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

Chapter 531 Prologue
In the shadows, Ma Ke looked uncertain, facing the letter paper spread out in front of him, he gritted his teeth for a while, and looked ferocious for a while.

He picked up the brush tremblingly, and it was stained with ink. The Zihao brush, which used to be light and light, now felt as heavy as a thousand weights.

This is no different from sending someone to contact quietly before. This kind of personal letter is written with a strategic plan of the Ming army. It can be regarded as collusion with the enemy.Is it really worth it for the sake of arguing?
He was at war between heaven and man in his heart, and it was difficult for him to make up his mind for a long time. Ma Zhiren beside him didn't dare to speak out, and shrank obediently, without saying a word.

Ma Ke's body trembled more and more, he tried to convince himself, and kept thinking about the humiliation he had received from Wang Dou.If the letter would cause Wang Dou to suffer heavy losses, it would be worth taking the risk.

And maybe the Tartars turned their attention to the Jingbian army, so that he made great contributions in Shimen Mountain, and the damn Wang Dou in the future will also depend on his face.

He collected himself and finally made up his mind to write a quick letter.He came from the era of the nobles and the humble, and in order to conform to the elegance, he practiced calligraphy hard. At this time, the regular script written by Ma Ke was not comparable to that of ordinary scholars.

However, Ma Ke kept his eyes open and resolutely refused to sign his name or affix his seal. This was also to leave a way out for himself. Even if the Tartars didn't believe it, he would not go any further.

If such a thing is revealed, he has room for distinction. He is currently in Daming, serving as the commander-in-chief of a town, and he is enjoying himself. Apart from being like a grandson in front of Wang Dou, he is still satisfied. No.

In addition, he also drew a silk map on which certain routes were drawn, and finally put the silk map and letterhead into an envelope.

He didn't hand over the envelope to Ma Zhiren immediately, but silently lit the cigarette again, and the curling smoke enveloped his body again, making him look indescribably sinister.

After a long time, Ma Ke said sadly, "Is the person you sent reliable?"

Ma Zhiren hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Commander, it's absolutely reliable."

Ma Ke stared at Ma Zhiren sharply for a while, then closed his eyes and said, "I forgot, what's his name?"

Ma Zhiren hurriedly said: "Ma is loyal."

He said cautiously: "Marshal, have you forgotten? In the ninth year of Chongzhen, you saved the lives of his family members. Since then, you have been loyal to your brother and determined to die for you. When he went out to contact yesterday, he died between his teeth. Apply poison, and if it fails, I will kill myself to repay your kindness, this person is absolutely reliable."

Ma Ke suddenly opened his eyes, with incomparably sharp eyes, which made Ma Zhiren tremble.

Then Ma Ke said lightly: "Okay, when he comes back from his work, he will be treated like a bodyguard who died in battle, and send 100 taels of compensation silver to his family in Shanhaiguan."

Ma Zhiren's heart trembled, but when Ma Ke glanced over, his eyes were fierce, and he said in a stiff tone: "Yes, I understand."

Ma Ke picked up the letterhead on the desk, stared at Ma Zhiren's eyes, and handed the letter to him: "Let's do something."

Ma Zhiren's face was pale, and his forehead was covered with sweat, and he said repeatedly: "Yes, I will arrange it for the younger one."

Putting the letter into his arms, he hurried out.

Ma Ke was smoking a cigarette, looking at Ma Zhiren's figure thoughtfully, seeing that Ma Zhiren was about to step out of the tent, and suddenly said: "By the way, when Ma Jinzhong went out yesterday, the journey went smoothly?"

Ma Zhiren turned around, a little confused, but he still replied: "It's generally smooth, but the Jingbian army sentry sentry everywhere, so it took a lot of trouble."

Like a thunderbolt, it hit Ma Ke's heart hard. For a moment, his face was so pale that there was no blood at all, and he said in a trembling voice: "You mean... Ma Jinzhong may... meet Jing Bian on the road. Sentry cavalry?"

He suddenly shouted: "Come back."

Ma Zhiren said in shock: "Marshal..."

Marco roared anxiously: "Come back!"

Ma Zhiren was dumbfounded, and said in a stuttering manner: "Big... Marshal, what's wrong with you?"

Ma Ke suddenly collapsed to the ground, waved at Ma Zhiren weakly, and said in a crying voice, "Come back soon."

Ma Zhiren finally came to his senses. Seeing Ma Ke's strange appearance, he was terrified and hurried back.

He looked uneasy, he didn't know what happened to the commander in chief, he acted like a god.

But seeing Ma Ke's strength, he didn't know where he came from, jumped up high, snatched the letter from his arms, and then quickly took out the fire folder, shook it, and lit the letter on sparks, and quickly ignited it. Ma Zhiren was dumbfounded, even more confused.

Ma Ke was relieved until all the letters were reduced to ashes. He supported the desk, panting heavily, with lingering fear in his heart.

As if he thought of something again, he looked at Ma Zhiren, and said in a low voice: "Go, go and kill that horse loyally now, within half a quarter of an hour, I want to see his head in front of me!"

Ma Zhiren was terrified. The commander's capriciousness made him feel like he was with a tiger or wolf. He didn't dare to neglect, so he responded in a low voice, and hurried out.

Seeing Ma Zhiren leave the tent, Ma Ke seemed to have aged a few years in an instant. After a long time, he sighed: "Since he was born Yu, He Shengliang."

At Yinshi, Wang Dou was woken up, and after listening to the report from the person in front of him, he said calmly: "Got it."

……

On August 14th, [-]th year of Chongzhen, early in the morning.

The morning glow revealed a pink dawn in the sky. Looking from the air to the northeast of Huangtuling, from Pingchuan under the mountain to the west bank of Xiaoling River, there were crowds of people like ants.

The topography of this area is generally high in the northwest and low in the southeast. Dry rivers flow vertically and horizontally along the highlands in the northwest and merge into the Xiaoling River in the east.These rivers form a flat land that is convenient for irrigation everywhere.

However, going northeast along Tianjiagou, there is a narrow river valley between Shimen Mountain and Xiaoling River.Winding along this river valley towards the northwest, it can lead to the Xiaoling River in the east of Jinzhou City.

Not far to the north of Tianjiagou is a place called Shoushuiying, and not far to the east of the river is Xiaolinghe Fort.Xiaolinghe Fort was a post station in the Ming Dynasty, and the traffic on both sides of the river was frequent, because this section of the river was an important channel for ferry boats, and many boatmen gathered here to form a camp.

At this time, the camp had already been occupied by the Qing army, and a deep trench was dug a hundred steps ahead, cutting off the connection between the mountain and the river.

At the same time, from the west of the sailors' camp, the terrain is from low to high, with undulating mountains and ridges, one after another, running from east to west, like steps, from north to south, until it is not far from Huangtu Ridge.This is Shimen Mountain in the east of Jinzhou City and northeast of Rufeng Mountain.

Compared with the past, there are not many Qing troops stationed on Shimen Mountain. The flags flying are the Eight Banners, one Manchurian Zhengbai Banner and one Koryo Army. There are less than 3000 armored soldiers in total.Of course, thousands of handymen Aha can also be regarded as combat power at critical moments.

When these Qing soldiers looked down from the mountain, they saw that the Pingchuan in the southeast was densely packed with various flags of the Ming army, and the rolling troops seemed to fill up the area between the mountain and the river.

With more than ten thousand troops, it feels innumerable. How many Ming troops are there in front of you, maybe thirty or forty thousand?

Even if he despises the fighting power of the Ming army, this feeling of soldiers like a tide still makes many Qing soldiers on the mountain gasp, and those Korean soldiers are even more pale.

The main force of the Ming army really wants to attack Shimen Mountain?Our mere troops, can you hold on to this?

……

On Rufeng mountain city, Huang Taiji, who was getting fatter and fatter, held a binoculars and looked at the Ming army in the east without moving.Seeing their black crowd, the boundless array, from south to north, is moving forward slowly and continuously.

Judging by their banners, they should be Wu Sangui, Ma Ke, Tang Tong and other departments. Among them, Ma Ke and Tang Tong are the front army, and Wu Sangui's department is the rear army.

Huang Taiji also noticed that the banner of Hong Chengchou, the governor of the Ming Dynasty, was also erected behind several large armies, and Wang Dou, his most concerned Wang Dou, his Langtao Sun and Moon Banner, was also placed beside Hong Chengchou.

"Did the Ming army really attack Shimen Mountain?"

Huang Taiji pondered in his heart, but he noticed that Wang Dou and others did not form an formation to fight, their soldiers and horses were still gathered in the camp.Seeing that Wang Dou and other Ming army generals who did not go to battle at this time, they only brought some personal guards. Are they guarding the battle or watching the battle?
Will they participate in the attack on Shimen Mountain, and finally gather the main force to the east of Jinzhou City?
Huang Taiji couldn't make a decision. Of course, he could use the reason that there were too many soldiers and horses on the battlefield at this time to explain the fact that they didn't participate in the battle.

While Huang Taiji was pondering, all the ministers of the Qing Dynasty also paid attention to the movements of the Ming army.Standing beside Huang Taiji, Hauge also stared down the mountain without blinking, his usual rebellious expression was much less. Obviously, Azige's death in that day's battle touched him a lot.

Daishan stroked the gray whiskers on his upper lip, lowered his head in thought, Dorgon next to him was thoughtful, only Duduo behind him looked around.

At this moment, Yingerdai, Chengzheng of the Household Department, laughed loudly, and said to Huang Taiji: "My servant congratulates the emperor, the emperor has seen thousands of miles, and the Nanman has really come into my house."

As soon as he said this, all the courtiers of the Qing Dynasty around him were full of flattery, saying that after the Qing soldiers stormed Jinzhou, the Ming army could not sit still.Judging from their layout at this time, the main force is heading towards Shimen Mountain and the Xiaoling River. When they occupy Shimen Mountain and the soldiers and horses want to cross the Xiaoling River, blood will be shed on both sides of the river.

Hauge was even more admiring and said: "I will not be able to decide where the Wuzhenhachao artillery battalion is when we discussed the matter that day. The emperor stood up to everyone's opinions and would not be led by the nose by the Ming army. Sure enough, they have fallen into the trap now. When the time comes, the Jingbian army will come. When they reached the river, their heavy artillery had to cross the river. How could it be so easy? But our artillery battalion can deploy hundreds of artillery pieces calmly. When the artillery fires in salvo, the Jingbian army who crossed the river will surely suffer heavy casualties. For our Qing Dynasty, Get rid of this scourge!"

Huang Taiji was quite satisfied with the situation in front of him, his painstaking efforts finally paid off, how could he not be pleased?
A smile appeared on his gloomy face for many days, and he said: "I established the country by cavalry and archery in the Qing Dynasty. I should use my own strengths to attack the opponent's weaknesses. It will be useless to defend the mountains. I have to fight in the wild!"

He said with emotion: "I read history, and I know Jin Shizong is a true and virtuous king. When Xizong and Wan Yanliang, he completely abolished the old system of Taizu and Taizong, and he was very happy. Shizong ascended the throne, fearing that his descendants would follow the example of the Han people, and told him not to forget. The ancestral law, practice riding and archery, if the later generations do not abide by it, it will end in ruins. Our country is good at riding and archery, we can defeat it by fighting, and win by attacking. In the past, Bakshi Dahai and others repeatedly advised me to change the clothes of Manchuria to follow the Han system. If I take off my clothes, I will abolish cavalry and archery. If I am my body, how will it change? Fearing that future generations will forget it, I will abolish cavalry and archery and imitate the Han people. This is enough to worry about, and you should be aware of it!"

All the ministers of the Qing Dynasty on the mountain city listened solemnly, and said in unison: "The emperor's sages, slaves, etc. are all in admiration!"

(End of this chapter)