The two major strategic points of the North China battlefield are Baoding in the west, Hejian in the east, and the tributaries of the Haihe River system in the east of Baoding gradually converge until the mouth of Dagu. There are rivers, lakes, swamps, and wetlands along the way. It is unfavorable between the spring and autumn seasons.
The army passed through, but it was already winter and the water had already frozen, so the army's movement was not hindered.
Whether the invading army marched north or the official army marched south, there were no geographical obstacles. The only thing that separated the two sides was the great plague that appeared in the second half of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen.
However, the deep winter weather of 16 years was several times colder than in previous years. The rivers near Baoding have all frozen, and even the surging Hutuo River has completely stopped flowing.
The land of Yanzhao was completely covered with ice and snow.
The ground is like white clouds, the fields are like empty rolls, and the wilderness is vast and desolate, as far as the eye can see.
Although the Jifu area is densely populated and has convenient transportation, due to the impact of the previous great plague and the recent heavy snowfall, the roads are empty of pedestrians, and the news from Baoding is not as good as usual.
It was not until the seventh day of February that Liu Fangliang learned from a group of hungry people who had fled south from Wuqing that the imperial court had recently mobilized troops frequently between the capital, Tianjin, and Shanhaiguan.
These hungry people also said that they had seen braided soldiers walking with the imperial army. This news did not attract the attention of the generals of the Chu army at first. Ma Shitai, the captain of Zuoying who was responsible for resettling the hungry people, just felt that the imperial border army often kept some barbarians.
Ding Tuqi was used as an elite soldier. This time, the sudden movement of the barbarian soldiers southward was most likely to be detrimental to Baoding.
It was not until Ma Shitai reported the news to Liu Fangliang that Liu Fangliang, who had been very afraid of the Qing army because of the Battle of Dangshan, immediately realized the terrible possibility hidden in this news.
"Are you sure that the hungry people are talking about braided soldiers?"
Ma Shitai couldn't give a definite answer to Liu Fangliang's question. After hesitating for a while, he said: "This... this, it should be, right? Those hungry people only said they saw Tatar soldiers with shaved heads and pigtails."
.”
Liu Fangliang, who has always shown himself to be cheerful and clear-tempered, after hearing Ma Shitai's uncertain answer, his whole face straightened up, he slapped the table and shouted:
"Go and ask! Are they the Yiding cavalry from the border army or other Tatar soldiers? They can't be Donglu soldiers!"
"Donglu soldiers? Liu Shuai, isn't the imperial court fighting against Donglu soldiers? How could it be Donglu soldiers? I think they are some Mongolian servants. We haven't fought with Mongolian soldiers in the official army before.
.”
"Stop talking nonsense, why are you talking about this? You should go back and investigate immediately. You must ask if they are Donglu soldiers... By the way, you need to find some refugees who have seen Donglu soldiers and ask them to follow them.
Ask, we must clarify this matter!”
Liu Fangliang's deputy, General Zuo Guoyi, Ma Shiyao, was Ma Shitai's brother. Seeing that Ma Shitai was not clear about the importance of things, he volunteered and said: "Liu Shuai, I'd better go and ask for it. If it's really the cavalry and soldiers marching together...
The changes have been huge!”
Liu Fangliang shook his head and said: "If you stay, let Ma Shitai handle this matter. You have always been more decisive in doing things and can adapt to changes. Now you go to the camp to select two thousand cavalry and search northward until they reach the vicinity of Baigou River.
Within the limit, we can investigate clearly the movements of the Ming army."
After listening to Liu Fangliang's instructions, Ma Shiyao saw that the always brave and sharp "Sai Lanling" had such a cautious look. He knew that this matter was not a trivial matter and immediately obeyed the order.
Before Ma Shiyao led his army to set off, Liu Fangliang gave special instructions: "Military matters are changing rapidly and cannot be estimated in advance. You must be careful and do not waste the battle, but make bringing back military information to the front line your first priority."
"Don't worry, Commander Liu, I have recently recruited a lot of new scholars in my camp. I often listen to their explanations of military tactics and tactics. I know how to use the right and the most powerful troops to complement each other and how to use deceit and deception, so I will definitely be on guard."
"Well... once you detect the movements of the Ming army, you should return to Baoding as soon as possible... In addition to the movements of the Ming army, you should also pay attention to detect the movements of Donglu."
Liu Fangliang thought for a long time, and finally emphasized it again: "Never fight with the enemy."
After Ma Shiyao set off with two thousand elite cavalry, Ma Shitai's investigation also came to fruition. The hungry people themselves could not tell the specific difference between the Mongolian Tatars and the Manchurian Tatars. They only said that they saw mixed soldiers among the officers and soldiers.
Lu Qi, if you give a more specific description, there are so many different people talking about it that no one can explain it clearly.
Although Ma Shitai brought some refugees who had experienced the massacre and plundering activities of the Kou Guan and Qing armies, because there were many Mongolians in the Qing army, the Qing army that entered the pass to plunder was itself a mixed force of Manchu, Mongolian and Han. So they listened.
After describing the hungry people on the front line, it is also impossible to tell clearly whether the Hu soldiers who are now acting together with the officers and soldiers are the Mongolian servants commonly seen in the frontier army, or the soldiers and horses of the Donglu soldiers.
Some refugees said that they saw Hu soldiers with their foreheads shaved, leaving only a small pig tail on the back of their heads, which was completely different from the Mongolian hairstyle. However, some refugees said that they had indeed seen the middle of their heads shaved, with both sides shaved.
People with long hair.
These mixed messages, which were difficult to distinguish between true and false, made Liu Fangliang a little anxious. He re-estimated the strength of the troops in Baoding and felt that they were a little stretched, so he decided to send people to Qingdu and Zhending, leaving some troops behind.
All the troops were mobilized to the front line of Baoding.
After Liu Fangliang thought about it for a while, he returned to the palace where General Zuo Yingquan's palace was in the same place as the governor of Baoding Prefecture. They were both borrowed from the original official offices of the prefect of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhang Ruxing, the commander-in-chief of Tongzhou who had previously surrendered to the Chu army in Guangping Mansion, took the initiative to serve as a guide for the Chu army after he greeted Liu Fangliang at Yingsanli on the outskirts of Guangping Mansion, helping Liu Fangliang to easily conquer southern Hebei Province.
Therefore, Liu Fangliang now attaches great importance to Zhang Ruxing, although because of Li Zicheng's Western Expedition, the letter of appointment for Zhang Ruxing's new official position has not yet been sent to Baoding.
However, with Zhang Ruxing's contribution, he will always have a place in the new dynasty in the future.
It's just that Zhang Ruxing felt that after Guangping presented the city, he had the credit for leading the Chuang army to sweep through southern Hebei. What's more, he was already the chief military officer of the Ming Dynasty before surrendering, and his status was higher than that of Liugou deputy general Guo Sheng, who is now highly used by the Chuang army.
Be high.
However, he has been unable to obtain a high-ranking official title. Liu Fangliang said that he valued him, but in fact he was just preparing to serve as a consultant.
As a result, Zhang Ruxing gradually became dissatisfied with Chuang Jun and Liu Fangliang, but the situation was stronger than the others, and the current situation did not allow Zhang Ruxing to jump back to the broken ship of the Ming Dynasty.
When he saw Liu Fangliang returning to the camp, he walked up to him and said, "Master Tai Tai, we have been resting in Baoding for such a long time. When are we going to attack Hejian Mansion again?"
Zitai was originally an honorific title for a first-level official of the Ming Dynasty governor, but when applied to Liu Fangliang, it seemed rather nondescript.
But Liu Fangliang had a good impression of Zhang Ruxing, who had actively led the way before. Moreover, he himself was not very clear about the honorific titles of making a platform and supporting a platform, so he just said with a smile:
"His Royal Highness the King of Tang has deployed a force from the front battalion of the East Route Army to attack Hejian Mansion. We will stay in Baoding and wait for the East Route Army to come to join forces."
"King Li Chuang is like a god with his troops. If Master Taiyuan comes back to life, no wonder he will be unrivaled in the world. It seems that I am worrying too much."
Liu Fangliang did not continue to discuss with Zhang Ruxing Li Laiheng's troops in the northern expedition to Hejian Prefecture. Instead, he ordered the newly appointed governor of Baoding Prefecture to help him find a map of Northern Zhili.
After he got the map, he flattened it on the ground. Then Liu Fangliang took off the inkstone and brushes from the desk beside him. One inkstone was placed in Baoding, and a brush was placed in Dezhou.
The remaining writing brush was broken into three sections by Liu Fangliang and placed in the capital, Jizhou and Shanhaiguan respectively.
Zhang Ruxing didn't understand Liu Fangliang's intention and asked tentatively: "We have soldiers stationed in Baoding and Dezhou. The capital and Shanhaiguan are the imperial court... where the Ming army is stationed. But what about Jizhou? The officers and soldiers should not have many troops in Jizhou.
It’s adjustable.”
"It's Donglu. Donglu should be near Jizhou, right?"
"Why did Mr. Taiwan pay attention to Donglu?"
Liu Fangliang did not answer Zhang Ruxing's words. He stared at the map for a long time, and then calculated the strength of both sides with one finger.
Then Liu Fangliang seemed to have remembered something, and suddenly stood up and left the camp, and went out to ask Ma Shitai for questioning. These actions made Zhang Ruxing confused. He only felt that Liu Fangliang was still very repulsive to him and did not trust him. He was intruding into the army.
Is there no future here?
The purpose of Liu Fangliang's visit to Ma Shitai was to ask him to immediately organize a group of doctors to diagnose and treat the conditions of the refugees heading south from near Wuqing.
Liu Fangliang slowly figured out something that he had always been confused about:
"During this period, more and more refugees are coming from the north, but everyone says that the plague is extremely ferocious. However, some of these refugees have starved to death and some have frozen to death, but very few of them have died of the disease!"
Ma Shitai didn't know why: "This...this means that the plague has receded? Isn't it a good thing?"