Yan Siqi stepped forward and spread out the map on his messy table: "Where did the soldiers of Zhenghuang Banner appear?"
The messenger looked at the map: "10 miles northwest of Gule Village and 20 miles south of Jiefan City, the Quanzhou First Militia Battalion was burning the wheat fields there, and a group of yellow flag cavalry attacked them."
Yan Siqi asked: "When did it happen?"
"At noon yesterday, Major Zhang ordered me to rush back to the camp overnight to report the military situation to you. Commander Zhang has already led people to strengthen the fortifications at Gule Village in preparation for facing the enemy. He also requested that you send rapid-fire firearms there,"
Yan Siqi turned to the guard captain without hesitation and said: "Ask the combat department to send an order. The five rapid-fire firearms sentries on the front line of Hetuala will rush to Gule Village immediately. Also, order the cavalry battalion of the Fifth Division to immediately reinforce Gule. Village,"
"The cavalry battalion is still clearing out the Jurchen Tatars in Abdaligaon,"
"By the way, then hurry up and send someone to deliver the order. Order them to set off immediately after receiving the order. Send out the staff of the old battalion's combat department and all the cavalry posts directly under the Biao battalion to all the troops to deliver the order: The entire army immediately marches to Hetuala. The camp is assembled." Yan Siqi grabbed the helmet and armor he had just taken off: "Mother, it seems that the decisive battle with the main force of the Eight Banners will have to be fought by our Eastern Route Army,"
The captain of the guard asked: "Master, what should we do about the city of Hetuala?"
Yan Siqi stood still, raised his head and thought for a while: "Order: The first regiment, the second regiment of the first infantry division, and the first regiment of the artillery brigade will bombard the city of Hetuala with all heavy firearms starting from noon today, and destroy all division artillery units. They were all sent to the front line and concentrated bombardment of the south gate. They told Cao Tai, acting commander of the First Division, that Hetuala City must be captured in two days, just two days. He told Lin Feiyang that logistical supplies were difficult and artillery shells were limited. Let him first Use solid bullets and use the saved explosive shells on Nurhaci’s head.”
Lin Feiyang is the nephew of Lin Xiao, head of the company's security department. He is currently the deputy commander of the artillery brigade and the artillery chief of the East Route Army.
…
The Zhenghuang Banner cavalry encountered by Zhang Pan's troops included three Niulu 600 cavalry. They were the vanguard sent by Nurhaci to prevent Jiefan City from being lost. The main force of the Eight Banners was still west of Jiefan City, outside Fushun Pass, and there were still more It takes two days to reach Sarhu.
Yan Siqi's measures to strengthen the defense of Gule Village have not yet been effective. Zhang Pan divided the cavalry battalion of the Fifth Division that came for reinforcements into four teams and sent them out around Jiefan City as a reconnaissance force. These days, he brought The troops worked day and night to reinforce the defenses of Gule Village. Soon, the cavalry reconnaissance team he sent encountered the cavalry advance team of the Western Route Army, a heavy cavalry regiment with 600 cavalry, and two light cavalry battalions from the cavalry brigade. A militia cavalry battalion composed of Shandong thieves and horse thieves, with a total of 2,200 people and more than 5,000 war horses, led by Liaodong hunters and ginseng pickers, surpassed Nurhachi's army and rushed to the vicinity of Gule Village.
At the same time, the exact news that Nurhachi's army was returning eastward to Jiefan City was also conveyed to the Hetuala camp by the cavalry.
When the Chinese army began to conquer Houjin, it had already decided that its combat policy was to force the Eight Banners soldiers to fight head-on. The Chinese army's three-way march was to reduce the area where the Eight Banners soldiers could maneuver and use troops. The purpose of approaching Shenyang with heavy troops was to force Nurhaci to fight the Chinese army. , for the same reason, the purpose of burning and killing Houjin's lair was to destroy the food and grass supplies of the Eight Banners of Houjin. Unless Nurhachi gave up everything he had gained in forty years of campaign, the Eight Banners soldiers would have to fight a decisive battle with the Chinese army.
Now, the war against Hou Jin has entered its most critical moment.
Zhao Tie, who was stationed in the Kuandian Camp, received an urgent report from the direction of Shenyang three days ago. He could no longer sit still and rushed to Hetuala with his directly affiliated Biao Battalion and a temporary Marine Corps battalion.
…
When the Chinese army's general attack on Hetuala City began, Nurhaci's golden tent appeared outside Jiefan City. The Eight Banners who had stayed behind in Jiefan City swarmed out of the city, shouting and screaming, kneeling on both sides of the road in the wheat fields and crops to welcome them. monarch, their god and father.
Nurhaci left behind the large army of troops and took only his personal guard "Baya La" soldiers. He traveled day and night and finally rushed back to Jiefan City. Outside the city gate, he scanned the surrounding areas and all the way to Jiefan City with blood-red eyes. The farmland that stretches to the edge of the dense forest in the distance; these farmlands have now been burned down by the Chinese Army Rangers. What is left is the dark, gray-white ashes all over the fields. They can be used as fertilizer for crops in the coming year, but this year's food harvest is No need to count on it.
"King Khan, King Khan, send out troops to drive away the pirates,"
"King Khan, help me,"
Mang Gurtai, Huang Taiji and other generals of the Eight Banners asked for battle one after another. Nurhaci blushed, frowned and rode into the palace of Jiefan Khan without saying a word.
In the evening, the leading troops of the Eight Banners, which had withdrawn from the direction of Liaoshen, successively set up camp at the prescribed position outside Jiefan City. More than half of the troops were still on the way, and there were 5,000 cavalrymen of the Zhengbai Banner behind them, who were constantly fighting with the Chinese army. Cavalry battle.
Nurhaci did not speak for a long time on his throne. He closed his eyes and seemed to be meditating. The generals of the Eight Banners around him held their breath and did not dare to disturb the thinking of the founder of the Later Jin Dynasty.
Suddenly, Nurhaci opened his eyes, pointed in the south direction and said: "Huang Taiji, quickly send out detective horses to inquire about the old city of Hetuala." He spoke very fast, not allowing his subordinates to think, and immediately said: "Manggu Ertai, lead your troops south to Gule Village, occupy it if you can fight it, and surround it if you can't fight it."
"...quickly add the newly formed Eight Banners in Haixi to the Xianglan Banner. Don't wait for the training to be completed. Immediately set out south to Gule Village,"
"Divide the old, young, women, and children into two parts. One part will be moved to Jiefan City, and the other part will be moved to Yehe tribe. All men who can hold weapons, regardless of age, will be incorporated into the guards of Jiefan City. The original Jiefan City will stay behind. Soldiers with yellow flags marched south to Gule Village,"
"The Mongolian cavalry hasn't arrived yet. As soon as they arrive, let them go south immediately. The rest of the troops will rest on the spot. After the brigade is assembled, I will send troops to conquer it myself."
…
The old city of Hetuala has two inner and outer cities. The outer city has a circumference of 9 miles. There are nine gates in the east, west, south and north, including three south gates, three north gates, two east gates and one west gate. The inner city has a circumference of 5 miles, with a south gate and a south gate. , there are three gates in the north and east, the city wall is 9 feet high, and is built with a mixture of stone. The inner city was originally inhabited by Nurhaci’s family and relatives, the outer city was inhabited by Manchu soldiers of the Eight Banners, and outside the north gate of the outer city, blacksmiths and bowsmiths lived in separate areas. At its peak, the number of residents reached more than 20,000.
The city wall is made of earth, stone, and wood. It is only nine feet high and can be easily climbed by two adults with the help of each other. Such a city wall is completely incomparable to the Nanjing city wall. Under the Chinese army's underground blasting and siege tactics , totally a toy.
The Xianyou Palace, Dizang Temple, northwest point Jiangtai and the school military field outside the city have long been the camps of the Chinese army. Under the command of Cao Tai, the interim commander of the First Division, the Chinese army first blocked the west gate of the outer city with intensive firepower. , the covering soldiers dug holes in the corners of the wall and buried eight hundred kilograms of explosives. Then, with a loud noise, a large section of the Hetuala city wall collapsed. After several consecutive blasts, the north gate and the east gate were also opened.
The Eight Banners soldiers guarding the city had long been prepared to fight to the death. Unable to confront the enemy with firepower on the city walls, they lurked in the streets and alleys of the city, waiting for the Chinese army to rush in and engage in hand-to-hand street fighting.
Three regiments of the First Division rushed in from three blast holes in the east, west, north and west, and started fighting in the streets with the remaining Eight Banners soldiers. All three regiments used light field artillery and grenades to clear the way, and rushed towards the center of the city desperately.
The Prince Consort's Mansion, Armor Manufacturing Factory, Bow and Arrow Manufacturing Factory, Canghe District and other places in the outer city were successively occupied by the Chinese army. The gates of the inner city were also blasted open by artillery. The Zhengbai Banner Yamen, Guandi Temple, and King Khan's Well in the inner city Hand-to-hand battles between the two armies took place in the Khan's Palace, the Eight Banners Yamen, the City God's Temple and other places. In order to defend the birthplace of the prosperity of their tribe, no one of the Eight Banners soldiers surrendered. Both young and old fought to the death, and the women committed suicide by hanging themselves in wells.
After a whole day of fierce fighting after the city was broken, the First Division was not able to completely capture the inner city of Hetuala, and the outer city was basically occupied.
Yan Siqi came to supervise the battle overnight and ordered the troops to start the night battle regardless of all costs. He had just received the news that Nurhaci had arrived in Jiefan City.
"We have to hurry up. Chief Nu will be calling soon. I brought 1,000 marines and Ryukyu regiments, all of them into the night battle. The battle must be over before dawn,"
After a night of blood, fire, and smoke, the inner city of Hetuala was completely in ruins.
The city of Hetuala was completely occupied by the Chinese army. All 10,000 Eight Banners soldiers and thousands of Eight Banner family members were killed. Only a few dozen people were seriously injured and captured. The Chinese army also lost more than a thousand soldiers and more than 2,000 were injured.
Yan Siqi ordered: "Burn all the buildings in the city and completely level Hetuala." He thought that if the battle went unfavorable, the Chinese army would have to retreat to Kuandian to understand that the city of Hetuala would never be left to Nurhaci. The army quickly burned down the city of Hetuala, used gunpowder to blow up the palace of the Khan, and even filled up the "Khan's Well" that the slogan said that even thousands of troops could not drink it all.
These tasks of destroying the city were handed over to the militia battalions. The main force of the First Division and the Marine support troops seized the time to make corrections in the camp.
At this time, another urgent report came from the outpost of Gule Village: Nurhachi's fourth son Sibeile Huang Taiji's troops had appeared in the north of Gule Village.
Yan Siqi looked at the soldiers of the First Division who were resting after two days and nights of fierce fighting, and said angrily: "You little son of a bitch, the Tatar soldiers are moving very quickly. Chief Nu has only been in Jiefan for one night, and he started to attack now."
He looked at the officers around him and ordered loudly: "Zheng Zhihu, what are the First Division Cavalry Battalion doing?"
Zheng Zhihu stood up and answered: "The First Division Cavalry Battalion just returned to the main camp last night."
"Have all the cavalry of the Western Route Army crossed the river?"
"They also arrived at the camp last night and are resting. They have been on the road for ten days in a row. The men and horses are very tired. They also need to replenish ammunition. They can't be dispatched until one day at the earliest,"
Yan Siqi said frustratedly: "Most of the troops in front of us have to rest for a day before setting off. There are still some infantry troops that have not returned. The cavalry battalion should stay and prepare for the decisive battle. Alas, we have to use the new marines first. "