"Has the Ming army really reinforced its troops again?"
Hauge stood atop the city wall, his gaze fixed intently on the south.
A few days ago, he made a special trip from the rear to the front line, just to see for himself how powerful the Ming army was.
Jirhalang stood beside him and said cautiously:
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely true."
But Hauge shook his head directly.
“Jirhalang, didn’t you say that the Ming army is very good at hiding? They secretly circled around your area, and you didn’t find a single clue.”
"If that's the case, why is it that the Ming army was able to let our scouts discover their tracks so easily this time?"
Jirhalang smiled bitterly to himself: "Isn't that because everything I said before was just to fool you?"
But of course he couldn't admit that, so he stood respectfully with his hands clasped and asked cautiously:
"Then, Great Khan, what do you think is the reason for this?"
Haug slapped his forehead.
"Isn't that simple?"
"I think this is clearly the Ming army, playing a game of feigned strength with us!"
Jirhalang couldn't understand what he was saying.
He humbly asked, "Please explain more clearly, Great Khan."
Haug smiled, feeling that he was being a little too clever.
No one can understand what I'm saying.
"If this continues, I'll be able to surpass Grandpa in just a few years."
He patted the city wall and then spoke his mind.
"You don't know this, do you? The Ming army could have secretly reinforced their troops, but they made a big show of it, which means they didn't actually reinforce their troops."
"This is just a smokescreen!"
Jirgalang was even more confused: "Great Khan, what exactly are you trying to say?"
Hauge sneered a few times: "What I'm saying is that the Ming army has actually already secretly moved to other places."
"And the capital of Han was already an empty city."
"This Great Khan is about to lead his troops south!"
After hearing this, Jirhalang's eyes showed a thoughtful expression.
Although he didn't quite understand Haug's thought process, he did somewhat agree with Haug's order.
"I was intimidated by the Ming army a few days ago and misjudged their strength. It's already a joke."
"Now that the Great Khan is leading his army south, it's the perfect opportunity to get revenge."
"No matter what, the Ming army's fighting strength is just so-so. Even if the Great Khan can't take Hanjing, he won't suffer a great loss."
Jirgalang's eyes darted around, and he clapped his hands, saying, "Great Khan, you have indeed thought this through carefully. This order is absolutely right."
"I volunteered to be the vanguard!"
Haug waved his hand.
"That won't require your help. I, the Great Khan, will personally head south!"
But in Haug's mind, he was thinking of taking this opportunity to establish his authority.
"After I ascended the throne, many people in Manchuria were dissatisfied with me. This time, I will take Hanjing and let these people know how powerful I am!"
Once he made up his mind, Haug didn't hesitate at all.
He immediately led more than 20,000 cavalrymen south from Kaesong, heading straight for Hanjing.
Meanwhile, in the capital city of Han, Yuan Chonghuan looked utterly helpless.
"Zhang Xianzhong, so you really are just a reckless fool?"
After personally communicating with Zhang Xianzhong, Yuan Chonghuan was certain that the intelligence he had obtained earlier was indeed accurate.
Zhang Xianzhong did indeed make a great contribution.
But the reason behind this was simply that Zhang Xianzhong was audacious!
"But in retrospect, he was also lucky." Yuan Chonghuan clasped his hands together and lowered his head in deep thought.
"I think it must be the Jurchens. They didn't figure out his strength, which is why they didn't dare to go out of the city to fight him."
"Otherwise, he would have been exposed in just one encounter!"
He sighed, unsure how to proceed, and simply stood up, saying, "Alright, it's come to this, there's no need to say anything more."
"Someone, send this matter back to the capital and ask His Majesty for a decision!"
After saying this, Yuan Chonghuan whispered to the Imperial Guard beside him:
"When you return to the capital this time, remember to tell His Majesty to summon Zhang Xianzhong back as soon as possible."
"I can't stand him anymore!"
Just as he was whispering to the Imperial Guards, two servants rushed in from outside.
Upon seeing Yuan Chonghuan, they exclaimed in panic, "My lord, something terrible has happened!"
Yuan Chonghuan turned around displeased: "What's wrong?"
"Look at you all, you have absolutely no manners."
He waved for the men to kneel and wait, then sat down in a chair, took a sip of cold tea, and casually asked:
"What exactly happened?"
"Could it be those canal workers causing trouble in the city again?"
In his view, these are probably the major events.
But after exchanging a glance, the two men both gave a wry smile.
"My lord, this is nothing at all!"
"The important thing we're going to talk about is that the Jurchens have launched a massive southward invasion!"
Yuan Chonghuan was shocked and spat out the cold tea in his mouth.
Before he could even wipe his mouth, he stood up and asked, "Is this true or false? How many men did the Jurchens send this time?"
The two quickly said:
"According to the scouts, the enemy force numbers more than 20,000."
Yuan Chonghuan looked miserable, feeling utterly unlucky.
"Wasn't it said that there were only 10,000 Eight Banners troops in Kaesong? How come there are 10,000 more out of nowhere?"
"Could it be that the Jurchens have received the news and have reinforced their troops at Kaesong?"
"This is really..."
He sighed deeply, his heart filled with regret.
"If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have rushed back so quickly!"
But he also knew that if he ordered the entire army to retreat south at this time, the canal workers would surely mutini.
So Yuan Chonghuan could only grit his teeth and say, "Pass on my order: have all the troops climb the city walls and prepare to defend to the death!"
"Also, send someone to inform the King of Goryeo, and tell him to bring his more than 10,000 Goryeo soldiers and make some noise for me as well."
"We don't expect them to win battles; as long as they can harass the Jurchens, that would be a great achievement for them!"
After giving the order, Yuan Chonghuan, his face ashen, climbed the city wall and looked north.
At this time, the Jurchen army had already reached a point not far outside the city.
Yuan Chonghuan's expression darkened further when he saw the Khan's entourage in the enemy army.
"It's Brother Hao!"
"This is troublesome!"
However, at that moment, a burst of laughter came from behind him.
Zhang Xianzhong also climbed the city wall, stretched, and said nonchalantly, "Lord Yuan, what are you afraid of?"
Upon hearing this, Yuan Chonghuan was furious: "If it weren't for your insistence on doing this unnecessary thing and creating unnecessary complications, I would have already retreated to the south by now!"
He gave Zhang Xianzhong a cold look, his tone icy.
"Oh? Zhang Xianzhong, what's your opinion?"
Zhang Xianzhong chuckled and said nonchalantly, "What opinion could I possibly have?"
“But my husband told me that this Hao Ge is not… well, anyway, he is not a qualified Jurchen Khan.”
"You can rest assured, he definitely won't be able to take Hanjing."
After Zhang Xianzhong finished speaking, he felt a little scared.
"I almost blurted it out and spoiled the plot for that old man too."
"However, since you say that after Huang Taiji died in history, Dorgon was the one who took charge of the Jurchens."
"Then I should find a way to kill Dorgon now, wouldn't that solve the problem once and for all?"
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