As time goes by, by the end of February, even in a deserted land like Mobei, although the temperature difference between day and night is huge, it cannot withstand the climate and gradually becomes warmer.
It was precisely for this reason that Chen Dong took the title of general to conquer the captives and commanded an army of 100,000 troops to march along the planned route.
Its army is so vast that it can't be hidden in the vast grassland.
At this time, no matter how blind the Manchus were, they were aware of his actions.
Shunzhi was furious: "Old Shaowu actually has the guts to offend me. Well, that's great. Give me some soldiers and horses, kill him personally, and return to the Central Plains."
Although he followed Fan Wencheng's words and established several strongholds in the west of Lake Baikal, he only regarded them as a last resort.
The foundation of Fengjing Mansion's management for more than ten years, the city, the people, the land, etc., would not be abandoned unless it was absolutely necessary.
None of the civil and military ministers tried to persuade him.
Because they were expelled from Beijing to Liaodong, then to Jilin, and then to what is now Lake Baikal. The hardships along the way are hard to describe in words.
The place where they are currently located is the most suitable land.
There is no escape.
To the west or north, there is frozen soil that is even more desolate than Mobei. There is snow for six or seven months of the year, making it impossible to survive.
Seemingly being forced into a desperate situation, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty agreed one after another and demanded a decisive battle.
For a time, the entire Fengjing Mansion fell into preparations for war.
After returning from the court, Shunzhi got on the imperial chariot and returned to the harem.
Although Fengjing City was a temporary capital in name, in fact everyone built it as a real capital.
For example, the imperial palace covers an area of more than 500 acres, with complete landscapes and palaces. Although it is a bit rough, it is still under the emperor's regulations.
Although there are often words in his ears that the palace is crude, Shunzhi has a very bad impression of Shengjing and Beijing. He only remembers that fear and uneasiness prevailed in his heart, so he didn't feel good about it.
Although he now lives in a corner, he still holds great power. The rough and small palace is extremely comfortable to live in.
"Your Majesty, we are here."
Shunzhi raised his eyes and saw the words "Cining Palace".
The maids and eunuchs came out of the palace to greet him.
"What is the queen doing?"
Shunzhi said softly.
"Report to your Majesty, the Queen Mother is worshiping the Buddha!" the eunuch said hurriedly.
Shunzhi nodded slightly, slowed down his steps, and entered the Cining Palace.
Dorgon died of illness in Jilin and moved to Fengjing. His mother lived in Cining Palace and helped him control the harem.
After years of hard work, Shunzhi's anger and hatred for his mother's service to Dorgon gradually dissipated, and the love between mother and son gradually became stronger.
He turned a corner and came to a small Buddhist hall at the back.
His mother, Empress Dowager Zhaosheng, was kneeling in front of a Bodhisattva statue, holding Buddhist beads in one hand and banging wooden fish with the other, closing her eyes and chanting, very sincerely.
When Shunzhi saw it, he couldn't help but find a futon and kneel beside it.
After a long time, the Queen Mother opened her eyes, put down the Buddhist beads and wooden fish, looked at her son who was getting better and better, and said, "Why is the Great Khan here?"
Even though her son became the emperor, she used to call him the Great Khan, which was considered a special case for her.
"Mother." Shunzhi looked at the kind face in front of him and said softly: "Mingren is coming."
"They sent a hundred thousand troops, coming from Mobei, and some were in Horqin, marching in two directions."
"Fengjing City is no longer safe."
When the Queen Mother heard this, she glanced sideways and said, "Is the emperor afraid?"
"Who is not afraid?" Shunzhi said with a wry smile: "The Ming army marched out to the west, and the Oirat Mongols were forced to land. Horqin in the east was also beaten and divided into two. I don't think it can last long."
"Our Eight Banners have failed so many times. Although we have logistical advantages now, the results are still unknown."
"It would be really difficult for my son to be timid."
At this time, Dayu'er suddenly realized that this son, who had always shown himself to be tough and wise, now had a face full of weakness, no different from ordinary people.
Only then did she realize that her son was only twenty-eight years old, but he was so mature.
For a moment, she felt heartbroken.
But she also truly understood that there was not much she could do.
"Fu Lin, what do you need me to do?"
"Mother, take Fuquan and the others to Huxi!"
Shunzhi calmed down and said seriously: "Now that the ice has melted, we can take a boat to the west of the lake. I have built a small city there, which is enough to accommodate you."
Twenty-two years after he ascended the throne and fourteen years after being in charge, Shunzhi got married and gave birth to many children one after another.
Today, there are six sons and four daughters who survive, which is not a small number.
Faced with the threat of war, he immediately wanted to send his mother and harem to a safer place in the west of the lake, far away from the battlefield.
"Huxi?"
"This is the way out that Mr. Fan advised me to stay."
Shunzhi sighed: "He said that Shaowu was extremely ambitious and wanted to capture barren lands like the Western Regions. It was impossible to give up Fengjing Mansion."
"So we built a castle on the land west of Lake Baikal as a way out."
"Other than you, the family records of all civil and military officials will be sent there to avoid worries."
With that said, Shunzhi said in a deep voice: "When I get there, I will let Suk Saha preside over the military affairs, but you will have to supervise him."
"Yes." Da Yu'er reached out her hand lovingly and stroked her son's cheek, feeling that he was getting thinner and thinner:
"You have to take care of yourself."
"As the Great Khan, you don't need to go into battle in person. Once there is a war, you can come to Huxi to join us. The Han people have a good saying, if you keep the green hills, you will not be afraid of running out of firewood."
"As long as you are the Great Khan, the Qing Dynasty will not perish."
Shunzhi smiled lightly, stood up immediately, bowed before leaving.
Da Yuer looked at his back in trance.
She felt this heart-wrenching feeling again.
Soldiers and horses were in a hurry, pedestrians were in a hurry, and the shops in the streets and alleys also knew that something was wrong, so they closed their doors and stopped operating.
In a shop with an obvious rugged Russian style, several red-haired and blue-eyed Rakshasa people were opening the cracks in the windows and looking at the hurried scene on the street. They were speechless for a while.
The leader was dressed in gorgeous clothes, with a somewhat philistine face and a thick beard. He sipped tea, and when he saw the two of them peeping non-stop, he said:
"What are you looking at? War is coming soon."
"Yes, war is coming."
The two sighed, picked up their tea cups and drank.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door.
"Creak-" The three of them looked at each other, and a little man went to open the door.
"How much gunpowder do you still have?"
"No one has come here all winter, so it's only a hundred pounds."
The businessman said helplessly.
"Okay, I want them all."
The person who came was wearing armor and had a solemn expression.
A few soldiers behind him carried a box of gold and silver, and then went to carry away the gunpowder.
The businessman smiled and closed the door.
"It seems that these Tatars are in danger."
The other two people also laughed.
"However, we must protect ourselves."
The businessman's expression darkened and he warned.
After a while, he rode his horse and walked out of the city gate.
Although Fengjing is in a state of emergency, daily control is not strict, and entry and exit are still relatively random. After all, the Ming army is still thousands of miles away, so it cannot mess up its position.
It seemed that the Rakshasa people had seen too many people, and all the passers-by turned a blind eye. The businessman pretended to be casual and came to a stream.
He took off his clothes, placed them on a stone, and then took the opportunity to stuff a piece of paper into the gap under the stone.
The whole person entered the stream and took a bath happily, looking carefree and at ease.
Almost ten minutes later, he put on his clothes and returned to the city casually.
Two hours later, a man on horseback led his horse to a stream to drink water. He sat next to a stone and took out a ball of paper.
The paper ball quickly passed through grasslands one after another and arrived at Kulun.
"Is this information from Beihai?"
Chen Dong said in surprise.
"That's right."
Zeng Ying nodded and said: "After going through a lot of hardships and working day and night to deliver it here."
He smiled and said: "The Qing Dynasty is like the setting sun. Although many people resisted to the end, they were still aware of current affairs and did not give up their lives and families."
Chen Dong unfolded the ball of paper. There was not much written on it, only some news about Fengjing Mansion, but it was very important.
The Qing army ordered nearly 200,000 soldiers and horses, of which nearly 150,000 rushed to join his army.
Among them, there were 5,000 musketeers, mostly with matchlocks, but less than 10,000 kilograms of gunpowder.
"It seems that he has discovered it."
Chen Dong chuckled and said, "But it's okay, we don't have to travel too much."
"How long does it take to reach Beihai?"
"General, we still have nearly 500 miles to go. The forward is only 200 miles away and can be reached in two days."
"Let's make it as fast as possible, and the horses will not rest until the people are resting."
Chen Dong said in a deep voice: "Get to Beihai as soon as possible and build a camp. We must wait and wait for the establishment of slaves."
It is normal for an army of one hundred thousand troops to stretch for hundreds of miles.
But they were all cavalry, and their support was very fast, so they were unexpectedly cut off.
On March 15th, the Ming army's vanguard arrived in Beihai and set up camp.
Within two days, they discovered the Qing army.
About three days later, the main force of the Ming army arrived at the camp and rested on the spot.
A steady stream of food is also stored here.
The main force of the Qing army also arrived and set up camp as well.
Mongolian yurts were built up on the spot, almost covering the grassland.
However, what surprised Chen Dong was that this Qing army only guarded the camp and had no intention of attacking.
Having experienced many battles, he immediately became vigilant.
Immediately, he sent cavalry to protect the grain road.
Later, he sent people to provoke him repeatedly, hoping for a decisive battle.
But the Qing army remained motionless.
"It seems like you want to compete with me in food consumption!"
Chen Dong pondered.
The Ming army's grain transport route from Kulun to Beihai was almost two thousand miles away. When two million shi of grain arrived here, only 3 to 500,000 shi were left.
It was only enough to feed the army for about two months.
In comparison, the Qing army's food routes were only a few hundred miles long, and their losses were extremely low, enough to support the army in a short period of time.
At this time, Zeng Ying arrived with good luck and said with a smile: "The place where the Manchus live is called by the Mongols the land of the common people in the forest. Even though the land is quite fertile, it is not as good as our Central Plains."
"As far as I know, most of what they grow are barley, rye, wheat, etc., and the harvest per acre is only about one stone. No matter how much food they have, in addition to raising these troops and war horses, they also have to support people."
"They can't compare to us."
"But they also have many cattle and sheep."
Chen Dong said softly: "Food is given to war horses, and humans eat cattle and sheep, so they can survive longer than us."
"Since they don't move, let's take advantage of the enemy and take the initiative to attack Beihai and smash the Fengjing Mansion into pieces."
Zeng Ying's momentum remains undiminished and he is extremely heroic.
Chen Dongze has always been a guard and is used to being cautious. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head:
"If we come to clear the country with strong walls, and if these troops are still tampering with our food routes, then the army will be in danger."
"On the grassland, military strength is not important. The most important thing is to have enough food."
After saying this, Chen Dong narrowed his eyes: "There is no shortage of water and food here, and the men are almost rested. It's time for the decisive battle."
Zeng Ying sighed inwardly. He wanted to join the war, but the logistics required him to ensure it, so he could only be absent.
The next day, Chen Dong mobilized his troops and directly attacked the Qing army's camp.
For a moment, it caught people off guard.
The sun rose and cast a little bit of cool light. I no longer cared about the warmth of the world, grabbed a cloud to cover myself, and entertained myself.
The horn sounded and the smoke gradually rose. The slightly muddy grassland was densely packed with people and war horses gathered together. The whole land seemed to be trembling.
Although the sunlight is not too dazzling, it is amplified a lot on the armor, one after another.
Luck Dehun climbed up the tower and was stunned for a moment when he saw such a scene.
The armor wearing rate of the Ming army was actually so high.
And when he looked back at his own army, he saw that the elite of the Eight Banners were only about 50% to 60%. It would be good for ordinary cavalry to have a piece of leather armor.
It is completely incomparable to the Ming army.
Although he had an advantage in numbers, neither the armor nor the horses had an advantage, and he was quite annoyed for a while.
After staying in Lake Baikal to recuperate for many years, the Eight Banners of Switzerland seems to have been wasted. The new generation of children no longer have the bravery of their parents, and there is no need to mention cooperation.
"what to do?"
Nikan turned around and asked, "Our camp is not well built and cannot be defended."
"Should we retreat?"
"Retreating without fighting will affect morale." Lucked shook his head and said: "Our army has been defeated many times over the years. The morale of our army is not high to begin with. If we continue to retreat, we may not be able to stop it."
"let's hit!"
Luck Dehun gritted his teeth and said, "I don't believe it anymore. We can't defeat the Ming army on the grassland."
Immediately, the camp was opened wide, and the Manchu and Qing cavalry dispersed, forming a stream of arrows, waiting for an opportunity to fight.
The infantry in front of the Ming army immediately stopped and began to form a formation.
On the grassland, such a heavy infantry phalanx is extremely strong, and the cavalry can only wait to die if they charge.
"Oh, I have to be forced to fight before I can fight."
Chen Dong stood in the middle of the army and saw several large groups of cavalry turning into small groups.
Looking around, he saw that everywhere he saw were Qing troops. As far as the eye could see, their numbers were as huge as ants.
The total strength of the two armies exceeds 200,000.