As night fell, a mist gradually rose from the river, making the soldiers' vision even more limited.
On the Chuang Army side, after a simple inventory, Li Laiheng could confirm that in the fierce battle during the day, more than 10,000 to 5,000 soldiers were killed or injured in total.
Among them, there were about seven to eight thousand soldiers killed in battle, as well as soldiers who had completely lost their combat effectiveness due to battle injuries, weather, and diseases.
Based on my predictions about the enemy, and judging from today's specific battle situation, I estimate that the casualties on the Ming and Qing coalition forces should be similar to those of the Chuang army. That is to say, there are also seven or eight thousand troops who have completely lost their combat effectiveness, and the overall casualties are ten thousand.
to between 20,000 people.
On the ice of Baigou River, both the enemy and ourselves left a total of more than 10,000 bodies...
Thinking of those soldiers sleeping forever on the ice, even with Li Laiheng's cold nature, he couldn't help but close his eyes in pain. He whispered to the generals:
"The heavy fog covers this. This is a God-given opportunity. We must seize the time to cut the ice, defend by the river, and deal with the Donglu's outflanking soldiers first... As for the bodies that broke into the army swamp on the ice, we must immediately organize an assault force to attack half of them.
It’s limited to one hour, and you can take back as much as you can.”
Chen Yongfu deliberately objected, but he was not a direct descendant of the army, and it was really inappropriate to speak at this time. In the end, Ma Bao persuaded him: "Commander...will he alert the snake? It is the duty of a soldier to wrap his body in horse leather, and he will be buried forever in the Baigou River, or it may be a kind of
relief."
Liu Rukui, Ma Shiyao, Ma Shitai, Zhang Hong, Guo Sheng and other Zuoying generals did not say anything, but they all lowered their heads together, obviously acquiescing to any decision made by Li Laiheng.
Li Laiheng took a deep breath, he was also hesitating, but who brought the thousands of bodies that fell on the ice of Baigou River to the snowy countryside in the North?
It’s me!
Does he, Li Laiheng, have the right to let these people sleep in the Baigou River forever?
"Don't say any more, I've made up my mind! Within half an hour, we immediately attack and recapture the body. Hao Yaoqi! The general raised his sword and stood up. Why? The emperor is safe at the top, and the people at the bottom are protected, but there are also things in the middle.
Let the soldiers die and return to their roots. Hao Yaoqi, you go and lead the team to retrieve the bodies of the soldiers."
Chen Yongfu and Ma Bao looked at each other and shook their heads in disappointment. Hao Yaoqi, however, was very courageous. He patted his chest and laughed and said: "Back then, when the Chuang army was defeated in Hanshui, we were afraid that we would not be able to escape. Only King Chuang could
He and Chief Liu tried their best to drag back the bodies of the brothers. The guard team really showed the demeanor of King Chuang and Chief Inspector back in the day!"
Fang Yiren looked at Li Laiheng's calm expression and knew that this was not a moment of hypocrisy. His heart suddenly moved, and he gradually gained a new understanding of Li Laiheng, and then he realized that this is not what the king cares about?
Hao Yaoqi led his troops to attack with the Golden Blade, but the actual situation was much more optimistic than what the two "cautious" people Chen Yongfu and Ma Bao thought.
The Ming and Qing allied forces also suffered heavy casualties in the fierce battle during the day, and the Qing army's surprise attack failed, which made Wu Sangui and other Guan Ning generals feel that they had supported Abatai for no reason, and their strength had been wasted in vain. The Ming army and the Qing army
The already extremely fragile relationship between the army and the army immediately became acute because of this issue.
When Hao Yaoqi rushed into the Baigou River to retrieve the remains on the battlefield, the generals of the Ming and Qing armies were still passing the blame and attacking each other. Because Abatai refused to go to the Ming army camp, Wu Sangui and others also
They didn't dare to leave their camp easily, so this kind of argument could only be passed back and forth between the supervisor Li Jiantai and the eunuch Gao Qi, which was even less efficient.
In addition, the snow has not stopped and the clouds are still very thick at night, making the stars and moon dim. Hao Yaoqi is unexpectedly not in danger. He only uses two-thirds of Li Laiheng's time limit to defeat the Chuang army in Baidu.
All the remains from the Gouhe battlefield were recovered.
With this result, Li Laiheng can finally breathe a sigh of relief. It is rare for him to make such a decision that is completely motivated by public interests. If he fails because of this, it will only make Li Laiheng even more constrained in his future affairs.
Fang Yiren smiled and said, "Has the master of the palace already had a military strategy in mind? Donglu's roundabout army is like a sheep entering the tiger's mouth. If God doesn't take it, he will suffer the consequences."
Li Laiheng snorted and said: "Immediately cut the ice at night. The generals led their troops to cut the ice along the river to create a buffer zone for us to set up defenses on the river bank. After that... Ma Shiyao, Liu Shuai praised you for being decisive. You led the way."
The soldiers and horses of the Zuoying camp and Ma Bao worked together to dig trenches and build walls along the river bank. Wooden sticks were inserted into the trenches and the walls could be sealed with ice water... We had used this method before in Yiling. Zhang Pizhu knew it very well, so I asked him to
He assists you in setting up your defenses."
"Liu Rukui!"
Li Laiheng then called out Zao Ying's name and arranged: "If the Qing army notices our move to dig ice for defense and sends troops to interfere, you will lead your troops to block the attack. If there is enough time, you will have to cover Ma Shiyao and Ma Bao to complete the task."
When deploying defenses, time is tight, but we must also try our best to cover their retreat."
Liu Rukui had fought together with Li Laiheng in his early years, but at that time Li Laiheng had not shed his childishness at all, and lacked the sense of majesty he now gives orders. When he heard Li Laiheng's arrangements, he first vaguely thought of Liu Zongmin's decisiveness, and then thought of Li Zicheng's
The atmosphere was calm, and finally I thought of Li Guo's calmness and Liu Fangliang's sharpness.
"Young Commander Young Tiger... I will listen to Commander Young Tiger's orders!"
Liu Rukui is General Guoyi of the Chuang Army. Liu Fangliang has now been promoted to General Quan. As the deputy of Yuan Cong and Liu Fangliang of the Chuang Army, his promotion to General Zhi is probably only a matter of days. Liu Rukui is much older than Li Laiheng.
, he claimed to be the last general, which already recognized Li Laiheng's authority to command the army.
"Hao Yaoqi, Zhang Hong, Guo Sheng, you come with me. Get rid of the defenders left on the front line, deploy...six thousand cavalry, I will personally go south to trap these ugly Eastern captives."
The remaining cavalry troops of the Chuang Army still total about eight or nine thousand. But it is impossible for Li Laiheng not to leave some cavalry on the northern front. If the Qing army ignores the ice fortification of the Chuang Army and insists on a forced assault, or
Sun Chuanting's Qin army arrived on the battlefield, and the remaining cavalry units would still be of great use.
He himself deployed 6,000 cavalry, which is considered a relatively reasonable range. Moreover, based on the reports of the detective cavalry, Li Laiheng estimated that the Qing army's outflanking force was less than 10,000 people. In fact, it may be around 5,000 cavalry, and 6,000 cavalry should be enough to deal with it.
situation.
If the six thousand cavalry can contact the troops of Gu Junen and Li Shiwei, it should be said that it will not be a problem to completely annihilate the Qing army's roundabout division.
However, Fang Yiren was still uneasy. Although Hao Yaoqi and others were present, he had doubts about whether Li Laiheng could perform calmly in front of the formation, so he urged Li Laiheng to collect mules that were not needed in the camp for the time being.
The mules and horses were used to carry two thousand infantry on their backs to join the battle.
Then Fang Yiren asked: "The master of the palace personally led the troops south, and Commander Liu is still injured. Who is in charge of the battle on the northern front?"
Fang Yiren's question made Li Laiheng look around at the faces of the generals in the army. He was most assured that Fang Yiren would take charge of the overall situation. However, Fang Yiren was a scholar, not a military general, and he had never had the experience of organizing and commanding a large corps to fight.
, I'm afraid it will be difficult to do this task.
Among the others, Ma Bao may have the talent to organize large corps to fight, but he does lack experience. It seems that the most suitable candidate can only be selected from Liu Rukui, Ma Shiyao, and Hao Yaoqi. Hao Yaoqi
If Qi wants to participate in the battle south to destroy the enemy, then Liu Rukui and Ma Shiyao can only be considered?
After Li Laiheng pondered for a while, he finally said: "General Liu and General Ma are both Guo Yi and can take on this responsibility... It's just that the situation of a large army battle is different from a battle of thousands of people. I don't know whether the two generals are qualified?
"
Liu Rukui first smiled bitterly and said: "Most of the time I was in Zuoying, I was only responsible for charging into battle. I could kill generals and capture flags, but to raise tens of thousands of troops, I had to have Commander Young Tiger and Commander Liu."
Ma Shiyao also said: "Are there any other candidates for the young tiger commander?"
Liu Rukui and Ma Shiyao were unable to take over the command, which made Li Laiheng feel anxious. He paced back and forth in the camp, thinking over and over for a long time, and finally set his sights on Chen Yongfu.
"General Chen, in the army today, apart from me and Commander Liu, you are the only one who has commanded an army of tens of thousands of people. If I entrust you with an important task, will General Chen be up to the task?"
Li Laiheng's words shocked everyone present, including Chen Yongfu himself.
Who is Chen Yongfu? He is the character who shot out one of Li Zicheng's eyes when he opened the second army!
And it’s only been a few months since he surrendered to the Chuang Army?
How can such a reduced general be able to shoulder the important task of organizing a large army?
Not only the generals of the Chuang Army had doubts, but Chen Yongfu himself quickly said: "When a large army fights, the lives of tens of thousands of people depend on one general! I am a humble person, but I am just a humble man. How can I afford such high expectations from the commander-in-chief?"
I’m afraid it’s absolutely impossible.”
Li Laiheng understood what Chen Yongfu was worried about and what everyone was thinking. He walked out of the queue generously, walked up to Chen Yongfu, held his right hand, and said warmly:
"When I go south to destroy the enemy, I am the general and I am about to march. It is precisely because the lives of tens of thousands of people are not trivial, so the person who takes charge of the overall situation must be an experienced and good general."
Faced with Li Laiheng's high hopes, Chen Yongfu's face turned red. He couldn't pull his hand out even with all his strength, so he had no choice but to say: "I once gathered my arrows to attack the king, and I resisted the commander in Guide. The army of those who broke into the army did not use the death penalty."
Treating me instead of giving me the title of general is already too lenient, how could I expect more."
"so."
Li Laiheng took out an arrow from the quiver of his own soldiers, held it in his hand, and said to Chen Yongfu: "Today, the general and I swear an oath on this arrow. Everything in the past will be forgotten and will never be mentioned again for a thousand generations. Today.
In a battle, generals must be used, can you?"
Chen Yongfu was still hesitant, and his performance made the surrounding generals a little dissatisfied. Many people found it incredible that Li Laiheng valued Chen Yongfu so much, and were even more angry at Chen Yongfu's pushback and coy posturing.
Before Chen Yongfu could say anything else, Li Laiheng walked into the middle of the crowd. He raised the arrow high with both hands and shouted:
"General Chen and I broke our arrows and swore an oath. Today, God's destiny is on the army, and I will not be responsible for it. If anyone violates this oath, he will be killed by thunder from the sky. The emperor, the emperor, and the empress have learned from this!"
After saying that, Li Laiheng snapped the arrow into two pieces. This political performance finally made Chen Yongfu put aside all the doubts in his heart. After sighing slightly, he bowed to Li Laiheng and said:
"I would like to be the commander-in-chief Li Ji."
At this time, Fang Yiren hurried forward, helped Chen Yongfu up, and suggested: "I heard that General Chen's son Chen De is also a brave general. Why not let Chen De go south with the general?"
When Chen Yongfu heard this, he immediately realized and said: "Yes, yes, Secretary Fang is right. The boy is quite brave, and he should be enlisted as a general in the army."
"Hahaha!"
Li Laiheng looked up to the sky and laughed loudly and said: "Don't trust the people you employ, and don't use the people you suspect. Chen De should stay with General Chen! After I have gone south to the east, I will return to the army and defeat the enemy with the generals!"