At dusk, the tired birds return to the forest. The rays of sunset from the western mountains reflect colorfully on the river. Waterbirds pass by a patch of grass and disappear. Chang Yu stands by the river and watches the setting sun in trance. Li Muxian is roasting a fat pheasant next to him. The path boy is not far away.
While picking up branches everywhere, the soldiers of the Third Battalion of Dongchang were also busy making fires and making rice.
"The Taoist priest has traveled all over the world to know where this place is." Chang Yu turned around and looked at Li Muxian. The aroma of game on the fire was very appetizing.
Li Muxian looked around: "There are mixed forests and wild rivers all over, and there is not even a shadow of a ghost to be seen. Could it be that it has a great background?"
Chang Yu laughed and said, "Have you ever heard of the ancient saying, Taoist Master, "The Yellow Emperor established the world in order to establish all the kingdoms, and he first passed through Anxu?" Li Muxian shook his head: "Could it be that Anxu is this place?"
Chang Yu nodded: "This is the place that will shine in the future."
Li Muxian exclaimed: "This place is close to the capital, and it is a choke point."
Yes, this is where the Xia and Shang Dynasties were located in Jizhou, the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties were in the wilderness of Jiyan, the Jin and Tang Dynasties were in the territory of Youzhou, and the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties were the key points of the capital, Langfang, which is known as the lower end of the Jiuhe River!
Chang Yu ran non-stop for more than a hundred miles all the way from Tianjin Wei. The men and horses were a little tired, so he ordered a rest. In the distance, he saw groups of fast horses galloping past. He knew they were scouts from the Ming army.
As the Qing army entered the Gyeonggi area again, the surrounding situation immediately became sensitive again. The big cities and small towns were trembling. The Ming army, which followed closely behind, sent countless detective horses to investigate, monitor and transmit intelligence within a radius of nearly hundreds of miles.
, and there is also a special team responsible for Chang Yu across the street. Wherever the Qing army is, wherever the Ming army is, anyone who makes any move must report to him immediately.
Latest information: Qing troops have arrived in Xianghe.
"We broke camp early in the morning and ran a hundred miles in one breath. This speed is really not slow!" Li Muxian handed the grilled orange-yellow and oily pheasant to Chang Yu.
Chang Yu took and tore off a chicken leg and handed it to the little Taotong: "Time is tight. He doesn't want to conflict with me, so he has to rush on. A hundred miles a day for cavalry is nothing, but it is a hardship for the captured people."
"Yeah."
After saying that, he raised his head and asked the scout: "Are the Tatars planning to attack?"
"Reporting to the governor, the Tatars camped on the bank of the canal in the west of the city. They were far away from Xianghe County and did not attack. They did not release a single hostage, but they dropped a large amount of baggage including livestock along the way."
"Still no food and grass?" Chang Yu asked again.
"Nothing".
"Tatars would rather give up pigs and sheep than money and food. Don't you think it's tiring to carry so many things? Don't you know that they have to hand it over sooner or later?" Li Muchian raised his eyebrows, and Chang Yu sneered: "Don't you think that Tatars really know how to grow old?
Hand over your things honestly."
Li Muchian laughed: "If I really think that, I would still follow the factory supervisor to feed mosquitoes in the wilderness. I am not that simple."
Chang Yu sighed: "This is the saying that a soldier never tires of deceit. If you are an enemy, you will fight to the death, but if you have a chance, you will fight to the end. Therefore, you must not relax at any time until you beat him to death."
Then he asked the scout again: "Do you have any information about Gao Jie and others?"
The scout shook his head and said, "We haven't explored yet." Chang Yu ordered him to send more people to explore south and urged him to hurry up. He was sure that Gao Jie and others would come, but if he came wandering around while enjoying the mountains and rivers, the day lily would be cold.
The scouts followed the order and left. Chang Yu urged the soldiers to eat and rest as soon as possible. He wanted to travel through the night and enter the capital before dawn.
Suddenly, there was a warning sound from the outside. The soldiers immediately put down their dry food, got on their horses and entered combat readiness. Chang Yu was also shocked. It was impossible for the Qing army to wander here. Could it be that some thieves with no eyesight were here to attack Qiu Feng.
Who said there weren't even lonely souls and wild ghosts here? Not all of them. Chang Yu glanced around at the campfire and couldn't recognize a long sigh. Li Muchian also smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Not the Qing army, nor the bandits, but a large number of refugees!
Previously, the army of thieves marched all the way north to Baoding Prefecture. Countless families within a thousand miles were destroyed and their families were displaced. The imperial army suppressed the thieves in Baoding. After several battles in Zhending Prefecture, refugees and bandits fled everywhere and begged for a living. Wherever there were cities, villages and towns
Everyone is in groups...
However, there was not much food to eat. Even if the imperial court or even the local government opened warehouses to provide disaster relief, it would be a drop in the bucket. It could be said that people died of hunger and even exchanged their children for food. The horrors of the world are too numerous to describe.
These refugees obviously couldn't find anything to beg for in the towns, so they formed a group and went to the wilderness to survive, peeling bark from trees, eating grass roots, catching fish and shrimps to survive. By chance, an army was resting nearby and making fires to make food. Their desire for survival made them bold enough to come begging for food.
In the past, they might have been worried about being robbed by the officers and soldiers if they failed to beg, but now they have nothing worth robbing, and they heard that the officers and soldiers have been strict in military discipline recently...
"Master, please give me some food..." There were hundreds of refugees, all with sallow faces and thin clothes, and they knelt down and kowtowed to the heavily guarded Dongchang No. 3 Battalion, which was holding steel knives and begging.
"Master, Master, please give me some food. The child has eaten a grain of rice in more than ten days. Please save him. As long as you give him food, you can do whatever you want." A woman screamed with tears on her face,
The child in his arms was at most five or six years old, his head hanging feebly.
"Master," the little Taoist boy still had half a chicken leg in his hand, looked up at Li Muxian, and then walked towards the woman...
"Everyone has an order!" Chang Yu yelled: "Keep all the uneaten food!"
There was no wind in the middle of the night, and the sound of frogs sounded far and near. The third battalion of Dongchang broke out and headed north. The young eunuch's face was ashen and he said nothing. His expression was so terrifying that Li Muchian next to him did not dare to speak.
Suddenly, Li Muxian suddenly noticed that the little eunuch was crying, the kind of silent crying with tears rolling down like rain.
He must be very angry in his heart!
On the bank of the canal more than ten miles west of Xianghe County, the Qing army camped here.
Last night was another sleepless night. Huang Degong drank to soothe his sorrows but tormented the Qing army. He marched in a hurry for two consecutive days but did not even sleep well at night, making the Qing army tired and angry.
Be patient! If you can’t bear it a little, your big plans will be ruined!
Dorgon secretly warned himself and his generals more than once.
We are still more than 400 miles away from the pass, so we can't be impulsive. It's not time to sprint away yet.
But when they get near the capital, it's a different story. It's best to take away their hostages. If they can't be taken away, they will be killed. As for the food, grass, gold and silver, all the property must be taken away. Even though the capital cannot be conquered, it is still possible to pass through Shunyi.
If the county has a chance, it will be destroyed!
Dorgon and his generals have already discussed it. When they arrive in the capital, the young eunuch will come to negotiate with him about the reception. At that time, he can delay time and let the grain, grass and other supplies go first, and the army will cover behind him. Even if his attempt is discovered
, started the fight in a hurry and with the strong strength of 20,000 cavalry, the Ming army would never be able to take advantage. If they had waited for them to mobilize their troops from the rear to encircle them, they would have left the country long ago!
The night breeze blowing by the river was very cool. When Dorgon looked eastward at Xianghe County, there were faint lights. It was obvious that the city must have shivered in fear when the Qing troops were known to have passed through.
Shang Kexi and Nikan still remember the bloody battle with Li Yan under the city when they went south. That fight was really the most brutal one since they entered the customs. But now they think about it, if they had known that they would end up like this after a bad encounter in Qingzhou.
Why bother going south in the first place?
"I have remembered this place in Xianghe. When I enter the customs again in the future, I will definitely erase it from this world without leaving any trace," Nikan said through gritted teeth.
Dorgon glanced at him without saying anything, and he thought the same thing.
Tan Ma came to report that the vanguard of the Ming army was twenty miles away, and its main force had just passed Wuqing. The pace was slow. Dorgon couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. He ran all the way from Qingzhou. The people who walked were half dead from exhaustion, and the people who chased them were equally tired.
I can't catch my breath either.
"The Ming army is exhausted, and we just took the opportunity to rest." Dorgon held a wooden stick and drew it on the ground, and his men gathered around: "Have a good sleep tonight, and break camp early tomorrow morning and go north along the canal to Tongzhou, and then pack up the supplies
Follow the Chaobai River northward through Shunyi to Miyun and exit the customs. Remember that after arriving at Tongzhou, the supply camp can run as fast as possible, and the main force will try its best to delay time and even fight."