A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 508 Discuss merit and crime
Wang Dou watched silently, sighing in his heart, how would their families feel when the warrior died in battle?
And this is just the beginning. After the war is over, I don't know how many loyal and brave soldiers will die in this land.

Hong Chengchou and others were accustomed to the casualties of sergeants. Many people also felt that Wang Dou treated his soldiers too favorably.

Zhang Ruoqi praised even more that the husband Hu had five soldiers and one was a Han soldier, and now one of the Jingbian soldiers can be ten slave soldiers.

The Qing soldiers were defeated in this battle, and they never attacked again. Hong Chengchou took the opportunity to prepare Cai Maode, and led a large number of civilians to dig trenches between Huangtuling and Songshanling.

In Shenshi, Wang Dou and others were rewarded by sentry cavalry, and the Qing cavalry in Songshanling retreated continuously, and they had already abandoned the strong walled stronghold on the mountain.

This is really a surprise. Before the trench between the two mountains was dug, the Qing army retreated by itself.

Without the echo of the Qing cavalry from Songshan Ridge, the Ming army could attack the mountain from the west, south, or even east of Huangtu Ridge from three sides. No matter how strong it is, the mountain can be descended very quickly.

However, at the beginning of Youshi, Wang Dou, Hong Chengchou and others were rewarded by sentry cavalry, and the Qing army in Huangtuling also began to retreat.

They also took away all the artillery. The direction they retreated and camped was the Pingchuan hills from Shimen Mountain to Xiaoling River.Some of their soldiers and horses crossed the Xiaoling River and stationed on the wilderness Pingchuan in the southeast of Xiaolinghe Fort.

When the Qing cavalry retreated, many generals were tempted to pursue them, but they were firmly stopped by Wang Dou and Hong Chengchou.

The Ming army has reached the predetermined goal, so it is better to accept it as soon as it is good, and not to be greedy for merit. Besides, the Qing army retreats without chaos, there is no opportunity to take advantage of it, and the poor should not pursue it, so as not to cause accidents.

Afterwards, it was found out that the Jingbian army was not closed at night, and more than [-] Qing cavalry were in ambush on the east side of Rufeng Mountain, which made many generals who advocated pursuit break out in a cold sweat.

The Qing cavalry retreated, followed closely by Yang Guozhu's and Li Fuming's troops, who occupied Huangtu Ridge and set up camp up and down the mountain.The troops of Wang Dou, Wang Pu and Fu Yingchong also moved their camp and stationed in the hilly area in the south of Huangtuling. Not far from the camp to the east is the Xiaoling River, which is convenient for drinking water.

Zuo Guangxian, the general of the aid and suppression army, and Wu Sangui, the general of Ningyuan, occupied Songshanling and set up camp on the mountain. Ma Ke and Tang Tong's army remained unchanged and were still stationed in the west of Songshan Fort.As for some local officials and generals in Liaodong, they still camped beside Songshan Fort.

As a result, the battle on August 14, [-]th year of Chongzhen also came to an end.

……

Generally speaking, there were winners and losers in this battle. When counting the casualties of the Ming army, Hong Chengchou, Wang Chengen and others were taken aback. In a mere one-day battle, the Ming army suffered a lot of casualties.

Among the armies participating in the battle, although the Jingbian army suffered more than 200 casualties after fierce battles, the number of casualties in the battle was more than [-], which is not bad.

The most casualties were the soldiers of Jizhen. Although the rout was short, the number of casualties and missing persons exceeded 5000, reaching more than [-], and the number of dead was more than [-]. The above generals were killed or captured.

When the Jizhen army was over, when Bai Guangen led the army to fight Liaodong, it was claimed to be 3000, but the actual number was 4000. In this battle, [-] people stayed in the camp, and more than [-] people were drawn out.After the First World War, the loss of soldiers and horses reached [-]%, which has been abolished.

Their defeat also caused the death or injury of many civilians. Bai Guangen even died on the spot, and even his body was taken away by the Qing army.

Although some of them were killed by the Jingbian army during the defeat, the casualties of these people should naturally be counted on the Qing soldiers.

The Jingbian army suppressed the rout and prevented them from attacking the formation. This was the prevailing rule at the time, and no one could make irresponsible remarks or criticize them.

Knowing the casualties of the soldiers in Jizhen, Hong Chengchou and the others looked ashen. If the Jingbian army hadn't gone out to fight and beheaded many of them, and even beheaded the slave chieftain Azige, the Holy Majesty knew that he must be strictly punished, maybe Hong Chengchou this Governor Ji Liao is not guaranteed.

Ma Ke's Shanhai soldiers also lost a lot. They were bombarded by the Qing army, and the cannons were seized rashly. Ma Ke's subordinates suffered more than 700 casualties, and more than 820 people were killed on the spot. The rest of the wounded were cleared. If they are hit by army artillery or bird guns, many people may die in the future.

Tang Tong's subordinates also suffered more than 200 casualties, and it is estimated that more than 100 people may die in the end.

Their casualties were so heavy, many of them were the elite cavalry of the Ma Kezheng Barracks, but they did not hurt a man or a horse of the Eight Banners Han army, and they did not cut off a single head.

Ma Ke is also finished, he is seriously injured in the barracks, and I am afraid that he will not be able to control the troops in Shanhaiguan in the future.

Among the various armies, Wang Pu's troops were fighting fiercely. Although there were more than 500 casualties among his subordinates, and more than 100 people were killed in battle, they also captured more than 80 heads. Calculated, Qingqi's casualties were as many as his, maybe even more.

Li Fuming, the general soldier in Shanxi, had more than 400 casualties among his subordinates, and more than 200 died. Most of them were killed or injured by Qing army artillery or severely injured by fragments of chariots while passing through mountains and plains.He hadn't attacked the mountain for a long time, and when the Qing army was retreating, Li Fuming took the opportunity to lead his family to attack by force, and captured more than 20 heads, which was quite satisfactory.

Yang Guozhu suffered more than 300 casualties, and more than 400 people were killed in battle. Like Li Fuming, many of them were caused by Qing army guns. However, he captured more than [-] heads, including some wounded bodies taken away by the Qing army. In the battle, the casualties caused by his troops to the Qing soldiers reached more than a thousand people, and the combat power was really outstanding.

In the Shenji Battalion, in addition to the artillery unit, more than 2000 people were stationed on the left flank of the Jingbian Army. The Qing army rode and shot arrows under the rain. In a short period of time, their casualties also reached more than 500 people. However, due to timely rescue, not many people died in battle. More than 100 people.

In fact, their artillery unit has performed well since joining the war, causing considerable damage to the Qing cavalry. Their shortcoming is that they dare not fight in close quarters and fire from a distance, which is no problem.

Similarly, Wu Sangui's Ningyuan Army suffered more than a thousand casualties, and also killed a lot of Qing cavalry, but at the beginning because of guarding the chariot camp, they did not win many heads. Only later, they followed the cavalry of the Jingbian Army to pick up the bargain and gained quite a lot. .Presumably after the war, Wang Dou distributed at least hundreds of heads to them.

According to such statistics, today's battle, not counting civilians, has nearly 4000 casualties in all armies, and more than 5000 dead, nearly [-].

At the beginning of the battle, more than 4000 people were killed, including a general soldier, how many generals?Everyone at the meeting looked serious.

Fortunately, the loss of Qingqi was also not small. According to the estimates of Hong Chengchou and others, their total casualties would not be less than [-].

In particular, most of their casualties were caused by the battle with the Jingbian army, either by artillery or bullets.Those injured, even if they were recovered, could they be treated with their outdated medical methods?The final death toll should be around 6000 to [-].

Wang Shi also beheaded one of them, the king of Wuying County. The final result of this battle can be regarded as a great victory for the Ming army.

This is the superiority of artillery and bird guns. If you hit the bow and arrow, you will die three times.

However, in this battle, the artillery and bird guns of the Qing army showed their sharpness for the first time, so we must guard against them.

……

In the spacious Governor's Xingyuan Hall of Songshan Fort, Hong Chengchou's elegant voice with a slight Fujian accent echoed: "...the loyalty and bravery of this battle should be the first. The second merit. Among the thousands of captives, Wu soldiers paid attention to the infantry battalion, and they were sharp in Nandu. This is also a second merit. The horse soldiers failed to anticipate the westward assault, and lost many infantry and cavalry. This is because the command was not thorough... ..."

At this time, the governor's Xingyuan hall was full of civil servants and military generals. Not only the general soldiers Yang Guozhu, Wang Dou, Fu Yingchong, Li Fuming, Wang Pu, Zuo Guangxian, Ma Ke, Tang Tong, Wu Sangui and others around the Songshan Fort were seated, but Liu Zhaoji, Cao Bianjiao, and Wang Tingchen, who were far away in Xingshan Fort, were also summoned by Hong Chengchou urgently to participate in this summary meeting of meritorious deeds.

Xingshan is not far from Songshan, only a few miles away, Cao Bianjiao and others rushed to arrive soon, at this time, only Bai Guangen, the former chief of Ji Town, was missing among all the generals.

In this battle, it is obvious that Wang Doujing's frontier army should take the lead.

The fact is so, and after many years, everyone has understood Wang Dou's style to some extent. It has a taste of those who follow me prosper and those who go against me perish. When Hong Chengchou faced Wang Dou, he always took a cautious attitude.

Moreover, Wang Dou is a generous person, the friendly troops who killed the enemy side by side can all be assigned a lot of military merit leaders, and there is no need for everyone to grab merit.Therefore, Uncle Zhongyong was listed as the first meritorious service by Hong Chengchou. It should be expected by everyone, not to mention Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Fu Yingchong and others, even Wu Sangui spoke out in support.

Then Yang Guozhu, Fu Yingchong and Wu Sangui were listed as secondary meritorious service, which was quite criticized.

Yang Guozhu has a strong army, hard work, and is the general of Zhenshuo. No one dares to speak of him. Fu Yingchong's Shenjiying artillery is quite eye-catching. All parties will rely on a lot in the future. The status of Shenjiying, everyone should give some face.

The main one was Wu Sangui. It seemed that when the Jizhen army was defeated and retreated, he did not provide assistance, and he was suspected of dying.

However, Wu Sangui also had his own reasons. Bai Guangen lost so quickly that he was caught off guard and there was no time to rescue him.Moreover, at that time, the Qing soldiers rushed to attack and the situation was critical, so he couldn't spare troops to help.

Zu Dale and other local Liaodong generals supported Wu Sangui's argument.

Hong Chengchou and Liaodong Governor Qiu Minyang also felt that it was too mean to blame Wu Sangui for the situation at that time.

In a critical moment, Wu Sangui's Ningyuan Army was able to stand firm and wait for the arrival of the Jingbian Army.

Wang Chengen, the supervisor of the army, seemed to be moved by Hong Chengchou's words, and supported his statement, and then the civil officials in Liaodong all agreed.

Wang Dou watched coldly, Hong Chengchou wooed the local officials of Liaodong to fight against him, how could he not see it?
Wang Cheng'en, the supervisor of the army, should be out of balance considerations. He is not inclined to anyone, after all, he is only loyal to the emperor.

Perhaps he could see that the officials and generals in the field, himself and other Xuan Dajun were too powerful and needed to be suppressed, so he supported Hong Chengchou.

Only Zhang Ruoqi and Wang Pu were dissatisfied, but on this point, Zhang Ruoqi had nothing to do, he could work out a strategy with Hong Chengchou and urge the troops to be promoted, but rewards for merit were the power of Hong Chengchou and the supervising army Wang Chengen, and he could not interfere.

Wang Pu believed that Hong Chengchou favored the one over the other, and although he had few heads, the Datong army blocked the Tazi soldiers from attacking Huangtuling from the side on the northwest wing, and later intercepted the artillery transported by the Han army flag. Wu Sangui let him climb on top of him.

Dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, he has won a lot in this battle, and he is still happy in terms of his contribution. In addition, Wang Dou gave him some heads, and whispered to Fu Yingchong, beaming.

Of all the people in the field, only Marco was downcast, he didn't get the credit, and he lost his soldiers and generals.

Hong Chengchou even believed that he was greedy for meritorious service and his command was not thorough. He planned to demote him to three ranks.

And Tang Tong, the general soldier of Miyun, was also demoted to one level.

However, the two also heard Hong Chengchou's intention of protecting beyond words.Although the two were convicted, they still had their real posts. In this year of the Ming Dynasty, real posts and military horses are the most important.

Moreover, the two also heard the news that Governor Hong planned to transfer part of the main barracks of the Jizhen Army to their camp to make up for their lost troops.

After the Jingbian army collected the defeated troops in Jizhen, they were quickly handed over to Hong Chengchou's Chinese army, and the weapons and horses were also returned.

Wang Dou has no interest in annexing these rebellious troops. Their weapons are bad and their horses are emaciated. There is no reason to hedge."

The Jingbian army had excellent weapons and well-fed horses. Wang Dou naturally looked down on their mules, horses and weapons, and generously handed them all back.

However, Wang Dou's indifference doesn't mean that others are indifferent. His eyes are so bright that he is staring at the remaining soldiers and horses in Ji Town. Even Yang Guozhu is quite moved.

In this battle, the Jizhen army was defeated, and the chief soldier Bai Guangen died in battle. That's all. They must be punished one by one.

Moreover, there is Wang Dou at this time, who hates the rebellious army the most, if the rest of the Jizhen army dares to riot, it will be the result of thunder suppression.Moreover, because of the incompetence of the officials under their jurisdiction, the chief soldier was killed. At this time, all the general soldiers gathered in Liaodong felt sad and advocated severe punishment.

So Hong Chengchou and Wang Chengen mercilessly condemned all the officials in Ji Town, and after reporting to the court, they were soon arrested by Jin Yiwei and sent to Beijing.

However, Daming has a characteristic, when dealing with offending officials and generals, civilian officials are given priority, followed by military generals, low-level military officers and small soldiers are generally not dealt with.

There are more than [-] soldiers and horses remaining in Jizhen, and they are temporarily managed by Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao.All parties are staring at each other, maybe the new chief soldier of Ji Town hasn't taken office yet, so it's hard to say how many people will be left in the end.

Ma Ke and Tang Tong were naturally coveted targets of these Jizhen soldiers, and they had no real treatment, and they were supplemented by soldiers and horses. Therefore, when Hong Chengchou sternly reprimanded them, both of them looked respectful. It's even more obedient.

Ma Ke was also grateful that the second Tartars of the Han Army Banner left the formation soon after they seized the cannon, otherwise, under their bombardment, they would have lost many soldiers and horses.

He had already made up his mind that he would never face off against the Tartar guns of the Han Army Banner again. It's just that the real Tartars were sharp in riding and shooting. Would it be so easy to fight against them?
Ma Ke was at a loss, feeling that the prospects were gloomy.

(End of this chapter)