At the foot of Sarhu Mountain, the generals of the Datong Army were having a meeting in the camp.
Coach Li Zheng said: "The Tatar scouts suddenly disappeared. I have sent scouts to Jiefan City to investigate. Please tell me,
Could this be a trick to lure the enemy, trying to lure our troops over to set up an ambush?"
"It's very possible," Lu Xiangsheng nodded and said, "In the past few years, most of the Tatar Eight Banners Army's elite troops were killed or injured, and countless war horses and armor were captured by our army. No matter how the Tatar pastures give birth to cubs, they will also have babies in a short period of time.
There are not that many war horses to make up for it. No matter how fast the Tatar ordnance depot works, they will not be able to produce tens of thousands of armors in a few years. They are short of horses and armor, and they dare not fight a decisive battle with our army, so they will definitely find ways to set up an ambush."
Hu Dinggui said with a smile: "No matter how we set up an ambush, there is only one main road. If we really fight, we will send out enough mountain search teams.
No matter how well the Tatars hide, they can still be found."
Xiao Zongxian said: "We still have to continue to besiege Sarhu. If we don't capture Sarhu, it will be difficult to attack Jiefan City and Gule City. I guess the Tatars are just stalling for time, waiting for us to withdraw until the mountains are closed by heavy snow."
"
Lu Xiangsheng said: "If the enemy general has any brains, he will definitely keep delaying. Our army must wait until the cavalry division successfully attacks and reaches the rear of Jiefan City. Then we can think of ways to attack."
This is the reason why the Datong Army has delayed sending troops. Everyone wants to destroy the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but it is difficult to fight due to the terrain.
Sarhu City, Jiefan City, and Gule City are three mountain cities blocked here.
As early as the Wang Guo era, Gule City was the core city of the Jurchens in Jianzhou, and it was expanded and reinforced time after time. Jiefan City and Sarhu City also served as the capital of Nurhachi, and they were also constantly expanded and reinforced.
To be honest, the Datong Army mobilized nearly 100,000 people this time, so there was no guarantee that the Manchus would be wiped out.
The minimum goal of this battle is to capture Saarhu City and then attack Jiefan City next year.
Li Zheng said: "If we can't besiege the city and bring reinforcements, we have to attack Saarhu. This battle must be ended before it snows."
To storm a dangerous mountain city is nothing more than to sacrifice human lives.
"Da da da da!"
The scout galloped back on horseback, and after being allowed to enter the commander's tent, he actively reported: "Generals, Jiefan City is empty, and the Tatars in Jiefan City have left! There are traces of the march of the army along the way, and the Tatars have not gone to the northeast.
Hunhe River Valley, but go to the southeast, probably to return to Jianzhou (Hetuala)."
Li Zheng was surprised and happy. He stood up and said, "Go and explore Gule City immediately!"
The scout said: "A brother has already gone."
Not long after, another scout came back and reported: "The city of Gule is also empty. There is not a single Tatar in the city."
Several generals looked at each other, wondering what the Tatars were up to.
If the Tatars defended these two mountain cities, they would have to sacrifice the lives of Datong soldiers to defeat them. Happiness came so suddenly, and the Tatars actually abandoned the city on their own initiative, which made them feel incredible.
Li Zheng said: "Send troops immediately to occupy the two cities!"
In this case, the goal of this campaign has been achieved. After capturing Gule City and Jiefan City, Sarhu became an isolated city, and there was no need to besieged anymore. The food in the city was completely eaten and starved to death.
Lu Xiangsheng asked suspiciously: "Is there some accident in Jianzhou? The main force of the Tatars rushed over to rescue."
Hu Dinggui said: "There is only a partial division of the Independent Regiment over there. Even if Yang Zhenqing breaks through the fortresses along the way and fights all the way to Jianzhou City, the Tatars will not need to abandon the city and return for reinforcements."
"Is it an internal fight among the Tatars?" Xiao Zongxian guessed.
Li Zheng shook his head: "It's not like internal fighting. The Tatars moved too unitedly and no one was left behind. If it were really internal fighting among the Tatars, some of the Tatars must have defected to them instead of all abandoning the city and leaving."
These big guys racked their brains and couldn't figure it out.
Even if they thought about it for another three days and three nights, they would never guess that Yang Zhenqing had captured Hetuala.
Because that was too fantasy. Li Zheng said again: "Are the Tatars trying to lure the enemy deeper, abandoning the two cities as bait, luring our army to pursue them, and then setting up an ambush halfway?"
Hu Dinggui said with a smile: "If this is the case, if we don't pursue them, wouldn't we have picked up two cities in vain? The two cities of Jiefan and Gule are lost, and the city of Sarhu will be lost sooner or later. The Tatars are asking for their own destruction. I'm afraid the Tatars Not that stupid."
"That's not true. Then it's not true. Then why did the Tatars abandon the city and leave?" Xiao Zongxian became more and more confused as he was told.
Hu Dinggui said: "If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. What matters now is whether we should pursue it or not."
Li Zheng still had the same calm character: "It is better not to pursue, occupy the two cities of Jiefan and Gule, and then besiege Sarhu with all our strength. When all three cities are taken, the Tatars will be the grasshoppers after the autumn, and our army has no need Go on another adventure."
Lu Xiangsheng shook his head: "We still have to chase, at least take the opportunity to capture Maldun. Although Maldun is only a fortress, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Sooner or later, we will have to fight a battle."
Li Zheng thought about it: "Let's do this, send dragoons to pursue quickly. If there are not many enemies in Maldun, then take advantage of the situation. If there are Tatars defending Maldun, then we should consider the long term."
After finalizing the battle plan, thousands of dragoons immediately pursued along the Suzi River.
Mardon.
Mandahai led several elite vanguards to block the water supply from the front and rear of the fortress. The large Tatar troops had not yet arrived, and the artillery and other siege equipment were not available, so Mandahai could only continue to wait.
Yang Zhenqing didn't wait, he wanted to take the initiative.
"Leave five hundred people to guard the gate of Beizhai. The rest follow me and go out to kill the Tatars!"
Of the 1,500 people who initially rushed to attack, more than 200 people fell ill due to too much effort and were now lying in Hetuala to recuperate.
At this moment, there are only about 200 independent regiment soldiers in Mardun Village.
Five hundred men guarded the North Village Gate, and Yang Zhenqing personally came with more than 700 soldiers to rush out from the South Village Gate.
There were not many Tatars there, only about a thousand, and they had climbed over the mountain wall to cut off the water. At this moment, half of the Tatars were on guard, and the other half were cutting down trees nearby to set up camp.
"The Nanbarbarians are coming out!" the Tatar sentry exclaimed.
The Tatars who were cutting down trees immediately threw down their axes, and more than a thousand people gathered to fight.
As mentioned before, the mountain road outside the stronghold was narrow. When Nurhaci attacked the stronghold, he could not even line up a second truck.
The number of Tatar soldiers is twice that of the Datong army, but when fighting in close combat, only a dozen people in the front row can fight. The battlefield is not wide enough, so it is useless no matter how many soldiers there are, they can only wait in the back to join the battle.
However, the Datong Army was condescending, and all of them had flintlock guns - everyone could shoot!
“Bang bang bang!
Without waiting to enter the range of the bow and arrow, Yang Zhenqing ordered a volley of fire. The slope was enough so that the soldiers in the front row would not block the back row.
More than a thousand Tatars were completely passively shot.
Some Tatars were anxious and shot arrows at the Datong army, but the distance was too far and they were shooting upwards, so they couldn't hit them at all.
After a round of gunfire, the Tatars had more than thirty casualties and had no choice but to retreat down the mountain.
Yang Zhenqing refused to give up and led his troops in pursuit.
Mandahai was on the other side of the stronghold. Hearing the gunshots here, he suddenly became anxious. He ordered the attack on the stronghold again.
But again, the mountain road is narrow, it’s useless no matter how many people there are, just queue up honestly.
"Withdraw!"
After a probing attack, Mandahai once again ordered the troops to retreat. He was almost disgusted to death by the terrain.
He was not Nurhaci. Even though the carriage was completely destroyed, he could still rush over and shoot an arrow alone, and one arrow wounded the ear of the general guarding the village.
Even Nurhachi cut off the drinking water in the village and forced the village to surrender.
Man Dahai was very anxious and sent a messenger again to convey the order: "Let Aixing hurry up, don't wait for most of the troops to leave together, bring the artillery over first and knock down the wall!"
The Tatars did not have many cannons, only a few dozen were left. Moreover, most of the musketeers were disbanded because they did not have enough gunpowder. When fighting the Ming Dynasty, most of the gunpowder used by the Tatars was bought from the Han Dynasty.
They can't produce much themselves.
Now that trade is cut off and gunpowder cannot be purchased, we can only slowly produce it ourselves.
The pitiful output of gunpowder every year can only supply the needs of cannons, and the musketeers are not enough.
For example, the other Tatars Yang Zhenqing faced did not have a single musket. Facing the condescending Datong army, the bows and arrows in their hands had no room to fight back.
Keep chasing, keep loading, and keep firing.
The more than a thousand Tatar elites retreated down the mountain in an orderly manner at first. As the casualties increased, the Tatars became panicked. Moreover, the mountain road was narrow, and when they scrambled to retreat, some Tatar friendly troops were squeezed out of the mountain road.
He fell off the mountain wall and was either killed or disabled.
The more you panic, the more likely you are to make mistakes, and a retreat can quickly turn into a rout.
"Mount bayonets and charge!"
Yang Zhenqing gave an order, and more than 700 people mounted bayonets and charged towards the chaotic Tatars.
This final blow caused the Tatar soldiers to completely collapse, and hundreds of them squeezed off the cliff. "No one left, no prisoners!" Yang Zhenqing ran and shouted.
More than 700 soldiers of the independent regiment took the initiative to attack more than 1,600 Tatars. So far, not a single soldier has been lost, and the enemy has been killed crying and running for his life.
After chasing them all the way down the mountain, some Tatars jumped into the Suzi River to escape, and some fled along the river bank towards Hetuala.
Yang Zhenqing returned to the village happily, rested for half an hour, and suddenly stood up again: "Leave a hundred people to guard the gate of Nanzhai.
The rest follow me and fight out from the Beizhai Gate!"
This time there were more than 1,100 people, charging toward the 3,000-strong Mandahai Sea.
Mandahai knew something was wrong, so he retreated a long way away, all the way to the foot of the mountain, waiting for Yang Zhenqing to come and die.
"It's boring, let's go back to the village." Yang Zhenqing didn't dare to pursue him anymore, so he just fought on the steep mountain road. He couldn't get any benefits by going down the mountain.
In fact, Yang Zhenqing also felt guilty. He led his troops to attack Hetuala in a surprise attack. He did not carry much ammunition with him. All the ammunition for the entire army was with the large army. It would take a day or two before the large army could carry the ammunition and baggage from Hetuala.
The city of Tuala came for reinforcements.
If the main force does not come, the ammunition in their hands will only allow each person to fire twenty or thirty more shots.
Man Dahai is also waiting, waiting for Aixing A to quickly bring the cannon.
The wall here is not very strong and can collapse in half a day. Then he will kill Yang Zhenqing with his own hands.