On the night of October 29, the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the camp outside Shunyi City was like a sea, like the undulating tide at night.
The curtain of the Chinese army's tent was blown by the north wind, making a muffled popping sound. The lights inside the tent were brightly lit, and the braziers on both sides were burning charcoal. It was a world of difference with the severe cold outside the tent. More than twenty naked people
The heads sit in a circle, and the firelight in the tent is reflected when the heads turn. There is hair the size of copper coins on the back of the head, and the braid is pulled on the left side of the body. Everyone is strong and has many scars on his face.
Upon seeing the movement, the tent was filled with an aura of killing.
There were two people sitting side by side at the top. The one on the right was about forty years old and a little stout. His eyelids were drooped and looking at the ground. The one on the left was much younger. The young man on the left glanced around the tent.
Finally, his eyes stopped for a moment on the middle-aged man on the right and then moved away. He stretched out his hand to clasp the leather jacket on his shoulders and said in a deep voice, "There were a lot of difficulties during the pass at Poqiangziling. It was delayed for six or seven days.
We have missed some of our journeys, and now we are in the same place. Although Yue Tobeile and I have separate left and right wings, before leaving, the Great Khan told everyone to discuss the matter in case of any problems, and we will make arrangements for our departure today..."
After he finished speaking, he turned to the middle-aged man on the right and said, "Please Yue Tuobele to speak first." The man on the right is Yue Tuo, the commander of the right wing of the Qing army. The left and right wings of the Qing army are divided into fixed divisions. The right wing is yellow and red.
Bordered with red, bordered with blue, the left wing is bordered with yellow, straight white, bordered white, straight blue, marching formations are all done in this way, but there is no fixed commander. This time the Qing army entered the border and there was no clear designated commander. Dorgon
General Ren Feng was ordered to lead the left-wing army, and General Yue Tuo was appointed to lead the right-wing army as General Yangwu. However, Dorgon was Prince Heshuorui and was the leader of the main army.
The one with the highest title, so he spoke first. "It's Yue Tuo, Dorgon." Yue Tuo coughed twice, rolled his drooped eyelids slightly, and turned to Dorgon with a respectful expression, "Qiangziling is a delay.
After six days, the Guancheng was built according to the mountain. Unless the Guancheng was captured, horses, carriages, and artillery would not be able to enter the border. This Guancheng was not so easy to fight. Fortunately, we found a guide and divided our troops over the mountain via a small road to cut off Ming Dynasty.
The national reinforcements were coming to cross the mountain. At this time, Wu Aheng took the opportunity to bring thousands of troops into Guancheng, so he was delayed.
These few days were not completely useless. The right-wing army attacked Qiangzi Ridge first, and the soldiers and horses from the nearby pass came to rescue Qiangzi Ridge. Prince Rui was able to cross Qingshan Pass without losing any soldiers or horses. These six days can also be counted.
The use of attacking cities and demolishing strongholds." Yue Tuo refuted Dorgon's opening remarks, but Dorgon was not angry. Yue Tuo was originally Prince Heshuocheng and was highly valued by Huang Taiji, who gradually replaced him with administrative power.
Banner power, when the six ministries were created, Yue Tuo was appointed as a soldier.
But later he was implicated in the Manggutai incident. Mangguji's two daughters were Hauge and Yuetuo's Fujin. Hauge took the initiative to kill his own Fujin, but Yuetuo did not kill his own.
Dafu Jin. Huang Taiji had an inconvenient attack at the time, but then he found someone to accuse Yue Tuo of harboring Mang Gurtai, and held a political meeting to convict him of death. Then Huang Taiji came forward to pardon him. After Yue Tuo was punished twice in a row, he became
Gushan Beizi, full
A part of Zhou Dingkou was given to Shuo Tuo, and the post of Minister of the Ministry of War was also lost. Full of resentment, he could only thank Huang Taiji for not killing him, and kept writing self-criticisms and reflections to Huang Taiji. This year, he became Dorobele again.
Yue Tuo's title is not high, and his status is precarious, but he is still the flag owner with a red flag. Even though Huang Taiji is trying to use Mongolia and Han people to contain the Manchu dignitaries, the Eight Banners of Manchuria are still the mainstay of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. There are more than 20 people in the big tent.
people
, the Eight Banners' Gushan'erzhen are all there, but there are only three banner leaders. From the strength point of view, Yue Tuo is still at the top of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Dorgon smiled slightly and said, "The right-wing army conquered Qianziling City. The first
Killing one of the Ming governors in battle, and frightening the Ming soldiers as soon as they enter the border, are naturally useful. Because of this, what they do next is of great importance, so please give me credit.
General Wu will tell you his intention first."
The other bald heads in the tent were all high-ranking officers of the Eight Banners. They showed no reaction to the verbal conflict between the two. The deputy commanders Azig and Du Du in the front row were in a daze, while Hauge was minding his own business with a pot of charcoal next to him.
Yue Tuo still had his eyelids drooped, but Dorgon changed his name to General Yangwu, giving him equal treatment. When he spoke again, his tone was gentler than before, "Since Prince Rui asked me to talk, then I will say it, according to the Great Khan
The strategic strategy is to rest and reorganize troops and horses in the north of the capital after entering the border, and wait for the soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty to gather together and kill them with one drum. Then everything will be convenient. The elite troops of the Ming Dynasty are all on the nine sides. This time there are two lines of reinforcements. The north of the capital city is led by Governor Lu.
Xuan Da's troops and horses, the Tongzhou branch is the troops and horses of Liao Town led by Eunuch Gao. Gao Eunuch and his group are all made up of Liao Town, not elite soldiers. The Great Khan is scheduled to set off on September 13th to contain the Ming army in Ji Liao Town.
The news from the border should have reached the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Jizhen and Liaozhen should be on guard against any follow-up incidents.
Come, spread out across the border wall, no more reinforcements will come, this time the enemy is Governor Lu’s Xuanda troops.”
"General Yangwu means to gather together to annihilate the Xuan army before heading south?" Yue Tuo shook his head, "The reinforcements of the Ming Dynasty are all arranged according to the city, so it is inconvenient to gather and annihilate them. The cities north of the capital are well prepared, and the Great Khan has made plans.
In addition, Zhending, Baoding, Tianjin, and Shandong soldiers and horses are all going north. We will deduct the troops on September 22nd.
Pass, it has been forty days now, and all the troops should have arrived. The available troops of the Ming Dynasty have gathered in the capital. It is time to avoid the real situation and attack the weak, and rush to the south of the capital to attack Wubei Prefecture and County."
Dorgon turned to Hauge who was playing with the charcoal fire below, "General Yangwu means to go straight to the south of Beijing. What does Dorobele think?" Hauge put down the branch. He was the third flag owner in the tent, although he was the emperor.
Taiji's own son is still the leader of the Zhenglan Banner, but his experience is not much better than that of Yue Tuo. He was punished by Prince Su all the way to Dorobele, and his treatment this time was not good.
It is not as good as Yue Tuo, who together with Abatai served as deputy commander of the left-wing army. "All the elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty gathered in the capital, especially Xuanda, which has the most troops. This unit is closest to the capital. It is also the right time to block our army along the border of Xuanda this spring.
The troops should be lured out of the city to gather and annihilate them. General Yangwu is right. As long as he attacks Wubeizhou County in the south, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty will naturally send Xuan Da soldiers and horses to leave the city to rescue them." Hauge looked up at Dorgon, "But
If you want to defeat those prefectures and counties in the south, you have to divide your troops. The Liao Zhen road is a patchwork of miscellaneous troops, but the Xuanda road is elite troops, and each banner is separated.
When we attack the city, Master Xuan's troops are chasing us. Can we defeat them with the force of one banner?"
Hauge's question included the biggest risk of entering the border this time, which was that if they encountered the main force of the Ming army when they dispersed and plundered, this part of the army might suffer heavy losses, and the leading officer would be responsible in the end.
So Dorgon did not give an answer, but said to the group of bald heads below, "Every banner's strength is really there, can one of your banners defeat the Xuanda army?"
A figure stood up first and said, "I can beat this flag."
When everyone looked up, they saw that it was not Dorgon's white flag Gushan Ezhen, but Du Lei's Gushan Ezhen Zhenghong flag.
Ah Shan, who was holding the white flag, also stood up and said, "I can beat this flag too."
Yue Tuo and Hao Ge looked at the field with expressionless faces. Gu Shan'erzhen, who carried the six flags, stood up one after another to express their stance. Gushan'erzhen, with the red flag and the blue flag, stood up last. "Every family thinks they can win.
After passing Xuanda, General Yangwu and Dorobele both agreed to march to the south of Beijing. The Great Khan has made the plan. I also think it is feasible. Do you have anything else you want to say?" After Dorgon finished speaking, he waited for a moment, and the following was heard.
of
The bald head did not move, and most of them just tilted their heads to look at their superiors, with no intention of speaking. Dorgon stood up upon seeing this, "The elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty gathered in the capital, and it completely fell into the Khan's plan. Tomorrow the army will set off and pass through the capital.
Detour to the north to Zhuozhou, and continue to march southward with left and right wings. There must be troops in the cities close to the capital. Any cities that are prepared must not be attacked by force. Continue to detour to the south and look for unprepared cities to attack. If they cannot succeed in two days, attack them immediately.
A prefecture and county must not cause too many casualties. The place where the left and right wings will meet is determined to be Qiu County in Nei Qiu County of Zhending Prefecture. General Yangwu please assign the right wing.
." Yue Tuo also stood up and said, "On the right wing, two men, Ge Bushixian and Chaoha, were recorded. Ye Chen led the advance. They separated from Zhuozhou according to the flags and were not allowed to interfere with the Ming soldiers gathered in the capital. The forward marched once a day.
More than a hundred miles away, if they are defeated and meet the Ming army on the road, they are not allowed to pursue the defeated enemy. The whole army on the right wing must travel 400 miles within five days before attacking the city. The distance between the two banners must not exceed one day's journey. Whenever they arrive at a prefecture or county to set up camp, their vests will be on guard.
Exploring unprepared areas around, cut off the roads and intercept the Ming army's message to Tangma, and cut off news from everywhere. All the elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were in the capital. After arriving in the south of the capital, Gebushexianchaohayou was used as a sentry to detect the way from the north. Once
When Xuanda's troops and horses are chasing them, or other elite troops are mobilized, all the flags will be gathered together.
To annihilate, the troops and horses in the south are weak and there are few Qinwang soldiers available, so each banner can use less horse armor to guard..."
…
On November 1, the 11th year of Chongzhen, outside the city of Xuzhou in Nanzhili, Pang Yu looked up at the city wall in front of him. A tiny snowflake fell on his lips, giving him a cold feeling.
Behind him was a bureau of cavalry, who all dismounted and waited quietly. Pang Yu's march was not completed as planned, and the conditions in the marching area were worse than he expected. Starting from Anqing and heading north, there were areas where rogue bandits were raging.
, officers and soldiers came and went, and there were few intact villages along the way.
There was no one to bury the dead bodies. The scene was the same as that of Susong last year. The closer to the Huaihe River, the worse the situation became. The Huaihe River Basin was still an important economic area in the Song Dynasty. After the Grand Canal was opened in the Ming Dynasty, it became an important thoroughfare for north-south transportation and a guarantee for the supplies of the capital.
Crucially, in order to ensure the smooth flow of the canal, the imperial court adopted river suppression in local governance.
In the strategy of seizing the Huaihe River and ensuring transportation, all financial resources were used to ensure transportation. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River burst repeatedly. From the middle reaches of the Huaihe River to the sea, the living environment of the middle and lower reaches of the Huaihe River was repeatedly destroyed, and the population continued to lose. In the Wanli period, flood control was also carried out.
After that, the imperial court had frequent wars and it was difficult to guarantee its financial resources. It basically gave up on the management of the Huaihe River and only focused on ensuring luck. The living conditions became even worse and the people struggled to survive. During the eight years of Chongzhen's exile,
The invasion of the bandits aggravated the situation. Except for a few cities in Fengyang, few people could be seen along the way. In the eighth year of Chongzhen's reign, the imperial mausoleum was burned. As a symbol of imperial power, Fengyang was not allowed to be invaded by bandits again. Zhu Dadian's
The station was originally in Huai'an, but in order to protect the imperial mausoleum, he often
Stationed in Fengyang, and placed heavy troops here, even in the most critical moment in the north of the Yangtze River, no movement was made. Fortunately, Zhu Dadian was still in Fengyang, and the cavalry successfully replenished supplies in Fengyang, and then sentry cavalry to the north of Fengyang.
Found the trace of Ziweixing, they had just conquered a county. Now that Ziweixing was found nearby, Pang Yu
We had no choice but to stop until we were sure that Ziweixing was heading west before continuing on to Xuzhou.
Five days later than planned, the cavalry headquarters reached the relay point of Xuzhou. Pang Yu prepared supplies in Xuzhou and planned to continue northward after a brief supply of cavalry.
A pond horse rode back from the front, stopped in front of him and said, "Sir, they still didn't open the city gate, and no one came to talk to them at the top of the city."
Pang Yu frowned and said, "If Zhizhou doesn't open the city gate, where will the food stored outside the city go?"
"It was snatched away by a Shandong army."
"What Shandong soldiers and horses?"
"Shandong General Soldier Ni Chong." (Note 1)
Chen Rulie, who was standing next to him, said angrily, "Why did the general soldiers of Shandong come to Xuzhou to grab food?" "It is said that they have been stationed in Xuzhou for more than a year. Those Shandong officers and soldiers said they were going to Qinwang, so they went everywhere to rob money and food. They didn't bring enough cars when they first arrived.
They fought with each other, but half of them remained after robbing them. The Cao Gang was afraid that they would come again, so they carried them into the city. Unexpectedly, the city gate would not open again.
"
"Where are Shandong's troops stationed?"
"Already heading north."
Now that there is no chance to get it back, Pang Yu felt annoyed, "Have you sent Zhu Junmen's letter to Zhizhou?"
"I didn't open the door or answer the letter. When I saw anyone in military uniforms approaching, I would throw tiles and rocks at them." Pang Yu was furious. After coming out of Beixia Pass, nearby prefectures and counties like Lu'an Prefecture were fine because the borders were close to each other.
Neighbors, we need to deal with bandits together on weekdays, we have more frequent exchanges, we need to support each other, and we have more respect for the Anqing soldiers.
However, he also offered to provide food and entertainment, but no one got close to him if he was further away. Last time in Huguang, Xiong Wencan accompanied him, and the place was more respectful. Now Pang Yu leads the troops by himself, without even a civilian official, and the gates of all the prefectures and counties along the way are closed.
, we didn’t get the first supplies until we arrived in Fengyang. It was because Fengyang didn’t have a city.
Pond, and with Zhu Dadian's personal care, the defenders did not stop them from transporting food.
Pang Ding, who was behind him, came over and said, "Master, this Zhizhou doesn't even listen to Zhu Junmen's words. If you want to continue moving forward, Shandong will be even more difficult to deal with. If the city gate is not opened, I'm afraid we will have to rob it." "We can't rob it."
, Do you need your reputation anymore?" Pang Yu looked back at the neatly lined up cavalry behind him, "When I was guarding Tongcheng, I caught a bandit. He said that if you don't kill people to steal money and food, no one will give it to you. This is not true.
wrong, old
The people only have that little food. If you take the food and take it away, they will starve to death. Naturally, they cannot give it to you. If you take the food, you can only kill people. Once this starts, this army will not be the same as before." "Then.
How can you get food?" Pang Ding observed Pang Yu's face for a moment and said, "Master, you'd better not go in person. The city won't listen. How does he know what kind of general you are? If you go, you will be served with a meal of tiles.
Nothing was lost in front of his men.
face."
Pang Yu took a deep breath and said, "You are right. How much food is left?"
"There are still twelve days left. This is how many days Zhu Junmen will be in Fengyang to supply us, otherwise there will only be seven or eight days left."
"Send someone to the dock to wait for the sentry navy. We can make up for it. Send Tang Ma to Fengyang to ask Zhu Junmen to give orders to the magistrate." Pang Yu turned to Chen Rulie, "The cavalry will camp on the spot. Wherever they can ride.
Already?"
"Youqi is already at the border of Shandong."
Pang Yu sighed, "The sentry cavalry continued to scout north along the official road to see where Jiannu had gone. If the food is delayed, we may not be able to catch Jiannu this time."
Chen Rulie also looked anxious. Just when he was about to reply, two more riders came running in front. When he saw the flags on their backs, he knew they were rangers.
Two rangers quickly arrived in front of them. One of them quickly jumped off his horse, took out a varnished envelope from his arms, came to Pang Yu and said, "At the border between Peixian County and Shandong, I received a messenger from the capital from the Secret Guards.
.”
...Note 1: Ni Chong, the commander-in-chief of Shandong Province, had been stationed in Xuzhou for more than a year before, mainly to protect transportation and prevent rogue bandits from entering Shandong. He went to Linqing King Qin on his own before receiving the military order from the Ministry of War.