I

The guard of Liaoyang is called Shuo Zhan.

This person was born in Zhenghongqi and inherited his father's position Jiala Ezhen. He was similar to Zhao Han's regiment leader and could command 1,500 people.

After entering the customs, Dorgon appointed Shuo Zhan as Meile Zhangjing, which means deputy general. He still has only 1,500 soldiers under his command, but all areas from Shanhaiguan to Liaoyang belong to his military jurisdiction.

Shuo Zhan only had 50 Manchurian Eight Banners in his hands, and the remaining soldiers were all distributed in the countryside. He needed to regroup to fight.

The army of the Qing Dynasty has always been like this. If they don’t fight, they will go back to the countryside, manage their own farms, and practice combat skills by the way. Only when going out for an expedition or concentrated drills, did they go to a fixed location to gather, which is more similar to Zhao Han's peasant and soldier system.

Therefore, despite the fact that there are only 50 Manchurian Eight Banners in Liaoyang, 1,500 Eight Banners can actually be recruited within a few days-after the army was taken away by Dorgon, there were only so many people left.

Haizhou can also call up troops, but Wu Huapu's cavalry rushed too fast. A large number of Manchurian Eight Banners scattered in the countryside were killed or their thumbs were cut off before they received the order to gather troops. There are also several teams of cavalry, cruising around Haizhou City, specially intercepting and killing the Eight Banners soldiers who came spontaneously.

So Haizhou City was quickly occupied by the Datong Army!

However, Liaoyang learned of the enemy's situation in advance, and now has gathered more than 200 troops, and another 100 Eight Banners soldiers of the Han Army assisted.

But Shuo Zhan still didn't dare to go out of the city, because the Datong cavalry had already killed him.

On the field where the spring grass has recovered, dozens of Manchurian Eight Banners have received orders to gather troops and rushed to Liaoyang City. Among them, there were twelve horsemen and thirty-seven infantrymen. They also have coats to follow, which belong to combat coats. They help the master lead the horse, carry the gun and carry the equipment. When fighting, they can turn into civilian husbands, or they can charge forward as auxiliary soldiers.

"Wooooow!"

The sentry on the hill, observing with binoculars, quickly blew the horn. The more than 300 Tong cavalry in charge of this area quickly gathered to kill them.

The main general of the Qing Dynasty was blocked in the city, and only middle and low-level officers came from outside the city, and several small troops had been intercepted and killed.

Shuo Zhan stood on the tower, watching anxiously.

He once sent more than a dozen cavalrymen to the villages to pass orders to tell the Eight Banners Army not to rush to the city with fuel, but to rush to Shenyang to gather troops and kill them. But after these cavalry left the city, they were intercepted and killed by Datong cavalry ten times larger than themselves, and only two of them broke through the encirclement quickly by relying on horses.

At this moment, three hundred Datong cavalry quickly surrounded a small group of enemy troops.

After a long distance, they lit the matchlock, loaded the ammunition and prepared to attack.

The other 300 Datong cavalry gradually approached in this direction, in case Shuo Zhan led troops out of the city to rescue.

12 Manchurian horse troops, 37 Manchurian infantry troops, plus their coats, the number is nearly a hundred. Surrounded in the wild like this, Ma Jun even put on cotton armor in an emergency, and tried to distance himself to escape after getting on his horse.

It's fine if they don't wear armor, but they really can't escape with armor on.

In order to reduce weight, Datong dragoons don't wear any armor to ensure their speed.

I saw these Datong cavalry, only 50 cavalry were left to guard the enemy infantry, and the rest all went to kill the enemy cavalry. 250 riders chased and intercepted 12 riders. There was no need to dismount and fire guns. After approaching, they reined in their horses and shot.

After fighting for a while, three people were killed by firecrackers, and eight people were besieged in close combat. Only one Manchu cavalry was still running away.

The Datong cavalry circled back again, dismounted and lined up to fire guns at the remaining enemy infantry.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The packers were so frightened that they all fell to the ground and surrendered, but they effectively avoided the volley of firecrackers.

These Manchurian infantry soldiers would be surrounded and killed if they fled scattered, and they would be shot when they gathered. There was no way to fight at all, so he had to bite the bullet and charge. After a round of charge, he was killed and half injured by muskets.

When the survivors charged a little closer, the group of Datong dragoons ran away, and another group of dragoons began to shoot from the side.

Unable to fight, the Manchurian infantry finally had a mental breakdown and ran desperately towards Liaoyang City.

The Datong dragoons caught up and surrounded them with sabers at their waists.

He actually killed the remaining few, threw away their weapons and surrendered. The Datong army was unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness. They stripped off their cotton armor, took away their weapons, cut off their thumbs and let them enter the city.

Shuo Zhan was disgusted by this behavior. He had taken in hundreds of Manchurian soldiers who had lost their thumbs, and some of them had been sent back from Haizhou on purpose.

These people can't draw bows and arrows, and they can't hold swords, guns and shields stably, so they are completely useless.

Moreover, news was brought from Haizhou, saying that Hauge and Dorgon were fighting among themselves, and the Qing army was killed and defeated. Beijing has been besieged, and Shanhaiguan has been breached... These news caused the morale of the Liaoyang defenders to drop to the extreme.

The Eight Banners assistant leader of the Han Army defending Liaoyang is ready to move and may rebel at any time.

"Hang up to the city." Shuo Zhan had no choice but to order.

If the Eight Banners soldiers were abandoned after their thumbs were chopped off, the morale in the city would only be lowered, and he would have to consume food to feed these wastes.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of coated soldiers who surrendered had their thumbs chopped off and sent outside the city.

"Help!"

"Master Zhang Jing, please pull us up!"

"..."

The Han people were crying and crying under the city, and the cavalry of Datong was watching the theater farther away, but Shuo Zhan on the city turned a deaf ear to it.

Handicapped Manchurian soldiers must be rescued, but what are the Han Chinese's coats?

Dozens of coats, weeping in the city like this. Although they only lost their thumbs, they were doomed, and there was only one ending: starve to death!

The 100 Han Army Eight Banners who assisted in defending the city, seeing the tragic situation of Baoyi, inevitably felt sad. If my thumb is cut off, I'm afraid I'll be abandoned too, so what the hell is he fighting for the Tartars?

In the afternoon, when he inspected the city defense, Shuo Zhan obviously felt that something was wrong. There was something wrong with the eyes of the Eight Banners soldiers of the Han army.

Nothing will happen now, but when a large number of enemy troops attack the city, these Eight Banners of the Han army will definitely surrender to the enemy.

That night, Shuo Zhan abandoned his family and only brought his two sons to break out. As he was facing the river, he ordered the rest of the soldiers to break out in three directions, and he disguised himself as a soldier to escape on horseback.

In the middle of the night, the screams of killing were loud, and the pursuit and killing were carried out in the dark.

Shuo Zhan's eldest son was killed, and he and his second son were captured. He was not recognized, and even saved his life. After losing his thumbs, he fled towards Shenyang on foot.

Before Hu Dinggui led his troops to kill, the Eight Banners of the Han Army who stayed in the city took the initiative to open the city and sacrifice Liaoyang.

...

A few days later, Shenyang City.

This is Shengjing in the Manchu Qing Dynasty. He Luohui, a minister in the Zhenghuang Banner, was appointed by Dorgon as the governor of Shengjing, the highest official in the entire Northeast.

At this moment, Shenyang has gathered more than 3,000 troops, more than 1,000 from the Eight Banners of Manchuria, and 600 from the Han Army and the Eight Banners of Mongolia. Ahanikan of the Xianghuang Banner stationed in Shengjing has also arrived with hundreds of soldiers.

"I'm Shuo Zhan, let me enter the city!"

Ahanikan looked up and said to He Luohui, "It's really Shuo Zhan."

He Luohui quickly said, "Let him in quickly!"

Shuozhan took his son into the city, and when He Luo met his hands wrapped in cloth, he said in surprise, "You also had your thumb cut off?"

"The enemy's heart is vicious, it's better to kill me!" Shuo Zhan said with a mournful face.

Ahanikan asked, "Where did the enemy come from?"

All three of them are Dorgon's confidantes. Historically, Ahanikan even served as the Minister of Rites.

Since they are all their own people, there is nothing to hide.

Shuo Zhan said in a low voice: "I don't know if it's true or not. The soldiers who fled from Haizhou brought the news. It is said that Prince Su (Haoge) started a rebellion. We fought in the Qing Dynasty and were killed by the Datong Army in the south." I was caught off guard. Today, Beijing has been besieged, and the Shanhaiguan Pass has been broken, and the enemy came from Shanhaiguan Pass.”

He Luohui and Ahanikan immediately looked at each other.

They actually... somewhat believed it.

Otherwise where did the enemy come from? It can't come by flying with wings, and it can't swim from the sea.

They firmly believe that the Eight Banners of Manchuria are strong and will not be easily defeated.

But if Hauge provoked internal strife, and then recruited one or two princes to rebel, it is really possible that the Datong army will seize the opportunity.

He Luohui thought about it for a long time, and said: "Defend Shengjing first, what if it's false news. Invite all Manchurian men to Shengjing, and women can also take up weapons to fight. Also, go to the north to gather wild Jurchens, every tribe A hundred fighters must be dispatched!"

The savage Jurchens are very miserable. In the past few decades, all kinds of people have been conquered by the Qing Dynasty.

Even if the tribe that has already surrendered the tribute, the Manchu Qing will fight twice if it is okay. Every time there is a conquest, people and goods will be taken away, making it impossible for the tribes of the savage Jurchen to develop at all.

The Oroqen, Ewenki and other ethnic minorities in later generations were all evolved from savage Jurchens.

Many wild Jurchens even lived in Russia in later generations. They were sparsely populated by the Qing Dynasty and had no combat effectiveness at all. As a result, Russia was cheaper. Dozens of Cossack cavalry could occupy tens of thousands of square kilometers of land.

Ahanikan said: "All the Jurchens in the southern mountains also moved to Shengjing, and try to keep Shengjing as much as possible!"

Shuo Zhan said: "Han people and North Koreans cannot enter the city, they are likely to defect!"

"Yes, except for the loyal coat, the Han and North Koreans are not allowed to enter the city!" Ahanikan agreed.

Tens of thousands of Han and Korean people were abandoned in the countryside without even a single grain of food.

When some Manchus moved out of their farms, they simply killed all their serfs.

Wu Huapu rushed back to Liaoyang to report: "General, there are thousands of defenders in Shenyang, and it is impossible to take it in a short time. They are afraid of defecting. Han and Koreans are not allowed to enter the city. Even the Eight Banners of the Han army are out of the city to set up camp. In the city of Shenyang, apart from the Manchurians, there are only coats.”

Hu Dinggui laughed and said, "Then we won't fight Shenyang. The cavalry went to recruit Han Chinese and Koreans to move westward, and they all moved to Gaizhou, Fuzhou, and Jinzhou to farm. In addition, they went outside Shenyang to shout, saying that Dorgon had already Defeated, the 500,000 Datong army is about to come to Shenyang. Let’s scare them, it will take a lot of time to take away the people, lest the enemy army in Shenyang come out to make trouble.”

Hu Dinggui said to Wang Yaochen: "Order North Korea to collect grain again, and the price can be increased by 10%. If it is impossible, we can only go to Jiangsu to urge grain. There are too many people to be resettled this time."

Hu Dinggui really stopped fighting in Shenyang. He evacuated Haizhou and Liaoyang, and took away tens of thousands of people from Shenyang.

Although the stronghold of the Qing Dynasty has not been breached, it has become a piece of white ground.

When leaving, the city walls of Haizhou and Liaoyang were also blown down with gunpowder, and they can come back to seize the city at any time in the future.

By the way, in Liaodong, which is vast and sparsely populated, pastures can be opened up to raise horses!

It wasn't until Hu Dinggui moved everyone away and returned to Gaizhou safely that Dorgon finally received the news that his hometown had been raped.

(Not today.)