Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Superior Art of War

The heavy snow is still falling like a torrent, still beating the ground like a chain, and still covering the mountains, forests and plains layer after layer like white foam, but in the middle of the night, not only the flesh and blood left on the battlefield All the broken halberds and broken flags were covered by white snow, and all the mess and fragments disappeared without a trace, even the cruel atmosphere disappeared. The ground was filled with silvery white snow light, and what appeared was peace and tranquility. After dawn, the golden threads shot out by the sun shine brightly on the branches wrapped in silver buds that have accumulated white snow all night. Then, the white snow on the branches slowly melts into water, slowly drips, and slowly returns to the branches. The dark brown color and the wonderful scene of "hanging trees" are somewhat blurred and illusory in the beauty, making the whole mountain forest look like an unreal illusion.

The East Route Army led by Liu Ting set off from Kuandian on February 25, arrived at Liangmadian, joined forces with 13,000 North Korean troops led by Marshal Jiang Hongli and Jin Jingrui, and attacked Hebei together. Tuala. This road is the most dangerous and difficult to walk among the four roads. It has to cross steep mountains and ford rivers; and the reason why Yang Gao was assigned to lead this army is due to Liu Ting's personal factors. Great reason. He is the son of a famous father—his father, Liu Xian, was very famous, so he took over the post of commander since he was a boy; He often made great achievements on the battlefield, and his reputation spread far and wide; but because of this, he developed a habit of arrogance. Although his achievements were high, his popularity was not good, and his official career was frustrated several times.

The largest battles he participated in were aiding North Korea and Pingbozhou. He killed a lot of enemies, made great achievements in battle, and was promoted. However, because of his arrogant nature, he was impeached several times and lost his official position and returned to his hometown. ; This time, the recovery was actually because there was no general available in the court, and he was appointed "as a last resort"; however, more than half of his colleagues rejected him, and Yang Gao also had a dislike for him, so he was assigned to him. He was assigned the most difficult road, and the troops and equipment assigned to him were also the worst among the four routes, and he was required to join forces and act together with the unfamiliar North Korean army; , It was Shu soldiers who led many times to participate in the war, but this time 20,000 Shu soldiers were recruited to Liaodong, but because of the long journey, they missed the division period, waited left and right, and always disappeared until the day of departure approached. Yang Gao kept urging him to fight and repeatedly forced him to go, so he had no choice but to give up waiting for the Shu soldiers and lead such a strange and extremely unsatisfactory team on the road.

However, on the day of departure, the weather was even more unfavorable - a heavy snowstorm blew all over the sky, which not only broke the military flag during the swearing-in ceremony, but also made the soldiers unable to open their eyes, and the mountain road was completely covered by wind and snow. Indistinguishable— In this way, the three aspects of heaven, earth, and people brought him unfavorable disadvantages, which made him feel very difficult; on February 27, the team crossed the Hengjiang River and the Yaer River, and suffered a lot. After barely passing through, the whole army was exhausted on the way to Dede, and the rations they brought were almost exhausted.

And the next journey was even more difficult - after entering the Jurchen Realm, the road was full of huge rocks and trees blocking the road, and the wood was newly felled. Obviously, Nurhachi specially sent people to cut down the trees and push the stones as roadblocks; There were three places in a row, criss-crossing valleys, and men and horses were not allowed to pass through; he had to order the soldiers to work together to push wood and stones to open the road again; finally the road was cleared, and the march could continue, but when they arrived at Niu Mao Village, there was no food left.

However, Nurhaci had already evacuated the thirty or so original households in the area of ​​Niu Mao Zhai, and all the houses had been burned down, not even half a grain of rice left. He gritted his teeth with hatred: "This slave chief, where did he learn the trick of 'strengthening the wall and clearing the wild'? It's really abominable..." He has a reputation for martial arts and bravery, but he is trapped in the wilderness with no food, and he can't use his strength; the soldiers have to hunt animals for food, and the journey is delayed again and again. The team only advanced sixty miles-on March 2, he led his army to Hunhe River.

But the trip was already delayed, and the communication with the other armies was also interrupted—not only did he not know the news of the defeat of Juniper and Marin, but he also didn’t know that Li Rubai, who was scheduled to set off from the south road, had no news of leading the army forward— —And, as soon as he arrived at Hunhe, he encountered a war. It was a post-golden cavalry of about 400 to 500 people, as if they were on a reconnaissance mission, walking slowly along the snowy field, and stopped and stopped to observe the surrounding terrain; as soon as he got the report, he smiled Said to the left and right: "There are only four or five hundred people, don't they come to die?"

He immediately decided to go out and invite the fight himself, to make a good start of "winning the flag" - he was born in the general family, and his martial arts skills are extraordinary. Unable to speak, the name of "Liu Dadao" spread like wildfire; he himself also likes to show off his unparalleled arm strength and saber skills, as soon as he goes into battle, he shines like a show, and every time he sees the enemy Dumbfounded, he dodged and fled around knowing that he was invincible. This time, since he was excited, of course he "repeats the old tricks", taking the lead in the battle and wielding his sword.

Sure enough, the four or five hundred golden cavalrymen were immediately intimidated. Few dared to stand up to resist his attack, and the whole army could not hold on for a while before fleeing. Liu Ting was very happy, and the sergeants even cheered him up and shouted in unison: "The commander-in-chief wins the flag - smashing the enemy!" He became more and more proud, and immediately ordered: "Quicken the march, and attack Hetuala tomorrow!" The enemy army is so vulnerable, his confidence in victory is even stronger; the only worry that arises in his heart is: "Our army has been late for a few days - Juniper and Marin are probably already preparing to attack the city, The enemy army is so weak, it is very easy to win, I have to speed up my pace, don't let them steal the great merit!"

So he urged the army to advance more and more, and rushed to Abdaligang in one breath; then, he personally stationed in Abdaligang, took charge of the camp, and divided a small group of troops into camp in Fuchagang ten miles away with Korean soldiers. Abu Daligang is only 70 miles away from Hetuala, but it was already dark when we arrived, and we couldn't observe the terrain, so we had to postpone it until dawn. He was originally a general, and he has a good command of the army. His military discipline and efficiency are higher than those of other troops. Of course, camping and other things are carried out quickly and neatly; and his army also has some special formation methods-when marching, Everyone has brought antlers, and when they stop, they pile up the antlers to form a fence, which can be used as a protection at night or as a screen on the battlefield; and it can be completed in a short time, saving The toil of the sergeant's fence.

That night, he rested in the antler fence to let the soldiers recharge their batteries—unexpectedly, when the time of Haishi was approaching, a gap was opened in the antler fence and several Ming troops were welcomed in—he He heard someone report that Juniper sent someone to discuss the siege of the city; of course he ordered to welcome these soldiers under Juniper's command. "Marshal Du ordered me to say hello to Marshal Liu..." The leader of the sergeants was extremely eloquent, and his words were very pleasant. He saluted and declared his name as "Zhang Biao", and then said: "Marshal Du just got to report. Marshal Liu's army has arrived. We want you to Please come to pay your respects first; Marshal Du has to stay in the camp, so he cannot leave without authorization, so we will only meet you tomorrow morning..." Liu Ting laughed when he heard that: "Marshal Du is too polite—I'll send someone over to visit him tomorrow morning too!" Zhang Biao said: "Our army camped on Tiebei Mountain, about 50 miles away from Hetuala - Marshal Du is scheduled to send troops to attack Hetuala tomorrow, and he wants to ask Marshal Liu to send troops at the same time to capture Hetuala together; Marshal Du said that the two The chances of winning are even higher if the army joins forces, please Grand Marshal Liu to do it!" Having said that, Liu Ting became more and more happy, and forgot all the unpleasant things about the quarrel with Juniper; he nodded again and again: "Of course, of course—Master Jinglue's original order was that all armies should attack together !" On the one hand, he asked: "Where is Marshal Ma?" Zhang Biao replied: "Marshal Du sent other people to the camp of Marshal Ma and Marshal Li, and they will be here by now!" Liu Ting thought to himself: "It sounds like he hasn't dispatched the three armies yet—I think he didn't dare to attack rashly, and has to wait for the four forces to attack—but it's great that they didn't take the lead!" So he agreed: "Send troops early tomorrow morning, pull out the camp at Maoshi, and attack at Chenshi!" After finishing speaking, another thought suddenly occurred to him, and he asked, "Why doesn't Marshal Du send a bulletin?" Zhang Biao replied: "Marshal Du is in a hurry to arrange for tomorrow's joint attack, so he asked me to report first; in the dark night, the camp is set up in the mountains, and it is extremely inconvenient to send battles. We have to wait for dawn before launching the cannons to report! " For this reason, Liu Ting accepted: "Tomorrow morning, I will listen to the sound of cannons and cooperate with Marshal Du to attack together!" Zhang Biao also bowed and said goodbye: "Resign, little one—go back and report to Marshal Du!" He went back to the Huangtaiji camp in ambush on Abdaligang, reported the situation in detail, and explained: "Originally, a cannon was sent three miles between the two armies as a signal; ..." Huang Taiji smiled: "What's the difficulty?" The Juniper and Marin army captured by Hou Jin had many artillery pieces, and many of the soldiers who were responsible for firing the artillery pieces were also captured: "Choose a few and fire some artillery pieces for 'Dashuai Liu' to listen to!" Zhang Biao was originally a soldier of the Juniper Army, who was in charge of artillery, he knew very well—— At dawn, everything was ready. Liu Ting's army pulled out the camp at Mao Shi, and at 3:00 Mao Shi, the sound of cannons rang out three times in a row in the far northeast; when Liu Ting heard this, he cried out in his heart, "Junipong set off at a quarter earlier than me..." So he personally commanded and ordered the army to march quickly; his adopted son Liu Zhaosun served as the vanguard, leading a thousand elite cavalry first, and he personally led the army to follow, and they set off before Chen Shi. However, as soon as I went to Abdaligang, difficulties followed. Abu Daligang has undulating mountains, many peaks, high and steep mountains, and the mountain roads are narrow and rugged. Path; Liu Ting had no choice but to follow the situation, ordering men and horses to advance in single file, climbing over hills and hills, so the whole army suddenly crawled like a thin long snake. At the end of the hour, when the time of Si was approaching, the front team had already entered the mountainside, and the rear team was just about to start up the mountain, when another cannon sound came. Liu Ting was even more anxious: "About Juniper started attacking the city..." How do you know, everything is wrong! The sound of the cannon was the signal of the Houjin Army—with the sound of the cannon, the Eight Banners force that had already ambushed in the hills immediately came out. In an instant, the color of the wind and snow changed—— Nurhaci's strategy was to lure the enemy deep, and then Daishan would lead the left-wing two-banner army to attack from the open field in front of Gang Pass, Huang Taiji would lead the right-wing two-banner army to rush down from the mountain, and Amin and Mang Gurtai would lead the blue-banner army to attack. The army lay in ambush in the south valley of the hill, and waited for Liu Ting's army to intercept halfway through. Amin attacked the rear half, and Mang Gurtai attacked the front half-the long snake of Liu Ting's army formed a head, a tail, In the situation where the chest and abdomen were attacked at the same time, the Hou Jin army swept the entire hill like a flood, cutting off all the ways of life. And Liu Ting's personal martial arts are indeed superhumanly brave. Seeing that the situation is over, he has fallen into the rain of golden swords, guns and arrows all over the mountains and valleys. The silver light of the blade and the blood light flashed together, screaming and screaming, and wanted to go through the mountains and forests; he was shot in the left arm, and he refused to stop; his right arm was also injured, and he still swung the knife to kill the enemy—— Time flies, and he lasted until it was dark, and there were not many confidantes around him, and more than 10,000 soldiers died, surrendered, and no one went to battle; Chi, shouted sharply, and swung his big knife to fight again. After a few rounds, his big knife swept down several Houjin soldiers, and he was also stabbed in the face, half of his cheek was cut off, and his whole body was stained with blood. But he still wielded his sword to wipe out the enemy, and fell down after killing dozens of people. The few remaining generals rushed to him with all their strength, and the brave Liu Zhaosun carried his body on his back, swiping his knife to fight for the way, but after all, he was outnumbered—— On the second day, the Hou Jin army, who were chasing after the victory, rushed to camp in the North Korean barracks in Fucha; Entering your own camp, you can't stand the charge of the Houjin soldiers, and they all surrendered in a short time.

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