Sun Chengzong, the governor of Liaodong and the Minister of War, had a stern expression on his face and was questioning a middle-aged man with a frightened expression in front of him.
The man's name is Zhang Yi. According to him, he is a fur trader who just escaped from Dalinghe City. On the way to Jinzhou, he was captured by officers and soldiers because he said that he escaped from Dalinghe City and was immediately arrested.
The officers and soldiers were sent to Jinzhou.
Since Dalinghe City was besieged by the Tatars, the two reinforcements sent by the court were defeated by the Tatars. What is the situation in Dalinghe City now is news that almost all Liaodong generals urgently need to know.
"Sir, I don't know how I escaped. The Tatars killed everyone they saw. I was the only one who escaped with me. The villain had to lie among the dead and pretend to be dead, so he survived!"
Zhang Yi talked incoherently about his escape experience. These are not the main point. None of the generals here care about the life or death of a small businessman, but how he escaped is what he decided to talk about next. Daling River
The authenticity of the situation in the city.
No one can guarantee that this person is not a Tatar spy or one of the kind who is destined to die.
After listening for half an hour, everyone slowly understood the context of what the other party said. Zhang Yi and his group must have bribed the defenders to escape from the city, and when they encountered the Tatars, they must have broken in.
After seeing the battlefield, the other party's words clearly explained where the Tatars and the Ming army were fighting. If I hadn't personally experienced this, it would be difficult to explain the location, time and even the situation so clearly.
"It's the reinforcements led by Wu Xiang..."
Sun Chengzong nodded slowly: "Because our reinforcements had an unexpected encounter with the Tatars, these common people were not inspected by the Tatars one by one. The time and place were right!"
"If you have relatives or friends in Jinzhou, you can report their names and residences at this moment, and we will send someone to invite them!"
Zhang Chun, the supervisor who was beside Sun Chengzong, said expressionlessly: "Even if you speak in such detail, if no one knows you and no one is willing to vouch for you, you still can't escape the suspicion of being a spy..."
"
"Yes, yes, the villain's wife and children are all in Jinzhou. Sir, go...call them and ask them. You will know that the villain is definitely not a spy!"
Almost half an hour later, the businessman's wife and children were found and brought to identify him. After both the woman and his son were willing to vouch for this man, the identity of the businessman was finally determined. He should really be from Dalinghe.
The ones who escaped were not the spies sent into Jinzhou by the Tatars through trickery.
"Tell me about the situation in Dalinghe City. Don't add any fuel or jealousy, and don't just tell me what you have seen..."
Zhang Chun said slowly: "Provide information to the imperial court, and the imperial court will reward you heavily!"
"Sir, the city has run out of food..." the merchant cried. "The villain was afraid of starving to death in the city, so he risked his life to escape. All the edible things have been eaten, and the officers and soldiers even started to
Killing the horse and eating it, the villain doesn’t know, if the horse is finished eating, what else will be left to eat?”
"Kill the horse?"
Sun Chengzong frowned. This was not good news. The main force in Dalinghe was Zu Dashou's six thousand Guan Ning cavalry. If they started killing horses, the Guan Ning cavalry would no longer be cavalry.
The businessman told some other situations, but they were not very optimistic. When he was about to be taken down, suddenly, the businessman seemed to have thought of something, and turned around and said: "By the way, sir, when the villain is pretending to be dead and escaping, look at
The Tatars, who had won the battle with the officers and soldiers, seemed not to go back toward the Daling River, but to the south!"
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. When the merchant didn't respond, he probably felt that what he said was not important, so he lowered his head and was taken out.
"Wu Xiang!"
Sun Chengzong called out to the generals sitting below him: "Whose Tatars did you fight with last time?"
"My lord, we are from the Azige Tribe of the Tatars. They had known that reinforcements would be sent from Jinzhou. They were all guerrillas between Jinzhou and the Daling River. In the end, they failed to break through the Tatars. Please punish me, lord!"
Sun Chengzong ignored his words of condemnation, but pondered, and Zhang Chun next to him also spoke: "The reinforcements on the other side of Songshan should be the same, they ran into Azige's soldiers and horses, more than two thousand people
The infantry is almost the same as the opponent’s cavalry, so there is really no chance of winning!”
He sighed slightly. It was after Dalinghe was besieged that Songshan's defenders took the initiative to aid Dalinghe, but the entire army was destroyed.
This was also the first reinforcement to the Daling River.
The second time, Wu Xiang's 5,000 soldiers and horses set out from Jinzhou a few days ago. As a result, they unexpectedly encountered the enemy general Azige's cavalry, and the result was a huge defeat without any suspense. Fortunately,
Wu Xiang was able to lead the army well. Even when the army was broken up and chased by the enemy, he still gathered some of the remaining troops and returned to Jinzhou.
This is also the reason why Wu Xiang can sit here and participate in the military discussion. Sun Chengzong allowed him to make meritorious deeds.
"Reinforcements from the Daling River must be sent, but we must first find out the movements of the Azige tribe that lies between us in Jinzhou and the Daling River!"
Sun Chengzong pondered for a long time and said slowly: "If Huang Taiji hadn't sent more troops to Azig, his headquarters would probably have about three thousand people!"
Zhang Chun shook his head: "Even if there are three thousand people, in a field battle, even if our army is twice theirs, it will be difficult to win!"
"Then what did the man mean when he said Azige was going south?" Sun Chengzong said, "Whether it was going to Guangning or Heishan. Since Huang Taiji sent him to stop my reinforcements, there is no reason for him to turn back!"
Everyone looked at the map on the wall, and they were also puzzled. Such a powerful enemy army did not do the important thing of blocking reinforcements, but instead rushed to Guangning. There must be a major intention in this.
.
And it is a more important attempt than blocking the Daling River reinforcements.
"Could it be that Pidao sent troops?" Zhang Chun thought for a long time and suddenly hesitated: "A few days ago, soldiers from Pidao sent news saying that Pidao planned to send troops to harass the Tatars...
…”
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
The generals immediately started to make a noise. They all knew what kind of virtue Pidao was. They were the ones who fought the big and hard battles in Liaodong. The soldiers and horses on Pidao were just doing sneaky things.
If their actions can make Azig give up stopping Jinzhou's reinforcements and instead deal with them, unless they reach Shengjing City.
The question is, is this possible?
"I don't think it's possible!" Zhang Chun also shook his head: "Then, think about it again, are there any other important things in the south that are worthy of Azig leaving? Or is he just pretending to leave?
Hiding around my Jinzhou, preparing to give my Jinzhou reinforcements another heavy blow?"
Everyone started talking, and they had to say that the possibility mentioned by the supervisor did exist.
"Is the person who sent the message from Pidao still there?" Suddenly, Sun Chengzong, who was sitting on the commander's seat, spoke slowly, and the whole hall fell silent.
"It should still be there, I'll send someone to ask!" Zhang Chun said.
"Call someone over. I want to inquire personally about Pidao. Haha, I remember that the person in charge of Pidao now should be an interesting little guy I know. Maybe he can really bring us some unexpected surprises.
!”
Sun Chengzong smiled and looked at the generals in the hall: "Anyway, the current situation is so bad. If you listen to the news over there, it won't get any worse, don't you think?"