In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, it was dusk on the second day of the first lunar month.
Luokou Town, which had been reduced to ruins under the flames of war, has regained some vitality.
Thousands of crimson flags stood in the center and four fields of Luokou Town. Brigades of Ming army soldiers walked into the town along the broken official roads and headed for the beach.
As early as the Han Dynasty, Luokou was an important wharf along the Jishui River. In subsequent dynasties, Luokou occupied an extremely important position as a ferry for the Jishui River.
Although the course of the Yellow River has changed several times, the Jishui River has also changed accordingly.
Over time, the old name of Jishui has even disappeared.
Now this section of the river at Luokou has also been renamed Daqing River.
However, the status of Luokou has not changed much, and it is still an important wharf and ferry.
During the Ming Dynasty, Luokou's prosperity reached its peak.
The salt used in Jinan, Tai'an, Dongchang, Yanzhou and other places is transported through Luokou, and goods such as timber, medicinal materials, and furs are also distributed here.
It is recorded in the "Licheng" published in the sixth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty:
"Luo Town, twenty miles northwest of the city, where merchants trade, the Jiao Lai branch is stationed."
"Que Mountain stands high, the Qing Dynasty flows eastward, buildings and boats come and go, pavilions fly, and it is a giant town."
Luozhen is Luokou Town. From the descriptions in these classics, we can fully see the prosperity of Luokou Ancient Town.
However, the prosperity of Luokou Town was gone. The Qing troops passed by, leaving behind only burned houses, blackened ruins, and broken walls.
Even after several cleanings, the faint smell of blood still lingers in Luokou Town.
It's the middle of winter, the wind is biting, the snow is falling, and the weather is extremely cold.
The townspeople killed by the Qing army had only been dead for a few days. Their bodies did not rot, so there was not much smell of corruption in the air.
The Ming army that entered the town collected the corpses of the dead townspeople and placed them in the southern suburbs of Luokou Town.
On the southern outskirts of Luokou Town, a large number of soldiers were carrying the bodies of the victims back and forth and throwing them into shallow pits.
There are also some soldiers who are constantly throwing wood and kindling materials inside.
There are many major epidemics after wars. This is because a large number of people and animals died, and the corpses were not properly placed and exposed to the outside, which caused the epidemic.
People in this era all pay attention to returning fallen leaves to their roots and resting in their graves.
But to bury so many people, just digging a big pit would be extremely energy-consuming.
The war is coming, and a little energy can be saved.
Therefore, Sun Chuanting issued an order to burn the bodies of the deceased.
Sun Chuanting was wearing a general's armor, a polished iron helmet, a coverall, and a fur coat. He stood on a newly built simple lookout in the southern suburbs, staring at the shallow pit that had just been dug not long ago. .
There are men and women, old and young, in the shallow pit. The men have many wounds on their bodies, while the women basically don’t have many clothes on their bodies. There are many bruises on their bodies, telling the world what kind of things they suffered during their lifetimes. Torment and pain.
Sun Chuanting slowly closed his eyes and sighed softly.
He is not a real iron-hearted person. Even though he has seen countless similar tragedies along the way, he still cannot turn a blind eye.
Following the steps of the Qing army step by step, Sun Chuanting began to slowly understand what Lu Xiangsheng was thinking.
His original complaints about Lu Xiangsheng insisting on playing alone and being alone in the battle completely disappeared at this moment.
The scenes Lu Xiangsheng saw along the way were probably far more numerous and desolate than he did.
Sun Chuanting felt something blocking his heart, making it difficult for him to breathe.
As the last corpse pulled out from the ruins was thrown into the pit, the soldiers guarding the pit also threw the ignited torches in their hands into the pit.
There are also a large number of fire starters placed at the bottom of the shallow pit. After the burning, all the people in this town will be completely buried deep underground.
As torches were thrown into the shallow pits, the fire began to slowly rise.
The cold wind blowing from the northwest never stops blowing towards the southeast river.
The fierce flames rose up, and the orange-red fire shined in everyone's eyes.
The son cannot protect his father, and the king has no ministers to protect him.
It is better to be a peace dog than to cause chaos and leave people.
The blood-red sunset reflects the orange flames, the north wind blows like weeping, and people are like ants and their lives are like grass.
Chen Wang stood not far from Sun Chuanting, standing with He Renlong and Cao Bianjiao.
Like everyone else, he was silent.
With his current status, he was not qualified to stand by Sun Chuanting's side.
Standing next to Sun Chuanting now are Cao Wenzhao, the commander-in-chief of the reinforcements and suppression, and Zu Kuan, the deputy commander-in-chief of the reinforcements and suppression.
Although Zu Kuan followed Lu Xiangsheng and was transferred to the Northland a few years ago, his position as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Assistance and Suppression has not been removed and he is still in charge of it.
Although He Renlong is now the commander-in-chief of Yansui Town, his actual power and status are not as good as those of Zu Kuan.
However, status is secondary. The biggest reason why Zu Kuan was able to stand by Sun Chuanting's side was because there were more than 5,000 cavalry troops under Zu Kuan's command belonging to the two towns of Guan and Ning.
Chen Wang cast a vague glance at Zu Kuan who was just in front of him. Zu Kuan was facing away from him and facing Sun Chuanting.
This was not the first time that he and Zu Kuan met in the pass. They had already met before in Heishui Valley.
If the original historical process was followed, Zu Kuan should still be holding back his troops and watching Jinan be besieged.
After the Qing army captured Jinan, looted and retreated from the pass, Zu Kuan would be dismissed from his post by Chongzhen's order, arrested, and then executed for the crime of losing the vassal status, as a warning to others.
However, many things have changed now. This time, Zu Kuan did not stand still as in the original process. Instead, he listened to Sun Chuanting's order and led his troops south to join them.
From this moment on, Zu Kuan's fate has changed. He may still be punished for this incident, but most likely his life will not be in danger.
Historically, Zu Kuan was beheaded because of the fall of Jinan. In fact, he was somewhat unjust.
At that time, Jinan City was surrounded by 50,000 to 60,000 Qing troops, and Xuan's army was defeated. Liu Yuliang was afraid to move forward in Baoning Mansion, and huddled in Linqing without daring to move.
Zu Kuan had only a few thousand soldiers and horses under his command, most of them cavalry. Under such circumstances, the imperial edict required him to go alone to rescue Nan. How could he be saved?
As if he was aware of someone's attention, Zu Kuan turned his head slightly and looked sideways, but Chen Wang had already retracted his gaze in time.
Zu Kuan's eyes glanced over Chen Wang's body, and the sight of the shallow pit did not make him feel much gratitude.
His mind was not on the victims, but on another thing, and turning his head was just a subconscious act.
Zu Kuan turned to look at Sun Chuanting again. He took half a step forward and wanted to advise Sun Chuanting.
"Supervisor..."
But before Zu Kuan finished speaking, the cold sound of 筚篯 sounds sounded from the south, which was a signal for the Qing army to move.
Including Zu Kuan, everyone's attention was attracted.
Just on the south bank of the Daqing River, a large number of Qing cavalry were roaring across the field and spreading towards the two wings.
In the central area, large groups of Qing army infantry were constantly moving in the camp accompanied by the continuous sound of rattles.
Chen Wang followed the sound and looked toward the southeast.
The Qing army set up camp in the southeast of Luokou Town, but they did not enter Luokou Town.
Perhaps because there were many corpses in Luokou Town and worried about the spread of disease, the camp was set up in the southeast of Luokou Town.
The Qing army chose Luokou as the battlefield, and they had the initiative on the battlefield.
The Ming army did not have many choices. They could only follow the Qing army's decision.
This time is the dry season of the Daqing River, and due to the severe cold climate, it is also the ice age.
The Daqing River is frozen, so you can cross the river directly without setting up a pontoon bridge. It is not a natural hazard.
Before entering Luokou Town, there was no contact between the Ming and Qing armies in the countryside of Luokou. The cavalry between them had already fought for more than ten battles.
Both sides suffered casualties. There were not many Qing cavalry, and most of them were Mongolians. Their purpose was only to harass.
Relying on their numerical advantage, the Ming army's cavalry had a certain upper hand and drove all the Qing army's cavalry around Luokou Town to the south of the Daqing River.
Chen Wang also led his own cavalry to have a brief confrontation with the Qing army's cavalry, and captured the Qing army's head sixteenth level.
Cao Bianjiao's troops made the most gains, capturing the 43rd level leader of the Qing army. Cao Bianjiao even broke into the Qing army's cavalry formation and killed a Mongolian Zhengbai Banner Fende Bashiku, which greatly boosted the morale of the three armies.
Zu Kuan also led troops into battle and achieved some gains, but compared to Cao Bianjiao, he was much inferior and only achieved level 25.
There are eighty-four levels in total. If you place such a record in Liaodong, you can write a small victory with some polish. If you get promoted and make a fortune, everyone can make a profit.
More than twenty miles southeast of Luokou Town is where Jinan City is located.
Standing on the lookout, you can see that at the end of the southeast direction, there are densely packed camps set up by the Qing army.
There were 60,000 Qing troops entrenched around Jinan, and hundreds of thousands of civilians were plundered. At the same time, there was also a large amount of plundered grain, grass, gold, silver and other luggage, so the Qing army's camp was unprecedentedly large.
The Qing army's camp stretched for several turns and stretched for dozens of miles. It was so vast that you couldn't even see the edge at a glance.
"The current movement of Donglu is just a normal movement of camps and defenses. The soldiers in each camp are informed not to panic and to return to their respective camps after eating."
Sun Chuanting tightened his cloak, looked at the Qing army camp in the distance, and said calmly.
"After returning to the camp, you can send more people to keep watch overnight. Donglu may send people to raid the camp at night."
Dusk was fading, night was coming, and the Qing army would not launch an attack at this moment.
Sun Chuanting's expression remained the same, his eyes slightly closed.
Donglu's changes calmed his originally uneasy mood.
Donglu did not take the initiative to attack. The cavalry they sent were mainly for harassment and basically would not fight to the death.
Nowadays, the camp is set up across the river, and the posture is defensive rather than offensive.
After the battle in Jiazhuang, Donglu was damaged, and he was no longer as unscrupulous as when he first entered the pass.
The disadvantage of Donglu was that its population was too small, which Lu Xiangsheng saw clearly.
The population of Donglu was too small, so every time they entered the pass, they would plunder a large number of people and return north in order to supplement the scarce manpower.
Although Chenghua Liting has been around for a long time, the impact left behind is long-lasting.
Donglu could not accept too heavy casualties.
It was almost impossible for the Qing army to complete the roundabout and outflank secretly as the furthest distance was tens of miles away at night.
Sun Chuanting has always been cautious. The reason why he dared to leave Texas this time and lead a lone army to help Jinan was naturally a lot of preparations.
About thirty or forty miles west of Luokou Town is Qihe County, and Qihe has not fallen.
The Qing army marched in a hurry, focusing all their attention on Jinan and wanting to conquer Jinan.
Therefore, the prefectures and counties along the way did not fall as long as their city defenses were slightly tighter.
In addition to retreating to Yucheng, they had another retreat which was to retreat to Qihe.
The howling north wind became more and more urgent, and the fire in the southern suburbs became more intense again.
Sun Chuanting asked, holding the sword on his waist with one hand and still holding on to the railing of the observation deck with the other hand.
"How is the exploration of the surrounding area going?"
"All the armies have returned to camp without gathering more troops at night, and gathered reports. The number of Donglu troops stationed in Henan of the Qing Dynasty is about 35,000."
"Except for the south bank of the Daqing River, no trace of the Donglu troops has been found in other directions."
Cao Wenzhao, who was standing aside, bowed his head slightly and raised his hands to report to Sun Chuanting.
"Inspection found that the flags used in the Donglu camps on the south bank of the Daqing River were mostly white, with the other flags mixed in colors, and relatively few troops were sent. The main force of the Donglu in this battle should be the two white flags under the slave chiefs Dorgon and Duduo. "
"Two white flags..."
Sun Chuanting's eyes narrowed slightly. This time the Donglu invaded south, the troops were divided into two groups and had two generals.
One is Yue Tuo, who is in charge of the two red flags, and the other is Dorgon, who is now in charge of the two white flags.
The name Dorgon was no stranger to Sun Chuanting. He had borrowed files about Donglu from the Ministry of War and had seen Dorgon's name.
Along the way, Sun Chuanting could often hear Dorgon's name.
The Two White Banners were the main force of the Donglu's southern invasion, and their arrival did not puzzle Sun Chuanting.
What puzzled Sun Chuanting was why only 35,000 Qing troops came.
Sun Chuanting's eyes slowly passed over the Qing army on the south bank. The arrangement of the Qing army made him feel a little confused, and the current intelligence was not enough to let people know what exactly happened.
Although thirty-five thousand people is a large number, it is not too many for the Qing troops currently besieging Jinan.
After all, according to previous intelligence reports, there were at least 60,000 Qing troops gathered around Jinan.
However, none of this matters now.
Whether the Qing army comes with 30,000 people, 40,000 people, or 50,000 people, these are not important matters.
Sun Chuanting pressed the sword on his waist and turned around.
His gaze passed over the generals standing on the observation deck and finally landed on Chen Wang.
.
(End of chapter)
