Chapter 54 Behind Enemy Lines
It was difficult to see clearly in the dark, and there was no time to collect the Tartar heads. After Li Hao took the knife, he jumped on his horse and headed towards the Ming army formation two hundred steps behind.

There, Cao Wenzhao and others had already been prepared. As soon as Li Hao was free, they could set up ladders and attack the city.

Since this was the first time that this group of Ming troops occupied a large city in the area actually controlled by the Later Jin, Li Hao made special assignments of responsibilities.

"After entering the city, I will kill my way to Huang Taiji's mansion. You follow me and occupy the mansion to protect yourself. I will kill a few people at the cross street of Gaizhou City."

The commander set the tone first, then turned to Cao Wenzhao:

"Grand Cao, you have to follow rules. You will be in charge of the food, wages and water after entering the city. After occupying the banner owner's mansion, you will immediately send people to guard the wells and kitchens to prevent anyone from poisoning them."

Being behind enemy lines, General Lee had to be careful.

"I understand!"

Cao Wenzhao nodded. Eating and drinking were indeed a big deal for this group of Ming troops.

"Zu Kuan, Wu Sangui, Gou Quanzhong, you are Liao people, so you will be responsible for recruiting Han people in the city. We will recruit bondservants, Han people in banners, and artisans. As long as they don't openly resist us, we will accept them. We will stay in the city for a day or two, and try to recruit enough Han people. I will be useful to you."

General Lee arranged for several others.

Wu Sangui shouted, "Godfather, why don't you let me manage the armory? I'll go find you a decent set of armor so that I can show my filial piety."

"Nonsense, Huang Long will lead the people to manage the armory. In the next one or two days, we will arm as many Han people as possible. After we rest for a while, I will attack Fuzhou City."

Li Hao shouted.

He already felt that these dozens of Ming soldiers alone could not cause serious damage to the Later Jin, and the correct approach would be to lead the Liao people to attack the big city.

It is now February 4th. It will take me eleven days to travel the 450 miles from Ningyuan to the Liaohe and Sanchahe areas. The main force of the Eight Banners will arrive near Sanchahe around February 9th.

After that, the old slave could hand over the looted food and Han people to the remaining Tatars for management and distribution, while the major flag owners could concentrate on leading their troops to hunt down this group of Ming soldiers.

Gaizhou is only two hundred miles away from Fuzhou, but for the elite Eight Banners with plenty of war horses, a little more than a day is enough to reach the battlefield.

Therefore, this group of Ming soldiers only had five or six days of free time in Gaizhou, Fuzhou and other places. After wasting these five or six days, they had to move quickly and run away while burning villages.

"General, what about me? What should I do?"

Cao Bianjiao suddenly asked, but the commander did not assign him any specific responsibilities.

"You are responsible for supervising and managing these Han people obtained from the village, as well as taking care of Huang Taiji's family. Kill most of his wives, concubines, and children, and keep a few key ones as hostages."

Among Huang Taiji's sons, the eldest son Haoge is about seventeen years old and should have gone to the war. There are many other children, and they are now either in Shenyang or Gaizhou. As long as they are in this city, they will have no hope of survival.

"Order."

After everyone agreed, Cao Wenzhao began to command the surrendered Han people to put ladders against the city wall.

During this process, the Zhengbai Banner Tatars on the city wall threw stones at the foot of the city wall in an attempt to drive away the Ming army attacking the city.

Since there was no big hook at the top of the ladder, Cao Wenzhao was careful when he was in charge of supervising the construction of this simple long ladder, so that the top of the ladder could just be high enough to reach below the parapet, so the Plain White Banner Tartars could not overturn the ladder.

"Give me the shield and I'll be the first to climb the ladder."

After tying the heavy sword he had just seized from the Tartars to his back and clearing the arrows from his body, Li Hao ordered people to prepare a shield for him.

"General, no, let these Han people consume some of the stones and feces on the city first, then we can attack in one go." Cao Wenzhao raised an objection.

General Li raised his arms and said, "By the time they finish climbing the ladder, the rocks will have already smashed the wooden ladder crooked, and no one will be able to climb up. You just wait near the east gate. After I kill these Tartars, I will open the gate for you."

Cao Wenzhao had no choice but to order someone to fetch a shield that was simply modified from an ox cart wheel.

"Tsk tsk tsk, we are so poor now. Next time I travel to the territory of Houjin, I will definitely bring enough weapons and shields."

This shield is made of two wooden blocks nailed to the wheel. Not only is it heavy, but the wooden blocks are not yet joined together. Li Hao laughed when he saw it, because this thing can only protect against large stones, but it can't stop smaller stones and feces at all.

Without a doubt, he took the lead and climbed up the ladder. Dozens of Han people below held the ladder tightly to prevent the simple wooden ladder from tilting.

On the city wall.

Meile'ezhen Aixinjueluo Baiyintu of Zhengbai Banner was directing the bannermen to throw stones down.

"Pick up the small ones first and throw them away. Those who are climbing up now must be Han people who want to consume stones. It is useless to hit them. It will only waste stones."

In order to prevent the Tartars on the city from discovering the specific situation, Cao Wenzhao and others ordered the Han people holding torches to stay away from the foot of the city wall. Therefore, the soldiers of the Plain White Banner on the city did not know that the first person to climb up was the main general of the Ming army.

Glancing at the situation outside the city, Baiyintu sighed with a sad face, "The flagmen of the two yellow flags were driven away. How could this group of Ming troops be so fierce?"

He was the nephew of Great Khan Nurhaci. He was rather cowardly in battle and was not liked by those reckless beiles.

Fortunately, he was good at managing civil affairs, so he was called by the fourth prince Huang Taiji to serve as the deputy of the leader of the Zhengbai Banner.

He was worried that the losses in this battle would be too great, and he would have trouble reporting to the Fourth Beile who appreciated him, but since he had the highest status in the city, he did not dare to abandon the responsibility and ignore it.

Just as he was worrying, he suddenly heard his guards shout, "Master Mele, let's retreat to the city. The Ming general who killed and scattered the two yellow flag reinforcements is coming up."

"Ah?" Bai Yintu was startled when he heard that, and when he looked carefully, he saw a figure appear on the wall.

This man was sitting astride the parapet, holding a big knife and fighting with the flagmen of the Plain White Banner.

“Are you sure it was the Ming general who drove away more than 300 men from the Two Yellow Flags?” Baiyintu’s heart suddenly began to pound.

"Just now, I lay on the top of the city wall and watched for half an hour. It is that guy, there is no doubt about it. Among the group of Ming soldiers below the city, his armor is the most tattered."

The loyal guards once again urged Master Meler to move to a safe location.

Baiyintu looked again and saw that the Ming general had already chopped down seven or eight flagmen near the parapet, and then jumped down to fight with several flagmen holding spears.

The archers on the periphery did not dare to shoot arrows rashly, for fear of shooting their own bannermen in the dark.

Mele'erzhen felt dry in the mouth and panicked, so he was helped away by the guards with a bitter face, leaving some minor officials such as Daizi and Tatan Zhangjing to supervise the battle here.

There were not many elite soldiers among the flag bearers on the city wall, and after more than ten of them were chopped down, they were already afraid to move forward.

Li Hao laughed, picked up a meat shield and rushed into the group of Tartars.

Now that Mele's master had run away, the situation was in chaos. The flag bearers on this section of the city wall began to flee one after another.

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(End of this chapter)