Xia Nan thought for a while and said to Liu Guozhu: "The grain and grass are already on the way, but it is difficult to quench the thirst of the distant water, and burying the pot to make rice will give the Tartars a chance to escape...... Otherwise, I'll ask my people to give you dry food, and your people will fill their stomachs first, and we'll endure it first, and it's not too late to eat after the tartars and grain and grass are delivered. ”

Liu Guozhu was not hypocritical, after all, they were invited by the Qiong Navy to travel hundreds of miles to help, and it was reasonable to get some care, so he nodded and agreed: "That's very good." ”

After Liu Guozhu left, Sima De asked worriedly: "General, our dry food was given to them, what are we going to eat?" ”

Xia Nan looked back in the direction of Tianjin Wei and replied, "I believe that Yang Youji will send grain and grass over, and there will be no big problems." Take 10,000 steps back, if Yang Youji doesn't complete the task, the fleet parked in Tianjin Port still has some food, which is enough for us to last for two days. ”

"But in this way, no matter whether you continue to go north or return to Qiongzhou, the grain and grass will not be enough......

"The war is important now, and I can't care so much about it." Xia Nan said firmly, "After the battle, whether you buy or rob, it's no problem to get enough food to eat back to Qiongzhou." ”

Sima De asked cautiously: "General, if we pursue Abatai so much, do we have to put him to death before stopping?" ”

"Although Abatai's status is not very prominent, and he is still excluded from the inner circle of power by Huang Taiji, but after all, he is Nurhachi's own son and a famous general who has experienced a hundred battles. If you join forces with Azig, it will be difficult for the two to kill. Xia Nan explained, "Whether it is Abatai, Azig, Dolgon, or Duoduo, as long as there is a chance, I will definitely get rid of them, without these people, who will the Tartars send to lead the troops into the customs?" These so-called famous generals are all perennial battles and trained with human lives, and once they die, the Tartars will not be able to receive them, and there will be no powerful generals in a short period of time. ”

Sima De was thoughtful. This kind of thinking is simple and crude, but it is very practical, as the saying goes, a soldier is a bear, and there is no general who can fight well, even if the Tartar bow horse is skillful, it is in vain. Hurt his ten fingers, it is better to cut off one of his fingers, kill Abatai today, kill Azig tomorrow, kill Dolgon the day after tomorrow, lose his minions, no matter how eloquent Huang Taiji is, it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice.

Thinking of this, a flash of inspiration occurred in his mind, and he proposed: "Since the general fought with this idea, his subordinates have a plan. Since the soldiers and horses of the Tianjin Guard are afraid of the battle and refuse to help, why not directly ask for help from the capital and send the nearest soldiers and horses to intercept in front? Not to mention the tens of thousands of troops in Beijing, even if the Tongzhou area is full of soldiers and horses, when the time comes, it will be much easier to set up a net in Tongzhou, than to chase hard in the rear like now? ”

Xia Nan was a little moved, but he was a little hesitant, he muttered: "Huang Mengjia went to the capital to ask for the order of the military department, but there is no response yet, I am afraid that the situation is not good." If the military department refused to even mobilize the soldiers and horses of the Tianjin Guard, how could they mobilize the soldiers and horses near the capital? Azig is still in Beizhili, Chongzhen is not bad if he doesn't mobilize the world's soldiers and horses, and he also dedicates people to help me, it's unreliable to think about it......"

Sima De volunteered: "Planning is in the people, and things are in the sky, if you don't try, how do you know that the emperor will not send troops?" The subordinates are willing to ask Ying to go to the capital, and with the help of the first assistant, persuade the emperor to send troops, and ask the general to send his subordinates to the capital. In his opinion, his former proprietor Huang Mengjia is a barbarian who doesn't know a few big characters after all, he is good at killing, and he is not good at communication.

Xia Nan thought for a moment and nodded: "If you can't catch up with Abatai before dark, you can give it a try." "After dark, neither marching nor fighting is detrimental to both the enemy and us, and the pursuit can only come to an end. However, Sima De and the others could take advantage of the cover of the night to rush overnight and bypass the Houjin army to the capital.

He instructed left and right: "Order the whole army, no matter whether it is bitter or tired, to grit your teeth and persevere, speed up, catch up with the Tartars before dark, and whether you can succeed within today depends on this game." "Although the discipline of the Qiong Navy is strict, but the soldiers are flesh and blood after all, not machines, even if there are Baoding cavalry to slow down the enemy's marching speed, but more than 10,000 infantry on foot for a hundred miles, can tightly bite the almost all cavalry Zhenglan Banner army, and few people are left behind, which is already remarkable. Missed the opportunity during the day, that breath is vented, and it will be difficult to catch up with the enemy tomorrow.

After the order was transmitted to the whole army, the three regiments invariably quickened their speed, dragged their legs like lead, gritted their teeth and made the final charge. At this time, Liu Guozhu's men and horses gnawed a few mouthfuls of dry food with cold water, regained some strength, and also launched an impact.

Abatai looked at the pursuers behind him with a gloomy face, pulled out his sword, and said coldly: "It seems that they want to get a game before it gets dark." Since this ghost is still gone, I will make a break with them! "As long as you take advantage of the darkness and chaos to eat this cavalry, Qionghai Town will no longer be able to help itself, and then the sky will be high and the birds will fly, and the sea will be wide and the fish will leap.

The exhausted troops and horses were entangled again, both sides were at the end of the crossbow, less than half of the usual combat strength, but the tragedy was even worse.

Liu Guozhu resolutely led the remaining 3,000 cavalry to rush into the Tartar formation, while Abatai personally led Bayala and the brigade of armor soldiers to kill a horse pistol, and the two sides were in a melee. With the elite Bayala and the armor soldiers pressing the formation, Liu Guozhu's remnants could not resist and retreated. Swords and spears were exchanged, blood was splattered, and the gasps of men and horses were mixed together, and the strangled warriors presented a thrilling magnificence in the light of the setting sun.

Liu Guozhu bought time with the lives of his soldiers, and half an hour later, Wei Lianheng's second regiment arrived, joined the battle, and replaced the Baoding cavalry, which was almost crippled.

At this time, the sun had set, and Abatai saw that the Baoding cavalry had basically lost its combat effectiveness and the tactical goal had been achieved, so he Mingjin withdrew his troops to avoid entanglement with the Qiong navy. The Houjin cavalry retreated like a tide and broke away from the battle, leaving only the soldiers of the second regiment looking at the dust raised by the horses' hooves, and they couldn't chase it, and they couldn't chase it.

When Xia Nan arrived with a large group of men, it was already completely dark. He looked at the sky with regret, and then looked at the few cavalry left under Liu Guozhu's command, and sighed: "God doesn't help me, Abatai is lucky, and he escaped today." ”