"Retreat, retreat quickly!"

Seeing another 60 small black dots roaring through the air, Abatai, with a pale face, hissed loudly.

The Qing army was already in chaos. After hearing the order of the deputy commander, he encountered a general amnesty and stepped up his retreat even more.

"Boom boom boom boom boom..."

More than 30 other thunders exploded in front of the Qing army. However, with the emergency retreat of the Qing army, the damage caused by the explosion of this group of thunders was much smaller. In total, less than 100 Qing soldiers were killed and more than 200 were injured.

The Qing army retreated turbulently and retreated until two miles away from Tangquan River, and then the chaos stopped and lined up again.

Abatai then ordered a small group of Qing army soldiers to take the people to drag the dead and injured Qing troops in the original position back to the formation.

Seeing the terrible Qing army corpses transported back, which were blown up to pieces, and hearing the heart-wrenching screams of the wounded soldiers, Abatai was worried and angry, and frowned.

Subsequently, the Qing army, who was slightly injured, was arranged to treat by the military medical officers. The Qing soldiers who were seriously injured and difficult to treat were given a knife by their teammates, and then, like the dead Qing army, they cut off their braids and took them back to their hometown.

The bodies of 1,300 Qing soldiers were gathered together and cremated.

The reason why these corpses were not buried on the spot was that the Qing army was afraid that after they retreated, the Ming army would dig out the corpses like hyenas, cut off their heads, and take them to report their merits.

It seemed that when the blazing flames of cremated corpses rose, the commander of the Qing army, Ajige, woke up from the full shock.

"Fuck! Ming Gouzi's thunder of the sky became so powerful, how could this be..." Ajige, who had a dull face, trembled his lips and muttered to himself.

Ajige is considered a Qing general who is fighting an old war. He has fought many battles with the Ming army. He clearly remembers that the Ming army's thunders weigh only fifteen or sixteen pounds. Once it explodes, it can only break into two or three pieces. Except for the louder sound, a thunders can only kill three or four enemy troops at most. It is basically impossible to blow the other side to death.

Why is the Ming army's thunder in the sky now so powerful?

At this time, Abatai, who was panting heavily, leaned over and said to Ajig softly: "Ajig, it seems that these Ming troops guarding the city have improved the thunder of the sky, weighing almost 70 or 80 kilograms. The power of the explosion is probably more than ten times that of the thunder of the sky, which the Ming army used in the past! He also had a catapult, and even though it was far away, it could attack. It's a pity that our army underestimated the enemy for a while, but fell into this trick."

After hearing Abatai's words of regret, Ajige, as the commander, felt inexplicably irritated, and even felt a little ashamed.

Although Abatai's official positions and titles are lower than his own, his cautious attitude and ability to adapt to the battlefield are still difficult to reach for this elder brother who is 16 years older than him.

This sudden long-range attack by the Ming army caused such serious losses to the army, which had always been invincible, and the Ming army that launched the attack was completely unscathed. This almost shameful encounter was something that had never been encountered since entering the pass.

There is no doubt that the long-range strike of the Ming army will seriously damage the morale of its troops, and its prestige will also be a major blow.

Thinking of this, Ajige's face trembled and his ferocious look quickly returned to his hideous look.

Li Xiao, I, Ajige, swore to take revenge!

Seeing Ajig's face was angry, as if he wanted to order the entire army to cross the river to attack immediately, Abatai quickly stopped him.

"Ajig, don't be impulsive! The Ming army has such a powerful thunder. If our army wants to attack for a strong force, the losses will be quite considerable. Moreover, in order to move forward quickly, our army has not carried any large-scale siege equipment. How can we break the majestic city in front of us!"

Abatai's words calmed down instantly.

Yes, without large siege equipment such as siege ladders or giant trees crashes, how can we break through this steep city with a high and thick city wall? If the entire army wants to siege equipment to temporarily make siege equipment to siege the city, the original plan to advance and join the army will be completely disrupted.

After all, the plan for the three Qing troops to join Yanqing Prefecture is to be reached in early July. If they have been relocated in Jintang City for too long and cannot be defeated for a long time, the 25,000 Yangguli troops who have been waiting in Yanqing Prefecture may be at risk of being eliminated by the Ming army.

Ajig's teeth were chewed, and he was extremely angry and subconsciously wanted to bite the hateful Li Xiao into pieces and swallow it into his stomach.

"Abatai, in your opinion, our army should be so good now?" Azig sighed and said this.

Abatai said anxiously: "Ajige, if you want to destroy this hateful Li Xiao, you will definitely have a chance in the future, but you should not be in a hurry to make our army's overall plan disorder! In my opinion, our army quickly bypassed this place, returned to the east bank of Dushishui, and then headed south to Yanqing Prefecture, joining the Yangguli tribe who entered the pass from Xifengkou, and then splitting troops to attack the prefectures and counties in the capital of the Ming Dynasty. This is an important matter."

Ajige frowned, but asked in a deep voice: "If our army goes south like this, what if Li Xiao in the city sends troops to cover up our army?"

Abatai was stunned and said, "In my opinion, Ajige, you are too worried about this. Although Li Xiao is abominable, he does not have too many troops. It is not easy to go out of the city to cover the back of our army. Otherwise, when our army branch entered the pass, this person had already sent troops to attack, so why should he keep huddling in the city?"

Seeing Ajige pondering, Abatai paused and said, "I was thinking that the most powerful reliance of this Li Xiao army is the sky-shaking thunder and stone catapult. The combat power of the other soldiers is probably far inferior to that of our Qing Dynasty's long-standing battle formation army. If he wants to go out of the city to pursue our army, these stone catapults and stone catapults are too bulky and inconvenient to carry, and it will be difficult to use. Therefore, in my opinion, Li Xiao has more than enough to defend the city, and it is difficult to go out of the city to pursue and attack our army. Besides, even if he really dares to come out, with the powerful field power of our army, he will be able to counter-encircle him, so that Yixue was attacked today!"

Ajige listened to Abatai's words, his face calmed down, but his eyes were firmly staring at Jintang City on the other side of the Tangquan River. After a long time, he gritted his teeth and shouted: "Okay! According to your Abatai's opinion, this hatred will be avenged in the future! The soldiers of the army retreated back to the east bank of Dushishui and then went straight south to Yanqing Prefecture!"

......

When he saw the Qing army on the other side suddenly retreating east like a tide, Li Xiao at the top of Jintang City felt mixed feelings.

Originally, he thought that this attack would greatly anger Ajige, the commander of the Qing army, and then he could use the solid city defense measures of Jintang City to greatly defeat the Qing army at the city. However, he did not expect that the Qing army, which was seven times more numerous than his own, chose to retreat after initial setbacks.

This was beyond Li Xiao's expectations.

It seems that the Qing army entering the pass was not only strong and able to fight, but also very clear-headed. They would not ignore the overall situation for temporary losses. Li Xiao's idea of ​​luring them to attack has since become a bubble.

"General Li, the Qing army flees far away. Do our army want to send troops to pursue him?" Duan Shiqi, the battalion chief of the Jinlang Battalion, asked softly.

Li Xiao shook his head.

"Our army has little force, so it is still necessary to ensure the safety of Jintang City itself. Let's send Feiyaki first to follow the Qing army from afar to explore the whereabouts of our army, and then decide on our next action. Now, our army's defending troops must not be moved lightly."

Duan Shiqi took the order and left. Soon, about 30 more than 30 flying kites rode out of the city, scattered each other, and followed the Qing army from afar.

Looking at Fei Jiazi who was gradually disappearing from the end of his vision, Li Xiao didn't feel much happy in his heart.

Because he knew that the enemy was likely to go straight to Yanqing Prefecture from Xuanfu North Road, joining the Qing army who entered the pass from Xifengkou, and then plundered the capital and the capital until it threatened Beijing.

It’s a pity that my troops were insufficient, and I was not enough to block the enemy’s troops. If the Qing army had been dispatched collectively and did not divide the troops too much, I actually had no chance to attack and attack.

This feeling of powerlessness that could only watch the Qing army invade the mainland prefectures and towns and slaughter the people made Li Xiao feel helpless.

In this world, after all, strength is the real kingdom.

After all, the anger of the weak is meaningless.

Tartars, let you be proud for a few days first. After my strength is further strengthened, I will definitely ask you to return it thousands of times.

Li Xiao secretly swears in his heart.

However, when Li Xiao's first song was played, the imperial court in the capital was frightened.

Shortly after the Qing army invaded, the capital immediately had full martial law. Emperor Chongzhen urgently ordered the Inner Minister Li Guofu to guard Zijing Pass, Xu Jinzhong guarded Dou Ma Pass, Zhang Yuanheng guarded Longquan Pass, and Cui Liang guarded Gu Pass. A few days later, he ordered Duke Cheng Zhu Chunchen to inspect the border.

At the same time, the imperial court's military orders were urgently divided into various places, and the troops from Shanxi, Datong, Shandong, Beizhili and other places were ordered to enter the capital to serve the king.

On the third day of the seventh month, Li Xiao’s Chifeng Guard also received an emergency order from the Ministry of War. “Now the thief slaves are crazy and invading the border, and are specially ordered to order Lierdao’s generals to select fierce soldiers to help. It is extremely urgent and there must be no mistakes.”

Unexpectedly, Tian Wei, the commander of Chifeng Camp who was stationed in Chifeng Guard, had just reported the message to Li Xiaofeige who was far away in Jintang City. After only two days, another order from the Ministry of War sent him a more harsh and urgent order.

"Zhang Tiefu, Minister of War, consulted Li Xiao, General of Chifeng. Since the three thieves entered the pass, the momentum has been rushing. The capital was shocked three times a day, and the danger was obvious. Li Xiaoxingchi entered the capital to aid the capital, and the article was limited to the day and arrived in Beijing within ten days. If the limit is not violated, he should ask for an order to punish him!"

Seeing the court so eagerly issued a continuous order to dispatch troops, Tian Wei was shocked. Because Li Xiao was not here, he did not dare to make a decision, so he had to put a number of pigeons to report the news.

Of course, not only Li Xiao, but also the generals of the military and towns in various places also received this harsh imperial edict.

Therefore, from the sixth day of July, Shandong General Liu Zeqing, Shanxi General Wang Pu, Datong General Wang Yongwen, Baoding General Zu Dashou, Liaodong Frontier Battalion General Zu Dale, Shanhaiguan General Zu Dale, Jizhen General Li Chongzhen, Miyun General Ma Rulong and other military generals all led their troops to aid.

On the fifth day of the seventh month, Li Xiao also received a message from Feige from Tian Wei in Jintang City.

This letter made Li Xiao feel confused.

Because Li Xiao knew that in real history, the Qing army only threatened the capital and did not take substantial attacks. However, the imperial court responded in such a panic and drew elite troops from various places into the capital, but the troops of the prefectures and counties near the capital were greatly empty, which made Ajige's 100,000 troops seized Dingxing, Fangshan, Zhuozhou, Gu'an, Wen'an, Baodi, Huairou, Miyun and other counties near the capital. A total of 12 cities were defeated, and all 56 battles were won, and 179,800 people and animals were won, and they returned triumphantly.

In fact, these troops drawn into the capital from all over the country were as afraid of the Tartars as tigers. Seeing that the Tartars were powerful, they basically only dared to retreat into the capital and never dared to take the initiative to help the outside prefectures and counties. Except for the general Wang Pu, Datong, who fought with the Qing army and won more than 100 heads, the remaining troops basically did nothing. Until the Qing army came out of seclusion, there was no army that dared to go out to pursue the city, which really made people sigh.

According to Li Xiao's original idea, he wanted to wait for Fei Yaozi to find out the enemy's division of troops and divide a surprise soldier from Jintang City to follow the small group of Qing troops who were sneak attacking and splitting the troops.

This tactic is a bit like a brave and clever little beast. Taking advantage of the huge beast's unpreparedness, he bit him hard and immediately fled for the next sneak attack.

Li Xiao believed that in this case, when the Qing army withdrew from the pass, this piecemeal tactic would also cause considerable losses to the Qing army. If the head and military achievements obtained in these battles will naturally become the best resource for him to get promoted again.

Now, the imperial edicts have undoubtedly greatly disrupted Li Xiao's plan.

what to do?

Can you not obey orders?

Li Xiao was pacing back and forth in the room like a trapped beast.

Li Xiao pondered for two days until he received another letter from Tian Wei Feige. After another order from the court urging the troops to send troops, Li Xiao sighed and finally decided to send troops to the capital to guard the capital.

Although the young Emperor Chongzhen in the capital was already quite suspicious of himself, to be honest, Chongzhen was still good at himself. He was granted land, promoted titles, reduced taxes, and was given a hereditary commander, and ordered the daughter of the royal family to marry him. Every matter was worthy of Li Xiao.

Eat the king's fortune and share his worries. At least now, Li Xiao felt that it would be better to obey the imperial court's orders. After all, his strength is not strong enough to not obey the imperial court's orders and act willful.

Next, Li Xiao began to formulate a plan to aid the capital.

Because he was not in Shandong, Li Xiao was unable to transfer the troops from Tielong Camp and Chifeng Camp. Moreover, when Feige sent the letter back and forth, it was too late. The only feasible way was to divide the troops from Jintang to the capital.

Therefore, Li Xiao decided to stay in Jintang City with Duan Shiqi, the head of the Jinlang Camp, with General B, as well as 400 Xuanhu heavy cavalry, 400 flying kites, and most of the auxiliary soldiers of Jintang City.

Then, tomorrow, he personally took the Golden Wolf Camp's most elite armored generals, 4,590 horses, 600 Xuanhu heavy cavalry, 600 flying kites, 50 Lumi gunners, 600 rampant whistle heavy armored infantry, and 600 auxiliary soldiers to go out to fight together.

In this way, Li Xiao's total troops to enter the capital this time were more than 7,000.

Li Xiao was a cautious person. In addition to loading food and equipment with four-wheeled carriages, he brought 40 catapults, more than 500 throwing thunders and more than 3,000 individual soldiers, which was a perfect solution.

Although this would seriously slow down the marching speed, Li Xiao knew that if he was on this marching road and even lacked self-protection ability, entering the capital would be just a false talk.

From Jintang City to the capital, the straight line is 190 kilometers. Now, because you have to bring heavy equipment such as a catapult, Li Xiao estimated that even if you stay at night and stay in an emergency, it would be 30 kilometers a day. In this case, it would take about eight days to arrive at the capital.

Speaking of which, Li Xiao received the imperial edict from the fifth day of the seventh month. According to regulations, Li Xiao would arrive on July 15th. But until today, it was the eighth day of the seventh month. Even if he left tomorrow, he would not arrive on July 17th or 18th.

Although it was a little delayed compared to the date stipulated by the court, Li Xiao did not think so.

Because, in real history, although the imperial court ordered urgent orders, the generals and generals from all over the country did not arrive at the capital on time because of their distance and distance and avoiding the Qing army's attack. Afterwards, although the court rebuked the matter, they did not punish them severely.

Unexpectedly, when Li Xiao conveyed this plan to everyone, what he did not expect was that the military soldiers in each unit had no objection, and the one with the greatest and most intense opinions was the Mongolian princess Ingma.

Ingma, who was following the Mongolian cavalry and practicing riding on the school ground, accidentally heard Li Xiao's plan to aid the capital from the Jinwolf camp soldiers who were preparing urgently.

"Li Xiao, you bastard, why don't you bring us with you when you enter the capital!"

Ingma, who strided into Li Xiao's bedroom, was angry, with his eyebrows raised, pointing at Li Xiao's nose and cursing.

(Thank you for your reward from Brother Yingjie Lengfeng, thank you for your support)
Chapter completed!