Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 926 Pursuing the Ming Army
The hills around Chongqing Prefecture are undulating, and a long dragon composed of torches is winding along the official road. From a distance, in the dark night dotted with firelight, it looks like countless fireflies flying on the ground. It was the calm and expressionless soldiers who hurried forward with torches and lowered their heads, like soldiers passing through the border, giving people a sense of mystery and panic.

At this time, the torches were brightly lit beside the North Ferry on the north bank of the Yangtze River, illuminating the entire ferry as if it were daytime. Countless soldiers stood solemnly holding the torches, and the flashes of the flames imprinted on their faces were obscure.

On a small hill beside the ferry, He Tengjiao, Fan Yiheng and others stood on it, watching three fire dragons trot across the pontoon bridge erected on the river in the dark night. People are chasing, rushing to the floating bridge like a school of fish.

These three pontoon bridges were not built temporarily by the Ming army, but were built by Chuan Du Wang Yingxiong who spent a lot of manpower and financial resources. It took more than a year to cast twelve [-]-jin iron oxen and fix the ropes. The army was able to quickly increase its troops in Jiangbei, but now it is indeed the way for the Ming army to retreat in a hurry.

Not long after Hauge arrived at Fotu Pass, Jiang Tianyi and the others also left the forest and fled into the camp of the Ming army.

After Jiang Tianyi failed in the fight against the Qing Dynasty in Huizhou, he went through the mountains and forests, and led the remnants of the guerrilla for a long time. Although the hills in eastern Sichuan were undulating, he still took the remnants of the soldiers and successfully avoided the Jin army. out.

After arriving at Mingying, Jiang Tianyi and others had no time to rest, so they met with He Tengjiao and others and stated the details of the Battle of Hezhou. When four or fifty people came back, they couldn't help crying bitterly.

He Tengjiao and others in the tent were shocked when they heard that Zhongyi Town wiped out more than 2 people at once. It can be said that after the Fujian Incident, the Wuzhong Army suffered the biggest loss, and this loss was enough to make the army terrified. It is the myth in the Ming army and the spiritual pillar of each army.

It was confirmed that Hezhou fell, He Tengjiao's face was full of panic, and the other generals in the tent were also flustered. In this state, the possibility of the Ming army defeating Haoge is very small, and there is a great possibility that Haoge will be defeated again by Haoge's prestige of breaking Hezhou. He Tengjiao was timid, and immediately decided to abandon the camp and evacuate overnight with only food.

At this time, many Ming generals were standing on the slope, and the people passing down the mountain were silent, only the sound of hurried footsteps came to their ears, and they felt a little desolate in their hearts, but also a little secretly grateful.

"Ge Lao, Qin Taifu has been sent to the other side, you should hurry up and cross the river!" Zhang Tongchang climbed up the hillside, wiped his forehead, and bowed to He Tengjiao.

There were Wang Deren and Li Dingguo behind, so He Tengjiao was not worried that the Jin army would catch up immediately, but he shook his head and said, "Not busy, the governor wants to watch the soldiers cross the river."

When He Tengjiao said such a sentence, he really moved the generals around him. The people around him were full of hesitation and helplessness after the defeat, but they were made a little tragic by his words.

"Elder Ge, the most important thing right now is to organize the defense of the river in Chongqing and re-establish a line of defense to prevent Hauge from rushing across the Yangtze River with a big victory. Elder Ge is a great scholar, please withdraw to Chongqing as soon as possible to defend Chongqing, I will leave it to the subordinates here, and the subordinates will definitely take all the soldiers across the river!" After hearing this, Fan Yiheng couldn't help clasping his fists and said.

Everyone also tried to persuade them, but He Tengjiao hesitated for a moment, but did not insist anymore. The Ming army had to secure a firm foothold in Chongqing and leave such a foothold in Sichuan for the imperial court to wait for future counterattacks.He listened to what everyone said, and he was indeed a little scared, so he followed everyone's wishes and agreed to cross the river immediately.

In Fotu Pass, Hu Guozhu, who was patrolling the city, saw that there were only fixed braziers in the camp of the Ming army, but no soldiers raised fire to inspect, and found that the Ming army had withdrawn.

The Kingdom of Jin has 20 armors, and its military strength seems strong, but it must take into account Sichuan, Guanzhong, Hexi Corridor and Longyou, etc., and must guard against Dorgon, Zhungeer Mongolia, and the Yarkand Khanate. In the north, at least deploy With an army of 10, the maximum number of troops in Sichuan can only be [-].

The [-] Ming army retreating now is undoubtedly a huge threat to Sichuan. Once the Ming army stabilizes its position and the Ming reinforcements enter Sichuan to join forces with the [-] Ming army, the Ming army can make a comeback immediately.

Hauge had to buy time for himself to digest the fruits of victory, so he finally chose Obai's opinion that he must severely damage the [-] Ming army, so that the Ming Dynasty would not be able to counterattack Sichuan in a short period of time, so that he could take it with peace of mind. In southern Sichuan, use the wealth and population of Xinde to recruit soldiers and horses to expand its strength.

Obai received the military order and immediately led 1 cavalry to pursue it, while Wu Sangui was ordered to lead [-] cavalry to respond to prevent the Ming army from ambush.

Ten thousand cavalry, holding torches and taking advantage of the moonlight, left Fotu Pass and pursued southward.

These [-] cavalry were not Manchus, but were composed of Mongolian and Hui troops recruited during Hauge's western expedition.

The Manchus in the Kingdom of Jin are relatively weak and cannot withstand losses, so the Manchus are basically responsible for defending Chang'an and Haoge. Generally speaking, they do not directly participate in the battle. Even when Haoge went west, the Han army was the main force. , supplemented by the full army.

In this way, although it helps the recovery and increase of the Manchu population, it also deprives the Manchu people of the opportunity to make contributions.

Through repeated battles, the Han army naturally had more opportunities to gain merit than the Manchus, and their status would inevitably rise, while the Manchus were just guards and kept standing still, so the Han army looked down on these Manchus.

In this atmosphere, the Manchus were eager to master an armed force that could be used on the battlefield, and Hauge also intended to check and balance the Han people, so he handed over the army composed of all ethnic groups in the west to the Manchus, making the Manchus People can gain military exploits by commanding them to fight, so as not to be completely outmatched by the Han people, and finally suppressed by the Han people.

This time Haoge brought the more than 1 Mongolian and Hui troops to Sichuan to give them a chance to make contributions, and these people did not disappoint him on the Hezhou battlefield, successfully blocking Yuan Zong several times No. breakout.

Aobai led [-] cavalry, and after leaving the customs, they hurried south. Although it was not convenient to gallop wildly at night, the horses moved slowly, and their speed was much faster than that of the infantry.

The hills in eastern Sichuan are undulating, but it is not that there is no way to go. In fact, by the Ming Dynasty, the official roads and post roads in various places had been well developed, and there was absolutely no problem with running two horse-drawn carriages side by side.

The cavalry jogged along the official road, and when they chased south for five miles, they had already left Wu Sangui behind to eat ashes, and after ten miles ahead, Wu Sangui was no longer in sight.

(End of this chapter)