A white-armored soldier from the Zhenglan Banner flew into Hauge's Chinese army tent, made a salute, and then reported loudly: "Prince Su, the servants have found out that the Nankou soldiers have been dispatched, more than 10,000 Riding out of Qingliu Pass on foot, march north along the east bank of Qingliu River, and cover the east side of Daying..."
Hauge clapped his chin hard and said with a smile: "Okay, okay... the little prince of the Zhu family is indeed a newborn calf and not afraid of tigers!"
"Your Majesty," Obai immediately stood up and asked to stand, "Give me 3,000 cavalry and kill him first!"
"No need," Hauge shook his head, "We have also seen how capable the young prince of the Zhu family is in running an army. An army with a well-organized team and well-armed weapons cannot be defeated by more than 3,000 cavalry... If If the first battle is unfavorable, the next battle will be difficult.”
He smiled and asked: "Are the shield vehicles, Hongyi cannons, and fire rifle soldiers ready?"
It turned out that Hauge also went south with six Hongyi cannons and a small number of Han army firecrackers! If these six Hongyi cannons hadn't moved too slowly and his 18,000 cavalry were free to run, Zhu Cixiang's infantry would really have been unable to catch up! The Eight Flags Horse Team is equipped with one person and two horses, so it is quite capable of running.
As for the shield car, it is now the standard equipment of the Qing army - the Qing army relies on the shield car to defend against the Ming army's firearms! Even though Hauge's army was equipped with two horses and three horses, it still used a large number of shield carriages as carriages and dragged them along the way.
"Bahana!" Hauge named Bahana, the Gushan'e Zhenlan of Zhenglan Banner, at this time.
Bahana immediately stepped forward and saluted: "Your Majesty, my servant is here."
"You take three Niu Lu from Rao Yujun Wang's family and two Han Army Niu Lu to guard the camp!" Hauge ordered, "There is no need to hold on, just delay the Southern invaders as much as possible."
"Prince..." Bahana is a veteran general who joined the army at the age of 17. Gushan Ezhen, who fought with swords and swords, naturally looked down on the Ming army, so he had some objections to Hauge's orders.
But before he could say anything, Hauge waved his hand to stop him, "Bahana, don't underestimate the enemy... The young prince of the Zhu family is an opponent that the regent attaches great importance to. Do you think you are better than the regent?" sharp?"
"I don't dare!" Bahana had nothing to say when he heard Haug carrying out the regent Dorgon.
Although he is Gushan Ezhen of Zhenglan Banner, he is from Xiangbai Banner and is a confidant of Dorgon and Duduo. Of course, Dorgon cannot be questioned. It is precisely because of his background that Haug will give him the most dangerous task... If he unfortunately dies in battle, Haug will definitely report it to the regent and bury him in glory!
"Obai!" Hauge called Obai's name again, "You come to fight in the first battle. Bring the men with the yellow flags. I will give you five more Niulu... Go eastward first, and in the big battle The formation on the east slope of Qianling Ridge is the left wing of the army."
"This slave takes the order!" Obai naturally didn't say anything, and immediately made a thousand blows and received Hauge's general order.
"Yilde!" Haug called the name of Melezhangjing Yilde of Zhenghuangqi again.
"The slave is here!" Yild is a veteran with a yellow flag. He has been following Huang Taiji, and he is naturally a supporter of Hauge.
"I order you to lead troops and horses with yellow flags, plus five Niu Lu, and follow the troops and horses led by Obai to march eastward. You are also ordered to form a formation on the east slope of Daqianling Ridge as the right wing of the army."
"This slave takes the order."
The terrain on the east slope of Daqianling is relatively gentle, but it is not open, so it is not possible to form a too complicated formation. So Hauge casually divided the nearly 12,000 real Manchus and about 3,000 coated slaves under his command into three parts, as well as less than 1,000 Han troops and Eight Banners.
Aobai led one group to form the left wing of the dead soldiers, and Yild led one group to form the right wing of the dead soldiers. Hauge led his own elite troops, which were the soldiers and horses at the rear of the formation. Several red cannons and a small number of Han army firecrackers (all under the Zhenglan Banner Han Army) were all controlled by Hauge himself.
In addition to the above, Hauge also sent half of the Bagala Guard Army of the Zhenglan Banner to spy on the Ming army's movements.
In other words, before the fierce battle that later generations called the "Battle of Bloody Creek" began, the total force in Haug's hands was about 18,000, and the men and horses brought to the Bloody Creek battlefield were only 16,000... Quite a few!
On the other side of the Battle of Bloody Creek were two New Army infantry divisions of the Ming Army plus a section of Zhu Cixiang's guard battalion. The two divisions did not mobilize in full, only combat troops were mobilized, and heavy baggage troops were left behind. A total of more than 22,000 people were mobilized.
They were dispatched one after another before and after sunset, and they moved very neatly. The 22,000-man army, in battalion units, formed columns one after another that could be transformed into Morris's square formation at any time, and moved out of the camp at a rapid march.
Traveling quickly without any hesitation. Even after night fell, they did not slow down their march.
The weather tonight is quite good, with the bright moon in the sky and the sky dotted with stars. The moonlight and starlight shone together, which was enough for the soldiers of the new army who were accustomed to traveling at night to move quickly without falling behind.
Another reason why they will not fall behind is that the morale of this army is extremely high. Everyone thinks that they have a small share in the Ming Dynasty. Some of them who were allocated land and became landlords wanted to make more contributions and get a few acres of land. Those who have not been allocated land are more active, pointing out that they want to exchange the heads of Tatars for their own wealth!
In the darkness, a team of more than 20,000 people only had two lanterns at the head and tail of each battalion column, and everyone else moved forward in darkness. Although no one held a title and no horse had bound hooves, the advancing army was still unusually quiet. Accompanied by the sound of the clear stream, there were only dense and low footsteps.
Zhu Cixiang and Wu Sanfu did not ride horses, but led their horses through the night on foot. They did not ride horses not to share the joys and sorrows with their subordinates, but to guard against sneak attacks by Qing army sentries who might be lurking in the woods on the right side of the official road.
The official road going north from Qingliu Pass was built along the east bank of Qingliu Creek. The renovation was just completed this spring. It is very smooth and it is not difficult to walk on it. To the west of the official road is the Qingliu River. Although it can be forded, it is not a place for an ambush. To the east of the official road is a forest. It has been cut down for many years, so it is not dense, and it is not close to the official road, about thirty or forty steps away. However, there were still some Tartar sentinels who were driven away by the large group of Ming army cavalry that opened the way. They hid in the woods and shot a few cold arrows from time to time.
In fact, Zhu Cixiang, who was wearing the "Anping plate armor" that Zheng Zhilong paid tribute to, was not afraid of any cold arrows, but the war horse he was riding was not armored. If he was shot over, he would have to break his head and bleed, so he simply dismounted and walked.
An plate armor is a knock-off model based on European three-quarter plate armor - European plate armor is very cheap these days, and a set of plate armor produced in Antwerp costs less than three taels of silver!
If it weren't for the high cost of transportation and the inconvenience of transportation, Zhu Cixi would have equipped all his 100,000 troops with three-quarter plate armor.
However, relying on their long body armor and cloth face armor, the new army of overcoming difficulties marching in the night is enough to withstand most bow and arrow attacks.
Therefore, although the Qing Army's Bagala Guards ambushing in the woods shot cold arrows from time to time, Zhu Cixiang's troops still maintained a relatively fast marching speed.
Three cavalrymen wearing spliced half-plate armor hurriedly came from the front, looking for the blurry outline of the "Rebirth of Emperor Taizu Gao" flag held high beside Zhu Cixiang, as well as the outline of six dragon flags symbolizing the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty. Arrive at Zhu Cixiang's location. He reported his name and number to the guard who stopped him at the perimeter, and after correcting his password, he was brought to Zhu Cixiang: "Master Qian Sui, the east slope of Daqiang Ridge is ahead!"
finally reached!
Zhu Cixiang breathed a sigh of relief. He led the army and set off at nightfall, walking for more than an hour for more than ten miles. Although it was as hidden as possible, it was impossible for the Tatars on Daqianling not to notice it at all. There was no large group of Tatars to kill, which shows that tonight's action was still sudden!
When he was thinking of this, Wu Sanfu suddenly shouted: "Tatars, Tatars are coming down the mountain!"
