I

   Chapter 692 689 [Active attack]

  At the foot of Saerhu Mountain, the generals of the Datong Army are having a meeting in the camp.

  Coach Li Zheng said: "The Tartar scouts suddenly disappeared. I have sent scouts to Jiefan City to investigate. Tell me, could this be a trick to lure the enemy and lure our army to set up an ambush?"

"Very likely," Lu Xiangsheng nodded and said, "The Eight Banners Army of the Tartars had more than half of their elite casualties a few years ago, and our army captured countless horses and armor. No matter how many cubs are born in the Tartars' pastures, there will be births in a short period of time." There won’t be so many war horses to make up for it. No matter how fast the Tatar’s ordnance works, they won’t be able to knock out tens of thousands of armor in a few years. They lack horses and armor, and dare not fight our army decisively, so they will definitely find ways to set up an ambush.”

  Hu Dinggui said with a smile: "No matter how you set up an ambush, there is only one main road. If there is a real fight, if you send enough search teams, no matter how well the Tartars hide, they will be able to find them."

Xiao Zongxian said: "We still have to continue to besiege Sarhu. If Sarhu is not captured, it will be difficult to attack Jiefan City and Gule City. I guess, the Tatars are just delaying time until the snow blocks the mountains and waits for our withdrawal. "

  Lu Xiangsheng said: "If the enemy general has brains, he will definitely procrastinate. Our army must wait until the cavalry division succeeds in the attack and kills the rear of Jiefan City, and then we will find a way to attack."

   This is the reason why the Datong Army has not sent troops for a long time. Everyone wants to destroy the Manchus, but it is difficult to fight because of the terrain.

  Sarhu City, Jiefan City, Gule City, three mountain cities are blocked here.

  Gule City was the core city of Jianzhou Jurchen as early as Wang Gao's era, and it was expanded and strengthened time after time. As for Jiefan City and Sarhu City, which were the capitals of Nurhachi, they also continued to expand and strengthen.

  To tell the truth, the Datong Army mobilized nearly 100,000 people this time, and there is no certainty that they will wipe out the Manchus.

  The minimum goal of this battle is to take down Saerhu City, and then attack Jiefan City in the coming year.

  Li Zheng said: "If you can't besiege the city and fight for aid, you have to attack Saarhu by force. This battle must end before it snows."

   Storming a dangerous mountain city is nothing more than filling it with human lives.

   "Da da da da!"

The scouts rode back and galloped back. After being allowed to enter the command tent, they actively reported: "Generals, Jiefan City is empty, and the Tartars in Jiefan City have left! There are traces of a large army marching along the way, and the Tartars did not go to the northeast. Hun River Valley, but go southeast, probably going back to Jianzhou (Hetuala).”

  Li Zheng was surprised and delighted, stood up and said, "Go and investigate Gule City immediately!"

   The scout said: "A brother has already gone."

   Not long after, another scout came back and reported: "Gule City is also empty, there is not a single Tartar in the city."

  The generals looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing what the Tartars were up to.

  If the Tartars stick to it, these two mountain cities will have to sacrifice the lives of Datong soldiers to bite the bullet and take them down. Happiness came so suddenly that the Tatars abandoned the city on their own initiative, which made them feel unbelievable.

  Li Zheng said: "Send troops to occupy the two cities immediately!"

  Encountered this situation, the goal of this campaign has been achieved. After occupying Gule City and Jiefan City, Sarhu became an isolated city, and there was no need to besiege it at all. The food in the city was completely eaten and starved to death.

  Lu Xiangsheng asked suspiciously: "Is there something wrong with Jianzhou? The main force of the Tartars rushed to rescue."

  Hu Dinggui said: "There is only the independent regiment over there. Even if Yang Zhenqing breaks through the fortresses along the way and fights all the way to the city of Jianzhou, the Tartars don't need to abandon the city and return to aid."

   "Could it be the Tartars fighting among themselves?" Xiao Zongxian guessed.

  Li Zheng shook his head: "It's not like internal fighting. The Tartars went too united, and none of them stayed. If it was really an internal fighting between the Tartars, some Tartars must defect to them, instead of abandoning the city and leaving."

  These big guys racked their brains and couldn't figure it out.

  Let them think for three days and three nights, but they still can't guess that Yang Zhenqing has already taken Hetuala.

  Because, that is too fantasy.

  Li Zheng also said: "Are the Tartars luring the enemy to go deep, abandoning the two cities as bait, luring our army to pursue them, and then laying an ambush halfway?"

Hu Dinggui laughed and said: "If this is the case, if we don't pursue them, wouldn't we pick up two cities in vain? Jiefan and Gule are lost, and Sarhu City will disappear sooner or later. The Tartars are killing themselves. The Tartars are afraid. Not that stupid."

   "That's not true, then it's not, why did the Tartars abandon the city?" Xiao Zongxian became more and more confused by the words.

  Hu Dinggui said: "If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. What matters now is whether you should pursue it or not."

Li Zheng still has the same calm personality: "It's better not to chase after him. After occupying the two cities of Jiefan and Gule, he will besiege Sarhu with all his strength. When all three cities are captured, the Tartars will be grasshoppers after autumn. There is no need for our army Go on another adventure."

  Lu Xiangsheng shook his head: "We still have to chase, at least take the opportunity to capture Mardun. Although Mardun is only a fortress, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Sooner or later, we will have to fight a battle."

  Li Zheng thought about it: "Well, let's send dragoons to pursue quickly. If there are not many enemies in Mardun, then take advantage of the situation. If there are Tartars defending Mardun, then we will make a long-term plan."

  After finalizing the battle plan, thousands of dragoons immediately pursued along the Suzi River.

  …

  Marton.

  Man Dahai led thousands of elite pioneers to block the front and back of the fort and cut off the water. The large army of the Tartars had not yet arrived, and the artillery and other siege equipment were not there, so Man Dahai could only continue to wait.

  Yang Zhenqing didn't wait, he wanted to take the initiative.

   "Leave five hundred people and guard the gate of the North Village, and the rest will go out with me to kill the Tartars!"

   Of the 1,500 people who rushed to attack at the beginning, more than 200 people fell ill due to too much tossing, and they are currently recuperating in Hetuala.

  At this moment, there are only more than 1,200 independent regiment fighters in Mardun Village.

  Five hundred men guarded the gate of the North Village, and Yang Zhenqing came with more than 700 soldiers and charged out from the Gate of the South Village.

   There are not many Tartars there, only a thousand or so, and they climbed over the mountain to cut off the water. At this moment, half of the Tartars were on guard, while the other half were cutting down trees nearby to set up camp.

   "The southern barbarians have come out!" the Tartar sentry exclaimed.

  The Tartars who were chopping trees immediately dropped their axes, and more than a thousand people gathered to fight.

  As mentioned above, the mountain road outside the village is narrow, and when Nurhachi attacked the village, he couldn't even drive a second chariot.

  The number of Tazi soldiers is twice that of the Datong army, but when fighting in close combat, only a dozen people in the front row fight. The battlefield is not wide enough, and it is useless to have more soldiers. You can only wait behind to join the battle.

  However, the Datong Army is condescending, and all members have flintlocks—everyone can shoot!

   "Bang bang bang!"

   Before entering the range of the bow and arrow, Yang Zhenqing ordered a salvo. The **** is sufficient, the front row fighters will not block the back row.

   More than a thousand Tartars were completely passive and shot.

  Some Tartars were in a hurry and shot arrows at the Datong army, but the distance was too far, and they shot upwards, so they couldn't shoot at all.

  After a round of gunfire, more than 30 people were killed and injured by the Tartars, so they could only choose to retreat down the mountain.

  Yang Zhenqing persisted and led his troops in pursuit.

  Man Dahai was on the other side of the cottage, and when he heard the gunshots here, he was a little anxious. He ordered to attack the stronghold again, but still the same sentence, the mountain road is narrow, no matter how many people there are, it's useless, just line up honestly.

   "Withdraw!"

  After a tentative attack, Man Dahai ordered to withdraw his troops again. He was almost disgusted by the terrain.

  He is not Nurhachi. With all the chariots destroyed, he can still rush to shoot arrows alone, and one arrow hurts the ear of the chief guard.

   Even Nurhachi cut off the drinking water in the village and forced the village to surrender.

  Man Dahai was very anxious, and sent a messenger again: "Let Ai Xing hurry up, don't wait for the majority to go together, first bring the artillery over and smash the wall!"

  The Tartars don’t have many cannons, only a few dozen left.

   Moreover, most of the musketeers were disbanded because they didn't have enough gunpowder. During the war with the Ming Dynasty, most of the gunpowder used by the Tartars was bought from the Han, and they could not produce much by themselves.

  Now that trade is cut off, gunpowder cannot be purchased, so it can only be produced slowly by itself.

  The poor annual production of gunpowder can also supply the needs of cannons, and the musketeers are not enough.

  For example, the rest of the Tartars that Yang Zhenqing was facing didn’t have a musket, and facing the condescending Datong army, the bow and arrow in his hand had no room to fight back.

   Keep chasing, reloading, and launching.

  The elite of more than a thousand Tartars retreated down the mountain in an orderly manner at the beginning. As casualties mounted, the Tartars became panicked. Moreover, the mountain road was narrow, and when they were scrambling to retreat, some Tazi friendly soldiers were squeezed out of the mountain road, fell from the mountain wall, and were either killed or maimed.

  The more you panic, the more likely you are to make mistakes, and the retreat quickly turns into a rout.

   "Attach the bayonet, charge!"

  Yang Zhenqing gave an order, and more than 700 people mounted bayonets and rushed towards the chaotic Tartars.

   This final blow completely collapsed the Tartar soldiers, and hundreds of them fell off the cliff by themselves.

   "Don't keep one, don't take any prisoners!" Yang Zhenqing ran and shouted.

   More than 700 independent regiment fighters took the initiative to attack more than 1,600 Tartars. Up to now, no soldier has been damaged, and the enemy has been killed crying and running for his life.

   They chased all the way down the mountain. Some Tartars jumped into the Suzi River to escape, and some Tartars fled along the river bank to Hetuala.

  Yang Zhenqing happily returned to the village, took a rest for half an hour, and then suddenly stood up again: "Leave a hundred people to guard the gate of the South Village, and the rest follow me to fight out through the Gate of the North Village!"

  This time, there were more than 1,100 people, and more than 3,000 people rushed towards the Mandahai.

  Man Dahai knew that something was wrong, so he withdrew after a long distance, all the way down the mountain, waiting for Yang Zhenqing to come to die.

   "It's boring, let's go back to the village." Yang Zhenqing didn't dare to chase after him any more, so he fought on the steep mountain road, and he couldn't get anything cheap by going down the mountain.

   In fact, Yang Zhenqing was also guilty. He led a surprise attack on Hetuala, and he did not carry much ammunition with him. The ammunition of the whole army is on the side of the large army, and it will take a day or two before the large army can come from Hetuala City with ammunition and supplies for reinforcements.

  If the large troops do not come, the ammunition in their hands will only be able to fire another 20 or 30 shots per person.

  Man Dahai is also waiting, waiting for Aixing to quickly bring the cannon.

  The wall here is not very strong, it can collapse in half a day, and then he will kill Yang Zhenqing with his own hands.

  (end of this chapter)