"Okay, okay, okay," Guo Zhen quickly agreed. Meanwhile, Lu Wenzhao and Shen Lian subtly took a few steps back. They couldn't help it; the scene was simply too unsettling.
"I regret to inform you that, of the three of you, two will end up like him. But one will escape unscathed. Whoever gives me enough information will be able to avoid that situation. Time is limited, so let's begin."
After Lu Xuan finished speaking, he reached out and untied the gag from the first Tartar's mouth.
"I know, I know. Twenty miles north of here is the main camp. With the army setting off, there are less than five hundred men left to guard the camp, but there is still a large amount of grain and horses stored there." In one breath, the Tartar revealed everything about his main camp.
"Getting it right," Lu Xuan replied with satisfaction, then gagged the second Tartar.
“You heard that, your colleague told me something that interests me. If yours doesn’t pique my interest more, then I’m going to get started.” With that, Lu Xuan raised his gun.
"No, no, I know more. There are hundreds of sentries around the main camp. You can't get through at all. Ten miles east of here, there is another camp similar to ours. The number of people is about the same. And that camp will also hold some prisoners."
"Wow. Not bad, I'm interested too. Okay, now the pressure is on you. I don't think you have any better news to share. How about we just leave it at that? Let's save some time." Lu Xuan said, brandishing a knife, preparing for manual castration.
The Tartar on the ground was writhing and whimpering, as if he had something to say.
“Brother Lu, he seems to have something to say. Why don’t we listen to him?” Guo Zhen stepped forward at the opportune moment to play the straight man.
"Okay, let's make this clear first. Don't waste my time."
“I am Amba Beile’s nephew, and I know more. My uncle is currently in the central region, leading a large army, preparing to join His Majesty.”
"Nurhaci? Where is he?" Lu Xuan immediately perked up. Killing these Tartars was pointless. But Nurhaci was a different story.
"His Majesty should be currently in the Shangjian Cliff area, blocking Marin's advance." This guy, a gilded nobleman from the Later Jin dynasty, actually knew quite a bit of secret information. This shows that no matter the race, there will always be such privileged classes. Even if the Later Jin dynasty promoted universal conscription, there were still nobles who just coasted along.
The battlefield beneath Lu Xuan's feet was Du Song's western army. However, it had been completely annihilated. Even Du Song himself had lost his head. To be honest, Du Song was brave but lacked strategy. But at least he had fought a direct confrontation. However, he had encountered the main force of the Tartars led by Anba Beile. The two sides were not evenly matched.
In reality, choosing the northeastern mountainous region as the setting for the entire Battle of Sarhu was utterly absurd. Even by later standards, that area was a desolate wilderness with no cell phone signal. To engage in open warfare with wild boar hide there was simply idiotic.
Li Rubai's group got lost less than a day after leaving the camp. They didn't even know where they were. And they still want to fight?
According to Lu Xuan's memory, after Anba Beile completely annihilated Du Song's force, he should have immediately headed north to concentrate his forces and then wipe out Ma Lin's force. At this time, Nurhaci should have personally led an elite cavalry force to intercept Ma Lin. After defeating Du Song, Anba Beile would then rush to join him. At Shangjian Cliff, they would then completely annihilate Ma Lin's forces. Therefore, all things considered, what this guy said should be true.
Furthermore, like Du Song, Marin was also utterly defeated on the main battlefield. In a sense, he and Du Song strictly implemented Yang Gao's tactics, leading their troops to confront the main force of the Later Jin. Although both suffered crushing defeats, they both died on the battlefield (Marin survived this battle, but was killed by Nurhaci a few months later), making it impossible to discuss their merits and demerits.
The key is the later record in the "Ming Shilu". The news of Du Song's complete annihilation reached Ma Lin's army that night, causing panic among the soldiers. The commander-in-chief led his troops to retreat, but only the supervising civil official Pan Zongyan and others stepped forward to fight the enemy and died after a fierce battle.
What it means is that Marin, fearing defeat before the battle even began, led his troops in retreat, thus missing a crucial opportunity. Only the supervising civil official, Pan Zongyan, fought bravely and ultimately died on the battlefield.
However, something interesting happens. The Qing dynasty's official archives offer a completely different account of this battle. Their record states that Marin led an army of 40,000 (this is an exaggeration; at most 30,000) and fought the Qing army for an entire day. Only at dusk did they completely collapse and retreat. The valiant civil official, Pan Zongyan, died from an arrow wound in the back...
However, thinking about this, Lu Xuan thought of another problem.
"Judging by the time, Anba Beile has only just joined forces with Nurhaci. So how do you know that the northern route is led by General Malin?"
Lu Xuan was speaking to the nephew of Ambani Beile on the ground. It wasn't surprising that he knew about the Later Jin's movements. But how did he know about the Ming army's movements? In an era without telephones, how could he know who the commander of the Ming army's northern route was, and where he was, even though they were a day apart?
"Uh, everyone knows that."
Lu Xuan: "...The Ming army has been infiltrated to this extent?" At this moment, Guo Zhen behind him spoke up with an embarrassed look.
"Brother Lu, this matter may be because, before the war, Lord Yang Gao, the military commissioner of Liaodong, wrote down the Ming army's tactical arrangements in a letter to Nurhaci in order to deter the Later Jin."
Lu Xuan: "????......!!!!"
Forgive my inadequacy of words; I simply cannot describe that feeling. You all understand.
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Chapter 111 Isn't this easy?
Lu Xuan spent all his cultivation to finally suppress the urge to kill Yang Gao right now. He now had a more important target: Nurhaci.
“A map,” he called out. Lu Wenzhao, who was standing nearby, immediately took out a map that had been searched from the camp.
Lu Xuan quickly located Shangjian Cliff.
"Nurhaci should be in this area now. Judging by the time, Marin's group is probably about to collapse as well."
“Brother Lu. General Ma has tens of thousands of elite troops under his command, it's unlikely that…” Guo Zhen weakly tried to refute.
“Du Song is no different,” Lu Xuan retorted without hesitation, completely shutting down Guo Zhen. Anba Beile alone had annihilated tens of thousands of Du Song's men. Shangjian Cliff, on the other hand, was a joint effort between Anba Beile and Nurhaci. This was truly a difficult situation for Ma Lin. Moreover, Ma Lin likely had a civil official supervising him. If they could win, they would be on par with the civil officials of the Han and Tang dynasties.
“Brother Lu, there are nearly 100,000 people fighting there right now. It might be possible for the four of us to ambush a small group of Later Jin troops, but I'm afraid it won't change the overall situation.” Lu Wenzhao was now familiar with Lu Xuan's temperament. As long as you went along with him and did your best, this 'hunter' was quite easy to talk to.
“We really can’t change the course of this battle. But I still want to try. Let’s bypass Shangjian Cliff and go to Hetu Ala.”
"...That's the capital of the Later Jin. Even if it's poorly defended, it's not something the four of us can handle." Shen Lian and Lu Wenzhao felt they couldn't keep up with Lu Xuan's train of thought.
"I'm not going to attack the capital. I'm going to ambush them on the way."
"??? No, Brother Lu. You..." Lu Wenzhao was about to speak when he realized there were too many things to say, and he didn't know how to put it. It was Shen Lian beside him who came to his rescue.
"Brother Lu, do you think Nurhaci will return to defend?"
"That's right. Even though the Ming army seems weak now, Nurhaci certainly wouldn't have had an easy time before the battle started. The Later Jin has also mobilized all its forces for this battle, leaving the capital's defenses weak. If a Ming army were to launch a surprise attack on the capital at this time, all of the Later Jin's previous victories would have been for nothing."
Therefore, after defeating Malin, the overall situation was settled. Nurhaci would definitely return to defend the capital, leaving the remaining battle to Anba Beile, Hong Taiji, and others.
Historically, it was Nurhaci who returned to defend his homeland, genuinely worried about it being attacked. However, in reality, there was no Ming army attacking the Later Jin's stronghold. The only surviving force, led by Li Rubai, got lost as soon as they set out and fled without even engaging in combat. In a sense, the Ming army achieved a tactical victory. "If I don't have tactics, you can't predict me..."
Lu Xuan's words almost confirmed that Marin was doomed to defeat. Strangely, the other three did not offer any objection. After leaving the battlefield, they observed from an outsider's perspective that the Ming army's defeat was indeed well-deserved.
Whether in terms of military strength or tactical choices, the Ming army was far inferior to the Later Jin. It would be strange if they could win.
"Even so, those who return to defend will surely lead their elite troops. How should we ambush them?"