Hu Dinggui asked: "How much food and grass are left?"
"More than a month." the quartermaster replied.
Hu Dinggui said: "All the soldiers and civilians have reduced their meals. When the grain is eaten, the livestock are killed, and when the livestock is eaten, the horses are killed. Except for the cattle, everything else can be eaten."
The quartermaster suggested: "You can kill some livestock first, so that you can save fodder."
"Very good, let's do what you want." Hu Dinggui said.
Although Gaizhou City has the largest stockpile of grain and grass, the nearby farmers have all retreated to the city, and he still has to feed the people with grain.
It has been almost a month, and Manchu and Qing artillery are still attacking the city.
Fortunately, the Tatars have no real heavy artillery!
If Zhao Han's heavy artillery that destroyed Shangqiu were to roll out a few of them, the city wall of Gaizhou would probably have collapsed.
Ten miles south of the city.
Lu Xiangsheng led the cavalry to attack, killing the soldiers who were destroying the crops, and then trembled with the Manchu cavalry. Both sides suffered casualties and retreated back to their camps.
The wheat for several miles around the camps of both sides was harvested by civilians.
The Manchu and Qing dynasties also harvested a lot of wheat, and Lu Xiangsheng could not stop it. But if the Manchu and Qing dynasties moved forward to harvest grain, he would resolutely attack. No one could touch the wheat in the two or three miles between the two sides!
Dorgon also rode out on his war horse. Looking at Lu Xiangsheng who was gradually retreating, he was already very anxious in his heart.
The Manchu Qing's usual tactics against the Ming army no longer work!
He could not cut off the retreat route of the Datong Army, nor could he cut off the food route of the Datong Army. Because the Datong Army camped on the seaside, there were trenches and earthen walls, and food could be continuously transported from the sea.
Back at the military camp, Abatai, the seventh son of Nurhaci, said: "Prince Regent, withdraw your troops. These southern barbarians are obviously going to consume military rations with us. If we keep dragging on, whoever eats up the military rations first will definitely lose the battle. I
I heard that the south of the Yangtze River is rich and has a lot of food, but we can’t compare with the southern barbarians who have more military food.”
"If you wait any longer, the enemy will definitely show some flaws." Dorgon said bravely.
Three consecutive generations of leaders of the Manchu Qing Dynasty were very gambling.
It can even be said that the Qing Dynasty was able to grow bigger because of gambling. Because in many wars, based on superficial data, the Qing Dynasty had no chance of winning.
At critical moments, the Ming Dynasty's border troops could always cause trouble.
Just like this, another half month passed. On the 40th day after the Qing Dynasty bombarded Gaizhou City, the navy returned from North Korea with a grain transport fleet.
The King of Korea cried out that there was no food, and the navy soldiers did not hesitate and directly shelled the fort on Ganghwa Island.
The shelling continued for three days, and then troops were sent ashore.
After the Datong Navy occupied the fort, the island's defenders surrendered directly. Not only did they occupy Ganghwa Island, they also "rescued" dozens of political prisoners who had been exiled to the island.
These political prisoners had clans and ministers, so they could reorganize the imperial court.
The Korean monarchs were so frightened that they immediately ordered the people to be plundered. The people did not have enough food, so they "borrowed" food from the small and medium-sized landowners, forcing the landowners to sell their stored food to the Datong Army.
Lu Xiangsheng said with a smile: "We have sufficient military supplies and are not afraid of losing it with the Tatars. It is better to send a partial division and use sea ships to transport the cavalry to the rear of the Tatars."
"What a great idea!" Xiao Zongxian clapped his hands and praised.
Li Zheng decided: "2500 dragoons, 2500 valiant cavalry, and some Liaodong guides."
…
Liaohe Estuary.
The location of the Daliao River in the Ming Dynasty was completely different from what it would be hundreds of years later.
Five thousand cavalry landed at the mouth of the Liaohe River. After being promoted, Li Dingguo was thrown to Liaodong for training by Zhao Han. In this attack, Li Dingguo commanded 2,500 valiant cavalry and Wang Tingchen commanded 2,500 dragoons.
When the nearby fishermen saw the fleet coming, they didn't know what was going on, so they just ran away and hid at home.
Li Dingguo led his troops to the east of the Sancha River, and Wang Tingchen led his troops to the west of the Sancha River. When they saw the houses, they rushed in and ordered the people along the coast to move out with their families. They were not allowed to bring anything extra except food and bedding.
But if you resist, you will be executed immediately!
In half a day, only thousands of civilians were captured. This damn place is so vast and sparsely populated.
"General, to the northeast is Yaozhou City (Yingkou Dashiqiao City) built by the Tatars!" said the local guide in Liaodong.
Li Dingguo smiled and said: "Then go to Yaozhou and play!"
Two thousand five hundred knights headed straight for Yaozhou. They encountered a manor on the way, which seemed to be quite densely populated.
A manor of this size was owned by at least the middle-class nobles of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. They assigned Bao Yi to manage it. If we use the metaphor of a farm in the Ming Dynasty, Bao Yi is equivalent to a domestic slave in charge, and a serf is equivalent to a low-level tenant.
"Kill all those whose hair is less than an inch thick!" Li Dingguo ordered.
Although the serfs also shaved their hair and left it in braids, their hair had not been taken care of for a long time. Most of them would grow a new layer of short hair, or even grow several inches long before shaving it off.
You can't expect the poor serfs to shave their heads every now and then, because they will grow back in two or three days.
Even the common people in Manchuria often carry short hair.
2,500 cavalrymen rushed into the village and killed anyone with short or hairless hair. Li Dingguo said that anyone with less than an inch of hair would be killed, but the execution was not so strict. It all depended on the mood of the cavalrymen.
There was food replanted by the Qing Dynasty here. No matter what kind of crops, the cavalry deliberately trampled them with their horses.
The more trees you trample on, the less your enemy will harvest.
Seeing the flag men fleeing into the house, Datong Xiaoqi did not enter the house to search. They dismounted in advance, lit the torches they carried, and then forced the captured serfs to carry firewood and pile it up.
If you enter a house, you may be attacked by a sneak attack, but it is much safer to set the house on fire.
After a while, more than a dozen houses were set on fire, and more than 200 people, men, women, old and young, escaped from those houses. There were bannermen, coatmen, and serfs, all of whom hid after seeing the cavalry.
Well, there are also livestock that break free from ropes and run out when they encounter fire.
Some bannermen wanted to resist and charged with weapons, but were easily surrounded and killed by the cavalry.
Banners are the source of troops for the Eight Banners in Manchuria. Manchu nobles recruit soldiers on a per-household basis to supplement or recruit new Eight Banners troops.
In about an hour, the manor was completely destroyed, and a total of more than 300 people were captured.
Li Dingguo shouted and asked: "Who can speak Chinese?"
No one responded.
Li Dingguo shouted again: "Have you forgotten what our ancestors said? Then kill them all!"
"Slave... the common people can speak Chinese, don't kill the general!"
"The common people pay homage to the general!"
"..."
Instantly, a crowd of people shouted, fearing that Li Dingguo would raise the butcher's knife.
One of the serfs was the most daring. He knelt and climbed up to Li Dingguo's horse: "General, the grassroots are good people in the capital. After Lord Chongzhen passed away, King Chuang also met with the elders of the village. The uncle of the grassroots had spoken to King Chuang. These dog tartars
As soon as he came, he occupied the village's property, captured all the pretty women, and asked us to farm the land for him. I heard that we were defeated a few months ago, so he brought us from Gyeonggi to Liaodong. The general is
King Chuang’s generals? You came at the perfect time..."
Li Dingguo spat: "I am not a soldier of thieves, I am a soldier of the Emperor of Datong!"
"Ah? Admit...admit your mistake. General, please don't blame me." The serf kowtowed quickly.
Li Dingguo said: "You go and identify the Tatars, and I, the general, will take you out of Liaodong."
"Thank you, General!"
The serfs were overjoyed and quickly identified more than twenty Tatars, most of whom were women and children. A group of men had just been killed because of their resistance.
Li Dingguo added: "Choose a few trustworthy Han people and I will make you the stewards."
The serfs were even more happy and immediately selected the ones with whom they were well connected.
All the weapons seized from the banner men were thrown to the ground. Li Dingguo said: "Being a thief also requires a surrender certificate. Pick up the knives and go kill those Tatar men."
These Han people only hesitated for a few seconds, then picked up their weapons one after another and started slashing at the bannermen like crazy.
Li Dingguo nodded with satisfaction: "All the slaves will be tied up and taken back to work as coolies. The rest of the Han people will leave immediately with their livestock and food!"
Because the houses were set on fire, there was not much money and food left, and not many livestock were looted.
Mainly the population of more than 300 people, even the Manchu women were taken away. Ten cavalry were assigned to escort them back, and a few serfs were selected as leaders and escorted with weapons. The Tatar women and wrapped slaves were tied with ropes.
On the way.
Kill the rest!
Li Dingguo didn't bother to go to Yaozhou City, so he rushed to the southwest of Yaozhou.
The closer you are to the city, the denser the population, and the more people you can plunder.
The powerful Eight Banners were all taken to fight by Dorgon, and only a few were left to defend the cities. These few Manchurian Eight Banners and Mongolian Eight Banners, with more newly formed Eight Banners of the Han army to defend the city, simply did not dare to go out of the city to intercept Li Dingguo's attack.
cavalry.
Two days later, Li Dingguo grabbed more than 4,000 people and happily returned to the mouth of the Liaohe River to rest and replenish supplies.
After gathering together to inquire, Wang Tingchen also grabbed more than 3,000 people.
Ships were divided to transport these people back. The remaining ships took the cavalry and continued westward. They did not go deep into the hinterland, but burned, killed and looted along the coastal areas.
I grabbed it all the way and almost reached Jinzhou!
…
South of Gaizhou City.
When Dorgon received the report from Kuai Ma, he was immediately silent.
This kind of thing has happened before. Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang Town once took advantage of the Qing Dynasty to send troops to burn, kill and loot the hinterland of the Qing Dynasty from behind.
At that time, Huang Taiji was disgusted, but there was no way to deal with it. Those small sampans of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties had no chance of invading Pidao, as they would not be able to withstand it at sea.
Dorgon also wanted to send troops to plunder, but the farmers in Gaizhou had already withdrawn, leaving only the wheat in the fields that was too late to harvest.
Now, stop harvesting the wheat, no one wants to harvest it.
Because of the stalemate for more than forty days, the harvest time has long passed, and the ripe wheat has sprouted on the ground.
Pull it back to make maltose?
As a result of the Manchu Qing's actions, 60% of the wheat in Gaizhou was unable to be harvested, and half a year's hard work of the farmers was wasted.
In any case, they were hurting each other. The Datong Army went to seize the Qing Dynasty's population, while the Manchu Qing Dynasty left 60% of the wheat grains in Gaizhou without harvest.
Just when Dorgon was about to withdraw his troops...
"boom!"
There was a loud noise and the Gaizhou city wall collapsed.
Dorgon drew his sword and shouted: "Attack the city with all your strength!"
Hu Dinggui calmly ordered: "All the dragoons will be turned into firecrackers, rattan players and spearmen, and they will block the gap for me. Peasants, soldiers, common people, old, weak, women and children will all go into battle!"