Warfare costs money. Therefore, if there's an opportunity, we must use war to sustain war. The mountains and plains are covered with warhorses, weapons, and armor; abandoning them would be a devastating loss. As for the Jianzhou Guard, there's no rush. The fierce battle just now, though brief, consumed far more ammunition than expected for the artillery battalion. Our current ammunition reserves can only sustain one more round of fighting of this magnitude. Our foundation is too weak; our reserves are far from sufficient.
"Every warhorse, if alive, must be driven back; if dead, cut off its legs and meat to eat. Every piece of armor must be stripped off, and every knife and every piece of iron must be collected. These things will become your equipment in the future. If you don't want your armor to be missing a piece of iron in the future, keep your eyes wide open and search carefully."
Shen Lian's voice roared across the battlefield. Learning from Lu Xuan, he was increasingly resembling a tough, disciplined military officer. As one of the protagonists of Destiny, his potential was definitely not to be underestimated.
The battle lasted an hour, and clearing the battlefield took most of the day. It wasn't until nightfall that the cleanup was finally complete. The army immediately set up camp on the spot, with scouts deployed to maintain order.
As night fell, a cavalry regiment sped toward the main camp.
"Reporting, Zhao Jingzhong of the Vanguard Battalion requests an audience."
"Looks like we've made a catch. I wonder who we caught. Let him in."
"Reporting to Your Excellency, Jingzhong has fulfilled his mission and captured Dorgon, the Fourth Prince of the Qing Dynasty, alive." With that, he waved his hand, and two soldiers behind him dragged a disheveled Qing general in.
Dorgon was a very famous figure in later generations. Lu Xuan didn't remember much about him, but he knew that this guy had once been the regent of the Qing Dynasty. After Nurhaci's death, Daišan ascended to the throne, and the original Fourth Beile, Huang Taiji, was promoted to Third Beile. Dorgon also rose to power and became the Fourth Beile. This was equivalent to a powerful prince in the Central Plains dynasty. This status was undeniably high.
"Good..." Lu Xuan was overjoyed. He hadn't expected Zhao Jingzhong to catch such a big fish. With this, the Qing emperor and the Fourth Prince were both in his hands. By Ming standards, this was another 'great victory'...
"Jingzhong, you've worked hard. I'll remember your merit in capturing the Fourth Prince alive. After this battle, you will be promoted to Commander of Jinzhou Guard."
"Thank you, sir!" Zhao Jingzhong was overjoyed. His six months of risking his life had finally paid off; he had finally secured the position of commander. It's important to understand that the garrisons around Liaoyang were different from the others.
Normally, a garrison would be garrisoned by a general. However, all the garrisons around Liaoyang were under the command of General Lu Xuan. Therefore, the commander was essentially equivalent to the general of the other garrisons. This is why some people call Lu Xuan half the Liaodong military governor—because, in essence, he truly deserved the title.
Tielingwei in northeastern Liaoning. At this time, the Qing dynasty had completely emptied Tielingwei's reserves. The soldiers and civilians within the city had been driven out, prepared to return to their homes as slaves. Just then, a blood-soaked cavalryman suddenly charged forward.
Before he could finish speaking, the knight fell headfirst off his horse.
It took a full half hour for Grand Prince Amin to learn what had happened. His Majesty had been defeated!
The Ming army's firearms rained down like a storm, their generals were like demons descending from the heavens, unstoppable, Daishan had been captured alive... Amin nearly fainted. It wasn't because of Daishan himself, but because of the more than ten thousand elite warriors under his command. With the emperor captured, the fate of those ten thousand warriors was naturally grim. This was a devastating blow to the Qing Dynasty.
Looking at the tens of thousands of Han soldiers and civilians captured before him, Amin suddenly felt that these tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, plus the city's reserves, weren't so appealing after all. Most importantly, he was now caught in a dilemma. The emperor had been captured—should he rescue him or not?
As the Grand Prince, he naturally had no intention of rescuing him. Frankly speaking, if Nurhaci were in trouble, he would have immediately raised troops to his aid. But Daišan, an emperor who had only been on the throne for eleven days, hadn't truly won his loyalty. However, not rescuing him wasn't an option either.
"What? His Majesty has been captured? Then I will immediately send troops to rescue him." The speaker was the Second Prince Mangultai, the source of Amin's dilemma. Because Mangultai was Daishan's man.
Daišan, of course, couldn't truly abandon everything and go to attack Shenyang on his own. Of the four great beile, the fourth was taken away by him. The eldest was Amin, and the third was Huang Taiji. Both of them were somewhat subtly compliant to Daišan. However, the second son, Mangultai, was a genuine supporter of Daišan.
This guy is a simple-minded brute. I don't know what conditions Daishan used to persuade him to become Daishan's loyal follower. He's staying here essentially to keep me and Huang Taiji in check. Now that he's said he'll send troops to rescue us, if I don't act, this brute might turn on me on the spot.
The most frustrating thing about this kind of brute is that you can't reason with him... Thinking of this, Amin could only say helplessly.
"His Majesty has been attacked. We have an inescapable duty to raise troops immediately to rescue him."
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Chapter 149 How Much is an Emperor Worth? (Please Subscribe)
The next day, Lu Xuan did not set off immediately but stayed to rest. He had no intention of annihilating the Qing Dynasty in one fell swoop. These ten thousand men were his core strength, and he naturally couldn't afford to lose them all in a single battle. He had already captured the Qing emperor; giving him 70% of this year's Liaodong military pay wouldn't be unreasonable. Lu Xuan had achieved his basic objective, so he planned to coast along from then on.
However, around noon, a scout came to report. He brought a battle report from the Tielingwei line.
"They're heading this way? That can't be right. Didn't Li Rubai gather 80,000 or 90,000 men to reinforce Tielingwei? They've already lost?" Lu Xuan was a little puzzled.
"Uh... well... it's not that we were defeated. Before I came back to report, Lord Li's troops hadn't even arrived yet."
Lu Xuan: "...So, I walked too fast? Is that it?" He turned to Shen Lian and Lu Wenzhao, who both looked equally exasperated. The Ming army was truly...
After being dumbfounded for a while, Lu Xuan finally gave the order.
"The entire army is to set off to join Lord Li. We have suffered heavy losses after a night of fierce fighting. Naturally, we need to ask our comrades for help. Our battle ends here; the rest is up to them."
Li Rubai's army was still sixty li away from Tielingwei. They still didn't know the situation in Tielingwei. Even though they had learned from the lessons of the previous battle, the Ming scouts could only spread out to about ten li.
However, at this time, Li Rubai encountered soldiers and civilians who had escaped from Tielingwei.
"The Qing army has left? Which direction did they go?"
After a long time, Li Rubai roughly understood the Qing army's movements.
"They must have gone to General Lu's route."
"In that case, sir, we must proceed with even greater caution. General Lu has a strong and well-equipped army under his command; surely he won't mind if we wait a little longer?"
Li Rubai's heart stirred, and seeing that the other generals also had the same expression, he immediately sighed.
To be honest, he genuinely wanted to win a battle. Born into the Li family, he still had some sense of shame deep down; otherwise, history wouldn't have deviated from that path and committed suicide. In the Battle of Sarhu, he was essentially a bystander, relying entirely on Lu Xuan to save the day. This time, he truly wanted to win.
Moreover, as the Liaodong military commissioner, he knew quite a bit about Lu Xuan, knowing that Lu Xuan had a truly powerful army at his side. With that powerful army behind him, the chances of victory were naturally greater. The fact that the Qing army was now making a large-scale withdrawal indicated that Lu Xuan had gained the upper hand. Even with his limited military knowledge, he knew this. If he could successfully contain the Qing army at this moment, allowing Lu Xuan to win, and then encircle the Qing forces, it would naturally be a resounding victory.
Unfortunately, these regional generals didn't seem to think that way. They just wanted to see Lu Xuan and the Qing army fight to the death, then reap the benefits.
The Ming army slowly changed direction, leisurely advancing towards Lu Xuan's line. However, to the generals' dismay, after only half a day's march, they unexpectedly encountered Lu Xuan's army?!
"General Lu, you volunteered to take the northern route. Why are you here? Are you perhaps trying to avoid battle?" A general immediately challenged Lu Xuan upon seeing him.
"Now that the battle is over, of course I have to come back to report."
"Nonsense! What do you mean the war is over? Tens of thousands of Qing troops are attacking, how can the war be over?"
With a casual gesture, Lu Xuan sent Zhao Jingzhong, dragging Daishan and Dorgon, directly to the front of the two armies.
"I've captured the Qing emperor and the Fourth Prince alive. There are no more Qing troops on my side. What? Weren't we at war with the Qing? I've brought the emperor back, and you're still not satisfied?"