"The Ming Army has been defeated! The Ming Army has been defeated! Everyone, run for your lives!"
On the east street of Kaiyuan City, several Han Chinese who looked like businessmen were running and shouting.
One of the short and stocky businessmen, fearing that his voice was not loud enough, found a paper trumpet from somewhere and shouted loudly to the defeated troops and the mob:
"Old and young men of Kaiyuan! Liu Zhaosun is dead! He Shixian is dead! Yang Hao is dead! All the Ming army is dead! The Tatars have entered the city, run away!"
His shouts elicited a response from the defeated troops, with Qingpi Youshou following behind to make a fuss.
They quickly gathered hundreds of people and ran towards the west gate in a chaotic manner. The green-skinned gangsters took the opportunity to rush into the street shops and rob them.
In the east gate of Wengcheng, the sound of French cannons that resounded through the city suddenly stopped. After the announcement, the golden gunners began to retreat.
Liu Zhaosun rubbed his ears that were about to be deafened, feeling that the world was still buzzing.
"The dog Tatars want to deafen me, but the cannons don't cost money!"
The Lord Councilor spat toward the east, patted the dust on his body, and looked at the handsome face reflected in the helmet for a while.
Just now, the cannon hit the bluestone street, sending stone debris flying, but fortunately, my appearance was not damaged.
After confirming that there was no danger, the general led the Yuanyang Formation to move forward.
After walking a few steps, several soldiers from Yansui Town came towards me. The leader was a tall man with a rifle in his hand. When he saw Liu Zhaosun from a distance, he exclaimed:
"General Liu Shen, aren't you dead?"
These Yansui guest soldiers were originally under the command of Du Song. After the defeat of Sarhu, many of them fled to Liaoyang. Later, they followed Liu Zhaosun to Kaiyuan and were assigned to various city gates.
When Liu Zhaosun heard this, he knew that someone was deliberately disturbing the morale of the army, so he pointed at the nose and cursed:
"Fuck your mother, I'm alive and well, who said I'm dead! Wei Chao, open your eyes wide and see if I'm dead!"
The soldiers around burst into laughter. The general named Wei Chao of Yansui Town turned red, hemmed and hawed, and was speechless.
When I was embarrassed, I suddenly looked up and saw several figures flashing across the cross street.
The businessman who had just shouted "Liu Zhaosun is dead" on the street was now walking into a dry goods store next to the cross street with firewood in his arms. Behind him were a few stout and low common people.
There are still a few people who look like thieves guarding the street entrance, looking furtively this way.
The surroundings were noisy, and the Yuanyang Formation was relatively hidden, so these people did not notice the Ming army on the side and rear.
Wei Chao pointed to those people and said to the General:
"Sir, it's them! They are shouting everywhere in the city that the master is dead, and they also say that the master is also dead..."
"Hahaha, he must be a slave and a spy. He delivered it to your door yourself! Great!"
Liu Zhaosun raised his head and looked over there, and his eyes happened to meet with a spy who was letting loose. When the man opposite saw the dense Ming army, he was so frightened that he turned and ran away.
Black smoke rose from the rooftops on the street, and then the cry of the Ming army's defeat came from there.
Liu Zhaosun looked at the chaotic Kaiyuan City and suddenly sneered:
"When I first arrived in Kaiyuan, I searched for spies throughout the city and killed hundreds of people. Unexpectedly, some fish slipped through the net. It seems that the slave chief has a high reputation in Liaodong! Pei Dahu!"
Pei Dahu, who had a rough look on his face, clasped his hands in his fists, but felt uneasy in his heart. He had done too much to establish the slaves. He led his servants to kill several batches, but he didn't expect them to be so rampant.
He was worried about being punished, and the flesh on his face twitched involuntarily, and he did not dare to speak.
But Liu Zhaosun said loudly: "Take a few people over and arrest them, leaving two alive! When I interrogate them carefully, kill the rest! Hang their heads in the street! Write the words "Establish slaves carefully!"
"Yes! Sir!"
Pei Dahu took a dozen of his servants with him and walked over there with a grin.
Liu Zhaosun secretly thought that there were too many details in Kaiyuan City. Nurhaci had been operating in Liaodong for many years and it must be thoroughly cleaned.
After solving the problem, he led the Yuanyang Formation to continue eastward. After walking a few dozen steps, he saw the white-armored soldiers retreating in a hurry in the distance.
The archers fired heavy arrows at the white-armored soldiers, but the soldiers did not fight back. They hurriedly left several corpses of their companions behind and quickly retreated towards the east gate.
"Are the Tatars going to withdraw their troops?"
This idea flashed through Liu Zhaosun's mind, but he quickly rejected it.
The Zhengbai Banner under the command of Huang Taiji was powerful and its troops far exceeded his own. It was impossible for him to escape after just one attack.
In the street battle just now, the Ming army's 3,000 soldiers suffered more than 500 casualties, and Zhengbai Banner suffered about 500 or 600 casualties. For Zhengbai Banner, this was just a superficial wound.
Without external intervention, it is difficult to imagine that Huang Taiji would withdraw his troops so desperately.
"Could it be that Xiong Tingbi is really here?"
Liu Zhaosun suddenly remembered that Wei Zhongxian said before leaving that the reinforcements were on the way. Counting on their fingers, it would not be considered late for Mr. Xiong to arrive at this time.
Liu Zhaosun was relieved when Mr. Xiong was doing things.
Letting this person do the Liaodong economic strategy and come thousands of miles to level the Liao Dynasty is much more reliable than Yang Hao Yuandudu and his like.
Compared with the fall of Kaiyuan Tieling in history, the situation Xiong Jinglue faced at this time was already much better.
But, what would this resolute Lord Xiong think of Liu Zhaosun?
Will Lord Xiong regard him as a bloodthirsty warrior, use Shang Fang's sword, and behead the warrior's head to sacrifice the flag?
It’s not impossible!
Liu Zhaosun subconsciously touched his head to make sure it was still around his neck, turned around and shouted to the soldier:
"Don't stop, keep going east and bite the white-armored soldier!"
The Yuanyang Formation continued to advance eastward, chasing the white-armored soldiers who fled sporadically, and soon arrived at the east gate of Kaiyuan.
Standing at the entrance of Dongmen Street, Liu Zhaosun could clearly see that the Zhengbai Banners who had just attacked him were retreating to the east bank of the moat in an orderly manner. The Houjin gunners were busy directing the packers to transport the disassembled Francannons. To the other side.
On the other side, the black and white flag soldiers had already formed up and were ready to face the Ming army.
Liu Zhaosun frowned. He suspected that this was a trick set by Huang Taiji to lure him out of the city to pursue him, and then surrounded him on all sides.
"Sir, do you want to cross the river and pursue us? Kill more Zhengbai Banner troops and avenge General He!"
Li Yuchen, a young and energetic man, walked up to the general and waved his hand at Bagala who was retreating, with deep hatred in his eyes.
This young Liao Zhen refused to accept him at night, and he respected General He very much on weekdays. However, General He was killed by the Bagara in front of him.
Now that his enemy was right in front of him, Li Yuchen was filled with rage and wished he could rush over to take revenge immediately.
Liu Zhaosun thought for a while, shook his head, and said calmly:
"No need, the slave thief is already prepared, there's nothing you can do if you rush over now."
Liu Zhaosun knew very well that there were still many problems in the hastily built military force under his command.
In urban street fighting, they can form a mandarin duck formation to fight against small-scale enemy soldiers. In a grand formation fighting in the wild, this number of troops is no match for the five or six thousand Zhengbai Banner heavy infantry.
The white flag retreated without chaos. If he led his troops to rush out now, it would only give Huang Taiji military glory and allow Mr. Baylor to obtain the power of Houjin earlier.
While Liu Zhaosun was thinking about it, a servant flew from the south to report and shouted to the east gate.
"Sir! The Tatars at the west and south gates have retreated! The Tatars have retreated!"
When the surrounding soldiers heard this, they immediately cheered, and a sound of victory sounded from the battlefield.
"No way? Aren't the two southwest gates about to be breached?"
Liu Zhaosun thought secretly in his heart. At this time, all the Zhengbai Banner troops had retreated to the east bank. He boarded the east gate tower under the escort of a group of soldiers.
The top of the city was in a mess. A Fran machine gun fell on the ground that was too late to be towed away. Next to it lay the bodies of several Houjin gunners.
Liu Zhaosun stepped over the Tatar corpses, jumped onto the cannon mount, and looked toward the four gates of Kaiyuan City.
From what I could see, the Zhenghong Banner and Zhenglan Banner troops besieging the west and south gates were slowly retreating.
"The Tatars have indeed withdrawn their troops."
The dark Houjin soldiers were like a dense swarm of ants, and the figures of Bao Yi and Zhen Yi were scattered on both sides of the moat. Many of them were carrying property robbed near the city gate, and there was an endless queue.
Their retreat method is exactly the same as that of Zhengbai Banner, with Baoyi and Zhenyi in front and white-armored soldiers at the rear.
The Ming army corpses were piled up in front of the city gate, and the Ming army in the city was at the end of its strength. They only sent out sentries to follow them from a distance and did not dare to go out of the city to pursue them.
Some houses in the city were burning, and the screams of people occasionally floated in the air, reminding people that the war was still going on.
The faint sound of gunfire and artillery could be heard from the north gate, and Xianglan Banner was still fighting the new army, fighting to the death.
"Kaiyuan defended, Kaiyuan defended!"
Large groups of Jiannu retreated to the northeast, and the lone army of Xianglan Banner could no longer make any waves.
Kaiyuan defended.
Liu Zhaosun murmured to himself, feeling that he had used up all his strength for the next life. His legs went weak, and he slumped down beside the French cannon, looking up at everyone blankly.
Two generals stepped forward to help the general. Some Liao soldiers beside him were sobbing softly. Li Yuchen, who was born in Liao, said with choked sobs:
"Sir, Kaiyuan has finally been defended. Without you, countless Liao people would have died at the hands of Jiannu, and countless Liao people would have been captured to make dressings!"
Liu Zhaosun said nothing. He slowly walked to the crenel.
More than two thousand soldiers from all over the Ming Dynasty vented their excitement after fighting for many days with the roar of mountains and tsunamis.
The ground was filled with corpses of soldiers from both sides of Ming and Jin. Broken armors and incomplete weapons were mixed together. The air exuded a strong smell of blood. Crows appeared at the interface between the living and the dead, devouring the carrion corpses.
Liu Zhaosun's heart was beating violently, this is the battlefield!
The surviving people looked at each other, looking at the blood-stained faces. Many people were exhausted, many were covered with bruises, and everyone was just smiling stupidly.
Liu Zhaosun stood at the top of the city, waving to the bottom of the city, with a victorious smile on his face.
Together with the Sichuan soldiers who are still fighting bloody battles at the north gate, this army hastily put together by Jizhen, Liaozhen, Zhejiang soldiers, Xuanda and other departments. These days, they have paid a heavy price to defend Kaiyuan. More than half of them died in the battle. There are countless injured people.
However, it was such a cannon fodder army that, under the organization of Liu Zhaosun, experienced several bloody battles and finally defended Kaiyuan, this important town in Liaodong, and the last line of defense of the Han people in Liaodong.
In Liaodong, not all Han people want to be coated!
This is the meaning of Liu Zhaosun's battle.
This is the starting point of Liu Zhaosun's imperial hegemony and the front line for Liu Zhaosun to resist the barbarians.
The story of Liu Zhaosun begins here!
"Those who can fight, follow me back to the north gate, kill Amin! Destroy Xianglan Banner!"
After saying that, Liu Zhaosun got on his horse and swung his sword towards the north.
Behind him, more and more Ming soldiers formed a red wave and surged toward the north gate of Kaiyuan.
~~~~~~~~
At the top of Kaiyuan's north gate, the supervisor Qiao Yiqi sat high on the top of the city, waving a paper fan, quite like Zhuge Kongming.
He is commanding three thousand soldiers to fight fiercely with Xianglan Banner.
In fact, Mr. Qiao didn't give much command. He just sat high on the top of the city. As Liu Zhaosun said, he was truly as motionless as a mountain.
Two confidant servants, armed with long cards, were guarding Master Qiao to prevent hidden arrows from the slaves.
Qiao Yiqi is a veteran from the Saarhu battlefield, so of course he knows that Bagala is good at archery.
Back then, Commander Du was taken away by an arrow from the white-armored soldiers in Jiefan City.
Yin Jian is not far away, how can the Lord Supervisor take it lightly.
Now that he is far away from the battle, if he is still shot to death by an arrow from a slave bandit, not only will the news spread out, but it will also be difficult for the court to grant rewards and pensions.
"Master, the Yuanyang Formation broke out of the earthen wall and killed many Tatars,"
"I know, get out of here,"
"Sir, the mandarin duck formation has rushed in front of the white pole soldiers,"
"I know, get out of here,"
"Sir, if the Yuanyang Formation and the White Pole Soldiers join forces, the Tatars will retreat, and the beard of that bastard Amin will fall off!"
"Where is it? Let me see it quickly!"
A servant was lying on the crenel at the head of the city, broadcasting a live broadcast of the North Gate battlefield for the supervisor.
This podcaster has excellent eyesight and can clearly see the difference in the patterns on the long rifle barrels of the white-polled soldiers and the Zhejiang soldiers hundreds of steps away, as well as the rat whiskers under the lips of Amin, the leader of the blue flag.
At the Xianglan Flag formation three miles away from Qiao Yiqi, the Xianglan Flag leader A Min's beard trembled angrily.
He looked angrily at the stagnant Zhenyi soldiers on the other side, turned around suddenly, and said to his brother Fei Yangwu:
"Trash! They are all a bunch of trash. Five thousand soldiers can't even kill 3,000 Nikans! Trash! Let Bagala supervise the formation and continue charging. If you can't kill all the Ming army in half an hour, all the bulls I’ll really kill them all in Lu’e!”
Fei Yangwu looked worried, silent as he watched the stalemate battle on the other side.
The Ming army on the other side was clearly the Eastern Route Army they encountered in the Hunjiang River last time.
The weapons, armor, troop formations, and even the murderous eyes of these soldiers were exactly the same as last time.
The three thousand Ming troops were broken into pieces and arranged into hundreds of battle formations on the narrow river bank, facing off against the Xianglan Banner.
There are twelve or three people in each formation, each using weapons of different lengths.
There were long spears, short knives, muskets, palladiums, and some weapons that Fei Yingwu didn't recognize.
Attack and defense are coordinated, spear assassination, long card defense, attack like a poisonous snake, defend like a scallop.
Nurhachi was strict in running the army and had extremely strict requirements on formations. The blue-flag warriors were also good at setting up formations.
However, the terrain on the other side was narrow, and Nikan had dug several trenches and horse-blocking ditches, which were crisscrossed and fragmented. It was impossible for our own warriors to form a large formation.
Without a large formation, facing these tough hedgehogs, even if there are a large number of people, it will be difficult to take advantage of the strength of the troops.
Therefore, we can only let the warriors fight against the Ming army, one life for another, and wear them to death.
Obviously, this tactic is not a good strategy for Xianglanqi who needs to preserve their strength.
Thinking of this, Fei Yingwu decided to persuade Amin to withdraw his troops and sent someone to ask Mang Gurtai for help.
At this moment, he vaguely heard the sound of Wansheng coming from the distance. The sound came from far to near, as if coming from the other three doors.
"Nanbarbarians blew up the camp?"
Fei Yangwu looked puzzled, ignored Amin, and hurriedly ran towards the observation pole behind the formation.
Before I ran over, I heard the soldiers on the observation pole shout:
"The Nikan army is coming, from all sides! The Nikan army is coming!"
Fei Yangwu quickly scolded the soldier to come down and whipped the man twice with his riding crop.
"You dog slave, if you dare to disturb the morale of the army again, I will kill you!"
Then, he climbed up the observation pole, stood on the high observation pole, and looked around.
The setting sun was a bit dazzling. He blocked the sun with his hands and looked to the east. There was thick smoke on all sides. It seemed that the meticulous work arranged by Daishan and the others really worked. Fei Yingwu was still happy and looked into the distance. He suddenly froze. .
The Zhengbai flag that caught the eye first. They had fled the east gate. At this time, they seemed to be entangled by a Ming army. The white-armored soldiers wielded heavy knives and slashed wildly. The soldiers in uniform were running around like crazy, and the pigtails on the back of their heads were cheering. Beating.
Then he saw the Zhenglan Banner in the south, and finally the Zhenghong Banner in the west. They all fled Kaiyuan and retreated towards Hetuala.
"A bunch of losers, being chased and beaten by Nanbarbarians!"
Fei Yingwu cursed and glanced anxiously towards the city. Under the thick smoke, waves of red rolled toward the north gate. Along the way, red mandarin ducks and jackets continued to join them, sweeping across the entire Kaiyuan City unstoppably.
"The Southern Barbarians are coming! I'm afraid there are tens of thousands of horses!"
He shuddered in his heart and knew that he could no longer hesitate. He shivered and climbed down from the observation pole. Without stopping, he immediately ran quickly to Amin.
"Fourth brother, leave quickly! The Southern Barbarians are here,"
At this moment, Amin was staring at the Ming army on the other side. Under the attack of the blue-flag warriors several times his own, this Ming army suffered increasing casualties and finally began to collapse.
He heard Fei Yingwu speak and said impatiently:
"Why are you leaving! All the Southern Barbarians are almost dead! I'm going to rush into the city and capture Liu Zhaosun! Take him back to Hetuala Lingchi and execute him!"
Fei Yangwu looked at the crazy Amin in front of him, at his ill-fated brother, and suddenly raised his fist and hit him in the face.
"Fourth brother! They are all gone!"
In a rage, Amin suddenly pulled out his sword and was about to chop his brother, when he suddenly froze on the spot.
"Who's gone?"
Fei Yangwu stepped forward and shook Amin's chainmail vigorously, saying loudly:
"Daishan, Huang Taiji, and Mang Gurtai, these three idiots have all withdrawn their troops! All the Nikan soldiers in the city have gathered around. Liu Zhaosun and the others said they are going to destroy our Xianglan Banner!"
Amin, the leader of the Xilan Banner, instantly collapsed to the ground.
~~~~~~~~
In the smoke-filled Kaiyuan City, a secluded alleyway was guarded by twenty spearmen.
They were all covered in armor, armed with long spears measuring one to seven feet, and folding short crossbows hanging from their waists, silently guarding the entrance to the alley.
The tragic battles taking place in the city seemed to have nothing to do with this place.
Several soldiers who were passing by for robbery were frightened by the murderous aura emanating from this group of soldiers and walked away from them.
In a quiet courtyard among the alleys, Yang Hao with a gray beard looked at the thick smoke rising from the city and sighed;
"Since ancient times, no one has died, and his loyalty will be remembered by history."
A fat maid brought hot tea. Mr. Yang took a sip, turned to look at his daughter standing beside him, and said sadly:
"Qing'er, Kaiyuan, I'm afraid I can't hold on anymore. You are married to General Liu Shen, and you are also the royal wife conferred by the imperial court. If your husband dies in battle, you should treat him as a martyr!"
Yang Hao sobbed, and his daughter burst into tears.
"Dad, I will go to the North Gate to look for him, even if I die! Give me a sword!"
Yang Hao slammed the tea cup to the ground and said angrily:
"There are rioters outside. You are a daughter. Why are you going out? You are not afraid of staining the face of your ancestors! Then Liu Zhaosun is already dead! He is dead!"
The maid next to her was startled, took a few steps back and ran out of the courtyard.
"Dirty face? People outside say that dad colluded with slaves and bandits, and tens of thousands of troops were defeated miserably in Salhu. Now there is this disaster in Kaiyuan, which has killed many people! You are the one who has stained face!"
Yang Hao slapped Yang Qing'er on the face. His face turned pale with anger. In his rage, he couldn't take a breath, his throat gurgled, and he fell to the ground.
Yang Qing'er covered her face and looked in a daze. Seeing her father fall, she quickly supported her father and patted his back gently. After struggling for a long time, Yang Hao slowly woke up.
"You are a daughter, what do you know? The imperial court forced troops to send troops, but they refused to pay them. Xuan soldiers have not been paid for three months! Only then did Saerhu suffer a tragic defeat. Yan Guan scolded your father every day, why did your father replace him? The person takes the blame! Why!”
As Yang Hao spoke, his breathing became rapid again, and he shook his hands and said:
"That's it, that's all, let's not talk anymore. I was counting on Liu Zhaosun to be able to turn the tide, hold Kaiyuan, and take you out of this Shura field, but I didn't expect that he would be here too!"
"Stop talking about this," he said to his daughter seriously, as if he suddenly had an epiphany:
"You go and die for the festival. If the rebels rush in, then..."
Yang Hao choked up and couldn't continue speaking until halfway through. Seeing this, Yang Qing'er remained silent, walked into the boudoir alone, and closed the door.
He opened his eyes wide and shouted to the sky:
"Two generations of my Yang family have been loyal to the country, why did we end up like this! Why!"
Yang Qing'er cried silently in the boudoir, not listening to what her father was saying.
Although she and Liu Zhaosun were married, the war was fierce and her husband was busy with military affairs every day. Although they were named husband and wife, they were never married.
She had just turned fifteen and had to go through this Asura Hell. Why! Why!
In the small courtyard, Yang Hao's face looked ashen.
The day before yesterday, the emperor sent the young father-in-law, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, to announce the decree, to give Liu Zhaosun an official rank, and to promote him from commander-in-chief to staff-general. He also promised to provide food and salary and send reinforcements.
According to Wanli's promise, Xiong Tingbi was supposed to arrive a few days ago, but why hasn't he arrived yet?
He is no longer a powerful strategist, and he is unable to write to the court.
Before Saarhu, he repeatedly persuaded the Ministry of War not to rush into the army, but Huang Jiashan did not listen at all.
Now that the army has been defeated and Kaiyuan has fallen, Tieling Shenyang will not be protected either.
As expected, the court official wanted to put the blame on Yang Hao again. Hahahaha, it's really ridiculous.
"Liao affairs are difficult to deal with, I will take the blame for you shameless villains!"
The shameless villain in Yang Hao's words, of course, also includes the one in the Forbidden City.
Yang Hao reflected more than once that the battle of Saarhu was defeated by logistics and military supplies.
Wanli was always urging the front line to start the war as soon as possible, but the national treasury was empty and the Ministry of War and Household Affairs asked him for money, but he did not get any money.
Thinking that Xiong Tingbi, who succeeded him, would most likely continue to take the blame for the emperor, Yang Hao couldn't help laughing.
At this time, there was a messy sound of footsteps outside the alley, and people screamed.
Yang Hao's breathing became rapid. He began to imagine the scene of Hou Jin's soldiers entering the city and massacring the city, and couldn't help but close his eyes.
He knew that Liu Zhaosun had died in the battle, and he also knew that a high-ranking civil servant like himself would be humiliated if he was captured by Hou Jin. Moreover, the officials of the Ming Dynasty would compare him to figures like Qin Hui and Cai Jing and continue to humiliate him.
Yang Hao's eyes were dim and his hair was disheveled. He didn't care whether his daughter had been martyred, so he hung a three-foot white rope on the beam of the hall, placed a wooden bench underneath, and dragged his old body up slowly.
