Hong Chengchou finally made up his mind to start a decisive battle two days later.

The 70,000 troops have been stationed in Rushangang for nearly 20 days, most of the grain and grass have been consumed, and the remaining grain and grass can still last for about ten days. During this period, Hong Chengchou also had occasional wavering, mainly thinking about what to do if the battle failed.

When it was almost dark, the scout came with a pale face to report the information.

Martial law was imposed outside the Chinese military tent instantly, and no one was allowed to approach without permission, and the scouts were in the Chinese military tent for a long time.

Hong Chengchou was stunned, obviously at a loss, the information brought by the scout made him feel that the sky was falling apart, and the loss of Tashan City meant that the supply of grain and grass for the army had been lost, and the soldiers and horses had not moved the grain and grass first, what did it mean without grain and grass, Hong Chengchou was very clear.

Now, Hong Chengchou must block the news, and he can't let others know, especially the general soldiers under his command, fortunately, the army still has ten days of food and grass to maintain, presumably there is no problem in starting a decisive battle with the Eight Banners Army, and the only way in front of him is to defeat the Eight Banners Army, so as to completely solve the problem of grain and grass being robbed.

It's a pity that Hong Chengchou's painstaking efforts could not be realized.

The next day, after dawn, Hong Chengchou was horrified to find that a large number of sergeants had fled from the direction of Tashan and Xingshan, and these sergeants brought the news of the fall of Tashan City and Xingshan City.

The news of the fall of Tower Hill and the looting of grain quickly spread throughout the army.

Hong Chengchou couldn't keep it a secret anymore, and he knew that this was a special arrangement made by Houjin Tatarzi to let the sergeants stationed in Tashan and Xingshan flee in order to spread the news.

At the end of the day, in Hong Chengchou's Chinese military tent, all the general soldiers and deputy general soldiers had arrived. Even Du Xun, a prison soldier stationed in Songshan, sent a representative.

Before Hong Chengchou could speak, a fierce argument began, and most of the general soldiers, represented by Wang Pu, the general soldier of Datong, insisted on withdrawing immediately and returning to the city of Ningyuan by a bloody road, and at the same time they asked the army of Shanhaiguan to cooperate. A few commanders did not express their position, but no one insisted on continuing the decisive battle with the Eighth Banner Army.

After Hong Chengchou's idea of continuing the decisive battle with the Houjin Tartars came out, he was resolutely opposed by Wang Pu and others, and their reasons were also very sufficient, in case the battle entered a state of stalemate, the army lacking grain and grass could not be maintained at all, and a fiasco would inevitably appear at that time. Hold out until the army runs out of food.

Hong Chengchou had no reason to refute, he knew that the plan to attack the Eight Banners Army would not work.

Huang Taiji had a pleasant smile on his face, and after Dolgon's paperwork arrived, Huang Taiji knew that the overall situation had been decided.

Azig beside Huang Taiji was even more eager to try, he had already put forward the request to lead the army to a decisive battle with the Ming army, but Huang Taiji did not express his position, which made Azig not very understanding. According to the explanation, the army's grain and grass were cut off, and the Ming army must be in chaos at this moment. If you take advantage of this time to attack, you will definitely be able to achieve complete victory.

Huang Taiji finally vetoed Azig's request, and the reason was also very simple, although it was said that the Ming army was in chaos at the moment, its combat effectiveness still existed, and an attack on the Ming army was launched at this time. They will definitely fight with the same enemy, in order to save their lives, the Eight Banners Army can wait at this time, waiting for the Ming army to be in chaos, and at that time. is the best time to launch a general offensive.

Huang Taiji also wants to prevent the Ming army from jumping over the wall, there are a large number of Ming troops stationed in Jinzhou City, and there are also a large number of Ming troops in Rushan Gang.

Huang Taiji's analysis convinced Azig.

Next, Huang Taiji ordered the herald to give orders to many Han Eight Banner owners, make all preparations, and when the attack order was issued, they would start a fight with the Ming army.

March 26.

The change finally appeared, and this was the change that caught Hong Chengchou off guard.

Wang Pu, the chief soldier of Datong, led the sergeants under his command without authorization, evacuated Rushan Gang, and evacuated in the direction of Ningyuan.

Wang Pu's move greatly shocked the whole army, and Hong Chengchou, who was furious, was ready to write a letter to the emperor and the court, asking for Wang Pu to be punished heavily, but before his performance was sent out, Ma Ke, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, also led the sergeants under his command to evacuate without authorization.

The army is completely dispersed, and even if you write a letter to the court at this time, you can't save the current situation.

Hong Chengchou decisively gave the order, and the whole army withdrew in the direction of Songshan.

Just when the army began to withdraw, the offensive of the Eight Banners Army began, this time the attack did not leave any behind, it was an all-round attack, and nearly 60,000 Eight Banner Army launched a general attack from three directions: east, south and west.

This is a massacre, a massacre that appeared under the careful deployment of Huang Taiji, the evacuated Ming army did not have the slightest fighting spirit, they were all desperately fleeing, there was no decent resistance, there was no desperate fighting, some just fled and pursued.

Hong Chengchou, who was coerced by the army, did not have any power to return to the sky, so he could only desperately evacuate in the direction of Songshan, and watched the sergeants under his command being desperately killed by the Eight Banners Army.

The decisive Huang Taiji gave up the siege of Jinzhou City, ordered all the troops to pursue and kill, after a day and a night of pursuit, the Eight Banners Army arrived at Songshan, and firmly besieged tens of thousands of Ming troops in Songshan City.

This time, Huang Taiji was not polite, and ordered the army to besiege Songshan City to the death, and not to let go of any Ming army, as for those Ming troops who fled to the direction of Ningyuan, they could not be ignored, and there were Dolgon, Duoduo and Abatai and others to deal with.

Azig and Yue Tuo and others were in a happy mood this time, they led the army to chase and kill the Ming army, without encountering any resistance, they killed the Ming army I don't know how many, there are also a large number of surrendered Ming troops along the road, but most of the surrendered Ming troops were ruthlessly killed, after all, it is the critical moment of the battle, who knows if these surrendered Ming troops will be backwater again, and there is not so much food and grass.

Had it not been for Huang Taiji's order, Azig and Yue Tuo would have killed more of the surrendered Ming troops.

Hong Chengchou, who entered the city of Songshan, counted the number of the army, and he was desperate to find that the 100,000 troops that set out from Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan are now less than 60,000 left, and Tashan and Xingshan were captured by the Eight Banners Army, that is to say, in just over 20 days, the army lost more than 40,000 people.

This was an unacceptable defeat, but the crisis still existed, and the remaining army was surrounded in Matsuyama Castle, lacking food and grass, and it was not known how long it would last.

The situation that made Hong Chengchou even more desperate soon appeared, and Dolgon and Abatai led a large army to Songshan, and brought a large amount of grain and grass, and the Eight Banners Army had enough food and grass.

The Eight Banners Army, which was surrounded outside the city of Songshan, was not in a hurry to attack at all, but surrounded the city to the ground.

The army withdrew to Songshan City, and all the grain and grass carried were lost, and the grain and grass in Songshan City could not be maintained at all.

The tragic battle unfolded outside the Songshan city, and the army rushed out of the city one after another, but it was soon surrounded by the Eight Banners Army outside, and the screams were endless, a large number of sergeants fell, and the sergeants who could break through were pitiful, in fact, even if these sergeants broke out, the situation was not optimistic, and the Eight Banners Army led by Duoduo was still waiting between Tashan and Ningyuan.

Hong Chengchou, who was about to commit suicide several times, was dissuaded by the prison army Du Xun.

After three days passed, Hong Chengchou knew that all hopes were dashed, and he was ready to lead the army to break through.

It's a pity that he Hong Chengchou has long become the object of Huang Taiji's attention, when the army he led rushed out of Songshan City, he was greeted by countless Eight Banner Army, and Huang Taiji even ordered the Eight Banner Army to let go of part of the Ming army that broke through and concentrate all its forces to besiege him.

It was also in this process that Du Xun, the overseer, took the opportunity to evacuate Songshan.

When the soldiers around him fell, Hong Chengchou calmly looked at the Eight Banners Army around him, this was the biggest failure in his life, an irreparable failure, he didn't know what he was wrong about, why did this happen, what appeared in his mind at this moment was Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun, if Zheng Jiajun participated in the battle, would there still be such a situation.

After the great victory in the Battle of Songshan, Huang Taiji did not stop, he quickly led the army back to Jinzhou, and began a real attack on the city of Jinzhou.

The attack lasted less than ten days, the battle was very fierce, the Eight Banners Army, which had not suffered too many losses, the losses this time were heavy, and it took the lives of nearly 20,000 soldiers to capture Jinzhou City, and Zu Dashou, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan stationed in the city, was captured alive again.

Then Duoduo led the army and began the attack on Ningyuan City, the Ming army stationed in Ningyuan City, did not wait for the attack of the Eight Banners Army, they took the initiative to evacuate and went to Shanhaiguan, and it was Du Xun who fled to Ningyuan with great difficulty to make this decision, Du Xun knew that with the strength in his hands, there was no way to resist the attack of the Eight Banners Army.

By mid-April, the remarkable Battle of Liaoxi was basically over.

Of the nearly 200,000 troops led by Hong Chengchou, only 80,000 were finally evacuated to Shanhaiguan, more than 50,000 sergeants were killed by the Eighth Banner Army, and nearly 50,000 of Jin's sergeants after surrendering, and more than 10,000 people were missing.

The life and death of the crown prince Taibao, the military department Shangshu, and the governor of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou, are unknown, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan Zu Dashou was captured alive, and Wang Pu, the chief soldier of Datong, was killed in battle.

This is an unbelievable fiasco, even if it was the previous battle of the Daling River, the battle of Sarhu, the Ming court did not suffer such heavy losses, the loss of troops not to mention for the time being, after the battle of Liaoxi, the Ming court completely lost control of Jinzhou, Ningyuan and other places, and the Guanning Jin defense line that had been painstakingly built for many years was destroyed in one fell swoop.

Such an ending is unimaginable and even more difficult for the emperor and the court to accept. (To be continued......)