I

Wang Tingchen led the cavalry division and quickly rushed to the outside of Jiefan City.

Looking at the national flag and military flags fluttering in the wind on Tiebei Mountain, Wang Tingchen was a little dumbfounded: "Did you take down Jiefan City? Damn it, our trip was in vain!"

Let the whole army camp and rest on the spot, Wang Tingchen took Wang Yaochen and rode to meet the friendly generals guarding the city.

When I encountered a checkpoint halfway, I realized that most of the troops defending the city were farmers and soldiers accompanying the army, and there were only more than a thousand regular troops. Some of the main force of the Datong Army continues to besiege Sarhu, and some have already gone to Gule City.

"The Tatars here are really inexperienced," Wang Tingchen complained. "We have chewed all the hard bones. The cavalry division suffered heavy casualties. I don't know how much credit can be given."

Wang Yaochen said: "Your Majesty knows the army, so he will definitely understand."

Although the cavalry division led by the two kings only captured one small city, they completely wiped out the remaining elite Tatar infantry and blocked the Tatar evacuation channel from the northeast.

In terms of credit, it is second only to Yang Zhenqing's independent regiment.

The two discussed a few words, Wang Yaochen returned to the camp to manage the troops, and Wang Tingchen rode to Gule City for a meeting.

Riding horses all the way, we finally arrived outside Gule City, only to see the main force of the Datong Army in action again.

Seeing that the whole army was beaming with joy, Wang Tingchen stopped an officer: "Where are we going from here?"

The officer saw Wang Tingchen's badge clearly and quickly made a military salute with his arms crossed: "General Haojiao knows that the Independent Regiment has won the battle. It not only captured Jianzhou City, but also occupied Maldun. The Tatars were unable to advance or retreat by the Suzi River. We here The second time was to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Tatars."

"The Independent Group...is that Yang Zhenqing?" Wang Tingchen exclaimed.

"That's Commander Yang," the officer said with a smile.

"Okay, go ahead," Wang Tingchen dismissed the officer and muttered in a low voice, "Damn it, I rushed to attack the mouth of the Meihei River. I thought I fought a good battle. Yang Zhenqing, his grandson, actually captured the Tatar capital. Yes, his damn name has really been changed to the right one."

Riding his horse across the marching troops, Wang Tingchen quickly saw the commander Li Zheng: "Commander, the Cavalry Division Wang Tingchen is here to see you!"

Li Zheng was a little surprised when he saw Wang Tingchen and asked, "Have you penetrated the Hun River line in the northeast?"

Wang Tingchen said: "The Tatar infantry left behind in Mandahai were completely wiped out, but... the cavalry division suffered heavy casualties when they attacked the city."

With the words "heavy casualties", Li Zheng already understood the situation. This must have been caused by the cavalry dismounting and storming the city. He sighed: "Thank you for your hard work."

"What you should do is not considered hard work." Wang Tingchen replied.

Li Zheng said: "The cavalry division suffered a lot of casualties. It has been running all the way here, and it seems that it is exhausted. I won't bother you for the rest of the battle. The whole division should take a good rest."

"yes!"

Wang Tingchen could only accept the opinion, because most of the encirclement and annihilation battles would be carried out on the banks of the Suzi River. The flat land along the river is very narrow, and if there are too many soldiers, it will be difficult to move them out. There is really no need to bring the tired cavalry division with them.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

"Urgent report, urgent report!"

Two dragoons came on fast horses and reported the news to Li Zheng: "Captain, the Tatars burned their baggage and ran over the mountains to the north!"

Li Zheng was both happy and angry. What he was happy about was that he no longer had to kill or injure soldiers. If the Tatars escaped like this, they would be doomed. What makes them angry is that the Tatars would rather risk starving to death than fight a decisive battle with the Datong Army. Some Tatars will definitely be able to escape.

Wang Tingchen became excited: "Captain, the general will immediately lead his troops to pursue him!"

Li Zheng said: "With the dragoons."

Mandahai abandoned his baggage and fled north through the mountains. Where could he go? After climbing out of the mountains, they would definitely reach the shores of the Hun River, which was the nearest and most convenient escape route.

In other words, Wang Tingchen's cavalry division can just return along the original route of the attack, and there is a certain chance of running into the remnants of the Tatars coming out of the mountain.

Wang Tingchen immediately took the remaining dragoons and rushed back to Jiefan City, joined his cavalry division, and chased along the Hun River.

Lu Xiangsheng came over on horseback and asked Li Zheng, "What's the military situation?"

"I was about to inform General Lu," Li Zheng said with a smile, "the Tatars burned their baggage and fled north over the mountains. I have ordered the cavalry to pursue them along the Hun River."

Lu Xiangsheng said with emotion: "The Tatars were really scared to death. The tens of thousands of troops burned their baggage and fled, not even daring to resist."

Li Zheng said: "I plan to lead troops to Sarhu, and together with General Xiao there, we will concentrate our forces to capture the city of Sarhu."

"This is exactly the reason." Lu Xiangsheng agreed.

Two days later, a Chinese Jurchen soldier came to the gate of Sarhu City with empty hands.

Mulima, the general who guarded the city, asked the soldiers not to shoot arrows and said: "Hang him up in a hanging basket and ask questions."

Mulima retreated, leaving only his deputy Tu Hai behind. He asked the soldier, "Are you here to persuade him to surrender?"

The soldier handed over a letter.

Mulima did not understand Chinese and gave the letter to Tuhai.

Tuhai quickly read the letter, his face changed suddenly, he read it again, and then whispered: "Hetuala, Jiefan City, Gule City, and Mardun have all been lost. Meihei City in Mandahai They also fell, and all the infantry were wiped out. Mandahai took tens of thousands of the main force of the Qing Dynasty, burned their baggage and fled northward over the mountains."

"How is this possible?" Murima expressed doubts. "Mehei City in Mandahai was captured. I can understand this. The southern barbarians can just send troops from the north and attack along the edge of the grassland. But why is Hetuala not there? ? The two of us defended Sarhu, and we didn’t even lose Sarhu. Why did Hetuala lose it when Hetuala was far behind?"

To use an analogy, it is as if Zu Dashou defended Jinzhou and was suddenly told that Beijing was gone, Shanhaiguan had been captured by the Tatars, and Chongzhen had disappeared without a trace.

Tuhai said: "The enemy general wrote in the letter. If the general doesn't believe it, you can send someone out to inquire. You can send someone all the way to Hetuala to see whose flag is planted on the city. As long as there are ten sentries Within that, the Nanmanzi will not stop us. We will decide whether to open the city and surrender after we find out the situation."

Mulima asked: "Do you think Hetuala is still there?"

Tuhai said: "The enemy army is so generous, the capital city is probably gone. Only you and I know this news now. If it spreads in the city, I am afraid that the entire army will be discouraged, and few will be willing to hold on to the end."

Mulima said dejectedly: "How could Hetuala be gone? There is also Jiefan City. Although it is smaller than Salhu, the terrain there is more steep. How could that bastard Mandahai lose Jiefan City?" "

Tuhai analyzed: "The fall of Meihei City in Mandahai means that the Qing Dynasty's retreat route to the northeast is blocked. The fall of Hetuala means that the Qing Dynasty's retreat route to the southeast is blocked. We are surrounded again. It means that the whole army is surrounded. If I were Mandahai, I would also lead the army to break out. If we don't break out, we will either leave the city for a decisive battle, or we will be surrounded until death, and there will be no more supplies of troops and food."

"Anyway, let's send someone to take a look first." Mulima felt very tired.

He was extremely loyal to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. He lost two acropolis and all the forts, but he still firmly defended the city of Saerhu and firmly controlled the most important city on the front line.

If the front line is not broken and the rear is completely lost, how the hell can we still fight?

Ten Manchu sentry spies were sent out to find out the news. As expected, the Datong Army kept their promise and let him go.

They didn't go too far, only visited Jiefan City and Gule City, and then immediately returned to Saarhu to report the news.

"Uh-huh, Jiefan City and Gule City both have Nanmanzi flags on the city walls."

When Mulima heard this, she felt weak and said dejectedly: "It's really gone, it's really gone, it's really gone."

"Otherwise, surrender." Tuhai said.

Tuhai had no objection to surrender. He was not a Jianzhou Jurchen, he was just a wild Jurchen. Seriously, the Jianzhou Jurchens still had a grudge against him, and their tribe had been conquered countless times by Nurhaci and Huang Taiji. Many of his people were killed, and even he himself was taken as a prisoner and returned to the Manchus along with his father.

What's more, Tu Hai is familiar with poetry and books, and has a very high degree of Chineseization.

Mulima was unwilling to surrender. He was Obai's younger brother. Many of his uncles, brothers, and clansmen died at the hands of the Datong Army, and he himself was stained with the blood of the Han people. With this kind of bloody feud, there is no intention of surrendering, and even if you surrender, it will probably not end well.

"Let me think about it," Murima said.

Tuhai had figured out Mulima's thoughts, so he resigned and went to contact the non-Jianzhou Jurchen officers in the city.

Word gradually spread.

After the ten sentinels came back, they quietly told their relatives and friends the news of the fall of Jiefan City and Gule City. Their relatives and friends told their relatives and friends again, and the news spread throughout the army within a day or two.

Thousands of defenders were in panic all day long.

"Uh-huh, Tuhai is surrendering in tandem!" In the evening, a close aide came to report.

Mulima was immediately furious: "The savage Jurchens just can't be trusted. After reading a few books about Han people, they thought they were Han people too. He didn't even think about it. They are all Jurchens. Can they survive by surrendering?"

Tu Hai felt that he could definitely save his life because there was no Han blood on his hands.

This guy is very young. He is a civil servant and has never fought in a war. He was familiar with Han poetry and books, but he was able to curry favor with Da Yu'er, who hated Sinology. He relied on Da Yu'er's promotion to rise through the ranks, but was actually thrown to Saarhu to assist Mulima in defending the city.

Moreover, Tuhai is in charge of Sarhu's logistics and is Da Yuer's spy on Mulima!

"Take people to kill Tuhai!" Mulima said to his confidant.

Tu Hai had always been cautious, and when he noticed something strange, he immediately said: "Dedicate the city in advance, set fire to the house, and open the city gate!"

Setting a fire was a signal. The non-Jianzhou officers who secretly linked up would immediately rebel when they saw the fire, and those near the city gate would even open the door.

In this way, before Li Zheng, Lu Xiangsheng and others really started to attack, the Tatars in Sarhu City started fighting on their own.

The Savage Jurchens faced off against the Jianzhou Jurchens!

The territory of the savage Jurchens is too far away. Those who can become the Eight Banners Army have already moved their families southward, and it is impossible for them to rebel against the Qing Dynasty like the Haixi Jurchens. Because the Haixi Jurchens can easily escape back to their ancestral land, but the wild Jurchens cannot run that far.

They didn't dare to rebel against the Qing Dynasty before because the cost of rebelling against the Qing Dynasty was too high.

Now, for rebelling, not only is there no price, but one can survive and even avenge one's ancestors.

"Kill Jian Gou!"

The savage Jurchens held weapons and roared towards the nearby Jianzhou Jurchens. The Jianzhou Jurchen soldiers did not expect this at all and were killed by surprise.

"Siege the city!"

With the emergence of the Datong Army, there is no suspense in the battle.

Tuhai, a man with a background as a civil servant, was wearing cotton armor and carrying a waist knife, and led his men to occupy the east city gate.

Hearing the footsteps of the Datong Army, Tu Hai shouted excitedly: "If we hold on for a while longer, the Han family's heavenly soldiers will enter the city soon!"