Outside Jinzhou Nanguan, the north wind howled, and a banner was flapping in the wind. Tens of thousands of Qing cavalry were waiting in formation, and several large dragon flags were erected in the formation.
On the outside of the Qing army's cavalry formation, countless captive cavalry were rushing back and forth, raising smoke and dust all over the sky, hiding the Qing army's formation, and making it impossible to see what was going on inside from a distance.
Dorgon, Prince Guorui of the Qing Dynasty, rode in the middle of the Qing army's formation. He looked coldly and looked at the Ming army's battle formation in the distance with sinister eyes. He suddenly said: "Tan Tai, you take the yellow flag and add the Mongolian warriors with the blue flag." , assaulted the flank of the Ming army led by Wu Sangui from the right wing, and urged the warriors to rush into the formation with all their strength. If you break the formation, you will be rewarded, and if you are timid, you will be punished."
He then addressed Manchuria with the red flag on its forehead, Zhen Mandahai, and said: "Mandahai, you lead the warriors with the red flag in front. If the Ming army's formation on the opposite side is disrupted by Tan Tai, you will attack immediately.
If the Ming army is not in chaos, you should follow the orders of the Chinese army to attack, and do not act without authorization."
Watching Tan Tai and Man Dahai rush back to the army and prepare to attack, the Manchurian yellow flag and the red flag formation were shouting and cheering continuously, and the formation was quickly completed. Dorgon felt very satisfied.
He raised his telescope and couldn't help but look at the situation at Daishan and Zhang Cheng on the Xiaoling River in the distance to the southeast.
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Jinzhou City, an important military town in eastern Liaoning during the Ming Dynasty, had a pass city formed due to long-term trade demand outside its south gate and east gate, which were called Nanguan and Dongguan respectively.
But now, its Dongguan and Nanguan as well as the outer city have fallen into the hands of slaves and thieves, with ruins everywhere and no trace of life.
However, the Xuan-Da coalition forces must be the main defender. Taking advantage of their sharp guns and cannons, their casualties were much smaller than those of the Qing army, and they already had the initiative on the battlefield.
It can be seen that the danger elsewhere must be greatly reduced. Otherwise, how can nearly half of the captives be gathered here if they are divided for defense?
Faced with the new situation in front of him, Zhang Cheng decisively decided to temporarily abandon the offensive plan he had just prepared, and instead went on the defensive. After dark, he contacted the Governor of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou, before making a decision.
However, Daishan was unwilling to take such risks. He first taught Prince Su Hauge a lesson, and then began to dispatch the Tatars from various banners. He adopted a safe strategy.
Zhang Cheng led Huang Baozhong's retainers, and Du Youwei's pro-army left group was located in the center of the army. Naturally, Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong, and Zhang Cheng jointly presided over the affairs of the entire army in the central army.
Beside him stood Prince Su Ge and Prince Wu Ying Azige respectively, like stars holding the moon, surrounding him in the middle.
No matter how well an army is treated and how rigorous its training is, as long as it has not experienced the baptism of war and blood, it cannot be considered a truly powerful army.
He then turned back, looked at Wang Pu and continued: "If we withdraw our troops and return to the south bank, we will have to cross the river again tomorrow, and we don't know how many loyal and brave soldiers will be killed or injured.
I saw him looking at the map carefully, constantly calculating the gains and losses of various strategies!
After a long time, Dai Shancai said: "Prince Su and Xuan Dajun have been fighting for a long time. Is there any good plan for today's war?"
It was said that they jointly commanded the Xuan-Da coalition forces, but in fact Wang Pu was like a hostage, equivalent to being held hostage by Zhang Cheng's Chinese army.
Their large formation tightly protected the three pontoon bridges behind them, and there were six Longwu Navy warships in the Xiaoling River to assist in the battle. Although they only had more than 20,000 troops, their momentum was not inferior to that of the Qing army. A large formation of 40,000 people.
Therefore, Daishan now has to consider not only not offending others, but also establishing prestige for his own lineage. The most difficult thing is to quietly consume the strength of Manchuria Zhenglan Banner.
Hauge had no idea that Daishan would ask him for advice. He was not prepared at all, so he could only murmur: "The Ming dogs of Xuanfu are very brave, especially the Ming army of Xuanfu."
Hauge indeed listened to the advice of his general, and took advantage of Huang Taiji's health to make more military exploits to further consolidate his position. He also took the opportunity to establish prestige and prepare for taking over the throne in the future.
However, due to the huge disparity in military strength, Zhang Cheng did not have much confidence. In his opinion, even if the battle could be won, the Xuanfu soldiers would suffer heavy casualties.
Daishan was once the first of the four great belles of the Later Jin Dynasty. Apart from the Emperor Huang Taiji of the Qing Dynasty, he was the only old prince who survived. He was highly respected in the Qing Dynasty, second only to Huang Taiji.
He continued: "Zhang Cheng of Xuan Mansion is very good at deception and is very cunning. However, I believe that he must be strong on the outside and hard on the inside. As long as my warriors rush to the front of the battle, he will inevitably collapse.
He placed Manchuria's bordered yellow flag in the center, while Azige's bordered white flag and Hauge's true blue flag were placed on the two wings. At the same time, he kept the two Mongolian yellow flags and the true red flag in the center for use as a mobile force.
Zhang Cheng was deeply impressed by Wang Pu. In his native memory, he actually didn't know much about the battle in Jinzhou.
Faced with this situation, Wang Pu had long since lost his mind. He looked at the Qing army's captives and cavalry all over the mountains and fields, and he was so panicked that he didn't know what to do.
It is precisely for this reason that Zhang Cheng insisted on killing Datong General Ma Baozhong in public. His purpose was to frighten the generals in Datong Town, making them fear him, fear military law and discipline, and dare not lead their troops to escape privately.
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Zhang Cheng put down the telescope in his hand after hearing this, but his eyes still stayed on the Qing army's formation to the north. The corners of his mouth raised with a smile, and he said lightly: "It is not easy for our army to cross the river. Now that we have captured the north bank, we must hold on
This place is the hope for Commander-in-Chief and the soldiers in Jinzhou City."
In fact, both Hauge and Azig strived to be the center troops and take the lead in breaking into the Ming army. However, Daishan sent them to the two wings in order to balance the situation and take the opportunity to consume their troops.
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You must know that these soldiers were trained by Zhang Cheng single-handedly, and not only money, food, armor and weapons were invested in them, but also more time and energy.
Although, compared with uncles such as Huang Taiji and Dorgon, they were far inferior in both internal and external aspects, Daishan knew very well that these were not important.
It was precisely because the battalions were scrambling to escape that Hong Chengchou was short of troops and trapped in Songshan City. Although the fierce general Cao Bianjiao attacked the enemy camp at night and almost killed the slave chief Huang Taiji, he failed in the end.
There are several large flags made of gold-woven dragons standing in the center of the military formation, and the colorful flags spread out in all directions, as bright as a blooming flower.
Wang Pu had a very unnatural expression on his face, and he muttered: "The slave thieves are powerful and the north bank is difficult to defend. If the slave thieves attack the camp at night, how can our army resist them?"
Now it seems that Zhang Cheng's strategy of "killing chickens to scare monkeys" has indeed played a certain role. Since Ma Baozhong and the Datong left-wing battalion generals who took the lead in escaping were killed, the morale of the Datong army has not decreased but has increased, and no one dares to do so anymore.
There is a desire to escape.
The formation of the Xuan-Da coalition forces was like a semicircle, with the center protruding forward and the two wings gradually leaning back. After that, the cavalry battalions were arranged in a straight line, less than a mile away from the north bank of Xiaoling River.
Then the cavalry from Zhang Guangda's cavalry camp, Lin Fangping's Tiger Guard camp, and Guo Yingxian's Xuanfu Biao camp formed behind them. They were on standby as the assault force of the army, and they were also used as a supervisory team. Once the infantry camp in front was timid and retreated, their
The sword will also look at those defeated soldiers.
But looking at the fierce cavalry on the opposite side, Zhang Cheng also knew that now was not the time to consider gains and losses, and he did not trust the soldiers and horses of Datong Town very much in his heart.
The strength of his troops is already nearly twice that of his own. Although his soldiers are also very brave and have performed extremely well since aiding the Liao Dynasty, they have firmly established themselves as the most powerful army in the Ming Dynasty.
After beheading General Ma Baozhong of Datong Town in public outside Nanguan, Jinzhou, the Xuan-Da coalition forces fought two more battles with Azige, the king of Wuying County in the Qing Dynasty, although both sides suffered casualties.
Even Zhang Cheng had a premonition that something was not good. Although he did not know at this moment that Bai Guangen's troops were completely defeated and Ma Ke and Tang Tong fled, the Qing army could gather so many captives to deal with him.
Their previous performance was too poor, especially when their left-wing battalion was attacked by slaves and cavalry, and the whole battalion was defeated, almost causing the entire army to collapse. How could Zhang Cheng still trust them?
Now, how could Zhang Cheng dare to let Wang Pu return to his own camp? Once Wang Pu fled in fear again, and more than 10,000 Xuanfu troops faced 40,000 slaves and traitors, although Zhang Cheng was not afraid, but if
What if Wang Pu leads the Datong army to escape and the entire camp collapses?
Azig took over the position of leader of the white flag because of this. He urgently needed to make some military exploits to establish his prestige.
After all, given his age, he is only thinking about his family's descendants. Currently, he only has two sons, Shuotuo and Mandahai, who can barely be regarded as the best among the younger generation.
Although he seemed not interested in the struggle for power on the surface, he was still very eager in his heart. Just like today, the war in Jinzhou was frustrated and Huang Taiji's personal prestige declined.
Seeing the flags on the opposite side moving and the troops and horses running back and forth, Zhang Cheng felt very heavy. Since entering the Liao Dynasty, the Xuanfu army had gone to war several times, and the attrition of troops due to the war was quite serious.
As an old fox in the Qing Dynasty, Daishan naturally knows that strength is the key to everything. Nowadays, although the talents of Prince Li's department are declining, strictly speaking, both Shuotuo and Mandahai seem to be better than Haoge.
many.
He turned to look at Zhang Cheng and asked softly: "Shuai Zhang, should we retreat to the south bank to rest and cross the river tomorrow to fight again?"
He only vaguely remembered that the Ming army was defeated in this battle, and the reason was that the grain road was blocked. Wang Pu, the general of the Datong army, took the lead to escape at night, causing all the battalions to flee, but was intercepted by the Qing army on the way.
, were all defeated into an army.
Whether it is worth it or not is the question he needs to consider now. After all, these Xuanfu soldiers are the foundation for his survival in today's Ming Dynasty world.
About three miles away outside Nanguan, a large number of Qing soldiers and cavalry gathered. Their formation was not very deep, but they could be spread out several miles apart.
But behind this beauty, it is nourished by the blood of soldiers from both the Ming and Qing Dynasties. How cruel is it?
The movements of Prince Daishan of the Qing Dynasty are always so slow. Maybe it has something to do with his age, or maybe it has something to do with his performance, but no matter what, he is now the commander-in-chief of the war declaration army.
In order to cope with the larger offensive of the slave rebels, the Xuan-Dalian Allied Forces also changed their formations in time. They used the Chicheng Camp of Xuanfu and the Biao Camp of Datong Town as the central army. The two chariot battalions were arrayed on both sides, while the right-wing battalion of the Datong Army and
For the wandering barracks, the left and right wings were guarded separately.
As long as we find one or two more allies, it will not be difficult for Huang Taiji to seize power by himself a hundred years later!
Seeing the Qing army in the north extending the array to the two wings, Zhang Cheng's heart was in his throat. Looking through the telescope, the Qing army's lineup was really too strong.
What will the commander-in-chief and other soldiers in Jinzhou City think when they see my division crossing the river and returning to the south from afar?"
However, Daishan's face does not look good. It is not because he has been working day and night recently and not getting enough rest. The main reason is because he is worried about the future of his family.
Every casualty among these loyal and excellent warriors made Zhang Cheng's heart feel like a knife was twisting in his heart, although he knew very well that only in this way could he train his elite soldiers into a truly powerful force.
Daishan felt that he could do it again. The only thing he was worried about was Dorgon, the youngest brother, but he also knew very well in his heart that he could no longer consider the throne no matter what.
The general believes that our army does not need to worry too much, but if we charge forward, we will definitely be able to break through the Ming army's formation."
But before Zhang Cheng had time to take advantage of this and launch a full-scale attack on the Qing army, he saw Tatar cavalry flying over the mountains and plains. He felt that the Tatars were everywhere, and they were overwhelming.
It is precisely because of this that the two wings are the focus of the Qing army's breakthrough, and both Haoge and Azig are trying their best to enhance their prestige in this battle.
Only the Ningyuan Army under Wu Sangui escaped from the disaster because they escaped through the official route and were not ambushed by the Qing army.
In addition, there are the Manchuria inlaid yellow flag Gushan Ezhen Baiyin Tu, the inlaid white flag Gushan Ezhen Turge, and the Mongolian Zhenghuang Banner Gushan Ezhen Adai, the inlaid yellow flag Gushan Ezhen Tulai, and the Zhenghong Banner Gushan E Zhenen.
Getu and other generals.
Both of them strived to be the first to fight, which reflected the selfish motives of Prince Zhongli Daishan. He agreed to Haug and Azig's request without hesitation, using the left and right wings as the main direction of attack for the breakthrough.
Seeing that the sky was getting dark, Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong, muttered: "It seems that the Tatars will not attack the formation again. We finally got through today."
In the end, Songshan City was destroyed, and more than a hundred civil and military officials from the governor of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou, down, including Liao governor Qiu Minyang, general Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tingchen, Zhang Dou, inspector Yao Gong, and supervisor Wang Zhizhen were captured.
"hey-hey……"
Zhang Cheng turned around and stopped looking at Wang Pu, but two words came out of his mouth: "Night attack?"
"snort."
He continued: "I really don't believe that slave thieves dare to attack my army camp at night. However, our division can consider attacking the slave camp at night!"