Lu Xiao had already deduced Huang Taiji's attack countless times. With the Zhongyong Guards and the few capable troops of the Ming Dynasty, there would be no problem in defending the capital. It was even possible to severely injure the opponent.
But the same sentence is of little significance. Because the Tatars have returned to the mountains to cultivate for several years, they are still a hidden danger. Therefore, this time, the Tatars' escape route is to be completely cut off. Lu Xiao wants to cut off the dragon vein of the Qing Dynasty.
Those European merchants did not leave because Lu Xiao needed to use their ships to bypass the Korean Peninsula and stab the Tatars' lair from behind. The reason why they did not use Ming's ships was because there was too much movement.
Even though Lu Xiao now controls the factory guard, he clearly knows that there are still countless Tatar informants inside the court. No matter how he operates, it is impossible to completely avoid the other party's eyes and ears.
Therefore, he chose to use the ships of European merchants. He gave these European merchants some time and let them acquire some more ships, and then assembled a fleet capable of transporting three thousand troops and supplies.
The fleet does not set off at once, as that would make too much noise. It sets out in batches and then gathers at the predetermined location. The Tatars have almost no decent sea power, so they can easily avoid the Tatars' eyes and ears.
What you really need to avoid are the eyes and ears on the Bangzi side. After all, if you want to bypass the Korean Peninsula, you need to make some supplies at Bangzi.
At this time, the stick has basically fallen to the Tatars. However, their foundation is not strong enough to pose a fatal threat to the Central Plains. That is why Lu Xiao ranked them behind the Tatars.
In fact, in Lu Xiao's plan, sticks must not be touched at this time. They must farm comfortably. After the Tatar problem is dealt with, the scorched earth in the north still needs the reserves of sticks.
made up for.
Huang Taiji actually had the idea of moving the capital to Shenyang. But after Shenyang's reserves were burned down by Lu Xiao, this idea had to be shelved.
When going south this time, Huang Taiji didn't think about destroying the capital city at once. But he had to get enough supplies and slaves. Then he would move the capital to Shenyang and form a real confrontation with the Ming Dynasty. In the future, he could slowly plan for the Central Plains.
.
But when he just went south, he suffered a blow. First, the scout was strangled. The Ming army seemed to have sent an elite cavalry to harass him.
This Ming army is different from the previous Ming army. They are well-equipped and have amazing combat power. They are also equipped with a large number of firearms. In the past, the Tatars were able to crush the Ming army in small-scale encounters. But this time,
But he was easily defeated by the opponent.
Huang Taiji immediately adjusted his tactics. Instead, a small group of Centuries served as the vanguard. At this time, the Ming army disappeared immediately. Obviously, they were also afraid of being entangled by their own vanguard. Then they were surrounded and suppressed by the large army.
"Wither's little tricks, Ming people can only play these cheap tricks. Continue south, aiming for Guangning Guard. I don't believe it, Lu Xiao dares to burn Guangning Guard."
But soon, Huang Taiji felt something was wrong. Along the way, he found that a large number of fertile fields were burned. Instead of harvesting, they were directly burned. The grain was not fully mature, but in order not to leave it to them, the Ming army directly burned it
All the fertile fields.
At the same time, the villages and towns along the way were all cleared out in large areas. Huang Taiji even saw the corpses of many Ming people and just dumped them there. This was not his doing. Ninety percent of them were the ones in front of them.
Only the vanguard army did it.
This phenomenon gave Huang Taiji a very bad feeling. He had never really looked up to Mingren. Back then, Nurhachi dared to use tens of thousands of troops to rebel against Ming Dynasty. He just saw that Mingren was harsh and restrained, and was not strong enough in his bones.
You can't beat yourself head-on.
But this time, the decisiveness and ruthlessness shown by this Ming army team exceeded Huang Taiji's expectations.
"It seems that the ones in front of us are the so-called Zhongyong Guards. They are burning the forest and scorching the earth, cutting off our supply sources. He Heli, you lead five thousand fine cavalry and move forward lightly. You must catch up with the Ming army and have a direct confrontation with them.
Let’s fight. Test their quality. Be careful, this Ming army has plenty of weapons, don’t go deep into the fight.”
He Heli took the order and left. At the same time, Zuo Liangyu and Lu Xiangsheng in the Zhongyong Guard were also discussing tactics. Without Lu Xiao, they were the top commanders of the Zhongyong Guard.
"If we attack continuously, the Tatars will definitely not watch us continue to burn. I guess they may send an elite cavalry to try to defeat or expel us."
"I think that's the case too. So, should we retreat early and give them a few small towns? Or should we take advantage of the situation and attack a dozen of them to test their quality?"
"Fight, this battle must be fought. Our continuous retreat has affected our morale. At this time, we must fight a battle and let the soldiers know. We are not afraid of the Tatars, but the time has not come yet. Therefore, we must fight a battle.
.And we must concentrate our firepower and give them a head-on blow. This will also give the south more time to prepare."
"Then it's settled. I'll lead the cavalry to fight with them for a few days. You lay out the battlefield in this area and wait for me to lure them into taking the bait."
He Heli was one of the founding generals of the Qing Dynasty. He once defeated the Ming army in the Battle of Sarhu. Although Huang Taiji repeatedly reminded him not to underestimate the enemy, he still did not take the Ming army on the opposite side seriously.
After several battles, he admitted that the other party was indeed much stronger than the Ming army he had encountered before, but it was still no match for him. Therefore, He Heli finally made the decision that he would completely kill the Ming army's cavalry. In this way,
This will cut off the opponent's mobility and thus encircle and suppress the so-called loyal guard.
After several days of entanglement between the two cavalry, He Heli felt that the time had come. At the same time, Lu Xiangsheng also felt that the time had come. The core of this ambush plan was not to lead the opponent into a so-called encirclement and then completely annihilate the opponent. That way
It's too idealistic. The other party is also a famous general, so it is difficult to fall into this kind of trap.
The main reason for the entanglement these days is to lure He Heli's troops to distance themselves from the Tatar army. After all, the Zhongyong Guard's configuration has a large number of artillery. It is relatively clumsy to move.
Even though Lu Xiao asked craftsmen to improve the wheel hub of the artillery and create an easy-to-move artillery carriage, it was still too bulky compared to ordinary troops.
Inside the Tatars, there are more cavalry. If the distance to the Tatar army is too close, even if you can complete the combat mission, you will most likely be entangled by the Tatar army. In that case, the situation will be a bit bad.
