Li Xingzhong divided his troops into two groups.
Led by Cha Binxun, they pursued and drove away the retreating Jiannu.
He led another group and approached Dalinghhe Fort to investigate the situation.
His army stopped three miles away from Dalingh Fort.
"Send someone to investigate the situation!"
Following Li Xingzhong's order, two Ming soldiers rode their horses to the moat.
The soldiers on the city wall were the first to ask: "Who is under the city?"
"I am under the command of General Li Xingzhong. Dalinghhe Fort has been under siege for several days. Is there anything unusual in the city?" Li Xingzhong's men answered and asked loudly.
"Nothing unusual."
"Where is General Ma Shiyao?"
"At the city gate, preparing to leave the city to pursue the Jiannu."
"That's great. I want to see General Ma Shiyao."
The north gate of Dalingh Fort was slowly opened from the inside.
Ma Shiyao is right at the city gate.
At this time, he was struggling with when to counterattack the Jiannu.
He did not really surrender to the Jiannu, his previous surrender was just a temporary measure.
Now the Jiannu asked him to go out of the city to attack Li Xingzhong, of course he was unwilling.
Now the Jiannu asked him to leave the city.
If he didn't leave the city, the Jiannu troops behind him would attack his people.
The casualties caused by the chaos will be incalculable.
Out of town?
That doesn't work either.
If the Jiannu closed the city gates and lowered the drawbridge after leaving the city, it would be difficult to recapture the city.
Hesitation.
The Jiannu behind them began to urge: "Hurry up, don't block the city gate!"
"Why are you running?" Ma Shiyao suddenly drew his sword. "As citizens of the Ming Dynasty, how can we serve the Jiannu? My men, kill the Jiannu and recover Liaodong!"
Under his leadership.
The three thousand Ming soldiers turned around in unison and raised their weapons towards the Jiannu behind them.
The Jiannu soldiers behind them were prepared and immediately raised their swords to block.
The two sides fought near the north gate.
The news soon reached Li Xingzhong's ears.
Amid suspicion, Ma Shiyao's men came to Li Xingzhong.
Li Xingzhong was the first to ask: "What's going on at the North Gate? Why did the war break out?"
Ma Shiyao's people explained: "General Ma Shiyao had fallen into the trap of the Jiannu. After being tricked out of the city, he was surrounded by the Jiannu. In order to preserve his strength, he could only pretend to surrender."
"Now the Jiannu asked us to leave the city to attack your troops, but General Ma Shiyao refused, so he started fighting with the Jiannu in the city."
Li Xingzhong was skeptical after hearing this.
First of all, he didn't really trust Ma Shiyao.
Ma Shiyao was born a bandit.
Li Xingzhong comes from a family of generals and has a sense of pride in his bones.
In Li Xingzhong's eyes, Ma Shiyao first served the bandits, then submitted to the imperial court, and then surrendered to the Jian Nu.
Tell him now that Ma Shiyao pretended to surrender to the Qing army, but in fact his heart was with the imperial court.
How could he believe it so easily?
"Ma Shiyao sent you here, didn't he, just to tell me this news?" Li Xingzhong looked at Ma Shiyao's men.
"General Ma Shiyao is leading his troops to counterattack the city. I would like to ask you to send troops to protect our rear wing."
"How many Jiannu are there in the city?" Li Xingzhong did not agree immediately, but asked.
"At least more than 5,000, but the exact number is unknown."
"It seems that the Jiannu are not really willing to withdraw their troops?" Li Xingzhong stood up and said this.
"Indeed."
"Quick," Li Xingzhong shouted to the side, "Send a message to Cha Binxun immediately, tell him to stop chasing and reunite with me immediately."
Before the news reached Cha Binxun's ears, he was already in trouble.
He was very cautious when pursuing the Jiannu.
In order to avoid an ambush, he deployed dozens of small troops in front and on the left and right sides.
These cavalrymen not only serve as scouts, but can also launch small-scale counterattacks when encountering the enemy.
"Report!" A cavalryman came up to Cha Binxun, "The Jiannu suddenly stopped running away."
Before Cha Binxun could react, another cavalryman ran over and said, "The Jiannu cavalry are galloping towards our army, and they seem to be intending to attack."
"How many soldiers does the other side have?"
"It's all over the mountains and plains!"
"Retreat quickly!" Cha Binxun led his troops to retreat without any hesitation.
He had only 5,000 cavalrymen under his command, while the main force of the Jiannu army had tens of thousands of troops.
It is not a good idea to confront them head-on.
Under the pursuit of the Jiannu, Cha Binxun returned to the vicinity of Dalinghhe Fort and moved closer to Li Xingzhong.
Li Xingzhong had been observing the situation at the north gate of Dalingh Fort.
But the place was packed with people and he couldn't see clearly what was going on inside.
One could only guess that a bloody battle was taking place inside based on the shouting and killing sounds.
This is also true.
Under the command of Ma Shiyao, the Ming army launched wave after wave of attacks on the Jiannu in the city.
The Eight Banners soldiers are good at field battles, while Ma Shiyao is good at defending cities and positional warfare.
The streets in the city are narrow.
The two sides could only fight head-on, and the Eight Banners soldiers were unable to use tactics such as flanking and detours from the rear.
But the elite are the elite after all.
Ma Shiyao tried his best but was unable to defeat the Jiannu in the city.
The Jiannu were also unable to defeat Ma Shiyao.
Both sides began to pile up lives near the city gate.
The people in front had just died in battle, and the people behind quickly took their place.
Amid screams, cries of killing, and the sound of weapons clashing, countless lives were rapidly perishing.
The main force led by Man Dahai quickly arrived at the east side of Dalingh Fort.
Li Xingzhong adjusted the position of the army and the two sides lined up to confront each other.
"Inform all units to move forward slowly and force the Ming army to retreat!" Man Dahai issued the first order.
Woo——
The horn sounded and 30,000 Eight Banners soldiers began to move forward.
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