Chapter 162 Yuan Yingtai insists on fighting in the field
Zhang Quan analyzed the intelligence and combined with the news that the Jiannu Xianglan Banner was approaching Liaoyang recently and the Horqin Mongolian army was moving south, he judged that Nurhachi was going to invade Shenyang.
He advised Yuan Yingtai to control the entire city and kill those who spread rumors. Yuan Jinglue should personally lead his elite troops to directly capture the Mongolian leaders, break their existing structure, reorganize and recruit these Mongolian soldiers.
Yuan Yingtai believed that these actions were against benevolence and righteousness, and he wanted to unite the Mongols. At this time, he should not arouse conflicts between the Mongols and the Han people. Such actions would also run counter to the purpose of the imperial court, so he completely rejected them.
Suddenly, it was reported that Amin from Jiannu Xianglan Banner had nearly 6,000 soldiers and horses fighting 10 miles east of Liaoyang City.
Yuan Yingtai thought that the Jiannu Xianglan Banner had been crippled by the Confederate Army and it would be impossible to recover in such a short time, but he hurriedly climbed the city wall to wait and see, and sure enough there was a large army approaching ten miles east of the city.
Yuan Yingtai decided to send Zhu Wanliang and Zu Dashou out of the city to fight.
Zhang Quan believed that there was no peace in the city. If the main force left the city again, the situation would probably be unstable. He wanted to stabilize the city first, especially after suppressing the spies, and then consider leaving the city to fight.
Yuan Yingtai said: "I treat the soldiers, the people and the Mongols with benevolence and righteousness. How can I let the soldiers and horses not go to fight, but stare at them?"
"Now that there are only a few thousand Jiannu troops in the east facing the blue flag, Amin has become frightened. This is a temporary gathering of rabble, and they will inevitably rush to escape when encountering the Ming army.
"Since Nurhaci will attack, when all the enemies arrive, there will be no chance of turning the field around. Now we should take advantage of the blue flag to advance alone and defeat this group first!"
"General Zhu, General Zu Shen will lead his troops out of the city to meet the enemy. I will prepare a celebration banquet for you two!"
Zu Dashou had many Mongolian soldiers under his command. He could not do this without Yuan Yingtai, so of course he followed his advice at this time.
Zhu Wanliang, on the other hand, was guilty of meritorious service. When the civil servants spoke, he had to go.
The two gathered 10,000 soldiers and horses and went out of the city to meet the enemy.
Yuan Yingtai sent his most trusted Zhu Wanliang to fight for his meritorious service. Zu Dashou of the Liao army was also his confidant to assist Zhu Wanliang in the battle. He felt that Amin's blue flag had been defeated twice by the southern army, and half of it was new soldiers, so it was simply vulnerable.
It just gave Zhu Wanliang a chance to make atonement, and also let Zhang Quan know that he was good at using troops. It also let the world know that not only the Southern Army could fight, but the Liao Army could also fight.
Zu Dashou was also his confidant, and he was promoted just in time to deal with the weakling Xianglan Banner.
Yuan Yingtai also wanted to support the Liaodong Army and use a great victory to prove that the Liaodong Army he valued was the best.
As for Liang Zhongshan, who came from three sides and had been closely following the Southern Army to oppose him, he had no choice but to stand aside. After defeating Amin's Xianglan Banner this time, he transferred the troops led by Zhao to Zhu Wanliang and Zu Dashou to supplement their strength.
On the Jiannu side, Amin is also considered a very capable general.
It only took him a few months to train the nearly 3,000 savage Jurchens assigned to him by Nurhachi to a high standard.
As for the hundreds of Jurchen soldiers who were frightened by the Southern Army, after the bloody training of Mang Gurtai, they have become devils who only know how to kill, and are even more ferocious than the savage Jurchens.
On the surface, Zhu Wanliang was not afraid of Amin, and led his few remaining servants to line up on the front flanks. Once the blue flag was defeated, he would charge into the battle. Of course, he would take the lead.
The two armies were arrayed three miles away from the Xianglan Banner camp. On the opposite side, they saw the Xianglan Banner formations scattered, with disheveled clothes and armor, and a variety of weapons.
Yuan Jinglue was indeed right. It had only been a few days since the defeat of Xianglan Banner. How could there be so many troops, weapons and armor? They must have been summoned at short notice and rushed to the battlefield with a little training.
Zhu Wanliang was really right. There were indeed hundreds of soldiers lined up in front of the formation. The others were disguised. How could they be so good with blue flags? The current combat power was no worse than a few months ago.
Nurhachi assigned nearly 3,000 savage Jurchens to Amin, who were carefully trained by Fan Wencheng. They were dedicated to killing Han people on the battlefield and performed meritorious service and raised the flag.
At the beginning of the battle, they first exchanged bows and arrows, and then charged. Naturally, the coats holding a mess of weapons could not withstand the bombardment of the Ming army's three-eyed muskets. This time, Zhu Wanliang learned his lesson and advanced steadily instead of blindly charging into the battle with his elite troops.
When there were more than 100 casualties among the soldiers, they already understood that they had become cannon fodder. They turned around and ran away with a shout. The slave-building soldiers behind had already received the order and took the lead in escaping eastward.
Under the continuous pursuit of the Ming army, the Xianglan Banner formation had already collapsed, and the central part continued to shrink. Zhu Wanliang led most of the Ming army into the flying geese formation transformed from the Xianglan Banner.
Zhu Wanliang had not noticed it yet and was still directing the Ming army to charge, trying to penetrate the blue-flag formation in one fell swoop. The two wings of the blue-flag formation quickly moved toward the west toward the center, gradually turning into a pocket formation.
Xiang Lanqi first shot at the Ming army with bows and arrows, constantly compressing the space of the Ming army in the middle.
When the Jiannu archers' arms were weak from shooting, they retreated. Half of the 3,000 screaming savage Jurchens came within ten steps and shot at the door, while the other half stepped on the corpses of the Ming soldiers and rushed forward to fight.
The Ming army's nightmare began.
Even a Ming army wearing heavy armor would die if shot in the face by an arrow.
Most of the guardsmen with light armor or no armor were originally poor farmers and sharecroppers who farmed the land. They were no match for the savages who lived in the mountains and forests and fought like wild beasts. They were forcefully rebuked and torn apart from their formation, directly dividing the team into two sections.
At this time, the 1,000 cavalrymen with blue flags on the outer flanks attacked westward regardless of the fighting on the battlefield. They were to intercept Zu Dashou's 4,000 Ming troops who came to support them.
Zu Dashou saw this and hurriedly lined up to meet the enemy. Many of his soldiers and horses had never actually fought against Jiannu. In the past, they tried their best to avoid battles and ran away when they encountered the enemy.
Before leaving the city this time, Yuan Yingtai made a big cake for him. When he came back after victory, he gave him 1,500 soldiers and horses led by Zhao, so he went to war in a high-profile manner.
When the cavalry with blue flags came out in overwhelming numbers, he hurriedly ordered his troops to line up to meet the enemy. However, while he was still in formation, he heard the sound of the three-eyed muskets of his troops.
"Boom boom boom~~"
At this time, the enemy was still a hundred steps away, and the three-eyed gun could not kill the enemy at all. Some recruits were under too much pressure and hurriedly fired their guns when they heard the preparations, leading the others to fire regardless of the fact that the cavalry with the blue flag was still a hundred steps away.
If it doesn't happen, start shooting. As long as shooting starts, others will follow suit. This is a conditioned reflex.
"Boom boom boom~~"
"Boom boom boom~~"
There was a deafening roar, and a large amount of gunpowder smoke obscured the vision. Before the smoke dissipated, many arrows flew over.
Some cavalrymen were hit by arrows and fell from their horses, and many cavalrymen turned around and fled.
Zu Dashou's men had half of the cavalry. These cavalry soldiers were well-oiled, had more recruits, and there were also many Mongolians. They were all poorly disciplined soldiers and horses. When the battle situation was unfavorable, they immediately turned to Rufeng.
Zu Dashou also ran away quickly.
The Ming army ran in front, and Jiannu's cavalry pursued them three miles away. The Jiannu cavalry returned and surrounded Zhu Wanliang's Ming army.
After all, annihilation is more important than defeat. They want to encircle and annihilate Zhu Wanliang's tribe.