Chapter four hundred and twentieth IX No entry at home
At this time, the cavalry was not visible because it was blocked by hills in the distance. But the sound became more and more obvious, and it was obviously the sound of a large group of cavalry galloping.
If a large group of cavalry comes in this direction, usually without even thinking about it, it must be a Jianlu army.
Therefore, Yuan Keli made a prompt decision and ordered the guards around him: "Ring the alarm bell to warn."
After Yuan Keli finished his order, he took a monocular telescope handed over by his servant Ah Hong, checked the movement in the distance, and waited for the cavalry to appear.
Amidst the rapid and regular sound of alarm bells in Jinzhou City, it was like a calm lake suddenly boiling. Groups of soldiers immediately left the barracks and nervously but orderly marched to their respective designated city walls.
And go.
On the street, you can still see some senior officers riding horses towards the east wall of the city under the escort of their personal guards. The civilians also began to prepare war supplies and only waited for the order to go to the city to supply supplies. Everything seemed orderly.
Not long after, senior military officers in Jinzhou City had gathered around Yuan Keli, the governor of Liaodong.
This kind of response speed is probably not found in other places, and it can be regarded as a characteristic of a military city on the front line.
In the best position at the top of the city, Yuan Keli, Zu Dashou and He Kegang, who had telescopes, used their telescopes to observe the enemy.
The dust is flying, the hoofbeats are rumbling, and all the signs are obvious. Listening to the sound, experienced people guess that it is the main force of Jianlu, which is quite large.
Zu Dashou immediately put down his telescope, turned around and ordered to the guards around him: "Remove the cannon coats from the artillery everywhere, load the shells and prepare."
In response to enemy operations, as long as Yuan Keli remained silent, Zu Dashou would exercise command.
As his order was issued, the city became busy again in an nervous and orderly manner.
The expected cavalry finally moved to the front of the mountain in the distance, which surprised the three people with telescopes after seeing the situation clearly.
The cavalry that caught their eyes basically had no formation at all and was running forward desperately. Judging from its attire, it looked like a Ming army.
After getting closer, I could see clearly that the cavalry coming to Jinzhou City was indeed the Ming Army, and many of them were still wearing the standard armor of the Guan Ning Army.
He Kegang suddenly said: "This is the death camp, the death camp that left the fortress."
Needless to say, Yuan Keli and Zu Dashou had already seen the black military flag with the bright red word "death" on it. But why the death camp came from this direction puzzled them.
I saw that the dead camp cavalry had already circled the front of the mountain and were rushing towards Jinzhou City. Judging from their number, they probably only had more than 2,000 people.
There was still a lot of dust floating up behind the hill, and the earth-shattering sound of hooves was obviously not something that more than two thousand people could make. Judging from the signs of escape from the death camp, there should be pursuers behind them.
The three men with binoculars could already clearly see the faces of the soldiers in the death camp. He Kegang suddenly shouted: "The last general saw Cao Wen and Cao Shen."
Yuan Keli didn't know Cao Wenzhao. After hearing what He Kegang said, he ordered: "Be prepared to receive him into the city."
At this time, the pursuers from behind had also moved to the front of the hill. They were from Jianlu's Zhengbai Banner.
But they immediately discovered troops from other Jianlu formations, including Xiangbai Banner troops and Zhenghuang Banner troops. They even discovered Mongolian cavalry inside, chasing down the death camp in a mighty manner.
When Zu Dashou saw this situation, he immediately stopped the governor's personal guards who were about to leave to deliver the order.
He put down his telescope and explained to Yuan Keli: "Zhongcheng, beware of fraud."
When Yuan Keli heard this, he put down his telescope, turned to look at Zu Dashou, and asked seriously: "What's the trick?"
Zu Dashou had no choice but to clasp his fists and report back: "Zhongcheng, if the dead camp surrenders to the enemy and leads the army to build captives, and deceives the city gates to open, Jinzhou will be gone."
He Kegang, who was on the side, immediately put down his telescope and interjected after hearing this: "Zhongcheng, Cao Wenzhao is not this kind of person. Besides, this death camp is determined to leave the fortress. How could it surrender to the Jianlu?"
Seeing He Kegang's objection to his opinion, Zu Dashou couldn't help but look at him sideways and asked: "Do you dare to vouch for it?"
"The general is willing to pledge his head as a guarantee that Cao Wen's imperial edict will never be surrendered." He Kegang's words were resounding.
But Zu Dashou immediately continued: "What's the use of guarantee? If the city falls, everyone will die. Oh, by the way, you don't have to be sure."
The situation these days has made the relationship between the two people who were not dealing with each other even more tense, and the smell of gunpowder in their words became even stronger.
"You..." He Kegang was so angry that he couldn't speak. The meaning of Zu Dashou's words was that Cao Wenzhao surrendered to the enemy. He could also surrender to the enemy through his relationship with Cao Wenzhao, and nothing would happen.
While they were arguing at the top of the city, the death camp had already rushed to the front of the moat of Jinzhou City. Cao Wenzhao was at the front, and the banner with the word Cao and the military flag with the word "death" behind him both showed that he was at the bottom of the city.
Cao Wenzhao summoned all his strength and shouted to the top of the city: "I am Cao Wenzhao, the commander of the death camp. Please open the door quickly and let us enter the city."
After shouting for a while, there was no movement at the top of the city. Cao Wenzhao thought that the sound of horse hooves was too loud, so he asked the guards around him to shout together and repeat his words.
But there was still no response, and Cao Wenzhao became a little anxious. He was intercepted and blocked by Horqin's large army on the grassland, and even later Jianlu chased him. Cao Wenzhao spent a lot of effort to escape from the grassland, and was caught by surprise.
The land entered Jianlu territory and went to Jinzhou to ask for it.
He lost many brothers along the way, ordered his troops to discard the trophies they had captured on the grassland along the way, and ran through the starry night before escaping.
Even so, more and more skilled pursuers gathered, and Jianlu along the way continued to join the pursuit. Now they were not far behind, and they could catch up in a matter of minutes.
The ink marks on the city head made Cao Wenzhao anxious. He knew that the city head must have known the identity of his cavalry and recognized them as friendly troops, otherwise he would not have allowed himself to enter the moat without firing.
But what did he mean by not allowing himself to enter the city? Cao Wenzhao turned his head and watched what was going on behind him, and found that Jianlu was getting closer.
In desperation, they ordered the entire army to form a defensive position along the moat. If Jinzhou City did not open the door again, they would fight to the death with Jianlu under their eyes.
Because it was impossible to continue escaping, the entire army was exhausted, including the horses. However, the Jianlu were supplemented by fresh troops along the way. If the dead camp ran for a few more miles, the Jianlu would definitely be overtaken by the Jianlu.
The soldiers of the death camp looked at the city head with hatred, not wanting to escape to Jinzhou City, but they did not open the door to let them in. They wanted them to die outside the city.
The closest chasing death camp was the Dorgon tribe of Zhengbai Banner. He saw that the Ming army in Jinzhou City did not open the door. He was slightly surprised and hurriedly issued an order: "Close to the Ming army outside the city and kill them all. If the Ming army advances,
City, follow and attack Jinzhou City."
He did not pass on this order to the following troops, because they were all experienced generals and could see the purpose of his arrangement at a glance.
Seeing Jianlu getting closer and closer, Cao Wenzhao extinguished his last hope. He shouted: "Fight to the death!"
With voices of sorrow and indignation, the personal guards responded to the commander-in-chief's will: "Fight to the death!"
Later, the soldiers of the death camp also roared: "Fight to the death!"