Dolgon's order to Zu Dashou was to do everything possible to drag the Datong army in the middle battlefield and prevent the Datong army from rushing to the aid of Shangqiu.

Therefore, either Xihua County or Fugou County is stuck.

The rivers of Henan in the Ming Dynasty changed dramatically compared with a few hundred years later, mainly due to the diversion of the Yellow River. Blocking the two counties of Xihua and Fugou, the 6th and 7th Divisions of the Datong Army could not march quickly along the river, but could only take the land route slowly, and they had to cross the river several times on the way.

Zu Dashou could not retreat, at most he could retreat to Fugou, and if he withdrew to Xuzhou, it would be disobeying the military order.

A personal soldier came to report: "Dutong, Yuan Shizhong has led troops to Fugou, but he is unwilling to continue to come over to join the division." ”

Although Zu Dashou did not have any titles, he was appointed as the commander of the Han army of the Zhenghuang Banner. That is to say, the Zhenghuang Banner Han Army is under his control, and it is one of the highest military positions of the Eight Banners of the Han Army.

Zu Dashou frowned and said, "I'm afraid this person will defect!" ”

Wu Sangui said: "He is a Henan coward, and he was named the Marquis of Shunyi by the Qing Dynasty, what else is there to defect?" Can Emperor Zhao of Nanjing give him the title of marquis? ”

"Well, who knows?" Zu Dashou shook his head and sighed.

Historically, there are many stories about Yuan Shizhong. For example, Li Zicheng married his righteous daughter to him, but Yuan Shizhong abducted Li Zicheng's daughter. Some historical records also record that Yuan Shizhong's troops did not kill civilians, but also relieved the people, and were called "Buddhist soldiers". He even defeated the small group of Eight Banners Army that entered the customs and plundered, killed 50 Tartars, and collected the goods of the Tartars without admitting it.

It is also said that Li Zicheng was jealous of Yuan Shizhong, first squeezed out, then flanked, and finally killed Yuan Shizhong and annexed his subordinates.

In fact, it's not that exciting, Yuan Shizhong's troops are indeed not bad in military discipline. It once expanded to tens of thousands of people, but suffered defeats one after another, and was helped by Li Zicheng to solve the difficulties. Yuan Shizhong thus obeyed Li Zicheng's orders, but maintained his independence, and used Li Zicheng's prestige to develop his power.

The imperial court sent people to recruit An, and Li Zicheng also sent people to appease.

Yuan Shizhong chose the imperial court and killed Li Zicheng's envoy. Li Zicheng was furious and led his troops to kill Yuan Shizhong!

Previously, Yuan Shizhong was ordered to guard against the Seventh Division, and as soon as the Seventh Division of the Datong Army moved, he was recruited by Zu Dashou to join forces. As a result, when this guy walked to Fugou County, he suddenly stopped moving, and even recruited refugees as soldiers all the way, and the army had expanded to more than 30,000 at this time.

Once Yuan Shi chooses to defect, it is equivalent to blocking Zu Dashou's retreat.

Zu Dashou was frightened and sent a Xiucai named Gong Yijie to Fugou County to appease Yuan Shizhong.

After seeing Yuan Shizhong, Gong Yijie asked, "Why did Master Hou stop his army?" ”

Yuan Shizhong explained: "The sergeants of the army have many diseases, and if they go to Xihua County to unite with the ancestral capital, I am afraid that the soldiers of the ancestral capital will also be infected with the plague." ”

Gong Yijie said: "The enemy army is about to arrive, and it is the time to use the troops. A little plague, don't worry, please Hou Ye immediately lead the troops. ”

"Alas, there are many people under my command who are infected with the epidemic." Yuan Shizhong sighed.

Gong Yijie tried to persuade: "Master Hou, the Great War between the North and the South is the time to serve the country. Hou Ye stopped the army, and he will be held accountable after the war, which is the next step. Does Hou Ye think that the soldiers of the pseudo-same have won my Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty? ”

"Hehe, that's hard to say." Yuan Shizhong suddenly laughed.

Gong Yijie was horrified: "Why did Master Hou say this? ”

Yuan Shizhong didn't explain, and sneered: "I wanted to continue to wait and see, but you reminded me." Since he must be held accountable by the Tartars, why not turn around now and not let Dorgon come back alive? Someone's coming! ”

"In!" A few pro-soldiers came in.

Yuan Shizhong said: "Behead this person and send it to the Datong army." Let's just say that I have raised troops against the Qing Dynasty, occupied Fugou, and cut off Zu Dashou's retreat! ”

"Hou Ye thought twice...... Hou Ye thought twice......" Gong Yijie shouted and was dragged out.

Yuan Shizhong was born in a small landlord family, and he also studied when he was a child, and he was strong and strong, and he had practiced some martial arts since he was a child.

In Henan at the end of the Ming Dynasty, if you encounter corrupt officials, even small landlords will not survive.

Yuan Shizhong's family first became homesteaders, and gradually became tenants. was constantly forced by the government, and his family starved to death one after another, so he could only flee to Kaizhou to become a beggar.

Historically, this person rose up, because of the good military discipline, the people enthusiastically took refuge, and quickly stood out among the many righteous armies, with an army of 300,000 in its heyday.

Yuan Shizhong's thinking mode is biased towards scholars, he does not want to be a thief, and always wants to recruit an adult.

After surrendering to the Manchus, Yuan Shizhong always felt uncomfortable.

Because the Manchu Qing Dynasty exploited the people very heavily, it was no less than the Ming government. Although he was made a marquis, the Manchus did not allocate military salaries, or even pay salaries, and relied on Yuan Shizhong to raise them himself.

This seems to be no different from being a thief before?

Yuan Shizhong cherished feathers, took care of his reputation, and always relied on finding landlords to persuade grain to survive. Moreover, he doesn't like to shave his hair and hates the braid at the back of his head!

When Dolgon was there, Yuan Shizhong did not dare to rebel.

As soon as Dolgon left, there were no Eight Banners nearby, and Yuan Shizhong immediately thought about defecting. Even if you lose the battle, you can retreat with the Datong army and go to the territory of the Han family, which does not need to shave your hair and keep braids.

……

Xihua County.

Zu Dashou asked, "How far is the puppet army?" ”

"The enemy's cavalry is already several miles away, and the enemy's main force is estimated to be dozens of miles away." Wu Sangui said.

"The whole army retreats to Fugou," said Zu Dashou, "and if Yuan Thief (Yuan Shizhong) dares to kill, he will be annihilated in the wild." If Yuan thief defends the city, the bloody battle must also take the county seat of Fugou! If the thief is not removed, we will be attacked on our backs. ”

Wu Sangui suggested: "It's better to take the troops to Taikang." In this way, not only will they not be exposed to the enemy, but they can also block the enemy army and prevent the enemy army from rushing to the aid of Shangqiu. ”

Zu Dashou hesitated.

Wu Sangui's strategy is indeed possible, but he must abandon a large amount of baggage, because he cannot march by water. Once you have all the supplies on the road, you will have to use tens of thousands of people, and there will be pursuers behind them.

Yuan Shizhong suddenly jumped back and disrupted Zu Dashou's plan!

Before that, Zu Dashou could choose to defend the city, or he could choose to go out of the city to fight, and he could also choose to retreat to Fugou. Now he can't choose anything, either go back to his teacher and kill Yuan Shizhong, or abandon his baggage and go to Taikang County.

This situation is purely the result of the evil planted by the Manchus themselves.

The Manchu Qing expanded too fast, and within half a year, they took four provinces, and everyone in a mess was willing to absorb them. What's even more terrifying is that there is simply not enough food to truly control the troops from all directions. When fighting, they even robbed the territory of the generals who surrendered their troops.

In this way, it is definitely no problem to advance all the way, and when it is blocked by the Datong Army, contradictions will erupt.

There is no even need to wait for the Manchus to suffer defeat, the stalemate in the battle is a little longer, and there will be surrendered troops and generals to defect again.

And Zhao Han's benevolent name finally showed its appeal.

Along the way, the people greeted them warmly, and even the hungry people knew that there would definitely be food to eat with Emperor Zhao. Even some landlords and gentry, dissatisfied with the tyranny of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, scattered their wealth to support Zhao Han in the war.

After entering the territory of Guide Province, every day there were gentry with self-raised villagers to vote.

There were nearly 20,000 Xiangyong troops, and the righteous army composed of hungry people was close to 100,000. Some villagers and hungry people, even from Kaifeng Prefecture, crossed the state and county to come to Emperor Zhao.

Well, Emperor Zhao's military rations are consumed very quickly, and a good appetite can make people poor.

……

The cavalry of Xihua County was all under the command of Wu Sangui.

Wu Sangui gathered more than 4,000 horsemen and patrolled near Yingqikou, preventing the Datong army from crossing the river and covering Zu Dashou's retreat with his footmen.

The fire broke out in the city, but it was Zu Dashou who burned the surplus baggage, including a lot of looted grain and grass.

The Henan thieves who belonged to the Manchu Qing Dynasty showed unbearable expressions on their faces. These thieves rebelled at the beginning, but they couldn't eat enough, and watching Zu Dashou burn the grain and grass, they felt so uncomfortable that they were dripping blood.

"The enemy has fled!"

Cao Bianjiao rode to the bank of the Shahe River and looked across the river from Wu Sangui, who was also carrying cavalry.

There was no way to pass, so I could only watch, and at the same time send someone back to report the news, because the main force of the Datong army was still thirty miles away.

Jiang Dashan and Huang Shun received the news and immediately ordered to speed up the march.

The people and soldiers all started to unload more than a dozen grain ships on the shore. Then, some of the soldiers advanced by boat, and the rest of the soldiers followed along the coast, and the rations and artillery were not in a hurry to take them all.

The boat soldiers were the first to arrive at Yingqikou and stood on the boat to shoot Wu Sangui's cavalry on the shore.

Wu Sangui didn't dare to shoot at the firecrackers, so he could only get out of the way of the pier at Yingqikou.

The firecrackers took the opportunity to land and cover Cao Bianjiao's cavalry to cross the river in boats. When all the cavalry had crossed the river, the rest of the foot soldiers also came and continued to cross the river by boat.

"The whole army is in pursuit!" Jiang Dashan and Huang Shun jointly ordered.

The infantry of the two divisions, all lightly armoured, trotted away, and the armor could only remain on the ship. The grenadiers could not carry the 10,000 enemies, and they only had a waist knife on their bodies.

More than 10,000 foot soldiers of the Datong Army who had lost their armor marched towards Taikang County in this way.

Cao Bianjiao and Wei Guoxiang, two cavalry generals, each brought 2,500 dragoons to expel Wu Sangui's cavalry.

The Guanning Iron Cavalry had long been crippled and had been divided into three. Some were transferred into the customs to suppress the northwest liukou; Part of it belongs to Zu Dashou; Part of it belongs to Wu Sangui.

Successive battles, constant attrition.

Although there are still cavalry under the command of Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui, they are no longer the real Guanning iron cavalry, more similar to the Jiading cavalry of the Ming border generals.

At this moment, of the more than 4,000 cavalry commanded by Wu Sangui, about 2,000 cavalry are considered elite, and the rest are miscellaneous cards under the command of various generals.

In the face of 5,000 dragoons, Wu Sangui scattered and harassed, constantly throwing bows and arrows.

Shoot a few arrows, and then you don't shoot.

If you are too far away, you will not be able to shoot, and if you are too close, you will be shot.

Wu Sangui wanted to go around the rear and attack the big synchronous pawns of the rapid march of the detachment. Dragoons also quickly followed, keeping friendly forces safe and not letting enemy cavalry approach.

Although Jiang Dashan had mounts, he was running with the soldiers at this moment, and he shouted: "Don't care about those enemy horses, just run forward!" ”

More than 10,000 synchronized soldiers really ignored Wu Sangui, as if they couldn't see the enemy horse, and trotted towards Taikang with their weapons.

The two armies were separated by dozens of miles, and the Datong army actually planned to pursue them on foot.