From the most cutting-edge Song Hongye to the Golden Scale Society in various industries, every eyeliner in Beijing has formed an impenetrable intelligence network. From the changes in Dorgon's mood to the transfer of the bannermen of the villages, they were all presented to Zhu Cihong's desk as quickly as possible.

Although the Manchurians expelled the Han people from Beijing and established a closed Manchurian city, the grain and grass used in the mobilization of the army and the requisitioned strong men were not kept secret, which also made it easy for Zhu Cihong and his staff team to analyze the movements and movements of the Eastern army.

In August of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng issued a plaque in Shaanxi, announcing to the world, claiming to lead a million-strong army to drive the expedition in person, to expel the Tartars and restore Beijing. Everyone knows that if it is claimed to be one million, it is estimated that there are only five or six hundred thousand auxiliary soldiers, and if you only talk about soldiers, it would be terrible to have more than one hundred or twenty thousand.

However, Dolgon was still stimulated, and refused to give up Shanxi, which was in his mouth, and was bent on confronting Li Zicheng across the river, and urged Bahana and Shi Tingzhu to advance westward three times a day, seize Taiyuan as soon as possible, and consolidate Shanxi.

Of course, Bahana and Shi Tingzhu discovered the movements of the Ming army, and also discovered that there was a Ming army of thousands of people in Wudi County, eyeing Cangzhou. Because of the high sense of secrecy of the Donggong army, the harvest operation did not leak the slightest rumor, which made them think that this Ming army was just guarding against the Manchurian troops going south, and they never believed that they dared to take the initiative to attack.

On the third day of the eighth month, Bahana and Shi Tingzhu finally led their troops westward, leaving only a few hundred miscellaneous soldiers in Cangzhou.

Wang Aoyong, the ambassador of Shandong, the head of the household and the Ministry of Works, stood at the head of the city, looking at the Manchurian soldiers who were gradually moving away, and his heart was mixed with fear and worry. From this moment on, the heavy responsibility of Cangzhou's city defense fell on his head. Once the Ming army comes, will it rely on these miscellaneous soldiers to defend it? Wherever the blame for losing the land is placed, it is the crime of cutting off the head!

Unless...... Wang Aoyong quickly thought of a way to save his life.

……

On the 6th day of the first month of August, the day after the Eastern Capture Army entered Shenzhou. The three thousand headquarters of the second battalion of the guards under Xiao Donglou attacked the three counties of Qingyun, Yanshan, and Nanpi under the jurisdiction of Cangzhou with lightning speed. Therefore, Wang Aoyong, the governor of Tongzhou in the Ming Dynasty, sent people to meet Wang Shi and recover Cangzhou.

Chen De's labor camp began the renovation of the city that night, and it was already planned that the Shandong administrative officials would enter the city overnight to count the population and set up a household registration.

After dawn, the gates of the counties were closed. Under martial law, anyone who dared to walk around the streets without a household register was put into a hard labor camp. Only after the completion of the city's household registration can the family claim it, and they also need to be guaranteed by the governor to make up the household registration.

After Xiao Donglou occupied Cangzhou, he immediately led his troops to the west and pursued the Dongyu closely.

Bahana and Shi Tingzhu only learned about the loss of Cangzhou on the eighth day of the first month, and one day earlier. That is, on the seventh day of the first month of August, they had already received news from Wuqiang County: the Ming army besieged the county seat, and the county order did not hesitate to open the city and surrender.

"Withdraw?" Shi Tingzhu cautiously said to Bahana.

Bahana grinded his back molars and said, "Withdraw? Aren't you afraid that the regent will cut off your head and your family will be enslaved? ”

"The back road of our army has been cut off." Shi Tingzhu insisted: "Cangzhou changed hands on the 6th, Wuqiang fell on the 7th, this Ming army is obviously going to surround our army and attack it!" If my prediction is correct, I am afraid that it must have fallen into the hands of the Ming army by now! ”

Bahana glared at Shi Tingzhu. Said: "My Qing army is invincible, and the Ming army is just picking and choosing cheap!" Shi Tingzhu. Why are you so timid when you enter the customs? Didn't you enter the Han army banner and become infected with Nikan's cowardice! ”

Shi Tingzhu was also angry, and pulled the reins: "I'm because I suffered a loss, remember to fight!" You and I have already borne the sin of rash advances, and if there is a mistake this time. I'm afraid you and my family will have to go to Xinzheku as slaves! ”

Bahana was poked in the soft spot by Shi Tingzhu, and said, "This time we are not rash with light troops, but under the military orders of the regent. Besides, if you don't take this road, which way to go to Shanxi? ”

Shi Tingzhu was also quite depressed. From Zhending, it is the nearest road that goes straight to the city of Taiyuan. If it is a detour, it is equivalent to going back to Beijing and then going west. In this way, it is absolutely impossible to reach Taiyuan on the day of the siege.

"The regent should have sent a large army a long time ago to defend it!" Shi Tingzhu said depressedly.

Bahana gritted his teeth and said, "It is long overdue to send a large army south to destroy that Nikan first!" Hmph, Flying Tiger Flag, I will never forget it in my life! If you encounter this group of centaurs in the future, you must kill them all! ”

Shi Tingzhu frowned and said, "Let's either turn to the north now and take the Bauhinia Pass to enter Jin." Or take a gamble and see if you really haven't fallen yet. ”

"So what are you waiting for? I'll lead the army first, and you'll chase after you quickly! Bahana said hurriedly.

The Eight Banners Han Army was a heavy firearms unit of the Manchurians, not only equipped with a large number of bird guns, but also brought a Shenwei General Cannon, and a total of ten small Hongyi cannons of other styles.

Shenwei General Cannon is a specialty of Jinzhou, that is, the most advanced iron body copper core cannon in the world today. This kind of cannon began to equip Liaozhen in the first year of Chongzhen, and the Manchurians obtained this kind of cast cannon jishu after occupying Jinzhou in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen.

General Shenwei's cannon weighs 3,800 catties, uses 5 catties of medicine, weighs 10 catties of iron, and is equipped with a gun carriage. With such a heavy weight, you can imagine how slow it would be to travel on an unbuilt dirt road. Bahana had long been impatient to take these cannons on the road, but because these cannons were a siege weapon, and without artillery, the Manchurians didn't know how to attack the city, so they had to bring them.

Shi Tingzhu was very dissatisfied with Bahana's behavior of abandoning his teammates, and said: "Even if you rush to the city of Taiyuan, what is the use of not having artillery? What's more, since Nikan occupies Wuqiang, who knows that he will not follow and attack? When the time comes, the Shenwei cannon will be lost, and you and I will pay for it with our lives! ”

Bahana thought about it and made sense, so he had to urge: "Then recruit more people and rush to Zhending as soon as possible!" ”

Shi Tingzhu nodded in agreement.

In fact, the Qing army has tied all the strong men that can be collected along the way to the army and undertake labor. For them, these nikans are consumables, and they don't have to worry about their life or death at all. If you are tired and starved, you don't need to think about logistical pressure.

If such an act was in the Ming army, it would definitely be evaluated as "tyrannical" by the imperial history, but it was taken for granted in the Qing army. As long as he did not order the slaughter of the city or the burning of the city, this level could already be regarded as "no crime in autumn".

From a strategic point of view, the Qing army's actions also caused the subsequent Ming army to have no civilian service to replace, and there was no way to collect grain, so it could only be adjusted from the south, which objectively delayed the speed of Xiao Donglou's march.

While Shi Tingzhu and Bahana accelerated their march, the 1000th Headquarters of the 3rd Guards Battalion of the Tannin Division, under the leadership of the Thousand Commander Huixian, settled in Zhending Mansion and launched a defense. In just half a year, Zhending Mansion ushered in the Shun army and the Qing army one after another, and now the Ming officers and soldiers have arrived, and the sign of "Greeting the King" has lost its new color.

Zhu Cihong and Xiao Mo also moved to Shulu County's Lianguandian on the same day, closing the door of the Eastern Capture Army.

This day was the eighth day of the eighth month of August, and the Fourth Route Army successfully completed their respective deployments without encountering any accidents. Although the plan was strictly implemented and there was sufficient intelligence support, it was still a miracle that such a division of troops coordinated in an era when there was no radio, and all relied on dutiful Tang horses to run back and forth and deliver news.

"Report!" Tang Ma rushed into the first battalion and went straight to the front of the Chinese army's tent: "Xiao Tugeng, the general of the firearms department, was ordered to come and ask for an audience. ”

Zhu Cihong was quite surprised, and said to Xiao Mo: "I really let him catch up!" He turned his head and said, "Pass in." ”

After a while, the dusty Xiao Tugeng stood in front of Zhu Cihong, gave the East Palace military salute, and said loudly: "Humble Xiao Tugeng came to report!" Thirty new cast iron copper core cannons were successfully delivered. ”

"Yes, pretty good." Zhu Cihong looked at this old man from the East Palace and said with a smile: "How is the performance of the new cannon?" ”

Xiao Tugeng swept away his fatigue and burst into a bright smile: "The new artillery system is like a seven-gun system, you can put an extra pound of gunpowder, and you can break through the target wall at a distance of 200 zhang." Oh, the new cannon uses the internal cooling method mentioned by His Highness, so that the inner core is cooled first, which can indeed effectively enhance the performance of the artillery. ”

Zhu Cihong knows that this internal cooling method is by no means as simple as adding a water-cooled pipe in the mold, the water flow speed is slow and the best effect cannot be obtained, and the speed is too fast and will cause the inner wall of the gun chamber to crack, and the optimal water-cooling speed must be found through a large number of constant speed experiments. In this era when there are no thermometers and flow meters, you can imagine how much effort and cost it takes to make such an experiment happen.

Zhu Cihong patted Xiao Tugeng with satisfaction, and was about to praise, only to see another Tangmalai newspaper outside: "Your Highness, you are in an emergency!" (To be continued......)

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