***
After Duoduo broke through, more than 20,000 troops rushed southward towards Pukou.
Pukou is the main ferry crossing from Jinling to the north. It has no city walls, but there is Laoshan Mountain in the north, which acts as a natural barrier.
Laoshan is composed of nearly a hundred peaks of various sizes, about 70 miles long from east to west, with undulating mountains and lush forests. This is one of the reasons why Xia Chengde's thousands of troops were able to hide a few days ago.
At present, Pukou is the only place where the Qing army can quickly obtain large quantities of food and fodder supplies. It is only thirty or forty miles away from where the Qing army is trying to cross the Chuhe River.
But it was this distance of dozens of miles that made the Qing army extremely desperate. Many of the Qing army's cotton coats were wet when crossing the river. They were tired and cold after the battle. In this windy and snowy night, many people could no longer hold on and fell off their horses, with their bodies lying along the way.
The vanguard led by Aobai reached Laoshan, but was blocked by the 3,000 troops of Yang Pu, the lieutenant general of the Qin army, and could not advance an inch. After Duoduo's army arrived, they launched a fierce attack, but only an incense stick of time later, they heard that another large group of Qin troops were chasing them.
With enemies blocking his way in front and pursuers behind, Duoduo was extremely desperate. He hastily gave up attacking the mountain and fled westward along the northern foot of Laoshan.
Chasing from behind were the 5,000 cavalrymen that Niu Wanchuan obtained after he gathered the armies north and south of the Chuhe River. They had been fighting all night and were very tired, but at least they had a full meal before catching up.
Yang Pu's 3,000 troops were all cavalry. They were sent by the Minister of War He Liang to hunt down Xia Chengde after Pukou was attacked. Niu Wanchuan didn't care and immediately ordered Yang Pu to chase the enemy with him. In this way, his troops reached 8,000.
More than 20,000 people fled for one night, and when they reached Tangquan Town at 4 a.m., more than 2,000 people had died of freezing or exhaustion on the way. It is not an exaggeration to say that there were corpses all along the way.
Most of the people in Tangquan Town had been evacuated across the river, and the Qing army could not find any supplies here.
In a rage, Duoduo set fire to Tangquan Town and asked the soldiers to warm themselves by the fire, but they did not enjoy it for long as Niu Wanchuan caught up with them again. Duoduo had no choice but to order the soldiers to flee west again.
When we fled to Yaozi Mountain, the westernmost part of Laoshan, it was already five o'clock in the morning. Ning Wanwei said to Duoduo: "Your Majesty, the soldiers are cold and hungry, and there is not much grass in the army. The Qin army in this area must have fortified their walls and cleared the fields. It will be difficult for us to get supplies, Your Majesty. If we continue like this, we will never be able to get rid of the pursuers after dawn, and then the whole army will be wiped out."
Duoduo knew all this. He was also cold and hungry. He said anxiously, "Master Ning, what do you have to say? Tell me now."
"Your Highness, the only solution now is to divide our forces. This is the westernmost part of Laoshan. According to Zhou Chongshan, 20 miles to the west is Xingdian Town. There are forests 20 to 30 miles in radius to the northwest of Xingdian Town. Your Highness, we will divide our forces into two. Half will hide in Yaozi Mountain temporarily. The remaining half will lead the pursuers to Xingdian Town, and then retreat to the forests northwest of Xingdian Town. After leading the pursuers away, we will strike back..."
"Okay, let's do it."
Without any hesitation, Duoduo immediately followed Ning Wanwo's strategy and took 10,000 troops to hide in the valley of Yaozi Mountain, and let Gong Acha lead 10,000 troops to continue westward.
It was a dark night with strong wind and snow. Niu Wanchuan was unaware that Duoduo had divided his troops and was led away by Gong Acha.
After Niu Wanchuan passed, Duoduo's 10,000 soldiers, with grass in their mouths and gags in their horses' mouths, quickly moved southward from the west side of Yaozi Mountain under the cover of the thick darkness of the fifth watch, bypassed the Laoshan peaks, and headed eastward towards Pukou.
The cavalry arrived in one hour at a distance of more than 30 miles. It was just dawn at this time, and the defenders of Pukou thought that the Qing army had been chased away. Duoduo suddenly turned around and attacked, and the defenders of Pukou were caught off guard and their defense line was quickly defeated.
Duoduo seized several thousand shi of grain and fodder, and even had a hearty meal at Pukou before leading his troops westward...
***
Qin Mu could not help but get furious after receiving the news. As the saying goes, man is iron and food is steel. Without food and grass, Duoduo's 20,000 troops could not survive even a day under the pursuit of cavalry.
Now, Pukou was attacked twice within a few days, especially this time, which was equivalent to saving Duoduo's life. How could Qin Mu not be angry
Lady Hong advised him, "Niu Wanchuan's men and horses are exhausted, so it's normal for him to ask Yang Pu to chase the enemy. I would do the same if I were in their place. No one expected the Tartars to be so cunning. It's easy for the Tartars to hide some men and horses in this snowy night. Didn't you also not expect it? If you had expected it earlier and didn't ask Yang Pu to chase the enemy, how could Duoduo succeed so easily?"
A wise man has thousands of officials, but one of them must make mistakes. Perhaps, war is always full of accidents and mistakes. In fact, after the first attack on Pukou, the defense had been strengthened, with 10,000 defenders and 3,000 cavalrymen from Yangpu to assist.
It was just that the Qing army was chased like a stray dog, and after fleeing westwards, they were able to suddenly counterattack. This was too unexpected. Pukou had no city walls, so it was breached so quickly.
After hearing what Hong Niang said, Qin Mu couldn't help but smile bitterly. At this time, you are scheming against others, and others are also scheming against you. Both sides are fighting with wits and courage. The enemy is not a fool, but on the contrary, as cunning as a fox.
The reason why Duoduo was lured into the trap this time was entirely because the Qing army did not know that Daqin had powerful rockets. Without such a secret weapon, with the deployment of Duoduo and Ning Wanwo, there would be no chance of encircling them.
Niu Wanshan glanced at Hongniang secretly, his heart full of gratitude. If it weren't for Hongniang's persuasion, his brother Niu Wanchuan would have transferred 3,000 troops from Yangpu without authorization. It was also because of his negligence that Duoduo was able to make a surprise attack without anyone noticing. If Qin Mu investigated it thoroughly, his brother would certainly be held responsible.
At this time, Liu Meng brought several ministers including Minister of Rites Du Yinxi and Minister of Rites Song Xiance into the tent. Du Yinxi and others were relieved to see that Qin Mu was safe and sound. Then they paid their respects and said in a loud voice, "Your Highness and I pay our respects to the King of Qin."
"What are you doing here?" Qin Mu asked calmly.
"Your Majesty, we are here on behalf of all the officials to respectfully invite you to return to the capital."
Qin Mu was originally planning to return to Jinling, but when he saw these ministers rushing to urge him to go, the anger he had just suppressed suddenly surged up again. Bang! He slammed the table in front of him, causing the pen and ink to jump.
Du Yinxi and the others were startled, but Qin Mu finally held back. After patting a few cases, he glanced coldly at the ministers below and asked in a cold voice: "When to return to the capital, I have my own ideas. Let me ask you, have you finished handling all the affairs of your ministry since you have left your post without permission at this time?"
“King Qin…”
"Answer the King!"
Qin Mu shouted coldly, frightening Du Yinxi and others so much that they kowtowed repeatedly.
Hong Niangzi was a little confused, and couldn't understand why Qin Mu got so angry with the minister as soon as they met. How could she know that Qin Mu was deliberately trying to establish his authority
Qin Mu has always been easy-going and courteous in front of his ministers. Perhaps because of this, some ministers began to become self-righteous and wanted to restrict him.
Like this time, Qin Mu himself was originally planning to return to Beijing, but he absolutely could not accept being carried back by the ministers. If this trend continued, he would probably be like other emperors and it would be difficult for him to leave the Forbidden City soon. At that time, all the affairs of the world would be determined by the ministers' tricks.
Du Yinxi, Shou Xiance and others obviously did not expect that Qin Mu, who always treated his ministers well, would give them a heavy blow as soon as they met.
"King Qin, you are the supreme ruler, how can you..."
"Shut up! I will temporarily fine you three months' salary this time. Go back to where you came from immediately. If you say one more word of nonsense, you can retire and return home."
Lady Hong pursed her lips, perhaps wanting to laugh, or perhaps feeling strange. She watched several ministers leave the tent in disgrace before she said, "King Qin, I heard..."
"This is none of your business." Qin Mu interrupted her and said to Liu Meng, "Liu Meng, have you counted the number of enemies killed?"
Liu Meng clasped his fists and replied, "Reporting to the King of Qin, in this battle, our army killed more than 4,300 enemies and captured more than 3,600 people. Many Tartar corpses sank into the river and were not counted."
"Well, let's send our wounded back to Jinling for treatment immediately. Have Li Jiu and Su Jin chased after them?"
"Don't worry, King Qin. We have already caught up with them."
"Okay, send a message to Huai'an and Luzhou to attack immediately according to the plan."
“Yes!”
Liu Meng was a rough but meticulous person, and he knew Qin Mu's character very well. He answered Qin Mu's questions directly and crisply without any extra words.
Duoduo's 40,000 troops marched south, and now only 20,000 are left. After suffering such a great defeat, the Qing army must be terrified. It is the best time for the Qin army to march north to capture the entire Huainan and Xuzhou. Qin Mu will naturally not miss such an opportunity.
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.(To be continued..)
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