"What? Cao De ran away first? Chase me!"
After capturing Jiayu, Zhu Hengjia immediately ordered Sun Guangwei's cavalry as the vanguard, and the entire army crossed Jinshui in order to annihilate Cao Dexian, the Geng army general stationed in Xianning.
Unexpectedly, Cao had to escape first. After Sun Guangwei arrived, he had already fled for a long time.
Sun Guangwei did not give up and led his cavalry in rapid pursuit. He finally caught up with more than a hundred of Cao's soldiers who had fallen behind and captured them all.
The main general of the second line of defense was the Qing and Han troops stationed in Jinkou Town, who were horrified when they saw Cao De fleeing back first.
The original plan was to keep the Ming troops at the first and second lines of defense for a month each, and finally hold on in Wuchang for a few more months. This would be enough to hold on until reinforcements arrived.
Unexpectedly, in just ten days, the first line of defense was lost.
While Jin Li was anxious, Ahanikan, the Manchu minister who stayed behind in Wuchang, came from Wuchang with 3,000 Mongolian cavalry for reinforcements.
"Don't worry, tomorrow I will lead the cavalry to harass the Ming army and make it difficult for them to move even an inch." Ahani boasted to Haikou.
Jin Li was overjoyed and assembled another 3,000 Han banner cavalry and handed them over to the command of Ahanikan, causing them to delay the Ming army. He also asked the Han army Zhenghuang Banner to Gushan'er, Zhen Liu Zhiyuan, to lead 5,000 troops to guard Zifang; he and Cao De led the troops first.
Seven Thousand Guards Jinkou Town.
??
The 20,000 horses of Li Dingguo, the vanguard of the Ming army, were setting up camp. There was the sound of horse hoofbeats.
Hearing the bursts of horseshoes, the general Wu Zisheng was so angry that his beard was raised, "Commander, the Tatar cavalry is here again."
Ahanikan's cavalry was organized into Niulu units. They did not attack the Ming army's formation, but circled around the Ming army and shot arrows.
Especially the three thousand Mongolian cavalry, who grew up on horses, can ride horses and shoot arrows at the same time.
"Swish, swish, swish", powerful arrows were shot at the Ming army encamped, and soldiers continued to fall to the ground.
When the Ming army formed a neat battle formation and chased them out, the Qing cavalry ran far away and could not catch up. As soon as the Ming army returned, they came to harass them again.
Like a swarm of annoying flies, you can't hit them or drive them away.
Although it did not cause too much damage, it effectively slowed down the Ming army's advance.
It has been three days, and Li Dingguo has only traveled seventy miles.
Zhu Hengjia's Chinese army caught up with Li Dingguo, and Li Dingguo knelt down to plead guilty.
"Li Qing, please get up quickly. This is not your fault." Zhu Hengjia hurriedly comforted him, but he was very angry in his heart. Do these Tatars think they have no cavalry?
He ordered Sun Guangwei's 7,000 cavalry to clear the way, followed by Chen Youlong's 10,000 infantry.
"Shang Shu, the cavalry of the Ming Army is here."
Ahanikan observed with a telescope and saw that the number of cavalry in the Ming army was about the same as our own. He sneered, these Nikhans thought they were cavalry if they had horses, let you see the power of the Eight Banners cavalry.
"Cavalry assault!"
Ahanikan issued a military order.
The Qing army marched in a cone-shaped formation. The most elite Mongolian cavalry with two armored pullers were arranged in two rows, which served as the arrow tips; one armored puller on the left and right served as the arrow body. They charged forward and surrounded the formation with both wings.
"Assault!"
Sun Guangwei also issued military orders.
The Ming army's cavalry were arranged in three rows, with more than 2,300 people in each row.
"This is the general's military order. This battle will progress or retreat. The first row looks back, and the second row kills them; the second row looks back, and the third row kills them; the third row looks back, and the infantry behind them kills them."
.
The Chinese army conveyed Sun Guangwei's general order to all platoons with flags and drums, and all the troops were horrified.
The two sides walked slowly at first, and then started to accelerate after reaching the optimal distance.
"Da da da!"
"Da da da!"
The two torrents collided together.
"Bang bang bang!"
The Ming army's three-eyed blunderbuss began to fire, and the Jinli Department also had a small number of three-eyed blunderbuss. After firing the three-eyed blunderbuss, some of the knights on horseback changed their swords and charged with lances, and some directly hit the enemy with the handle of the blunderbuss.
When the two armies meet, those with good riding skills can avoid the enemy cavalry in front and kill the enemy with swords. Those with poor riding skills will collide with the enemy, both men and horses.
"Bang!"
A Qing army's war horse hit the Ming army's war horse and drove it back.
The Mongolian horses of the Qing army were slightly larger than the Tibetan horses of the Ming army. Such a collision would cause the Ming army to suffer.
"Kill!"
The two armies began to fight, and the Eight Banners' riding skills were generally better than those of the Ming army. As soon as the battle began, the Ming army fell between five and six hundred people, while the Qing army only fell three hundred.
Sun Guangwei issued a strict order, and the Ming army did not dare to retreat and fought desperately with the Qing army.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
The cavalry on both wings of the Qing army also charged up, and the Ming army gritted their teeth and fought to the death. The two sides fought in a melee, with me among you and you among me, and they both lost their horse speed.
"Kill!"
Chen Youlong's 10,000 infantrymen arrived, and Chen's unique machete with a sharp tip and a thick back was very handy for chopping horse legs.
"Poof!"
Sun Hua cut off the leg of a Qing soldier's horse with one knife.
"咴聿聿!"
The horse screamed sadly, and both the man and the horse fell down.
"Poof!"
Zhang Dasheng also cut off a horse's leg, and the horse's blood splattered on his face.
"Happy", he licked his lips, his blood boiling with excitement from the blood of the red horse.
With the cooperation of infantry, the Ming army quickly gained the upper hand, and the Eight Banners soldiers fell one after another.
"Retreat, retreat quickly," Ahanikan hurriedly ordered.
The retreat horn sounded, and the Qing troops retreated one after another. The two sides were entangled, and those who were trapped could not withdraw at all, and those who were not trapped were also chased and killed by the Ming army's cavalry.
Ahanikan lost half of his 6,000 cavalry, and no longer dared to harass the Ming army.
??
After winning the first battle, the Ming army rushed straight towards Jinkou City. Jin Li, Cao De first resisted desperately.
Li Dingguo, Ma Jinzhong, Dang Shousu, and Ta Tianbao took turns attacking the city, and Jinkou City was in turmoil.
Kong Youde in Wuchang City regretted that he had listened to Luo Xiujin's scholar's advice and dispersed his limited troops to various cities. Now that they are better, they were defeated by the Ming army one by one.
Nowadays, the number of troops in Wuchang City is very small, and they dare not divide their troops to rescue Jinkou. But if they do not rescue, the second line of defense will soon be breached, and the tactic of delaying the Ming army will fail.
In the midst of a dilemma, Zhang Siwei, the commander-in-chief of Jingzhou, suddenly reported that he had sent his deputy generals Du Hongchang and Jia Yixuan to lead 5,000 troops for reinforcements.
It turned out that Luo Xiujin, the governor of Huguang, saw that the first line of defense was quickly breached by the Ming army, and feared that the second line of defense would not be able to hold up, so he urgently mobilized Jingzhou soldiers for reinforcements.
"Vice General Du and Vice General Jia, the military situation is on fire. You two should quickly lead troops to rescue Jinkou," Kong Youde ordered.
"The last general takes orders."
Jinshazhou in the north of Jinkou City is a beautiful river beach with fine golden sand that is shining brightly under the sun.
Yan Zungao was ordered to lead an army of 20,000 to stop the Qing army here.
"Commander, the enemy is attacking."
Yan Zungao raised his telescope and looked at it, and said with a smile: "Just so many enemies? It seems that Wuchang's troops are lacking!"
The generals waved their flags, and 20,000 troops attacked the Qing army. Generals Du and Jia were defeated and fled back to Wuchang.
The small Tucheng of Jinkou could not withstand the fierce attack of more than 100,000 troops, and the city was destroyed.
Jin Li, Cao De first led the remaining soldiers to flee to Zhifang, and joined forces with Liu Zhiyuan.
Just when he took a breath, Li Mingzhong led Qin Yuchun, Yao Youxing and other generals to kill him.
The three generals were unable to survive and fled to Wuchang.
??
Zhu Hengjia is inspecting his trophy: Jinkou City.
The confidant general Zhao Yong came over mysteriously.
"Supervising the country is a great joy."
"Oh, what's the happy event?"
"Soldiers discovered gold mines on Jinshazhou".
"Gold mine?"
Zhu Hengjia's eyes lit up and he hurriedly looked.
I saw an old man instructing the sergeant to rinse the excavated soil with water, separate the mud, water and stones, and extract alluvial gold.
"My father-in-law, are you a local?"
"It's true to report to the country".
"Is there a lot of gold production here?"
"Reporting to the State Supervisor, the gold mine here has been mined since the Song Dynasty. The output is not large, and it is located on the riverside. The soil is soft and prone to landslides. The local people only dig a little every day to earn some daily expenses."
p>
Zhu Hengjia nodded and ordered the Mining Department of the Ministry of Industry to send personnel to explore.
Another thought was that the gold obtained by plundering the city was a sign that God would help the Ming Dynasty, so he wrote "Golden Rooster" to celebrate it.
Golden Rooster
The eastward journey of the great river is stormy,
Traveling thousands of miles away, who can be my enemy?
Don't say that fighting makes people old,
The golden rooster has set, the sun and moon flag have set.
(Historical records indicate that a golden rooster flew south from Chicken Wing Mountain and gold was produced here)
This chapter has been completed!