As expected, Dorgon guessed correctly. It was Turge, the leader of the vanguard, who sent someone back: "Report, the vanguard is approaching Shengshengdian. Detective Ma found out that there were many Ming army flags at the top of the nearby big city. It seems that there are Ming troops from the surrounding area coming to help. Which way should we go next?”
Jianlu's understanding of the terrain on the Ming side mainly came from the maps provided by Shanxi merchants. The original plan was for them to just take a walk and decide whether to go to Tianjin or go around to the west of Triangle Lake based on the situation on the ground.
But now that Turge has come to report, the Ming Dynasty city on the west side of Triangle Lake is heavily guarded. Dorgon does not have the time or interest to find out which Ming army is in the city and what is its combat effectiveness?
In this case, just go directly from Tianjin. It was further away from the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Even if there were troops in Tianjin, the strength of the Qing army could still intimidate them from leaving the city.
For Dorgon at this time, he was no longer interested in fighting the Ming army. What he is most concerned about now is to safely bring the looted people and materials back to Liaodong. That is a great achievement. This time entering the customs can be regarded as a complete meritorious deed.
Therefore, he directly sent an order for Turg to walk along the east bank of the Triangle Lake, that is, to continue northward along the canal.
Dorgon didn't know that there weren't that many Ming troops in Dacheng at all. But Lu Xiangsheng's side quickly ordered this side to bluff, just to ensure that the Manchu and Qing troops could continue to follow the canal and take this road in Tianjin.
At the rear of Jianlu's army, as soon as Hauge and his army joined Yue Tuo, he immediately asked: "How are you doing here? Do you still need me to reinforce you?"
"That's not necessary!" Upon hearing this, Yue Tuo immediately shook his head and said, "The Ming army has no chance to attack us at all. Tan Ma will look at us to death!"
They had many cavalry, and they were spread far back, which directly blocked the Ming army from exploring the Qing troops at night. On the contrary, it was the Ming army itself that was clearly seen by the Qing Dynasty detectives.
"Ah, this is a spoiler of fun!" Hauge said a little unhappy when he heard this, "I was driven here, but I have nothing to do. How boring! How about we ambush them once?"
Upon hearing this, Yue Tuo shook his head and said, "The Ming army's leader is Lu Xiangsheng. Although he fights bravely, he is still cautious in his actions. He will not pursue rashly without receiving confirmation until the whole night."
"Haha, that's true. After all, our Qing army is not a vegetarian!" Hauge laughed and said, "After being taught a lot, Mingguo will behave!"
After finishing speaking, he suddenly thought of something, and said to Yue Tuo: "How about we go and charge for a while? Crush this tail. This way, it will be easier. We don't have to be like this now. A certain person was worried about this or that, yet he actually asked me to strengthen the rear, really!"
When he heard this, he knew that Hauge was complaining about Dorgon without even guessing. Only he would complain about Dorgon like this, and Yue Tuo would not dare to do so.
Regarding Hauge's suggestion, he still shook his head and said: "No, one more thing is worse than one less thing now. Uncle Wang has repeatedly emphasized that as long as we bring all these human and animal supplies back to Liaodong, it will be a huge achievement. !”
At this point, when he saw that Hauge still wanted to speak, he quickly added: "Besides, the Ming army behind is not a weak force and can be defeated by us casually! If this is really the case, why do you need to talk about it? I have already gone to rush to kill him!"
Hearing this, Hauge curled his lips and seemed a little disdainful. So, he immediately heard Yue Tuo's words again: "Have you seen the combat power of the Yongwei Battalion, right? Now they are guarding the Chinese army from behind, and there are also Qin soldiers. I can guarantee you that it is definitely a strong force." The army was deployed in the rear by Lu Xiangsheng. Their forwards were all vulnerable troops. Do you know why they were deployed like this? They were just using these weak soldiers as a warning, do you understand? Lu Xiangsheng was guarding against our move!"
When Hauge heard this, he remembered his experience of fighting against the Yongwei camp, and had to admit in his heart that Huang Degong, Sun Yingyuan and others were indeed brave. At the same time, he also knew that Yue Tuo had about 5,000 infantry troops who were defeated by the Qin soldiers. Even if he thought that he would not be defeated if he came, it did not prevent him from thinking that the Qin soldiers were indeed powerful.
So, let this matter that was mentioned casually be forgotten.
None of them knew that in their rear, Lu Xiangsheng did not have a strong army at all, and all the elite men had been transferred away. The Yongwei camp and Qin soldiers they saw from a distance were actually fake. If Yue Tuo listened to Hauge at this time and led his troops to charge for a while, Lu Xiangsheng might even die in their hands. And this is why Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting sincerely want Lu Xiangsheng to take care. Because his side is actually more dangerous than the two of them.
There is a saying that a master would be beaten to death with random punches. Fortunately, Yue Tuo was sensible. Otherwise, if Hauge had led the army alone, his reckless character might have hit him by mistake.
Therefore, in Jianlu's view, the Ming army had no choice but to follow them. Haug had heard Azig talk about his entry into the customs before, so he was already instructing his men to make signs. He was going to write the same words as Azig, "All troops are free of charge, see you next time" to mock him. Get rid of the Han dog in the back.
Yue Tuo didn't care about this, he just smiled and watched Hauge fussing over it. It’s actually not bad to humiliate a Han dog! He thought so in his mind.
Dorgon, the commander-in-chief of the Manchu and Qing army, naturally kept track of the movements of the rear army at all times. In fact, most of his thoughts were on the rear army, because Lu Xiangsheng was there! He was relieved when he heard no movement.
As for the west side of the army, the scouting horses also traveled very far, as far as hundreds of miles away, and found nothing unusual.
Just walking like this, on this day, forward Turge finally sent news that he would arrive in Tianjin soon, with Weihe in front of him.
This is an important place for returning north. Dorgon was not careless. He asked Turge to send troops first to surround Tianjin City, and then let the people and supplies of the Ming Dynasty cross the river.
The Wei River at this time was of course also frozen. But it's a bit troublesome to cross countless people, as well as vehicles and supplies. A sufficient number of wooden boards must be laid to prevent the ice from breaking. In short, several passages need to be built to cross the river.
Turge received Dorgon's military order and immediately started busy. On the one hand, he sent infantry troops to surround Tianjin City. Then, we started laying the channel across the river without any rush. While waiting, he deliberately crossed the river to see the situation of the Ming army in Tianjin City.
The city of Tianjin at this time was actually not that big. There were not particularly many Ming army heads and flags on the city wall. Based on Turg's understanding of the Ming Dynasty, there were only about five to six thousand Ming troops inside. This kind of local army could hardly defend the city and would never dare to leave the city to attack the Qing army.
However, he did not know that in the arrow tower at the head of Tianjin City, there was a pair of eyes looking at him at the same time, watching the Manchu and Qing troops in the distance busily setting up a channel to cross the river.
After watching for a while, he saw this man turning around and ordering the general beside him: "Send the order and hide it all for me. No unnecessary fireworks are allowed. As long as these two days pass, a great achievement is just around the corner. Do you understand?" "
"Understood, Lord Zhongcheng!" Several generals responded immediately, and then immediately went down to deliver the order.
Needless to say, this Master Zhongcheng is Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi. He led his elite infantry, transported by animal power, to conquer the Qing Tatars first, rushed to Tianjin City, and hid inside to wait for the opportunity.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen, who was far away in the capital, lost the opportunity to learn about the war at the first time, because Wang Chengen was with Lu Xiangsheng, and Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou were separated again.
But he didn't have much to worry about. After all, he had tried his best, and judging from the information he had so far, everything was going according to Lu Xiangsheng's plan. After following them for so many days, the Manchu Tatars didn't notice anything unusual at all.
Originally, Emperor Chongzhen was still a little worried about whether there would be a traitor who would inform on such a large-scale support operation on the front line. But then I thought about it, and it seemed impossible. Those who contacted the Manchu and Qing Dynasties in the pass were actually Shanxi merchants who were engaged in smuggling business. The Shanxi merchants in the capital had already been arrested by him taking advantage of Xungui's case.
Also, the Shanxi merchants could not possibly know what route the Manchu and Qing troops took when they returned north. Marching every day, in addition to the fact that the troops can find out information from each other, even if there is a traitor, they may not be able to find the Tatars and report them in time.
Thinking of these things, Emperor Chongzhen thought of Fan Yongzheng, Fan Fu and others who were arrested in Dongchang Prison. Haha, once the war is over, it will be time to deal with you later.
So, he recruited Cao Huachun, the admiral of Dongchang, to inquire about the situation.
"Your Majesty, that Fan Yongzheng has been complaining." Cao Huachun said, "He said that he was not colluding with the palace, but he had a good relationship with the two people. He knew them before entering the palace. Seeing that they were living in embarrassment, he funded some That's all. When I usually chat with them, I didn't expect them to do something in the palace. It's really not him who asked them to do it, he didn't know about it!"
"Oh? Haha!" When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he couldn't help laughing angrily, "Now he will fight to the death not to admit colluding with the palace. Think about it, this is a crime that a businessman can't bear!"
"Your Majesty, if Dongchang is allowed to use his methods, I don't believe he won't do it." Cao Huachun said with confidence, "It's useless for him to talk hard alone. If others wait, someone will do it."
When he was captured before, Emperor Chongzhen had explained that these people would still be useful later, so Dongchang didn't use any means and just asked them as usual.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen had already withdrawn his mind from the front line and began to think about the aftermath of the war. I heard him say to Cao Huachun in a cold voice: "These Shanxi merchants also have a very serious crime, which is to cooperate with the captives. You can use your methods to settle the case of the captives. I will give you a piece of news later on related matters." . In addition, go to Jinyiwei and ask someone to come and testify. Her name is Gao Qingxue. She was rescued from Jianlu by a Jinyiwei spy and asked her to convey the story of Shanxi merchants collaborating with the captives. The Shanxi merchant who went to Jianlu's army is Fan Yongdou. That’s Fan Yongzheng’s brother.”
Cao Huachun had never heard of this matter. When I heard this, I felt a little enlightened. No wonder the emperor is so well-informed that he even arranged for Jinyiwei spies to join the Jianlu Army! From this point of view, Dongchang is far behind, but it cannot be compared with Jin Yiwei.
So, he quickly agreed and secretly decided in his heart that he must give a perfect explanation to the emperor about the Shanxi merchants' liaison with the captives.
Seeing that the emperor had no other explanation, Cao Huachun took the initiative to report to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I checked Uncle Chengyi here and found no evidence of any adultery or violation of law. Compared with other nobles, he is very clean."
"Oh, I didn't expect that there are special cases among the nobles!" Emperor Chongzhen was happy when he heard this, and he praised with a smile.
Cao Huachun knew that this news would make the emperor happy, so he also smiled and said: "It is said that sincerity has been passed down by the ancestors. It is strictly forbidden for future generations to violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty, let alone rely on the ancestors' evil virtues to show off their power, keep a low profile in everything, and focus on learning."
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen remembered that the first generation of Chengyi Bo was the famous Liu Bowen. It seemed that he was a scholar and indeed the smartest. Compared with those military generals, although he had contributed to the founding of the country, he also remained sober. mind.
In later generations, it was said that Zhu Yuanzhang massacred the heroes, but few people mentioned that the heroes who followed Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the world, especially the military generals, suddenly jumped from mud-legged to the rank of princes. Many people relied on their own merits. He began to be domineering and bullied men and women, which had already affected Zhu Yuanzhang's rule.
It has to be said that the consciousness of ancient farmers was not as high as that of later generations. From the bottom with nothing to a high position in one fell swoop, it doesn’t take much to get carried away. Zhu Yuanzhang was still okay at that time. He had already conquered the world and had no strong enemies around him. Zhu Yuanzhang himself had a clear understanding of this and used iron and blood tactics to suppress those people. However, the titles of many heroes were still inherited by their descendants.
In the original history, Li Zicheng could have followed Zhu Yuanzhang and rose from the bottom to the emperor. It was a pity that with the Manchu Qing Dynasty as a great enemy, they did not understand clearly and did not have a clear mind. Once they gained power, they Being unscrupulous, the result was that the Manchus were advantaged and the fruits of victory were harvested, which is really a pity for future generations.
These thoughts flashed through Emperor Chongzhen's mind. At this moment, he decided that if the reply from Jinyiwei said that this sincere uncle was as Cao Huachun said, he would be ready to give him a bug. Seed, and then let him lead the Beijing camp.
Of course, Emperor Chongzhen still wanted to do it himself when it came to rectifying the affairs of the capital camp, but it would still take a long time until the rectification of the Royal Horse Supervisor was completed.
He was thinking about this, but on the front line, the war was about to break out. It's just that the Manchu and Qing army didn't know it.
At this time, the Manchu and Qing troops surrounded Tianjin City with 5,000 troops. Of course, it was only a semi-siege, mainly to prevent Tianjin City from having any ideas about their crossing the river. In addition, Tanma has also spread out for more than ten or twenty miles. If there is a situation in the surrounding area, they can respond in time and take corresponding actions.
There were about 10,000 Jianlu troops who crossed the Wei River first and then blocked a large circle. After that, they allowed the Ming people to cross the river and settled in the large circle first. After everyone had crossed, they set off. Continue north.
Carloads of supplies, carloads of gold, silver, jewelry and other property were placed in a large circle after crossing the river to surround the people of the Ming Dynasty to prevent them from escaping.
On the north bank of the Wei River, there are more and more people. Even the Chinese flags of the Manchu and Qing troops have appeared on the south bank.
Sun Chuanting, who was hiding in Tianjin City, estimated the situation in his mind and knew that it was almost done.
