"Li Yangeng?" Huang Degong was not familiar with this person, so he asked Wang Yongji: "Governor Wang, who is Li Yangeng? How come I have never heard of him?"
Wang Yongji sighed and asked Huang Degong, "Does General Huang know Li Yongfang?"
Huang Degong gritted his teeth and replied: "Of course I know! This guy was originally the guerrilla general of Fushun in the Ming Dynasty. When Nurhaci attacked Fushun, he took the lead in surrendering and became the first Ming army general to surrender to the Jiannu!"
"Under the operation of this thief, a large number of Liaodong generals were persuaded and bribed to become traitors! The fall of important cities such as Shenyang, Liaoyang, and Tieling was not due to weak cities or weak artillery, but because there were spies of Li Yongfang in the city, and they were defeated only with their internal and external cooperation!"
Looking at the indignant Huang Degong, Wang Yongji smiled and said, "General Huang, you don't know that this Li Yangeng is none other than Li Yongfang's eldest son!"
"Whose...eldest son is he?" Huang Degong's jaw almost dislocated.
"Li Yongfang's eldest son!" Wang Yongji sighed, "Although Li Yangeng followed his father in his defection, he has always been loyal to the Ming Dynasty! Not only did he help Liu Aita escape, but before the Jiannu attacked Dalinghe and Ningyuan, he sent his trusted servants to report the news to our Ming Dynasty court. Unfortunately... the secret was leaked and he was killed!"
Huang Degong was so shocked that he was speechless for a long time.
He never imagined that the traitor's son would be a loyal minister and general of the Ming Dynasty!
"Who...killed him?"
"He was caught and killed by Huang Taiji!" Wang Yongji said regretfully.
"Oh, what a pity!" Huang Degong sighed, "A dog father and a tiger son!"
Wang Yongji said in a serious tone: "Those were only the high-ranking generals who escaped back, but there are more ordinary generals and soldiers who have been brought back!"
"They had no choice but to surrender to the Jian Nu in order to survive, but they always had their hearts set on the Ming Dynasty and were always looking for opportunities to escape back!"
"Now that he has finally escaped, you can't kill him, right?"
Huang Degong didn't know how to answer, so he could only lower his head and remain silent.
Wang Yongji smiled bitterly: "I still say the same thing, you can not trust them, but you can not live up to their sincerity in coming back."
"I was careless, please don't blame me, Governor Wang!" Huang Degong said apologetically.
"It doesn't matter. It's all for the good of the Ping Liao army and the court!" Wang Yongji gave Huang Degong an encouraging look and continued to follow the army.
Half an hour later, Gao Yigong returned.
"How is it? Did you confess?" Huang Degong asked hurriedly.
"Confessed!" Gao Yigong picked up the water bag he carried with him, poured half of it down his throat, and continued, "I questioned them separately. These people were not high-ranking officials, so they didn't know much. Then, based on each other's confessions, I basically confirmed that they were not lying."
"Get to the point!" Wang Yongji reminded with a light cough.
"Yes," Gao Yigong put down the water bag, "In order to fight against the imperial court's Ping Liao army, the Jiannu dispatched tens of thousands of troops."
"How much is tens of thousands?" Wang Yongji asked somewhat unhappily.
"The exact number is unknown. They are subordinates of Tong Tulai, a Han army of the Zhenglan Banner. Their ranks are too low and they don't have the authority to know too much information! In addition to them, all the Manchu and Mongolian troops of the Zhenglan Banner have been dispatched! In addition, a lot of troops have been drawn from other banners to support Ningyuan!"
Wang Yongji thought for a while and said, "That is to say... the Jiannu want to fight a decisive battle with us in the Ningyuan area?"
"That's about right!" Gao Yigong replied, "Tong Tulai is the vanguard, leading 5,000 cavalry from Shenyang to support Ningyuan!"
"Is there any other news?" Wang Yongji asked.
"Yes," Gao Yigong said with a hint of doubt on his face, "One of them had diarrhea during the assembly, so he was the last one to leave the city. When he was leaving the city, he happened to meet Leke Dehun, who was leading his 5,000 cavalry out of the city."
"Lakedehun was originally the garrison commander of Ningyuan. Is there any problem with him leading his troops out of the city?" Wang Yongji asked puzzledly.
"The problem is that after leaving the city, Lekedehun did not head southwest where we are, but headed west," Gao Yigong replied.
"West?" Huang Degong, who was standing next to him, raised his head and looked west. "The west is all mountainous. It's difficult for cavalry to walk, even infantry would have a hard time! What is Leke Dehun doing in the northwest?"
Huang Degong was born in the Liaodong Army. In his early years, he served as a personal soldier for the Liaodong Governor and was later promoted to a guerrilla general.
He is familiar with the terrain of the Liaoxi Corridor.
He looked back at Wang Yongji and found that Wang Yongji was also looking at him with a smile: "So Lekedehun wanted to attack us by surprise."
"A surprise attack? How to launch a surprise attack?" asked Gao Yigong, who was unfamiliar with the terrain of the Liaoxi Corridor.
Wang Yongji took out a simple map from his pocket, pointed to the Liaoxi Corridor and said: "This is the Liaoxi Corridor. To the west and north are Yanshan Mountain, and to the north is the Mongolian Kalachin tribe!"
“Although the Yanshan Mountains are high and steep, there are several mountain roads connecting the Liaoxi Corridor and the Kalachin tribe.”
"There is a mountain road that can accommodate war horses."
Wang Yongji pointed to a place called Gaotaibao and said, "The exit of the road is here! In order to block the possible invasion from the Mongolian direction, the imperial court built a fortress here, named Gaotaibao!"
Huang Degong nodded: "Indeed, there are not many loopholes in the Liaoxi Corridor, Gaotaibao is one of them! If nothing unexpected happens, Lekedehun hid his troops in the mountains in advance and attacked from the side when our army was fighting head-on."
Wang Yongji snorted coldly: "No matter whether what the surrendered soldier said is true or false, I will deploy troops to defend Gaotaibao, and they will be heavy troops."
After thinking for a long time, Wang Yongji issued an order: "After leaving the pass, set up a camp every fifty miles to store transit supplies and food. In addition... order Li Xingzhong on the left wing to deploy 5,000 cavalry to defend the Gaotaibao area."
"If Lekedehun dares to launch a surprise attack, I will make sure he never returns!"
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