Shanhaiguan.

Liu Zongmin met Li Zicheng alone and said, "Your Majesty, beware of Ma Ke's secret connection with the Tartars!" ”

"I know these generals can't be trusted." Li Zicheng nodded.

Li Zicheng treated the Ming Dynasty troops, due to time reasons, there were two main ways.

One is the officers and soldiers who defended the city and the tomb during Li Zicheng's march and surrendered along the way. These officers and soldiers were basically disbanded on the spot and sent back to their hometowns to farm and farm, and a small number of young and strong men were recruited to supplement the vacancies of the Dashun Army.

One is the Ming border army, because it is inconvenient to move for the time being because it maintains its combat effectiveness, so they let them continue to guard the frontier. If the troops were forcibly disbanded, the border generals were likely to rebel, and Li Zicheng would not have so much time to conquest.

Hong Chengchou belongs to the second type, and Ma Ke also belongs to the second type.

Marco was already good, and in the face of Hauge and Dolgon's attacks, he did not immediately choose to backstab Li Zicheng. He was guarding the city and watching, what if Li Zicheng could kill Huang Taiji?

Now, Li Zicheng retreated to Shanhaiguan, and Ma Ke began to make up his mind.

Li Zicheng said: "There are not many Tartar slaves in the pass, and they are all partial teachers who take a detour to cross the Great Wall. Don't be in a hurry to break through and destroy these partial divisions directly! At that time, relying on Shanhaiguan, if the Tatar chieftain (Huang Taiji) does not withdraw his troops, he will find an opportunity to go out of the customs and fight a decisive battle with him! ”

Liu Zongbin said: "When fighting, take Ma Ke out, and our own people will guard the pass." ”

"Alas, how dare you let him guard the pass?" Li Zicheng sighed.

On this day, the Manchu follow-up troops came. With an army of 60,000 and a large number of grain carriers, it seems that the Tartars have poured out of their nests.

Before the troops were sent in a hurry, Huang Taiji could only mobilize 60,000 troops, but now he has gathered 60,000 troops to kill. Not only that, but in the direction of Lengkou and Xifengkou, there were also thousands of Mongolian cavalry, who crossed the Great Wall and entered the Shanhai Pass.

However, 120,000 troops were dispatched before and after, and there were still more people, and the people of Liaodong had been seriously overdrawn. Once it cannot break down the Shanhaiguan, the Manchu regime will be weak from now on, and I am afraid that it will have to kill the people to protect the grain to survive.

"The Tarslavs have increased their troops again." Liu Zongmin said worriedly.

Li Zicheng calmed himself: "Follow him to increase troops outside the gate, and first destroy the Tartar thieves in the pass." ”

Liu Zongbin led 10,000 troops and was responsible for defending Shanhaiguan.

Li Zicheng led Ma Ke and personally led nearly 60,000 troops to battle, and the front of the troops was directly aimed at Haoge, Dolgon, Tang Tong, Bai Guangen, and Jiang Zhu in the pass.

In the "History of the Ming Dynasty", it is said that Li Zicheng's tactics are "three walls", which is almost certainly made up.

At this moment, Li Zicheng also lined up in a triple formation, with foot soldiers in front, horse teams in the middle, and Xiao cavalry in the rear.

Due to the continuous capture of officers and soldiers' equipment, the elite of the Dashun army wore armor, even the infantry wore high-quality leather armor, and some infantry also wore heavy armor. There were pikemen, archers, and musketeers, and there were not many sword and shield fighters, and the defensive formation was far inferior to that of the Datong Army and the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

"Boom, boom!"

There was a rumbling cannon sound outside the pass, but it was Huang Taiji's main force, which was attacking Shanhaiguan with heavy artillery.

Li Zicheng believed that Liu Zongmin could hold it, so he didn't pay attention to Huangtai at all, and waved his army towards Haoge and Dolgon in the pass.

Hauge and Dolgon rushed to attack in order to make a quick detour, and their commands were all cavalry. They put the general's troops in front and led their cavalry around the battlefield.

Tang Tong, Bai Guangen, Jiang Zhu and other generals were numb by Li Zicheng's army.

On the way to Shanhaiguan, they all selected young and strong men to supplement the number of soldiers, and now each of them commands 5,000 troops, and there are 15,000 Han soldiers alone. It's all a rabble!

"Quickly withdraw to Funing!" Dorgon was shocked.

Hauge said: "Yes, retreat, this battle cannot be fought!" ”

These two famous figures, don't think how brave they are, they also run fast when they encounter danger.

There were still three miles between the two sides, and Haug and Dolgon ran away with their cavalry, throwing the 15,000 infantry of their generals on the battlefield.

"Run!" Tang Tong saw that the situation was not good, and immediately fled with the Jiading cavalry.

The rest of the generals also rushed to flee, and there were only 15,000 Han foot soldiers left on the battlefield.

Most of these Han foot soldiers were ordinary people along the way, and some of them only served as soldiers for a few days. They did not dare to flee back, fearing that they would be forcibly recruited by the Qing army again, so they knelt down and surrendered one after another.

"Chase!"

Li Zicheng didn't bother to pay attention to these soldiers, ordered the foot soldiers to watch the escort, and took the cavalry and horse team to chase straight towards the enemy cavalry.

The cavalry are all elite cavalry, which can charge into battle and shoot on horseback.

Horse corps were much weaker, and although equally armoured, they were more like mounted infantry.

And this horse team is very special, composed of thousands of teenagers, they are Li Zicheng's "children's army". He is usually responsible for guarding and interrogating officials, and is also responsible for publicizing policies everywhere, and is also the executor of all tortures.

When it comes to the "Children's Army", Ming officials can pee their pants in fright.

The commander of the Children's Army is called Zhang Nai, who stood out from many teenagers by virtue of his military exploits, and has now been adopted as a righteous son by Li Zicheng.

"Kill, kill!"

Zhang Nai drew his sword and shouted, thousands of teenagers shouted in unison, riding a war horse and even rushing in front of Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng exclaimed: "Blow the trumpet quickly, let them run slower!" ”

"Woo woo woo ~ ~~~"

The horn sounded, and Zhang Nai hurriedly lowered his horse's speed, waiting for Li Zicheng to catch up.

After moving away from the Shanhaiguan, Hauge and Dolgon burst into laughter.

Li Zicheng was fooled.

Strictly speaking, the Manchu army did not distinguish between infantry and cavalry.

If you have to forcibly define the Manchu cavalry, then it is a very unique mountain cavalry.

They can also ride horses, charge kills, shoot and other skills, but generally do not use them to charge into battle, and are more adept at running and attacking. On a rapid march in the mountainous area, around the predetermined battle site, you can immediately dismount and attack the city, you can also list infantry formations to fight, and you can also conduct cavalry battles at critical times.

If the enemy had a large number of traditional cavalry, the Manchu cavalry would use the routine.

With a loose to outrageous formation, guerrilla warfare and movement warfare were carried out to lure the traditional cavalry out of their own formation.

Constant riding coverage, constant disengagement.

They will set up an ambush in pursuit, or gather superior forces to fight back. Weaken the enemy's morale with cavalry and disrupt the enemy's formation, and then launch a surprise attack from the flanks and rear flanks.

Huang Taiji was very courageous, and gathered 20,000 cavalry for Hauge and Dolgon.

Among them, 3,000 are guarding the grain and grass and Hong Chengchou in Funing, and there are 17,000 horses left in front of them. After they lured Li Zicheng out of their formation, they suddenly scattered into four strands, and slowed down their horses and fired at the rear.

Li Zicheng had tens of thousands of leather armor horses under his command, and thousands of children's military horses, and they also scattered in formation.

The children's military horse team, which can ride and shoot very little, was ordered by Li Zicheng to stay behind and directly charge at the critical moment. Li Zicheng personally led the cavalry and threw it at one of the enemy forces.

At the moment when the two sides approached, hundreds of Manchu cavalry were hit by arrows, but only a dozen people really fell off their horses, and the cotton armor was enough to resist the power of bows and arrows. Moreover, the war horses of the Manchu Qing Dynasty also wore cotton armor pieces in key parts to strengthen the defense of bows and arrows.

Just when Li Zicheng had the advantage, the other three Manchu cavalry suddenly rushed around the flank and threw arrows at the Dashun cavalry.

In the next ten minutes, Li Zicheng was a little stunned, because he had never encountered this kind of play.

A group of Manchu cavalry, risking death to shoot at Li Zicheng in the rain of arrows, while the other three were constantly shooting arrows around the side. When Li Zi divided his troops into a confrontation, the Manchu cavalry suddenly dispersed again, and one group fled in several groups.

To what extent did you end up fighting?

The two sides were divided into countless units, with only a few hundred people each, and they were scattered on the battlefield in a haphazard manner, and the rhythm of the battle was completely controlled by the Manchu cavalry.

Moreover, after the Manchu cavalry was interspersed back and forth, it was possible to quickly merge several forces into one and charge with superior forces in the local battlefield.

It's easy to say, but it's actually very difficult, and it requires a lot of organization and training!

Li Zicheng is very well organized, but he has almost no training in related tactics, because he has never fought such a cavalry battle. Even though there were many Ming border troops under his command, these Ming border troops revolted very early and did not come into contact with the Manchu cavalry tactics that had matured in the past ten years.

After being eaten up by the enemy army with 2,000 cavalry, Li Zicheng awakened his battle consciousness from the sea of blood in the corpse mountain.

"Woooooo

Blowing the trumpet to gather troops, the Dashun cavalry, scattered all over the battlefield, risked death to assemble in the direction of Li Zicheng.

From the battle to the present, at the cost of almost 3,000 casualties, Li Zicheng finally completed the assembly, and then rushed in the direction of the child army desperately.

The Manchu cavalry also joined forces in pursuit, gnawing on the tail of the Datong cavalry all the way.

"Woooooooo

With a loud and rapid horn sound, Zhang Nai led thousands of children to kill, and charged with all his strength at the fastest speed.

This is almost a suicidal charge, although the child army is on horseback, but the essence is still cavalry, weapons and combat skills, can not be compared with real cavalry.

But thousands of teenagers were not afraid, they held infantry spears, and charged towards the Manchu cavalry at the cost of their lives.

Abandoning equipment, relying on fast horses, charging quickly, and fighting at close range, this is the best tactic to deal with the Manchu cavalry. In just over ten minutes, Li Zicheng realized it in the battle!

The children's army happened to lack cavalry equipment, and although the horses were relatively inferior, they ran much faster than the Manchu cavalry.

Seeing this, Haug and Dorgon hurriedly ordered to disperse, intending to repeat their old tricks and eat the children's army and horses.

Under the leadership of Zhang Nai, thousands of children forgot to die, and after being quickly shot and killed, hundreds of people crashed headlong into the scattered formation of the Manchu cavalry.

It doesn't matter if the equipment is inferior, these teenagers are just here to die, one for one, two for one, three for one, all are acceptable.

Li Zicheng also brought Xiao cavalry over to help, and rushed into the Manchu cavalry that was dragged out by the child army under the fire of other small groups of enemy troops.

Tang Tong, Bai Guangen, Jiang Zhu and other generals are all stupid at the moment.

They fled from afar to watch the battle and witnessed the whole battle. So far, the casualties of the Dashun cavalry have been more than 3,000, the casualties of the Dashun children's army have been more than 1,000, and the casualties of the Manchu cavalry have also exceeded 2,000.

Moreover, Li Zicheng has already found a suitable tactic.

The intensity of the war was too high to exceed the imagination of the generals, and they could not understand why neither side was afraid of death.

"Withdraw!"

The Manchu cavalry that was bitten, there were still some left, and they were directly abandoned by Dolgon and Hauge. They took the opportunity to distance themselves and wanted to continue playing routines.

Li Zicheng gritted his teeth and said: "Withdraw to Shanhaiguan!" ”

Although this tactic is effective, it is the life of the children. Although it can effectively kill the enemy, if you come a few more times, thousands of children will have to be explained here, and Dashun Xiaoqi will have to pay a heavy price.

Seeing Li Zicheng retreating, Hauge and Dolgon led their troops back to kill.

Li Zicheng was ruthless, and after hundreds of children were separated, the teenagers used their lives to cover Li Zicheng's retreat.