Of course, there must be some North Korean troops, but in Ying Erdai's eyes, he didn't regard them as soldiers, just doing odd jobs, a total of five thousand people.
In this way, it means that Ying Erdai commanded a total of 8,000 troops, while the Korean rebels only had about 5,000 troops. The military strength was obviously not of the same level.
The reason for this is not to say that the combat effectiveness of the Korean rebels is so strong that the Jianlu have to use more troops to fight the opponent. In fact, on the contrary, the combat effectiveness of the Korean rebels is actually similar to that of the Korean army in Seoul.
The main reason is that these Korean rebels are killing endlessly. Although their combat power is weak, they are very disgusting. They often harass the Korean officials controlled by Jianlu, especially the local officials. If you are not careful, you will pay the price, making Ying Erdai unable to guard against it.
Therefore, he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to completely eliminate these North Korean rebels.
After leaving Seoul, Ying Erdai ordered Jin Lian, who commanded the North Korean army, to lead the troops first, in order to prevent the rebels from fleeing upon hearing the news. The Han army led by Bao Chengxian followed the Korean army as the main force in suppressing bandits. It will not make the North Korean rebels suspicious and rub oil on their feet.
As for himself, he led 500 Manchurian Eight Banners and 500 Mongolian Eight Banners, all cavalry, to take a long detour and walk an extra twenty miles to seize the retreat of the Korean rebels.
When they were about to leave, Ying Erdai solemnly told Jin Lian and Bao Chengxian: "I don't care what methods you use, you must hold back those rebels before I lead the army. This time, we must not let them escape again." Got it!"
"General, I obey!" Jin Lian and Bao Cheng listened first, kneeling down together and loudly receiving the order.
With such a large formation, both Jin Lian and Bao Chengxian were confident.
The two of them, especially Jin Lian, hated Jin Fulai to death.
Not only were the two sides antagonistic, but also because Jin Fulai once led troops to attack the Andong area of Sangbuk Province, Jin Lian's hometown, and Qing killed all the tribesmen who left Jin Lian there, including Jin Lian's uncle. His father, Jin Zidian, was furious and encouraged Ying Erdai to conduct several large-scale campaigns against Jin Fulai, but he ran away every time.
Therefore, for such a good opportunity, Jin Lian was naturally very hard-working and immediately thought of ways to complete Ying Erdai's military order and hold back Jin Fulai.
……………………
For Ying Erdai, this large-scale battle was also intended to wipe out these Korean rebels in one fell swoop. Therefore, he led a thousand cavalry troops and hurried around at a trot.
Walk an extra twenty miles, whether it is far or short. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, this time, Ying Erdai did not even send forward troops to explore.
Otherwise, once those rebels discover traces of the Qing Dynasty's probing horses, they will run away immediately without saying a word. If the main force catches up, they will kill a few kittens and puppies at most. This is not the result that Ying Erdai wants.
Of course, the result of not sending forwards to explore the horses is that they may be ambushed. But facing these rebels from North Korea, Ying Erdai only had a thousand cavalry troops, and he was not afraid at all.
The fighting strength of these North Korean rebels is not even as good as that of Ming Gou before, so why should we still be afraid of them?
Besides, judging from what we have learned before, the strength of these North Korean rebels is only around five thousand. Even if they have been hiding their troops, how many can they have? Give them another 5,000 troops and bring them all here to ambush, and Ying Erdai will still be confident of defeating them.
Of course, there is another possibility, which is the Ming army on Pi Island.
Ying Erdai also knew that the North Korean rebels were in collusion with the Pidao Ming Army. The outposts he set up near Iron Mountain to monitor the coastline were all destroyed by a joint effort between North Korean rebels and the Pidao Ming Army.
Later, Ying Erdai felt that this would only cost them lives, so he canceled the surveillance post there. However, he also knew the strength of Pidao. The Ming army that could go ashore was only a thousand cavalry and two to three thousand infantry. This was the strength that the Ming army could provide.
Ying Erdai was a famous general among the rebels, so he had considered whether there would be other possibilities for the rebels this time, such as a plan to unite with the Ming army.
However, the first one was that he received no sign of Ming troops dispatching; the second one was that North Korean rebels were robbing the north of Seoul. If it was near the coastline, Ying Erdai would definitely not take it lightly and would consider the Ming army's participation in the war.
He has actually considered every aspect. If it's a contingency, it's definitely a contingency, but nothing is ever 100% guaranteed in a war. Otherwise, why fight?
Thinking about these things, Ying Erdai led a thousand cavalry troops in a hurry, all the way east, and soon passed the normal distance. Then, under the leadership of a Korean guide, they began to turn north and enter the mountains. As long as they pass through this mountainous area and get behind the North Korean rebels, the overall situation will be decided.
A river emerges from the mountains and eventually flows into the Han River. This river is not wide, only about ten feet, but it is already early October. If the cavalry goes into the water, even if they can wade through it, it will definitely freeze the people and horses. Therefore, Ying Erdai stopped at the river and let his cavalry pass through the small bridge on the river first. Only three cavalry at most could barely pass abreast at a time.
"Move quickly, don't waste time!" Ying Erdai shouted with a cold face.
Watching his cavalry cross the bridge one after another, he was still a little dissatisfied.
After the army was stationed in Seoul, some soldiers showed signs of corruption. They must have been well served by the North Koreans!
Thinking like this, he shouted sternly: "Are you used to being an uncle in North Korea? As for your spirit, show the spirit that a warrior of the Qing Dynasty should have, hurry up!"
Being scolded by him, the Jianlu didn't dare to say anything and hurriedly crossed the bridge.
A thousand riders passed two at a time, and it took a lot of time to wait until they were all gone. This made Ying Erdai a little irritable. Because the soles of Jin Fulai's feet are too oily, they will run away immediately at the slightest sign of trouble.
So, he immediately ordered his men to speed up their march.
Going around the mountain road, it is a bit worse than the rotten official roads in North Korea.
Ying Erdai looked at the situation in front of him. There was no movement at all on the obviously withered mountain. Only faintly, he could hear the shouts of killing coming from a distant place.
It seems that they are almost behind the rebel thieves!
Ying Erdai thought with relief in his heart, but suddenly, he became frightened, and a cold air rose from his back.
Even if it is late autumn, no matter what, how come there is no movement at all?
When he immediately began to look at the surrounding mountains and forests, a Jianlu also rushed to his side and reported to him: "Sir, something seems to be wrong. We are in such a hurry, there is not even a sound of birds and animals!"
Ying Erdai naturally recognized that the speaker was the experienced leader of his powerful detective horse. Seeing that he had the same judgment as himself, he immediately loudly ordered: "Stop moving forward!"
Orders and prohibitions were issued, and with his orders, military orders were passed down one after another, and a thousand cavalry troops stopped one after another. Many of them were experienced in the battlefield, and they began to look at the surrounding mountains and forests suspiciously.
The mountain forests at this time had not been cut down by later generations, and many of them were towering trees. Although most of the leaves have fallen, the dense branches can still hide people.
Ying Erdai's eyes widened and he looked at the forest carefully. Suddenly, something flashed by. He quickly took a closer look and immediately found that it was a Korean in ragged clothes running past.
Immediately, he immediately shouted: "There are rebels!"
Almost at the same time, his men gradually discovered traces of rebels in the mountains and forests. As a result, everyone immediately became alert.
After discovering that it was a North Korean rebel, Ying Erdai breathed a sigh of relief. North Korea is just rebelling, it’s no big deal.
Although there are mountains and forests around here, the terrain is relatively flat. There are not many rebels in the woods. If you dare to rush out, you will die!
Therefore, he issued a military order and asked his men to prepare for the march and first go to encircle and suppress the main force of the rebels.
But at this moment, I suddenly saw a lot of movement in the forest. There were numerous figures, and many people seemed to be rushing out of the forest.
There was no need for Ying'erdai to issue military orders, and his subordinates started to be on guard one by one with a ferocious smile: Ying'erdai had just trained them, saying that they had become uncles, and they just used these rebels to prove that they were still warriors of the Qing Dynasty. !
The cavalry of the Eight Banners of Mongolia were still on their horses waiting for an opportunity to move, but the cavalry of the Eight Banners of Manchuria dismounted one by one, drew their weapons, and prepared to fight on foot.
Ying Erdai didn't care about his men because he knew that his men were all veterans and there would be absolutely no problem in dealing with them. At this time, he was just staring into the forest, watching the rebels who were about to rush out of the forest.
Suddenly, he felt something was wrong.
I saw those rebels in the forest. Why were they dressed a little strangely? Although the clothes on the outside are gray coarse cloth, why are they wearing red clothes on the inside? Is this their women's clothes?
As soon as this idea came up, Ying Erdai rejected it immediately. Because as soon as he saw it, there were more than one rebel in red clothes. That would be such a coincidence!
When he thought of this, an idea finally came to his mind, and suddenly, he shouted: "No!"
However, at this moment, a large number of bandits were seen rushing out of the forest, forming a tight formation, either kneeling or standing, leveling the muskets in their hands, and started shooting "bang bang bang" .
Smoke rose into the sky, and amid bursts of gunfire, the Jianlu who were preparing to fight, including those at the front, were immediately shot into a hornet's nest and fell to the ground screaming.
Many of the war horses behind them were also affected, whining and falling to the ground or running around. There was a sudden panic on Jianlu's side.
The rebels will never be so elite, nor will they have such sharp muskets!
