I

Chen Liu.

Manchus like to hold meetings, especially when encountering major issues, they must hold meetings to discuss.

Neither Nurhaci nor Huang Taiji nor Dorgon can act arbitrarily. Because the Eight Banners Soldiers were not unique to the Manchu emperor, nor did the regent have the final say, but were in the hands of the upper-class nobles.

If Manqing was compared to a joint-stock company, then Daishan and his family would nominally control 25% of the shares and actually control at least 10% of the shares.

The atmosphere of today's meeting was extremely serious, and the faces of the participating members were all ugly.

"How could the enemy attack Shengjing (Shenyang)? Is North Korea conducting a sneak attack and mistaking the North Korean soldiers for their fellow soldiers?" Wakda was the first to speak.

The grandson of Nurhaci, the son of Abatai, and the auxiliary official of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Bo Hetuo, personally came from Beijing to report: "How can North Korea have such ability? In the battle to force the king of North Korea to surrender, I was the deputy commander of the army at the time! Beijing was already in chaos. Get up, many Manchu nobles are clamoring to go back."

"Go back? Where are you going back?" Dorgon sneered, "Go back to Shengjing?"

Hu Dinggui only occupied a few "empty cities" and plundered the population outside Shenyang and Haizhou. The Manchu Qing's losses were worse than a defeat in Shandong.

However, the political impact is huge!

Many Manchu nobles were originally unwilling to move to Beizhili and only wanted to farm and rob in eastern Liaoning. It was Dorgon who, in the name of regent, forcibly moved the Manchu population from Liaodong.

Now that Shenyang was harassed and defeated in Henan and Shandong, Dorgon's control over the Qing Dynasty was already shaky.

Jirharang said: "State affairs are not a trivial matter. Last year, hundreds of thousands of people moved from Liaodong to Beizhili. It's been less than a year, and they all moved back? How much manpower and material resources will be consumed? This year in Beizhili Will you harvest the food you planted? Will you return to Liaodong and start farming again? What will so many people eat this year?"

No matter what Jilhalang's purpose was, these words did support Dorgon.

Dorgon smiled gratefully and said: "It is impossible for everyone to go back, but some bannermen must be moved to enrich the population of Haizhou City. The castle in Yaozhou (Dashiqiao City, Yingkou) should also be strengthened and repaired. Use these two This city will block Gaizhou where the enemy is entrenched!"

"Where are the soldiers?" Mandahai asked, "Including the Eight Banners of Mongolia and the Eight Banners of the Han Army, the Eight Banners Army only had 120,000 soldiers. In Shandong, more than 10,000 were lost, and in Shangqiu, another 2,000 Han Army and Eight Banners were lost. Shaanxi Over there, the 40,000 Eight Banners soldiers who fought with Li Zicheng can't be withdrawn, right? Our Eight Banners soldiers here have to deal with those puppet Nanbarbarians. Where can we mobilize troops to defend Yaozhou and Haizhou?"

Wakda followed his brother's words and said: "The enemy can land in Jinzhou from the sea. You only guard Yaozhou and Haizhou. Can you prevent them from taking ships? What if the Nanmanzi directly take ships to attack Ningjin? Ningyuan , How many Eight Banners soldiers are left in Jinzhou? If we don’t send a large army to garrison Ningjin, these two cities may be occupied by the Nanmanzi this year. The Nanman puppet emperor has many people, tens of thousands of immigrants in Ningyuan, and tens of thousands of immigrants in Jinzhou. How can we seize the city? If we can't seize it, Beijing and Liaodong will be cut into two parts, and we won't be able to go back at that time, for fear of being locked up and beaten with dogs!"

These words were unpleasant, but they hit the point every time. Dorgon had a headache when he heard them.

No matter what, the troops must be withdrawn, because the Manchu nobles who led the troops had already returned to Liaodong. Coupled with the strength of the Datong army, the Manchu nobles no longer had the will to win, and would definitely be timid in a real fight.

Retreating to the north of the Yellow River (Henan section) and fighting a defensive battle with the Datong Army are not reliable. The Datong Army on the Shandong side is very likely to cross the border and outflank them. By then, the main Qing forces will not be able to leave even if they want to.

But where should we withdraw our troops?

Dorgon looked at the map carefully and found that he had no way to retreat. From Henan to Beijing, there is no danger at all. Should we go all the way back to Beijing?

After repeated thinking, Dorgon said: "First retreat to Qingyuan (Baoding), Xin'an (Anxin), Baoding (northwest of Wen'an), Jinghai, and Tianjin. Both Henan and Shandong have scarce populations and few grains of food. The enemy If the army dares to pursue them as far as Baoding and Tianjin, the food road will be stretched thousands of miles and supply will be extremely difficult. Our army can look for opportunities to annihilate them."

"Retreat that far?" Jierhalang asked in shock.

According to Dorgon's strategy, not only Shandong and Henan were abandoned, but also half of Northern Zhili.

"Otherwise?" Dorgon asked.

Everyone was speechless.

Although the Manchus still controlled half of Henan, the news of the defeat in Shandong and the defeat in Shangqiu would inevitably lead to the defection of a large number of surrendered generals.

The garrison troops in various places are all surrendered soldiers and generals. These guys are not good at fighting, but they are extremely capable of going with the wind.

Moreover, due to the multiple gatherings of troops by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, all the troops defending the city were taken away. Many cities are empty of troops. Once Datong's elite forces are instigated to join forces, they can kill civilians and military generals in minutes and seize the city.

After agreeing on the withdrawal plan, Dorgon immediately led his troops northward.

On the way from Chenliu to Kaifeng, many soldiers and generals surrendered, deliberately marching slowly, and taking the opportunity to escape after falling behind.

After passing Kaifeng, we crossed the Yellow River from Taojiadian.

Dorgon was afraid that the Han generals would rebel and divide the crossing point into several sections. The surrendered troops of the Han people were thrown far away. Even if they rebelled, they would not be able to attack the Eight Banners Army halfway.

This is obvious distrust!

As a result, more than 20,000 Han troops who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty directly chose to stay on the south bank of the Yellow River. The Manchus no longer trust themselves, and they are running away. Who the hell is willing to continue to work hard?

…

Shangqiu.

"Is the Puppet Qing withdrawing its troops now?"

"Withdraw, break camp and leave overnight."

Zhao Han jumped up and shouted: "The whole army is pursuing us!"

Two regular divisions set off with peasants, soldiers and civilians, and Ningling County watched the wind and returned.

When they pursued Chenliu, there were two thousand Han troops and eight banners in the city. It was Dorgon who stayed behind to stop the pursuers.

These Eight Banners of the Han Army were also unlucky, and they were obviously abandoned. But their wives, children, and children were all in Manchu territory, and they would be punished if they dared to abandon the city and flee. If you ignore your family and choose to surrender to the Datong Army, you will probably end up with nothing good.

We can only hold on.

In despair and viciousness, these Eight Banners of the Han army burned, killed, looted and insulted women in Kaifeng.

In just half a day, the Datong Army captured Kaifeng. Because the city is so big, two thousand people cannot defend it under attack from all sides.

Moreover, there are people in the city helping!

After Zhao Han led his troops into the city, several gentry and a large number of people knelt on the street and cried: "Your Majesty, you have to make decisions for the common people!"

Zhao Han asked: "What happened?"

A gentleman took off his hat, revealing his money rat tail, and said angrily: "These Tatar soldiers are not just robbing property and humiliating women, they actually take pleasure in killing people. They force the people in the city to shave their heads, and those who don't shave their heads will be punished." Kill, Xiaomin...Xiaomin had no choice but to shave his head to save his life..."

No wonder when the Datong army attacked Kaifeng, as soon as they landed by boat from the moat, people in the city already revolted.

Zhao Han asked about the specific situation and learned that thousands of people in Kaifeng were killed and dozens of women committed suicide, and he was immediately angry. He asked: "How many prisoners were taken?"

It has not been clearly investigated, and some Han soldiers from the Eight Banners rushed into civilian houses to hide after the city was broken.

Half an hour later, Li Zheng came over and reported: "More than 600 people were captured, all from the Eight Banners of the Han Army. Knowing that they would die, they forced the people in the city to shave their heads, and tortured those who didn't want to shave their heads to death." The general is Liu Wuyuan, the commander of the Eight Banners of the Puppet Qing and Han Army, and he passed out after being injured."

Zu Dashou once pretended to surrender. Although he took the opportunity to escape, several of his sons and a large number of border generals actually surrendered to the Manchus.

Liu Wuyuan is one of them. Now he not only serves as the flag officer of the Han army, but has also been awarded the hereditary third-class light vehicle captain. Several of his sons were officials in the Manchu Qing Dynasty. After being left behind this time, he had no choice but to die himself so that his sons would be more important to the Qing Dynasty.

"Bring people here." Zhao Han said.

Liu Wuyuan probably lost too much blood. His face was pale and his body was weak. Since Zhao Han wanted to see him, the people below were afraid that he would die, so they bandaged his wounds.

A basin of cold water was poured out, and Liu Wuyuan opened his eyes.

Zhao Han asked: "If you want to die yourself, why do you want to kill innocent people?"

Liu Wuyuan remained silent.

Zhao Han didn't bother to ask anymore because he suddenly felt boring. He waved his hand and said: "Not a single one of these prisoners of the Han army will be kept. All of them will be beheaded for public display. As for this person, there is no need to execute him in Lingchi. It would be too troublesome. Let him recover first, and then cut off his limbs after he recovers. Every time he is chopped off, If there is one limb, burn the wound with a hot iron immediately, bandage it to stop the bleeding, be sure to cut off all the limbs before dying!"

Liu Wuyuan finally panicked and shouted: "Kill if you want, why bother with such humiliation?"

"You also know that this is humiliating? Have you ever thought about the people in the city?" Zhao Han was full of anger and shouted, "Take him down so that he can be treated and prevented from committing suicide!"

Hundreds of Han-flag prisoners were dragged out of the city and queued up to be beheaded one by one.

Countless people who were forced to shave their heads now had their braids cut off and went out of the city wearing hats to watch. Those without hats also use cloth handkerchiefs to wrap their heads.

With one slash, his head fell to the ground.

"good!"

The people cheered and applauded.

"Bah, bah!"

Zhao Kuan was one of the executioners. He was also forced to shave his head and volunteered to ask for help in the execution.

After spitting and rubbing his hands, Zhao Kuan raised his sword again and shouted to the onlookers: "Neighbors, old and young, please be careful and see whether my sword, Da Zhao, is fast or not!"

A gentleman shouted: "Zhao Da, don't let the Tatars die neatly. It's better to cut off half of the neck with a knife and hurt these dogs to death!"

"No, no, the craftsmanship cannot be ruined." Zhao Kuan waved his hands repeatedly. He has his own professional qualities.

He swung the knife again and his head fell to the ground. His skill was indeed superb.

"good!"

The people sincerely admired it.

Lu Xiangsheng led the heroic cavalry and brought the dragoons with him. Ten thousand cavalry bypassed Kaifeng and pursued the Tatars.

He led his troops to a river crossing point. Before he could charge, nearly ten thousand people knelt down and asked to surrender.

Tu Guobao, the general from Shanxi, threw away his weapons and trotted forward. When he got closer, he knelt down again: "Shuai Lu, none of us want to cross the river with the Tatars. We are all surrendering soldiers and generals here, and the place where the Tatars crossed the river is still there. Further east.”

Lu Xiangsheng had no expression on his face and scolded: "Lead the way!"