I

  Chapter 570 567【Pursuit】

  Ba Dali led his troops to surrender to the Datong Army, and the other leaders of the Horqin Department were the most frightened.

  The strongest in the Horqin tribe is Manzhu Xili, the brother of Hailanzhu and Dayuer. This person's father, who had been with Badali's father at the beginning, made an appointment to fight Nurhachi together. In the end, he lost the battle, and took the lead to seek refuge with the Houjin Tazi.

   Next is Budaqi, who is Badali's uncle. Huang Taiji set up a flag in Horqin, and Budaqi took advantage of the situation to become independent and no longer obeyed Badali's orders.

   And there is Hong Guoer, Hauge's father-in-law.

  These Horqin leaders are all beneficiaries of the Qing Dynasty. They were afraid that Badali would use the Datong Army to lead troops back to the Horqin Grassland and swallow up their tribe and the grassland.

   "My lord, let's go north for a decisive battle!" Manzhu Xili said.

  He is Da Yuer's brother, and he has long been tied to Man Qing, so it is absolutely impossible for him to start a rebellion.

  Hong Guoer also said to his son-in-law Hauge: "My lord, Badali is ambitious. If he is not killed this time, when he returns to the grassland, he will definitely mess up Horqin!"

   "My lord..."

   "My lord..."

  Horqin tribe leaders, what you say, what I say, makes Hauge's head hurt.

  Finally, Hauge spoke: "Withdraw the troops!"

   "My lord, you can't withdraw!"

  The leaders of the Horqin Tribe turned pale with fright. They were unwilling to fight before, and they were more or less lazy in secret. But after Badali defected, they wanted to fight the most, and they had to kill Badali.

   "Withdraw the troops!" Hauge resolutely said, "After you withdraw to Shanhaiguan, return to Horqin immediately, and divide the troops of Badali and the grassland."

  Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, annexing tribes and grasslands is useful, but Badali led the troops to kill them all and they were all finished.

  Everyone knows that the Manchu Qing Dynasty is on its last legs. If the Badalites are killed, even if the Manchu Qing Dynasty perishes, they will still lead the people to surrender to the Datong court. But if Badali is still alive, he will end up with endless death.

  But Hauge had no choice but to withdraw his troops. He had discussed with Man Dahai and had already analyzed and understood the current situation.

  The Datong Army's ability to scatter so many cavalry in Yangcun can only prove one thing, Li Zicheng was either wiped out, or he ran away with his troops. Only when there is no enemy behind them, can the Datong Army dare to dispatch cavalry to cover the southern battlefield with all its strength.

  Li Zicheng was unwilling to fight against the Datong army alone, and Hauge and Man Dahai were also unwilling.

  On that day, all the Manchu and Qing cavalry came out and wandered between Yangcun and Dingzigu, pretending to control the battlefield. After a fight, the cavalry of both sides suffered casualties. The Datong Army had more than 300 casualties, while the Manchu Qing cavalry had more than 1,000 casualties.

  The cavalry took back in the evening, and immediately broke out of the camp at night. Moreover, the whole army ran so fast that all the extra civilians were gone, and by the next afternoon they were close to Lutai (Ninghe District).

   On the side of the Datong Army, Fei Ruhe handed over all the cavalry to Li Dingguo's command. A total of more than 15,000 cavalry pursued them, including the surrendered Chahar and Horqin Mongolian cavalry.

  The infantry was divided into two, and part of them returned to Tianjin to guard against Li Zicheng's main force coming back. Some followed the cavalry, waited for the cavalry to bite the Eight Banners Army, and then calmly went to fight a decisive battle.

   "Da da da da..."

  The sound of rumbling horseshoes sounded, and 15,000 cavalry came overwhelmingly.

  Man Dahai said: "Laosa, you go!"

  Guarja Rausa is a fierce general, brave and good at fighting. He was selected as Karai Zhangjing (the commander of the striker), and has now been promoted to Mele Zhangjing (the deputy capital commander).

   This guy specializes in fighting tough battles. He fought against Hong Chengchou in history, and died because he rushed too hard and fell into the battle.

   "My lord, make sure to bring back the head of the barbarian general!" Lausa got off his horse and knelt down, followed by leading the cavalry.

  Manchu Qing cavalry a lot, mixed with a large number of mounted infantry. In addition to the Mongolian cavalry accompanying the army, there were more than 20,000 people, and they were divided into five teams and rushed towards the Datong cavalry.

   "Bang bang bang!"

  The Datong Dragoons don't talk about martial arts, they shoot from a long distance, and then run away immediately.

  After switching to the flintlock gun, the dragoons didn't even bother to get off their horses. Shoot the gun on horseback, run on the horse, stop, and then reload the ammunition on horseback.

  With tens of thousands of soldiers, he was in Yuan Shizhong, who surrendered to the Datong Army in Henan. At this time, he has been promoted to the commander of the cavalry battalion. Although there are only 500 people under his command, their combat effectiveness is stronger than the tens of thousands he had before.

  The cavalry on both sides dispersed and spread across the vast wilderness.

   After Yuan Shizhong fired a shot, he led his cavalry battalion to flee four or five miles away, regardless of whether he hit or not. It was not until the Manchu and Qing cavalry were thrown away that he ordered the ammunition to be loaded, and then he rode his horse towards the enemy.

   "Bang bang bang!"

   There was a gunshot, and five hundred flintlock guns were fired, and more than a dozen of the nearest Tartar cavalry fell down immediately.

   After shooting, run away again.

  Manchu Qing cavalry could not catch up. Armor, bows and arrows only weighed 20 to 30 catties, and a few elites even weighed 30 to 40 catties.

   Together, the two sides have a total of more than 30,000 riders, scattered on the battlefield within a radius of ten miles.

   There were no large cavalry regiments charging, and they all scattered into small groups. This was originally the Manchu Qing cavalry's customary method of warfare. The Manchu Qing liked to fight like this in cavalry battles, but now it has become the magic weapon for the Datong Dragoons.

  Lausa led his troops to chase for several miles, but they couldn't catch up at all. The Datong Dragoons were so disgusting that they didn't even enter the range of Man Qing's riding and shooting.

  The effective range of a horse bow is only 20 to 30 meters, and if it exceeds 30 meters, it will be light and powerless. But the range of the flintlock gun is more than double that of the horse bow.

   "Bastard, come and fight!" the fierce Tartar General Lausa roared.

  Man Qing learned to form dragoons, but most of them were equipped with matchlock guns, only a few hundred in the hands of Kong Youde, which were new-style flintlock guns imitated by Man Qing—the production capacity was not enough.

  Because of the chaotic war, Li Dingguo, as the commander of this battle, has long been unable to control the overall situation. Just like the enemy general, Rausa, who couldn't control the Manchu cavalry, they could only command a few nearby troops.

   Huang Fei discovered the abnormality of the cavalry under Kong Youde's troops.

  Huang Fei was Zuo Liangyu's general before, but he was the first to change his flag in Shandong. His military position has been able to command 2,500 people.

   "Blow the trumpet, surround and annihilate these Tartars!" Huang Fei rode close to his orderly.

"woo woo woo woo!"

  The horn sounded, and the nearby dragoons approached, intending to surround Kong Youde's troops.

   "Quick retreat!"

  Kong Youde was shocked when he heard the sound of the trumpet. He chased too far ahead, and he was already a lone army. The main reason is that the traditional cavalry of the Qing Dynasty ran too slowly and were gradually pulled away by the cavalry of Datong. Only the dragoon cavalry of the Qing Dynasty could keep up with the speed.

   More than a thousand Datong cavalry who loaded their ammunition quickly surrounded Kong Youde.

   "Bang bang bang!"

  Kong Youde led his troops to rush out of the encirclement, but left behind more than 30 dead bodies, including his son Kong Tingxun.

"woo woo woo woo!"

  Lausa is also blowing the trumpet to gather troops. He thinks that this is not the way to fight. He must gather cavalry to fight with the Datong army at close range.

  The cavalry of the Manchu and Qing dynasties gradually gathered, and nearly a thousand people had been lost after two incense sticks of kung fu.

  The cavalrymen of Datong were not in a hurry to catch up, but loaded their ammunition methodically, and then slowly approached the enemy.

  Lausa waved the flag order, trying to outflank and cut the battlefield, leaving some Datong cavalry behind.

"woo woo woo woo!"

  Li Dingguo began to blow the trumpet and ordered the entire army to retreat without giving the enemy any chance.

  Anyway, his combat goal is to hold back the Tartars and wait for the main force to come to fight the decisive battle.

  At this moment, Hauge and Man Dahai, with their infantry and supplies, took the opportunity to continue marching towards Lutai. It is already very close to Lutai, and it can be defended by retreating, instead of being overtaken in the wilderness.

  Badali led his own Mongolian cavalry, and his mind was dizzy.

  He couldn't keep up with the rhythm of Datong's friendly forces at all, advancing and retreating in a daze. Up to now, they just ran back and forth, not one of the Tartar cavalry was killed, and one of the cavalry was not killed, as if they came to the battlefield for an armed parade.

  Daiqin's side is similar, the Chahar cavalry interspersed in a daze, and was almost overtaken by the Manchu cavalry.

  How did the riding battle become like this?

  The Mongolian knights don't understand.

  The two sides fought until the evening, for a full four hours.

  Although the fight was lively, most of the time was spent on horseback riding, and the combined casualties on both sides were only two thousand. Among them, the Manchu Qing contributed 80% of the casualties. As for the Datong cavalry, only three teams were accidentally bitten. After a melee fight, more than 300 people were killed and successfully broke through.

  That night, the main force of the Manchu Qing retreated to Lutai, 360 miles away from Shanhaiguan.

  The next day, the Manchus continued to withdraw their troops.

   But Li Dingguo was unable to pursue immediately, because the Manchu and Qing cavalry crossed the river with the cooperation of infantry, and they all waited on the other side of the nearby river.

  Li Dingguo then led his troops to detour to the north for a full forty miles, and finally left aside the Manchu cavalry and passed through a bridge over the Ji Canal. When they caught up with the main force of the Qing Dynasty again, they were almost at Kaiping Zhongtunwei (near Tangshan).

   Men and horses were exhausted, and there was no battle, so they stopped far away to rest.

  They didn't bring much food and used up more than half of their ammunition. They could only kill with knives after another day of fighting.

   On the third day, they fought for another half day, killing more than 1,000 Tartars and killing more than 200 themselves. But the ammunition was exhausted, and the food was almost finished. He tried to attack at night and was found, so he could only return to Tianjin in resentment.

  Fei Ruhe stayed in Tianjin to sit in town by himself, Zhang Tieniu had already led his troops to chase after him, Li Dingguo's cavalry got supplies halfway, and then broke away from the main force to catch up.

  When the main forces of the two sides met again, the Manchu and Qing troops had withdrawn to Luanzhou, only 180 miles away from Shanhaiguan.

   "Da da da da!"

  Riding a fast horse from Shanhaiguan, he only said that he had an important military situation to see Hauge.

  Haug opened the letter and was dumbfounded: Yaozhou was defeated, the two white flags were almost destroyed, and the two yellow flags suffered heavy losses. Yaozhou was lost, Haizhou was lost, Anshan was lost, and Weining Camp was lost.

  Haoge found Man Dahai and handed over the military letter.

  Man Dahai looked at it and was speechless for a long time.

After some discussion, Man Dahai said: "We can't delay, otherwise the southern barbarians in Liaodong will definitely block the Liaoxi passage, and tens of thousands of us will not be able to go back. Let's go tonight, abandon the people and luggage, and only let Soldiers carry food for several days with them."

  (end of this chapter)