Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 440 Battle of Liangxiang

Man Dahai felt that Bolo's debate on loyalty and treachery made a lot of sense, but it took him a long time to think about it before he could find a loophole in it.

Man Dahai asked: "But what if he pretends to shave his head but actually harbors rebellious intentions in his heart?"

Bolo snorted coldly and said, "There are countless people like this, but they dare not rebel, and can only criticize in their hearts. These people are all cowardly. Only those who dare to take up arms to resist when the order to shave their heads is issued are the most disturbing factors."

Afterwards, Bolo formally ordered all of Korea to shave their heads and implement the elegant policies of the new dynasty. For a time, countless officials and gentry wailed, some resisted, and some shaved their heads. As the saying goes, people's hearts are revealed in times of turmoil.

Many people who once held high the banner of the debate between Chinese and barbarians shaved their heads, and some who were once silent resolutely raised the banner of rebellion.

Before Lee Ho rebelled, although Korea was a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty only asked Korea to submit to it and did not interfere too much in its internal affairs.

Even though Bolo looted Korea, the Qing court did not take Korea seriously. However, when the Qing court was at the end of its rope, it even spared Korea, a piece of land with little profit.

Naturally, there were people throughout Korea who rose up in rebellion against Bolo's order to shave their heads. Many volunteers who were defeated in the Battle of Han River, after returning to their hometowns, soon raised the banner of resistance against the order to shave their heads under the organization of local officials and gentry.

Unfortunately, the fighting power of the Lee Dynasty has always been impressive. During the Battle of Sarhu, when the Ming Dynasty was conquering Nurhaci, the Korean monarch and his ministers thought of the Ming Dynasty's grace in re-creating them, and therefore sent an army of more than 15,000 people to cooperate with the Ming army to attack Nurhaci.

The result is naturally self-evident. The army of more than 15,000 people was so scared that they knelt down and begged for surrender after only firing a few rounds of gunfire. After that, the 588 Banners Army rushed to Seoul and forced Korea to sue for peace.

After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, the Qing army once again sent troops to Korea. Within a month, several areas in the north of Korea were completely occupied, and Korea was finally forced to submit to Huang Taiji.

The combat effectiveness of the Korean army has been extremely stable and has never changed, from the time when Wanli aided Korea, to the rise of the Qing army, and then to the present when the Qing court is weakened and the Zhou army is on the Northern Expedition. Even the so-called elite inner imperial guards immediately reveal their true level when they encounter a real battle.

The resistance of these volunteers could not even cause a big wave. Except for a few tough ones who needed to send out the Eight Banners Army, most of the others were suppressed by the Korean Green Camp soldiers who defected to the Qing court.

But this does not mean that North Korea has become peaceful. Many people hid in the mountains and refused to accept Bolo's rule. These people, either bandits or volunteers, usually farmed in the mountains. Once they got the news, they would come out of the mountains to attack and kill government officials and rob caravans. There was chaos for a while and there was almost no peace in North Korea.

………………

Within the pass.

Along the way, Jiang Xiang faced Bai Yintu's 16,000 Han soldiers and 4,000 Eight Banners soldiers. Jiang Xiang felt that he had the advantage and his strategy was completely opposite to Meng Jun's.

Along the way, Meng Jun built strong camps and fought stupid battles, which exhausted Dorgon's temper. However, Jiang Xiang, on the other hand, was aggressive and after leaving Hunyuan, he first took Wei County and then Laiyuan, and then divided his troops into two routes in Yi County.

One route was a detachment led by Wang Fuchen, a general under Jiang Xiang, who led a thousand cavalry and more than ten thousand infantry. It passed through Jiaxian, Zhuozhou, Gu'an, Yongqing, Dong'an, and then entered Tianjin to join the main force of Zhou's army.

Along the way was Jiang Xiang's main force, with 60,000 infantry and nearly 3,000 cavalry, passing through Jiashui, Zhuozhou, and then heading north to Liangxiang, directly threatening the city of Beijing.

Baiyintu's response was completely different from Dorgon's. Dorgon had been trying for so long to have a large-scale outdoor decisive battle with Meng Jun, while Baiyintu was cautious and would never attack easily without finding a good opportunity.

When facing the 16,000 Han soldiers and 4,000 elite Eight Banners soldiers under Bai Yintu's command, Jiang Xiang felt no fear, but instead felt a surge of ambition.

Because Jiang Xiang knew that this would be the last battle in the Central Plains, and future glory and wealth would all depend on this battle. For Jiang Xiang, whether he could capture Beijing was another matter. As long as his army could reach the outskirts of Beijing, he would definitely have his name on the list of those who would recover the Northern Capital in the Northern Expedition.

Baiyintu was also a veteran who had led troops for many years. He knew that the outcome of a direct confrontation would be unpredictable, and he was under the heavy trust of the Regent. Baiyintu did not dare and could not risk everything, so he used his cavalry advantage to launch a mobile attack.

Under Baiyintu's deployment, 4,000 Eight Banners soldiers roamed around, specifically targeting Jiang Xiang's weak links. The Qing army intercepted and killed Jiang Xiang's scouts in groups, forcing Jiang Xiang to expand his scout team. However, Jiang Xiang's cavalry was obviously unable to compete with the Eight Banners cavalry in terms of combat power. It took two or three cavalrymen to replace one Eight Banners soldier every time.

Not only that, Baiyintu also divided the cavalry into dozens of teams and frequently attacked Jiang Xiang's logistics supply lines. Baiyintu's harassment forced Jiang Xiang to dispatch more troops to protect the safety of the grain route.

Jiang Xiang was very troubled by this, but he had to strengthen the defense along the line and send additional troops to protect the grain route.

Although the process was a bit painful, Jiang Xiang's army marched slowly all the way and finally arrived at Liangxiang. One more step forward and they would reach the outskirts of Beijing.

The Battle of Liangxiang became the site of the first head-on confrontation between the two sides. Bai Yintu had delayed for so long, and he could not delay any longer, because Jiang Xiang was only a stone's throw away from the capital.

Baiyintu organized the Han army into a circular formation to form a defensive posture, while Baiyintu personally led the cavalry to patrol outside, looking for opportunities to defeat the enemy.

In the Battle of Liangxiang, the drums of war were beating and the situation was tense.

Seeing this, Jiang Xiang suddenly became heroic. He immediately drew his sword, looked back at his subordinates, and shouted: "A man born in troubled times should hold a three-foot-long sword and break the enemy's formation. Only then can he show his unparalleled courage!"

Jiang Xiang's subordinates all raised their arms and shouted, their morale was boosted. For a moment, they were eager to fight and seemed to be able to defeat the enemy with ease.

Then, with an order, his troops rushed forward and the infantry swarmed in. Jiang Xiang also knew that Bai Yintu's cavalry was outside, so his cavalry kept a close eye on Bai Yintu's movements.

Jiang Xiang's troops were several times larger than the Qing army. As soon as the battle started, the Qing army's infantry fell into a disadvantage and could only hold on with great difficulty. Although the number of people in the front row could only be so large, the cover of arrows from the back row was beyond the reach of the Qing army.

Arrows rained down on the Qing army's circular formation like rain, and many Qing soldiers were even killed by dozens of arrows. Seeing this, Bai Yintu no longer hesitated and immediately led the cavalry to circle outside and try to flank Jiang Xiang's troops.

The cavalry under Jiang Xiang immediately attacked to stop the Qing cavalry. Bai Yintu whipped his horse and led the charge into the cavalry formation.

Baiyintu charged left and right, and his subordinates knew that it was time to fight to the death. "Follow me, we will defeat the enemy today!" Baiyintu shouted loudly.