Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 429 Dayan See You
The withdrawal of the Qing army was too sudden for Dayan. He just stared blankly at the red scene in front of him without any reaction.

The same thing will be evaluated differently from different perspectives.

In Yu Dayan's eyes, his actions were determined by the times.

If we fail to completely destroy the enemy when their ammunition is exhausted, the situation we are experiencing today will inevitably continue to occur on the Hanzhong Plain.

However, he knew how powerful the dragoons were and had suffered thousands of casualties. But when two cavalry units appeared around the city, Hauge's reaction was different.

The time goes back to two quarters ago.

"Your Highness, don't be upset. Dayan is not someone who doesn't know the seriousness of the matter. There must be a reason for this pursuit."

Although Hauge had issued several military orders in an orderly manner at this time, his face was ashen, and it was obvious that his anger had reached its peak.

Seeing this, Luo Luohun stepped out to give a few words of advice, but to his surprise, Hauge neither exploded directly nor controlled his temper. After he finished speaking, he just glanced at him and returned to his previous state.

Honestly speaking, not only was Haoge speechless with anger at Dayan, Luo Luohun was also extremely annoyed.

According to the original arrangement, they would hold the main force of the Ming army in Hanzhong, and Dayan would cut off the Ming army's food supply in the rear. As long as this situation could be stabilized, the situation of the battle would be completely reversed in about six or seven days.

By then, it would go without saying that this elite Ming army would be annihilated. Even if the Ming Emperor could manage to save his life, they would be able to take advantage of the situation and enter Sichuan again.

But now, this fool Dayan actually led more than 10,000 cavalrymen to chase Hanzhong for that little bit of Ming army. If something went wrong at Yangping Pass...
Thinking of this, Luo Luohun complained a few more words in his mind, but this situation required him to remain calm. After a few breaths, he started talking to Haoge again.

"It's nothing. When we see Dayan, let him go back quickly. The Ming army is not good at riding and shooting. Even if there is a setback at Yangping Pass, he can still suppress the situation with his 20,000 troops."

Haoge naturally trusted Luo Luohun very much. When he heard these words, he closed his eyes and suppressed his anger.

He understood the principle and also knew the power of 20,000 cavalrymen in the plains, but the one who was trapped in Hanzhong was the Ming Emperor, and the various Ming troops would surely fight to the death to rescue him.

Under such circumstances, how could he remain calm when Dayan ignored the key to the battle for just one or two thousand Ming cavalry?

"Let Yue Le and Dayan go back after this. These Mongolians are still unreliable."

After saying this, Hauge stood up and walked out. Seeing that his emotions were gradually stabilizing, Luo Luohun followed closely and was quite satisfied with his performance.

After a while, the two men climbed onto a relatively intact section of the city wall. Seeing that the various troops outside the city had already formed their battle formations, Hauge's mood improved a little.

He didn't really think that there would be any trouble at Yangping Pass.

To be honest, the Ming army was not good at riding and shooting. With Dayan's 20,000 troops, they could even wear down the Ming army, which was mostly composed of infantry, to death on the road.

It’s just that Dayan’s attitude is too casual.

In such a great war that could determine the situation in the world, this fellow disobeyed orders and acted recklessly. If any complications arise, he and Heshuote's family fortune would be ruined by death.

As his thoughts turned, the deeds of people like Wu Sangui and Li Guohan once again appeared in Hauge's mind. At the same time, Yue Le, who was organizing the battle formation outside the city, came into his sight. Hauge couldn't help but sigh.

"Family members are still reliable."

As soon as the news came from outside, Hauge ordered several troops to go out of the city and form a battle line.

Although he was only delayed in the city for a while, Yue Le and other Eight Banners generals had already led thousands of troops to wait for them. As long as Dayan arrived, they would be able to protect them into the city.

There was nothing that could be done about it. No matter how dissatisfied Hauge was with Dayan, they still had to cut off the Ming army's food supply. Even if they really had to argue, they had to wait until the war was over.

"Well, Yue Le is good, he is brave and resourceful, but it's a pity that Abatai is not valued by the old Khan."

Luo Luohun only mentioned it briefly and did not finish the rest of the sentence.

He also valued this uncle-like relative very much and wanted to help Haoge keep him under his control.

Afterwards, the two of them discussed the abilities of the generals in the army for a while, until they saw a series of small red formations coming straight towards the city, and then they stopped discussing in surprise.

According to their thinking, the Ming army at this time should focus all its attention on how to stop Dayan's pursuit.

Even if we send people to guard the passage, they should stay around the camp and under no circumstances should they cross the center line between the camp and the city to this side.

If something is unusual, it must be something wrong.

Seeing that the Ming army's actions seemed somewhat unusual, Hauge and Luo Luohun began to think quickly.

Are they going to take this opportunity to have a decisive battle?

As a guess emerged, the two of them couldn't help but look at each other. Afterwards, not only did Haoge's face become gloomy again, but even Luo Luohun frowned.

After the arrival of the Ming army, they wisely retreated to the dilapidated Hanzhong City, in order to use the complex civilian houses in the city to limit the effectiveness of the Ming army's firearms;
They ignored their own troops in Guanzhong and instead invited Dayan from Xining, in order to use the mobility of the cavalry to offset the power of the Ming army's firearms formation.

Just because they don’t say something doesn’t mean they don’t know it.

Once outside Guangyuan City, once in front of Qipan Pass, and then the Yangping Pass was only defended for three or four days.

If they had not been afraid of the Ming army, which had a similar strength to their own, and had not been so brave as to chase and kill more than a thousand Ming soldiers with just a few dozen men, how could the Battle of Hanzhong have ended in a stalemate?

"Let's fight to the death! Are our Eight Banners elite really afraid of them?!"

Thinking of this, the anger that Hauge had suppressed with great difficulty surged up again. However, this time it was because Dayan had ruined the entire strategy, and also because he was despised by the Ming army.

In his opinion, the current situation is already very clear. Since Dayan was able to chase from Yangping Pass to Hanzhong, he would definitely not let go of the cavalry easily. Once his troops engaged the Ming army, he would have to join the battle.

It’s a dilemma. It’s really a dilemma.

Without the shelter of civilian houses, the Ming army's muskets could exert their full power. However, if they watched Dayan being defeated by the Ming army, cutting off his food supply would become empty talk.

In this situation, he really hated it to the extreme. If Dayan was right in front of him, he would have wanted to shoot him to death.

"Your Highness, look, the Ming army's muskets have dispersed into small formations. If Dayan can make a concerted effort, there's no telling what will happen."

Small formation?

Following Luo Luohun's reminder, Hauge finally turned his attention to the outside of the city.

Although the Ming army facing the city was still advancing at this time, they left behind small formations of only a hundred or so people along the way.

Those small formations were more than 10 to 20 steps apart and all faced south. Judging from their deployment, they were meant to block Dayan. But how could such a loose formation possibly withstand more than 10,000 cavalrymen?
Thinking of this, Haoge couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, but before he could say anything else, he saw that the small formations facing this side were more than 200 steps away from his own formation.

"Send the order, order Yue Le to attack the Ming army's flank!"

Seeing this, Hauge did not dare to delay any longer. After saying something to the general beside him, he turned his attention to the outside of the city. Flaw!

He finally saw the flaw of the Ming army!
In the previous battles, the Ming army had maintained an extremely dense formation, with the heavy armored infantry called the Suwei Zhongjun protecting its flanks. But now the Ming army had adopted a loose formation in order to guard against Dayan, and it seemed that there were only some ordinary soldiers protecting its flanks.

Isn't this the best opportunity to break the Ming army's gun formation?
After all, under the spur of reality, Hauge became wary of the Ming army's firearms, but when it came to ordinary soldiers, he did not think that the Ming army could withstand the attack of his own elite troops.

At this time, the Emperor Minghuang was confused for various reasons, so he wanted to break the opponent's weak spot.

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

As his mind was turning, the Ming army's gun formation was already about a hundred steps away. When the gunshots rang out, the archers under the city rushed straight towards the Ming army's gun formation regardless of casualties, while the elite infantry led by Yue Le still had more than two hundred steps to go before they could engage the Ming army's flank.

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

Looking at his own archers who kept falling, Hauge felt like his heart was bleeding.

Each of these people is an old soldier with superb martial arts and many years of battlefield experience, but they did not expect that today they would become cannon fodder to attract the enemy's attention.

Ke Ci is not suitable to command troops.

Without them to hold them back, the Ming army's gun formation would be able to free up its hands to deal with Yue Le's troops. Not only would they miss this good opportunity in vain, but the entire battle situation in Hanzhong would also be completely ruined.

Fortunately.
"Your Majesty! Connected!"

Sure enough, the sacrifice of the archer in front of him was not in vain. Under Hauge's gaze, Yue Le finally collided fiercely with the infantry on the flank of the Ming army. At the same time, bursts of roars became clearer, and more than 10,000 cavalrymen of the Khoshut tribe also appeared in his field of vision.

After three months, the battle is finally over.
No, to win this battle we have to seize Sichuan, which will take another month or two.

At such a critical moment, such a strange thought appeared in Hauge's mind, and then he realized that he had become lazy because the overall situation was about to be settled. After completely dispelling all the complicated thoughts, Prince Su of the Qing Dynasty finally focused his attention on the two battlefields.

There is no need to say much about Dayan's side. Hauge could only make a rough idea of ​​it as they were a little far away. The key point is that the battle on Yue Le's side was beyond Hauge's expectations. Those Ming army infantrymen did not collapse directly.

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

As time went on, more and more archers fell to the ground. Although Yue Le had the upper hand, the Ming army still tenaciously kept them outside the gun formation.

Seeing this situation, Hauge knew that he would not be able to defeat the enemy in front of him in a short period of time, so he immediately turned his attention to the battle group in the distance.

At this time, the Ming army's line had already formed a huge arc. Although the Khoshut cavalry was only eighty or ninety steps away from the gun formation, they could hardly move forward under the attack from three sides.

The battle situation on both fronts was beyond expectations, which made Hauge extremely stunned and he didn't know how to deal with this dilemma.

However, good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes alone. Just as he was thinking hard, bursts of shouting and killing sounds suddenly came from the city. When he looked back, he saw that the door of the granary was already open.

"pass"

"Your Majesty! Dayan has retreated!"

Return?
He actually quit?!

He didn't retreat earlier or later, but he actually retreated at this critical moment!
Accidents happened one after another, and Hauge only felt a buzzing in his head and no longer had any thoughts.

The archers under the city had already become frightened by the attack of the Ming army's muskets, and Yue Le had lost his momentum due to various changes. If coupled with the sudden attack of the Ming army in the warehouse and Dayan's retreat, the situation on the battlefield had become uncontrollable, and his tens of thousands of troops were like turtles in a jar.

In all his years of military career, Hauge had never encountered such a situation.

If only one or two of these changes occurred at the same time, he would be able to face them calmly with his years of experience. Even if he could not reverse the situation of the battle, he would be able to ensure that he would not win or lose.

But the battlefield was changing rapidly, and all the changes finally converged into one place. In Hauge's eyes, all that was left was his own formation that was completely defeated by the Ming army's muskets.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

Following Luo Luohun's shouts, he turned his head away in a daze, but before he could recover, he heard Luo Luohun shouting to Goshha beside him: "Protect the prince out of the city!"
-
The Qing army's retreat was as unexpected as the beginning of this battle. When Zhu Cilang received the news that Dayan's troops were blocked on the south side of the city, he was as slow to recover as Hauge.

According to his original plan, once Li Chengdong's troops arrived, they would be able to tie down the Khoshut cavalry that had cut off his food supply.

Even if the food supply route is not completely unobstructed by then, he and Hauge will be back on the same starting line.

If the situation reached that point, he could rely on the imperial guards and several brave generals to gain a springboard inside the city.

It goes without saying that when artillery fire entered the city, some houses could not withstand a few hits, and once the obstacles were cleared, it was time for the guns to unleash their power.

But who would have thought
"Send out more scouts, and don't pursue them."

Looking at the generals with joy on their faces, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but pour cold water on them. Afterwards, he asked them about the situation several times, but he frowned and didn't know what he was thinking about.

Seeing this, Li Chengdong, who had not seen the Emperor for a long time, seemed to have something to say. After seeing his expression, Zhu Cilang calmed down.

"Li Qing has made great contributions in this battle. If you have anything to say, just say it. There is no need to be restrained."

"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty. This time, it was because of my tactics that we crushed Dayan, and I can't say anything about it." Seeing that His Majesty had turned his attention to him, Li Chengdong said modestly, "In my opinion, the Tartars must have completely collapsed under the heavy pressure, and it seems that they have no other plans."

After he finished speaking, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but start thinking.

At this time, the situations on several battlefields had been summarized in the central army tent. He knew that the Qing army was suffering setbacks everywhere.

Perhaps this kind of collapse has only happened to the Ming army in the past, and it is a little difficult for the Qing army to handle it suddenly.

With this in mind, Zhu Cilang planned to praise Li Chengdong a few more words, but when he was about to open his mouth, he saw a soldier running in hurriedly.

"Your Majesty, Dayan requests to see you."

(End of this chapter)