It was the early morning of August 11, the 24th year of Chongzhen.
Dorgon appeared again in the Zhen'an Fort area, preparing to attack the Ming army's defense line.
He did not expect to defeat Li Dingguo.
As long as they can tear a hole in Li Dingguo's defense line, Shi Tingzhu can escape from the encirclement.
But when he arrived at the north of Zhen'an Fort, he was shocked by the scene before him.
The road that was so wide and flat during the retreat yesterday has now become unrecognizable.
The first thing that catches your eye is the horse pits of various sizes.
Behind the horse trap was a trench that was so wide and deep that people could not walk through it and horses could not jump over it.
This is not the end yet.
There are also chevaux deer horns behind the trench.
Further back was the camp wall consisting of tanks and artillery.
"This... In just one night, the Ming army was able to dig so many horse traps? And they also dug a trench!" Dorgon said with his eyes wide open in disbelief.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty," Hong Chengchou urged his horse to Dorgon's side and said, "No matter how good the Ming army is at digging, it is impossible to dig through all the roads between Zhen'an Fort, Weijialing Pass and Huaerying City. Our army only needs to find a gap and hold it, while waiting for Shi Tingzhu to arrive."
"That's right," Dorgon nodded and smelled his mind, then sent out a large number of scouts to investigate the road conditions.
In less than half an hour, the scouts brought back news: there was an open area several miles long between Zhen'an Fort and Weijialing Pass.
Without any hesitation, Dorgon led his troops to attack.
When he arrived at the scene, Li Dingguo had been waiting for a long time.
The road between Huaerying and Zhen'anbao is more than forty miles long.
In addition to terrain restrictions, there are also many roads that can accommodate large armies.
Li Dingguo had his infantry set up camps to block some roads, and the rest could only be blocked by cavalry.
So he had been observing Dorgon's whereabouts.
Wherever he went, Li Dingguo followed.
The two armies met, and after a brief pause, they charged towards each other.
A battle line several miles long was wide for infantry but relatively narrow for cavalry.
Li Dingguo deployed his elite troops in the front to resist the charge of the Jiannu cavalry.
The two sides began to fight fiercely.
Twenty miles south of the battlefield, Shi Tingzhu, the leader of the Han army of the Jiannu Plain White Banner, was marching rapidly.
He wished the whip in his hand would start smoking.
Because the pursuers are right behind us.
Liu Zhaoji and Li Xianzhong each led a cavalry unit and pursued him closely.
The two sides were less than five miles apart.
As long as he stopped, the Ming army could catch up at any time.
"Master, please think of a solution quickly. The Ming army is about to catch up!" Shi Tingzhu's bondservant shouted beside him.
If the pursuer was Li Dingguo, it would be difficult for him to catch up with Shi Tingzhu.
Because the war horses of Li Dingguo's cavalry were inferior to those of the Jiannu.
but...
The pursuers were Liu Zhaoji and Li Xianzhong.
Both of them were soldiers from the Yongwei Camp.
In order to build these cavalry, Chongzhen spent money like water.
In the early stage, in order to make up the number, some of the war horses purchased were indeed inferior to those of the Jiannu.
But after gaining quantity, the Ming army began to pursue quality.
Although he is not one in ten, he has no shortcomings.
After the Yongweiying war horses were upgraded, they were now on par with the Jiannu war horses.
Furthermore.
Shi Tingzhu always panics and has no idea where to go when he escapes.
The Liaohe Plain is crisscrossed by rivers, and it would be too late to build a temporary floating bridge if a river blocked the road.
Therefore, Shi Tingzhu could only find a place with low river bank, narrow river channel and shallow water to wade across the river.
This not only destroyed the morale of the army, but also wasted a lot of time.
As a result, the pursuers were getting closer and closer.
"Report!" As scouts ran over from the front, the army's marching speed also slowed down.
"What's wrong?" Shi Tingzhu's nerves tensed up instantly.
He is now afraid of seeing scouts.
Because either they encountered the enemy or the road was blocked.
Sure enough, the scout said, "There is a small river blocking the road ahead! Although the river is shallow and can be crossed on horseback, it will slow down the march. I hope you will be aware of this!"
"I know, I know!" Shi Tingzhu was overwhelmed and his breathing became rapid.
Before Shi Tingzhu could slow down his breathing, news came from the scouts behind him: "The pursuers are getting closer and closer. We can already see the dust raised by the enemy's vanguard troops as they march quickly."
"Whatever you fear will come true!" Shi Tingzhu cursed and looked at Lekedehun who was not far away from him.
Lekedehun was also looking at him.
After the two men rode their horses close to each other, Shi Tingzhu spoke first: "There is a small river ahead, and our army is forced to slow down. The pursuers behind are getting closer and closer, and if nothing unexpected happens, they will catch up soon."
"What do you want to do?" Leked asked.
"Send out a cavalry force to cover the rear and buy time for the main force to retreat!" Shi Tingzhu replied.
"Do you mean to let this prince cover the rear?" Lekedehun tilted his head and looked at Shi Tingzhu with a questioning look.
The cavalry under Li Xianzhong and Liu Zhaoji numbered at least 20,000.
Not to mention dividing the troops to cover the rear, even if all the troops were gathered to fight against them, the chances of winning would be almost zero.
And sending troops to guard the rear means death, certain death.
He was a prince of the Qing Dynasty, how could he die in the rear?
Shi Tingzhu certainly understood this truth. After hesitating, he said, "My Lord, you certainly can't be the last one to leave."
"Who will cover the rear?"
"I'll cover the rear!" Shi Tingzhu answered firmly.
"You?" Lekedehun was stunned. "You will die if you go here! You are the commander appointed by Prince Rui himself, how can you be the last one to leave?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
