On the 14th day of the month, the Funing County Government Office
Hearing the report from the personal guards, Qin Mingtao reluctantly walked out of the Yamen, which was temporarily used as a military camp. As soon as they saw King Dong come out, the dozen or so old men guarding the door quickly patted the fronts of their gowns, tried to stand upright, and tried to kneel down in fear. Qin Mingtao didn't like this kind of slave-like etiquette, so he stretched out his hand to stop several old people.
These dozen old people are representatives of the people in the west of the city. They hope to meet the king of the east, but they don¡¯t know what to say.
Qin Mingtao doesn't like his subordinates to delay his affairs, including the common people. Taking off his helmet, he glanced coldly at the dozen old men and asked in a loud voice:
"What do you want from me?"
The old people were hunched over at the door of the Yamen. They became nervous when asked by Qin Mingtao's blunt attitude, as if they had forgotten what they were here for. More than a dozen people looked at each other, all flinching. But they seemed to have already agreed on who would speak, and several others were unwilling to come forward. Finally, the old man standing in the middle, wearing a square scarf, stood up, raised his hands and said,
"We, the people in the west of the city, have received great kindness from His Highness, so we can only serve His Highness in front of His Majesty, and we will die in repayment. We are dedicated to serving I heard yesterday I heard that Your Highness, the King of the East, is about to set out to conquer the Three Tun Camps?"
Hearing this, Qin Tao guessed what these old people meant and nodded.
This slight nod caused the expressions of the ten old men to change drastically. The dozen or so people behind them exchanged glances in a panic, their eyes full of powerlessness and helplessness. A few anxious people had already sighed in confusion. The old scholar who was talking to Qin Mingtao looked at Qin Mingtao and trembled before kneeling down again.
Qin Tao became a little impatient. He grabbed the old scholar's arm and asked loudly, "Are you worried that I will change my position in Shuiying and never come back?"
The old man was frightened: looking at Qin Mingtao's face, he waved his hands and said. "Don't dare! Don't dare! His Highness is a great hero of the world. He keeps his word firmly. How dare we make random guesses? It's just that the Tartars are cunning. We are only afraid that after His Highness's army leaves, the government troops will take over. Funing County. We captured the king¡¯s dungeon!¡±
The old man spoke up. He went around a circle and put his hat on Qin Mingtao's head. In the final analysis, they were still afraid that the Nanhai troops would abandon them. No food to eat.
Qin Mingtao smiled and looked at the dozen or so trembling old men in front of him. He looked at the people in the west of the city in the distance and looked hard this way. said.
"Don't worry, we're going on an expedition. Funing County's local services will naturally have other arrangements." Qin Mingtao thought about it and waved his hand in the Yamen. He called Li Chengzong from the logistics department and said loudly. "Didn't Kong Youde walk to Shanhaiguan? Send someone to talk to him. Tell him to stop lingering outside the pass. Come over and take over Funing City."
Qin Mingtao paused. Then he said, "Give the heads of more than 300 Tatars to Kong Youde. Let him and the little emperor ask for the reward!"
Li Chengzong was stunned and stared at Qin Mingtao's face. King Huaidong made a slip of the tongue. He waited for a few seconds and saw that Qin Mingtao didn't change his mind and couldn't help but ask.
"Your Highness I'm afraid it's inappropriate. Kong Youde is the former Hong Kong soldier of the Ming Dynasty. How can he take over our county? So, isn't this a conspiracy?"
Qin Mingtao smiled and said loudly, "Why not? Our Nanhai country is not an enemy of the Ming Dynasty and helps Chongzhen fight the Tatars. How can Chongzhen still want to embarrass me? Kong Youde just came down from Shanhaiguan and peacefully handed over to our Nanhai country's friendly troops Funing County! Found that all the people had been plundered by the Tatars, killed three hundred Tatars and captured an empty city."
Seeing that Li Chengzong looked shocked and still couldn't turn around, Qin Mingtao frowned and said,
"Still can't figure it out? With all the Ming army spies here, do you think Chongzhen doesn't know about Kong Youde? There is that one in his armythat eunuch Gao Qiqian watched, and all the money was transported to Chongzhen on Tea River Island Can you not know? Chongzhen has understood it a long time ago! I can¡¯t hide this matter, so I might as well expose it and let me see how Chongzhen handles it?"
Qin Mingtao smiled and said, "Now that Guan Ning's army is completely gone, Ji Town, Lintao, and Xuanda Town are also gone. Huang Taiji is eyeing him. I want to see if Chongzhen dares to kill Kong Youde and fall out with our Nanhai Kingdom?"
Li Chengzong finally came to his senses, said sincerely, "Your Highness is wise," and quickly agreed and went to do the work.
Qin Mingtao looked at a dozen old people and said loudly, "Don't worry, everyone, I will send another army to guard Funing. After I go to Santun Camp to defeat the Tatars, I will return to Funing and take away the people in the city."
After all, these words were just spoken. The old people were trembling and seemed to be a little unconvinced. They hesitated and seemed to want to say something else. But Qin Mingtao was too lazy to talk to them anymore. He glanced at the astonished old man, bowed with his fists, and strode back to the Yamen. Several old people hesitated to speak, but they dared to stop Dong Wang.
The word "Qin"Wait, spies. These spies approached Gaishui Camp from time to time, chasing and fighting with the scouts released by Gaishui Camp, staged one small-scale conflict after another.
Huang Taiji occupied several prefectures and counties in the central part of Gyeonggi Province, and the Gaishui camp shrunk as soon as it came and expanded as soon as it left. This was to force Qin Mingtao to rush into his encirclement.
But Qin Mingtao could not let Huang Taiji continue to "Jurchenize" states and counties in Gyeonggi and expand Houjin's strength wantonly. He must face this battle. Now Huang Taiji wants to contain the Ming army from all directions, and he only has 10,000 men who can maneuver. This is also Qin Mingtao's best opportunity to severely damage Huang Taiji.
¡¡
From morning to noon, I estimated that I had walked more than 60 miles to the northwest. I was out of Funing County. The atmosphere in the camp became increasingly tense.
Although the Gaishui Battalion is full of elite troops, they are small in strength and cannot compare with the Tatars, who have nearly 20,000 cavalry, in terms of investigation capabilities and regional control.
The scouts from Gaishui camp can only explore the nearby areas for more than ten miles. The farther away they are, the less clear they are about light and darkness. Fifty or sixty miles away, the scouts were completely unable to conduct reconnaissance, and they had to rely on sporadic spying scattered in the wilderness.
The information obtained in this way is only fragmentary and cannot be guaranteed to be sufficient and effective. This place is more than 200 miles away from Santun camp. Without knowing the distribution of Tatar forces, they may be attacked suddenly at any time. Qin Mingtao would not take unnecessary risks. Seeing that the soldiers were a little tired, he was ready to set up camp and repair.
Investigation and detailed work are Li Jinxi¡¯s duties. Qin Mingtao asked him, ¡°Where is the water source nearby?¡±
Blocking the noon sun with the scabbard, Li Jinxi squinted and looked into the distance, murmuring, "I'm afraid we have to walk another three miles. There is an uninhabited village to the southwest with a well."
Qin Mingtao nodded and shouted the order for the whole battalion to speed up and prepare to set up camp. But before they had gone far, they suddenly saw a burst of smoke and dust billowing in the field in front of them. Two scouts from the Shuiying camp were running as fast as they could, running towards the main force. Qin Mingtao looked through the binoculars, and his face suddenly changed color.
After looking at each other with Li Jinxi who looked equally nervous, Qin Mingtao shouted,
"The whole battalion forms a formation! Enter combat status!"
The flag generals reacted immediately and galloped towards their respective units. The Zhongziqi in the front line jumped off his horse, blocked the front line in the direction of the smoke, and began to load medicine and ammunition. The other troops behind the Long Snake Formation spread out in units of divisions and moved towards the two wings of the Zhongzi Banner, preparing to form a firing line formation.
Qin Mingtao turned around again and shouted an order to Li Chengzong, "Chariots! Baggage vehicles, protect the line and form an array! Quick!"
Li Chengzong shouted the order and began to direct the auxiliary soldiers to pile all the wheeled objects on the wings and rear of the soldiers, building a round of simple fortifications as quickly as possible.
Before the chariot here has entered its position, a sandstorm has already surged on the horizon.
That was the surging Jianzhou Jurchen, with rumbling iron hooves, and a large cloud of smoke and dust rushing towards this side quickly. The smoke and dust rolled in faster and faster, like a sudden burst of black clouds in June, which would change the color of the sky and the earth in an instant.
The two cavalry scouts who escaped from the road finally rushed to the front of the formation. Regardless of the arrow wounds on their backs, the leader shouted loudly at Qin Mingtao,
"Your Highness! It's Mang Gurtai! The Tatar Zhenglan Banner is coming to kill us!"