Chapter 45 9.All in all

It is the third day of the decisive battle in Shanhaiguan. This is a crucial day that determines the direction of Chinese history. It is like a big gamble. To turn a new page in history, Wu Sangui won, and the country of the Han people fell into the hands of the Manchus. It was still early in the morning, and the Dashun army had already had breakfast. After a night's rest, these people had regained their strength and were eager to try.After everyone had fed their horses and rearranged their weapons, as soon as they stood in line, hundreds of small cannons in the battalion began to roar.

Here, the Qing-Wu allied forces have already sharpened their knives. Dorgon stood on the tower of Xiguan City, and glanced forward with a smile. In the southwest direction, along the Shihe River, stretching for more than ten miles, the Dashun Army flags and banners were flying, covering the sky and covering the sky. Teams of cavalry were in front, and infantry followed closely behind. Wu is so orderly, his actions are so orderly, with bursts of roars, one wave overwhelms the other, like a sea tide; the Wu army here does not show weakness. A long square formation, waiting for the arrival of the big battle, although their number is smaller than the enemy army, but the banner is as clear, and the soldiers and horses are equally energetic and fearless.

Dorgon stood tall and saw far. Compared with the two, the Dashun army was indeed far superior to the Wu army in terms of momentum and numbers. However, the Wu army survived after all, and they struggled for two days.He couldn't help but think, Wu Sangui is really not simple, and thanks to him he figured out to borrow troops from the Qing Dynasty, if he really trusted him, Li Zicheng might die at his hands. Thinking of this, he couldn't help sending a decree, calling Azig and Duoduo, and giving the opportunity face-to-face again: Without his decree, no one should act rashly. Here Wu Sangui is also thinking, the main force of the Eight Banners Army has entered the pass, they are all tall and tall men from the Northeast, they are dead soldiers who stand up and let me kill you, and I let you kill them, before they were enemies with each other, now they are enemies As a friend, Shanhaiguan joined such a new force out of thin air, and the chances of winning are sure. Now Dorgon is letting us take the lead. He is sitting on the tower to watch the battle. Is this "watching the battle" "watching the capsized ship from the Yellow Crane Tower"?

But I have become a pawn crossing the river, and I would rather be a knife than a fish. Is there any other way out besides fighting to the death? Thinking of this, he had no choice but to turn his gaze forward. The artillery fire of the Dashun Army was no longer as terrifying as yesterday. Even the roars that overshadowed the waves, to their ears, now sounded like the battle of pigs and sheep before they were slaughtered. whining. After three drums, the Dashun army deployed on the west bank of the Shihe River was impatient. Liu Zongmin was even more excited when he saw the whole Wu army going out to face the battle. He cheered up the generals and said:

"Everyone, this kid Wu Sangui doesn't have a lot of thumping. The outcome will be decided today. Let's rush over and wipe him out of the pass. Shanhaiguan is ours." At this time, Li Zicheng also led a group of staff to stand in Gaofu to watch the battle. Encouraged by the sound of drums, all the soldiers roared in unison, and each led their troops to rush over. After reaching the range of the artillery fire, the firearms battalions of the two sides began to shoot at each other, and then the Dashun Army charged under sparse artillery fire.Here Wu Sangui also led all the troops under his command to meet him, and the two armies finally fought.

On the side of the Dashun army, they were already suffocated. With three times the excellent troops of the opponent, they fought hard for days, not only failed to take Xiongguan, but also killed and killed many brothers. This has never been done before. It is a disgrace to them. You should know that they are going on an expedition alone. If they don’t defeat each other, they won’t even be able to defend Beijing. They can only retreat to Chang’an. This ending is terrible for everyone. Today is a critical day. Can they not step forward? Wu Jun's side has also reached the point where it is ready to go, and it must be vented.They had already heard about the actions of the Dashun Army in Beijing; right now, Li Zicheng punished Wu Xiang in front of the entire army. Jian, who had no intention of fighting the Dashun army to the end, also became disappointed with the Dashun army, thinking that Li Zicheng was too cruel, and they had no way out except to fight to the death.Moreover, because there was no way out, those generals who originally had some national consciousness and had a "strict defense against Yi Xia" in their hearts also thought that Wu Sangui's surrender to the Qing Dynasty was understandable.Because of this, even though they were in a dangerous city, at a disadvantage, oppressed by the Dashun army, surrounded and hunted down, forced to fight to death under the city, they were able to share the same hatred and unite as one; now, they understand that there are more than ten people behind them. The Wanshengli army will catch the enemy by surprise at that time. Can they not feel excited and fight with confidence?

Therefore, at the beginning of the war, the two sides fought each other almost with red eyes and with all their strength, no one retreated, and no one gave way to the other. For more than an hour, it was impossible to tell the winner. Li Zicheng was watching the battle in Gaofu. He stared at the battle with one eye open. After two days of fighting, the Wu army had been seriously injured. Unexpectedly, the whole team went out to fight again today. This was unexpected by Li Zicheng.You must know that it is much more difficult to eliminate the enemy who is hiding in the pass and defending against danger than in the field. Therefore, it is really a good opportunity that Wu Jun can come out like today.

The hand-to-hand battle lasted for an entire hour, and his one eye barely blinked, staring at the opponent. Facing a strong enemy, Wu Jun's rectangular formation became a prismatic formation, with long spears holding spears, densely packed in the front line, followed by archers and soldiers holding muskets. The combination of length and length formed an insurmountable obstacle. The Dashun army rushing over from the east bank of the Shihe River, whenever there was a crisis, the people behind would fill in and save the day several times. Facing an enemy that was several times their size, there was no confusion at all.

Li Zicheng couldn't help admiring the opponent, but after all, he was a man who had experienced many battles. After looking at it, he finally saw the sign and found that the opportunity to defeat the opponent had finally come. When parrying, because the east side was tight, the main force moved to save the east side, and the west side actually gave up a large gap, which shielded Xiluo City. Isn't this a good opportunity for a sneak attack?So, he proudly smiled at Song Xiance beside him, and said: "Mr. Song, watch me capture Wu Sangui alive today." As he said that, he sent someone to pass the decree, asking Liu Zongmin to take out his trump card.

Liu Zongmin's so-called trump card is that he still has a mobile force in his hand, which has not yet been sent to the front line. This is the more than 20,000 elite soldiers led by the third-rank general Yuan Zongdi.This is a partial division. The day before yesterday, it was ordered to detour to the stone forest in the west of the Guanxi, but it has not yet been used.Yuan Zong asked for the first battle again, but Liu Zongmin still told him to wait, saying that good steel should be used on the blade.Right now Li Zicheng saw this flaw, and Liu Zongmin also saw it, and understood that if some surprise soldiers pounced on its right flank, they could take the opportunity to disrupt its deployment and destroy the phalanx.

Therefore, without waiting for Li Zicheng to pass the decree, Liu Zongmin had already asked the guards around him to wave a big red flag in his hand, and waved it three times in a row, only to hear a series of roars suddenly sounded in the mountains and forests to the west. , The cavalry all held shining sabers, followed by the infantry, with long red-tasseled spears and broadswords in their hands, all rushed towards the right wing of the Wu army. Wu Jun and the Dashun Army in front of him were fighting inextricably. He didn't want the opponent to have a large number of fresh troops to invest in the critical moment. He punched directly at the waist and was caught off guard. As expected, the formation was disrupted in an instant.The right wing of the Wu army was defended by the deputy general Feng Youwei. They met Liu Fangliang of the Dashun army and entangled each other. He was almost exhausted. Later, he found that there was some confusion in the middle. If he lost, he sent out a part of troops to support the middle road. Unexpectedly, at this moment, Yuan Zongdi rushed over.This Yuan Zongdi is not very old, but he is a veteran, and he is very brave in battle. These days, others are fighting desperately in front, but he is watching the battle in the stone forest. The fat yellow horse drew out its double knives and slapped the horse's buttocks. The fat yellow horse galloped with him, and the 20,000 soldiers behind him also shouted to follow. Wu Jun was caught off guard and was killed. They had to retreat one after another. Seeing this, Liu Zongmin in the middle road could not let go of this great opportunity, immediately jumped on the horse, held a big sword, and personally led the team to attack.Li Zicheng, who was standing in Gaofu, was also excited. I saw him flicking the yellow dragon robe on his body, pushing up his sleeves, and beating the war drum. The soldiers of the Dashun Army who were charging in the storm immediately realized that it was the emperor himself beating the drums. They were immediately excited, and one by one they stepped forward even more desperately, smashing the rock-solid defense line of the Wu army to seven Messy.It was originally a solemn and upright square formation, and if there was a mistake in one place, it would be full of holes. In a blink of an eye, it was like a mulberry leaf bitten by the Dashun army and it was full of holes, and it was about to be out of control. Seeing this situation, Li Zicheng knew in his heart that once Wu Jun was disrupted, he would be divided and surrounded, chasing chickens and ducks, chopping melons and vegetables, so he couldn't help being excited.At this time, although his arms were a little sore, his hands did not relax at all, which made the drum beat even faster.He has decided that this should be his last battle to pacify the world, and by eliminating Wu Sangui, he can pass on the message to secure Jiangnan. From then on, he can be the Emperor of Taiping in Chang'an City. Unexpectedly, just when the victory was in sight, the sky suddenly became cloudy. For two days, the dense fog that lingered on the sea suddenly moved towards the pass. , in front of Shanhaiguan, there was a wind and sand all over the sky. For a while, the eyes of the people and horses were blurred. Li Zicheng, who went to assist in the battle, couldn't see anything for a moment. Dorgon on the city tower also noticed this situation, and couldn't help clasping his hands together, thanking God, this is really as one wishes!He immediately issued an order to order the Eight Banners and the three armed forces assembled in the pass, ready to go, to clamor in unison.This is the roar of 140,000 people at the same time. The roar is like a roaring mountain and a tsunami, rushing to the outside of the pass. The Dashun army in the midst of a fierce battle can't help being shocked when they hear the sound. They think that there are magical soldiers descending from the sky behind the Wu army; Encouragement, the more you fight, the stronger you become. At this moment, it doesn't matter whether you talk about God's will or mythology, but the fact is true, and it is recorded in official history-the Qing soldiers roared three times in a row, and the "wind stopped". Seeing that the wind and haze were about to subside and the dense fog gradually lifted, Dorgon on the city tower smiled, and gave an order, and there was a sudden drum beat immediately above the city, mixed with the sound of conch shells. Blowing conch shells on the battlefield was something that the Dashun Army had never experienced before. The sound of conch shells was loud, one after another, low and sad, coming out of the hazy wind and sand, whimpering, piercing through the clouds and fog, like a Taoist summoning the soul of a wild ghost, Singing joyously like a sea monster reef, mobilizing the homesickness of warriors, untying the battle armor of conscripts... The creepy sound of a conch! Li Zicheng and his staff in the imperial camp were surprised, even Liu Zongmin, who was murderous, was also a little puzzled.Just as they were guessing, they didn't want to think that after the wind and sand, Wu Jun, who was scattered in the fierce battle, suddenly opened up like a wave and gave way to a road. Then, right behind them, it seemed to emerge from the ground, and rushed out of the brigade. Cavalrymen in white helmets and white armor, with pointed red tasseled hats on their heads, and a big braid behind their heads; the team on the left is all white, while the team on the right is also white armor with a red border on it, holding white poles With long spears or broadswords, riding the tall Mongolian horses outside Yishiguan, all of them are tall, brave, and skillful in riding, like a whirlwind, heading straight for the Dashun army.The Dashun Army, which was in the middle of a fierce battle, was caught off guard by their charge, and was killed one after another. Li Zicheng, who was watching the battle in Gaofu, the clouds were clear and the mist was clear, and his one-eyed candle was shining, he immediately realized that the situation was different, he couldn't help being surprised, and blurted out a sentence: "No, sure enough, the braided soldiers came." This conclusion, in fact, should be expected, but it is unexpected.They should have thought that Wu Sangui had been pushed to the edge of a cliff, and surrendering to the Qing Dynasty was his only way out. They should also have thought that it was abnormal for Wu Sangui, who was seriously injured, to take the initiative to fight today.However, the leaders of the proud Dashun Army have only fought against the Ming Army these years. Their detailed operations are only sent to the Ming Army's control area, but they lack an intelligence network for Manchuria. It can be said that they know nothing about the situation in Manchuria. As far as I know, more importantly, they all only want to think about the good, and they don't want to think about the bad.Especially Li Zicheng, he had a fluke in his heart. Although he had already seen that Wu Sangui would definitely surrender, he just wanted to take advantage of a time loophole—to eliminate Wu Sangui before the braided soldiers arrived, and then calmly deal with Manchuria. Tartars, however, a wise man has a lot of worries, and there is bound to be a mistake. This is also God's will! At this time, the drums cheering for the Dashun Army stopped at some point, and even the air seemed to freeze for a moment. Li Zicheng stood there with a drumstick in his hand, like a statue. Song Xiance on the side couldn't help but shook his head and sighed: Here we come, finally here, this is God's will! Zhang Nai was also in a hurry, and hurriedly shouted: "Your Majesty, retreat quickly, send an order to retreat!" However, military planes are not allowed to send.Just when Li Zicheng was reminded that he was about to wave his hand to make an order, the braided soldiers pouring out of the pass were like a flood that had opened the gate, rolling and surging. Soldiers, one team is stronger than the other, and each is fiercer than the other. They are like lunatics, as if entering the land of no one, they will chop everyone they meet. While waving his hands, Li Zicheng shouted loudly: "Retreat, Zhang Nai, quickly convey my will, retreat quickly, retreat quickly!" Liu Zongmin, who was in the front, was still able to hold his breath. After seeing this, he gave the order to die and asked the front team to stand up. But the dashun army, which was turned around in a daze, had already been thrown into chaos by the powerful Eight Banners Corps commanded by Duoduo. In an instant, the host and guest changed positions.Thus, the situation that Li Zicheng was looking forward to chasing chickens and ducks, chopping melons and vegetables finally appeared, but it was just that those who wanted to chop others turned into being chopped by others. At this time, the drums on the city became more urgent, and the whimpering of the conch was like a series of reminders, which made people's hearts shattered.Liu Zongmin ordered to stand a big red flag by his side, and announced loudly that those who had retreated from the red flag would be beheaded. Flying the red flag, they fled desperately from other places. Liu Zongmin was desperate, and suddenly became angry, so he brandished a big knife and patted his horse forward.I saw a young general in white robes with a red tasseled cap on his head rushing from the opposite side, also with a big sword in his hand, Liu Zongmin hurriedly caught the fight, and only fought for two rounds. The spear, like a dragon coming out of a cave, directly aimed at Liu Zongmin's face.Liu Zongmin rushed back to fight with the saber, but the general who held the saber didn't give him the slightest chance, and immediately slashed at Liu Zongmin's shoulder. down.The rotten silver gun in the gunman's hand was like a white snake spitting out a message, and it unceremoniously went straight to Liu Zongmin's throat. Seeing that Liu Zongmin was about to die under the gun, at this moment his confidant Liu Yi and a few people had already arrived. After following up, Liu Yi and one of the guards held up the deadly shot, and two more guards got off their horses to help him up, one with his left arm and the other with his right arm, and dragged him out from the crowd, Liu Yi And another guard desperately resisted. Once Liu Zongmin left, the situation got even worse. Seeing this situation in Gaofu, Li Zicheng knew that the situation was over, he couldn't help but sighed, turned his horse's head and walked back.Behind him were the cavalrymen of the Dashun Army who were desperately fleeing to the west, and they were biting tightly with arrows covering the sky and the sun, and chasing soldiers like a white cloud.Poor tens of thousands of infantry soldiers, the time has come, they all cried for their father and mother, were chased and fled in all directions, and eventually became the ghosts of the Eight Banners soldiers, or the meat under the hooves of the horses. The Eight Banners soldiers led by Duoduo and Azig gave full play to the advantages of the Manchurian iron cavalry. They sat on the carved saddles one by one, galloping freely, slashing and killing with the knives in their hands.All of a sudden, in front of the Shanhaiguan Pass, the mountains ran up to the sea, the tigers roared and the dragons soared, and it became a huge slaughterhouse. In this battle, the cavalry of the Dashun Army lost more than half, and the infantry was completely lost.General Liu Zongmin was stabbed on the shoulder, fortunately he was wearing chain iron armor, but it also penetrated two points deep into the flesh, and the blood stained his shirt red.Dozens of generals including Gao Yigong, Yuan Zongdi, Liu Fangliang, Liu Tichun, etc., were light or heavy, and all of them were wounded. lost.