Chapter 87: The old general is not dead, just a little sticky
In the afternoon, Li Hao's troops, who had arrived at the east bank three hours ago, rested in a flat area by the river.

The servants dismounted and ate unleavened bread and steamed corn bread, while the laborers fed the horses and repaired the boats, and were very busy.

The main generals who followed the coach gathered together to discuss how to break the current situation.

After the Ming army crossed the river in the morning, Yangguli, who was guarding Panshan Fort, also ran from the west bank to the east bank, with only more than 200 flag soldiers.

The veteran general was patient enough. Whenever the Ming army's servants chased him, he would lead his troops to retreat along the river. When the Ming army stopped chasing them, this group of Tartars would stick to him like a dog-skin plaster.

Then they attacked the lone scout cavalry.

There were also Liao people in the Ming army, and they were actually familiar with the terrain in this area, so the loss of a few reconnaissance cavalry was not a big deal.

But Li Hao's time was wasted.

There are no villages, forts or manors of the Later Jin Dynasty in the area of ​​Shuangtaizi River and the lower reaches of the Liaohe River for the Ming army to encircle and attack the reinforcements, so they are currently in a somewhat passive position.

"Why not just go straight to Haizhou as before and see how this old man handles it."

Wu Sangui was always bold. He proposed to move eastward quickly and attack the Tartar's lair.

Now is the spring ploughing season, and there are many lone Tatars in the fields, but the nearly 20,000 armored bannermen of the Eight Banners will be divided into small cavalry teams of ten to twenty people to patrol among the villages, forts and manors.

Dongjiang Town had used this type of harassment attack involving one or two hundred people before, and the Later Jin had long since figured out a complete way to deal with it.

Although the Jinzhou Army could also fight in this way, its efficiency was too low, and Li Hao actually didn't think much of it.

"In the next two days, we will continue to fight eastward in this way. In the next day or so, we must find a way to kill Yangguli, let Lü Yingjiao's troops occupy Panshan Fort, and let Biaoying occupy Shalingyi and Xining Fort, stabilize the front line west of Sancha River, and advance step by step."

The chariot camp soldiers are suitable for building strong camps and fighting static battles. As long as there are forts and camps, plus sufficient food, wages and gunpowder supplies, it will be no problem for the camp soldiers to confront the Later Jin along the river.

Although we gained a lot in the last northern expedition, we failed to occupy any of the captured Gaizhou and nearby villages and forts, which was really wrong.

There are 60,000 men in the Eight Banners. As long as Li Hao leads his army to capture the villages, forts, manors and cities, Nurhaci will not be able to bear it and will either gather his troops for a fierce battle or move away with his core bannermen early.

Otherwise, if we stay in the Kaitie Liaoshen Hai area, we will lose all the property of the Eight Banners sooner or later.

The generals discussed for a long time and finalized a battle plan.

"We will return to the west bank and wait for an opportunity to capture Panshan Fort. If Yangguli comes to rescue, we will kill this beast under the fort. If not, Yangguli will definitely go north to Wujiafen to rest and we will block him halfway."

Cao Wenzhao, with a calm expression, summarized the plan.

Li Hao didn't say anything, but instead looked up and down at the tall and strong Da Cao.

"If you disguise yourself as me and stand on the bow, what are the chances of fooling Yangguli?"

He asked deliberately.

Cao Wenzhao himself was also a strong man, only a head shorter than the commander-in-chief and a little thinner, but he was about the same height after putting on heavy armor.

In previous battles, Li Hao's most obvious feature was that he carried many weapons on his back, including heavy swords, battle axes, bows and arrows.

Their armor was also changed frequently, which was very different from the Ming army servants who always wore red and blue contrasting cloth armor.

The generals roughly understood that the coach was planning to make the fake look real, and after discussing with each other, they felt that it was feasible.

"General Li's aura is too strong. He can intimidate hundreds of Tartars from miles away. I'm afraid I can't learn it, and it will only waste my time."

Cao Wenzhao was a little hesitant to pretend. What if he didn't pretend well and was recognized by the Tartars, it would be troublesome for the commander-in-chief.

"It's okay. Just stand at the bow holding the giant axe. The Tartars will recognize me by my face when they are close by, and by whether I am carrying a giant axe from a distance."

The more Li Hao thought about it, the more he felt that this could be accomplished. He ordered Da Cao to exchange clothes with him and prepare to lure Yangguli to lead his troops to attack.

After resting, the Ming army began to cross the river again.

……

"It's bad. They are heading towards Panshanbao. Without Panshanbao, we will be completely blind in Hexi and have no idea of ​​the Ming army's movements."

Upon learning that the Ming army had crossed the river again and was preparing to return to the west bank, the veteran general Yangguli personally led a group of flag soldiers to investigate the military situation.

What can be confirmed at present is that this Ming army will need five or six times to bring all the people across, and it has already completed two crossings of the river, with nearly a hundred Ming army servants and dozens of civilian laborers crossing.

Preparations for the third crossing of the river were complete, and the laborers were pushing the boats in the shallow water.

"It's not all bad. The lower reaches of Shuangtaizi River are wide and shallow. The place where they cross the river is at least two miles away from the other side. Someone has to push the boat forward at the shallows on the river bank. A round trip takes at least two quarters of an hour. You can lead your troops to launch a surprise attack when half of them have crossed the river."

Niulu Ezhen Kang Guoli pointed to the wide surface of Shuangtaizi River, showing the highest peak of his wisdom in his life.

"Attack them halfway across the river." Yangguli looked at the flag bearers beside him, "Do you have the courage to charge and kill these Ming soldiers?"

After the battle of Guangning, the Ming general Li Hao led more than one hundred cavalrymen to pursue and intercept the enemy. The flagmen west of Shuangtaizi River were so scared that they dared not stay on the west bank, for fear of being caught and hit by an axe.

It was because he, the old Khan's son-in-law, was stationed in Panshan Fort that he was able to gather the military forces of nearly five Niulu.

"Without Li Hao, this group of Ming soldiers are just ordinary Ming soldiers. Why wouldn't they dare to charge in?"

"There are many Haixi people in Li Hao's army, which is far inferior to our two yellow flags."

The flag soldiers were quite eager to fight, which made Yangguli feel a little relieved.

The Ming army also discovered the Eight Banners cavalry that appeared not far to the north, and sent out nearly fifty family servants to guard this side.

Both sides had their own concerns and maintained a standoff.

"Look, Prince Consort. This time the Ming army sent all the remaining civilians over. The mighty Ming soldier leading the way seems to be Li Hao."

Kang Guoli was determined to implement the strategy of attacking the enemy halfway across the river. When he saw the Ming general Li Hao also appear on the largest boat, he realized that their chance had come. Yangguli looked closely and saw a majestic figure at the bow of the boat, with Li Hao's iconic axe in his hand.

"Isn't he afraid that we will stab him in the back?"

Seeing the laborers pushing the boats into the deep water of Shuangtaizi River, Yangguli was a little bit unbelieving.

Could the Ming army leave such a good opportunity for a sneak attack to themselves?

"Perhaps Li Hao thinks that the 170 or 80 family servants left behind are enough to stop us. The Ming army has discovered us now, and Li Hao will come back next time and guard until all the Ming soldiers have crossed the river."

The more Kang Guoli thought about it, the more he felt that this was the truth. If that God of Death came back again, their group of two yellow flags would have no chance of a sneak attack.

Therefore, he repeatedly advised the old Khan's son-in-law to gather all the nearby bannermen and defeat the remaining Ming soldiers in one fell swoop.

The old general was quite patient and did not order the entire army to assemble until the Ming army ships approached the west bank.

The messenger cavalry and the signal arrows were sent out at the same time. In less than a quarter of an hour, the sound of horse hooves could be heard one after another, and more than two hundred flag soldiers gathered one after another.

Obviously, the Ming army remaining on the east bank of the river was quite nervous. They gathered together and formed three military formations on the left, middle and right, and moved a few hundred steps to the east to facilitate their subsequent escape.

Otherwise, if we stayed by the soft river, not only would our horses not be able to run fast, but we would also have fewer directions to escape.

"Hahaha, it seems that Li Hao has indeed gone to the other side. Kang Guoli, after this battle, I will report your contribution to the Fourth Prince."

Seeing that the enemy was facing a formidable threat, Yangguli believed that the strategy of attacking when the enemy was halfway across the river was correct. He directly divided his bannermen into two groups and attacked the slightly scattered Ming soldiers from the left and right wings.

Without the general to keep the army in check, the Ming army seemed even more panicked, at least that was the view of the two yellow flag masters such as Yangguli.

The Ming central army sent some servants to strengthen the defense of the two wings, but the Eight Banners soldiers ignored them and started shooting arrows when they approached the attack distance of thirty steps.

Opposite the left-wing flagmen led by the veteran general, the Ming army fired muskets and bows and arrows and immediately charged forward.

Yangguli personally drew his bow and shot a flaming arrow, but suddenly found a spear flying towards his face at lightning speed.

He clearly remembered that the Ming army did not bring crossbows, so how did this spear arrive so quickly?
The veteran was experienced. Before the spear hit him, he used all his strength to lean to the left, allowing the sudden spear to hit his right shoulder blade.

This spear was naturally Li Hao's masterpiece. Wearing ordinary cloth armor, he hid among a group of servants and swung out this spear while charging.

"Unfortunately, not a single spear nailed it to the head."

He kept staring at Yangguli, and couldn't help feeling regretful when he saw that the old general was just brought down from his horse by a spear.

Fortunately, the cavalry columns of both sides were about to collide. As long as they rushed over and hit the old man with the musket head, he would die on the spot.

However, the development of the situation was quite different from what Li Hao had expected. During the sprint between the Ming and Jin sides, Yangguli, who was forced to dismount from his horse, was trampled to death by the hooves of the Ming army's horses.

He didn't give the Jinzhou general a chance to shoot him in the head.

He was recognized by the two yellow-flag Tatars as he was holding a long three-barreled gun. After just one confrontation, the Tatar on the left wing rode away without looking back.

He didn't even bring the replacement war horses and pack horses behind him.

The Ming army on the right wing changed direction and could not catch up with the remaining hundred or so Tatars, so they had to join forces with the other two armies to encircle the remaining hundred or so Tatars.

The remaining Tatars were also very smart. When they saw the team led by their commander Yangguli running away, they also looked for opportunities to flee in all directions.

Fortunately, the Ming army had sufficient manpower to surround and kill nearly seventy or eighty Tartars.

The biggest gain, naturally, was the more than 200 war horses and the same number of pack horses of the Eight Banners Army.

For Li Hao, who was preparing to form a large-scale cavalry unit, war horses were much more useful than the heads of the Tatars.

……

April 26th, at the Banner Lord’s Mansion in Haizhou City.

This place was the headquarters of the leader of the Bordered White Banner. Although Du Du was replaced as the leader of the Plain Red Banner, the two brothers Yuetuo and Shuotuo had already sent their confidants to Kaiyuan and Tieling to occupy the main cities of the Plain Red Banner.

Daishan's third son, Sahalian, occupied his father's mansions and estates in Shenyang, Liaoyang and other places, and the filial sons in the Zhenghong Banner fought fiercely for them.

When it comes to avenging their father and the old flag master, no one in the two red flags voiced any interest.

Anyway, their territory is farthest from the Liaoxi Army, so they are not afraid of the Ming general Li Hao leading his men to kill them.

After Manggurtai's death, the position of leader of the Zhenglan Banner became vacant. Fei Yanggu, the young leader of the banner, was already 29 years old and was able to take charge of his own affairs.

The old Khan was planning to let Dorgon inherit the title of leader of the Zhenglan Banner, but Fei Yanggu and the people of the Zhenglan Banner disagreed. Of course, they did not dare to oppose it openly, so they just hid in their garrison and refused to return to Shenyang, and the two sides dragged on like this.

Du Du, who broke his leg, went straight to his former subordinates to recuperate, so as to avoid getting into trouble again by returning to Shenyang.

"Flag Master Beile, disaster has occurred, disaster has occurred."

A series of shouts were heard, and then several servants rushed in, tumbling and crawling.

Du Du, who was lying on the kang, was enjoying the caress of the young lady. His body was hard where it should be hard and soft where it should be soft. Suddenly, his good time was interrupted, and an unknown fire arose in his heart.

"You can't even walk properly. You slaves are becoming more and more unruly. Apart from the attack by the Ming general, is there anything else worth making such a fuss about?"

Du Du sat up straight and shouted angrily, but he didn't expect that his injured leg would be involved, and he cried out in pain.

The servants kneeling on the ground looked ashen. After a long delay, a brave man finally replied, "The Ming general has indeed come and has crossed the Sancha River."

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(End of this chapter)