After the rise of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, especially after Huang Taiji took charge of military and political power, after nearly ten years of hard work, the national strength soared. Although every time they can be plundered and returned with a full load, the Shanhaiguan and Ningjin defense lines located in the dangerous places of western Liaoning are like a fishbone stuck in the throat of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so that the Qing army does not dare to stay in the pass for a long time, occupy the stronghold, and even the slightest carelessness will be suffered by the enemy, and the whole army will be annihilated.

To this end, Zu Kefa, a member of the Manchu Inspectorate, and Fan Wencheng, a scholar of the university, proposed that Ningyuan and Jinzhou should be taken first, and the western Liaoning corridor should be opened up, and the troops should be in the Shanhaiguan. Huang Taiji thought so, and waited to use troops against Ning Jin several times, but with little success.

Since last year, Huang Taiji has been accumulating food and salaries with Prince Rui Dolgon and Prince Zheng Zierharang Tuntian Yiju and looting a large amount of grain from Korea for military use. This laid a solid foundation for this expedition to Ningjin. In view of the current battle situation and personal considerations, this expedition to Huang Taiji was imperative for Jinzhou and Ningyuan, so he did not hesitate to recruit all the men over the age of fifteen of the Manchu and Mongolian ethnic groups to reinforce the Dolgon army, and he also personally led 3,000 guards to the front line.

Before Jinzhou was besieged, the guard general Zu Dashou had already received a batch of grain, grass and silver sent from the Guannei, so Jinzhou is currently quite stable in the army, and the city is strong, so it can be defended for a long time. Hong Chengchou also set up a strategy of step-by-step and steady counterattack, relying on strategic points such as Tashan, Songshan, and Xingshan, to consume the Manchu Qing's troops with the tactics of holding each other, and accumulating strength for the final all-out counterattack.

Although the Qing army had reinforcements from the Wuzhen Chaoha artillery unit, the offensive was fierce, but the Ming army was fully prepared and tactically appropriate, so the battle situation once fell into a stalemate, it can be said that the current situation is slightly unfavorable for the Qing army, but the Ming army has a certain initiative.

In this regard, Hong Chengchou is also full of confidence, as long as he firmly implements the established strategy, not to mention winning a battle, forcing the Qing army to withdraw on its own initiative is completely achievable.

But since the end of August, Huang Taiji personally led reinforcements to Qijiabao to supervise the battle, the Qing army began to change tactics, began to frequently send elite cavalry to attack the Ming army's grain road, Dolgon also referred to Zhu Ping'an's tactics in Julu, dug three trenches on the periphery of Songshan, completely cut off the Ming army's rear to the Songshan front line, in order to block the Ming army's logistics supply route.

Even if Hong Chengchou discovered the movements and conspiracy of the Qing army and organized troops to counterattack, the Qing army held on and did not retreat, and the Ming army had nothing to do for a while.

At noon, the troops of Cao Bianjiao, the general soldier of Yutian, withdrew, fought fiercely for two hours, lost more than 1,000 soldiers, and finally took the first trench of the Qing army, but Wuzhen Chaoha's artillery fired a salvo, and the Ming army had no way to hide in the trench, and suffered heavy losses, and the firearms troops in the rear were limited to the firing range and could not respond, so they had to retreat again.

Hong Chengchou blushed his face, slapped his palm on the arm of the chair, and the fierce wind blew his beard one by one, but he couldn't hold back his anger.

If it is really succeeded by the Qing army, the supply of grain and grass of the Ming army will be affected by Yan zhòng, now the Shanhaiguan to Ningjin line, the supply route is long, the Qing army's small cavalry troops will be a headache, if the road on the first line of Songshan is blocked, the supply of grain and grass for the army of more than 100,000 troops will be urgent in less than a month, and then it will be defeated without a fight.

"Mr. Wu!" Hong Chengchou ordered Wu Sangui's general next, "I heard that the Wu family in Liaodong was brave and brave, when Wu Zongbing only relied on thirteen cavalry to open up and break through the east of the army, such as entering a no-man's land, today the army is facing such a predicament, this official intends to see the style of the Liaodong Guanning Army, and watch your troops capture the flag with their own eyes, what does the general think?" ”

Wu Sangui was excited, and although his heart hurt, he still hugged his fists and agreed. But as soon as he turned around, before he got out of the big tent, the sergeant came to report that an envoy from the Beijing division rushed to the front of the army to meet Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou suddenly had a headache. During this month, large and small internal officials and military messengers traveled back and forth between the Jingshi and the Ningjin front, and the orders they brought were all urging him to do his best to solve the Ningjin war. Emperor Chongzhen also highly respected Hong Chengchou's strategy at the beginning, but gradually, the wind direction changed, and Emperor Chongzhen began to vent with Chen Xinjia in one nostril, intentionally or unintentionally, urging Hong Chengchou to end the war and return to Shanxi and Henan with a large army.

At this time, Hong Chengchou had only one hope, that is, he hoped that Ding Qirui and Fu Zonglong could delay the Liukou army for another two to three months, and buy time for the end of the Ningjin War. The messenger of Chen Xinjia of the military department had just left for two days, but he didn't want another messenger to come to the front of the army and teach Hong Chengchou to feel weak.

However, the people from Beijing still have to meet, Hong Chengchou had to personally bring a group of generals to greet him in person, Wu Sangui was also able to follow behind, planning to take a look at the wind direction and then make plans, the three thousand families in his hands are the elite of the Guanning army, but it is also the Wu family and the ancestral family of two generations to create a bloody investment, and the loss of one is distressing.

But when they walked outside the gate, everyone was stunned. There were a total of three envoys from the Beijing Division, and they were all very familiar to everyone, namely Du Xun, the eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor Bingbi, Zhang Ruoqi of the military department, and Ma Shaoyu, the director. Du Xun is an upstart among the internal officials, and he is also an old acquaintance with Gao Qiqian, the current supervisor of Liaodong, and the rest of Zhang Ruoqi and Ma Shaoyu are all confidants of Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the Ministry of War.

Du Xun lost his former majesty, and suddenly rose to a high position in the inner court, which made him a little fascinated for a while, but the matter of He Youling and Liu Zhongshu also brought him in and accepted He Youling's silver, but Du Xun, who did not know it, recklessly interceded for him, but he hit the muzzle of Emperor Chongzhen's gun, although he was not removed from his official position, but he was assigned to the former inspector of military affairs in the Liaodong Army. Du Xun realized at this time that he had fallen for Cao Huachun's scheme, and although he was resentful in his heart, he had no choice but to leave Jingshi obediently.

Therefore, he did not give Hong Chengchou a good face in this announcement. The holy decree is as usual to urge Hong Chengchou to speed up the march of the army, and before Hong Chengchou can explain a thing or two, Du Xun has already lowered his face, "Inspector Hong, our family is preaching the will of the saint, what difficulties do you have, although the above table is, it is useless to tell our family about this hardship!" ”

Zhang Ruoqi on the side picked up the conversation, "The supervisor may still know something, these days the news on the road from Shanhaiguan to the Ningjin line has been cut off, and the eastern soldiers have harassed from time to time. The good teacher knows why the imperial court has repeatedly urged you to send troops to a decisive battle, it is because there have been changes in Henan! ”

Hong Chengchou's face suddenly changed, "Has Henan changed?" ”

"Exactly, Fu Zonglong, the governor of Shaanxi, was defeated in Xiangcheng and was already loyal to the country after being captured, Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai led an army of 500,000 to besiege Nanyang, and Zhang Xianzhong entered Sichuan, and Shu Dao was in an emergency! You say, can the Holy Majesty and the Imperial Court still sit still? ”

Ma Shaoyu said loudly: "Supervisor Mingjian, the cabinet and the imperial court also know your difficulties, but now the situation is urgent, the anti-thieves are attacking Henan, and they are about to approach the front line of Tongguan, Wang Qiaonian has taken over as the governor of Shaanxi, but the troops are scarce, and the imperial court needs elite divisions outside the pass to return to Henan!" What's more, now that the treasury is empty, for the war in Ningjin, the saint has allocated 300,000 taels of silver from the inner treasury to Liaodong, and the grain channel is cut off, and now it can only rely on sea transportation, but it is a drop in the bucket. Jiangnan is in a famine again, if the war in Ningjin drags on again and again, not only Henan and Shanxi can't afford to consume, but even the imperial court can't afford to drag it out! ”

Du Xun said predictively: "This time, the Holy Decree Inspector also understands that the Holy Lord and the cabinet are not consulting with you, but ordering you to attack immediately, solve the battle outside the customs as soon as possible, and wave the army inside the pass!" Please understand this! ”

Hong Chengchou wanted to argue a few more words, but when he heard Du Xun's words, he immediately swallowed back the words that came to his lips. Having said that, especially the defeat of Henan and the martyrdom of Fu Zonglong, the imperial court and Emperor Chongzhen have been forced to the edge of the cliff, and at this time, they can no longer let Hong Chengchou wait indefinitely.

The autumn breeze is cool, Hong Chengchou's heart has already felt the meaning of the cold winter in advance, the Ming army is not good at field warfare, from the beginning of the Yuan Chonghuan era, it will be "with the fortified city, with heavy artillery" tactics to defend the Qing army south, the only field victory in recent years, or Lu Xiangsheng presided over the Julu Battle, that is still thanks to the sharp firearms of the capital at that time. But now the people outside the pass, although there are more than 100,000 people in total, but the Qing army in front of them has also reached more than 100,000.

Wu Sangui and Bai Guangen, Tang Tong, Ma Ke and others quickly exchanged glances, and at the same time found disappointment in the eyes of the other party, they were very sure that if this battle was to be fought according to the will of the imperial court and the military department, it could be said that the odds of victory were only a pitiful forty percent.

For a while, everyone's minds came alive.

Wu Sangui is not a fool, the imperial court's move is to push more than 100,000 troops to the land of no return, even if he wins this battle, it will inevitably be a sea of corpses and blood. This is something that Wu Sangui absolutely cannot accept.

The Wu family has lived outside the customs for generations, and since childhood, they have received the education and influence of the weak and the strong, choosing the opportunity to move, and protecting their lives. The foundation of the Wu family's foothold outside the Guan, and even in the imperial court, to put it bluntly, is actually the thousands of brave and warlike family members in their hands, as well as the rich connections in the Guanning army. Once this battle starts, I am afraid that all the family troops on which the Wu family depends for survival will be thrown in, and they will not even see a splash.

Take 10,000 steps back, even if Hong Chengchou turns the tide and wins the battle, when the time comes, he will return to Beijing in a beautiful manner, but the Wu family has no capital to survive and deter the wealthy families outside the Guan, so wouldn't it be a bamboo basket for nothing.

Thinking of this, Wu Sangui gritted his teeth and made up his mind in an instant.

At this time, after a fierce ideological struggle, Hong Chengchou finally made up his mind, and after a long sigh, he issued an order, "Early tomorrow morning, launch a fierce attack on the defense line of the Eastern Army, and all the armies must work hard to fight each other, and success or failure will be in one fell swoop!" ”R1152