Sometimes, you can't expect anyone to uphold justice and even give up their own interests.
If it weren't for the Manchus, Li Zicheng would still be sitting on the throne in Beijing. Therefore, he was extremely disgusted with the Manchus, but he had to compromise with reality. If he didn't contact the Manchus to send troops together, would he rely entirely on his Dashun army to fight the south?
When Dorgon received Li Zicheng's letter, he was immediately overjoyed, and both parties agreed to send troops next spring.
Both sides fight each other and do not join forces.
Li Zicheng's army left Shanxi and attacked Hongnong, Huaiqing, Zhangde, and Guangping. The Manchu and Qing Dynasties entered the pass and attacked Tianjin all the way.
What should the Datong Army do?
The soldiers will block it, the water will cover it, and the two will fight together!
The terrain in Shanxi is difficult, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Li Zicheng dared to come out just in time, but he was afraid that he would stay in retreat. Liaodong was too far away, and it was extremely inconvenient to transport troops and food. If the Manchus dared to come to Tianjin, the supply line would be long enough to drag them to death.
Once Liaodong is empty, the Datong Army in southern Liaoning and North Korea can take the opportunity to attack its hinterland.
In the autumn of this year, Zhao Han once again expanded his army and formed the new 16th and 17th Divisions of the Datong Army. They were temporarily stationed in Nanjing for training, and after the snow melted in spring, they were immediately transferred to the north.
In the direction of Liaodong, there were no large-scale battles, and small-scale frictions continued.
The Datong Army is learning from the Ming Dynasty's frontier army and is constantly building forts. Basically, a fort is built in each town. Some are cast with cement, and many are built directly with rammed earth. Each fort has a beacon tower. See
When the Tatars arrived, they immediately lit the beacon fire.
In the mountains of southern Liaoning, Han people continued to escape and went to the Datong Army to organize households and divide their fields.
Fuzhou, Jinzhou, and Gaizhou have a population of more than 230,000 including the families of civilian officials and military personnel (not counting the number of troops and children under 12 years old). Although military food is not self-sufficient, compared with previous years, it is indeed
Much more abundant.
Baozhou on the border with North Korea is even more interesting.
After a division of the Datong Army moved to Baozhou, farmers in northern North Korea could not bear the exploitation by the government and fled with their families. In Baozhou, there were more than 80,000 Koreans under the rule, excluding the military families who had immigrated there.
Although these Korean people could not speak Chinese, they were extremely supportive of the Datong Army.
There are two reasons: one is that the grain tax is not heavy, and the other is that households are assigned surnames.
Now that the Korean people have surnames, they can register and divide their fields, and they can barely eat enough from the food they grow, this is like going from hell to heaven.
The King of Korea, Li Hao, finally came to his senses after purging his old ministers. He forbade Korean people from migrating toward Baozhou. He even sent an army to drive away civilians who were close to Baozhou. They disobeyed orders and often killed their entire family.
With the Datong Army blocking the Manchus in the north, and the internal opposition forces being eliminated, Li Hao thought he could enjoy it.
Seoul has been bombarded many times, and the city wall could use some repairs.
The palace has not been repaired for decades, and some of the main halls are leaking. They could also be completely renovated. By the way, two more halls should be built so that the king cannot live too crowded.
The North Korean people were really tolerant. Even though countless people starved to death, there was still no uprising.
It's just that the people in northern North Korea tried their best to escape secretly to Baozhou, where they could survive.
…
Mountainous area in southern Liaoning.
A group of strange sergeants are climbing up and down the mountain.
The man who led the troops was called Yang Zhenqing.
His former name was Yang Fu, and he was a hunter in Yimeng Mountain. His whole family was killed by Duduo. He took a hunting bow and chased Duduo all the way, and finally shot Duduo into a hedgehog.
Now, he has 500 people under his command, and has a special new independent battalion in Liaonan.
The composition of this army is diverse.
There are good archers in the Datong army, hunters in the mountainous areas of various provinces, and Han people in the mountains of southern Liaoning. There are even Jurchens in the mountains of southern Liaoning!
Han people have always lived in the mountainous areas of southern Liaoning.
During the Hongwu period, there was a Xiuyan Fort, which was affiliated with the Gaizhou Wei. During the Jiajing period, the Xiuyan Fumin Tongpan Office was also established. During the Wanli period, the Xiuyan grain management general office was established to take charge of Jinzhou, Haizhou, and Gaizhou.
The granary of three places.
Mao Wenlong once sent personnel to incite the Han people in Xiuyan to revolt, but Nurhachi suppressed it. More than 6,700 Han people were captured and more than 4,000 livestock were plundered.
Later, Jierhalang built Xiuyan City and garrisoned troops to prevent Mao Wenlong's sneak attack.
Today, the mountains of southern Liaoning are sparsely populated, with very few Han people and Jurchens. The Han people were taken away as serfs, while the Jurchen tribes were moved out. The few who remained were oppressed and exploited by the Manchus.
Therefore, after the Datong Army gained a foothold, some Jurchens in the mountains were actually willing to take refuge!
"The camp is at the center. In front of it is the headquarters of the Tatar officials."
"Go over there at night and kill them all!"
The so-called Tatar officials were actually sent by the Manchu Qing Dynasty to collect goods. The Han people and Jurchens in the mountains collected ginseng, animal skins and other items and had to pay a certain amount of tribute every year. If they did not make up the amount, they would be punished.
Towards evening, a Jurchen commoner came up and said in Manchu: "The Tatar officials are drinking, and there are as many as two hands and two feet among the company officers and soldiers."
The Jurchen warriors in the independent camp immediately translated to Yang Zhenqing.
Yang Zhenqing said happily: "You don't have to wait until it gets dark, just go there now!"
Of these five hundred soldiers of the independent battalion, two hundred of them used long spears like those of the white-pole soldiers, and could cross mountains together. The remaining three hundred soldiers all used bows and arrows and waist knives.
As for the armor, it is all leather armor.
In addition, all 500 people were equipped with new flintlock guns, but they were only used when encountering a large-scale Eight Banners Army.
It was almost dark, and five hundred soldiers approached quietly. The three Manchu sentries, who were sitting in a daze, had long been pointed out by the Jurchen people, and they did not know that they were about to become living targets.
Yang Zhenqing squatted in the grass, like a hunter facing a wild beast, took off his bow and arrow and slowly opened it.
"call out!"
An arrow was shot, and the enemy sentry fell dead, hitting his throat.
Several other archers also shot the remaining sentries to death.
There were seventeen Tatars in the house drinking and eating meat. The meat was roe deer snatched from people's homes. When they were full of wine and meat, the door was suddenly knocked open. They didn't even react. They saw a long pole.
The spear came.
Searching for trophies, there are a lot of ginseng and furs piled here, as well as some hamstrings of wild beasts, all of which were plundered from nearby mountain people.
Yang Zhenqing said to a Jurchen warrior: "Go for a walk around the area and tell the people in the mountains to come over tomorrow and take away their belongings."
"Okay!" the Jurchen warrior grinned.
At first, when Yang Zhenqing saw Jurchens in the mountains of Liaonan, he immediately attacked and killed them. It wasn't until one day when he saw Manchu soldiers beating up those Jurchens who couldn't pay the mountain goods that Yang Zhenqing realized that Tatars would bully Tatars.
So he reported the situation, and Lu Xiangsheng overcame all objections and asked him to try to contact the Jurchen people, and actually established a friendly relationship.
The next day.
Some Jurchen mountain people came with meat.
Yang Zhenqing took out his silver to buy the meat. The Jurchen mountain people could take their silver and go down the mountain to buy grain and salt.
Through this transaction, Yang Zhenqing's independent battalion does not have to worry about logistical issues when operating in the mountains.
On the territory of the Jurchens, they can actually gain the support of the Jurchen people and can actually supply food on the spot. This is nonsense.
Yang Zhenqing then said to the Jurchen mountain people: "If the Tatars come again, you will come and report and promise to get your things back. In the future, Han people will come to collect your mountain goods. I promise to give you enough money and you will never take anything in vain."
The Jurchen mountain people became happy and sang hunter songs a cappella around Yangzhen.
This was the independent battalion's first attack on the Manchu and Qing troops collecting mountain goods. About a month later, the Manchu and Qing officials in Xiuyan City finally realized something was wrong and sent more than two hundred Eight Banners soldiers to check.
Xiuyan City was built in the mountains and controlled the main roads in the mountains.
But it is difficult to march in the mountains. Even if you really pass through here and climb over the mountains and ridges directly into Jinzhou, you will only be able to get a few thousand surprise troops to attack. Moreover, the mountains do not produce enough food and are not suitable for large armies to be stationed. After the Manchus built Xiuyan City,
There are only 202 Eight Banners soldiers stationed at all times.
As the Datong Army gained a foothold in southern Liaoning, Dorgon also paid attention to Xiuyan City, and the garrison in the city increased to 800 Eight Banners soldiers.
But there are too few mountain people, and 70% to 80% of the Han people farming near Xiuyan City have long been kidnapped by the Manchus. 800 Eight Banners soldiers are stationed here, which is already the limit of logistics. Any more will have to transport food in from outside the mountains.
.
The 200 Eight Banners soldiers who left the city this time were all riding inferior horses. They were not considered cavalry, but only mounted infantry.
The Eight Banners soldiers only marched for more than ten miles in the mountains when some Jurchen mountain people quickly ran to inform the Independence Battalion. The Independence Battalion was stationed in the mountains all year round and immediately dispatched after receiving the news.
“Where are the harvesters?”
"I went south and never came back."
"Where to the south? Some people will lead the way!"
Two hundred Manchu and Qing Eight Banners soldiers were led by the Jurchen mountain people all the way towards the ambush point of the Independent Battalion.
"Hush!"
The copper whistle sounded, and when the Jurchen mountain people heard the whistle, they immediately lay down on the ground as agreed.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
"Go back quickly!"
Gunshots rang out from both sides of the valley, and the Eight Banners soldiers were ambushed. They turned around and fled in panic. However, the valley was too narrow and could only accommodate two or three horses. The Eight Banners soldiers with 200 horses were still dragged into a long snake formation.
A Jurchen mountain man who was leading the way fell to the ground and was not hit by a bullet, but unfortunately he was trampled to death by a horse's hoof.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
There was another row of gunshots, and the Eight Banners soldiers who could not speed up again fell off their horses. More than thirty people were killed.
The remaining Eight Banners soldiers finally ran half a mile away, and gunshots rang out again from the hillside in front of them.
After an ambush, only about 40 of the 280 bannermen escaped.
This was a serious damage. In the entire Xiuyan City, the Manchu Qing Dynasty only had 800 defenders.
Yang Zhenqing pointed to the two horse corpses and said: "The Jurchen people who sacrificed their lives, these two dead horses belong to their family. The remaining dead horses will be taken back to your village and divided up. The armor and weapons of the Tatar soldiers are also temporarily there.
Rest the entire army in your village, and set up an ambush in the north tomorrow. If the Tatar soldiers get the news, they will probably come again. If they don't come, we will go to the vicinity of Xiuyan City and pick up the Han people there!"
Yang Zhenqing was very courageous. His superiors asked him to go into the mountains to fight guerrillas, but he wanted to take down Xiuyan City.
