At the end of November, the sky in the Taihang Mountains was overcast, the harsh north wind howled across the mountains, and the official road in front of Huguan was crowded with people and mule carts that had been driven over, and the cries of women and children could be heard from time to time.

After the Qing army lost Hedong, Henan became a salient and was in the midst of a three-sided attack, most of which could not be defended.

Therefore, the only areas that the Qing army could rely on were Beizhi and Shandong, and these two places obviously could not afford to support too many Qing troops.

Gao Yihuan let people plunder Hebei's population and resources, which was equivalent to stabbing the Qing army again and bleeding Dolgon.

Now the cavalry of the Wei army is not weak, if Gao Yihuan occupies Hedong, the front threatens Hebei, and sends cavalry out of Taihang Bajing, attacks Hebei, and destroys Qizhuang Qitian, which will become the norm.

Gao Yihuan felt that he didn't have to wait too long, and the Qing army was estimated to be half starving to death by the end of the year.

At the head of Huguan City, the Wei army soldiers looked at a large number of flag slaves, helping the old and the young to enter the customs, and tens of thousands had come in in a few days, and the Wei army was not worried that they would consume food, but were very happy.

This is not out of national feelings, but the Western Wei State is really short of people, and the emerging military aristocracy of Henan and Shaanxi needs a large number of laborers to farm the land.

In this regard, there are actually different voices in the Western Wei Dynasty, believing that the military households control too many tenants and affect the taxes of the feudal government, and that the refugees should be given land to encourage them to open up the wasteland and improve the enthusiasm of the people, rather than prohibiting the people from cultivating land privately and letting them be regarded as tenants.

There are few people in the land, and once it is released, the tenants will definitely run to reclaim the wasteland, which will harm the interests of the army.

Just as the Manchu Qing Dynasty had harsh fugitive laws, land enclosure laws, and surrender laws to maintain the interests of the Eight Banners and ensure that there were enough flag fields and banner slaves to cultivate, Gao Yihuan also had to safeguard the interests of the Wei army at this time.

At this time, after a large number of people poured into the pass, hundreds of Wei cavalry galloped back, and the first commander of the brigade rushed to the pass, and shouted urgently: "The Tartars are coming." ”

The cavalry roared into the pass, and the drawbridge was immediately pulled up, and after a while, the sound of hooves in the valley was heard, and countless Qing troops rushed to ......

On the river outside Huai'an, a number of warships covered with wounds appeared in the field of vision of the defenders.

A big ship approached the dock, put down the board, and Zhu Cihong, who was frightened, turned pale, and when he saw the minister who came to greet him, he only said one sentence, "Quickly send troops to meet the Duke of Yasukuni!" ”

North of Huai'an City, more than 30 miles.

There was heavy snow in the sky, and on both sides of the Yellow River, a large crowd suddenly appeared, and there were few people in front, but the further back, the denser the crowd became, as if the tide of the Qiantang River had risen.

Looking down from the sky, this crowd of people stretching for miles is all Ming soldiers wearing mandarin duck battle jackets, they support each other, walking quickly south, from time to time someone falls in the snow, but the surrounding soldiers do not see, continue to walk forward.

Gao Mingheng was supported by several soldiers, walking forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow, his figure was embarrassed, the crimson official robe he was wearing was full of mud, the black sand hat on his head didn't know where it had fallen, the white hair on his head was unkempt, he no longer had the majesty of a supervisor, and he became a thin old man.

"Where?" Gao Mingheng gasped, his lips were chapped, his eyes were blank, and his face was pale.

"Elder Ge, it's already past Sanyi Town, and it's almost time to reach the Huai River!" The general said with a white breath coming out of his mouth, gasping.

A hint of flushing appeared on Gao Mingheng's face when he heard this, and he looked left and right, as if he was looking for something.

Then he saw a mound next to him, "Help me up!" ”

The group gasped and climbed up the mound, Gao Mingheng looked at the Ming army in front of him, looking for the banner in the crowd, and muttered in his mouth: "Fengjie ~ Zhongguan ~ Guangling ~ Jianwu ~ Hold the sun ~"

Seeing that after the banner of the Ming army, most of the elites successfully broke through, Gao Mingheng was in tears, and finally couldn't support it, and sat on a big stone with his buttocks, and finally rushed out.

Relying on the superiority of cavalry, the Qing army seized Suqian first, and built positions on both sides of the river, blocking the way for the Ming army on both sides of the strait to continue to retreat south.

The Ming army attacked several times, but failed to break through the block, I thought that the whole army would be annihilated, and I didn't want to fight to the most critical moment, but the Qing army's attack suddenly loosened, allowing the Ming army to chisel through the Qing army's blockage, and hundreds of thousands of people rushed to flee south.

At this time, Gao Mingheng looked at the Ming army who was moving forward with his head bowed, and couldn't help but sigh long, his heart was like a knife, although the Ming army rushed out, but his vitality had been greatly damaged, and he was no longer qualified to participate in the competition in the world in the short term.

At this time, a well-established Ming army came against the current, and the first general rode to Gao Mingheng, and bowed: "I have seen the elder of the pavilion in my humble position." ”

Gao Mingheng asked, "Which way are you?" ”

"The lowly Zhang Guowei is the defender of Huai'an, and he was ordered to take over the cabinet and the Duke of Yasukuni!" The general looked left and right as he spoke, and then asked, "Cabinet Department, where is the Yasukuni Gong?" ”

"Yasukuni Gong leads Zhongwu Town, after the break, you quickly go to respond!" Gao Mingyu said urgently.

"Yes!" Zhang Guowei hugged his fists, ran back to the side of the war horse, flew on the horse, and led his troops to gallop to the north.

The east of the river was in a hurry, Dolgon led the main force back to the division, and the Qing army that covered and killed the Ming army was not much, led by Nikan, and pursued all the way to the vicinity of the Huai River.

On the edge of the Huai River, the warships of the Ming army shuttled back and forth on the river, receiving the army to cross the river, Huang Degong was wearing silver armor, carrying an iron gun, and Le Ma was stationed on the bank, soaked in blood.

Tens of thousands of Qing troops chased to the shore, Nikan restrained his horse, saw Huang Degong and thousands of Ming cavalry stationed by the river, and did not continue to attack, but watched the Ming army on the north bank from a distance, one by one, and finally Huang Degong pulled the reins of the horse and also pulled the horse to the boat.

In Huai'an City, in Zhu Cihong's temporary palace, many ministers are summarizing and analyzing the situation after the defeat of Xuzhou.

"Your Majesty, the Qing army withdrew at a critical time, and I am afraid that the Western Wei Dynasty has made a breakthrough, so Dolgon gave up attacking us."

Zhu Cihong's face was gloomy, he originally wanted to take advantage of the decisive battle with Gao Yihuan in the Western Wei Dynasty, take the opportunity of the Northern Expedition, and pick up a bargain, but now he attracted the main force of the Qing army and fulfilled Gao Yihuan.

The 300,000 army of the Northern Expedition, only 100,000 people came back, Huang Degong was injured a lot, Gao Mingheng couldn't afford to be sick, Zhu Cihong's heart was dripping blood, the loss was so big, he didn't even have the face to return to Nanjing.

At this time, a soldier walked in, he felt the oppression of the atmosphere, but he still stepped forward and saluted: "Your Majesty, Nikan has sent a messenger to meet you!" ”

"Jiannu dared to send someone over, and the minister killed him!" Wu Yi was furious, and was about to go out after speaking.

Ruan Dacheng stood up, stretched out his hand to stop, and said, "General Wu, wait!" At this point, it doesn't hurt us to listen to what Jiannu has to say. ”

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