I

After confirming that Suohun abandoned the castle and left, the main force of the independent regiment took advantage of the situation and occupied the castle, heading to Hetuala to join Yang Zhenqing.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they were halfway there, they received an order from Yang Zhenqing, telling them to defend the city immediately.

Where to keep?

Of course it was Shoukhtuala, which was empty except for the wounded and sick of the independent regiment. After two days of repairs, Yang Zhenqing actually led his army to set off again. He was not afraid that the Tatar capital would be taken back after he left.

Anba is very sure that this Han general named Yang Zhenqing is a complete madman!

More than a thousand people crossed mountains and ridges and marched hungry, not to mention taking Hetuala overnight. He had only rested for two days, and he hadn't even replenished the meat he had lost due to hunger, so he actually abandoned the city and headed towards the main battlefield. There was a battle involving tens of thousands of people, and even more than 100,000 people were included. Are these thousands of people delivering food?

At this moment, Mandahai and his cavalry troops finally arrived at Jiefan City.

As soon as he arrived, he received an urgent report from the back. His son sent someone to chase him and deliver a message, saying that a large group of enemy troops had appeared in his hometown.

what to do?

Man Dahai wanted to rush back for rescue. The Datong army had traveled a long distance to attack and they must have not brought enough siege weapons. Maybe the city had not been breached yet when they returned. But the Salhu battlefield ahead also needs me. Once I, the backbone, leave, the morale of Salhu may collapse.

After much thought, Mandahai decided not to return the favor.

If his son could hold on, the Datong army that was rushing around and attacking would definitely withdraw due to lack of food. If the son cannot keep it, it will be too late for him to go back. It is better to stay on the main battlefield. As long as we win this battle, we can accept any loss.

"Your Majesty, the two acropolises of Sarhu and several nearby forts have all been captured by the Nanmanzi." The person leading the army in Jiefan City is Yang Guli's grandson Aixing'a, whose title is Duke Yingcheng. , awarded the title of first-class general officer.

Man Dahai asked: "The Nanmanzi only besieged Sarhu and did not attack Jiefan City?"

Jiefan City is Jiefan City, and the Tatars don't like the word "Fan".

Ai Xing'a shook his head: "I haven't come over yet. I guess I'm waiting for us to come over. The Nanmanzi want to besiege the city and call for reinforcements."

Mandahai thought silently.

The Datong Army besieging Sarhu City consisted of four regular divisions, plus peasants, soldiers and civilians, and there were nearly 90,000 people lying there.

The Tatar garrison in Sarhu City only had about five thousand people. The Eight Banners Army in Jiefan City and Gule City has gathered more than 40,000 people. The Manchu Qing Dynasty has spared the young and strong people. Many of these 40,000 people have never fought in a war, and the youngest is only fourteen. Five years old.

"We can't force it. The enemy has been on the battlefield for a long time, and our army is mostly weak. There is no guarantee of a decisive battle in the field," Mandahai said. "Since the enemy is surrounded and refuses to attack, then we will delay until it snows. They will naturally withdraw their troops. At that time, look for opportunities and seize the loopholes in their withdrawal to hunt them down!"

Ai Xing'a did not dare to go out of the city for a decisive battle, and quickly flattered him: "Your Majesty is indeed a veteran general and the mainstay of our Qing Dynasty. The strategy of stalling for time is the most suitable."

In Man Dahai's heart, he has always been thinking about the rear.

If his son was defeated and the Datong army captured the city, the retreat to the northeast would be blocked. In fact, the Datong Army came along the river valley and arrived at Jiefan City from the northeast. Jiefan City became a turtle in the urn.

Mandahai suddenly had an idea. He said: "Send more scouts and go northeast along the Hun River. Don't expose your whereabouts. Once the Nanmanzi are found, we will set up an ambush halfway. The number of Nanmanzi who circled back from the north is It’s definitely not much, let’s eat all that way first.”

Love Star Azan said: "This is Emperor Taizu's secret skill. Let him come in any way, and I will go all the way!"

Mandahai immediately sent out scouts, but on that day, a fast horse came from Gule City in the southeast: "Your Majesty, there is a secret report, Hetuala is missing!"

"Hetuala is gone?"

Man Dahai and Aixing A looked at each other.

The main force of the Datong Army in Sarhu is directly west of Jiefan City. The direction of the cavalry division's attack was to the northeast of Jiefan City.

As for Hetuala, on the southeast side of Jiefan City, there was only one passage, that is, the Datong Army set out from Crow Falcon Pass and opened up the fortress all the way to get there. It is not easy for the army to move there. It can only be a partial army of several thousand people at most. It will take a lot of time to break through many fortresses along the way. Moreover, Hetuala still has an army. Even if two to three thousand people are sent to guard the pass, tens of thousands of Datong troops can be blocked.

How do you say it's gone?

Mandahai asked: "How many enemy troops captured the city?"

The messenger shook his head: "I don't know."

Mandahai asked again: "Where did the enemy come from?"

The messenger shook his head: "I don't know."

"How come you don't know anything?" Ai Xing'a was furious.

The messenger explained: "There are sporadic tribesmen who fled from Hetuala to Maldun. The guard general of Maldun did not dare to neglect, and sent people to Gule City to report the news, and at the same time sent people to Hetuala to inquire about the news. Those who escaped The clansmen couldn’t explain clearly, but they only knew that there was a fire inside and outside the city in the middle of the night, and many southern barbarians took the opportunity to rush into the city.”

"Where are the Queen Mother and Your Majesty?" Ai Xing'a asked.

"Some tribesmen said that they saw the Queen Mother and Her Majesty escaping from Beicheng." The messenger replied.

Ai Xing'a was silent, and Man Dahai didn't say a word either.

There are mountains everywhere here, and there are only three passages.

One is in the west, leading to Fushun via Sarhu. One is in the northeast, going out along the Hun River valley. One is in the southeast, going out along the Suzi River Valley.

Now, the three passages and three directions are all occupied by the Datong Army. The Eight Banners Army has been surrounded!

For a long time, Mandahai sighed: "There are only two ways now. First, before the enemy forces encircle them, go to Sarhu for a decisive battle immediately; secondly, before the enemy forces encircle them, choose a road to lead the entire army to break through. .”

"Let's break out. Many of the Eight Banners warriors here have never fought. Letting them go out of the city for a decisive battle will cost their lives." Ai Xing'a said.

Mandahai added: "If we break through, should we break through from the northeast or the southeast?"

Ai Xing'a said: "The southeast is better. The number of enemy troops who captured Hetuala should not be too many. It will be smoother to go to the southeast, and you can also find the Queen Mother and Her Majesty."

Man Dahai actually wanted to go to the northeast, and he just happened to go back to see if his old nest had been taken away.

But as Ai Xing'a said, the road to the northeast is more dangerous. There were not only the Datong Army there, but also the rebellious Hercynian Jurchens, and there might even be Mongolian soldiers who had defected to the Datong Army.

After thinking about it, Mandahai said: "Let's summon the generals to discuss the matter. It doesn't matter what the two of us say."

A group meeting was held to discuss, and there was only one result, which was to go southeast.

Because the families of these Manchu nobles who attended the meeting were either in Hetuala, or in Gule City and Mardun behind them. They had to go back and take a look. Maybe they could meet family members along the way. It was impossible to follow Mandahai to break out from the northeast.

If Mandahai wants to control the entire army, he must listen to the opinions of these nobles.

The next day, Mandahai sent a large number of scouts to Sarhu, pretending to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Datong Army. They prepared to retreat during the day, and immediately fled after nightfall, rushing to join the Tatars in Gule City.

Counting the old, weak, women and children, 70,000 to 80,000 Tatars continued their journey southeast from Gule City.

On the main battlefield, Lu Xiangsheng, Hu Dinggui and others have been confused by the illusion. Scouts from both sides continued to fight, trying to capture key areas to prepare for the next "decisive battle."

It was not that Lu Xiangsheng and Hu Dinggui were not smart enough, but that they had never expected that Yang Zhenqing would actually capture Hetuala.

The mission of Yang Zhenqing's partial division was only to seize gold mines and ordnance depots, and by the way, threaten the Tatar rear from the south, so that the Tatars could not devote all their troops to the main battlefield.

Traveling day and night, within a few miles, the main force of the Tatars will flee to Mardun.

Maldun is the place where Nurhachi became famous when he first started his army.

At that time, Nurhachi's army had less than a hundred armored soldiers. His brother-in-law was killed by someone, so he took only a few brothers and risked his life to retrieve his brother-in-law's body.

Then he led troops to attack Maldun, where the enemy who killed his brother-in-law was.

There were only three pallet trucks at that time, and Maldun Village was too steep and could only accommodate one pallet truck. Nurhaci arranged the three carriages in a long snake formation, but all the carriages were destroyed. He rushed forward single-handedly, shot the enemy's ear with one arrow, and shot four more enemies to death in succession.

As a result, morale was greatly boosted, and the enemy was so frightened that they did not dare to come out. Finally, they surrounded the stronghold and cut off the water, forcing the enemy to surrender.

After taking Mardun, Nurhaci gained access to the mountain and could attack Jiefan City, Gule City and Sarhu at any time. If he couldn't take over here, he would have no choice but to stay in Hetuala.

When they were still a few miles away from Maldun, a group of defeated and disgraced soldiers came from the southeast.

Mandahai's vest felt cold, and he rode forward in person, asking, "Is Mardun still there?"

A Tatar officer cried sadly: "Mardun is gone!"

"Why is Mardun gone?" Ai Xing'a felt that the sky was dark and the earth was dark.

The Tatar officer said: "There is no well in the stronghold, so you have to go down the mountain to get water. Some tribesmen couldn't bear it, and there were people outside the stronghold who kept trying to persuade them to surrender, saying that Your Majesty and the Queen Mother were dead, and I was gone early in the morning... So, some The tribesmen opened the door and surrendered, and the Nanmanzi took the opportunity to rush into the village."

Mandahai was so anxious that he jumped: "Get Mardun back quickly!"

Maldun is not only a fortress, but also a checkpoint, which is the only way for the Tatars to break through.

On the Hetuala side, at least there was a wide and flat area. Even if the Datong army occupied the city, the Tatar army could still circle the city.

But if Maldun is lost, you can't get around it even if you want to.

If you have to go around it, you have to abandon all your luggage and climb over the steep mountain wall. Tens of thousands of people, abandoning their baggage, are tantamount to committing suicide by going on a hunger strike!

Mandahai couldn't wait any longer. He abandoned his baggage and large troops and marched quickly with only thousands of elite troops, hoping to capture Maldun by force. If you can't capture it, just wait for death. The main force of the Datong Army will come sooner or later, and when the time comes, you will be blocked in the river valley and be attacked from both sides.

"Captain, the Tatars are coming."

"Hold the fortress to the death!"

After Yang Zhenqing occupied Maldun, the first thing he did was to fetch water. Every container that can be found in the village is used to hold water brought from the mountains, which can last for at least half a month.

Mandahai led his troops to fight and blocked the fortress in the northwest. He also sent soldiers to climb from the mountain wall to the southeast. In this way, Mardun was blocked and the drinking water in the village was cut off.

He tried to attack, but to no avail. He could only send people back to urge them, and quickly pulled out the artillery to bombard the wall.

Yang Zhenqing's thousands of strange troops must defend the small village and hold off tens of thousands of enemy troops for more than ten days. Only in this way can the main force of the Tatars be blocked and wait for the main force of friendly forces to come and encircle them.

In fact, if Mandahai chose to break out from the northeast, the situation would not be much different. They would be blocked by the cavalry division.