I

After Zhang Fengyan returned to Phoenix City, he did nothing but recuperate.

He did not take the initiative to contact anyone. First, he came back too late and might be monitored by someone sent by Naodai. Second, Lu Xiangsheng was blocked by the bastion. If the bastion could not be breached, it would be difficult for the Chinese Jurchens in Phoenix City to follow him in rebellion.

At this time, the Eight Banners soldiers sent to Shenyang for help came back.

"Beizi, there are no reinforcements from Shengjing (Shenyang), Yaozhou is surrounded by Nanmanzi, and the regent is fighting in Yaozhou."

Naudai's heart sank. He seemed unable to wait for reinforcements.

On the other side of the river, the Datong Army's hot air balloon took off again to observe the battlefield.

Naudai went to the fortress in person, took out a telescope and took a look, and felt that his scalp was numb.

Lu Xiangsheng suffered a night attack. Although he suffered no losses and won the battle, he became more vigilant. Instead of digging trenches, they continued to fortify the camp, as if they wanted to make their camp airtight.

Naodai would rather Lu Xiangsheng attack earlier so that he can rely on defense to kill the enemy.

Now Lu Xiangsheng is not attacking, and he is not even digging trenches, leaving no loophole for Naudai to take advantage of.

Lu Xiangsheng was sitting in the camp, holding a telescope and observing the bastion from a distance.

He likes to fight like this, doing whatever he wants without anyone interfering.

In the past, in the Ming Dynasty, civilian officials withheld food and wages, eunuchs gave random orders, friendly troops were unwilling to cooperate, and the court kept urging troops to advance. The frontline generals were very thoughtful and had to leave at least eight points to deal with their own people.

The camp was reinforced for three days before Lu Xiangsheng gave the order again to continue digging trenches towards the bastion.

Half a month later, Lu Xiangsheng was still digging trenches, and he had almost reached the outer slope of the bastion.

Naudai was distraught and said angrily: "The civilians who ordered a thousand soldiers and horses to attack and kill the enemy cannot let them dig like this!"

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

Nao Dai was ordering troops when a fast horse came from Phoenix City: "Beizi, we have important military information!"

Naodai opened the letter and read it, and suddenly felt a chill in his chest - Ximu City had fallen.

Ximu City is the southern gate of Haizhou.

If this place is lost, the Datong Army in Xiuyan City can directly attack Haizhou.

a month ago.

Yang Zhenqing led an independent regiment and sent troops from Xiuyan to raid the villages around Ximucheng.

Dorgon was afraid that Ximu City would fall, so he ordered Saihe to lead 1,500 soldiers and horses to Ximu City to assist in the defense.

As soon as Saihe arrived at Ximu City, he knelt down when he saw the general: "General Saihe, please pay your respects to the Duke of Zhenguo!"

Fuller was quite pleased with it, nodded and smiled: "Get up."

Fulehe was the second son of Azig. Both his father and brother were dead, so he took the dukedom of Zhenguo. Ximu City was extremely important, and Dorgon could not afford to lose anything. Even though he had only one Zhenguo Duke and three thousand and eight banner troops, he still felt that it was unstable, so he transferred another 1,500 people.

"May I ask, sir, how is the battle situation here?" Saihe asked.

Fu Lehe said: "The Nanmanzi don't have many thieves. They don't even dare to attack the city. They only attack and kill the bannermen in the ravine. Now, the surrounding bannermen have brought their families into the city. The Nanmanzi probably should Retired."

Saihe said: "My lord, I will personally lead my troops out of the city to investigate."

"Why do you need to go by yourself?" Fuller shook his head.

Saihe said: "When I finally follow Taizu in the war, I must personally investigate every battle, otherwise I will not be sure."

"As expected, he is a stable veteran, so you go ahead." Fullhe said with emotion.

Saihe only took more than 20 personal soldiers. The next day, he went out of the city and went into the ravine, and then he went into groups of two to explore everywhere.

"Captain, two Tatar soldiers were captured!"

Yang Zhenqing was in the mountains, thinking about how to attack next. When I heard that two enemy soldiers were captured, I immediately laughed and said: "Are these Tatars stupid? They dare to come so far out of the city and there are only two of them."

"I wish to surrender, I wish to surrender!"

Two Tatar soldiers were brought in and immediately spoke broken Chinese.

Yang Zhenqing had learned Manchu and asked, "Are you Manchu sentry?"

The Tatar soldiers replied: "We are here to contact the general. Our master is willing to surrender."

"Who is your master?" Yang Zhenqing asked.

The Tatar soldier said: "The son of Ashan, the first-class Angbang Zhangjing, and the brother-in-law of Princess Gulun...General Saihe."

Yang Zhenqing thought he heard wrongly and stood up suddenly: "What did you say?"

Angbang Zhangjing means general soldier.

The first-class Angbang Zhangjing is the general soldier in charge of a large territory.

And Saihe is Ashan's eldest son and can inherit the position of commander-in-chief in the future.

The eldest son of the powerful commander-in-chief and the brother of the Prince Consort of the Qing Dynasty actually took the initiative to contact the Datong Army?

"Where is your master?" Yang Zhenqing asked.

The Tatar soldier said: "It's in the mountains."

Two hours later, Yang Zhenqing met Sai He.

Sai He knelt down on his own initiative: "General Sai He, the falsely innocent general, pays homage to General Datong Celestial Dynasty!"

Yang Zhenqing frowned and said, "Why do you want to surrender?"

Saihe actually said: "General Rongzhen, my father and I have submitted to the Ming Dynasty twice. The first time we submitted to the Ming Dynasty, not only were we not reused, but we were discriminated against. We had no choice but to return to the Puppet Qing Dynasty and continue to fight with the Tatar chief Nurhachi. Chapter 2 The second time I surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, my father sent two of his confidants to Huangniwa to contact the Ming army, but they were killed by the Ming army, and they couldn't find a way to surrender."

"Is there such a thing?" Yang Zhenqing felt that he had learned a lot.

In fact, not only Saihe and his son defected to the Ming Dynasty several times, but his uncles, uncles, cousins, and cousins ​​also defected to the Ming Dynasty twice in a row.

It's not that he admires the Celestial Empire, it's just that he's not happy working in the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

After Nurhachi raised his army, the Ashan brothers wanted to make great achievements, so they took seven villages to join Nurhaci.

The first time he defected, he was not reused by the Manchus.

The second time he defected, he got involved in a power struggle, and got involved in a confused way.

At that time, Huang Taiji had just come to power, and the Hou Jin Dynasty was in turmoil, with a large number of generals and tribes defecting to the Ming Dynasty.

As long as the Ming Dynasty receives these surrenders, Houjin will inevitably suffer heavy losses. However, none of the Ming Dynasty's civil servants and military generals took this matter seriously. Many Houjin generals, and even Houjin nobles, wanted to surrender but had no choice but to go back in despair.

Huang Taiji was very generous, killing only a few of the worst ones, treating all the other defectors kindly, and even entrusting the powerful with important tasks.

Ah Shan, who defected twice, was reused by Huang Taiji. Not only did he become the commander-in-chief all the way, Huang Taiji also betrothed his daughter to Ah Shan's second son, and they married Ah Shan directly.

Saihe said: "My father and I are not from Hauge's faction, but we are not Dorgon's cronies either. My cousin Alzin is Dorgon's confidant. However, my father and I are both close to Alzin." There is a grudge. My uncle Adahai was reported to and executed by Arzin."

"Were you suppressed by Dorgon?" Yang Zhenqing asked.

Saihe said: "No, but we were ignored by Dorgon."

Dorgon did not take Saihe and his son seriously at all, neither reused nor suppressed them. However, the ambitious Saihe was very unhappy as he watched his cousin with whom he had a grudge continue to be promoted, and his father and son, who had made great achievements but were still stuck in their original positions.

Coupled with the fact that the Manchu Dynasty was approaching sunset, Saihe considered taking the opportunity to change jobs.

He had defected twice and had long been used to it. It didn't matter if he defected a third time.

As for his parents, wife and children, Saihe didn't think about it at all. The first two times he and his father defected, he never took any women with him, and it was all the men in the family who fled.

Dorgon sent Saihe to help guard Ximu City, and it happened that Roubaozi was beating the dog.

We can't blame Dorgon for being careless. There were too many Qing generals who defected or tried to defect. How could they fight if they were all on guard? What's more, Ah Shan has already become a first-class general soldier. This is a truly high and powerful position, and there is no way he will defect again.

Ashan really had no intention of defecting, but his eldest son Saihe felt that he was still young and did not want to perish with the Manchus.

Even if Dorgon didn't send him to Ximu City, Saihe would rebel.

Either rebel elsewhere, or defect when the two armies are at war.

Saihe said: "General, if I dedicate myself to the city and perform meritorious service..."

Yang Zhenqing interrupted directly: "Don't ask me for conditions, I have no right to make the decision. If you want to submit, you must first perform meritorious service. The Ministry of War will consider it based on your meritorious service."

Saihe was silent for a moment, gritted his teeth and said: "Okay! I will set fire to the city as a signal. Once the fire breaks out, the general will attack the city immediately. I only have 1,500 soldiers in hand, and only two or three hundred will actually follow me in rebellion. If Without the support of the general, I will definitely fail to seize the city."

This time it was Yang Zhenqing's turn to be silent. What if Saihe pretended to surrender? Didn’t he lead people to die?

After thinking about it for two quarters of an hour, Yang Zhenqing felt that he could make a bet.

The Manchu Qing side was similar to Li Zicheng's side, and the internal conflicts were more serious than Li Zicheng's.

In the bitter cold land of Liaodong, there were actually more than 100,000 soldiers and horses. They took away all the places they could, and could only squeeze the people at the bottom inside.

This situation is very similar to the late Nurhachi period. At that time, the game almost collapsed, and a large number of Manchu generals defected. However, the Ming Dynasty did not accept it, and if it did, it did not take it seriously at all. There was even a phenomenon of bullying and subjugation. As a result, in the ensuing war, these surrendered generals defected one after another.

Saihe returned with his own soldiers. In the first few days, he didn't show any abnormality, and he just let his confidants arrange things secretly.

On the eighth day, Saihe hosted a banquet for the generals in the city.

Fu Lehe, the Duke of Zhenguo, happily went to the appointment. Saihe also said: "I'm neglecting you. It's a pity that there is no good wine to entertain you during the war. When you return to Shengjing, I will invite you to drink again."

Since Fulehe took over as the Duke of Zhenguo, he has had many flatterers, and he only thinks that Saihe is also trying to curry favor with him.

The generals who guarded the city exchanged cups with each other. After drinking the wine, Saihe smiled and said, "My lord, I have prepared a surprise for you."

"What's the surprise?" Fuller asked with a smile.

"Bah bang bang!"

Saihe clapped his hands.

Cries of killing were immediately heard outside the house, but it was Saihe's personal soldiers who were attacking and killing the personal followers of other generals. More than ten soldiers rushed into the house with swords in hand.

Fulehe stood up in shock and was about to draw his sword, but found that he had no weapon.

However, Saihe had a dagger hidden in his arms. He rushed over, grabbed Fulehe, and stabbed the Duke of Zheng in the abdomen.

In the city, fires broke out everywhere, and the Eight Banners soldiers were in chaos.