I

   Chapter 555 552 [There are so many betrayers]

  After Zhang Fengyan returned to Phoenix City, he did nothing but heal his injuries.

  He didn't take the initiative to contact anyone. First, he came back too late, and Nao Dai might send someone to monitor him. The second is that Lu Xiangsheng was blocked by the bastion. If the bastion could not be breached, it would be difficult for the Sinicized Jurchens in Phoenix City to rebel with him.

   At this moment, the Eight Banners soldiers sent to Shenyang for help came back.

   "Beizi, Shengjing (Shenyang) can't come to the reinforcements, Yaozhou is besieged by the southern barbarians, and the regent is fighting in Yaozhou."

  Nao Dai's heart sank, he seemed to be unable to wait for reinforcements.

  Across the river, the hot air balloon of the Datong Army took off again to observe the battlefield.

  Nao Dai went to the bastion in person, took out the binoculars to look, and felt his scalp tingling.

  Lu Xiangsheng suffered a night attack. Although he had no losses and won the battle because of it, he became more vigilant. Instead of digging trenches, they continued to reinforce the camp, as if they wanted to make their camp airtight.

  Nao Dai would rather Lu Xiangsheng attack earlier, so that he can rely on defense to kill the enemy.

   Now Lu Xiangsheng doesn't attack, he doesn't even dig trenches, and he doesn't give Nao Dai any loopholes to take advantage of.

  Lu Xiangsheng sat in the camp, holding a telescope, observing the bastion from a distance.

  He likes to fight like this, doing whatever he wants without anyone intervening.

  In the past, in Daming, civil servants withheld food and salaries, eunuchs commanded indiscriminately, friendly troops were unwilling to cooperate, and the imperial court kept urging troops to be promoted. The frontline generals are very thoughtful, and at least eight points must be left to deal with their own people.

  The camp was reinforced for three full days before Lu Xiangsheng ordered again to continue digging trenches towards the bastion.

   Half a month later, Lu Xiangsheng was still digging a trench, almost reaching the outer **** of the bastion.

  Nao Dai was upset, and said angrily: "Order a thousand soldiers and horses to attack and kill the enemy's civilians. We can't let them dig like this!"

   "Da da da da!"

  Nao Dai was in the process of counting troops, and a fast horse came from Phoenix City: "Bei Zi, there is an important military situation!"

  Nao Dai opened the letter to read, and suddenly felt chills down his back—Ximucheng fell.

  Ximucheng is the southern gate of Haizhou.

  If this place is lost, the Datong Army in Xiuyan City can directly attack Haizhou.

   A month ago.

  Yang Zhenqing led an independent regiment, sent troops from Xiuyan, and harassed the surrounding villages of Ximu City.

  Dorgon was afraid that Ximu City would fall, so he ordered Saihe to lead 1,500 soldiers and horses to Ximu City to assist in the defense.

  As soon as Saihe arrived in Ximu City, he knelt down when he saw the general: "The last general, Saihe, pay homage to Duke Zhen!"

  Fullerhe was very useful, nodded and smiled: "Get up."

  Fu Lehe is the second son of Azig. Both his father and brother died, so he took over the Dukedom of Zhenguo. Ximu City is extremely important, and Dorgon can't afford to make mistakes. A Zhen Guogong and the 3,000 Banner Army still feel unstable, so they call in another 1,500 people.

   "Dare to ask my lord, what is the situation here?" Sai He asked.

Fu Lehe said: "The southern barbarians don't have many bandits. They don't even dare to attack the city. They only attack and kill the bannermen in the valley. Now, the bannermen in the surrounding area have already brought their families into the city. The southern barbarians probably should Withdrew."

   Saihe said: "Grandpa, the last general will personally lead the troops out of the city to investigate."

   "Why do you need to go by yourself?" Fuller shook his head.

   Saihe said: "The last general will fight with Taizu, and he must personally investigate every battle, otherwise he will not be sure."

   "Sure enough, he is a steady veteran, then you go." Fu Lehe said with emotion.

  Saihe only took more than 20 soldiers, and the next day he went out of the city and went into the ravine, and then went in groups of two to investigate everywhere.

   "Regimental Commander, two Tartar soldiers have been captured!"

  Yang Zhenqing was in the mountains with the cat, thinking about how to harass him next. Hearing that two enemy troops had been captured, he immediately laughed and said, "Are these Tartars stupid? They are so far out of the city, and only two of them dare to come here."

   "May I fall, may I fall!"

  Two Tartar soldiers were brought in and immediately spoke poor Chinese.

  Yang Zhenqing had already learned Manchu, and asked, "Are you Manchu Sentinels?"

  The Tartar soldiers replied: "We are here to contact the general. Our master is willing to surrender."

   "Who is your master?" Yang Zhenqing asked.

  The Tartar soldiers said: "The son of the first-class Angbang Zhangjing Ashan, the brother-in-law of the eldest princess Gulun...General Saihe."

  Yang Zhenqing thought he heard it wrong, so he stood up abruptly: "What did you say?"

  Angbang Zhangjing means chief soldier.

  First-class Angbang Zhangjing, that is, the chief soldier in charge of a large territory.

   And Saihe is the eldest son of Ah Shan, who can inherit the position of general soldier in the future.

  The eldest son of the powerful general, and the elder brother of the Manchu emperor's son-in-law, actually took the initiative to contact the Datong Army?

   "Where is your master?" Yang Zhenqing asked.

  The Tazi soldiers said, "It's in the mountains."

  Two hours later, Yang Zhenqing met Saihe.

   Saihe took the initiative to kneel down: "Pseudo-purge general Saihe, pay homage to the general of the Datong Celestial Dynasty!"

  Yang Zhenqing frowned and said, "Why did you surrender?"

Saihe actually said: "General Rongzhi, my father and I have surrendered to Ming Dynasty twice. The first time we surrendered to Daming, not only was not reused, but also discriminated against, so we had to return to the Puppet Qing Dynasty and continue to fight with Tatar chieftain Nurhachi. The second time I surrendered to Daming, my father sent two confidantes to Huangniwa to contact the Ming army, but they were killed by the Ming army, and they couldn't find a way to surrender."

   "Is there such a thing?" Yang Zhenqing felt that he had learned a lot.

  Actually, not only Saihe and his son defected to Daming several times, but his uncles, uncles, cousins, and cousins ​​also defected to Daming twice in a row.

   It's not that I admire the celestial dynasty, it's just that I'm not happy working in the Qing Dynasty.

  After Nurhachi raised his army, the Ashan brothers wanted to make contributions, so they brought seven villages to join Nurhachi.

   The first time he defected, he was not reused by the Qing Dynasty.

  The second time he defected, he was involved in a power struggle, and he got involved in a muddle-headed way.

  At that time, Huang Taiji had just ascended to power, and the interior of Houjin was precarious, and a large number of generals and tribes defected to Daming.

  As long as Daming Haosheng receives these descendants, Houjin will suffer heavy losses. However, none of the civilian officials and generals of Ming Dynasty took this matter seriously. Many post-gold generals, even post-gold nobles, wanted to surrender but had no way out, so they had to go back in despair.

  Huang Taiji was very magnanimous. He only killed a few of the worst ones, and treated the rest of the defectors kindly, and even entrusted important tasks to the powerful.

   Ah Shan, who defected twice, was reused by Huang Taiji. Not to mention being the commander in chief all the way, Huang Taiji also betrothed his daughter to Ah Shan's second son, and married Ah Shan directly.

Sai He said: "My father and I are not from Haug's faction, but we are not Dorgon's confidants either. My cousin Arzin is Dorgon's confidant. However, my father and I are both related to Arzin. There is a grudge. My uncle Adahai was reported and executed by Arzin."

   "Have you been suppressed by Dorgon?" Yang Zhenqing asked.

  Saihe said: "No, but we were ignored by Dorgon."

  Dorgon didn't take Saihe and his son seriously at all, didn't reuse them, and didn't suppress them. However, the ambitious Saihe is very upset when he sees his vengeful cousin keeps getting promoted, and his father and son have made great achievements, but they keep turning around in their original positions.

   Coupled with the fact that the Qing Dynasty was at sunset, Saihe thought about taking the opportunity to change jobs.

  He has defected twice before and after, and he has long been used to it. It doesn't matter if he defected for the third time.

   As for parents, wife and children, Saihe didn't think about it at all. The first two times he and his father defected, they never brought any female relatives with them, and it was all the male members of the family who fled.

  Dorgon sent Saihe to defend Ximu City, just in time for the meat bun to beat the dog.

   Can’t blame Dorgon for being careless. There are too many generals of the Qing army who defected or attempted to defect. How can we fight if everyone is on guard? What's more, Ah Shan has already become a first-class general, which is a real high position and power, so it is impossible to defect again.

   Ah Shan never thought of defecting, but his eldest son, Sai He, felt that he was still young and did not want to perish with the Qing Dynasty.

  Even if Dorgon didn't send him to Ximu City, Saihe would rebel.

   Either rebel elsewhere, or defect when the two armies are at war.

   Saihe said: "General, if I dedicate the city to make meritorious service..."

  Yang Zhenqing interrupted directly: "Don't talk to me about conditions, I have no right to make decisions. If you want to surrender, you should make meritorious service first, and the Ministry of War will consider it based on your merit."

Saihe was silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Okay! I will set fire to the city. Once the fire starts, the general will immediately attack the city. I only have 1,500 soldiers in my hand, and only two or three hundred will really follow me to rebel. If there is no general to respond, I will definitely fail to capture the city."

  It was Yang Zhenqing's turn to be silent this time, what if Saihe pretended to surrender? Didn't he take people to die!

   After thinking about it for a quarter of an hour, Yang Zhenqing felt that he could gamble.

  The Manchu Qing side is similar to Li Zicheng's side, and the internal conflicts are more serious than Li Zicheng's.

  In the bitter cold land of Liaodong, more than 100,000 soldiers and horses were raised, and all the places that could be robbed were robbed, and they could only squeeze the people at the bottom of the interior.

  This situation is very similar to that of Nurhaci in the late period. At that time, it was almost a collapse, and a large number of Manchu generals defected, but Daming didn't accept it, and he didn't take it seriously at all, and there was even a phenomenon of bullying and surrendering. As a result, in the ensuing war, these generals turned their backs one after another.

   Saihe returned with his own soldiers. In the first few days, he did not show any abnormalities, but let his confidants secretly arrange.

   On the eighth day, Saihe hosted a banquet for the generals in the city.

  Prince Fu Lehe went to the appointment happily, and Saihe also said: "I have neglected my father-in-law. It is a pity that there is no good wine to entertain me during the battle. When I return to Shengjing, I will invite my father-in-law to drink."

  Since Fu Lehe took over as the Duke of Zhen, he has been flattering a lot. He only thinks that Saihe is flattering himself.

  The generals defending the city pushed cups and changed cups. When the wine was hot, Saihe laughed and said: "My lord, the last general has prepared a surprise."

   "What surprise?" Fuller asked with a smile.

   "Papa papa!"

   Saihe slapped his hands.

   Immediately there was a shout of killing outside the house, but it was Saihe's personal soldiers, who were attacking and killing other generals' personal followers. More than a dozen other soldiers rushed into the house with their knives in hand.

  Fu Lehe stood up in surprise, and was about to draw his sword, but found that he was not carrying a weapon.

   Saihe hid a dagger in his arms, rushed over to grab Fulehe, and stabbed the Duke of Zhen in the abdomen.

  In the city, fires broke out everywhere, and the Eight Banners soldiers were in chaos.

  (end of this chapter)