stubborn thief

In the summer of the eighth year of Chongzhen's reign, Monan was a place of despair.

The most desperate man in this land is undoubtedly Dorgon of the Later Jin Dynasty.

Dorgon is actually a sensitive person with low self-esteem, but this low self-esteem has turned into strong, extremely strong.

In fact, this kind of character should not appear in Dorgon. He is the son of Nurhachi.

In the second year after Dorgon was born, Nurhachi had conquered, annexed, destroyed and destroyed the Hada, Huifa, Ula and other tribes, leaving only the Yehe tribe to survive under the intervention of the Ming court.

In fact, even before Nurhachi started his army, his son did not have an inferiority complex. Although he had worked under Li Chengliang for many years at that time, it was Li Chengliang.

Li Chengliang had the entire Liaodong under his military control.

This is like using Qi Jiguang to assassinate Zhang Juzheng and Qi, a lackey boy under the sect, to describe the low status of military attachés in the Ming Dynasty.

That was Zhang Juzheng, the emperor's regent who was inferior to tens of millions of people. All the civil and military officials in the dynasty were lackeys.

Dorgon's inferiority comes not from his social status, but from his body.

His father is Nurhachi, his mother is Abahai, and his brothers are Azig and Duduo.

Azig's name means little guy, but when he grew up, he became a giant of the Jin Kingdom with a very tall stature and a huge waist and abdomen.

He has followed his father, Nurhachi, in horse riding and slashing since he was a child. He survived smallpox and was left with a pockmarked face. He is tall and has a scary look, like a rude savage. He is a super reckless man with a powerful fighting style and simple thinking.

In this regard, Duduo, who is nine years younger than Azig, is similar. Duduo, who was fourteen years old in the first year of Chongzhen, went out for the first time and won the title of 'Erkechuhur' after the war, which means brave. general.

At the same time, Duduo is also very outspoken. Because his mother was forced to be buried when his father died, he hates Huang Taiji. He attacks anyone Huang Taiji appreciates. He is basically a trumpet Azige.

Only Dorgon seemed to have a genetic mutation and looked nothing like his brother.

He is a real 'Azig', but he was born chubby and was named a badger.

But soon he lost weight. Not only was he thin, but he was also frail and sickly. In the Nurhaci era of Jianzhou, children like him were no different from disabled people.

Dorgon's wealth and wealth are entirely due to Nurhaci's love for his biological mother Abahai.

But when Nurhaci was alive, the status of Dorgon, the Jin clan, was very embarrassing.

From the first year of Tianming's establishment of the Jin Kingdom to the 11th year of Tianming's annual pilgrimage ceremony on the first day of the first lunar month, the younger Duduo was able to serve as a royal dignitary to worship Nurhaci in person, while the frail and sick Dorgon was directly hidden away. Get up, there is no chance to show your face.

It was not until Nurhachi died and Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne that the three brothers Azig, Dorgon, and Duduo became Huang Taiji's tools to contain their clan members because of their control of military power.

In the first year of Chongzhen, Dorgon and Duoduo went on their first expedition with Huang Taiji. The younger Duduo won the title of brave general, while Dorgon got the title of "Mergen Daiqing", which means smart general. .

It was an era when Nurhachi had just come to an end, and the social atmosphere had not yet become what it is today. The title of "smart" in the Northeast Laoai family was not much different from being a curse in the eyes of most of Dorgon's brothers.

It's basically equivalent to a coward who doesn't dare to go into battle in person.

It's not that Dorgon didn't dare to go into battle. In fact, he wanted to go into battle since he was a child and worked hard to learn the art of arching and horsemanship. However, he suffered from a cold due to body heat and was born in the Northeast. He has been infected with wind and cold since he was a child, so that he was physically weak and did not go into battle at all. The ability to fight.

But from Huang Taiji's point of view, he was indeed praising Dorgon. He loved this frail, dark and thin brother very much.

Because he really wanted to scold the other brothers for being stupid, but he couldn't, and praising Dorgon was tantamount to scolding the other brothers for being stupid, which perfectly achieved his goal.

For Huang Taiji, the good thing about Dorgon is that he is not as heroic as Azig and Dodo, and does not pose any threat to his position. He is smart, decisive, inferior, and strong.

All day long he looked like he was working hard and wanted to avenge his shame.

If you attack Dorgon, Dorgon is used to it; if you praise Dorgon, you can achieve the purpose of attacking others.

It's easy to deal with being unhappy. As long as you give him a chance to express himself, he will grasp this life-saving straw and refuse to let go.

Is the best tool man.

Therefore, Huang Taiji is not only unlike others who look down on Dorgon because he is a sick man, but even whenever Dorgon wants to prove that he can fight, he will deliberately create the image of a sick man like Dorgon.

For example, in the Battle of Daling River, Dorgon led his troops to charge into the battle. Afterwards, Huang Taiji angrily rebuked Dorgon's men and said: My brother also charged into the battle. If there is any negligence, you and others will be severely punished. tolerant!

In fact, just before Huang Taiji reprimanded Dorgon's men, he himself led 200 bagara to rush into the Xiaoling River.

His younger brother Duoduo was so desperate that he personally led his troops to pursue him. They all fell off their horses when they reached the vicinity of Jinzhou. The horses ran into the Ming army's formation, and they had to seize the mounts from the military academy under their command before they could run back.

We are all brothers, why doesn’t my brother feel sorry for me?

This kind of differential treatment simply means that people and their physiques cannot be generalized. Huang Taiji treated Dorgon as half a disabled person.

But in fact, Dorgon's physical condition is similar to that of a disabled person.

Whether the commander-in-chief of the world can carry out large-scale maneuvers is a test of the overall strength of the army.

Only Dorgon was different from others. When marching in a hurry, the first thing he had to endure was his own body.

But people with low self-esteem are often more decisive than others when they initiate cruelty.

Dorgon doesn't need others to look up to him.

The background of low self-esteem is never the belief that one is inferior to others.

On the contrary, you cannot calmly accept that you are inferior to others.

He not only has to do what the other brothers can do, but he has to do it better than them.

At this moment, Dorgon, who led his army into the Ordos Plateau, is paying the price for this belief.

For eight consecutive days, Dorgon suffered a double test in terms of body and will by marching more than a hundred miles a day.

This was the first time Dorgon commanded an army on his own.

During the march, his army faced endless harassment, pursuit and interception by the Mongolian Mongols. Various troops repeatedly fell behind, disappeared, and even lost contact with their organizations. They were reunited and reorganized under the search.

When he actually arrived at the north bank of the Yellow River, Dorgon, who originally only weighed about 120 kilograms, lost 13 kilograms in eight days. He looked extremely haggard and obviously lost his appearance.

But seeing that a pontoon bridge had been built on the Yellow River and the Ordos Plateau was close at hand, Dorgon was in trouble.

Because Gulu Siqibu, who was responsible for entering the plateau first, reported: "Jiu Beile, several Otuoks from the Ordos tribe have fled south. There is nothing left in their grazing lands along the Yellow River. Most of them fled to the Ming Dynasty." Near the wall."

The reason why Gulusi Qibu used the word "most" is that his troops were limited in their penetration into Ordos.

After passing the pastoral land on the south bank of the Yellow River, not far south, you will reach the endless desert - Mu Us Sea.

In fact this information is secondary.

What made Dorgon hesitate was Luo Li, a general affiliated with Zhenghuang Banner, who reported: "Jiu Beile, the enemy troops in the direction of Guihua City are holding still." "Yang Qi is still staying in Guihua City?"

Seeing Dorgon frowning, Luo Li replied carefully: "Yes, from Qingcheng to Langshan, his troops only saw the troops leaping to the north of the mountain, or returning from the north of the mountain. They did not see them crossing the Yellow River southward, but the reconnaissance cavalry observed them. The troops were dispatched, with four or five battalions and more than 10,000 soldiers and horses."

The current situation makes Dorgon a little... hesitant.

He was already very decisive, but Yang Qi obviously didn't hesitate and just picked up all his belongings and threw them into the desert.

Dorgon estimated that his army was only two days' march away from Monan's livestock population. As long as those people relaxed their vigilance even a little, his troops would catch up.

But I'm afraid they have to catch up in the Mu Us Sea. The Monan Prefecture Army carries livestock and is not a full force, so the marching speed in the desert will be slowed down.

But so do they.

The Horqin Grassland once became the Horqin Sandy Land during the Jin Dynasty in history. However, after the Ming and Yuan dynasties, it has been recuperated and restored to a fine grass pasture suitable for grazing.

Therefore, the terrain of the desert... was very unfamiliar to the Hou Jin Army, and it also frightened Dorgon.

On the other hand, Yang Qi threw his belongings into the desert but led his troops to stay in Guihua City, which also made Dorgon feel confused.

In his expectation, Yang Qi should be held back by the gauntlet for a few days, and then he would react and lead his troops to the pass between Langshan and Yinshan.

If you react quickly, block him here; if you react slowly, pursue him here as he crosses the Yellow River.

He can weave a big bag for Yang Qi during the pursuit.

But Yang Qi's actions now... his reaction is too damn slow, right?

This undoubtedly made Dorgon's thinking more difficult. Should he continue to pursue and advance into the Ordos Plateau?

Or march eastward to Guihua City and attack Yang Qi who is huddled in the city?

Dorgon had enough time to think.

His army slowly assembled on the north bank of the Yellow River, and used pontoons as planned to cross the Yellow River in an orderly manner.

Anyway, no matter which direction you want to attack, you have to fill your stomach first.

In terms of filling his stomach, Gulusi Qibu from the Harashen tribe provided him with very good ideas.

Ordos is a really good place, because it has always been a large place with few people, and there are an abundance of wild rabbits and pheasants. And for some reason, it seems that Yang Qi and E Linchen's people didn't hunt hard.

Gulu Siqibu arrived three days in advance, divided his troops across the river and hunted. He shot 81 rabbits and 23 pheasants on the first day, and 93 rabbits and 20 pheasants on the second day. pheasant.

Gulusi Qibu did not fight today.

It was not because Dorgon arrived with his army, but because Gulusi Qibu's hand was swollen from shooting an arrow.

Their method of hunting is to hunt in a circle. Not all the four hundred troops can achieve such harvests. In fact, most of the soldiers are responsible for hunting.

The main thing is that the army forms an encirclement, drives the prey in a direction, and drives a large area of ​​prey to one place. The largest nobles shoot first, then in order of status, and finally the soldiers swarm up for the final hunt.

The whole process is very similar to a military operation. Although the harvest is amazing, not everyone has as much harvest as Gu Lusiqibu.

Even so, this meat alone can supply the army for two days.

Dorgon planned to launch a larger hunt in the south first, so that the army could eat dry food for two days. By the way, he would take this opportunity to replenish the water bags carried by the march, and then consider the attack.

Anyway, the people have arrived in Ordos, and the livestock of the Monan tribes can't go anywhere.

But as soon as Dorgon's army crossed the river, Yang Qi's letter came.

In fact, the entire process of the Hou Jin army crossing the river was under Yang Qi's supervision.

At first, they were just spies from the Tumote Department, watching them on Wula Mountain, but later they learned that the Jin army seemed to have even crossed the Yellow River with follow-up troops, and the surveillance troops and horses left in the east were withdrawn, and Yang Qi ran over.

Yang Qi knew that there were rabbits in Ordos.

In fact, there are few rabbits in the north of Ordos. Going south across the Mu Us Sea, there are more rabbits on the side near the border wall, and they are overrun.

The largest export of goods from the Ordos Ministry to Yulin Town was rabbits. Of course, this was not a collective act of the tribe, but a private transaction between herdsmen and border soldiers across the border wall.

Due to the price caused by the special location of the border area, a rabbit can only be exchanged for two or three copper coins. These copper coins will be exchanged for daily necessities that are urgently needed by the herdsmen.

Yang Qi and E Linchen didn't let the rabbits go hunting, but it wasn't autumn yet and they didn't have time to hunt them.

As for the rabbits and pheasants in northern Ordos, even if the Jin army ate them all, they would only be enough for the army to ration for a few days. Mixed with marching rations - if there was any, it could last ten days and a half more.

This is also Yang Qi's purpose, to give Hou Jinjun one more choice.

At this moment, Yang Qi's letter can directly make the young Dorgon suffer from high blood pressure.

He directly revealed his cards and told Dorgon: You have three choices now.

The wild animals in the north of the Mu Us Sea can barely make enough rations to lead the team back to their hometown. Although it is not enough to eat, they can think of other ways on the way.

But if you hunt wild animals, you won't be able to catch up with my tribe who fled south. They have arrived in southern Ordos, separated by only a wall from Yulin Town.

As soon as they see you coming out of the Mu Us Sea, they will drive their livestock into the Ming Realm. At worst, they will give all the livestock to the border troops. If you leave, I can snatch it back. You can't catch up with them.

I still have an army in Guihua City, and the rations left behind are enough for two and a half months. You might as well rely on the wild animals you hunt to maintain your army and attack my Guihua City.

If you want to fight, Yang will be waiting in Guihua City.

Dorgon, who lives in the south of the Yellow River, holds the letter with a gloomy expression on his face.

He knew why Yang Qi confidently told him that the army in Guihua City only had food and grass for more than two months.

Because his army did not carry heavy artillery, nor did it have siege equipment. If Yang Qi tried his best to be a coward, it would not be difficult to defend Guihua City for two months.

The most critical issue was not the siege. In fact, Dorgon knew that the most important wording in Yang Qi's letter was time.

Two and a half months later, it was October, the day when the Liaohe River froze.

Dorgon could not guarantee that he could capture Guihua City in two and a half months, let alone what consequences this army would have on the line from Jinzhou to Shenyang if it did not return to Liaodong and was known to the Ming army.

And heading south into Yulin is an even more outrageous idea.

"Yang Qi...has been to Liaodong!"

Dorgon clenched the letter in his palm into a ball of waste paper.

He finally figured out that Liu Chengzong really wanted to rule Monan, and at the same time he really regarded the Jin Kingdom as the number one enemy, even more than the Ming Dynasty. He put Yang Qi, who had been to Liaodong, in Monan specifically to target the Jin Kingdom. ! (End of chapter)