The sudden explosion set off a huge fire and a loud noise that shocked the surrounding areas, and quickly caused the silent military camp to boil.
Zuo Mengeng quickly rushed out of the sleeping tent and asked: "Where?"
No one needed to answer. He also saw that there was a thick fire on the hillside just to the east.
The weapons you make yourself are the ones you are most familiar with.
Zuo Mengeng knew at a glance that it was caused by a grenade detonating.
And for something like this to happen at midnight like this, it only means that someone is using self-sacrifice to remind the army that they are under enemy attack.
Zuo Mengeng didn't care who died and immediately observed the situation.
At this time, all the ministries have come out and are all waiting for orders.
At the place where the explosion occurred, countless torches suddenly lit up, and then the shouts of killing broke through the sky. All kinds of strange and weird languages were heard to be Jurchen speech.
Zuo Mengeng looked around. There were weak firelights on the south and west sides, three circles to the left and three circles to the right in the dark night.
This kind of action is one of the warning signals when setting up camp.
When the military camp is attacked in the dark, the security posts in the safe direction will notify the army in this way.
Zuo Mengeng immediately issued the order.
"Zuo Yong, the fourth brigade is on the spot to stop the attack. The rest of the troops will move south."
There were countless enemies in the dark night, and Zuo Mengeng didn't want to tangle with them at all.
It's not a question of whether it can be beaten, but whether it's worth it.
Firstly, in the dark night, the firearms of the rear camp could not exert much power and would surely suffer heavy damage; secondly, there was also a rear-jin army to the west, and Zuo Menggeng was afraid of being entangled and attacked from both sides.
Fortunately, the rear camp had conducted anti-night attack drills countless times. Although this was the first time we encountered them, we didn't panic.
As soon as he gave the order, all the ministries quickly packed up their things and headed south quickly.
Zuo Yong did not set up a defensive line in the camp, but directly led his team to press forward.
He was always careful and even had time to order people to lay mines.
The place where Wang Xiangdong gave the warning was only a few miles away from the military camp. If it were daytime and the ground was flat, Hauge's men would be there in two minutes at most with a single charge.
But this is a dark and rugged mountain. Even if we light up a torch, we can't go any faster.
On the contrary, these torches exposed themselves, making it easy for the soldiers of the Fourth Brigade to aim.
Amidst the long and sharp whistle, the 12th Squadron was the first to complete its deployment.
A row of muskets came down, and dozens of them fell down on Houjin's side.
Hauge fought bravely and always charged forward. When the Ming army opened fire in the dark night, he didn't take it seriously at all.
Fireguns have been used by Houjin since the Nurhaci era, and their quality is even better than those of the Ming army.
He knew that the range of the fire cannon was limited, and he wore three layers of armor, so he was not afraid at all from a distance of two hundred steps.
But in the next second, he was hit by a heartbreaking pain that made him stumble. When he got up and looked again, his right shoulder was already blood-red, and he couldn't lift any strength at all, and his right arm had lost all feeling.
The ghost of Hauge was so great that he couldn't understand how the Ming army's fire blunderbuss could injure the enemy at 200 steps away.
It was only after the third round of shooting from the Hou camp that Hou Jin realized that the torches had become a talisman for death.
Hauge hurriedly shouted: "Extinguish the torch, extinguish the torch and chase."
The soldiers obeyed the orders, but their speed of movement was greatly affected. Many of them even lost their sight completely. As they ran, they bumped into others, and many were killed or trampled to death.
Fan Ji threw himself in front of Hauge, blocking Hauge's front and hurriedly helping him treat his wounds.
Being injured made Haug very angry and slapped him casually.
"Go away, why are you standing in front of me?"
Fan Ji climbed back quickly after falling down, still blocking Hauge, and his hand movements were not slow.
"My master has a body worth millions of dollars and cannot be damaged. I have no other abilities, so I can still block the lead bullets for my master."
Only then did Hauge realize that Fan Ji was actually blocking the gun for him.
This time, he couldn't take action anymore.
"Good...good slave."
Over there, after three rounds of fighting, Zuo Yong saw that the large army had gone far away, and immediately ordered the withdrawal.
The soldiers in the rear camp did not suffer from night blindness and had no problems running in the dark. Instead, they easily escaped from the pursuing soldiers.
Originally, Hauge was surprised that the rear camp could withdraw so quickly, but he didn't care. After all, he had divided his troops into several groups, and there were other roads that should be blocked.
But gunshots suddenly sounded in the distance in the dark night. After a while, the gunshots became farther and farther away.
Half an hour later, Gao Hongzhong, who was directing the right wing, came back, dragging a lame leg and feeling very frustrated.
"Taiji, although we have blocked the Ming army, we cannot defeat it. The weapons of this group of Ming army are too sharp, and the rate of fire is too fast. They cannot allow our people to fight at close range."
Hauge originally wanted to call him a loser, but after thinking that he didn't get a good deal here, he had no choice but to swallow it.
He did not know that Gao Hongzhong's troops did not collide with the rear camp.
After Zuo Menggeng ordered the retreat, the first brigade went ahead. After advancing one kilometer, a defense line was quickly established to cover the passage of the army.
It was this line of defense that waited until the middle part of Gaohong came around.
Compared to Hauge's headquarters, there were only a thousand people in the central part of Gaohong, which was not enough for the fourth group. As soon as the confrontation began, more than a hundred people were killed.
The remaining Jiannu slaves were completely frightened and ran away. Gao Hongzhong, a Han leader, did not dare to stop them for fear of being killed by some Houjin warrior.
Thinking that he had painstakingly made a sneak attack and suffered such a big loss, Hauge was so angry that he almost vomited blood and wanted to kill someone.
Fan Ji helped him bandage his wounds, and upon seeing this he said cautiously: "Master, although we have not destroyed this group of Ming troops, we have at least figured out their number. Moreover, they will definitely not have time to take away the food and fodder for their camp, and they will not be able to embarrass me, Dajin, in the future.
Already."
Hauge thought the same thing, this battle was still a success, and couldn't help but smile.
"Yes, I have this intention."
In the dark night, Gao Hongzhong couldn't help but curl his lips. He realized that once people become shameless, there really is no lower limit.
Hauge struggled and walked into the camp left by the rear camp. After taking a look, he couldn't help but twist his mouth in anger.
Even though he had been beaten in front of his eyes, these Ming people were still leisurely packing their things, leaving nothing behind for him.
How did he know that when Zuo Menggeng built the rear camp, all the military supplies, especially the outdoor camping equipment, were all built according to the most unexpected actual combat conditions.
It may take half an hour to set up a tent, but it only takes about ten breaths to put it away.
Because when setting up a tent, you need to drive nails into the soil. But when dismantling the tent, you only need to pull the rope in the button, and the tent will fall to the ground and close. The soldiers rolled it up and stuffed it into their pockets and carried it on their backs.
Just leave.
As for the scattered nails and ropes...
There's a lot of this stuff, and it's not worth the money.
Although Hauge captured one mile, he still gave the rear camp time to pack up and retreat calmly.
In the dark night, Houying ran all the way south, descending from Heishi Valley, crossing the official road, and entering the Buckwheat Mountain Area. They also did not stop and headed east again. They arrived near Xiaoxitian in the early morning of the next day and finally rested.
This time, they were attacked by Hou Jin, and three people from the rear camp were killed. Only Wang Xiangdong detonated the grenade he was carrying, and his body was not brought out.
The remaining two warriors were unlucky enough to slip and fall from the mountain in the dark night and died.
After a night of rapid marching, the rear camp traveled more than thirty miles and completely escaped Hauge's troops.
After their army passed, the reconnaissance brigade even smoothed away the traces of the army's movements.
Hauge's troops had a cold wind blowing in Zhangbatai all night. The next day they counted the battle losses and found that more than 300 people had been killed and wounded. It was really hard to cry without tears.
Then Hauge, regardless of being injured, led his troops south in pursuit. When they arrived at Blackstone Valley, they interrogated the villagers, but the villagers didn't know anything about it.
Of course the villagers didn't know.
Because the back camp passed through the village overnight last night, not even the dogs in the village were disturbed.
In a rage, Hauge massacred the village in Heishiyu, somewhat venting his anger.
At noon, Dorgon and Duoduo led two yellow flags to catch up. Seeing Hauge's miserable state, they didn't have much sympathy.
Dorgon even showed his uncle's majesty and asked: "Since you have discovered the enemy's traces, why don't you send someone to report it? Now that you have lost the battle, let's see how you explain it to the Great Khan?"
Hauge was immediately furious.
"Hmph, I lost the fight. But I still saw the figure of Ming Gou. I wonder where my fourteenth uncle, who is so wise and powerful, is so happy and free?"
Duduo sarcastically said: "My eldest nephew is so lucky that he was only hit on the shoulder. You have to be careful, otherwise, my Dajin will lose a bright master in the future? Hahahaha..."
Hauge almost went crazy, but unfortunately he was one against two, he was a junior, and his troops did not have an advantage, so he could only endure it and watched the Dorgon brothers set off again to pursue the rear camp eastward.
Beside him, Fan Ji said timidly.
"This...is this Brother Fourteen? He is so young. I thought he was your master's younger brother."
Hauge's eyes narrowed instantly.
Watching Dorgon go away, I didn't know what I was thinking.