Han Shi's cavalry was indomitable when they charged, but when they returned to Shanhaiguan, they were not collectively excited. When the momentum of slashing people with knives was removed, many officers and soldiers became silent. Dizziness, weak legs, nausea, weakness, nervousness and vomiting, all kinds of manifestations.

Some veterans are laughing at the recruits' nests for seeing blood for the first time, and some company platoon commanders are scolding their rookie eggs. There are also people who go down to the grassroots level like Han Shi to pat the brothers on the shoulders and laugh casually, which makes people feel relaxed.

'Flat hair' fell from the sky, stood on Zhou Qingfeng's shoulder and said, "Mang Gurtai has arrived, just outside the city. When I came back, I saw some of the recruits in the cavalry brigade crying. ”

Zhou Qingfeng stood on the wall, facing the cavalry rushing in, and asked rhetorically: "Why are they crying?" ”

"Probably seeing the heads of my companions separate, or seeing the skin of my enemies peeling off. There were also medical guards who were frightened when they saw the wounded coming out of their intestines. "But not many of your cavalrymen died, less than a hundred." There are many Jurchens on the other side, and they are everywhere. ”

"It's better for recruits to cry by themselves than for their parents, wives and children to cry." Zhou Qingfeng looked back at the outside of the gate, and the desolate world gradually disappeared into the night. The battlefield was quiet with only dead branches, hoof prints, and corpses.

The gates were closed, and the troops counted the casualties.

Han Shi's more than 2,000 people undoubtedly won a big victory, but they also suffered losses. The cavalry collision is a gamble, and it is naturally good to be able to bombard the enemy to death, but there are also those who are hit by the enemy's counterattack, and there are even those who unfortunately fall down.

Arabian horses run fast and are prone to falling if they are slightly hindered. It doesn't matter if you fall and break your hands and feet, you can still be saved. But if you break your neck, it's a life. As for the wounded who were counterattacked by the enemy, the sharp saber did not have a small wound once it was slashed. If you can't stop the bleeding, you'll die in a minute or two.

"Great Marshal, our troops have killed and wounded at least 500 enemies in this sortie, and we have suffered more than 70 losses ourselves. Among them, more than 40 were rescued from minor and serious injuries. Han Shi appeased his subordinates and came to see Zhou Qingfeng with statistics.

The exchange ratio of almost 10 to 1 is already very satisfying. The 'revolutionary army' still has a battlefield first-aid system, and the big ones can still live. For those who are brave in battle, Zhou Qingfeng will take action to treat them, so as to reduce some losses.

Accompanied by Han Shi, Zhou Qingfeng walked around the medical camp, and finally asked, "How do you feel about your opponent?" Is it easy to fight? ”

"It's easy to fight, but it's not easy to fight." Han Shi commented honestly; "We say 'easy to fight' because we have too many advantages. These heavenly war horses brought by the marshal are too strong, the Jurchen cavalry can't catch up, can't escape, can't fight, and it's strange if you don't lose. Saying 'it's hard to fight' is that those barbarians have the strength to work hard. They had few people on the right flank, and they were attacked by us, but they did not retreat. ”

The combat effectiveness of this real Tartar is very different from that of a fake Tartar.

Han Shi also muttered, "We are rushing like a hurricane today, and we can't be stronger." But if the Jurchens are so desperate, they are afraid that it will be difficult to fight in the back, and many people will die. ”

Zhou Qingfeng has formed an army since he started, and his men and horses have never fought any vicious battles, and almost all of the troops are recruits. Whether it was fighting the Ming army, fighting Korea, or fighting the Portuguese, they never encountered that kind of stubborn opponent. Regarding Han Shi's worries, he only said lightly: "If Jiannu is easy to fight, what else do I want you to do?" People's equipment is a little worse, but people's desperate strength is still there. ”

The corruption of the barbarians is a matter after entering the customs, and now they are still very fierce, and they are by no means good. Han Shi was born in the Ming Army, and his military quality has improved, and he is also very satisfied with the battlefield exchange ratio of the current National Defense Army, but he is unwilling to fight hard when he is arrogant and expensive. He thought that if the opponent was not afraid of death at all, he would be very uncomfortable if he had to fight a lot of his own people.

"Jiannu is here to fight hard. I had a feeling that Nurhachi was going to put all his chips on the table. Zhou Qingfeng sighed faintly, which can be regarded as the end of this conversation.

At night, Xu Bing, who had been tired all day, found Zhou Qingfeng, who was in a daze, at the Yamen of the Shanhaiguan General Soldier, and congratulated with a smile: "I heard that Gao Da Niu not only defeated the 'Tianyou' army, but Han Shi's cavalry brigade also won a good start?" ”

Zhou Qingfeng sat in the room and stared at the map, and said in response to the question: "Mang Gurtai didn't run, Bianmao said that he was still outside the city, so he stayed in the big camp left by the 'Tianyou' army before." ”

Xu Bing didn't know why, and asked suspiciously, "Is there anything strange?" Mang Gurtai doesn't run, right? ”

"There are more than 300 miles from Shanhaiguan to Jinzhou, and 30,000 light horsemen from Mang Gurtai have come to kill them, and all food and drink must be supplied by Jinzhou. Such a long transport line can be cut off by our navy everywhere. Did he really think I would be polite to him? Zhou Qingfeng pointed to the middle section of the Liaoxi Corridor on the map, "I only need to deploy a force in the Liuzhou River, and I can cut off the back road of Mang Gurtai." ”

30,000 people had no food or drink, and they had to collapse in less than two days. Mang Gurtai is also a battle-hardened person, so he shouldn't be so stupid.

"Maybe Mang Gurtai is thinking that the direction of Jinzhou can support him." Xu Bing said.

Zhou Qingfeng shook his head, "Impossible, this supply line is too long. Jinzhou just wants to support, and the transportation capacity is a huge burden, and it can't support Mang Gurtai. Unless ......, unless Nurhachi can control Liaodong Bay, he can deal with it calmly. When he said this, he looked back at Xu Bing.

Xu Bing's face suddenly changed greatly, and he asked in disbelief: "Nurhachi doesn't have a warship, how can he control Liaodong Bay?" ”

"He even figured out the brainwashing teaching, what else is impossible?" Zhou Qingfeng has been frowning since this afternoon. Mang Gurtai's determination to go south surprised him very much. After the rout of the 'Tianyou' army and the defeat of the vanguard by the Han Shi Cavalry Brigade, it was even more contrary to common sense that they did not evacuate immediately.

"Today, when I cleaned up the battlefield, I found more than a dozen heavy artillery pieces that Jiannu assigned to the 'Tianyou' army. It was a typical European breech-loading heavy-walled cannon, and these cannons were very well built. The craftsmen of the Ming Weapons Supervisor did not have this technology, and it should have been made by Jiannu recruited Western gunsmiths.

The artillery of the 'Tianyou' army also has a large amount of gunpowder, and the composition ratio is already very scientific. The training of its musketeers and artillerymen is also quite good, and it is by no means the rabble of the past. I conducted a preliminary interrogation of the captives, which resulted in a Dutch instructor training them and a large number of muskets and artillery. ”

Zhou Qingfeng's words made Xu Bing even more surprised, "How is it possible?" We blocked all routes to Liaodong by sea, and there was no way for foreign merchant ships to approach Liaodong. ”

"No, there's a possibility." Zhou Qingfeng pointed to the map again, "From the Sea of Japan to the east of North Korea, you can get close to Liaodong, and from the Tumen River, you can get close to the area of Changbai Mountain." Although the mountains in eastern Liaodong are high and the forests are dense, the roads are difficult to travel, but there are many rivers there. I had used the river to escape Ekhkulen before, and Nurhachi was able to use the river to communicate with the outside world from the east.

As for the Dutch, they had a strong presence in Japan. There is a 'Rangaku' in Japan, which is actually the first to study the Netherlands. It is likely that the Dutch would have entered the Sea of Japan from Nagasaki through the Tsushima Strait, which would have provided Nurhachi with technical and equipment assistance. Under normal circumstances, these two forces cannot fight each other. But I bet that the gentry in Jiangnan must be acting as intermediaries. ”

This situation is really beyond Xu Bing's imagination, she doesn't like to look at maps like Zhou Qingfeng, and she didn't expect Jiannu to have such a way to communicate with the outside world. And in connection with Mang Gurtai's courage to enter the Western Liaoning Corridor, there may be deeper hidden worries behind this.

"Are you worried that the Dutch will come to help Nurhachi take control of Liaodong Bay?"

"We have been occupying Goa for several months and have carried out long-distance transportation to Goa several times. We rely on convenient logistics to dramatically reduce the cost and time of East-West trade, which seems to be beneficial to everyone. But there must be a class with vested interests that are not happy to see this. Especially in East Asia, the European powers are certainly not happy.

Another point is that Westerners nowadays are particularly fond of proselytizing. The madmen of the large number of missionaries who wanted to spread the "gospel of God" throughout the world with such fanaticism were unreasonable. They often do things out of the ordinary, and I can't stop them. ”

"And what do you mean ......?"

"I'm guessing, could it be a fleet from the West that emboldens Manggultai? For example, the Portuguese have an enmity with me, and they will be willing to send a ship from Macao to give me some trouble. In the same way, as long as Nurhachi said that he would give a large sum of money for breaking the Shanhai Pass, the Dutch would not mind intervening. I can even imagine that there is a group of people behind this who are plotting how to give me the fatal blow. ”

Zhou Qingfeng's expected situation made Xu Bing very uneasy, and she asked with a serious face, "Then what should we do now?" Zhou Qingfeng spread his hands and said: "Calm down, war is always strict."

I'm not saying that there must be a Western fleet coming at us. It's always a good idea to think for the worst and be prepared. We continue to prepare for war according to our steps, and the militia mobilized in Tianjin should be able to reach ...... in three days. ”

Xu Bing interrupted: "Tianjin's ship is not so fast. Some of our steam tugs are still unloading their guns, and some of them are heading back to Tianjin, but they are slow. At present, there are only some sailing ships in Tianjin, and now it is a north wind day, and they will not be able to reach Shanhaiguan in three days. The fastest batch also arrives in five days. ”

"It's okay, I'll make a battle plan in five days. Five days later, we cut off Mang Gurtai's return and ate his 30,000 men. Zhou Qingfeng shrugged his shoulders slightly, stared at the map and frowned, and said: "It's almost mid-February, and the north wind has weakened, and occasionally there is a south wind. ”

Just as Zhou Qingfeng was pushing the tide of the battle to the worst, a large number of ships gathered on the coast of Songjiang Mansion, where the small imperial court of the False Ming gathered a large number of troops to prepare for the Northern Expedition. Fan Wencheng, who had sneaked over from Liaodong, stood by the harbor on the coast and looked out, and suddenly shouted to several huge white sails on the sea: "Taixi people, Taixi people's ship, they are coming!" ”