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

Chapter 1104 Dilemma
Bumbutai held the armrest tightly with her left hand, and her body involuntarily leaned forward slightly.

"Does Mr. Fan really mean what he said?"

"Empress Dowager, please do not forget the story of the previous emperor's siege of Jinzhou. I feel that since the Ming Dynasty has taken the initiative to start a war this time, using troops in Liaodong and Mongolia at the same time, how can it not make other arrangements elsewhere? If the same trick is repeated, once the Ming army crosses the sea from Shandong and sets an ambush on the regent's way back, and the regent is eager to rush back to Shengjing, the consequences will be disastrous!"

"What should we do?" Bumbutai asked anxiously.

Just now Fan Wencheng put forward a hypothesis, that is, the Ming Dynasty crossed the sea from Shandong to attack the east of Shengjing, set up an ambush on Dorgon's retreat route, and took the opportunity of Dorgon rushing back to Shengjing to launch a sneak attack.

If this is the case, Dorgon's journey back to Shengjing is extremely unsafe. The Ming army has an advantage at sea. It is not new to cross the sea from Shandong to attack the north. It is very likely to do it again. More importantly, the Ming army has once again occupied Pi Island, which is very close to Korea. Now there are Ming troops stationed on Pi Island. Mongolia and the Liaoxi Corridor have both fought. How could the Ming army on Pi Island remain indifferent?

This possibility is extremely high. Fan Wencheng believes that the Ming army will definitely do this. After hearing Fan Wencheng's reminder, Bumbutai's heart suddenly hung in the air. The Qing Dynasty is now in danger. The main force in Dorgon's hands can be said to be the key to the Qing Dynasty's battle. Once Dorgon has any problems, the Qing Dynasty will not have to fight this battle.

"Your Majesty, don't worry. I am just reminding you." Fan Wencheng said solemnly, "Your Majesty, please send someone to inform the Regent as soon as possible. With the Regent's ability, as long as he is prepared, it will not be easy for the Ming army to intercept the returning troops. Once the Regent returns to Shengjing smoothly, the overall situation will be stable."

"Yes! Mr. Fan is right!" Bumbutai's eyes suddenly lit up and she nodded repeatedly. Although she was a woman and knew nothing about military affairs, she was a person who was willing to learn from advice. She also knew in her heart that the Qing Dynasty could only rely on Dorgon now, and she had great confidence in Dorgon's abilities.

It would be fine if he didn't know, but since Fan Wencheng had reminded him to this extent, how could Bumbutai pretend not to know? He immediately decided to send someone to inform Dorgon of the matter and let him be prepared to avoid falling into the trap of the Ming army.

Then, Bumbutai and Fan Wencheng discussed it for a while, and ended the conversation after the discussion. After Fan Wencheng left, Bumbutai called someone to rush to Korea to tell Dorgon about the situation. After the people were sent out, Bumbutai was relieved, but facing the current offensive of the Ming army, she was still uneasy in her heart.

The war in Liaodong broke out again, and soon Dorgon of Korea learned the news. When the news reached Korea, Dorgon frowned immediately, and his originally good mood turned bad.

After more than half a month of fierce attack, Pyongyang is now on the verge of collapse, and it seems that with a little more effort, it will be taken back.

Pyongyang is an important city in the north of Korea and the former capital of Korea. It has great geographical and political significance. Moreover, his mortal enemy, Hauge, is in Pyongyang. If Hauge can be killed in Pyongyang, then Korea will have won the war completely. Not only can Hauge, who gave him a headache, be solved, but the entire Korea can also be brought back into the hands of the Qing Dynasty. The benefits are huge.

But Dorgon never expected that when victory was just around the corner, problems arose in the rear of Liaodong. The Ming Dynasty suddenly launched an attack on Liaodong. News came from Shengjing that the Empress Dowager asked Dorgon to return to Shengjing as soon as possible to cope with the sudden change of the situation, but Dorgon did not want to give up the victory in front of him from the bottom of his heart.

After some hesitation, Dorgon decided to continue attacking Pyongyang, intending to lead his troops back after resolving the issues of Hauge and North Korea. It would be a pity to give up now. The battle had only one breath left. If he returned now, Hauge would have escaped, and it would not be so easy to capture him next time.

In the next few days, Dorgon's attack on Pyongyang became much more intense. Not only did he drive the captured Koreans to attack the city, but he also sent the Han army flags, including the elite Eight Banners, to the battlefield. This made it even more difficult to defend Pyongyang, which was already in danger. If Hauge had not sent the last of his elite Eight Banners to the battlefield, and if Jingwuer's troops, who had not moved, had not also participated in the defense of the city, Pyongyang might have been captured by Dorgon.

But at this time, two things happened in succession. The first thing was that Hauge's army, which had been in Seoul, suddenly went north. This army put on a desperate posture to rescue Pyongyang. Although Dorgon had been prepared for it, the dispatch of this army still caused him a lot of trouble when Pyongyang was about to be breached. Due to the approach of reinforcements, Dorgon had to send part of his troops to stop this army. In this way, the military force he used on the front battlefield in Pyongyang was slightly insufficient, which slightly reduced the intensity of the attack. In addition, Shengjing sent an envoy again, bringing a piece of news that surprised Dorgon, that is, the Ming army not only launched an attack in the Liaoxi Corridor, but also joined forces with the Agudamu tribe of Chahar, Mongolia to launch a fierce attack on the Khorchin tribe.

When the two things happened together, Dorgon suddenly felt something was wrong. He was a man who had fought many battles. When Huang Taiji was still alive, Dorgon had shown great talent for war, otherwise Huang Taiji would not have relied on him so much.

Although Dorgon's main target now is still Hauge and Pyongyang, he also knows that the foundation of the Qing Dynasty is the real foundation. Now the Ming Dynasty has obviously been prepared for a long time, launching attacks on Liaodong and Mongolia at the same time. The goal is very big and should not be underestimated.

If he continued to stay in Korea and did not return as soon as possible, once the Liaoxi Corridor was breached and Khorchin suffered a defeat, the Qing Dynasty would face a life-or-death situation. With the current strength of Shengjing, it would not be easy to stop the Ming army's attack. If the Qing Dynasty lost Shengjing, it would be over. Dorgon would not let this happen no matter what.

Looking up and forward, Dorgon felt extremely conflicted. In his opinion, taking Pyongyang was only a matter of time, but the problem was that what he lacked now was time!

If he stayed in Korea for too long and did not return to rescue Shengjing as soon as possible, what would happen even if he solved the problem of Hauge and the entire Korea? The Qing Dynasty was gone, and what would happen to Dorgon, the regent? This was a result that Dorgon absolutely did not want to see. In desperation, Dorgon finally made a decision, which was to abandon Pyongyang and retreat all his troops back to Shengjing.

It was difficult to make this decision, but Dorgon had to make it. Although he could try again to take Pyongyang, judging from the current situation, even if he tried his best to capture Pyongyang, it would not be accomplished in just one or two days.

As time went by, the risk in Shengjing became greater and greater. He had to go back as soon as possible, otherwise his old nest would be raided by the Ming army. In desperation, Dorgon issued an order to withdraw his troops. After arranging a part of the army to maintain an offensive posture against Pyongyang, his main force began to withdraw from the Pyongyang battlefield. By the time Hauge in the city reacted, Dorgon had already run away with his men.

At this time, Hauge had no plan to leave the city to pursue. He was exhausted and paid a huge price during the days of garrisoning in Pyongyang. Hauge also knew Dorgon. This guy was very cunning and would definitely set a trap during the retreat to lure him out of the city.

Once this was done, Hauge would be fooled. If he was defeated by Dorgon in a field battle, all his previous efforts would be in vain.

To be on the safe side, Hauge did not leave the city to pursue Dorgon's army. Instead, he ordered to strictly guard Pyongyang and wait patiently for the arrival of reinforcements.

At this time, Dorgon, who was in the north of Pyongyang, sighed helplessly after hearing the scout's report that Pyongyang did not send out troops to pursue, but continued to defend strictly. He did as Hauge thought, and set up an ambush by retreating. Once Hauge went out of the city to pursue, he was very sure to keep this guy. Unfortunately, Hauge did not fall for it. This reckless man has become cautious now, which makes Dorgon feel pity.

Since Hauge was not fooled, Dorgon could only return to Liaodong according to the previous plan. But Dorgon was not without precautions. In the Qing Dynasty, Dorgon was not only the regent, but also a veteran general. After calming down, he soon realized a problem, that is, since the Ming Dynasty launched attacks in the Liaoxi Corridor and Mongolia, why didn't they send troops into Korea to outflank their retreat when they attacked Hauge?
This is something the Ming Dynasty did not expect? Absolutely impossible! If it was in the past, Dorgon might have thought so, but now Dorgon did not dare to underestimate the Ming Dynasty. You must know that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty is not the Chongzhen Emperor of the past. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty is the Yongming Emperor Zhu Shenzhu. This is not an ordinary person. He is a person who ascended the throne and changed the situation by means of Jingnan like the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di.

Since Zhu Shenzhu took control of the Ming government and ascended the throne, the situation between the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty has changed. When Huang Taiji was in power, he encountered setbacks several times at the hands of the other side, and he was unable to break the blockade of the Ming Dynasty until his death. After becoming the regent, he did not get any benefits from the Ming Dynasty. In addition, in recent years, the Qing Dynasty has been busy with the previous struggle for the throne, the subsequent death of Zhezhe, and the rebellion of Haoge. How could it have the energy to consider the Ming Dynasty?
How could Dorgon underestimate the fact that the Ming army, which had been silent for several years, suddenly launched such an attack? In his view, the Ming army was ambitious this time and it was definitely not a move to test the Qing army through war. Otherwise, they would not have launched attacks in the Liaoxi Corridor and Mongolia at the same time.

In addition, because of his attack on Korea, the timing of Ming's dispatch of troops was so good, which was enough to show that Ming had planned and prepared for it long ago. Therefore, Dorgon did not think that Ming would ignore him in Korea. Moreover, Pi Island was so close to Korea, and the Ming army in Pi Island had not appeared since he attacked Pyongyang. This was really strange.

(End of this chapter)