The generals who commanded the Xuzhou Suppression Corps' westward marching corps were all destitute people who had been left idle in Yangzhou and Nanjing by the imperial court. In order to piece together a rescue force, Shi Kefa wrote to his Donglin friends in Nanjing and asked them to do it for them.
He invited these idle generals to Xuzhou to join the army.
The two chief military officers responsible for the attack, Liu Zhaoji and Yu Yongshou, had both trained troops in the Guanjin area before. Liu Zhaoji was originally the chief soldier of Liaodong Branch Training Town, and Yu Yongshou was the chief soldier of Shanhai Manager Town.
Due to repeated defeats in the Liaodong War, a number of generals withdrew from the front line and stayed at home. Although they were summoned by Shi Kefa to Xuzhou to deal with the intruders, they were also in danger of their lives, but they all felt that the intruders were worse than the Donglu.
Weaker, if you want to come here to lead troops in Xuzhou, there shouldn't be any big danger.
In addition to these two general officers, Gao Qian, a guerrilla from Henan who was originally active in Henan, was held accountable by the court after the fall of Kaifeng. He ran to Yangzhou and Nanjing and made a living by publishing his diary of Shou Bian.
While Shi Kefa was gathering troops to rescue Guide, Gao Qian happened to have close contacts with many Donglin Party members who had opened study rooms in their homes because of the publication of his diary. Under their influence, Gao Qian, who had fought against the rebels for a long time,
The very experienced "Chuang Thiefong" was able to resume his role as deputy general and lead the Huaiyang regiment to participate in the westward rescue mission.
This time the imperial court changed its previous strategy of controlling from the center. Chongzhen specifically emphasized in the edict that the use of troops to restore the Central Plains this time would never be "controlled from the center."
At the suggestion of Zhou Yanru, the chief minister, the imperial court also released the power to organize local league training. Shaoxing manager Chen Zilong, Juren He Gang, and scholar Xu all recruited a large number of league warriors from Jinhua, Yiwu and other places to follow Lu Zhen, governor of Huaiyang.
Fei participated in the rescue activity together.
The troops commanded by Gao Qian were mainly composed of Yiwu Zhuangyong recruited by Chen Zilong and Xu Du. However, due to different opinions between Shi Kefa and Hou Xun, this new army, which had little training but was quite energetic, was defeated by Hou Xun.
He stayed in Xuzhou and was unable to fully participate in the westward rescue and return to Germany.
Gao Qian only took away Yiwu Zhuangyong from the staff officer He Gang, about six to seven hundred people.
Liu Zhaoji and Yu Yongshou, the commander-in-chief of the Westward-moving Corps, probably never imagined that they would one day come into contact with the Qing army after running from Shanhaiguan to Nanjing's Youyou Forest.
When the Qing army's sudden cavalry death soldiers suddenly appeared in Liu Zhaoji's field of vision, his mood was nothing less than a complete collapse.
"Donglu? How could it be Donglu? They must be thieves who used deception to pretend to be soldiers. Donglu is in the north, how could they come near Guide? It's impossible even if they have wings!"
Liu Zhaoji couldn't believe it. He couldn't accept the reality and insisted that the prisoners were disguised as intruders. The purpose may be to scare the officers and soldiers. However, Yu Yongshou was more rational than him. Gao Qian, who was familiar with the appearance and tactics of the intruders, was more
It was immediately concluded that this was definitely not a breakout army.
The two of them were already ready to run away, so they did not argue with Liu Zhaoji. After firing a burst of gunfire, they ordered the troops to retreat eastward, ready to rush back to Xuzhou City at any time.
Liu Zhaoji had not fully understood the situation. He did not want to believe that the Qing army would suddenly appear south of the Yellow River. While he was panicking, he asked the surrounding servants everywhere if they could find any trace of Liu Liangzuo.
Be prepared to resist the enemy's attack first.
But Yu Yongshou and Gao Qian were much clearer-headed. This westward marching corps was cobbled together based on Shi Kefa's reputation and had no combat effectiveness at all.
Now we are suddenly attacked by the enemy. We are all unprepared. What a slap in the face. Hurry up and get away.
The Qing army also did not understand the situation of the Ming army on the opposite side, but both Ao Bai and Ye Bilong were happy to hear the battle. Their Bajala elite soldiers were among the elites of the Eight Banners of Manchuria. When they saw the Ming army's chaotic formation,
If there was a sign of retreat, they immediately divided into two groups, the left and right wings, and formed a crescent shape to attack behind the Ming army in a roundabout way.
The defenders of the Chuang Army stationed in Hanjiadao were hurriedly sending back to Li Laiheng the news of the movements of large Qing and Ming armies. In order to get the first-hand accurate information, Luo Bin, the chief of the Chuang Army, personally brought seven soldiers with him.
The cavalry cautiously approached the battlefield.
At this time, the sky was filled with smoke. The Ming army, Yu Yongshou and Gao Qian, had a brief confrontation with the Qing army before retreating eastward for less than half a quarter of an hour. Because they ran too fast, most of the officers and soldiers of Bi Bilong's roundabout cavalry had not yet arrived.
Already withdrawn from the battlefield.
Upon seeing this, Tan Tai immediately changed his offensive tactics and asked Li Guohan to lead the Han troops to stay and besiege Liu Zhaoji's vehicle formation. The remaining Bajala elite soldiers, commanded by Obai, immediately pursued the Ming army deserters regardless of front or rear.
Countless war horses galloped past, and the ground was trembling with their hard hoofs. Luo Bin led a few intruder cavalry around the hill, and saw Ao Bai leading two hundred Eight Banners cavalry to ravage the Ming army.
Back formation.
The slowest one in the Ming army's rear formation was Yiwu Tuanlian, who lacked experience in escaping. After being attacked by the Qing army, they wanted to turn around and return to fight, but by this time Gao Qian had already disappeared, and there was only one civilian staff officer, He Gang.
Stay among the rebels to organize resistance.
However, the Eight Banners soldiers' offensive was extremely fierce. The cavalry around Obai were all equipped with bows and arrows, and they could shoot their bows from left to right while running at a rapid pace, piercing the Yangtze River with a hundred steps.
The moment the Eight Banners cavalry passed through the regiment training, hundreds of big arrows pierced the Ming army soldiers. Although He Gang was a scholar, he burst out with rare blood and courage at critical moments. His arms, thighs
Various arrows were shot, and he still held his own sword and shouted, encouraging the regiment to train and fight forward.
When Obei reined in his horse and ran wildly, he saw this and immediately took a big bow from the guard beside him. He only pulled the big bow two-thirds full, and then released it lightly, and an arrow hit the center with a whoosh.
In the orbit of He Gang's left eye.
He Gang screamed and fell off his horse. The Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers around him were all deeply frightened when they saw this situation. Only two more courageous regiment training soldiers rushed over to help He Gang up.
But at this time, Obai had already arrived at a gallop. Obai pulled up the reins, and the four hooves of the war horse trampled He Gang alive. The sternum of this daring staff officer was broken, and purple-black blood slowly poured out of his mouth.
He died unable to move.
"President Luobu, what should we do?"
Luo Bin tried his best to keep a calm mind. After biting his mouth hard, he clenched his fist and said: "Let's go back to Hanjiadao. If the Qing army comes to attack, everyone must have the awareness that it is better to be broken than to be destroyed. For the sake of the great nation,
Handsome, buy some time!"
He looked in the direction of Ma Muji to the west and murmured: "Commander, come quickly!"
The Qing army's offensive was so fierce that most of the 10,000 Ming army was defeated in just over a quarter of an hour. Except for Yu Yongshou and Gao Qian who escaped from the battlefield with more than a hundred servants, they
Almost all the soldiers and horses under his command were disintegrated in an instant.
On the contrary, Liu Zhaoji, who was stupid and slow to react, because he set up a car formation in time to resist, he persisted for a while longer than Yu Yongshou and Gao Qian's troops.
However, after Obai defeated all other Ming armies, Liu Zhaoji, who was surrounded by Li Guohan's Han army, had no choice but to be beaten passively and endure the indiscriminate bombardment of the Han army's flag artillery units.
When the Qing army and the Ming army were fighting, the exploration cavalry company sent by Luo Bin replaced two fast horses, and finally rushed back to the camp of the Chuang army near Mamuji before the Qing army solved Liu Zhaoji's car formation.
At this time, Li Laiheng had almost devoted all his troops to the general attack on Ma Muji, and there were only about a thousand defenders in the camp.
If the Qing army attacks from the side at this time, the Chuang army camp may not be able to hold out for more than a quarter of an hour and will be destroyed!
"How does Brother Gu do things!"
With a bang, the frightened and angry Li Laiheng swept all the pen holders on the table to the ground. He punched the table and cursed: "Gu Kecheng allowed the Eastern Barbarians to cross the Yellow River without even delivering a single message to us.
I still have to wait for the defenders of Hanjiadao to come and notify me, then I know that the Donglu have almost reached Xiayi County!"
"If you let the captives underestimate the enemy, if you let the captives underestimate the enemy, Gu Kecheng will do it. After this matter is over, I will definitely deal with Gu Kecheng!"
Li Laiheng gnashed his teeth and walked around the camp. He was anxious in his heart, fearing that he would repeat the tragic defeat of Li Zicheng in Shanhaiguan and Li Guo in Jingzhou. He kept asking about the specific battle situation near Hanjiadao in Ye Bu Shu.
Seeing that he was almost losing his mind, Fang Yiren quickly pushed Li Laiheng back to the chair with both hands and said warmly:
"General Gu has never had any problems commanding troops and horses. There must be other reasons for the Qing army to suddenly cross the river. The most important thing now is not to vent his anger on General Gu, but to first find out how many troops the Qing army has to cross the river. Secondly,
Let’s confirm what General Gu’s three thousand river defense troops are doing.”
Fang Yiren persuaded with gentle words, while Gu Junen on the side felt uneasy. Because he had previously talked to Li Laiheng and others about using the Donglu to negotiate with the Donglu, but now it seems that the Donglu's sending of envoys was completely a delaying tactic.
He actually got into the trap of a group of barbarians and Rongdi, and was played cruelly by others.
The Donglu have crossed the Yellow River and have already circled to the side of the Chuang army. What are they talking about now?