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

Chapter 884 Arrival
On April [-]th, Li Zicheng led the army to march in person. Before leaving, the Shun army searched the whole city. Except Qiu Yu, a scholar of Dongge University, and Fang Yuegong, a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, who allowed him to hang himself, and at the funeral of Emperor Daxing in early April, Xiangcheng uncle Li Guozhen hanged himself in front of the mausoleum.

All the remaining honorable ministers, members of the six cabinet ministries, eunuchs, senior officials of Jinyiwei, feudal kings brought into the capital, and officials of all sizes were all chained with iron chains and driven by horsemen to Liu Zongmin's mansion.

The officials felt that the disaster was imminent, all of them wailed, their bodies trembled like chaff, and many of them were paralyzed. The horsemen unceremoniously let their horses step down, and dozens of them were trampled to death on the spot.

Ding Guogong Xu Yunzhen, Wuding Hou Guo Peimin, Taining Hou Chen Yanzuo, Zhenyuan Hou Gu Zhaoji, Xining Hou Song Yude, Yangwu Hou Xue Lian, Yongkang Hou Xu Xideng, Xing'an Bo Xu Zhian, Xinning Bo Tan Hongye, Yingcheng Bo Sun Tingxun...

More than a hundred nobles, as well as their nephews and family members.

The cabinet minister and academician Chen Yan was arrested soon after his release.

The same is true for the great eunuch Wang Xiangyao. He opened the Xuanwu Gate and surrendered that day, but unexpectedly, it was the beginning of a series of nightmares.

There is also Zhang Jinyan, Minister of the Ministry of War, who is also ashamed. He deeply regrets that he should not have opened the door and surrendered at that time.

There are also big and small Beijing officials. After the thieves entered Beijing, only more than a hundred people were hired, and the remaining nearly 2000 people had no hope of prosperity. If we knew this before, why bother to surrender?Now not only their wealth is gone, but their lives seem to be in danger. They all burst into tears, terrified.

When Chen Yan, Zhang Jinyan and others were escorted into Liu Zongmin's mansion, there were already crying and screaming inside. The armored soldiers in Liu Zongmin's mansion had already hacked and killed those feudal kings and nobles who had been escorted in earlier.

They hacked and stabbed at the crowd with big knives and spears, the blood was all over the ground, and the heads were rolling, as if they had entered a slaughterhouse, and those armored soldiers were slaughtering pigs and sheep.

These vassal kings and nobles are all powerful people. If they stomp their feet casually, the capital and the local area will also be shaken three times. They surrendered with anticipation, but they did not expect this result.How difficult it was for their ancestors to win titles, but now they are slaughtered by piles of chickens and pigs.

"Do not kill me……"

Uncle An Xiang, Zhang Guangcan cried and begged, he crawled on the ground, two armored soldiers laughed wildly and chased after him, chopping wildly with their big knives in their hands, Zhang Guangcan howled mournfully, slowly motionless on the ground, his body A lot of blood gushed out from the bluestone slab below.

There are also Suianbo Chen Changheng and Pengchengbo Zhang Guangzu screaming at the top of their lungs. Seven or eight spears were stabbed at the two of them. The two rolled and crawled, covered with blood all over the ground. It was low, and there was no movement in the end, only the body twitched from time to time.

Zhang Jinyan's body trembled like he was sifting chaff. He saw piles of corpses in the courtyard. Xu Yunzhen, Duke of Dingguo, Guo Peimin, Marquis of Wuding, Chen Yanzuo, Marquis of Taining, Gu Zhaoji, Marquis of Zhenyuan, and others rushed together. With overwhelming fear and regret.

There were also large piles of dead eunuchs Wang Xiangyao, Li Fengxiang, Gao Shiming, Chu Xianzhang, Fang Zhenghua, Zhang Guoyuan and others. They also opened their eyes wide. Many people poured out feces and urine, which merged with the blood on the ground. The scene was filled with unspeakable fear. .

Hearing the miserable cry again, it was Zhang Guoji, Marquis of Taikang who cried out: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am guilty of a crime. I should dispose of all my wealth and prevent thieves from entering Beijing."

Zhang Guoji is the father of Empress Yi'an, who was granted the title of uncle during the Tianqi period. On February 22, he received 1 taels of silver and was granted the title of Marquis.

Liu Zongmin had been standing on the steps laughing wildly, at this moment he laughed loudly and said: "Donkey ball, there is finally someone who understands, it's late, let your emperor go."

With a wave of his hand, more than a hundred armored soldiers rushed out, slashing and killing Zhang Guoji and others, hacking them to the ground one by one, and then they rushed towards Zhang Jinyan and others with bloody swords and grinning.

Chen Yan hissed, he turned around and tried to escape, but was forced to the ground, and then two soldiers stabbed him again and again, the great scholar screamed and twisted his limbs desperately.His cry was extremely miserable, screaming like a slaughtered pig. In the end, the whole body of the cabinet minister was soaked in blood. His eyes were wide open, and his expression was horrifying.

Zhang Jinyan screamed at the top of his lungs, he could no longer hold back the fear and remorse in his heart, and burst into tears: "Regret, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have surrendered, I should have fought bloody thieves to the end."

Liu Zongmin laughed wildly: "It's too late, it's too late, you stupid asses, die, hahaha..."

Five or six soldiers surrounded Zhang Jinyan and slashed at Zhang Jinyan. The minister of the Ministry of War screamed mournfully, blood dripping from his body as he swung the sword.

……

Liu Zongmin killed all the nobles, cabinet ministers, high-ranking officials of the six ministries, as well as the eunuchs and important officials of the Jinyiwei, and then it was the turn of the Beijing officials.Because there were too many of them, they were all held in front of the mansion and chained on both sides of the road.

Liu Zongmin used drums as an order to kill Beijing officials at will with each drum. After three drums, he killed five or six hundred officials in one breath.But after hearing the crying and howling, people's heads rolled on both sides of the road, and people vomited in the bloody atmosphere.

Li Zicheng remained silent, while Niu Jinxing watched with a pale face, feeling nauseated, Li Yan sighed, and followed Li Zicheng and others on their horses to the north.

When they came to Desheng Gate, they saw the dry and hard road rolling with cars and horses, with a constant flow of people, especially vehicles carrying water.

Niu Jinxing, Tian Jianxiu and others were in charge of the logistics. Because of the lack of water within [-] miles north of Deshengmen, they transported water from the West Sea and Houhai of the inner city, and then paved the way for stone tablets five miles outside Deshengmen, and another fifteen miles. Double-line laying of water supply points.

Then walk another ten miles to Qinghedian, where there is a Qinghe River, and there are some wells in Nanzhen and Beizhen.

However, after the army arrived there, most of them had to be moved to Kunming Lake and Wengshan Lake.

They stood on the side of the Dewai Pass, and saw that there was a mess of men and horses going north, all of them lacked equipment and harness, and many soldiers were carrying large and small bags.Then push the luggage, carry the grain and grass, push the artillery, the banners are confused, the camp is unclear, and there are curses everywhere.

Although they converged into a mighty northward tide, Li Zicheng was always a little uncertain. He whispered to Niu Jinxing next to him: "The lonely king suddenly has doubts and fears. The army has been entertaining for a long time. The western army is powerful, and the people in the city are uncertain." , in case of losing, what should I do?"

Niu Jinxing looked at the northward troops in front of him, and what he saw was indeed too far from the rigorous and elite army before entering Beijing, and he also had a bad feeling in his heart.

Hearing what Li Zicheng said, he forced a smile and said: "My army is powerful, and the guns are sharp. Why should your majesty make such dejected words?"

However, he looked around, and still gritted his teeth and said in a low voice: "If there is an emergency, we will return to Huguang, Henan. It is thousands of miles away, and even Wang Dou will not be able to catch up. Magnificent, how can you abandon others? It was burned at the time of introduction, and used as a story of Xianyang, even those who will discuss our generation in the future will also be the hero of the king of Chu!"

Li Zicheng nodded. After being seen off by Niu Jinxing and other officials, he picked up his horse and headed north. After walking dozens of steps, he couldn't help turning his head to look at the magnificent Deshengmen Archery Tower not far away.

Like him, many people can't help but look back, what is waiting for them after leaving the capital?
……

On April [-]th, Dorgon led the army to Sanhe.

On the [-]th, Yang Guozhu, who was retreating to Qian'an City, refused to surrender. Dorgon ordered an attack.

Although the gunners of the Ming army who surrendered were not visible, but the Ming army suddenly retreated to the city and insisted on staying at Qian'an City. Judging from the confessions of the captured Ming soldiers, Dorgon guessed that Yang Guozhu might have been injured, and the injury was not shallow. The Ming army had no leader, so they had to retreat to the city.

Dorgon was also relieved. Although the Jizhen army did not surrender, it was unable to leave the city, so it would not pose a threat to his Qing army.

He was worried about the movement between the bandits and Wang Dou, so after the Jizhen army left, he left some troops to watch, and ordered the army to continue on their way, heading towards the capital.

He was also not worried about whether the Jizhen army in Qian'an City would pose a threat to his retreat. Since the reign of Chongzhen, the Qing Dynasty entered the customs several times, often going thousands of miles deep, and the farthest reached Shandong. City heavily?
So as long as the Jingbian army is not behind, Dorgon will not care, and the same is true for the Jizhen army.

It is four hundred miles from Qian'an to the capital, passing through the cities of Fengrun, Yutian, Jizhou, Sanhe, Tongzhou, etc. Dorgon ordered to go all out on the road, and at the same time sentry horses out everywhere, paying special attention to the Jingshi and Xuanfu towns. movement.

Along the way, he also held the banner of "revenge for your lord father", and there were examples of Wu Sangui and others before him. They also knew the sharpness of the Tartars, so when the army passed through Fengrun, the former Ming army who surrendered to Dashun The general surrendered to the Qing Dynasty without any psychological burden.

Dorgon asked them to shave their hair, left hundreds of bannermen in the city, and then continued on their way.

However, when passing through Yutian and Jizhou, the defenders of the original Ming army who had surrendered to Dashun were unwilling to surrender, and Dorgon also refused to pay attention, leaving some soldiers and horses to monitor and continue on their way.

Anyway, although these soldiers did not surrender, they were unable to leave the city, and they did not pose a threat to their army.

However, he paid great attention to letting sentry cavalry all over the four fields intercept possible messenger information, and he could not let them send letters to the capital, lest the thieves in the capital know that he was an army and turn their attention to himself.

So so far, although Dorgon's army has come all the way from Shanhaiguan, Li Zicheng and others in the capital have been in a daze because of the strict battlefield cover and the interception by messengers. They don't know that a powerful army is approaching the capital.

On the afternoon of April [-]th, Dorgon's army arrived at Sanhe, and the defending generals were still the former Ming Dynasty generals. Like Fengrun's example, they also surrendered to the Qing Dynasty without any psychological burden. Hair is braided.

At this time, they were about a hundred miles away from the capital, and they walked three hundred miles from Qian'an to Sanhe for four days, and at the overall marching speed, they even kept up with the large and small artillery they carried.It's an excellent level, but not at the top level.

The peak marching state of the classical Chinese army was in the early Song Dynasty. At the Battle of the Gaoliang River, Zhao Guangyi led the Song Army to set off from Zhenzhou on June 23, and arrived in the south of Youzhou City on June [-]. Yuli, and then immediately put into siege and lasted for thirteen days.

You must know that they were full of armor when they marched, especially the armor of the Song Army was famously heavy.

However, the Jingbian Army also has records that the state of forced marching can reach two hundred miles a day, and the cavalry can reach three hundred miles.

Dorgon, who arrived in Sanhe, sent out more sentry cavalry, paying special attention to inquiring about Wang Dou in Xuanfu Town.

On the [-]th, he received good news that the Jingbian army had dispatched troops, and captured Changping with You Shiwei and others as the vanguard, and the follow-up main force continued to come out of Juyongguan.

The capital he was concerned about also had movement. Some of the bandit soldiers stationed at Deshengmen had already moved north. They were stationed in Qinghedian and other places. The bridge battles a certain area of ​​Qinghe.

At this time, Dorgon had two choices. One was to go to Tongzhou, taking advantage of the fact that the thieves might go northward and the city defenses were empty. It was a good time to seize the capital.

This is what Wu Sangui and others hope to see.

But will Dorgon do this?

Compared with the bandits, Wang Dou is his most important enemy. If he sends troops to capture the capital, the bandits will definitely return to the army. If the two sides fight, wouldn't it be cheaper for Wang Dou?At this time, who is the real snipe and clam fighting, and the fisherman wins?
Therefore, his other choice must be...

Dorgon cast his eyes on Shunyi on the map, and then glanced at Wu Sangui who was beside him with an expectant expression, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

On April [-], Dorgon confirmed that the bandits were heading north, and he ordered the whole army to rush to Shunyi.

When Yebu received the information to the front of the case, Wang Dou cheered up and said, "Okay, everyone is here."

(End of this chapter)