I

  Chapter 404 402【Scramble into white ground】

  The general of Liaoyang is called Shuo Zhan.

  This person was born in Zhenghongqi, and inherited his father's position Jiala Ezhen, similar to Zhao Han's regiment leader, who can command 1,500 people.

   After entering the customs, Dorgon appointed Shuo Zhan as Mei Le Zhang Jing, which means deputy general. He still has only 1,500 soldiers under his command, but all areas from Shanhaiguan to Liaoyang belong to his military jurisdiction.

  Shuo Zhan only has 50 Manchurian Eight Banners in his hands, and the remaining soldiers are all distributed in the countryside. He needs to call up again to fight.

  The Qing army has always been like this. When they don’t fight, they go back to the countryside, manage their own farms, and practice combat skills by the way. Only when going out for an expedition or concentrated drills, did they go to a fixed location to gather, which is more similar to Zhao Han's peasant and soldier system.

   Therefore, despite the fact that there are only 50 Manchurian Eight Banners in Liaoyang, 1500 Eight Banners can actually be recruited within a few days. After the army was taken away by Dorgon, there were only so many people left.

   Haizhou can also call up troops, but Wu Huapu's cavalry rushed too fast. A large number of Manchurian Eight Banners scattered in the countryside were killed or their thumbs were cut off before they received the order to gather troops. There are also several teams of cavalry, cruising around Haizhou City, specially intercepting and killing the Eight Banners soldiers who came spontaneously.

  So Haizhou City was quickly occupied by the Datong Army!

  Liaoyang learned of the enemy's situation in advance, and now has gathered more than 200 troops, and another 100 Eight Banners soldiers of the Han Army assisted.

  But Shuo Zhan still did not dare to leave the city, because the Datong cavalry had already arrived.

  On the field where the spring grass has recovered, dozens of Manchurian Eight Banners have received orders to gather troops and rushed to Liaoyang City. Among them, there were twelve horsemen and thirty-seven infantrymen. They also have coats to follow, which belong to combat coats. They help the master lead the horse, carry the gun and carry the equipment. When fighting, they can turn into civilian husbands, or they can charge forward as auxiliary soldiers.

   "Woooooooooooo!"

  The sentry on the hill, observing with a telescope, quickly blew the horn. The more than 300 Tong cavalry in charge of this area quickly gathered to kill them.

  The main generals of the Qing Dynasty were blocked in the city, and only middle and low-level officers came from outside the city, and several small troops had been intercepted and killed.

  Shuo Zhan stood on the tower, watching anxiously.

  He once sent more than a dozen cavalrymen to various villages to pass orders to tell the Eight Banners Army not to refuel and rush to the city, but to rush to Shenyang to gather troops and kill them. But after these cavalry left the city, they were intercepted and killed by Datong cavalry ten times larger than themselves, and only two of them broke through the encirclement quickly by relying on horses.

  At this moment, three hundred Datong cavalry quickly surrounded a small group of enemy troops.

   When they were far away, they lit the matchlock, loaded the ammunition and prepared to attack.

  The other 300 Datong cavalry gradually approached in this direction, in case Shuo Zhan led troops out of the city to rescue.

  12 Manchurian horse troops, 37 Manchurian infantry troops, plus their coats, the number is nearly a hundred. Surrounded in the wild like this, Ma Jun even put on cotton armor in an emergency, and tried to distance himself to escape after getting on his horse.

  It’s fine if they don’t wear armor, but with armor on, they really can’t escape.

   In order to reduce weight, the Datong Dragoons do not wear any armor to ensure their speed.

  I saw these Datong cavalry, only 50 cavalry were left to guard the enemy infantry, and the rest all went to kill the enemy cavalry. 250 riders chased and intercepted 12 riders. There was no need to dismount and fire guns. After approaching, they reined in their horses and shot.

  After fighting for a while, three people were killed by firecrackers, eight people were besieged in close combat, and only one Manchu cavalry was still running away.

  The Datong cavalry circled back again, dismounted and lined up to fire guns at the remaining enemy infantry.

   "Bang bang bang bang!"

  The packers were so frightened that they all fell to the ground and surrendered, but they effectively avoided the volley of firecrackers.

   These Manchurian infantry soldiers would be surrounded and killed if they fled scattered, and they would be shot when they gathered. There was no way to fight at all, so he had to bite the bullet and charge. After a round of charge, he was killed and half injured by muskets.

  When the survivors charged a little closer, the group of Datong dragoons ran away, and another group of dragoons began to shoot from the side.

   Unable to fight, the Manchurian infantry finally broke down and ran desperately towards Liaoyang City.

  The Datong dragoons caught up and surrounded them with knives at their waists.

   Actually killed the remaining few, dropped their weapons and surrendered. The Datong army was unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness. They stripped off their cotton armor, took away their weapons, cut off their thumbs and let them enter the city.

  Shuo Zhan was disgusted by this kind of behavior. He has taken in hundreds of Manchurian soldiers who lost their thumbs, and some of them were sent back from Haizhou on purpose.

   These people can't draw a bow and shoot an arrow, and they can't hold a sword, gun or shield steadily, so they are completely useless.

   Moreover, news was brought from Haizhou, saying that Haoge and Dorgon were fighting among themselves, and the Qing army was killed and defeated. Beijing has been besieged, and Shanhaiguan has also been breached... These news caused the morale of the defenders in Liaoyang to drop to the extreme.

  The Eight Banners assistant leader of the Han Army defending Liaoyang is already ready to move and may rebel at any time.

   "Hang up to the city." Shuo Zhan had no choice but to order.

  If the Eight Banners soldier is abandoned after his thumb is cut off, the morale in the city will only be lowered, and he must consume food to feed these wastes.

   Immediately afterwards, dozens of coated soldiers who surrendered had their thumbs cut off and sent outside the city.

   "Help!"

   "Master Zhang Jing, please pull us up!"

   "..."

  The Han people were crying and crying under the city, and the Datong cavalry was watching the show further away. Shuo Zhan on the city turned a deaf ear to this.

   Disabled Manchurian soldiers must be rescued. What is the Han Chinese’s coat?

   Dozens of coats, just like this, howling in the city. Although they only lost their thumbs, they were doomed, and there was only one ending: starve to death!

  The 100 Han Army and the Eight Banners who assisted in defending the city, seeing the tragic situation of the coating, inevitably felt sad. If my thumb is cut off, I'm afraid I'll be abandoned too, so what the **** is he fighting for the Tartars?

  Inspecting the city defense in the afternoon, Shuo Zhan obviously felt that something was wrong. There was something wrong with the eyes of the Eight Banners soldiers of the Han Army.

   Nothing will happen now, but when a large number of enemy troops attack the city, these Eight Banners of the Han army will definitely surrender to the enemy.

  That night, Shuo Zhan abandoned his family and only brought his two sons to break out. As he was facing the river, he ordered the rest of the soldiers to break out in three directions, and he disguised himself as a soldier to escape on horseback.

   In the middle of the night, the shouts of killing were loud, and the pursuit and killing were carried out in the dark.

  Shuo Zhan's eldest son was killed, and he and his second son were captured. He was not recognized, and even saved his life. After losing his thumbs, he fled towards Shenyang on foot.

   Before Hu Dinggui led his troops to kill, the Eight Banners of the Han Army who stayed in the city took the initiative to open the city and sacrifice Liaoyang.

  …

   A few days later, Shenyang City.

  This is Shengjing in the Manchu Qing Dynasty. He Luohui, a minister in the Zhenghuang Banner, was appointed by Dorgon as the governor of Shengjing, the highest official in the entire Northeast.

  At this moment, Shenyang has gathered more than 3,000 troops, more than 1,000 from the Eight Banners of Manchuria, and 600 from the Han Army and the Eight Banners of Mongolia. Ahanikan of the Xianghuang Banner stationed in Shengjing has also arrived with hundreds of soldiers.

   "I'm Shuo Zhan, let me enter the city!"

  Ahani looked over his head and said to He Luohui, "It's really Shuo Zhan."

  He Luohui quickly said: "Let him in!"

  Shuo Zhan took his son into the city, He Luo met his hands wrapped in cloth, and said in surprise: "You also had your thumb cut off?"

   "The enemy army is vicious, it's better to kill me!" Shuo Zhan said with a mournful face.

  Ahanikan asked, "Where did the enemy come from?"

  These three are Dorgon's confidantes. Historically, Ahanikan even served as Minister of Rites.

  Since they are all their own people, there is nothing to hide.

Shuo Zhan said in a low voice: "I don't know if it's true or not. The soldiers who fled from Haizhou brought the news. It is said that Prince Su (Haoge) started a rebellion. We fought in the Qing Dynasty and were killed by the Datong Army in the south." I was caught off guard. Today, Beijing has been besieged, and the Shanhaiguan Pass has been broken, and the enemy came from Shanhaiguan Pass.”

  He Luohui and Ahanikan immediately looked at each other.

  They, actually... Some believe it.

   Otherwise where did the enemy come from? It can't come by flying with wings, and it can't swim from the sea.

  They firmly believe that the Eight Banners of Manchuria are strong and will not be easily defeated.

  But if Hauge provokes internal strife and wins one or two princes to rebel, it is really possible that the Datong Army will seize the opportunity.

He Luohui thought about it for a long time, and said: "Defend Shengjing first, what if it's false news. Invite all Manchurian men to Shengjing, and women can also take up weapons to fight. Also, go to the north to gather wild Jurchens, every tribe A hundred fighters must be dispatched!"

  The savage Jurchens are very miserable. In the past few decades, all kinds of people have been conquered by the Qing Dynasty.

  Even if the tribe that has surrendered to the tribute, the Manchu Qing will have nothing to fight twice. Every time there is a conquest, people and goods will be taken away, making it impossible for the tribes of the savage Jurchen to develop at all.

  The Oroqen, Ewenki and other ethnic minorities in later generations were all evolved from savage Jurchens.

  Many savage Jurchens even lived in Russia in later generations. They were sparsely populated by the Qing Dynasty and had no combat effectiveness at all. As a result, Russia was cheaper. Dozens of Cossack cavalry could occupy tens of thousands of square kilometers of land.

  Ahanikan said: "All the Jurchens in the southern mountains also moved to Shengjing, and try to keep Shengjing as much as possible!"

  Shuo Zhan said: "Han people and Koreans cannot enter the city, they are likely to defect!"

   "Yes, except for the loyal coat, the Han and Koreans are not allowed to enter the city!" Ahanikan agreed.

   Tens of thousands of Han Chinese and Koreans were abandoned in the countryside without even a grain of food.

  When some Manchus moved out of the farm, they simply killed all the serfs at home.

Wu Huapu rushed back to Liaoyang to report: "General, there are thousands of defenders in Shenyang, and it is impossible to take it in a short time. They are afraid of defecting. Han and Koreans are not allowed to enter the city. Even the Eight Banners of the Han army are out of the city to set up camp. In the city of Shenyang, apart from the Manchurians, there are only coats.”

Hu Dinggui smiled and said: "Then we will not attack Shenyang. The cavalry went to recruit Han Chinese and Koreans to move westward, and they all moved to Gaizhou, Fuzhou, and Jinzhou to farm. In addition, they went outside Shenyang to shout, saying that Dorgon had already Defeated, the 500,000 Datong army is about to come to Shenyang. Let’s scare them, it will take a lot of time to take the people away, lest the enemy army in Shenyang come out to make trouble.”

  Hu Dinggui said to Wang Yaochen: "Order North Korea to collect grain again, and the price can be increased by 10%. If it is impossible, we can only go to Jiangsu to urge grain. There are too many people to be resettled this time."

  Hu Dinggui really stopped fighting in Shenyang. He evacuated Haizhou and Liaoyang, and took away tens of thousands of people from Shenyang.

  Although the stronghold of the Qing Dynasty has not been breached, it has become a piece of white ground.

   When they left, the city walls of Haizhou and Liaoyang also collapsed with gunpowder, and they can come back to seize the city at any time in the future.

  By the way, Liaodong, with its vast land and sparse population, can open up pastures to raise horses!

   It wasn't until Hu Dinggui moved everyone out and returned to Gaizhou safely that Dorgon finally received the news that his hometown had been raped.

   (Not today.)

  (end of this chapter)