"It's the Jiannu. The invading enemy must be the Jiannu!" Gao Wengui said loudly, "They want to recreate the scene of the Battle of Dalinghe, attack the rear wing of the Pingliao army, and force our main force to return to support."
"Not necessarily! It could also be the Khorchin Mongols. They were destroyed by Li Xianzhong and suffered heavy losses. In order to seek revenge, they gathered their forces and marched south." Liu Wenxiu said.
"That's the coalition of Jiannu and Mongolia!" Gao Wengui shouted to the messenger, "We must find a way to find out who the other side is and their strength!"
"Yes, only by knowing ourselves and our enemy can we win every battle!" Liu Wenxiu agreed.
"No hurry," Li Dingguo said, steady as a rock. "It doesn't matter who the enemy is, or how many troops they have."
Li Dingguo's words stunned Liu Wenxiu, Gao Wengui and the messenger.
"Second brother," Liu Wenxiu said to Li Dingguo, "Have you drunk too much?"
He and Li Dingguo were both adopted sons of Zhang Xianzhong.
He is the third child and Li Dingguo is the second.
Although Zhang Xianzhong was dead, their brotherhood remained, so they often called each other brothers in private.
But you can't do this in normal situations.
"I didn't drink." Li Dingguo replied.
"That's even more wrong," Liu Wenxiu stood up and said while recalling, "When you were teaching us the Art of War before, you said that if you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger; if you know yourself but not the enemy, you will win once and lose once; if you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will be in danger in every battle."
"Now the enemy is attacking us, and we know nothing about them. We have fallen into a situation where we know ourselves but not the enemy."
"Isn't it right to let people find out their true colors?"
"Yes, and no!" Li Dingguo stared at the map and began to explain: "The enemy is coming fiercely and marching very fast. By the time we find out their strengths and weaknesses, the enemy has already reached the city."
"But... no matter how things change, they still remain essentially the same."
"What...what do you mean?" Gao Wengui suddenly asked.
He wanted to ask this question when Li Dingguo was lecturing on the art of war, but was interrupted.
Now Li Dingguo was talking about the art of war again, and he asked subconsciously.
Li Dingguo's thoughts, which had just been sorted out with great difficulty, were disrupted by Gao Wengui's words.
Fortunately, he was quick-witted and quickly reorganized his thoughts and said, "The enemy's attack at this time has only three purposes."
"One is to rob, two is to kill, and three is to kill while robbing."
"Are they robbing or killing people?" This time it was Liu Wenxiu's turn to ask.
“Hahaha!” Li Dingguo suddenly sneered: “I have ordered the nearby cities to fortify their walls and clear the fields. Even if the Jiannu want to rob things, they can’t steal much. So... they can only kill people!”
"Then how should we respond?" Liu Wenxiu asked again.
"Defense is the main thing, and offense is the secondary thing. We won't fight a decisive battle, nor will we avoid a battle. We will make sure they can't gain any benefits, and we will also make them reluctant to leave."
Under the guidance of this tactical idea, Li Dingguo sent troops.
He divided the army into two.
Among them, three thousand infantrymen remained in Guangning City for defense.
The remaining 7,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry followed Li Dingguo north to support Zhenjing Fort.
As the main forces of both sides got closer, they got to know each other better.
"Report!" The scout ran to Li Dingguo, "Our scouts were driven away by the enemy. Although we lost two people, we captured a prisoner."
"What do the prisoners say?" Li Dingguo asked.
"The prisoner said that he was under the command of Li Chengdong and followed the Jiannu Prince Rui Dorgon to lead the army. As for how many troops came, he didn't know, but it was a lot anyway." The scout replied.
Li Chengdong!
Li Dingguo blinked and thought about it, and an interesting plan quickly took shape in his mind.
He gave the order: "Let Gao Wengui lead his troops to test Li Chengdong's strength."
After receiving the order, Gao Wengui led his troops to attack.
When he arrived at the front line, Dorgon's troops had surrounded Zhenjing Fort and began to dig trenches and build siege equipment.
Dorgon had already learned about Li Dingguo's background through Wu Sangui in advance.
He was not afraid that Wu Sangui would deceive him.
Because when the Qing Dynasty falls, Wu Sangui will lose his usefulness and be liquidated by the Ming court.
Therefore, Wu Sangui would not do such a thing that would harm others and benefit himself.
Now that he knew Li Dingguo's background, Dorgon decided to use the old method: besiege the city and attack the reinforcements.
He was confident that he had more troops than Li Dingguo and could easily handle the situation.
"Your Highness, the Ming army has suffered losses from the siege and attack on reinforcements. What if Li Dingguo doesn't fall for it?" Su Bai of the Plain White Banner asked in a low voice outside Zhenjing Fort.
Dorgon snorted coldly: "Whether Li Dingguo is fooled or not, we must capture Zhenjing Fort!"
"I understand." Subai turned and left, preparing to attack the city.
The construction specifications of castles in different places during the Ming Dynasty were different.
The circumference of the castle wall in Xuanfu Datong is generally about one to two miles, and the wall is about three meters high.
The Jizhen Castle is only two zhang high, while the Liaodong Castle is three zhang high, but the shortest is only one zhang high.
Zhenjing Fort is a frontier fortress built to very high standards.
The city wall has a circumference of one mile, is three feet high and about fifteen feet wide.
The interior is made of rammed earth and the exterior has wall bricks.
Dorgon had traveled a long distance and carried limited supplies.
Needless to say, as for firearms, except for some light artillery, the rest were all left in Shengjing for defense.
"Attack the city!" Subai gave an order and thousands of soldiers rushed towards Zhenjing Fort.
The soldiers pushing the ladders rushed forward, and the others followed closely behind, braving the arrows of the Ming army and arriving at the bottom of the city wall.
After setting up the ladders, the Jiannu began to attack the city.
The Eight Banners of Han were responsible for climbing the ladders, while the Eight Banners of Manchu and Mongolia were responsible for providing cover under the city walls.
Some people held up shields and began to pry bricks and dig the city wall.
The garrison of Zhenjing Fort was less than a thousand men.
The defending general was one of the former leaders of the Yuyuan Army: Fan Ciwu.
Surrounded by tens of thousands of troops, anyone else would have surrendered long ago.
But he didn't.
Because he looked down on the Jiannu.
Although he was born a farmer, he was much better than those ginseng slaves who once dug ginseng for the Ming Emperor.
"Brothers," Fan Ciwu raised his arms and shouted, "The Jiannu are besieging the city now, are you afraid?"
"Don't be afraid!" The soldiers of the Yuyuan Army in the city answered with laughter.
"Since you are not afraid, then kill them."
"good!"
At this time, the first batch of Jiannu soldiers attacking the city had climbed up the ladders.
Fan Ciwu held the spear in his hand and thrust forward with all his might!
The Jiannu soldier slipped and fell from the ladder and died instantly.
A soldier leaned over the city wall and looked down. He found the bodies of the Jiannu and also found that the Jiannu were digging the city wall.
"The Jiannu are digging the city wall! Hurry..." Before he could finish his words, two arrows hit his head at the same time.
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