Of course, you have to chase. Otherwise, if hundreds of thousands of troops come here and wander around for a few hours and then go back again, according to Zhang Lei, it will not be worth the money spent on burning coal for the steam engine.
Rodman led the men and horses on a journey to the north. Although they did not have a cavalry team, they had many people and time. As long as they knew the whereabouts of the Qing soldiers, they could always track them down. Knowing the whereabouts was very simple. Traces of green grass are the best guideposts.
The time passed from the 15th year of Chongzhen to the 16th year of Chongzhen. The grass on the autumn grassland had withered, and then there was heavy snow. During this period, Rodman led the soldiers and fought dozens of battles, large and small, with the Tatar soldiers. With fewer numbers and equipment than Zhang Leijun, the Qing army did not win any battle. The news reached Huang Taiji's ears, and he was so angry that he lay ill in bed. As the saying goes, the illness of the fifty-year-old Huang Taiji became more and more serious. The imperial doctor was helpless and could only try his best. wisdom to help him continue his life. Outside, Rodman drove the Manchu and Qing troops to the far north, where Li Zicheng's army was already waiting.
Facing Li Zicheng's army, the Qing army was still confident of fighting, because their numbers were not that large, and their equipment was not as good as Zhang Lei's army. Although they also had three-eyed muskets and cannons, their operational skills were completely different from Zhang Lei's soldiers. No longer on the same level. The Qing army once again organized a charge and killed Li Zicheng's army in pieces. Li Zicheng was still thinking that Zhang Lei finally let go of his dove at the most critical moment, but the enemy in front of him had to resist. The Tatar soldiers had been wronged for such a long time, and finally met a soft persimmon. There was no reason not to be pinched. The two sides fought, and the fight was naturally extremely brutal. The battle lasted for three days and three nights, and Li Zicheng lost more than half of his men, leaving only 30,000 people, which was already very weak. To save one's life. Li Zicheng finally planned to send an envoy to discuss surrender with the Qing army.
But things took a turn for the worse, and the issue of surrender had not yet been resolved. Rodman led the army to fight. From deep in Li Zicheng's heart, he did not want to surrender. This came from an inexplicable sense of racial superiority. Moreover, the arrival of Rodman leading the army also made people realize that Zhang Lei did not lie to him. He really did everything he said. So he began to boost morale, and together with Rodman, he completely wiped out this group of Manchu Tatars. No one was left alive, coach Ye Bushu died in battle!
News of the annihilation of the entire army reached Shengjing, and it was Dorgon who first received the news. On this day, snowflakes were floating in the sky, and the snowflakes on the ground were already piled high. After reading at night and it was almost dawn, Dorgon lay down on the desk and took a nap for a while. He opened the door of the room, and the biting cold wind blew on him. He couldn't help but shiver, and the wind hit his face like a knife. Since Huang Taiji fell ill, he was called back to handle government affairs on Huang Taiji's behalf.
He was going to close the door to avoid enduring the torture of the cold wind. At this moment, he saw a person on the snow-white ground coming towards this direction quickly, so he stopped his movements. When he got closer, he realized that this was a scout delivering information. Some of them have the privilege of entering the palace directly.
Arriving in front of Dorgon, the soldier knelt down on the ground and made a big hole in the snow. He said in a hurried tone: "To report to the regent, there is an emergency military report from the front line. The entire army on the front line has been wiped out, and the general of the country (namely Aisin Gioro Yebushu) died in the battle."
"What?" When he heard the news, Dorgon's eyes widened and his legs went weak. He grabbed the door frame with both hands and stood in front of him. He asked anxiously: "Are you telling the truth? Lying about military information is a capital crime. Where did you get the news?"
The scout said: "Our army encountered a double-sided attack by Li Zicheng and Zhang Leijun. Only one soldier survived. He found the person closest to us, told this and died directly due to his injuries and the cold. There was no way to bring him back. Later, someone went to the battlefield to see it. The situation was indeed like that. We found the body of General Zhenguo and it is on the way back. "
Every word of these words was like a bolt from the blue, hitting Dorgon's heart directly, and he only felt his eyes go dark. The whole person couldn't hold on and fell backward. The scout was frightened, and rushed over to support Dorgon, and then shouted: "Come here, come here, call the imperial doctor. The regent is sick, please come and call the imperial doctor."
So the nearby palace maids and eunuchs came over here. When they saw this scene, they immediately carried Dorgon into the house with all their hands. A group of eunuchs ran to find the imperial doctor, and the scouts were also frightened. Excessive, in order to avoid trouble, sneak away when no one is paying attention.
An imperial physician hurriedly came over, took Dorgon¡¯s pulse, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and surveyed those around him.The eunuch's maid said: "The Prince Regent is not seriously ill. He is just irritated and anxious. Take good care of yourself for a day. You will probably wake up tomorrow. I will prescribe some more medicine. You can serve the Prince Regent and take it on time." That¡¯s it.¡±
After leaving the door, the imperial doctor finally breathed a sigh of relief and finally returned safely from wandering around the gate of hell again.
The next day, under the careful care of the palace ladies, Dorgon finally woke up. At this time, the news of his illness also spread to the palace. Waiting beside him was Prince Chengzeyu Aixinjue Luoshuo. Sai, the fifth son of Huang Taiji.
After Shuosai learned the news that Dorgon was ill, he kept his composure and did not tell Huang Taiji. Now Huang Taiji was seriously ill. If he added this news, it would be like adding to the situation. He might not be able to withstand the blow and directly Death.
But Dorgon woke up again the next day, which made Shuosei breath a sigh of relief. Two hours after learning the news, that is, in the afternoon of the second day after Dorgon learned the news from the front line, he came When I arrived at the palace, I met Huang Taiji.
"Uncle Emperor." When he saw Dorgon coming in, he said respectfully. As the oldest surviving prince of Huang Taiji, he already understood some things in his heart.
Dorgon glanced at him, nodded, and said, "Have you been waiting here these days?"
"Yes." Shuo Sai replied.
Dorgon asked: "How is the situation of the emperor brother?"
Shuo Sai didn't answer, so Dorgon went to Huang Taiji's bedside. He saw that Huang Taiji's face was sallow and already very thin. He no longer had the heroic appearance of galloping on the battlefield. He couldn't help but sigh. He grabbed Huang Taiji's cold hand and said, He whispered: "Brother, I am here to see you."
Huang Taiji, who had his eyes closed tightly, reluctantly opened his eyes. When he saw Dorgon coming, he wanted to struggle to sit up. Dorgon quickly said: "Brother, please lie down, it's cold now."
"Is there any news coming from the front line?" Huang Taiji's voice was hoarse and small. If you didn't listen carefully, you wouldn't be able to hear what he was saying.
Dorgon quickly smiled and said: "No, it is the middle of winter and the mountains are blocked by heavy snow. They must have set up camp and are not fighting. If there is any news, I will report it to the emperor immediately. The emperor just needs to take good care of his health now. Let¡¯s wait until you feel better before talking about anything else.¡±
Speaking of recuperation, Huang Taiji couldn't help but sigh and said: "Don't say such things, what about recuperation? I know my own body very well. It has already been terminally ill and cannot be recuperated well."
"What are you talking about, brother Huang? He is only fifty years old and in his prime, saying such depressing words. When spring comes, brother Huang's illness will be cured." Dorgon comforted him.
Huang Taiji didn't want to dwell too much on this issue, so he changed the subject and said, "Nothing else happened recently, right? My body and bones are already like this. My dear brother, please take more care of the state affairs."
"Brother, don't worry, my brother will work hard and not dare to relax at all, for the sake of our Qing Dynasty's century-old foundation for generations to come." Dorgon said confidently.
The two talked for a while, and then Dorgon said goodbye and went back. Huang Taiji looked at his back and said to Shuosei beside him: "Do you think there is anything unusual about him today?"
Shuosei knew more about the situation than Huang Taiji. When he asked about it, he said, "I thought that the emperor's uncle probably had something to say to Huang Ama, but later he might have considered other things. , I didn¡¯t say anything anymore, now Huang Ama has asked him to handle the government affairs, maybe this is not a big matter and he can handle it well."
"Oh." Huang Taiji responded lightly, and then said to Shuo Sai: "Okay, there's nothing else to do. You can go outside and take care of yourself. I'm a little sleepy."
Shuo Sai didn¡¯t know why Huang Taiji was acting like this all of a sudden, but he didn¡¯t dare to go against Huang Taiji¡¯s wishes, so he bowed and left.
Huang Taiji opened his eyes and looked at the roof. After a long time, he finally closed his eyes.
After Dorgon returned to his mansion, he immediately found the person who had sent the message and asked him to tell him his situation verbatim. The scout soldier naturally knew everything and talked about everything, but he was just a messenger. How could he know so much? The words that came out of his mouth were not of much use to Dorgon. Now that the entire front line has been wiped out, this is a problem he has never thought of. This is a devastating blow to the Manchu cavalry. He realized that this news could never be spread, so he chose to kill the messenger, and then sent his confidants to the front line, but everyone who knew about it was silenced. As for Dorgon himself,He found a reason to increase his troops by another 300,000 and went to confront Zhang Leijun. Moreover, among these 300,000 elite soldiers are the most powerful firearms in the Qing Dynasty. (To be continued.)