going to retreat all the way to Zhengzhou?Just as Chu Ku said, how can we resist the chasing and killing of Shunjun cavalry on these hundreds of miles of plains?

So we can only go to Suizhou in the end, to join Man Dahai, Bo Hetuo, and He Jinzhong who attacked Suizhou City, but this road must be within the calculation of the Shun Army. You can tell from our posture that they actually want us to go out of the city by ourselves, and then fight us in the wild..."

Luo Luohong, who was sitting at the top, was dumbfounded when he heard it. He felt that the opinions of defending the city and giving up the city and retreating were both reasonable, but he couldn't hear that kind of proposition was more reasonable.Of course, out of trust in the Manchus, he was still more willing to accept the proposition of defending the city, but he really didn't have the confidence and didn't know how long the city would need to defend.

Looking at Luo Luohong's pensive expression, Shang Kexi thought that this Manchu relative had some idea, so he reached out his hand to stop the quarrel among his subordinates, and asked Luo Luohong cautiously: "My lord, what do you think? What should we do now?"

Luo Luohong glanced at Shang Kexi in astonishment, then looked around, and found that everyone was looking at him expectantly, so he could only reply expectantly: "This king feels that since King Zhishun said before, Defending Kaocheng is for the overall situation, so don't we need to take care of the overall situation now?"

Now it was Shang Kexi's turn to be speechless, actually Shang Kexi wanted to run overnight, not even the newly surrendered troops.As a veteran who has fought for most of his life, when he saw the troops of the Shun Army approaching, he actually felt bad in his heart, and always felt that there was something dangerous surrounding him.

The reason why he questioned Luo Luohong was not because he wanted to hear any support for the defense of the city from the other party, but because he felt that the other party would choose a path that was beneficial to his own survival because of his ignorance of military affairs.Luo Luohong used what he said before to turn against the general himself, which he really never thought about.

It's just that under the watchful eyes of everyone, Shang Kexi can't swallow back what he said, and he is not willing to bear a series of consequences brought about by the withdrawal.If Luo Luohong couldn't bear the pressure of the army outside the city and proposed to retreat, then Shang Kexi would naturally accept it, since the other party would be able to handle what happened anyway.

But now that Luo Luohong has made it clear that the city must be defended for the sake of the overall situation, if he proposes to abandon the test city and retreat, then he will have to bear all the responsibilities for the rest.Can he bear this responsibility?After thinking about it in his heart, Shang Kexi knew that he couldn't bear it, because giving up the test city would be tantamount to blocking a way to solve the war in a short time.

Duoduo is not an embroidered pillow like Luo Luohong. He can definitely see the importance of Kaocheng and Cao County. If the army returns from the southern expedition with a big victory, then these are minor problems.But if the Southern Expedition fails, is there a better scapegoat than him?Not sending troops to rescue Cao County first, and then abandoning Kaocheng, this is the root cause of the failure of the Southern Expedition.

Shang Kexi contemplated for a long time and finally faced

Luo Luohong said: "What the lord said is indeed reasonable. Whether to defend the test city or not, we should wait for Nikan and Tong Tulai to give an answer before we can make a decision. We defend the city to meet Nikan and Tong Tulai. Tulai is attacking westward, if they don't attack, then what we are defending is an isolated city, which doesn't make much sense..."

Luo Luohong also nodded at this and said: "Indeed, we should send someone to inform Nikan and Tong Tulai as soon as possible. If they don't attack westward, then we don't need to protect this city."

Shang Kexi then said with enthusiasm: "From Kaocheng to Dingtao Military Camp, the time spent on the road is only 3 days, let's spare him two more days, making it 5 days. As long as there is no movement in the east within [-] days, Shall we retreat?"

Luo Luohong was not very interested in defending the city, seeing that Shang Kexi had come up with a timetable, he nodded indifferently in support.After confirming the premise of the battle, the words of the people in the living room became a little more joyful. Obviously, most people did not want to fight a tough battle where the emperor or the commander could not see it.

Shang Kexi then put forward another opinion in the following meeting, that is, to send someone to contact the Suizhou army, and ask the other party to send an army to support him, so that they can leave the city smoothly.

When Shang Kexi finished her work, it was past midnight, and it was pitch black outside the window.Shang Kexi then asked someone to fetch water to wash his face, and then went to bed to rest.A few hours later, Shang Kexi almost woke up. When he opened the window, he found that today was a beautiful sunny day.

It’s just that soon Shang Kexi’s mood turned bad. The reason was that a group of soldiers from the Shun army came from outside the west gate to persuade them to surrender. Among these people, there were actually Manchurians, including Ayanjueluo Kerkun from the Zhenglan Banner. .

Chapter 366

Luo Luohong, Shang Kexi, Mele Ezhen Kuluke, Jiala Ezhen Chuku and other high-ranking Manchu and Han generals standing on the tower of the west gate looked at the soldiers who were protected by a group of Shunjun cavalry just a stone's throw away from the west gate. The knight whispered for a moment.

"Is that really Ker Kun from Zhenglan Qi?"

"It is indeed Kerkun. It seems that our army was defeated in the battle of Cao County. Even Kerkun was captured by the Shun army. The loss of Zhenglan Banner is not small."

"Ker Kun doesn't seem to be tied with a rope, right? Why doesn't he run away, as long as he rushes down to the city, can't we protect him? He won't really surrender to the Shunjun army, will he?"

"Maybe, because of his ability, Ker Kun is always arrogant and rude in front of Baylor's son. Didn't he get thrown into the stone last time, and he was almost chopped off by Xianhan. I see, He may not have forgotten about it, so maybe he sincerely surrendered to Shunjun..."

When the Manchu and Han generals on the city gate tower were pointing downwards, Kelkun felt uncomfortable and looked back, just in time to see Ma Bao staring at him with a bow and arrow in one hand.He couldn't help but contemptuously said to him: "Oh, are you planning to shoot me with that bow? You Han heroes can only shoot arrows in the back of others? Why don't you give me a bow, I don't want arrows, and see if you can shoot from the front I don't want to die."

Ma Bao stared at him with his eyes wide open for a while, then suddenly raised the corners of his mouth and said mockingly: "You Manchu heroes are just massacring unarmed civilians? For executioners and butchers like you, only Hanging is your best affiliation. Shooting you in the back is cheap. What qualifications do you have to propose a fair duel with me? Would a man and a wolf have a fair duel? Stop dreaming. Or you can give it a try Can you escape back to the city under my arrows, maybe that is your chance to survive."

Ker Kun gritted his teeth to restrain his impulse, and slowly turned his head back. If Li Zicheng hadn't threatened him with his men, why would he have to endure these Han barbarians.I thought of what Li Zicheng said when he asked himself to come to the city to persuade the Qing army to surrender, "You can keep silent under the city, but if you say something that makes me feel uncomfortable, I will execute a person if you say a word. If you flee to In the city, all your subordinates will die here."

Kerkun remembered Li Zicheng's calmness when he said these words, as if he was not threatening himself, but stating a fact.Faced with such extreme indifference, it will bring him more pressure than those tyrannical Manchu generals he has ever seen.Because no matter how tyrannical those Manchu generals were, they knew that they were killing people, and they forced other people to submit to themselves through massacres.Li Zicheng, on the other hand, showed indifference, as if the captured Manchu captives were nothing more than insignificant numbers that could be erased casually.

Those Han people said that Emperor Yongchang was a tolerant monarch, but in Kerkun's view, Li Zicheng's tolerance was obviously a disguise. As long as he wanted to, he could behave more cruelly than anyone else.Kerkun could not abandon his subordinates. Although in the Eight Banners Army he was not afraid of generals or clans with higher status than himself, he knew very well that his confidence came from those subordinates who supported him.

If he lost all the lives of his subordinates and fled back alone, then no one would sincerely follow him to fight in the future.The Eight Banners military system, which was born out of the tribal armed forces, besides the banner, the most important thing is the blood relationship within each tribe and the marriage relationship between them. Therefore, he threw so many subordinates to the Shun Army, and it was not the families of these subordinates who offended , but all the family connections behind these people, which means the social death of him and his family among the Manchus.

What's more, he looked up at the ten-meter-high earth wall of Kaocheng in the distance. Kerkun really didn't think the Qing army in the city could hold the city, because the Shun army also brought red cannons.Ker Kun, who had seen the way the red cannons attacked the city, knew that once the Shun army set up cannon positions outside the city, it would only be a matter of time before the city walls collapsed.If he fled into the city now, he might not be safe either.

Corkun could only follow Li Zicheng's instructions and shout to the defenders in the city to put down their weapons and surrender.The Qing army on the city wall fell into chaos for a moment when they heard Ker Kun's shout.

Most of the defenders on the city wall were troops who had just surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. They didn't know Kerkun at first, but they saw a Manchu shouting from the city, and thought this scene was extremely weird.But when the Manchu warlords climbed up to the wall and looked shocked, the surrendering soldiers faintly realized that the Manchu general who persuaded him to surrender seemed to have a good reputation.

At this time, the surrendering soldiers in the city felt that something was wrong, and they began to ask people to find out who this Lord Kerqun really was.It wasn't until Luo Luo Hongbei Le and Zhishun Wang Shang Kexi also went to the top of the city that everyone felt that Ker Kun might really be a well-known general among the Manchurians, otherwise these two would not have seemed so nervous.

On the high slope about a mile away from Ker Kun, Ma Bao and others, Li Zicheng was also watching this scene with a group of generals from the Shun Army.Gao Hu still had some doubts in his heart. Seeing that Li Zicheng was in a good mood, he couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty, this Kor Kun's martial prowess should be rare among the Manchus. I really want him to take the opportunity to escape back to the city." , will we suffer too much? Moreover, I think such persuasion does not seem to have much effect on the Manchus, so should we just pull him back?"

Li Zicheng, on the other hand, kept looking at the scene on the city wall with a binoculars, and said indifferently: "Whether it's Mongols or Manchurians, they all like one activity, which is to cook eagles. The temperament of eagles Ferocious, if you want it to obey the master's orders, you need to grind its wildness first, so that it can become a good helper for hunters.

For us, the frontier minorities are wild eagles.It is impossible for us to kill all the eagles, because the loss of the eagles will cause the herbivores to lose their natural enemies and begin to expand and multiply in disorder. Eventually, more than a certain number of animals will destroy an entire grassland or forest.

Therefore, if we want to keep the country's borders peaceful, we need to domesticate falcons that obey the Central Plains regime. These falcons can not only help us expel those foreign or local wild eagles, but also help us control the population of the border so that it will not exceed The upper limit of the population that the frontier land can carry, once it exceeds the upper limit, a strategy will inevitably erupt.

Kerkun is nothing, what a pity for a barbarian who can ride horses and shoot arrows. If we can capture him once, we can capture him the second, third, and countless times.Those frontier populations who stand by his side against us are the ones we should really pay attention to, because eagles need wings to fly in the sky.There is nothing scary about Kerkun who is alone, what is scary are those minorities who surround Kerkun and challenge us.

What we have to do now is to defeat the heroes in these people's minds again and again, so that they can no longer have the heart to challenge Dashun. Only then can we truly tame these frontier peoples.So, Ker Kun, run as long as you want, we will definitely catch him again, and before that, the morale of the Qing army in the city has almost collapsed..."

Li Zicheng's guess was not bad. When the Manchu generals on the city wall really confirmed that the person shouting below was Ker Kun himself, they were all depressed for a while.From their point of view, if Wu Yong surrendered to the Shun army for the first few Kerkuns in the Eight Banners, then this Shun army that came to attack Kaocheng must be the main force rather than a partial division.

The Manchu generals who insisted on defending the city yesterday could no longer persist today.However, there was also a split on the side of the Han generals. The New Han army generally demanded to defend the city instead of retreating out of the city, because the New Han army did not have many horses, and retreating was tantamount to abandoning them all to the Shun army.If Luo Luohong and Shang Kexi had insisted on withdrawing before the main force of the Shun army had arrived, there would be nothing the new Han army could do.

But the situation is different now. The best way for the New Han army to oppose the retreat is that as soon as Luo Luohong and Shang Kexi leave the city, the New Han army in the city can open the city and surrender to the Shun army. It is still gratifying that these thousands of people will be intercepted by the main force of the Shun army immediately, and it is really hard to say that most of them will retreat smoothly.

After Shang Kexi realized that Ker Kun's shouting had caused chaos in the army in the city, he immediately asked Liang Biaoxiang, who was guarding the east gate, to beat the gongs and drums, drowning out Ker Kun's shouting.However, for the Qing army in the city, this is not the worst news. After Kerkun followed the Shunjun cavalry and returned to the camp in the east, the defenders at the northeast corner of the city wall brought Luo Luohong and Shang Kexi Another bad news.

Luo Luohong and Shang Kexi followed to the northeast corner of Kao City, and saw that more than a mile away from the city wall, the Shun army began to build barbed wire, ditches and low walls, and behind the low walls appeared a group of people. The red-clothed cannons being hoisted, Shang Kexi only counted them, and it is known that there are more than 30 of them.

Seeing so many cannons in red, Luo Luohong suddenly became anxious, and he said to Shang Kexi beside him, "King Zhishun, it seems that this city can't be defended anymore, should we think about retreating?" ?”

Shang Kexi looked at the people around him, and immediately changed the topic and said, "Master Baylor, I think we need to think long-term about the retreat. We must first look at the power of the Shun Army's artillery fire before we can decide when to evacuate. Let's talk about this now." , it's still too early."

Following Shang Kexi's eyes, Luo Luohong noticed that there were some Han soldiers who were not from Liaodong, so he followed the trend and kept silent.On this side, Shang Kexi told Liang Biaoxiang, the guard on the east side: "Since the Shun army has set up the cannons here, the northeast city wall may not be able to withstand being bombarded by the cannons for a long time. You take the soldiers from the headquarters, A low wall and ditch were built around the northeast corner of the city, so that even if the Shun army smashed the northeastern city wall with cannons, we can still rely on this low wall and ditch to resist the Shun army's assault..."

When Liang Biaoxiang received the order and went down the city wall, his confidant immediately said to him indignantly: "Didn't Luo Luo Hongbeile and King Zhishun want to leave us in the city to attract the attention of the Shun army, and then secretly Let's run..."

Chapter 367

Liang Biaoxiang quickly glanced left and right, and found that no one else was paying attention, so he lowered his face and reprimanded his confidant: "What are you talking about, go and call someone over, dig out the trench first, and always defend first." Just wait and think about other things.”

The confidant closed his mouth and left silently.Standing under the city wall, Liang Biaoxiang looked at the city wall that had been in disrepair for a long time and the large clods of soil were cracked. Obviously, the artillery of the Shun army aimed at this area was not random. With a voice, "I want Lao Tzu to give you a back, so let's break up and see who gets unlucky first."

The Manchu and Han senior generals who returned to the county government from the city wall seemed much more silent than yesterday.If it is said that yesterday the Manchus still thought they could defend for a while, and no matter how bad they were, they could leave the infantry and run away, then judging from the posture of the Shun army today, the city should be impossible to defend, and the time left for them to run is too short. There are not many more, and it is inappropriate to speak any big words at this time.

After all, Luo Luohong couldn't hold his breath anymore. Seeing that everyone was silent, he couldn't help but be the first to ask in a panic: "The strength of the Shun army under the city seems to be beyond imagination. Now we can continue to defend. city?"

The Manchu and Han generals sitting below felt that it was rare for Luo Luohong to say a correct nonsense. Naturally, the city would not be able to hold on anymore. They thought that the Shun Army was just sending troops to rescue Cao County, and they came here to compete with themselves for the test city, but look Seeing that more and more Shun troops gathered under the city, and even the red-clothed cannons were moved over, it was known that this Shun army was probably not a temporary reinforcement, but a carefully configured main force.

Merle Erzhen Kuruk saw that the others were silent, and he couldn't leave Luo Luohong Bayle there, so he responded aloud: "There must be no way to defend, the Shun army brought the cannons in red, Obviously, we are ready to attack the city. Given the weakness of the city walls, it will be a question of whether we can block the Shun army's artillery for a day or two. Once the city wall is breached, we will have to fight hand-to-hand with the Shun army inside the city. The streets are obviously not conducive to vest rush..."

Kuruk said a bunch of reasons that were not conducive to defending the city, but avoided talking about whether to retreat as soon as possible.But this is also his way of self-protection. After all, yesterday he was still firmly advocating the defense of the city. Today, after seeing the strength of the Shun army, he changed his mind and wanted to run away. It looks good.For his own future, he can only leave the issue to the higher authorities to decide.

Shang Kexi's left and right hands, Xu Erxian and Ban Zhifu, both of them looked at each other and remained silent. At the moment when the withdrawal of troops had to be done, no matter whether they insisted on retreating or not, the result would not change. Repeating yesterday's idea of ​​retreat will only offend those Manchu generals who opposed the retreat yesterday.

Having lived under the Manchus for so long, Xu Erxian and Ban Zhifu still have some understanding of the characters of these Manchus. Although the Manchus are straightforward in their personal interactions on weekdays, they don't have any small intestines, but once they are taken The Manchus are jealous, and their revenge is undisguised. It will not be as vicious as the civil servants of Ming Dynasty, but it will never make you feel better.

After surrendering to the Manchus with Shang Kexi, they knew that it would be difficult for them to be accepted by the Han people in the Guannei. Especially the great conflict between the Han people in Liaodong and the Han people caused by the Wuqiao Incident made it difficult for the Han people in Liaodong to get the Han people in the Guannei again. I understand, this can be seen from the inaction of the remaining soldiers in Dongjiang Town.

After Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi cast their votes, the Ming court no longer trusted the surviving troops in Dongjiang Town. Although they still kept the formation of this army, they refused to restore its strength. The Dengzhou Navy, the most powerful force in the North China Sea, became a group of offshore fishermen, giving up the control of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea for nothing.

Faced with such a situation, the Han people in Liaodong discovered that they could still be second-class people under the Manchus if they took refuge in the Manchus. If they returned to Daming, they would become the targets of the Han people in the pass to vent their dissatisfaction.Comparing the two, being a second-class Han in Manchuria is better than being discriminated against after returning to Ming Dynasty.

Shang Kexi glanced at the expressions of the generals in the hall, and he knew clearly what these Manchu generals were thinking, but he did not dare to accept the decision to evacuate immediately. The generals said: "This city is really difficult to defend, but now we have to defend it."

The generals looked at Shang Kexi in astonishment, not knowing why he would say that, even Luo Luohong said anxiously to Shang Kexi: "The Shun Army brigade arrived at the city, Nikan, Tong Tulai and the others might not be able to take it. Back to Cao County. People like Kerkun have surrendered to the Shun Army, and the army that attacked Cao County this time is also a disaster.

Therefore, it is unlikely that our army will attack Cao County again in the short term. In this case, it is meaningless for us to stick to Kaocheng.Withdrawing troops now can at least preserve the elite of our army, waiting for a comeback in the future.Why did King Zhishun persist? "

Shang Kexi looked at Luo Luohong, then looked at the other people, and after pondering for a while, he said: "Because Ker Kun appeared in the city today, I believe this news has spread throughout the city.

Think about it, everyone, if we retreat now, what will the soldiers below think?Is this a retreat or a retreat?If we retreat, the military discipline will still exist. If we retreat, the Shun army only needs one cavalry to chase us down, and our army will be dispersed.Or ask the other way around, if our army retreats now, who will go first?Who will be the queen? "

Jialaerzhen Chuku has a rather impatient temper. After hearing this question, he replied without hesitation: "There is nothing to consider. Of course, Lord Baylor will go first, then the prince, and finally..."

Chu Ku waited for a long time but no one came out. He suddenly realized that it was really difficult to choose the army behind the palace. It must be full of people. The new Han army is not reliable. unwilling.

If there is no strong army in the back when retreating, the retreat will become a rout. This is the experience summed up by the Manchus, the Ming army, and the Mongols in decades of war.Destiny Khan's most glorious victories against the Ming Dynasty at the beginning were all in the pursuit of defeating the army of the Ming army, and these armies were almost all complete troops.However, Tian Cong Khan's successful return after entering the customs several times is inseparable from the arrangement of strong troops in the rear. It was the rear troops that defeated the pursuit of the Ming army several times, so that the Ming army only dared to follow and did not dare to attack again. up.

Right now, they are not the looting army that entered the customs and returned to the court victoriously, but the lone army surrounded by the Shun army in the small city. Coupled with the defeat of Kerkun and Bahana's army, the army in the city is probably already in a state of panic. up.Relying on the earthen wall of Kaocheng, the army in the city can barely maintain calm, but if they are separated from the protection of the city wall, how many people are willing to fight for others and the Shun army?Not to mention those old and new Han Chinese, even the Manchus themselves may not be willing.

Because the defense of the looting troops in the pass before leaving the pass was essentially to protect their looted proceeds from being snatched back by the Ming army. According to Tian Conghan's regulations, the troops after the breakup can get an extra share, so everyone naturally went forward bravely.

But now they have nothing to defend, only their own life is the most precious, in order to let others live, let themselves die, first sweat and then gone, who will compensate their family?Protecting Rollo Horn Belle to escape from here is the greatest credit.Therefore, it is impossible for someone to voluntarily stay behind.

Seeing that Chu Ku suddenly couldn't continue speaking, and none of the generals took the initiative to speak out and wanted to stay behind, Shang Kexi could only sigh in his heart. This is really the worst situation. You must know that although he said so, but I still hope that someone can take the initiative to stand up and ask for a decision, so that everyone can really run away.

But now it seems that there is no one really honest and honest in this room, even if it is full of people.Under such circumstances, if he dared to order a retreat, it is estimated that he would not be able to command other people after he left the city gate.After all, only those who escaped from the Shun army alive will have the opportunity to think about the punishment of the court in the future, but the Manchus do not have to worry about being punished, because what they abandoned was not Manchu relatives, and as for the Han people, they may not go back to the north. Can't the locals join the army and survive?

Since no one is willing to make sacrifices for others, the city has no choice but to hold on.No matter how much some people in the city want to surrender, or how much the Shun army outside the city wants to recruit, once the war starts, the tacit understanding between the two sides will be destroyed.The matter of war is a machine that constantly creates hatred. After killing too many people, the possibility of compromise will be lost.

When Shang Kexi encouraged the generals to fight against the Shun Army, in the Shun Army camp outside the city, Li Zicheng's army staff also basically established messenger contacts with the various armies, and drew up a preliminary siege plan. .

In the big tent of the General Staff Headquarters, Zuo Ye pointed to a simple sand table and explained to Li Zicheng: "We have already contacted the troops of Vice Marshal Liu Zongmin, and their camp is at Luogang, about 30 miles southwest of Kaocheng. An infantry regiment was stationed at Damazhuang and Yuanpolou in the north of Luogang, which happened to be on the straight line from Kaocheng to Suizhou.

In other words, no matter whether the Qing army in Suizhou approached Kaocheng or the Qing army in Kaocheng approached Suizhou, they would be stopped by the defenders in these two places.The Liu Department also has a cavalry unit to monitor and patrol between Suizhou and Kaocheng. Once the movement of the Qing army is discovered, troops can be sent from the Luogang camp to encircle or intercept it.

Therefore, from the current point of view, the best way for our army to attack the Qing army in Kaocheng is to force them to flee from the city, and then cooperate with Liu's ambush army in the field to encircle and wipe them out.Once the Qing army gave up Kaocheng and fled, it would not be able to carry many people, roughly around [-] cavalry, but no more than one-third of the vests could actually fight on horseback.

Therefore, the meaning of the staff department is to divide the three cavalry regiments Ma Bao, Wu Guogui, and Gao Hu into three divisions, and monitor the movement of the Qing army in the city in rotation.Each army only intercepted the last part of its fleeing troops, until the fleeing Qing army was weakened to the point where it could no longer maintain its formation..."

Chapter 368

On the afternoon of January [-]th, the Suizhou camp of the Qing army received an alert from Luo Luohong and Shang Kexi that the Shun army had been found around Kaocheng.This is obviously not good news for Gushan Beizi Man Dahai, Bo and Tuo, who are in charge of attacking Suizhou City.

It has been more than half a month since their warlords besieged Suizhou City, but they have not made much progress.The defenders in the city were only in the early [-]s, while the besieging force exceeded [-], more than three times the force.It should be said that this difference in troop strength is enough to besiege an ordinary city.

It's just that for Suizhou City, which "rests on Honghe River in the north, connects Jianghuai River in the south, belongs to Bianluo in the west, and walks Xupei in the east, it is hidden in the middle of the Central Plains", this is obviously not an ordinary city.In addition, the defender Chen Yongfu had a lot of experience in defending the city, so he did not reveal any flaws under the continuous attacks of the Qing army, so Suizhou City fell into a stalemate.

When the news of the Shun army's presence around Kaocheng came, He Jinzhong, the commander-in-chief, said to the two Manchu clans: "After Li Zicheng conquered the city in March of the 15th year of Chongzhen, the people leveled and destroyed the old and new cities of Suizhou. Part of the city wall was used to fill up the city. In September of that year, the Yellow River flooded thousands of miles southeast, and Suizhou City, which had lost the protection of the city wall, was submerged by the flood.

The new city in the south has a higher terrain, and the surface of the water emerged after the water receded, but the old city was low because of the low terrain, and the water could not drain away, so it became the current lake, and only Xiangling and Jinsuoling remained.After the peasant army retreated, the local people restored the outer wall of the new city. Although it was not built with bricks and stones, the foundation of the new city was still the old stone foundation.

So don't look at the dilapidated and irregular shape of the current Suizhou city, but because of the city wall built according to the terrain, the defenders in the city still look down on the attacker.In addition, the north of the city is surrounded by a lake, and the east and west ends are narrow. Only the south is wider, but the terrain in the south is low, and the attack is more stable. In addition, the east and west sides of the south are the Sui River and the Waste Yellow River, making it difficult for our army to hide. own movement.The defenders in the city can tell the movement of our army at a glance, which is the main reason why our army has been unable to attack for a long time these days.

After the general led the main force to the south, the Shun Army, which had been huddled in Ningling County, also began to appear to the east of our army, restraining a lot of our army's strength.Now there are traces of the Shun Army in Kaocheng, so judging from the current situation, our army alone is not enough to take Suizhou City.Beizhi believes that we should ensure the safety of Kaocheng first before we can continue to attack Suizhou City. "

Regarding He Jinzhong's advice, Man Dahai and Bo Hetuo still attached great importance to it. Unlike Luo Luohong, the two of them still had good talents in the Manchu clan.The appearance of the Shun Army around Kao City and the activity of the Ningling Shun Army made them smell something unusual.

Because according to common sense, the retreating Shun army shouldn't recover morale so quickly, especially when Luo Luohong and Shang Kexi had just captured Kaocheng, the Shun army should try to hold the next line of defense at this time, instead of intending to recover immediately test city.If the Shun Army has such spare strength, then it is impossible for them to fail to defend Kaocheng.

just

When Man Dahai, Bo and Tuo had not reached a conclusion with their subordinates, the No.2 messenger from Kao City the next night brought even worse news, that is, the Shun Army sent a large army to besiege Kao City. The monk Luo Luohong Kexi conveyed the meaning through the messenger that he still wants to defend the test city, but the strength in his hand may be a little insufficient.