Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 948 Decisive Battle 1
Beijing, Yanqing Prefecture.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, and the sky was shaken by bursts of thunder. Lightning flashed across the sky, lighting up the sky and the earth, and then dimmed again.Gusts of cold wind blew from outside the Great Wall, and it was terribly cold. It was February, and the severe cold was still ravaging the suffering North China Plain. Frost, hail, and bursts of cold rain poured down one after another, making the road extremely muddy.The situation on the official roads is better, but those rural dirt roads are miserable. Horses are swallowed by horses, cars are swallowed by cars, and whatever is caught is swallowed.This is the season when the roads are most muddied. Not to mention the mobilization of the army, it is extremely difficult for the caravan to get out of the fortress.

For the people of Yanqing Prefecture, the past winter was extremely difficult.Yanqing Prefecture was originally the gateway to Beijing and a necessary place for business travelers passing through Zhangjiakou. The Tianxiong Army’s vigorous development of the Hetao also brought huge opportunities to Yanqing Prefecture. Due to the favorable time and place, Yanqing Prefecture has achieved great success in the past few years. I saved a considerable amount of wealth here, and my quality of life has been greatly improved.But Chongzhen insisted on the Northern Expedition, and the local officials used this as an excuse to plunder the wealth that Yanqing Prefecture had saved with great difficulty, and then confiscated the young and strong in Yanqing Prefecture, making chickens fly. Jump, panic.Then came the sad news of the failure of the Northern Expedition and the annihilation of the entire army. Every family in Yanqing Prefecture was silent and thousands of households were crying.And this is just the beginning of the disaster. The Qing army rushed into the customs, captured the capital with lightning speed, and swept through the northern Zhili. If they entered no one's land, they would never let go of strategically important places like Yanqing Prefecture. As a result, Manggurtai sent an elite team to Yanqing Prefecture immediately, and after a fierce battle, they wiped out the few Tianxiong troops who stayed in Yanqing Prefecture, and occupied this strategic location.Yanqing Prefecture immediately became a hell. In order to buy people's hearts, the Emperor Taiji explicitly prohibited the troops from looting and killing Han people at will. The Qing Army's Eight Banners headquarters have strict military discipline, and they can generally abide by discipline. It can't be said that they are too polite to the Han people, but at least they dare not be casual. Rape and killing, but the Ming army who surrendered to the Qing army didn't have so many scruples. They didn't know what military discipline was. They suffered a lot in the series of battles to capture Yanqing Prefecture, and they vented their anger on innocent civilians On the body, they used the pretext of exterminating the remnants of the Tianxiong Army to break into the house, searched from house to house, and took away any valuables they found, and dragged them to the barracks when they saw beautiful women.It has only been two months since the Qing army occupied Yanqing Prefecture. This densely populated and bustling place was empty. The people either fled into the mountains or went to Zhangjiakou to seek the protection of the Tianxiong Army. The entire Yanqing Prefecture could not see it. What is smoked.

Huang Taiji naturally knew what good things these minions had done, and he was very clear about the consequences of conniving at their misconduct, but he couldn't do anything about it. Now is the time for employing people, if the requirements for those minions who are attached to him are too strict, it is difficult to guarantee Will the returning Ming army headed by Guan Ning army have a different heart? It will be difficult at that time. Really let him command the headquarters of tens of thousands of Eight Banners in this area to fight the Heluo new army?He could only turn a blind eye and close one eye, first stabilize the situation and then slowly deal with these saboteurs.

Under the thunder and cold wind, some wrinkled farmers insisted on working in the fields.They don't care about major events in the world. What they care about most is the crops in the fields. As long as the crops can grow in the fields, they have the hope of surviving.Green wheat seedlings have grown in the field now. It snowed heavily last year, and the wheat seedlings are growing well. Logically speaking, there should be hope. However, the god damned God seems to be determined to drive them to death, and there have been several hailstorms in a row. , Many wheat seedlings were broken, and many farmers could only sit in the field and look at the messy wheat seedlings and shed tears.Occasionally looking at the official road with few pedestrians, recalling the grand occasion last year when caravan camel caravans shuttled between Zhangjiakou and Beijing, and teams of four-wheeled carriages full of goods were speeding along the official road. Sigh sadly.Daming has already died, and the death is confused. I don't know when I will see this prosperous scene.

Alas, why did the Ming Dynasty perish?

A large group of Qing army cavalry roared past the official road, splashing patches of muddy water, and the cold wind blew their braids high. The farmers in the fields lowered their heads, not daring to look at them, and hated them only after they passed by. Facing the ground, he yelled: "You bastards who work for tigers, let's see when the Tianxiong army enters the customs and collects you!"

They recognized that this was the cavalry of the Guanning Army.They hated the Guanning army more than they hated the Qing army, and the closer they were to Beijing, the more they hated it.In order to support the 10,000+ Guan Ning army, their blood was drained by the imperial court. Fortunately, the Guan Ning army not only did not fight against the Qing army, but also voluntarily surrendered to the Qing army, becoming the pioneer of the Qing army entering the pass!Forget it, after entering the customs, it was also the Guan Ning army who killed the most, raped and looted the most. They seemed to know that their actions were despised by the world, so they wanted to use this method to scare the world.The people in Yanqing Prefecture made them suffer a lot. Seeing the Guanning cavalry passing by, they all gritted their teeth with hatred, wishing that they would run into the Tianxiong army immediately and let the Tianxiong army hang up and beat them!

It's just... where is the Tianxiong Army?When will they be able to enter the customs and rescue the poor people like them?
Leading this cavalry force was Zu Dacheng.This dear friend was not well-known in history, but he has become a man of the moment. Zu Dabi and Zu Dale were transferred to the Heluo New Army and Tianxiong Army respectively. Zu Dashou was already old, and Jinzhou's Guan Ningjun took over. He was the only one who could take action. Especially after entering the customs, his voice in the Guan Ning Army of the Jinzhou Department became more and more powerful, and he had the potential to replace Zu Dashou. Huang Taiji had a deep love for this loyal dog. He also appreciated it very much and received many awards. Zu Dacheng became more and more high-spirited.He led the cavalry team to gallop all the way and soon entered the territory of Huailai.

The sound of guns and artillery can be heard endlessly in Huailai territory, and the sound of explosions came and went one after another.Huailai County has already fallen, but there is still a brigade of Tianxiong Army defending the civil fort twenty miles east of Huailai County.When Li Chongshi was in charge of promoting the business, he took the earthen fortress as a strategic point and managed it. The entire castle was demolished, and a huge bastion was built with reinforced concrete and huge bricks weighing hundreds of catties, and two holes were punched inside. Wells, drinking water can be guaranteed, and there is enough food, ammunition and coal for a brigade for six months. For an army in the cold weapon era, this is a desperate steel fortress.The civil fort has been endowed with great strategic significance. It guards the back road of the Tianxiong Army and ensures the smooth connection between the Tianxiong Army and Beijing. If you retreat into the Great Wall, the civil fort will be an indestructible strategic support point; if the Qing army enters the pass and stabs the Tianxiong army from the back, the civil fort will become a bridgehead fortress again.After entering the customs, the Qing army quickly realized the great value of this steel fortress, and successively mobilized tens of thousands of horses to surround the civil fortress in an attempt to take it down. The army attacked again and again, and got nothing but dead bodies all over the ground.

Huang Taiji realized that this fortress was a sharp knife that the Tianxiong Army had penetrated into Beijing's defense system. If it was not pulled out, there would be endless troubles, so he sent Zu Dacheng to lead two thousand cavalry to rush over. Take down the civil fort, otherwise the military law will be engaged.Zu Dacheng didn't take it seriously. I really don't know how the frontline generals commanded. More than 1 people fought against only 500 people. After fighting for a month, they couldn't beat them. What's the matter?Let me command, if the Tianxiong army can last for three days, I will lose!
However, he was taken aback when he came to the front line.On the front line, the Qing army concentrated more than 20 heavy artillery pieces and blasted at the civil fort. The heavy lead ball hit the wall of the civil fort, making terrible stone noises, stone chips splashed, sparks flew, and the walls were covered with cracks. However, hundreds of shells hit the past, and they didn't even shake it!After preparing for the fierce artillery fire, the brigade of Qing troops surged up like a tidal wave, as if they were about to flatten the civil fort. Come on, the blood sprayed, and the charging Qing army fell to the ground row after row, screaming one after another!When they crossed the ditch and approached the walls of the civil fortress, they threw down rows of grenades from behind the battlements, only to see a series of flashes of flames flashing continuously, the flames rushed, shrapnel flew across, and the Qing army was blown down by clusters of bombs. , The screams almost overwhelmed the explosion!What was even more unlucky was that Tianxiong's army had very dark hands. After discovering that the Qing army was attacking resolutely, they were not polite. The bomb exploded in a densely populated place, and the viscous flame fountain sprayed everyone within the killing radius into burning people!When one incendiary bomb was thrown down, more than a dozen fireballs ran and rolled all over the ground, wailing, and the sound was not human. Listening to the beast-like screams, watching the former companions waving their arms and bringing a fire all over their bodies towards themselves When they rushed, the morale of the Qing army collapsed, and they retreated screaming. This attack failed again.

"How many times is this?" Zu Dacheng asked the general Hu Haichao who was commanding at the front.

Hu Haichao is Zu Dacheng's confidant, he is proficient in horse bow and horse, and he can be regarded as a mighty general.It's just that now the titan's brows are twisted into big knots, and his expression is sad, like a peasant uncle whose crops have been eaten up by pests.With a wry smile, he bowed his hands to Zu Dacheng, and said, "I can't remember... Every attack is basically the same routine, and it doesn't change. The soldiers' hearts are almost gone."

Zu Dacheng also frowned: "Is it so difficult to fight?"

Hu Haichao said in a low voice: "It's harder than I imagined! The walls of this castle are ten feet thick, and the bricks are all made of cement with steel added inside. One piece weighs a hundred catties, and it is glued with cement. There are no gaps! It is said that the outer layer of brick skin is three feet thick, with rammed earth in the middle, and the innermost layer of brick skin is nearly two feet thick. ... Sigh, the last general has fought for so many years, and has never seen such a strong fortress, the Tianxiong Army is really willing to spend money!"

Zu Dacheng tried his best to remain optimistic: "Have you ever persuaded him to surrender?"

Hu Haichao said: "Why not? I have persuaded him several times, and every time the Tianxiong Army's answer is to directly hang the heads of those who persuaded them to surrender on the flagpole!" He said bitterly: "I don't even know what's going on. , these days, the Xiongjun seems to be determined after being weighed down, no matter how much you lure with high-ranking officials and generous salary, and threaten with life and death, they will not be moved, and they will only focus on fighting you to the end, hell, really hell!"

Zu Dacheng smiled wryly.If the Tianxiong army was so easy to deal with, it wouldn't be the Tianxiong army. Didn't you see Wu Sangui's head was smashed in Tangshan City?He faintly felt that if he wanted to complete the task assigned to him by Huang Taiji, he might have to spend a lot of effort!

Zu Dacheng didn't know that now, let alone winning the civil fort, it would be a problem for him to return to Beijing alive.

(End of this chapter)