Huolu is located east of Jingxing Pass, only more than thirty miles away from Zhendingfu City.
Because it is located at the Hebei end of Jingxing Road, it has been a strategic location for military strategists since ancient times.
Since the Tang Dynasty, it has been a famous "dry wharf". In ancient times, there was a saying that "one capital, two defenders and three Tongzhou are not as good as Huolu Han Wharf", and it was known as a place where "every day makes money".
It is precisely because of this that the place where deer are harvested is quite rich, and although the city is not big, it is also strong, because it guards the throat exit of Jingxing and is the place where Jingxing troops are stationed.
It all depends on the strong city, the unity of people's hearts and the united will of the city, so that we can hold on to capture the deer for five days.
Outside the city, the Qing army was furious. They attacked continuously for days without rest. It was no wonder that ladders collided with cars. They forced the captive people to dig into the walls, set fire to the city, and piled earth to climb the city. They used all kinds of tricks.
The Liu family and all the soldiers and civilians stood firm day and night, fought desperately, and waited eagerly for help. They only hoped that Wei Zhice could beg for reinforcements and return, drive away the Tartars, and relieve the suffering of the Lu people.
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Zhang Cheng led his cavalry across the Hutuo River and headed south. From time to time along the way, there were Qing army sentry cavalry watching in the distance. At first, it was just a small group of five or six cavalry, but gradually it gathered into a large group of dozens of cavalry.
When the army was more than ten miles away, Zhang Cheng sent an order to take Chen Zheng's outpost as the vanguard and the left and right outposts as the front. He then galloped down the official road and ran towards the frozen wilderness on both sides.
With Zhang Cheng and all the bodyguards as the central army, they formed a cross-shaped cavalry formation. They dispersed relatively far apart, and still trotted towards Huolu County.
Behind Zhang Cheng's cavalry were the Chinese troops from Lu Xiangsheng, Zhang Yan, and Jiang Mingwu. They were marching together with infantry, so their speed was slowed down.
However, Zhang Cheng did not dare to stray too far from the group. He was also afraid of being suddenly surrounded by the Qing army's cavalry. He always kept a distance of one mile from the Chinese army and led the way for the Chinese army.
At noon, Zhang Cheng led his team to a village fort called Huozhai, nine miles north of Huolucheng. Since they had been marching along the official road, the march was quite fast.
This village fort is relatively complete. Except for some houses that were demolished and the large trees inside were taken away, very few places were burned. The village walls are also relatively intact. The important thing is that this village fort is quite large and close to the official road, so it is very suitable for garrisoning.
camp.
Less than a mile north of Huozhai, there is another unknown small river that flows eastward into the Taiping River, a tributary of the Hutuo River. It is also convenient to set up camp here and get water.
Zhang Cheng was still riding his horse on the official road, waiting for Lu Xiangsheng's Chinese army group. Chen Zheng's outpost and Hu Dake's rear outpost joined Zhang Cheng on standby.
Zhang Guangda and Wu Zhizhong led the left and right sentry cavalry into Huozhai to patrol to see if there were any hidden Qing army sentry cavalry.
Less than five miles further north from Huozhai, there is the Qing army's camp. They camped in a large camp east of Huolucheng and on the west side of the Taiping River.
With more than 5,000 Qing troops, more than 10,000 war horses, mules, and more than 10,000 captive civilians, and a large amount of grain and military supplies, the Qing camp occupied an extremely vast area.
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At the end of noon, Lu Xiangsheng led more than ten thousand soldiers of Xuan's army to Huozhai.
At that time, there was a huge crowd, and thousands of people were busy inside and outside the village of Huozhai. Lu Xiangsheng's Chinese army was stationed in Huozhai.
The Yang Guozhu tribe of Xuanzhen camped in the north of Huozhai, near the unknown small river, the Hudawei tribe of Shanxi town camped on the west side of Huozhai, and the Zhang Cheng, Zhang Yan and Jiang Mingwu tribes all camped in the south of Huozhai.
The army was setting up stronghold walls and setting up military tents. Lu Xiangsheng summoned all the generals to ride their horses to the official road.
Under the watchful eye of the Qing army's sentry cavalry, Lu Xiangsheng led the generals and their personal guards, and a group of more than 200 horses rode straight towards the Qing army's camp.
After running for more than one mile on the official road, they galloped down the official road and ran for more than two miles in the wilderness of the fields before stopping their horses on a hill.
Lu Xiangsheng got off his horse, walked to the hill, took out a telescope, held it in front of his eyes, and looked towards the Qing army camp less than two miles to the south.
Zhang Cheng turned over and dismounted, and said to Chen Zhong beside him: "Spread out the brothers and look around. If there is a Tatar brigade attacking, send a warning in time."
Chen Zhong agreed, took the reins of Zhang Cheng's horse, turned around and handed it to a soldier. He whistled softly again and led more than a dozen horses to gallop down the hill.
The remaining generals also dispersed their own soldiers and servants around the hills to guard, and then gathered around Lu Xiangsheng, watching the Qing army camp to the south.
Zhang Cheng also took out the telescope and held it up in front of his eyes. What he saw in the mirror was much clearer than what was visible to the naked eye. Half of the situation in the camp could be seen carefully. All he saw in the telescope was silvery white, but again
The ones farther away appear blurry, which shows that this telescope is indeed not as good as the telescopes of later generations.
He looked at it for a while and then put down the telescope. He saw his uncle Zhang Yan beside him, looking up, so he handed the telescope to Zhang Yan with both hands.
At this time, Lu Xiangsheng also put down his telescope. He waved his hand and summoned Wei Zhice, who had been beside Zhang Cheng, and asked him in detail about the various situations of the Qing army's attack on the city in recent days.
They chatted for a while, and Lu Xiangsheng's general Chen An walked up quickly and said softly before Lu Xiangsheng stepped forward: "Master Governor, there is a group of captives, about five hundred horses, running towards here."
Lu Xiangsheng's face was calm and he just shouted: "Mount the horse."
The generals turned around one after another and took the reins of the war horses from their own soldiers. The sound of armor leaves clashing was heard. The generals got on their horses and followed Lu Xiang's horse and ran to the west side of the hill.
Looking down, a thick plume of smoke and dust rose up from the official road in the northwest direction. It was estimated that the group of captives should be 700 steps away at this time, and the horse was riding silver in front of the billowing smoke.
Lu Xiang got on his horse, raised his telescope again, looked at it for a short while, and then said in a deep voice: "The slave bandit is holding a white flag, riding alone, it doesn't look like he is here to surround us."
Zhang Cheng then said: "My lord, there is a gold-woven dragon flag in the slave camp. I'm afraid it's not Dorgon, but which one of Abatai is here?"
Lu Xiangsheng put away his telescope and said in a deep voice: "Go and meet him for a while, then you will know."
After saying this, he rode down the hill and galloped towards the official road to the east. The generals hurriedly led their own soldiers and guards to follow closely and ran towards the official road together.
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Ming Dynasty, the eleventh year of Chongzhen, November 18th, no time.
On the official road five miles north of Huolu City in Jizhong, more than 800 horsemen looked at each other on horseback.
To the north of the official road, Lu Xiangsheng, leading the Xuanda generals and more than 200 guards, rode their horses and stared to the south. He saw more than 500 Qing troops in silver and white armor riding their horses and gazing at this place 300 steps away.
There was a horse in the middle of the Qing army, wearing gilded armor, and the guards on the left and right looked extremely tough and strong. It was clear at a glance that the leader of the Qing army was no ordinary Qing general.
Lu Xiangsheng remained expressionless, just staring at the Qing cavalry on the opposite side. Although there were nearly three hundred fewer cavalry than them, they were not inferior at all in terms of momentum.
Zhang Cheng rode his horse beside Lu Xiangsheng and couldn't help blurting out: "Could it be that the slave chief Dorgon is here in person?"