: Survival in the Late Ming Dynasty Chapter 165: The End of the Great Battle II

It is not an easy task to clean up the battlefield.

Although the main force of the Qing army retreated, a large number of Qing troops still remained on the battlefield.

This is also the reason why only Ma Sanbao came with five thousand soldiers for reinforcements.

The other Xia armies were struggling to encircle the remaining Qing armies. Among the remaining Qing armies, the largest force was the Han army led by Li Shutai.

The reason is simple, they have the fewest horses.

Most of these armies were reorganized after the former Ming army and the former Xia army were disrupted. The Qing army did not have much hope in terms of combat effectiveness. At least the current Qing army relied on the Eight Banners to fight.

However, with such a large number of people, they naturally have to perform some auxiliary tasks. Although the Qing army does not lack horses, horses are military supplies after all. They will not be equipped with many for these people.

Except for Li Zhitai's personal soldiers, there were very few large cavalry groups in the Han army.

But at this moment, seeing that the big event was over, the Han army had various thoughts.

Duduo originally wanted to take Li Shutai away, but the distance between the two sides was too far, so he could only sigh in despair. He could only order Li Shutai to break out of the encirclement on his own.

And on the chaotic battlefield, whether this order could reach Li Shutai's hands is another matter.

However, Li Shutai had some good fortune that was difficult to part with.

Leaving these surrendered troops here, Li Shutai did not have any psychological burden. Anyway, it was Duduo and Azige who were responsible for it, so he himself would not be guilty of anything.

But leaving his music department here, Li Sutai felt a little distressed.

The military system of the Qing army still has some shadows of tribal society, that is, the entire army is not under unified management by the government, but is divided into eight banners. Each of the eight banners has its own banner owner.

Most of these banner owners are clan princes.

What was really in the hands of the emperor was the Three Banners and the Han Army.

Moreover, many positions among the Eight Banners are hereditary, and the same is true for Qubu. Most of the soldiers under Li Shutai were left behind by his father, Li Yongfang.

When the battle just began, Li Yongfang sent all these soldiers down to supervise the battle. If he withdrew, none of these soldiers would be able to go back.

Above the Qing army and court, strength often speaks for itself.

The reason why Dorgon is so arrogant is not only because he has the support of the Three Banners behind him, but also because the Three Banners are internally divided and others are watching.

Li Shutai was not concerned about the loss of his family's power, and he also saw that the biggest problem of the Xia army was that there were too few cavalry. Even if he delayed a little time, the Xia army would not be able to spare the cavalry to pursue him.

With this confidence, he dared to issue an order to bring the soldiers back as soon as possible.

It's just that he has calculated so many things, but he has miscalculated people's hearts.

His behavior naturally shook the hearts of the officers below.

When a Han army officer saw this situation, he secretly became angry and said: "You are unkind, so don't blame me for being unjust."

This man was from the northwest, his name was Liang Huafeng. He was not very old, so he was very popular with the Qing army. The reason was of course that he was very capable and had performed well in many battles. But there was another reason.

It was because he came from a pure family background, not from an officer in the former Ming Dynasty, nor from a prisoner of the Xia army.

But after the Qing army captured Xi'an, he enlisted in the army during the recruitment process in Xi'an.

The senior Manchu and Qing officials actually looked down upon all kinds of surrendered troops. However, they had to use them as a last resort. But it was just due to current events. If nothing else, the treatment of Hong Chengchou by the Qing army could be seen.

It can be said that Hong Chengchou made great contributions to the Qing court, but his final posthumous reputation was quite bad.

Therefore, it was the political correctness of the Qing army to promote these Han generals who came from Liaodong, because after decades of rule, Liaodong had already become a familiar place for the Manchus.

Therefore, in their opinion, the people of Liaodong can be trusted.

In addition, these are the soldiers who surrendered to the army innocently.

However, due to time constraints, most of those who joined the Qing army as soon as they joined the army were from Liaodong, and there were not many people from other places.

Before today, Liang Huafeng was quite grateful for the Qing government's support. But if this kind of kindness was compared with his own life, Liang Huafeng still had his own choice.

He summoned some officers around him and said: "Brothers, you have seen the current situation. The situation is over and irreversible. General Li wants to escape, but he doesn't care about our lives."

"Some of you have also been in the Xia army before, and you also know that the emperor of the Southern Dynasty hated the Qing army. He once ordered that the soldiers of the Eight Banners should be killed without mercy. They would not accept surrender at all. Now, although we are not the Eight Banners, if we surrender empty-handed

, the end will definitely be ugly. Even if we can survive, it is estimated that we will have to work hard for several years. Whether we can survive is still in doubt. At this point, we have to make our own plans.",

"Brother, what are you going to do? We all listen to you."

"Yes, we all listen to you."

The people below catered to him one after another.

Although Liang Huafeng leads the troops well and is very popular, it is also a big habit. In troubled times, for the lower-class soldiers, it is too normal to go to Qin and Muchu. As long as they can survive, what else can they do?

Liang Huafeng saw that the people below were supporting him. He first sent an envoy to the opposite side to tell them that they wanted to surrender first. Without waiting for the opposite side to reply, he tied a red rope on his right arm, turned around and killed them behind.

As for tying the red rope, there is nothing we can do about it.

The reason is simple.

On this battlefield, I want other colors

It's hard to say what kind of cloth it is, but it's easy to get red ones. The reason is very simple, because they are all dyed red with blood.

What Liang Huafeng did was beyond Li Shutai's imagination. Moreover, what Liang Huafeng did also served as a reminder to other troops of the Qing army. That is, they did not have to fight to the end like the Eight Banners. They had another way to go.

Suddenly, the breath that these Qing soldiers had been holding was released.

A large-scale surrender began. Upon seeing this, Gao Yigong immediately sent someone to accept the surrender. Although he did not have a detailed statistics, he estimated that the number of soldiers surrendered by the Qing army this time was around 30,000 to 40,000, which was probably more.

Gao Yigong was very satisfied with this.

However, after all, these soldiers are all veterans. After receiving them, they can be used after a little rectification. Now that there are soldiers everywhere, it is best to have these soldiers to supplement them.

Huang Chaoxuan breathed a sigh of relief at this moment, came to see Gao Yigong, knelt down and said: "Meet the general."

Gao Yigong said: "General Huang's achievements today will be reported to the court. We are tired from fighting for a long time, so let's rest for a while."

Huang Chaoxuan said: "Be more kind to the general."

To be honest, today's battle was the largest and most brutal battle Huang Chaoxuan had ever fought. Several times Huang Chaoxuan felt that he might not survive.

This is not an illusion. Ma Guangyu, who fought alongside him, has already gone to see the King of Hell. It can be seen that there is not much difference in status between the two.

He was also exhausted at this moment, not only him, but also the soldiers under his command.

Although I had eaten some dry food at noon, it had already been more than an hour now, and amid the fierce battle, I was already hungry.

But he still asked politely: "General, won't Liang Huafeng send someone to support him at this moment?"

"No need." Gao Yigong said: "The court's pardon is not so easy to give. If he wants it, he has to use something in exchange."

Gao Yigong naturally knew what Liang Huafeng wanted. He wanted to continue to stay in the Xia army and lead troops, so Gao Yigong naturally didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

But he knew that Zhang Xuan might not agree.

Gao Yigong has been under Zhang Xuan for several years, and he has learned more and more about Zhang Xuan. He knows that Zhang Xuan values ​​​​the officer group. There is probably no problem with the surrender of these troops and soldiers. After all, small soldiers are not important at any time.

But for most officers, they will definitely be replaced. It is very difficult to lead troops to fight again.

It is very likely that I will have a casual position in the future and receive a salary.

Since Liang Huafeng wanted to lead the army, Gao Yigong was also willing to give him a chance. As for whether Gao Yigong felt that the casualties in this battle were too heavy and was unwilling to hurt the soldiers anymore, it is a matter of benevolence and wisdom.
Chapter completed!