Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume VIII Troubled Times

Chapter 3 The two armies confronted each other in Ningyuan

Section 3 The army gathered in Ningyuan City

In the sixth year of the Apocalypse (the tenth year of the Later Jin Mandate of Heaven), at the beginning of April, Ningyuan City.

As soon as the sky was bright, the early summer sun slowly rose from the horizon, plating, the bloodstained and messy city wall with a layer of golden armor, making the originally embarrassing battlefield seem a little peaceful; The soldiers of the Ming army defending the city dragged their tired bodies, and under the light of the morning sun, they began to get busy, making final preparations for the big battle that was about to start on a new day.

At this time, Yuan Chonghuan and Man Gui stood on the south wall of Ningyuan City, looking at the dense and endless Jiannu military tents outside the city with solemn faces, both of them were very heavy in their hearts, and the cruel and fierce battles in the past few days have caused heavy casualties and morale of the Ming soldiers defending the city, if it were not for the more than 20 artillery pieces on the head of the city to show their might in the battle and curb the offensive of the Jiannu army, it is estimated that the Jiannu army has now climbed the city wall and captured Ningyuan City.

After looking at it for a while, Man Gui frowned and said, "Lord Governor, it's been a few days since Jiannu came to attack, why didn't you say that the Governor didn't lead the army to the rescue?" ”

"It should be soon." Yuan Chonghuan thought for a moment and said: "In this battle, the superintendent will definitely concentrate all the forces of the Hanwei army, and the whole army will go north to meet the enemy, and the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of troops will not be completed in a day or two, it will take time." ”

"But do we have time? How many days do you think we can hold out? By the way, how long will the city's artillery last? Man Gui was a little breathless at this time, and secretly said in his heart: "Instead of being trapped in the lonely city, it is better to lead the army to kill it, maybe after one or two victories, the morale of the soldiers defending the city will be high, and maybe the war will turn around!" ”

Yuan Chonghuan squeezed out a smile and said: "General Man, don't be anxious, you must have confidence, we will definitely be able to support the superintendent to lead the army to help." As for the artillery in the city, there is no need to worry, as early as before the war, the superintendent sent people to transport a large number of artillery charges and cannons, even if the battle is fierce, it is enough for us to fight for a long time. ”

"That's good!"

At this moment, a piercing horn suddenly sounded in the Jiannu camp outside the city, and then the hundreds of thousands of Jiannu troops stationed around the entire Ningyuan City were dispatched one after another, and began to set up camp to prepare for the siege battle.

In the past few days when Nurhachi led the army to besiege Ningyuan City, more than 100,000 troops were arranged on all sides of Ningyuan City. After the adjustment, Huang Taiji led the army with the white flag and 5,000 Horqin iron cavalry and 10,000 Han troops to attack the east, Azig led the army with white flags and 5,000 Horqin iron cavalry and 10,000 Han troops to attack the north, and Mang Gurtai led the army with blue flags and 5,000 Horqin iron cavalry and 10,000 Han troops to attack the west; And Nurhachi personally led the two Yellow Banner armies, as well as 5,000 Horqin iron cavalry and 10,000 Han troops to attack the south.

In the siege battles of the past few days, the main attack of the Jiannu army was basically the Han army of various departments, and the casualties of the Jiannu Eight Banners army and the Mongolian iron cavalry were almost negligible, while the tens of thousands of Han troops lost about 10,000 horses in just a few days.

After the armies of all the troops had been arrayed, Nurhachi also rode his horse to the front of the battle, accompanied by Korqin Tushetu Khan Oba and deputy general Bao Chengxian.

"This Yuan Chonghuan still has some ability, and he can stop my Dajin warrior for a few days! However, after a few days of fierce fighting, the Ming army in the city has declined, and today I will definitely enter the city! The order was given, and the armies of all departments stormed Ningyuan City at any cost! Tushetu Khan, let me see the majesty of the Mongol warriors today, right? ”

Oba hesitated slightly, but still knelt down and said, "Slave Command!" ”

Nurhachi didn't know what Oba was thinking, and said lightly: "Tushetu Khan doesn't have to worry, after conquering Ningyuan City, I will divide some of the Dingkou in the city to make up for the loss of the Horqin Department." ”

Hearing this, Oba was overjoyed and hurriedly kowtowed in thanksgiving.

The sky was getting brighter, and the sunlight swept across the battlefield at a speed visible to the naked eye, moving from northeast to southwest, dispersing the darkness on the earth and bringing light.

At this moment, a group of scouts with yellow flags rushing into the battle formation of the two yellow flags rushed directly to Nurhachi. Seeing this, an ominous thought came to Nurhachi's mind, and Nurhachi's face suddenly became a little ugly.

"Great Khan! Ten miles south of our army, we found that the Hanwei Army Brigade was rapidly killing towards Ningyuan City! ”

Nurhachi's face still did not change, and he resisted the irritability in his heart, and just asked lightly: "How many soldiers and horses does the Ming army have?" Is it neat or not? Under whose banner is the army? ”

"Qi Yu Great Khan, the strength of the Ming army is at least more than 120,000, its troops are extremely majestic, and its military momentum is even better than that of the Sichuan and Zhejiang coalition troops on the bank of the Hunhe River! In the Ming army, there is a battle flag with Liu Zi, and the book is written to the governor of Jiliao and the army of the Ming Dynasty! ”

After listening to this, Nurhachi's face suddenly changed greatly, and he squeezed out three words from between his teeth: "Liu Yunwei!" ”

On the side, Korqin Tu Shetu Khan Oba, and the deputy general Bao Chengxian were even more shocked, the two glanced at each other, and they both saw a strong fear in each other's eyes: that Liu Yunwei is the number one general of the Ming Dynasty, with countless fierce generals and strong soldiers, and the Hanwei Army is the first heroic division of the Ming Dynasty, not only is it very elite but also has strong troops, once the Dajin warriors are fighting, they will definitely suffer heavy casualties! And what makes the two even more chilling is that the Hanwei Army is notoriously fierce and brave against the Dajin Warriors, and the soldiers in the army are all outlaws who don't want to die.

At this time, Oba was very remorseful, originally wanted to follow the Dajin Iron Rider to get some oil and water, but he didn't expect to meet the tiger and wolf division of the Ming Dynasty! Oba thought to himself for a while, and he was going to step forward to persuade Nurhachi to see if the army would retreat first, find a favorable terrain and then fight against the Hanwei army.

However, before Oba could speak, he heard Nurhachi say: "Order all departments: order the guerrilla general Sun Sike to lead 10,000 Han troops to monitor the defenders in Ningyuan City, and all the rest of the soldiers and horses will rush here to join me!" Today, I want to test that Liu Yunwei, what is the ability to stop my Dajin Iron Horse! ”

Oba and Bao Chengxian saw that Nurhachi's face was very ruddy, and knew that Nurhachi must have relied on the more than 200,000 elite troops accumulated in the past few years, thinking that they were capable of defeating the Hanwei army, and wanted to completely solve this Dajin's henchman in one go. The two were afraid that the persuasion would not succeed but annoyed Nurhachi, so they didn't dare to say anything, so they could only immediately gather troops and horses, and began to adjust the formation of the army.

An hour later, the army of two yellow flags, two white flags, and blue flags, as well as 20,000 Horqin Mongolian cavalry and 40,000 Han troops all rushed to the south of Ningyuan City to assemble, and a total of 155,000 troops were arrayed. I saw that two miles outside the south gate of Ningyuan City, all the people I saw were bald bearded people, the banner of Jiannu covered the sky and the sun, the strict battle formation was magnificent, and a fierce aura spread out, and a burst of smoke and dust rose on the ground for no reason, as if the fierce aura had condensed and vaporized.

At this time, Yuan Chonghuan, Man Gui and the officers and soldiers defending the city on the city wall were already dumbfounded, and the almost invincible military formation of Jiannu outside the city brought a huge impact to everyone, and the morale of the Ming army dropped rapidly, and some soldiers even sat on the ground, crying in fright.

Man Gui asked with a pale face, "Lord Governor, what's going on?" ”

Yuan Chonghuan also frowned and pondered, and then suddenly laughed without warning, and shouted loudly: "Reinforcements have arrived!" The Governor led the Hanwei Army to kill! Come on, beat the drums of war for me! Drumming! ”

Hearing Yuan Chonghuan's shout, Man Gui immediately understood, and while shouting "beating the drum", he rushed to the city tower, snatched the drumstick in the hands of the Ming soldiers next to him, and personally beat the heavy war drums.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! ”

"Boom! Boom! Boom! ”

All the war drums in Ningyuan City were roaring, like a group of angry lions roaring towards the enemy, and the Ming army in the city heard that the Han Wei army was about to kill, and they were immediately full of fighting spirit, and they all stood on the city wall and roared loudly, and the sound of "Wan Sheng" resounded in the sky.

Nurhachi frowned and looked at Ning Yuancheng, feeling very uncomfortable in his heart, he never expected that the Ming army in the city would suddenly boost their morale. At this moment, Nurhachi heard the sound of war drums from the south of the army, which echoed the sound of the war drums of the Ming army in Ningyuan City. The war drums of the Han family are very low and majestic, and every beating is like a heavy beating in the heart of the Jiannu captives, and the morale of the 150,000 Jiannu army is dissipating little by little in the sound of war drums.

Seeing this, Nurhachi was furious, and immediately led Huang Taiji, Azig, and Mang Gultai to ride their horses out of battle, snatched a Dajin battle flag, and the four of them galloped in front of the 150,000 Jiannu army.

"Follow me to kill the Ming Dog and enter the Central Plains!"

Huang Taiji, Azig, and Mang Gurtai were all enthusiastic, and they roared loudly behind Nurhachi, like three bloodthirsty beasts, ugly and fierce. And the 150,000 Jiannu army was more like an army of powerful ghosts who had escaped from hell, and under the instigation of Nurhachi, their morale was greatly boosted, and they all shouted: "Long live the Great Khan!" Long live the Great Khan! ”

Suddenly, there was an unusually clear sound of war drums from the south of the Jiannu army, and Nurhachi, Huang Taiji, Azig, and Mang Gurtai hurriedly looked back, only to see a bright red line appear on the horizon that was illuminated by the sun in the distance, and it was impossible to see both ends at a glance!

Immediately afterwards, under the gaze of all the 150,000 Jiannu army, a Daming Sun and Moon Jintao battle flag and a Daming Ji Liao Governor Flag slowly rose from the horizon, and under the support of the gradually spreading and boundless Hanwei army soldiers, they walked towards the Jiannu army step by step.

I saw that the two wings of the large array composed of 130,000 Hanwei soldiers were tens of thousands of elite iron horses, the knights roared angrily, the iron hooves trampled, and the iron cavalry army rushed forward like a stormy wave, sweeping everything; In the middle of the army are tens of thousands of elite soldiers, with long spears and iron armor, and the Kong Wu infantry who survived a hundred battles are advancing forward like a huge city wall, invincible!

In front of the 150,000 Jiannu army, the Hanwei army array is like a red ocean devouring everything, indomitable, hundreds of thousands of troops in the case of a long and rapid march, still 10,000 people, not chaotic at all, the huge phalanx is still as horizontal and vertical as a chessboard, you can see Nurhachi and Huang Taiji, Azig, Mang Gurtai The corners of their eyes are jumping, and their hearts are cold!