Ming Empire

Chapter 61 Out of the city to meet
Cao Yue's judgment was basically accurate. The slaves who arrived near Datong City were the Zhenghuang Banner of the Han army led by the traitor and king of Huaishun, Geng Zhongming.

After Dorgon agreed with Duduo to lead his army to attack Datong, more than [-] people from Geng Zhongming's subordinates joined Duduo's army and acted as the vanguard of Jiannu's southern expedition.Of course Geng Zhongming was very reluctant to take on this job, but he didn't dare to disobey Dorgon's order, so he could only bite the bullet and follow Duduo to the expedition.

Dorgon is the prince, and Geng Zhongming is also the prince, but the status of the prince Geng Zhongming and the prince of Dorgon are completely different.Not only can it not be compared with Dorgon's status, but it is also not as good as Duoduo, the county king, and even other Jurchen nobles can treat them as slaves.

This is the sorrow of the surrendered ministers. In the eyes of the Jiannu people, they will always be second ministers and slaves, and their status cannot be higher than that of the Jurchens.

The Ming army who surrendered to build slaves was actually tragic. They played the role of vanguard in every battle, that is, they acted as cannon fodder. In wars, build slaves always consume their strength first, and the Jurchens can benefit from it.At most, Geng Zhongming had more than 5000 people under his command, but now, all the troops under his command are only [-], and the others have really become cannon fodder.However, today's Geng Zhongming has no way out, no matter how the upper echelon of Jiannu treats them, he can only go by working his life for Jiannu wholeheartedly.

Geng Zhongming and other surrenders knew that if they wanted to gain a higher status in the Qing Dynasty, they had to make continuous military exploits in order to gain the appreciation of their master.For this goal, they also put in all their strength to kill their compatriots, and they have never softened their hearts.

It can be said that the brutality of the Ming army who surrendered to build slaves was no less than that of the Jurchens and Mongols.

In this raid on Datong, Duoduo finally changed his mind after being attacked several times by the Ming army, and changed the raid to a feint attack, and asked Geng Zhongming to lead more than [-] Han troops, [-] Mongols, and [-] Nuzhen cavalry. , approaching Datong, and preventing the Ming army from going out of the city to pursue or support other cities.Duoduo personally led the army, together with the first step to divide the troops, attacked other unprepared cities, and planned to attack Beijing.

If Beijing's defenders did not take precautions, it would be possible to gain a little advantage and even enter the city.

After being attacked several times by the Ming army and suffering heavy losses, Duoduo has given up hope of breaking through Datong and defeating the Ming army led by Cao Yue.He had no choice but to take the next best thing, attacking other cities, looting them, and intimidating Daming, then walked away and returned to the outside of the pass.

If the Qing army can retreat unscathed and intimidate Daming greatly, it will be considered a success.

Geng Zhongming has no complaints about the tasks assigned to him, as long as he is not allowed to lead the army to attack the city and put on a show under the city, there will be no loss.Whether it is Duoduo or Geng Zhongming, they all feel that the Ming army will only defend the city, and will not go out of the city to take the initiative to attack.

Geng Zhongming planned to lead his army to Datong City, stay for half a day, then slowly retreat, and do this again the next day. Duo returned to the pass and returned to Shengjing.

Neither Duoduo nor Geng Zhongming would believe that in this weather, facing the tens of thousands of Qing troops approaching, the generals of the Ming army dared to lead their troops out of the city to meet them.But Geng Zhongming never expected that his opponent today would be someone who doesn't play cards according to common sense.

"Report!" Yiqi quickly rushed in front of Geng Zhongming, pointed his finger in the direction of Datong City in the distance, and reported heavily, "Report to the prince, the Ming army has come out of the city to meet it!"

Geng Zhongming, who was squinting and basking in the warm sun, suddenly opened his eyes wide after hearing the sergeant's report, and looked ahead in disbelief.Sure enough, the originally high suspension bridge at the North Gate of Datong had been lowered, and groups of Ming army sergeants lined up neatly were leaving the city quickly.

Geng Zhongming, who did not expect such a situation, suddenly panicked, and immediately ordered his troops to prepare for the battle.

After a brief panic, Geng Zhongming did not expect to retreat or run away. He was confident that the Ming army would not be able to defeat the Qing army in a field battle. Better than the Ming army.

The most important point is morale.In the war between the Ming army and the Qing army, the Qing army had a complete victory rate. Facing the attack of the Qing army, many officers and soldiers of the Ming army were terrified and collapsed at the first touch.At least in the field, the Ming army has not defeated the Qing army.

In the last Battle of Songshan, Cao Bianjiao and Cao Yue led the army to attack the Qing army's camp, almost taking away Huang Taiji's imperial tent, but all Jiannu didn't think it was the Ming army defeating the Qing army in a field battle. It was just their carelessness that allowed the Ming army to take the opportunity.

Geng Zhongming is confident that he can defeat any Ming army outside the city.Needless to say, the military quality of the troops led by Geng Zhongming is really not comparable to that of ordinary Ming army officers and soldiers.Although it was a hasty formation to meet the enemy, there was no major panic.

"Haha, Cao Yue is really looking for his own death. The great city of Datong is not guarded properly, but he wants to bravely go out of the city to fight. Let's see how I defeat him today!" For a moment, Geng Zhongming's fighting spirit was high, as if he saw Cao Yue After being defeated by him, the whole army was defeated, and the troops he led took advantage of the situation to attack Datong City, and finally captured Cao Yue alive.When he returned to Shengjing, he would be greeted with a generous reward from Dorgon, and his status must be higher than that of other surrendered Hanchens.

Geng Zhongming thinks that Cao Yue is too young after all, he likes to show off his abilities, and likes to act on his own will, so today he just wants to teach this young man a lesson.

Geng Zhongming completely forgot that Duoduo was humiliated by the team sent by Cao Yue when he traveled all the way, and he even forgot that it was Cao Yue, the defender of Datong City, who led more than a thousand troops to break through Shengjing , destroyed Shengjing City, and finally Huang Taiji was pissed off.

There are now 5 defenders in Datong, and the training is very strict, which Geng Zhongming didn't know.

Still standing on the top of the city, Cao Yue, holding a telescope to check the situation, saw that Jiannu had also formed a formation, ready to fight, and couldn't help being very excited.However, Jiannu's performance also made him vigilant, worried that Jiannu's main force was nearby.

And at this moment, someone came to report that there were more than [-] soldiers who built slaves, and they were rapidly marching in the direction of Baideng in the northeast, and the target was likely to be Beijing.After hearing this news, Cao Yue's initial worries were immediately dispelled. He immediately ordered the first battalion led by Cao Jie and the troops led by Zhao Tai to form a formation outside the north gate, ready to meet Jiannu's attack.

The first battalion was a standard firearms battalion. All the soldiers in the battalion were equipped with the latest muskets, sufficient ammunition, and hand grenades with wooden handles developed by him, which could be used in close combat.Cao Yue is very confident about the combat effectiveness of the first battalion.As long as the muskets do not fail, the first battalion fully equipped will be the number one army in the world, and no army can match it.What's more, there are artillery on the top of the city to support.

Cao Yue is now afraid that Jiannu will not take the initiative to attack. The first battalion is advancing on foot. If they approach Jiannu's camp on foot, it will be very troublesome, and the camp may be chaotic.What he likes to see the most is Jiannu taking the initiative to attack, that will surely replicate the results of the Battle of Songshan against Hauge's troops, and deal a devastating blow to Jiannu.

Fortunately, Cao Yue's worries did not come true. Seeing that the Ming army guarding Datong went out of the city to fight, Geng Zhongming immediately ordered his troops to form and prepare to attack, as if he had been beaten to death.

A big battle is about to start under the city of Datong!
(End of this chapter)