The mountains in the west of Ningyuan City are dyed red by the sunset in the west, like nature splashing ink, and the magnificent scenery is heart-pounding.

But under Ningyuan City, it was a different hellish scene of Shura!

Dead bodies were everywhere, stumps and broken arms were everywhere, and there were large bloodstains blackened by gunpowder everywhere!

The two armies of Ming and Jin fought for a whole day, and both sides suffered heavy casualties.

On the side of the Houjin army, due to the hasty retreat, all the chariots and iron-wrapped carts did not have time to be transported back, and they were all abandoned in front of Ningyuan City and burned by the defenders. The Eight Banners of the Han Army, which participated in three sieges in a row, suffered more than 5,000 casualties, almost losing the strength of one banner.

But Nurhachi didn't care. What really distressed him was that Zilharang's White Banner cavalry also suffered nearly a thousand casualties, of which the number of white armor soldiers killed alone reached seventy or eighty! Since he started his army from Hetuala, he has been crisscrossing Liaodong for decades, fighting hundreds of battles large and small, and he has never suffered such a heavy loss!

As for Zilharang who was seriously injured, Wakda was killed by the Hongyi cannon, which made Nurha even more angry and annoyed. He really regretted that he had been impulsive and sent the Eight Banners elite soldiers too early. If you listen to the words of Huang Taiji and Dolgon, insist on attacking the city only with the banner of the Han army, and slowly consume the strength of the Ming army, you will not incur such a fiasco!

On the side of the Ming army, the city wall was knocked down once, and many other places were also seriously damaged and crumbling. The Hongyi cannon blew up one of them, and only eleven were left, which was even more stretched. The defenders at the head of the city were killed by indiscriminate arrows, and the cavalry that rushed out of the city were killed even more, reaching more than 600 people, half of whom were Li Chongyao's Guanning iron cavalry.

But no matter what, Ning Yuan was holding on after all. After a day of hard fighting and three waves of attacks by the Houjin army, Ningyuan's city walls are still standing majestically, and the Hongyi cannon at the head of the city still points the muzzle of the black hole at the enemy camp!

The officers and soldiers defending the city erupted in a burst of enthusiastic cheers: "The Tartars have been beaten back!" His Royal Highness King Shin Chitose, Chitose! ”

But Zhu Youzhen was not in the mood to enjoy the cheers, he only felt dizzy and almost collapsed to the ground. Li Chongyao hurriedly supported him and said, "Lord Wang, what's wrong with you?" ”

Yuan Chonghuan hurriedly said: "Your Highness is too tired to take the lead and guard the city for a day. The minister immediately arranged a banquet to shock His Highness! ”

After an hour, it was completely dark. At this time, the drum tower has become a temporary Chinese army tent, and Yuan Chonghuan will arrange a banquet here to reward the officers and soldiers of the whole army. In addition to the generals on duty at night who continued to stick to the city, people like Zu Dashou, Zhu Mei, Li Chongyao and others all attended the banquet, and even the Korean envoy Han Ying was invited to attend to witness the high morale of the Ming army.

A soldier is a soldier. Although after a day of bloody and vicious fighting, many comrades were killed and wounded, but the joy of victory was always stronger than the grief of losing comrades. Yuan Chonghuan, Zu Dashou and others were all elated, and frequently raised their glasses to toast to Zhu Youzhen.

But Zhu Youzhen was heavy and unpleasant.

Yuan Chonghuan asked in surprise: "Your Highness, today's defeat of the Tartars is terrifying. But why are you worried? ”

Zhu Youzhen sighed and said with a sad face: "I said Lord Yuan, why do you think about it like that?" I think that the enemy army surrounding Ningyuan is at least more than 100,000, and although we have killed a lot today, it has not damaged our vitality. If you fight like this, we can't fight it! ”

Zhu Mei also interjected: "What His Highness said is extremely true. Jianyu's first two attacks were both tentative attacks, and the Jurchens were not dispatched. And in the third attack, due to the narrowness of the battlefield, the troops could not be deployed, and only a few thousand cavalry were dispatched. If the siege continues tomorrow, the troops invested will definitely not be less than today. However, our army has lost one less in battle, especially the gunners and cavalry have suffered many casualties, and the combat effectiveness will definitely drop a lot! ”

Yuan Chonghuan pondered for a moment, but still said with a smile: "Your Highness's method of using a powder box to blow up the enemy army today is good. If the enemy army comes tomorrow, we don't have to go out of the city to fight, we just need to repeat the old tricks. ”

Zhu Mei said in a deep voice: "Lord Yuan, it's really true, the gunpowder box in the army has been consumed more than half. If the enemy is still attacking the city with such casualties, what will happen to our army once the powder box is depleted? ”

At this time, Yuan Chonghuan was also dumbfounded, and he pondered for a long time before saying: "Then the only way to save the use of gunpowder, desperately defend the city, and wait for the reinforcements of the Governor." ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said: "If the reinforcements come quickly, they will definitely not carry much baggage, and they will not be able to replenish gunpowder." If it comes slowly, it is far away and does not quench the thirst of the near. We still have to be self-reliant, work hard, and not pin our hopes on reinforcements. ”

"Self-reliance, hard work?" Everyone at the banquet was stunned, no one could have imagined that this prince, who often had dirty mouths, could come up with such a fresh, but very simple and philosophical sentence.

Zhu Youzhen saw that everyone was staring at him like a monster, and suddenly realized that he had made an old mistake again, and moved the glorious thoughts of the old man over.

He hurriedly coughed twice to hide his embarrassment and said, "Well, I mean, we can't let the enemy lead us by the nose." They can attack when they want, and they can rest when they want, but that's not good! We have to take the initiative! ”

"Is Your Highness trying to sneak up on the enemy camp?" Zu Dashou hurriedly said, "This move must not be!" Many of our soldiers are blind, and there are not many cavalry, so a sneak attack can only be sent to death! ”

"Blind?" Zhu Youzhen asked in surprise, "What's going on?" ”

Yuan Chonghuan sighed and said, "Your Highness doesn't know anything. Sun Simiao, a famous doctor in the Tang Dynasty, mentioned in his "Thousand Golden Prescriptions" that people who do not eat meat all year round are prone to night blindness. People with symptoms have normal vision during the day, but they can't see clearly at night, like sparrows, so they are also called 'blind eyes'. The border soldiers can only eat rice all year round, and rarely eat meat, and there are six or seven out of ten who are blind. ”

Li Chongyao suddenly interjected: "Our Li family's children eat meat all year round, and there is no blind eye!" Let's go and attack the enemy camp with Guan Ning Tieqi! ”

Yuan Chonghuan, Zu Dashou and others hurriedly dissuaded: "Miss, in today's battle, the Guanning Iron Cavalry suffered a lot of casualties, so don't fight." And a few hundred people went to sneak attack, I'm afraid it won't have much effect. ”

Zhu Youzhen said: "Who said that you went to attack the enemy camp? There is a more important task now, and Guan Ningtie has to ride out of the horse! ”

When Li Chongyao saw Zhu Youzhen's help, he immediately smiled proudly: "Look, the prince is of the same mind as me!" ”

In fact, the original meaning of her words was naturally to say that Zhu Youzhen and her had the same idea. But "one heart" itself is a polysemous word, especially when used between men and women, it has another meaning. Li Chongyao has always been open-mouthed, but he didn't think anything of it, but Zhu Youzhen blushed. Everyone didn't dare to be happy when they saw this, thinking that these two people would be bad for a while and good for a while, and they were really a happy couple.

Li Chongyao didn't care, and urged Zhu Youzhen vigorously: "Lord Wang, say it quickly!" What exactly is the task? ”

Zhu Youzhen said solemnly: "Everyone, I always feel that Juehua Island is a huge flaw, and it is also Ning Yuan's dead end. Right now, it's freezing cold, and the sea surface between Ningyuan and Juehua Island should be all frozen, right? Will the Tartars wade through the ice and raid Kyaw Hoa Island? ”

Yuan Chonghuan shook his head disapprovingly and said, "Your Highness also overestimates the Tartars. Although the sea surface is frozen, it is not monolithic, and the ice conditions of the sea ice are unpredictable, and there is a danger of cracking at any time. ”

Zhu Youzhen said urgently: "Lord Yuan, don't speculate on Nurhachi's thoughts with your own thoughts!" If Nurhachi had followed the rules, he would not have rebelled at all! What if someone dares to take this risk? ”

"Then according to His Highness's wishes, what should I do?" Yuan Chonghuan was unhappy in his heart and asked slowly. In fact, when defending the city today, Yuan Chonghuan was very dissatisfied with Zhu Youzhen's behavior of jumping up and down and taking the lead. Especially when he also ate a big ear scraper from him, although it was in a hurry, not intentionally, it made Yuan Chonghuan feel very faceless.

Zhu Youzhen didn't notice Yuan Chonghuan's dissatisfaction, but just followed his own train of thought and said: "We can send Guan Ning Tieqi to take advantage of the cover of night to secretly rush out of the city to see the sea ice situation." If we can't get by, then neither can the tartars, and we can rest assured; If you can go over, you have to go straight to Juehua Island to see if you can transfer the people and materials on the island to Ningyuan City! ”

"Your Highness, there are tens of thousands of stones of grain stored on Juehua Island, how can it be transported at one time?" Yuan Chonghuan smiled mockingly, "In case it is attacked by Tartars during transportation, it will be called chicken flying eggs!" ”

"Then we won't transport food, just transfer people and gunpowder!" Zhu Youzhen gritted his teeth and said, "As for the grain, simply burn it all in one fire, so as not to make enemies!" ”

"Your Highness, you are really a little worried! The ministers did not dare to wade into the ice to attack Juehua Island, so we still guarded Ning Yuan! Yuan Chonghuan was stubborn.

Seeing that Yuan Chonghuan disagreed, Zhu Youzhen hurriedly asked everyone at the table: "Generals, do you think you should go to save Juehua Island?" ”

Zu Dashou and the others all lowered their heads and didn't say a word, obviously acquiescing to Yuan Chonghuan's plan.

Zhu You was so angry that he took the case and said: "Okay! If you don't go, I'll go by myself! With that, he left the table and got up.

"I'll go with you!" Li Chongyao also stood up.

"Miss! Didn't you say it yourself, Guan Ning Tieqi is already a soldier and horse of the imperial court? This official is now not allowed to ride out of the city by Guan Ningtie! Yuan Chonghuan said angrily.

As soon as Li Chongyao hesitated, Zhu Youzhen's eyes rolled, and he immediately said: "I haven't gone through the formal formalities yet, and I don't have an official position and salary, and now the Guanning Iron Cavalry can only be regarded as voluntary labor!" Of course, you can not listen to your Lord Yuan! ”

"I... I'll give you a reward right away! Yuan Chonghuan said urgently.

"It's late!" Zhu Youzhen smiled slyly and said, "When we come back from Juehua Island, it's not too late to reward us!" ”

The two of them immediately walked away, making Yuan Chonghuan so angry that his hands and feet were cold.

And the North Korean envoy Han Ying secretly exchanged glances with the attendant beside him, and muttered a few sentences in Korean.

The attendant watched Zhu Youzhen go away, his eyes showing admiration and admiration!