"Master, look over there. There are more civilians between the moat and the city wall. I remember two days ago, there were not so many civilians over there. There were almost two or three thousand people!"
Early in the morning, Duduo led two thousand Manchurian elites with white flags to the south of the city and observed them three miles away from the moat.
We can't see the details of the front line of defense here, but we can also roughly see the many civilians busy under the city wall, as well as a whole line of fortifications that is already very coherent.
Seeing so many civilians busy, Duduo frowned and his heart sank to the bottom. It seemed that Liu Yan had already made up his mind to fight with the Qing warriors. With so many civilians building continuously, at most one day In two days, this defense line is expected to be completed!
"Send some warriors closer to find out the situation of Liu Yan's defense line. I want to know the structure of this defense line!"
At this time, one of the people riding beside Duduo was Zhen Turge with a white flag on his forehead. This man was a veteran left over from the Nurhaci era. He was in his forties and had experienced many battles. The other one is Gushan Beizi Nikan. This man is Turge’s son-in-law. Although he is young, he is also a strong general. Historically, he has made great contributions in the Qing army’s entry into the Pass. He was promoted to prince through his merits and was later defeated by the Anti-Japanese War. The famous Qing general Li Dingguo was killed.
After hearing Duduo's order, Turge looked troubled and said: "Master, Liu Yan and Lu Xiangsheng also have capable cavalry, and the Ming army has outstanding firearms. If we come close to investigate..."
Duduo glared at Turg coldly, and then said: "This matter is important and related to the next deployment of our army. There is no room for error. It is better for Gushan Ezhen to take people there personally, so that I can rest assured."
Turge was immediately startled, and his son-in-law Nikan next to him showed dissatisfaction. However, Duduo was the flag owner of Manchuria's white flag and their master. Even if they were angry in their hearts, they did not dare to say anything.
A moment later, Turg led 300 heavy armors and rushed forward. To be on the safe side, most of these 300 heavy armors were elite horsemen, and there were also more than a dozen Baiba soldiers with white flags. Their combat power was extremely powerful. Everyone carried iron shields specifically to guard against the cannon fire of the new Lingshan Guards.
Soon, three hundred Qing soldiers in heavy armor arrived at the moat, which was only more than two hundred steps away from the defense line being built. The details of the construction of the defense line could already be seen.
Turg looked at the large number of artillery at the top of Jinan City, then at the Lingshan Guard New Army Camp in the distance, and said to his subordinates: "You guys pay attention to the situation at the top of the city and if you find the Ming Army artillery, we will immediately Fall back!”
"嗻!"
Turg then sent a dozen heavily armored men to dismount and observe, and began to draw the defense line on the cowhide. Seeing his subordinates busy, Turg was very nervous, fearing that a cannon would suddenly hit them, so he kept looking around, feeling very uneasy.
In the distance, Liu Yan also noticed the movement here, and then he called for Xu Ming, the commander of the cavalry battalion. He pointed at the small group of Qing troops by the moat and said: "Look at the flags, the leader of the troops over there is actually a solid soldier with a white flag. Shan’e is so awesome!”
Xu Ming said with a hint of excitement: "What do you mean, sir, do a vote?"
"Get a vote!"
Liu Yan said: "Let Qian Qian concentrate his artillery fire for two rounds and cover the cavalry battalion soldiers to go around. Then you and your people will eat up these slave thieves as much as possible!"
"Got the order!"
Then Liu Yan pointed to the Xiangbai Banner brigade in the distance and said: "Bring more brothers and be careful of the main force of the Xiangbai Banner over there."
"Don't worry, sir."
After a while, the artillery commander stationed at the top of the city began to get busy. Qian Cong stared at Turg and others in the distance, yelled at his men to be more agile, mobilized the twenty Franco machine cannons, and aimed them all at the three hundred Heavy armor with white flag.
"Master, the Ming army's artillery has moved!"
Turg hurriedly looked towards the city head, and saw a dozen or twenty artillery pieces turning their muzzles, and the black muzzles were pointed at him. He was so frightened that his whip was cocked.
"The Ming army is crazy!"
When Turge saw Liu Yan's troops using so many artillery pieces to bombard his few troops, he immediately shouted: "Retreat! Retreat quickly!"
The three hundred heavily armored soldiers retreated on horseback, and the Qing soldiers who were drawing pictures also hurriedly mounted their horses. Turg was seen taking the lead, fleeing with three hundred heavily armored Qing soldiers, but there was a roar behind him, and cannons began to fall one after another.
"boom!"
Twenty French cannons fired in a concentrated salvo, immediately sending out bursts of smoke and dust in the crowd of Turg's men. The Fo Lang machine gun commanded by Qian Qian seemed to have eyes. Although it could not kill accurately, the impact point of the cannon could move with Turg's troops, which shocked Turg and Duduo who were observing from a distance. .
At this moment, General Qian Xu Ming also led a cavalry battalion of more than a thousand soldiers out of the camp. After a brief formation, they rushed towards Turge's headquarters.
Upon seeing this, Duduo immediately sent Nikan and 800 cavalry to intercept him. Nikan was eager to rescue his father-in-law, so he rode his horse and led 800 cavalry with white flags to charge towards the soldiers of the cavalry camp. Xu Ming saw it from a distance and cursed angrily, so he had to temporarily lead the army. The troops changed direction and faced the Nikan tribe first.
The two sides started to compete and were in a stalemate for a while.
In the Lingshan Guard New Army camp, Liu Yan looked at the two cavalry fighting in the distance. After thinking for a while, he ordered the battalion commander Shen Tuo to lead his troops to attack. They lined up two hundred steps outside the camp and assisted the cavalry battalion soldiers to withdraw. .
"Blow the trumpet and let Xu Ming come back. There is no chance."
At this time, Liu Yan saw that Duduo's banner had begun to move forward and was approaching Xu Ming's troops, so he blew the trumpet to call back the cavalry battalion soldiers.
Xu Ming immediately led his troops to leave the battlefield, and more than a thousand soldiers quickly retreated. After returning to the camp, Xu Ming dismounted and laughed, "Look, sir! In this battle, I led my troops to behead more than 20 people."
Liu Yan saw many soldiers coming back with their heads, a smile appeared on his face, and then asked: "How many soldiers in the cavalry battalion were lost?"
Xu Ming said: "Eight brothers were killed and eleven were wounded."
Liu Yan sighed. The weather was hot at this time, and the bodies of these fallen soldiers could not be preserved. They could only be cremated on the spot and take them back to Lingshan Guards when they returned in triumph.
"The bodies of the eight brothers will be sent to the city for cremation. The ashes and relics will be kept well and will be taken back after the war. The injured brothers will also be treated at the injured barracks in the city."
"yes."
At the same time, when Xu Ming led his troops to retreat, Nikan did not stop him, but hurriedly led his troops to retreat, hoping to meet Turge's troops.
Soon, Turg finally led his troops out of the range of the city's artillery. With the support of Nikan and his troops, they successfully merged with Dodo's main force.
Nikan breathed a sigh of relief when Turg returned safely, but Turg dismounted and returned to work in embarrassment, and took out several sketches.
Duduo hurriedly took over the drawn defense map, and after just looking at it for a while, his face became very ugly.
In the Qing army camp, several banner leaders gathered in Dorgon's Chinese army tent. The defense map brought back by Duduo's troops was placed in the center, and everyone had seen it.
Although Liu Yan's defense line has not yet been completed at this time, it is basically ready for use, with only some corners still being repaired.
This line of defense is almost a replica of the line of defense in the Battle of Julu: a trench one foot wide and one foot deep. You can't see anything in it, but if you think about it for a moment, you will know that it must be filled with sharpened wooden stakes. Behind the trench is a low wall. There are small gaps in the low wall at intervals for deploying the Tiger Cannon.
There are two such trenches and low wall defense lines, and the new Lingshan Guard troops are deployed to garrison each line, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.
The defense line under Jinan City is also different from the original Julu Line of Defense. That is, Liu Yan concentrated the Ming army's artillery on the top of the city. He could shoot farther from a higher position and had an advantage over the Qing army's artillery. .
In addition, outside the Ming army's defense line, there was a wide and deep moat, making this already very "vicious" defense line even more difficult to break through.
Behind the defense line is the solid Jinan City Wall. If the Qing army attacks Liu Yan's defense line, they will not only have to face the fierce firepower of Liu Yan's new army, but also be attacked by the defenders in the city from above. The warriors of each banner will All the blood will be shed here!
Dorgon looked at everyone. At this time, everyone's faces were ugly. Even Duoduo frowned and lowered his head in silence.
At this time, Dorgon looked at the defense map and had the intention to retreat. Although nearly 20,000 troops and horses were lost, most of them were the Han army under Shang Kexi and the troops of various Mongolian banners. Dorgon only needed By plundering people, money and food from other places, you can naturally claim a great victory when you return.
But if you continue to stay here and fight Liu Yan to the end, it is conceivable that the casualties of the warriors of all banners will be very heavy, and they will even be defeated by Jinan Fucheng!
"Don't you all have anything to say?"
Dorgon also hesitated at this time, but if he wanted to withdraw his troops, there seemed to be a lack of opportunity. The withdrawal of troops must not be said from his own mouth, nor could it be said by Duduo.
Yue Tuo glanced at Dorgon, and then continued to remain silent, but Du Du couldn't sit still and said: "Since Liu Yan's defense line is so vicious, our army must not be fooled and cannot attack head-on. In my opinion, we should divide our forces to plunder Everywhere is good.”
Buyendai, Yibai, and Ngetu all agreed. Since they can't afford Liu Yan's tribe, it's better to make a fortune. Everyone happily plunders and then returns to their hometown with a large number of slaves, money and food. Isn't this good?
Dorgon looked at these people and sneered in his heart: "Looting here? Liu Yan and Lu Xiangsheng have cavalry who dare to fight, and they bring a large number of people, money and food. Will they let our army return north safely?"
However, Dorgon did not immediately object. After all, the morale of the army was already very low at this time, and only looting could restore some morale to the soldiers of each banner.
So Dorgon said: "In this case, starting from tomorrow, each banner will start sending warriors to attack, with Jinan Fucheng as the center, to arrest the people of the Ming Dynasty and plunder money, food and materials within a radius of a hundred miles."
"remember!"
Dorgon emphasized: "All banners must enforce orders and prohibitions. Once the king gives the order to assemble, all banners must immediately gather their troops and horses. Anyone who disobeys the order will be severely punished!"
At this time, Yue Tuo finally spoke: "What Prince Rui said is absolutely true. Now it is difficult to capture the city of Jinan. Our army's looting here is just to replenish the supplies of the army. You must be prepared to attack northward at any time. In the future, your losses will still have to be recovered from Beizhili and other places."
Dorgon glanced at Yue Tuo, and this guy finally said something decent. The other people were secretly happy when they saw that Dorgon did not refute it, which meant that Dorgon had agreed with the proposal to withdraw troops, so they were relieved.
Duduo suddenly said: "What if Liu Yan and Lu Xiangsheng send troops to attack when our army is divided and plundering various places? What if Ming troops from other places arrive one after another?"
Everyone looked at Dorgon and saw Dorgon saying: "I will use the two white Manchurian flags to guard the camp to prevent Lu Xiangsheng and Liu Yan from leading their troops to attack. The other banners will only use small forces to plunder. The main force of our army cannot be dispersed."
"As for the rest of the Ming army..."
Dorgon said angrily: "Except for Liu Yan and Lu Xiangsheng, who dares to stop my Qing cavalry!"
Some people died, but not completely...
