Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1102 Seeking a meeting
No one, including Bumbutai, had expected that the launch of this war was the result of years of planning by the Ming Dynasty and was not comparable to previous wars at all.

The Ming Dynasty had already taken these situations into consideration, and the shadow of the Ming Dynasty was behind the war between Hauge and Dorgon. The Ming Dynasty had a clear grasp of what was going on in Korea and what the situation was like.

On the front battlefield, the Ming army fought calmly around Panshan, making the defenders miserable. Even the reinforcements from Shengjing could not change the disadvantage of the battle. The tactics of the Ming army were very clear, that is, relying on the superiority of the troops and firearms in their hands to fight with the Eight Banners to consume them, so that the enemy would continue to send troops to Panshan. Even if they had the ability to take down Panshan in one fell swoop, the Ming army would not rush in, fighting for a while and stopping for a while, properly controlling the intensity of the attack, giving the enemy the illusion that they could defend Panshan.

In the Chahar region of Mongolia, at the same time as the Liaodong frontal battlefield started, Agudamu led his troops to launch an attack on the Khorchin tribe.

The Khorchin tribe was not weak among the Mongolian tribes, and was the most important ally of the Qing Dynasty. In those days, Ligdan Khan failed to attack Khorchin several times, and was eventually defeated from Chahar by Khorchin, other Mongolian tribes and the support of Jiannu.

But this is a different time. As Agudamu gradually gained a foothold in Chahar, the tribes that had previously betrayed Ligdan Khan were either defeated by Agudamu or recognized the situation and surrendered to Agudamu.

The survival strategy of the Mongolians has always been to attack the weak and rely on the strong. This is what Lin Dan Khan did when he was the Great Khan of Mongolia, and this is how the Mongolian tribes have survived for hundreds of years. If Lin Dan Khan had not played a good hand badly and made several mistakes in decision-making, how could he have been expelled from Chahar and eventually died in Qinghai?

Now Agudamu came, with the support of Tumed and Ming Dynasty, and directly replaced the position of Lin Danhan in Chahar. Faced with a powerful opponent, the Mongolian tribes that were originally fence-sitters recognized the facts after being hit by Agudamu's powerful military force, and one after another joined his sphere of influence.

Under such circumstances, Agudamu could mobilize much more troops than before. He gathered various tribes to form a powerful Mongolian cavalry, and together with the elite troops sent by the Ming Dynasty, launched a surprise attack directly on Khorchin.

Khorchin was caught off guard and was hit head on at the beginning of the war. Khorchin Prince Qitate quickly organized his army to resist, but Agudamu was fierce, and his Mongolian cavalry was stronger than the Khorchin cavalry in terms of equipment and combat effectiveness. In addition, there were many elite Ming troops to assist in the battle. Qitate was beaten black and blue at the beginning of the battle, and hurriedly led his troops to retreat, intending to rely on the mobility of his cavalry and geographical advantages to deal with Agudamu, and at the same time hurriedly sent envoys to Shengjing for help.

But Qitat never expected that as soon as he sent out the messenger to ask for help, the people from Shengjing arrived. At first, Qitat was very happy, thinking that Shengjing had learned about Agudamu's eastward advance and sent people to appease him, and reinforcements would soon arrive.

But he never expected that the envoys from Shengjing would not bring any reinforcements, as Shengjing had no idea about the war in Mongolia. The envoys were not sent to reinforce but to ask for help. When they learned that the Ming army had suddenly launched an attack in Liaodong and the peak of the army had reached Panshan, the Qing Dynasty lost the entire Liaoxi Corridor in a short period of time. Because Dorgon was leading the main force in Korea and could not return in a short time, the Qing Dynasty was short of troops, so they specifically asked Khorchin for help and asked Qitat to send cavalry to reinforce Liaodong as soon as possible to fight against the Ming army together.

Upon hearing the news, Qitat was completely stunned.

Qitat was no idiot to be the leader of Khorchin and be named a prince by the Qing Dynasty. The Ming army launched an attack in Liaodong, and then Agudamu from Mongolia led his men to attack him. The two proved the answer. Didn't he understand?
More importantly, Agudamu's army not only had Mongolian cavalry, but also a large number of elite Ming troops. In this way, this was clearly a tactic that the Ming had planned long ago. Both sides launched at the same time, using Agudamu's attack on Korchin as a means to contain themselves. In this situation, Qitat could hardly protect itself, let alone rescue the Qing Dynasty?
After understanding this, Qitate was terrified. It seemed that the Ming Dynasty was really serious this time. They were going to do this to solve the problem in Liaodong and kill him at the same time. In this situation, Qitate no longer expected help from the Qing Dynasty, let alone reinforcements. He had to face Agudamu's attack alone. If the war failed, not only himself, but also the entire Khorchin tribe would cease to exist.

With no other options, Qitat could only bite the bullet and continue to deal with Agudamu, relying on the vast grassland to avoid his attack and preserve his strength. He could not care about the Qing Dynasty at all, let alone his cousin Bumbutai in Shengjing. He just wanted to keep his army and tribe. The longer the time dragged on, the more likely Agudamu could not kill his main force and annihilate his tribe, and then Korchin would have a glimmer of hope of survival.

When the news of the outbreak of war in Khorchin reached Shengjing, the whole city was in panic. At this time, the nobles of the Eight Banners also realized that something was wrong and understood that all this was a plan of the Ming Dynasty. At this time, military reports came from Panshan one after another, and the Ming army's offensive became more and more fierce. Although Panshan had sent a reinforcement, it still could not withstand the powerful attack of the Ming army, and the casualties were extremely heavy.

"Empress Dowager! Your Majesty!" Prince Cheng Yuetuo bowed to Bumbutai and the young Emperor Fulin, and then said, "The Ming Dynasty has already made plans for this, launching attacks in Liaodong and Mongolia. The situation is serious now, and the Khorchin tribe can hardly protect itself, and it is impossible for them to reinforce the Qing Dynasty. I think we should let the Regent return with his troops as soon as possible to stabilize the war on the front line, and then reinforce Khorchin after repelling the Ming army!"

Yuetuo was Daishan's eldest son. As early as the era of the struggle for the Khanate, Daishan and Yuetuo were Huang Taiji's men, and they were trusted and valued by Huang Taiji. After Daishan's death, Yuetuo was named Prince Cheng, and his status in the Qing Dynasty was not low. Although he was not as good as the Dorgon brothers and Jirgalang, he was also a powerful figure in the Qing Dynasty.

"My slave seconded the motion!"

"My slave also seconded the proposal!"

As soon as Yue Tuo finished speaking, several people said in unison that everyone had the same idea. Now they could not take care of Korea at all. Dorgon must come back as soon as possible and bring back the main force of the Eight Banners in Korea. If Dorgon still stayed in Korea, then the situation in Panshan would be extremely unfavorable to the Qing Dynasty. Moreover, Dorgon took nearly half of the elite Eight Banners with him when he went to Korea. The army left in Liaodong was not strong enough. Once Panshan was broken, if the front line could not stop the attack of the Ming army, it would not take long for the Ming army to attack Shengjing directly after taking Panshan. What should Shengjing do then? Could it be that the Qing court abandoned Shengjing and fled? "Prince Zheng!"

"Your servant is here!" Hearing Bumbutai calling him, Prince Zheng Jirgalang hurriedly stepped forward.

"Any news from the Regent?"

"My Queen Mother, the envoy I sent to Korea has just arrived in Korea, and there is no news from the Regent yet."

Bumbutai frowned, thought for a moment and said, "Send someone to urge the regent to come back as soon as possible. Let's leave Hauge alone for now and find a way to withdraw the troops. The foundation of our Qing Dynasty is the foundation. It won't be too late to invade Korea after we have dealt with the Ming army."

"Yes, I will arrange it right away." Jirgalang responded repeatedly. Bumbutai's eyes swept over everyone, and after thinking for a while, he said, "The situation in Panshan is not going well. Do you have any other solutions?"

No one spoke for a while, and finally Yue Tuo stood up and said, "My Lord, I think we should continue to send more troops to Panshan. We must stop the Ming army at Panshan before the Regent returns. Only then can we counterattack the Ming army after the Regent returns. Of course, this is my humble opinion. I'll leave it to the Queen Mother to decide."

"What do you think?" Bumbutai asked. Although she was the empress dowager, she was young after all, and had no experience in military and political affairs. Those present were all nobles of the Eight Banners and had fought many battles. Without Dorgon, she could only rely on these people to make decisions.

"I second the proposal!"

"I am willing to lead the troops to Panshan!" While most people seconded the motion, Oboi, who had been eager to try, stood up and said this. Seeing Oboi's words, Bumbutai nodded slightly. Oboi was a very capable general under Huang Taiji and was loyal to the emperor. Although his qualifications were not as good as Sony who was now on Panshan, he was also a great general.

In fact, according to the current situation, it is most appropriate to let Yuetuo lead the troops, but Bumbutai is not confident in Yuetuo, and is afraid that there will be accidents if she gives the army to Yuetuo in the absence of Dorgon. Now that Oboi has taken the initiative to volunteer, it is just what she wants. Bumbutai has a good impression of Oboi, so she immediately agreed to Oboi's request and decided to let Oboi lead an army to reinforce Panshan.

After Bumbutai made the decision, no one said anything. However, Fan Wencheng, who had been silent from beginning to end, frowned slightly. However, he did not stand up until the end of the court meeting. After the announcement of the adjournment of the court meeting, Fan Wencheng deliberately fell behind, and after everyone else left first, he turned around and walked towards the palace.

"Lord Fan!" After taking a few steps, Fan Wencheng was stopped by someone.

"I request to see the Empress Dowager. Please inform her, sir." Fan Wencheng said politely.

"This..." The eunuch was stunned, not knowing what to do for a moment. Although Fan Wencheng was a Han official, his status in the Qing Dynasty was not low. Whether it was Huang Taiji before or Empress Dowager Zhezhe later, including Bumbutai now, they all trusted him. But today was the first time that Fan Wencheng asked to see the Empress Dowager in this way, and the eunuch didn't know whether to inform or refuse.

"Eunuch, please tell Eunuch Wu to ask the Queen Mother." Fan Wencheng took a half step forward, stretched out his hand and pulled the other's left hand, and the object in his palm was passed over without anyone noticing.

The eunuch felt that there was suddenly something in his hand. He weighed it lightly and knew what it was. Then he thought that what Fan Wencheng said was right. He could not make the decision but it was okay for him to help pass the message. He just had to report the matter to Wu Liangfu. As for whether the empress dowager summoned him or not, it was none of his business.

"Master Fan, please wait a moment." The eunuch replied hurriedly, bowed to Fan Wencheng, and when he turned around, he had quietly put the thing in his hand into his arms. Then he went to the harem. Fan Wencheng stayed where he was, waiting quietly.

(End of this chapter)