After receiving Huang Taiji's order, Dorgon gave up his plan to pursue Mang Gurtai and began to lead his army westward.
In early August, the two white flags arrived at Onan Hewei.
After summoning the leaders of the Onon River Guard for questioning, no trace of the Cossacks was found.
"Go to Hangai Mountain."
Dorgon was determined and made a decision immediately.
The Two White Banners marched westward along the Onan River. After a month-long journey, they finally arrived at the territory of Tuxie Tubu.
Dorgon was warmly received by Gunbu, the great Khan of Tuxie Tubu.
"The blond and blue-eyed barbarians you mentioned have not been found around here. However, there are indeed rumors from the brother tribes in the north that those people are vicious and are as difficult to deal with as dog-skin plaster."
North?
Dorgon couldn't help but hesitate.
When he came to the Tatar-Mongol territory, he actually made a common-sense mistake.
People in this era rarely look to the extreme north.
For the Jurchens, the most important thing is the Mongolian tribes in the west.
After discovering traces of Cossacks in Muhewei, Dorgon thought that the Cossacks had invaded Tatar-Mongolian territory.
It never occurred to him that the Cossacks came from the north and not from the west.
After traveling thousands of miles to Hangai Mountain, Gunbu told him that there were no Cossacks here.
"Do you really want to go north?"
Duduo was a little reluctant.
It has been a long time since the two white flags came out, and they have no news about the situation in Shenyang.
I'm afraid that if time goes by, their brothers will no longer be in Shenyang when they return.
Don't talk about him, Dorgon is also in a dilemma.
At this time Gunbu provided them with steps.
"Even if you want to go north, it's too late. The white snow will arrive in another month. By then, the grassland will be frozen, the roads will be difficult to travel, and people will freeze to death."
This is a real trouble, and Dorgon and Dodo have no way to deal with it.
Thinking of Huang Taiji's order, Dorgon finally made a decision.
"In this case, we are ready to return. Gunbu, you must contact the surrounding tribes carefully and inquire about the traces of those barbarians. If you have any news, report it to Shengjing."
Gunbu also knew that his own safety was at stake and did not dare to be careless.
"Leave this matter to me."
After the agreement was reached, Dorgon and Duduo led the army back without further delay.
After two months of long journey, I finally returned to Shenyang when the first snow fell.
"Those Cossacks should come from further north. Because winter is coming, my brother is afraid that the army will be in danger and dare not move forward. Please ask the Great Khan to punish them."
After returning, Dorgon took the initiative to apologize.
Huang Taiji is very easy-going.
"The northern land is vast and covers thousands of miles. Just marching is extremely difficult, let alone discovering potential enemies. If you only have merit, how can you have fault?"
Huang Taiji clarified the matter, which made Hauge very dissatisfied.
In his opinion, the Dorgon brothers just went on a long journey. They failed to make any achievements and consumed a lot of food and grass in vain.
If we take the opportunity to punish and suppress these two brothers, then Huang Taiji's power will be further consolidated.
How did he know that Huang Taiji's thoughts were more profound.
After the last incident, the senior management of Houjin suffered serious losses and their vitality was severely damaged.
Now I can no longer withstand any internal friction.
Huang Taiji had to unite the Dorgon brothers, so that everyone in Houjin could unite as one and prevent them from falling apart.
"The situation over there in Lushun is not good. Although it is hard for you to travel back and forth, I still decided that I want you to make a trip in person to deal with the Ming army in Lushun and consolidate our rear."
Dorgon quickly agreed.
"Brother, I'll go now. Ten months will be enough."
Winter is coming again in Liaodong, and there is not much time left to fight.
However, Houjin had already grasped the situation of the Ming army in Lushun. If Dorgon thought about it, it would not take long to capture Lushun.
Huang Taiji quickly reminded: "The Ming army in Lushun seems to have changed, so be careful."
Dorgon ran thousands of miles in vain. He was simmering with anger in his heart. He wanted to achieve military success and suppress the discordant voices of doubt, so he did not take Huang Taiji's words seriously.
He rested in Shenyang for ten days, reorganized his troops and horses, and went south again with supplies and food.
As soon as there was a movement here, Shandong quickly got the news.
"Order Zhang Keda and Bai Dasheng to form a fleet heading north to coordinate the defense of Lushun."
Zuo Mengeng did not dare to delay for a moment and immediately implemented the plan that had been agreed upon long ago.
The navy received the order and separated out twenty large Fu ships to form a squadron, commanded by the old partners Zhang Keda and Bai Dasheng.
Sailing away from Qingdao Port and entering the Bohai Bay.
The weapons of this squadron are all newly modified naval guns.
Five of the ships were equipped with heavy artillery.
Because of the structure of the Fuchuan, each ship can only be equipped with four heavy guns. Although the firepower is sparse, it has the advantage of range.
The remaining fifteen ships are equipped with light artillery, but they are enough to bully the Jurchens.
The Marine Corps dispatched a brigade of troops, followed by twenty troop transport ships, with Tang Wenhuan and Gu Erzhong personally taking command.
This was the Marine Corps' first battle, and the two of them were extremely nervous and had to be careful for fear of any accidents.
The same is above the sea.
The coastal areas of Fujian in southern China have begun to be filled with smoke.
"Follow Hong Xu's ship and make sure it doesn't go astray. How many fire ships has Grandma Zheng Zhilong prepared?"
At the mouth of the Zhangzhou River, the first conflict broke out between Zheng Zhilong and the Dutch.
The two sides fought fiercely for control of the Zhangzhou River Estuary.
The Zheng fleet was led by Zheng Zhihu. As soon as they met with the Dutch, they released countless fire ships in the entire river bend without saying a word.
The Zheng family members were like desperadoes, rowing desperately towards the Dutch fleet.
There is no way, money can make the world go round.
The promises given by Zheng Zhilong were too generous.
If you burn a Dutch warship, you can get a reward of two hundred taels; if you take a Dutch head, you can get a reward of fifty taels.
For these rewards, countless people are willing to risk their lives.
This was Zuo Hua's first time seeing such a battle. In order to avoid being accidentally injured by his own fireship, he could only carefully follow Hong Xu's boat.
The waters of the Zhangzhou River Bend are narrow, and the Dutch fleet does not have much room to maneuver.
Facing Zheng's crazy attack, he had to retreat in panic.
The small fleet led by Hong Xu pursued them all the way and fired desperately, but did not cause any damage to the Dutch.
"Did you see it? What's the situation?"
Zuo Hua did not participate in the battle, but recorded battlefield data from the sidelines.
"The hit rate is not high, and the Dutchman's boat is good, Hong Xu can't catch up at all."
The staff officer at the top looked at everything and gave a bad answer.
In fact, Zuo Hua had an overview of how the battle was going and could not help frowning.
"The sea is full of evil. Whether the artillery can fire accurately depends on luck."
Zheng's naval battle was like this, how should Shandong's navy fight in the future?