The cunningness of the Ming army exceeded Tu Hai's imagination after all!
Tuhai, who was ordered to lure the enemy, encountered a completely unexpected situation as soon as he sent out troops. He didn't know where the enemy was? Don’t know how many enemies there are? Don’t know where the enemy wants to go? He became a "three ignorant general". The reason for his ignorance was not because Tuhai was stupid, but because the Ming army he encountered was an all-ranger force, a combination of the Ming's black gun mule soldiers and the light cavalry of the Mongolian Karaqin Mongolian tribe.
The former's combat effectiveness is quite strong. They are all veterans of the Daning Army. Many of them have more than ten years of experience in fighting in the army. They have undergone very strict training, are well-equipped, and have flexible tactics. Not to mention the current Manchurian vests, even the white-armored soldiers and red-armored soldiers in the heyday of Manchuria would have received black shots if they encountered them...
Although the latter's combat effectiveness is poor, they are familiar with the terrain of the western Liaoning mountains and the Liaohe Hetao area, and are the best candidates to lead the party.
The combination of the two immediately turned the Qing army's Uiju Mailejun Gyeongtuhai into a "myopia". If he was further away from Yizhou City, he wouldn't be able to see clearly.
It was not until September 13th, the 15th year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, that the "short-sighted" Tuhai stood on the gate tower of Yizhou City and vaguely saw the enemy he was about to lure.
The enemy is a three-army command flag erected three or four miles away. Among the Ming army, only the admiral, governor, commander-in-chief, and Zhu Cixiang himself would erect the three-army command flag when they were on the battlefield to supervise the army. It was impossible for Zhu Cixiang to come, and it was impossible for Zhu Chunchen, the Ming Dynasty governor outside the pass, to come to Yizhou City. Therefore, the person supervising the army under Yizhou City should be the Ming Dynasty's provincial admiral, army admiral or town commander.
The Ming Dynasty did not officially establish Liaoyang Province, and naturally there was no admiral of Liaoyang Province. The commander-in-chief of a town who might appear on the battlefield in western Liaoning should be one of the three including Zhu Cijiong, Gao Jie and Huang Degong. The total strength of Gao Jie's Beiping Town and Huang Degong's Daning Town was more than 20,000, but it was impossible to dispatch them together, and they could only pull out a few thousand people at most.
As for the admiral of the first army, that is terrible! As far as Tu Hai knows, the "army" of the Ming Army is not permanent. Only when a field group of two or more divisions is formed, a military headquarters will be established and military admirals will be appointed. In other words, if the three-army command flag outside Yizhou City belongs to a military admiral, then the number of Ming troops along the Daling River is likely to exceed 30,000...or even more!
This number is quite a lot! Even if they are led deep in, the 80,000 troops at Regent Doni's disposal may not be able to win in a single battle!
When he thought of the 34,000 or even 50,000 Ming troops marching along the Daling River, Tu Hai couldn't help but move his eyes into the distance. To the northwest of this flag of the Three Armed Forces, which was erected three miles outside Yiju City, there were still billows of smoke and dust rising into the sky. The smoke and dust were so thick that Tu Hai, who wanted to calculate the number of Ming soldiers, was a little frightened.
It is impossible to judge the number of enemy troops based on smoke and dust. The smoke and dust stepped on by infantry and cavalry are not of the same order of magnitude. If it is a cavalry team with several mules and horses, the smoke and dust will be even greater.
Although the troops led by Huang Degong only numbered more than 13,000 people, because they were an all-horse team and the man-horse (mule) ratio reached more than one to three, the number of horses and mules attached to more than 13,000 people was 40,000. above. The 160,000 hooves that trampled on the wilderness outside Yiju City not only produced gray-yellow smoke, but also a murderous aura that made Tu Hai feel terrified!
"If the enemy is a mixed force of infantry and cavalry, there must be at least 50,000 people in such smoke!"
The person who spoke was Yi Bilong, the commander of Ang Bang Zhangjing (General Soldier) of Yizhou. He was more experienced than Tuhai, and he had already estimated the number from a distance.
"Fifty thousand people? That many?" Tu Hai took a breath.
"Almost..." Ye Bilong nodded and said, "The Ming army should be a mixture of infantry and cavalry. The proportion of cavalry is not large, and the top of the sky is between 10% and 20%. Such a large amount of dust, There must be an army of 50,000!"
"Did the Ming army divide the 200,000-strong army into four parts?" Cold sweat broke out on Tuhai's forehead.
If there are 50,000 Ming troops on the Daling River side, there is no reason why there should be fewer Ming troops outside Shanhaiguan and Heishan Long Barrier. The Xiaoling River side is attacking Jinzhou, and the number will not be small... That is The 200,000 troops split up and moved in!
Every step of the way, Dhoni's 80,000 Qing troops cannot be easily repelled!
"What should we do?" Tuhai asked.
Ye Bilong sighed and said: "What else can we do? Of course we are carrying out the prince's order! Yizhou is not a fortress, and the surrounding area is relatively open, so it will not be difficult for them to go around it. The two or three thousand people we have on hand are simply It’s not enough to fill the gap between people’s teeth... What else can I do if I don’t lure the enemy?”
"But they have fifty thousand..."
Ye Bilong sighed and said with a wry smile: "Fifty thousand is always less than one hundred thousand... The prince has 80,000 on hand, so he may not have the strength to fight!"
Tu Hai nodded, "That's right... Then let's retreat to Daling River Fort. Daling River Fort is strong. Let's stay there and wait for the prince's soldiers!"
Daling River Fort is located in the lower reaches of the Daling River near the Bohai Bay. It was originally a fortress built with great efforts by the Ming Army in Liaodong. In the fourth year of Chongzhen's reign, the Battle of Daling River broke out there, dragging Yuan Chonghuan into The main force of the Liaodong Ming Army that had risen was almost destroyed.
After the Battle of Daling River, the Daling River Fortress was abandoned for a time. It was not until Duduo operated outside the customs that it was renovated and became part of the Jinzhou defense system of the Qing army.
As long as the more than 2,000 people in the hands of Yi Bilong and Tu Hai hide in the Daling River Fort, they should be able to hold on for a while... If the 50,000 Ming army doesn't chase them all the way to the Daling River, If they build a fort, they can hold on longer.
But why didn't the Ming army attack Dalinghe Fort?
The Ming army advancing from the Daling River must continue to advance along the Daling River to the Bohai Bay, completely cutting off the communication between Liaodong and Western Liaoning. Then it will join the Ming army coming from the direction of Xiaoling River and attack Jinzhou Fort. The city...may also besiege Jinzhou to attract the main force of the Qing army to come for a decisive battle, just like Huang Taiji back then.
But the Ming army is cunning after all!
"Commander Jie and the Chief Envoy of the Army, the Qing army has abandoned the city and fled southward along the Daling River!"
On the top of a hill more than two miles away from the Three Armed Forces Command Banner, a messenger came on a flying horse and loudly reported to Huang Degong, the governor of the Daning Army, and Tian Qingyi, the envoy of the Daning Army, who were standing on the top of the hill. following the latest changes in the war situation.
Tian Qingyi is the military envoy sent by the imperial court to the Daning Army, that is, the chief of staff.
Huang Degong was the commander-in-chief of the vassal town, not the commander-in-chief of the rebel town, so the court could send envoys to supervise the army. However, Zhu Cixiang did not want to use civilian officials or eunuchs to supervise the army, so he sent military envoys to Jiezhen to participate in the operations and training of Jiezhen.
At the same time, the military envoys were also responsible for recruiting (purchasing) scouts for the imperial court in festival towns.
"Jie Shuai," Tian Qingyi turned to Huang Degong and said, "The Donglu here is too useless, he can't be cheating, right?"
"A fraud?" Huang Degong thought for a while, "Maybe he was frightened by our bluff... Envoy, where do you think we should fight next?"
"Go to the Liaohe River!" Tian Qing said meaningfully, "The Donglu have been farming on both sides of the Liaohe River for many years. Now it is the autumn harvest time, and the people must have a lot of surplus food at home. We are Master Wang! Master Wang has gone, of course they will We have to prepare pots of food to welcome them. Don’t we have enough food for the Ping-Liao army to spend the winter?”
Huang Degong was stunned, "Are the people of Liaodong so easy to talk to? Are they really willing to contribute the food they have worked so hard to grow to the imperial court?"
Tian Qingyi raised his hands in the air and said seriously: "Now that the Holy Emperor is in the court, don't the people of Liaodong look forward to Master Wang? Now that Master Wang they are looking forward to has finally arrived, why don't they hurry up and donate the food? Do you want to stay and support the rebels?"
Huang Degong nodded: "That's right, the people of Liaodong must understand the righteousness, otherwise they are not the people, but the rebellious family members of the rebel army!"
Tian Qingyi lowered his tone: "If it is the family members of the rebel army, they will be exiled to the American Gulf!"
