Chapter 99 How come you died too?

On the morning of May 18th, in Liaoyang city.

When the dusty Hesheli Xifu rushed to the old palace in the city, the old Khan was analyzing the situation on the grassland with several veteran generals of the two yellow flags.

On the evening of the 16th, after Li Hao attacked and killed his men seven or eight times in the city, the troops in Shengjing were finally insufficient, and the Fourth Beile on duty sent him to the south to ask for reinforcements.

The distance between the two cities was 150 miles, but this fifty-year-old man managed to get there within one day and two nights.

"It's Xifu. Why are you here? We were just talking about what happened on the grassland. Did your nephew Sony send someone to deliver a message?"

After spending a huge amount of money to bring in thousands of civilians, the construction of boats along the Sancha River was greatly accelerated. It was hoped that they could cross the river and capture the Ming chariot soldiers within May. Nurhaci was in a very good mood.

"Alas~" Xifu sighed deeply and knelt on the ground first, "I have some bad news. Please sit firmly on the kang, old Khan, and I will dare to speak out."

He was afraid that he would say it out loud, so Lao Han ran out of breath and fell over with a thud.

Nurhaci's face changed drastically, and his long eyes narrowed into slits.

Several veteran generals in the hall reacted immediately, helped the old Khan to sit on the kang, and then all stepped back five or six steps and knelt down.

Everyone lowered their heads, barely able to breathe.

"Say!"

The ruler of the Later Jin Dynasty shouted sternly in a low voice.

"The morning before yesterday, I don't know how the Ming general Li Hao sneaked into Shengjing City. This man killed his way from the Ten Kings Pavilion and the Great Yamen to the houses of the princes on North Street, and also killed the Han Palace."

Xifu's voice became softer and softer as he spoke, and the last few words were as weak as the flapping of a mosquito's wings. He was afraid that the old Khan would vent his anger on him.

The whole hall was filled with a rather strange atmosphere. Everyone could hear the old Khan's wheezing, which made the hall so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Xifu had to admit that this period of time was more difficult than all the difficulties and hardships he had encountered in most of his life. The hoarse sound lingered in his ears and struck his heart.

Fine beads of sweat began to seep out of his forehead, then gathered into beads and rolled down.

But Xifu didn't dare to wipe the sweat off his face. Any action he took at this moment might attract the attention of the old Khan and bring him into trouble.

The eerie atmosphere in the hall was broken by a little maid who brought in snacks. When she came in, she was attracted by the panting sound, and then she looked over involuntarily, but accidentally tripped.

Nurhaci finally moved his gaze away from Xifu. After he saw clearly what had happened, he called the flag guards on duty outside the palace.

"Beat him to death, no need to reply to me."

After slightly diverting his anger, the King of Later Jin asked, "Tell me, which concubines and beile died."

He only cared about his own women and children and grandchildren. In his eyes, the other Eight Banners Ezhen were no different from the Nikan Baoyi.

"The eldest wife, the fifteenth prince Duoduo, all the wives and three sons of the second prince, the wife and children of the third prince, and the three wives of the fourth prince..."

When Xifu first started reporting the names, he was extremely nervous. Later, when he didn't hear the old Khan getting angry, his courage gradually returned. He methodically reported all the relatives of the Beile who had been killed in Shengjing before he set out.

"How many of the wives and brothers of the two yellow flags were killed?"

After hearing the latter part, Nurhaci simply didn't want to listen any further and directly asked Xifu to tell him about the situation in Shengjing City.

If many of the bannermen's family members were killed, the bannermen in the Sanchahe military camp would have no intention of fighting the Ming army.

"Of the several thousand people in the city, only about seven or eight out of ten were left when I went south to seek help. Most of the bannermen and artisans who stayed at home were able to survive."

Although Li Hao's killing power is amazing, it is not possible for him to kill every household for the time being. As long as the people in the city do not run away, there is still hope for survival.

"It's ok as long as they are not all dead. For the sake of their prince, these servants have to do their part."

The only thing that made him sad was that his youngest son Dodo died and his queen Abahai was also gone.

But Ajige was still in the Sanchahe military camp, and Dorgon was even luckier. He followed Jirgalang to Hetuala and supervised the bannermen to build the old village, so he was not blocked in Shengjing City.

"Pass on my order. Order Yuetuo to lead five Niulu of the Bordered Red Banner, ten Niulu of the Two Yellow Banners, a thousand Tainikans under the Two Yellow Banners, and those dead soldiers specially trained to deal with Li Hao, to the north to block this damned Sethhei."

He originally wanted to send Amin, but troops had to be mobilized in the south, and now there was a shortage of manpower, so he could only send the young general Yuetuo.

Two veteran generals with yellow flags received the order and went out to the southern military camp to convey the old Khan's military order.

"Xifu, take a break and go back. Tell the Eighth Prince that if he still can't deal with Li Hao with Yuetuo's troops, I will take off his red hat and reward him with something on the beach of Jiefan."

In Manchu, large lakes are called seas, for example, Beihu Lake is called Beihai.

The sea at Jiefan is Sarhu, formerly known as Shaer Lake, named after Nurhaci who killed his own son.

Xifu sighed deeply and agreed on the spot. The Hesheli family has always supported the fourth prince to succeed to the throne, but now it seems that they have to get closer to the three brothers Dorgon as soon as possible.

He thought about it and felt something was wrong. When he was about to leave the old temple, he remembered that they were now two brothers.

Tudor's head was gone.

……

At the northern end of the Liaoxi Corridor, outside Dalingh Fort.

After the thaw, marching became inconvenient. Man Gui led his troops to march thirty or forty miles a day from Ningyuan to the north, and now they have only traveled more than half the distance.

"Let's set up camp here today."

Man Gui, who was suffering from unbearable pain in his joints, did not want to march quickly. After marching thirty miles today, he ordered this group of Ming soldiers to move into the rather dilapidated Dalingh Fort.

The three chariot camps, with a total of more than 5,200 soldiers, suddenly became excited. The general's procrastination was exactly what the soldiers wanted.

They also did not want to rush north to the Montenegro area to guard against enemies from the grassland.

"The troops coming from Fuxin and Yizhou must be from the Five Battalions of Mongolian soldiers. If there are any enemies coming from the Black Mountain area east of Guangning City, they are most likely the Tartars who bypassed the Liaohe River. Only a great hero like General Li can defeat the Tartars. Forget about it with our bodies."

"I heard that General Li and Qianfeng Town have already taken over Haizhou City. The Tartars will most likely have a decisive battle with General Li at Sancha River. There is not much danger in defending Heishan."

There were many Liao people among the soldiers in the camp, and they were well aware of the nearby terrain and the invasion routes of the Tatar barbarians. Some were pessimistic about going north to garrison in Montenegro, while others did not care.

Similar conversations can be found everywhere when setting up camp.

General Man Gui suffered from frequent attacks of gout, and this trip to the north was only made possible by the repeated pressure from Yuan Chonghuan, the minister of the King of War and the governor.

Since the number of heads handed in to the Ministry of War exceeded 1,000, he wanted to recuperate for a while before going out to fight. Unfortunately, the situation was too good for him to stay in Ningyuan City to recuperate.

After entering the castle, his servants helped him to the former garrison in the castle and set up a bed for him to lie down on.

However, he did not expect that not long after he lay down, a group of cavalry came from the south and urged him to head north.

"Marshal Man, you are about to be made a marquis, so let's fight this time. Guangning City is in danger, the Mongolian soldiers have broken through the pass and invaded. They will reach the city in two or three days. Marshal Man, please lead the troops to Guangning City within three days."

Xie Shangzheng, a lieutenant general who was carrying the documents of mobilizing troops from the Liaodong governor, found the general who had rested in the noisy military camp and advised him to march north quickly.

The military situation was urgent, and only this Ming army could be dispatched north of Jinzhou to hold the line.

The fat man Man Gui frowned for the first time and ordered his servants to help him up.

"Three days. Guangning City. Doesn't that mean we have to travel fifty miles a day? We will be exhausted and have no energy to fight against the cavalry of the five battalions. No, it will take at least four days."

The soldiers in the chariot camp had to rely entirely on their two legs to march. Sometimes when the road conditions were bad, they had to help push the carts. Thirty or forty miles a day was already the limit.

Xie Shangzheng said in an almost pleading tone:

"Marshal Man, Zhu Zhen in Guangning City has worked with you for many years, and the brothers in that camp are waiting for us to rescue them. This time is different from the last time in early April. After the grass grows, there are many more Mongolian soldiers who can come. Once we let them go south, not to mention the food route, even the people near Jinzhou will have no way to survive."

Man Gui would not tolerate soft tactics. He stood up and took two slow steps. His knees hurt so much that he could not bear it anymore, so he had to stand still and think.

After a moment, he gave an explanation: "I must rescue brother Zhu Mei. No matter whether it is the Five Camps or the Chahar tribe, they have no powerful means when attacking the city. We don't need much strength to deal with them. In the next three days, I will lead the army to march 150 miles and ensure that we arrive at the city of Guangning."

Qianfeng Town and Li Hao won great victories in succession, and the morale of the soldiers in the camp outside the pass has been boosted. It should be feasible to run an extra twenty miles a day.

Three days later, Guangning City.

When the reinforcements from Ningyuan and Qiantun arrived, thousands of Mongolian soldiers had already begun to attack the city.

The veteran general Man Gui arranged the three camps into three wings: left, middle, and right. He personally led the mounted servants to protect the two sides and the rear, approaching the city step by step, and finally prevented the Mongolian soldiers from breaking up the Ming army's formation.

After entering the city, terrible bad news was waiting for him.

"Yesterday, the Mongolian soldiers came down to the city to provoke. Zhu Zhen led his servants to patrol the top of the city. Unexpectedly, he was shot and killed by the Tartar Laosa who was pretending to be a Mongolian soldier."

A captain under Zhu Mei first reported the situation inside and outside the city to the commander of the reinforcements, and then informed Marshal Man that the defender of Guangning City had been killed yesterday.

Man Gui, who had not yet dismounted, was so sad that he fell off his horse to the ground. The servants and captains nearby rushed forward to rescue him.

Fortunately, the general was fat and resistant to falls, so nothing serious happened.

"Zhu Mei, how come you died too!"

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(End of this chapter)