Before the messenger could pass the order to Xihan and Gong Adai, a scout ran to Dorgon and said, "Your Highness, a group of Ming cavalrymen are coming from the southwest of our army. The number is unknown and they are coming in great force."
"Southwest direction?" Dorgon was shocked after hearing this.
The southwest direction was Wu Sangui's retreat direction.
He reached an agreement with Wu Sangui before the war.
No matter what the situation was at Sarhu, Wu Sangui was not allowed to send troops to help the Ming army.
In order to help Wu Sangui fabricate the evidence, he also sent a cavalry of about a thousand people to harass the Guanning Army.
You said you wouldn't send troops, why are you suddenly sending troops?
Dorgon asked hurriedly: "Is it Wu Sangui? Tell him to respect the agreement, otherwise I will expose him to the Ming court."
The scout clasped his hands together and said, "It's getting dark now. We are too far away to see the enemy's flag. But judging by the shape of the flag, it doesn't seem to be the Guanning Army."
"It's not the Guanning Army?" Dorgon was a little surprised: "If it's not the Guanning Army, who else can gather troops and come to help in such a short time?"
While he was surprised, the scout came again to report: the other side was flying a flag with the word "Li" on it, and it should be Li Xianzhong's army.
At the same time the news arrived, Li Xianzhong led more than 10,000 cavalrymen to attack.
Dorgon had a total of about 40,000 troops.
He came out in full force for this surprise attack.
When Gao Yigong attacked Sarhu, he assigned 20,000 troops to Man Dahai.
The remaining nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses had twice the number of Li Xianzhong.
But only half of the 20,000 men were elite soldiers, and the rest either lacked armor or were old, weak, sick or disabled.
He knew his own background, but he didn't know Li Xianzhong's background.
In order to deal with Li Xianzhong.
Dorgon was forced to abandon the siege of Sarhu and turn his attention to the southwest.
"Form a battle formation! The elite troops are in front, and the rest are behind! Hold the formation, and those who retreat without permission will be killed!"
The orders and shouts were quickly conveyed.
When Dorgon arranged his troops in formation to deal with Li Xianzhong's attack, Li Xianzhong's troops suddenly stopped.
Tens of thousands of soldiers from both sides faced each other.
Dorgon did not know Li Xianzhong's background and did not dare to attack rashly.
Li Xianzhong did not attack either.
His purpose was twofold.
The first was to protect the south side of Sarhu to prevent the Jiannu from attacking Gao Yigong's rear from here.
The second is to observe the actions of Wu Sangui and the Guanning Army.
Wu Sangui has already betrayed his allies, and it is not ruled out that he will directly attack them out of fear.
Once he made this move, Li Xianzhong would immediately turn around and counterattack the Guanning Army.
At this time, there was still a ray of setting sun in the sky.
In the cold wind, snowflakes are flying wildly.
The dark sky is dotted with bright stars.
Tunqi reminded him, "Your Highness, if you delay any longer, it will be dark! We only have one chance. If we fail to capture Sarhu, we will have to retreat."
Hiss——Hu——
Dorgon took a deep breath and exhaled heavily.
He knew the importance of this battle better than anyone else.
If they win, the Qing Dynasty can still gain a foothold in Liaodong.
Lost the fight...
No, you can only win and not lose!
Dorgon slowly raised his right hand and said in a deep voice: "Success or failure depends on this one move, pass the order..."
"Report!" The scout appeared again at an inopportune time: "Prince Rui, south of Sarhu, our army has discovered a Ming army in the southeast direction. It is so dense that we cannot tell the number clearly."
"Ah?" Dorgon was shocked: "Whose troops are those?"
"It's too dark, and I can't see clearly from a distance."
Dorgon looked anxiously towards the southeast, then towards Mount Sarhu.
The terrain there is high and the light is quite sufficient.
He could clearly see that the fight between the two sides was very intense.
The Eight Banners soldiers could not break into the Ming army's formation, and the Ming army could not repel the Eight Banners soldiers.
It’s over!
All the courage that Dorgon had accumulated with great difficulty was lost at this moment.
If Sarhu could be captured quickly, the Ming army, having lost its front-line positions, would be forced to retreat.
The subsequent reinforcements had nowhere to go and could only retreat.
But the reality is that there has been no progress up to now.
Mandahai attacked several times but failed to capture Sarhu.
what to do?
retreat?
This opportunity is hard to come by, and we are unwilling to retreat now.
If we don't retreat, we don't know how to fight.
If we delay any longer it will be dark.
If the troops retreated after dark, the Ming army would not necessarily pursue them, but it would be easy for the soldiers to get lost on the battlefield.
Cause unnecessary losses.
When he was in a dilemma, Hong Chengchou rode his horse to Dorgon and said, "My lord, please ask for help."
"Ask for help? What help?" Dorgon looked confused: "We have come out in full force for this surprise attack, and there is no reinforcement at all."
Hong Chengchou said confidently: "Not only that, but there are a lot of them."
"Where are the reinforcements?" Dorgon first looked around, then looked at Hong Chengchou's old face.
"There!" Hong Chengchou pointed to the southwest.
Dorgon looked in the direction of Hong Chengchou's finger and found that was Li Xianzhong's position.
He said in a stern tone, "The situation is urgent with the enemy at hand, Mr. Hong, please stop joking."
"I'm not kidding," Hong Chengchou continued, pointing to the southwest. "Wu Sangui's Guanning Army is right behind Li Xianzhong. If he can help, the situation will naturally turn to the Qing Dynasty."
"Wu Sangui?" Dorgon looked towards the southwest and smiled bitterly: "Wu Sangui only dared to betray his allies behind others' backs, and would never dare to send troops to help us."
Hong Chengchou smiled and asked, "How do you know that he won't help when Your Majesty hasn't even tried yet?"
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