Niu Jinxing also stroked his beard and laughed loudly and said: "Haha, Yihou defeated the Donglu army and defeated the Qing army several times. Not only did he plunder the formation, but he also took the lead in defeating the Tatars, severely damaging the enemy's morale.
It deserves a great victory."
Song Xiance asked: "How many casualties did we have? How many were injured? How many were killed in battle? Have the corpses and horses been snatched back to the army?"
Song Xiaozi suddenly asked a lot of questions. Zhang Nai couldn't answer immediately. Instead, Zhang Pihu replied:
"Our vanguard elite cavalry has suffered 2,000 casualties... The casualties are not small. However, the vanguards of the two armies are fighting, and the Tatars do not seem to have attacked with all their strength. Our army has many wounded and few dead. Most of the soldiers' bodies are with theirs.
The horses have also been brought back to the army."
Before Song Xiance could speak, Niu Jinxing said to Li Zicheng:
"Your Majesty, I estimate that the number of casualties of the Qing army must be over two thousand. Yihou led his army to break the formation and boost the morale of our army. This is a good thing."
Zhang Nai himself turned to look at the Suwei cavalry who had suffered heavy casualties, showing hesitation and embarrassment, and whispered: "Our army has suffered a lot of casualties..."
Song Xiance then advised Li Zicheng: "Holy Master, the Donglu front line is continuous, and the strength of the troops is at least 100,000. I, Dashun, must treat them with caution."
Song Xiance took the battle from Zhang Nai and Zhang Pikui and found that the situation of the Qing army's troops and horses was much better than what the Dashun monarchs and ministers expected. His inner uneasiness became more and more intense, and the pressure in his heart was very heavy. He was worried about the impending outbreak.
In the big battle, the future is even more uncertain.
In Song Xiance's mind, Li Zicheng was of course a unique hero in recent years. He knew that Li Zicheng was far more clever than Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and many other leaders of the uprising of his generation, and he also knew that Li Zicheng was much more sober than Emperor Chongzhen. But who was Li Zicheng?
A reckless hero, he received insufficient education in many aspects - although in recent years he has actively studied classics and history from Niu Jinxing, the level was not high enough, and the construction of the Dashun military regime was not perfect enough.
Now a sudden decisive battle has come in front of Dashun's monarchs and ministers. Victory is easy to say, and the Shun army will sweep the world. But what if it loses? At that time, it will be at a loss, disintegrate everywhere, and continue to run.
It’s hard to say that there is no place to stand.
Song Xiance was well aware of his responsibility and advised: "Judging from the battle of Yihou, the discipline and morale of the Manchu soldiers should not be underestimated. I thought that the enemy had many soldiers and horses, more than 100,000 troops. This was what Yang Si had done in the past.
Chang and Sun Chuanting were unable to raise an army even when they were in their heyday, so they must not be underestimated.
What's more, our army came all the way from Taiyuan, passing through the rugged Jingxing Mountain Road, and they didn't even have a good day's rest, they only stopped briefly in Guancheng!"
Li Zicheng's demeanor was calm and calm, and there was almost no sign of a rebel hero, but the demeanor of a dynasty monarch.
After Emperor Yongchang lowered his head and thought deeply, he asked: "Military advisor! Everyone says that you have thirty-six strategies in your mind. Why don't you come up with your last strategy?"
The Qing army's front line was thick with smoke and dust, and the generals could vaguely see that Huang Taiji was making final adjustments and deployments. After the mobilization of the Eight Banners troops was completed, perhaps the Qing army would launch an active offensive.
Time was tight, and everyone urged Song Xiance to come up with a clever plan. Song Xiance hesitated for a moment, and had to say: "In Xiance's humble opinion, your majesty's original military strategy is to dispatch an army to the north of Huolu, close to Pingshan, and Lingshou two lines.
This is a good strategy, but it is based on the fact that the Donglu troops are not much larger than ours.
Now it seems that the Donglu troops are strong. Although it is not completely certain because of the dense smoke and dust, it seems that there are no less than 100,000 people. Now dividing the troops to attack on the flanks is likely to weaken the front of our Dashun army. It is better to abolish this strategy and gather all the troops.
It is more reliable to have soldiers and horses in one place, advancing and retreating together."
Li Zicheng did not expect that Song Xiance's clever plan was just a conservative strategy of uniting the army, which made him a little disappointed. Niu Jinxing also felt that Song Xiance's opinion was a bit ridiculous. He said:
"What's this plan? The Dongludun soldiers have really settled in the city, and their morale has been depressed for a long time. It's not difficult for our army to defeat them. But the Tatars have many cavalry and a large number of horses. If they don't send an army to contain the north road, they will be defeated even if they are defeated.
The Qing army is bound to let go a large number of captives and cavalry, which will greatly affect our army's future march to the north of Youyan."
Li Zicheng's two most important conspirators, Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance, had different opinions. Li Zicheng's newly favored civil servants, whether Song Qijiao or Gong Shangshu, were not proficient in military affairs and could not give appropriate suggestions.
.
In the end, it still depends on Li Zicheng's own decision-making.
Zhang Nai was eager to counterattack, so he emphasized: "Long live! I think Song's military advisor has a good idea. If the army advances and retreats together, there is nothing wrong with wiping out the dog Tatars in one fell swoop."
Li Guo then said in a deep voice: "Even if the enemy has many soldiers and horses, it is inconvenient to temporarily change the military strategy that has been formulated in front of the army... Your Majesty has previously mobilized most of the cavalry in the rear camp to detour north. Do you want to withdraw now?"
Come?"
Li Guo had always been calm and calm, and his military skills were only lower than Li Zicheng's among the Dashun Army, but far superior to others. Of course, his words had a great boost to Li Zicheng.
Many soldiers and horses in the rear camp had been transferred to the north before. Indeed, as Li Guo said, the Dashun army had already implemented half of its military strategy. Now that they saw the shadow of the Qing army's soldiers and horses, they suddenly changed their combat strategy.
It will definitely make the whole army confused and greatly affect the morale of the soldiers.
Li Zicheng was determined to fight, and he said firmly: "Since we entered Henan in the 13th year of Chongzhen, the Chuang Army and the Dashun Army have always taken the initiative to attack, actively seek opportunities for combat, and have never retreated a step in front of the enemy.
Of course the same is true for the Dashun Army today, and of course it is still the case for me. Although we came all the way from Taiyuan, the soldiers are very tired and hardworking. But we worked hard, we were tired, and the enemy was even more tired! The Donglu could not conquer Zhending City.
Their physical strength and morale are far inferior to ours, so this opportunity must not be missed.
I have made up my mind to continue fighting according to the previous strategy... In addition, the troops in the north will be handed over to your command, and we will attack together and defeat the enemy."
Li Guo immediately took dozens of Zuoying soldiers to prepare to move north, and Li Zicheng's elite soldiers from the imperial camp also began to advance forward. The most elite soldiers of the Dashun army had their swords unsheathed, shining with silver light, and there were others
Many people, under the command of Wu Ruyi, were armed with bows, arrows and firecrackers.
Dang Shousu led a team of cavalry who were no inferior to Zhang Nai's troops. He ran to his brother Shuangxi, pointed at the majestic team and said: "Brother Shuangxi, these are the cavalry of the Northwest Frontier Army that I brought from Gansu and Qinghai."
, I will definitely show off my skills today.”
Zhang Nai chuckled and said, "We brothers can fight side by side again."
The army in the middle camp had many soldiers and horses, all of them tall and tall, marching neatly and full of energy. Zhang Pikui looked at the majestic army with no end in sight, and felt that such a powerful army was indeed the core of Li Zicheng's hands, and could even
It is said to be the core armed force of the entire Dashun regime.
This battle will of course be won by the Dashun Army.
The army kept moving forward, and its formation was constantly changing. The archers were preparing their bows and arrows, and the firearms soldiers were also holding up their blunderbuss and arranging their match ropes. Zhang Nai kept hitting his horse at the vanguard of the army, and thought again
He led the cavalry troops into the Qing army's battle line, but this time he was persuaded by Dang Shousu to stop him. He had to wait for the main forces of the two armies to fully engage in battle before leading the cavalry to strike the final blow.
Boom boom boom——
The artillery of the Qing army began to roar again, and intensive shelling hit Shun soldiers one after another. Niu Jinxing saw that the artillery of the Qing army was so powerful, and the main force of the Dashun army was advancing slowly, and it was likely to suffer many unnecessary casualties.
He suggested that Li Zicheng order the entire army to advance rapidly and attack the enemy's central army with all his strength.
But Li Zicheng felt that there was no need to be so anxious. He also wanted to wait for Li Guo to prepare for a flanking attack in the north. The Qing army's artillery fire looked indeed very terrifying, much louder than Sun Chuanting's train camp, but Li Zicheng believed in the decision.
The key to victory or defeat between the two armies is hand-to-hand combat, not long-range firepower.
Emperor Yongchang carefully calculated the distance between the two armies, and Li Zicheng silently recited in his heart: one, two, three, four...
When the distance between the armies finally shortened to a suitable distance, while the sound of Qing artillery suddenly intensified, Li Zicheng also drew his sword and shouted:
"The whole army advances rapidly and defeats the Tatars!"
Zhang Nai roared with joy, and he and Dang Shousu led the cavalry to the two wing formations, ready to take revenge on Wu Sangui, who was also on one wing of the army.
Zhang Pili also led the Chu Chuang cavalry to keep up with Zhang Nai. He followed Yihou and rushed to the left wing of the Dashun army's front, gasping and saying: