Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1425 The Storm Has Fallen (Part [-])
Is the Li family Liaodong iron cavalry strong?Of course strong.For more than [-] years across Liao, Mongolia, and Manchuria, there has been almost no defeat. If this is not considered strong, then what is considered strong?
But no matter how strong the Liaodong iron cavalry is, it is first and foremost a cavalry.The key to distinguish cavalry from infantry is the horse. If an iron cavalry does not have a horse, what kind of iron cavalry is it?

The biggest problem with Li Chengliang's troops now is the war horse.

Hetuala City has a characteristic, that is, because Nurhaci does not have many cavalry now, there are not enough stables in the city, to be precise, there is a serious shortage.

The garrison camp in Hetuala City is very spacious, enough to accommodate nearly [-] troops, but the stables prepared by Nurhaci can only accommodate up to [-] war horses.The ratio of ten to one is roughly consistent with the ratio of infantry and cavalry in the Nurha Red Army, but it is obviously not enough for Li Chengliang.

Li Chengliang brought [-] cavalry, more than half of the cavalry had one man and two horses, the scout battalion had one man and three horses, and the artillery battalion was another.Li Chengliang's troops brought about [-] war horses and rough horses.

With [-] horses, the little Hetuala can't keep them, what should I do?Of course it is to move out of the city and feed them in a temporary stable. You can't demolish the houses in the city to raise horses, right?

Although Li Chengliang never regarded ordinary Jurchens as human beings, Nurhachi was not an ordinary person after all, and the two of them still had a close relationship.Although Jue Changan and his son died under Li Chengliang's massacre of the city, Li Chengliang thought he was worthy of Nurhachi-your father and ancestor are not dead, when will you inherit Jianzhou Zuowei?What's more, Uncle Li, I also gave you the capital to raise troops.

Not only that, Nurhachi himself has a close relationship with Li Chengliang.

Yao Ximeng's "Jianyi Appointment of Officials" contains: In the second year of Wanli, Li Cheng Liang's army broke through Wang Gaozhai, and then killed Jue Chang'an and Ta Keshi. Please die, Cheng Liang will take pity on him, don't kill him, and leave him under the tent to protect him like an adopted son, go in and out of the capital, and take his slave Ha Chi with him every time he takes him with him."

Huang Daozhou's "Boshi Dianhui·Qing Jianguo Bieji" records: Ta Keshi was the guide of Li Chengliang, after capturing Wang Gao, "Ning Yuan will not reward him for his merits, and he is a person who is against him. Set up an opportunity to burn it. At the time of his death, Nuer Hachi was just four years old, Ning Yuan could not hide his merits, and wept to the fullest, caressing Nuer Hachi and his younger brother Suer Hachi like sons."

Tiaoshang Yugong's "Dongyi Research" contains: Jue Chang'an and Ta Keshi were both Li Chengliang's guides, and died in the battle of Atai.

"Jianzhou Private Records", a wild history book by the seaside, contains: Jue Chang'an and Ta Keshi died together in the battle of conquest of Atai. .”

To sum up, the above records record the same thing, but the specific circumstances are different: one is that Nurhachi’s father and ancestor died in the battle of Li Chengliang’s attack on Wang Gao, when Nurhachi was fifteen or six years old, and he was adopted by Li Chengliang; It is said that Nurhachi's father, Ta Keshi, was killed after he helped Li Chengliang eliminate Wang Gao. At that time, Nurhachi was just four years old, and Li Chengliang regarded him as his son; Nurhachi is like a son; the fourth theory and the third theory have the same meaning.

It is not surprising that there are so many different theories, because what the Ming people remember is based on hearsay, and corruption is inevitable.Moreover, because there are many rumors, it just shows that the matter is well known, and it is not something created out of nothing.The question is which one is credible, or neither?

The textual research process is relatively complicated, and readers probably don't want to read it carefully, so here is a direct conclusion: when Nurhachi was 16 years old, he experienced the catastrophe of the destruction of the whole village at the home of his great-grandfather Wang Gao.Fortunately, because his grandfather and father were Li Chengliang's guides, and he himself wittily "hugged Chengliang to ask for death", Li Chengliang therefore "pity him, don't kill him, and leave him under the tent to protect him like an adopted son".

The records in the article "Jianyi Appointment of Officials" are reasonable, true and credible.Therefore, it can be concluded that Nurhachi was indeed adopted by Li Chengliang when he was 16 years old, and lived under Li Chengliang's tent for a period of time.

As for how long he lived, there is no clear record in historical data, but according to the "Records of Emperor Taizu of the Qing Dynasty", Nurhachi lost his mother at the age of ten, and his stepmother treated him widowed. I will give some beards privately.” Due to his poor family, he had to support himself, collecting hazelnuts, pine nuts, mushrooms and digging ginseng, and taking them to the Fushun horse market to make a living.Judging from this record, he left Li Chengliang before he was 19 years old at the latest and returned to his own home. After the separation, he started to make a living by himself.

In addition, some people questioned that all the records about Nurhachi's adoption by Li Chengliang came from the Ming Dynasty, which may not be credible.In fact, this is not a question, because the style of the Qing Dynasty's history is well known, and the historical facts that once belonged to the Ming Dynasty are kept secret, so such things will naturally not be recorded in the history books.

However, later generations can still find some traces. For example, there is such a record in the "Ye Heguo Baylor Family Carriage" compiled by Xu Qianxue in the Kangxi Dynasty: "Renwu, ten years, autumn and September, Xinhaishuo, Taizu Ruye He Guo, it is difficult to get rid of Li Chengliang and run to me." This means that before 1582, Nurhachi was detained by Li Chengliang.

In short, judging from the textual research of historical materials, Nurhachi lived under Li Chengliang's tent for a period of time, and it is certain that he has a close relationship with Li Chengliang. (Note: There was also a description based on this research in the previous article of this book.)
So in Li Chengliang's view, his relationship with Nurhachi was already very close. After Gao Wushi began to suppress Nurhachi obviously, the latter became more active towards him, giving gifts and so on.If it weren't for the fact that this battle was decided by His Majesty the Emperor, Li Chengliang would not have planned to meet Nurhachi at all.

He felt that Nurhachi's previous aggression against the Dong'e tribe could be used. The original intention was to frighten Nurhachi himself, so that the emperor could understand his importance in Liaodong. He started to make small moves again, and Li Chengliang thought that if he came forward, Nurhachi would not dare to do so.

Gao Yushi has the three major achievements of Annan, Dingbei, and Pingxi. In terms of his great contributions and outstanding achievements, he is indeed the No. 1 general among the founding generals. Although Li Chengliang is not convinced, he is not good at making a sound.However, if you only look at Liaodong, Li Chengliang really feels that he is not hypocritical and pragmatic.

Battle of Zhongzuo, Battle of Panshanyi, Battle of Zhuoshan, Battle of Pinglubao, Battle of Hongtucheng, Battle of Liaohe, Battle of Azhou, Battle of Fushun, Battle of Shenyang, Battle of Kaiyuan, Caozi Valley The Battle of the Great War, the Battle of Gule Village... Destroyed Wang Gao, killed Su Bahai, beheaded Ada Ahai, etc...

In terms of any single battle, it is indeed not as high-practice as Annan Dingbeipingxi, but this is also the result of the emperor's sacrifice to the Taimiao.

But what about Liaodong?The Jurchen ministries called Li Chengliang Uncle Li, but no one called Gao Yushi Uncle Gao—Annan and Tumot were the most famous places for Gao Yushi.

All in all, Li Chengliang felt that his prestige in front of Nurhachi was higher than Gao Pragmatism.Under the awe of high pragmatism, Nurhachi is submissive on the surface, and still dares to make small moves in private, but as long as he, Uncle Li, goes out, Nurhachi will not dare to do it again.

Therefore, although he was wary of Nurhachi, it was only the minimum level of wariness, and it was just a subconscious reaction of "If you are not of my race, your heart must be different".Once several secret observations found that Nurhachi hadn't moved, he completely relaxed.

This relaxation made a big deal.

As soon as Nurhachi was relaxed by him, there were more than a thousand Ba Yala soldiers in the city, and hundreds of them were transferred in from outside—Li Chengliang promised five hundred. Income at least eight hundred.

As a result, Nurhachi's army strength in the city has exceeded two thousand, and all of them are elite infantry.

At this time, although the Liaodong Army had more than [-] men in the city (there were hundreds of Liaodong Army guarding horses outside the city), but only [-] had horses—this statement is still problematic, because the stables in Hetuala City The stables are next to the garrison camp. Nurhachi blocked the road between the two places at the beginning of the rebellion. By the way, the horses of the Ming army were unbridled and let them run wild in the city.

It's not that Nurhachi doesn't know how precious war horses are, but because he doesn't have anyone to take care of them now, so he simply lets them run around in the city. Anyway, the city gates are closed, and they can't escape.

In addition, the scurrying of war horses would also block the roads, making it impossible for the Ming army to gather effectively. Nurhachi is more able to act at will.

Moreover, once the Ming army was reluctant to part with their horses and gathered them in the messy city, it would delay even more time and make Nurhachi's actions more convenient.

This is what Li Chengliang, Li Rumei and his son faced when they ran out of the Nurhachibeile mansion.The camp of the garrison was on fire, and people roared and neighed at the stables. There were disheveled Ming soldiers running around, Jianzhou soldiers chasing after them, and scattered horses rushing wildly on the road.

After all, Li Chengliang was very experienced, and he knew that the situation was already difficult to deal with.If this is in the wild, it is actually better. As long as you find a place with few people and high terrain to fly your own banner, you can slowly gather people and stabilize the morale of the army.

However, it is now in the city of Hetuala, and the highest terrain is Baylor Mansion, but this Baylor Mansion is definitely not a place to stay for a long time, because Nurhachi will definitely concentrate his forces to attack.Staying in Baylor's Mansion at this time, no doubt he took a plate and held his head and presented it to Nurhachi with a smile.

Li Chengliang's only hope now is that his soldiers and horses are all in the city, and Nurhachi's military strength is not dominant. If he can gather his subordinates, even if the cavalry becomes infantry, it is not impossible to defeat Nurhachi.

However, Li Chengliang was "overworked" after all. There was one thing he didn't expect, but Li Rumei reminded him very timely: "Father, let's find a way to block the east and south gates first, otherwise we will have to There is a big problem!"

As I said before, there are rivers on the west and north sides of Hetuala, so there are only two city gates in the east and south.In terms of ease of defense and difficulty of attack, it is only slightly worse than Haiyuan City, the Huang family's old nest in Guangxi, before it moved to Annan.

Li Chengliang immediately understood that what he said was right.If we don't block the two southeast city gates now, Nurhachi will definitely open the city gates and let in his troops outside the city, and then the situation will become even more irreversible.

So Li Rumei and his cronies escorted Li Chengliang to the east city gate to kill. On the way, they gathered some of Li Chengliang's servants who stayed outside Baylor's house, and slowly gathered more than 200 people.

The more than 200 people may have found Li Chengliang, and their combat effectiveness was significantly improved compared to before. They broke through the Jianzhou soldiers' siege twice, and then met Li Ruzhen and Li Ning.

Li Ruzhen had no servants, only a dozen people, but Li Ning brought more than 100 people, and Li Chengliang had more than 300 people.So Li Rumei was inside and Li Ning was outside. The team of more than [-] people won a great victory, broke through the siege of Jianzhou soldiers again, and rushed to only one street away from the east gate.

But their bravery attracted a main force of Jianzhou, E Yidu suddenly appeared with most of the red baya Niulu, and stopped them, and the two sides could kill each other.

After all, the 300 people around Li Chengliang were exhausted. Even with the prestige bonus of the general, they were forced to make no progress, and even retreated dozens of feet, and they were about to run out.

Li Rumei was furious, she shot an arrow with her bow in anger, and almost shot the forehead of the war supervisor.Although E Yidu narrowly avoided the fatal blow because a good shooter must be good at avoiding it, his helmet was shot off by the arrow, revealing the rattail inside, quite embarrassing.

And there was also a roar from the gate of the East City: "The man who leads the horse and holds the reins dares to run wild in front of you, Uncle Pinghu? Don't leave, I will kill you!"

Li Chengliang was very familiar with this sound of anger, turned his head to look, and saw Li Pinghu killed out of nowhere, chasing a Jianzhou general and walking away.The Jianzhou general didn't know if he had fought against Li Pinghu before, and he didn't know where the scabbard fell, so he fled with a simple knife in his hand.

The Jianzhou general was leading the way, and just happened to see E Yidu. He was overjoyed in a hurry, and shouted: "Zuo Ezhen, I am Iran, help me!"

E Yidu also heard Li Pinghu's roar just now, and knew that this person is Li Chengliang's general of the Chinese army, who is usually in charge of guarding Li Chengliang, with superb force.

At this time, Li Pinghu just happened to catch up with Iran'a, and he slashed out. Iran'a rushed forward with all his strength, but he was still slashed in the back.Although the knife was thrown forward with more than half of his force, it still pierced his armor and scratched his back. The wound was as deep as a knuckle, and Bai Sensen's back bones could be seen.

The forehead was also taken aback, and quickly held the bow in his hand, and shouted at Li Pinghu: "You are Li Pinghu? Look at the arrow!"

Li Pinghu had never worn heavy armor, and knew the power of Jurchen's heavy arrows, so he subconsciously gave up chasing and killing, and put the knife on his chest to draw the arrow.Who knew that E Yidu's arrow was not aimed at him at all, but aimed at Li Chengliang from a distance, and shot it with a "swish".

Li Pinghu broke out in a cold sweat and yelled: "Don't hurt my boss!"

Li Chengliang over there was also taken aback. He was not usually afraid of cold arrows, because he always wore two layers of armor when he went into battle, but the situation was too urgent just now, and there was no armor at all at this time. For a 62-year-old veteran, it is naturally extremely difficult to avoid E Yidu's arrow.

However, a figure suddenly rushed in front of Li Chengliang, and Li Rumei yelled angrily: "Jianzhou dog slave, you are worthy of hurting my father!"

(End of this chapter)