Lu Xiangsheng received the edict from King Qin in mid-July.
He did not hesitate for a moment and led the Tianxiong army to march northward that day.
According to the order of the Ministry of War, he should be stationed in Zhending to prepare for the Qing army's southward march.
But when they arrived at Zhending, they learned that the Qing army had no intention of going south, and Lu Xiangsheng couldn't sit still.
He sent scouts to various places for reconnaissance. When he learned that Baoding Prefecture was in danger, he quickly led his army north for reinforcements.
If it were other Ming Dynasty officials and generals who had not received orders from the central government anyway, they would rather hide in a distance to keep safe, and would never dare to take the initiative to fight with the Qing army.
Lu Xiangsheng is different.
He only knows how to be loyal to the country and does not care about his reputation.
However, he also had an extra thought and did not go straight to Baoding along the official road. Instead, he turned east and came to Gaoyang first.
The reason why he came here was because he knew that Sun Chengzong was at home.
If he wanted to fight the Qing army, he needed logistical supplies. He led his army all the way from Henan, and the supplies he carried were almost exhausted.
Even though it was really decided, local officials tried to pass the buck in every possible way, and in the end the food and grass provided was less than one-tenth.
Lu Xiangsheng knew very well that if there was one person in the Ming Dynasty who upheld the same public-mindedness as himself, it must be Sun Chengzong.
This is where he came to seek help.
"Mr. Ge, although I don't have many troops, I am determined to fight to the death with the Qing army. Our army is coming south, and food and grass are scarce. I wonder if Gaoyang can provide it?"
Knowing Lu Xiangsheng's purpose of coming and seeing his exhausted appearance, Sun Chengzong was greatly relieved.
If all the officials and generals of the Ming Dynasty were like this, why worry about the country being in trouble?
He patted his chest on the spot.
"This matter is left to me."
He has this confidence and can definitely do it.
Because this is his hometown.
Sun Chengzong's reputation in the local area was at its peak, far surpassing that of the government. With his personal management, the food and fodder needed by Tianxiong's army was prepared in just two days.
A Ming army appeared nearby. How could the Qing army besieging Baoding Prefecture not know about it?
The Qing army that reached Baoding Prefecture was under Hauge's command.
He plundered southward along the eastern foothills of Taihang Mountain without encountering any resistance. And because it was far away from the capital, Ming Dynasty simply ignored him.
Hauge destroyed eleven cities one after another, and looted the population and wealth piled up like mountains.
Hearing that many Ming Dynasty generals were being killed one after another by Azig, Hauge was indignant and decided to make a big move.
He ignored the dissuasion of his generals and insisted on taking Baoding.
Because he was the coach and the prince, the people below him could not disobey his orders and had no choice but to take action on Baoding.
But Baoding is an important town in the capital, and there are always heavy troops stationed there, including governors and general troops.
They are not capable of going out of the city to fight with the Qing army in the field. But with strong fortifications to defend the city, there is absolutely no problem.
Hauge had limited siege equipment, and after three days of fighting there was still no progress.
Just when he couldn't get off the stage, he heard that a Ming army of more than 6,000 people had arrived, which made him overjoyed.
"I am not attacking Baoding to destroy the city, but to lure the Ming army to come to rescue. This is better than defeating the enemy in the wild."
When the generals below heard his arrogant words, they all had strange expressions on their faces.
However, since we could fight in the field with the Ming army and no longer had to fight with Baoding, everyone tolerated it.
The plan to abandon Baoding and annihilate the troops coming to aid the Ming Dynasty was approved by everyone.
For the first time since leading the army, Hauge experienced the pleasure of giving an order and using his fingers like an arm.
"Hong Guo'er, you lead your cavalry to protect the left flank of the army and wait for the flag of the Chinese army. If you want to attack, there will be no delay."
A Mongolian nobleman stood up and accepted the order respectfully, looking proud.
This person is Hungol Beile of Horqin's Left Wing Rear Banner.
His daughter Borzigit Dulema has been betrothed to Hauge by Huang Taiji and was originally scheduled to get married in July.
Hauge's first wife was the daughter of Wu Gurdai and Mang Guji.
Because Mangguji fled with Manggurtai, Hauge killed him in anger.
Seeing that he had lost his first wife, Huang Taiji personally took the decision and ordered him to marry the noble daughter of the Horqin tribe.
This intention is actually very obvious.
I just hope that Horqin’s ministries can get closer to Hauge so that he can take over power in the future.
The rude Hauge didn't quite understand the twists and turns, but thanks to Fan Ji's repeated reminders, he got a little enlightened.
This time he was going to fight with the Ming army in the field, and it was clear that great achievements were at hand, so Hauge gave the opportunity to his future father-in-law.
"Wu Keshan, you will command the right wing. We also need to wait for orders from the Chinese army. In addition, we will send out scouts to screen the battlefield."
Regarding Wu Keshan, Hauge's mood was very complicated.
Fan Ji repeatedly suggested that he should make good friends with this person, but when he thought that this person's sister was the enemy of his succession, Hauge inevitably felt strange.
Fortunately, he is now the commander-in-chief of the army. He has great power and is satisfied with his ambition, so he has no intention of causing trouble.
When Azig arranged Wu Keshan to be with Hauge, he actually had disgusting intentions.
But he didn't expect that Hauge didn't do anything as offending as he wanted.
Following Hauge's general order, the Qing army began to retreat from the besieged city and approached Gaoyang.
At the same time, Lu Xiangsheng received supplies of food and grass and also came towards them.
On both sides of the Fu River, the two sides collided.
In the previous investigation and counter-investigation, the scouts on both sides fought extremely fiercely.
The Qing army, which had been invincible since entering the Pass, encountered a well-matched opponent for the first time.
The Eight Banners and Mongolian scouts suffered heavy losses, and when the casualty figures were reported to Haug, he was also a little frightened.
In Lu Xiangsheng's army, Sun Chengzong who followed him was even more amazed when he saw that Tianxiong's army was so brave and on par with the Qing army.
Brother Hao has a total of more than 40,000 people under his command, which is more than six times that of Lu Xiangsheng.
Therefore, Lu Xiangsheng did not play any tricks and set up layers of infantry phalanxes on the plains.
There are more than 800 people in each large formation, looking after each other in front, back, left and right, with the gap between each other being less than a hundred meters.
Faced with such an infantry phalanx, even if Haug had the courage, he would not dare to drive the cavalry to charge in hastily. Otherwise, attacks from all directions would be enough to annihilate the entire cavalry army.
But Hauge didn't intend to play any tricks with Lu Xiangsheng.
He had a large number of troops and also had capable infantry, so he simply formed a square formation and decided to have a head-on confrontation with Lu Xiangsheng.
This no-frills style of play just covers up his shortcomings of lack of resourcefulness.
None of the generals had any objections to his arrangement.
Anyway, in everyone's mind, the Ming army was all vulnerable, and they only needed to rush over to destroy the enemy.
The war drums were roaring, the horns were desolate, and the sky also smelled the smell of blood. It pulled over layers of clouds and haze, and it was hard to bear to see the fighting in the world.
Lu Xiangsheng and Hauge separated the central army and unanimously issued the order to attack.
