Yuan Chonghuan's hesitation did not last long.

It turned out that Li Yuanyin, the commander of the Jinyi Guard who went to Beijing to deliver the special performance for Ji Qingwen, came back.

When he returned, he also brought a reply letter from Emperor Chongzhen to Ji Qingwen.

And in addition to this reply letter, he also brought Chongzhen's secret message to Yuan Chonghuan.

Chongzhen's reply to Ji Qingwen was very simple, but only a few words: "I know, it's well written, and I will often play it in the future." ”

And the secret decree to Yuan Chonghuan was just as simple: "Don't make the Huang Taiji army attack the Jingshi." Chin this. ”

Although this will is simple, the attitude is extremely clear, and it has dispersed all the hesitations in Yuan Chonghuan's heart, so he can only gather the whole army and horses to follow and pursue Huang Taiji.

Ji Qingwen didn't expect that the emperor would simply say a single will, and Yuan Chonghuan would overturn all the painstakingly planned strategy of "closing the door and beating the dog", and couldn't help asking: "Inspector Yuan, Huang Taiji is eager to attack the Jingshi, but it shows that its supplies have reached the limit, and it is a pity to give up the established plan now, right?" ”

In the whole army, Yuan Chonghuan was the only one who could put his heart into his heart, so he sighed and said: "This is the emperor's will, what can be done?" ”

Ji Qingwen agreed with this, but he disagreed with Yuan Chonghuan's order to attack the whole army, and said: "I don't think it's necessary for the whole army to pursue Huang Taiji, but leave a partial division here, you can tentatively attack Zunhua City, maybe you can pull out Huang Taiji's retreat, isn't it the best of both worlds?" ”

Yuan Chonghuan glanced at Ji Qingwen: "I won't understand this truth?" Who can be left and who not can be left is a university question. Those who follow are bound to start a bloody battle with the elite of the Eight Banners; What is left behind can preserve its strength. Hum! Everyone wants to eat meat, and no one wants to gnaw bones, so I just take them all to gnaw bones! ”

Ji Qingwen not only frowned and said: "Inspector Yuan was ordered to control the soldiers and horses of the three armies and give orders, who would dare not listen?" ”

Yuan Chonghuan's face turned black as if the bottom of a pot, and he replied: "My headquarters can naturally be dispatched at will, but Zu Dashou, He Kegang and others are all here to help in the war, it is good that they are willing to obey orders, if they refuse to obey orders, won't the army be torn apart?" To put it mildly, Zunhua City is ahead, and this governor will order Lord Ji's troops to attack Zunhua, what does Lord Ji think? ”

Ji Qingwen was stunned when he heard this-although Zunhua City no longer had the main force of Huang Taiji, no one knew how much strength the defenders in the city had. With only 500 men and horses of Ji Qingwen, to attack Zunhua City, it is not good to hit a stone with an egg.

Yuan Chonghuan couldn't help but hesitate when he saw Ji Qingwen, and sneered: "Hmph, since Lord Ji has no opinion." Then I will pass on the order, and the whole army will go out to pursue Huang Taiji, and Lord Ji's troops are all infantry, so please prepare early! ”

…………

Although Yuan Chonghuan's whole army pursued the main force of Huang Taiji out of helplessness, it was not all out of desperation.

He did not simply follow the enemy's movements, but took advantage of his familiarity with the terrain of the pass, cut a straight corner, and set off from Jizhou to Tongzhou City, the gateway to the capital.

Most of the elite soldiers that Yuan Chonghuan brought into the pass this time were cavalry, and their speed of action was not much lower than that of the Jurchen Eight Banners Iron Cavalry.

And the five hundred regiments under Ji Qingwen's training, although they are all infantry, but under Chen Wenzhao's strict training, all of them have trained a pair of scuds, and the speed of action is not much slower than that of the iron cavalry outside the Guanwai, but it is the kung fu of the front heel, and he also entered Tongzhou City - and his chariot equipped with artillery also entered Tongzhou City as scheduled under the traction of eight pack horses.

As for the rest of the Qinwang armies in various places that were also under Yuan Chonghuan's control, they were left far behind - Yuan Chonghuan already looked down on these miscellaneous troops, so he naturally didn't bother to bother with them.

After entering the city, Yuan Chonghuan sent scouts to investigate the situation of Huang Taiji as usual, and soon learned that his army was scattered south of Tongzhou to plunder the people and collect supplies.

Yuan Chonghuan felt that blindly retreating to the city, passively avoiding war, and indulging Huang Taiji to plunder everywhere, it was inevitable that the emperor would have some trouble on his face, so he ordered a few generals and asked them to lead their headquarters and go out of the city to find opportunities to fight two battles with the Jurchens, so as to suppress Huang Taiji's arrogance.

So Yuan Chonghuan's generals, Zu Dashou, He Kegang, Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui father and son, and other generals, each led thousands of elite cavalry out of Tongzhou City to find an opportunity to fight with the Eight Banners of Manchuria.

As for Ji Qingwen, although Yuan Chonghuan was interested in seeing the forces of the regimental training he recruited with Qi Jiguang's military method, because he was the same generation as Yuan Chonghuan and had the right to play directly in case of trouble, he was unwilling to directly order the transfer, but specially invited him to invite him and asked Ji Qingwen to lead the army to compete with the Jurchens in a consultative tone.

Ji Qingwen also wanted to test the power of the Eight Banners of Manchuria to see if they were really as invincible as they were blown in the Qing court drama in later generations, so he agreed.

But after a while, when Ji Qingwen told Chen Wenzhao about his decision, it caused Chen Wenzhao to worry.

Chen Wenzhao had a lot of experience in fighting with the Jurchen Eight Banners, and he knew that in such a plain area as near the Beijing Division, where there was no danger to defend, the Eight Banners cavalry was like a fish in water, and it was difficult for him to have much advantage in the confrontation with the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry with only the 500 regiments of cavalry under his command to train infantry.

When Ji Qingwen heard Chen Wenzhao's words, he couldn't help but regret it a little.

But the cowhide that you blow out has to be realized even when you kneel.

So Ji Qingwen could only reluctantly lead the army to the expedition - just begging not to encounter the main force of the Eight Banners, so as not to fall into the dilemma of not being able to defeat and not being able to get out.

Therefore, the 500 regiments of Ji Qingwen's department practiced, drove chariots, raised battle flags, carried weapons, lined up the team, and carried two days' dry food with them, leaving Jizhou City, and finally ushered in the biggest test since the formation of the "Qi Family Army" and "Ji Family Army".

At this time, another advantage of Ji Qingwen over other generals was reflected.

When other people's families go out to fight, they need to send their own scouts to reconnoiter the situation ahead, and Ji Qingwen has a Jinyi guard standing next to him, commanding the servant Li Yuanyin, so he can naturally rely on the eyes and ears of the Jinyi guards who are densely scattered around the Beijing division to continuously send intelligence information to his eyes.

Sure enough, Ji Qingwen originally planned to take Tongzhou as the center of the circle, walk a two-day journey around the circumference, and then return to Tongzhou.

But less than two hours after he left the city, news came: there was a group of Jurchen cavalry in the southeast, numbering about 500 people, waving red flags, and was rushing in the direction of our army.

When Ji Qingwen heard the news, he hurriedly summoned Li Yan and Chen Wenzhao to discuss countermeasures, deciding whether to contact them first or avoid the war for the time being.

Unexpectedly, it was Chen Wenzhao who took the initiative to propose: "Lord Ji, the team that fights the red flag is not surprisingly the people of the Manchurian Red Banner, and the flag owner is Nurhachi's second son Daishan, the elder brother of Huang Taiji, and this person is the most arrogant." The last general felt that he could take advantage of the small number of enemy troops and the rash advance of the enemy to beat him and frustrate the opponent's spirit. ”

Chen Wenzhao was originally cautious and almost timid, but at this moment, he had the courage, which couldn't help but make Ji Qingwen feel a little strange.

He was about to ask, but he heard Li Yan laugh on the side: "I guessed it." Presumably, in the Battle of Hunhe back then, the one who attacked the Qi family army also had the share of this Red Banner Dai Shan, right? ”

Chen Wenzhao nodded and said, "Mr. Li is really smart. The last general thinks day and night, that is, how to take revenge. Unexpectedly, if he was not satisfied with the today, he grabbed the five hundred men and horses under the Zhenghong Banner, which could be used to open the knife, isn't this the will of God? It's just that I don't know if Dai Shan's guy is in the ...... formation."

In the end, Chen Wenzhao was already gritting his teeth.

Ji Qingwen has known this former guerrilla general of the Qi family army for more than a year, and finally saw the murderous aura that overflowed from him as an iron-blooded general, so he nodded without thinking about it: "Well, I haven't seen what a real Jurchen person looks like, it's exactly what I want to kill him!" ”

So Ji Qingwen asked Li Yuanyin to pay close attention to the movements of this Eight Banners and Red Banner team, and asked Chen Wenzhao to command 500 regiments to take out dry food and water, and after seizing the time to have a full meal, he reconnoitred and advanced in the direction of the enemy.

After walking for less than half an hour, there was information from the spies of the Jinyi Guard in front of him that the five hundred and eight banner cavalry was three miles ahead, and they were about to arrive in a blink of an eye.

Ji Qingwen hurriedly climbed onto the chariot, took out the telescope he took from Zheng Zhilong, looked straight ahead, and sure enough, he saw a sentry cavalry wearing leather helmet and leather armor in front of him, and he was rushing towards him.