Chapter 36: Eight Banners Duel King

"Master, even if we add Master Cao's horses, it's still not enough to carry our rations, weapons and armor, and horse fodder. If we can't get any more food on the way, we'll starve to death before we even reach the east of the Liao River or see the Tartars."

Nagisa Nagisa, who was in charge of managing supplies, responded to his general's thoughts in this way.

Li Hao's five servants, the big and small Cao and their twelve servants were all called over. When these nineteen people heard that Li Hao wanted to raid Liaoyang and Shenyang, they all clenched their fists and rolled up their sleeves, eager to try.

However, after discussing the supplies and rations to carry, a huge problem was placed before Li Hao.

Not enough horses!

Li Hao had fourteen horses, and Cao and Cao had fifteen horses. Excluding the horses carrying people, there were only nine pack horses left.

If they advance at a speed of 80 miles per day, it will take seven or eight days to reach Shenyang, 600 miles away. Even if they reach the two yellow flag bases east of the Liaohe River, it will take five or six days.

There was no way. The Ningyuan Fortress was located in the middle of the Liaoxi Corridor. It was very difficult for me to lead my troops to attack it. It was also very difficult for the Ming army to fight from Ningyuan to the east of the Liaohe River.

In those days, there was still snowfall in Liaodong in the first month of the year, and there was no fodder to feed the horses on the road, so food rations and horse fodder for the next seven or eight days had to be brought along, as well as spare weapons, gunpowder, oil, coal, military tents and other logistical supplies.

The biggest headache is the horse's food. During wartime, a strong war horse must eat five kilograms of beans and ten to twenty kilograms of grass every day.

This is the standard for going out into the field. Once you save food for the horses, going out to fight will be tantamount to seeking death.

If we calculate based on eight days, and each horse only eats ten kilograms of grass, the food for twenty-nine horses would amount to three thousand four hundred and eighty kilograms.

Even if a pack horse is carrying 200 kilograms of weight, it will take 17 horses to carry it.

People's food and daily expenses are not heavy. The only heavy things are the military tents and the small cannons that may be carried.

The cannon is used to blast open the gate of the Eight Banners Manor. Of course, whether to bring it or not still needs to be considered.

Li Hao waved his hand and said, "It's not difficult. I'll go find the people from the Dao Hall. Zhu Mei and Man Gui can find pack horses. They are also experienced. Go and ask them how to carry the supplies."

General Li immediately ordered his men to dress neatly and go to the provincial government office to ask for supplies and horses for the northern expedition.

……

"I understand your intention, General. But a large group of Jiannu cavalry is not far to the east, and there are also a large number of Tatar scouts outside the city. Should we discuss the northern expedition again?"

What Li Hao did not expect was that the provincial government office was crowded with generals, eunuch Liu Yingkun and the elders in the city. They were discussing whether to send someone to report the victory and ask for help, and how to deal with the subsequent combat plans of the Eight Banners.

After listening to Li Hao's request, Yuan Chonghuan did not quite agree with the Northern Expedition. It was so hard to find such a brave general. If he accidentally died for the country during the Northern Expedition, it would be a great loss.

The other generals in the hall also disagreed with just twenty people going north to raid.

"General Li, even Marshal Mao of Dongjiang Town always sent at least two hundred elite cavalrymen to invade Jinzhou, Fuzhou and other places."

"If it was in Jinzhou, it would make sense to do this, but this is Ningyuan City, which is 150 miles away from Jinzhou. It will take two days to get there. Although the general is brave and powerful, he can't just go and die like this!"

"Water doesn't compete for the lead, but for its continuous flow. Our Ming Dynasty is rich and has a vast territory. We have plenty of food and money and a large army to fight the Jian Nu. Why should we care about killing them at this moment?"

"It won't be too late to carry out raids after there are troops stationed in Jinzhou and other places."

The generals led by Zuo Fu, Zhu Mei and Zu Dashou advised the young and vigorous general not to go out and lose his life in the first month of winter.

Before Li Hao, the main culprit, even said a word, Eunuch Liu started to sound sarcastic.

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk, look at your temper, you are afraid of death, but you are trying to dissuade General Li from going out of the city to kill the Tartars.

I will arrange this for General Li. Zuo Fu's subordinates have many horses, so I will provide 30 to 40 good horses for General Li to use. Zhu Mei, you are from Liaodong, and your servants will be responsible for calculating and loading rations and firearms for General Li's troops. If there is not enough, ask the Daoting Yamen to make up for it, and then send it to the north gate. Order the soldiers in the camp to hang this hero in the city wall and send him out in a grand manner. "

After Liu Yingkun finished giving the order, his mocking face towards the generals immediately turned into a smiling face and he turned to General Li.

"Are you satisfied with this arrangement, General?"

Seeing that it was another great victory, Liu Yingkun was eager for Li Hao to go out and fight another fierce battle.

If they had been able to penetrate deep into enemy territory, burn, kill and loot, and thus lure the Eight Banners back for support, the significance of the Ningyuan victory would have been even greater.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the generals dropped their hands and stamped their feet, beat their chests and knelt on the ground, cursing in low voices that this eunuch knew nothing about military affairs.

In this situation, they should stay in the city. The barbarians will retreat after being well fed. If they go out of the city to fight, they will surely be defeated. The Eight Banners' specialty is archery in the wild.

"I don't know anything about military affairs. Who defeated the Jiannu and reached Ningyuan City? They were in the Jinzhou area before, how come they lost two big cities and abandoned 200 miles of land in just one or two months? We have many heroes in the Ming Dynasty. We should go out of the city and fight the Eight Banners. We should chase them and fight them. Only in this way can we show the power of the Celestial Empire!"

Liu Yingkun was still not convinced and cursed back on the spot.

Yuan Chonghuan, the military governor, sighed deeply and bowed to Li Hao, "General, are you determined not to leave the city and fight hard?"

The master waved his hand and said, "I have made up my mind. Liu Yingkun's arrangement is good. You should hurry up and execute it. I will set out at the beginning of the si hour. If you are late, you will kill fewer Tartars."

After saying this, he ordered Cheng Weimu, the Tongzhi in charge of grain and salaries, to follow him and walk out of the hall.

I didn't expect that there was someone waiting in the courtyard.

"Godfather, I heard that you were going to the north to kill the Tartars. Yesterday, I was detained by my uncle and didn't have the honor to see Godfather's heroic deeds of fighting one hundred people alone. I can't miss this opportunity. Godfather, please take me with you so that I can also kill the Tartars."

Wu Sangui, wearing a split cloth armor, threw himself on Li Hao's lap and asked to be taken along.

"Hey, you are a thoughtful person. You can prepare the horse yourself. I will ask the people in the Dao Hall to prepare the food."

Zu Dashou rushed out from the living room and first blamed his nephew for being ignorant. Then he politely suggested to General Li not to let Wu Sangui go with him. After all, the boy was only eighteen years old and had not experienced any big battles.

Unexpectedly, this godson insisted on going no matter what. "If I can't kill the Tartars with my godfather, I would rather die in this government office right now."

After he and Zu Dashou tangled for a while, Li Hao got angry: "Is this how you waste my time? Wu Sangui is following me. If you are worried, just send a few servants to protect him. As long as I am alive, he will not die."

"That's right!" Wu Sangui also agreed with this plan.

So Li Hao's team added Wu Sangui and Zu Dashou's four servants, bringing the total number to twenty-five people.

After a chaotic search, they finally prepared the pack horses, food and drink that Li Hao needed for his journey north. When the soldiers and civilians in the city heard about this, they ran to the north gate with their families. Some came to dissuade General Li from staying in the city, while others cheered loudly for the general who went out of the city to fight to the death.

At the city gate, another person knelt down in front of Li Hao.

"Although I am not talented, I am willing to ride a horse and hold a sword, following the general to kill the Tartars and make contributions!"

This is a small flag chief with ferocious features, a tall and strong stature, and his accent sounds like that of a southerner.

Li Hao saw that he looked calm and his arms were strong and powerful, and laughed out loud on the spot, "Okay, okay, let's go together. One more person means we can kill ten more Tartars. You will be my servant, warrior. What's your name?"

"I am Huang Long, from Nanchang, Jiangxi. I am willing to follow the general into battle and kill him!"

……

To the east of Ningyuan City, soldiers of the Eight Banners wearing armor of four colors dyed the white land with colorful colors. Large groups of cavalry and bondservants pushing carts were advancing eastward. Scattered scouts and messenger cavalry were riding back and forth. The whole team was in order, and their morale was not lowered at all by the failure of the siege.

A team of scouts came from the direction of Ningyuan City and headed straight for the area where the two yellow flags were located.

"Reporting to the Khan, at around 9:00 pm, a group of Ming soldiers came out of Ningyuan City and rushed towards the north. The general leading the troops was Li Hao. Our servants counted the Ming soldiers and only found 26 of them."

Nurhaci, who was riding a horse, stopped and looked at his eighth son Huang Taiji.

"Did Khan Ama predict last night that our expedition to the east would lead to the release of Li Hao? No one is more accurate than Khan Ama in predicting the future!"

Huang Taiji flattered him a little.

Nurhaci chuckled, "Li Hao ambushed the scouts at Tashan Fort and then went out of the city to fight against Prince Daishan. He must be a man eager for merit. I guess he went north to deal with those bannermen at Tashan."

"Khan Ama is right. I will arrange for someone to chase him and kill him in the wild!"

Huang Taiji was about to arrange a pursuit when he was stopped by Nurhaci.

"I have my own choice. Turushi, you will lead the team. Pick one hundred Bayalas from two yellow flags and bring back the head of the Ming general. I will use his head to sacrifice to my brother Daishan!"

The old slave pointed out Turushi, the most famous duel maniac in the Eight Banners.

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(End of this chapter)