In the bitter cold of the far north, the vast expanse of Siberia is covered with snow.

In the depths of the Outer Xing'an Mountains, the towering ancient trees soar into the sky, and the birds and beasts in the forest are quiet and peaceful.

Suddenly, a team of strangely dressed centaurs came out of the depths of the forest and immediately frightened away the nearby birds and beasts.

This team of men and horses is somewhat like the Mongolian cavalry of the Mengyuan period, but looking at their pale faces, they are not of the Yadong race.

They were the advance corps of the Russian Empire - Cossack rangers tasked with finding their way to the Far East.

Out of this primeval forest, there is a large open land outside, and the surging water of the Heilongjiang River flows eastward.

"What a great plain!"

A cadre of Cossack cavalry shouted excitedly, and they finally found a steppe in the Far East that could be used for grazing.

"This was once the Nuergan jurisdiction of the Ming Empire, and later it was controlled by the Jurchens, and now Huang Taiji allows us to come here to graze, and it won't be long before this is the territory of the Russian Empire!"

One soldier asked, "Why didn't you see a single Jurchen along the way?" Such a large land is unguarded! ”

The leader of the officer's name was Dharmaji, and he only heard him reply: "I heard that in order to fight against the Ming Dynasty, because of the lack of troops and population, all the Jurchens in Beishan and Xihai have moved south to Shenyang, which is regarded as a holy place by Huang Taiji's father, Nurhachi, and no one is allowed to enter!" ”

"Then we are allowed to come in, then aren't we the saints they call them?"

A group of soldiers burst into laughter, and the depression of the long journey was swept away.

Damoki brought a total of 500 soldiers, and every 100 miles he passed, he built a small military station, and then flew the national flag as a pretext for his future occupation.

After repairing a military station, Damoji left twenty soldiers in the garrison, and then led the rest of the men on an eastward march. Their goal was to go all the way east to the Pacific Ocean in search of an outlet to the sea.

On this day, the Dharma Sect arrived at the Hagu River. The river is deep and wide, and it flows endlessly to the east.

After observing the water situation, Damoji expected that the river should go straight to the sea, so he ordered to speed up.

However, after only walking eighty miles, he suddenly noticed that a boat appeared on the Hagu River.

Damoki thought it was a Manchu ship, and brought people to quickly kao close. I didn't think about it, but when I got closer, I was surprised.

"This is- this is the warship of the Ming Empire!"

Damoji and the others were dumbfounded, and stood on the north bank of the river on horseback and froze.

The ships on the river were the warships of the Jiangfang Fleet sent by the Liaodong Governor's Office to guard the Far North Military Horse Farm, and the sailors on the warships had already seen Dharma and his party with a clairvoyant eye, and they had already entered a combat state.

"This is the patrol ship of the Ming Empire's river defense fleet, who is coming?"

Dharma hurriedly called out for an interpreter and translated their intentions to the other party.

"It's Russian?"

The captain of the warship was surprised and puzzled, and after some discussion with the first mate, he decided to take them back to Nuergancheng and hand them over to the garrison commander. After all, firing at the Russians would cause the two countries to engage in military exchanges, and the captain could not afford to take this responsibility.

The captain invited more than 50 people, including Damoji, to board the ship and take them to Nuergancheng as guests. After thinking about it left and right, Damoji accepted the other party's invitation. After all, they are guests, they don't know how the warships of the Ming Empire appeared here, and they need to find out the truth of the other party.

Heading east along the Hagu River, Damoki and his men were stunned by the scene on the shore.

Under the blue sky, a gust of spring breeze swept by, and countless war horses suddenly appeared on the grassland. With Dharmaki's eyes, he suddenly discovered the special features of these war horses.

"This is not a little war horse of the East!"

Damoji shook his head suddenly, and the captain smiled: "Your country is in Europe, you should know these war horses!" ”

The captain gave guidance to Damoji and others, here are the Spanish Andalusian war horses, the British Charr heavy horses, as well as the French Alden war horses, the Nordic Sweden and the Hanoverian war horses of the Holy Roman Empire, etc., as well as the wild horses from the local bloodline of the Far North Military Horse Farm, the first-class Mongolian war horses, and the best war horses from various countries secretly obtained from the imperial horse farm of the Ming Imperial Palace.

These horses were divided into areas for individual breeding and breeding, and their main purpose was to breed high-quality war horses that were in line with the Far East.

They had seen a horse farm, but it was the first time they had seen such a large horse farm.

Damoki asked in surprise: "How did you get so many world-famous horses?" ”

The captain said proudly: "We have too many allies, Spain, England, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and even the Holy Roman Empire are close to us!" These horses were supplied to us by them! ”

The British East India Company provided 5,000 Charr heavy horses to the Liaodong Governorate every year, and the East India Company in Sweden, Norway and other countries would also provide 1,000 or 2,000 war horses. Spain, the Philippines and Mexico provide 30,000 war horses and 40,000 horses every year, plus this Nuergan area was originally a grazing area for the Haixi Jurchens and Beishan Jurchens, and since they moved south, there are many wild horses here, and thousands or even tens of thousands of horses can be captured every year.

When Damoji heard this, his heart was cold. He couldn't trust the captain's words, but he believed ninety percent. After all, the real war horse was running on the grassland, and he couldn't help but believe it.

This Dharma has lived with war horses since he was a child, and he knows the characteristics of horses too well. All kinds of war horses on the shore, he knew at a glance what breed it was, and what the quality was.

Undoubtedly, these war horses are the best military horses used by European powers, from the popular Andalusian light war horses in Europe and the United States, to the almost extinct Bershuren heavy war horses, from the Mexican light horses, to the British Shire heavy horses, almost all the world's excellent war horses are here.

What's more, the Orientals are lightweight, and even if they use Andalusian light horses, they can also be equipped with heavy cavalry armor and weapons without affecting the horse's mobility.

The Dharma knew this, because their Cossacks weighed less than normal Europeans because of their mixture of white European and Asian Mongol blood, so that they used European war horses from the Don Valley, which eventually created a powerful Cossack dragoon.

Now that the Ming Empire is raising European war horses on a large scale, what do they want? These horses won't be used for viewing!

For the first time, Dharmaki was afraid in his heart, he knew what the population of the Ming Empire was, and how terrible this war machine would be once it was put into operation.

At this time, the warships had already crossed the Hagu River and entered the Mangge River (Heilongjiang), and there were more and more warships on the river, and they would encounter a warship every half an hour.

With mixed feelings, Damoji and his entourage arrived at Nuergancheng at the mouth of the Heilongjiang River.

Someone had already informed Major General Han Bing, commander of the Nuergan garrison.

Han Bing was taken aback when he learned that an outsider had entered the range of the Far North Military Horse Farm. Although it was not a Manchu work, it was certainly not a good thing for the Russians to come to the Far East.

Han Bing postponed his meeting with Damoji, and first met with the captain who received Damoji and his party, and after learning about their situation, Han Bing held a welcome banquet in the afternoon.

Damoki didn't dare to say what they really meant, only that they were allowed to graze here.

Who approved them? Han Bing didn't need the other party to answer, he already knew in his heart that there was no one else except Huang Taiji.

"I don't think you have to go any further east!" Han Bing said: "Fifty miles east from here is the sea!" Besides, strictly speaking, you don't have an official guide from the Ming Empire, and you have violated the laws of the Ming Empire by crossing the Black Mountain! ”

Damoki was stunned, and his subordinates were nervous.

At this time, Han Bing smiled and said, "But you have extenuating circumstances. Now is an extraordinary period, the Ming Empire used to be unfavorable to the Manchu rebellion, and the land in this region was lost, which cannot be blamed on you. However, now that the Nuergan region has restored normal order to the Ming Empire, you can't continue to go east! ”

Dharma nodded and said, "We're just here to have a look, and since the east is already the sea, then we can't go there, so let's go back the way we came!" ”

Han Bing stayed in Damoji for a day, replenished his supplies, and took him to the beach to have a look by the way, but his mind was gone.

The next day, Damoji and his party returned the same way, and Han Bing sent a warship to see them off, and sent a reconnaissance company to quietly follow them.

Sending the Russians away, Han Bing summoned the ministry to a meeting.

The Russians discovered the military horse farm, and since they were able to resist it, it means that the Manchus had reached an agreement with them, so they let them over. This shows that the news of the establishment of a military horse farm here by the Liaodong Governor's Office will soon reach the ears of Huang Taiji, and the combat preparation task of the military horse farm will become tense.

Han Bing then sent a commissioner to return to the Liaodong Governor's Mansion with his letter, to report to the General Staff what was happening here, and to ask the General Staff to make arrangements as soon as possible.

Over there, Damoki returned all the way to the military station at the foot of the Trans-Khingan Mountains and immediately wrote to Commander Khabarov in the city of Yakutsk. In the letter, he wrote:

"Honorable Commander Khabarov, Major Damoki of the Advance Corps salutes you. According to your orders, I led 500 warriors all the way to the east, and now I have arrived at your Barbarian River Station, which is 3,000 miles away from the city of Yakutsk. Thank God that we have carved out three thousand miles of fertile ground to the east. But what I have to tell you is that we are in trouble, a huge one. ”

Damoji continued: "The war situation in the Far East is not as you say, the Manchu emperor Huang Taiji is not as powerful as he imagined, at least the Ming Empire has begun to fight back. We ran into the warships of the Ming Empire on the Hate Ancient River, eighty miles east of your Manian River, and damn it, they had already driven the warships here. They had regained control over the Nuergan region and established a vast horse farm there with 100,000 horses of the finest from Europe and the Americas. What do they want to do? I think you've got the idea. We found an outlet to the sea, a few dozen miles east of the city of Nuergan. Yes, I see the sea, it is magnificent, and I hope that the imperial army will soon advance eastward and seize this outlet to the sea, as well as the vast plains of the fertile fields. ”

Looking outside, Damoki continued: "These soldiers of the Ming Empire are very powerful, and I can feel the power of their muskets. They had Spain, England, France, Sweden, Norway and other powerful countries as allies, it was true, I could see the Spanish text on their muskets. I have reservations about the Empire's alliance with the Manchus for now, and I hope you'll notice the changes here. Well, that's it! Respectable commander put it aside, I have to stop, because the Ming scouts outside have already followed, and the outside has to abandon this station, you can understand, this is the land of the Ming Dynasty, and they have the right to do so. Salute, God with you and me. ”

After writing the letter, Damoji sent people to the base camp on fast horses, while he left the military station with the rest of the people and entered the Outer Khing'an Mountains, taking the officers and soldiers of the reconnaissance company sent by Han Bing in circles.

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When the news of Deng Haonan's southward suppression of bandits reached Shenyang, Huang Taiji immediately convened an emergency meeting to discuss the situation and make arrangements for strategic and tactical actions.

Since the Liaoshen War, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has suffered heavy losses, most of the Liaodong Peninsula has been recaptured by the Liaodong Army, and the capital Shenyang has been surrounded on three sides, and the shape is steep.

Although the Russian Empire had sent 50 heavy artillery pieces and 5,000 muskets to defend the city, and the city defense of Shenyang had been strengthened, it was far from the expansion of the Liaodong Army.

After the Liaoshen War, more than 100,000 troops in western Liaoning have now all changed into military uniforms and weapons issued by the Liaodong Governor's Office, eating the military salaries and grain and grass of the Liaodong Governor's Mansion.

In their words, following Deng Haonan, the Duke of Liao, does not worry about the future (money).

In the palace chamber, Dai Shan, Amin, Dolgon, Fan Wencheng, Geng Zhongming, Kong Youde and others gathered together.

Amin spoke first, "Great Khan, the Liaodong Army has sent 100,000 people south to suppress the bandits, then the defense of Liaodong must be empty, and it is a good opportunity for us to send troops to avenge Azig and Mang Gurtai!" ”

Dai Shan, Kong Youde and others drank together, and Fan Wencheng, Dolgon and others were silent.

Huang Taiji looked at Fan Wencheng, who then said: "Will Deng Haonan give up the foundation of the Liaodong Governor's Mansion and go all the way south to suppress the bandits?" ”

A sentence suddenly froze the air in the room.

Oh, yes! Leaving his own house unguarded and running to take care of other people's affairs, this is not like Deng Haonan's style! No one would do that!

Dolgon asked, "What does Master Fan mean that Deng Haonan went south to suppress bandits this time?" ”

"He didn't cheat that time?"

Dai Shan was deeply affected, and this was a sudden aftertaste. has been calculated by Deng Haonan many times before, and now Dai Shan is like a frightened bird.

Dolgon said: "In return this time, Deng Haonan did send troops south to suppress bandits. That White Lotus Sect gathered millions of people, that is, one million pigs, and Deng Haonan had to send 100,000 people to catch it! ”

Fan Wencheng nodded and said, "That's right! It's true that Deng Haonan went south to suppress bandits, but I'm afraid that he has water in his troops! These 100,000 people may be true, but they are definitely not elites, at most only 50,000 elites have been transferred, and the rest are supplemented by new recruits! ”

Huang Taiji frowned and asked, "It is also possible that he is ready to make a desperate bet and mobilize the elite to deal with the White Lotus Sect with all his might, intending to quell the rebellion in a short time, so that before we can make any moves, he can end the battle and transfer the main force back!" ”

Fan Wencheng was stunned, seeing what Huang Taiji meant, he was already ready to go to war in his heart.

In the end, do you want to persuade or not? Fan Wencheng muttered in his heart. Recently, Huang Taiji's temperament has been uncertain, and he has killed several long-winded officials. For Fan Wencheng, self-preservation has always been his motto.

"There is some truth in the Great Khan's analysis!"

Dai Shan said: "Where is the elite of the Liaodong Army, we only need to try it!" ”

Huang Taiji nodded and said, "Dai Shan listened to the order and ordered you to lead the troops to attack Dongningwei and test the enemy's reality!" ”

Acting for good.

The next day, Dai Shanqi raised an army of 20,000, took Kong Youdehan's army of 30,000, and carried 20 artillery pieces to Dongningwei.

Two days later, Dai Shan launched an attack on the city of Weibei in Dongning. The defenders of Dongning fought back, but with the order of Shangfeng, most of the cannons at the head of the city were unloaded, and only the level of artillery bombardment with the enemy was maintained, and at the same time it was forbidden to go out of the city to pursue the enemy.

In this way, compared with the spectacular scene of dozens of cannons firing a salvo in the past, now the Dongning defenders only use 25 artillery pieces to bombard the enemy at the north gate.

After Dai Shan tried it, he hurriedly reported back to Huang Taiji. Huang Taiji was overjoyed when he heard this, and judged that the main force of the Liaodong Army was not there, and the artillery in the city was transported away.

Huang Taiji then ordered to mobilize all the main forces, storm Dongningwei, recapture Dongning, and relieve the siege of Shenyang.

Fan Wencheng knew that this temptation was by no means so simple, and the other party was likely to set a trap for Dai Shan and deliberately show weakness. Once Huang Taiji stormed Dongningwei and the number of troops defending Shenyang was reduced, wouldn't it be bad if the enemy divided his troops to attack!

"Great Khan!" Fan Wencheng came out and said: "Qi Great Khan, now that the main force of the Liaodong Army is heading south, we might as well order the Mongolian tribes to join the alliance, knock on the Great Wall and enter Beijing directly!" ”

Dolgon asked, "What kind of calculation is it to make a detour through Mongolia to enter the customs without unlocking Dongning first?" ”

Fan Wencheng said: "In the last war, with Deng Haonan's strength, he could have broken through Shenyang a long time ago, but he didn't do that!" Therefore, Weichen thought that Deng Haonan wanted to use us to threaten the Ming court. If we lose, for the Ming court, Deng Haonan will undoubtedly be the end of the cunning rabbit and the death of the lackey. Deng Haonan didn't want to break this balance, so he chose to strike with us! If we take the opportunity to fight back, Deng Haonan will definitely give up going south and return to Liaodong, which will be even more detrimental to our security. ”

Huang Taiji nodded and said, "What Fan Aiqing said is very true! The Ming court has just experienced the rebellion of the nine towns of the Great Wall, the governor of the three sides Yang He took away most of the troops in Shaanxi to suppress bandits, his son Yang Sichang in Jiangxi and another 100,000 forbidden army, now the Ming court Beijing division is less than 100,000 troops, the Great Wall towns except Liaodong Town, the other towns are insufficient, and the Great Wall is in disrepair, it is the time for us to break through! ”

Amin said: "The Great Khan has long deployed this plan, but it has never had a chance to implement it, and now it is God wishing us, and the Great Khan will definitely be able to lead us to break through Beijing!" ”

Huang Taiji was very happy, so he ordered: "Send the order down and inform the Mongolian tribes to meet the alliance in Kazakhstan!" ”