kvmb Chapter 612 Choice
Chapter 612 Choice
Fan Wencheng's ancestors had held important official positions in the Ming Dynasty. Although his grandfather's family fell into poverty, he served as the commander of Shenyang Guard. With the help of the Ming Dynasty, he served as an advisor to the Jianlu Army to attack the Ming Dynasty. It is no exaggeration to say that he was a traitor.
Most of his sons were born after Lao Fan became a traitor. It can be said that they were benefiting from the legacy of the Jianlu, but now they have to become traitors.
I really don’t know what Fan Zhongyan would feel when he knew about these things among his descendants.
Zhang Shikang smiled and said:
"Since the information channel is fine, then it's easy to say. However, what General Liu said just now makes sense. If we want to force the Jianlu into a decisive battle, we probably have to divide our forces."
When Sun Weifan heard this, he immediately said anxiously:
"If the Marshal doesn't withdraw to the rear, how dare we split up our forces? If something goes wrong, how can we face His Majesty?"
"We are not even going to meet His Majesty in person. Even those guys in the camp can take our lives!" Huang Degong took over the conversation.
Sun Weifan couldn't help but think of his eldest son. If Zhang Shikang got into trouble because of his mistake, would that brat Sun Dasheng draw his knife and chop him?
Hard to say.
However, Zhang Shikang had his reasons. Strategically, he could despise the Qing Dynasty, but tactically, he did not dare to underestimate Huang Taiji.
Although Huang Taiji's target was him and he would even kill him at all costs, this cannot be fully believed.
If for this reason, Sun Weifan and others would have gathered all their elite troops to surround Zhang Shikang, Huang Taiji would never have brought all his elite troops to participate in the decisive battle.
After all, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty have switched sides. The Ming Dynasty can lose once or twice, but the Qing Dynasty may have no chance.
Two or three years ago, Zhang Shikang dared to lead the Beijing garrison troops at that time in a bloody battle with the Tatars, who were several times his number. Now, the guards and reinforcements have 80,000 to 90,000 people, and they are almost all elite troops in new uniforms.
If Huang Taiji was not stupid, he would never attack rashly.
But if this is true, both sides will inevitably fall into a long stalemate, waiting for the opportunity to appear.
This was not what Zhang Shikang wanted to see. Huang Taiji needed an opportunity, so Zhang Shikang had to find a way to create this opportunity.
As the old saying goes, if there are difficulties, you must move forward; if there are no difficulties, you must create difficulties and move forward.
On the second day after Dorgon retreated to Yizhou City, Zhang Shikang led 60,000 guards and 20,000 reinforcements out of Jinzhou City, heading west, heading straight for Guihua City.
At the same time, Zhang Shikang informed Lu Xiangsheng of his plan and ordered his main force to wait for an opportunity to lift the siege of Guihua.
After learning of the movements of the Imperial Guards, Dorgon in Yizhou City also left Yizhou City and marched westward. It was obvious that he had received a military order from Huang Taiji to rush to Guihua City to join forces.
In order to avoid Zhang Shikang's guards, Dorgon even marched eighty miles north, making a big circle.
But Zhang Shikang ignored Dorgon's troops and said, "You go your way, I go mine."
This was mainly because Dorgon had a large number of war horses, even his infantry had horses. It was still not easy for the current Ming Dynasty to carry out an annihilation war in the wild.
The Guards were not in a hurry to leave. They also launched a campaign to clear out the local Mongolian tribes along the way. On the one hand, they wanted to fight to support the war and weaken the Qing Dynasty. On the other hand, they wanted to lure Dorgon to rescue them. However, Dorgon was not fooled at all.
On May 29th, the Imperial Guards arrived at Guanshan near Guihua City, and then began a series of operations that confused Huang Taiji.
First, Huang Degong led 30,000 guards to the headquarters of the Khalkha tribe of Mongolia, burning, killing and looting along the way, as if he was afraid that the world would not know.
Secondly, Wu Sangui led 20,000 resentful troops to plunder the remnants of the Kharchin Mongols and the Ujumchin Mongols.
There were only 30,000 troops left in Guanshan. Huang Taiji originally thought that this army would march directly to Guihua City, but for two full days, these 30,000 people did not move at all.
Not only that, the smoke from cooking fires in the Ming army camp continued for two consecutive days, as if there was a party going on.
In addition, Zhang Shikang wore golden armor and strolled outside the camp when he had nothing to do. He saw the Qing Dynasty's scouts several times and even waved and greeted them, and also greeted Huang Taiji's eighteen generations of ancestors.
Huang Taiji had been fighting for thirty years and had never encountered a situation like the current one. He could not understand Zhang Shikang's actions.
He was not a qualified gambler. The more he didn't understand, the more he dared not act rashly, so he didn't give any orders for three or four days.
This made the other clan members deeply dissatisfied, especially Prince Wuying Ajige and Prince Yu Duoduo.
Outside Huang Taiji's tent, Ajige, Dodo, Jirgalang and other royal family members gathered one after another, and even Dorgon, who had just arrived in Guihua City last night, came.
Everyone bowed to each other and, led by Daishan, requested to see Huang Taiji.
Huang Taiji sighed helplessly and summoned them into the tent.
"Your Majesty, the Qing Dynasty has been attacking Guihua City for many days. Now that many of its walls have collapsed, Li Zicheng's morale must be low. With just a few more charges, we will surely capture the city.
Your Majesty, please give the order!" Ajige said a little anxiously.
"Twelfth brother, do you know why Lu Xiangsheng has been keeping his troops idle?" Although Huang Taiji was a little impatient, he still asked back with a gentle expression.
Although he was just over fifty years old, he looked as old as if he was in his sixties. Even though he was fat, the wrinkles on his face could not be hidden. After he finished speaking, he covered his chest and coughed twice.
"Your Majesty, the Fourteenth Master has also arrived. All the elite troops of the Qing Empire are here. Even if Lu Xiangsheng tries to stop us from besieging the city, what can we do?
I think we only need to allocate a portion of it to guard against Nalu Xiangsheng."
After Ajige finished speaking, Duoduo also bowed his head to show his agreement.
Dorgon was ashamed and silent because he failed to capture Jinzhou and lost the few red cannons of the Qing Dynasty.
Huang Taiji did not answer, but informed the people present of the latest information. Daishan looked at Ajige and said:
"Now that Zhang Shikang has divided his troops into three groups, what's the point even if you capture Guihua City?
The Khalkha Mongols were the first to submit to the Qing Dynasty and were the most deeply bound to the Qing Dynasty. If Zhang Shikang sent troops to encircle and suppress the Khalkha Mongols and the Qing Dynasty watched them die without helping them, Ajige, if you were the Taiji of the Khalkha tribe, how would you feel?
Kalaqin and Ujumchin had just recently experienced the looting of the Ming Dynasty. Now Wu Sangui is wielding his butcher knife against them again. If the Qing Dynasty turns a blind eye, what will they think? Will they become alienated from the Qing Dynasty?
Twelfth brother, Your Majesty also has his own difficulties and concerns!"
Daishan's words undoubtedly touched Huang Taiji's heart, and Ajige finally calmed down.
In the face of the crisis, the emperor and his ministers of the Qing Dynasty became more united and called each other brothers.
They were brothers.
But even so, a decision must be made today - whether to divide the troops or not.
Ajige and others suggested dividing the troops, with one part going to stop Huang Degong and the other part going to stop Wu Sangui, and they all vowed to defeat him.
But Huang Taiji did not comment on this. He had been thinking about this issue for three days.
After arguing for a long time, Huang Taiji finally made a decision.
He looked around at his brothers, stood up and said word by word:
"Do you remember what I said before I went to war?"
……