When Chang Yu led his troops into the mountains, Dorgon had just woken up in the Qing army camp in Beiyanghe. He had suffered from insomnia last night!
It has been more than a month since I entered the customs. The original purpose was very clear to rob and make up for the losses in the Ningyuan battle as political capital. But I didn't have enough energy to cultivate my energy, or I was aroused by the little eunuch and wanted to break the Ming Dynasty.
After suffering a bloody head, he woke up and led his troops to march eastward and south. However, he did not expect that the Ming army would pursue them all the way. This was a unique thing in previous years. Putting this aside, the harvest was only one-tenth of what it was in previous years.
The lost troops will outweigh the losses. This is something that Dorgon has always been worried about. But at this time, he can finally relax a little. The big chicken leg of Prince Heng's Mansion in Qingzhou is within reach. As long as he takes it, it can be compared to breaking ten cities.
It’s worth entering this time!
Thinking about it, I was very excited. How much gold and silver, how much food and grass could be obtained by Prince Heng's palace... It was like buying a lottery ticket and then imagining how to spend it after winning. So Dorgon thought about good things all night until dawn.
Just fell asleep.
It was already noon when he woke up, and the military camp was noisy. Dorgon got up and walked out of the tent and looked up at the sky. It was overcast and cool.
Duduo came over and told him that the Ming army had gone to Linzi as expected and camped outside the city. He asked Dorgon if he wanted to cross the river to Qingzhou City.
Kangkal's uncle and nephew used soft and hard tactics, but the Qingzhou City garrison refused to enter, refused to surrender, refused to communicate, refused to retaliate when scolded, and resisted fiercely when beaten!
The vanguard's ineffectiveness was probably due to insufficient deterrence. Dorgon originally planned to rest for two more days to allow the soldiers to slow down, but he was always worried that while Ye Changmengduo was slowing down enough, the Ming army would also slow down.
This being the case, it opened Qingzhou City's horizons, so he ordered soldiers and horses to cross the river to surround Qingzhou City. The baggage trains rested for half a day, and Kong Youde was ordered to deploy controls around the area to prevent any unexpected events.
Not long after the main force of the Qing army crossed the river and headed south, Li Yan was slightly surprised when he received the information. He and Chang Yu both guessed that the Qing army would rest for at least two or three days, but they did not expect to be in such a hurry.
It seems that either he is afraid as Huang Degong said, afraid of long nights and many dreams, or he is just too hungry!
Of course, it is not ruled out that it is both.
The most anxious person after hearing the news was Zhu Cian. He looked at Li Yan with eyes full of pleading: "General Li, send troops!"
Zhou Yuji and Huang Degong also felt that they should do it as early as possible.
But Li Yan shook his head and refused.
One piece of information stated that the main force of the Qing army crossed the river, but they did not break out of camp, and the looted materials, people and animals were still in the camp. This corresponded to what Chang Yu said earlier that they only went to Qingzhou to show off their muscles and wanted to intimidate the city.
The garrison does not mean a forceful attack.
Secondly, a strong attack requires a large amount of equipment, and it is impossible for the Qing army to prepare it in such a short time.
As for the last point, the tired soldiers cannot be reused! The Ming army is too tired to pursue them all the way, and now they are just being used as targets for others!
All the generals thought it was reasonable, but Zhu Cian didn't have the mental quality to do so. It hurt whoever had acne on his face. Qingzhou was his home, so he cried and begged Li Yan to send troops to save Qingzhou City.
If Chang Yu had to give him a kick, how dare he be Li Yan, the prince of Prince Heng after all. In any case, this guy kept crying and begging, but he finally relaxed and said, "Then treat him in his own way."
Body!"
Didn't the Qing army cross the river to Qingzhou to show off their muscles? Then the Ming army went to their camp to show off. It's hard to say who was scaring whom.
Li Yan chose Hao Yongzhong for this performance without hesitation, and Tu Yuan strongly requested to form a group. Half an hour later, the two of them took 2,000 elite troops and headed north to the Qing army's rear camp in Beiyang River.
Sure enough, as soon as Hao Yongzhong and Tu Yuan's troops came out, Dorgon in the Qing army camp received the news and cursed loudly. The Ming army really couldn't put a grain of sand in its eyes and couldn't get any advantage.
He immediately ordered Kong Youde to send troops to intercept, but fearing that something had gone wrong, he hurriedly transferred back the five thousand soldiers and horses who had crossed the river. Duduo gritted his teeth. If he didn't want to cause trouble, he really wanted to send troops to attack Linzi City.
Although Li Yan's move could not prevent the main force of the Qing army from crossing the river to Qingzhou, it at least contained more than 10,000 troops, so that Dorgon did not dare to act rashly, let alone use all his troops to besiege Qingzhou City.
Of course, if you can block it for a while, you won't be able to block tomorrow, but as long as you can block it, the Ming army will have more time to recover its strength.
In fact, the two sides chased each other thousands of miles from the capital and fought no less than ten times. Although they could not fully understand each other's strength and intentions, they were inseparable.
Therefore, although Hao Yongzhong and Tu Yuan led their troops to look for trouble aggressively, Kong Youde also came to stop them with murderous intent. It seemed that there was going to be a fierce battle.
In fact, there was no fighting at all. The two armies were facing each other several miles apart. Neither one took action nor did they want to take action! Because both knew the other's intentions.
Just let the other side know your intentions. There is no real meaning in fighting. Neither side is willing to increase casualties. After all, their military strength is stretched to the point of being stretched at this time.
Obviously Li Yan is smart enough to deal with these emergencies, which is why Chang Yu values Li Yan very much. A fierce general is like a sword, and a strategist is like an arm. Without Li Yan, he has no ability to do everything himself, and is exhausted and inefficient.
Having Li Yan is like adding wings to a tiger, getting twice the result with half the effort.
Chang Yu had no idea that the Qing army suddenly crossed the river unexpectedly. At this time, he had already entered the mountain, entering from the north. The valley was quite spacious, and several people could ride horses side by side.
Kuang Ren led more than a dozen personal guards and two Orion guides to lead the way, followed by Chang Yu, Li Shiyuan, Li Muxian and several commanders such as Lu Xing, followed by three thousand infantry.
Marching southward along the valley, there are mountains on both sides but not too steep. There is a mountain stream beside the road with a clear entrance. The trees are lush and shade the sky and the sun is very cool. Although we are marching, it is like a mountain climbing outing.
Orion kept talking next to the little eunuch: The highest mountain in the east is called Mingzu Mountain, and there is a group of horse bandits on the mountainside with hundreds of people... Don't look at the wide valley here, and there is a small trail for more than ten miles, and the ravines are intricate.
If you accidentally walk in, you will get lost... Go straight south for fifty or sixty miles and there is Prince Mountain. There is a village halfway up the mountain that is actually a horse bandit. There is a big ravine up and down. Follow the ravine and look east for twenty or thirty miles.
Just outside the west gate of Qingzhou City...
Chang Yu secretly smacked his tongue. The mountain road was rugged and winding for fifty miles, but it was actually nearly a hundred miles long. It took more than an hour to march on flat ground, but it could take a whole day to walk in the mountains!
Sure enough, after making several turns in the valley for more than ten miles, the mountain road ahead became narrower. The slopes on both sides were steep and overgrown with weeds and rocks, and could only accommodate two or three people walking abreast.
Kuang Ren did not dare to be careless and told his guards to be smart and not fall into an ambush. The hunter looked relaxed: "There are no horse thieves around here. You can find them further ahead where the mountain road is steeper..."
Phew, everyone was speechless.
After walking for a few more miles, several valleys appeared in front of them. Orion gave way to the westernmost one, saying that the other ones would be dead ends and they would lead to steep cliffs with no way out and they would have to go back around.
It was almost evening at this time, the sky was gloomy and the trees in the mountains were lush and gray everywhere. The soldiers were a little tired. Orion said that there was a wide bend not far ahead and there was a mountain spring where he could rest for a while. Chang Yu agreed.
The guide said that he was not far away, but it was already dark after walking for more than half an hour. Finally, when he reached the turning point, the valley suddenly opened up. Sure enough, there was a mountain spring surrounded by huge rocks, and the soldiers sat down to drink water and rest.
Chang Yu washed his face and felt extremely refreshed. He raised his head and looked around. Behind him were all the lush hills. Then he asked the hunter: "Are there horse thieves entrenched near here?"
Orion shook his head: "A few miles away there are some villages in the mountains, and there are also horse thieves' strongholds, but those horse thieves never disturb the people in the mountains..."
Seeing Chang Yu sneer and say nothing, he asked again: "Sir, it's getting dark now. Do you want to camp here for the night, or drive all night?"
"Set up camp? We are not here to enjoy the mountains and rivers..." Before Li Muxian could finish his words, he was startled when he heard the police whistle. The soldiers resting nearby also stood up and drew their knives in a fighting posture.