I

  Chapter 564 561【Decisive Overture】

  Forty miles east of Liaoyang, Daishan led the army to return quickly, but it was still a step too late.

  Receiving the news of the fall of the Weining camp, Daishan sat in the tent in a daze, and all the resentment was blamed on Dorgon.

  If too many troops had not been deployed to fight in Hebei, how could the mountainous areas in southern Liaoning be lost one after another? Everyone was unwilling to send troops to Hebei, only Hauge said he wanted to fight, and that **** Dorgon agreed.

  Dorgon and Hauge are going to fight, how can other Manchu nobles stop it?

  The strategic position of the Weining Battalion is extremely important. If you go west, you can directly attack Liaoyang, and if you go north, you can directly attack Shenyang. Both Shenyang and Liaoyang were the core of Manchu rule!

   Next, Daishan didn't know where Lu Xiangsheng would march, so he could only divide his army into two. One was to guard Shenyang, the other was to guard Liaoyang, and at the same time sent a message to Dorgon, asking Dorgon to bring his troops back quickly, and not to waste money with the main force of the Datong Army in Yaozhou.

  Yaozhou is the Dashiqiao City hundreds of years later. That city was built by the Qing Dynasty to confront the Ming army in southern Liaoning, in order to cut off the connection between the Ming army in southern Liaoning and western Liaoning.

  It has no value in itself. At this critical moment, you have to give up when you should give up.

  Daishan sent someone to report to Yaozhou, and Dorgon fell into a long silence after receiving the news.

  What happened to my Qing Dynasty?

  Lu Xiangsheng only has one partial division in his hand, and he has to transport grain from North Korea. The grain roads are all difficult to walk in the mountains and valleys. As long as the defenders of the Weining Battalion hold out for another month or two, Lu Xiangsheng will inevitably fall into the predicament of food shortage.

  Why can’t I hold it, it stands to reason that I can definitely hold it!

   "Regent, withdraw the troops."

  The meeting of the Manchu nobles was held, and they unanimously agreed to withdraw their troops and go back to defend Liaoyang and Shenyang. Dorgon could no longer just go his own way.

  Dorgon said: "We have to wait for the rainy season, withdrawing now is courting death!"

  Northeast rainy season, in June and July of the lunar calendar.

  When Cao Cao conquered Karasuma, it was the rainy season in western Liaoning, and the banks of the two grain canals were muddy, so there was no way to march and fight. In the end, he had no choice but to adopt Guo Jia's suggestion, abandoning his luggage and taking the Lulong Ancient Road, and took great risks to carry out long-distance raids.

  Yuan Shao's two sons, as well as those Karasuma leaders, did not expect Cao Cao to send troops in the rainy season, and they were defeated by Cao Cao.

   When fighting in the Northeast, we must pay attention to the weather.

  The Ming army was defeated in the Battle of Sarhu, one of the reasons was that it ignored the weather.

   It was said that it was encircled and suppressed by the four-way army, but they actually dispatched troops in February of the lunar calendar. Some places were still icy and snowy, and it even snowed several times in succession. Under heavy snow blocking the mountain, the Tartars set up obstacles in the mountain again. As a result, some of the Ming army's four-way army marched fast, and some marched slowly, and Nurhachi's concentrated forces were defeated one by one.

  The frontline generals of Ming Dynasty, of course, knew that this would not work, but they couldn’t bear the urging of the civil servants.

  Fang Congzhe, Huang Jiashan, Zhao Xingbang and other officials kept urging and urging, saying that if there were no troops, the food and pay would not be able to support it—the military pay was higher in the state of war, and fighting the war earlier could save a lot of military expenses.

   In desperation, Yang Gao bit the bullet and sent troops. It is no wonder that this kind of stupidity is undefeated, and Nurhachi has achieved the reputation of winning more with less.

  Nurhachi has used the snowy weather, and Nurhachi has used the rainy season.

  In the forty-seventh year of Wanli, Nurhachi attacked Kaiyuan, and all the Houjin nobles expressed their opposition, because the rainy season had come, and there was no way to march. Nurhachi tried his best to resist all opinions, and imitated Cao Cao without bringing luggage, but only brought some chariots, and went to Kaiyuan in the rain. The Ming army was scattered outside the city, and it was too late to return to the city to gather.

   Thus, Kaiyuan fell and Tieling fell.

  Dorgon's combat policy is to fight against the Datong Army during the rainy season.

   Although the bowstrings of the Eight Banners Soldiers will become soft after being exposed to rain, and the arrow feathers will shrink when exposed to water, which will affect the hit rate. But the bows and arrows could still be shot, but the Datong Army's cannons couldn't fire, and the Datong Army's firecrackers couldn't fire either.

  In the Gaizhou offensive and defensive battle, the Qing Dynasty lost too many artillery pieces. In addition, the Datong imperial court strictly prohibited the transportation of gunpowder to the north, and the Manchu Qing could not enter the pass to buy gunpowder. The Manchu Qing's firearms troops had been greatly reduced.

  Dorgon wants to win the battle, but he can only fight in the rainy season, which is why he has been wasting time.

   Now that the Weining camp has fallen, even if Dorgon withdraws, he will have to wait for the rainy season before withdrawing. At that time, the luggage will be transported into Yaozhou City, and the main force of the Qing Dynasty will withdraw lightly, and by the way, induce the Datong army to fight in the rainy day.

  …

Looking at the rough sand table, Li Zheng planted the flag of the Datong Army in the position of the Weining Camp, and said, "One month later, half a month earlier, the Liaodong rainy season is coming soon. This Dorgon will definitely not be able to consume enough food." We, but we have been wasting with us. I see, he is just waiting for the rainy season to come!"

   "It's just right, let's fight with real swords and guns!" Hu Dinggui said.

  The Datong army stayed in the camp without fighting, and Dorgon also stayed in the camp without fighting. Especially after Daishan led the army to leave, Dorgon had fewer troops, and he kept strengthening the defensive camp.

Xiao Zongxian said: "Fortunately, we have made preparations for a long time. Last year, a lot of long guns were shipped. A total of 8,000 standard long guns were originally intended to expand the armed peasants and soldiers, but now they are all replaced by fire gun soldiers. Even if the fire guns are equipped with bayonets, Certainly not as good as a long gun."

  The flintlock guns of the Datong Army may still be usable in rainy days, but most of them cannot be fired in heavy rainy days.

  Li Zheng smiled and said: "I transported the long spears from Gaizhou, and sent them all out for practice. Since they got the fire guns, the fire gun soldiers only practice bayonets, and I am afraid that they are unfamiliar with long spears."

  This year's rainy season came a bit late, and it only rained sporadically in half a month.

  8,000 long guns were transported to the camp outside Yaozhou City, which was only enough for two divisions of musketeers to re-equip.

  The gunfire soldiers rotated to practice in formation, and most of them belonged to farmers and soldiers. The peasants and soldiers trained the spear array, and now they picked up the spears, and immediately recalled the past years.

   Until mid-June, there were more and more rainy days, but no heavy rainstorm yet.

  Dorgon began to transfer supplies to Yaozhou City, and transported all the luggage that could not be taken away during the rainy season into Yaozhou City for storage. This is also the reason why he procrastinated. Once the rainy season enters, Yaozhou City will be basically safe, and the Datong Army will not be able to enter.

   On Li Zheng's side, he also began to cross the river and set up camp, getting closer to the main force of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties.

   Both sides have the same plan, waiting for the heavy rain to start the war. Cannons, firecrackers, bows and arrows cannot be used, and they fight each other with cold weapons. They all feel that they will definitely win.

   What's more, the Datong Army also has a secret weapon, which is the leather case for the flintlock gun, which is more like a leather box to be precise.

  Wrap the key parts with a leather box to avoid being directly poured by rainwater. Apply a layer of beeswax to the gap between the barrel and the gun body to prevent rainwater from flowing into the medicine pool from the gap. (Europe and the United States also have this kind of equipment in modern times, called "Cow's Knee".)

  With this thing, if you can fire a shot in heavy rain, you will definitely get wet when reloading.

   At critical moments, one shot is enough!

   "Boom!"

  The rainstorm finally came, but due to the heavy rain, no fighting broke out.

  The next day, it turned into light rain.

  Dorgon ordered the whole army to leave the camp. As long as the Datong army did not move, he would immediately take the opportunity to retreat in the rain. The cavalry couldn't catch up, because the road was muddy and difficult, so they could only walk with their horses.

   "Fire gunners, fill up all the ammunition!"

  Including the dragoons, they filled the tents with ammunition, carefully smeared the gaps with beeswax, and carefully wrapped them with leather covers.

  Gunpowder is properly stored and has not been exposed to moisture. But after filling in the medicine pool, it is best to click and send it quickly. The air in this rainy season is relatively humid.

  8,000 long guns, temporarily held by melee soldiers, wait until they finish firing a shot.

  The Xiao cavalry in Liaodong has been expanded into a cavalry division, and all of them have practiced wall charging. However, this battle is doomed to be useless, the cavalry has to be transformed into infantry, and the muddy ground cannot be rushed at all.

  The two sides add up to nearly 90,000 people.

  Drenched in light rain, stepping on muddy water slowly arrayed.

  For the Eight Banners Army, this is a fateful battle. Once defeated, Liaodong will be in jeopardy, so they put aside their conflicts and gather enough energy to fight **** battles.

  After the formation, the two sides did not rush to attack, but let the civilians build a high platform.

   Fill the sack with mud and build it two to three meters long. With the help of binoculars, the coach can barely see the whole picture of the battlefield.

  The Eight Banners Army not only gave up their bows and arrows, but also their chariots, which were too slow in muddy water. Anyway, the firearms of the Datong Army cannot be used, so there is no need for the car to play.

  The cotton armor on both sides was wet, and the weight increased greatly, making it more difficult to move when stepping on the mud.

  Dorgon wants to compete with the Datong Army for willpower, and he believes that the Warriors of the Eight Banners will definitely win. This is the only chance of victory. The Datong Army's firearms are too powerful, and the Eight Banners Army can only fight desperately like this.

  The firecrackers of the three divisions and the dragoons of the three divisions are all carefully forming their formations at this moment, keeping the firecrackers as flat as possible.

  Nearly 20,000 flintlock guns, all charged and loaded, had only one chance to fire in the rain.

   A key shot will seal the victory, and the Eight Banners soldiers will be beaten defenselessly.

  In the Manchu Qing Dynasty, even the flintlock guns were not listed, so naturally there was a waterproof device. Because this kind of waterproof device can only be equipped with flintlock guns, matchlock guns are completely useless.

  Wu Sangui abandoned his horse and fought on foot at this moment, leading the team forward slowly.

  Wu Sangui did not dare to surrender or defect, because the Wu family and his ancestors were the largest traitor family in Liaodong, and he knew the policy of the Datong court against traitors.

  However, Wu Sangui's soldiers were ready to flee at any moment.

  The Tartars are desperately fighting the Datong army, so it's none of their business with the Han army? There is no need to lose your life if you fight for show. Once the main force of the Tartars collapses, all the Han Chinese who have been incorporated into the Eight Banners Army in recent years may kneel down and beg for surrender.

  Of course, the Eight Banners of the Han Army with profound qualifications, it is estimated that they will really fight hard, because they really regard themselves as the Eight Banners Army.

   "Boom!"

   Several thunderclaps sounded, and the rain became heavier, and it was no longer a light rain.

  The flags of both sides were issued, and the center and two wings began to advance.

  The Datong army walked very slowly, marching in formation in the mud, fearing that their feet would slip and fall, but the firecrackers were holding the winning weapon in their hands.

  (end of this chapter)