Two days later, Hong Chengchou led 250,000 Ming troops from all directions to set off from the capital. Under the welcome of countless people in the capital, they set off towards Liaodong.
The army marched along the routes of Tongzhou, Sanhe, Yutian, Fengrun, Yongping, Funing, and Shanhaiguan. Each county along the way had to bear a day's supply of food and grass for the army's officers and men, in order to save the consumption of the army's baggage.
The deadline given by the Ministry of War to the generals is to reach Ningyuan in mid-May. It is less than 900 miles from the capital to Ningyuan. The army only needs to walk dozens of miles a day, so there is plenty of time. Moreover, this road is almost all plain roads, so marching is not difficult.
The army set off in a mighty manner. Since it was marching on the inside, the Ming army had cavalry at the front, infantry at the back, and baggage and artillery at the end. In addition, behind the army, there were countless civilians transporting food, grass and baggage.
In the Battle of Jinzhou, how huge was the supply of food and grass for an army of more than 200,000 people? In order to supply food and fodder to the frontline army, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty mobilized tens of thousands of vehicles and horses. From the capital to Shanhaiguan, there was a flow of people transporting food and fodder day and night.
The Qinglai Town New Army is a strong force that all parties have high hopes for, so the supply of food and grass is naturally a priority. No one dares to be short or short, lest it cause unimaginable consequences.
However, there is no guarantee that the army will have food at all times, at least enough food and grass for the army to eat for a month. This is the firm and unshakable principle of Liu Yan and the new army generals in Qinglai Town, so the food and grass in Qinglai Town are still with the army.
It's just that the heavy troops of each battalion give priority to carrying weapons and ammunition, etc., and the remaining grain and grass are transported by a group of civilians.
During the march along the way, Liu Yan and his officers and men also showed the demeanor of a strong army. The remaining soldiers and horses were "disarmed" and put their armor and weapons on their horses or carts, and all the soldiers marched lightly.
Only the soldiers of the New Army of Qinglai Town under Liu Yan were always fully armed. Each battalion was patrolling and guarding as usual even at night. This was the case for hundreds of miles, which shocked the rest of the Ming army.
Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui, Yang Guozhu, Cao Bianjiao and others felt incredible when they heard this. They rode their horses over several times to observe. Sure enough, everyone's evaluation of Liu Yan went up. They even thought that the new army in Qinglai Town was already powerful. Ranked first in Ming Dynasty!
On the way, Hong Chengchou thought about it and saw that the new army in Qinglai Town was so powerful, and he valued Liu Yan more. The unhappiness in the palace disappeared in the blink of an eye, and then he often rode to Liu Yan's central army to fight with Liu Yan. Discuss the gains and losses of the battle.
With Hong Chengchou taking the lead, Liu Yan's Chinese army almost became the headquarters of the expedition. Not only Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Cao Bianjiao, and Li Fuming arrived one after another, but also the supervisors Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi were here, as well as Wu Sangui, Wang Tingchen, Zuo Guangxian also came from time to time, but only Tang Tong and Ma Ke were never seen.
During this battle, Liu Yan was also very concerned about the situation of Hong Chengchou's Supervisory Biao Battalion. After all, the Supervisory Biao Battalion was Hong Chengchou's old team and was also known as a strong army.
After some inquiring, Liu Yan learned that Hong Chengchou's supervising battalion had 5,000 men and horses, mainly composed of gunners, spearmen and chariot battalions. The gunmen of the Supervisory Biao Battalion all use flint-haired Lumi guns and are very well-equipped. In terms of the power of the fire gun alone, it is even more powerful than the new army in Qinglai Town.
The vehicle camp of the Supervisory Standard Battalion is equipped with 300 rocket vehicles and a large number of light tanks, equipped with large and small Folan cannons, etc., as well as weapons such as the Divine Fire Flying Crow, the flying thief-attacking Thunder, etc. In addition, there are several divine cannons with powerful firepower.
Hong Chengchou saw that Liu Yan valued his supervising battalion so much, and he felt very happy. Being able to get the attention of a strong general like Liu Yan, especially Liu Yan who was famous for training a strong army, Hong Chengchou felt filled with a sense of pride. chest.
So Hong Chengchou generously introduced the combat methods of the Dubiao Battalion to Liu Yan.
During the battle, the Dubiao Battalion should first bombard the enemy with artillery, then use rocket fire to disrupt the enemy's formation, and then shoot with Lumi gun. From the development of the early Ming Dynasty to the present, this tactic, which is exactly the same as the Ming Dynasty Shenji Battalion, has actually developed very maturely. If a warrior can fight bravely, his power cannot be underestimated.
After hearing this, Liu Yan first admired and complimented Hong Chengchou, but he sighed in his heart: "The Ming army's fighting method is actually very advanced, and it is similar to the modern Western fighting method. As long as the firearms equipped in the army are If the quality is guaranteed, the training of the soldiers is sufficient, and the food and pay are guaranteed, then the combat effectiveness of such an army will be very impressive, at least it will be no problem to defeat the Qing army!"
Moreover, Liu Yan knew very well that in fact, the Qing army in the late Ming Dynasty was not as strong as some "Qingchu" and "Manchus" touted in later generations. The Manchus, in terms of military strength and combat power, were not as strong as the Huns, Turks, and Rourans in history. There is a huge difference between Mongolia and Mongolia. Even if they are placed at the same technological level, none of those nomadic peoples can be compared with the Manchus. They are behemoths with armies of tens or millions and territories of thousands of miles.
It's just that the Manchus had the best luck among all the barbarians. At this time, the Ming Dynasty had not only been internally disrupted by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, but also encountered a rare Little Ice Age in a thousand years. Coupled with the Qing army that moved south from time to time, under the joint pressure of these three parties, Ming Dynasty was continuously "bleeded". It was like a seriously ill giant who was continuously bled by three dwarfs, slashing east and west, and finally collapsed. !
What's more, the Qing army also encountered a once-in-a-millennium traitor Wu Sangui. With so many favorable conditions combined, the Qing army was able to successfully enter the pass. Even when Dorgon led his army into Beijing, he did not dare to I believe it, and even said to his subordinates, "The capital cannot be defended, and we should quickly retreat to the outside of the pass with Dingkou."
To put it bluntly, the Manchus just had a thousand years of shitty luck!
The words were divided into two parts. After Hong Chengchou introduced the strength of the Supervisory Biao Camp, not only Liu Yan nodded frequently, but also supervisors Ma Shaoyu, Zhang Ruoqi, Yang Guozhu, Wu Sangui and others also praised him, which made Hong Chengchou very satisfied.
The weather at this time is cool in the morning and evening, but the sun at noon is quite fierce, especially the dust, which makes people very hot.
The army marched along the official roads and soon left the capital. Many of the official roads along the way were in disrepair, with potholes and bumps, and were covered with thick sand and dust. Some mud pits have a flat surface, but if you step into them, dust will hit you all over your face. No matter how shiny your clothes are, you will soon become a commoner and a beggar.
After passing Yutian, many soldiers of the Ming Army were no longer in the same state as when they set out. They complained a lot, and many people began to curse. The march was also protracted, if it were not for the prestige of the chief military officers of each town. , the restraint on various ministries is also effective. It is estimated that deserters have begun to appear at this time.
Liu Yan saw this and couldn't help but despise the soldiers and horses of the towns. He secretly cursed: "It's like embroidering pillow soldiers."
Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi also frowned when they met, and Hong Chengchou was even more worried. He strictly ordered the general officers of each department to strictly manage the troops and there must be no deserters, otherwise they would be severely punished.
Liu Yan watched the chief military officers of each town busy restraining their troops. Among the towns, only Wu Sangui, Cao Bianjiao, and Yang Guozhu's troops were slightly better, followed by Wang Tingchen and Zuo Guangxian's troops. , the rest of the people, especially the troops of Tang Tong, Ma Ke, and Wang Pu, were completely out of sight, like a large group of "outing" soldiers, all relying on the servants of the chief military officers of each town to restrain and suppress them. Only then did the army remain intact.
So Liu Yan also shook his head and sighed, could it be that at the end of the dynasty, all descendants of nobles and military merit would become brothers of the Eight Banners? The Manchus were considered brave when they rose up, but by the end of the Qing Dynasty, how virtuous and cowardly they were? How to solve this problem? He couldn't help but think deeply.
Due to the extremely hot weather, the army then followed Hong Chengchou's orders to rest at noon until Shenshi and rush on their way in the morning and evening. In this way, they finally avoided the hottest period, and the condition of the soldiers and horses was slightly better.
On April 29, Hong Chengchou led various armies to Shanhaiguan. After leaving Shanhaiguan, they were outside the customs.
When the army arrived at Shanhaiguan, it was almost dusk, and the setting sun shone through, casting a golden glow on this majestic pass.
Shanhaiguan was known as Yuguan, Yuguan, Linyuguan and Linluguan in ancient times. It is surrounded by Chongshan Mountain in the north and the sea in the south. It is only a few miles apart and is very dangerous.
In the 14th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, King Xu Da of Zhongshan was ordered to build Yongping, Jieling and other passes, and led his troops to this place. Since the ancient Yuguan Pass was not the key to control, he moved the Shanhaiguan Pass 60 miles east of the ancient Chongqing Pass to build it because it was adjacent to Yanshan Mountain in the north. It is connected to the Bohai Sea in the south, so it is named Shanhaiguan.
Then the Shanhaiguan Great Wall was built in the six dynasties of Hongwu, Chenghua, Jiajing, Wanli, Tianqi, and Chongzhen. It consumed a lot of manpower, material and financial resources. It took 263 years to build a chain of seven cities and a line of the Great Wall. City defense system.
The perimeter of Shanhaiguan City is about 4,000 meters. It is connected to the Great Wall and uses the city as a gate. The city is 14 meters high and 7 meters thick. It has four main gates and various defensive buildings. Including the Arrow Tower, Jingbian Tower, Muying Tower, Linlu Tower, Wengcheng and the 1,350-meter Plain Great Wall.
The overall defense system of Shanhaiguan is not only a pass city and some Great Walls, but also includes Beiyi City, Dongluo City, Weiyuan City, Nanyi City, Weihai City, Ninghai City, Laolongtou and many other cities from north to south. Connected with the Great Wall, it forms a complete defense system, which can be attacked when advancing and defended when retreating.
This is also the reason why the Qing army failed to capture Shanhaiguan from beginning to end. Every time they entered the customs, they took a detour. Even when they entered the customs in large numbers during the Jiashen national crisis, it was because Wu Sangui surrendered. Otherwise, Shanhaiguan would still be as stable as Mount Tai.
At this time, Hong Chengchou arrived with an army of 250,000 people. The generals guarding the pass and the people in the city organized a grand gong and drum team to welcome the army. Amid waves of cheers and noisy gongs and drums, Hong Chengchou led Liu Yan, Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tingchen, Wu Sangui, Ma Shaoyu, Zhang Ruoqi and others on the ancient city wall steps and appeared on the tower.
Looking at the city from their point of view, they saw fully armed soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, marching through Xiongguan at an orderly pace and entering the land outside the pass.
Flags are like the sea, spears are entering the forest, and the mighty army is rushing towards the north with no end in sight and no end in sight...
Some people died, but not completely...
