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

Chapter 675 Stalemate
Lu Xiangsheng, a dignified Jinshi and Right Censor-in-Chief of the Ming Dynasty, was carrying a big sword weighing 140 kilograms and fighting on the battlefield as if there was no one in the land. The enemy was stunned by this scene.

Several white-armored soldiers originally planned to work together to capture Lu Xiangsheng, but Lu Xiangsheng's martial arts was too strong. With just one strike, he cut the white-armored soldier who was rushing in the front in half. Then he swung his sword with a whistling sound. No one could stand within three meters of him. The white-armored soldiers were no match for him and could only retreat step by step.

When the Tianxiong army saw their commander Lu Xiangsheng so brave, their morale was boosted, and everyone fought bravely to repel the enemy's attack. When the enemy retreated like a tide, Lu Xiangsheng, who had killed dozens of enemies, stood there with blood all over his body, leaning on his sword, like a king in the world. The Ming army cheered and when the news reached Wang Jinwu, Wang Jinwu was also very impressed and called Lu Xiangsheng a god.

The battle on the second day was more intense than the first. The two sides fought back and forth on the front line many times, and the fighting was brutal.

In this battle, both the Ming and Qing armies suffered heavy losses. In particular, Huang Taiji's face turned extremely ugly after learning that he had lost thirty-nine elite white-armored soldiers.

When the war started on the third day, Huang Taiji adjusted his offensive tactics again. Perhaps it was because he was heartbroken by the huge losses yesterday, or maybe it was because he felt that the Ming army was difficult to deal with, and it would not be worth it if he relied on human lives to fill the gap. So although Huang Taiji continued to attack Xifengkou and the northeast highlands, the intensity of the attack was much weaker than the previous day, and he only maintained repeated attacks, intending to constantly put pressure on and kill the Ming army defenders, and did not adopt the tactic of winning at all costs.

Huang Taiji did this not because he was afraid of the Ming army, but because of the terrain, his large army could not concentrate its strength to attack and break through. If it was a field battle on the plain, Huang Taiji was quite confident that he could defeat the Ming army with the power of the Eight Banners, but now, whether in Xifengkou or the Northeast Highlands, Huang Taiji only had a few hundred troops on the offensive at most, and the force of the rotation attack was limited. The main force in the rear could not fly to the front of the Ming army, and could only watch the two sides fighting on the defense line.

After two days of fighting, Huang Taiji clearly saw the tenacious will of the Ming army to hold on, understood the difficulty of taking Xifengkou, and felt the difficulty of this expedition.

He never expected that the Ming army he encountered this time was different from before, so tenacious, and had made arrangements in advance. If he continued to fight like this, Huang Taiji was not absolutely sure that he could take Xifengkou like last time. Even if he took Xifengkou with great effort, his troops would inevitably suffer heavy losses.

After two days, Huang Taiji had lost a thousand men. Although most of these losses were from the Eight Banners of Mongolia and the Han Army Banner, it should be noted that he deployed hundreds of white-armored soldiers in the battle on the second day, but these white-armored soldiers were defeated in the end and lost thirty-nine people.

The white-armored soldiers of the Eight Banners were not ordinary soldiers of the Eight Banners, but the elite of the elite soldiers of the Eight Banners. The selection of white-armored soldiers was extremely strict, and the warriors with the best physical fitness and the most courageous were selected from the Eight Banners. Moreover, the white-armored soldiers were well-equipped, wearing three layers of armor, with chain mail inside, cotton armor in the middle, and iron armor outside, and their combat effectiveness was extremely strong.

In the Battle of Ningjin, Oboi led only five white-armored soldiers, a total of six people, to annihilate more than 240 Ming troops. This shows the strong combat effectiveness of the white-armored soldiers. Moreover, the number of white-armored soldiers in the Eight Banners was very small. There were only 200 white-armored soldiers in the two yellow banners under the personal control of Huang Taiji. Now, 39 white-armored soldiers were lost in one battle. Even Huang Taiji could not bear such a great loss and was heartbroken.

How could Huang Taiji continue to deploy white-armored soldiers and put such precious combat power into the decisive battle for Xifengkou and the highlands, doing such a loss-making business?

So starting from the third day, there were no more white-armored soldiers in the attacking Qing army. Instead, there were only ordinary Eight Banners soldiers. The main force was still the Mongolian Eight Banners and the Han Army Banners. This made the Mongolian and Han Army Banner soldiers complain bitterly, but they could do nothing about it.

The battle situation came to a stalemate. Although the fighting between the two sides continued, the intensity was not as brutal as in the previous two days.

Moreover, the Mongolian and Han army flag soldiers who were in charge of the main attack were not fools. The elite of the Eight Banners hid behind, and if they were asked to charge into battle, their lives would be at stake. What's more, the Ming army on the opposite side of the war this time was much more difficult to deal with than in the past. As long as Huang Taiji did not urge them, these people would naturally have the idea of ​​saving their lives on the battlefield. They would just work without putting in any effort. Anyway, they could not break through the line, so they just pretended to do it. Why bother risking their own lives?

The decrease in the intensity of the war also made Wang Jinwu feel a little relieved. To be honest, he was really worried that Huang Taiji would desperately send elite troops to break through the front line. Because of the terrain, Huang Taiji could not send the main force on the battlefield. In fact, the same reason applied to Wang Jinwu. Whether it was Xifengkou or the highlands in the northeast, the number of troops deployed at one time was limited. There were only 500 to 600 Ming troops at Xifengkou, and with the passage arrangement relying on the beacon tower and the Great Wall defense line, there were no more than 1,000 people at best.

It was not easy for the supplementary troops in the rear to go up. Although the terrain was difficult, the Ming army had an advantage over the enemy, but it would take time to quickly deploy and change defenses. Moreover, Xifengkou had been severely damaged by Huang Taiji, and most of the entire defense line was in ruins. In addition, Huang Taiji's cannons had a longer range than the Ming army, so even if they were set up below the defense line, they could hit the pass and cause great damage to the defenders.

It was for these reasons that the Ming army had limited manpower to deploy at one time, and had to guard against the Qing army's artillery. The same was true for the Northeast Highlands, and from a defensive point of view, it was not as good as the dilapidated Xifengkou, and was under greater pressure.

If Huang Taiji continued to send elite soldiers and even white-armored soldiers to charge the battle array without regard for human lives, it would be hard for Wang Jinwu to guarantee that he would be able to hold the position. If this was the case, Wang Jinwu would have only one choice, which was to withdraw all other troops and use his new army to fight against Huang Taiji's elite troops.

With the new army's powerful combat effectiveness and advantages in battle formation, it will not be a problem to hold the position. However, the new army will suffer considerable losses. No matter how good the new army is at fighting, it is still flesh and blood after all. Moreover, using the new army, which is good at fighting, in such a battle for the defense line will limit the new army's advantages and waste precious new army's strength in vain. How could Wang Jinwu do such a loss-making move?
Therefore, Wang Jinwu would never use the main force of his new army unless it was absolutely necessary. If the main force of the new army was consumed in this war, even if Huang Taiji was finally repelled, it would be unbearable. Now, Huang Taiji actually slowed down the intensity of the attack, which made Wang Jinwu breathe a sigh of relief. He immediately redeployed and deployed the troops, taking this opportunity to continue to temper the troops and run-in the various units.

The battle continued day after day, with the two sides fighting back and forth, but the defense line was always controlled by the Ming army, and Huang Taiji never had a chance to break through.

As the battle continued, Wang Jinwu's training also achieved remarkable results. Not to mention the Shandong Army, Dongjiang Town and Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army, just the Shuntian Army directly commanded by Wang Jinwu, through the battles of the past few days, the Shuntian Army began to take shape. After experiencing the trials of war and life and death, these former old and young soldiers gradually took on the appearance of a real army. Given time and further training, they will surely be reborn and become a strong army.

On the sixth day after the war began, Wang Jinwu suddenly received news that the area from Jiangjunshi Pass to Malanyu was attacked by the Qing army. These Qing troops appeared very suddenly, and the troops they deployed were extremely powerful. They attacked the two passes in the middle of the night yesterday. If Hei Yunlong had not taken strict precautions and discovered it in time, and immediately mobilized troops to reinforce, the enemy might have broken through.

After receiving the news, Wang Jinwu was surprised and instantly understood the purpose of Huang Taiji's actions in the past few days. No wonder the intensity of Huang Taiji's attack was much lower than the previous two days, and he never sent out white-armored soldiers to intervene in the battle. It turned out that Huang Taiji was planning to attack the east and west, using Xifengkou as the target to attract his attention through continuous attacks, while secretly dispatching troops to attack the Great Wall defense line from Jiangjunshiguan to Malanyu, intending to break through the Ming defense line from another place and enter the Great Wall.

Huang Taiji's calculations were good. If Wang Jinwu had not made arrangements in advance, and Hei Yunlong had not taken precautions in advance, Huang Taiji might have succeeded. Now that the Qing army's sneak attack failed, they changed their tactics and launched a strong attack. The war was not only limited to Xifengkou, but also extended to the area from Jiangjunshiguan to Malanyu to the west of Xifengkou. This area was guarded by Hei Yunlong's Xuanda Army. Although Hei Yunlong's Xuanda Army was a strong army in the nine borders, it was difficult to defend such a long line of defense in addition to insufficient troops. If Huang Taiji's troops attacked again from other places, Hei Yunlong might lose sight of one thing while focusing on another.

“Tell Hei Yunlong that he must strictly guard the defense line and never let a single Jiannu enter the Great Wall! If the enemy breaks through, I will definitely punish him by military law and will not show any leniency!” Wang Jinwu said with a sullen face. Seeing that the messenger was about to leave, he stopped him again, thought for a moment and continued: “Also tell Hei Yunlong that it is my intention. As long as he holds on for a few more days, the main force will come to support him. Let him work hard these few days. After defeating Huang Taiji, I will definitely recommend him for merit after the battle!”

"Yes!"

The herald saluted with his fists, turned around and walked away quickly.

After the messenger left, Wang Jinwu stood up and walked to the sand table nearby. He stared at the terrain on the sand table and looked at it carefully. He murmured to himself in a voice that only he could hear: "Where did Wu Sangui go? Why is there still no news?"

(End of this chapter)