On September 25, the 14th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, at the end of Mao hour, the sky was still dark, the earth was deathly silent, and a thin layer of white snow was like a brocade quilt.
Since this year is a leap July, the end of September is already equivalent to mid-November in the later Gregorian calendar. Coupled with the early arrival of the Siberian cold current during the Little Ice Age, the temperature at this time is already quite low.
But the strange thing is that after the sun comes out, the earth is like a fire, and the moment the sun sets, you will feel the slightest chill, especially in the early morning, the temperature can even reach minus ten degrees, which is why it snows easily at night. .
Therefore, in this extremely bad weather, being on duty at night is the most difficult thing. The howling north wind is biting and freezing. Even if you are hiding in the military tent, you can feel the slightest chill, let alone standing guard outside.
Moreover, for many years, only the warriors of the Qing Dynasty had sneak attacks on other people's fortresses. However, the enemies who fought against them, whether they were Mongols, Koreans, or Hans, did not fail to attack them secretly or at night.
But all the invading enemies were beaten until they cried for their fathers and mothers until they completely surrendered under their iron hoofs!
Nowadays, the rising Qing Dynasty has no rivals in the entire Northeast Asia, and even the entire East Asia. Although the aging Ming Empire has not been completely conquered by it, it has almost reached the point where it has no power to fight back.
Of course, the emperor and ministers of the Qing Dynasty did not know the concepts of Northeast Asia and East Asia, but wherever they could see, even the Ming Dynasty, which had not yet been completely conquered, had insufficient self-protection and was chased like rabbits by the knights of the Qing Dynasty. Running around.
It was this kind of arrogance that was not blind, which gave rise to a sense of pride throughout the Qing Dynasty. Although military regulations and disciplines were still very strict, many soldiers were somewhat slack.
After all, they have not been attacked at night in so many years, not to mention they are still in the land of Liaodong, which is equivalent to their own home. I think that even if they were plundering in the interior of the Ming Dynasty, they would only dare to follow them from a distance, and even have the courage to take a closer look. nothing.
But everything has a surprise. Even if everyone in the world thinks that there is no force that dares to sneak attack the Qing army camp, as long as one person disagrees, that means no!
Just like today, the vast land is covered in silver and as quiet as a virgin.
However, the various camps of the Qing army outside Jinzhou Nanguan were already bustling with people and lights. There were traces of gunpowder smoke everywhere in the light. Many Qing troops with uneven armor and unorganized troops were running around indiscriminately.
Horses neighed in the military camp, mixed with roars and screams. Groups of cavalry rushed out of the camp. They chased down the road full of chaotic horse hoof prints, making it even more muddy.
On the vast land as pale as snow, muddy black roads lead in all directions, in stark contrast to the surrounding snow-white wilderness.
Looking further south, red figures in the snow kept rolling forward, like fire dragons rolling forward, rushing out of muddy roads from the silvery land.
Behind them, perhaps more than a hundred steps or hundreds of steps away, were groups of Qing army armored cavalry with different colors of armor, riding horses and chasing them quickly along the muddy road.
The elite cavalry of the Ming army galloping like a red line in front, all wearing bright clothes and angry horses, with high-spirited expressions on their faces. They sometimes galloped and sometimes slowed down, as if they were afraid that the Tatars behind them would lose them.
From time to time, bursts of laughter could be heard from the Ming Army cavalry. They were playing, laughing and scolding each other. They were not tired after the war at all, but full of excitement.
They rushed in and out from the Qing army's two-wing camp in the south of Jinzhou City. They walked on the silvery ground and made an arc from the two wings, rushing back to their Xuanfu army camp.
The Qing army's Tatar cavalry behind them were full of anger. They roared and cursed constantly. Although they tried hard to beat the powerful mounts under their crotches, the gap between the two sides was too large and they could not catch up.
At this moment, if you can look down from a high place, you can see that a shape like a big red lantern suddenly appears on this land!
Jinzhou City in the north is like the head of a lantern high above, and the row of Qing army camps below it is like the upper edge of the lantern, and the muddy roads along which the cavalry of the Ming and Qing Dynasties galloped are like the top of the lantern. The skeleton, and the horizontal row of Xuanfu Army Camps on the north bank of Xiaoling River below, just became the base of this huge lantern.
Although the scene looked beautiful, it was actually an extremely murderous battlefield. As the Ming army galloped closer and closer, the sky gradually became brighter.
It can be seen that there is a team of elite cavalry outside the camps of the Xuanfu Army, waiting in full formation. Their armor is bright and they are full of energy, which highlights their vitality. It is obvious that they all got a good rest last night. .
Suddenly, a dozen strong horses galloped back from different directions. They all had flags on their backs, fluttering in the wind, and each of them held a flag gun high in their hands. They couldn't stop galloping. shake.
"Dong! Dongdong! Dongdongdong!..."
The big drums of the Xuanfu army beat suddenly, and as the sound of the war drums reached the ears of the soldiers, they began to march northward in an extremely strict military formation, beating the drums.
About a hundred steps away from their respective military camps, they stood still and formed small battle formations. They stood there. The armor and spear points on their bodies shone brightly in the sunlight.
After a while, groups of Ming army cavalry galloped back on horseback. Almost all of them were covered in blood. Some soldiers even rode two horses. On some war horses, corpses of comrades were placed in front of and behind the saddles of the knights.
It can be seen from this that the intensity of the battle in the night attack on the slave camp was intense. When the knights rushed closer, it could be seen that the armor on many of them still had traces of being burned.
They steeled themselves and roared through the gaps in the infantry formation, galloping back to their respective camps, leaving only the sound of horse hooves on the ground echoing in the ears of the soldiers in the infantry camp.
In the distance, the Qing army stopped two or three hundred paces away. Although their formation was not very neat, they were still in small groups according to their habits, and their horses were galloping slowly in the distance. Keep observing the situation of the formation here.
About a quarter of an hour later, the horse roared and galloped back slowly.
…………
The Qing army's camp was in a mess. Even Prince Li Daishan's camp in the middle was not attacked by the Xuanfu army, but the shouts of killing from both wings also woke them up from their sleep.
In the dark, a collision and stampede occurred among the soldiers of the Qing army. In order to stabilize the military camp, many of the disturbed soldiers were beheaded on the spot.
Their running around caused a few fires. Fortunately, the Chinese camp was not really attacked by the Xuanfu army at night, otherwise the losses would have been more than that.
In fact, even though the camps on both wings of the Qing army were invaded by the Xuanfu army at night, the losses to the Qing warriors were not serious, and the Xuanfu army did not want to fight with them at all.
It was just that before they could react and they were unable to organize a large-scale attack and interception, they rushed left and right in the camp and set fire everywhere. Their intention was to disturb the Qing army.
In the end, intelligence from all parties was gathered, and it was found that the most damaged was the Wuzhen Chaoha Artillery Battalion, which was loyal to Wang Kong Youde. They were attacked by the Xuanfu Army at night, although the soldiers of the God's Blessing Army and the Wuzhen Chaoha Artillery Battalion only suffered hundreds of casualties.
However, before the powerful Hongyi artillery had time to bombard the Xuanda coalition forces on today's battlefield, Xuanfu army soldiers blew up thirteen gates at night with ten thousand enemies.
Moreover, many other types of artillery in the artillery camp were also damaged in the night raids by the Xuanfu army. Most of these were previously captured from various cities of the Ming army, and they were mostly old artillery.
But for the monarchs and ministers of the Qing Dynasty, they cherished them as treasures. After all, they could not cast them themselves, although they realized the importance of artillery during the Battle of Daling River.
After the war, the Han Army also began to set up artillery battalions and cast light artillery by itself. However, due to substandard materials and technology, many of the artillery cast were insufficient.
It was not until the return of Kong Youde, Geng Jingzhong and others that they brought mature cannon casting technology to the Qing Dynasty. Although the available iron materials were insufficient, the Qing Dynasty also had its own special channels.
Through the border trade in Guihua City, they purchased a large amount of usable iron materials from several major merchant gangs in Zhangjiakou. Although the quantity could not be guaranteed stably, the supply was continuous.
All it costs is money!
However, this silver was almost useless to the monarchs and ministers of the Qing Dynasty. In their eyes, it was far less useful than resources such as food, iron, and intelligence, and it was even less useful than tea.
Another point is that the gold and silver are too easy for them to obtain. When they don't have enough money, they can just go to the interior of the Ming Dynasty to rob it.
Most of the qualified iron materials smuggled from Guihua City and Zhangjiakou in recent years were allocated to Kong Youde to cast Hongyi cannons, and only a small part was used to make armor ordnance.
But this night, thirteen hard-won Hongyi cannons were lost in vain. Even though he had been named the obedient king of the Qing Dynasty, Kong Youde felt that his sin was so serious that it was difficult to forgive him.
He knelt in the large tent of the Chinese army where Prince Li Daishan was serving, trembling all over and sweating profusely from his head, waiting for his fate.
Prince Hauge of Su and Prince Azige of Wuying County were sitting on the left and right sides of Daishan. Their Zhenglan Banner and Xiangbai Banner were not disturbed by the Xuanfu Army because they were located in the Chinese Army Camp. , stampede, some losses but almost negligible.
Even if the Manchurian yellow flag of Bayintu and the Mongolian red flag of Engetu suffered some losses of men, horses and materials due to the Xuanfu army's night attack, they did not feel very angry.
It’s just that I hate this in my heart and it’s hard to calm down. The majestic warriors of the Qing Dynasty were unexpectedly attacked at night by Ming Gou, whom I had always looked down on. Who could believe it?
They were all holding their breath and wanted to show off to the Xuan Daming Army on today's battlefield and teach them how powerful the Qing Dynasty's cavalry was!
But he was extremely angry that in the Kong Youdewu Zhenchaoha artillery camp, as many as thirteen red Yi cannons were damaged by the Ming army's night attack. Do you know how much effort these red Yi cannons cost the Qing monarchs and ministers?
From outsourcing iron materials to allocating special money and soldiers to concentrate on casting, even the slave chief Huang Taiji visited the site several times. But now it was destroyed by the Ming army before it could exert its power. How can you not feel heartbroken.
They directed all their anger at the obedient king Kong Youde and cursed angrily, but Kong Youde did not dare to complain at all. He just knelt down on the ground and buckled his head like chaff.
He didn't even dare to ask for mercy. It was really not easy to be a slave of the Qing Dynasty. What a tragedy, what a tragedy for a traitor of the Han family!
Fortunately, Prince Li Daishan was able to understand the importance and justice. He also knew that Kong Youde was still loyal to the Qing Dynasty, not to mention that it was not his battalion that was attacked tonight.
The war is imminent, and it is the time to employ people. Naturally, it is not easy to favor one over the other. What's more, if the Qing Dynasty has the opportunity to take over the Central Plains and compete with the Ming Dynasty for the world, people like Kong Youde will still be of great use.
At that moment, he slowly said: "What's wrong with being obedient to the king? Please get up quickly."
Daishan continued: "The Ming army is cunning, and Zhang Cheng is not comparable to ordinary Ming generals. What happened today is not King Gongshun's fault. Even if my red cannon is damaged, it cannot be entirely blamed on King Gongshun."
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He knelt in the large tent of the Chinese army where Prince Li Daishan was serving, trembling all over and sweating profusely from his head, waiting for his fate.
Prince Hauge of Su and Prince Azige of Wuying County were sitting on the left and right sides of Daishan. Their Zhenglan Banner and Xiangbai Banner were not disturbed by the Xuanfu Army because they were located in the Chinese Army Camp. , stampede, some losses but almost negligible.
Even if the Manchurian yellow flag of Bayintu and the Mongolian red flag of Engetu suffered some losses of men, horses and materials due to the Xuanfu army's night attack, they did not feel very angry.
It’s just that I hate this in my heart and it’s hard to calm down. The majestic warriors of the Qing Dynasty were unexpectedly attacked at night by Ming Gou, whom I had always looked down on. Who could believe it?
They were all holding their breath and wanted to show off to the Xuan Daming Army on today's battlefield and teach them how powerful the Qing Dynasty's cavalry was!
But he was extremely angry that in the Kong Youdewu Zhenchaoha artillery camp, as many as thirteen red Yi cannons were damaged by the Ming army's night attack. Do you know how much effort these red Yi cannons cost the Qing monarchs and ministers?
From outsourcing iron materials to allocating special money and soldiers to concentrate on casting, even the slave chief Huang Taiji visited the site several times. But now it has been destroyed by the Ming army before it can exert its power. How can you not feel distressed.
They directed all their anger at the obedient king Kong Youde and cursed angrily, but Kong Youde did not dare to complain at all. He just knelt on the ground and buckled his head like chaff.
He didn't even dare to ask for mercy. It was really not easy to be a slave of the Qing Dynasty. What a tragedy, what a tragedy for a traitor of the Han family!
Fortunately, Prince Li Daishan was able to understand the importance and justice. He also knew that Kong Youde was still loyal to the Qing Dynasty, not to mention that it was not his battalion that was attacked tonight.
The war is imminent, and it is the time to employ people. Naturally, it is not easy to favor one over the other. What's more, if the Qing Dynasty has the opportunity to take over the Central Plains and compete with the Ming Dynasty for the world, people like Kong Youde will still be of great use.
At that moment, he slowly opened his mouth and said: "Please rise up, the King of Obedience,"
(End of chapter)
