Liaodong.
Huang Taiji was disappointed that peace talks with the Ming Dynasty failed to succeed, but he did not give up. Instead, he took advantage of the Tiger Character Banner to go to war with the Ming army in Shandong and ordered an army of slave thieves to attack Jinzhou City.
Those sent to attack Jinzhou City were Zhenglan Banner and Xianglan Banner.
Mang Gurtai served as the commander-in-chief of the army, and Jierhalang served as the deputy commander. In addition to the two Eight Banners soldiers, there were also a group of Han soldiers and Mongolian soldiers, among which the Han soldiers were the largest.
The loss of veteran Eight Banners soldiers such as Liang Hongqi at once on the grassland consumed a lot of Eight Banners soldiers. Therefore, Huang Taiji did not send too many Eight Banners soldiers to attack Jinzhou City.
Huang Taiji himself also stayed in Shengjing to take charge.
Having enjoyed the benefits of looting the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, many Eight Banners soldiers were not very interested in attacking Jinzhou City, especially those who had just returned from the Ming Dynasty when they were at their richest.
The soldiers and horses of the Two Blue Banners who followed Mang Gurtai to Jinzhou City were all the Eight Banners soldiers who had been stationed in Shengjing, and a small number of the Eight Banners soldiers of the Two Blue Banners who had returned from the Ming Dynasty.
The total number of soldiers and horses of the two blue banners was only a few thousand, and including Han soldiers and Mongolian soldiers, it was less than 20,000.
However, compared with the garrison of the Tiger-Character Banner in Jinzhou City, the number is not small. The soldiers and horses stationed by the Tiger-Character Banner in Jinzhou City are nothing more than a combat barracks with only a few thousand people.
If not for the fact that Jinzhou City was in a war zone with the slave thieves and was in a dangerous position to guard Lushun, even the soldiers and horses from the Tiger-Character Banner's war barracks would have stayed here.
The war barracks stationed in Jinzhou City was none other than Zhao Wu, the former guard captain who was sent to Liaodong by Liu Heng.
"Yingzheng, I heard that the slave thieves have sent out an army to attack our Jinzhou City." Wang Ju, the captain of the 1,000th man under Zhao Wu, came to Zhao Wu excitedly.
Zhao Wu, who was standing in front of a long table and studying the sand table, raised his head, looked at the captain of the thousand-man team, and said with a smile: "Your ears are long enough. I just learned that not long after, you heard The wind is blowing!"
"Hehe!" Wang Ju scratched the back of his head with his hand and smiled darkly.
It was hard for him to say that he got the news from a staff officer under Ying Zheng.
"Okay, I'm not sure where you heard this news." Zhao Wu did not intend to pursue Wang Ju for anything, and said, "The slave thieves are coming. As the captain of the Thousand-man Team, what can you say? , if the slave thieves arrive at the border of Jinzhou, how will we fight this battle?"
Wang Ju said hurriedly: "I listen to Ying Zheng."
"Stop talking nonsense, just say it." Zhao Wu raised his leg as if to kick Wang Ju.
Wang Ju dodged slightly and said: "The soldiers are coming to cover up the water and the soil. It's not like we have never fought against slaves and thieves. We are all carrying a head on two shoulders. There is nothing to be afraid of!"
"Asking you is a question in vain." Zhao Wu rolled his eyes and immediately looked at the sand table in front of him again.
This sand table is a topographic map of Jinzhou City and nearby areas.
In order to prepare this sand table, he sent his men everywhere to check the terrain. It took more than half a month to get such a sand table with accurate terrain.
Wang Ju lowered his head and glanced at the sand table, and said: "If you agree, Yingzheng, I will take my 1,000-man team to the Xiaoheishan area to ambush. When the slave bandit army approaches, I will first ambush him here in Xiaoheishan." .”
As he spoke, he pointed with his finger at the location marking the Xiaoheishan area on the sand table.
Zhao Wu glanced in the direction of Xiaoheishan and said, "Do you know how many soldiers and horses the slave thieves came this time?"
"I heard that there are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, but it doesn't matter. I can bring more cannons over there. When we meet, I will first use the cannons to blind them, then beat them violently, and then rush to kill them like herding sheep." Wang Ju said.
Zhao Wu glanced at him and said: "You are just like the Ming army that you fought before, which didn't even have enough to eat! This slave army is more difficult to deal with than the Ming army, and the opponent also has Mongolian cavalry. If you bring too many cannons, you will not be able to hide them from the eyes of the slave thief commander, and they will catch you off guard before you can ambush them."
"Yingzheng, you tell me how to fight, I will listen to you." Wang Ju also felt that his thinking was a bit simplistic.
Having fought against the slave thieves, he knew that it was indeed more difficult to deal with than the Ming army. Even the Han soldiers who defected to the slave thieves from the Ming army were more difficult to deal with than when they were in the Ming army.
Zhao Wu looked at the sand table in front of him and said: "This time I am going to defend Jinzhou City and not leave the city to fight with the slaves and thieves. No matter how many slaves and thieves there are, as long as I don't leave the city, they will not be able to do anything to me."
He picked up a short stick on the table and pointed at the Jinzhou City where he was stationed on the sand table.
"It's too frustrating to just stick to this!" Wang Ju said with a look of reluctance.
Unlike the Ming army in Liaodong who easily did not dare to fight with the slave thieves out of the city, the officers on the Tiger Character Banner side were eager to start a battle with the slave thieves in the wild.
If you have no fear in your heart, you will naturally not be afraid.
Zhao Wu looked at him and said: "We obviously have the advantage of defending the city, so why should we give up our advantage and go out to fight the slaves and traitors? Besides, our purpose is to defend Jinzhou City so that the slaves and traitors do not dare to bypass Jinzhou City and attack Lushun." , as long as we can defend Jinzhou City, we will win."
"The Second Battle Division completely wiped out the slave bandit's two red flag troops. Aren't you envious of the camp?" Wang Ju said encouragingly.
Zhao Wu said angrily: "What are you thinking about? How many people are there in the Second Battle Division? Moreover, we had a cavalry division and many Mongolian soldiers in the battle on the grassland. Not to mention that we only have one battle camp. Even if we Counting the soldiers and horses in Lushun, there are not as many soldiers and horses as there were in the battle on the grassland. You have a small official and a big appetite. You actually want to eat the tens of thousands of slaves and thieves. You are really not afraid of knocking your teeth. .”
"Hey." Wang Ju scratched the back of his head with his hand.
Zhao Wudao: "Okay, stop making trouble here, kid. Go back and prepare. Take your thousand-man team to Nanguan Island to transport some food back. I don't know how long this battle will last!"
Since they have given up the initiative to attack and have chosen to defend Jinzhou City, it is up to the opponent to decide when to withdraw their troops, so they must be prepared to defend Jinzhou City for a long time.
"Yes." Wang Ju responded, turned and left.
Wang Juggang just walked to the door and was about to go out when he saw someone walking in from outside.
"Hello, Chief of Staff." Wang Ju hurriedly stopped and said hello to the visitor.
When the visitor saw Wang Ju, he smiled and said, "Are you here to see Ying Zheng?"
"Forget it, this kid heard somewhere that the slave bandit army was coming to attack our Jinzhou City. He came here to ask for a fight, saying that he wanted to station in Xiaoheishan to set up an ambush." Zhao Wu in the room turned around and looked at Outside the door, he explained to the newcomers.
Chief of Staff Yun Xun said with a smile: "It is a good thing to have the courage to fight. I will give you my spiritual support."
"Ying Zheng didn't agree." Wang Ju said with a grimace.
