Chapter 257: Performing personnel, small battle

On the seventh day of the first lunar month of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, the Qing army broke into Jinan.

It was raining and raining. After the Jiaozhou Camp accelerated its marching, it entered Shandong on the first day, and the next day it cut off supplies. Li Meng was so angry that he was so angry that he was smoking. It was said that Dongchang Prefecture was almost the same as the inside line. Who would have thought that Jiaozhou Camp would be so desperate that he had cut off food and salary in this territory.

The so-called breakage means that the soldiers will get hungry. According to the guarantee of the junta officer, enough military rations can be raised in just ten more hours.

The reason was that the grain channels adjusted from Dezhou were cut off. The Qing army advanced rapidly towards Jinan. The storage and transportation center originally placed near Dezhou City allocated grain and grass, but they were probably unable to allocate it. Because the road was cut off, the new grain and grass had to be raised on site from Yanzhou Prefecture.

It's really a matter of self-inflicting. Originally, Li Meng wanted to use Dongchang Prefecture as a buffer zone with Qiu Lei of Jinan Prefecture to make his eating habits look less ugly. Who would have thought that it would be unpleasant to use it either by himself or her own tidy territory.

Fortunately, the prefect of Dongchang is his own family, Li Meng's father-in-law, Yan Ruoran's father, Yan Magistrate Yan. Now he should be called Yan Magistrate Yan in the palace city of Liaocheng.

Hearing that the Tatar army suddenly appeared from Linqingzhou, the Pingshanwei in Dongchang Prefecture dispersed nearly half of its troops in one night, and a large number of residents fled to the Yanzhou Prefecture south. As a result, Zhang Chengye, the garrison of Gaotang Prefecture, came to provide assistance at night and led hundreds of troops into the prefecture to stabilize the hearts of the people.

Of course, Zhang Chengye did not have much loyalty and courage. He just fled here from Gaotangzhou. He had a very good plan. If Dongchangfu City could not hold on, he would be able to protect the prefect and his wife overnight. At least the general Li Meng would have to accept his big favor.

However, the Qing army entering Shandong was moving quickly and ignored the nearby Dongchang Prefecture City. Even Gaotang Prefecture ignored it, but rushed straight to Jinan City.

Knowing that his son-in-law's troops entered Dongchang Prefecture and lacked food and money supply, they immediately mobilized officials at all levels of Dongchang Prefecture who were still operating and began to raise food and money supply for Jiaozhou Camp. Jiaozhou Camp was stationed in Dongchang Prefecture with armed salt genies, and the place was also familiar. Many things were handled much faster than those in Northern Zhili.

The food and wages were quickly replenished, and the food route was also built. Li Meng's army delayed the operation of the army for ten hours because Li Meng did not want his troops to fight hungry. Sometimes, with strong will and training alone, it is impossible to win in fighting against strong enemies. It is necessary to have sufficient supplies to ensure the physical fitness and condition of the soldiers, and be sure to encounter such strong enemies.

Li Meng also understood the truth that soldiers are so powerful that they are very fast. However, when he entered the Linqingzhou area, he had already received the latest news from Huang Ping's fast horse. Jinan City was captured by the Qing army in one day. Strictly speaking, Jinan City only took several hours to the Qing army. A large number of Tartar soldiers appeared in the sight of the guards at the city. All they could do was to close the upper city gate, but there were only 1,100 defenders in the city, and there were no way to take care of the several gates. The Qing army increased its strength slightly, and when the first soldier climbed up the city through a ladder, the resistance was over.

There were more than 100,000 residents in the city, and there were not many places where resistance occurred. Although the governor and the prefect of Jinan were civil servants, they still sacrificed their lives in street battles with swords. King De Zhu Youshu and general Zhu En of Fengguo were conquered and captured.

Since Jinan City has been broken, should we hurry up and let the other party fight calmly based on the city? It is better to adjust your condition to the best.

However, after Jiaozhou Camp entered northern Zhili from Dezhou, it completely misjudged the movement trend of the Qing army, almost five to six days behind the other side. If Li Meng sent cavalry to hurry up, he could still arrive in Jinan in more than a day. But the key to the problem is that two or three thousand cavalry faced nearly 20,000 Tartar troops, it was clearly a moth to the flames.

As for the army of ten thousand people in Jiaozhou Camp, the marching speed of forty miles a day can be said to be fast. Now what Li Meng does is to ensure his safety and strive to travel desperately.

As soon as Li Meng left, the six thousand soldiers of Shandong General Qiu Lei were transferred back to Dezhou City by governor Yan Jizu and eunuch Liu Yuanbin. He even knew about the news of the Qing army's attack on Jinan earlier than Jiaozhou Camp. However, no matter what Yan Jizu and Liu Yuanbin ordered, Shandong General Qiu Lei just kept his troops and hid in the city.

No matter how complete the protection of the Qing army was, Shandong was the territory that Li Meng had managed for many years. In addition to spies led by Huang Ping, Jinan Prefecture and Dongchang Prefecture had many other means to detect the other party's news. After the Qing army captured Jinan City, after clearing all resistance, they began to pick up the population in the city, massacred the old, the weak, the livestock, and gold and silver.

Li Meng is just looking forward to the other party plundering Jinan City for a while and then fighting after he arrives in Jinan. However, the latest information sent shocked Li Meng and sweated.

The Qing army had 15,000 troops, divided into three armies, ranging from one thousand to two thousand, heading towards Shandong, and heading from Jinan to Shandong. Apart from Dongchang Prefecture, the rest were Li Meng's own territory.

Although the movements of the Qing army in Jinan were strictly blocked by Li Meng, some news came from outside. Although the soldiers were eager to fight, their territory was about to be attacked, and the morale of the army immediately fluctuated a little, and even the generals could not calm down. Ma Gang and Zhao Neng came to Li Meng's camp several times to discuss.

Denglai Qingji Prefecture is the heart of Jiaozhou Camp. If it is attacked by the Tartars, all the foundations that have been built over the years will probably disappear.

On the 11th day of the first lunar month of the 12th year of Chongzhen, Jiaozhou Camp began to divide its troops. Tang Er led the horse team, Ma Gang led 3,000 troops and 5,000 people to the Feicheng line, crossed the southern part of Jinan Prefecture, and rushed to Qingzhou Prefecture to set up defenses. Li Meng led Zhao Neng's troops to continue to march towards Jinan Prefecture.

In the past, when the Ming Dynasty official army and the Jurchens fought, several major defeats were caused by division of troops and then defeated by the Eastern Seizure Jurchens. When Li Meng read the documents and talked to those veterans, he was also deeply alert and reminded himself not to make such mistakes and concentrate his strength.

Who would have thought that when he was facing the enemy, he had to divide his troops, which really made Li Meng laugh and cry.

At the current situation, the first enemy that Li Meng had to consider on the way was not the Tartar army in Jinan, but the team of troops that the opponent re-entered Dongchang Prefecture. At present, Li Meng has set up a military supply and transportation location in Boping County, Dongchang Prefecture. Only by maintaining this transportation center can the army ensure the supply and food and salary of the army and the ability to continue fighting.

On the 14th day of the first lunar month, Huang Ping heard the latest news. The Qing army began to drive the residents in the city outside the city and sent them to various places to go deep into other prefectures and counties in Shandong. All the troops have returned to Jinan City.

Li Meng realized with some regret that he was fooled by the Qing army again. He attached too much importance to the enemy and was led by the enemy and lost his steps.

The Taurus army may know that there is such a Ming army behind him, but since the Taurus army entered the Frontier, except for the governor of Xuanda Lu Xiangsheng, the other Ming officers and soldiers, led their troops to fight to the death, either fled to the wind or kept a distance of dozens of miles, and did not dare to go forward to fight.

So as long as the Qing army makes an action, the Ming Dynasty official army behind will have to make an exaggerated reaction, as if it was a circle, with the inner ring turning one circle and the outer ring turning more distances. In this way, there is not much difference between Li Mengsu’s Jiaozhou camp, which was from the neglect, and other Ming Dynasty official army.

Li Meng knew that he had to speed up his movements, otherwise he would have to watch the Qing army run away from Shandong. The current way to do was to stare at the slowness of the enemy capturing a large number of people. He would first delay the opponent's actions, so that the troops of Ma Gang and Tang Er on the way would be returned, and then the two sides would join forces to fight the Tartars!

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of the 12th year of Chongzhen, Li Meng personally led 800 people in his own military camp, with Chen Liu and Zhao Neng troops, and 1,300 people in his own military camp, led by Chen Liu, with a total of 2,100 people. He gathered mules and horses in the Dongchang Prefecture area and rushed to Yucheng lightly, preparing to intercept the opponent's way back north.

Everyone in Jiaozhou Camp had horses, and they were trained according to the goal of being versatile in horse stance. However, the remaining 1,300 people would not talk about riding skills. It was a difficult problem to get the horses together in a hurry.

But at present, the means to increase speed in this era is riding a horse. As a result, with the help of local gentry and local governments, mules and donkeys were pulled out, which was a tool for transportation. The remaining three thousand people were led by Zhao Neng, and they tried their best to speed up the marching speed and strive to move forward before the Qing army arrived at Yucheng. The few cannons that were staying with the army were all in the team led by Zhao Neng.

In fact, according to the current speed of travel, it is unlikely that it will enter Yucheng early. The reason why Li Meng did this is a bit like a perfect person.

He came to Jinan Prefecture with a desire for war and entered Northern Zhili. In the end, he found that he had done nothing. He watched the Tartars rage, but it was beyond the reach. Now, blocking the Tartars' way back to the north was the only opportunity to do something. However, with such actions, the troops and horses of the Jiaozhou camp were scattered everywhere, which was equivalent to dividing troops to fight against the enemy's large troops. Such a tactic of adding fuel was no different from killing.

Although Li Meng was a general, he was indeed lacking in his military strategy and situation judgment.

The horse team was running in a hurry, and it was not that they would not stop, otherwise the mount would have to run away and die. When these two thousand people left Dongchang Prefecture and entered Jinan Prefecture, the sun was already past noon. If nothing unexpected happened, they would have been able to arrive at Yucheng at night.

There happened to be a small town nearby. Li Meng arranged for his men to go to the town to buy some forage and grain and add it on the spot. Although the Qing army had activities in Jinan Prefecture and Dongchang Prefecture, the town was safe and sound, which was considered lucky.

The people led by Li Meng were all riding horses and were very fast. Before the people in this small town could dodge, they found that the army had arrived, so they had to hide in the town in fear.

Fortunately, the Jiaozhou camp army was strict in discipline. Although it required for fodder and grain, it was paid according to the rules and was higher than the current price. The people in the town gradually disappeared and began to take the initiative to help do something. Of course, this action was also meaningful, and who knew what these soldiers would do.

Li Meng simply ate a piece of baked hot noodles, which was considered a solution to lunch. According to the information inquired by his personal soldiers, the residents in the town said that they had seen the Tartar cavalry passing by a few days ago, but did not do anything to the town, and they didn't even enter, which caused the residents who ran out of the town to have a false alarm.

What makes people feel strange is that the Tartar cavalry returned the day before yesterday and did not do anything to the town. The residents of the town even felt that they were a little fussy. Li Meng, Wang Hai and Chen Liu were all surprised when they heard about this. No beast is not blood-lustful to eat meat, how could they change their sexual desire?

After a simple rest by the town, the brigade led by Li Meng embarked on the journey again. The experience of losing all the way made the soldiers in Jiaozhou camp feel heavy and low. Although the sound of hooves was like thunder, no one spoke, and everyone rushed to the road in silence.

The reason why Jinan Prefecture is rich is that the flat area of ​​Jinan Prefecture is second only to Yanzhou Prefecture in Shandong. The area of ​​farmable fields is large, so it is naturally much stronger than other prefectures and counties in this agricultural era. There are also several low mountains at the junction of Jinan Prefecture and Dongchang Prefecture, but they are not connected in pieces, which does not affect the sight and itinerary at all.

Just ten miles away from the town, just when I was about to turn around a short mountain bag, a horse explorer came from the opposite side. Seeing that the horse explorer was dressed in a costume, it was a spy under Huang Ping. The soldiers in the front row hurriedly brought the person to Li Meng. The spy was wearing a cotton jacket with gray cloth, covered with mud and blood stains, which looked very dirty. It was nothing. There was an arrow inserted on his shoulder, and the shaft was still exposed.

The spy's face had turned blue and black. The cold weather was one aspect, and the arrow injury was probably one of the important reasons. When he was taken to Li Meng, he wanted to dismount. He moved his body and could not control his balance and fell directly towards the ground. Fortunately, he was supported by Li Meng's personal soldiers.

"Sir, there is a Tartar cavalry in front of me, with about a thousand people. The small one was watching nearby. They accidentally discovered it. They circled around and left the pursuers behind. The Tartar cavalry came to this side, and they were afraid they were about to arrive..."

As soon as the words were finished, the soldiers in the front team shouted:

"There is an enemy in the smoke and dust ahead!"

The plains are full of horses running to death on the mountain. When the smoke and dust rise, they naturally know that the other party's troops march. When they see it, they still have a distance, but it will take some time to arrive. Although the time is very short

As for why it is judged as an enemy, even if this spy did not report the message in advance, he would know that it was an enemy ahead, because in the Jinan Prefecture, the Ming government troops except Jiaozhou Camp were all dispersed without a trace, so what would be such a big momentum there?

"General, what should I do!!"

The officer next to him shouted at the top of his voice. Li Meng glanced at him a few times and turned around and shouted:

"What else can I do? Fuck him!"

After Li Meng finished speaking this slander, the officers and soldiers below agreed. Although most of the troops led by Li Meng could ride horses, they were not very proficient in fighting immediately. After all, the training required and the requirements for talent were relatively high. After Li Meng gave the order, he gave the order.

Most officers and soldiers dismounted, took off their mounts and weapons to prepare to face the enemy. It was the rule of the horse team. When dismounting and fighting in the field, one of ten people held the horse and held it firmly.

But the situation was different at this time. The mount was concentrated in the shelter of the low mountain bag, and dozens of people were sent to guard it, all of whom stood in the team.

Originally, Li Meng and the dozens of personal guards around him were still riding horses, which was also a rule. First, he was condescending, and second, he was also convenient to move when there were any problems.

However, after seeing everyone getting ready, Li Meng also turned over and walked into the team with a spear. Wang Hai whispered in a low voice:

"Sir, this battle situation is dangerous, so I'll just put the team in command right away!"

Li Meng shook his head and didn't explain anything. He walked to the front rows with his spear on his own. The soldiers who came off the horse were a little busy and busy. On the road, they encountered the enemy, and the notorious Tatar cavalry. The officers and soldiers here were almost the first time they met. Moreover, the marching along the way, wherever the Tatar army passed by was about how powerful and invincible the Qing army was. The world-famous Governor Lu Xiangsheng, Lu Xiangsheng, died in battle, which also shocked everyone.

But the soldiers in the team watched their chief general Li Meng walk to the second row with a spear. Li Meng was wearing plate armor, and the spear in his hand was also specially painted with vermilion paint, with a conspicuous white spot at the spear. Walking in the team, the soldiers in the back row might not be able to see people, but they could see the spear.

Their chief general came to the forefront, and all soldiers who saw these were much more energetic.

The cavalry did not walk slowly, and everyone was on the plain. The Taurus cavalry naturally saw the horses of Jiaozhou camp. When marching and fighting, experienced people could see the number of people in the other side's team from the smoke and dust raised by the marching. The Qing cavalry naturally could see that the other side had a lot more people than them. But these Tartars had no intention of fear at all, but instead accelerated their horse speed and rushed towards this side.

In fact, these Tartar cavalry targeted the population and livestock from Dongchang Prefecture to Yanzhou Prefecture, while most of the Qing army was aimed at Jinan. Before they captured Jinan to determine the next trend, the few troops that went out were just to explore the specific situation.

The Qing army's confidence was getting stronger and stronger. In the northern Zhili, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty were defeated and easily captured Jinan, the capital of Shandong. The Ming army they encountered was only a few thousand soldiers and horses led by Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Xuanda, but they still fought a beautiful annihilation battle, and the rest of the troops fled in a glance.

In the eyes of these Qing soldiers, the so-called Ming army was just a group of farmers holding weapons, so even when they saw that there were many people on the other side, they rushed over.

In the small town where Jiaozhou Camp was resting for lunch, the Qing cavalry did see it. The reason why they didn't move was not because they were ruthless, but because they didn't have the opportunity. The task at that time was just to investigate the reality and pretend to be confused. When everything was settled and they began to loot people, livestock and property, these villages and towns would naturally not let them go.

This Tartar cavalry came for this. Looking at the smoke and dust of Jiaozhou Camp, I didn’t think that the other party had to be careful when they were crowded. Instead, I felt that the other party had too many people and had a large piece of fat meat in front of me. I was really sorry for myself if I didn’t eat it.

Although the Qing cavalry accelerated the horse speed, they did not run with all their might and still controlled the horsepower. At this time, the Qing soldiers had received military training and had practical experience far higher proportions than those of the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers. This was certainly due to the Eight Banners system where the entire Jurchen people were soldiers, and it was also caused by the innate advantages of the fishing and hunting nations. (The fishing and hunting nations cultivated cooperative and basic military skills in fishing and hunting activities, which is indeed an innate disadvantage for the farming nations. In fact, the hunting activities of emperors of various dynasties were not for fun, but more of a symbolic military training activity.)

These Tartar cavalry came to Jiaozhou Camp leisurely. The time they rode over was faster than the judgment of Jiaozhou Camp.

The array of Jiaozhou Camp was just completed. Li Meng's personal barracks were nervously loading ammunition and compacting them with strips. Looking at the Tartar cavalry who had stopped for more than 100 steps, the soldiers who had not loaded the ammunition could only run behind the long weapon array in panic. The musketeers stayed in front of the formation without ammunition firing, which was a way to die.

The Tartar cavalry who were parked more than a hundred steps away must have seen a lot of scenes when they saw the soldiers running back. They saw this group of Ming troops not running but lined up in place, and they were a little nervous, but at this moment they were relieved. It turned out that they were all the same as before.

These Tartar cavalry could see a large number of mules and horses not far away, their eyes lit up, thinking that this time it would be developed. Beizi, who led the team, looked at the young and strong Jiaozhou camp in a row, and said in a deep voice with the two geniuses beside him:

"Break up this group of dogs and catch them all back. This is a great laborer."

A genius on the left giggled and greeted:

"Mr. Beizi is lucky this time. After catching so many mules and horses and young men, he will definitely get a good start with Prince Rui. When he returns to the capital, he will have to enter Beile!"

The ginseng on the right is not so flexible, and hesitated:

"These dogs don't look right..."

"What are you afraid of? Batulu, who is in the White Banner, is afraid that these dogs will do something. Arrange the array and shoot first and then rush!"

Beizi, who was in the center, said in a deep voice under the face armor.

When the Jianzhou Jurchens conquered Ula, they were ambushed by Ula and surrounded him. The Jianzhou generals dismounted their horses and shot them. When they saw that there was a gap in the enemy formation, they would rush on their horses. The Ula army was defeated and the sound of killing was shocking. When neighboring Korea heard about it, they did not dare to cross the river for three days, and waited for seven days to cross the river to collect the body.

The Han Dynasty, the Central Plains dynasty, literati, poets, ordinary people, civil and military officials, had the impression of the nomadic people outside the pass and the frontier that they were strong in bows and horses, and "riding and shooting".

However, in actual combat, there are indeed "riding" and "cracking" and "shooting" are generally separated. The characteristics of long-range weapons such as bows and arrows determine that if the arrows are bumpy during firing, the arrows shot will not have any accurate heads. Therefore, when you shoot bows and arrows, most of them are shooting step by step.

The Qing army's arrows were large and heavy. Although the range was not far, the armor-breaking effect was extremely strong. After being shot, the wound would generally be very large and the combat power would be lost.

In battle cases, there are often cases where a general was hit by dozens of arrows and still had no retreat, and he was not dead. However, those arrows often had light arrows and did not hit the vital point, which would not make the opponent lose his combat effectiveness. However, the heavy arrows of the Qing army were different. After shooting, the wound was very large and bleeding continued. People had to withdraw from the combat treatment, and the consequences were serious injuries and death.
To be continued...