After a while, Zhou Yuji and other generals came to the East Palace one after another. After the Donglu retreated, these generals finally had the opportunity to gather together.
It's just that some people are happy and some are superior. Since the Donglu mainly attacked the inner city and pretended to attack the middle city, the Guards Battalion and the East Palace Guards stationed in the inner city were well fed and drunk, while the defenders on the New City side could only drink some soup.
As a result, the income gap between the generals and soldiers on both sides was extremely large. Generals such as Gao Jie and Liu Guangzuo could only receive some "appearance fees" at most.
Although the imperial court has already fully distributed food and salary, in the past, they would naturally not complain and would be very happy. However, at present, the brothers' troops are "making money every day", and they feel a little aggrieved.
Therefore, taking advantage of this opportunity to meet the Crown Prince, many generals planned to lead their troops to pursue Donglu and take advantage of his illness to kill him!
"Today the Donglu troops have retreated, and the capital has turned out to be safe. All of you, dear friends, have fought bloody battles and are all meritorious ministers. On behalf of my father, the emperor, and my mother, I would like to express my gratitude to all dear friends and the officers and soldiers under my command, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty and the imperial court. You have made outstanding contributions to the people. Without the desperate resistance of you and the soldiers, the Donglu would have occupied the capital, and even half of the Ming Dynasty. I will serve tea instead of wine, and I will do it first as a token of respect!"
You still have to say things to save face first, and you have to mean it no matter what.
"Your Highness, you are ridiculous. I am a warrior. I can take care of the emperor's work, share the emperor's worries, protect my family and country, and sacrifice my life for righteousness. These are the duties of the ministers. If it weren't for this time, Master Wang used your highness to imitate the immortal world." He used his sharp weapons to fend off the enemy, and His Highness also used immortal magic to severely inflict heavy losses on Donglu. Master Wang would never be able to achieve such a great victory!"
Zhou Yuji answered the question on behalf of the generals. He spoke very humbly and realistically. He said that the truth was due to the service, and the prince would take half, not just the majority.
Even if the king's division could hold on with its fortified city and even repel the invading enemies, the captive chief Huang Taiji would not give up and changed the siege to a siege, which might be more effective.
As long as King Qin's army does not come to the rescue, the capital will be a prison, and the defenders will have no chance of winning.
On the contrary, if King Qin's division does not have enough troops, not only will it be unable to rescue the defenders, but it will be annihilated by the Donglu.
Unless all the more than 200,000 royal troops fighting in the south move north, there is no guarantee of victory in the field battle.
Even if all the troops from the south were mobilized to suppress the rogue bandits, if King Qin's division could not form a joint force and cooperate in fighting, they would still suffer a disastrous defeat.
The King's Division has fewer horsemen and more infantry, but Donglu is just the opposite. Once it encounters rain and snow, making it difficult to fire firearms, the King's Division will be in a precarious situation.
Huang Taiji left in such a hurry that smallpox probably started to break out in the Donglu camp.
This is not something that can be defeated by manpower. A sudden large-scale outbreak will cause the combat power to plummet.
"Okay, let's treat this battle as a battle where the king and his ministers work together to defend the enemy and win. Everyone, please take a seat. The next step is to discuss how to pursue the defeated Donglu soldiers. According to the prisoners' confessions, Huang Taiji had previously ordered Dorgon to lead no less than 80,000 troops went to collect grain. Many prisoners knew about this, and there is no doubt that it was true. I estimate that if Dorgon's troops did not cooperate with Huang Taiji's troops when the smallpox broke out, then they might not Infected with smallpox, Dorgon's troops must be responsible for the destruction this time. Although the main force of Huangtaiji was severely damaged, it was not yet annihilated. Dorgon's 80,000 troops were a serious problem, and the Jifu area The total number of soldiers and horses is almost the same, and we cannot go out in full force this time, so we must consider the long term. We must chase, and we must fight if we catch up. We must not let this sick tiger return to the mountain easily. How to chase, and how to fight, I think it is necessary to inform you all in advance to avoid falling into Dorgon's trap. I have sent flying cavalry to Shanhaiguan to inform Wang Zaijin and ask Wang Zaijin to send troops to intercept the defeated Donglu troops. If Wang Zaijin can send 10,000 troops, plus the capital city The soldiers and horses on the side may still have a chance to eat some of the Donglu. You may think that I am too cautious, but this is not the case. The Donglu retreat was caused by smallpox, and the king's division must avoid being infected by smallpox when pursuing. Therefore, this troop dispatch must be Select soldiers who can survive smallpox. Those who are suffering from smallpox are not allowed to be recruited, and they must be horse pawns. Infantry cannot ride horses, and the pursuit speed is too slow. After eating, you can go back and count the soldiers who meet the requirements. The count is completed. , report immediately, and send troops to pursue the enemy no later than tomorrow morning. When pursuing, troops cannot follow the retreat route of the Donglu, so as not to be ambushed by the enemy. Moreover, many Donglu died of smallpox on the road. The soldiers of the King's Division had smallpox. No problem, horses may be infected, so avoid being affected. When entering the court, distribute the precautions."
"yes!"
Yang Jinchao sent a copy of the notes written by a certain prince to each general, just in case.
"Your Highness is wise!"
Zu Kuan did a quick scan and then began to flatter him. He had never thought about these things. If he really sent out troops to pursue him, if his troops were unprepared, it would be extremely easy for him to be ambushed by Dorgon's troops.
"I just talked about how to chase, and now I will tell you how to fight. According to the confessions of the injured soldiers who were abandoned in the Donglu camp, before retreating, Donglu buried many people who died of smallpox in the mountains behind the camp. People. I will send people to dig out the corpses of these people and make them into cannonballs. When your troops are cut off by the Eastern invaders, you can shoot out the cannonballs immediately. Then you can wait for the smallpox virus to break out in the enemy's wounded soldiers. . In this pursuit, I do not require each department to annihilate the enemy. I only hope that each department can continue to harass the Donglu troops, and if there is a chance to attack, then rush to kill them."
Master Wang's main business is defending the city, and his auxiliary business is digging graves!
Is it surprising?
Surprised or not?
Is it irritating?
Is it immoral to dig graves?
It depends on whose grave you are digging!
As an invader, digging the braid's grave is a very satisfying move!
Dig justice in its place!
A group of robbers visited your home. Several of the robbers died of illness and built graves in your backyard. Do you still have to treat these dead people as ancestors? ? ?
If you don't dig it out, crush the bones and spread the ashes, you won't be considered a man!
Fortunately, the corpses in these graves have not turned into bones, otherwise they would have served their proper function.
Are dead people valuable?
Of course it’s valuable!
A certain prince wants to reuse these wastes!
The horror of smallpox lies in three major advantages!
First, it can be spread on a large scale.
Second, it can become fatal quickly after the incubation period.
Third, after an infected person infects others, the toxicity of the virus in others will not be significantly weakened, and will continue to spread in waves.
The reason why smallpox is not considered a terminal disease in the true sense is that the fatality rate of the disease is not high, only about 20%. Compared with cancer, the fatality rate is very low.
It’s just that cancer is not contagious, it’s just hereditary. The advantage of smallpox is that it can be quickly infected in a short period of time and is not limited by the size of the population.
A certain prince sent people to dig out these corpses, which was the second time to trap the braided army. Whoever dares to stop the pursuit will have a taste of the Ming Dynasty's version of smallpox cannonballs first!
If ten thousand pigtails are hit, at least one thousand will die. If you are lucky, two thousand or even more will die.
At this moment, somewhere outside the city, a group of people wearing gas masks, sweating like rain, were digging graves with shovels...
Didn’t you capture a lot of braids before?
Just in time to come in handy!
Live braids dig dead braids’ graves!
Perfect!
If you contracted smallpox from digging a grave, that would be a well-deserved death!
What does it matter to a certain prince whether these pigtails are dead or not?
When you invaded the city and slaughtered the people of the Ming Dynasty, weren't you merciless?
Don't blame a certain prince for being cruel and cruel, this is called "tit for tat"!
Who dares to dig without effort? The hole is ready and ready to be buried!
In terms of digging graves, a certain prince could only come second.
Topping the list is naturally Prime Minister Cao, the "Commander-in-Chief of Digging Graves"...
In contrast, at least a certain prince was not greedy for money, and he did not dig graves to make a fortune.
Digging graves in order to destroy the enemies of Ming Dynasty can definitely be recorded in history!
After hearing this, a group of military generals certainly felt that this move was very clever, much better than them fighting hard.
Dorgon's army has 80,000 men, and it cannot be decided in one battle. In this pursuit, it is necessary to avoid the real and attack the weak.
"Your Highness, Tianjin Chief Military Officer Ma Xu has arrived!"
"Oh? You're a rare visitor! Let's announce it!"
The distance between Tianjin and the capital is much closer than that of Datong, but it makes sense that Ma Xu came just now and fell behind Yang Wenyue.
It was precisely because of the close distance that they didn't dare to move lightly. Tianjin was a strategically important town. If Ma Xu was killed by the braid, even three of Ma Xu's heads wouldn't be enough to cut him off.
"Sin made it too late to save Ma Xu..."
"Okay, let's get over without any courtesy. You and Yang Wenyue have the same excuse, and I'll just pretend I haven't heard of it! How many troops will Aiqing bring this time?"
"Your Highness, I will bring two thousand horsemen with you!"
It was impossible for Ma Xu to bring all the cavalry under his command to King Qin. Except for those who stayed in Tianjin, most of the others had already come to Beijing.
"Well! Ai Qing is interested! When you enter the court, send Ai Qing some precautions!"
"yes!"
This number is neither too much nor too little. No matter how small the mosquito legs are, they are still meat. No matter what, they can be considered a new force capable of fighting, and they are worthy of praise.
Although there were six dishes on each table for dinner, three vegetarian and three meat, the wine supply was very small, limited to three bowls per person, because after returning, the generals would immediately count the number of cavalry they could dispatch.
This pursuit was a combined force from various tribes. Who would be responsible for the specific command? A certain prince initially planned to let Zu Kuan take charge, but then he thought that this guy might not be able to convince the crowd, so he asked Zhou Yuji to take charge.
At least Zhou Yuji won't be like Zu Kuan who just rushes and fights without any strategy in mind.
Even though the Ming Dynasty King's Division has been equipped with many tanks, each cavalryman is precious and cannot be lost easily.
After the news of Huang Taiji's withdrawal was confirmed, the people in the capital could finally feel relieved, and the funerals of some people who were hacked to death by pigtails could be held as scheduled.
But more people took to the streets, looking forward to one thing, and that was the fireworks show to celebrate the victory over Donglu.
At seven o'clock in the evening, all the people who had just had dinner came out with their families to witness this grand event.
In order to make his beautiful mother and Jun Min in the city happy, a certain prince also specially asked his subordinates to have the gunpowder factory prepare 666 large fireworks.
According to the speed of ten pieces per minute, it takes a total of sixty-six minutes. It can be regarded as a good luck for "sixty-six lucky" and pray for success in the coming year.
In order to ensure a very metaphysical set time, the effect of this level of burning is certainly not as satisfying as the shocking picture of a hundred flowers blooming in later generations.
But in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty people who lacked nightlife, it was a rare event.
After finally defeating the Tatars and having free fireworks to watch, what more could you ask for?
Since the display was held at the Daming Gate opposite Chengtianmen, my mother and sisters watched from the tower of Chengtianmen.
Only when the fireworks are far away can you see the overall scene. If the distance is too close, the beauty will be lost and the neck will be sore...
A certain prince was not a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. After just a few glances, he felt that he had lost all interest.
On the contrary, a group of old ladies nearby were all astonished and clapped their hands in joy.
"Report~! Your Highness, Sun Chuanting has led his troops. Most of them are stationed ten miles outside You'anmen. Sun Chuanting and a group of generals are already at Donghuamen."
"Explain it! Queen mother, please take your aunt and aunts to watch. I still have something to do!"
"Well! Brother Xang, don't worry!"
After learning that the Donglu troops had withdrawn, the beautiful mother was in a good mood, and there was a grand scene to enjoy in front of her, so she didn't have to worry about other things, and she led her little fat house and the little fairy to continue watching.
If you don't retreat if you don't retreat, you won't come to Qinwang. Is this agreed upon?
I know that there are many capable people out there, and the capable people today are all clever and clever!
"The sinner Sun Chuanting..."
"Okay, my beloved and all the generals, please be exempted from the ceremony! You have worked so hard and traveled all the way. I am very pleased. Can you have dinner?"
"Return to your Highness, not yet!"
"Come here, prepare dinner!"
You are not here to serve the King of Qin, you are clearly here to enjoy the meal!
Everyone thinks that if you are so shameless, can Daming be saved? ? ?
Before serving the food, a certain prince asked Lao Suntou about the situation there.
Logically speaking, the bandits should be suppressed in Huguang. Why did they appear in the Jifu area in early winter?
According to Sun Chuanting, the Qin army, together with other troops, first entered Huguang to suppress Luo Rucai's troops, and then pursued into Sichuan, where they joined forces with Hong Chengchou's troops, defeated Luo Rucai and Zhang Xianzhong's two rogue bandit groups, and captured Luo Rucai and others alive.
After leaving Sichuan, they entered Henan via Huguang, first recaptured Nanyang, then defeated the invading 5th Battalion of Ge Zuo in Ruyang, and then went north to pursue the troops of Zhang Ni's son Zhang Dingguo.
Zhang Dingguo was not caught, but Li Zicheng was discovered. When the enemies met, they were naturally extremely jealous. Sun Chuanting almost killed Li Ni last time.
However, Li Ni still ran away this time. Although he won another victory, he could not catch up with Li Ni, who ran faster than a rabbit, even in the southern part of Shanxi.
After crossing the Yellow River, Sun Chuanting's troops were stationed in Zezhou (Jincheng) in Shanxi Province to reorganize their troops and horses while replenishing the massive consumption of supplies.
However, Zezhou was a small place and could not support tens of thousands of officers and soldiers, so Sun Chuanting sent people to Lu'an Prefecture in the north and Huaiqing Prefecture in the south to collect food.
Before the food was received, the people who came back from Lu'an Mansion received earth-shattering news that Jifu was about to be attacked, and the news had reached Shanxi!
At this time, his old enemy Li Ni was a hundred miles away. Sun Chuanting wanted to continue the campaign, but he thought of the prince's life-saving grace. After learning from the pain, he could only temporarily give up the campaign and lead the main force northward.
Four troops, Zuo Guangxian, Xue Minzhong, Li Shourong, and Sun Xianzu, were left behind. Zuo Guangxian was responsible for the command. He did not seek to annihilate the enemy, but only wanted to bite Li Ni's tail.
Sun Chuanting led He Renlong, Li Guoqi, Zheng Jiadong, Niu Chenghu, Jiang Rang, Zu Dabi, Zhao Guangyuan, and Bai Guangen's troops with tens of thousands of troops as the vanguard, rushing north to aid King Qin.
However, after the whole army arrived in Baoding, further north they found that a small group of Qing troops had appeared in Laishui, south of Zhuozhou.
After advancing to Zhuozhou, Sun Chuanting ordered the entire army not to move lightly because there were thousands of Qing army horsemen in front.
The Qinwang troops brought by Sun Chuanting were only 30,000, and the horsemen were only 10,000. They were unable to defeat the 20,000 to 30,000 Qing army's horsemen.
After careful consideration, we can only wait and see what happens, and send more flying cavalry to find out the news so that we can respond in time.
After receiving the intelligence that the capital had not yet been lost, Sun Chuanting was not in a hurry to advance to avoid being ambushed by the Qing army.
Therefore, it was only tonight that a certain prince met this loyal minister who was deliberately conserving his strength.
You can't blame others. If you really destroy all the troops, you will become a mere commander...
