The weather is clear and the line of sight is good, and you can see that it is unobstructed. Behind a small dirt slope six or seven miles from Shanhaiguan, a company of Daping Army cavalry was dismounting and resting.

Many soldiers are feeding their horses black beans and fritters. A few of them loved cleanliness, and even took out the hair of the horse brush to comb the warhorse. Seeing that a few companions on the top of the slope were still vigilantly looking in the direction of Shanhaiguan, without any alarm, the soldiers began to chat.

"Li Lian! Why didn't the Tartars come today? It couldn't be that we fought too hard a few days ago! A young soldier who was still childish asked.

"Zhilu said! When they come out, I'll tell you? The company commander replied half-jokingly. There was a burst of snickering from the surrounding soldiers.

"How can it! How could it! The young soldier obviously couldn't bear his company commander's joke, "I just want to kill more enemies!" It's best for me to ...... It's better that we even make a big contribution. ”

"Want to jump over the dragon gate?" Looking at the young soldier whose face was flushed, Company Commander Li said with a smile, "Look at this situation, it's going to be soon, but you have to live until after the war." ”

Then the company commander Li shouted to his soldiers: "Remember! You have to do exactly what you usually practice, so that you have the highest chance of surviving. I guess the battle is about to start, and I hope to drink with all the brethren after the war! ”

"Huh!" The soldiers nodded in agreement.

For more than a month, the strangulation battle between the two sides in front of Shanhaiguan has intensified. So the spies who went out gradually went from single to double riding, and then to the squad. And now it has grown to a company of hundreds of people.

And scouts of this scale are not only reconnaissance intelligence, they often have to undertake the task of fire reconnaissance. If in the process of scouting. Once encountering a small group of cavalry of the Qing army, the reconnaissance and cavalry company of the Daping army will go up to try the results, so as to judge whether the main force of the Qing army has arrived?

In the past few days of firepower reconnaissance, the reconnaissance cavalry of the Daping Army has also felt more and more difficult. Even in the fight of hundreds of people, both sides were able to fight to the death without retreating after more than 20% of the casualties. If you just talk about combat skills, some of the elite Mongol and Han armies that surrendered to the Manchus were equally outstanding. But to talk about the will to fight. That's the real Eight Banners.

……

Everyone chatted and chatted, and gradually became up from the south to the north. Suddenly, the sentry observing from the top of the slope whispered, "Li Lian! The Tartars are out! The Tartars are out! ”

This sentence is like a signal. All the soldiers were electrified at once. While getting on the horse, the company commander Li shouted: "Check your weapons and prepare for battle!" ”

Unexpectedly, the sentry continued to remind: "It's the Tartars' army that has left the customs." ”

All the people drove to the top of the hill, and their faces suddenly became solemn. I saw the gate of Shanhaiguan in the distance wide open. A team of Qing troops rushed out of the customs. And the brigade cavalry, which was the vanguard, had formed a fan to clear the field forward.

"It's really going to be a war." Several soldiers muttered.

And Company Commander Li simply counted the Qing troops who had left the customs and said, "Tens of thousands of people have already come out." Go back! Give back to the adults! ”

All the cavalry immediately descended the hill and ran towards the camp of the Daping army, which was fifty miles away from the Shanhai Pass. And the cavalry companies sent out by the Daping Army in all directions also ran towards their rear.

……

On the ninth day of the fifth month, Dolgon led the main force of the Qing army to Shanhaiguan. Then, on the 11th, the Qing army in Shanhaiguan was assembled and a total of 140,000 troops were led out of the customs.

After learning the news of the Qing army's entry into the customs, the six towns of the Daping Army also pressed forward. Pressed to a distance of thirty miles from Shanhaiguan and densed the troops. Narrowed the space for the Qing army to maneuver. Then on the 12th the first battle took place.

On the first day of fighting, both sides fought tepidly. In strict accordance with the usual training, the Daping Army hid behind the carriage and resolutely fought defensive counterattacks. In the face of the tight formation of the Daping army, the Qing army was unwilling to pay heavy casualties to rush into battle. Therefore, after a simple temptation, the two sides withdrew their troops. The same was true of the second and third days of fighting.

On the morning of the fourth day, the Qing army began to attack the northern flank of the Daping army in an uncharacteristic way, trying to break through the defensive line, and then went straight to the city of Beijing, mobilized the main force of the Daping army, and then annihilated the Daping army in a mobile battle.

However, the Daping army, armed with a large number of firearms, had dense firepower, and the front line was rich in layers, so after a fierce battle, the Qing army could only retreat helplessly. However, after the noon break, the Qing army strengthened its forces and still stormed the northern flank of the Daping army.

The defensive line on the northern flank of the Daping Army, which was attacked in the morning, was already somewhat broken. Under the superior strength of the Qing army, the northern flank defense line was somewhat precarious. So Xue Yongli immediately dispatched troops and horses from the middle and south flanks to support the northern flank.

Unexpectedly, this was the Qing army's plan to attack the west. Seeing the transfer of troops from the Daping Army, the Qing Army's Xiao Cavalry Battalion and Pioneer Battalion, under the cover of the Han Army flag, stormed the southern flank of the Daping Army. He wanted to break through the defense line of the Daping Army along the coastline, and then make a large-scale maneuver on the vast plain, give full play to the advantages of the Qing army's strong mobility ability, and seek an opportunity to destroy the Daping Army.

And this sudden onslaught suddenly disrupted the defense line of the Daping Army. Under the continuous attacks of the Qing army, the troops of the Daping Army on the entire southern flank were on the verge of collapse. The commanders of the four regiments fighting on the front line all went into battle to fight, and Xue Yongli even reinforced his own personal troops.

But the experienced Dorgon refused to miss this opportunity. Seeing that the battle situation was favorable, he strengthened the forces of ten Niu Lu on the southern flank. This time, in order to break the blockade of the Daping Army outside the Shanhai Pass, Dolgon did not hesitate to use the strongest elite of the Eight Banners, which can be said to be out of the way.

Fortunately, at this time, Shumo led 10,000 reinforcements to arrive. Wu Shigong, who was in the capital, sent reinforcements as soon as he learned that the Qing army had entered the customs. Seeing that the battle situation was critical, Shumo did not rest at all, and threw himself into the battle on the southern flank.

However, by the time Shumo arrived, a small number of Qing troops had already broken through the southern flank defense of the Daping army. And the entire line of defense is also mired in a scuffle. Fortunately, the arrival of Shumo this time carried 3,000 palm mines made by the Ordnance Army.

At this time, there was no need to save ammunition, and in the indiscriminate bombardment of palm mines, the Qing army, which encountered this weapon for the first time, suffered heavy casualties, and finally they retreated, and the defense line of the Daping army was finally re-established. (To be continued......)