I

  Chapter 422 420 [Chasing after chasing]

  Dorgon's order to Zu Dashou was to do everything possible to hold back the Datong Army in the middle battlefield and prevent the Datong Army from rushing to help Shangqiu.

   Therefore, either Xihua County or Fugou County will be stuck.

  The rivers in Henan in the Ming Dynasty changed greatly compared with hundreds of years later, mainly caused by the diversion of the Yellow River. Blocking the two counties of Xihua and Fugou, the sixth and seventh divisions of the Datong Army could not march quickly along the river, but could only walk slowly by land, and had to cross the river several times on the way.

  Zu Dashou could not retreat, at most he could retreat to Fugou, if he retreated to Xuzhou, it would be a violation of the military order.

  A personal soldier came to report: "Dutong, Yuan Shizhong has led troops to Fugou, but he doesn't want to continue to join the army."

  Although Zu Dashou did not confer any title, he was appointed as the capital of the Zhenghuang Banner Han Army. In other words, the Zhenghuang Banner Han Army is under his control, and it is one of the highest military positions in the Eight Banners of the Han Army.

  Zu Dashou frowned and said, "This person might turn against him!"

  Wu Sangui said: "He is a native of Henan, and he was named the Marquis of Shunyi by the Qing Dynasty. What else can he turn against? Can Emperor Zhao of Nanjing give him the title of Marquis?"

   "Oh, who can say for sure?" Zu Dashou shook his head and sighed.

  In history, there are many stories about Yuan Shizhong. For example, Li Zicheng married his adopted daughter to him, but Yuan Shizhong abducted Li Zicheng's daughter. Some historical materials also record that Yuan Shizhong's troops did not kill civilians, but rescued them, and they were called "Buddhist Soldiers". He even defeated the small group of the Eight Banners Army who entered the customs and plundered, killed 50 Tartars, and refused to accept the goods from the Tartars.

   It is also said that Li Zicheng was afraid of Yuan Shizhong, first squeezed out, then flanked, and finally killed Yuan Shizhong and merged his tribe.

   Actually, it’s not that exciting. Yuan Shizhong’s troops are indeed well disciplined. Once expanded to 300,000 people, but suffered successive defeats and was helped by Li Zicheng. Therefore, Yuan Shizhong obeyed Li Zicheng's orders, but maintained his independence, and used Li Zicheng's prestige to develop his power.

  The imperial court sent people to recruit people, and Li Zicheng also sent people to appease him.

  Yuan Shizhong chose the imperial court and killed Li Zicheng's envoy. Li Zicheng was furious, and led his troops to kill Yuan Shizhong!

  Before Yuan Shizhong was ordered to guard against the Seventh Division. When the Seventh Division of the Datong Army moved, he was recruited by Zu Dashou to join forces. As a result, when this guy walked to Fugou County, he suddenly stopped moving, and even recruited refugees as soldiers along the way. By this time, the number of soldiers had expanded to more than 30,000.

  Once Yuan Shizhong chooses to defect, it will be tantamount to blocking Zu Dashou's retreat.

  Zu Dashou was terrified, and sent a scholar named Gong Yijie to Fugou County to appease Yuan Shizhong.

  After meeting Yuan Shizhong, Gong Yijie asked, "Why did Lord Hou stop fighting?"

  Yuan Shizhong explained: "The soldiers in the army are often sick and plagued. If they go to Xihua County to join forces with the ancestral capital, the soldiers of the ancestral capital may also be infected with the plague."

  Gong Yijie said: "The enemy's army is about to arrive, and it is time to use troops. A little plague is nothing to worry about. Please lead the troops there immediately."

   "Alas, many of my subordinates are infected with the epidemic." Yuan Shizhong sighed.

Gong Yijie tried hard to persuade: "Master Hou, the North-South War is the time to serve the country. Lord Hou stops the army, and he will be held accountable after the war. This is the worst policy. Does Lord Hou think that the puppet soldiers won my victory?" Qing Eight Banners?"

   "Hey, it's hard to say." Yuan Shizhong suddenly laughed.

  Gong Yijie said in horror: "Why did Lord Hou say such a thing?"

  Yuan Shizhong did not explain, and sneered: "I wanted to continue to wait and see, but you reminded me. Since I must be pursued by the Tartars, why not do the opposite now and prevent Dorgon from coming back alive? Someone is here!"

   "Here!" A few soldiers came in.

  Yuan Shizhong said: "Behead this man and send him to the Datong Army. Say that I have raised troops against the Qing Dynasty, occupied Fugou, and cut off Zu Dashou's retreat!"

   "Master Hou think twice... Lord Hou think twice..." Gong Yijie yelled and was dragged out.

  Yuan Shizhong was born in a family of small landlords. He also read books when he was a child.

  In Henan in the late Ming Dynasty, even small landlords would not be able to survive if they encountered corrupt officials.

  Yuan Shizhong's family first became self-cultivated farmers, and gradually became tenant farmers. Being constantly pressed by the government, his family starved to death one after another, so he had to flee to Kaizhou as a beggar.

  Historically, this person rose up in rebellion. Due to his good military discipline, the people enthusiastically took refuge in him, and quickly stood out among the many rebels. In his heyday, he was treated like the imperial court encircled and suppressed Li Zicheng.

  Yuan Shizhong's thinking mode is biased towards scholars. He doesn't want to be a traitor, and always wants to recruit security and become a regular.

  After surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shizhong always felt uncomfortable.

  Because the Manchu Qing exploited the people very heavily, no less than the Ming government. Although he was named a Marquis, the Qing Dynasty did not allocate military salary, or even salary, and Yuan Shizhong had to raise it all by himself.

   This seems to be no different from being a rebel before?

  Yuan Shizhong cherished his feathers, cared about his own reputation, and lived by asking landlords for food. Also, he doesn't like shaving and hates the braid at the back of his head!

  When Dorgon was around, Yuan Shizhong did not dare to rebel.

  As soon as Dorgon left, there were no Eight Banners soldiers nearby, and Yuan Shizhong immediately thought of defecting. Even if you lose the battle, you can retreat with the Datong army and go to the territory of the Han family where you don't need to shave your hair and keep your braids.

  …

  Xihua County.

  Zu Dashou asked: "How far is the puppet army?"

   "The enemy cavalry has arrived several miles away, and the main force of the enemy is estimated to be dozens of miles away." Wu Sangui said.

"The whole army retreats to Fugou," Zu Dashou said, "If Yuan thief (Yuan Shizhong) dares to kill him, he will be wiped out in the wild. If Yuan thief defends the city, Fugou County must be taken down in a **** battle! Yuan thief If we don't get rid of it, we will be attacked by the enemy."

  Wu Sangui suggested: "It's better to lead the troops to Taikang. In this way, we won't be attacked by the enemy, and we can also stop the enemy from rushing to help Shangqiu."

  Zu Dashou hesitated.

  Wu Sangui's strategy is indeed possible, but he must abandon a large amount of luggage, because he cannot march by water. Once all the supplies are brought on the road, tens of thousands of civilians must be used, and there will be pursuers behind them.

  Yuan Shizhong suddenly reversed, disrupting Zu Dashou's plan!

  Before that, Zu Dashou could choose to defend the city, go out to fight, or retreat to Fugou. But now he can't choose anything, either return to the teacher and kill Yuan Shizhong, or abandon the luggage and go to Taikang County.

  The occurrence of this situation is purely the result of Manqing's own planting.

  The expansion of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was too fast, and four provinces were won within half a year, and anyone who was in a mess was willing to be incorporated. What's even more frightening is that there is simply not enough food to really control the soldiers from all walks of life. During the war, they even robbed the territory where the soldiers and generals were surrendered.

   With this approach, it is definitely no problem to advance all the way, but conflicts will erupt when the Datong Army blocks it.

   It doesn’t even have to wait for the Manchus to be defeated. If the stalemate in the battle lasts a little longer, there will be surrendered soldiers and generals who will defect again.

   And Zhao Han's reputation for benevolence finally revealed its appeal.

  Where the people passed along the way, the people warmly greeted them. Even the hungry people knew that there must be something to eat with Emperor Zhao. Even some landlords and gentry were dissatisfied with the tyranny of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and spent all their wealth to support Zhao Han in the war.

  After entering the territory of Guide Mansion, gentry came to vote with self-raised bravery every day.

  There are nearly 20,000 troops in the village, and nearly 100,000 rebels composed of hungry people. Some brave and hungry people from the village even came from Kaifeng Mansion, crossing prefectures and counties to seek refuge with Emperor Zhao.

   Well, Emperor Zhao’s military rations are consumed quickly, and a good appetite can make people poor.

  …

  The cavalry in Xihua County were all dispatched by Wu Sangui.

  Wu Sangui collected more than 4,000 cavalry and patrolled around Yingqikou, preventing Datong's army from crossing the river, and covering Zu Dashou's retreat with his infantry.

  The fire broke out in the city, but it was Zu Dashou who burned the excess luggage, including a lot of looted food and grass.

  The Henan thieves and bandits who belonged to the Manchu Qing had expressions of impatience on their faces. When these thieves rebelled, they just couldn't get enough to eat. Watching Zu Dashou burn the food and grass, they felt so uncomfortable that they bleed.

   "The enemy is gone!"

  Cao Bianjiao rode to the bank of the Shahe River and faced Wu Sangui, who was also with cavalry, across the river.

   There is no way to go there, but to watch, and at the same time send people back to report, because the main force of the Datong Army is still thirty miles away.

  Jiang Dashan and Huang Shun immediately ordered to speed up the march after receiving the news.

  The civilian husbands and soldiers all started to unload more than a dozen grain ships. Then, some of the soldiers advanced by boat, and the rest of the soldiers followed along the coast, taking away all the rations and artillery without rushing.

  The soldiers on the boat arrived at Yingqikou first, and stood on the boat and shot Wu Sangui's cavalry on the shore.

  Wu Sangui didn't dare to shoot at the blunderbuss, so he could only get out of the way of the wharf at Yingqikou.

  The fire gun soldiers took the opportunity to land on the shore, covering Cao Bianjiao's cavalry crossing the river by boat. When all the cavalry had crossed the river, the remaining infantry also came and continued to cross the river by boat.

   "The whole army pursues!" Jiang Dashan and Huang Shun jointly ordered.

  The infantry of the two divisions all trotted lightly, and the armor could only stay on the ship. The grenadier's ten-thousand-thousand enemy can't bring it with him, and he only has a waist knife on his body.

  More than 10,000 unarmored Datong infantry marched towards Taikang County in a hurry.

   Two cavalry generals Cao Bianjiao and Wei Guoxiang each led 2,500 dragoons to drive away Wu Sangui's cavalry.

  Guan Ning’s iron cavalry has long been disabled and was once divided into three parts. Some were transferred to the customs to suppress the Northwest rogues; some were assigned to Zu Dashou; and some were assigned to Wu Sangui.

  All previous battles, constant consumption.

  Although Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui still have cavalry under their command, they are no longer the real Guanning iron cavalry, but more similar to the family cavalry of the Ming border general.

  At this moment, Wu Sangui commanded more than 4,000 cavalry, about 2,000 cavalry are considered elite, and the rest are miscellaneous cards under the command of the generals.

   Facing five thousand dragoons, Wu Sangui dispersed and harassed, throwing bows and arrows non-stop.

  Shoot a few arrows, then stop shooting.

   If you are too far away, you will not be able to shoot, and if you are too close, you will be shot.

  Wu Sangui wanted to go around and attack the big synchronous pawns who were stripped of their armor and marching in a hurry. The dragoons also quickly followed to protect the safety of friendly troops and prevent enemy cavalry from approaching.

  Although Jiang Dashan had a mount, he was running with the soldiers at the moment. He shouted: "Don't worry about those enemy horses, just run forward!"

   More than ten thousand soldiers at the same time really ignored Wu Sangui, as if they couldn't see the enemy cavalry, they trotted forward with weapons in the direction of Taikang.

  The two armies were separated by dozens of miles, and the Datong army planned to pursue them on foot.

  (end of this chapter)