I

At the foot of Sarhu Mountain, the generals of the Datong Army were having a meeting in the camp.

Coach Li Zheng said: "The Tatar scouts suddenly disappeared. I have sent scouts to Jiefan City to investigate. Can you tell me, could this be a trick to lure the enemy and lure our troops there to set up an ambush?"

"It's very possible," Lu Xiangsheng nodded and said, "In the past few years, most of the elite troops of the Eight Banners Army of the Tatars were killed or injured, and countless war horses and armor were captured by our army. No matter how the cubs are born in the Tatar pastures, they will also produce babies in a short period of time. There are not that many war horses to make up for it. No matter how fast the Tatar ordnance depot works, they will not be able to knock out tens of thousands of armor in a few years. They are short of horses and armor, and they dare not fight a decisive battle with our army, so they will definitely find ways to set up an ambush."

Hu Dinggui said with a smile: "No matter how we set up an ambush, there is only one main road. If we really fight, send enough mountain search teams, and the Tatars can be found no matter how well they hide."

Xiao Zongxian said: "We still have to continue to besiege Sarhu. If we don't capture Sarhu, it will be difficult to attack Jiefan City and Gule City. I guess the Tatars are just stalling for time, waiting for us to withdraw when the mountains are closed by heavy snow." "

Lu Xiangsheng said: "If the enemy general has any brains, he will definitely keep delaying. Our army must wait for the cavalry division to successfully attack and reach the rear of Jiefan City. Then we can think of ways to attack."

This is the reason why the Datong Army has not sent out troops. Everyone wants to destroy the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but it is difficult to fight due to terrain reasons.

Sarhu City, Jiefan City, and Gule City are three mountain cities blocked here.

As early as the Wang Gao era, Gule City was the core city of the Jurchens in Jianzhou and was expanded and reinforced time after time. Jiefan City and Sarhu City also served as the capitals of Nurhaci, and they were also constantly expanded and reinforced.

To be honest, the Datong Army mobilized nearly 100,000 people this time, and there was no guarantee that the Manchus would be wiped out.

The minimum goal of this battle is to capture Saerhu City and then attack Jiefan City next year.

Li Zheng said: "If we can't lay siege to the city for reinforcements, we have to attack Saarhu. This battle must be ended before it snows."

To storm a dangerous mountain city is nothing more than to use human lives to fill it.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

The scouts galloped back on horseback, and after being allowed to enter the commander's tent, they actively reported: "Generals, Jiefan City is empty, and the Tatars in Jiefan City have left! There are traces of the march of the army along the way, and the Tatars have not gone to the northeast. Hunhe River Valley, but go to the southeast, probably to return to Jianzhou (Hetuala)."

Li Zheng was surprised and happy. He stood up and said, "Go and explore Gule City immediately!"

The scout said: "There are already brothers."

Not long after, another scout came back and reported: "The city of Gule is also empty. There is not a single Tatar in the city."

Several generals looked at each other, wondering what the Tatars were up to.

If the Tatars insist on defending these two mountain cities, I don't know how many Datong soldiers' lives they will have to sacrifice to defeat them. Happiness came so suddenly, and the Tatars actually abandoned the city on their own initiative, which made them feel incredible.

Li Zheng said: "Send troops immediately to occupy the two cities!"

In this case, the goal of the campaign has been achieved. After occupying Gule City and Jiefan City, Sarhu became an isolated city and there was no need to besiege it anymore. The food in the city was completely eaten and they starved to death.

Lu Xiangsheng asked suspiciously: "Is there some accident in Jianzhou? The main force of the Tatars rushed over to rescue."

Hu Dinggui said: "There is only a partial division of the Independent Regiment over there. Even if Yang Zhenqing breaks through the fortresses along the way and fights all the way to Jianzhou City, the Tatars will not need to abandon the city and return for reinforcements."

"Is it an internal fight among the Tatars?" Xiao Zongxian guessed.

Li Zheng shook his head: "It's not like internal fighting. The Tatars moved too unitedly, and no one was left. If it was really internal fighting among the Tatars, some Tatars must have defected to them, instead of all abandoning the city and leaving."

These big guys racked their brains and couldn't figure it out.

Even if they thought about it for another three days and three nights, they would never guess that Yang Zhenqing had captured Hetuala.

Because that's too fantasy.

Li Zheng added: "Are the Tatars trying to lure the enemy deeper, abandoning the two cities as bait to lure our army into pursuit, and then set up an ambush halfway?"

Hu Dinggui said with a smile: "If this is the case, if we don't chase, wouldn't we have picked up two cities in vain? The two cities of Jiefan and Gule are lost, and the city of Sarhu will be lost sooner or later. The Tatars are asking for their own destruction. I'm afraid the Tatars Not that stupid."

"That's not true, then no, then why did the Tatars abandon the city and leave?" Xiao Zongxian became more and more confused as he was told.

Hu Dinggui said: "If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. What matters now is whether we should pursue it or not."

Li Zheng still had the same calm character: "It is better not to pursue. We occupy the two cities of Jiefan and Gule, and then besiege Sarhu with all our strength. When all three cities are taken, the Tatars will be the grasshoppers after the autumn. Our army has no need." Let’s go on more adventures.”

Lu Xiangsheng shook his head: "We still have to chase, at least take the opportunity to capture Maldun. Although Maldun is just a fortress, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Sooner or later, we will have to fight a battle."

Li Zheng thought about it: "Let's do this, send dragoons to pursue quickly. If there are not many enemies in Maldun, then take advantage of the situation. If there are Tatars defending Maldun, then think about it in the long term."

After finalizing the battle plan, thousands of dragoons immediately pursued along the Suzi River.

…

Maldon.

Mandahai led thousands of elite vanguards to block the water from the front and rear of the fort. The large Tatar army has not yet arrived, and the artillery and other siege equipment are not available. Mandahai can only continue to wait.

Yang Zhenqing didn't wait, he wanted to take the initiative.

"Leave five hundred people to guard the gate of Beizhai. The rest follow me and go out to kill the Tatars!"

Of the 1,500 people who initially rushed to attack, more than 200 people fell ill due to too much effort and were now lying in Hetuala to recuperate.

At this moment, there are only more than 1,200 independent regiment soldiers in Maldun Village.

Five hundred people guarded the North Village Gate, and Yang Zhenqing personally came with more than 700 soldiers to rush out from the South Village Gate.

There were not many Tatars there, only about a thousand, and they climbed over from the mountain wall to cut off the water. At this moment, half of the Tatars were on guard, and the other half were cutting down trees nearby to set up camp.

"The Nanbarbarians are coming out!" the Tatar sentry exclaimed.

The Tatars who were cutting down trees immediately threw down their axes, and more than a thousand people gathered to fight.

As mentioned before, the mountain road outside the stronghold was narrow. When Nurhaci attacked the stronghold, he could not even line up a second truck.

The number of Tatar soldiers was twice that of the Datong army, but when fighting in close combat, only a dozen people in the front row fought. The battlefield is not wide enough, and it is useless no matter how many soldiers there are. They can only wait at the back to join the battle.

However, the Datong Army was condescending, and all of them had flintlock guns - everyone could shoot!

"Bang bang bang!"

Before entering the bow and arrow range, Yang Zhenqing ordered a volley of fire. The slope is enough for front row warriors and will not block the back row.

More than a thousand Tatars were completely passively shot.

Some Tatars were anxious and shot arrows at the Datong army, but the distance was too far and they were shooting upwards, so they couldn't hit it at all.

After a round of gunfire, the Tatars had more than thirty casualties and had no choice but to retreat down the mountain.

Yang Zhenqing refused to give up and led his troops in pursuit.

Man Dahai was on the other side of the stronghold, and when he heard the gunshots here, he suddenly became anxious. He once again ordered to attack the stronghold, but he still said the same thing. The mountain road was narrow and it was useless no matter how many people there were. They just lined up to come.

"Withdraw!"

After a tentative attack, Mandahai once again ordered the troops to retreat. He was almost disgusted by the terrain.

He was not Nurhachi. When the carriage was completely destroyed, he could still rush over and shoot an arrow alone, and one arrow shot the ear of the general guarding the village.

Even Nurhachi cut off the drinking water in the village and forced the village to surrender.

Man Dahai was very anxious and sent a messenger again to convey the order: "Let Aixing hurry up, don't wait for most of the troops to leave together, bring the artillery over first and blow down the wall!"

The Tatars don't have many artillery, only a few dozen left.

Moreover, most of the musketeers were disbanded because they did not have enough gunpowder. When fighting the Ming Dynasty, most of the gunpowder used by the Tatars was bought from the Han region, and they could not produce much themselves.

Now that trade is cut off and gunpowder cannot be purchased, we can only slowly produce it ourselves.

The pitiful output of gunpowder every year can only supply the needs of cannons, and the musketeers are not enough.

For example, the other Tatars Yang Zhenqing faced did not have a single musket. Facing the condescending Datong army, the bows and arrows in their hands had no room to fight back.

Keep chasing, keep loading, keep firing.

The more than a thousand elite Tatars retreated down the mountain in an orderly manner at first. As casualties mounted, the Tatars became panicked. Moreover, the mountain road was narrow, and when they were fighting to retreat, some friendly Tatar soldiers were squeezed out of the mountain road, fell from the mountain wall, and were killed or maimed.

The more you panic, the more likely you are to make mistakes, and a retreat can quickly turn into a rout.

"Mount bayonets and charge!"

Yang Zhenqing gave an order, and more than 700 people mounted bayonets and charged towards the chaotic Tatars.

This last blow caused the Tatar soldiers to collapse completely, and hundreds of them were squeezed off the cliff.

"Leave no one behind, take no prisoners!" Yang Zhenqing ran and shouted.

More than 700 independent regiment soldiers took the initiative to attack more than 1,600 Tatars. So far, not a single soldier has been lost, and the enemy has been killed crying and running for his life.

After chasing them all the way down the mountain, some Tatars jumped into the Suzi River to escape, and some fled along the river bank towards Hetuala.

Yang Zhenqing happily returned to the village, rested for half an hour, and suddenly stood up again: "Leave a hundred people to guard the South Village gate, and the rest will follow me to fight out from the North Village gate!"

This time there were more than 1,100 people, rushing towards the 3,000-strong Mandahai.

Mandahai knew something was wrong, so he retreated a long way away, all the way to the foot of the mountain, waiting for Yang Zhenqing to come and die.

"It's boring. Let's go back to the stronghold." Yang Zhenqing didn't dare to pursue him anymore. He just fought on the steep mountain road. He couldn't get any benefits by going down the mountain.

In fact, Yang Zhenqing also felt guilty. He led his troops to make a surprise attack on Hetuala and did not carry much ammunition with him. All the ammunition of the entire army is with the main force. It will take a day or two before the main force can come from the city of Hetuala with ammunition and baggage for reinforcements.

If the large army does not come, the ammunition in their hands can only be used to fire another twenty or thirty shots.

Man Dahai is also waiting, waiting for Aixing A to quickly bring the cannon.

The wall here is not very strong and can collapse in half a day. Then he will kill Yang Zhenqing with his own hands.