The news of Mandahai's situation soon reached Hetuala.
When Dorgon found out about this, he didn't take it seriously.
His attention was always on the Central Army in the west and the Southern Army in the south.
To deal with them.
Dorgon personally led 20,000 main forces of the Eight Banners and assembled near the city of Hetuala to wait for orders.
What follows is a long and agonizing wait.
While waiting, Dorgon began to get afraid.
He was afraid of two things.
The first thing was that he was afraid that the Ming army would not come, which would make him think that the intelligence was wrong.
All this information was provided by Wu Sangui.
If the intelligence was wrong, it would indirectly mean that Wu Sangui had sold him out.
Secondly, he was afraid that the Ming army would arrive at the same time.
He had limited military strength and could not deal with two Ming armies at the same time.
Wait and wait.
Finally, I got the news on the third day of March.
"Report!" The scout rushed to Dorgon's side, "Prince Rui, we have discovered the traces of the Ming army's central army."
Before the scout could continue speaking, another scout came running over and said, "Your Highness, we have discovered the traces of the Ming army's southern route."
Dorgon was stunned. Isn't this too much of a coincidence?
After recovering from his shock, Dorgon asked, "Where are they respectively?"
The first scout said, "The central army is moving slowly. They have only traveled less than half of the 400-mile mountain road! In addition, there are a lot of trees cut down by our army and huge rocks chiseled out along the way. It is estimated that they will not be able to reach Hetuala until March 9 at the earliest."
The second scout followed up and said, "The southern army is marching very fast. They have already traveled more than half of the 300-mile mountain road and are still more than 100 miles away from Hetuala."
"Why is Huang Fei marching so fast?" Dorgon was a little surprised.
The road to Kuandianbao is narrow, winding and rugged.
Small groups of troops could barely get through quickly, but large groups couldn't at all.
Especially the logistics troops carrying large amounts of food and supplies.
The scout explained: "Although Prince Su cut down a large number of trees and chiseled rocks to block the road, the rivers along the way were frozen. When encountering difficult mountain roads, the Ming army passed through the ice."
"Hauge didn't set up obstacles on the ice?" Dorgon asked dissatisfiedly.
"It doesn't work!" The scout replied, "Although Prince Su also placed trees and stones on the ice, the ice is slippery. The Ming army tied ropes to the trees and stones and pulled them apart with horses on the shore. If they couldn't be pulled apart, pour some boiling water on the bottom, and the wood and stones will loosen up."
"In addition, Huang Fei divided the Ming army into three teams. The front team is the elite infantry, who cross obstacles and scout the enemy in advance. The middle team is the young and strong in the army, responsible for repairing bridges and roads and clearing obstacles. The rear team is the main force of the army, carrying baggage and food and advancing step by step."
"In order to save manpower and animal power, the Ming army prepared a large number of sleds. They put baggage and food on them and used people or animals to pull them, which solved the problem of food and baggage."
The history of sledding is very long. As early as the Northern Dynasties, it was recorded that there was a lot of snow in Beishiwei, and people were afraid of falling into pits, so they rode on wooden poles.
(The Northern Dynasties refers to the five northern dynasties during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, namely the Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi and Northern Zhou. The Northern Shiwei were a branch of the Shiwei people, living in the upper reaches of the Nenjiang River, the Lesser Khingan Mountains and the Aihui area.)
During the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial court set up a dog station specifically for the situation in Liaodong.
A dog station is a type of post station, and the main means of transportation is dog sledding.
"The History of Yuan Dynasty - Military Records 4" records: There were 15 dog stations under the jurisdiction of the Xingzhongshu Province in Liaoyang and other places. The Yuan Dynasty set up 300 stations and 3,000 dogs...
"Using sleds to transport food? Huang Fei's navy, which is learning land warfare, is really interesting!" Dorgon sneered and ordered: "Order all troops to assemble immediately and follow me south to defeat the southern army!"
During the interval at the assembly point, Dorgon suddenly asked, "Is Shi Lang's illness better?"
"Much better. I can get out of bed and walk, but I can't ride a horse." Subai of the Plain White Banner replied.
"Let him come to see the king."
"Yes." Su Bai turned around to inform Shi Lang.
When Shi Lang dragged his sick body to see Dorgon, Dorgon was already ready to set off.
"Your Highness, are you looking for me?" Shi Lang asked with his head down.
"Well," Dorgon nodded, "I need your help with something."
"Your Highness, please ask." Shi Lang did not refuse.
He had already decided to be loyal to the Jiannu, and giving advice was his job, so he had no way to refuse.
but...
His purpose of being loyal to the Jiannu was not to help them overcome difficulties, nor was it to get promoted or make money.
But one day I hope to meet Zheng Chenggong on the battlefield.
When the time comes, the two sides will fight a real battle with real guns and swords, and even if he dies in the battle, he will have fulfilled his wish.
Dorgon described the situation of the Ming army's southern route, and then asked: "I want to use 20,000 Qing soldiers to repel 30,000 Ming troops. Do you have a good plan?"
Dorgon had two purposes in doing this.
While finding a way to defeat the Southern Army, test Shi Lang's ability.
The Qing Dynasty certainly lacked people, but what it lacked were capable people.
He should stay away from those unqualified people.
Shi Lang thought for a moment and replied: "The Southern Army is very difficult to deal with. I think we cannot really defeat the Southern Army even if we win the battle."
"Hmm?" Dorgon was a little confused.
Shi Lang began to explain: "What I mean is that it is not difficult to defeat the Southern Army, but it is difficult to defeat the Southern Army."
"Huang Fei divided his troops into three echelons, and the last echelon was his main force. Even if all the people in the first two echelons died, it would not have a big impact on Huang Fei."
"Our army only has one chance to surprise him. It is difficult to directly attack and defeat his main force, so we must think of another strategy!"
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