Chapter 386: What to do? Scheming against Lu Xiangsheng
"call……"
After counting the number of soldiers, Huang Taiji was heartbroken and almost vomited blood again. He forced himself to hold it back and let out a long breath.
He could never have imagined that the rumored Lu Xiangsheng and Hong Chengchou would be so difficult to deal with.
Huang Taiji had never fought against the two men before, and he still looked at the Ming army with old eyes, so he inevitably made a big mistake this time.
He personally led a large army into the pass five years ago, and the route was similar to this time. All the Ming government troops he met along the way collapsed at the first touch and were vulnerable.
He originally thought that even though Lu Xiangsheng and Hong Chengchou were rumored to be much more powerful than other Ming Dynasty troops, that was just the case.
Who would have thought that these two men were not only talented in both civil and military affairs, but also extremely daring, and their ability to seize opportunities in battle was no less than that of Li Dingguo.
Huang Taiji, who was full of confidence before the start of this battle, ended up making almost the same mistake as when he started the war with Li Dingguo, and paid a heavy price for it.
There were less than 800,000 soldiers left. After the recent battle, they lost another 130,000, leaving only 650,000.
Among them, there were less than 300,000 warriors of the Later Jin clan!
When I think about how high-spirited I was when I ambitiously led an army of two million from Liaodong a few months ago, how high-spirited I was?
As a result, he was first easily defeated by Li Dingguo and almost his entire army was wiped out. Then he was defeated by Lu Xiangsheng and Hong Chengchou, and was even chased away by the Ming army, which he had always looked down upon!
This is simply a shame!
Of the three armies that entered the pass, two were almost wiped out, and one suffered heavy losses. For the Later Jin clan, whose total population was already small, it was a real blow, with 30% of the total number of warriors and soldiers lost!
How will the soldiers view themselves in the future?
The Later Jin clan has always respected the strong, and no one is willing to follow a leader who has been defeated in battles over and over again.
Huang Taiji even knew that if he was not the only level six strong man in the tribe and had nine level six spiritual beasts, dragons, in Liaodong, most of his generals would have already begun to want to rebel.
Especially when he thought of Yuetuo's army which was almost wiped out, not only was the navy destroyed, but even the firearms battalion that was finally formed after selling everything it had was destroyed in one battle. Only 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers were left out of the entire eastern army of one million. They fled to Liaodong in panic with the help of Shanxi merchants. Huang Taiji now had no spirit at all.
He wanted to vent his anger, but he didn't know who to vent it on.
With two million Ming Dynasty troops watching closely, he knew that it was impossible for him to get out of the border burning, killing and looting along the way.
If they did so, they would waste precious time and completely block the Fuxing Army, which was advancing both by land and sea, inside the pass. They would really be unable to leave even if they wanted to, and in all likelihood they would perish inside the pass along with the remaining soldiers.
Huang Taiji, who had fought against the Fuxing Army before, knew deeply how terrifying the Fuxing Army was.
What he was most worried about was that after Li Dingguo defeated Yuetuo's army in the battle on Lingshan Island, he would ride on the level 6 golden eagle again, return to northwest Shanxi in time, and then lead his army to attack in person.
Huang Taiji knew better than anyone how terrible Li Dingguo was.
With these remaining defeated soldiers and generals, going to fight against the million-strong army led by Li Dingguo would be tantamount to seeking death!
"Father Khan."
Seeing the uncertain expression on Huang Taiji's face, Haoge strode over and said, "I found a suitable opportunity earlier to sneak attack the two level 5 peak peacocks of the enemy, but they were discovered in time by a Ming general riding on the back of a peacock, who blocked my hidden arrow to kill me."
"That Ming general must be the core general of this Ming army. His cultivation level is not lower than mine. That's why he was able to block the continuous arrows I fired using my life-defining artifact, the Houyi bow."
Unlike Huang Taiji, Hauge did not hide his natal magic weapon after his fortuitous encounter two years ago which greatly improved his cultivation.
The reason why he chose to do this was mainly because he wanted to strengthen his status in the Later Jin clan and strive to secure the position of crown prince after the Later clan officially established a country.
On the other hand, he wanted to solidify his reputation as the best archer of the Later Jin clan, and intimidate Amin, Manggurtai, and the brothers Dorgon and Dodo, so that they would completely give up.
Hauge did not know that his father Khan and the brothers Dorgon and Dodo, because of their destiny and good fortune, each obtained an innate and top-grade divine weapon.
In terms of his own foundation, even Duoduo is much stronger than Haoge.
However, due to Huang Taiji's calculations, Duoduo did not get a level six dragon as his natal spirit beast, and his overall strength was not as good as Haoge.
Although he disliked Hauge's flamboyant and unrestrained character, Huang Taiji still valued his only son very much.
Huang Taiji, who was deeply influenced by the culture of the Nine Provinces of China, strongly agreed with the concept of a family dynasty and had already decided on Hauge as his successor.
But in this world of cultivators, the position of successor is not so stable.
After all, the world is undergoing great changes today. If Huang Taiji can break through to the realm of spirit refining in the future, he will surely gain a long life.
Once that situation occurs, Haoge will no longer be able to be the successor, and perhaps even his descendants with the character "Sun" in their name will not be able to succeed to the throne.
"Pity."
Huang Taiji sighed with some regret after hearing this, "Given our army's current situation, Lu Xiangsheng's two level five spirit birds are the biggest threat to us."
"Once we can get rid of them, it will eliminate the most immediate threat."
He thought again of the four Saker Falcons that were taken away by Li Dingguo using mysterious means. His teeth were clenching, and a strong sense of resentment rose to his heart. The breath that he had finally stabilized became disordered again.
If the four spiritual birds of their clan, the Saker Falcons, were still there, how could Lu Xiangsheng's two big peacocks be so arrogant?
"Forget it, that's it. It's useless to say more."
Huang Taiji waved his hand dejectedly and said, "There is no benefit in continuing to tangle with the Ming army."
"Hauge, go and convey the latest order. After the soldiers have recovered to their peak condition, they will have finished their meal and rest for a night. Then, we will set out immediately tomorrow morning and head north through the border back to Liaodong!"
"All the existing food and supplies should be distributed among the soldiers and carried by the empty spirit beast warhorse to increase our marching speed as much as possible!"
"The Ming army has few spiritual beasts and war horses. It is impossible for them to catch up with our army. They can't even eat dust in the rear."
"This entry into the pass was not without gain. At least it allowed us to figure out the true combat effectiveness of the Fuxing Army and the Ming army, providing extremely useful information for the next large-scale entry into the pass."
"When we establish the Great Jin next year, we will be fully prepared when we march south again."
"That will be the time when Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army will die!"
Huang Taiji clearly understood that in today's world, only Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army were his biggest threats.
As for the Ming Dynasty, it had long since become completely corrupt and beyond redemption; its demise was only a matter of time.
As long as he continues to add fuel to the fire of the Ming Dynasty, he can make it collapse.
Huang Taiji was extremely wary of Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army, who wanted to replace the Ming Dynasty.
The next time the army enters the pass, the primary goal will be to destroy Li Dingguo's new powerful force before they can feel at ease.
"Yes, father Khan." Hauge hurriedly took the order and left, quickly conveying Huang Taiji's latest order to all the soldiers in the army.
Although he was reckless, he was not stupid. He naturally knew that the upcoming battle with the armies of Lu Xiangsheng and Hong Chengchou would be meaningless.
The most urgent task was for the entire army to set out lightly, travel day and night to return to Liaodong, and then find a way to plan for the aftermath.
Because the commanders of both sides were wary of each other, after discovering that the other side had been on high alert and there was no opportunity to take advantage, both the Later Jin soldiers and the Ming army temporarily stopped taking any follow-up actions.
Although the Ming army had three times as many soldiers as the Tatars, they were not at an advantage in fighting on land, but were slightly at a disadvantage.
Therefore, before finding a suitable opportunity, neither Hong Chengchou nor Lu Xiangsheng planned to launch another attack in a short period of time.
Even on the next morning, when Huang Taiji ordered the entire army to march out, no fighting occurred between the two sides.
Huang Taiji knew clearly that under the high-altitude observation of the enemy's two level five peak spirit birds, none of his actions could be hidden from Lu Xiangsheng and Hong Chengchou, so he did not order his soldiers to split up and plunder in all directions.
That would inevitably give the Ming army an opportunity to inflict a fatal blow on any of the scattered troops.
Each of the Later Jin soldiers was more than capable of riding two horses, but once they marched at full speed, the speed they achieved was simply beyond the ability of the Ming army to keep up.
Just one hour after all the Tartar soldiers left Yanqing city, they had already left the following Ming army hundreds of miles away.
Under the high-altitude surveillance carried out in turns by two level five peak peacocks, Lu Xiangsheng was surprised to find that the Tatar army led by Huang Taiji had acted contrary to their usual behavior and did not make any unnecessary movements during the withdrawal.
Apart from the necessary time to eat and rest, they not only did not plunder any Ming town, but they did not even have time to stop.
Under such circumstances, Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng were helpless and could only lead their troops to follow the Tatar army which was getting farther and farther away, and by the way, they recaptured the towns previously captured by the Tatars one after another, leaving behind teams of tens of thousands of soldiers to garrison them.
At the same time, they had to write a victory report overnight and submit it to the court, requesting that a team of officials be sent to take over the cities that had just been recaptured by the army.
At this time, Datong Prefecture and Xuanfu were like hot potatoes because of the dual threats from the Fuxing Army and the Tartars. Officials at all levels of the Ming Dynasty court were very cautious and few officials were willing to take up the posts.
These Ming Dynasty soldiers who stayed behind in various towns would probably need to stay there for quite some time before they could hand over their responsibilities to the civil and military officials sent by the court and return to their original stations.
In the mode of chase and escape between the enemy and us, no fighting occurred between the two sides until Huang Taiji led the remaining 600,000 soldiers out of the Dushikou Fortress.
Even though Hong Chengchou had already deployed fleets along several northern rivers, he had no chance to launch an encirclement and attack on the enemy because his soldiers were increasingly left behind by the Tartar army.
There was no other reason. The Tatar soldiers, each riding two horses, were very familiar with long-distance rapid marches, and the Ming army could not catch up with them at all.
By the time Huang Taiji led his army out of the pass, the distance between the soldiers of both sides had reached thousands of miles, which was beyond reach.
"Commander Lu."
On the wall of Dushiguan Fortress, Hong Chengchou said helplessly to Lu Xiangsheng beside him, "I didn't expect Huang Taiji to be so decisive. He led the army to march out of the pass day and night, making all our arrangements useless."
“If we want to truly destroy and defeat the Houjin clan in the future, we simply cannot do it without a large elite cavalry.”
"Commander Lu, Xuanfu and Datongfu are now under your full jurisdiction. I suggest you take advantage of this rare opportunity to learn from Li Dingguo."
"There are a large number of Tartar tribes outside the Great Wall. With the strength of your Tianxiong Army, you can easily destroy countless of them and seize a large number of spiritual beasts and war horses."
"I know you are short of food and supplies, but our Qin army is not short of these now."
"We can definitely benefit from each other. I will have a large fleet transport a large amount of food and supplies to exchange for your extra spirit beasts and war horses."
"As long as Commander Lu is determined, it won't be a problem to get a million spirit beasts and war horses within a year or two."
"Even if you trade half of it with me, you can upgrade all of your Tianxiong troops into an elite cavalry army."
Hong Chengchou, who was very shrewd, saw that although Lu Xiangsheng was somewhat interested, he was still hesitant, so he added fuel to the fire and said, "General Lu, this kind of thing does not violate the righteousness of the court, but is very necessary."
"Huang Taiji will definitely not be able to swallow this humiliation after suffering such a huge loss this time."
"I estimate that within one or two years at most, he will lead a larger army to the south again."
"At that time, Huang Taiji's army had learned its lesson, so it was reasonable that the combat effectiveness would be doubled compared to this time. It is not comparable to now."
"If we don't have enough elite cavalry, how can we resist the attack of Huang Taiji's army? Are we going to sit back and watch them burn, kill and plunder as they please in the Ming territory?"
"With this victory, if nothing unexpected happens, the imperial court will definitely mobilize our two armies to fight against the Tartars again!"
"Given your character as Grand Commander Lu, you should be able to understand the seriousness of this matter."
"As long as your Tianxiong Army's actions are kept secret, even if you frequently go out to plunder those Tartar tribes, you don't have to worry about being punished by the court."
"In this way, we can both get what we need and cooperate sincerely. After one or two years, we can both form a truly elite cavalry army. Why not do it?"
Contrary to established history, it was extremely easy for Hong Chengchou, who now had his own little thoughts, to plot against the upright Lu Xiangsheng.
It would be great if I could use his help to completely implement the plan I have drawn up.
"This……"
Lu Xiangsheng was very moved by Hong Chengchou's persuasion. After thinking for a while, he said, "Hey..."
"In order to protect the safety of Ming Dynasty, this is the only way."
Lu Xiangsheng is just old-fashioned, not stupid at all.
He knew that with Hong Chengchou's ruthlessness, it would not be a problem for him to continue to extort large amounts of money, food and supplies from the wealthy families and merchants in the three northwestern provinces.
As long as he could obtain enough spiritual beasts and war horses by hunting down the large and small Tatar tribes outside the Great Wall, both sides could benefit from each other and easily complete the upgrade and transformation of the Tianxiong Army and the Qin Army.
If he wanted to deal with Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army next, it would be wishful thinking without a large and elite cavalry.
Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng, who had reached a secret agreement, then secretly negotiated for two days in the dilapidated Dushiguan fortress before reaching various detailed transaction details.
Hong Chengchou, who was delighted, said goodbye to Lu Xiangsheng and began his journey back to the interior with the million-strong army that had already rested.
(End of this chapter)
