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The north wind was howling, the snow was flying, and the earth was desolate.
Duoduo's 30,000-strong army was like an overwhelming torrent, rolling forward in the wind and snow. Hot air was spewing from Ma Zhan's mouths, his flags were frozen and could not be unfolded, and his uniforms were as cold as iron.
But this did not make the Qing army, who were born in a bitter and cold land, shrink back. They galloped against the wind and snow, and the rumbling of their iron hooves struck the earth like raindrops, making the earth tremble and the mountains dizzy.
They flew as fast as the wind, as if they could leave the wind and snow behind them. Countless pairs of unruly eyes made them look as ferocious as a pack of wolves on the grassland.
On the periphery of the army, there were dozens to hundreds of cavalrymen flying around, spread out for dozens of miles. They could serve as a warning and were responsible for looting.
Duoduo hurried south with limited food and fodder, so he resorted to his usual looting tactics in the hope of obtaining the necessary food and fodder supplies.
But the reality disappointed him. Before he went south for the first time, this area had been the battlefield of several gangs of soldiers and bandits including Zuo Liangyu, Liu Zeqing, Huang Degong and Gao Jie, and the people had been looted several times.
When he went south, the bloody massacre in Yangzhou forced everyone who could escape to flee to Jiangxi and Huguang.
The Qin army had only just recovered this area, and many people had not yet had time to return home. Those who did return mostly gathered in the county town to seek relief. Therefore, the Qing army's looting gains were very limited.
When the army arrived near Lai'an, they received news that Aobai had trapped Qin Mu in Chuzhou city.
Ning Wanwo became alert and said to Duoduo, "Your Highness, judging from what happened last night, Aobai was blocked on the east bank of the Lai'an River for a long time. Qin Mu had every chance to escape back to Jinling, but he didn't. This seems a little unusual."
Gushan Ezhen Malaxi immediately retorted: "Mr. Ning is overthinking. We attacked suddenly, and Qin Mu probably didn't know that our army was behind him. So why is it strange that he didn't flee? The defenders of Chuzhou already have more than 10,000 soldiers, and they have the city as their support. Why should he be afraid of Aobai's 10,000 troops?"
"Then may I ask why Su Jin's 6,000 cavalrymen did not retreat to Chuzhou. Instead, they crossed the Lai'an River to the east and entered Lai'an City. How do you explain this?"
"Su Jin originally planned to block Aobai by the river, but Aobai used the cover of darkness to quickly cross the river. Su Jin was lucky not to be defeated by surprise. Would he dare to retreat back to Chuzhou
After crossing the river, Aobai rushed straight to Chuzhou. If Su Jin retreated to Chuzhou, could he still enter the city? In this case, he entered Lai'an nearby. I guess he was waiting for the Huan army to go to rescue Chuzhou together, Your Majesty, this is not strange. "
Malachi's words made sense. At least Tudor agreed.
Ning Wanwo was unable to refute Malaxi for the moment, so he could only suggest to Duoduo: "Your Majesty, Qin Mu has retreated to Chuzhou. We may not be able to capture the city quickly. To be on the safe side, we need to divide our forces to capture Lai'an as a stronghold and at the same time raise the food and fodder needed by the army."
Ning Wanwo's suggestion was also very reasonable, and Duoduo adopted it. He sent Beizi Xihan and Li Guohan, the Han army of the Bordered Blue Banner, to lead an army of 10,000 to attack Lai'an County.
Xihan's full name is Aixinjueluo Xihan. He is Nurhaci's nephew. He is a brother of Gong Adai and Baiyintu.
He was one of the Eight Ministers of the Plain Yellow Banner during the reign of Huang Taiji. After Huang Taiji's death, Xihan formed an alliance with Sony, Tan Tai, Aisin-Gioro Tulai, Aisin-Gioro Gong Adai, Ebai, He Luohui and others in the Sanguan Temple, and vowed to assist Huang Taiji's son and advance and retreat together.
But later, Dorgon took control of the government. Tan Tai, Gong Adai, Xihan and He Luohui all broke their alliance and served Dorgon. Xihan became Dorgon's most trusted confidant and was promoted to Beizi due to his merits.
Li Jixue, the father of Li Guohan, Gushan Ezhen of the Bordered Blue Banner Han Army, was originally an aide to Yang Haojun, the governor of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty. He often went on diplomatic missions to the Jianzhou Jurchen tribe at that time and secretly colluded with Nurhaci.
After Nurhaci conquered Liaoyang, Li Jixue surrendered to the Jurchens and was granted the title of Dusi. Li Guohan inherited his father's title and fought under Huang Taiji, for which he was given the title of "Mergen".
The Chinese meaning of Mergen is "good archery", which means "a person who is good at hunting" or "a capable" or "wise person".
Xihan was a good fighter, and Li Guohan was a good archer and intelligent. Duoduo asked them to be responsible for capturing Lai'an County, which showed that he took Ning Wanwo's suggestions very seriously.
Xihan led 10,000 elite cavalrymen to attack Lai'an County. His elder brother Baiyintu was captured for burning down the Nanjing Palace. Liu Meng was furious and cut him into pieces and fried in a frying pan.
Therefore, Xihan not only wanted to seize Lai'an County as a base for the Qing army, but he also vowed to avenge his brother with great hatred. Lai'an City was just a small place, and Xihan did not take it seriously.
Duoduo led an army of 20,000 to cross the river on the floating bridge built by Aobai. The north wind was howling and snow was falling heavily. It took more than two hours for all 20,000 troops to cross the Lai'an River and rush to Chuzhou.
When Duoduo arrived in Chuzhou, Aobai had already set up camp in the south of the city and launched a tentative siege.
Duoduo rode to the foot of the city and found that the moat of Chuzhou was so wide. Snowflakes fell on the water, vast and boundless, and melted as soon as they entered the water. The water surface was filled with a layer of white mist. The moat, which was more than fifty steps wide, made people feel overwhelmed.
Fortunately, there are stone bridges outside the six city gates, and the stone bridges outside the north and south gates are as wide as two meters. The Qin army did not destroy these stone bridges. Scattered arrows and pools of blood that have dyed the snow red can be seen on the stone bridges. These were left when Aobai launched a tentative attack just now.
Duoduo frowned slightly. He came in a hurry, and the red cannon was extremely heavy and difficult to carry. The Qin army placed two cannons on each city gate. If the Qing army wanted to rush across the fifty-step wide stone bridge, it would probably suffer heavy casualties.
Aobai came up and said, "Your Highness, don't worry. The Qin army's artillery is limited by its firing angle and can only fire near the end of the bridge. Once our army rushes onto the stone bridge, we don't have to worry about the Qin army's artillery."
"Well." Duoduo glanced back at him and asked, "How was the previous battle?"
"Your Highness, I only tested the Qin army's strength and did not attack the city with all my strength. The Qin army's counterattack was not fierce and they were still a little confused. It was not until Qin Mu led his personal soldiers to the city to counterattack that they caused some casualties to our army."
"Qin Mu actually went to the city to join the battle in person?"
"Yes, some of Xia Chengde's men knew Qin Mu. I asked them to identify him and confirmed that it was Qin Mu who personally climbed the city wall and participated in the defense, and was the one who pushed our army back."
Aobai was a man of great stature, with a voice like a bell and full of energy, and he did not show any humility when speaking to Duoduo. He was a member of the Haoge camp, and he was still dissatisfied with the three brothers Dorgon controlling the government.
However, he was known as "the bravest man in Manchuria" and was extremely brave in combat. Now that the Qing Dynasty was in need of men, Duoduo had no choice but to use him.
After hearing what Aobai said, Duoduo was secretly happy. This was only the first round of attack and Qin Mu had to go to the city to participate in the battle in person. It was obvious that the overall combat effectiveness of the defenders in the city was not very good.
In order to verify Aobai's words, Duoduo ordered the army to rest quickly and planned to launch another fierce attack before dark in order to thoroughly understand the city's defensive capabilities.
Qin Mu was dressed in black armor, with a Juque sword hanging from his waist and a telescope in his hand, standing in the South Gate Tower observing the enemy situation. The falling snow made his vision a little blurry, and he could only vaguely see the fluttering flags of the Qing army. The flags were in various colors, including yellow, white, and blue.
As far as Qin Mu knew, the two yellow flags were originally the elite among the Jurchen elite. However, since Dorgon became regent, he has continuously suppressed and divided the two yellow flags, while continuously strengthening the strength of the two white flags. Now the two white flags have become the real elite of the Qing army.
Han Gang, who was standing aside, reported: "King Qin, Duoduo brought at least 5,000 white flag soldiers this time."
Qin Mu put down the telescope and smiled faintly: "Remember, if Duoduo dares to attack the city with two white flags, I will beat him hard. Kill as many as you can, and never hold back."
"Your Majesty, I obey your order."
This time, Qin Mu originally wanted to hide his strength and lure the Qing army to the outskirts of Chuzhou city and slowly consume them, but that was only for other Qing troops. The Plain White Banner and the Bordered White Banner had to be treated differently.
The two white flags were the foundation of the Dorgon brothers' survival and their reliance on controlling the military and political power of the Qing Dynasty. Any severe damage to the two white flags would inevitably lead to the intensification of internal conflicts within the Qing Dynasty.
If internal strife between Hauge's faction and Dorgon's faction could really be caused, the seemingly powerful Qing Dynasty would most likely collapse in the internal strife.
Woo! Woo! Woo!
The low sound of the Qing army's horn was heard again in the wind and snow.
Han Gang said quickly: "The Qing army is about to attack again. Please ask the King of Qin to return home. King of Qin, rest assured, with me here, Chuzhou will never be lost."
Qin Mu laughed and said, "It's true that I don't trust you, but I'll show off my sword here, so that the play will be more realistic."
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.(To be continued..)
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