Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 121 The encirclement and annihilation battle begins!
The three camps rushed forward like a flood and a beast without any hesitation, and attacked the Qing troops.

"Tartar, die!"

"Die to me!"

"..."

The cavalry of the three camps had gained some experience after many battles with the Tatars. They would first fire with their musketeers to kill part of the enemy's vanguard, and then the cavalry would charge.

But even so, the Ming army suffered heavy casualties. Sun Yingyuan couldn't help but say, "It would be great if the artillery battalion arrived."

"We will still fight even without the artillery battalion. We can't rely on artillery for help in all situations, right?" Huang Degong couldn't help but shout.

The muscles on Sun Yingyuan's face twitched. "You are a reckless man. With the help of artillery, the casualties of the soldiers will be reduced a lot. According to what His Majesty said, the casualty rate can be reduced to the lowest."

Huang Degong grinned, "Isn't it that we don't have the conditions? Just do it."

Sun Yingyuan nodded and ordered the flag bearer to change the formation. "Tie them up, pay attention to the distance, and try to let the fire gun soldiers consume the enemy, and wait for the commander and his men to arrive in position."

……

Until this point, Hauge actually still had a plan in mind, because even if the Ming army had muskets, the accuracy of those on horseback was much weaker than the power of the musket formation.

In contrast, the Qing army had better riding skills and their arrows were more accurate.

Therefore, even though the musketeers had a longer range and amazing firepower, the damage they caused to the Qing army was not too high.

It can be said that the casualties on both sides were fifty-fifty, and the Tatar cavalry even had the advantage. If the Tatars had not fled in the direction of Qingshan Pass in a hurry, the Ming army might not have won if a real fight broke out.

More than 30,000 Tatars and more than 40,000 Ming troops were like two huge floods, flowing across the earth and stuck in a stalemate with each other.

But no one retreated. Instead, they fought back and forth in a blood-thirsty manner.

Only the corpses on the ground proved the brutality of both sides.

An hour later, they were only eighty miles away from Qingshan Pass.

Lu Xiangsheng and the Guanning Cavalry appeared on the rear flank of the Tatars.

"Charge forward and cut the enemy apart!" Lu Xiangsheng roared, holding up his spear, and charged forward at the head of the enemy.

"Kill!" The Guanning Iron Cavalry also shouted.

"kill!"

The overwhelming shouts of killing were accompanied by the sharp and cold spears and sabers that slashed towards the rear flanks of the Tatars.

With the addition of the Tianxiong Army and the Guanning Cavalry, the situation of the Tatars suddenly became precarious.

Although the equipment of Tianxiong Army and Guanning Army was not as good as that of the three major camps, they were no weaker than the Tatars, especially the powerful crossbows in their hands. In addition, they had been fighting for many years, so they could fight against the Tatars both in long-range and close combat.

As the last trump card in the late Chongzhen period, the Guanning Army was also capable of fighting against the Tartars.

Not to mention that there were three major camps already fighting with the Jiannu in the front.

Before this, the Tianxiong Army and the Guanning Army had already seen the battle tactics of the three major camps, so they were not afraid at all. Instead, they became fierce and charged forward towards the Tartars.

Of course, there is another reason, which is that they saw with their own eyes that Cao Huachun distributed His Majesty's pension policy to the dead and injured.

If you die, your family will be rich. If you survive, your whole family will be rich.

The fearless charging momentum of the Ming army shocked the Qing army. "What's wrong with this group of Ming soldiers? Are they crazy? Aren't they afraid of death?"

"Prince Su, if we run like this, there will only be more casualties. Should we have a decisive battle with the Ming army here before making any plans?" A Jiala Zhangjing could not help but suggest to Haoge.

Haoge's brows were furrowed into the shape of a "川" character, "Has the person who delivered the message to Dorgon returned?"

"Your Highness, I have returned, but Prince Rui's troops have already begun to leave the country."

“How many people have been released?”

"More than 20,000 people have already been cleared, and there are less than 40,000 left."

"Asshole... I came here to pick him up, but now he's running away." Haoge's face turned pale and twisted into a dough twist with anger. "There are still 40,000 troops, which means Qingshan Pass is in our hands."

"Hurry up, brothers, let's go faster. There are only less than a hundred miles left. Once we reach Qingshan Pass and meet up with Dorgon's troops, we will be completely safe."

……

But when the Qing army galloped for another hour, they had already seen the branch of Yanshan Mountain and Qingshan Pass, but the Ming army appeared again on the horizon.

Troops from Shandong, Denglai, Baoding and other places appeared in front of the right side of the Tatars.

The soldiers ran more than a hundred miles on foot in eight hours.

Finally, they managed to stop Hauge's 30,000 troops.

Upon seeing this, Hauge ordered all the Qing troops to take a detour, but they were soon blocked by the Ming army again.

The infantry from the three battalions have also arrived at their locations.

The three camps suffered 7,000 casualties, but still had 68,000 people. Xuanda, Jiliao, Guanning, Shandong, Denglai, Baoding... although more than 10,000 people were killed or wounded, still had 60,000 people.

A total of 120,000 people, they defeated Hauge's 30,000 people. ...

After assessing the current situation, Cao Huachun immediately gave the order, "Artillery Battalion, Fire Gun Battalion, go ahead, start breaking into the camp!"

"Dong dong dong..."

The war drums sounded like thunder, shaking heaven and earth.

The encirclement and annihilation campaign officially began at this moment.

"Boom, boom, boom~~" Accompanied by the huge sound of artillery fire, the horses dragged the artillery and ran wildly along the way, directly destroying one third of the artillery carriages, but there were still eighty artillery pieces that could take part in the battle.

In an instant, the area where the Qing army was located was covered with dust and debris, soldiers and horses were knocked off their horses one by one, and the camp became chaotic.

Then, hundreds of people formed a musket formation and advanced towards the Tartars from three sides like knives.

Dense swarms of bullets fell among the Qing army, turning the Tatars who were riding horses and preparing to charge into a hornet's nest.

Hauge's scalp was tingling at this time, and he ordered: "Throw away everything and retreat!"

How could he not know by now that he had fallen into an ambush by the Ming army?

Population and livestock, these things are no longer important compared to his own Zhenglan Banner and part of the Two Yellow Banners given to him by his father.

It is absolutely impossible to fight to the death. The 80,000 troops of Dorgon and Yuetuo did not gain any advantage at the hands of the Ming army, so his 30,000 troops will certainly not be able to win the battle.

The only thing to do is break through.

The Jialazhangjing under Haoge also understood how urgent the situation was. One of them gritted his teeth and stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, you and the people of the two yellow flags go first. Erdentai and I will cover your retreat."

Erdetai belonged to one of Hauge's Eight Mongolian Banners.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty had an extremely strict system of hierarchy. This was why after the Manchus entered the Pass, the ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows reached its peak. Common people had to kneel and kowtow before seeing Guiyuan, and subordinates also had to kneel and kowtow when seeing their superiors.

Officials all vied to become slaves, because only those who had close relations with the emperor and were of Manchu nationality could call themselves slaves. Common people also called themselves slaves when they saw officials, to show their respect and obedience to them.

Because of this, the proposal was agreed by Hauge almost instantly.

Two Jiala Zhangjing under Hauge, with the Eight Banners of Mongolia, as well as some Korean soldiers and cavalry from small tribes, were responsible for covering the breakout of Hauge and the main forces of the Two Yellow Banners and the Plain Blue Banner.

A plan is a plan, but when it comes to execution, it is another matter.

The Qing army was not afraid of death, but no one wanted to die.

Especially the cavalry of small tribes, Korean soldiers, and the Eight Banners of Mongolia. They didn't want to die, so after just holding off the Ming army's offensive for a while, they began to collapse.

Start running away.

The Ming army had a large number of troops to begin with, and with the added power of their artillery and muskets, they kept intercepting and killing the fleeing Tatars. The shouts of killing rose and fell, and the sound was deafening.

The main forces of Hauge's Zhenglan Banner and the Two Yellow Banners were large in number and particularly conspicuous, and were hunted down by the three major camps and the Tianxiong Army.

It must be said that the fighting power of the Eight Banners was indeed strong, especially after losing the looted people, livestock and supplies.

Together with the two Jiala Zhangjing under Hauge who led the Zhenglan Banner, they rode their horses desperately and launched a frantic counterattack.

Help their master break out.

The Zhenglan Banner and the Two Yellow Banners also burst out with tremendous fighting power. Facing the pursuit of the three major camps, the Tianxiong Army and the Guanning Cavalry, they fought with red eyes.

Corpses, flesh and blood were scattered on the ground, and blood gathered into a puddle.

……

Outside the destroyed section of the border wall of Qingshan Pass,

"Hurry up, don't block the pass!"

"What are you doing in front?"

The Qing troops raised their whips and shouted loudly to drive away the civilians and livestock they had looted from the Ming Dynasty.

Along the way, they didn't loot many people, livestock, and supplies, so they passed the customs very quickly.

Dorgon looked at the Qing troops coming out in a line, and his heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally slowly settled down.

There were more than 80,000 men when they arrived, but now there are less than 60,000, with more than 10,000 wounded soldiers among them.

His Zhengbai Banner and Duoduo's Bordered White Banner also suffered heavy losses, especially Duoduo's Bordered White Banner, which was seriously injured. Now, seeing the troops of the two white banners leaving the pass, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At the moment, he was worried about how to explain to Huang Taiji, and how to deal with the consequences of this defeat within the Qing court after leaving the country.

At this moment, the Qing army's scouts came running over, "Your Majesty... Prince Su and his men have been surrounded by the Ming army."

"Hauge was blocked by the Ming army?" Dorgon's pupils shrank suddenly, and the joy in his eyes flashed away, "Where is he?"

"It's Qianma Ridge, less than fifty miles from here!" the Tartar replied.

　There will be another chapter around nine o'clock!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)