Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 440 Dorgon's decisiveness
The one who spoke was Kong Youde, who was responsible for covering the retreat of the Qing army.

He and Abatai each led three thousand horses and dragged behind to prevent the Ming army from chasing and killing the defeated soldiers such as the two white flags.

In fact, except for the gunners, most of the Ming army was busy cleaning the battlefield and searching for the wounded, and had no time to chase down the Qing army.

It was only after the Qing army withdrew into the camp that Sun Yingyuan commanded the chariot camp to slowly press forward. Abatai led the [-] horse team and scattered far away to monitor the movements of the Ming army. Kong Youde led his men Back to camp.

After Sun Yingyuan observed more than ten Hongyi cannons deployed by the Qing army's camp, he immediately ordered the chariot battalion to disperse three miles away from the enemy's camp to avoid being bombarded by the cannons.

With the successive defeats of the Qing army going south, tens of thousands of elites were helpless in the face of the outnumbered Ming army.

Especially in the banner of the Han army, when many soldiers talked about the powerful fighting power of the Ming army in private, their tone was full of fear, and some mid-level generals also held a pessimistic attitude towards the current battle.

Kong Youde was afraid that Dorgon and the others would make a strategic misjudgment of the situation either because they couldn't see the current crisis clearly, or because they couldn't let go of their pride and self-esteem, so he hurriedly continued to persuade them.

"My servant thinks that the reason why our army has suffered repeated setbacks this time is not because our army is no longer the enemy of the Ming army, but because we don't know the details of the Ming army!
Whether it is defense or offense, the Ming army has never seen all kinds of new tactics in the Ming army, especially this kind of artillery vehicle. It is difficult for our army to find a way to deal with it for a while, so it is difficult to win every time!
The slave thinks that we should retreat to the Songjin line as soon as possible, and then report the battle situation back to Shengjing, ask the emperor to make a decision, and then think about how to break the many tactics of the Ming army. When the time is right, we will gather troops to fight south. enemy! "

Kong Youde's suggestion and analysis were quite pertinent, and Dorgon and Yue Tuo nodded their heads.

In the eyes of the senior generals of the Eight Banners, if the two armies fought with swords and guns, the Ming army would not be an opponent at all. They only gained the upper hand in the confrontation by relying on the power of firearms.

Although it is impossible to find a way to restrain the weapons of the Ming army at the moment, it does not mean that there will be no way to find a way in the future.

There has never been an unsolvable weapon.

Just as there is a spear, there must be a shield.

Furthermore, even if there is no way to restrain it, why didn't the Eight Banners copy the Ming army's set of things?
Regardless of whether it is a firecracker or a projectile that explodes on the ground, including this kind of cannon carriage that has just appeared, as long as you spend more money and money, the Qing Dynasty can do the same.

If the armaments are the same, wouldn't it be a matter of course to defeat the Ming army?

"King Shun's words are right! The Ming people are only relying on sharp firearms. In terms of ability in battle, we are still invincible under the Eight Banners! Now our army is intercepting from behind and persecuting from the front. It is no longer enough to fight hard against the Ming people." Wisdom, the only way to defeat the enemy is to retreat to the front line of Songjin!

However, how the whole army should return to the north safely at the moment needs to be carefully discussed, and people cannot be taught to take advantage of it! "

Dorgon walked back and forth in the tent with his hands behind his back, stood still and set the tone of retreating.

Yue Tuo had no objection to this.

Although he was nominally the commander of the army going south, at this time he didn't have the heart to argue with Dorgon about who had the final say.

In fact, he also knows in his heart that although he is a leader of the younger generation of the Eight Banners, he is inferior to the Fourteenth Uncle in front of him in terms of strategy and command.

Dorgon's words made the tent fall into silence again.

Retreating now is not a big problem. After all, although the artillery vehicles of the Ming army have extremely fierce firepower, their poor mobility and slow speed are also obvious weaknesses.

As long as the Qing army pulled out its battalion and returned to the north, apart from following and persecuting the Ming army, it would probably be powerless to cause large-scale damage to the Qing army.

But the biggest problem is how to deal with the Ming army intercepting from the back.

Once the Qing army returning from the north fought against the intercepting Ming army, unless they were defeated in a very short period of time, they would be overtaken by the Ming army's artillery tanks, and the whole army would face the situation of being attacked by the enemy, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

Shang Kexi, who fled back alone after his troops were defeated by the Ming army's chariot battalion, took a peek at the expressions of the two masters, and after confirming that they didn't know about his actions of abandoning the formation and fleeing, he was relieved.

"You two lords, regarding the army's return to the north, this slave has some ideas for the two lords' reference!"

Shang Kexi saluted Dorgon and Yue Tuo and said.

"Let's be honest, how can there be so many hypocrisy at this time!"

Dorgon waved his hands and said impatiently.

"Yes, yes, that slave just said it! This slave feels that only the artillery vehicles of the Ming army pose the greatest threat to our army, and the rest are insignificant! The slow movement of the artillery vehicles of the Ming army and the huge target are its two major drawbacks!
As long as our red-clothed cannons with the flag of the Han army shoot at them, and then order Baoyi to dig trenches and build barriers to block his way to the north, then our army can return to the north calmly. Even if the Ming army blocks the way back, we can easily defeat it!This method is also realized by the servant after observing the fortifications of the Ming army, and I invite the two princes to consider it! "

"Wow! Hahahaha! King Zhishun's strategy is brilliant! This king only thinks about how to crack Mingren's cannons, completely forgetting that our army also has a lot of cannons! Digging ditches and building walls is even more ingenious!

Let's retreat the army for a few miles and let Baoyi dig around within a few miles. It will take a lot of time for the Ming people to fill up the trenches!Ok, deal! "

Shang Kexi's proposal made Dorgon and Yue Tuo very happy, and the rest of the people also breathed a sigh of relief, and the tense atmosphere in the tent suddenly became more relaxed.

After the afternoon of the same day, under the order of Dorgon, the main infantry of the Qing army began to withdraw quietly to the north one after another, and the Hongyi cannons arranged in front continued to bombard the Ming army's car battalion.

After being hit by a bullet and killing two people and injuring three others, Sun Yingyuan had to order the car battalion to retreat five miles to avoid the attack of the Qing army's Hongyi cannon.

As night fell, the Qing army lit countless fires in front of the barracks, and the cannons continued to be fired in turn to cover up the loud noise made by the main force of the Qing army retreating.

The Qing army in the rear battalion lit torches and withdrew to the north overnight under the flags of their respective Jialazhangjing.

After the main force withdrew in the middle of the night, tens of thousands of coats began to dig trenches and build walls under the light of countless huge fires. After dawn, this narrow and flat plain had become an impassable ravine.

When Sun Chuanting and Qin Liangyu heard the news and rushed to the deserted Qing army camp, what caught their eyes were deep ditches and low walls spread across several miles, as well as dirt and garbage all over the ground.

(End of this chapter)