The Soul of the Han Dynasty in the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 696 Interception
Since the arrival of the troops led by Ah Shan, the atmosphere has become strange. Too many Qing troops have been talking about it.

When camping that night, rumors were already flying all over the sky. Some Han soldiers even spread false rumors that Emperor Chongde was killed by the "Red Banner Army".

Most of the rumormongers in the Qing army camp were the confidantes of several generals Zu Kuan, and their purpose is self-evidently to disturb the morale of the army.

The Han people who were coerced all heard the news that Jiannu was defeated by the "Red Banner Army" again, so they would obediently follow Jiannu to Liaodong.

At this time, the Han army and the Tatars were panic-stricken and unwilling to do anything. There was no moonlight at the beginning of the month, and the road was slippery and difficult to travel under the black lights.

There are too few Eight Banners in the rear team, and the 800 people brought by Ah Shan are less than 20. The camp of nearly [-] people is so big, they are of course hard to guard against.

At this time, the "Red Banner Army" led by Zhao Kun, Gu Rushan, etc. was less than [-] miles away from the camp of the Qing army.

Due to the timely delivery of news by the banner guards, the "Red Banner Army" knew about the "Ningwuguan Great Victory" and that Liu Zhilun and others led the main force of the [-] to [-] Ming Army to intercept and kill the rear team of the slaves. Get a big one.

The Qing army scouted the road ahead and was very serious, but the rear was very sloppy, and did not find that there was a "Red Banner Army" following them all the time.

The only [-] or so cavalry in Zhao Kun's group followed the Qing army and approached within five miles. The scouts and officers used binoculars to see the Qing army's camp clearly.

The movement speed of the infantry of the "Red Banner Army" was faster than that of the rear troops of the Qing army, and they were fully able to rush forward and start fighting.

But the main general, Zhao Kun, chose to follow closely in order to minimize casualties and maximize benefits. Once he found that the Ming army blocking ahead launched, he would immediately lead his subordinates to attack.

The troops of Liu Zhilun, Lu Xiangsheng, and Fang Zhenghua had already gathered their strength, and their generals Hu Dawei, Zhou Yuji, Huang Degong, Liu Quan, Li Chongzhen, Lei Shisheng, etc. were all fully prepared for the surprise attack.

Ah Shan led two thousand riders back and hurried south across the Yellow River before being detected by Hu Dawei and Zhou Yuji.

In order not to startle the enemy, they did not concentrate their cavalry to encircle Ashan's men and horses, because they could figure out the purpose of these men and horses rushing to the rear with their toes.

Zu Kuan, Zu Keyong, and Xu Changyong didn't want to follow Jiannu, but they didn't reveal their thoughts to Zu Dabi, Zu Dacheng and other former generals of the ancestors' army.

Because Zu Dabi and others are cousins ​​or family brothers of Zu Dashou, they are blood relatives, and they are the masters of eating and drinking spicy food in Jinzhou.

Zu Kuan and Zu Keyong are different, they were born as family servants, followed the surname of the family master Zu, and got their current status because of fighting with their lives.

Xu Changyong is not from the family of his ancestors, but a Liaodong general of the Ming Dynasty who rose to power by virtue of his military exploits. He has always been unwilling to surrender and become a slave, but unfortunately he couldn't help himself at the time.

The head of the family turned his back on Daming and surrendered to Jiannu and became a traitor. Zu Kuan and Zu Keyong felt it was a great shame and humiliation. Coupled with the fact that they were often angry with Jiannu, they lost their dignity as a human being and made the decision to defect to Daming.

Now knowing that the main force led by Emperor Chongde was defeated by the "Red Banner Army", Zu Kuan and others have strengthened their confidence in fighting back.

The freezing of the Yellow River does not mean that the river can be crossed everywhere. In some areas, the river bank is as steep as a cliff, and there is only a choice to find a place with an ideal slope.

Ah Shan's men and horses had already walked back and forth, and they were familiar with the road. They led the rear team of men and horses, Zi Zhong, and set foot on the ice surface of the Yellow River along their way.

He has experience in crossing the river twice. All the horses are wrapped with several layers of thick cotton cloth to prevent the horseshoe from slipping. Of course, the other Qing troops have followed suit.

Liu Zhilun, Lu Xiangsheng, and Fang Zhenghua are all cultural leaders, and they like to calculate the most. The preset ambush points are also arranged after field inspection of the terrain.

The target to be ambushed is too large and the marching speed is slow, and the deployment time of the Ming army seems to be more than enough.

Ah Shan led the troops of the headquarters and half of the troops who had accumulated more gifts, totaling more than [-] riders, and Fan Wencheng, who was tall and strong, also appeared in the queue with his helmet on and armor, carrying a big knife and leading eight servants.

Although Fan Wencheng was originally a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, he was burly and powerful. Since he had fought with Jiannu for nearly 20 years, he often participated in charge and kill, and his riding skills were no less than that of Jiannu horse armor.

The sentry horses of the Qing army kept coming and going to report the situation ahead. More than one way the sentry horses found a large group of Ming troops active, and Duojili and Ashan were always on guard.

Fan Wencheng didn't have a binoculars, so he could only look at the Yellow River embankment on the north bank, and felt that danger was approaching.

The Jiannu and Tartars were originally going deep into the enemy's country, and it is reasonable to say that there is danger everywhere. However, the Qing army in history came and went freely in the hinterland of Ming Dynasty, as if entering a no-man's land.

It is not surprising that they were watched by many Ming soldiers when they were marching, and they did not feel afraid at all, because very few Ming soldiers came to fight on their own initiative.

The troops of Duojili and Ashan combined forces alone numbered six thousand and several hundred Mongolian cavalry, plus fifteen thousand Han soldiers, ten thousand banner men, and the total number of coated slaves was close to forty thousand. Their strength should not be underestimated. .

They proudly believed that unless they encountered the main force of the "Red Banner Army", no Ming army could attack the Qing army with such strength in the field.

The intelligence indicated that the main force of the "Red Banner Army" was far away in Shuozhou City. Duo Jili and Ah Shan really didn't worry that they would be attacked by other Ming troops with such strength.

At this moment, Fan Wencheng came to the two of them on horseback and said, "Two generals, if it is as expected, there will be Ming soldiers intercepting them in front of us soon, and we will inevitably have a fierce battle with the Ming soldiers on the Yellow River."

Duo Jili and Ah Shan are both veterans with longer military service than Fan Wencheng, and they have never looked down on Fan Wencheng as a slave, and they are not willing to talk to him at all.

Fan Wencheng was bored, and cursed secretly in his heart: "A vulgar butcher is no good!" He slowed down his horse so that he and his servants would not bear the brunt of being attacked by the Ming army.

The ambush arranged by Liu Zhilun and Lu Xiangsheng was to take advantage of the favorable terrain and take advantage of the infantry and artillery to fight the Qing cavalry on the ice of the Yellow River.

When it was discovered that the Qing army was approaching the opposite bank and was about to leave the ice, a horn blasted, and Liu Zhilun, Lu Xiangsheng, and Fang Zhenghua personally led the Ming army to march forward slowly to block the way of the Qing army.

At this time, the twenty one-pound Francophone cannons purchased by the "Red Banner Army" and the two hundred vehicle-mounted guns that Liu Zhilun personally supervised were all loaded and ready to fire at any time.

There are many firearms in the Beijing camp. The Hongyi cannon is too bulky and cannot move quickly, so it is not carried, but the swarm of bees and tigers are all ready to launch, which are similar to the original rockets.

(End of this chapter)