Hong Chengchou swore an oath on July 26 and arrived at Songshan four days later. In the Rufeng Mountain and the east and west Shimen area, they set up camps and confronted the Qing soldiers.

At first, it was quite smooth, the Ming army set up artillery on Rufeng Mountain, and together with the artillery of Jinzhou City, opened fire on the Qing soldiers besieging the city. Rufeng Mountain was only five or six miles away from Jinzhou City, which put the Qing soldiers in the dilemma of being attacked on both sides.

In order to get out of this unfavorable situation, the Qing soldiers first launched an attack. While Yang Guozhu's car camp had not yet been launched, he quickly assaulted, Yang Guozhu's army was in chaos, and finally Yang Guozhu also died in battle. However, the Ming army was strong, and the Qing army did not form further results.

And Zu Dashou in Jinzhou City also took advantage of the situation to send troops to attack, but because the reinforcements did not attack, they could not cooperate with each other, and they could only retreat to the city helplessly after overcoming the two defense lines.

In the following days, the Ming and Qing armies attacked and defended each other, but neither side achieved a decisive victory. The Ming army had just arrived, with a large number of troops and high morale, so it won a few small battles and temporarily had an advantage.

So Dolgon, who had just changed his guard, felt the pressure, so he had to ask Sheng Jing for help. When Huang Taiji got the news, he was also very anxious, so he immediately asked all the troops and horses to concentrate on Shengjing. And he himself, because of anxiety, began to have a nosebleed, so the time to send troops was postponed by three days.

On August 15, Huang Taiji covered his nose and led 3,000 elite soldiers first, letting Azig follow with a large army. After arriving at the front line, it was found that the Ming army was attacking bravely, and the troops were gathered together, which was difficult to deal with. Originally, there was the intention of retreating, but the Han generals such as Gongshun Wang Kong Youde tried their best to dissuade them, believing that the enemy gathered together, and the grain and grass they brought must not be much, as long as the enemy's grain route was cut off, the enemy soldiers would be defeated.

Huang Taiji felt that it made sense, so he ordered the troops to camp between Songxing, and gathered the people of Jinzhou, and sent them with tools to dig trenches to cut off the back road of the Ming army. Then defeated the grain transport troops of the Ming army, pursued along the road, and found that the grain of the Ming army was placed in the Beacon Mountain in the sea.

Beacon Hill has a passage to the mainland, which is submerged by the sea at high tide and emerges from the sea at low tide. The Qing army pursued the victory and seized the grain and grass stored on the pen frame in one fell swoop, which could be eaten by 100,000 troops for one month.

Although they fought with the Qing soldiers for a while and wanted to break out of the encirclement, the Qing soldiers resisted desperately, and the Ming army did not make progress. At this time, the Ming army was besieged by the Qing army and between Songshan, not only the back road was cut off, but the grain route was also cut off, so the Ming army was in chaos.

In view of the urgency of the war, Hong Chengchou left Songshan City. However, Zhang Ruoqi, Qiu Minyang and others stayed in Songshan City.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Hong Chengchou said in a deep voice in the big tent, "Now that the army is surrounded, it is a good time for us to move forward together, defeat the Qing soldiers in the north, and attack Jinzhou City with two sides, and lift the siege of Jinzhou with one drum." ”

The eight chief officers were silent.

Wang Pu took the lead and said, "Inspector, we only have three days of food and grass. ”

Hong Chengchou said loudly: "As long as you fight hard, why do you need three days, only one day can defeat the enemy soldiers besieging Jinzhou. Jinzhou City has its own grain stock, and then the army is united, backed by the fortified city, and the enemy fights a decisive battle. Before, there were fugitives who reported that the Qing soldiers were already short of food, and even if they wanted to continue the siege, they would not be able to hold on for a long time. ”

Ma Ke said: "Now the Qing army has seized the grain and grass on Beacon Mountain, which is enough for them to eat for a month. There is not much food and grass in Songshan City, if we do not advance into the battle and fail to break through the defense line of the Qing army, then we will starve to death here? ”

"Do you want you to have the heart to fight to the death, my 100,000 soldiers, flanking on both sides, can't break through the three lines of defense of the Qing soldiers?!" Hong Chengchou said sharply: "If there is a fear of the enemy, this superintendent will have to invite Shang Fangjian!" ”

The generals were silent again. Although Shang Fangjian could only kill the generals of the lieutenant general, in this case, killing a chief officer was not a big deal. And Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong back then, and there was nothing wrong at that time. If it weren't for the Qing soldiers besieging the capital, Yuan Chonghuan would not have been held accountable for killing Mao Wenlong.

Hong Chengchou was about to give the order of the battle of the generals of each town, when a small colonel ran in, half-knelt on the ground, raised a letter in his hand above his head, and reported loudly: "Letter from the Zhang Jian Army in the city. ”

Hong Chengchou was helpless, so he had to swallow the command that came to his mouth, raised his hand and said, "Submit it." ”

Hong Chengchou's personal soldiers took the letter and handed it to him. Hong Chengchou opened the letter, and his face instantly became ugly.

Li Fuming looked at Hong Chengchou's face was not good, thinking that there was some bad news, so he arched his hand and asked, "Inspector, but what is the news?" ”

This is written in black and white, and Hong Chengchou does not dare to hide it. If it is hidden, if this operation can be successful, then there will naturally be no problem. However, with the attitude of these commanders-in-chief, it will not be easy to win. In the future, even if you are lucky enough to escape back, it will be a big crime. Moreover, Zhang Ruoqi is in Songshan City, and it won't take much trouble to get in touch with these chief military officers, and he can't hide it if he wants to.

Hong Chengchou said in a low voice: "The prison army sent a letter, saying that there was a shortage of food here, and suggested that the army break through to the south and return to Ningyuan to get food." After rectifying the army and preparing all the grain and grass, the army will be raised again to relieve the siege of Jinzhou. ”

All the generals were faintly happy at this time. Although there were Qing troops blocking the south, after all, troops had just been sent over, and even if a defensive line was established, it would definitely not be strong, and it would be relatively easy to break through.

Hong Chengchou frowned and said, "This is just the suggestion of the prison army!" What will the crowd think? ”

"Let's listen to the prison army." Tang Tong said in a low voice.

Cao Bianjiao hugged his fists and said: "The last general will listen to the superintendent." ”

Li Fuming said: "What the prison army said makes sense. In case the battle is unfavorable, we will die here. ”

The others will not speak again.

Hong Chengchou saw that the army's heart had fallen, so he had no choice but to say: "Then follow the advice of the prison army and break through tonight." Wang Pu, Tang Tong, Bai Guangen, the soldiers and horses of your three towns are on the left, and the rest of the people are on the right. At the beginning of tonight, the troops marched at the same time and broke through the siege to the south. ”

"The last general obeys!" The eight commanders all clenched their fists and answered loudly.

Hong Chengchou waved his hand and ordered, "Go and prepare." ”

But in the evening, something went wrong with what had been arranged. Before the first shift, Wang Pu, the chief soldier of Datong, led his troops to break through first. They have an army of more than 100,000 people, and if they march according to plan, it will be slow. By the time they approached the Qing army's defensive line, the Qing soldiers were ready. This is the time to flee for your life, or to rush out first to take advantage of the loss, and stay behind.

The people of each town understood this truth, so after Wang Pu ran away with his troops, the people and horses of each town began to fight with each other. More than 100,000 soldiers and horses ran south together, and the teams pushed and trampled on each other, and the chaos was unbearable. Before the team approached the defense line of the Qing soldiers, they were killed and injured by their own trampling.

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