Chapter 296 Kill Hu Ling

Beijing, Forbidden City.

Tang Sheng stepped over the last step and stomped the white marble slabs on the soles of his feet with thick-soled horse boots. The magnificent and magnificent Huangji Hall was fully presented to Tang Sheng. He turned around and the noise outside the Forbidden City was still vaguely heard. It was the tens of thousands of Ming people who survived in the city who were ringing gongs and drums to celebrate the revival of Beijing by the Central Army.

The battle report reached Tang Sheng like a flowing stream.

The inner city, outer city, imperial city and palace city were successively restored. With the cooperation of the Beijing people, the Central Army had wiped out the two thousand Jiannu garrisons stationed in Beijing. Because they hated Jiannu's brutal beastly behavior, the angry Beijing people even peeled and cramped the dead Jiannu and shared their meat. Many Jiannu were smashed into powder.

Tang Sheng withdrew his gaze from the magnificent Huangji Hall and said aloud: "Come."

A personal soldier came forward and responded: "Here."

"Immediately release the pigeon to send a message to the Marquis. Beijing has been restored and the Forbidden City is intact..." Tang Sheng said this, and his tone suddenly turned into a sad tone. He whispered, "In addition, the people in the city suffered a catastrophe, with only more than 30,000 living creatures left. The officials surrendered in prison were also killed and injured, and none of them survived..."

"yes!"

The personal soldiers kicked their legs and saluted them, and took the order.

"well……"

Watching the figures of the personal soldiers leave, Tang Sheng suddenly sighed and said to Shi Lang beside him, "Beijing was the capital of our Ming Empire two years ago. How prosperous and lively Beijing was at that time? Look at it now, it is so depressing. This is what Jiannu, who should have killed thousands of swords, did it!"

Shi Lang also clenched his iron fist and said hatefully: "One day, this bloody debt will be paid back from Jiannu with capital and profit."

Tang Sheng focused his head and said in a stern tone: "Beijing has been restored, and Jiannu is about to collapse. Next, our Central Army will be in power to leave the customs and restore Liaodong. I must ask the Marquis to fight and be the pioneer of leaving the customs this time. I must use Jiannu's blood to commemorate hundreds of thousands of unjust souls in Beijing!"

Shi Lang nodded and said, "General, what should we do next?"

Tang Sheng thought for a while and pondered: "The Marquis has given you only one task, that is, to restore Beijing intact, especially the Forbidden City cannot be destroyed. The mission has been completed. Although the Marquis has not issued a new military order, we cannot just stay idle."

Shi Lang said: "What does the general want?"

"I am thinking..." Tang Sheng said suddenly, "It's better to take the opportunity to restore Shanhaiguan!"

Shi Lang said in a lost voice: "Luan Shanhaiguan?"

"Yes, restore Shanhaiguan." Tang Sheng said in a narrow voice, "Shi Lang, you think that Jiannu and the Tartar soldiers had lost their place in the Central Plains after being defeated in Jining. They would inevitably flee north. According to the current situation, Jiannu and the Tartar soldiers had two ways to go, one was to escape back to Liaodong through Shanhaiguan, and the other was to escape back to the desert through Datong."

Shi Lang nodded and said, "Now Datong and Shanhaiguan are both controlled by Jiannu, which is indeed very likely."

Tang Sheng said again: "According to my general's estimates, Jiannu will likely flee back to Liaodong through Shanhaiguan, while Mongolian Tartars may flee back to the desert through Datong. Datong is now guarded by Wu Sangui. Wu Sangui, the dog traitor, has a Guanning Iron Cavalry, which is very difficult to deal with. With my mixed battalion's strength, it is not enough to deal with, but it is more than enough to deal with a small number of Jiannu at Shanhaiguan."

Before Shi Lang made his statement, Tang Sheng said again: "Shi Lang, you think that as long as we recover Shanhaiguan, we can block Jiannu's neck from running back to Liaodong! If Jiannu wants to take a detour, I don't know how much time it takes to take and how many more detours it takes? It's the middle of winter, and the people in Northern Zhili escaped and died, and the various prefectures are almost blank. Jiannu cannot get supplies at all. When they go back to Liaodong by detour, they don't know how many people will starve to death and freeze to death!"

It must be admitted that Tang Sheng's analysis is very reasonable. If Tang Sheng really stuck the important place in Shanhaiguan, then the more than 10,000 Jiannu led by Duoduo would be in big trouble! Because he was eager to escape, Duoduo's group of Jiannu did not carry too much food, grass and supplies, and each Jiannu only carried dry food with him for more than ten days.

Although there was not much dry food these ten days, it was enough to allow Duoduo's more than 10,000 troops to return to Shanhaiguan alive.

But if Shanhaiguan is lost, Duoduo's more than 10,000 troops would have to take a long way back to Liaodong. In this way, it would take at least ten days of detour. What's even more, Duoduo's more than 10,000 troops would no longer be able to obtain valuable supplies from Shanhaiguan and have eaten up all the dry food, so he could only kill horses to satisfy his hunger. Once the war horses were eaten up, he would have to go hungry!

Shi Lang asked cautiously: "General, should you ask the marquis for instructions?"

"It's too late." Tang Sheng waved his hand and said, "Our carrier pigeons can fly back to Jining, but the carrier pigeons of Jining cannot fly to Beijing. It will take at least several days to send a fast horse to Jining. It is very likely that they will encounter the defeated soldiers of Jiannu. When the Marquis ordered, Jiannu had already passed through Shanhaiguan and fled back to Liaodong."

Shi Lang said: "But after all, there are only 5,000 people in the Miancheng Battalion. It is necessary to restore Shanhaiguan and defend Beijing. It has insufficient troops."

Tang Shengdao: "I will only bring one whistle musket team to you, and Beijing will be left to Shi Lang."

"Ah?" Shi Lang said in a lost voice, "General, you only bring a whistle of a musket team? Isn't this too risky? Shanhaiguan is the world's number one pass! No matter how you say it, you have to bring the red cannons. In addition, the low-ranking navy should also draw at least half of its troops to cooperate with the sea."

"No." Tang Sheng waved his hand and said, "The Red Barbarian cannons are too slow to move, and it is the end of October now. The sea surface and canals may freeze at any time. Your navy is no longer useful. A thousand musketeers say that there are not many more, but there are not many less. Moreover, the Jiannu army gathered in Jining, and there are not many Jiannu guarding Shanhaiguan. I will be confident to take it down in one fell swoop."

Shi Lang said solemnly: "Since the general has decided, I won't say anything more. I wish the general a victory and a great achievement."

"I'll accept your good words." Tang Sheng saluted and said loudly, "No need to delay, I will leave now, and Beijing will ask you."

"Please don't worry, General." Shi Lang said with great confidence, "As long as Shi Lang has a breath, there will be no problems in Beijing."

"No." Tang Sheng said decisively, "You have to do as the Marquis say. Even if you die, there will be no mistakes in Beijing."

"Yes!" Shi Lang shouted, "There will never be any mistakes in Beijing."

Tang Sheng nodded with satisfaction and turned around.

In Liaocheng, the fire in the city has been extinguished by the Henan army. On the surface, Liaocheng has returned to its original appearance.

While sending a large number of raftsmen to wander around the open wilderness, the Red Lady was about to intercept the fleeing Jiannu scattered soldiers. On the other hand, he set up a trap in Liaocheng and let some of the rebel soldiers change into Jiannu's Magu Qiao Zhuang to guard the city, waiting for the defeated Jiannu and the remaining Tartar soldiers to come to the trap.

Jining had more than 500 miles to Liaocheng. Three days after Jiannu was defeated by Jining, a small group of Jiannu and Tartars fled to the south of Liaocheng. Before these defeated soldiers approached Liaocheng, Youge's cavalry in the surrounding wastelands killed them like ghosts, shooting these scattered soldiers and brave men one by one, and then annihilated the corpses and destroyed them.

After about half a day, a large-scale defeated soldier finally fled outside the south gate of Liaocheng.

The monk Zhang, Jing Maocheng and Li Hu and other Li family members stood on the top of the city and looked out, and saw that the southern gate were covered with Jiannu and Tartars, with at least more than 5,000 people!

"Good." Jing Maocheng licked his lips excitedly and said in a cold voice, "There are at least five thousand people!"

"What are you waiting for?" Li Hu said in a deep voice, "Immediately open the city gate and put them into the urn city!"

Although Hongniang had already become suspicious of Li Hu, Hongniang did not attack Li Hu before there was no definite evidence. Until now, Li Hu is still the second-ranking figure in the Henan army, and his status is far above Jing Maocheng and Monk Zhang. With Li Hu's order, Qiao Zhuang and Jiannu's Henan army immediately put down the suspension bridge and opened the city gate.

The Jiannu outside the city was already panicked, and they did not notice anything abnormal in Liaocheng.

At this time, the defeated soldiers just wanted to escape into the city quickly and have a good meal, then have a good sleep, and then flee north after dawn tomorrow. Seeing that the city gate had been opened, the defeated soldiers immediately rushed forward like a swarm. In order to take the lead, several strong Jiannu drew their swords and chopped over several Mongolian Tartars.

There was a continuous noise outside the city gate, accompanied by anger and wailing sounds before the death of anger, and there were even the sound of metal and iron clashes with weapons and swords. More than 5,000 defeated soldiers crowded together like crazy... The scene was as chaotic as the railway station in Guangzhou hundreds of years later.

These poor Jiannu and the defeated Tartar soldiers did not know that they were stepping into the trap set by the Red Lady step by step, and were stepping towards death step by step.

In less than a meal, more than 3,000 defeated soldiers had already entered the city gate. The defeated soldiers who passed through the city gate realized that the inner gate of the city was actually closed. No matter how they smashed the gate, they roared and shouted, the city gate was still closed. Many defeated soldiers had realized the danger and tried desperately to escape from the city, but how could they still be allowed to do so? Because the defeated soldiers outside the city gate were squeezing inside like a tide.

"Gagaha...boom!"

In the chaos of Jiannu and the Tartars defeated soldiers, the high-hanging Qianjin Gate suddenly fell heavily, and the connection between the urn city and the outside world was cut off. More than 3,000 defeated soldiers who had already entered the city gate were immediately closed inside the urn city, while more than 1,000 defeated soldiers who had not entered the city were still crowded outside the suspension bridge and the city gate hole, and were shouting angrily on the top of the city.

Suddenly, teams of indifferent archers emerged from behind the balustrades around the city. Countless cold clusters of arrows were aimed at the defeated soldiers crowded in the city. The next moment, countless sharp arrows poured down like dense rainstorms. The crowds of defeated soldiers could not find any cover at all. They could not even squat down and use their companions' bodies as shields. They could only watch the sharp arrows shot towards their foreheads like lightning...

The next moment, endless screams surged into the sky, and the defeated soldiers crowded outside the city gate were shocked when they heard the sound. They realized that something was wrong, but before they could have time to rejoice, and before they could turn around and escape, the rumbling sound of iron hooves had already sounded from the wilderness outside the city. Looking back, the black cavalry had emerged from the horizon, sweeping over like a storm...

In front of the cavalry formation, Hong Niang was riding his horse: "Kill all Jiannu and the Tartars, and no one is allowed to be let go!"

"Kill kill..."

The cavalry soldiers behind Hongniang shouted wildly, holding up sharp sabers to destroy the war horses, one by one, like evil wolf smelling the smell of flesh, revealing their hideous fangs.

Jining, the temporary governor.

Liu Rushi entered Wang Pu's signing room with a document.

Wang Pu, who was closing his eyes to rest, heard the movement and looked slightly. Seeing that it was Liu Rushi, he couldn't help but ask happily: "Have the General Staff already formulated the subsequent combat plan?"

Liu Rushi nodded and handed the documents in his hand to Wang Pu.

After reading it in a hurry, Wang Pu couldn't help but frown and said, "Isn't it appropriate to take advantage of the situation to restore Liaodong and Shanxi?"

"Yes." Liu Rushi's beautiful eyes were focused on Wang Pu's frown and said softly, "Although I also want to restore Liaodong and Shanxi as soon as possible, after careful discussion by the General Staff, it was unanimous that it was not the time. First, the Central Army lacked troops and the main force would inevitably be empty after going out to fight. Second, the Central Army relies heavily on logistics. Before the situation in Northern Zhili is stable, it is not advisable to continue to attack Shanxi or Liaodong, otherwise it is very likely that the enemy will cut the logistics supply line and fall into trouble."

Wang Pu nodded gently. This was indeed the case, even more serious than what Liu Rushi said.

There is indeed a great risk to continue attacking Shanxi and Liaodong before the situation in Northern Zhili has not stabilized. The Central Army of the Ming Dynasty fought against Jiannu in Shandong in Shandong, and the logistics support was relatively easy, but it was not the case when it crossed Beijing's expedition to Shanxi or Liaodong. At that time, the Central Army's logistics supply line would be thousands of miles long. If there is any error in any link in the middle, it may affect the overall situation, causing the Central Army to fall into a desperate situation that will never be restored!

Therefore, the wisest way is to first stabilize the situation in Northern Zhili, move the displaced people back to the prefectures of Northern Zhili, then resume production, and then build an arsenal in Beijing. When will Northern Zhili provide sufficient food and arms, and when will the Central Army be able to fight against Shanxi or Liaodong.

"Since that's the case..." Wang Pu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The General Staff may wish to discuss how to stabilize the situation in Northern Zhili and restore production in Northern Zhili."

Liu Rushi said: "Marty, the General Staff has discussed it."

"Oh?" Wang Pu said happily, "Is there any conclusion?"

Liu Rushi said: "There are two main things: one is to encourage farming, and the other is to issue the order to kill Hu."

Wang Pu's eyes narrowed and he said sternly: "Kill Hu Ling!?"
Chapter completed!