Chapter 12 Appalling and unbelievable

When Zu Dashou was besieging Jinzhou, Hong Chengchou stationed troops in Ningyuan, hoping to respond to the Tatar offensive with a steady attack. However, due to the locust plague in Hebei and Henan, the bandits reappeared and became more and more powerful. Emperor Chongzhen wanted to make a quick victory in Liaodong so that he could send troops back to suppress the bandits.

So he issued an order to urge him.

Hong Chengchou had no choice but to lead his army out of Ningyuan, with a mighty force of 130,000, running towards Songshan Mountain and looking at Jinzhou in the distance.

Huang Taiji then sent Azige to lead eight thousand troops around Songshan Mountain and rush to Tashan Mountain in order to cut off Hongchengchou's food road and retreat route. Then he personally led five thousand elite cavalry of Zhenghuang Banner and Xianghuang Banner to the outside of Songshan to check the Ming army's strength.

Outside Songshan Fort, there are nearly ten sentry forts and forts on the left and right, standing on the tops of mountains of various sizes to protect Songshan. However, the power of the Ming Dynasty declined, the army suffered repeated defeats, and its morale was broken early. No matter how arrogant Huang Taiji was, he didn't dare to fight against him. Among them, the defenders looked at the slaves in fear, and the wolves ran like wolves and the dolphins jumped out.

Huangtaiji is placed on the top of the mountain, looking down at Songshan Mountain.

At this time, in Songshan Fort, Hong Chengchou was convening his generals to discuss matters.

He was sitting on the main seat, and there were Wu Sangui, Ma Ke, Wang Pu, Hu Dawei and other generals on the left and right of the hall.

Hong Chengchou said: "Jiu Nu is arrogant. Huang Taiji personally led the army to the outside of the fort to spy on our troops. Now that Jinzhou is under siege, General Zu is urgently asking for help, and your Majesty has repeatedly issued orders to urge the war. You are all powerful generals of our Ming Dynasty. I don't know. Do you have any strategies to teach me?"

All the generals know the commander's strategy, which is nothing more than making use of strengths and avoiding weaknesses, and using defense instead of attack. The Ming army was good at defense but not good at field combat. It is a good strategy to use a defensive position to wear down the Tatar army and then slowly attack it.

But the emperor's urging became increasingly urgent, and several imperial edicts were issued. Although Hong Chengchou was the supervisor, there was nothing he could do.

All the generals were well aware of all of these, and when they heard Hong Chengchou speak, they were all silent and unable to respond.

Seeing this, Hong Chengchou sighed in his heart.

If you give him enough time, not to mention defeating the Tatars, at least he can make the Tatars return without success. But the emperor sits high in the Golden Palace, how can he know the hardships on the front line?

However, Hong Chengchou also knew that there was a huge locust plague in Henan and Hebei this year, and thieves had reappeared, so it was understandable that the emperor was anxious.

After all, the only available troops in the Ming Dynasty today are probably the Liaodong army.

But Hong Chengchou knew that although the bandits were powerful, they were mostly a mob. Nowadays, establishing slaves is a serious problem for the imperial court! If we can't defeat the Jiannu slaves, we will just wipe out the bandits, so what's the use?

For this, he could only lament.

Seeing Hong Chengchou's downcast expression, the generals felt the same way although they had their own thoughts. Ma Ke, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan, hesitated for a moment and said, "Huang Taiji only has 5,000 soldiers and horses. How about the army leaves the city and kill them?"

As soon as these words came out, all the generals rolled their eyes.

Wu Sangui said: "Mr. Ma's words are wrong. Although Huang Taiji only has five thousand soldiers and horses, they are all elites and cavalry. They come and go like the wind. They can leave when they want and come when they want."

The rest of the generals also nodded, deeply convinced.

"Maybe we can design a trap to lure them in and encircle them and destroy them?" Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong, thought for a while and said.

"That's ridiculous. How could a person like Huang Taiji be fooled so easily?" Hu Dawei shook his head repeatedly: "This thief is cunning and cunning, and his plans are not successful. If he counts against you, it will be too late to regret it."

You said something to me, it was noisy like a vegetable market, but there was no result.

A hint of helplessness flashed in Hong Chengchou's eyes.

These generals are all veterans, but none of them are bloody, which is really sad. As the commander of such an army, Hong Chengchou could almost foresee his own end.

He patted the armrest of the Grand Master's chair and said seriously: "Everyone, listen to me. The Tatars are fierce and cannot be fought head-on. However, His Majesty issued an order to urge the day, and General Jinzhou has been besieged for nearly a month, and all his food and arrows have been exhausted. They are right in front of us and have to be rescued. Our Italian army comes out in full force, overwhelming the few with their numbers, and overwhelming them with strength, forcing the Tatars to withdraw. The governor has detailed plans, and all generals and generals must act according to them, and no sudden advance is allowed. If you pass, you will not be able to withdraw without being summoned."

At this point, Hong Chengchou had a powerful official position and his eyes swept across: "If you dare to disobey military orders, you will be punished by military law!"

For a moment, there was silence in the hall.

At this time, a long call came from outside the hall: "Report, Supervisor, Tashan Commander Li Fuming has sent someone here to report something important!"

"Tashan?"

Hong Chengchou's expression changed suddenly.

Although he was a civil servant, he was good at military strategy. When I heard that Tashan was reporting, my heart skipped a beat and I thought of many things. I couldn't help but stand up and said, "Hurry up and report!"

A messenger from Tashan came into the hall, bowed first, and then presented a letter and silk.

The attendants on the left and right hurriedly presented the letter. Hong Chengchou opened it and read it quickly. All the generals in the hall also looked at Hong Chengchou extremely nervously. When they saw his expression changing at first, a trace of gray air appeared between his brows, then the gray air dissipated, and then a look of shock appeared, and finally only confusion remained.

After putting down the letter, Hong Chengchou pondered for a long time, and then asked the messenger: "Is there anything false in what General Li said in the letter?"

"It's not even half false," the messenger said sternly.

Hong Chengchou paused: "Then...is Zhao Zhuangshi really a real person?"

"He really is a real person."

"Azig is really the first person to be crowned?"

"As expected, the head was conferred."

"Behead nearly half of the eight thousand Tatars and surrender two thousand?"

"The head is outside the city, and the surrender is on Tashan."

Hong Chengchou took a deep breath and stood up suddenly: "All the generals will follow me out of the city for a visit."

The generals were deeply puzzled, but Hong Chengchou didn't say anything, and it was hard for them to ask. So they each looked at each other, then followed Hong Chengchou out of the governor's house, each galvanized their horses and whipped their whips, and ran out of the city.

At this time, outside the city gate, many Ming soldiers were surrounding the city, and the sound of uproar was endless.

Seeing the arrival of Hong Chengchou and others, the officers and soldiers quickly moved out of the way. Everyone on horseback saw dozens of large carts parked there.

On the cart, there were piles of human heads pickled in lime. Although the faces couldn't be seen clearly, you could see a handful of rat tails on the top of the head!

Hong Chengchou suddenly fixed his gaze, flicked his whip, galloped forward, got off his horse, and threw himself in front of a large cart regardless of his identity. He was not aware of the filth and did not avoid the smell. He grabbed a head and took a closer look. He was startled. Startled, he burst out laughing.

"Hahaha..."

He almost cried with laughter, stroking his hands and saying, "God helps me, God helps me!"

The generals behind him then came closer, and they all got off their horses, each lifted up a human head, took a closer look, and after marveling, they all turned their attention to Hong Chengchou.

"Supervisor, what on earth is going on?!"

Wu Sangui looked shocked: "These dozens of carts, I'm afraid there are thousands of heads. Where can we kill so many Tatars?!"

Hong Chengchou exhaled and felt that most of the clouds above his head had dissipated. He pointed at the messenger with a smile and said, "You tell me."

Then all the things will happen to the messenger, one by one.

First I heard that Azig led an army of eight thousand, bypassed Songshan and went straight to Tashan. Everyone's expressions changed. How could they not know Azig's plan? It was clear that they wanted to cut off the grain road's retreat, leaving Songshan's army alone.

I also heard that suddenly there was a man on horseback, fighting against ten thousand people. At the pass of Lianshan Mountain, he attacked Azige in formation, defeated an army of eight thousand, beheaded thousands, and captured two thousand!

"impossible!"

Wu Sangui shouted loudly and shouted: "Military and national affairs are not child's play. Even if the King of Chu is resurrected, it will definitely not be possible. If it is said that Azig will be killed in a formation, if the plan is proper, it is not impossible, and it is not outrageous. But with one's own strength, To defeat thousands of armies and intercept artillery shells, is it possible that heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals are not capable?!"

The other generals all nodded in disbelief.

The messenger became anxious and shouted: "If you tell a lie, I will be struck by thunder from the sky!"

He said: "I have witnessed the feats of the brave warrior Zhao with my own eyes, and they are absolutely true..." He said anxiously: "If you don't believe me, just look at the incisions on the heads of all the generals, they are all the same!"

This messenger was clearly the head servant sent by Li Fuming to check the situation!

He witnessed Zhao Yu's feat with his own eyes. Now that I see people who don't believe me, I feel very anxious, but I don't know how to refute it, so I have to use the cut on the human head to speak.

When the generals heard this, Wang Pu said: "How is it possible? With so many heads, how can the incisions be the same..."

Hong Chengchou stroked his beard and smiled: "Come on, let me inspect it!"

The soldiers on the left and right came forward, took out three or five heads from each car, and compared them carefully.

A moment later, the soldiers came to report: "They are exactly the same."

Wu Sangui laughed: "Sure enough. General Li's lie is really disgusting."

But then I heard the soldier say: "Based on my experience, the incisions are different because the position of the owl's head is different. But judging from the marks on the blade, it is clear that it was made by the same knife."

Wu Sangui's laughter stopped abruptly.

The soldier exclaimed again: "This kind of sword technique is truly astonishing. Every head is cut through the gap between the neck bones, and the head is cut at the same time without any damage to the bones. Just like the butler cutting the cow, cutting in without any thickness. There’s room!”

Now all the generals were dumbfounded.

If we say that among these thousands of heads, there are three or five that penetrate through the gaps in the bones, cutting off the heads without damaging the bones. But if every one of them is like this, that’s amazing!

"Good fellow, is it really the work of one person?" Hu Dawei couldn't help but asked: "Could it be that after killing these Tatars, they found an executioner to kill them?"

"Why don't the general find an executioner and see if he has the ability to chop off thousands of heads in half a day without damaging the neck bones?" The messenger felt unhappy.

Hu Dawei glared at the messenger, but was speechless.

The messenger added: "My general army only has three thousand soldiers and horses in Tashan, and they are all old, weak, sick and disabled. On the ground in Liaodong, except for the governor, where can there be soldiers and horses who can defeat eight thousand Tatars?"

The generals were speechless.

Except for a few of these heads, there is no doubt that they are all real Tatars. Don't mention that there are only three thousand old, weak, sick and disabled people in Tashan. Even if Songshan's army comes out, it is unlikely that they will achieve such a result.

When the messenger saw this, he became even more arrogant and said: "Zhao Zhuangshi is from Daxingbao. He is next to Dafubao, the hometown of my family's general soldier. We are fellow villagers. Now Zhao Zhuangshi is in Tashan. He was supposed to come to see the supervisor immediately. , my commander-in-chief was afraid that the supervisor would not believe it, so he sent a villain to bring a head to the supervisor to see."

"oh?"

After hearing this, Hong Chengchou said, "Is this Zhao Zhuangshi coming to see the governor?"

The messenger bowed and said: "Zhao Zhuangshi wanted to take the head of the Tatar Emperor to sacrifice his parents. But he was afraid that the Tatar Emperor would run away with his own strength, so..."

Hong Chengchou understood immediately.

He came to Liaodong as a supervisor and had a detailed understanding of the changes in the situation in Liaodong in the past twenty years. Be it Daxing Fort or Dafu Fort, both were attacked and massacred by the Tatars. Presumably, Zhao Zhuangshi's parents and family members all died in the hands of the Tatars.

No wonder they want revenge on the Tatars.

This is a good thing!

Hong Chengchou's heart changed. Although he didn't believe in such a feat of surpassing the Overlord of Chu, let alone compared to the Overlord of Chu, he was inseparable from Guan Yunchang and Lu Fengxian, and he was also a warrior for the ages. Among the thousands of troops, beheading generals and seizing flags can be used on the edge of the sword.

So he said: "Excuse me, please send the messenger one more time and tell Zhuangshi Zhao that I will sweep the bed and wait for you."