On the twelfth day of the first month of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, west of the Tuxiao River, the sky was not yet bright, the Fengzhou army and the Qing army stepped on the snow to enter the battlefield, the snow had already stopped, but the weather was still bitterly cold, the cold wind was howling, people shouted horses neighing, horns sounded, a layer of mist was blown away, it was vaguely visible that the infantry on both sides had been arrayed under the military flag, the cavalry was accelerating to extend to the two wings, and artillery was also set up on the temporary forts - the atmosphere before the war was the most torturous, the strong army collided like a landslide, and everyone could not grasp their own destiny, The soldiers gasped and clenched their weapons, waiting for the moment when the big battle came.

This is a decisive battle that both sides must fight, Fengzhou is unable to support the army to fight abroad for a long time, and must end the war as soon as possible and withdraw the troops home, and Jinan Titang reported that there is an epidemic in Jinan and Dezhou, and it is likely that there will be another outbreak of the epidemic like last year and the year before last, Li Yu was afraid, and was very eager to fight a decisive battle to force the Qing army out of the pass, so that he could also get out of the pass; The Qing army wanted to fight a decisive battle, they captured hundreds of thousands of people, looted millions of taels of silver, other gold, jewelry, and countless property, so many prisoners and baggage also tied the hands and feet of the Qing army, and did not drive Li Yu away as soon as possible, and he wanted to go home safely, and the best way to get out of the predicament was to win or lose a battle.

The confidence of the Qing army comes from the absolute superiority in the strength of the army, 100,000 people entered the pass, in addition to the three or four thousand people who died in battle and died of illness, as well as the old and weak women and children who entered the customs to eat, there are more than 90,000 people, including 18,000 people in the elite Eight Banners Manchuria, and nearly 10,000 soldiers in Mongolia and Han, plus six or seven thousand Mongolian cavalry in the outer domain, there are 35,000 soldiers, and other men also have weapons that can replenish the battle damage at any time, and the situation of the Fengzhou army can not hide from them, 30,000 soldiers and 20,000 armed auxiliaries, although Erlu Batulu is invincible, Cavalry and artillery also have advantages, but they can't stand the large number of Qing soldiers.

However, on the eve of the war, Yue Tuo suddenly fell unconscious, and the prospects of the Qing army were clouded - among the generals who entered the customs, Dolgon had a high rank and a high title, and was nominally the supreme commander of the Qing army, but his ability to command the war and his experience were insufficient, and he had to hand over the command to Yue Tuo when he was about to fight, which was also greeted by the emperor, and now Yue Tuo suddenly fell, and the Qing army general immediately panicked, and finally woke up Yue Tuo after a long time, but he couldn't speak, but his eyes were always staring at Abatai, everyone understood, Yue Tuo entrusted the command to Abatai - this veteran has the ability and qualifications to command the battle in front of him, and Dolgon immediately admitted it, and to be honest, he really has no bottom on the battle of commanding 100,000 people.

Abatai was very hesitant, the young commander on the other side had too much to do with him, and they were very familiar with each other, he was a natural general, seven or eight years ago, maybe he could fight, but now he can still be an opponent? The most headache is that the combat power of today's Eight Banners is getting weaker and weaker, a bit of a taste of keeping up with the Ming Army, but the combat power of the Ming Army is declining faster, so it does not show its original form, in contrast, the Fengzhou soldiers are more and more like the previous Eight Banners, and the training and equipment are better, Ge Curi said that a Fengzhou soldier can fight three Eight Banners soldiers does brag, but it is a fact that the combat power of the Fengzhou soldiers exceeds the Eight Banners, and the victory or defeat ultimately depends on the combat power of the soldiers, and the number of people is not necessarily a good thing, Abatai does not want to fight this battle at all, On the contrary, he thought that it was the best policy to leave, but these frustrated words could not be spoken, so he had to pretend to be modest and shirk in every possible way, and the generals did not hesitate to persuade him repeatedly, so he had to take over the command.

Abatai didn't sleep all night, meditating the strategy of breaking the enemy, and before dawn he entered the battlefield with the generals of the Qing army, standing on a high slope and carefully observing the changes in the battlefield - the Qing army has a strength advantage, and is trying to extend to the two wings, expanding the width of the battlefield as much as possible to disperse the opponent's forces, the Fengzhou army also followed up to protect the two wings, and also dispatched cavalry to counteract, the Mongolian cavalry covering the two wings was weak, and it was difficult to move by the opposing cavalry, and the effect of expanding the width of the battlefield was not obvious.

"Fengzhou cavalry is very strong, Erlu soldiers will never dare to attack head-on, he will definitely use the advantage of cavalry, first pour all his strength to defeat our army's wing, and then sweep our army's rear, this is his only chance to win, and our army's advantage lies in the strength, we must rush to defeat the frontal enemy before Elu breaks through our army's flank, this battle our army's mobility is far inferior to the Fengzhou army, don't think about any crooked ways, the flank is stubborn, the middle breakthrough is the way to win, to be fast, to be ruthless, to rush before Erlu to do it, all the generals understand?" Abatai said loudly as he stared ahead.

"There are about fifteen thousand cavalry in Erlu, and such a powerful cavalry group can only be blocked by cavalry, but our cavalry is limited, Abatai, you say, should our cavalry be placed on the left flank or the right flank?" Dorgon asked.

"Prince Rui, you should ask Erlu about this, I don't know which side he plans to attack us, thank you for your big ride, and lead the army to attack the front of the Fengzhou army with Du Du, the success or failure of this battle depends on you," Abatai shook his head and smiled, and then turned his face to Haoge and said, "My six thousand elite cavalry of the Eight Banners and the Mengqi of the outer domain will all be handed over to you, Haoge, I know that you have a good relationship with Erlu, you can't be soft at this time, remember, you must entangle Erlu, but don't stay away from the infantry formation." ”

Dolgon and Hauge both nodded their heads to show their obedience, and Abatai's face changed and he ordered sharply: "Bring up all the more than 10,000 soldiers from the Ming Kingdom in the back, give each of them two pieces of broken silver, and tell them that there is a barbaric and fierce northern captives in front, give me a hard beating, behead the first level and reward fifty taels of silver, and those who are willing to go home immediately go home, and those who are willing to go to Liaodong to give land to their wives." ”

The generals laughed, Abatai lit a cigarette and took a few puffs beautifully, the Qing Kingdom quit smoking in August last year, and the old smoker could only sneak around at home to enjoy it, but now no one will care, the generals will each find out the smoke and swallow the smoke, and Dolgon and Hauge also sniffed and sneezed hard. Abatai was addicted to smoking, saw that the sky began to brighten, waved his hand to let the generals go back to the headquarters, and they felt out a small round thing to play, this is a silver coin of Fengzhou, which is currently very popular in Liaodong, and has the potential to replace the silver two, the Qing Emperor wanted to imitate it, but it was not decent, and it was necessary to lose money.

"Uncle Seven, don't keep playing, where should the cavalry be?" Hauge had been waiting for the military order, and he was getting impatient.

"Uncle Seven is not playing, but betting on where Erlu will fight," Abatai carefully picked up the silver coins that fell on the snow, and said thoughtfully, "Five times to the ground, four times Erlu's face up, Hauge, take the cavalry to hide on the right flank, and throw down a thousand Meng's horses on the left flank to deal with it." ”

Hauge opened his mouth wide and shouted: "Seventh Uncle, can this work, what if Erlu appears on the left flank?" ”

"Haoge, you just don't have the ruthlessness to do things, sooner or later you will suffer a big loss, Uncle Seventh told you that fighting a war depends on spirituality and luck, and the war strategy that the emperor asked you to read is useless, it is all a nonsense after the Han people," Abatai glanced at Haoge very dissatisfied, waved his hand and continued, "You and I can't catch up with the spirituality of Erlu in the future, and we can't judge where he will fight, so we have to dare to bet with him." ”

On a mound five or six miles away from Abatai, the generals of the Fengzhou army are also observing the movement of the battlefield - the current situation is normal, the Fengzhou cavalry with superior strength controls the width of the battle line within five miles, and the two trenches have also been dug.

The officers who are accustomed to fighting dangerous battles seem to be very relaxed, giggling and laughing together, Meng Ke carries a bag of cigarettes and sends them to everyone, and after a while, the mound is full of smoke, Yan Jizu and Liu Wenzhong have never experienced this kind of war, and they are a little uncertain, Ma Shiying is whispering with them, Li Yu is discussing with Du Wenhuan, Ge Kuli, and Mao Yuanyi with his hands behind his back, and issuing military orders from time to time, Li Yao and Zhang Zhiyao, who have just been transferred from the auxiliary army to staff on military affairs, are sweating profusely.

"Our army is short of troops, so we can only attack the enemy's side with all our strength, and the enemy's left and right flanks have their own advantages and disadvantages, which side the commander intends to start from." Mao Yuanyi asked.

"As long as this kind of thing is fast enough, ruthless enough, and unexpected, there is no certainty," Li Yu smiled and took out a silver coin and threw it into the sky, then watched the silver coin fall to the ground and said, "My avatar is on it, then attack the right flank of the Qing army." ”

"It's getting bright, let's get started!" Du Wenhuan waved his hand and said.

"Then let's start, the herald, the cavalry right association and the Chahar, Khalkha, and Oirat divisions will assemble on the left flank of our army, and attack the right flank of the Qing army with me, and the cavalry will immediately attack the left flank of the Qing army under my banner, and quickly leave the battlefield after I launch the attack, and join me in a roundabout way." After Li Yu gave the order, he led a large group of cavalry officers down the mound with a wave of his big hand and galloped away.

"Let's get started!" Du Wenhuan also waved his hand to the infantry and artillery generals, and everyone went down to the mound in a swarm to return to the headquarters.

The rapid trumpet sounded, the infantry and artillery in the front row of the Fengzhou Army erected a formation wall, and the 20 800-pound camp guns of the two batteries on the left and right opened fire at the same time, and there was a noise from the Qing army on the opposite side, and then a row of artillery returned fire - the artillery on both sides completed the test firing.

A layer of mist dissipated, and the Horqin cavalry who were on guard suddenly found that a cavalry was quietly galloping closer, and immediately bravely met to block it, but they soon found that the other party was several times the number of them, and they were also waving the flying tiger flag, and the more than 1,000 Horqin cavalry were terrified, and they scrambled to turn their horses and run - the left flank of the Qing army called the police, and the urgent call for help sounded immediately.

The five thousand iron cavalry of the cavalry association rolled in, and easily stepped on the three or four hundred Korqin cavalry that fell behind, but they were stubbornly blocked in front of the Qing army's foot formation, and the pace of the iron cavalry was forced to stop. Sun Fuhu stopped Qiu Xian, and then transferred more than 500 horses and dozens of guns to take turns to fire a salvo at the Qing army's large array, and the Qing army did not show weakness and returned fire with rifles and guns, and the firearms used by both sides were made in Fengzhou, crackling and turning the sky over.

Dolgon's heart fluttered at the sight of the Flying Tiger Banner, and he listened to the movement of the left flank getting louder and louder, and finally lost his breath and asked Abatai to counterattack with cavalry. Abatai was unmoved, and strictly ordered all the troops on the left flank to hold on to it, and the cowards were immediately beheaded, and at the same time drove more than 10,000 Ming troops to the front, and after simply distributing shields, swords and spears, he ordered them to immediately launch a frontal attack on the Fengzhou army. With the development of the frontal offensive and defensive battle, the right flank of the Qing army also sounded one after another horns - Li Yu's main cavalry force moved, Sun Fuhu and Qiu Xian quickly broke away from the battlefield and galloped to reinforcements from the rear of the formation, and the left flank of the Qing army, which had been nervous for a while, was the first to quiet down.

Li Yu was ruthless enough, first of all, he sent the cavalry right association, this is the elite trump card of the Fengzhou army, the cavalry is all wearing heavy armor, the mounts are all tall and strong Western Regions war horses, equipped with horse guns, lifting guns are far more than other cavalry units, the impact is amazingly strong, should be able to break through the dense infantry formation of the Qing army - the Fengzhou army must rush time, and strive to first defeat the opponent's flank before its own front is crushed, and then sweep the rear of the Qing army, the Qing army will collapse without a fight under the front and rear attacks, At that time, a classic battle of winning more with less must be marked in the annals of history.

The cavalry right association took the horse gun in turn as a cover, easily dispersed a small number of Qing vigilant cavalry, slowly approached the Qing army's infantry formation, and was waiting to accelerate the impact, five or six thousand Qing army armored cavalry suddenly appeared on the flank, and then the Mongolian cavalry also appeared. Tens of thousands of cavalry pressed over, the cavalry right association had to turn the direction to deal with the battle, the morale of the Qing infantry was greatly boosted, and they also used rifles, bows and arrows, and even five or six leather cannons to help their cavalry, and the cavalry right association was beaten on both sides, so they had to retreat while fighting in a gloomy manner.

Hell, I temporarily decided to attack the right flank of the Qing army, how did they seem to know in advance, and they transferred all the elite cavalry to wait for me in advance, this is gambling - Li Yu broke out in a cold sweat on his back, the Qing army commander Dolgon and Du Du were not capable enough, and the only one who commanded the battle was Yue Tuo, which was expected by him, Yue Tuo was smart and wise, of course, he could guess his combat intentions, which was also expected, but Yue Tuo was cautious in using his troops and would never dare to make bets easily, but would pinch the cavalry into his hands, and then make adjustments according to the battlefield situation, Li Yu just wanted to make a time difference before he could react, first tear apart the infantry of the Qing army, and then try to defeat the cavalry of the Qing army. Where did Li Yu know that Yue Tuo suddenly fell into a coma, and the commander of the Qing army was replaced by Abatai, but this Rao Yu Baylor has always stood aside in Li Yu's impression, and even Du Du often bullied him, how could the marshal of the Qing army not be able to take his turn!

Miscalculation led to passivity, and now it was too late to change the plan, Li Yu paced back and forth in the snow with his head down, and from time to time glanced at the frontal battlefield where the sound of killing shook the sky, and the soldiers around him gradually gathered around, waiting for him to give orders.

"What are you kids doing? Step back to the back. Li Yu saw Kong Guoer, Cha Gui, and Ma Bao, and shouted very angrily.

"If we don't leave, we will follow you to kill the enemy." Kong Guoer replied decisively, holding his ancestor's Hari Sulu ingot tightly in his hand, and Chagui and Ma Bao stood beside him with their chests straight.

When the children grow up, let them go, Li Yu sighed, and glanced at Darhan, Subutai and Ah Shu again, Darhan took a step forward and said loudly: "Dajinong, the Chahar people want to change to the Flying Tiger Banner and fight with you." ”

"Hutuketu Batulu, we also ask for the Flying Tiger Banner, the Khalkha (Oirats) are willing to fight with you." Subutai and Ah Shu also shouted loudly with their fists.

A rapid sound of horses' hooves came from far and near, and the cavalry association also arrived, Li Yu stepped on the war horse and threw off the cloak casually - now you must make up your mind to fight, even if everyone in the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty can ride and shoot, but the real cavalry does not exceed 20,000 people, I will eat these five or six thousand Eight Banners cavalry elite, not only will you not be able to return home, but the Qing Kingdom will not be restored within a few years, Abatai, let's gamble, see who admits defeat first - Li Yu has already concluded that it is Abatai who commands the Qing army to fight, and he is the only one among the generals of the Qing army who dares to play ruthlessly, and he can do this kind of thing.

"Hao-Rui, Hao-Rui!" Li Yu came out with a long lance in his hand.

"Hao-Rui!" The 15,000 Han, Manchu, and Mongolian warriors of Fengzhou shouted in unison, following their commander to kill the enemy.

In front of the two armies, tens of thousands of unarmored soldiers held the battle flag of the Qing State, overwhelmingly pounced on the Fengzhou army, the red uniforms showed that they were the Ming army, behind them was a large area of black pressure on the Eight Banners and Liaodong Han people, these people were desperately throwing arrows forward, while monitoring the every move of the soldiers, and then there were eight banners with helmets and armor, and the lineup was tight, and the interesting thing was that the Eight Banners soldiers were still carrying wooden boxes full of silver - Abatai was trustworthy, and promised to surrender fifty taels of silver for a head to cash on the spot, This deal can be drawn, this group of soldiers really has the ability to cut off the heads of two or three thousand Fengzhou soldiers, and this battle will basically be won, money, just grab it later.

Dolgon was also bad enough, and sent a group of Han officials to cheer up the surrendered troops, "In front of them is the most tyrannical Tatar, kill them and go home with silver", "There are traitors over there, kill traitors and be loyal to the country", some guys were stunned and simply shouted "expel the Tartars and restore China", the emotions of the surrendered soldiers were mobilized, and there was no way to retreat anyway, it was better to gamble on their fortune, and they also shouted and shouted violently.

God, how could Da Ming have so many troops, they turned into Dongyu and drove them over-Yan Jizu was dumbfounded for a long time, and shouted heartbreakingly: "Rebellious, shameless, why don't you do it anyway if you have a knife in your hand?" This official will never spare you! ”

"Du Shuai, kill them, you can't let any of them go!" Liu Wenzhong also waved his fists vigorously and shouted.

Du Wenhuan put down his clairvoyance, smiled faintly and said to Mao Yuanyi: "Dongyu has also learned the tricks of the rogues, let's do it, fight hard and scare them away." ”

The military horn sounded, the artillery of the Fengzhou army opened fire at the same time, and the front row also sounded the sound of rifle volleys, and then a dense rain of arrows sprinkled on the front, and the troops fell in an instant.