But after all, it took a period of time from the entry of the Qing army to the attack camp, and under the command of Liu Zhaoji's military attaché, some Ming troops were ready for battle, and they hurriedly formed a formation and surrounded the Qing army attacking at night.

At this moment, more than 200 Qing troops took the fire from their horses. It was a batch of imitations made by the Qing army after capturing the medium-sized firearms used by the cavalry of the Runing Army. So after a volley, the Ming troops that had gathered in a hurry were completely dispersed.

The loud sound of the firecracker at night was quite bluffing, and the fear brought by the sound was far greater than the actual killing of the firecracker, so the soldiers in Liu Zhaoji's camp immediately dispersed, and they could no longer organize effective resistance.

Seeing that the Ming army was scattered and fled, Tan Tai did not hesitate to give the order and let all the Qing troops go straight into the camp. And they deliberately bypassed Liu Zhaoji's big tent, because there, Liu Zhaoji's personal soldiers and the surrounding troops had already gathered together, ready to resist the attack of the Qing army.

So for Tan Tai, the Ming army in other places was unstoppable, so it was very smooth, and they gradually rushed to the other end of the camp.

Taking advantage of the fact that some Qing troops dismounted again and pushed the fence to this side, Tan Tai roughly clicked the men and horses and found that no one was left behind, so he smiled and shouted: "Retreat!" Then he took the lead and leaped into the night.

The morale of the Qing troops who attacked at night was also high, and they let out a cry of victory in unison, and then threw the remaining torches on the surrounding tents, and then immediately after Tan Tai withdrew from the camp.

Just as there was a sudden night attack when they came, the Qing army also ended the battle suddenly. Only more than half an hour passed before and after the whole night attack, and the Ming troops in the other battalions were also panicked and cowered in their camps, fearing that the Qing army would attack their camps next.

The reason why Tan Tai ended the night attack so early was because he remembered what Huang Taiji had said to him before he set out on the expedition: "The Qing Kingdom is different from the Ming Kingdom. If you lose too many people, it will take many years to replenish them. He also remembered the contemptuous attitude of the Qing generals of other banners when they talked about the Ming army, as if it was easy to defeat the Ming army in a field battle. In that case, why did Tan Tai risk taking two yellow flags to increase the results of the night attack? So, he took a quick fix.

Of course, it is logical for Tan Tai to worry about the siege of the Ming army, but in reality, he does not need to worry about it. At this time, the Ming army in each battalion was like a frightened bird, who dared to come out of the camp to rescue Liu Zhaoji's camp and encircle Tan Tai's night attack on the Qing army? On the contrary, if Tan Tai takes advantage of the situation to expand the chaos to other battalions of the Ming army, or expands the scope of slashing in Liu Zhaoji's battalion. It can greatly increase the casualties of the Ming army in order to obtain greater results.

Therefore, although the chaos caused by Tan Tai was very serious, in fact, the casualties of the Ming army were not large, and Liu Zhaoji's battalion only suffered more than 2,000 casualties. The Ming troops of the other battalions were even more unscathed. But this is the case, which also caused a huge panic in the entire Ming army.

So when the main force of the Qing army appeared the next day. The Ming army still settled in this chaotic camp. did not dare to send a single soldier, and had no confidence in fighting the Qing army in the field.

And on the third day, after the Qing army retreated a little, Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, ordered the whole army to turn around and withdraw to Ningyuan first.

And this unexpected move. The Qing army was a little caught off guard. However, after a short period of consternation, Hauge and Tan Tai divided the Qing army into several teams and followed in pursuit.

Fortunately, the large army of the Ming army was gathered in one place, and the turtle defense was also very experienced. After several counterattacks by Wu Sangui, the general soldier of Ningyuan, and Wu Shigong, the general soldier of Runing. The two sides killed and injured each other. It restrained the arrogance of the Qing army's arrogant pursuit.

But even so, when the Ming army retreated to Ningyuan, they heard that the follow-up main force of the Qing army was about to arrive. So Hong Chengchou left Wu Sangui and Liu Zhaoji in Ningyuan to help the defense of Ningyuan City, and made a march in a vain attempt to deter the further pursuit of the Qing army. Then Hong Chengchou led the rest of the Ming army back to Shanhaiguan again.

But this move is quite ridiculous. The Ming army did not send any scouts at all, so where did they hear that there was a follow-up main force of the Qing army? Do they have reconnaissance satellites? It's obviously a rumor!

But no matter what, the main force of the Ming army led by Hong Chengchou still returned to Shanhaiguan very smoothly. After nearly a month of marching and fighting, in order to relieve the siege of Jinzhou City, the Ming army successfully came from Ningyuan to Shanhaiguan after suffering 2,000 casualties, which was really a "brilliant battle"!

It's a shame to go to grandma's house. If the Ming army was defeated after a decisive battle with the main force of the Qing army, such a retreat would be understandable. However, in this way, when a night attack with few casualties occurred, the Ming army retreated in fear, and there was nothing to say about such a will to fight.

However, Hong Chengchou and these civil officials have a way to cover up such a humiliating thing, and they are written in the recital of the imperial court. described a close battle situation, but because of the lack of supplies and the lack of troops, Hong Chengchou saved the main force and retreated to Shanhaiguan victoriously.

In order to prepare for the next decisive battle, Hong Chengchou suggested in the previous recital that Cao Bianjiao, Zuo Guangxian, Ma Ke and Wu Shigong's troops be dispatched into the customs to recuperate. With the retreat of the Qing army of Haoge and Tan Tai, Wu Sangui and Liu Zhaoji once again feigned the march between Songshan and Xingshan to contain the actions of the Qing army.

And Hong Chengchou suggested to the imperial court: repatriate Zuo Guangxian to the west and replace Bai Guangen; Liu Zhaoji was relieved of his appointment and replaced by Wang Tingchen. The two commanders were to be punished for their failure to perform their duties in the night attack. The cabinet and the ministry agreed to Hong Chengchou's proposal.

In addition, for Hong Chengchou to transfer the border army, 150,000 soldiers inside and outside the pass were prepared for battle. Prepare enough to use the advice of grain and grass for a year, Emperor Chongzhen also waved a pen, also supported, and asked the department to take measures quickly.

And this military operation to rescue Jinzhou ended in such a hurry.

At this time, the situation of the Central Plains encirclement and suppression of the peasant army was also very good, Yang Sichang used a strong force to press the peasant army remaining at the junction of Sichuan and Hubei to the territory of Kuizhou, and later even Luo Rucai also arrived in Kuidong.

Beginning in June and July, the peasant armies that had been forced into eastern Sichuan surrendered one after another, and by August, only Luo Rucai was left who did not surrender. At this time, he also decided to surrender again, in order to save the remaining less than 10,000 horses, and wait until the future to see the situation.

At this time, Zhang Xianzhong was oppressed by Zuo Liangyu and moved to the area of Xingshan and Zigui. He rested in the mountains on the border between Sichuan and Hubei and replenished his grain and salt. At this time, Zhang Xianzhong only had a few thousand people left, and he died down, did not commit any offense against the people, and also took money to help the people, so such a "righteous act" made the officials and soldiers unable to get his whereabouts.

In mid-August, detective Zhang Xianzhong heard about Luo Rucai's station, and also heard that Luo Rucai had decided to surrender. He was very anxious, and first sent Ma Yuanli to see Rucai and persuade him not to surrender in a hurry; Immediately, he sent Xu Yixian, a military advisor, to analyze the weaknesses of the official army to Ru Cai, and also explained the reason why Yang Sichang would be defeated, and asked Ru Cai to meet with Xianzhong.

And Luo Rucai was afraid of the news of the departure because there were two people living in the camp who persuaded him to surrender, so he met secretly at the Xianzhong station and decided to make a big plan. Zhang and Luo began to fight side by side again.

The natural disasters that have not stopped since the early years of Chongzhen have lasted for more than ten years, and the momentum has become more violent in the twelfth and third years of Chongzhen, with droughts, floods, and locust plagues overwhelming. Emperor Chongzhen could not but admit in an edict in May of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen: "Recently, there has been hunger in various parts of the province, and in Jifu (now Hebei), Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places, it has been heard that Ru soil eats vegetables, and the people have no vegetables, and even cut meat and bones." ”

Even the Jiangnan region, which has always been known for its wealth and relatively smooth weather, has experienced a rare drought, and rice prices have soared due to lack of water in many places. However, local officials used the excuse of relief and extortion to extort money, and some people made a fortune instead.

The situation of famine was most serious in Henan, and Lu Weiqi, the former secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, recorded the situation at that time and said: "Now the exile is full of roads, and the corpses are full of bones. The ghost fire fireflies at the beginning of the yin wind, and the hungry people gather in the deep mountains and forests. There are people who commit suicide by throwing their whole families into the ring, there are people who flee from the door of the whole village, there are people who drown hundreds of people who throw themselves into the river in one day, there are people who eat goose feces and silkworm feces, there are people who eat wattles and thistles, there are people who eat earth and stones, there are people who moan like ghosts, there are people who are stiff and unable to speak, and there are people who gather thousands and hundreds of people to rise up on the corner of the city. ”

Therefore, in addition to the areas controlled by the Runing Army, the hungry people have been overwhelming, and even the Runing Army is under tremendous pressure here, and the amount of grain stocks has also been greatly reduced. At this time, there was no way to carry out the order to collect the population, because the number of refugees who wanted to pour into the area controlled by the Runing Army was too large. As a result, the Runing Army once again sent heavy troops to block the border, and the operation of attacking and seizing land was reluctantly stopped again.

The Great Famine was already shocking, but the Ming court repeatedly increased the "three salaries", which made the disaster even more painful.

In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, the newly added "training salary" reached 7.3 million taels at one time, and Chongzhen was greatly distributed three times during the year, with this time adding the most. And the hungry people who have been struggling on the death line for many years really have no way to survive in the face of such a harsh stripping of bones and marrows, except for those who starve to death or even be eaten, they have to flee.

In some areas of Shaanxi and Henan, more than 80 percent of the people who fled died on the run, and the number of households was less than 20 percent of the original amount, and even 10 percent of the number of Ding died. Everywhere there was starvation, and there was no way to survive when they fled, so the strong people gathered in the mountains and forests and became "robbers". These hungry people, homeless people, and "thieves" scattered throughout the Central Plains became the most reliable source of troops for the large peasant army. (To be continued......)