I

  Chapter 454 452 [Encircling Wei and saving Zhao]

  The Manchu and Qing positions in the west of the city were garrisoned by the Zhenghong Banner of Daishan and part of the Xianglan Banner of Jierhalang, and the rest were Mongolian Eight Banners and Han Army Eight Banners.

  Daishan was old and didn't sleep very deeply. He heard the sound and immediately went out of the tent to check.

   Jierhalang came over on horseback and said to Daishan: "The Nanban raided the forts along the river. The forts over there have been lost, and the Wuzhenchaoha camp near the forts has also collapsed."

   "How many enemy troops are there?" Daishan asked.

   Jierhalang said: "It's not clear yet, but there shouldn't be many, otherwise the enemy would have killed them long ago."

  Daishan said: "Organize a counterattack immediately and drive those southern barbarians into the sea!"

  The two of them marched in the direction of Lu Xiangsheng and Xiao Zongxian.

  The siege artillery of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, although covered by earthen walls, were successively destroyed by the Datong Army more than 20 of them. The more than 20 cannons of the fort along the river were also captured by Lu Xiangsheng and Xiao Zongxian's surprise attack, which is equivalent to losing about 50 artillery pieces.

  The remaining more than 130 artillery pieces are scattered on the east, west, and north sides of Gaizhou City. Only 40 cannons can be used on the west side.

  When the Eight Banners Army of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties pulled out from the siege position and assembled to attack westward, the follow-up troops of the reinforcements had already reached more than 4,000. One thousand of them were artillery, and fifty artillery pieces were moved from the ship, and artillery positions were set up on the shore. The vanguard led by Lu Xiangsheng and Xiao Zongxian also dragged over twenty captured artillery pieces.

  Cao Zhenyan and other captives also worked hard. In order to make a good impression in front of the Datong Army, these surrendered Manchu and Qing artillerymen were very active in helping to transport the artillery to the seaside.

   Those who are not active are dead!

   Before the third batch of reinforcements arrived, Li Dingguo and Wang Tingchen came back. They snatched all the way to the vicinity of Jinzhou, but both Ningyuan and Jinzhou had heavy troops, and they almost suffered a loss when they robbed the population.

  Seeing the Tartars pushing the chariot forward, the cavalry of the two immediately changed to infantry, helping to defend the temporary position first.

Li Dingguo arranged the soldiers under his command, and ran quickly to see Lu Xiangsheng and Xiao Zongxian: "The first division and the second division are attacking Shanhaiguan, and the news has spread to Fuzhou City. We are going back to Fuzhou first this time. , Jinzhou soldiers were dragged by General Wang (Wang Tingchen) and me for a few days. In a few days, we lost more than 300 cavalry, but it also delayed the Tartars to rescue Shanhaiguan for a few days."

   "Good!" Lu Xiangsheng clapped his hands happily.

  This is a long-established military plan. Once the Manchus attack Gaizhou, Zhang Tieniu and Fei Ruhe will go to Shanhaiguan. They all went by boat. One departed from Dengzhou and landed east of Shanhaiguan, and the other departed from Tianjin and landed west of Shanhaiguan. The east and west attacked the defenders in Shanhaiguan.

  As long as Shanhaiguan is captured, troops will be stationed there, and hungry people will be recruited to farm in the pass, as another base for sending troops to Liaodong in the future.

   This is a safe plan, and you can also cross the sea, cooperate with Li Zheng and Xiao Zongxian, and the four divisions will outflank Dorgon's rear, and directly defeat the elite of the Eight Banners. However, the logistical pressure is too great. Once there is a storm, it is very likely that the entire army will be hungry. At this time, the Bohai Sea has entered a period of high storm occurrence. The navy only dares to sail along the coastline. Crossing the Bohai Sea is an extremely risky move. Belongs to high-risk behavior.

   Just when Daishan and Jierhalang were about to lead troops to attack the reinforcement position, a fast horse galloped crazily from the north, and the horse was so tired that it was foaming at the mouth.

   "Your Highness, Shanhaiguan is under attack from two sides, and Weiyuan Terrace has been occupied by Nanban a few days ago!" the messenger knelt down and said.

  In the commander's tent, there was a dead silence.

  Weiyuan Terrace, also known as Weiyuan City, is about one kilometer east of Shanhaiguan. Historically, it was here that Wu Sangui asked to surrender and took refuge in the Qing Dynasty as a vanguard in entering the customs.

  Some people say that Weiyuan Terrace was built by Wu Sangui, but it actually existed as early as the early Ming Dynasty.

  If the Manchu Qing wanted to attack Shanhaiguan, they had to attack Weiyuantai first. Moreover, there is a tunnel connecting Shanhaiguan and Weiyuantai, which can transport troops unexpectedly.

   Among the Datong Army, there were obviously knowledgeable people who quickly raided and captured Weiyuantai, and then blocked the troop transport passage.

  As for the city of Shanhaiguan, there are 6,000 Eight Banners troops stationed there, and there are more than 10,000 Eight Banners' families.

  The food in the city lasts for three or four months at most.

  If the coating and civilians are killed and eaten, they can last at most half a year. If Dorgon is still spending with the Datong army in Gaizhou, even if he captures the city, if he cannot seize a large amount of food and grass, he will not be able to rescue Shanhaiguan.

  Because of the rescue of Shanhaiguan, Weiyuantai had to be brought down first. The Datong army only needs to defend the city, and Dorgon will be exhausted.

   Fight Gaizhou City, or save Shanhaiguan?

  Dorgon only felt parched. He expected that Shanhaiguan would be attacked, but he didn't expect to be attacked from both sides. This is different. Leaving aside the offensive and defensive battle of Guancheng, Shanhaiguan’s supply of grain and grass is a big problem. Liaodong’s grain is blocked by Weiyuantai and cannot be transported.

  The Datong Army didn't even need to attack, just stationed troops in Weiyuantai, and could starve the Eight Banners Army in Shanhaiguan to death!

   "Call the nobles from all banners to discuss!" Dorgon could not make decisions by himself.

  War was about to start in the west of the city, and the chariots were pushed out. After receiving Dorgon's order, they had to withdraw temporarily, allowing Lu Xiangsheng's reinforcements to gain a firm foothold by the sea.

   Jierhalang came angrily and asked, "I'm at war, what's the rush to summon me?"

  Dorgon said: "Shanhaiguan was attacked by east and west, and Weiyuantai was captured by the enemy's surprise attack."

   Jierhalang said: "Weiyuantai is to the east of Shanhaiguan, the enemy has not captured Shanhaiguan, how can we take Weiyuantai?"

   "It must have come by boat." Daishan said.

  Dorgon nodded and said, "He came by boat."

  Haoge walked to the side of Dorgon and sat down: "Gaizhou City is not easy to fight. I had three favorite generals yesterday. Two of them died and one was disabled. If we continue to fight, we will all die."

Dai Shan said: "The fortifications in the west of the city are not stable. The southern barbarian reinforcements have pulled out the forts along the river, and the Wuzhenhachao battalion in the outer camp is gone. Once the attack continues, the enemy reinforcements will definitely attack the west side of our army. Ji and I Erhalan's position is very dangerous."

  Man Dahai suggested: "It's better to gather troops to attack the enemy's reinforcements with all their strength."

Jierhalang couldn't help rolling his eyes: "The enemy army in Gaizhou City is not dead. Let's attack their reinforcements with all our strength. The defenders in the city will definitely look for opportunities to fight. Moreover, the reinforcement camp is by the sea. Not only the reinforcements have artillery, but the reinforcements also have artillery. The sea ships also have artillery. It was the best time to attack just now, but now it has been delayed. After the enemy has established a firm foothold, it will be almost as difficult to take down there as to attack a city."

  Haug said unhappily: "Could it be that we gave up Gaizhou and rushed to rescue Shanhaiguan with a large army? Isn't it because we were exhausted and led by the nose by Nanman?"

  Dorgon looked at Daishan: "What's the second brother's idea?"

Dai Shan sighed: "What else can I do? Retreat immediately, divide the troops to defend Yaozhou and Haizhou, and prevent the enemy of Gaizhou from continuing to go north. Then the main force will station troops in Ningyuan and Jinzhou. After a month's rest, more food and grass will be recruited, and then go to rescue Shanhaiguan You can't go directly to Shanhaiguan, otherwise you will be defeated by the enemy!"

Ji Erhalang also said: "Shanhai Pass cannot be lost. Once lost, we will be blocked in Liaodong again. And those southern barbarians, after taking down Shanhaiguan, can farm in the next few years, and they can send troops at any time when they have enough food and grass. At that time, both Ningyuan and Jinzhou are in danger, and with the enemy of Gaizhou, we will be attacked from both sides, and we will become what we were more than ten years ago."

  More than ten years ago, the Manchu Qing was surrounded by enemies. Ming, Mongolia, North Korea, and even the savage Jurchen tribes were all at war with the newly rising Manchu Qing.

   Moreover, the internal affairs of the Qing Dynasty were almost collapsed by Nurhachi. The food shortage was so short that they robbed the food of the Han people under their own rule-every household paid as much food, and if they failed to hand over the food, they would kill people.

  After Nurhachi died, Daishan could inherit the throne. But in the face of the predicament, Daishan knew that he could not bear the heavy responsibility, so he supported Huang Taiji's succession.

   It was Huang Taiji who saved Manqing and brought Manqing out of the predicament.

  Once Shanhaiguan is lost, Manchu Qing will reproduce the plight of Huang Taiji at the beginning of his succession. Dorgon is not Huang Taiji, he doesn't have the ability to lead Man Qing out of the quagmire!

  After the owners of the Eight Banners expressed their views, Dorgon let out a foul breath: "Withdraw!"

  Gaizhou is not a public toilet, you can come and leave whenever you want.

  With more than 30,000 troops here, the Manchu Qing had to pay a sufficient price for withdrawing troops.

  On that day, the remaining artillery of the Manchu Qing Dynasty poured shells crazily towards the city wall. Although the cannon casting technology in the early Qing Dynasty was much higher than that in the late Qing Dynasty, it had to be used sparingly in a short period of time, otherwise the life of the cannon would be greatly reduced.

  Man Qing was crazy, regardless of the life of the artillery, and continued to shoot after a little cooling, making no secret that he was about to withdraw.

  In addition to firing at Gaizhou City, they also fired at Lu Xiangsheng's camp by the sea.

   After bombarding for three full days, several cannons were blasted, and at the same time, a large group of cavalry was sent to the north to explore and clear the way.

  On the fourth day, Dorgon ordered: "Destroy all heavy artillery, destroy all chariots and ladders!"

  The so-called heavy artillery in the Manchu and Qing Dynasties is the artillery of more than 10 pounds. This kind of artillery can't be fast at all when it's on the road.

   Then, Dorgon left behind a large number of civilians and a Wuzhenhachao battalion to stop the pursuit of the Datong Army.

   "The Tartars are really going to escape, and they are going to go out of the city to pursue them!" Hu Dinggui said on the tower, patting the remaining railings that were bombarded.

  Did not dare to chase immediately, for fear that the Manchus would lure the enemy out of the city.

  Looking at the Manchu Qing army leaving the camp, Li Yangxing, who was left behind, was almost desperate. He was born as a soldier of Kong Youde, and he did well in the Qing Dynasty, but no matter how well he did, he became an abandoned son.

Dorgon summoned Li Yangxing in person just now: "Fight hard, the longer the better. I will take good care of your wife and children. Your eldest son will be given a hereditary title. Your youngest son will stay by my side as a follower." .”

  How else could Li Yangxing choose?

  Sacrificing his life to stop the Datong army can bring the safety of his wife and children, and the wealth of his sons. If he dared to surrender before the battle, the whole family would die tragically, and after surrendering to the Datong Army, there would probably be nothing good to eat.

  The disheartened Li Yangxing said to the Eight Banners of the Han Army under his command: "To kill the enemy and serve the country is today. Keep the camp!"

  The morale of these Wuzhenchao soldiers is extremely low, who the **** wants to die?

  (end of this chapter)