Dorgon was drinking tea when he received the news from Man Dahai. He threw down his teacup and stood up: "What? The Ming army is dispatched?"
"Yes, the exact number of troops is unknown."
"Call all the Eight Banners generals, Mr. Fan and Mr. Hong to discuss important matters."
While waiting for them to arrive, Dorgon received two messages from Man Dahai.
When everyone arrived, Dorgon explained the latest situation to everyone: "Everyone, the northern Ming army has arrived at Sarhu. The exact number of troops is unknown, but it is roughly between 40,000 and 50,000."
Hauge concluded: "If the number of troops is correct, then the northern army is the main force of the Ming army. Their main attack direction is still the same as last time, attacking Jiefan Village from Sarhu, and then spying on Hetuala from Jiefan Village."
Fan Wencheng shook his head and said, "Your Highness, this is wrong. The three Ming armies took the initiative at the same time in order to confuse us and misjudge the position of their main force. Now that the Ming army is about to launch a general attack, they will not expose the position of their main force like this."
"Haha," Haoge sneered, "The Ming army has already dispatched troops, why are you still being stubborn?"
Fan Wencheng already had a bruised face and looked a bit embarrassed.
He became even more embarrassed under Hauge's verbal attack.
But he soon recovered.
He nodded to Hauge first, then bowed to Dorgon and said, "Excuse me, Prince Rui, are there any movements from the other two Ming armies?"
Dorgon shook his head: "Up to now, we have not received any news about the other two Ming armies sending out troops."
Everyone looked at each other, and no one said anything.
Because they didn't know whether the Ming army in the north was the main force.
Hong Chengchou said, "Your Majesty, I think the Northern Army is the main force of the Ming Army."
Dorgon asked: "Why do you think so?"
"Because the total strength of the Ming army is limited. If so many Ming troops really appeared in Sarhu, the other two routes would not have enough troops to become the main force."
"What Mr. Hong said makes sense, but it is also wrong." Dorgon shook his head again: "If Jiefan Village is the main attack direction of the Ming army, then the Ming army must first make a noise in other directions to attract our main force, so as to achieve the purpose of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west!"
"Instead of making a commotion in Jiefan Village and attracting our main force there."
Hong Chengchou thought for a moment and said firmly, "The Ming army must also know what Your Majesty just said, so for them, they will succeed only if they do the opposite."
This sentence immediately silenced Dorgon.
Now he didn't know who to trust.
"Your Majesty!" Fan Wencheng suggested promptly, "I don't think it's urgent."
"What's not urgent?"
"There is no rush to support Prince Li (Man Dahai)."
"But Man Dahai has already asked for help twice!" Dorgon worriedly said, "If we don't provide support or the support is not timely, Jiefan Village will most likely be lost!"
"Your Highness is worrying too much! Prince Li has 10,000 soldiers under his command. Even if the Ming army sends 100,000 men to attack, he can hold out for a while."
"So when will the support come?"
Fan Wencheng replied: "Wait for the Ming army to attack! As long as the northern Ming army launches an attack, Prince Li will be able to find out the enemy's details. If the enemy is the main force of the Ming army, we will immediately rush to help; if not, we will continue to station troops in Hetuala."
Dorgon opened his mouth and wanted to say something but in the end no words came out.
He wanted to talk about food and fodder.
The Qing Dynasty couldn't wait any longer.
The Qing Dynasty now lacks money, food, and supplies.
He originally wanted to take advantage of Wu Sangui's surrender to seize a large amount of food and supplies from the Ming army.
result...
When Wu Sangui surrendered, he was almost out of food.
Before Wu Sangui surrendered, his food and fodder were barely enough to feed the Eight Banners soldiers for a while.
After Wu Sangui surrendered, he had to save some food and fodder from the Eight Banners soldiers and give it to Wu Sangui.
As a result, food and grass became very tight.
Keep waiting.
The Eight Banners soldiers would fall into chaos without waiting for the Ming army to attack.
But he couldn't say it in front of so many people, so he could only keep silent.
After discussing for a long time, no conclusion was reached.
They could only go back and rest.
On the morning of May 16, Man Dahai, who had twice requested for help, did not receive any reinforcements, but instead received news of the Ming army's attack: "Report! Tens of thousands of Ming troops are lining up!"
Man Dahai hurriedly put on his armor and went outside to check.
In his sight, countless Ming troops were forming their battle line under the Jiefan Mountains.
The infantry was in the middle and the cavalry protected the two wings.
He roughly counted and found that there were less than 30,000 Ming troops in battle array.
Although there are not many people, each of them is the elite among the elite.
"Quick, ask Prince Rui for help!"
Without waiting for the message for help to be sent, the Ming army launched an attack.
Boom boom boom!
The soldiers marched in neat steps and slowly headed towards Jiefan Mountain.
Amid the sound of cannon fire, the Ming army infantry began to attack the mountain.
The swordmen holding shields were in front, and the musketeers and archers were behind.
They advanced as they fired.
The Jiannu soldiers on the mountain hid behind bunkers and kept shooting arrows and throwing stones at the Ming army attacking the mountain.
The Ming army's attack was very methodical.
They first shoot people, kill them or drive them away, and then start to remove obstacles along the way.
Ordinary obstacles were simply moved away; those that could not be moved were pulled away by animals or blown up with gunpowder.
Under such a fierce attack, the Ming army advanced to the middle of the mountain in less than an hour.
Sweat began to form on Man Dahai's forehead.
He knew that the Ming army would be difficult to deal with, but he didn't expect it to be so difficult.
In order to defend Jiefan Village, he personally led people to the front line to participate in the defense.
With the arrival of Man Dahai, the morale of the Jiannu soldiers was greatly boosted, and they managed to withstand the fierce attack of the Ming army!
At noon, the post soldier tumbled and crawled to Dorgon and said, "Your Majesty, 30,000 Ming troops are besieging Jiefan Village with all their might. Prince Li can't handle it alone. Please support me!"
"Are you sure it's thirty thousand?"
"Sure."
"Are they all elite?"
"Except for some artillerymen, all the rest of the Ming army are wearing armor, and it's very new!"
Dorgon asked Hong Chengchou: "Mr. Hong, do you think this is the main force of the Ming army?"
"I think so."
"Where is Mr. Fan?" Dorgon continued to ask Fan Wencheng.
Fan Wencheng did not answer the question, but reminded: "I think that whether this Ming army is the main force or not, Your Majesty should keep a backup plan."
"Of course!" After thinking for a while, Dorgon gave the order directly: "Gather 30,000 soldiers and horses, follow me to Jiefan Village to support Man Dahai!"
Boom!
The iron hooves thundered and the war horses galloped.
Thirty thousand cavalrymen left Hetuala.
It was already evening when they arrived at Jiefan Village.
Under Man Dahai's desperate resistance, the Ming army failed to break into Jiefan Village and had to withdraw hastily.
Dorgon set up camp on both sides of Jiefan Mountain to rest.
The next morning, Dorgon, in a daze, heard the news that the Ming army was gathering.
He quickly got up and assembled his troops to prepare to meet the enemy.
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