On the third day of October, Huang Taiji sent 3,000 soldiers and horses to block the army of Huanglong and Mao Wenlong in Gaizhouwei, Huang Taiji's purpose was very simple, he did not expect 3,000 soldiers and horses to quickly defeat the Ming army's east route army, he only hoped that at least he could slow down the east route army's march speed, and then deal with Huanglong's army after breaking the Ming army's middle route army.

On the fourth day of October, 20,000 cavalry led by Zu Dashou marched out of Kaiping Guards and marched into Horqin, including 5,000 winged cavalry. At this time, part of the army of the Horqin Department was transferred to Shenyang to participate in the decisive battle against the Ming army, but now there are still 50,000 cavalry left behind in Horqin.

On the fifth day of October, Lu Xiangsheng led 10,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry to meet the 20,000 troops of Dai Shan on the west bank of the Liao River.

Yu Shuang, Dai Shanqin led 5,000 cavalry to meet Lu Xiangsheng's 10,000 cavalry, and Hao Ge led 5,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry led by Wang Erxin to attack the 20,000 infantry of the Ming army. Dai Shan's intention was to use 5,000 cavalry to contain Lu Xiangsheng's 10,000 cavalry, and then eat Lu Xiangsheng's 10,000 cavalry after Haoge defeated the Ming army's infantry. There was only one day left for Dai Shan, and after a day, Xiong Tingbi's army would arrive on the west bank of the Liao River.

Wang Erxin was originally the guard of Xuanfu Town, and the Apocalypse Gun that assassinated Zhu Youxiao last time was leaked out through his hands, and after the matter was revealed, Wang Erxin fled to Liaodong and took refuge in Houjin. This time to block Lu Xiangsheng's army, Wang Erxin took the initiative to ask Ying to follow Dai Shan on the expedition.

Although Ningyuan's 20,000 infantry was equipped with a large number of artillery, it was still dominated by old-fashioned tiger squat artillery. It's just that the infantry on this expedition has already been replaced with flintlock muskets. Later, in dealing with the infantry phalanx of the Ming army, the Houjin army already had a very mature set of combat methods.

Every Han who took the initiative to take refuge in Houjin has no way to retreat now, and there is only one way to go. Just like Wang Erxin, it is impossible for him to return to Daming. Under these circumstances, the shield array formed by the army led by Wang Erxin took the lead in attacking.

The Ming army suffered the loss of the Houjin infantry shield array and cotton armor last time, and this time it also made preparations. Lu Xiangsheng gave all the artillery carried by the cavalry to the infantry, so that the 20,000 vanguard infantry also had a small number of cavalry cannons and a small number of new tiger squat cannons.

Wang Erxin's first round of attack was a tentative attack, and as soon as his army approached the infantry phalanx of the Ming army, it encountered the artillery attack of the Ming army, and the cavalry artillery of the Ming army and the new tiger squat cannon were fired together, which made the Houjin army suffer a loss.

Although the number of cavalry artillery and new tiger squat artillery of the Ming army was very small, when they fired a salvo, the momentum was amazing. In particular, the new Tiger Squat Cannon can not only shoot scattered bullets, but also shoot solid bullets and other shells, and what the Houjin people did not expect is that the new Tiger Squat Cannon can bypass the shield array of the Houjin Army and directly attack the rear of the shield array. Moreover, once the solid shells concentrate on the shield car, they can smash the shield car.

Wang Erxin's first round of attacks did not achieve any results and he retreated, and he was caught off guard by the artillery fire of the Ming army, but Wang Erxin's army did not suffer much loss.

As soon as Wang Erxin's first round of attack ended, Lu Xiangsheng took the lead in attacking with 3,000 winged cavalry, which were armed with spears, sabers and pistols. At the time of the charge, the hussars were formed into squadrons of two hundred men, arranged in two knee-to-knee columns, and their superior equestrian skills allowed them to charge in dense formations, and the long cavalry spears guaranteed to pierce the opponent first.

But when Dai Shan first saw the hussars of the Ming army, he had already expected the approximate attack of this cavalry. When the cavalry of the Ming army charged, Dai Shan did not meet it from the front, but used the cavalry to prepare to storm the flanks of the flanks. Although the hussars wore three-quarters armor, the weight of the armor was only slightly heavier than that of cotton armor, and their speed and mobility were only slightly weaker than that of Houjin's cavalry. And on the flanks of the hussars there were dragoons to provide protection.

Dai Shan's purpose was only to drag Lu Xiangsheng's cavalry, he would take advantage of it when he had the opportunity, and quickly disengage if he didn't have the opportunity. This strategy of Daishan did not cause too many casualties on both sides.

On Wang Erxin's side, his first two rounds of attacks did not achieve much results, and when it came to the third round, he decided to personally go into battle to supervise the battle.

"Today, I swear to break the thief, and I will live and die with you! Kill! Wang Erxin shouted loudly.

"Kill!" Hou Jin Hanjun shouted.

"Death to those who take a step back!" Wang Erxin continued.

……

Wang Erxin personally supervised the battle, and the Jin Han army once again collapsed with high morale. The Houjin army pushed the shield cart and rushed up again, this round of charge, under the supervision of Wang Erxin, the Houjin army fought to the death and did not retreat. Although the Ming army relied on artillery fire to disrupt the military formation of the rear army one after another, the Later Jin army quickly filled the vacancy under the supervision of Wang Erxin, so that the formation would not be chaotic.

The 20,000 Ming infantry formed a total of four phalanxes, and Wang Erxin took the method of breaking them one by one, and the first phalanx he attacked, under his attack that was not afraid of casualties, was finally broken through. Once this phalanx is broken through, if the enemy army only has infantry, the losses will not be too great, but if there are cavalry, the situation is completely different, and all the people in the entire phalanx may be strangled.

The first phalanx was tragic, followed by the rear of the Houjin Han army was exactly the 5,000 cavalry led by Haoge, the Ming army had just broken through, and Haoge's 5,000 cavalry attacked. The Ming army in the first phalanx lost the ability to resist almost instantly, and was dashed by 5,000 cavalry, suffering heavy losses.

Lu Xiangsheng knew that he couldn't go on like this, otherwise, the 30,000 vanguard army would be here.

"Deputy Admiral Zhao, you lead seven thousand dragoons to fight with Dai Shan here, and I will take three thousand winged cavalry to rescue the infantry." Lu Xiangsheng said.

"No." Zhao replied.

……

Dai Shan saw that the situation between the two sides had just tilted towards him, and the Ming army was about to change its strategy and go to the rescue of the infantry, and he would definitely not let Lu Xiangsheng leave with three thousand winged cavalry. This time, Dai Shan led 5,000 cavalry to take the initiative to attack.

Zhu Youxiao passed through Mongolia, not only obtained a large amount of land and population in Mongolia one after another, but also enabled the Ming army to obtain a large number of war horses and excellent cavalry. At the same time, Zhu Youxiao implemented a series of policies such as land division for the Mongolian cavalry in the Ming army, which not only weakened the strength and influence of the original Mongolian nobles, but also made Zhu Youxiao quickly gain the support of a large number of low-level Mongols, and many low-level Mongols took the initiative to join the Ming army in order to obtain a piece of their own grassland.

Zhao Shujiao saw that Dai Shan's army was trying to intercept Lu Xiangsheng, and he led seven thousand dragoons to meet him.

(End of chapter)