Dorgon was on his horse looking at the Ming army's cavalry formation slowly approaching in front of him. Although the flags were clear, they looked like they were local soldiers and horses from Xuanfu of the Ming Dynasty, but he couldn't remember who the general was for the moment.
According to the intelligence they gathered, the soldiers and horses of Xuanfu Town came with General Yang Guozhu to aid Liaodong. They should be under the command of General Yang, so why did they attack from behind at this time?
In the Qing Dynasty, from the slave chieftain Huang Taiji to the flag masters, officials and generals, they still couldn't understand the subordinate relationship between the armies and generals of the Ming Dynasty. In fact, not to mention them, even the governors of various places in the Ming Dynasty had some problems.
Confused.
Today's Ming Dynasty has shown signs of the end of the dynasty. Not only are the generals and commanders of various regions getting more and more titles, but the number of soldiers and horses under their respective command is also unknown.
Under the general army, there are also deputy generals, generals, guerrillas, commanders, etc. Some of them are also under the command of each general army, while some are independent in one area and are not subordinate to anyone.
In addition, in recent years, the Ming Dynasty has used troops everywhere, and generals in various towns have been dispatched frequently. Many generals have been temporarily given titles. Many generals have also been ordered to be temporarily stationed in various places, so they are in a state of being ready for orders at any time.
For example, Zhang Cheng's Henan Suppression and Relief Commander-in-Chief had a temporary title, but his actual position was still Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Xuanzhen Detachment, and he was stationed in Yongning City on Xuanfu East Road.
Although he has now left Henan and joined Liaodong to aid, his title of Commander-in-Chief of the Henan Relief and Suppression Forces has not been removed, so it is not an exaggeration for everyone to call him Commander-in-Chief Zhang.
Even if the Ming generals were confused about all these twists and turns, how could Huang Taiji, Dorgon and others know so much if they were in Liaodong?
As the Ming army cavalry on the opposite side got closer and closer, a strong sense of oppression arose spontaneously, and Dorgon's face also became very bad, because this was supposed to be a sense of oppression that only the Qing cavalry had. How could it happen?
Appeared on the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty?
I saw that the cavalry of the Ming army on the opposite side was not marching very fast, but the rhythm was very regular, and the cavalry formation was tight and strict. It was obvious that they had undergone rigorous training to achieve such a military appearance.
At this time, it was also clear that there were about six to seven hundred knights in the middle cavalry formation. They were fully equipped with armor. Most of them used long soldiers in the military formation. It could be seen that there were about two hundred people holding three-eyed guns in their hands, and there were also
More than two hundred knights were holding bows and arrows.
"Hmph, how dare you compare your riding and shooting skills with my Qing warriors?"
The full contempt was reflected in Dorgon's eyes. Although the words were not spoken, the eyes revealed everything.
At this time, several Qing cavalrymen came rushing towards them on horseback. They stopped outside the formation and seemed to report something.
Sure enough, after a while, E Keqin rode his horse to Dorgon's side and reported: "Uncle King, Zhun Pagoda was beheaded by Ming Gou, and his troops were also defeated. The Baya La warriors under Zhang Jing's command were also defeated when the tower was seen."
The casualties were heavy, but they were fighting and retreating, slowly moving closer to our army."
Dorgon was stunned when he heard this. He had learned that the Ming army on the opposite side had rushed in from the south, so he guessed that Tazhan and Zhunta might not be able to defend it, but he never expected that the mighty Qing Dynasty would
The warriors of Batulu were actually killed in front of the battle by the Ming army.
He looked fiercely and said bitterly: "Tell me again, what about the accurate tower? What about the tower?"
Eke hurriedly replied: "Uncle, just now there were more than 2,000 Ming cavalry. They wanted to break through the mountain road to aid General Yang. They led thousands of warriors to attack Tagu Mountain to intercept them. How could they expect that this Ming cavalry was so ferocious?
In one battle, Zhun Tower was killed and our army was defeated."
"You bastard, I trapped the leader in the enemy's formation and fled before the formation. All the generals above Bashiku will be beheaded."
Dorgon was very angry and asked again: "How come Tazhan was defeated?"
Eke personally replied: "It was reported that the Ming army did not attack Tazhan's headquarters, but marched straight north. It was probably the Ming cavalry on the opposite side. It was another Ming army infantry battalion that defeated Tazhan.
They had so many chariots and sharp cannons that they fired in turns, making it impossible for Tazhan's troops to rush into the Ming army's formation."
"Do you know which Ming army it is?"
"Back to my uncle, the colors of the flags are still the Ming army soldiers and horses in Xuanfu Town. The general flag of the Ming dog cavalry has the word "Zhang", and the Ming army infantry flag has the word "Wei"!"
"Zhang Wei?"
Dorgon was full of doubts. In his memory, there seemed to be no strong generals named Zhang or Wei in the Ming Dynasty. He casually asked: "Is there any general in the Ming Dynasty named Zhang?
Or someone with the surname Wei? Or under the banner of Xuanfu?"
E Keqin seemed to suddenly remember something. His eyes widened, and he turned to look at Dorgon and said: "Uncle, the news came from Shopkeeper Wang of Zhangjiakou last time, saying that there is a deputy general in Xuan Mansion.
The man named Zhang once secretly traded with the Mongolian tribes outside my mouth."
Dorgon seemed to have remembered something at this time, and he suddenly asked: "But your name is Zhang Cheng?"
E Keqin lowered his head and thought for a while before replying: "Uncle Wang, I couldn't remember it at the moment, but the surname of the deputy commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen is indeed Zhang, and shopkeeper Wang also said that this man was in Xuanzhen to suppress thieves and bandits."
, the most powerful.”
He continued: "The Zhang Cheng that my uncle spoke of was the Ming general who attacked our camp at night in the north of Beijing in the third year of Chongde and stabbed Prince Keqin."
A ray of light shot out of Dorgon's eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "It is this boy who, in just a few short years, has become the deputy commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, with such a large number of soldiers!"
He then added: "Huh, this son will definitely become an obstacle to my Qing Dynasty's pursuit of enlightenment in the future. If he can't be used by me, I will get rid of him as soon as possible."
Dorgon was about to reorganize his troops and attack Zhang Cheng's Chinese cavalry with all his strength when he saw dozens more cavalry galloping towards them. Eke hurriedly greeted them and asked.
After a while, he reported back to Dorgon. It turned out that Tazhan was leading the Bagala warriors to fight and retreat, but the nearly 6,000 Ming army infantry were pursuing them all the way. Now they were heading towards Dorgon's location. Tazhan
If you are unable to stop it, please Dorgon take precautions in advance.
After Dorgon heard the news, his expression was distorted. He still had more than 3,500 Zhengbai Banner Qing troops on his side. He could have fought with Zhang Cheng and Guo Yingxian on his side.
But if it is true as Ta Zhan said, more than 6,000 elite infantrymen of the Ming army push forward with chariots, their own troops will be stretched thin and difficult to cope with, not to mention that at this time, there are battlefields everywhere outside the West Stone Gate, and anything can change at a moment's notice.
whole body.
Anyway, a general officer of the Ming army has been killed, so they can take advantage of the fact that they still have the upper hand everywhere to withdraw their troops and return to camp to hold on. As long as the west stone gate is not lost, it will be difficult for the Ming army to break the siege of Jinzhou.
He said bitterly: "E Keqin, you lead a thousand elite warriors to join Ta Zhan. You must try your best to harass the stagnant Ming army infantry and delay their advance. I will go to meet Zhang Cheng of the Xuanfu!"
E Keqin heard this and said hurriedly: "Uncle King, why don't we leave more warriors to you, so as not to suffer the consequences of Ming Gou."
"I am a warrior of the Qing Dynasty. One is worth ten, why should I be afraid of thousands of Mingqi?"
…………
Zhang Cheng, deputy commander-in-chief of Xuanfu Town and commander-in-chief of the Henan Suppression Campaign, led the soldiers of the Tiger Guard Battalion to ride their horses slowly. His adopted sons Zhang Chengfang and Zhang Jintai led the child soldiers to guard him.
Lin Fangping led the elite cavalry from the central part of the Tiger Guard Camp to advance in the center, also surrounding Zhang Cheng. Li Changsheng led the left troops to the left. They were originally Rangers who were transferred to the Tiger Guard Camp, so most of them were armed with three-eyed blunderbuss.
Su Laohu led more than 200 Mongolian cavalrymen on the right side of the Huwei camp. They mostly held bows and arrows. After all, they were all Mongolian knights, and riding and shooting was their specialty.
It was also because the cavalry formation on his side was not neat enough. From time to time, knights would jump out of the formation and gallop beside the cavalry formation, sometimes hiding in stirrups and sometimes jumping around, showing off their respective riding skills.
Zhang Cheng kept suppressing his speed so that Guo Yingxian and Zhang Guangda on both wings could protrude forward to form a crane-wing formation, using both wings to outflank Dorgon's Qing army on the opposite side.
When they advanced to less than one mile away from the Qing army, the Ming cavalry of Zhang Guangda and Guo Yingxian on the left and right wings were already on a horizontal line with Dorgon's Qing army. They adjusted their defense line so that their front was facing the Qing army.
, completed the three-sided encirclement of the Qing army.
Just when Zhang Cheng led his troops to urge the horses from slow to fast, the Qing army on the opposite side also slowly retreated. More than two thousand Qing cavalry galloped on their horses and quickly escaped from the encirclement of the Ming army.
.
Just when Zhang Cheng thought Dorgon was about to escape, they stopped on a hilly mountain, seemingly waiting for Zhang Cheng.
Suddenly, a cry of killing came from the right wing. It turned out that Guo Yingxian couldn't hold it back, and before Zhang Cheng could take action, he launched a charge first. Their nearly 1,000 elite cavalry from the Zhenbiao Battalion howled "Revenge... revenge...
..." He rushed towards the Qing army.
Seeing this, Zhang Cheng could only cooperate. He took out his gun and shouted: "Kill, kill the slave!"
The Ming armies on three sides launched a cavalry charge at the same time. The "rumbling" of hoofbeats shook the sky and the earth, and the roar of "kill slaves" resounded through the sky. In the smoke and dust rising from three sides, there was a powerful anger hidden in the sky.
Dorgon didn't seem to want to fight the Ming army. When Guo Yingxian launched a charge, he rode his horse and led the army to retreat. The Ming army chased them quickly, and they retreated quickly.
slow.
Zhang Cheng and others pursued for more than a mile, then slowed down their horses. After all, the Ming army under Guo Yingxian fought hard with the Tatars for more than half a day, and the physical strength of the soldiers and the legs of the horses were seriously damaged.
At the same time, Dorgon's Qing army had always been at an advantage. When they besieged Yang Guozhu, they did not dispatch the entire army, but took turns to fight. The loss of horse power was not serious.
Seeing that several more groups of cavalry from various banners of the Qing army came to join Dorgon, and the number of troops on the opposite side reached nearly 4,000, Zhang Cheng hurriedly sent an order to tell Guo Yingxian to stop the pursuit.
Strangely enough, as soon as the Ming army stopped, the Qing army also stopped. They neither turned back to attack the Ming army nor continued to flee.
Just when Zhang Cheng was confused, a patch of red appeared on the hills to the south, like a red cloud, slowly moving in. In front of the red cloud, more than a hundred cavalry galloped towards them.
Lin Fangping rode up to Zhang Cheng's horse and said: "Commander, General Wei's carriage camp is here."
Zhang Cheng nodded. His eyes were focused on the Qing army on the hill opposite. He saw a group of about fifty horsemen galloping out of the Qing army's formation, with a man in gilded armor in the middle.
Qing army general.
They rushed out of the Qing army's formation and went up to a hill. Looking in the direction of Wei Zhice's chariot camp, they saw rows of chariots approaching from the horizon, and behind the chariots was a dense and neat military formation.
Dorgon couldn't help but gasped. He said a few words to the people around him. After a moment, he saw a Qing cavalry rushing out on horseback and galloping straight towards Zhang Cheng.
The Qing cavalry stopped fifty steps in front of Zhang Cheng's cavalry formation and shouted loudly in fluent Chinese: "Prince Shuorui of the Qing Dynasty, I would like to inform General Zhang of Xuanzhen of the Ming Dynasty that the two armies have been fighting for a long time today and are exhausted.
, I would like to call off our troops and return to camp, and we will meet again to fight another day."
Zhang Cheng raised his head and looked at the sun that was already setting slightly in the west. He estimated that it was already dark and the soldiers had been fighting for most of the day, so it was indeed not suitable to fight anymore.
He gave a few instructions to Zhang Chengfang beside him, and saw Zhang Chengfang riding out of the military formation. He walked straight to the distance of thirty steps in front of the Qing cavalry, and said in a slightly immature voice: "Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Xuanfu Town, Ming Dynasty"
Zhang Cheng, I would like to inform Dorgon, the rebellious slave, that if the soldiers arrive today, if we can capture them without restraint, we may leave you with a broken body and survive."
Zhang Cheng saw that the Qing cavalry seemed to be cursing, and he hurriedly led his troops up. Seeing this, the Qing cavalry turned around and fled towards the formation. Immediately afterwards, the Qing army slowly retreated, and the large banner woven with gold dragon banner also slowly retreated.
Move north.
Guo Yingxian rode up to Zhang Cheng and said angrily: "You actually asked this slave leader to run away."
Zhang Cheng comforted him and said: "We have been fighting fiercely for a whole day, and the soldiers are all exhausted. It is really difficult to fight another battle. I will write down Yang Shuai's revenge to the Tatars. Sooner or later, they will be avenged."
Guo Yingxian also knew that what Zhang Cheng said was true. He just nodded heavily and said: "That's okay. It seems that this is the only way. We will hurry up to rescue He Zhenxiong, Tang Xiancheng and the others..."
Zhang Cheng also nodded and said: "Master Guo sent someone to lead the way for me. The two of us will march separately and each of us will save one side."
"good!"
…………
After Dorgon retreated with more than 4,000 Qing army bannermen and cavalry, he did not return to the West Shimen, but went straight to the south of Jinzhou City. It was precisely because he arrived with his army in time that Zu Dashou's attack failed to be effective.
In fact, Zu Dashou's soldiers and horses had already broken through the third trench defense line in the south of the city, and reinforcements from the Qing army arrived one after another, and an unprecedented tug-of-war started around the trench.
This trench changed owners several times. Finally, due to the timely arrival of Dorgon, it once again became an important line of defense for the Qing army to besiege Jinzhou. Zu Dashou was also forced to retreat to the inner city of Jinzhou.
At the same time, the fighting on other battlefields was also coming to an end. The two sides fought fiercely, causing heavy casualties in this battle.
The Qing army's Dorgon stationed at West Shimen suffered the most damage, followed by the soldiers and horses of Zhenghongqi Gushan'e Zhenshuo Tuosuo who were defending Huangtu Ridge. Cao Bianjiao, the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Association of the Ming Army, attacked severely and inflicted severe damage to Shuotuo's troops.
There were huge casualties.
Zhenmandahai, with a red flag attached to Gushan'er, faced Wang Tingchen, the former Ming Dynasty garrison commander, in Maojiagou, and suffered heavy casualties. Even Hauge's troops guarding the East Shimen, although fighting fiercely with Wu Sangui and Bai Guangen, actually suffered heavy casualties.
Not big.
The ones with the fewest casualties were the Qing troops of Baya Lahu Zhangjing Yildeng who were guarding Songshan Ridge. They fought against the Tang Tong troops of the Ming army. The battle between the two sides also revolved around a trench.
Tang Tong led the Ming army to protect the Minfu army from digging trenches, while Ilden commanded the Qing army to prevent Tang Tong from digging trenches. Although they fought fiercely, the actual fighting time was not long, so the casualties on both sides were not very large.
In this battle, the biggest loss of the Qing army was actually due to the Qing army dispatched from Rufeng Mountain to reinforce the south of Jinzhou City, and the Ming army's Ma Ke Division easily attacked Rufeng Mountain, which was indeed wrong.