Chongzhen fell silent again, and glanced at the Ming officers in front of him with Ling Li's gaze, and these officers lowered their heads one after another, not daring to meet the emperor's gaze.

Only then did Zhu Youzhen continue: "You have left behind the people, your subordinates, and your duties as soldiers, and according to military regulations, you should have been severely punished to set an example.

However, at this moment, the Zunhua soldiers and civilians are still in danger, in order to rescue the Zunhua soldiers and civilians, I have decided to give you a chance, a chance to atone for your sins. If you are willing to follow me to rescue Zunhua City, then I will freeze the punishment you deserve, and as long as you can make a contribution in the next battle, the sin of the previous escape will be written off.

Of course, if you think that the Houjin Tartar is even more terrible than my Ming Dynasty's military law, you can also stand up and receive the military law, and you can make a choice now. ”

Wang Shiqiang, who was very clever, was the first to shout: "The minister is willing to follow His Majesty into battle to kill the enemy, in order to redeem the past, and ask Your Majesty's permission." "Choosing to receive military law or choose to go into battle, Wang Shiqiang feels that there is no need to think about it at all.

Follow the emperor into battle, and you may not die. Even if you are unlucky and die, it will not harm your family. But if you receive military law, there will definitely be no way to survive. The emperor himself ran to the front line, and if they still wanted to run, they would not be wronged by cutting down their sacrificial flags.

Thinking about the personal information just registered, after they were executed by military law, I am afraid that even the family will be implicated. Wang Shiqiang figured out this truth almost instantly, and none of the officers who were able to escape from the front line were stupid, they were just one step slower than Wang Shiqiang, so they also reacted and chose the path of going into battle to atone for their sins.

Zhu Youzhen's face softened slightly, and he turned his head to the two staff officers behind him and said, "You sort out the information they have registered, and then rearrange the organization and command sequence for them, and they must complete it before dinner." The others went with me to patrol the soldiers and civilians stationed in the town..."

When the front line suffered successive defeats, and there was no knowledge of whether Zunhua City and Santun Camp had fallen, Chongzhen's actions on the front line quickly reunited the hearts of the scattered soldiers and civilians in Ma Shenqiao.

In the past 10 days or so, these soldiers and civilians have heard too much bad news, but there is no good news that can inspire people, and the mood of pessimism and disappointment has actually shrouded the hearts of these soldiers and civilians.

Although one battalion of troops was stationed at Mashenqiao after the Houjin invasion, the rear never decided on a preliminary strategy for battle and defense. Is it to gather a large army to the east to expel the Houjin army from the pass, or to set up a defensive line somewhere to block the Houjin army from continuing westward?

None of the high-ranking officials of any weight appeared at Ma Shenqiao to tell these soldiers and civilians about the imperial court's strategy for dealing with the Houjin. This made the soldiers and civilians guarding the Mashen Bridge feel both at a loss and feel like abandoned outcasts, as if the imperial court had forgotten about them.

Under this uneasy psychology, the soldiers and civilians of Ma Shenqiao were about to be overwhelmed by their panic. Perhaps as soon as the banner of the Houjin army appeared in their sight, most of the soldiers and civilians in this town would be scattered.

The 3 or 4,000 troops who appeared under the banner of Jizhou Wei Cui General Army made these soldiers and civilians breathe a sigh of relief, and the presence of Emperor Daming suddenly made them feel steady.

Since Liaodong Jiannu rebelled against the Ming Dynasty, those ministers in the court have always been a little confused in military arrangements. Either it is military adventurism, dividing the army into four ways to attack, wanting to pacify Liaodong in a short time.

After being broken by each person and losing the elite of the Ming army in Liaodong, it quickly turned to defeatism, easily abandoned all the cities and people outside the pass, and retreated to Shanhaiguan.

Next, he came up with the turtle flow tactic of using cannons in Jiancheng, and wanted to repair the fort from Ningjin to Shenyang City. The rapid reversal of this policy in the court has hit the military and civilians at the bottom who lack information. One will fight back, the next will retreat, and the next will hold on, and these soldiers and civilians have no idea what the order will be issued tomorrow is.

Especially for the soldiers and civilians on the front line, the enemy's sentry is in their sight, while the imperial court is far away as if it is above the nine heavens. They are often the last to know what the imperial court decides, but they are the first to know whether the enemy will attack or not.

Not all of the Ming border troops are cowards who dare not go into battle, but most of them are unwilling to die in vain. Now that the emperor has appeared in Ma Shenqiao, everyone subconsciously feels that even if those ministers of the imperial court are bastards, they don't have the courage to throw Emperor Ming to Houjin.

Since the emperor personally arrived at Ma Shen Bridge, then at least the imperial court must protect Ma Shen Bridge, as long as there is a steady stream of reinforcements coming behind, they will naturally put away their fear of the Hou Jin army.

Therefore, they looked at the eyes of Emperor Daming, as if they had found their backbone, and the fear and uneasiness in their hearts before gradually dissipated in Chongzhen's soothing questioning.

On the night of November 9, the residents of Mashenqiao finally slept peacefully. In several military villages at Mashenqiao, the atmosphere was finally less tense, and the officers finally did not have to devote their energy to the task of preventing soldiers from fleeing at night.

On the night when the soldiers and civilians of Ma Shenqiao slept peacefully, the Mongolian left camp of Shimen Village, Gushan Ezhen Engdel, also received information sent by Qiuerji.

A deputy general soldier surnamed Cui of Jizhou Wei arrived at Mashenqiao with 3 or 4,000 people, and it seemed that he had the intention of attacking Shimenzhai to the east. When he first heard the news, Engeldel was taken aback.

Now there is only one man and horse in the Mongolian left battalion to defend in Shimen Village, in addition to about 30 dissatisfied Mongolian Niulu, about 900 people, is the coalition army of Ao Han, Naiman, Khalkha and other Mongolian tribes, more than 1,200 people, a total of more than 2,100 people.

In addition to the movement of the Ming army at Mashen Bridge, Engel, who was guarding Shimen Village, also had the task of sentry south to bypass Mashen Bridge and Jizhou City Pass.

Ma Shenqiao's Ming army could not retreat, and Engdel naturally focused most of his energy on the task of exploring the southbound passage. This kind of sentry task, he naturally did not dare to hand it over to the tribal coalition army.

It has been less than a year since these people joined Houjin, and although they were succumbed to Houjin's force, their resentment has not completely diminished. Once out of his surveillance range, God knows if these people will directly betray this Houjin force.

What's more, these tribal alliances have not yet gotten used to the military discipline constraints of the Later Jin, and once they leave the sight of the army, it is estimated that their interest in robbing the Ming people everywhere is far greater than the arduous task of sentry.

With Engdel's understanding of these Mongol brothers, once they plundered a large amount of money, they had to take a detour back to their own tribe outside the pass to spend the winter, and few of them would stupidly run back to the army and continue to participate in the hard battle.

Therefore, Engdel could only put the tribal coalition army under his nose and let the Mongolian cattle of the left battalion go out to sentry. When the news was returned, there were only about 20 Mongolian cattle records in Shimen Village, and about 10 cattle records were all released by him to sentry into the southward passage.

The Ming army, which had not moved for a long time, actually sent a reinforcement, and Engdel immediately became vigilant. While he sent people out to collect Niu Lu, who was still nearby, he carefully interrogated about the condition of this Ming army.

After confirming that it was a team assembled by the soldiers of the Great Ming Guard, and that it looked like more farmers than soldiers, Engdel was relieved. As long as it wasn't the border army of the Ming Kingdom, even if the other party was twice as numerous as him, he had nothing to fear.

The border troops of Jizhou Town in the Ming Kingdom are vulnerable, not to mention the army composed of these mud-legged men of Jizhou Wei. The Mongolian left battalion is all cavalry, and the horse stretches out the bridge to Shimen Zhai and is very empty and flat, which is the most conducive to the cavalry to carry out a surprise attack, as long as the time of departure of these Ming troops is determined, Engdel decided to assault the Ming army in the field.

Engdel informed the messenger sent by the Cyr of his intention to fight, asking him to go back and convey it to the Cyrd. Moreover, the other party must find out the time and number of people of this Ming army's departure, and then report back to himself as soon as possible, so that he can gather troops to attack.

Sending away the messenger of Qiuerji, Engdel was about to go back to rest, but his younger brother Mang Goldai, who was listening on the side, suddenly stopped him and said: "Big brother, do you want to send someone to inform the Great Khan about the arrival of the Ming army reinforcements at Mashenqiao?" ”

Engdel was thinking about the few women sent by his subordinates today, so he replied a little casually: "It's just a few thousand guards, can the guards of the Ming Kingdom be able to fight?"

After I have defeated this Ming army, I will report it to the Great Khan. The assault on Zunhua City does not seem to be going well, and the Great Khan has been very upset lately.

This little thing also bothered the sweat, doesn't it seem that I am too unburdened? Wu Nege led the right battalion to repel the rescue of the Ming army in western Liaoxi to the Santun camp several times, and the Great Khan greatly appreciated it in front of the army, will our left battalion be inferior to the right battalion? ”

Mang Gordai was still a little uneasy and persuaded: "Even if the Wunege side retreats to the Santun camp, it is nothing, at most, it is impossible to cut off the Ming army in Shanhaiguan to enter the pass and rescue the Ming army in the pass."

However, Shimenzhai is the passage for the army to march westward, and once it is lost, our expedition will be over. I'm afraid we can't afford this guilt. ”

Although Engeldel was a little unhappy, he still thought carefully for a long time before saying to his younger brother: "In this way, when tomorrow Erji sends the detailed information of the Ming army, you will personally go to Zunhua and pass this information to the Great Khan."

You tell the Great Khan that my Mongol left battalion is sufficient to deal with this Ming reinforcement, and I will not let him cross Shimen Gorge a single step. If the Great Khan has any other commands, I will obey them one by one..."

After hurriedly explaining to his brother, Engdel walked towards his bedchamber. Mang Gordai looked at his brother's appearance, and he was also a little helpless.

According to his thoughts, after receiving this news, he should immediately send someone to inform the Great Khan.

Although the Great Khan delegated power to the commanders of all armies before entering the customs, Manggordai did not feel that the Great Khan really hoped that the commanders of all armies would do their own things and not report to him.