The mountains to the north of Yanqing Prefecture are the remnants of the Yanshan Mountains, with undulating terrain and dense trees. It was now the middle of winter, and the mountains were no longer as prosperous as they used to be, but the dead trees were densely packed, making it equally difficult to move quickly.
The mountain range here is called Beishan by the locals. The Beishan is divided into the southern foothills and the northern foothills. The two mountain ridges are a few miles apart, and a canyon is formed in the middle. Below is the Longmen River. Follow the river to the north, and it is dozens of miles away. It means the dragon gate is closed.
At this time, at the northern foot of Beishan, Dorgon and Duoduo looked exhausted. They stood on the ridge and looked down. They saw that the Longmen River had been frozen. In the dense forest on the mountain were the two white flags of Manchuria and the two red flags of Mongolia. , the soldiers and horses of the various Mongolian tribes in the outer vassal, each with more than 160,000 troops, stretching several miles away in front and back.
"There are still dozens of miles before the dragon gate is closed!"
Duduo said excitedly: "Our plan was successful. It is estimated that Liu Yan's army is now encircling Huang Taiji's two yellow flags. As long as we return to Shengjing, we can elect Prince Rui to the throne!"
Dorgon smiled slightly, and then his face returned to its original state, with a hint of worry: "It's too early to be happy now. Liu Yan is a famous general in the world. As long as we are not out of seclusion, we must not take it lightly."
Dorgon then looked at Prince Li Daishan and Anping Beiledudu who were resting not far away, and whispered: "Although they have followed, it is still unknown whether they will support my ascension to the throne. I forgot that Da Yuer, mother and son are still in Shengjing City!"
Duduo didn't take it seriously and said: "We used Liu Yan's hands to destroy Huang Taiji this time, what can we do to the remaining orphans and widows?"
While talking, Dorgon and Duo
Duo looked behind him warily and saw the Mongolian Zhenghuang Banner Gushan'e Zhen Adai, the bordered yellow flag Gushan Ezhen Dalai, the Zhenghong Banner Gushan E Zhenen Getu, the bordered red flag Gushan E Zhenbu Yandai, and the Zhengbai Banner. Gushan'e Zhenyibai, Xiangbai Banner Gushan'e Zhensuna, Zhenglan Banner Gushan'e Zhenwu Lai, Xianglan Banner Gushan'e Zhenhu Shibujiren, and Mongolian Tumote Left Banner Gushan'e Zhenshanba and Horqin came together with Prince Beile of the Zhongqi, Aohan and Alu banners on their left and right sides.
The movement of the crowd also alarmed Daishan and Du Du, who quickly walked to Dorgon and Duduo. The four of them exchanged glances, and then Dorgon said loudly: "The army has been rushing all the way. It's hard to rest." After a while, why are you all here?"
A group of Mongolians were led by Adai and the Dalai Lama. Adai said: "We would like to ask Prince Rui. This time our Mongolian banners took huge risks to follow Prince Rui to preserve the Qing Dynasty's vitality, even at the risk of Your Majesty has given up such a great achievement. After this is accomplished, Prince Rui promised to give us the benefits of the Mongolian banners. He will not change his mind, right?"
Dorgon was angry in his heart. These damn Mongols actually secretly linked up with him behind his back and forced him into the palace halfway!
But now Dorgon still has to rely on these Mongols. More than half of the more than 160,000 soldiers and horses in the mountains are Mongolian soldiers. Now is not the time for a stalemate.
So Dorgon smiled and said: "I will never break my words! As long as you lead your army and I return to Shengjing to jointly elect a new emperor and protect the vitality of the Qing Dynasty, I will recruit Han people from all over Liaodong. As slaves, they were distributed to various Mongolian banners, and also from Liao
Pastures will be drawn out on the east and west sides and distributed to everyone. "
"As for the money, food, and iron tools, I will pay them off within two years!"
After hearing Dorgon's assurance, Adai, the Dalai Lama and other Mongolians felt relieved and bowed and left.
Looking at the backs of those Mongolians, Duduo said angrily: "A bunch of barbarians!"
Daishan and Du Du were frowning. The development of the situation was different from what they imagined. If this continues, will the Qing Dynasty still be the Qing Dynasty of the Manchus? Will the Qing Dynasty in the future have to rely on money, food, and population in exchange for the Mongols? support?
Dorgon calmed down, and then said to Daishan, Dudu, and Dodo: "It's getting late. I order the warriors of all banners to continue on their way and not to stop before nightfall."
Daishan and Du Du took the order to leave. Duduo was a little worried and said: "There are a huge number of war horses in the army, marching in the mountains. Those war horses have difficulty moving. Hundreds of war horses have broken their legs or fallen down along the way." We're down the mountain, if we continue to forcefully march down, we don't know how many horses we'll lose!"
Dorgon said calmly and decisively: "As long as the army is still there, we will not hesitate to abandon all the horses!"
Soon, more than 160,000 Qing troops of various banners began to advance towards the north. The mighty army was walking on foot. The cavalry of each banner led their mounts and pack horses, which were loaded with various supplies and trophies.
It is difficult for war horses to move in the mountains, and they carry a large amount of supplies. The army cannot move fast at all. This is why Dorgon and Duduo were the first to get into the mountains, but they have not yet caught up. The reason for going to Longmen Pass.
At the same time, Shen Tuo led the New Army's middle camp also entered Beishan
, but Dorgon and others took the northern foothills, while Shen Tuo's troops took the southern foothills.
More than 12,000 soldiers of the New Army's Central Camp shuttled through the dense forest and ran all the way north. They marched through the mountains faster than the Qing army.
At this time, in order to gain time, Shen Tuo ordered all the soldiers in the battalion not to stop. Even if they were eating dry food and drinking water, they had to eat and drink while running. Many soldiers were hungry and thirsty, walking through the dense forest with one hand of dry food and one hand of water bag. Take a bite or drink a sip of water.
Shen Tuo was also running on foot. Looking at the getting darker and darker sky, Shen Tuo felt anxious. According to time calculation, Dorgon's tribe entered the mountains much earlier than him. If he couldn't catch up tonight, he might not catch up tomorrow. Dorgon's tribe will rush to Longmen Pass first.
"The whole camp will march immediately to eat and drink. After eating and drinking, throw away all the dry food!"
The order was conveyed quickly, and all the soldiers took out dry food and water bags, eating and drinking without stopping. Many soldiers choked and coughed, but they still did not stop.
Afterwards, Shen Tuo made another difficult decision: "The entire battalion of soldiers removed their armor and kept only their body armor. They threw away their helmets, arm armor and iron mesh boots, put on cloth shoes and continued on their way!"
In order to reach Longmen Pass before the Qing army, Shen Tuo took the initiative to give up part of his defense. If he encountered the Qing army, this meant that the casualties of the soldiers in the middle camp would increase dramatically.
However, the entire battalion of soldiers still had orders and prohibitions. Everyone stopped temporarily and began to remove their armor. They discarded the removed helmets, arm armor, iron mesh boots, etc. on the ground, and then continued to pick up their weapons and continue on their way.
The same goes for Shen Tuo. After removing his armor, he only has body armor left on him.
It was indeed much easier to get up, and the speed was a bit faster.
The officers of the New Army's middle camp continued to run wildly to the north. One of the officers was exhausted and fell to the ground. He tried to get up, but his feet refused to obey him. He lay on the ground unable to move. His eyes were red with anxiety and he let out a low roar. , his hands kept beating the ground hard.
The surrounding soldiers did not stop, but still gritted their teeth and ran. Even though they were out of breath and exhausted at this moment, no one stopped.
Because everyone knows one thing: if you reach Longmen Pass first, you can stop all the Qing troops, close the gate and beat the dogs, and annihilate the hundreds of thousands of Qing troops who invade the pass in one battle!
"hold onto!"
The military governors continued to boost the morale of the troops. Although these governors were equally exhausted and their feet seemed to be filled with lead. Every step they took was extremely difficult, but they were still roaring loudly.
"Rush to Longmen Pass and kill all the Tatar soldiers!"
"The hundreds of millions of people behind us are watching us, go to Longmen Pass to block the Qing troops fleeing north, and avenge the deaths of the people!"
"Soldiers, run! Rush to Longmen Pass and kill Hu'er!"
From the time Shen Tuo led his troops to the north in pursuit until now, in one day and night, the army has traveled more than 130 miles without stopping, and all the soldiers' physical strength has reached the limit.
At this time, the common sense of military matters such as conserving strength to guard against sneak attacks, waiting for work, etc., were no longer important. From Shen Tuo down, the entire battalion had only one belief, which was to seize Longmen Pass and block the Qing army fleeing north, no matter how hard they fought. It’s all about the whole battalion, no matter what!
It is with the support of this belief that although the officers and soldiers of the New Army's middle camp
Already exhausted, the morale of the army was extremely high. Even without the supervision of generals at all levels, the soldiers were able to move forward bravely, and the whole battalion maintained a very fast forward speed.
In the blink of an eye, it was dusk, and the soldiers of the New Army's middle camp had been attacking for a whole day, during which they only stopped to rest twice, which took less than half an hour in total.
So Shen Tuo ordered the entire battalion to stop advancing, drink water, rest, and hurry up to make torches in order to cope with the night march.
"The whole camp rested for half an hour, and the heavy troops from all departments immediately replenished the torches and distributed them!"
"yes!"
At this time, Shen Tuo was no longer worried about exposing his whereabouts. According to the information provided by Ye Bushou, it was only twenty or thirty miles away from Longmen Pass. Success or failure depended on this. Even if the Qing army discovered his whereabouts, as long as he could get there, Longmen Pass, it doesn't matter, just start fighting.
Half an hour passed quickly, and the officers and soldiers of the New Army's middle camp each held a torch. Of course, it was a very simple torch. It was nothing more than a wooden stick or even a branch, tied with a strip of cloth, dipped in gunpowder and kerosene and lit.
"keep going!"
Shen Tuo roared, and the soldiers quickly conveyed the order to various ministries, and more than 12,000 soldiers quickly advanced northward again.
It was already very dark at this time, and the light in the mountain forest was even more dim. If you were not careful, you would trip over the dead trees and branches under your feet.
Soon, dots of firelight lit up in the mountain forest, and in the blink of an eye they gathered into a long dragon that was several miles long. In the increasingly dark mountains, this long dragon is so dazzling that it can even be seen several or more than ten miles away.
The soldiers of the army were marching quickly. Shen Tuo held a torch in one hand and
Holding the waist knife in his hand, he ran forward panting. Suddenly, the soldiers around him looked at Beilu in surprise. Shen Tuo also looked at Beilu with wide eyes.
A few miles away, at the northern foot of Beishan Mountain across the Longmen River, a long dragon composed of countless torches appeared in the dense forest on the mountain. It was winding and spread for an unknown number of miles. Shen Tuo estimated that it was at least a dozen miles. long!
"It's the Qing army!"
Shen Tuo gritted his teeth and stared at Beilu. With the light of the torch, he could clearly see that the Qing army's front troops were already several miles ahead of him. Shen Tuo then shouted: "Soldiers, the last moment has arrived. Rush, rush to Longmen Pass and knock the Tatars to the ground!"
"Come on!"
Seeing the Qing army's long line of torches stretching for more than ten miles, all the soldiers in the New Army's middle camp understood that the enemy they were about to face was not several times their own, but ten times their own. Such a battle was destined to be extremely brutal.
But no one was afraid, no one flinched, the whole battalion soldiers still rushed forward, just to reach Longmen Pass first.
At the northern foot of Beishan, Dorgon and Duoduo looked at the long dragon of torches at the southern foot in shock. They both knew that it was Liu Yan's new army, and only Liu Yan's troops would appear here.
But Dorgon and Duoduo couldn't believe it, or even couldn't understand it. Could it be that Liu Yan's soldiers and horses were all heavenly soldiers and generals, and they didn't need to eat, drink or rest?
However, the various departments of the Qing army still held their horses and marched hard in the mountains under the night. At this time, the horses were no longer a help, but a drag. So Dorgon gritted his teeth and issued an order: "The whole army abandons the horses and baggage. Advance lightly and be sure to get ahead of Liu Yan's troops
Arrive at Longmen Pass before! "
Duduo changed his face in shock when he heard this, and exclaimed: "Without the war horse, how can we return to Liaodong!"
"Thanks to the book friends for their monthly tickets, Dong Xian is typing quickly, so stay tuned for the good stories."
