When Prince Dorgon of the Qing Dynasty and Shuorui heard that reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty were coming, he made a decisive decision and attacked the Ma Ke Army Formation in Shanhai Town with all his strength.
Although it was not stated explicitly, the intention was to overwhelm Ma Ke's troops, cause the sergeants in his camp to flee, and then drive them forward to attack the Ming reinforcements behind them.
Everything was going very smoothly as planned by Dorgon. Shanhai Town collapsed first, and then attacked Bai Guangen's troops in Ji Town. Just when Dorgon was deeply satisfied, the army was blocked about three miles east of West Shimen.
Here the Tatars were blocked by the soldiers and horses of Ningyuan Town of the Ming Dynasty. The two sides fought for several rounds. Although the Tatars had many soldiers and horses, they could not break through the defense line of Ningyuan Army for a while.
It turned out that Wu Sangui's elite cavalry came forward, and the infantry advanced in formation, and finally dispersed the defeated troops in Shanhai Town and Ji Town, causing them to flee to the north and south ends respectively.
Even those fierce defeated troops did not dare to attack Ningyuan's army and horse formation head-on. They obediently ran towards the east through the gaps between the formations under the surveillance of Ningyuan Town cavalry.
Even Bai Guangen, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, did not dare to show his face after seeing the actions and power of Ningyuan's soldiers and horses. Instead, he quietly led his servants to follow him, and went south with the defeated soldiers, fleeing eastward along the foot of Shimen Mountain. .
…………
Faced with the powerful artillery fire of the Ningyuan Army and the strict military formation, everyone in the Qing Dynasty was quite surprised. They never thought that they would encounter resistance here after successfully defeating several Ming Dynasty military barracks.
However, the leader was neither a newbie with no combat experience nor a reckless person. Dorgon and others did not rush to make a decision, but led some of their followers and rode horses to a high ground.
Standing on horseback, looking at the Ningyuan army formation opposite for a long time, Dorgon slowly put down his telescope and said calmly to Prince Zheng Jierhalang beside him: "Prince Zheng, this Wu Sangui is not easy. Not only did he disperse the defeated troops, Even under the siege of tens of thousands of my warriors, there is still no chaos, which is indeed not simple."
Prince Zheng Jierharang stroked his beard and smiled and said: "The Great Khan ordered us to intercept and kill the Southern Army here. Now our warriors have defeated three camps of the Southern Army one after another. Tens of thousands of troops and horses have been defeated. Although we have not been able to capture the Southern Dynasty General A great general, but the purpose of this trip has been achieved."
He looked at Dorgon and asked with a harmonious smile: "In my opinion, Wu Sangui's defense is very tight and cannot be broken at once, so we might as well retreat.
I think that after the Confederate Army suffered such a blow today, it will have no spare power to hinder my plan from now on. All we have to do is watch from the side. Prince Rui, what do you think? "
"Cough cough cough..."
Dorgon had been working hard for the Qing military. Just the day before yesterday, he caught wind and cold and had difficulty stopping his cough. He coughed several times before he felt relieved and said, "Otherwise, even though the Southern Army defeated three battalions in a row, it would still be defeated by me." Most of the warriors killed were infantry, while most of the cavalry fled first. Their strength was not greatly damaged, so they may not be incapable of fighting."
As he spoke, he picked up his whip again, pointed at Wu Sangui's military formation about two miles away, and said: "Wu Sangui across from me is the nephew of the ancestor of Jinzhou, and he is also a very capable person among the generals in Liaodong. He is actually the younger generation of generals in Liaodong. the main characters in.
If we, the warriors of the Qing Dynasty, can defeat them today, it will definitely severely damage the morale of the Confederate army and make it unable to rescue the crisis elsewhere. "
Dorobeledudu interjected at this time: "What Prince Rui said is absolutely true. However, Wu Sangui's army has several camps for several miles, a well-organized lineup, and good military morale. We, the Qing warriors, have also been attacking for a long time, but we are also in vain. Exhaustion has increased, and there are no signs of collapse of the Confederate Army."
Dorgon stroked his beard gently, smiled and said nothing. The white flag beside him was really a blue pearl, but he said: "The only ones who can fight in Liaodong are Zu Dashou and this boy Wu Sangui.
Although the Southern Army of Jin Zu Dashou was brave, they were huddled in the city of Jinzhou and were not allowed to come out. Now this boy Wu Sangui dares to fight with our warriors in the wild. Wouldn't he be playing into our hands? "
"Hahaha……"
Zhumala laughed again and said: "Wu Sangui's southern army is stronger than other troops, but it attacked all the way from Shimen Pass, and the soldiers and horses were exhausted. Although they are trying to support them, they only want to survive. Survival.
Our army is several times larger than the southern army. If we attack with all our strength, it will see that there is no hope of survival and will be defeated. At that time, our army will use all its best cavalry to chase them all the way. Wouldn't it clear out a powerful enemy for us? "
Du Du seemed to be dissatisfied, and said anxiously: "Since the Southern Army has captured Shimen Mountain and the East and West Shimen, reinforcements will arrive immediately. If we attack Wu Sangui with all our strength, how will we respond once the reinforcements from the Southern Army arrive?"
"Hey hey hey..."
Dorgon said with a jeering smile: "The fatigue of the Southern Army has appeared. At this time, we can try our best. Even if we cannot break through the Southern Army's camp, it will not be a serious problem.
As for the reinforcements from the Southern Army, even if they arrived, they would go to the front of the battle to save Wu Sangui from danger. In wild battles, even if we, the Qing warriors, could not win, we would not suffer a loss anyway. "
His smiling face turned to Jierhalang and asked: "What do Prince Zheng think?"
Although Jierhalang was ordered to assist Dorgon and also wanted to monitor from the sidelines, the military decision-making was naturally still dominated by Dorgon, the commander-in-chief of the entire army. As long as it was not an obviously wrong decision, he would naturally not object.
This point is much better than the military supervision mechanism of the Ming Dynasty army. The supervisors of the Ming Dynasty all mouthed the constitution and passed down the destiny from generation to generation. Not to mention being arrogant, but on the occasion of the war, all of them He is above the commander-in-chief and gives blind orders.
Think about how many battles the Ming Dynasty lost, all of which were made by these villains!
At this moment, Prince Zheng Ji'erhalang said: "Prince Rui is the commander-in-chief of the entire army and a person whom Your Majesty trusts. But if you have a decision, I will just obey your orders."
Dorgon's expression remained unchanged, but his smile became slightly stiff for a moment, and he said in a stern tone: "Zhumala, go to the front and let me keep an eye on you. If you don't work hard in that flag, you can deal with it as you wish. "
He turned around and said: "Du Du, lead your troops to the north entrance of the West Shimen Mountain Road and guard outside the entrance to block the reinforcements from the Southern Dynasty."
…………
Besides, on Wu Sangui's side, I don't know how many defeated soldiers and civilians were killed. Even some of the generals could no longer be identified, so they were all treated as defeated soldiers.
Of course, only a few were killed on the spot. After all, most of them were driven to the north and south, and some were disarmed by Ningyuan soldiers and imprisoned in separate camps.
Generally speaking, the number of defeated soldiers and civilians killed by Ningyuan's army in the blocking attack was far less than that killed by the Tatar soldiers in pursuit.
Even so, Wu Sangui was really ruthless. After the Shanhai Town Commander-in-Chief Ma Ke was rejected in front of the Jizhen Camp, he walked around the Ningyuan Town soldiers and horses, for fear of being shut out again, which would affect his career in the army. of prestige.
Ma Ke could think this because, firstly, he was really smart and scheming, and secondly, he only came to this understanding after being rejected by Bai Guangen.
Bai Guangen did not have such insight. He believed that he was older than Wu Sangui, and they were marching into Shimen Mountain together. Therefore, when he saw the banner of Ningyuan Army in the distance, he hurried away.
But the ending disappointed him. Wu Sangui didn't give any face to Bai Guangen. No matter how he signed up, Wu Sangui didn't come out to meet him.
In the end, Bai Guangen couldn't bear it anymore and wanted to go straight into the formation to ask Wu Sangui to defend himself, but was repulsed by a burst of cannons. The horse under Bai Guangen was frightened and kicked up, knocking him to the ground.
He climbed up with the help of his servants, patted the dust off his body, got on the horse again, and cursed angrily: "Bah. Son of a bitch Wu Sangui, you wait for me, sooner or later you will be unable to eat and walk around."
He raised the reins and urged the horse to gallop for a few steps, then turned around and cursed: "We'll see how I deal with you."
At this moment, he had completely forgotten how he treated Marco and his identity as the defeated general. He only wanted to scold him to relieve his hatred!
It was precisely because of Bai Guangen's delay here that he delayed his opportunity to gather the defeated troops. By the time he remembered this, most of the young and strong defeated troops had been recruited by Shanhaiguan Commander-in-Chief Ma Ke.
The only ones left were old and weak, or civilians with no combat experience. For this reason, he went to find the bad luck of the generals of Shanhai Town, but he did not expect to be defeated again.
It turned out that Ma Ke had been riding for a while, but suddenly stopped. He called his general Ma Zhiren and said, "You stay, and I will leave two hundred more servants for you. Without you here, I still feel uneasy."
Zhiyong, if that guy Bai Guangen comes to cause trouble for you, there is no need to be afraid of him. You can lead your army to form a formation and wait for him. If that guy dares to come hard, we will wait for work and do his damn thing. "
Ma Zhiyong only recognized Ma Ke in the army. Although he was also a member of the Ma clan, that was not all the case.
In addition to being a tribesman, Ma Ke is also Ma Zhiyong's savior. When Ma Zhiyong was a young man, he was a chivalrous and righteous man who once committed a life-threatening lawsuit. It was Ma Ke who defended him and was able to escape with his life.
From then on, he stayed in Ma Ke's army. In order to repay his uncle's life-saving grace, he always climbed up first in every battle in these years. As a result, he became more and more appreciated by Ma Ke, and he was promoted as a personal general and promoted along the way.
Ma Zhiyong also became more and more grateful to Ma Ke. In the army, Ma Ke was the only one who obeyed his orders, and he could not tolerate the second person in his eyes.
Therefore, Ma Ke thought at this moment that Bai Guangen might come to collect the defeated troops later. At that time, if he took the lead, he would be furious. Han Shichen and Cheng Ruheng would be extremely difficult to deal with it.
Only then could he truly relax and not be afraid that Bai Guangen would snatch away the soldiers and horses he had worked so hard to gather.
It was Marco who thought carefully. Fortunately, he kept Ma Zhiyong. Otherwise, the defeated troops he had worked so hard to collect would have been snatched away by Bai Guangen.
From then on, the feud between Ma Ke and Bai Guangen became deeper and deeper until they could not be reconciled.
Wu Sangui was also in a bad mood at the moment. Just as what Zhenbilu Zhumala said in the Qing Dynasty's Zhengbai Banner, the soldiers and horses of Ningyuan Town had just attacked the Qing army's position in Shimen Mountain. Before they could repair it, they were immediately ordered to go down the mountain and seize the daughter of the river. pontoon.
Wu Sangui is worthy of being the rising star of the generals in western Liaoning. As soon as he stepped off Shimen Mountain, he was keenly aware of something unusual. Therefore, he did not rush to advance, but arranged for each battalion under his command to form a defensive formation so that the soldiers could get some dry food and relieve some fatigue. .
It was his decision that saved the elite army of Ningyuan Town, which numbered more than 10,000 people.
Of course, Chen Jiugao, the former commander of the Shenji Battalion, also took the greatest credit for this. Although he had always commanded from the center and had never been to the front line of the battle formation, after all, he still had to climb up and down Shimen Mountain. How could he not be tired despite being so pampered? .
So he kept saying to Wu Sangui, how could the army go to war if they were so exhausted? If they suddenly encountered a strong enemy, wouldn't it be the same as sending a mouthful of fat into the mouth of a vicious wolf?
How could Wu Sangui not know this, so he naturally got off the slope and arranged the battalions to prepare and rest in batches. While he and Chen Jiugao went to a high ground in person to observe the surrounding situation before stopping.
But not long after, he saw the uproar of defeated troops running towards his camp. He couldn't help but be shocked. What Wu Sangui was afraid of was not the huge crowd of defeated soldiers and civilians, but the surprise of how the Ming army over there could move so quickly. This is the collapse.
As far as he knew, Ma Ke had just descended from Rufeng Mountain at this time, and Bai Guangen's soldiers and horses were reported to have captured the West Stone Gate. Logically, they should form a formation outside the West Stone Gate at this time.
However, the fact was that they could no longer think too much. Wu Sangui, Chen Jiugao and others immediately returned to the camp. He made a prompt decision. In addition to ordering his uncle Zu Dale to monitor the camp inside and outside, he also sent groups of elite cavalry forward.
His purpose is obvious, that is to prevent the defeated troops from attacking his own military formation no matter what, and for this he will do whatever it takes.
It was precisely because of Wu Sangui's ruthless determination that Ningyuan's military formation was not collided by the defeated soldiers and civilians, and it was able to hold on to this day in the subsequent battle with the Tatar cavalry.
Looking at the sky, it was already getting dusk. Wu Sangui judged that there would be no more large-scale attacks by the Tatars. He looked to the south in the direction of Shimen Mountain with some relief, and thought to himself: "Reinforcements, why haven't the reinforcements arrived yet?"
Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of the Tatar cavalry to the west marching in as a team again. From a distance, they looked densely packed, with the Tatar cavalry advancing layer by layer. Even Wu Sangui was frightened.
He knew that the Tatars were going to use all their strength to attack the last line, so he hurriedly stepped forward and shouted an order: "Send the order to the entire army to stand ready. All artillery and muskets are not allowed to be fired without orders. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed!"
As soon as Wu Sangui finished speaking, he saw teams of light cavalry galloping away on horseback. Then bursts of orders came from all over the camp. There were also some light cavalry warriors with command flags on their backs, riding out of the camp and heading to other camps to deliver orders. went.
Chen Jiugao stood beside Wu Sangui, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Although he tried to keep calm, anyone with a clear eye could see that he was already panicking.
I just heard him whisper to Wu Sangui: "Wu Shuai, I... I am afraid that there is some shortage of medicine in our army. I never thought that today's battle would be so fierce. All the cannons will be used up."
"What should we do...what should we do...what should we do..."
Wu Sangui looked at Chen Jiugao who was already panicking. Although he didn't want to offend him, he was afraid that if he was allowed to talk nonsense like this again, it would affect the morale of the army.
"General Chen..."
Wu Sangui's voice was a little louder, and there was a hint of coldness. Chen Jiugao couldn't help being stunned when he heard this. This was the first time Wu Sangui spoke to him in this tone.
"Mr. Chen, just fire out as many cannons as you have. What's there to worry about?"
Wu Sangui's expression also softened slightly, but his tone was still a little cold: "Is it possible that I, Ningyuan general, can't squeeze the clay?"
