Chapter 069 Battle of Guangning
Xining Fort
"Where is the Ming Dynasty's Southern Army now?"
Inside the tall tent, the 64-year-old Nurhaci can feel pain in his knees even in summer. The ring finger of his left hand also became physiologically bent two years ago.
"Daishan, you said..."
Chu Ying's death was a great thing for Daishan, but among the Jurchens, they did not follow the Ming people's behavior of making the eldest son their heir, and whoever was more capable could be the Great Khan.
Daishan, who was wearing bright red cloth armor, raised his hands and said: "Father, the Ming army just arrived at the mouth of the Daliao River yesterday. Their warships appeared at the mouth of the Shuangtaizi River. During the battle at the Empress Palace, the fifth brother's men caught them off guard. , but the Ming navy’s artillery was sharp, and they didn’t achieve much.”
Nurhachi was silent for a long time, and then asked: "How is Eyidu's injury?"
Seeing Nurhachi's unsightly expression, Daishan said timidly: "The Ming army's artillery is sharp. He bled excessively after being affected. Haizhou has limited resources, so he has been sent to Shenyang for treatment."
"Where are his sons?"
Dai Shan continued: "Da Qi and Han Dai were seriously injured, and Chao Haer died in the battle in Gaizhou. Father Khan, he is Zhargu Qi's son-in-law..."
The atmosphere in the camp was not good. Er Yidu was Nurhaci's most trusted person. Even if Daishan was a big Baylor, he would not dare to make any mistakes.
"Chen Cao..." Nurhaci said word by word: "Muhaqi's revenge has not yet been avenged... let Fei Yingdong come to me."
Fei Yingdong, who is also the fifth minister, is not young at all. At his age, Eyidu was injured so seriously that he would definitely not survive. Hearing the summons from Nurhachi, he also came from his camp and said, "Great Khan."
Nurhaci raised his eyes and said, "Do you know about the Southern Army of the Ming Dynasty?"
"I know."
"E Yidu is not only your relative, but also a good subordinate of mine. I want to avenge him, but I am determined to win Guangning this time, otherwise it will be difficult for me, Dajin, to develop in Liaodong," Nurhachi said leisurely: "Uliangha and his gang are greedy. After Guangning's affairs are over, I will definitely destroy them. It is a waste to let these Mongolian barbarians occupy the rich land of Hetao."
After talking for a long time, he came to the key point: "I will mobilize the elites of the Eight Banners, give you 10,000 elite cavalry, and mobilize 10,000 coated Han troops. You will not be allowed to annihilate this Ming army, but I will stop them at the Daliao River." , they must not be allowed to cross the river to support Xiping Fort."
Fei Yingdong nodded: "Don't worry, Khan, I will destroy them in the Daliao River."
"Don't underestimate the enemy." Nurhaci warned: "We, the Jurchens, have rarely experienced defeat in the rise. The taste of victory has made you forget the hardships of the white mountains and black waters. Their artillery is sharp. Remember, treat it with caution. If the war is not imminent, I would like to I want to meet the Ming general in person."
After Fei Yingdong left, Nurhachi looked at Daishan and said: "I know you don't like firearms and think they are useless, but you must remember what happened to Eyidu this time. You will not use the seized firearms and let the surrendered Ming Professor Man.”
Daishan handed over his hand: "To be fair to Father Khan, Mingren's firearms are too complicated, and Father Khan also knows it. It's not that we don't want to use them; all the firearms are in the hands of the eighth brother. He is slightly interested, but he is just for viewing. , Father Khan, the speed of iron cavalry is much faster than the reloading speed of muskets."
"You guys..." Nurhaci shook his head: "Send an order to Mang Gurtai to launch a tentative attack on Xiping Fort first."
"yes..."
...
On the south bank of the Daliao River, Chen Cao's troops had just dug a trench, and the soldiers of the Nanjing Right Guard were sorting out their muskets.
In the big tent, the atmosphere of the military meeting held by Chen Cao was somewhat serious.
"We were caught off guard in the Empress' Palace. Facts have also proved the difference between cavalry and infantry." Chen Cao said solemnly: "Even firearms cannot cause effective damage to the Tatars. Our army still has heavy artillery that needs to be transported. , Fortunately there are few mountains here, otherwise we would have to abandon them. Without these things, I am worried that when the empress palace is attacked by a sneak attack, the whole army may be defeated, and you and I will all become slaves."
Song Che frowned: "Uncle, crossing the river may be attacked by Tatars. The only way is to use artillery to cover it and then cross the river."
"The method is a good one, but artillery shells are no longer allowed." Chen Cao shook his head: "Half of it was consumed in the battle of Gaizhou, and another three of them were consumed in the battle of Empress Palace. Now there are still 80 solid shells left, and only the remaining Ten, **** there are eight more, they haven’t been used since Gaizhou.”
"Report..." A messenger opened the tent and said, "Uncle, I have a military order from the Governor of Liaodong."
"Sun Chengzong?" Chen Cao frowned: "Bring it in."
After Chen Cao opened it and read it carefully, the general ordered Zhao Xin to pass it on: "Supervisor Sun means that we should cooperate with Wang Huazhen and Xiong Tingbi."
"Uncle," Zhao Xin walked to Chen Cao and whispered, "Wang Huazhen is a member of the Donglin Party and a disciple of Ye Xianggao. Xiong Tingbi has no fixed party."
"It is known to both the government and the public that the two of them are not on good terms," Chen Cao said: "A governor and a manager, who do you think I should listen to? The meeting is dismissed, Shi Xiu, you stay."
There were some things that Chen Cao couldn't say in front of everyone. Only a few confidants of Zhao Xin and Song Che were left: "Shixiu, neither of them are good friends."
The defeat of Guangning is a famous event in history. Chen Cao wanted to save it, but with his current equipment and strength, it was simply impossible. If he was sent to the rescue without the navy to follow him, he could retreat at any time, otherwise he would not have been able to do so. May come.
"Shi Xiu, we are the only ones here, I won't come to you in vain," Chen Cao whispered: "Wang Huazhen will definitely lose in the battle at Guangning."
Song Che took a deep breath: "There's no way to save it?"
Chen Cao shook his head: "This matter is a foregone conclusion. Now we can only do our best to see if we can salvage something. If things are not harmonious by then, we will board the boat directly from the Shuangtaizi River mouth and go back to the sea."
"Do I need to tell other people about this?" Song Che asked quickly.
Chen Cao immediately became nervous: "Only you and I know about this. We must not tell others that Zhenjiang Guard and Songjiang Guard are not our own. If we know that this battle will be defeated, then our coming to Liaodong is equivalent to committing suicide. After the war begins, These people will definitely run away and cause trouble to us."
"I think Wang Xiaojie is much more stable than Tian Xiaonian." Song Che replied: "He was at the front in several battles. In the battle at the Queen's Palace, he was also at the front with the troops. Now there are still two thousand people in Songjiang Guards. arrive."
"Well, if Wang Xiaojie is still alive when we go back this time, I will recommend him to be the commander and be transferred to Nanjing."
Chen Cao noticed Wang Xiaojie's performance. He was a rare talent, and his fearlessness in battle was beyond the scope of all commanders. In comparison, his boss Tian Xiaonian was really a coward.
"Uncle," Xu Kaixian ran over quickly: "The Tatars are here, they are on the other side of the river."
Chen Cao stood up and walked with Song Che outside the camp, because their main camp was by the Daliao River.
"It looks like there are more than 10,000 people." Song Che looked over from a distance: "There is also the coated Han army."
Chen Cao put down his hand, and then said: "It seems that the battle of Guangning is about to begin." As he said, Chen Cao looked around to see if there were any Tatar cavalry: "Nurhachi was cautious and suspicious in his life. After all, we have more than 20,000 people. It’s a big trouble for them. The opponent has no intention of crossing the river, which means they are just taking precautions. I dare to conclude that Nurhachi is going to launch an attack on Guangning City, and then after destroying the opponent, he will free up his hands to deal with us."
"Sit back and wait for death?" Song Che said.
Chen Cao shook his head uncertainly: "I am not that kind of person. Besides, there are many generals who are loyal to the country. We cannot let them die miserably in Guangning. We must do our best to rescue them." As he spoke, Chen Cao turned to look at Xin Zhao: "Send someone to find out who is leading the troops."
"yes..."
Fei Yingdong has been dealing with the Mongols all year round, and he is very powerful in cavalry tactics, second only to E Yidu. This time he was ordered to stop Chen Cao from going north, so he was also experienced in ordering people to set up camp and then not move.
Er Yidu's sons, Cherge and Adahai brothers, were also in the camp. They were eager for revenge, and their several requests for war and attack were rejected by Fei Yingdong, not to mention that Adahai was also Fei Yingdong's son-in-law.
"Master," a close servant ran into the camp: "There were Ming army rangers outside the camp gate who just came to check our status, but they were repulsed."
Fei Yingdong stood up and walked out of the tent: "Mingren is in a hurry."
The slave didn't know what was going on: "The Great Khan will launch an attack on Guangning tomorrow, and they must go to rescue them, but the pontoon bridges across the Daliao River are all in our hands. The only way they can cross the river now is to attack by force or build one. pontoon."
"Hmph..." Fei Yingdong sneered: "Send orders to everyone and send out cavalry to travel around. Once you find out that Ming people want to cross the river, report back in time."
"twitter..."
Chen Cao couldn't think of a solution all night. While he was frowning, Zhao Xin walked into the tent mysteriously and handed over a note: "Someone sent it, but he didn't identify himself."
Chen Cao opened it and saw that there were only four words on it: The forehead is also dead.
"Okay..." Chen Cao put down the note and asked, "How is the situation on the other side?"
"I was about to report back to my uncle," Zhao Xin said: "The leader is Fei Yingdong. There are more than 10,000 Tatar cavalry and more than 10,000 infantry. They are three miles away from the river bank. The cavalry can reach it with a cup of tea."
"Fei Yingdong..." Chen Cao read out angrily. The name was familiar, but he didn't know the inside story. He immediately felt that it would be great if Wan Qing was here. He knew the details of his opponent and was not afraid at all when fighting. .
"After this battle, go back and arrange your troops to attack the Tatars. We are like blind people now, knowing nothing about our opponents. On the contrary, they know us well. If we fight like this, we will suffer a huge loss."
Zhao Xin handed over his hand: "My subordinates started to arrange them when they were in Gaizhou, and now more than a dozen people have been dispersed."
Chen Cao turned to look at him: "Well done."
"Yaozhong," Song Che came over. He had a plan: "First send a team to pretend to cross the river. Then we will gather superior forces to attack the pontoon bridge upstream. If we take it down, we can have a decisive battle with the Tatars on the opposite side."
Chen Cao thought for a while and thought it was a solution, but then he realized the fact: "It's impossible. Although this plan can be used, it has little effect, and we may not be able to cope with the loss of our troops;
The supply line behind the Tatars is fifty miles upstream. They are not worried about our sneak attack at all. There are cavalry over there. If we go over with infantry, we will die on the plain here. "
"Then what should we do now? We can't pass even if we just watch." Song Che sighed.
"No," Chen Cao interrupted: "There is one last way." Chen Cao pointed to the downstream direction: "The whole army broke out of camp, boarded the boat from Daliao River, then disembarked at Shuangtaizi River, and joined them after landing. , to resist the Tatar army head-on."
"In this case, aren't we here in vain?" Song Che also realized.
Chen Cao sighed and said: "Nurhachi is so cunning. He didn't attack and sent Fei Yingdong over. I don't know the details and I have no way of starting."
Chen Cao's original plan was to threaten Nurhaci's army from the rear and then provide Guangning with an opportunity, but now he is blocked by the Daliao River and unable to advance, which is extremely embarrassing.
"Our army is running out of food and grass, and it will last for three days at most. But if we board the ship from the lower reaches, the Tatars will definitely come to stop them, and they will appear to land on Lianyun Island again." Chen Cao said and frowned: "So , now we can only burn the boat."
Song Che was shocked: "I'm afraid the sergeant won't be able to use his full strength in this last-ditch battle."
Chen Cao squinted his eyes and said, "Who said I would have to fight to the death? I will take the initiative and sneak attack Fei Yingdong's camp."
"Sneak attack?" Song Che couldn't believe it.
Chen Cao likes sneak attacks the most. After all, guerrilla tactics are a myth. Otherwise, the invading army would not have been able to find Bei: "Shi Xiu, I took my right guard to swim ashore, and ordered Han Shun to take his guard to cross the river downstream. , Wang Xiaojie’s troops are crossing the river in the middle, and you lead the rest of the people to cross the river ten miles upstream;
The three parties are forcing the crossing, and I want the Tatars to be confused about where our real goal is. "
"If it were me, I would choose the place with the most people to attack." Song Che said.
Chen Cao smiled and said: "I would do it if it were me, but the Tatars are not familiar with our Han people's fighting methods. They will definitely let Han Shun and Wang Xiaojie go and focus on you. Your task is heavy."
"What if the Tatars attack in three directions?" Song Che asked again.
Chen Cao rarely showed a confident smile: "Don't worry, your three groups are not the main direction of attack, I am. Send the order, starting at midnight tonight, forcefully cross the Daliao River."
On a night of dark moon and high wind, even in Liaodong in July, it is surprisingly hot after being exposed to ultraviolet rays.
The flintlock gun can still be used even if it is soaked in water. The outer packaging of the paper shell bullets is sun-dried oil paper, which does not touch water. When taken out of the water, it will be the same as dry ones.
There were Tatar cavalry on the other side of the river. After Han Shun and Song Che set off, Chen Cao ordered Wang Xiaojie to prepare the ferry in a swaggering manner and cross the river blatantly in front of the Tatars.
"Don't worry, uncle, the general will definitely help him land ashore." Wang Xiaojie walked forward and saluted Chen Cao.
"You don't need to cover me," Chen Cao waved his hand, he was dressed in a swimming outfit: "Just treat yourself as the main force crossing the river and landing. You just need to remember to go directly to the Tatar camp after landing. .”
"General, I obey..." Wang Xiaojie handed over his hand, and then commanded his men to prepare to board the ship.
