I

  Chapter 691 688 [Close the door and beat the dog]

   After confirming that Suo Hun abandoned the castle and left, the main force of the independent regiment seized the castle and went to Hetuala to join Yang Zhenqing.

   Who knows, just halfway there, they received an order from Yang Zhenqing to immediately defend the city.

  Where to keep?

   Of course it is Shou Hetuala, which is already empty, only the wounded and sick of the independent regiment are left. After two days of recuperation, Yang Zhenqing actually led his army to set off again, not at all afraid that after he left, the Tartar capital would be taken back.

   Amba is very sure that this Han general named Yang Zhenqing is a complete lunatic!

  More than a thousand people crossed mountains and ridges, marched in a hurry hungry, and took Hetuala overnight. It's only been two days of rest, and the meat that was starved has not been replenished, and he abandoned the city and headed towards the main battlefield. There was a battle of tens of thousands of people, and even more than 100,000 civilian husbands. Did these thousands of people go to deliver food?

  At this moment, Man Dahai led the cavalry troops and finally arrived at Jiefan City.

  As soon as he arrived on the front foot, he received an urgent report on the back foot. His son sent someone to chase after him and deliver the letter, saying that a large number of enemy troops had appeared in his old den.

How to do?

  Man Dahai wanted to go back to rescue, but the Datong army had rushed for a long distance, so they must have not brought enough siege weapons, and maybe the city had not been breached when they went back. But the Saarhu battlefield in front of him also needs him. Once he is the backbone, Saarhu's morale may collapse immediately.

  After much deliberation, Man Dahai decided not to return aid.

  If the son can hold on, the Datong army that is running around and attacking will definitely withdraw due to lack of food. If the son can't keep it, it will be too late for him to go back. It's better to stay on the main battlefield, as long as you win this battle, any loss is acceptable.

"My lord, the two acropolises of Sarhu and the nearby fortresses have all been captured by the southern barbarians." In command of the army in Jiefan City is Yang Guli's grandson Ai Xing'a, whose title is Duke Yingcheng , Awarded first-class general officer.

  Man Dahai asked: "The Southern Barbarians only besieged Saarhu, and didn't they come to Jiefan City?"

  Jiefan City is Jiefan City, and the Tartars don't like the word "Fan".

  Ai Xing shook his head: "I didn't come over, I guess it was waiting for us to go over, and the Nanmanzi wanted to besiege the city and fight for aid."

  Man Dahai thought in silence.

  The Datong army besieging Saerhu City, there are a total of four regular divisions, plus farmers, soldiers and civilian husbands, there are nearly 90,000 people there.

  The Tartar defenders in Sarhu City had only about 5,000 people. The Eight Banners Army in Jiefan City and Gule City has gathered more than 40,000 people-the Manchu Qing has exhausted all the young and strong. Among the more than 40,000 people, many have never fought, and the youngest is even only fourteen or five years old. age.

"You can't force it. The enemy army has been on the battlefield for a long time, and our army is mostly weak soldiers. There is no certainty in a decisive battle in the field," Man Dahai said. They will naturally withdraw their troops. At that time, look for opportunities and seize the loopholes in their withdrawal to hunt down and kill them!"

  Ai Xing did not dare to leave the city for a decisive battle, and quickly flattered: "The prince is worthy of being a veteran, and is the mainstay of our Qing Dynasty. The strategy of delaying time is the most appropriate."

  In Man Dahai's mind, he was always thinking about the rear.

  If the son is defeated and the city is captured by the Datong army, then the retreat route to the northeast will be blocked. Even, the Datong army came along the river valley and arrived at Jiefan City from the northeast, and Jiefan City became a turtle in an urn.

Man Dahai suddenly had an idea. He said: "Send more scouts and go northeast along the Hun River. Don't reveal your whereabouts. Once we find Nanmanzi, we will set up an ambush halfway. The number of Nanmanzi who circled from the north It’s definitely not much, let’s eat that all the way first.”

  Ai Xing Azan said: "This is the secret technique of Emperor Taizu. Let him come a few ways, and I will go all the way!"

  Man Dahai immediately sent scouts, but on this day, he rode a fast horse from Gule City in the southeast: "My lord, there is a secret report that Hetuala is gone!"

   "Hetuala is gone?"

  Man Dahai and Aixinga looked at each other.

  The main force of the Datong Army in Sarhu is to the west of Jiefan City. The cavalry division was attacking in the northeast of Jiefan City.

  As for Hetuala, in the southeast of Jiefan City, there is only one passage, that is, the Datong Army starts from Yahuguan Pass and goes all the way through the fortress. It is not easy for the army to travel there, at most there are thousands of partial divisions, and it will take a lot of time to break through many fortresses along the way. Moreover, Hetuala still has an army. Although throwing two or three thousand people to guard the pass, it can block tens of thousands of Datong troops.

   Why do you say that if you don't have it, it will be gone?

  Man Dahai asked: "How many enemy soldiers captured the city?"

  The messenger shook his head: "I don't know."

  Man Dahai asked again: "Where did the enemy come from?"

  The messenger shook his head: "I don't know."

   "Why don't you know anything?" Ai Xing was furious.

The messenger explained: "There are sporadic tribesmen who fled from Hetuala to Mardun. The guard of Mardun did not dare to neglect. He sent people to Gule City to report the news, and at the same time sent people to Hetuala to inquire about the news. Those who escaped The clansmen can't tell, but they only know that there was a fire inside and outside the city in the middle of the night, and many southern barbarians took the opportunity to rush into the city."

   "Where are the Queen Mother and Your Majesty?" Ai Xing'a asked.

   "Some people said that they saw the Queen Mother and His Majesty fleeing from Beicheng." The messenger replied.

  Ai Xing'a was silent, and Man Dahai was also silent.

  There are mountains everywhere here, and there are only three passages.

  One is in the west, leading to Fushun via Sarhu. One is in the northeast, going out along the Hun River Valley. One is in the southeast, going out along the Suzi River Valley.

   Now, there are three passages and three directions, all of which are Datong Army, and the Eight Banners Army has been surrounded!

After a long time, Man Dahai sighed: "Now there are only two ways. First, go to Sarhu for a decisive battle before the enemy's encirclement; second, choose a road to lead the whole army to break through before the enemy encirclement." .”

   "Let's break through the siege. Many of the Eight Banners warriors here have never fought a battle. Letting them go out of the city for a decisive battle is death." Ai Xing'a said.

  Man Dahai said again: "If it breaks through, will it be from the northeast or the southeast?"

  Ai Xing'a said: "The southeast is better. The number of enemy troops who captured Hetuala should not be too many. Going to the southeast is smoother, and you can still find the Queen Mother and Your Majesty."

  Man Dahai actually wanted to go to the northeast, so he happened to go back to see if his old nest had been taken away.

  But as Ai Xing'a said, the road in the northeast is more dangerous. There are not only the Datong Army, but also the rebellious Haixi Jurchen, and there may even be Mongolian soldiers who have taken refuge in the Datong Army.

  Thinking about it, Man Dahai said: "Call the generals to discuss the matter, the two of us have nothing to say."

  The group held a meeting to discuss, and there was only one result, and that was to go southeast.

  Because of the Manchu nobles who participated in the meeting, their family members were either in Hetuala, or in Gule City and Mardun behind them. They have to go back and have a look, maybe they can meet family members along the way, it is impossible to break out from the northeast with Man Dahai.

  If Man Dahai wants to control the entire army, he must listen to the opinions of these nobles.

  The next day, Man Dahai sent a large number of scouts to Sarhu, pretending to fight the main force of the Datong Army. They were ready to retreat during the day, and immediately slipped away after nightfall, rushing to join the Tartars in Gule City.

  Counting the old and the weak, women and children, 70,000 to 80,000 Tartars, continue to travel southeast from Gule City.

   On the other side of the main battlefield, Lu Xiangsheng, Hu Dinggui and others have been confused by illusions. The scouts of both sides continued to fight and wanted to occupy key areas to prepare for the next "decisive battle".

   It's not that Lu Xiangsheng and Hu Dinggui are not smart enough, but they never expected that Yang Zhenqing would win Hetuala.

  The task of Yang Zhenqing's partial division was to seize gold mines and ordnance stores, and at the same time threaten the Tartars' rear from the south, so that the Tartars could not devote all their troops to the main battlefield.

  Traveling day and night, a few miles away, the main force of the Tartars will flee to Maldun.

  Mardun is the place where Nurhachi became famous when he started his army.

  At that time, Nurhachi's troops had fewer than a hundred armored soldiers. His brother-in-law was murdered by someone, so he took only a few brothers and risked his life to get back his brother-in-law's body.

   Immediately he led troops to attack Mardun, where the enemy who killed his brother-in-law was.

  At that time, there were only three chariots, and Mardun Village was too steep to accommodate only one chariot. Nurhachi lined up three chariots in a long line, but all the chariots were destroyed. He rushed up single-handedly, shot through the ear of the enemy with one arrow, and shot four enemies to death in a row.

  So the morale was greatly boosted, and the enemy was too scared to come out. Finally, the water in the siege was cut off and the enemy was forced to surrender.

   After taking Mardun, Nurhachi obtained the passage out of the mountain, and he could attack Jiefan City, Gule City and Sarhu at any time. If he can't win here, he can only nest in Hetuala.

  A few miles away from Mardun, a group of defeated soldiers came from the southeast in disgrace.

  Man Dahai's vest felt cold, he rode forward and asked, "Is Marton still there?"

  A Tartar officer mourned: "Mardun is gone!"

   "Why is Marton gone?" Ai Xing felt that the sky was dark.

The Tazi officer said: "There is no well in the fortress, so we have to go down the mountain to fetch water. Some tribesmen couldn't bear it, and people outside the village kept persuading them to surrender, saying that your majesty and the queen mother are dead, and I died early in the morning...So some tribesmen He opened the door and surrendered, and the Nanmanzi took the opportunity to rush into the village."

  Man Dahai jumped anxiously: "Hurry up and take Marton back!"

  Mardun is not only a stronghold, but also a checkpoint, which is the only place for the Tartars to break through.

  There is at least a wide and flat area on the Hetuala side. Even if the Datong army occupies the city, the Tartar army can still walk around the city.

   But if Malton is lost, he can't get around it.

  If you insist on going around, you must abandon all your luggage and climb over the steep mountain wall. Tens of thousands of people, abandoning their luggage, is tantamount to committing suicide on a hunger strike!

  Man Dahai couldn't wait any longer, he dropped his luggage and large troops, and marched with only a few thousand elites, trying to capture Mardun by force. If you can't attack, just wait to die. Sooner or later, the main force of the Datong Army will come, and then you will be blocked in the valley and face the enemy.

   "Commander, the Tartars are here."

   "Defend the stronghold!"

  After Yang Zhenqing occupied Maldun, the first thing he did was fetch water. All the containers that can be found in the village are used to hold the water from the mountain, which can be drunk for at least half a month.

  Manda kelp soldiers killed, blocked himself in the northwest of the fort, and assigned soldiers to climb to the southeast from the mountain wall. In this way, Maldun was blocked and the drinking water in the village was cut off.

  He tried to attack, but it had no effect, so he could only send someone back to urge him, and quickly pulled the artillery away to bombard the wall of the village.

  Yang Zhenqing's thousands of strange soldiers must defend the small stockade and block tens of thousands of enemy troops for more than ten days. Only in this way can the main force of the Tartars be blocked, waiting for the main force of the friendly forces to come to encircle them.

  In fact, Mandahai chose to break out from the northeast, and the situation is not too far away. They will be blocked by the cavalry division.

  (end of this chapter)