Li Yongfang, the former Fushun guerrilla, appeared outside Qinghe City on a fiery red horse, more than two hundred steps away from the city tower, and outside the range of muskets and bows and arrows, he shouted to Zou Chuxian, the defender of Qinghe City, to persuade him to surrender-

Li Yongfang's current identity is the third deputy general of the Dajin Kingdom, because the family is in Liaoyang, Nurhachi will marry his granddaughter, that is, the eldest daughter of Abatai, to Li Yongfang as his wife, a month ago in Hetuara held a grand wedding, in order to envelop Li Yongfang, before Nurhachi regarded the Han people as enemies, caught the Han people and killed, and now accepts Huang Taiji's suggestion, to appease the Han people for their use, Li Yongfang as the first general of the Ming Dynasty, of course, to be gractured and reused, from the Fushun captive Han people after the re-organization of the household are under the jurisdiction of Li Yongfang, Li Yongfang's power is better than when the Fushun guerrillas, attached to Li Yongfang is grateful to Nurhachi, every battle is the forerunner, lure and persuade to surrender, so that the Eight Banners soldiers won a lot of forts without blood, this time Nurhachi besieged Qinghe, Li Yongfang puffed his lips and shook his tongue to intimidate and lure, persuading Zou Chuxian generals to surrender, to make new contributions to Dajin-

Zou Chuxian at the head of the city replied loudly: "Li Yongfang, a rat generation without a father and a king, is still waving his flag and shouting here when he is dying, do you know that Nurhachi is ready to exchange you for Naranbakshi?" ”

Far away, Li Yongfang didn't hear clearly, and asked: "Vice General Zou, what conditions do you have?" ”

Zou Chuxian laughed: "This is confidential, I won't say it a second time." ”

Li Yongfang asked the guards who followed him before and after the horse, these guards were all his family members, and one of them had pointed ears and replied: "If you attach your lordship, this Zou deputy general said that the wise Khan wants to exchange you for Nalan Bakeshi." ”

Li Yongfang's face turned blue for a moment, and he lowered his head to think about whether what Zou Chuxian said was true or false. He knew that Nalambaksh was Nurhachi's most relied on minister. He had heard Nurhachi mention Nalambaksh several times these days. I hate Zhang Yuan for capturing Nalambakshi, if the Ming Dynasty proposes to exchange Nalambaksh for him, it is difficult to say whether Nurhachi will agree to this-

A horse rushed from behind and shouted: "Li Yongfang, Father Khan asked you how you persuaded you to surrender?" ”

The person who came was Li Yongfang's new father-in-law, Abatai, who was one year younger than Li Yongfang, and he was not used to this old son-in-law, and he never spoke in a good tone.

Li Yongfang looked up at the Ming soldiers on the opposite tower. said: "Zou Chuxian refuses to surrender——"

Before he finished speaking, Zou Chuxian, the head of the city, shouted: "Li Yongfang, the imperial court has a will, as long as you are willing to return, then you will not blame the past, and you can also reunite with your family in Liaoyang - Li Yongfang, you have to think clearly, there will be no such favor when you are exchanged back." ”

As soon as Abatai heard that Li Yongfang was going to be surrendered if he failed to surrender, he glared at Li Yongfang fiercely and shouted, "Retreat." These Nanban don't know how to be afraid when they don't see the sword, didn't you surrender when the city was broken! ”

Li Yongfang was ashamed. Gray retreated.

Nurhachi didn't want to waste any more time, and immediately ordered the siege of the city, with the experience of capturing Fushun, the Houjin army was more fully prepared this time, driving the cloud ladder at the head of the city, digging the corners of the wall under the city, and the offensive was extremely fierce.

Qinghe Fort has been preparing for several months to prepare for the siege of Jiannu, Qinghe is located in the southeast valley of Fushun, the terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the Qinghe defenders have 10,000 people, several times more than the defenders of Fushun, but the Houjin army of the siege is also more powerful than the attack on Fushun, the Houjin dead soldiers wearing heavy armor are desperate to continue to attack, the Ming army at the head of the city also uses artillery, muskets, bows and arrows, and stones to fight back, and the artillery has no threat to the Houjin armor soldiers who attack the side of the city wall, but muskets, The lethality of bows and arrows to these Houjin dead soldiers who are wrapped in three-layer thick armor is also extremely limited, it is not as good as rolling wood and stones, the situation of the Qinghe defense battle is extremely dangerous from the beginning, Zou Chuxian, Zhang Min and other Ming army generals only felt that the combat power of Jiannu was still underestimated at this time, and at this time it was not allowed to think too much, only to urge the soldiers to defend the city desperately, Li Rubai's South Road army striker He Shixian has arrived in Sanyang, as long as he holds on for two days, he can wait for reinforcements, Zou Chuxian has already been strictly ordered by Yang Hao to hold -

The battle of Qinghe Fort was extremely tragic, the general Zou Chuxian, the guerrilla Zhang Min, and the fort guard Zhang Yuncheng led their own guards to the city to supervise the battle, from the afternoon to the evening, the Jiannu dead soldiers attacked the city more than ten times, and they were all contained by the defenders with several times the casualties.

It's dark, but the snow outside the city and the bright moon in the sky will be round, the inside and outside of the city can be seen, the Ming army defending the city has been exhausted, and the soldiers who died in the battle have no time to drag down the city tower to deal with, but the Jiannu offensive is not reduced, 40,000 Jiannu take turns attacking the city day and night, for the Jiannu Eight Banners Army, long-distance marching, day after day of fierce battle is a common thing, but for the Ming soldiers who defend the city, such a hard battle is the first time in their lives, all rely on a blood to fight, originally thought that Jiannu will temporarily withdraw at night, so that the Ming army can rest for a while, And now, there is only the courage to fight again-

When the second drum, the fort guard Zhang Yuncheng was killed, Zou Chuxian was anxious, the overseer was stubborn, roughly estimated that the 10,000 soldiers defending the city had been killed or injured by one-third, and the Jiannu who were killed and wounded were only hundreds, the casualties of the defending city were greater than the siege of the city, the city was difficult to defend, and now only He Shixian of Pan Sanyang could lead the army to arrive as soon as possible, and He Shixian, the deputy chief soldier of Liaodong, was a well-known fierce general.

Zou Chuxian in the city is struggling to support, Nuerhachi outside the city is also anxious, the resistance of the Ming army in Qinghe Fort is more tenacious than he expected, the main force of the Eight Banners Army attacking the city has lost more than 400 people, these are the elite warriors who have fought with him for more than ten years, if it continues to be damaged like this, he can't afford to consume, his armored army will die one less, and it cannot be replenished in the short term, no more than the Ming army, although the combat effectiveness is limited, and the victory is more than the people, but this Qinghe Fort must be captured-

The bright moon fell in the west, the darkness before dawn shrouded, and the huge noise of the attacking and defending sides temporarily subsided because of this darkness, and suddenly, a shout broke out in the south of Qinghe City: The corner of the southern city wall was dug through, and the Houjin army attacked the city!

Zou Chuxian's heart was cold, and he hurriedly ordered Zhang Min to supervise the battle in Dongcheng, and he led the crowd to Nancheng to plug this gap.

Jiannu Changjia army is strong, the gap is opened and it is difficult to intercept, more than 100 Jiannu have rushed into the south of the city, Zou Chuxian knows that the city is inevitable, ordered to cut the horse and burn the grain, the grain and grass of Qinghe Fort have been kept in a centralized manner as early as a month ago, and it is in case the city is broken and does not fall into the hands of Jiannu.

The flames were raging, the sound of killing shook the sky, and the general Zou Chuxian led hundreds of families to fight with Jiannu in the south of the city. At dawn. The eastern city was also breached. The guerrilla Zhang Yan was killed in battle, Zou Chuxian was also killed in battle, and none of the 10,000 defenders of Qinghe Fort surrendered to the enemy, and all of them sacrificed their lives.

Nurhachi was furious when he found that the grain and grass had been burned, and ordered the slaughter of the city, and the people of Qinghe Fort and the nearby alkali field village were slaughtered before they could escape, and those who escaped from the place of death met He Shixian, the deputy general of Liaodong, who led 5,000 troops to help him a hundred miles away from Qinghe Fort. When He Shixian heard that Qinghe Fort had fallen, he was shocked, and on the one hand he sent someone to report to Li Rubai urgently, and on the other hand urged the sergeant to rush to Qinghe-

Li Rubai heard the report and sent people to catch up with He Shixian, and ordered He Shixian's garrison to wait and see, Jiannu field battle is very strong, don't compete with it, last year Zhang Chengyin was to save Fushun and the army died-

At this time, He Shixian was only thirty miles away from the Qinghe, and the sentinel reported that Jiannu had retreated, and there was still an army left to demolish the walls of the Qinghe River and the alkali field.

He Shixian immediately decided to pursue. At dusk on the second day when Qinghe City was broken, he rushed to the outside of Qinghe Fort, but saw that he was devastated. There is still black smoke rising in the ruins, the east city and the south city of Qinghe Fort have been basically destroyed, and the three thousand Jin Bu cavalry who left the city to demolish the city are preparing to evacuate, and when they see the Ming army rushing to help, they immediately meet the battle.

He Shixian took the lead with a big sword, broke through the Jiannu military fence, killed more than 100 enemies, Jiannu did not dare to fight, and fled by night, He Shixian was worried about the ambush, and did not pursue, leaving hundreds of soldiers to collect the corpses of the soldiers killed in the battle of Qinghe Fort, and led the army to retreat.

……

Yang Hao, who has now moved to Guangning, received the news of the death of the Qinghe Fort on February 15, and was shocked, and urgently summoned Li Rubai and He Shixian to Guangning to discuss countermeasures, Qinghe Fort could not be held even for a day and a night with 10,000 defenders, and according to the people of Qinghe who escaped, Zou Shen fought bravely, and all the 10,000 soldiers under his command were killed in battle, which made Yang Hao a little frightened, and the long conversation with Zhang Yuan on that snowy night came to his mind again-

After Zhang Yuan learned of the battle plan for the four routes, he wrote to Yang Hao, saying that Ma Lin and Li Rubai were difficult to take on important tasks, and the candidates for the main generals of these two roads still had to be considered, Yang Hao did not care, thinking that Zhang Yuan had never known Ma Lin and Li Rubai, so how could he know whether they could be used or not-

But Zhang Yuan is not the only one who opposes Ma Lin as the chief general of the North Route Army, Pan Zongyan, the supervisor of the North Route Army, also said that Ma Lin is mediocre and cowardly, and he is not worthy of being a side, so please change him to be the commander and take Ma Lin as his successor, otherwise he will be defeated.

Pan Zongyan is the supervisor of Ma Lin Road, the supervisor said that the main general is unbearable, which makes Yang Hao embarrassed, Ma Lin is the chief soldier of Kaiyuan, stationed in Beiguan for a long time, and it is most suitable for Ma Lin to be the chief general of the North Road Army, so Yang Hao does not plan to change his general, but the fall of Qinghe Fort makes Yang Hao want to reconsider the combat effectiveness of the Houjin army, and the low lethality of the musket and artillery of the Qinghe defenders also worries Yang Hao.

After consulting with Wang Keshou, the governor of Jiliao, Zhou Yongchun, the governor of Liaodong, and Chen Wangting, the governor of Liaodong, Yang Hao decided to postpone the period of sending troops, which was originally scheduled for February 22, but now it is postponed for half a month, and more spies and sentinels will be sent to inquire about the military situation of Jiannu-

The original date of the march, the route and the main and deputy generals have been reported to the imperial court, Yang Hao sent someone to urgently report to the military department to replace the commander of the South Road Army, and to Liaodong to command Han Yuanshan to represent Li Rubai as the chief general of the South Road Army, Yang Hao had entered North Korea with Li Rusong and Li Rubai brothers to resist the Japanese, Li Rubai Xiao fought bravely at that time, and Yang Hao was deeply impressed, and saw Li Rubai again after 20 years, Li Rubai, who was over sixty years old, had gray hair and fat body, where was there still a little bit of heroic spirit, and there seemed to be no confidence in the invasion of Hetuala, Yang Hao thought about it again and again, instead of changing Ma Lin, it was better to replace Li Rubai, who had indulged in wine for 20 years at home, Qinghe Fort fell, and Li Rubai was also unable to rescue, which was the reason for changing generals in battle.

On 18 February, after the capture of Qinghe Fort, Nurhachi sent a letter to Yang Hao, in which he wrote:

"If the emperor reproaches the people of Liaodong and withdraws the troops out of the border, thinks that I am right, relieves my seven hatreds, and then gives me the prince's edict, then why does the war not stop? Give 500 edicts and 1,000 edicts from Kaiyuan to my officers and soldiers; and give me three thousand taels of silk, three thousand taels of silver, and three hundred taels of gold, and the ministers of the Beylers who are at my head, and I will not transgress any more, but will guard the borders—"

Yang Hao read Nurhachi's letter, and couldn't help but be furious: "The traitor is really arrogant, and he dares to come to invite rewards." Just as the waiter beheaded the messenger, he suddenly changed his mind and discussed with Wang Keshou and Zhou Yongchun to exchange Nalan Baksh for Li Yongfang.

Wang Ke was noncommittal, but Zhou Yongchun frowned and said, "How can I, Daming, exchange prisoners with Jiannu!" Zhou Yongchun knew that this was Zhang Yuan's suggestion to Yang Hao.

Yang Hao said: "Nalan Bakshi is of no benefit to my Ming Dynasty, raising him for nothing, and the rebel general Li Yongfang is driven by the enemy to surrender my Liaodong Han people." The sin is terrible. If the person can be replaced, he will be punished with capital punishment. It can be the ring of the generals of Liaodong. ”

Zhou Yongchun said: "The slave chief will not make this exchange, but will only provoke criticism." ”

Yang Hao said: "Even if the slave chief refuses to change, Li Yongfang will be terrified when he hears it, and there will be changes in his life, which is beneficial to our side." ”

Zhou Yongchun saw that Yang Hao insisted, so he said: "Yang Shilang insists on this, and the lower officials have nothing to say." ”

Yang Ho asked the messenger to bring him a message back to Nurhachi. Announcing that the army of 470,000 will sweep through Jianzhou and ordering Nuerhachi to surrender as soon as possible is of course a bluff, and the intention is to cause panic among Jiannu -

Nurhachi would not be frightened, but when he heard that Nalan Baksh was exchanged for Li Yongfang, he was still a little moved, and immediately discussed with his son Daishan and Huang Taiji, and Daishan advocated the exchange, but Huang Taiji insisted on opposing it, and the two argued. Nurha Equator: "Don't worry about this matter for now, how to deal with the Ming Dynasty army is a matter of life and death." If I win, the Ming will send Erdeni back, and if I am defeated—"

Nurhachi didn't say anything more, but said, "You all understand. ”

Dai Shan said: "Yang Hao is only 12 or 30,000 soldiers and horses, how can there be 470,000, according to the sentinels of Fushun in the west and Dong'e in the south, a large number of Ming troops have gathered on both roads, and it seems that the Ming army is going to attack in several ways." ”

Huang Taiji said: "There are also the Korean army on the east road, the Kaiyuan and Yehe coalition army on the north road, and maybe there is an army to the west of Sanyang, and it is estimated that there are four to five Ming armies attacking Hetuara from the east, west, north and south." ”

Nurha's red eyes flickered, and he sneered: "With his few ways, I will only go all the way." ”

Huang Taiji said: "We must send more scouts and cavalry sentries to grasp the attack route and date of the Ming army, and first concentrate our forces to defeat its main force along the way, and the rest of the roads will break and flee." ”

Nurha Equator: "I heard that the Ming Dynasty used Li Rubai as the general army of Liaodong, it seems that the Ming Dynasty is really an unusable general, then Li Rubai is six years older than me, and he has lived idle for many years, where can he still fight." ”

Huang Taiji said: "Juniper has also been used, this person is brave and dares to fight, to be strictly guarded, Erchen suggested sending people to the west of Salhu to build a city in the boundary mountain to prevent the Ming army from the west road to Hetuala. ”

Nurhachi was accurate, and at the same time ordered the Minister of the Eight Banners to prepare for the evacuation of Hetuala, Nurhachi was extremely afraid of the Ming army's attack, "I will only go all the way with him" The combat policy is actually to leave a back road, once the battle is unfavorable, Nurhachi intends to abandon Heala, lead the Eight Banners Army to retreat to Huerha, as long as the main cavalry is still there, then there will be a comeback.

……

The so-called bamboo pole is afraid of the snake at both ends, Yang Hao's side after carefully inspecting and inquiring about the defeat of Zhang Chengyin's army and the fall of Qinghe Fort, he was deeply afraid of the combat power of the Houjin Eighth Banner Army, and his confidence in victory was somewhat shaken-

Liaodong deputy commander-in-chief He Shixian also brought back a few pairs of armor of the Jiannu Changjia army this time, trying to shoot with muskets and bows and arrows are difficult to effectively penetrate the enemy to kill, of course, this kind of armor weighing 100 catties is not an ordinary sergeant can be worn, to be strong and powerful to wear this heavy armor to fight, Jurchen people are more strong and powerful.

On February 22, the Ministry of War replied, agreeing to take Han Yuanshan as the chief general of the Southern Route Army, and at the same time urging Yang Hao to enter the army as soon as possible.

On the 29th, the first assistant of the cabinet wrote a letter urging Yang Hao to send troops to attack, and Huang Jiashan, the secretary of the military department, and Zhao Xingbang sent red flags every two days to urge the war, saying that the division had been paid for a long time, and the advantage was to fight quickly.

Yang Hao was forced to do so, so he decided to set out in early March, and on March 11, the Fourth Route Army went out at the same time, and on the 12th, they advanced in front of Erdaoguan.

……

At this time, Nurhachi had also discovered that the Ming army had four route armies, and when he convened the ministers of Zhubeile to discuss countermeasures, Dabeile Daishan thought that the master of the Qinghe road would be Li Rubai, Li Rubai was old and timid, and he would not dare to take the lead in going out, so this road did not have to be defended first, but he could concentrate his forces to deal with Shenyang and Fushun this road, and the main man of this road would be Juniper, Juniper was brave and unscrupulous, and he liked to fight for merit, and he would definitely advance alone, and he could ambush and annihilate it with the Salhu area-

The people of Nurhachi didn't know that the main general of Qinghe was no longer Li Rubai, but was replaced by Han Yuanshan in the battle.

—————————————————————— (To be continued.) For mobile phone users, please go to read. )