The named deputy general Niu Wancheng was a soldier of Huguang Admiral Dong Xueli.
Following Dong Xueli, who was the deputy general of Minghua Machi, he first joined Li Zicheng, and then he was transferred to Azige, the founding prince of the Qing Dynasty. In twenty years, he became a registered deputy general from a private soldier. No matter how you look at it, he did well.
Since the Qing government launched the encirclement and suppression of the Ming army in eastern Kuizhou, although the Huguang Qing army on the eastern front suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Li Laiheng, the Qing army in Huguang did not become "fearful of thieves like tigers" because of the defeat, given the overall dominance of the Qing army. On the contrary, he was very active in continuing to encircle and suppress the Ming army.
It corresponds to the four words "continuous defeats and repeated battles".
Among them is Niu Wancheng.
In addition to the great mission of quelling the rebels for the imperial court, the admiral's promise to ask the imperial court for the rank of commander-in-chief also stimulated Niu Wancheng.
This time he took the initiative to ask Ying to cooperate with the surrendered general Ma Tengyun into Wushan to suppress the bandits.
In addition to cooperation, he also wanted to supervise the Ma Department, which Ma Tengyun actually knew very well.
There was just one thing that Ma Tengyun didn't know, and that was that Huguang Admiral Dong Xueli had privately given Niu Wancheng a tip.
That is to consume as much as possible the surrender troops commanded by Ma Tengyun.
The reason is that Ma Tengyun was not from the regular army of the Ming Dynasty, but from the Dashun Army led by Li Zicheng.
Although the Qing Dynasty had surrendered, Dong Xueli, who had been a courtier of the Ming Dynasty, was still hostile, or discriminatory, to the Shun army that destroyed the Ming Dynasty.
Even though the Governor-General had asked the court for Ma Tengyun to be appointed the Governor of the Left, Dong Xueli still wanted to get rid of Ma Tengyun.
It was also tacitly understood by the Qing court that the generals who had surrendered would be divided into two origins, the Ming army and the rebel army, so that they could be treated differently.
Sun Kewang, who was born in the Great Western Army, was made a righteous king after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty. He was treated as a living target by a group of Manchus and shot to death.
What's more, Ma Tengyun, an "old thief" from Dashun Army.
But this kind of thing must not be done too clearly, otherwise it will be easy for those Ming army generals who have not surrendered to fight to the end, which will not be conducive to their encirclement and suppression.
It will also undermine the governor's general policy of using both suppression and appeasement.
Therefore, Dong Xueli's idea was to consume.
In his words, dog eats dog.
It is best if Ma Tengyun can persuade the Ming army to surrender on the western front. If not, let him fight with the Ming army. Niu Wancheng's troops will serve as the supervisor of the battle team behind the formation.
During the fight, Ma Tengyun's strength would definitely be damaged.
If he doesn't fight, he will be convicted of surrendering and rebelling again, and Niu Wancheng will deal with him on the spot for not having a firm stance.
In short, Dong Xueli didn't want Ma Tengyun alive.
At least, he doesn't want his gang of thieves to be alive.
The admiral had this opportunity. After his subordinates came to report that they had received the warning signal from the Ma Department, Niu Wancheng did not immediately lead his troops to move closer to the Ma Department. Instead, he continued to eat and drink in the town to pass the time.
His subordinates, Si Qi Yikui, did not know the inside story. Out of good intentions, he reminded the lieutenant that the enemy's situation was unknown. If Ma Tengyun lost to the Ming army, it would be a drag on them.
"Ma Tengyun used to be General Guoyi under Blind Li. He was known as one of the eighteen heroes. He could fight very well. What should he be afraid of? Let him fight with the Ming thieves for a while, and then we will go over."
Niu Wancheng ignored it.
What he wants is for Ma Tengyun to fight the Ming army and both sides will suffer losses, so that he can easily get the credit after leading his troops there.
As a result, within half an hour, the people sent by Ma Tengyun arrived to ask for reinforcements. They said that the incoming Ming army was extremely powerful and numerous, and they could no longer hold on. They asked Lieutenant General Niu to quickly lead troops for reinforcements.
"Damn it, Ma Tengyun is so useless! The Ming thieves are at the end of their rope, how can there be any soldiers left to fight! I think he just works hard and doesn't work hard!"
That being said, but considering that Ma Tengyun's defeat would also have an impact on him, Niu Wancheng did not dare to delay any longer and ordered his men to gather troops and rush towards the direction of the Ma Department.
The distance is not far, only five miles, but these five miles are not plains, but mountain roads, which are very difficult to walk.
It would take at least an hour to reach Mabu's location.
Niu Wancheng had only walked halfway when he set out, when a group of ragged soldiers with disheveled armor and even missing weapons rushed up in front of him.
Seeing the Qing army with the green flag appear, the defeated soldiers rushed forward, crying and shouting as if they had seen their parents, and almost dispersed the front line of the green soldiers.
When Niu Wancheng saw this, he was furious and ordered his subordinates to suppress the group of defeated soldiers. Only then did he stabilize his position. At the same time, he was frightened. He did not expect that Ma Tengyun would really be defeated by the Ming army!
You must know that Ma Tengyun had more than 1,600 men, and they were all carefully selected by Ma Tengyun. However, they were defeated by the Ming army in less than an hour. How many people did the Ming army have? !
This made Lieutenant Niu feel confused, neither advancing nor retreating.
More and more defeated troops retreated, including Ma Tengyun's general Ge Jinbao.
He was immediately brought to Niu Wancheng.
"What, Ma Tengyun is dead?!"
After listening to Ge Jinbao's stammering account, Niu Wancheng was dumbfounded. He thought Ma Tengyun was defeated, but he didn't expect that the old thief even lost his life.
"How many people are there in the Ming army, and who is leading the troops?"
Du Si Qi Yikui was frightened and quickly asked Ge Jinbao for details.
Ge Jinbao squeaked and couldn't say anything. He only said that the Ming army was very desperate. They were attacking like crazy, regardless of human life and casualties. They fought hard for a long time and couldn't hold on until they collapsed. Come down.
"The trapped beast still fights!"
Niu Wancheng thought that those Ming soldiers who were not afraid of death were probably members of the Zhongzhen camp, also known as the old camp of thieves.
If it was really this group of people, he couldn't help but want to quit.
After all, he is here to pick up fruits, not to chew bones.
If he really had to fight head-on with those thieves and old soldiers, even if he won, he would still be injured.
I thought over and over again that it was better to withdraw. Just when I was about to give the order to withdraw to Dachang, another defeated soldier ran back. This time the news he brought was that the army had withdrawn to the stronghold in the west.
"Why did you withdraw?"
Niu Wancheng had a question mark on his forehead and immediately ordered his soldiers to bring the map.
The map is a general defense map of the Ming army in the Kuidong area. It was presented to Zhang Changgeng, the governor of Huguang, by Ma Tengyun after he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.
The map shows that there are only two Ming army strongholds west of Dachang, one is Suokou Cave and the other is Wujiayuanzi northwest of Suokou Cave.
"Sir, if the Ming army retreats to the lock mouth cave, our army will immediately march in and block it at the lock mouth. In this way, the Ming army in both places will be caught in my east-west attack."
Du Si Qi Yikui believed that this was a good opportunity to completely deal with the Ming Army on the Western Front. After all, the main force of the Sichuan Army commanded by Sichuan Admiral Zheng Jiaolin was dealing with Wu Jiayuanzi's Ming Army.
They don't need to storm the lock, they just need to set up a fence to prevent them from breaking out from the east.
Qi Yikui's analysis is very reasonable. Niu Wancheng was greatly moved. The march to encircle the Ming army was a meritorious service, but the retreat to Dachang was not only a futile achievement but also a possible fault.
Because Ma Tengyun died too quickly, and he was too close to the Ma Department. If someone who wanted to look back could accuse him of sitting back and watching the surrendering army be destroyed without saving anything, even if the admiral intended to get rid of Ma Tengyun, he would probably have to bear the blame first. .
But there are still doubts in my heart, that is, why the Ming army did not march towards Dachang after their victory, but instead retreated to the lock.
Is it possible that the Ming army wanted to lure him deeper and ambush him?
In order to ensure that the Ming army was not tempting him, Niu Wancheng was more thoughtful and ordered the Ma soldiers who had escaped to be questioned individually.
The result was the same. The Ming army did retreat. The reason for the retreat was that they had few troops and suffered heavy casualties during the battle with the Ma tribe, so that they had no strength to fight again.
Niu Wancheng was not gullible, so he called Ge Jinbao over again and asked him to explain the battle in detail.
"...The last general was ordered by General Ma to guard the high slope on the right. I did a good job in guarding it. Who would have thought that the Ming army organized a death squad to seize the high slope on the left..."
Ge Jinbao did not dare to hide it and told the truth about how the Ma Department was defeated by the Ming army.
However, he hid the fact that he took the initiative to order the retreat, and only said that he led his troops to rescue Ma Tengyun but failed and was forced to retreat.
After Ge Jinbao went down, Niu Wancheng asked the generals what they meant.
Some said that the Ming army retreated in fear after knowing the existence of their Green Camp. Some said that the Ming army had no strength to fight anymore and was forced to withdraw. None of them believed that the Ming army dared to fight them with its current strength.
Qi Yikui said: "My lord, you must not hesitate. Since the bandit army has retreated, our army should take advantage of the situation to pursue it. If we can eliminate the opponent on the way, we can capture the lock without spending a single soldier and completely cut off the Wu Jiayuanzi Ming army." I will try to persuade you to surrender when the time comes, but I think the Ming army will probably surrender."
"good!"
The generals agreed, and Niu Wancheng no longer hesitated and immediately ordered the entire army to march to Suokou Cave.
It's just that it's a bit difficult for the horse troops to retreat.
You can't kill, but if you don't kill, let them follow you and make trouble.
Qi Yikui suggested that Ge Jinbao, the deputy general of the Ma Department who had escaped, organize the defeated troops to serve as vanguard, so that if the Ming army really had an ambush, this group of cannon fodder could help them attract firepower.
"It makes sense!"
Niu Wancheng agreed immediately and asked Qi Yikui to handle the matter.
Soon, the Qing army set off again. This time walking in front of the team were hundreds of remnant soldiers led by Ge Jinbao.
Maybe the Green Camp soldiers were behind them, but these remnant soldiers who had escaped from the Ming army actually had a little more courage.
After walking for more than half an hour, the Qing army finally arrived at the place where Ma Tengyun died in battle.
The battlefield here had obviously been cleaned up by the Ming army. All useful ordnance was taken away, leaving only corpses and insignificant things.
The corpses included not only Ma Tengyun's surrendered troops, but also those of the Ming army.
"The Ming army retreated in such a hurry that they had no time to take away their people!"
Qi Yikui knew that the soldiers of the old army camp valued comradeship the most and would not discard the bodies of the dead unless absolutely necessary. Therefore, he concluded that the Ming army had learned from the prisoners that the green camp was about to arrive, and they hurriedly withdrew because they were worried about losing.
Niu Wancheng nodded slightly, his eyes falling on a dead horse in front of him.
There was a body there, thrust into the snow by a spear.
Surprisingly, it was Ma Tengyun that the Admiral wanted to get rid of!
The remaining soldiers under Ma Tengyun also saw the body of their old marquis, and they felt a little sad for a moment.
Niu Wancheng snorted slightly and ordered not to pay attention to the corpse here. The team continued to set off and must catch up with the Ming army.
More than an hour later, around three quarters in the afternoon (three or four o'clock), Niu Wancheng came from the front to report that he had discovered the Ming army's baggage team.
Ge Jinbao and his men are in pursuit.
"oh?"
Niu Wancheng looked around, got off his horse, climbed to a high place surrounded by officers and soldiers, picked up his telescope and looked ahead.
In the footage, there are hundreds of people fleeing to the west in the distance, followed by Ge Jinbao and a group of remaining soldiers chasing them.
There seemed to be women and children among the fleeing Ming army.
You can vaguely see the fleeing Ming army throwing away their baggage. Some women even took off the baggage they were carrying and threw it away.
Further ahead of the camera, it was completely empty and there was no trace of the Ming army. It was obvious that the main force had gone far away.
"A thief is a thief. At the critical moment, my wife and children become a burden."
What he saw through the telescope made Niu Wancheng completely let down his guard and waved his hand: "Tell the brothers, women are going to be captured alive! Chase them, chase them hard!"
