: Make a plan

After receiving news from Beijing that the strategy of discording Tang Feng and the court was implemented smoothly, and that many people in the capital were helping to fuel the fire, Dorgon always paid attention to the changes at the head of Ningyuan City. A few days later, Ningyuan City had indeed changed a lot. Not only did he take down the banners of the Marquis of Anping and Governor General of Ji Liao, which were originally hung high next to the Ming-word banner, but the soldiers guarding the city also seemed to be absent-minded, which made him believe that his counter-espionage plan had been successful. Even if Tang Feng had not left Ningyuan, he had lost his command power.

The opportunity was not missed. Taking advantage of the fact that the Ming army was depressed because of Tang Feng's dismissal, Dorgon decided to attack the city again. However, when he was dispatching troops, Fan Wencheng expressed his different views: "Prince, although it seems that the Ming army has no fighting spirit on the surface, he must be aware that this is a trap for them. This behavior is often unexpected. Even the envoy dares to insult him, and it is hard to guarantee that he did not use this trick."

Dorgon looked at Ningyuan City in the distance, pondered for a while, and said, "What Mr. Fan said is that this may indeed be a trap set by the Ming army, but it may be an opportunity. According to the habits of the Han people, those civil officials in the court and the military generals who held military power with the emperor's opponents have always been unbelievable. Didn't our previous opponents Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan lose their official positions or their lives like this? Now Tang Feng also has the identity of a marquis, which is more likely to be suspicious of the Han people in power, so I think that he can no longer control Ningyuan's troops."

Fan Wencheng thought about it carefully and felt that what Dorgon said was reasonable. With the long-term performance of the Han people, they did make the move to change the commander in front of the battlefield, and this counter-espionage plan was set up by himself and should be successful. But for some reason, he still couldn't fully feel at ease.

Seeing him like this, Dorgon said again: "Sir, my decision was not entirely because of the changes of the Ming army. In fact, we really can't afford to delay it. You know the situation of my Dajin over the years. Years of natural disasters have caused cattle and sheep to be reduced sharply, and there are also many foods. This time we marched into Liaodong to seize the food and wealth of the Ming Dynasty. After delaying for so long, not only has it not brought actual benefits to the Dajin, but also consumed a lot of food. I am afraid that my Dajin will soon be unable to bear it. Moreover, the Dajin sent you here and there is also the meaning of supervising the war. If I have not made any progress, I am afraid that the Dajin will take away my military power on the pretext of ineffective combat. At that time..."

Fan Wencheng also had to admit that this was indeed a problem. It has been more than a month since Jinzhou was taken down. Now that the Jin army has lost so many people, they still cannot conquer Ningyuan, there will inevitably be people in the court to express their dissatisfaction. Now that such an opportunity has appeared, we naturally cannot let it go, otherwise we may be impeached to miss the opportunity to fight. So he could only nod and said, "The prince's concerns are more comprehensive than those of the ministers, and it is the minister Menglang. However, when siege, we should still be careful."

Accompanied by the sound of drums and trumpets, the Jin army began a new round of attacks on Ningyuan City. Countless men and horses pushed various siege equipment and rushed to Ningyuan City like huge waves. The Ming army in Ningyuan City naturally would not let them lean on easily. The artillery began to roar again, and countless Jin people rushing in front were beaten to the point of being overturned, with no bones left. However, under Dorgon's command, the Jin army was completely fearless and braved the artillery fire and arrows all over the sky to kill.

It seemed as Dorgon expected that the Ming army became unstable due to Tang Feng's incident. Although some defensive measures were still the same, the Jin army quickly rushed under the city wall, and then the cloud ladders, hook ropes and other tools to climb the city were in danger. Seeing the Jin army rushing to Ningyuan so smoothly, Dorgon was even more excited. He immediately passed on a message: "The head commander of the Ming army has been replaced, and the morale of the army is unstable. It was the time when my Dajin warriors killed the city and occupied Ningyuan. If anyone can climb the city, he will be rewarded with ten thousand taels and sealed ten thousand households. After entering the city, he can massacre the city for three days, and all items can be taken by themselves!" Dorgon just wanted to completely destroy this place where his father had been buried.

After this order, the Jin army, who was still at the back, could not wait any longer, and began to shout and rushed forward. They were about to climb up the city and they wanted to rob everything from Ningyuan City. Nearly 60,000 troops rushed straight towards the city wall like a tide that broke the embankment, and it seemed that they could destroy the solid wall of Ningyuan City at any time. Seeing everyone in the Jin army bravely, Dorgon, who was staying at the back, was overjoyed. It seemed that he could capture Ningyuan City today.

On the top of the city, Tang Feng looked at all this with a sneer. He was waiting for now. The Jin army threw all their troops into battle, without any chance to reserve. After his nod, more artillery was pushed out by the soldiers. They were the light artillery he brought out from the Shenji Camp in the capital. At the same time, thousands of Shenji Camp soldiers were aimed at the Jin army surging down with new muskets.

"Bang bang bang bang bang..." The gunshots exploded first, and then one cannon after another. This time the shelling was much denser than before, and a large number of cannons appeared on the city wall that separated the Jin army from both sides, bombarding the Jin people who had rushed to the city from left and right and behind.

In addition, the soldiers also launched a counterattack against the Jin army that had already boarded the ladders and hooks on the city. The turbid oil and other objects that had been prepared to beside them immediately poured on the siege equipment, and many of them were poured on the Jin army that were still climbing up. "Huh--" dozens of torches were thrown off the city, igniting the guardrails beside the ladders, and igniting the Jin soldiers who were still climbing on it. These people screamed in screams, fell from the city wall, and hit their own people below, causing considerable casualties.

Orderly defensive measures were continuously implemented, killing the Jin army that continued to surge in batches. The attacks of the Jin army behind were even more powerful. The Ming new artillery that was not as powerful as the Red Barbarian artillery, but was much stronger than the general artillery, was truly a contribution. With the constant rumbling sound, not only the Jin soldiers, but also the siege equipment in the army were shattered, and they were still several miles away from Ningyuan.

Seeing that the army was constantly frustrated, Dorgon showed a solemn look on his face. Seeing the Ming army's orderly defense, it was not like the ones they had shown in the city before. "Am I really fooled? Tang Feng did not leave. Is everything before just to lure my army to attack the city with all his might?" A guess that he was most reluctant to admit appeared in Dorgon's mind.

Soon, this conjecture became a fact. The Ming army soldiers at the top of the city once again took the banner of the Governor of Tang Feng, Ji Liao, which made the morale of the Jin soldiers who were already well aware of Tang Feng's name even lower.

Countless people died at the city, but Ningyuan City was still as solid as a god. Seeing this, Dorgon knew that it was almost impossible to take down the city. He gritted his teeth and said, "The Han people are indeed insidious, and they actually used such real and false methods to defend the city." But he completely forgot that this was what he wanted to use to use other people before he could use the trick.

"Prince, the situation is now unfavorable. We can no longer let the soldiers sacrifice here for nothing. Let's order the withdrawal of troops." Fan Wencheng, who was beside him, also persuaded helplessly, but he did not expect that Tang Feng would be so difficult.

"Retreat!" Dorgon knew that he had been completely defeated this time, and his ambitions may also be shattered with the defeat in this battle. You should know that among the more than 60,000 people, nearly half of them were his most capable Zhengbai Banner. He used to think that he would seek rewards for them after making meritorious service, but now he only wants to preserve his strength.

However, the Ming army did not intend to let the Jin army retreat easily. Although they did not dare to chase out of the city to attack the Jin army, they had artillery that could attack the Jin army at a long range. Nearly eighty artillery on the top of the city, whether it was a short-range weapon like the general artillery, a newly built artillery, or a red barbarian artillery, they all pointed the guns at the retreating Jin army in front.

A series of deafening sounds of cannons sounded, and countless Jin soldiers were shot by the large-scale killing iron nails and other objects. Many of them were squeezed by their own people who were already panicked, and then became the souls of the dead under the feet and horses' hooves. Until even the Red Barbarian cannons could no longer hit the enemy, the sound of cannons at the top of the city finally stopped. The city was covered with corpses of Jin people. You could tell at a glance that there were 10,000 or 20,000 people falling under Ningyuan City, and many of the escaped Jin people were injured and could not fight again. By this calculation, the number of injured enemies this time should be between 30,000 and the Ming army won a big victory.

Seeing the Jin army completely gone, Tang Feng ordered the city gate to clear the battlefield outside. The order he gave was also very simple. Don’t take prisoners. As long as he saw the surviving Jin people, he would kill them on the spot! This was to teach the Jin people a lesson, so that they would not dare to speak out in the south again in the future, and at the same time, he did not want to leave the originally small food to the enemy.

This hit the thoughts of the soldiers below. The hatred between them and the Jin people was irreconcilable, so naturally they hoped to kill all these enemies. So a bloody scene soon appeared under the city. Nearly a thousand people were slightly injured and could not escape. The heads and heads of the Jin army were left with only one corpse on the ground. They were dug by the Ming soldiers and then burned them.

When the inspection was seized, in addition to the many supplies and horses left by the Jin army were accepted by everyone, the Ming army soldiers also transported the artillery thrown by the Jin people back to the city. These weapons that came from Jinzhou and wanted to use to deal with the Ming army were no longer valued by Dorgon because of the defeat in the first battle. This sudden defeat made them have no time to carry these heavy weapons, and everyone could not even save their lives. How could they take care of these? So these artillery was recaptured by the Ming army, which was a small gain.

"Sir, Jiannu is defeated now. Should we send troops to pursue them and take them back to Jinzhou?" The generals were already confident and said one after another.

Tang Feng shook his head at this and said, "No, although the Jin army was defeated, their combat power in the wild is still far above our Ming official army. And even if we really can fight, there is no need to pay such great casualties. In addition, Jinzhou City cannot be captured casually. After this failure, Jiannu will definitely defend the deaths and we have no need to sacrifice the lives of the soldiers."

"But... Jinzhou City is very important to me in Liaodong. I am still at the hands of Jiannu. I am afraid the court will blame him." Man Gui hesitated for a moment and said. In fact, he has another plan. Jinzhou was thrown away by him. Of course, I hope he can retake it, otherwise he would have been carrying such a burden in the army.

Tang Feng could also understand his thoughts. After a smile, he said: "General Man Gui doesn't have to worry. We will retake Jinzhou again, it's only a few days later."

"What do you mean by sir?" Seeing Tang Feng's sure look, Man Gui felt at ease, but for a moment he couldn't understand what he meant.

Tang Feng stretched and said, "Don't worry, there will be a split within the Jin people soon. Then they will be unable to take care of themselves, so why will they still guard Ningyuan? Now all we have to do is to have a good rest and rectify the troops. Once the opportunity appears, we will regain everything in Liaodong. Maybe we will gain more benefits this time." After saying this, Tang Feng went back to his residence to rest. The burden that had been weighing on his heart for several days can finally be removed, and he can have a good sleep.

After leading the remaining soldiers to retreat for dozens of miles, Dorgon ordered to stop and count the casualties. After calculation, even a steady man like him was deeply hit. The 80,000 army went to Liaodong, but now there are only more than 30,000 people left, and many of them were injured and were unable to fight again. It seems that Ning Yuan is no longer able to take it anymore.

"I was confused for a moment and asked Tang Feng to plot..." Dorgon sighed deeply: "Mr. Fan, what should we do now?"

"Prince, although the attack on Ningyuan has not been successful, we still have Jinzhou in our hands. The Ming army will definitely not let Jinzhou be controlled by us, so we will retreat to Jinzhou. Perhaps it will not take much time before we can regain the advantage under Jinzhou city."

"It seems that I have to do this now." Dorgon looked at the soldiers behind him who had no fighting spirit and said helplessly.

After two days of traveling back to Jinzhou, the Jin army came out of failure. At least with the protection of the city, they no longer had to worry about the Ming army coming from behind. Dorgon immediately ordered the soldiers to defend the city of Jinzhou. Unfortunately, the best city-guarding equipment in Jinzhou had been taken down by the Jin people and transported to the Jin Kingdom and threw it outside Ningyuan City, which invisibly weakened Jinzhou's defense capabilities.

Although there is no such weapon as artillery to defend the city, Jinzhou City is no longer an easy place to attack. In addition, the Jin people are not good at using artillery, so there is not much reduction in their defense.

But the incident was once again beyond Dorgon's expectations. They were on guard for five days in Jinzhou City, but they didn't even see the shadow of the Ming army. It seemed that the Ming army no longer wanted to take back Jinzhou, which made Dorgon and Fan Wencheng a little confused. Could it be that the Ming army had no confidence in capturing Jinzhou? Or did he have any conspiracy? After seeing Tang Feng's several plans, their impression of this person had become irrelevant to the conspiracy.

Then at the end of June, an envoy who came from the capital and conveyed the meaning of the Khan brought the order that Dorgon and the others wanted to receive the least, asking Dorgon to lead troops back to Shengjing.

Although the news of his defeat was sent to Shengjing, Dorgon did not think that this would cause the Jin court to order his military power to be taken away. After all, victory and defeat were common in military affairs, and the large tracts of land and cities in Jinzhou and the north of him were still in his hands, so why didn't he retreat? But the result was that it became like this, which made Dorgon very unhappy and it was difficult to make a decision, whether to obey the order and retreat or to disobey and continue to stay in Jinzhou.

If he continues to stay here, he may create an excuse for Huang Taiji. He may have cut off his logistics at that time, and he will be dead. But if he goes back, I am afraid that Dorgon's military power may not be able to be preserved, and his life will be in charge by that time. This really makes Dorgon hesitant, but he has to make a decision in a short time.

At this moment, Dorgon's confidants from Shengjing also sent more detailed information. When they saw everything written on it, Dorgon and Fan Wencheng were immediately amazed and crying.

"So that's it. Judging from this situation, all this should be done by Tang Feng." Dorgon smiled bitterly.

"We wanted to deal with him with counter-espionage, but we didn't expect that he would have the same move. Our plan failed, but he used the land to reduce his troops, but his plan was successful. The Khan has always been wary of you, the prince. Now that he has all the rhetoric from the government and the public, he will naturally not let you lead your troops again."

"But I was not convinced. Ning Yuan did not take it down. I would surrender to the Ming people as soon as I left Liaodong. I was killed by so many people under the White Banner. Could it be that way? Also, I know that the fourth brother also used the means to ascend to the Khan throne. Since he could, why can't I?" The series of failed blows made Dorgon lose his usual calmness and asked loudly.

Fan Wencheng pondered for a while, why couldn't he accept this situation? Although he has a great status in the Jin Kingdom now, he is a Han minister after all and is not valued by the powerful people in the court. Only by helping Dorgon ascend to the throne can he truly achieve something. But now, is everything a fantasy?
Chapter completed!