Mandahai retreated very quickly.
He began to retreat in the evening of May 16, and retreated to Haizhou Wei at noon of May 17.
Haizhou Wei is 120 miles away from Liaoyang, with Anshan Post Station in between.
To be cautious, he did not continue the rapid march.
Instead, he ordered the army to rest in Haizhou area and sent a large number of scouts and post soldiers to inquire about the situation in Liaoyang and the whereabouts of the Ming army.
At midnight, the scouts brought three pieces of news.
"Report, Liaoyang was captured yesterday morning, and all the food and grass in the city were burned."
"Liaoyang fell?" Man Dahai was shocked and angry.
He knew that Liaoyang might fall, but he didn't expect it to fall so quickly.
It’s a pity that tens of thousands of stones of grain and fodder were stored there.
"How did they lose it?" Man Dahai began to curse angrily, "What a bunch of rubbish! Li Dingguo's men are all cavalry, and they don't have any siege equipment! As long as we hold the city, I'm not sure it will be a problem for a day or two."
The scout stuck out his tongue and said, "According to the escaped Eight Banner soldiers, Li Dingguo had people wearing Eight Banner armor pretend to be Eight Banner soldiers, and then used the seal of General He Luohui, the First Class Light Vehicle Commander, to trick the city gates open."
"It was lost early yesterday morning, why did you only send the news today?"
"After entering the city, those fake Eight Banner soldiers quickly occupied the city walls and blocked the city gates. At the same time, the Ming army in the distance also arrived outside the city and captured all the scouts and post soldiers who were preparing to deliver the letter."
"So the news was never delivered," the scout replied. "After Li Dingguo burned the food and grass and left the city, the Eight Banners soldiers who survived by chance passed on the news."
"Wait," Man Dahai was a little confused, "How come the Ming army has He Luohui's seal?"
"It is said that... General He Luohui was killed in battle!"
"This..." Man Dahai began to have a bad feeling.
Who is He Luo?
The backbone of the Zhenghuang Banner!
If he could be killed in the battle, Kong Youde might be in danger too.
"Is there any trace of Kong Youde?" Man Dahai asked.
“Not yet.”
After the scout finished speaking, he saw that Man Dahai did not continue to ask, so he continued with his previous words: "Your Highness, the second news is that no trace of the Ming army has been found."
"Bullshit!" Man Dahai started to curse again: "Li Dingguo has neither 100 nor 1,000 men under his command, but 10,000! He was still in Liaoyang yesterday morning, but he can't be found today? How is that possible?"
"Your Majesty, spare my life," the scout knelt down and kowtowed hurriedly, "I have been looking for it, but I really haven't found it yet."
"Is there any other news?" Man Dahai was too lazy to curse.
"Yes, the third news is that a large number of Eight Banners soldiers were found in the north of Liaoyang, and it is said that Sony is the one leading them." The scout replied.
"Oh?" Man Dahai rolled his eyes around his eye sockets and asked, "Are they the real Eight Banners or the fake Eight Banners?"
“It should be true.”
"What do you mean by should?"
"According to the previous identification method, the other party should be the real Eight Banners soldiers. But recently there are fake Eight Banners soldiers everywhere, so I say they should be real."
"Send someone who knows Sony to verify it and make sure he has a clear identity." Man Dahai said with some tiredness.
"I obey your command."
After the scout left, Man Dahai frowned and asked Wu Shoujin: "Before this, Sony had been staying in Shengjing, right?"
"yes."
"He appeared in the north of Liaoyang, which means Li Dingguo was not in the north of Liaoyang, right?"
"Uh..." Wu Shoujin hesitated, "It should be."
"What do you mean should be?" Man Dahai was very unhappy.
"Because Li Dingguo has been pretending to be an Eight Banners soldier, it is not clear whether the Eight Banners soldiers north of Liaoyang are real."
"What if it's true?"
"Then there is nothing wrong with what you just said, Your Majesty."
"On our way back, we encountered neither the Ming army nor the Eight Banners soldiers, right?"
"Indeed."
"Then..." Man Dahai pointed to the map on the table with his right hand.
He used his index finger to draw a big circle in the area between Haizhou and Liaoyang: "That is to say... Li Dingguo is in this area!"
Wu Shoujin's eyes lit up: "Your Majesty is very smart and wise. He is truly the greatest prince of the Qing Dynasty."
"Stop talking nonsense!" Although Man Dahai said the words of reprimand, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"I am a straightforward person, please forgive me, Your Highness." Wu Shoujin lowered his head and almost laughed out loud.
"Ahem," Man Dahai coughed, and then said, "Sony is in the north and we are in the south! As long as we go in the same direction, we will be able to find Li Dingguo! After we find him, I will be in the south and Sony will be in the north. If we surround him together, Li Dingguo will surely be defeated."
"Your Majesty is a master at using troops!"
"Stop flattering me, go to bed and get up early tomorrow to catch the turtle in the jar!"
"Yes." Wu Shoujin and other generals swept away the previous haze and walked out of the central military tent to rest.
Is Li Dingguo in the area mentioned by Man Dahai?
You can say it’s there, or you can say it’s not there!
He was indeed in a large area south of Sony and north of the Manda Sea.
But he was not within the Great Wall.
Instead, they marched outside the Great Wall, on the edge of Liaoze.
Li Dingguo was born a bandit.
What were the bandits of the Ming Dynasty good at?
Good at marching in the early stage and good at fighting in the later stage!
In the early stage, the bandits have no soldiers and no equipment.
They were completely unable to engage in direct combat with the government troops.
When the government troops came to suppress them, they could only move quickly to avoid them.
So marching became an essential skill for them.
Especially the skill of long-distance march, which can be said to be the passive skill of the bandit.
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