"If, I mean if..." Hauge said with some concern: "What if our army is defeated by the Ming army?"

Seeing that Duoduo didn't say anything, Haoge continued: "Even if our army is defeated, we still have a way to retreat. After all, Dushikou, which leads to the outside of the pass, is still in our hands."

"But... Prince Yu is in a bad situation. He only brought 20,000 soldiers with him. If we are not Huang Degong's opponent, he will definitely not be able to defeat Huang Degong."

Duoduo shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Prince Yu's men are all cavalry. Even if they are no match for Huang Degong, they can retreat in time. At worst, we can fight in the heartland of the Central Plains of the Ming court like we did in the seventh year of Chongde (the fifteenth year of Chongzhen). After the main force of the Ming army is transferred to the Central Plains, we can take the opportunity to march north and leave from Qiangziling, Xifengkou or Qingshanguan."

"Oh...that's good!" Hauge nodded.

He was not concerned about Dorgon, but was afraid that the strength of the Eight Banners Army would be weakened, which would affect his dream of becoming emperor.

Duoduo certainly knew what Haoge was thinking. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, Prince Su. The Eight Banners cavalry of the Qing Dynasty has always been invincible. Let alone Huang Degong has 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers, even if he has 100,000, what can he do?"

"We must win this battle!"

"But what about Xuanfu Town? So many of our soldiers have died, are we just going to withdraw in disgrace?"

Duoduo wanted to laugh when he saw Haoge's indignant look.

Such a brainless person actually wanted to fight for the throne. Fortunately, he failed.

"Xuanfu Town is doomed. It can't escape and won't run away. As long as we defeat Huang Degong, Xuanfu Town will be ours!"

"On the other hand, Huang Degong has fought on the battlefield for many years. He is one of the few generals in the Ming court who can lead troops in battle and is loyal to Chongzhen!"

"If he is destroyed, the Ming Dynasty will perish!"

"Any questions?"

Hauge shook his head slightly.

"Okay!" Duoduo's expression and tone instantly became extremely majestic, "Someone come!"

"Here!" The messenger outside the tent lifted the curtain of the tent and walked in with firm steps.

"Pass on my order. The army will immediately break camp and march to Huailaiwei!"

......

Juyongguan.

Huang Degong looked at the caravan transporting supplies in front of him and could hardly believe his eyes.

Wherever you look, you can see countless cattle, horses and camels.

These animals were carrying countless supplies.

What kind of business is this? Why do they have so many camels, cattle and horses?

With this question in mind, Huang Degong looked ahead of the caravan.

There were eight people taking the lead, and Huang Degong knew seven of them.

These people were officials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue. I had seen them before when I was receiving armor in the capital.

This time I came to hand over supplies to him.

The other unknown person seemed to be the leader of the caravan. He was a middle-aged man wearing a white brocade robe and a blue belt around his waist.

This man has handsome features and a sturdy build, giving people a feeling of being loyal and honest.

Huang Degong didn't think that the businessman in front of him was honest, because he could tell from his clothes that he was not an honest man.

Because he was wearing clothes made of silk!

When Zhu Yuanzhang established the country, he stipulated that scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans all had their own clothing and no one was allowed to overstep their authority.

Merchants were not allowed to wear silk, and common people could only wear cotton and linen, and there were also regulations on colors.

Violators will be severely punished.

Huang Degong didn't know the other party's background, so he asked on horseback: "Which company are you from?"

The middle-aged businessman clasped his hands and said, "My name is Zhu Hongcai, and I am a leader of Hengxiang Company."

Hengxiang Company? Your surname is Zhu?

Without waiting for Huang Degong to continue asking, Zhu Hongcai bowed and said, "My grandfather, Zhu Junwang, was granted by the imperial court to wear silk for generations."

It turned out to be him...

Huang Degong suddenly realized.

In the fifth year of Wanli, Zhu Junwang went to Guangzhou to do business. He encountered Japanese pirates on the way and was kidnapped to Satsuma Province in Kyushu, Japan as a slave. He was later rescued by his fellow villager Xu Yihou.

Xu Yihou was the personal physician of Shimazu Kubo, the then daimyo of Kyushu, Japan (daimyo is the name for lords in Japan).

In the 15th year of the Wanli reign, Shimazu Kubo surrendered to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and participated in planning the invasion of Korea.

After Xu Yi learned about it, he told Zhu Junwang the news.

Zhu Junwang risked his life to cross the sea twice to return to his country and told the Ming court the news.

In the 20th year of Wanli, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was mobilizing troops to prepare for a large-scale invasion of Korea, Zhu Junwang returned to the country for the third time to inform the country.

The Ming court immediately sent troops to reinforce, starting the seven-year-long Wanli Korean War.

The Korean War was won, but the elite troops of the Ming army in Liaodong suffered heavy losses, especially the Liaodong Iron Cavalry built by Li Chengliang, who was surrounded by tens of thousands of Japanese troops with Li Rusong in Pyeongyang.

Although they succeeded in breaking through in the end, the casualties were all elite troops and private soldiers from Liaodong.

After the end of the Korean War, the Liaodong Cavalry began to fall from the altar, and Nurhaci rose to prominence.

Perhaps, this is the disaster of the Ming Dynasty!

Fortunately...

Although those people have passed away, their descendants are still working hard for the Ming Dynasty.

Huang Degong clasped his hands and bowed to Zhu Hongcai: "Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you!" Zhu Hongcai returned the greeting.

After Huang Degong completed the handover with the officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, Zhu Hongcai came to him again and took out a letter.

"This is?"

"A letter from Lord Li."

Huang Degong was stunned. Although he was very confused, he still opened the envelope after carefully checking it.

After a long while, he looked at Zhu Hongcai and asked, "Are you Lord Li's man?"

"If Master Huang thinks so, then I am right."

"Do they know?" Huang Degong pointed to the officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War.

Zhu Hongcai shook his head: "I don't know. This matter was handled by Lord Li himself. They were just officials in charge of escorting and were not aware of it."

Huang Degong nodded, "In that case, I don't have so many concerns. Your caravan will follow my army and unload the goods outside Huailai City."

"All at the command of Master Huang!"

Huang Degong's 40,000-strong army marched through Juyong Pass and headed straight for Huailai Wei.

Huailai Wei is eighty miles northwest of Juyongguan and is the only way from Xuanfu to Juyongguan.

As there was no baggage to encumber them, the 40,000-man army set out in the morning and arrived outside the gate of Huailaiwei at sunset. At this time, Huailaiwei had abolished the military household system just like Xuanfu Town, and the thousand-man commander of Huailaiwei greeted them outside the city gate.

"Huailai Guard Thousand Commander Xu Wenpu pays respect to Lord Jingnan."

Outside the gate of Huailai Wei City, the tall and thin captain Xu Wenpu, wearing worn armor, knelt on one knee.

Huang Degong glanced behind him and understood most of what was going on.

These soldiers were ragged, pale and skinny, and they were thankful if they could survive at all out of their full combat power.

"No need for formalities. How many defenders are there in Huailai?" Huang Degong asked.

"Reporting to Jingnan Bo, there are a total of 1,726 garrison troops. After hearing that Jiannu had entered the pass, we temporarily recruited 500 civilians. Currently, there are 2,226 garrison troops."

"Well," Huang Degong nodded, "How many soldiers and civilians are there in the city?"

Xu Wenpu was stunned. "All together, there are less than 4,000 people."

"It's OK. There's still time."

Xu Wenpu was even more confused. He asked hurriedly, "What does Mr. Huang mean by this?"