stubborn thief

Outside the border of Zunhua, southeast of Rehe, at the foot of Bangchui Mountain.

Another name for this river is Wulie River.

It is a tributary of the Luan River. After the diversion, the water is darker in color than that of the Luan River, so it is called the Wuluan River. Because it is located in the saw-saw zone north of Youyan, the name has changed several times in transliteration.

Sometimes it was called Wuluan River, sometimes Wuluo River, and gradually it became Wulie River. Later, Lie was changed to Lie, and now, because there are hot springs here, it is also called Rehe.

The two blue-bordered flags of the Later Jin army stationed outside the border set up camp at the foot of Bangchui Mountain on the east bank of the Wulie River.

The Manchu Gushan Ezhen Feiyanggu of the Bordered Blue Banner stood on the mountain, tapping his armor skirt lightly with his pipe, frowning and looking west, listening to the report of his lieutenant general Saimuha.

Saimuha's full official title was Bochichaoha Jialazhangjing. Bochichaoha means armored infantry, which means Infantry General.

A very important concept in the Later Jin Army is armor.

The troops directly under Huang Taiji were divided into independent flags for each branch of the army, such as the Gabushixian Chaoha composed of the Bayala vanguard, the armored cavalry of Aliha Chaoha, and the armored infantry of Boqi Chaoha.

There is also a Wuzhen Chaoha composed of three Shun kings, but they are picked up puppet troops, not the traditional troops of the Later Jin Dynasty.

In addition to the three independent legions directly under Huang Taiji, each legion was composed of a single type of soldier, and their subordinates were also divided into these three types of soldiers and were also equipped with armor.

In addition, the main forces of each flag also have a large number of unarmored soldiers, household slaves, and flag slaves. Generally, the latter serve as logistics personnel and are not counted in the military force.

Saimuha was the infantry general under the Bordered Blue Banner.

He reported: "On the sixth day of April, the Prince of Wuying led his army into the border. On the eighth day, my flag sent Mang'erguzhun, the Niulu, to the Shahukou market. He encountered the barbarian cavalry and fought for a while, killing and wounding many. Later, the enemy reinforcements arrived. Mang'erguzhun rushed out and killed 36 enemies. Four household slaves and three armored soldiers under the Niulu were killed, and 16 horses were captured."

"On the thirteenth, a large group of enemy cavalry suddenly arrived, and our camp was in danger of being surrounded. We moved the camp at night and retreated to the bank of Chaohe River outside Changping. On the way, we encountered 200 Tumed cavalry. The third-class Jiala Zhangjing Gasha set up an ambush and attacked them, defeating them, killing 24 of them and capturing 2 alive."

"On the 16th, when the garrison was collecting firewood, Segeyi encountered enemy cavalry across the river. He drew his bow and shot at them, killing one of them. Niulu also recorded two people who left the team and lost..."

As soon as Saimuha finished speaking, Fei Yanggu interrupted him with a wave of his hand, saying, "Don't write down the numbers like lost, killed in action, or captured. You should know the numbers by heart. Also, write down the numbers like thirty-six, twenty-four, etc."

As Fei Yanggu spoke, he struck a flint to light the tobacco pot, sighed, shook his head slightly in distress, and said, "This battle report sounds disgraceful no matter how you look at it."

His tobacco was obtained as a reward. As early as the Wanli Korean War, the tobacco was brought to the Northeast by the Guangdong army heading north.

Today, tobacco in the Heilongjiang River Basin is basically cut off because the route starts from Lanzhou and is introduced into Heilongjiang via Mongolia.

At this time, the main source of tobacco for the Later Jin Dynasty was brought in by Korean officials and merchants in very large quantities. In addition, there was also a large amount of tobacco stored in Pi Island.

When Liu Xingzhi was playing both sides in Pi Island, he gave away tobacco worth 180 dollars twice. Before that, he had also sold some tobacco to the Later Jin Dynasty.

The knife was the unit of tobacco in this period, just like paper, one knife could hold one hundred tobacco leaves.

These tobacco leaves became Huang Taiji's rewards to the nobles.

The battle report Saimuha told was true in every aspect, and the killing of enemies and deaths were also basically true, but some things were not fully reported.

For example, there is no need to mention the number of flag slaves and servants who died on the way; the number of enemies killed cannot be verified.

For example, on the eighth day of the first lunar month they had advanced to the vicinity of Shahukou, the encirclement on the thirteenth took place outside the border of Yunzhou, and on the sixteenth the garrison was on the bank of Chaohe River outside the border of Changping. Now it is the twentieth day, and the position of the two bordered blue flags is Rehe outside the border of Zunhua.

In twelve days, they retreated more than 800 miles to the east.

But it wasn't all a cowardly thing. On the way, they robbed Tumed herdsmen and obtained more than sixteen sheep and horses. In fact, there were more than sixty horses alone.

But he didn't dare report all of it, for fear that he would fight a real humiliating battle later, and then he would need some records of 'capturing war horses'.

Fei Yanggu took off his helmet and helmet with a tall spear in worry, and sat down on the tree stump in distress.

While puffing on his pipe, he raised his hand to rub his head, which had half an inch of messy hair that he had not bothered to trim, and asked Saimuha, "How is Hu Xibu doing?"

Hu Xibu was a member of the Mongolian banner of the Bordered Blue Banner, which was later the Bordered Blue Gushan Ezhen of the Eight Banners Mongolia.

In this battle, the Mongolian Niulu who surrendered to the Later Jin were made into an independent banner and assigned to each banner as a military force under the Eight Banners.

Saimuha shook his head. "That's about right. Less than twenty people died, but the five shield carts were lost. We are rushing to make them in the camp. I hope the prince won't report this to the Khan."

"It's a small matter. It's just lost. Fortunately, we ran fast and not many people died."

Fei Yanggu waved his hand and said, "Let him build three more. Three of the five shield carts under his command were lost. They must be replaced, otherwise they will be punished when they return. We will find a way to deal with the iron sheet later."

In fact, the Later Jin army now uses shield carts less frequently, especially outside Liaodong.

In this battle, they had twenty-three flags, and each flag only brought five shield carts, mainly to prepare for unexpected events.

In the past, when fighting in Liaodong, a team of 100 people had to carry five shield carts, and there were military law regulations that prohibited troops from going into battle without the arrival of the shield carts.

For the Ming army, losing a battalion of chariots was not a big deal.

But for the Later Jin army, the blame for losing a shield cart fell on Gushan Ezhen of the banner.

Because...the shield carts of the Later Jin Dynasty were well made.

The Ming army's chariots were designed to defend against direct arrows and were even consumables for field fortifications. Their main purpose was to make camping easier.

No matter how strong the chariot is, it is meaningless. Before Liu Chengzong appeared, no one used cannons on a large scale to destroy chariots.

The shield chariot of the Later Jin Dynasty was originally made by Nurhaci based on the battles of Sarhu and Fushun Qinghe, in which he suffered heavy losses from the guns and artillery of the Ming army, and he was in urgent need of a field weapon that could block the artillery fire.

It is aimed at the Ming army's guns and cannons, and this thing is made very heavy.

Wars are highly targeted and dynamic. It is difficult to say whether weapons and equipment are backward or advanced. There are only some that are effective or not effective at a certain time.

The shield cart of the Later Jin Dynasty had only one board, one person tall and three people wide. The board was divided into three layers, a five or six-inch thick wooden board, plus a layer of cowhide and a layer of iron sheet. The board also had a rotatable mechanism to prevent the enemy from suddenly shooting guns or arrows from the flank.

Therefore, after this thing is lost, it is not easy to make it in a short period of time on the battlefield.

Fei Yanggu got a headache whenever he thought about this, and couldn't help but feel envious of the various banners that had entered the Ming border.

In fact, he did not really want to deceive Huang Taiji in the battle report. It was because Ajige's gang had already entered the border, and he was afraid that if he lied to others and his battle record was very glorious, and he was the only one who told the truth, he would be doomed.

The Bordered Blue Banner has always had a lower status among the Eight Banners because they were outsiders.

At first, their master was the second-in-command of Jianzhou, Nurhaci's brother, Shurhaci.

Later, Shurhaci failed in his struggle for power and died in prison. A large number of his old followers were eliminated, and his power was greatly reduced. It became the Bordered Blue Banner, and the leader of the banner was Shurhaci's son Amin.

Now Amin is under house arrest again. The leader of the banner is Amin's younger brother Jierhalang, and Gushan Ezhen, also known as the commander-in-chief, is Jierhalang's younger brother Fei Yanggu.

Fei Yanggu is sometimes also called Feng Gu, Fei Yangwu and the like. It doesn’t matter, they are all transliterations.

His name was given according to the Jurchen tradition of seniority.

The eldest is called ajingga, and the youngest is called fiyanggū, which means Feiyanggu. Another synonym is lokata, which is the nickname laogada given to the most favored youngest sons and daughters in Northeast China later.

Similar to the Han people’s “Bo, Zhong, Shu, and Ji”.

So there are many people with the same name, and Nurhaci's sixteenth son is also called this.

But in fact, the biggest problem Fei Yanggu is facing right now is not how many of his subordinates died during the earlier retreat to the east.

In fact, even if the dead slaves and the Tumed herdsmen who were captured along the way and used as cannon fodder were counted, not many people from the Bordered and Blue Banners died on his side.

Although the Bordered Blue Banner currently has a low status among the Eight Banners, its political status is not unchangeable. The strength of the Eight Banners mainly depends on the banner owner.

The reason why their status is low is that they have not yet been completely assimilated by Nurhaci's faction and have retained a certain degree of autonomy.

This does not mean that they cannot fight. On the contrary, they are very good at fighting, and they have tried their best to prove their usefulness in every war, which is why this army has been preserved.

Although the battle was not as heroic as described in the battle report, the casualties caused to them by the Mongols south of the desert were indeed very limited.

This army, which was composed of the Manchurian Bordered Blue Banner and the Mongolian Bordered Blue Banner, originally had nearly 3,000 soldiers, and now still had more than 2,700. Fei Yanggu was not afraid of the Mongolian soldiers in the south of the desert at all.

If they had the same number of troops, he was confident that he could defeat them in a very short time. Even if their numbers were two or three times greater, he had the courage to deal with them.

Because he runs fast.

In the mountains, nearly 3,000 infantry and cavalry covered 800 miles in 12 days, crossed three major rivers, escaped the encirclement several times, and even leisurely built a camp in Rehe.

Such a result is enough to demonstrate the advantages of the Eight Banner Army.

He did not run away desperately. In fact, he turned around and made two mistakes, hoping to find an opportunity to wipe out part of the enemy.

Unfortunately, there are so many Mongolian soldiers in the south of the desert.

The Eight Banners Army was not some barbaric heavenly army. They did not rush into the battlefield like fools, ramming into wooden fences and antlers, and charging towards knives, guns and cannons.

On the contrary, they fought as skillfully as the Ming army.

If you can call on your friends and fight with superior forces, you will never fight the Ming army with inferior forces.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

On this basis, their organizational strength and multi-service coordination capabilities are also very strong.

Their combat routines were nothing special compared to those of the Ming army.

Use Bayala to protect the main general and command.

The backbone force was armored heavy infantry, unarmored infantry and flag slaves, who, in conjunction with shield carts and other field weapons, set up camp in the front to resist the enemy.

A small number of Bayala vanguards, or guards, cooperated with a large number of armored cavalry and unarmored cavalry to go around the rear, attack from the sides, break through from the side, and break the enemy's formation in one fell swoop.

This common tactic is not uncommon. Everyone can use it, and the Ming army is the most proficient at it.

From Zhu Yuanzhang's crooked horses in the early Ming Dynasty to the current system of dividing troops into five groups, the basic tactics have not changed.

That's why the battalion-level organization came into being, and the Ming and Jin armies often fought each other to a draw.

The mountains are an advantageous terrain for the Later Jin Army and a disadvantageous terrain for the Mo Nan cavalry.

Fei Yanggu was very confident in this regard. He wanted to fight in a mobile manner and eat up several groups of hundreds of Mongolian soldiers so that they would not dare to chase too hard.

When I got around to it, I was dumbfounded.

Because the Mongolian soldiers were also circling around, and when they met they would not fight, but would just delay or even retreat.

With unprecedented organizational ability, they showed an intention not to fight in the field, but only to surround and annihilate the enemy.

This display of fanatical intention frightened Fei Yanggu.

Because whether it was the Ming army or the Mongolian army, he had never seen an enemy who only wanted to annihilate them.

From Fei Yanggu's perspective, when the enemy saw their small group of cavalry, as long as the forces were equal, or even if the Ming army was smaller in number, they would rush up and fight without caring about their lives.

This situation is particularly evident in small-scale operations.

The other party just showed his entrepreneurial enthusiasm and rushed over to kill people.

Therefore, the most familiar tactic for all the nobles of the Later Jin Dynasty, big and small, was to lure the enemy deep into their territory and then launch an annihilation war.

No matter whether it is a few hundred or a few thousand people, you can lure them.

And now these clever Mongolian cavalrymen are obviously using the strategy of luring the enemy deep into their territory.

And no matter whether you see a few or hundreds of them, they are all luring you.

As soon as their flanking cavalry made a detour, they collided with the flanking cavalry from Mo Nan. They changed to another mountain road and made another detour, but they collided again and again.

From all directions, the mountain roads were filled with enemies, who were circling in small groups.

In this way, Fei Yanggu retreated 800 miles through the Yanshan Mountains.

Everyone was dumbfounded, and couldn't understand how the Mongols from the southern steppes of the desert could be so bold in Yanshan.

What is even more puzzling is how the Mongolian soldiers, who have always been scattered and roving, were able to be so powerfully organized. Who was the commander behind this?
Liu Chengzong?
This shouldn't be!
Even if he wanted to attack them, Liu Chengzong should be stationed outside the Xuanda border now, otherwise what if Ajige led his troops into the border and jumped out again? Wouldn't that cut off his retreat?
Of course, even if the commander of the opposing army was really Liu Chengzong, Fei Yanggu would not be afraid.

Because he had already tried it out, no matter who led the troops, the opposing army could not run as fast as his own, and their marching level was far behind.

If they mounted their entire army on horses, they could run faster.

But, when he ran to Rehe...Huang Taiji would not let him escape.

This is the most terrifying thing for Fei Yanggu.

Although it was very torturous for him to wander around the periphery all day long without taking off his armor or his horse, it was a disaster for him when the emperor in the rear sent an edict not allowing him to escape even though the army was in front of him.

The reason for not allowing him to continue running eastward was also very simple.

His army ran to Rehe and met the vanguard battalion led by Shuowengkoro Baturu, Sudala, Nushan and others who were ordered by Huang Taiji to gather intelligence along the border.

Fei Yanggu stabilized his position and began to camp, while Shuowengkorobaturu and others went back to report the news from the front line to Emperor Chongde in Shenyang.

When Huang Taiji heard this, he immediately issued an urgent imperial decree, ordering Fei Yanggu to wait for an opportunity to hold on near Rehe and not to retreat eastwards.

Because Rehe is very close to the traditional territory of Daiqing Gulun, if you walk east for more than a hundred miles, you will cross the Greater Khingan Range and see the Laohala River, which is the former site of Daning Wei, called Zhuosuotu in the Later Jin Dynasty.

As the name of this river suggests, it is the hometown of the Kharashen tribe.

The problem is that although the Kharashen tribe still has two banners of pastureland, they have no people.

Without people, there are no soldiers, and that place is like a no-man's land, and the grass for horses grows very well.

This is also the reason why Huang Taiji became particularly nervous when Fei Yanggu led his troops to stop in Rehe and heard that there was Liu Chengzong's army in the west.

If Fei Yanggu retreats again, the Mongolian soldiers from the south of the desert will follow them into the eastern foothills of the Greater Khingan Range, and find that the Khara Hetao area is empty. They will then rush in in droves, and things will be troublesome.

Because no one knows the current situation they are facing better than Emperor Chongde.

He did not just send Ajige to lead 20,000 troops to Yanqing to attack the capital.

In fact, Huang Taiji, in order to be thorough in this battle, literally deployed troops in all directions.

In the northeast direction, in order to make up for the population loss caused by this battle, he sent soldiers to capture survivors in the old forest. This has been going on since the war began and has not stopped now.

In the south, Jirgalang, the leader of the Bordered Blue Banner, was in charge and moved the population on the north bank of the Yalu River to Shengjing, in order to prevent Korea, which was preparing for war, from jumping over the wall, and also to prevent the Ming army on Pi Island from taking the opportunity to plunder.

In the north, Ajige led more than 20,000 main forces to enter the Great Wall through a roundabout way and plunder the capital. This was the main force for generating revenue, needless to say.

And the most important thing is the west side, which is the invisible effort.

That is the Liaoxi Corridor where the Guanning Army was located.

Before learning that Liu Chengzong's troops had left Jining, Huang Taiji and the Eight Banners nobles believed that whether they could successfully contain the Guanning Army would be the biggest variable in this border crossing.

Over there, Emperor Chongde Huang Taiji personally led his troops to support the battle, heading towards Dalingh River in order to mobilize the Guanning troops away from Shanhaiguan, so that they dared not and could not return to provide assistance.

However, Liu Chengzong's eastward advance completely disrupted Huang Taiji's plan.

And threw a difficult decision on his head.

Huang Taiji, which hand should you use to cover the hole in the west? (End of this chapter)