I

Sometimes, you can't expect anyone to uphold justice or even give up their own interests.

If it weren't for the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Li Zicheng would still be sitting on the throne in Beijing. Therefore, he was extremely disgusted with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but he had to compromise with reality. If he did not contact the Manchu Qing Dynasty to send troops together, would he rely entirely on his Dashun Army to fight the south?

When Dorgon received Li Zicheng's letter, he was immediately ecstatic, and the two sides agreed to send troops next spring.

Both sides fight each other and do not join forces.

Li Zicheng's army left Shanxi and attacked Hongnong, Huaiqing, Zhangde and Guangping. The Manchu Qing entered the Pass and attacked Tianjin all the way.

What should the Datong Army do?

The soldiers will block it, the water will cover it, and the two will fight together!

The terrain in Shanxi is difficult, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Li Zicheng dared to come out just in time, but he was afraid that he would keep hiding. Liaodong is too far away, and it is extremely inconvenient to transport troops and food. If the Manchus dare to attack Tianjin, the supply line will be long enough to drag them to death. Once Liaodong is empty, the Datong Army in southern Liaoning and North Korea can take the opportunity to attack its hinterland.

In the autumn of this year, Zhao Han expanded his army again and formed the new 16th and 17th divisions of the Datong Army. He was temporarily stationed in Nanjing for training. After the snow melted in spring, he was immediately transferred to the north.

In the direction of Liaodong, there were no large-scale battles, and small-scale frictions continued.

The Datong Army is learning from the Ming Dynasty Frontier Army and is constantly building fortresses. Basically, a fort was built in each town, some were cast with cement, and many were built directly with rammed earth. Every fortress has a beacon tower, and the beacons are lit immediately when the Tatars are seen.

In the mountains of southern Liaoning, Han people continued to escape and went to the Datong Army to form households and divide their fields.

The jurisdictions of Fuzhou, Jinzhou and Gaizhou, including the families of civilian officials and military personnel, already have a population of more than 230,000 (excluding the number of troops and children under 12 years old). Although military rations are not yet self-sufficient, they are indeed much more abundant than in previous years.

Baozhou on the border of North Korea is even more interesting.

After a division of the Datong Army was stationed, the farmers in northern North Korea could not bear the exploitation by the government and fled with their families one after another. In Baozhou, apart from the military families who immigrated there, there were more than 80,000 Korean civilians under its rule.

Although these Korean people could not speak Chinese, they were extremely supportive of the Datong Army.

There are two reasons: one is that the grain tax is not heavy, and the other is that the surnames are assigned to households.

North Korean people now have surnames, can register and divide their fields, and can barely eat enough from the food they grow. This is like going from hell to heaven.

King Li Hao of North Korea finally came to his senses after purging his old ministers. He banned Korean people from migrating toward Baozhou, and even sent an army to drive away civilians who were close to Baozhou. They disobeyed orders and killed entire families at every turn.

With the Datong Army blocking the Qing Dynasty in the north, and the internal opposition forces being eliminated, Li Hao thought he could enjoy it.

Seoul has been bombarded many times and the city walls could use some repairs.

The palace has not been repaired in decades, and some of the halls are leaking. They could use a complete renovation. By the way, if we build two more palaces, the king can't live in too crowded a place.

The North Korean people were really tolerant. Even though countless people starved to death, there was still no uprising.

It’s just that the people in northern North Korea tried their best to escape secretly to Baozhou, where they could survive.

…

Mountainous area in southern Liaoning.

A group of strange sergeants were climbing up and down the mountain.

The man who led the troops was named Yang Zhenqing.

His former name was Yang Fu, a hunter from Yimeng Mountain, and his whole family was killed by Duduo. He took a hunting bow and chased Duduo all the way, and finally shot Duduo into a hedgehog.

Now, he has 500 people under his command, and has a special designation-Liaonan New Independent Battalion.

This army has a diverse composition.

There are people who are good at shooting in the Datong army, there are hunters in the mountainous areas of various provinces, and there are also Han people in the mountains of southern Liaoning. There are even Jurchens from the mountains of southern Liaoning!

Han people have always lived in the mountainous areas of southern Liaoning.

During the Hongwu period, there was a Xiuyan Fort, which was affiliated to the Gaizhou Guard. During the Jiajing period, the Xiuyan Fumin General Magistrate's Office was established. During the Wanli period, the Xiuyan Grain Control Bureau was established to take charge of the granaries in Jinzhou, Haizhou and Gaizhou.

Mao Wenlong once sent personnel to incite the Han people in Xiuyan to revolt, but Nurhachi suppressed it. More than 6,700 Han people were captured and more than 4,000 livestock were plundered.

Later, Jierhalang built Xiuyan City and garrisoned troops to prevent Mao Wenlong's sneak attack.

The mountains of southern Liaoning are now sparsely populated, with very few Han people and Jurchens. The Han people were taken into serfdom, and the Jurchen tribes were moved out. The few who remained were oppressed and exploited by the Manchus.

Therefore, after the Datong Army gained a foothold, some Jurchens in the mountains were actually willing to take refuge!

"The camp is in full swing. In front of us is the headquarters of the Tatar officials."

"Go over there at night and kill them all!"

The so-called Tatar officials were actually sent by the Manchu Qing Dynasty to receive the goods. The Han people and Jurchens in the mountains collected ginseng, animal skins and other items and had to pay a certain amount of tribute every year. If they failed to make up the amount, they would be punished.

Towards evening, a Jurchen commoner came up and said in Manchu: "The Tatar officials are drinking. The company officers and soldiers are as many as two hands and two feet."

The Jurchen warriors in the independent camp immediately translated to Yang Zhenqing.

Yang Zhenqing said happily: "You don't have to wait until it gets dark, just go there now!"

Of these five hundred independent battalion soldiers, two hundred of them use long spears like the white-pole soldiers, and can climb mountains together. There were three hundred people left, all using bows, arrows and waist knives.

As for the armor, it was all leather.

In addition, all five hundred people were equipped with new flintlock guns, but they were only used when encountering a large-scale Eight Banners Army.

It was almost dark, and five hundred soldiers approached quietly. The positions of the three Manchu sentries sitting in a daze had been pointed out by the Jurchen people for a long time, and they did not know that they were about to become living targets.

Yang Zhenqing squatted in the grass, like a hunter facing a wild beast, took off his bow and arrow and slowly opened it.

"call out!"

An arrow was shot, and the enemy sentry fell dead, hitting his throat.

Several other archers also shot the remaining sentries to death.

There were seventeen Tatars in the house drinking wine and eating meat. The meat was roe deer snatched from people's homes. When they were full of wine and meat, the door was suddenly knocked open. Before they could react, they saw spears stabbed at them.

Searching for loot, there are many ginseng and furs piled here, as well as some hamstrings of wild beasts, all of which were looted from nearby mountain people.

Yang Zhenqing said to a Jurchen warrior: "Go for a walk around the area and tell the people in the mountains to come over tomorrow and take away their belongings."

"Okay!" the Jurchen warrior grinned.

At the beginning, Yang Zhenqing was in the mountains of southern Liaoning. When he saw the Jurchens, he immediately attacked and killed them. It wasn't until one day when he saw Manchu officers and soldiers beating up the Jurchen people who couldn't pay back the goods that Yang Zhenqing realized that the Tatars would also bully the Tatars.

So when he reported the situation, Lu Xiangsheng overcame all objections and asked him to try to contact the Jurchen people, and actually established a friendly relationship.

The next day.

Some Jurchen mountain people came with meat.

Yang Zhenqing took out his money and bought the meat. The Jurchen mountain people can take their money and go down the mountain to buy grain and salt.

Through this transaction, Yang Zhenqing's independent battalion does not have to worry about logistical issues when operating in the mountains.

On the territory of the Jurchens, it is ridiculous to say that they can actually gain the support of the Jurchen people and can supply food on the spot.

Yang Zhenqing then said to the Jurchen mountain people: "When the Tatars come again, you will come to report and promise to get your things back. In the future, Han people will come to collect your mountain goods. I promise to give you enough money and you will never take anything for nothing."

The Jurchen mountain people became happy and sang hunter songs a cappella around Yang Zhen.

This is the independent battalion's first attack on the Qing Dynasty's mountain goods collection team. About a month later, the Manchu and Qing officials in Xiuyan City finally realized something was wrong and sent more than two hundred Eight Banners soldiers to check.

Xiuyan City was built in the mountains and controlled the main roads in the mountains.

But it is difficult to march in the mountains. Even if you really pass through here and climb over the mountains and ridges directly into Jinzhou, you will only be able to get a few thousand surprise troops at most. Moreover, the mountains did not produce enough food and were not suitable for garrisoning large armies. After the Manchus built Xiuyan City, only 202 Eight Banners soldiers were stationed there.

As the Datong Army gained a foothold in southern Liaoning, Dorgon also paid attention to Xiuyan City, and the garrison in the city increased to 800 Eight Banners soldiers.

But there were too few mountain people, and 70 to 80 percent of the Han people farming near Xiuyan City had long been kidnapped by the Manchus. 800 Eight Banners soldiers are stationed here, which is already the limit of logistics. If there are more, food will have to be transported in from outside the mountains.

The 200 Eight Banners soldiers who left the city this time were all riding inferior horses. They are not considered cavalry, only mounted infantry.

The Eight Banners soldiers only marched for more than ten miles in the mountains, and some Jurchen mountain people quickly ran to notify the Independence Battalion. The independent battalion is stationed in the mountains all year round and immediately dispatches after receiving the news.

"Where is the person who receives the goods?"

"I went south and never came back."

"Where to the south? Some people will lead the way!"

Two hundred Manchu and Qing Eight Banners soldiers were led by the Jurchen mountain people all the way towards the ambush point of the Independent Battalion.

"Hush!"

The bronze whistle sounded. When the Jurchen mountain people heard the whistle, they immediately lay down on the ground as agreed.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"Go back quickly!"

Gunshots rang out on both sides of the valley. The Eight Banners soldiers were ambushed and turned around in panic to escape. However, the valley was too narrow and could only accommodate two or three horses running side by side. The Eight Banners Army with 200 horses were still dragged into a long snake formation.

A Jurchen mountain man who was leading the way fell to the ground and was not hit by a bullet, but unfortunately he was trampled to death by a horse's hoof.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

There was another row of gunshots, and the Eight Banners soldiers who could not speed up again fell off their horses.

The remaining Eight Banners soldiers finally ran half a mile away, and gunfire rang out again from the hillside in front.

After an ambush, only about 40 of the 280 bannermen escaped.

This was a serious damage. In the entire Xiuyan City, there were only 800 Manchu defenders.

Yang Zhenqing pointed to the two horse corpses and said: "The Jurchen people who sacrificed their lives, these two dead horses belong to their family. The remaining dead horses will be taken back to your village and divided up. The armor and weapons of the Tatar soldiers are also temporarily there. In your stronghold, the whole army is resting and reorganizing. We will go to the north tomorrow to set up an ambush. If the Tatar soldiers get the news, they are expected to come more. If they don't come, we will go to the vicinity of Xiuyan City and pick up the Han people there!"

Yang Zhenqing was very courageous. His superiors asked him to go into the mountains to fight guerrillas, but he wanted to take down Xiuyan City.