I

  Chapter 450 448 [mutual damage]

  In the city of Gaizhou.

  Hu Dinggui asked: "How much food and grass are left?"

   "More than a month." The quartermaster replied.

  Hu Dinggui said: "The soldiers and civilians all reduce their meals. When the food is eaten, the livestock are killed, and the livestock are eaten and the horses are killed. Except for the cattle, the rest can be eaten."

  The quartermaster suggested: "You can kill some livestock first, so that you can save fodder."

   "Very well, follow your idea." Hu Dinggui said.

  Gaizhou City hoarded the most grain and grass, but the nearby farmers all withdrew into the city, and he had to feed the people with grain.

   It has been almost a month, and the Qing artillery is still attacking the city.

   Fortunately, the Tartars don't have real heavy artillery!

  If Zhao Han bombarded Shangqiu with heavy artillery, and fired a few at random, the city walls of Gaizhou would have collapsed.

  Ten miles south of the city.

  Lu Xiangsheng led the Xiao cavalry to attack, hacked and killed the soldiers who were destroying the crops, and then fought with the Manchu cavalry. The two sides suffered casualties and retreated to their camps.

  The wheat for several miles around the camps of both sides was harvested by the peasants.

  Manchu Qing also harvested a lot of wheat, and Lu Xiangsheng could not stop it. But if the Manchus went forward to collect grain, he would attack resolutely, and no one would touch the wheat in the two or three miles between the two sides!

  Dorgon also came out on a horse, looking at Lu Xiangsheng who was gradually retreating, he was already very anxious.

  Manchu Qing's consistent tactics against the Ming army no longer work!

  He couldn't cut off the Datong Army's retreat, nor could he cut off the Datong Army's food road. Because the Datong army camped by the sea, there were trenches and earthen walls, and food could be continuously transported from the sea.

Back at the barracks, Nurhachi’s seventh son, Abatai, said: “Prince Regent, withdraw the troops. These southern barbarians are obviously going to consume our military rations. If we keep dragging on, whoever runs out of military rations first will definitely lose the battle. I I heard that the south of the Yangtze River is rich and has a lot of food, and we have more food than the barbarians in the South."

   "Wait a little longer, the enemy must have revealed its weaknesses." Dorgon said boldly.

  The leaders of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties for three consecutive generations were very gambling.

   It can even be said that Manchu Qing was able to grow big because of repeated bets. Because of many battles, only on the surface data, the Man Qing had no possibility of winning.

  At critical moments, the Ming Frontier Army can always make trouble.

   In this way, another half month passed, on the 40th day after the Manchu Qing bombarded Gaizhou City, the navy returned from North Korea with a grain transport fleet.

  The king of North Korea cried out that there was no food, and the navy soldiers were unambiguous, and directly bombarded the forts on Ganghwa Island.

   Shelled for three days in a row, and then sent troops to land.

  After the Datong Navy occupied the fort, the defenders on the island surrendered directly. Not only occupied Ganghwa Island, but also "rescued" dozens of political prisoners who had been exiled to the island.

  These political prisoners have clans and ministers, and they can completely reorganize the imperial court.

  The North Korean monarchs and ministers were so frightened that they immediately ordered the search of the people. The people did not have enough food, so they "borrowed food" from small and medium-sized landlords, forcing them to sell their stored food to the Datong army.

  Lu Xiangsheng said with a smile: "We have enough food, and we are not afraid of exhausting the Tartars. Why don't we send a partial division and use sea ships to transport the cavalry to the rear of the Tartars."

   "Good idea!" Xiao Zongxian clapped his hands in praise.

  Li Zheng made a decision: "2500 dragoons, 2500 Xiao cavalry, and some Liaodong guides."

  …

  Liaohe Estuary.

  The location of the Daliao River in the Ming Dynasty was completely different from that hundreds of years later.

  Five thousand cavalrymen landed at the mouth of Liaohe River. Li Dingguo, who was promoted, was thrown by Zhao Han to Liaodong for training. In this attack around the rear, Li Dingguo commanded 2,500 Xiao cavalry, and Wang Tingchen commanded 2,500 dragoons.

  When the nearby fishermen saw the fleet coming, they didn't know what was going on, they just fled back home and hid.

   Li Dingguo led his troops to the east of the Sancha River, and Wang Tingchen led his troops to the west of the Sancha River. When they saw the houses, they rushed in and ordered the coastal people to move out with their families. They were not allowed to bring any extra things except food and bedding.

   But anyone who resists will be executed immediately!

   In half a day, only thousands of civilians were captured. This **** place is really sparsely populated.

   "General, to the northeast is Yaozhou City (Dashiqiao City, Yingkou) built by the Tartars!" said the local guide in Liaodong.

  Li Dingguo said with a smile: "Then go to Yaozhou for fun!"

   2,500 Xiaoqi went straight to Yaozhou, and encountered a manor on the way, which seemed to be quite densely populated.

  Manors of this size were at least owned by the middle-class nobles of the Qing Dynasty. They appointed Baoyi to take care of it. If we use the farm of Daming as an analogy, Baoyi is equivalent to a house slave in charge, and a serf is equivalent to a low-level tenant.

   "Anyone whose hair is no bigger than an inch will be killed!" Li Dingguo ordered.

  Although the serfs also shaved their hair and kept braids, their hair has not been taken care of for a long time, and most of them grow back a layer of short hair, or even grow several inches before shaving it off.

  You can’t expect poor serfs to shave their hair every now and then. That thing will grow back in two or three days.

  Even Manchurian civilians often wear short cuts.

  2,500 cavalry rushed into this village, cutting down anyone with short or no hair. Li Dingguo said that "the hair does not exceed an inch" and all are killed, and the implementation is not so strict, it depends entirely on the mood of the cavalry.

  There is grain replanted by the Qing Dynasty here. No matter what crops, the cavalry deliberately trampled on them.

   If you step on a few more trees, you can make the enemy less harvest.

   Seeing Qi Ding fleeing into the house, Datong Xiaoqi did not enter the house to search. They dismounted in advance, lit the torches they carried with them, and then forced the captured serfs to carry firewood to pile up.

   Entering the house may be attacked, it is much safer to set fire to the house.

   Not long after, more than a dozen houses were set on fire, and more than 200 people, men, women, old and children, escaped from those houses. There were banners, coats, and serfs, all of whom hid when they saw the cavalry.

  Well, there are also livestock, which break free from the ropes and come out in case of fire.

  Some flagmen wanted to resist, charged with weapons, and were easily surrounded and killed by the cavalry.

  Banners are the source of troops for the Eight Banners of Manchuria. Manchurian nobles conscript troops on a household basis to supplement or create new Eight Banners troops.

  In about an hour, the manor was completely destroyed, and more than 300 people were captured.

  Li Dingguo asked: "Who can speak Chinese?"

   No response.

  Li Dingguo asked again: "Have you forgotten what the ancestor said? Then kill them all!"

   "Slave... the grassroots can speak Chinese, don't kill the general!"

   "Grassmen pay homage to the general!"

   "..."

  In an instant, a group of people shouted, for fear that Li Dingguo would raise his butcher knife high.

A serf was the most courageous. He knelt and climbed in front of Li Dingguo's horse: "General Rong, the grassroots were originally good people in Gyeonggi. After the death of Lord Chongzhen, King Chuang also received the elders of the village. The uncle of the grassmen had spoken to King Chuang. These dogs As soon as he came, he seized the land in the village, captured all the pretty women, and asked us to farm for him. A few months ago, I heard that we were defeated in a battle and brought us here from Gyeonggi to Liaodong. The general King Chuang's soldiers? You came at the right time..."

  Li Dingguo scolded: "I am not a soldier of the intruder, I am a soldier of the Emperor of Datong!"

   "Ah? Admit... I confessed wrongly, the general should not blame me." The serf kowtowed quickly.

  Li Dingguo said: "Go and identify the Tartars, this general will take you out of Liaodong."

   "Thank you General!"

  The serfs were overjoyed and quickly identified more than 20 Tartars, most of whom were women and children—a group of men had just been killed because of their resistance.

  Li Dingguo said again: "Choose a few Han people who are trustworthy, and I will let you be in charge."

  The serfs were even more delighted, and immediately selected the ones they had good relations with.

  The weapons seized from Qi Ding were all thrown to the ground. Li Dingguo said: "Being a thief has to be rewarded. Pick up your knives and go kill those Tartar men."

  These Han people only hesitated for a few seconds, then picked up their weapons one after another, and slashed at the banner like crazy.

  Li Dingguo nodded in satisfaction: "Tie up all the slaves in coats, and take them back to work as coolies. The rest of the Han people, leave immediately with livestock and food!"

  Because of setting fire to houses, there was not much money and food left, and there were not many livestock looted.

  The main thing is the more than 300 people, and even the Manchu women were taken away. Ten cavalrymen were dispatched to **** them back, and a few serfs were selected as leaders to **** them with weapons. The Tartar women and the slaves in coats were tied with ropes and set off on their way.

   The rest, kill them all!

  Li Dingguo didn't bother to go to Yaozhou city, so he rushed to the southwest of Yaozhou.

  The closer you are to the city, the denser the population, and the more people you can plunder.

  The Eight Banners were all taken to fight by Dorgon, and only a few were left to guard the cities. These few Manchurian Eight Banners and Mongolian Eight Banners, with more new Han Army Eight Banners guarding the city, did not dare to go out of the city to intercept Li Dingguo's cavalry.

  Two days later, Li Dingguo grabbed more than 4,000 people and happily returned to Liaohe Estuary to rest and replenish.

   Gathered together to inquire, Wang Tingchen also grabbed more than 3,000 people.

   Separate ships to transport these populations back. The remaining ships continued westward with the cavalry, and they burned, killed and looted the coastal areas without going deep into the hinterland.

   Snatch all the way, almost to Jinzhou!

  …

   South of Gaizhou City.

  Dorgon was silent when he received the report from the fast horse.

  This kind of thing has been encountered before. Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang Town once took advantage of the Manchu Qing troops to burn, kill and loot the hinterland of the Manchu Qing from behind.

   At that time, Huang Taiji was disgusted, but there was no way to deal with it. Those small sampans of the Manchu Qing would never even try to break into Phi Island, as they would not be able to carry them at sea.

  Dorgon also wanted to send troops to plunder, but the farmers in Gaizhou had already withdrawn, leaving only the wheat in the field that was too late to harvest.

   Now, don’t harvest the wheat, no one wants to harvest it.

  Because of the stalemate for more than 40 days, the harvest season has long passed, and the mature wheat has sprouted on the ground.

  Pull it back and cook maltose?

  Because of the Manchu Qing's actions, 60% of the wheat in Gaizhou could not be harvested, and the farmers' hard work for half a year was in vain.

   Anyway, they hurt each other. The Datong army went to grab the population of the Manchus, and the Manchus made Gaizhou 60% of the wheat grains without harvest.

  Just when Dorgon was planning to withdraw his troops...

   "Boom!"

  With a loud bang, the city wall of Gaizhou collapsed.

  Dorgon drew his sword and shouted: "Siege the city with all your strength!"

  Hu Dinggui calmly ordered: "All the dragoons are turned into musketeers, rattan players and pikemen, and block the gap for me firmly. Farmers, soldiers, common people, old and weak, women and children all go into battle!"

  (end of this chapter)