The Qing army did not go westward. Going westward in Jiazhuang was just a cover-up of its true intentions.
The battle at Jiazhuang failed to achieve its goal. Sun Chuanting led troops to join forces with Lu Xiangsheng, with a force of 20,000, and established a camp in Jiazhuang.
In the battle of Jiazhuang, it was not only Lu Xiangsheng who had used up all the artillery shells, but the Qing army's reserves of gunpowder and artillery shells had also reached their lowest point.
Dorgon read the military reports submitted several times before during the battle, and naturally knew that the Shaanxi weapons and weapons led by Sun Chuanting were sharp.
There are not only a large number of firecrackers with extremely strong armor-breaking capabilities, but also a lot of artillery, which seem to be extremely powerful and shoot very fast.
Therefore, even though he knew that the Shaanxi Army would be exhausted all the way as it rushed for reinforcements, Dorgon had no idea of attacking the Shaanxi Army.
Moreover, the battle at Jiazhuang was only against the Xuan army under Lu Xiangsheng's command, and both paid an extremely heavy price. There were many complaints from the soldiers of all banners.
The Xuan army under Lu Xiangsheng was tenacious and daring to fight, and the Shaanxi army under Sun Chuanting was also a powerful force. Now that the two are united, they are even more powerful.
The previous attack failed, resulting in heavy casualties. The morale of the army was low, the banners were divided, the army had no will to fight, the generals had no will to fight, and there were no conditions for fighting again.
There weren't many choices left for Dorgon.
It is naturally impossible to go north and enter Zhending Mansion. They had come south from the north via Baoding Mansion and Zhending Mansion.
These two places can no longer squeeze much oil and water. If you go north now, you can indeed take most of the income out of the customs.
But when he comes out of seclusion, relying solely on these gains now, I am afraid that when he comes out of seclusion, it will be the beginning of Dorgon's withdrawal from the stage of power.
Huang Taiji is suspicious, angry, mean and ungrateful, ruthless and will never show mercy.
Mang Gurtai and Amin were also brothers with Huang Taiji, but because they disobeyed Huang Taiji, Huang Taiji was accused of treason and executed directly.
Going west and attacking Shunde Prefecture, the situation is the same.
Shunde Mansion has a large number of officers and soldiers. When there were artillery before, it was a bit difficult to attack. Now that the artillery doesn't have many shells at all, the attack will only be more difficult.
Even if it is captured, the losses of the troops will probably exceed the gains.
The other towns and villages in Shunde Prefecture have already been plundered and cannot squeeze out much profit.
Therefore, the real path that can be taken begins with the failure to defeat the battle of Jiazhuang. There is only one path in front of Dorgon.
Shandong Province, Dongchang Prefecture.
Outside Linqing City, beacon fires were raging in the sky, and people mourned all over the land.
Dorgon was wearing a silver-white water-polished general's armor and a pointed two-edged helmet on his head. He stood under a silver-white dragon hat and scanned the entire battlefield in front of him.
Duduo followed Dorgon closely. He was dressed the same as Dorgon, except that the outer eaves of the armor he wore was trimmed with red edges, indicating the color of his flag.
Behind Dorgon and Duoduo, there were a group of armored knights wearing silver armor, silver helmets, holding tiger spears, and holding silver dragon flags.
These armored cavalry are the personal guards of Dorgon and Duduo. They are the armored cavalry in the Zhengbai Banner and the Bordered White Banner.
Duduo said coldly, pulling the horses that were moving around under him from time to time.
"Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng are as expected, and they are still in Julu with no action,"
Dorgon's originally frowning brows relaxed a lot at this time, no longer as frowning as he did in Jiazhuang.
"Lu Xiangsheng was seriously injured and may not be able to command the army for the time being. The Xuan army under his command suffered heavy losses in Jiazhuang and does not have much strength to fight again."
"Sun Chuanting is cautious in using his troops. The total number of generals under his command is only fifteen thousand. Our army's military strength is more than twice his. He will definitely not send troops rashly."
"and……"
Dorgon's eyes turned to Linqing City not far away.
At this time, Linqing City was in chaos. Even though they were several miles apart, some noise could still be heard with the help of the wind.
Six days had passed since the battle at Jiazhuang, and Dorgon had already led his troops to leave Shunde Mansion.
As expected, Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng did not pursue him.
So Dorgon directly gathered the army, turned south, and sent his troops straight into Guangping Mansion.
Jize County in Guangping Prefecture had been breached before and then burned to the ground.
Gao Qiqian briefly stocked up troops in Jize, then marched eastward to Wei County, and finally retreated all the way to Linqing Prefecture.
However, Gao Qiqian did not gather all the troops together. Only more than 20,000 people followed him to Linqing. He also left some troops in other important cities.
The defense line in Linqing was the work of Yang Sichang.
To be honest, Yang Sichang still had a certain strategic vision, and he had done some research on how many troops to keep where.
But he ignored Gao Qiqi's ability to lead troops, and also ignored the problem of Guan Ning's army's morale.
In Quzhou County, south of Jize, Quzhou is regarded as the north gate of Guangping Prefecture, and its geographical location is quite important.
The one who stayed behind in Quzhou County was Hou Gongji, who was the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan at that time. Hou Gongji relied on Quzhou to lead Shanhaiguan's elite troops. Facing the Qing army that was frustrated in Jiazhuang, Hou Gongji was defeated in one battle.
Quzhou fell, and the Qing army, under the command of Dorgon, plundered the surrounding areas, and then moved from Guangping Prefecture to Dongchang Prefecture in Shandong Province.
Quzhou's victory allowed the Qing army that was frustrated in Jiazhuang to regain some confidence. It seems that except for the Ming army in Xuanda and Shaanxi, the Ming army in the other towns is still as weak as ever.
Then Dorgon divided his troops in Qiu County to plunder in four directions, and went all the way to the southwest to plunder Guangping and Daming Mansion.
The second road goes east and takes Guantao, and the third road goes southeast and takes Guan County.
The fourth route is from Dorgon's headquarters troops heading northeast to take Wei County.
Wei County is about fifty miles southwest of Julu. The reason why Wei County was taken was to prepare for the Ming army's reinforcements from Julu.
Dorgon took the initiative to take over the dangerous task and gave up the lucrative route to other banners, in order to regain the prestige he had lost in Jiazhuang and cover the losses of each banner.
The Qing army plundered all directions, and finally most of them gathered in Linqing Prefecture.
The place where Gao Qiqian led his troops to retreat was Linqing.
Although Sun Chuanting had already sent a message before, the Qing army fled south and might enter Shandong Province and come to Linqing.
However, the advance warning did not play any role in Linqing's occupation, and Gao Qiqian was not able to arrange many useful arrangements.
Gao Qian Zhibing's reputation was entirely bought with money. He knew nothing about fighting.
He claims to know soldiers and is knowledgeable about military matters, but in fact he is as timid as a mouse and has no ability to command at all.
Gao Qiqian never really commanded a battle, he just cut off the dead man's head and took credit for it.
Historically, in the 17th year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng led the army to approach Beijing. Chongzhen ordered Gao Qiqian to monitor the Ning and Qian troops. However, before Li Zicheng arrived, Gao Qiqian abandoned the pass and fled.
Then during the Southern Ming Dynasty, King Fu Zhu Yousong summoned Gao Qiqian as the admiral of the Beijing camp. This time Gao Qiqian even led his troops to surrender to the Qing army.
It can be said that he is a rat who only knows how to work, but has no ability at all. He is not successful enough and has failed more than once. He doesn't even have any backbone and has no sense of shame.
And because Gao Qiqian was quite domineering, few of the generals in Guan Ning and other towns were intimidated by Gao Qiqian.
After Dorgon gathered a large army and arrived in Linqing to launch an attack, the generals in Guanning and other towns only made a symbolic resistance and retreated into Linqing City, with no intention of fighting to the death.
Gao Qiqian had no way of telling whether Guan Ning's army really contributed. He had long been frightened by the arrival of the Qing army. The defeat outside the city also frightened him even more. After Guan Ning and others Fooled by the intimidation of the generals, Gao Qiqian issued a military order to guard Linqing City.
Staring at Linqing City filled with red flags, there was no fear in Dorgon's eyes.
He has been dealing with these people in Guan Ning and other towns for too long, and he can no longer be familiar with them.
As long as they don't attack Liaodong, don't attack Beijing, and go to attack other places, the will of Guan Ning's army to fight can be said to be almost nonexistent.
These battles in Quzhou and Linqing showed that the Ming army should have combat effectiveness and morale, which was in line with his old impression of the Ming army.
Xuan Dajun and Shaanxi Army, these two armies are unique among the Ming army.
"Where is Haug now?"
Dorgon withdrew his gaze and no longer looked at Linqing City.
Anyway, Guan Ning's army will not go out of the city to fight, so there is no need to take it too seriously.
Duduo reined in the war horse that kept moving left and right, approached Dorgon, and answered.
"Hauge previously led his troops east into Hejian Prefecture and then all the way south. According to the report received yesterday evening, he has led his troops to the Linyi and Shanghe areas in the north of Jinan Prefecture, which is less than two hundred miles away from Jinan Prefecture."
"Less than two hundred miles?"
Dorgon narrowed his eyes slightly, and the light in his eyes was flowing. After thinking for a while, he asked again.
"What's the latest situation in Jinan Prefecture? What's the difference from before?"
Duduo thought for a moment, his eyes slightly excited, and replied.
"There haven't been many changes. The main force of the Ming army in Jinan Prefecture still remains in Dezhou in the northwest. There are only a few hundred soldiers in Jinan City."
A slight smile appeared on Dorgon's face. Everything was as expected. Today's Jinan City is still very empty.
He had previously entered Baoding Prefecture in North Zhili, captured Hejian Prefecture, and assumed a posture of attacking Dezhou, Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province, prompting the Ming army to mobilize heavy troops to enter Dezhou.
Dezhou is close to the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and is an extremely important transit point. Waterships transporting supplies from south to north all pass through Dezhou.
Dezhou's survival and loss can even affect Beijing's security.
Because of this, most of the Ming troops in Shandong Province were stationed around Dezhou, which also caused the emptiness of Jinan City.
"Send an order to Hauge and ask him to gather troops and horses not to stop in Linyi and Shanghe, and go all the way south to besiege Jinan first and intercept the troops coming to aid the Ming Dynasty!"
"Inform Yue Tuo that after passing through Linqing City, the troops will be divided into two groups. He will lead the South Route Army and head towards Jinan City along the Qingping and Qihe lines."
Duduo nodded, remembering the military order issued by Dorgon, but when he heard that Dorgon was preparing to divide his troops again, he asked.
"What about us?"
"We go from the north, passing Xiajin, Gaotang, Yucheng, and Jinan from the north."
"Break the cities along the way if they can, and leave immediately if they can't. Don't waste military power and manpower."
Dorgon raised his head, and his eyes crossed the walls of Linqing City and fell to the horizon in the distance.
"With Jinan Prefecture captured, we can get everything we want..."
Dorgon didn't finish his words. For him, conquering Jinan was the only solution to eliminate the influence of Jiazhuang.
He had already done some research when he went south. Jinan is the capital of Shandong Province and the richest city in Shandong Province, with a population of hundreds of thousands.
And in Jinan, there is also a prince from the Ming Dynasty, called King De.
Most of the princes of the Ming Dynasty had no real power, but those princes were very rich. They not only had a large amount of land, but also a large amount of gold, silver, grain and grass.
Although Dorgon didn't know how much gold, silver, food and grass could be found in a royal palace of the Ming Dynasty, thinking about the accumulation over several generations, it was definitely much more than those of ordinary wealthy gentry.
Moreover, there are a large number of wealthy households and gentry in Jinan City. The income from breaking through Jinan City is probably much more than the income from plundering the entire Shandong towns and villages.
After capturing Jinan, go all the way northeast, then go all the way north along the sea, and then grab some in Tianjin and other places, and finally exit from Jizhou Town!
…
Julu, Jia Zhuang Ming Army Camp.
Just like a few days ago, the Jiazhuang Mingjun camp was still silent at this time.
There was silence in the Chinese military tent.
Sun Chuanting sat on the first seat, with his back leaning against the screen, and several personal guards standing on the left and right sides.
One of the guards closest to Sun Chuanting held a sword in his arms. Most of the sword was hidden in a yellow satin dragon-patterned brocade sheath. Only the sword spike is exposed.
Such a shape and specifications can only be possessed by the Shang Fang Sword given by the emperor.
In the battle of Jiazhuang, although Lu Xiangsheng was not in danger of his life, he was injured in many places and was seriously injured. He was unable to handle government affairs, and naturally he was unable to handle military affairs.
After Jiazhuang's Tang newspaper was submitted, the imperial court's text was quickly issued.
The text issued was not to commend Jiazhuang for his achievements in the bloody battle, but to reprimand Lu Xiangsheng for his unclear reconnaissance and poor management. He sat back and watched the fall of various towns and underestimated the enemy's aggressive advance, resulting in being trapped in Jiazhuang and almost losing his country.
The achievements of the battle of Jiazhuang were just mentioned in a casual post-war discussion.
The memorial submitted by Sun Chuanting to impeach Gao Qi, who had evaded and refused to support him, simply fell into disgrace and received no response at all.
Lu Xiangsheng was seriously injured and unable to take office. Regardless of various crimes, his duties as governor of the world's military were temporarily taken over by Sun Chuanting.
He was also appointed as the left minister of the Ministry of War and the right censor of the capital procuratorate to succeed him, and was given the sword Shang Fang.
The Shang Fang sword now in the tent was the one that arrived in the army yesterday.
Cao Wenzhao was wearing a hood and sat in the first seat on the left.
The first person sitting on the right side is Yang Guozhu, followed by Hu Dawei, and several Xuan Dajun lieutenant generals and general soldiers at the first level.
Chen Wang is sitting in the fourth position on the left. Next to him is Cao Bianjiao, and then He Renlong.
To be able to sit in the tent, one has to hold the rank of deputy commander-in-chief, leading a battalion alone.
(End of chapter)
