But Chang Yu knew that the most critical moment had not yet come. The Ming army was out of food and grass, and its troops and horses were exhausted, so they were temporarily unable to launch an attack. In fact, the Qing army was no better than the Ming army. Dorgon had been marching south since his defeat at the imperial capital.
Being chased by the little eunuch drove me crazy, but in fact it was all in vain.
To put it simply, both armies are tired now and need to take a breather, so there may be peace between them for a while, but once they regain their strength, it will be a life-or-death situation.
Of course, the so-called peace is relative, and large-scale conflicts will not occur. However, the peripheral police posts and scouts of the two armies must not accidentally misfire.
In particular, the disappearance of the Qing army's two scouting horses in Linzi and the fact that Li Yan's army is getting closer and closer will definitely attract the attention of the Qing army. It is inevitable that a large number of Qing army spies will come here to investigate. This is what Chang Yu said is lively!
Chang Yu talked about the situation here lightly, but Li Shiyuan was concerned about the situation in Qingzhou City. After all, there were more than 2,000 Qing troops outside at this time, and the main force behind them was also close at hand...: "Perhaps the vanguard of the Qing army has already begun to attack the city?
"
"No." Chang Yu shook his head: "Whether it's the bandits or the Tatars, the tactics are the same, which is to use force first, that is, threats and intimidation. If it fails, they will attack by force. And the most basic siege equipment in different field battles is to attack by force.
Yes, but the Tatar vanguard came galloping all the way and there was no such thing at all."
After hearing what he said, Li Shiyuan felt a little relieved: "It's just that there are still fifteen days left until the first day of the new year. Mr. Factory Supervisor, when will the Tatars attack by force at the earliest?"
Chang Yu was silent for a while: "As expected, the Tatar vanguard will persuade them to surrender today, but the two battalions under my command will not surrender. It is very likely that the Tatars will harass the city at night, but without siege equipment, it is just a show.
That’s all, but the Tatar army will arrive at the city tomorrow, and they will have to show off their muscles to intimidate the defenders into surrendering the city, and at the same time prepare siege equipment... Well, in three days, if Qingzhou does not surrender, they will attack by force!"
Three days! Qingzhou only had three days to breathe! Li Shiyuan's face was pale. He knew that the Qing army came to attack the year before last and this time it was not a heavyweight at all. At that time, it was just a small team of thousands, but now he is the regent of the Qing Dynasty.
The prince led tens of thousands of troops and traveled thousands of miles to besiege the city, regardless of hardships, and he would not stop until the city was breached!
"There's no need to be so nervous." Chang Yu looked at his solemn expression and smiled: "Three days are enough for us to prepare. As long as the governor is not defeated inside, Qingzhou City can concentrate on competing with Dorgon outside. It's hard to say who will win in the end.
Woolen cloth"
"Listening to what the factory governor said, it seems like there is no guarantee of victory!" Li Shiyuan summoned up the courage to ask.
"There are no absolutes in this world. Blind arrogance will only make you underestimate the enemy." Chang Yu looked outside: "Every time you take a step, you will gain wisdom. I will go all out this time!"
Li Shiyuan looked at the young man in front of him. He could tell that the young eunuch must have suffered a loss. As for what the loss was, he didn't dare to ask unless Chang Yu said it, so he changed the subject: "I wonder where General Li is?"
Chang Yu didn't know either. He had previously guessed that Li Yan was blocked on the north bank of the Yellow River. He didn't know if he had crossed the river at this time. He originally wanted to send people to find out, but because there were too many probing horses from the Qing army around him, he didn't want to take risks. He thought that if Li Yan came
Scouts will definitely be sent to report the news. There is no one within ten miles, so just wait.
The two chatted for a while and then went down to the city with Zhu Cian. They happened to meet Zou Fengji and others who were coming up. They exchanged a few words and returned to the Yamen together.
Chang Yu came to Zi for two things, one was to prepare military rations, and the other was to wait for Li Yan and then join forces to compete with Dorgon outside the city. Zou Fengji handled the military rations smoothly because Prince Heng's Mansion was the guarantor. The people also knew the stakes, and the donations of food, fodder and military pay were considerable.
Everything is ready, all we have to do is wait for Li Yan.
Besides, after Li Yan broke through the Yellow River defense line, he just received Chang Yu's order to mobilize troops, so he led his troops straight south without stopping, and arrived in Boxing County at noon.
From a distance, there was still black smoke billowing in the city. When the scouts came to report that the city was in ruins, they found traces of Tatars exploring horses more than ten miles east of the city. Huang Degongqi yelled that the Tatars were inhumane.
Li Yan remained silent, and just waved his hand for everyone to continue on their way to the southeast. Linzi was a hundred miles away, and he just wanted to get there as early as possible.
However, there were always a large number of Qing troops following them along the way, and some even came close to provoke them. Li Yan ordered the other side not to attack unless they attacked. This move made the Qing troops even more arrogant.
In the evening, when the journey was more than half way, we entered Xincheng County (today's Huantai County). The county seat was five or six miles to the west. Scouts came to report that the county seat was intact. Huang Degong asked if he wanted to get some food. Li Yan thought about it and decided He sent people into the city to inform the Ming and Qing armies that a battle was imminent in the surrounding area. He must not open the city to surrender, otherwise the Tatars would kill all the chickens and dogs. He also raised grain in the city in the name of Dongchang to prepare for emergencies. He learned from Kuang Ren's mouth We already know that Linzi is only a small city, and we are afraid that with all the strength of the city, it may not be able to support tens of thousands of troops, or it may not last long, so we have taken precautions and used Xincheng County as a backup tire.
At this time, it was less than half a hundred miles away from Linzi, but it was about the same distance from Guangrao County to the east. At this time, Dorgon's main force was resting more than ten miles south of the city, and his army was plundering the surrounding area, so that Li Yan's army was several miles away. There were actually more than ten groups of Qing troops wandering around inside, provoking the Ming army's outer police posts from time to time. If they were not careful, their guns would go off.
But fortunately, the commanders of both armies did not want to cause trouble. As for Dorgon, he just wanted to plunder and capture Qingzhou City in peace. He wished that the Ming army would stay away and watch the show, so he would not take the initiative to start a fight.
For Li Yan, although he wanted to kill the enemy, he was not strong enough, and it was meaningless to follow behind him at this time. After all, both sides were on the field and were about to go to the ring to officially fight, and now he just wanted to go to Linzi. Rest your troops and horses, and then go to Qingzhou City to fight the Qing army outside Qingzhou City to bring shame to Xuexianghe River.
Everyone was waiting. Dorgon was waiting for his soldiers and horses to regain their strength and wait for the vanguard to report the good news. Chang Yu was waiting for Li Yan to arrive, so this afternoon was unusually calm.
Only the Qingzhou side was a bit noisy, and both groups of people inside and outside the city were ready to move. When Kangkal heard that Dorgon had camped sixty miles away to rest, he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot.
As a pioneer, he originally wanted to make amends for his sins by performing extraordinary feats, but the reality was very cruel and even a slap in the face. Not long after he set out, he was beaten by two battalions of the little eunuch, who covered his head and beat him. He was so frightened that he did not dare to move his legs. , after learning the truth, he became so angry that he chased her without even seeing the taillights of the car. Then that night when he first arrived outside the city, he was so frightened that he backed away for more than ten miles.
This morning, the troops arrived outside the city. After having enough water, food and rest, they came down to the city to persuade them to surrender. However, despite their throat-breaking shouts, there was no response from the city.
Look at what the two thousand soldiers and horses in the vanguard have done. They have accomplished absolutely nothing! There is no need for others to ridicule Kangkal's uncle and nephew. They themselves feel embarrassed!
Moreover, Dorgon's main force was close at this time. Once Chi Chi's troops came to the city, there would be nothing to do without his vanguard. If he turned around, he would be ridiculed by others and unable to hold his head up.
No, it must not be done! Kangkal was a guilty man and wanted to use this to turn himself around, but nothing could be done. Seeing that his subordinates were ineffective in persuading him to surrender, he sent several small teams of soldiers and horses. Each team of about a hundred people went around the city, yelling and cursing, and looking at the city to shoot arrows.
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It's just that after half an hour of tossing, there was still no movement in Qingzhou City. The city gate was closed tightly, and the guards on the city didn't even show their heads. Even though the Qing army was scolding below, their mouths were dry and their tongues were drying, and they were dizzy. The people inside just screamed.
Don't say anything.
If you can't fight back, if you can't retaliate with scolding, it's possible that all the people inside are dead, or they are still scared. Kangkal is confused, and he has no idea, so he might as well test it with a feint attack.
Kangkal agreed and ordered more than a hundred people to push the huge tree to hit the gate. Unexpectedly, just ten meters away from the city gate, a volley of arrows was fired from above, the boulder rolled down, and more than ten Qing troops were killed and wounded and dispersed in a hurry.
They were pretending to be dead. Kangkal was furious and ordered all his troops to cross the river and advance towards the city, firing arrows in return.
However, the garrison on the city immediately shrank back again. This made Kangkal feel very angry but he was helpless. He came lightly armed. The soldiers did not have any siege equipment except bows and arrows. They could not climb up the high wall and could not be fired.
There is no other alternative than yelling and scolding.