Early June.

There is a distance of more than 100 miles from Ningyuan to Songshan Fort, and Hong Chengchou led the army very cautiously in order to prevent the ambush of the Qing army.

Liu Zhaoji, the chief military officer of Liaodong Town, led the army to act as the vanguard, less than forty miles away from Yang Guozhu's department, and the two armies opened the way in front of them.

Yang Guozhu's soldiers and horses were less than 30 miles away from the various units of the Chinese army, and the army of more than 200,000 people marched slowly all the way, and the night of the various departments was also scattered, constantly patrolling around the army for more than ten miles, searching for every place where the enemy might be hidden, and at the same time sending all kinds of information back to the army in a steady stream for the general officers of the towns and Hong Chengchou and others to refer to.

In the marching procession, soldiers from all over the Ming Dynasty marched north together, and the magistrates of each department strictly checked the military discipline, and no one was allowed to make a loud noise, and the various departments of the Ming army were indeed fighting for spirit, and maintained a fairly high level of discipline along the way.

At the same time, all the troops attached to the army had a lot of baggage, and behind most of the Chinese army were countless people, transporting a large amount of grain and grass. Behind the army, a baggage procession of donkey carts, horse-drawn carts, mule carts, carts, and even camels winds its way from south to north, with no end in sight.

Liu Yanze's horse accompanied the movement of the personal guard battalion, and he could not see the sentry knights of various departments, as well as the flag officers wearing green cotton cloth waist-length armor, wearing bright helmets, hanging tokens, and holding order flags running back and forth, those were all soldiers of the Chinese army.

Hong Chengchou once ordered in advance that all units should not collect the sentry at night and return every hour, and there should be no delay, otherwise the military law will act. The failure of the various departments to collect at night can be regarded as an extraordinary performance, and it is extremely hard to probe for intelligence, and Hong Chengchou continues to receive news about the situation in front and around him, and he is very satisfied with this.

At noon on the second day, Hong Chengchou received news that the forward soldiers and horses had passed through Gaoqiao Fort, and the soldiers and horses led by Yang Guozhu had also passed Tashan Fort.

In the area of Gaoqiao Fort, the vanguard soldiers and horses led by Liu Zhaoji encountered interception and harassment by some slave thieves and sentinels, and they were all defeated by the outpost army one by one and beheaded by the eleventh level.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Zhaoji, the chief military officer of Liaodong Town, sent someone to send a report from Tang, and the slaves and thieves were inlaid with red flags and white flags of tens of thousands of people, including about thousands of armored slave soldiers, equipped with shield carts and ladders and other equipment, and were storming Xingshan Castle.

The Xingshan guard will ask for help from the forward, and the slave thieves and soldiers have rushed to the city several times, and Xingshan Fort is in danger. Liu Zhaoji sent someone to ask the Chinese army if they would go to help.

Hong Chengchou thought for a moment, then ordered Liu Zhaoji to lead the army to rescue, and at the same time sent someone to order Yang Guozhu to speed up and go to join Liu Zhaoji's troops.

Hong Chengchou thought very well, if this group of thieves only has thousands of armored soldiers, and Liu Zhaoji and Yang Guozhu have 30,000 or 40,000 horses, they can completely fight with them, at least they can force the slaves and thieves to withdraw and keep Xingshan Fort.

Liu Zhaoji's vanguard had about 15,000 men, including 4,000 cavalrymen in the main barracks, and most of their equipment was cold weapons, such as horse lances, boring palladium, riding spears, knives and sticks, and other blades. It is a hot weapon used by cavalry, and it also uses a three-eyed gun.

These three-eyed guns are spiked with iron nails on the body, like three-eyed maces, and are sometimes better used than knives and sticks against heavily armored enemy troops.

There were also two battalions of chariots, ranging in number from 2,000 to 3,000 men, for a total of 200 chariots. There are 20 people per car, and there are two teams. All are two-wheeled light car style, with a cover plate in front. There are several spears under the front plate. It can resist war horses, and there are many rockets, wolf machines and other weapons on the car.

The Liaodong army likes to use a hundred guns, like a large tiger squat cannon and a nine-headed bird, which contains hundreds of leads, which can hit one hundred and fifty steps, and it is difficult to resist no matter the thick hard board and armor. Therefore, in Liu Zhaoji's car camp, there are still a large number of Baizi guns.

In addition to the gunner, the gunners used to use rockets, three-eyed guns, etc., and rarely used birds.

Liu Zhaoji is skilled in his own skills, and he can immediately work hard, and he can also open his bow left and right, shooting multiple arrows in one breath, which is quite brave. And as the chief military officer of Liaodong Town, he is also eager to make meritorious contributions at this time, although he is the chief military officer of Liaodong Town, the headquarters is only 15,000 people, even if these 15,000 people are newly trained by Liu Zhaoji, most of them are new recruits.

And Wu Sangui, the chief soldier of Ningyuan, has 20,000 combatable Liao soldiers under his command, and there are 2,000 strong soldiers among them, which is more than Liu Zhaoji's family, and he is deeply respected by Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao.

It is said that after Liu Zhaoji received Hong Chengchou's affirmative reply, he immediately led an army of 15,000 to Xingshan Fort City.

Originally, the Ming army in Liaodong was very afraid of the Qing army, but at this time, the Qing army besieging Xingshan Fort City was only about 10,000 people, and thousands of people were wearing armor, and at this time, there were 10,000 or several thousand defenders in Xingshan Fort City, plus 15,000 elite soldiers under Liu Zhaoji's command, and the chances of winning this battle were still very great.

In addition, Liu Zhaoji also knew that Yang Guozhu's 20,000 elite soldiers were thirty or forty miles behind, and they would arrive soon after the rapid march, which also gave Liu Zhaoji courage.

Gaoqiao to Xingshan is only more than 20 miles, a high bridge, more than Pingchuan River in the four fields. At this time, it was already afternoon, and the heat wave hit people in the wilderness, and everywhere there were large tracts of abandoned land, and everywhere was bare, no matter up or down the mountain, it was almost impossible to see the green, and everywhere was a desolate scene.

After years of drought, the great rivers that used to be rolling in waves are now not even small ditches, and the land is so cracked that it is convenient for the army to walk, and the soldiers step on the land, and everywhere is dusty, as if marching in the desert. 33

This battle was the first battle of the Ming army to aid Jinzhou, Liu Zhaoji held back his strength to make a good start, so he didn't dare to slack off, and directly ordered to launch the battle formation of the car battalion, and used cavalry to protect the two wings, and also sent Ye Buhui to the rear, contact Yang Guozhu's department, and let them speed up to come, ready to respond.

Liu Zhaoji's 15,000 elite soldiers were fully deployed, and the soldiers of the army were sweating under the scorching sun, and their clothes and armor were already soaked, but they did not dare to be a little contemptuous, so they only maintained a strict battle formation and forced them to Xingshan.

The army marched all the way, the night in front of the army has begun to encounter the Qing army scouts, the two sides continue to fight, Liu Zhaoji in order to clear the road ahead, one after another sent the family Ding Jing cavalry, plus the night does not collect soldiers, the Ming army pressed the reconnaissance line of the army of slaves and thieves continued to shrink.

Soon Liu Zhaoji led his army across the Qili River, and suddenly received news that the slaves and thieves besieging Xingshan Fort in front had withdrawn their troops and were now gathering a few miles north of Xingshan.

Liu Zhaoji saw that he had directly forced back the army of slaves and thieves, and he was very happy in his heart, and secretly said that the fifteen thousand army in his hands had been practicing for a long time, and his efforts were finally not in vain.

At this time, Liu Zhaoji sent people to report to Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, but he felt a little regretful in his heart, but he just forced back the slave thieves and horses, which was not a great achievement, and the beheading was only a scout of more than 20 slave thieves. This credit obviously does not satisfy Liu Zhaoji, nor can it calm Liu Zhaoji's urgency.

So Liu Zhaoji looked at his subordinates, several generals and guerrilla generals were all high-spirited, thinking that the slaves and thieves were nothing more than that, and now that the Ming army was strong, the slaves and thieves also knew that they were afraid.

Everyone agreed that they should take advantage of the availability of the army to start a fierce battle with the army of slaves and thieves north of Xingshan, and capture some more heads.

Liu Zhaoji saw that everyone was asking for battle, and he also thought about it and weighed it, after all, these 15,000 people were his own capital. However, Liu Zhaoji saw that the generals had high fighting spirits, and this time was also a great opportunity, so he ordered to fight.

Soon, Liu Zhaoji led his troops to two miles outside Xingshan Fort, and Zheng Yilin, the deputy general stationed in Xingshan, also sent 3,000 men and horses out to join the army.

Liu Zhaoji was overjoyed when he saw this, and the generals were also greatly boosted when they saw this. So the army gathered to force the Qing army, but the Cheying infantry was still in the middle, and the cavalry protected the two wings and pressed the Qing army north of Xingshan.

It didn't take long for the Qing army to start to meet the whole team, the two armies continued to approach, and saw that there was a low rocky slope not far from the right, Liu Zhaoji ordered his subordinates to seize the place, and the cavalry was deployed on the mountain, and the infantry of the car battalion was gathered in the wilderness at the foot of the mountain.

Under the scorching sun, Liu Zhaoji set up his handsome flag on the top of the mountain, and it was condescending to facilitate the command of the whole army.

At this time, Liu Zhaoji looked at the position of the Qing army and saw that in front of the army of slaves and thieves were dense shield carts, followed by knights wearing white with red trim and red with white trim. This is the slave thief and the horse with the white flag and the red flag.

Liu Zhaoji snorted coldly after watching it for a while, the slave thief's way of playing is still the same, using a shield car in front, archers and gunners in the back, and dead soldiers and sharp soldiers, this kind of trick, I am too familiar with it.

At this time, the Liaodong Army was also deployed, and a rejection horse was set up in front of the large army array, followed by a large number of chariots, which were equipped with a large number of firearms such as Franc machines, rockets, and Baizi guns. Behind is the brigade's strategic infantry army, with layers of spears and broadsword shields, and close to the hillside, the rear is worry-free, and there are cavalry guards on both wings.

Liu Zhaoji saw that the formation of the 18,000 army under his command was strictly organized, and there was nothing missing in such a deployment, so he couldn't help but feel confident in his heart: "Our army will win this battle!" ”

Then the trumpets sounded, and the Qing soldiers' shield carts were pushed closer and closer, and those shield carts had wheels underneath, and in front of them were thick wooden planks, and they were covered with thick leather quilts to hide the shells. However, Liu Zhaoji disdains it in his heart, and the Franc machine and Baizi gun in his own car camp can penetrate these shield cars.

The Qing soldiers of the brigade were getting closer and closer, and the officers and men of the Ming army could even see the ugly faces of those inlaid red flags and white flags, so they were waiting in the position, and the generals and guards were also ordered to patrol, and no one was allowed to fire guns in advance, and those who violated the order were beheaded on the spot.

Not to mention the official generals, Liu Zhaoji's subordinates have many years of combat experience, and they have fought old battles with the Qing people, although most of the captives are pressing, they are not flustered, and most of them look calm.

When the Qing army of the brigade approached 300 steps in front of the battle, suddenly a cannon rang out from the middle army of the Liaodong Army, as the commander of the general army of a town, watching the flag and listening to the order, and was not embarrassed by the lieutenant general and the standard-bearer. Countless flag bearers immediately turned their heads to look at the top of the mountain, waiting for the commander's next decision.

At this time, the Qing army's position sounded the fierce war drums, countless nonsense shouts were everywhere, dense shield carts, and countless flags behind them, rushed towards the Ming army's position.

Liu Zhaoji's figure was on the horse, he was wearing thick iron armor, his face was calm, he just stared at the army of slaves and thieves, and he didn't give orders for a long time. Countless Ming officers and generals looked at the position of the Chinese army, just anxiously waiting for their own fate, the fate of the army.

Soon, the dense shield carts rushed through two hundred steps, and the flag of the Chinese army suddenly became urgent, and a terrible swan sound sounded, spreading throughout the entire Ming army front.

The guns in the Ming army car camp rang out in unison, and a large amount of dense white smoke produced by the burning of black powder suddenly filled the front of the entire car camp under the illumination of the hot sun.

In an instant, the sound of cannonballs and lead bullets breaking through the shield cart was endless, and Liu Zhaoji saw that there was a blood mist rising everywhere in the Qing army's formation, and the howls of the wounded were very lively. The oncoming shield carts of the Qing army were hit by the Franc machine bullets, and many shield carts were instantly pierced.

With a loud bang, the shutter of a shield cart suddenly exploded, and an iron ball directly pierced the heads of two Qing soldiers, and the remaining momentum was not exhausted, and it remained in the chest of a Qing soldier, rolling out with him.

The spray of flesh and blood mist, the high-speed movement of iron balls, and the large number of sharp debris produced after shooting and blasting the shutter also swept through the Qing soldiers around the rear of the shield car, causing chaos in the Qing army's large array.

These Qing soldiers were either lightly armored archers, or unarmored bannermen, and some were clothed minions or something, these people's protection was low, and the sharp debris was like a powerful arrow, shooting many of those Qing soldiers in the head, face and body, many of them covered their heads and faces, howled in disbelief, or knelt on the ground and trembled in pain.

The first layer of the car battalion shoots medium franc machines, shooting one or two catties of bullets, and these franc machine guns are almost all aimed at shield cars and hit flat.

If you hit those shield cars, no matter how thick the shield car is, no matter how thick the leather quilt is, it is also a dozen big holes, very protective plates, and even more mutilated, debris flies, and the Qing army behind the shield car is either dead or wounded, and it is a mess.

"Good!"

Liu Zhaoji applauded excitedly, and his heart was happy.

Some people died, but not completely......