Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Chapter 731 The spring breeze goes to Xinzhou with pride (Part )

"Wu Qianshi, are you really not going to retreat to Yuzao Pass with us?" In Ningwu Pass, Xu Changchun, deputy general of Puzhou Association of the Qing Dynasty, persuaded Shanxi Inspector Si Qianshi and Wu Laifu, the deputy inspector of Ningwu Road, for the last time.

"That's right, Wu Qianshi, the green hills are still there, so you don't have to worry about running out of firewood. You'd better come with us." Pingyang camp general Liu Ding also persuaded him hard.

Wu Laifu shook his head and said, "I was ordered by the emperor to patrol Ningwu Road, and Ningwuguan is where I will die. Everyone has his own ambitions, so don't force me. You two, please do what you want."

"Sir, the firewood is ready," the butler Wu Da came in to report with a worried look on his face.

"Well, after the guards enter the city, we will light a fire." After saying this, Wu Laifu closed his eyes in pain.

Xu Changchun and Liu Ding looked at each other and saw that Liu Ding had decided to die and stopped trying to persuade him. "Alas! In this case, we can't force it. Please take care of yourself." The second general bowed deeply and left in a hurry. They had just received a military order from Taiyuan Town Commander-in-Chief Li Haoxian, ordering them to lead their troops to immediately withdraw to Xinzhou and Dingxiang. There was news that the Guards had captured Kelanzhou and it would be too late if they didn't leave.

After escaping from Guan Lai Mountain, Liu Ding finally found time to ask Xu Changchun, "Brother Xu, do you think that Wu Qian didn't retreat with us, but stayed in Ningwuguan to burn himself to death?"

"In my opinion, there are three reasons: first, what Wu Qian is involved in is the imperial examination of the Qing Dynasty, so he must observe the Qing Dynasty's integrity; secondly, our Qing Dynasty has strict laws, and it is a serious crime for an official to lose his land, and he is Ning Wu On the road of military preparation, if Ning Wu is lost, even if he retreats, he will not be able to escape death, and may even harm his family; thirdly, he is from Jiangnan (South Zhili), and his family members are all in Changzhou, so he will not be able to escape, rather than being held accountable for losing his land. It's a crime, it's better to stay where you are and die, and your family members can get pensions from the court." Xu Changchun thought for a while and answered.

"I see. Fortunately, we retreated according to the military order of General Li, and we will not be held responsible." Liu Ding sighed.

The most complicated thing in this world is the human heart. They believed that Wu Laifu's family members were all in Changzhou. In order not to harm his family, he must sincerely want to keep integrity for the Qing Dynasty. Unexpectedly, Wu Daotai had been in Shanxi for a few years, made a lot of money, married several concubines, and gave birth to several children. He had long forgotten his wife and children back home. When he heard that the guards were approaching, Wu Daotai was reluctant to part with the property he had bought in Ningwu over the years. He also felt that the guards were sharp and might be able to achieve success, so he decided to surrender. Therefore, he refused to retreat with the Qing army and performed a good show of death for loyal ministers in front of generals Xu and Liu.

After finding out that the Qing army was far away, Wu Laifu ordered people to make temporary fishing rod and fishing flags from the Kingdom of David and place them all over the city in preparation for welcoming the Wei army.

When King Sumur of the Liao Dynasty rode his horse majestically to the gate of Ningwuguan City, he did not meet an enemy. Instead, the door was wide open, and there were crowds of people on both sides to welcome the "King Master", including officials, servants, and returnees. There are people who come under duress. The leader was none other than Wu Daotai.

"Wu Laifu, the inspector general of Shanxi Province and the inspector of Ningwu Road, led the people of Hecheng to welcome His Royal Highness the King of Liao." When he saw Sumur, Wu Laifu knelt down respectfully and reported his official position in the Qing Dynasty. These days, Sumur has been dealing with demoted officials a lot, so he naturally understood his thoughts and said with a smile: "You have done a good job in presenting the city and surrendering. I am specially promoted to be the Deputy Envoy of Shanxi Provincial Inspector and to patrol the Ningwu Road. The appointment document will be issued later. I hope you will have a good life and serve the imperial court, and never betray the trust of the imperial court." Si Qianshi, the envoy of the Imperial Guard, is of the fifth rank, and the deputy envoy of the Imperial Guard is the fourth rank. Demotion and promotion are the methods used by the Kingdom of David to attract surrender and rebels. This has been tried and tested repeatedly. Sure enough, when he heard that he had been promoted, Wu Daotai was overjoyed and his attitude became more and more submissive. "Thank you, Your Highness, King Liao. I have prepared a banquet. Please come to the city for the banquet," he said happily.

"Don't be too busy eating and drinking. I'd like to ask you, when and along which route did the Qing army stationed at Ningwuguan escape?" Sumur Yifei wanted to annihilate the effective strength of the Qing army and asked anxiously.

"The Qing army fled to the south of the Hutuo River seven days ago. The baggage was placed in the boat. The men and horses walked along the river with light equipment. They were very fast. They must have crossed the Xinshui River by now." Wu Laifu answered carefully.

"So there is no way to intercept the Qing army's Puzhou Xiepingyang Camp." Sumur's face sank and he ordered, "Let's rest tonight and rush to Yanmen Pass early tomorrow morning, vowing to annihilate all the Yanmen defenders. ".

Soon, his army arrived at Yanmen Pass. "There are nine fortresses in the world, and Yanmen is the leader." I thought that there would be a war in such a strategically important place, but as a result, people left Guan Kong, leaving an empty city.

"I didn't expect that the Qing army in Taiyuan was so cowardly that they didn't even dare to defend the powerful passes like Ningwu and Yanmen." Victory came so easily, His Royal Highness the King of Liao couldn't help but get carried away, and his tone was full of contempt for the enemy.

Good news kept coming. The flood soldiers of Ninghua Institute took the initiative to open the city gate. Daizhou garrison Wu Guang led 600 garrison battalions anyway. The army fled without fighting. Effortlessly, he captured several counties and recruited and surrendered more than a thousand Qing troops piecemeal, increasing the number of troops in his hands to more than 17,000.

Sumur didn't care about other places, but he attached great importance to the two passes of Ningwu and Yanmen. He ordered his third son Haraqi and fourth son Qiaoji to each lead 1,000 Mongolian soldiers to guard the second pass, and he took 6,000 Mongolian soldiers. , more than 9,000 troops surrendered and went south to station in Nao County.

There is also good news. Major merchants in Shanxi came to work for the army one after another, and donated money, grain and grass worth a full 500,000 taels. Among them, the Jiexiu Fan family alone donated 200,000 taels of silver. Originally, when the Qing army retreated, they took away all the savings in each county and set fire to the grain and grass supplies in the warehouses. The Guards had difficulty in supplying supplies. With the help of these big businessmen, they soon had enough grain and grass. During the campaign, Great Khan Lotus also wrote to Sumur, Elinqin Batur, Wang Du, Zhang Hongjun, Qi Liangzai and others, ordering them to use the government's silver to recruit 3,000 garrison troops in Datong and Taiyuan. , Use war to support war.

"Report! The Qing army has set up defenses in Jinngle and Shapo Ridge under the red flag of the Manchu Mele Zhangjing Chahatai tribe. There are about 3,000 people. On the line from Hutuo River to Yuzaoguan, there are Qing army Fenzhou battalion staff generals Guo Hu and Liu Jingshan, the commander of the Lu'an camp, and Huang Shaojiong, the commander of the Zezhou camp, were stationed, with about 5,000 people; and Li Haoxian, the general of Taiyuan town, was stationed in Xinzhou, with about 9,000 people." The sentinels quickly discovered the traces of the Qing army.

Sumur was silent. On the surface, the number of Qing troops in Jingle County and Shapo Ridge was the smallest, so it should be easiest to get around from there. But fighting should not be based on numbers alone. The Qing troops guarding Jingle County and Shapo Ridge were all Manchu and Han Eight Banners soldiers. They were very elite and their combat effectiveness was much higher than other Qing troops. On the contrary, the Qing troops stationed in Xinzhou and Dingxiang looked large in number, but they were diverse and had mixed combat effectiveness. They were not necessarily difficult to defeat. Moreover, this road was the closest to Taiyuan City and went south along the Hutuo River, so the transportation of supplies was also convenient. However, Xinzhou was guarded by Li Haoxian, the commander-in-chief of Taiyuan Town of the Qing Army and the highest-ranking general in Taiyuan Town. Is it really easy to defeat Xinzhou?
(End of this chapter)