On 16 February, Hong Chengchou's 140,000-strong army arrived at Dabi Mountain and was stationed five miles below the mountain. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

According to Hong Chengchou's informant's report, the largest Hongyi cannon in Tartar can hit three miles. The range of the cannon mount on the hill increased, and it might hit four miles, so Hong Chengchou's soldiers and horses camped five miles away, far away from the range of the Hongyi cannon.

The 140,000-strong army spent a day building a camp and assembled at the foot of the mountain on February 17. The army was divided into nine military towns and consisted of nine large phalanxes. Each phalanx was commanded by the general army of a town and occupied a width of several hundred meters of the battlefield. The entire army stretched out more than ten miles wide.

The Ming army was still red, and most of the soldiers wore red armor or red mandarin duck battle jackets. Even Li Zhi's soldiers and horses wore new red military uniforms. At a glance, the army of 140,000 people was in full swing.

The Ming army won two victories at Bijiagang and Hejiaao, and their morale was high. The soldiers stood in battle formation with their heads held high, and countless flags hunted and flew in the air, looking like a boiling ocean.

Hong Chengchou stood at the place of the Chinese army, holding the telescope given to him by Li Zhi, carefully observing the defense on Dabi Mountain.

On the top of Dabi Mountain, ditches were dug everywhere and stone barriers were erected, and the whole mountain has become a large fortress.

From the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain, I don't know how many ditches were dug. Most of those ditches were one-zhang wide ditches, which seemed to be dug very deep, and the edges were so steep that it was estimated that they would not be able to climb up if they jumped. There are not only ditches on the mountain, but also rammed earth platforms are often built behind the ditches according to the mountain. These platforms are often five or six feet higher than the mountain, so that the difference between the ditch and the high platform reaches more than one zhang.

On the outer edge of the platform, there is also an earthen wall several feet thick, which seems to have been used to defend against cannonballs. With such a thick earthen wall, even Li Zhi's heavy artillery could not penetrate it with one shot. And such an earthen wall and high platform, the whole mountain is densely packed, I don't know how many. I don't know how much time it will take to clear these fortifications one by one.

The soldiers of the Qing army stood behind the earthen wall with bows and arrows and firearms, and only the parts above the shoulders were exposed. Even Li Zhi's riflemen had a great difficulty targeting these Qing soldiers from a distance, with only their heads and shoulders exposed.

More than 200 meters up from the foot of the mountain, a steep place was simply dug straight and transformed into a huge cliff. The cliff is six or seven meters high, and there is only a narrow, sky-like slope above and below. On such a soil slope, it can be said that one man is the pass, and ten thousand people are not open. As long as there are a dozen archers or musketeers guarding the cliff, it is extremely difficult for the people below to rush up.

At the top of the hill, there is a stone enemy tower. In the fort of the enemy building, there are more than a dozen Hongyi cannons of the Qing army, overlooking the entire hill. The cannon set up on the mountain has a longer range, and I am afraid that if it is four miles away, the Qing army will be able to bombard the Ming army under the mountain.

The Qing army was heavily guarded, and dogs were tied to all parts of the defense line for guarding. If the Ming army secretly attacked the mountain at night, these dogs would shout on alert to wake up the other Qing troops.

Li Zhi carefully observed the positions of the Qing army and found that many of the high platforms with staggered teeth were facing the enemy attacking from the bottom of the mountain from multiple angles. Such a design is extremely insidious, and once the Ming army attacks the mountain, it may be hit by combined fire from multiple platforms.

Hong Chengchou, Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Wu Sangui and Cao Bianjiao held the telescope sent by Li Zhi and carefully observed the Qing army's defensive line. Cao Bianjiao and Li Zhi are old acquaintances, and Li Zhi also sent him a telescope. The other four general soldiers didn't have binoculars, so they could only look at Hong Chengchou and the others with red eyes.

It took a long time for everyone to put down their binoculars, and their faces were solemn.

Wang Pu gathered the cloak behind him and said, "This Tartar is so well defended, if you want to take down this hill, I don't know how many officers and soldiers will be killed or wounded?" ”

Wu Sangui nodded and said: "Governor, the Qing army is well defended, I don't know which general of the Qing army commanded on the mountain?" ”

Hong Chengchou said: "It's Dolgon, the king of Dongnurui County. ”

Everyone looked at each other, and suddenly realized that the secret path turned out to be Dorgon. In the eleventh year of Dolgon Chongzhen, he led the Ming army to break through the pass, and rampaged through Gyeonggi as if entering a no-man's land, defeating countless Ming troops, which can be described as a famous general of Dongnu. The generals glanced at each other, and felt more and more that this battle was difficult to fight.

Yang Guozhu thought for a while, waved his hand and said, "Although this hill is well defended, it is a hill after all. If you attack it again and again, you can still take it. I am afraid that when our army attacks the hills, the Tartars from the north will take the opportunity to attack the flank of our army. If my army is flanked and defeated while attacking on the mountain, it will be the end of the whole army. ”

When the generals heard Yang Guozhu's analysis, they all felt that it made sense. Dongnu not only has a garrison on Dabi Mountain, but also tens of thousands of troops are stationed in Tianzhu Mountain five miles to the north, the specific number is unknown, but at any time it may wave its division south to attack the Ming army attacking the mountain. The Qing army now has 100,000 soldiers fighting in western Liaoning, and the strength is not much less than that of the Ming army.

How to defend the flanks in the long mountain attack battle is also the key to determining the outcome of this battle.

Hong Chengchou looked at the generals and said, "In this battle, we will send 10,000 or 20,000 people to attack the mountain head-on. Then 30,000 men will hold the east flank, and 30,000 will hold the west flank to ensure that the position under the mountain is not lost. ”

"Who wants to take on the frontal attack?"

The generals looked at each other, but no one spoke. The defense on this mountain is so tight, there are trenches and high platforms everywhere, and the team attacking the mountain head-on does not know how many people will have to die before they can attack it. This kind of tackling is really thankless. If the troops break up in the middle of the attack, they may be punished.

The generals looked at each other, but no one spoke.

Seeing that no one was invited to fight, Li Zhi arched his hand and said: "Military Gate, Li Zhi is willing to take on the main attack and attack Dabi Mountain." ”

Hearing Li Zhi's request to fight, Hong Chengchou shook his head, stroked his beard and said: "Xingguobo is the courage of my army, and it should not be used lightly. Xingguo Bodang sat in the Chinese army, and unless he had to fight, he dispatched Xingguo Bo's army to give a thunderous blow! ”

When Li Zhi heard Hong Chengchou's words, he knew that this was the secret edict of the Son of Heaven at work. If you don't have to use yourself, Hong Chengchou still won't let himself kill the enemy easily. Only if the people who attacked the mountain in front of him really couldn't beat the big mountain, Hong Chengchou would let himself go into battle.

Li Zhi was silent and said no more.

Hong Chengchou glanced at the generals, and finally looked at Cao Bianjiao, who was known for his bravery, and said with a smile: "I think this heavy task of attacking the mountain cannot be borne by General Cao." ”

Cao Bianjiao saw that Hong Chengchou directly named himself to attack the mountain, and licked his lips.

After all, he is a loyal and righteous character, and he will not shirk, so he clenched his fists on the spot and said: "There is an order from the military gate, how dare the last general disobey." I would like to lead 12,000 men to attack the mountain! ”