Chapter 63: Fighting Sarhu Again

Even after entering the city wall and seeing with his own eyes the corpses lying all over the ground inside and outside the city gate, Mao Wenlong still refused to believe that Fuzhou City had been taken down like that.

"For four years, I have had tens of thousands of soldiers, but I have never dared to even think about conquering the two cities."

Since he founded the town, he has been struggling to maintain the two territories under his jurisdiction: the tip of the Liaonan Peninsula and the estuary of the Yalu River.

The only large fort he recovered was Zhenjiang Fort, and even this was a military achievement he made in the first year of the Tianqi reign, before the town was founded. It was only with the help of Chen Liangce and other defenders in the city that he was able to capture it in one fell swoop.

Although the main force of the Bordered Blue Banner followed the old slave to plunder, there were at least several hundred Tatars in the city. If Dongjiang Town wanted to attack the city with hard bridges and hard horses, it would take at least three to four thousand soldiers and militiamen to accomplish the task.

"Marshal Mao is too modest. The brothers in Dongjiang have the ability to do this."

Huang Long, with the young men under his command, was guarding near the east gate, and was now welcoming the Dongjiang soldiers into the city.

"Without further delay, I will lead my men to charge along East Street and seize every city gate to prevent the Tartars from escaping."

The faint smell of blood reminded General Dongjiang that Fuzhou City was already in his hands. Since the friendly forces were working so hard, he couldn't fall behind, so he half gave an order and half made a proposal.

"Alright, my commander should have fought his way to the center of the city and then headed straight for the west gate. Marshal Mao, please seize the north gate."

This proposal was very reasonable. Even if the Tatars escaped from the south gate, they could only flee to the north and northeast. The Ming army near the three city gates would still have an advantage in chasing them.

After both sides bowed and said goodbye, the Dongjiang cavalry rode forward one by one, and the sound of their horses' hooves echoed all the way through East Street.

It is a pity that there are not many Eight Bannersmen in Fuzhou City, otherwise the sound of the endless marching cavalry would give the Tatars in the city a lot of oppression.

Near the West Gate.

Seventeen or eighteen blue-armored Tartar corpses lay twisted and turned on the ground, the dark blood that had just flowed out had not yet coagulated. Li Hao looked at the twenty or so Tartars who were riding their horses into the circle of the city wall and sighed deeply.

Looking at the Tartars, I sigh, wanting to do more but unable to catch up.

Zu Kuan and others led the able-bodied men and followed not far behind the main general. After arriving, they began to take over the defense of the west gate.

"General, there are not many houses in Fuzhou City. There are only a few Niulu and some bondservants stationed there. The Tatars were driven away by the general. The Han soldiers and most of the bondservants surrendered on the spot. How should we deal with them?"

Zu Kuan, who was in charge of the surrender, strode up to the commander-in-chief and briefly reported the situation in the city.

Li Hao was a little surprised. "Why are there no artisans and Han Chinese in Fuzhou? There are quite a few in Gaizhou."

He killed his way to the city center but couldn't find any place like the banner lord's mansion. He had thought he could kill the second prince Amin or the nine clans of Jirgalang, the small banner lord of the Bordered Blue Banner, but he ended up making a wasted trip.

"It should be when Liu Xingzuo was planning to rebel in the third year of Tianqi, the Tartars got a grasp of the situation and sent tens of thousands of troops to massacre the city. After that, they did not move any more people here, but only sent armored Tartars to garrison and confront the Dongjiang soldiers of Changsheng Island in the south."

Around the 23rd year of the Tianqi reign, the Eight Banners and Dongjiang Town had been entangled in Fuzhou and Jinzhou for a long time. In order to prevent the Han people from escaping, the Han people of Jinzhou were driven into Fuzhou City by the Bordered Blue Banner and killed in this massacre.

"It doesn't matter if there are fewer. It's better than nothing. You can disperse these bondservants and stuff them into different teams. Don't disperse the Han soldiers in the Banner. I will check them one by one later. They were all regular Ming troops and I can pick out many good fighters. Wu Sangui, Li Yongxi, follow me to the center of the city to check the situation."

After the two Niulu leaders ran away, the Tatars in the city used various means to escape, and now there was no need for General Li to fight to the death.

Li Yongxi is the original Mao Yongxi. Last night, he acknowledged Li Hao as his godfather and changed his surname to Li.

Of course, he still has to worship the tablet of his father Shang Xueli, and the change of surname was just to improve the relationship.

“Yes, sir!”…

At 3 p.m., the former Wei Office in Fuzhou City.

After this place was occupied by the Eight Banners, it briefly took over the function of the City Lord's Mansion. Later, the Eight Banners massacred the city, and this place became the headquarters of the Niulu garrison.

Now that the Liaoxi and Dongjiang armies have joined forces to defend Fuzhou City, this place has become the location of the central army.

As soon as you enter the hall of the Wei Office.

The main generals of the Liaoxi Army and the Dongjiang Army gathered around a rough wooden table. Marshal Mao Wenlong pointed to the geomancy map on the table and analyzed the current situation to the friendly army's commander Li Hao.

"Brother Li, you see, this post road starting from Jinzhou and ending at the mouth of the Yalu River in the east is partly in our hands and partly in the hands of the Bordered Blue Banner. The coastal area of ​​southern Liaoning is all hilly, and the middle is blocked by thousands of mountains. If you want to march to the two Blue Banners' garrisons, you must take this post road. After you reach Zhenjiang, you must not attack Shenyang via Fenghuangcheng, Tongyuanbao, Lianshanguan and other places."

Qianshan is the Qianshan Mountain Range, which is a remnant of the Changbai Mountains. One of the reasons why Li Hao's troops had fought their way to Dapianlingguan, Shanghatadun and other places under the jurisdiction of Gaizhou and then returned to Gaizhou was that the terrain near Dapianlingguan had risen and was not suitable for rapid advance of cavalry.

Li Hao was a little puzzled. "Why is that? Qianshan is a mountainous area, which is just right for a small cavalry raid like mine. The large group of Eight Banners cannot be deployed, so isn't that where my strengths come into play? No matter how many groups they come from, I only need to deal with one group."

The Dongjiang general shook his head slightly and pointed to Jianzhou Wei on the geomancy map.

"The Tartars call this place Hetuala, where I started my career. The battle of Sarhu was to encircle Hetuala. In my opinion, you should start from Kuandian, pass through Hengren, Fuchazhiye, Abdaligang and other places, and attack Jianzhouwei directly."

He drew the marching route with his fingers and then stopped at Sarhu.

"General Du Song's Western Route Army started from Shenyang. Because the Hunhe River Valley was convenient for marching, they arrived one day earlier. During this one day, I was able to defeat them separately. After my brother's march here, the news of Hetuala's fall will probably reach my ears in Shenyang. Just imagine, how will the Tartars of the Eight Banners respond?"

Staring at the map and looking at the location of Sarhu, Li Hao suddenly understood Mao Wenlong's intention.

After all, older ginger is spiciest!
There are four roads in and out of Hetuala, and the four Ming armies in the Battle of Sarhu marched along these four roads.

Marshal Mao's intention was to let the enterprising Li Hao's troops attack the slave nest directly, and then wait for the Eight Banners Army in Sarhu and other places.

If the main force of the old slave army came, Li Hao's troops could take the northern route, pass Sanchabao, and go straight to Tieling and other places, which are the bases of the two red flags.

Like leading a cow by the nose, he led the old slaves and the Eight Banners.

If the main force of the Eight Banners did not come, and only a few thousand soldiers came, then General Li could easily circle around with this group of Tatar soldiers in Fushun Pass, Shangjian Cliff, Jiefan and other places. When the Eight Banners could no longer hold on and prepared to divide their forces to encircle them, he would then attack them one by one.

After giving a thumbs up, Li Hao sincerely praised, "Marshal Mao has been able to plan from the perspectives of strategy, terrain, logistics, etc."

The area around Sarhu has narrow roads, large mountains and deep forests, which is most suitable for fighting against a brave general like him who can stand alone against ten thousand.

"It's just because I'm in this mountain. General Li is a martial artist, and he's just right for walking the Tartars around Fushun Pass like a dog."

After today's battle, the General of Dongjiang had no doubts about the fact that Li Hao's troops had fought their way here, and he admired them extremely. After learning that General Li was determined to kill his way through the Eight Banners' headquarters, he gave such a marching route.

In a word, the Tartars will have no good days in the next one or two months.

What you did in the first place, you will get back now.

PS: Please give me recommendation votes and monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)