Hong Chengchou, the word Yanyan, the number Hengjiu, is a native of Nan'anyingdu, Quanzhou, Fujian.

In the second year of Chongzhen (1629), the peasant army Wang Zuohang and Miao Mei led troops to attack Hancheng. Yang He, the governor of Shaanxi, had no generals in his hands, and in a hurry, he ordered Hong Chengchou, who was still participating in politics at that time, to lead his troops to battle. Hong Chengchou killed 300 enemy soldiers, relieved the siege of Hancheng, and immediately became famous.

In the following years, Hong Chengchou defeated several peasant rebels in the northwest area, and his fame grew.

In December of the seventh year of Chongzhen (1634), Ming Sizong Zhu Youzhen removed Chen Qiyu, who failed to encircle and suppress, and Hong Chengchou still served as the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, but with the title of prince Taibao and the secretary of the military department, the governor of Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Huguang, and Sichuan provinces, became the main military commander of the Ming court to suppress the peasant uprising. When he mobilized the official army into Shaanxi and reorganized the siege, there were more than 200,000 peasant troops gathered in Shaanxi at that time, among which Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang, and his subordinate Li Zicheng were the most powerful.

And Hong Chengchou skillfully used the troops in his hands to defeat Gao Yingxiang and others, and ordered Cao Bianjiaotong Pass to set up an ambush to invite attack, Li Zicheng was defeated, and only 18 horses were left to enter the Shangluo Mountain in southern Shaanxi, and the peasant uprising fell into a low ebb.

This one, beating Li Zicheng is really hard to eat Li Zicheng, if he is allowed to continue in the northwest, at most two years, Li Zicheng will be completely destroyed.

However, at this juncture, in September of the eleventh year of Chongzhen (1638), the Qing army went south on two routes, and the Beijing division was under martial law. The Ming Dynasty, which was attacked on both sides, had to transfer the commander Hong Chengchou from the Western Front and lead the army with Sun Chuanting to defend it.

At the beginning of the twelfth year of Chongzhen (1639), Hong Chengchou was transferred to the governor of Jiliao, led the Shaanxi soldiers to the east, and joined forces with the two towns of Shanhaiguan Make and Ningyuan Wu Sangui. Jinzhou has three cities, Songshan, Xingshan and Tashan, which are horns of each other.

In the winter of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen (1640), the Qing army attacked Jinzhou and Ningyuan, Hong Chengchou sent troops to help, and under his command Yang Guozhu, the general soldier of Xuanfu, Wang Pu, the general soldier of Datong, Tang Tong, the general soldier of Miyun, the general soldier Bai Guangen of Jizhou, the general soldier Cao Bianjiao of Yutian, the general soldier of Shanhaiguan Ma Ke, the general soldier Wang Tingchen of the Qiantun guard, and the general soldier Wu Sangui of Ningyuan, etc., led the elite 130,000 and 40,000 horses to help, stationed in Songshan.

That's the point in time.

Hong Chengchou himself is actually very nervous.

From 1629 to the present in 1640, he has been on the battlefield for eleven years, and he is considered a veteran.

But until the eleventh year of Chongzhen, during these nine years, he had been in the northwest to deal with the peasant army. Now that he has completely figured out the tactics of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, it is easy and simple to deal with them. But the year before last, he was transferred to the border and really made contact with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, only to find that the combat effectiveness of the Manchu army was far above the military strength of Li Zicheng and others.

The army of Li Zicheng and others can only be regarded as thieves, that is, there are some elites in the old battalion. When a war starts, it is often the displaced people who are coerced in front of it, and it is very easy to deal with.

The Manchu army, on the other hand, was a real fierce cavalry, and these cavalrymen, who were good at archery on horses, were all real elite soldiers. And the most terrible thing is that the morale of the Manchu army has been accumulated through countless victories. A strong army has a strong momentum, and the more difficult it is to defeat.

What's even more troublesome is that most of the Ming army, because they often lose to the Qing army, are now a little frustrated when they encounter the Manchu army before they fight.

This made Hong Chengchou's command a little more difficult.

And this time, with 130,000 men and horses, he went to aid Zu Dashou in Jinzhou and faced off with the Manchu Emperor's Taiji, and Hong Chengchou was under even greater pressure.

Because he also understands that this is the last elite of the Ming Dynasty.

And the Qing country is also elite.

It is equivalent to saying that these are two countries, betting on the battle of national fortunes.

Hong Chengchou was also worried that if he lost, Daming Kingdom would really lose, and his pressure was really too great.

Now, more than 200,000 people from both sides are concentrated in this area, and Hong Chengchou faces Shatu every day, calculating how to fight and how to fight, and his hair is a little gray.

So far, the 130,000 soldiers and horses he led have had several small victories against the soldiers and horses of the Qing State. Hundreds of heads were captured. But such a small victory is of little use in such a large-scale battle. Next, where should the Qing army find a breakthrough point?

Hong Chengchou calculated, but in a short period of time, he did not calculate the location of the breakthrough point.

At this moment, a lieutenant ran over: "My lord, it's a good thing, it's a great thing." ”

"Why are you so happy?" Hong Chengchou was also interested, he sat here for a long time and did not receive good news.

"Just now came the battle report of Xuanfu, saying that the Manchu Prince Zheng Jierharang led 10,000 soldiers and horses to attack Xuanfu, and we don't know what he wanted to do? But at this moment, news came again, saying that Jierharang was carrying tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and met a person, and was defeated by this person alone. The lieutenant said with great joy.

"Ridiculous!" Hong Chengchou sneered: "One person defeated an army of tens of thousands, and the words of such immortal warlocks also deceived the army, and whoever came the news was directly beheaded." ”

"No, sir. The deputy general said: "This time, the information was confirmed by the Xuanfu side, the Jinyi Wei side, and the imperial court, and the news is not false." With tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, Zilharang went to attack the Qingshan Military Fort. As a result, He Xuan, the person who claimed to have defeated the 300 Qing army by himself, lay on top of the city and shot at the Manchu generals, shooting all the generals of the tens of thousands of Qing troops, even if they were Niu Lu Ezhen at the bottom. It was Prince Zheng Zierharang, who also died under this man's arrow. ”

"The Manchu Qing Dynasty had many soldiers and horses, but there was no general, and finally fled frantically. ”

In this way, it is a little more reasonable. I have also heard of He Xuan, and it is said that this person's strength is amazing, and it is indeed possible to do this. The highest death in the Manchu Qing Dynasty for so many years is a Jiala Ezhen, but now even Prince Zheng Zierharang has died, good, good, good. Hong Chengchou laughed: "Publicize this matter to ensure that the morale of our army will be greatly boosted." ”

"That's right, and Your Majesty has passed on the will, and in a few days, He Xuan will send us to Songshan to assist us. When the time comes, there will be such a tiger general, and our army's chances of victory will be one percent greater. The adjutant said.

"Yes. Hong Chengchou couldn't help but furrow his brows, and laughed out loud: "This is indeed the best news I have received during this time." Hahahaha, I never thought that such a tiger general would descend and defeat tens of thousands of soldiers and horses with the strength of one person. Now it's Huang Taiji's turn to have a headache. ”

"Of course, we can't be blindly optimistic. No matter how brave He Xuan is, he can only be an enemy of a hundred people. In the actual battle of more than 200,000 people, the superficial significance of this person's existence is greater than the actual significance. Hong Chengchou said in a deep voice, he was already thinking in his heart, if He Xuan came to Songshan, how he should give full play to He Xuan's strengths as much as possible, so that this battle related to the fortunes of the country could be won.