scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 357
Because the baggage fleet carried 150 light and heavy artillery pieces and a large amount of supporting ammunition, it was going up the river against the current. In order not to let the army and the baggage fleet get out of touch, and it was necessary to investigate the enemy's situation on the western front in order to formulate a combat strategy, Therefore, the main force of Lu Fatty's Western Expedition was not very fast. It took Lu Fatty almost three days to walk the 140-mile road from Nanjing to Taiping Mansion.And these three days, for Han Daren, the fat general of the army with evil intentions, is equivalent to three years.

There are too many facts that make Han Daren fearful. From Han Daren's strategic perspective, when the Fatty Army is surrounded by enemies and has determined the Western Front as the first goal, the most correct tactic should be a quick battle. He quickly dealt with the enemies on the western front and freed up his hands to calmly deal with the enemies on the other three fronts. However, Fatty Lu, who had a strategic vision far above his own, did the opposite. Taking the army on an outing, is there a strategic and tactical plan?Is it an old horse stumbled?Or because of other reasons?

Another thing that frightened Han Daren was that Fatty Lu sent his only brother Han Yuanren to Liuhe Port in Taicang Prefecture on the pretext that the coastal areas needed to strengthen defenses. According to the warning of collusion with the United States, the Jiangnan coast, which is relatively empty in defense, should indeed increase its defense, but who is not good for Fatty Lu to send Han Yuanren to a relatively distant coast? Is it a coincidence?Or is there another purpose?
Feeling guilty, timid and frightened, Han Daren hasn't had a good night's sleep since he received the news that Fatty Lu personally led the army to march west. Almost every time he closes his eyes, he is awakened by a nightmare. Fatty Lu exposed his plot and tried to get rid of himself first. He dreamed that he was forced to follow orders and was hacked to death by wolves and tigers under Fatty Lu. He was so nervous that he almost collapsed.But Han Daren, who is so popular, is so pitiful that he can't even find a person to confide in. All the tension, hesitation and worry can only be carried by himself. In just three days, dozens of hairs have turned white. .

It was time to come, and finally it was coming. On May [-]th, the elite Fatty Army led by Fatty Lu finally arrived at the city of Taipingfu.After hesitating again and again, Han Daren finally led the prefect Jixuan and his deputy Li Maozhu out of the city to welcome them. However, after arriving at the scene, something that made Han Daren even more frightened happened——the direct corps of the Fatty Army was already in the outskirts of Taiping Mansion Camps began to be set up on the school grounds, assuming that they did not plan to enter the city to station!

"Why did the general camp outside the city? Could it be that he doesn't trust me to this extent?" Han Daren's heart almost stopped beating, and he almost wanted to run away.

"General Han, look!" Li Mao's exclamation pulled Han Daren back, "White clothes, white robes and white flags! The brothers in Nanjing are wearing mourning! The general is wearing mourning!"

"Really!" Ji Xuan also noticed this anomaly, and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Why did the general go to war in mourning? What happened?"

"Really, why does our army go out in filial piety?" Han Daren took a closer look and found that this was indeed the case. The fat army from Nanjing was all dressed in white clothes and white robes, with pure white flags in their hands. A white belt was hung on the gate of Lianyuan, but Fatty Army used to respect white, wearing a white felt hat and a black flag on a white background, so he didn't notice it from a distance just now.

"Could it be the prince?!" Li Maozhu suddenly exclaimed again: "Could it be that the prince is an old man...?!"

"It's possible!" Han Daren suddenly had a glimmer of hope, thinking that if the prince really died, then everything would be easy!Thinking of this, Han Daren quickly clamped his horse and shouted: "Quick, go to the camp to meet the general, and ask what's going on! Quick! Quick!"

Of course, Han Daren and others misunderstood the true meaning of Fatty Army's filial piety, and Fatty Lu didn't need to explain it himself. As soon as they arrived in front of Fatty Army's central army camp, Han Daren and others realized that something was wrong, because Fatty Army There are two large white flags in the big tent of the Chinese army, with the four characters of revenge and hatred written on them.After entering the big tent of the Chinese army and seeing the spirit tablets of the Chinese compatriots enshrined in the big tent, Han Daren, who is not too stupid, immediately understood the true meaning of Fatty Lu's filial piety, and secretly admired Fatty Lu's ingenuity in inspiring the morale and fighting spirit of the soldiers and people in the south of the Yangtze River In addition to the means, Han Daren was completely desperate again—since the old traitor Wu is not dead, will he carry out the errand he gave or not?

"Everyone, please sit down, please sit down." Fatty Lu, dressed in filial piety, waved and asked Han Daren and others to sit down on both sides of the big tent, explaining that he did not want to because Taiping City was too small and had too many troops. He planned to enter the city to be stationed, and personally explained the true meaning of the filial piety campaign, that is, to pay filial piety for the people in the south of the Yangtze River and the Chinese compatriots who were massacred by Mi Qing 30 years ago, vowing to kill Mi Qing and cut Kang Mazi alive, and to tell Han Daren and others He said that he had brought the white clothes and robes of the Taipingfu Corps with the army, and demanded that all the Taipingfu Corps also go out in filial piety, and work together with the people in the south of the Yangtze River to wipe out the invading enemies and avenge the innocent compatriots who died tragically back then.

After listening to Fatty Lu's explanation and order, Jixuan, Li Maozhu and other civil and military officials of Taiping Mansion naturally praised Fatty Lu and promised to spread the name of Fatty Lu's righteousness to the world, so that people of all ethnic groups in Taiping Mansion would understand that Fatty Army This time for whom to fight.The preoccupied Han Daren absent-mindedly agreed, while secretly scrutinizing Fatty Lu's expression and the situation of the big tent. Unfortunately, nothing could be seen on Fatty Lu's fat face, but he found an abnormality in the big tent of the Chinese army—no Fatty Shaolu's soldiers were all unfamiliar faces, but Hong Xiguan and Fang Shiyu, who were the most skilled, were nowhere to be seen.

"Behind the big tent, there must be a knife and axe in ambush, right?" The more Han Daren pondered, the more guilty he became, and he couldn't help but imagine such a scene. Fatty Lu picked up the wine glass and threw it down, and then Hong Xiguan and Fang Shiyu waited. The man immediately rushed out with the knife and axe, and chopped himself into meat paste without saying a word!Then Fatty Lu presented real evidence or fabricated false evidence, and then killed his whole family and confidants, and took over the Taiping Mansion Corps.

"General Han, General Han."

The more nervous, the more troublesome, just when Han Daren was trembling with fear, Fatty Lu suddenly turned his attention to him, and called him several times, until Li Mao next to him quietly pulled the hem of his clothes, and finally Han Daren Ruchu woke up from the dream, quickly stood up, cupped his fists and said, "The last general is here, what orders does the general have?"

"What is General Han thinking? Why is he so distracted?" Fatty Lu asked with a smile.

"At the end... the general is thinking about the meaning of the general's filial piety." Han Daren was a little quick-witted, and quickly explained: "The general thought that 30 years ago, when the dogs entered the customs, they poisoned the south of the Yangtze River and killed tens of millions. My Chinese compatriots, my chest is full of anger at the end, I only hope to kill all the dogs in the world as soon as possible, and avenge my innocent Chinese compatriots! Therefore, I am distracted, and I hope the general Haihan."

"So that's the case." Fatty Lu nodded, believing it to be true: "Similarly, every time I think of the cruelty and cruelty to my Chinese compatriots when Man Gou entered the customs, I often get angry, grit my teeth, and forget everything for a while." This time, we only need to keep in mind the blood feud of Man Gou, and work together, we will be able to wipe out Man Gou and avenge my innocent Chinese compatriots."

Han Daren wanted to agree, but his mind was in chaos, so he nodded repeatedly.Fatty Lu stood up again, and said with a smile: "That's it, everyone, don't rush away, I'll let people prepare the food and wine, and we will discuss the strategy of defeating the enemy while eating. Brother Da Ren, follow me in." Come over here, I have some confidential matters that I would like to discuss with you alone."

"Obey." Ji Xuan, Li Maozhu and other civil and military officials respectfully agreed, but Han Daren was dizzy and almost ran away again...

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At the same time, under the city of Yangzhou, the Yue Yue Department and the Jie Shu Department of the Qing Army had arranged according to Kang Mazi's personal arrangements, and relied on the intentional release of water by the Fatty Army's direct regiment. They were killed by the Qing Army 30 years ago under the city of Yangzhou They joined forces smoothly, and chose to set up a camp at the shore of Shaobo Lake 38 miles north of Yangzhou, where the great executioner Duoduo attacked Yangzhou, in an attempt to pray for Duoduo's blessing so that they could conquer Yangzhou smoothly.At the same time, another cousin of Kang Mazi, Prince Zhuang Boguoduo, also escorted [-] Hongyi cannons and [-] sub-cannons newly cast by the Qing court to the Shaobo Lake camp of the Qing army, preparing to follow the example of many cannons. Duo used the old trick of breaking Yangzhou back then, using artillery to smash down the city wall of Yangzhou with bricks and rammed earth.

By the way, the eight hundred musketeers that Kang Mazi borrowed from Tsarist Russia also came to the Yangzhou battlefield with Bogoduo this time. Kang Mazi intends to try to use the new firearms and powerful combat power of the Tsarist Russian musketeers to fight against the terror of the fat army firearm.

Yue Le is Kang Mazi's cousin, Jie Shu and Bo Guoduo are both Kang Mazi's cousins, and they are also Yue Le's cousins. It is more convenient for the family to get together to run errands, and it is easier to talk with each other.As soon as they met, Bo Guoduo, who was 25 years old and was on the battlefield for the first time, couldn't help congratulating Yue Le on his successful capture of the two cities of Gaoyou and Xinghua. Fatty blocked it, and successfully joined Yue Le on the Yangzhou battlefield.

Bo Guoduo felt relieved when he said congratulations, but Yue Le and Jie Shu, who had been tortured by the fat army and lost all confidence, smiled wryly, knowing that the reason why they were able to successfully complete the task assigned by Kang Mazi was not so much martial arts Well, it might be better to say that Fatty Lu had no good intentions and thought it would be troublesome to go north to chase and kill, so he simply released the water and let us come to the door to die.

"Uncle Wang, Brother Wang, the master has another mission for you." Boguoduo said again: "Since Lu Yifeng's dog thief has personally led the army to the west, the master wants you to seize the opportunity when Wu Dog cannot return in time. We must break through Yangzhou City within half a month, force Wugou's main force to return to aid, and relieve the pressure on the western front of Prince Zhang and Shuncheng Baylor."

"Break Yangzhou within half a month?" Yue Le and Jie Shu smiled bitterly, and asked together: "Master Zhuang, did the master say that if we fail to complete this mission, what punishment will we have?"

"No." Boguoduo shook his head, and reminded in a deep voice: "But I can see that the master is already in a hurry. If you can't seize this opportunity, the master may disobey the imperial edict of the empress dowager's ancestors. Crossed the south and went down to personally command the attack on Yangzhou."

Yue Le and Jie Shu didn't finish talking, they looked at each other again, and they both saw the wry smile and helplessness on each other's face.And Bo Guoduo is not an idiot. After observing Yue Le and Jie Shu's frustration and despair, Bo Guoduo couldn't help asking curiously: "Uncle Wang, Brother Wang, what's wrong with you? Fighting, do you have this expression? Bo Guoduo is rude, and he dared to ask, is it really like those Mongolian princes who impeached you, you have been completely frightened by Wu Gou, and your legs are weak when you see Wu Gou's flag? "

"Those stupid pigs know how to play ball!" Yue Le swears a rare curse, and said sullenly: "Master Zhuang, I dare to say a few words of my heart in front of you. With our current situation, it is really difficult to break through Yangzhou." Not much certainty, almost hopeless."

"Why?" Bo Guoduo asked: "Uncle Wang, when Prince Yu attacked Yangzhou City, he only had 38 red barbarian cannons in his hand, and he still broke through Yangzhou Jiancheng. There are 20 cannons, plus the more than [-] Hongyi cannons you brought with the army before, the number of cannons is fully double that of Prince Yu, and our mother-child cannons are added, and the number is even more. Say there is no hope of breaking through Yangzhou?"

"Nephew, fighting is not just about comparing numbers." Yue Le sighed, and didn't bother to give Bo Guoduo a detailed analysis, but said with a wry smile: "Even if we are comparing numbers, we may not be able to compare with Wu Gou, Xian Nephew, do you know how many cannons there are in Yangzhou now?"

"I don't know." Bogoduo shook his head blankly, then asked curiously, "How many?"

"I don't know either. Wu Gou's Yangzhou Corps has not sent out the main force so far. We don't know how many artillery they have equipped." Yue Le spread his hands and said with a wry smile: "But I know Wu Gou's How many artillery pieces does the Jiangning Corps have—at least two hundred!"

"At least two hundred doors? Real or fake?" Bogoduo was taken aback.

"Prince Zhuang, Uncle Wang didn't lie to you, this number will only be more or less." Jie Shu said dejectedly: "Two months ago, I fought against the Wugou Jiangning Corps by the Chushui River. The dog used 180 cannons and beat us badly. There are 180 cannons on the front line alone, plus the cannons used to defend the city in Jiangning, the Wugou Jiangning Corps has more than [-] cannons easily."

"Really?" Bogoduo was taken aback again, and the little confidence he had just now disappeared immediately.

"Three lords, forgive me for daring to intervene." At this time, a young Qing army leader in his 20s standing behind Bogoduo said in a deep voice, "Master Kang, if my slave remembers correctly, that time In the Chushui War, Wu Gou indeed dispatched more than 180 cannons, but Wu Gou’s cannons are mainly the Weiyuan General Cannon (Sub-Mother Cannon) with a maximum range of three miles, and the Hongyi Cannon, which can shoot at a maximum distance of ten miles. The number is relatively rare, it seems that there are only about thirty."

"How do you know such details?" Jie Shu asked in surprise.

"Forgive me, my lord. I have been fond of playing with firearms since I was a child, and I am very interested in artillery battles and musket battles." The young assistant leader behind Boguduo replied, "So after meeting with the lord this time, the slave immediately asked me The soldiers under the prince's command inquired about Wu Gou's firearms, and learned the details of the Chushui battle at that time."

"Oh, what are you going to say?" Yue Le became interested.

"The servant wants to say, since Wugou's most important Jiangning Corps in the south of the Yangtze River is not equipped with many Hongyi cannons, how many Hongyi cannons can Wugou's Yangzhou Corps have?" The young leader asked respectfully: "Please three Think about it carefully, if the number of Hongyi cannons in Yangzhou Wugou is insufficient, then no matter how powerful their flowering cannonballs with three good explosives are, no matter how many Weiyuan generals cannons, it is not in vain if they cannot hit us with long-range shooting waste?"

"Huh?!" Yue Le and Jie Shu looked at each other again, and exclaimed together: "How did we forget this? If Wu Gou can't shoot ten miles of Hongyi cannons enough, the Hongyi cannons in our hands will count as nothing." It’s not powerful enough, but it can still gain the upper hand in artillery battles! No matter how powerful Wu Gou’s artillery is, if it can’t hit us, isn’t it a waste?!”

"It makes sense!" Tu Hai, who had been silent all this time, regained his energy, and said with a wave of his hand: "If Wu Gou's red barbarian cannons are not enough, then we can firmly gain the upper hand in long-range shooting. With continuous artillery bombardment, blow down the brick and rammed earth city wall of Yangzhou!"

"But what if the Wu dog leaves the city? Gao Dejie's Wu dog is a famous cavalry warrior." Jie Shu asked another key question.

"Don't be afraid of him!" Tuhai waved his hand again, and said with a sneer, "Wu Gou went out of the city to charge our artillery array, so he couldn't use Sanhao rockets in large quantities, so he could only rely on cavalry to charge quickly, or let infantry push the guns with a range of only three miles. The rocket car shortens the distance! And the cavalry in our hands, there are more than 3 Mongolian cavalry alone. Even if we can’t beat Wu Gou head-on, we can use the number of cavalry to completely gain the upper hand! Even if there are three If the Mongolian cavalry is replaced by a Wugou cavalry, we will take advantage of it!"

"Finally we have a solution!" Yue Le was so excited that he slapped Shuai's case, and said: "The most important thing now is to find out how many Hongyi cannons there are in Wugou, Yangzhou, so that we can formulate measures according to local conditions. A strategy to break the city!"

"Prince An, excuse me for interjecting again, so that I can quickly figure out how many Hongyi cannons Wugou in Yangzhou has." The young leader said respectfully, "It's very simple, that is, immediately start a long-range artillery battle and force Wugou to The dog fired back and fired back, and in this way, we will know how many Hongyi cannons Wu Gou has in Yangzhou City."

"Smart! Talented! A rare talent!" Yue Le was overjoyed, pointing at the young assistant leader and asked, "What's your name? Which flag is it from?"

"My lord, this servant is from Liaodong Zhonghousuo (now Suizhong County, Huludao City), and the Han army has a yellow flag." The young assistant leader replied respectfully, and then said cautiously: "But the servant's name, I dare not say it. "

"Why don't you dare to say it?" Yue Le asked in surprise: "What's wrong with your name? Why don't you dare to say it?"

"Uncle Wang, he really didn't dare to say it." Bo Guoduo said with a smile, "Because of his name, I'm sure you'll be shocked—his name is Han Daren."

"Han Daren?!" Yue Le, Jie Shu, and Tu Hai were dumbfounded, and asked, "Is it the same pronunciation? Or is it exactly the same as Han Daren, the commander of the Jiangnan Wugou Taiping Mansion Army?"

"My lord, it's exactly the same." Han Daren replied helplessly: "After I found this problem in the mansion newspaper, I also thought about changing my name, but I realized that the name was given by my parents, so I registered it in the clan mansion. After reading the book, I didn't dare to change it privately. I only hope that one day I can capture alive or kill Wu Gou Han Daren on the battlefield, which is a great shame and humiliation."

"Hahahahaha..." Yue Le laughed out loud for the first time since Nanzheng. Tu Hai and Jie Shu also smiled together, saying that this Han Daren was really unlucky, and that he was going to die with a big traitor The same name and the same surname, or the uncommon name with the same name and the same surname, is indeed easy to cause misunderstanding.

"Okay, Han Daren, since you want to shame your name on the battlefield, then I will give you a chance." Yue Le laughed and said: "From today, this king will let you take charge of commanding the 63 soldiers of our army." The Men Hongyi Cannon Squad bombarded Wugou's Yangzhou city for this king, just like Prince Rui did, blasting down Wugou's Yangzhou city wall with cannons!"

"Thank you, my lord, for your promotion!" Han Daren was overjoyed, and quickly knelt down on both knees, kowtowed and said, "My lord swears to Tianming that I will never let down my lord's expectations, and I must use our red cannons from the Qing Dynasty to drive away the Wu dogs for my lord." Yangzhou City Wall!"

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When Han Daren was preparing to bombard the Fatty Army in Yangzhou, in the Fatty Army camp in Taiping Mansion hundreds of miles away, Han Daren finally walked into the back tent of Fatty Lu tremblingly.What made Han Daren heave a sigh of relief was that in the back tent there was no group of swordsmen with steel knives and axes as he had imagined, except for Fatty Lu, there was only Fatty Lu's first confidant serving tea. Xiao Erlang, and no one else.

Seeing this scene, Han Daren mentioned that the heart in his throat was finally put back into his stomach, and quickly bowed to Fatty Lu, and asked, "General, what are your orders for calling the last general into the rear tent alone?"

"Brother Da Ren, please sit down." Fatty Lu waved Xiao Erlang to move a chair for Han Daren, and said with a smile: "Brother Da Ren, you are welcome, my brother, there are no outsiders here, so there is no need to be so formal."

Han Daren thanked him, sat down beside Fatty Lu confidently, and asked again: "General, what's the matter?"

"Brother Da Ren, brother, I have a question for you, I hope you can answer it truthfully." Fatty Lu asked with a smile: "The secret decree given to you by the lord, is it for you to launch a mutiny and detain me? Or kill me directly?"

"Crack!" The teacup in Han Daren's hand fell to the ground, and he jumped up, so frightened that Xiao Erlang, who was behind Fatty Lu, quickly drew his knife, but Fatty Lu quickly pressed Xiao Erlang's hand, and said with a smile to Han Daren: " Brother Da Ren, don’t panic, there is really no ambush here, I just ask casually, there is no other malice.”

"General, you... what are you talking about, why can't you understand?" Han Daren asked tremblingly.

"Brother Da Ren, you can't hide it from me. In fact, I already guessed it from the moment the prince arranged you to be my deputy." Fatty Lu sighed, and said quietly: "But I don't blame you, let alone Blame you, this is also human nature, Brother Ren, if you want to make progress, the prince must prevent me from rebelling, so naturally you have to arrange an eyeliner by my side. You are not the first, Kong Fanlin and Luo Kedi before, and later Chen Dou, they are all the same as you, but after they came to me, they became brothers with me and wore a pair of pants, so the prince had no choice but to arrange you who were very hostile to me at my side."

Han Daren stopped talking, but lowered his head in shame.Fatty Lu smiled again and said: "Brother Da Ren, you don't need to feel guilty. You did nothing wrong. We were able to take Jiangnan, and you also contributed a lot, so I never thought of getting rid of you. Instead, I also took the west gate of Jiangnan Entrusted to you."

Han Daren peeked at Fatty Lu, his lips trembled a few times, but he still didn't speak.

"Brother Da Ren, can I ask you something?" Fatty Lu suddenly asked in a low voice.

"General, please tell me." Han Daren quickly replied.

"Brother Ren, no matter whether the prince wants you to kill me or arrest me, please give me some more time." Fatty Lu said very sincerely: "The Emperor Mangou has personally conquered the south of the Yangtze River. Internal strife will only lead to the collapse of the army's morale, and the Emperor Mangou will be cheap for nothing. Therefore, I hope you can give me some time to finish this decisive battle in the south of the Yangtze River, use this golden opportunity to get rid of Emperor Mangou, and then Can you catch me again? I can assure you that I will not resist when the time comes, and will just obediently catch me with my hands."

"General, are you joking?" Han Daren was so nervous that he couldn't believe his ears.

"I'm definitely not joking. On the contrary, I'm very serious." Fatty Lu said with firm eyes, "Since I came to this world, my biggest wish is to expel the Tartars, kill all the dogs, and restore China to China." Jiangshan! This is also the fundamental reason why I am willing to give up my dog-filled glory and wealth, tie my head on my trouser belt, and accompany the prince to fight against the Qing Dynasty."

"Now, I'm only one step away, and I'm only one step away from succeeding and fulfilling my life's wish, but at this time, my lord... Sigh, I don't blame my lord, because you can see it too , Over the past year or so, I have done a lot of things that I have done wrong to the lord in Jiangnan. I can understand what the lord wants to get rid of me. I also don't blame you, because the lord is not only your coach, It's your uncle again, not to mention that he must have secretly promised countless benefits to you, even if he doesn't give you any benefits, even if he orders you like this, you have to carry it out."

Speaking of this, Fatty Lu paused, closed his mung bean eyes, and said in a deeper voice: "Originally, I also have a chance and a way to get rid of you, for example, tricking you back to Nanjing, or ambush you here today." hand, but I don't intend to do this. Because I believe that you will understand my painstaking efforts, understand my pursuit, and for the sake of the world's suffering, give me some time to finish this decisive battle in the south of the Yangtze River. Then you arrest me and dedicate it to the prince. In this way, I have fulfilled my life's wish, and you have also fulfilled the prince's entrustment, the best of both worlds."

"Brother Dajie, for the sake of the Han compatriots who have been abused by dogs for decades, can you agree to my request?"

After asking this sentence, Fatty Lu opened his eyes, staring at Han Daren with piercing eyes, waiting for Han Daren's answer.Under Fatty Lu's sincere gaze, Han Daren's face was hot and red at first, and then he recalled Fatty Lu's earnest teaching to him in Jiujiang, and he was as close as a brother to him in Jiangnan, so ashamed, In the end, he knelt down to Fatty Lu with a plop, and took out a long-preserved warrant from his bosom, crying loudly, tearing the warrant into pieces, and crying loudly:

"General, what are you talking about? The general doesn't understand, the general doesn't understand! The general has never obtained any secret orders from the prince! The general only remembers that the general is the deputy sent by the prince to accompany you. The deputy who accompanied you to kill all the dogs, accompanied you to expel the Tartars, and accompanied you to restore China! Other than that, the last general doesn’t know anything! I don’t know!”

Note: Han Daren, a native of Zhonghousuo (now Suizhong County, Huludao City) in the Qing Dynasty, belonged to the Xianghuang Banner of the Han Army. The title of Wai Lang, a member of Chenyuan, died in Kang Mazi's first personal conquest of Galdan. He was awarded the title of Captain Yunqi and was inherited by his son Han Chengde.

(End of this chapter)