In fact, what Li Ruofan was thinking was a bit unwise, but she forgot that she could no longer leave if she wanted to.
It stands to reason that Li Ruofan's rear area is absolutely safe. At Shanhaiguan, she has stationed 50,000 troops and 50,000 elite Mongolian cavalry. Although they may not be able to attack the city, they definitely cannot provoke anyone.
Besides, many of the troops and horses from the border towns of the Ming Dynasty were transferred to the capital, and the remaining military towns were struggling to defend them. How could they have the strength to capture Shanhaiguan?
But Li Ruofan still thought wrong.
It¡¯s July now.
The sea is calm in July, and the same is true in Jinzhou.
With the development of shipping, the route from Lianzhou to Jinzhou only takes one and a half months, which is not a short time. However, it has been two months since the Mongols entered the pass, and a large number of Chu troops have landed here. In two months, from organization to financing, and then nearly 80,000 Chu troops boarded warships and headed north. This speed was already the limit, and now, these elite soldiers appeared here.
Jinzhou did not have a port suitable for anchoring, so a large number of Chu troops had to approach the offshore and land in small boats. Local officials in Jinzhou immediately welcomed these guests from afar. The Chu troops did not stay long, and then headed towards Shanhaiguan, a hundred miles away. Go ahead.
Relying on official roads, it only takes two days from here to Shanhaiguan. If it is a forced march, it will only take one and a half days at most.
The Mongolian defenders at Shanhaiguan have been paying attention to the situation inside the pass, but they never thought that there would be enemy situations in the direction of Liaodong. Because the Ming army in Liaodong was harassed and restrained by a Mongolian cavalry in the Nurgandusi area, they were already exhausted. Moreover, if they were asked to attack this pass where 50,000 Mongolian troops were stored, I forgive them not This courage.
But they were wrong. The Chu army appeared at Shanhaiguan at night. They were not in a hurry to attack, but made all preparations and immediately began to fire artillery to attack the city.
Because they came in a hurry, they did not bring many artillery pieces, only a few hundred, but it was enough to deal with Shanhaiguan. Hundreds of Chu's latest artillery were fired at once, immediately frightening the Mongolian army inside the pass. The Chu army The most fearsome of the artillery is the rolling oil cannon. This kind of artillery will be coated with layers of kerosene on the surface. The shells are also hollow and filled with kerosene. Once fired, the fired iron balls will burn immediately. , after smashing into the pass, it can quickly ignite if it encounters flammable objects.
Needless to say, this pass is the main granary of the Mongolian army. The horse feed needed in Ji County is stored here. After being transferred here, it is then transported to Jixian. The horse feed in the pass will burn when exposed to fire. After a while, , the pass was filled with flames and smoke billowing into the sky.
Naturally, the Mongolian troops in the pass were extremely unlucky. Even if they were not burned to death, they were afraid of being smoked to death, so they had to rush out in a panic. Up to now, they have not recovered yet, and they are just walking or riding horses. The horses trampled each other, opened the door, and swarmed out.
If the Ming army was guarding it, they would never do such a stupid thing. The Ming army was good at guarding and knew the consequences of opening the door. However, the Mongols were different. They were used to rushing around and killing, so their knowledge of how to defend a city was similar to that of the Ming army. It's equal to the level of mental retardation.
As soon as they came out, the Chu army who had already lined up outside began to set off firecrackers. Rows of green smoke came out of the queue, and the firecrackers crackled like fried beans. Rejecting the horses, the Mongolian army became even more confused.
This battle lasted all night. After one night, the flames were extinguished. The Chu army successfully entered the pass, killed tens of thousands of Mongolian troops, and escorted more than 20,000 prisoners. They did not go south, but controlled the pass, and then Let the engineers repair the fortifications.
Shanhaiguan is a complete declaration that it has returned to the hands of the Han people, and this is the way home for the Mongols. Shanhaiguan is like the stopper of a wine bottle. Originally, the stopper was pulled out and water was poured into the bottle, but now it has Being covered, the more than 200,000 Mongolian troops became water in a bottle.
What¡¯s even more frightening is that the Mongols are not water, they don¡¯t need water to eat and drink, and they don¡¯t need water to support a large number of war horses. The Chu army not only blocked their retreat, but also cut off their supply lines.
The battle report has not reached Jixian yet. In fact, the defeated soldiers from Shanhaiguan have already arrived here. When they heard the news, the entire Mongolian army was in mourning.
They already felt homesick when the war was unfavorable. Now their escape route has been cut off and their supplies have been cut off. If this continues, they will only be trapped and suffocated to death.
Li Ruofan was shocked. She had been in the desert for several years and had fought many battles. She often defeated the large with the small and always defeated the large with the few. However, this was the first time she encountered such a dangerous situation. She knew that once they They turned back to attack Shanhaiguan, trying to open up their retreat. Hundreds of thousands of people were behind them.The Chu army will be chasing after them. At that time, the Chu army is waiting for work on the city tower, and behind it are hundreds of thousands of Ming troops. Attacked from both sides, there will be no place to die.
"And if Li Ruofan continues to waste it here, she can't afford it. If there is no food, she can still rob it. Without horse feed, the horse will get sick and lose strength, and may even starve to death. A Mongolian cavalry without a war horse is no longer a tiger, but even worse than a sick cat.
There is no way to stay, and there is no way to retreat. In just one night, the Mongolian army has already cast a shadow on its head.
Li Ruofan bit her lip and hid in the big tent alone to think. Now she was at the end of her rope and she had to make a decision immediately, otherwise everything would be over.
After much hesitation, Li Ruofan invited Zhu Houzhao over.
Zhu Houzhao has a good ear in the camp. Even though he is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he can get along with everyone. He has good ears and eyes for almost all news on the battlefield.
At this time, Zhu Houzhao was very happy and happy.
However, as a prisoner, you must have the necessary consciousness of being a prisoner. Before coming, Liu Banban had repeatedly told him that he must have a sad face and never smile. If your Majesty smiles, maybe the Mongolian Khan can't do anything to him. After all, Your Majesty She has a noble body, but if someone gets angry, the slave will be doomed.
It can be seen from this that the damn eunuch Liu Jin is still very smart. He can be a troublemaker in the capital. How can he do it without a few brushes?
Zhu Houzhao tabooed Liu Banban's words, so he made a sad face, as if his most beloved horse had died.
Li Ruofan gritted his teeth and sneered: "What are you doing with such a frown on your face? Isn't it just to win your heart?"
Zhu Houzhao said with a suppressed face: "That's wrong. I'm actually I'm actually very sad. I live with you day and night, and I have some feelings for you, just like I have feelings for my beloved horse. Seeing that it is about to die, I can't help but be reluctant to leave it. .¡±
Li Ruofan felt that there was a thorn in her words, but she couldn't care less about doing so at this time. She said with a cold face: "In that case, I would like to ask Your Majesty to write a letter and order Liu Chengfeng to negotiate peace immediately."
Li Ruofan said calmly: "It's natural to negotiate for peace. I, the Mongolian cavalry, have returned to the desert, and your majesty will also return to be your emperor. But this time we are guests. You Han people don't know how to treat guests, and you actually burned a lot of our food." He is a horse material, so compensation must be given. Your Majesty must have no objection to this, right?"
Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "I didn't invite you here. You came uninvited. Are you guys who wield swords and guns considered guests?"
Li Ruofan could no longer pretend, and said in a soft tone: "No matter what, I have to give an explanation to the next person."
Zhu Houzhao sneered: "I don't need to explain to my subjects. I will never write this letter. Please ask someone else."
He spoke firmly and refused to compromise.
Li Ruofan said: "In this case, then we will not ask for compensation. If you let us out of the customs, we will send His Majesty back. From now on, we will not owe each other anything, and we will not interact with each other until we die!"
"Also, I will personally discuss the specific matters with your Master Liu, so that your Master Liu can prepare to welcome the distinguished guests."
Zhu Houzhao said: "Be careful if the meat bun beats the dog, there will be no return."
Li Ruofan couldn't help but smile and said: "With His Majesty as a hostage in the camp, I have nothing to worry about. There is no place I can go in the Ming Dynasty. Even if I go to Beijing now, no one will dare to stop me. "
Zhu Houzhao snorted coldly, and then said: "You don't know who Master Liu is. Now that he has finally surrounded you, how can he let you go so easily? You'd better give up on this idea."
Li Ruofan said coldly: "But he must be concerned about Your Majesty. If he does not agree to this condition, how do you think he will explain to your Queen Mother?"
Zhu Houzhao shook his head, and couldn't help but be speechless when he thought of the Queen Mother Zhang. He felt a little reluctant to let him go back in despair. In fact, it was more than reluctance, mainly because he was afraid. He could imagine that he was in despair. After returning to the capital, Empress Dowager Zhang blamed him, Master Liu sympathized with him, and the civil and military officials of the dynasty treated him with superficial respect and inner contempt for him.
Zhu Houzhao couldn't bear the blame of others, and he also hated other people's sympathy for him, and even more disgusted with someone's contempt for him. Thinking of this, Zhu Houzhao suddenly felt a headache. He even vaguely looked forward to why this war didn't continue for a few more days.
At this time, Zhu Houzhao was like a truant student. He was suffering and hungry outside, but he did not dare to go back to school to face it.
He is still a child
"There is not much time, don't delay, start writing immediately, I will send your letter first, and I will go to the Ming army camp tomorrow to talk with your Master Liu in detail. As for you, stay here these few days. In the camp, once we reach an agreement, you and I will say goodbye, but I hope we can meet again someday."
Zhu Houzhao sighed and had no choice but to write.
The first chapter is delivered. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to subscribe and reward (this site). Your support is my biggest motivation.)