After confirming that Suohun abandoned the castle and left, the main force of the independent regiment took advantage of the situation and occupied the castle, heading to Hetuala to join Yang Zhenqing.
Unexpectedly, just halfway through, they received an order from Yang Zhenqing, telling them to defend the city immediately.
Where to keep?
Of course it was Shouhetuala, which was already empty, with only the wounded and sick of the independent regiment left. After two days of repairs, Yang Zhenqing actually led his army to set off again, without the slightest fear that the Tatar capital would be taken back after he left.
Anba has been very sure that this Han general named Yang Zhenqing is a complete madman!
More than a thousand people crossed mountains and ridges and marched hungry, not to mention taking Hetuala overnight. They had only rested for two days, and they hadn't even replenished the meat they had lost from starvation. They actually abandoned the city and headed for the main battlefield. .There was a battle involving tens of thousands of people, and even more than 100,000 civilians were included. Are these thousands of people delivering food?
At this moment, Mandahai and his cavalry troops finally arrived at Jiefan City.
As soon as he arrived, he received an urgent report. His son sent someone to chase him and deliver a message, saying that a large group of enemy troops had appeared in his hometown.
what to do?
Man Dahai wanted to rush back for rescue. The Datong Army had been on a long-distance attack and must not have brought enough siege weapons. Maybe the city had not been breached even when they returned. But the Salhu battlefield ahead also needed him. Once he was the backbone, he said Maybe Saerhu's morale collapsed immediately.
After much deliberation, Mandahai decided not to return the favor.
If the son can hold on, the Datong army that is rushing around and attacking will definitely withdraw due to lack of food. If the son cannot hold on, it will be too late for him to go back. It is better to stay on the main battlefield. As long as the battle is won, any loss can be accepted.
"Your Majesty, the two acropolis of Sarhu and several nearby forts have all been captured by the Nanmanzi." The person leading the army in Jiefan City is Yang Guli's grandson Aixing'a, whose title is Duke Yingcheng. , awarded the title of first-class general officer.
Man Dahai asked: "The Nanmanzi only besieged Sarhu and did not attack Jiefan City?"
Jiefan City is Jiefan City. The Tatars don't like the word "Fan".
Ai Xing'a shook his head: "I haven't come over yet. I guess they are waiting for us to go over. The Nanmanzi want to besiege the city and call for reinforcements."
Mandahai thought silently.
The Datong Army besieging Sarhu City consisted of four regular divisions, plus farmers, soldiers and civilians, and there were nearly 90,000 people lying there.
There are only about 5,000 Tatar defenders in Sarhu City. The Eight Banners Army in Jiefan City and Gule City has gathered more than 40,000 people. The Manchu Qing Dynasty evacuated all the young and strong people. These more than 40,000 people Many of them had never fought in a war, and the youngest were only fourteen or fifteen years old.
"We can't force it. The enemy has been on the battlefield for a long time, and most of our troops are weak. There is no guarantee of a decisive battle in the field," Mandahai said. "Since the enemy is surrounded and refuses to attack, then we will keep stalling until it snows. They will naturally withdraw their troops. At that time, we will look for opportunities and seize the loopholes in their withdrawal to hunt them down!"
Aixing A did not dare to go out of the city for a decisive battle, and quickly flattered him: "Your Majesty is indeed a veteran general and the mainstay of our Qing Dynasty. The strategy of stalling for time is the most suitable."
In Man Dahai's heart, he has always been thinking about the home front.
If the son was defeated and the Datong army captured the city, the retreat route to the northeast would be blocked. Even if the Datong army came along the river valley and arrived at Jiefan City from the northeast, Jiefan City would become a turtle in a urn.
Mandahai suddenly had an idea. He said: "Send more scouts and go northeast along the Hun River. Don't expose your whereabouts. Once we find the Nanmanzi, we will set up an ambush halfway. The number of Nanmanzi who circled back from the north will be It’s definitely not much, let’s eat all the food first and then talk about it.”
Love Star Azan said: "This is Emperor Taizu's secret skill. Let him come in any way, and I will go all the way!"
Mandahai immediately sent out scouts, but on that day, a fast horse came from Gule City in the southeast: "Your Majesty, there is a secret report, Hetuala is missing!"
"Hetuala is gone?"
Man Dahai and Aixing A looked at each other.
The main force of the Datong Army in Saarhu was directly west of Jiefan City. The direction of the cavalry division's attack was to the northeast of Jiefan City.
As for Hetuala, on the southeast side of Jiefan City, there is only one passage, that is, the Datong army starts from Crow Falcon Pass and breaks through the fortress. It is not easy for the army to move there. At most, it is a partial division of several thousand people, and it has to break through many
It takes a lot of time to build a fortress. Moreover, Hetuala still has an army. Even if two to three thousand people are sent to guard the pass, tens of thousands of Datong troops can be blocked.
How do you say it's gone?
Mandahai asked: "How many enemy troops captured the city?
The messenger shook his head: "I don't know."
Mandahai asked again: "Where did the enemy come from?"
The messenger shook his head: "I don't know."
"How come you don't know anything?" Ai Xing'a was furious.
The messenger explained: "There are sporadic tribesmen who fled from Hetuala to Mardun. The guard general of Mardun did not dare to neglect, and sent people to Gule City to report the news, and at the same time sent people to Tuala to inquire about the news. Those tribesmen who escaped
, I can’t explain clearly, I just know that there was a fire inside and outside the city in the middle of the night, and many Nanmanzi took the opportunity to rush into the city. "
"Where are the Queen Mother and Your Majesty?" Ai Xing'a asked.
"Some tribesmen said that they saw the Queen Mother and Her Majesty escaping from Beicheng." The messenger replied.
Ai Xing'a was silent, and Man Dahai didn't say a word either.
There are mountains everywhere here, and there are only three passages.
One is in the west, leading to Fushun via Sarhu. One is in the northeast, going out along the Hun River Valley. The other is in the southeast, going out along the Suzi River Valley.
Now, the three passages and three directions are all occupied by the Datong Army. The Eight Banners Army has been surrounded!
After a long time, Mandahai sighed: "There are only two ways now. First, before the enemy forces encircle them, go to Sarhu for a decisive battle immediately; second,
Before the enemy forces encircle you, choose a route and lead the entire army to break through."
"Let's break out. Many of the Eight Banners warriors here have never fought in battles. Letting them go out of the city for a decisive battle will cost their lives." Ai Xing'a said.
Mandahai added: "If we break through, should we break through from the northeast or the southeast?"
Ai Xing'a said: "The southeast is better. The number of enemy troops who captured Hetuala should not be too large. It will be smoother to go to the southeast, and you can also find the Queen Mother and Her Majesty."
Man Dahai actually wanted to go to the northeast, and he just happened to go back to see if his old nest had been taken away.
But as Aixing A said, the road to the northeast is more dangerous. There are not only the Datong Army there, but also the rebellious Hercynian Jurchens, and there may even be Mongolian soldiers who have defected to the Datong Army.
After thinking about it, Mandahai said: "Let's call the generals together to discuss the matter. It doesn't matter what the two of us say."
A group meeting was held to discuss, and there was only one conclusion, which was to go southeast.
Because the families of these Manchu nobles attending the meeting are either in Hetuala, or in Gule City and Mardun behind them. They have to go back and have a look, maybe they can meet their families along the way. It is impossible to follow Mandahai from the northeast.
Breakout.
If Mandahai wants to control the entire army, he must listen to the opinions of these nobles.
The next day, Mandahai sent a large number of scouts to Sarhu, pretending to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Datong Army. They prepared to retreat during the day, and immediately fled after nightfall, rushing to join the Tatars in Gule City.
Counting the old, weak, women and children, 70,000 to 80,000 Tatars continued their journey southeast from Gule City.
On the main battlefield, Lu Xiangsheng, Hu Dinggui and others have been confused by the illusion. Scouts from both sides continue to fight, trying to occupy key areas and prepare for the next "decisive battle".
It was not that Lu Xiangsheng and Hu Dinggui were not smart enough, but that they had never expected that Yang Zhenqing would actually capture Hetuala.
The mission of Yang Zhenqing's partial division was only to seize gold mines and ordnance depots, and to threaten the Tatar rear from the south so that the Tatars could not devote all their troops to the main battlefield.
Traveling day and night, within a few miles, the main force of the Tatars will flee to Mardun.
Maldun is the place where Nurhachi became famous when he first started his army.
At that time, Nurhachi's army had less than a hundred armored soldiers. His brother-in-law was killed by someone, so he took only a few brothers and risked his life to retrieve his brother-in-law's body.
Then he led troops to attack Mardun, where the enemy who killed his brother-in-law was.
There were only three supporting carriages at that time, and Maldun Village was too steep and could only accommodate one moving forward. Nurhachi arranged the three supporting carriages in a long snake formation, and as a result, all the supporting carriages were destroyed. He rushed forward single-handedly.
One arrow shot through the enemy's ear, and he killed four enemies in a row.
As a result, morale was greatly boosted, and the enemy was so frightened that they did not dare to come out. Finally, they surrounded the stronghold and cut off the water, forcing the enemy to surrender.
After capturing Mardun, Nurhaci gained access to the mountain. He could attack Jiefan City, Gule City and Sarhu at any time. If he could not capture this place,
He could only stay in Hetuala.
When we were still a few miles away from Maldun, a group of defeated and disgraced soldiers came from the southeast.
Mandahai's vest felt cold and he rode up to him in person, asking, "Is Mardun still there?"
A Tatar officer cried sadly: "Mardun is gone!"
"Why is Mardun gone?" Ai Xing'a felt that the sky was dark and the earth was dark.
The Tatar officer said: "There is no well in the stronghold, so we have to go down the mountain to fetch water. Some tribesmen couldn't bear it, and there were people outside the stronghold who kept trying to persuade them to surrender, saying that Your Majesty and the Queen Mother were dead, and I was gone early in the morning... So some tribesmen
He opened the door and surrendered, and the Nanmanzi took the opportunity to rush into the stronghold."
Mandahai was so anxious that he jumped to his feet: "Get Mardun back quickly!"
Maldun is not only a fortress, but also a checkpoint, which is the only way for the Tatars to break through.
On the other side of Hetuala, at least there is a wide and flat area. Even if the Datong army takes over the city, the Tatar army can still circle the city.
But if the Maldun is lost, you can't get around it even if you want to.
If you have to go around it, you have to give up all your luggage and climb over the steep mountain wall. There are tens of thousands of people, abandoning their luggage is equivalent to committing suicide by hunger strike!
Mandahai couldn't wait any longer. He abandoned his baggage and large troops and marched with only thousands of elite troops, hoping to capture Maldun by force. If he couldn't capture it, he would just wait to die. The main force of the Datong Army would arrive sooner or later.
Being blocked in the river valley and being attacked from both sides.
"Captain, the Tatars are coming."
“Hold the fortress to the death!“
After Yang Zhenqing occupied Maldun, the first thing he did was to fetch water. Every container he could find in the village was used to hold the water fetched from the mountains, which could last for at least half a month.
Mandahai led his troops to fight, blocked the fort in the northwest, and sent soldiers to climb from the mountain wall to the southeast. In this way, Mardun was blocked and the drinking water in the stronghold was cut off.
He tried to attack, but to no avail. He could only send people back to urge him, and quickly pulled out the artillery to bombard the wall.
Yang Zhenqing's thousands of strange troops must guard the small village and hold off tens of thousands of enemy troops for more than ten days. Only in this way can the main force of the Tatars be blocked and wait for the main force of the friendly forces to come and encircle them.
In fact, if Mandahai chose to break out from the northeast, the situation would not be far different. They would be blocked by the cavalry division.