Datong Guards General Military Office.
This Yamen, which has stood in Datong City for more than 200 years, is still majestic and solemn. On the flagpole erected high outside the door hangs the flag of the Commander-in-Chief of the Three Armed Forces and the large banner of Jiang Quan, the chief military officer of Datong Town. Guards wearing helmets and armor lined up in several rows outside the Yamen. They all stood out with their chests and bellies protruding, and they looked majestic.
There were a lot of people coming in and out inside and outside the yamen, all of them looked solemn, and few of them spoke, just walking quickly in silence.
Although the military camp is a place of solemnity, the solemnity can't help but make people feel depressed and depressed. Anyone with a little bit of military experience can detect from this atmosphere that the Datong Fortress City is in danger.
In the yamen's courtyard, large plumes of black smoke were already rising, and documents and account books began to be burned one after another. Although the soldiers of the Datong Army on guard did not dare to move, their eyes could not help but reveal a look of fear and uneasiness.
Jiang Yan was wearing a narrow-sleeved arrow jacket and stood on the corridor outside the Yamen lobby, staring blankly at his servants burning something. It's summer now, the weather is hot, the sun is scorching, and it's noon again. But he didn't feel the heat at all, he only felt waves of coldness coming towards him from all directions.
His eldest son Jiang Zhisheng strode over and saluted: "Sir, Bai Qianhu is back."
This Bai Qianhu was Bai Siwen, the last male of the Bai Qianhu family who suppressed the captives. During the Battle of Datong in the 17th and 18th years of Chongzhen, he was captured alive by the Tatars and used as a slave. He was about to be killed. After filling in the trenches, they caught up with the Qing army and retreated, so they lost their lives.
He originally had a reputation as a scholar, but after experiencing this life and death disaster, he no longer studied Confucianism, but instead joined the army and joined the Datong Army. Because his family is a hereditary military officer, and Jiang Quan also recognized this hereditary military officer system (Jiang Quan himself is also a hereditary military officer), so when he established the Zhenlu Camp, he asked Bai Siwen to be the Yingqianhu - Yingqianhu This is an official position privately established by Jiang Quan, in charge of four to five hundred people. The battalion numbers of the Datong Army generally use the name of the original guard post. Often soldiers from the same guard or station form a battalion.
The people in the Zhenlu camp were all the children of the Zhenlu Guards. Like Bai Siwen, they either survived the massacre or they happened to not be in the Zhenlu Guards. Anyway, everyone is carrying a blood feud!
Because of this hatred, Zhenluying became the elite of the Datong Army's infantry! Although they only had spears, swords, and bows and arrows, half of the people did not have armor. But they can't stand it. They are not afraid of death and dare to fight. Therefore, in the tug-of-war of Datong in the past two years, it has gradually gained prestige and become one of the few elite infantry battalions in Datong City that dared to go out alone to compete with the Donglu!
Bai Siwen, who was a lot stronger, darker, and a little unshaven. He looked neither white nor elegant, and was quickly led to the courtyard where Jiang Yu was.
"I've met General Rong." After a big salute, Bai Siwen stood upright in front of Jiang Yu, with a heavy expression on his face.
"Have all the Tatars withdrawn?" Jiang Quan asked.
"Withdraw!" Bai Siwen replied, "South of Shili River, Xiamizhuang, Huairen, and Xi'an Fort area, all the way to Jinping Mountain and Pinglingkou, no one can be seen!"
"No one is seen?" Jiang Quan sighed, "Then I don't see the common people either..."
Bai Siwen shook his head, "No, it's desolate! All the bridges have been demolished and burned, and all the villages have been burned, looted and turned into ruins...many of them have just been burned!"
The area near Datong City has long been severely damaged, but the place a little further away is still popular. Last year, the Tatars also carried out a plan to grant farmland there, but now the villages in those places have been destroyed, and the people no longer know where to go. where?
"It's just gone..." Jiang Yan took a breath, "It's really a scam!"
Jiang Yan was not a great military strategist, and he would make stupid moves that harmed others and himself from time to time, but the fact that he could persist in Datong Mansion until now showed that he still had two skills in the military. Although he could not see through Dorgon's conspiracy at a glance, he did not relax his vigilance. After the Qing troops retreated outside Datong City, they immediately sent out several battalions of infantry and cavalry to search around Datong.
From the information fed back by the infantry and cavalry, Jiang Gu already knew that Dorgon would not let the Datong soldiers and civilians go...
Although the people sent out did not discover the ambush of the Qing army, from the situation around Datong that was completely destroyed by the Qing soldiers, we knew what Dorgon was going to do next?
There are not only the defenders in Datong City, but also many of the defenders' families. Now that the food is running out, most of the livestock have been slaughtered.
Therefore, the soldiers and civilians of Datong could only abandon the city empty-handed and must obtain some supplies from the villages and towns they passed along the way before they could reach the Luliang Mountains.
However, Dorgon let the Qing soldiers "clear the wild areas" in Datong Prefecture. Jiang Guan could figure out what he wanted to do with his butt - the first was to prevent Datong soldiers and civilians from retreating to Luliang Mountain smoothly; the second was to let Jiang Guan Send people to Luliang Mountain to ask for help!
As long as Zhu Cijiong sends troops to pick up the food, hehe...he will make dumplings for the Qing soldiers!
Dorgon's tactics of using troops are really vicious!
"Sir, what should I do?" Jiang Zhisheng was a little anxious, "There are still 50,000 to 60,000 military dependents and about 100,000 civilians in Datong City! We don't care about the civilians, but these military dependents..."
After two years of tug-of-war, there are now only more than 20,000 Datong defenders left. They are all elites who have seen blood and fought for their lives against the Tatars! If only this group of people broke out, some of them would be able to escape.
You have to bring hundreds of thousands of people and their families with you...
"One night!" Jiang Quan said, "Only one night... Let the brothers settle down separately!" He paused and added, "Take those who can keep up with the team, and those who can't walk. Just stay in Datong Fucheng and wait for fate!"
"This..." Jiang Zhisheng lowered his voice, "Where is our family?"
Jiang Yan glared at his son: "You are almost dead, and you are still thinking about your concubines?"
"There are still children!" Jiang Zhisheng burst into tears, "Those are also your grandchildren and granddaughters..."
Jiang Yan gritted his teeth and raised his voice: "If you can't leave, stay! Our trip is a narrow escape... Anyone with family members should be let go. Let's go back and reunite!"
As he spoke, Jiang Yan's own tears came down. In his back house, there are also a group of wives and concubines, and a group of children... There are really not many people who can follow him!
The order of life and death was quickly passed to every corner of Datong City. The whole city suddenly fell into mourning.
There were lights flickering in almost all the courtyards, and people were hugging each other and crying. It seemed that no one was sleeping in Datong tonight.
Bai Siwen didn't cry, he had already shed all his tears, and he could only bleed in the future! He didn't ask for a mother-in-law, and naturally he had no children. He was all alone, and the only person he slept with was his sword.
Because he had no family, Bai Siwen, who had been wandering outside Datong City for more than ten days, did not get a chance to take a vacation. Instead, he spent the night of separation on the walls of Datong City.
Looking at the dotted lights in the city and listening to the cries one after another, Bai Siwen just whispered to himself: "Father, mother, brother, sister, I have to leave. I went to kill the Tatars. I will never come back again. I won't come back." Already..."
The sleepless night was very short and passed almost in the blink of an eye. At dawn, the sound of drums for gathering troops and generals could be heard throughout the city of Datong.
Preparations for a breakout had been made long ago, all it took was Jiang Guan's order.
Jiang Yan, who has been a soldier all his life, knows that Ci does not control soldiers, so naturally he will not let his subordinates and himself have another night to reunite with their relatives...
One night of farewell is enough. One more night and I'm afraid I won't be able to leave.
More than 20,000 elite infantry and cavalry soldiers, as well as more than 10,000 family members who could accompany them, quickly gathered at various military camps in Datong City after the drums sounded for gathering generals and troops.
Everyone is lightly armed and has prepared a few days of dry food. Whether they are generals or military family members, they all carry weapons.
As soon as the Si hour arrived, the Datong Ming army began to send people off in the streets, and the whole team left the city and headed towards the mountains in the southwest...
