Liu Cheng's speech provoked cheers from the soldiers again, this time shouting "Banzai" while striking their shields with their weapons in a rhythmic sound. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info The cheers and percussions converge and resound across the land!

Shengjing.

"Great Khan!" Concubine Zhuang held the helmet and looked at Huang Taiji with bright eyes, her eyes full of worry.

"Hmm!" Huang Taiji took the helmet and put it on himself. He noticed Concubine Zhuang's worried look and said with a smile: "What's wrong with you, it's not the first time you've gone on an expedition, quick, smile!" ”

Concubine Zhuang smiled a little, but then the smile disappeared: "Great Khan, I don't know why, I always feel that this time is different from the past, and I always feel that something is going to happen!" ”

"Concubine Zhuang!" Huang Taiji gently hugged the other party and said softly: "You don't have to worry, Liu Cheng is indeed an unprecedentedly strong enemy of my Dajin, but the winner must be my Dajin!" ”

"I understand, just!"

"Nothing just!" Huang Taiji's voice became serious: "The winner must be my Dajin!" ”

Concubine Zhuang looked at Huang Taiji's firm eyes and lowered her head: "Yes, Great Khan, the winner must be my Dajin!" ”

"Well, I'm going on this expedition, and the affairs in the palace will be handed over to you, Concubine Ai!" Huang Taiji's voice became softer, and he also said a few more words, and the voice of the eunuch suddenly came from outside: "Great Khan, the hour has come, and the guards outside are ready to stop, just waiting for you!" ”

"Hmm!" Huang Taiji answered, then turned around and walked out. Concubine Zhuang looked at the back of her husband leaving, and suddenly had a premonition - this was probably the last time she saw this man.

Outside the palace gate, Ao Bai tightened the belt on the saddle, the war horse neighed gently, and he stroked the horse's mane to soothe the excited beast. A gust of north wind swept by, blowing the flags around as if to say something. However, Ao Bai ignored it and checked the saddle again.

"Great Khan!"

"Great Khan!"

Seeing the figure of Huang Taiji, Ao Bai hurriedly knelt down and stretched out his hands. Huang Taiji stepped on Aobai's hand, jumped on the horse, and shouted: "Teacher! ”

With the sound of the horn, the bright yellow Daxu on behalf of the Great Khan began to move, and the members of the guard army were the sons of the noble heroes who were drawn from the inlaid yellow flag and the positive yellow flag, and they would guard the Huang Taiji and the Huanghuang and Zhenghuang banners outside the city of Shengjing, and then march westward, and the rest of the Jurchen army will converge with it along the way, according to the plan of the Huang Taiji, the Houjin army will take a shortcut to cross the Xing'an Mountains to the Dale Desert (now Keshiketeng Banner), and beat Liu Cheng, who was building the city in Daning, by surprise. But to Aobai's surprise, something unexpected happened on the first night.

As the nephew of Fei Yingdong, one of the five great heroes of the Later Jin Dynasty, Ao Bai became his bodyguard before Huang Taiji ascended the throne, and soon rose to prominence with his bravery and loyalty. According to the Manchu Qing system, the Eight Banners dispatched Jurchen and Mongolian elite soldiers to form a guard camp, guarding the palace gate in peacetime, inspecting the entry and exit, and the emperor obeyed when he went out on patrol, and guarded the imperial camp when he was stationed. Among them, the upper three flags are responsible for guarding the forbidden center, while the lower five flags are guarding the gate of the prince's mansion. Each banner has a commander as the main general and a staff leader as the deputy general, and the name of this position comes from the lieutenant of the Han Dynasty and the subsequent Zhonghujun, that is, the person who commands the forbidden army. In the evening of this day, after he checked the sentry according to the habit of the past, he was about to go to the imperial tent of Huang Taiji to be on duty, when he suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves, and turned his head to see that it was Azig and Duoduo, Ao Bai hurriedly bowed and saluted: "Ao Bai has seen the twelfth and fifteenth masters!" ”

"That's it, we have something important to tell the Great Khan!" The impatient Azig said and went straight inside, but Duoduo behind him hurriedly grabbed him and said with a smile: "Ao Bai, please pass it on for us!" ”

"Yes, wait a minute, the two masters!" Ao Bai hurriedly answered, he ordered his subordinates to pass the message, and he accompanied him at the gate of the camp, and after a while, the guards who passed the message returned: "The Great Khan has agreed, and the two Baylors please!" ”

Ao Bai hurriedly led the way in front, Azig and Duoduo entered the tent, and he waited outside, and just a moment later, Ao Bai heard the voice of Huang Taiji coming from inside: "Ridiculous! How does this work? ”

"Starling!" Azig said with a smile: "Dolgon's letter said that the Shuolei Khan of the Chechen Department poured out, and the whole army had almost 30,000 horsemen, and the tooth tents were all moved to the edge of the Nenjiang River. Wouldn't it be better for us to clean up that Shuo Lei Khan first, and then go to fight Liu Cheng? ”

"!" Huang Taiji sneered, "It was Dolgon who asked you two to come to me, right?" Lao Fourteen is usually an understanding person, why is he suddenly confused at this time? The more urgent the situation, the more important it is to distinguish between the important and the serious. First go to build the base, let Liu Cheng build the Daning Acropolis, and cut off our way into the Central Plains and Monan, and we will be blocked in Liaodong. What's the use of winning a hundred times? As long as Liu Cheng is defeated, even if Shuo Lei eats Horqin, he will have to spit it out for me! Liu Cheng and Shuo Lei, which is lighter and which is heavier, doesn't this understand? The two of you replied to Lao Fourteen, asking him to leave Shuo Lei alone and bring all the people back to deal with Liu Cheng! ”

Dumbfounded by Huang Taiji's remarks, Azig couldn't help but look back at Dordor, who, although the eldest of the three Dolgon brothers, was impatient and not good at strategy, and most of the time obeyed the orders of the younger Dolgon and Dordor. Duoduo hurriedly stepped forward and said, "What the Great Khan said is right, but after all, Horqin is Dajin's in-law, and several of your Fujin, Brother Starling, are from the Horqin Department. Besides, what about Liu Cheng's construction of the city, didn't the Ming army of Liaodong also build a city on the Daling River, and it was not besieged and captured by us? ”

"Da Ling River is Da Ling River, and Da Ning Wei is Da Ning Wei. How far is Daling River from Shengjing? It has already caused us to almost fall, Daningwei is thousands of miles away from Shengjing, how long are you going to besiege the city? What to feed the bellies of the besieging soldiers? Huang Taiji sneered twice: "Duoduo, have you forgotten how Old Khan taught us in the first place?" The Ming State has many generals and generals, and there are enemies who have money to buy us, so they can move forward in multiple ways and go hand in hand. If we also divide our ways and refuse, then there is only one way to die. The only way out is to concentrate forces on one road, as long as one road is defeated, the rest of the roads will naturally be frightened. Liu Cheng successively instigated the beggars and the Chechens to oppose us, the purpose was to disperse our forces, and he wanted to build the city of Daningwei as the basis for his progress. As long as this person is defeated, the beggars and the Chechens will be defeated. Don't say any more, you two, go back, and march tomorrow morning!" ”

Duoduo and Azig looked at each other and had to retreat. Huang Taiji looked at the backs of the two people leaving, and suddenly said, "Aobai, you heard it, right?" ”

Ao Bai was stunned for a moment, not knowing why Huang Taiji suddenly asked himself this question, so he had to subconsciously answer: "I heard it!" ”

"Do you think they two have a point?"

"This-" Ao Bai thought for a while and said, "Wei Chen doesn't understand it, but I think it's more reasonable for the Great Khan to say!" ”

"Hehehe!" Huang Taiji suddenly laughed: "Ao Bai, Ao Bai, I'll send you a word today, the most terrifying thing in this world is not the sword, but the human heart!" ”

On a cold morning with a bitter north wind, Gesang led a thousand cavalry to the ruined city of Daningwei, although it was still September, but the wind blowing from Mobei caused a layer of frost to condense on the tip of the spear. He planted his banner on the ruins, then was the first to pick up a shovel and began to dig a trench outside the ruins walls. A few hours later, six hundred mercenaries of the same tribe led by Singh arrived, and these proud warriors had flags with black backgrounds, daggers and iron necklaces fluttering above their heads, and Singh stood side by side with Gesang's banner, and then began to direct the soldiers to dig trenches. By the time Liu Cheng's Chinese army arrived two days later, the ruined city was already overcrowded, with large armies camped outside the city, flags of all colors fluttering in the north wind, and countless tents as if a city had risen overnight.

"Gesang, let your people put down their hoes!" Liu Cheng said in a rough voice: "I don't give four silver coins a month to let them dig the soil, the people who built the city will arrive tomorrow at the latest, just let them do this work." You scatter all your people, as far away as possible, preferably for three or four days, looking for traces of the Eastern Captives, understand? ”

"Yes, sir!" Gesang answered and retreated, and the sound of horses' hooves was heard outside the tent. Liu Cheng raised his head and said loudly to the generals in the tent: "Okay, I estimate that Dongyu should arrive in another seven or eight days, everyone be careful to prepare!" ”

"Yes!" The generals responded in unison.

When the generals came out, Lu Boqi said in a low voice: "General Liu, will Dongyu really come?" ”

Liu Cheng poured himself a glass of wine: "If I were Huang Taiji, I would come, it's time to end!" Speaking of this, he drank all the wine and said with a smile: "Lord Lu, why do you want to come, you can obviously sit in Datong!" ”

"Maybe it will bring you some luck!" Lu Boqi thought for a while and said with a smile: "Do you remember the battle against Lin Dan Khan in Ningxia?" I was there that time, too! ”

"Yes, there's Grandpa Hu, but he's in the city!" Liu Cheng also laughed, memories are always good, especially for the memories of victory. But good things are also short-lived, and at noon on the third day, Liu Chengcheng was very surprised to get the news about the Houjin army. A Karaqin (a tribe on the left flank) who was separated from his wife and children after the Battle of the Ferry and fled to the Khing'an Mountains to make a living by hunting, when he discovered the traces of the Houjin army crossing the mountains, decided to use the news as a condition for the whereabouts of his wife and children. So he came west as fast as he could, and on the way he encountered a sentinel sent by Gesang, so he brought him.

"You mean that Dongyu did not come along the Laoha River, but came over the Xing'an Mountains!" Liu Cheng stood up and stared at the ragged Karaqin man kneeling on the ground.

"The villain doesn't know if Dongyu came along the Laoha River, but it is true that a Jurchen army crossed the Xing'an Mountains!" Although the Karaqin people didn't know Liu Cheng's specific identity, looking at his clothes, the guards beside him already knew that he must be a noble person in front of him, and he lowered his head carefully, lest he have any rudeness that angered the other party and caused trouble.

"Gesang, have you confirmed what he said?"

"I've sent someone to investigate in the direction he said, but there is no news coming back, it won't be soon, and it should be soon, if there is really a large army, you can't hide it!"

"Well, if you send more people, you must confirm the news as soon as possible!" Liu Cheng walked to the map and observed it carefully for a while. It was clear that if the Karaqin man was telling the truth, then Huang Taiji had adopted a rather risky strategy -- instead of heading west along the convenient Laoha River valley, which was easy to navigate, he would first cross the Xing'an Mountains, go around to his northeast, and then take himself by surprise. But now, it seems that luck is not on his side.

"I remember that you asked for your wife and children back?" Liu Cheng turned around and asked the Karaqin man who was kneeling on the ground.

"Yes, Lord Jinong, that's all I have to ask!"

"Very well, if your news is true, as long as your wife and children are still alive, I will return them to you, and I will also reward you with a sum of money so that you can live a rich life!" Speaking of this, Liu Cheng paused slightly and repeated: "If your news is true!" ”

The next few hours were extremely difficult for everyone in the tent, from Liu Cheng to the Karaqin people who reported the news, but the Karaqin people were suffering from the fate of themselves and their wives and children, and Liu Cheng was suffering from the desire for victory and the fear of defeat.

"We've been spotted by enemy sentinels!" Huang Taiji's voice was calm and surprising.

"Yes, Great Khan! We did our best, killing four of them and taking two prisoners, but four or five escaped, their horses were fine, each of them had two or three horses, and I had sent men in pursuit, but—" The voice of the Jurchen officer who had come to pay homage was a little hoarse from exhaustion, and his robes outside his armor were covered with blackened spots of blood, not knowing whether it was the enemy's or his own. Apparently the man was not confident that he would be able to catch up with the enemy sentinels.

In the tent, the senior Houjin generals fell silent and listened to the petty officer who commanded the outpost tell how they had encountered the enemy's sentinel, and the short but fierce battle had taken place. But Huang Taiji's thoughts had already reached thousands of miles away, and only one sentence echoed in his ears: "We were discovered by the enemy's sentry horsemen!" ”

"It must be an accident, it must be an accident!" Azig's voice was very loud: "How could Liu Cheng think that we would take this road, his attention must be on the valley of the Laoha River!" ”