Seeing the death of their leader, the Manchu and Qing cavalry did not collapse, but launched a desperate attack on the Datong Army.
These cavalrymen who risked their lives to charge were all Niulu under Babutai's banner.
In addition, the Eight Manchu Banners, the Eight Mongolian Banners and the Outer Mongolian Banners who were not recorded by Babutai Niulu all became frightened and had low morale. In particular, the Outer Mongolian Banners, although they were still shooting arrows at the Datong Army, were gradually bypassing them.
Prepare to escape to the north and take the initiative to lift the siege of the Datong cavalry.
When Babutai's Niulu suffered 30% casualties, all other cavalrymen fled the battlefield, allowing these desperate friendly troops to cover their retreat.
Finally, Niu Lu, a subordinate of Babutai, also escaped, but it was not a total defeat.
The Manchu and Qing cavalry had the habit of often spreading out to fight, which made it difficult for them to completely lose their organization. The middle and low-level officers took the initiative to command the remaining soldiers and began to fight and flee with the Datong army. Although they still could not escape the end of destruction, it greatly slowed down the Datong cavalry.
Chasing the main force of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Of the more than 12,000 cavalry used to block the attack, only about 9,000 escaped, which shocked Dorgon so much that his vest sweated.
"Where's Lao Jiu?" Dorgon didn't even address Babutai's position.
Nikan, covered in blood, replied: "He died in battle."
At this time, Nikan was not yet a famous king. He was just named Dorobele when he conquered Shanhaiguan.
Dorgon was furious: "How could there be such a heavy defeat with more than 12,000 horses?"
Nikan pointed at the Mongolian cavalry from the outer vassal: "These people are too timid to engage the enemy. They surround the enemy without attacking, and sit back and watch their friendly troops being attacked without rescuing them!"
Gurusi Qibu, Taiji (Prince) of the Haraqin Mongolian Tribe, immediately defended himself: "Your Highness, this is a slander against our Mongolian warriors. We received the order from the commander-in-chief to encircle the enemy's flanks and rear, but we have just completed the encirclement.
, the enemy launched a fierce attack on Mele Ezhen (Babutai). Before we had time to rescue him, Gushan Ezhen was killed. The morale of the army was so low that they had no choice but to escape with Nikanbele."
"Nonsense!"
Nikan was so angry that his face turned red and his neck thickened: "It was you who surrounded and refused to attack, which led to Mele's death in battle!"
Guru Siqibu shouted: "You are framing us Mongolian warriors!"
"I didn't!" Nikan also shouted.
Next, the generals from both sides also joined in the dispute and got into a quarrel on the way to withdraw the troops.
"Shut up!"
Dorgon angrily rebuked: "How can we delay the retreat of the army? Who is right and who is right? Let's withdraw first and then talk about it."
When several banner leaders heard the news, they all rushed to see Dorgon on horseback and discussed in low voices while marching.
For them, this is not only a war issue, but also a very serious political issue!
The Haraqin Mongols were one of the earliest Mongolian tribes to submit to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and Gurushi Qibu and his son were the first foreign vassal forces among the Haraqin Mongols to submit to the Qing Dynasty.
This tribe now grazes on the grasslands of northwest Liaoning, very close to the core of Manchu rule.
In this war, the Haraqin-Mongolia war and the invasion have exposed a message: Mongolia, the outer vassal, is no longer united with the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. If the Manchu and Qing Eight Banners continue to lose troops and generals, I am afraid that the Mongolian tribes in northwest Liaoning will fall to the Datong Army!
"Except for military rations, weapons and armor, all other baggage must be abandoned!" Dorgon anxiously issued the order.
The civilian laborers who were transporting the baggage were no longer needed. They were driven towards the south, where they might be able to hold off the pursuers for a while.
At the same time, Dorgon sent out all his cavalry, one to cover the direction of the coastline, and the other to cover the direction of Gaizhou's pursuing troops.
"Your Highness, there are enemy troops blocking the front!"
"The whole army forms a formation and charges to kill!"
Dorgon was already in a state of rage. He felt that those southern barbarians were bullying others too much.
Yaozhou is less than fifty miles away from Gaizhou. It was a city built by the Manchu Qing Dynasty specifically to attack the Ming army in Gaizhou.
In a state of rapid march, the main force of the Eight Banners quickly walked halfway, and this place has entered the sphere of influence of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The Datong Army actually dared to block it. Is this bullying the Eight Banners warriors who can't even raise the sword?
Seeing the Manchu and Qing armies begin to form formation, Lu Xiangsheng smiled and said to Li Zheng: "Withdraw!"
There was no way to withdraw. The first batch of troops to intercept them by boat, the Datong Army numbered less than 10,000, and the fortifications had not been repaired. Dorgon's army numbered tens of thousands, and they were all elites of the Eight Banners. If they really fought, they would just die.
Even if the main force of the Manchus is dragged out, it will only turn the Gaizhou battlefield into a peripheral battlefield in Yaozhou. Moreover, the Datong army has lost the protection of the city wall, so it is better to fight directly in Gaizhou.
Fearing that the Datong army would withdraw to the ship, thousands of Manchu and Qing cavalry swarmed to kill them.
"Boom boom boom boom!"
The navy ship immediately shelled to cover the Datong Army's boarding, and the navy soldiers also raised firecrackers at the side of the ship.
The Manchu and Qing cavalry did not dare to approach at all, and watched helplessly as the Datong army retreated to the ships, while dozens of themselves were killed by artillery fire.
Just when all the infantry retreated to the ship, Li Dingguo, Wang Tingchen, and Wu Huapu also came after them with their cavalry. They only sent out two hundred cavalry to collect the civilians that Dorgon had left behind on the way.
No one thought about annihilating the main force of the Eight Banners. They only planned to take advantage of Dorgon's withdrawal and chase them all the way to bite off a few more pieces of meat.
The population of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was only so large, and if one died, one would be missing!
Dorgon ordered 20,000 cavalry, including Han army flags, shotguns and vests, and rushed towards Li Dingguo's thousands of cavalry.
Li Dingguo, Wang Tingchen, and Wu Huapu ran away. They just slipped away.
The main reason is that they chased them all the way, and they were trapped and exhausted, so they couldn't fight directly. People can persist with perseverance, but you can't let the horses understand the spirit of great harmony.
After the occupation of Liaodong, the proportion of cavalry in the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty reached as high as 40%.
Even the Eight Banners of the Han Army had shotguns and vests, similar to the dragoons of the Datong Army. There were also many Manchu and Qing cavalry, who rode on horseback and rushed on the road. After the horses were tired, they could only turn into infantry and fight immediately. There were also some heavy infantry who used them when marching quickly.
Malay pack armor.
It is estimated that the Manchus themselves did not know how many cavalry and how many infantry they had, because many of their soldiers were capable of both cavalry and infantry.
Despite repeated losses, the main force of the Eight Banners, which numbered tens of thousands, could easily pull out 20,000 cavalry to fight.
Seeing that the pursuers on the west retreated back to the ship and the pursuers on the south fled on horseback, Dorgon ordered the entire army to continue advancing. All the soldiers were wearing armor and all were leading their horses, ready to mount their horses and kill the pursuers at any time.
In this way, Dorgon and his army retreated to Yaozhou.
The generals of Datong also returned to Gaizhou to take stock of the battle losses and gains, and they were all smiling.
Including the enemies destroyed by defending the bastion, a total of more than 11,000 Manchu elites were killed and captured. Some of the wounded who were unable to move were abandoned outside Gaizhou City when Dorgon withdrew his troops.
After killing Bao Yi, more than 4,000 civilians became cannon fodder for the siege.
Including people plundered by boat raids, captives, husbands, and serfs, more than 30,000 people!
In addition, more than 20 usable artillery pieces were seized, and more than 60 destroyed artillery pieces were seized. Among them were a large number of bronze cannons, each weighing two to three thousand kilograms, which could be brought back to the south to mint copper coins.
As for the battle losses of the Datong Army, 681 infantrymen were killed, 176 peasant soldiers and civilians were killed, and a total of more than 2,000 people were injured in the defending troops. In the harassment battle in Jinzhou and the pursuit battle in Gaizhou, the Datong cavalry was killed.
1,923 people and more than 3,000 injured.
At the post-war summary meeting, Li Zheng said: "The puppet Qing cavalry is still very brave. The biggest loss of our army in this battle was the cavalry pursuit. Although 3,000 enemy cavalry were annihilated, more than 1,000 of our cavalry were killed and injured.
There are more than 2,000 of them. From now on, we must avoid close combat with enemy cavalry and rely more on muskets and artillery to annihilate the enemy!"
Lu Xiangsheng added: "Although our cavalry suffered serious casualties, the results were still very good. During the pursuit battle, the puppet Qing general who was killed by the formation was the ninth son of Nurhachi, and he captured more than 3,000 horses and forced Dole
Gun continued to abandon the baggage and civilians. As for the hundreds of cavalry casualties during the Jinzhou raid, it was to delay the enemies of Jinzhou from rushing to Shanhaiguan. The sudden withdrawal of the puppet Qing troops was probably due to the news that Shanhaiguan was besieged."
Li Zheng nodded and said: "General Lu is right, we should fight hard battles. Li Dingguo broke out and killed his general, which greatly boosted the morale of the whole army. After discussing with the military judge and missionary officer, I will give you some advice.
Please reward me for your merit."
"Report... someone from Shanhaiguan!"
"Invite him in."
A messenger rushed into the conference room quickly: "Generals, our army has raided and occupied Weiyuan Terrace, and the enemy's army is likely to withdraw its troops and return for reinforcements."
Everyone looked at each other, everyone was amused.
Xiao Zongxian asked: "When did it happen?"
The messenger replied: "We captured Weiyuan Tower seven days ago. There was a storm on the sea and the ships were unable to sail, so we delayed the announcement until now."
Li Zheng sent someone to arrange for the messenger to rest, opened the military information document, and after reading it, he said: "What Shanhaiguan means is that if the Manchu and Qing troops come to rescue, they will immediately withdraw their troops and leave. Shandong and North Zhili are in very short supply of military rations, and it is impossible to follow them.
If the Qing Dynasty continues to waste money, we will have to wait at least two or three months after the autumn grain harvest before we dare to fight a big war with the Qing Dynasty."
From harvesting the autumn grain to collecting it, and then transporting it from the south to Shandong, it takes two or three months very quickly.
At this time, Fei Ruhe and Zhang Tieniu's army was attacking Shanhaiguan twice a day, and if they continued, they would have to eat one meal a day. The military rations consumed in the war were different from those stationed in the mainland. They needed to be consumed during transportation, and the civilian men accompanying the army needed to
and craftsmen will also be consumed.
Lu Xiangsheng sighed: "Oh, there is still not enough military rations. The military rations in Liaodong will not last long. Fortunately, Jinzhou and Fuzhou have harvested wheat this time, otherwise Your Majesty would have to raise more food and grass to transport."
This is very similar to the situation in the early Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to regain Liaodong, but he had no army and no food and grass, so he could only quietly farm in Liaodong for several years.
Xiao Zongxian suddenly said treacherously: "The Puppet Qing Dynasty sent a large army to rescue Shanhaiguan, so they can only keep troops to defend Haizhou and Yaozhou. The enemies of Haizhou and Yaozhou will definitely not dare to leave the city without authorization. Should we take the opportunity to do something?"
Lu Xiangsheng said: "While the main force of the enemy army is going to Shanhaiguan, our army can use one man and two horses to plunder the countryside of Haizhou and Yaozhou. Destroy the crops of the Qing Dynasty when they see it, burn it down when they see the houses of the Qing Dynasty.
When the population is reached, the livestock will be plundered! With this method of warfare, within a year or two, those Tatars will starve to death!"
The offensive and defensive battle in Gaizhou went off to a successful start, but the real war had just begun.
The Qing Dynasty will definitely be short of food this winter. North Korea and Mongolia have already grabbed it. Let’s see where they go to grab food.