Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 498 Ping Liao (2)

As the Qian army attacked from three directions, except for the Jinzhou defense line which Zhao Yongping could not break through, the Qian army made rapid progress in the directions of Korea and Mongolia.

After Gao Jinku landed in Jeolla Province, he fought a battle with the Eight Banners of Korea stationed in Jeolla Province. In this battle, it was not the Qian army that took action, but the Korean volunteer army was the vanguard and the Qian army was the supervisor.

There were 7,000 people in the Eight Korean Banners and 800 in the Eight Manchu Banners, but Gao Jinku and the rebel forces had nearly 60,000 people, nearly ten times the number of the enemy. This made Gao Jinku wonder where the Qing army got the courage from. Were they all the bravest of the three armies?

The Eight Banners of Korea did not become invincible just by raising the flags. Instead, the Manchu general He Tai stationed in Jeolla Province believed that the number of Qian's troops landing would not be too large, so he led the garrison in Jeolla Province to drive away the Qian's army.

Perhaps because they had a backbone, the morale of these volunteers was high. In contrast, the morale of the Eight Banners of Korea who were carrying the flags was low. When He Tai saw so many people on the opposite side, his face turned green.

When Gao Jinku saw that the enemy's formation was unstable, he subsequently dispatched 3,000 elite troops of the Qian Army to attack from the flank, easily defeating the Eight Banners of Korea. Once the Eight Banners of Korea were defeated, He Tai did not hesitate and immediately led his troops to flee.

The collapse of the military formation caused the situation to immediately get out of control. In the end, Jeolla Province was occupied by Gao Jinku in just a few days. Gao Jinku then continued to lead his troops northward. The Eight Banners of Bolo's headquarters were too few in number to form a key defensive force. As for the Eight Banners of Korea, they were okay for maintaining local order, but they were obviously not qualified to face the regular army of the Qian Dynasty.

Bolo was at a great disadvantage in southern Korea, so he retreated towards Seoul and asked Shengjing for reinforcements. Bolo knew that the Qing Dynasty was now stretched thin, so he only asked Jirgalang for another 5,000 cavalry. As long as there were 10,000 Manchu Eight Banners, Bolo would be confident that he could hold the Korean defense line for the Qing Dynasty.

Bolo's military request for help was quickly delivered to Shengjing City. After reading the letter for help, Jirgalang sighed and his eyes turned to another letter for help.

That was a letter for help from Khorchin Prince Wu Kesan. The Qian army had already sent troops to the Mongolian desert south of the desert. Among them, the Jalaid, Gorlos, Aohan, Naiman, Balin, and Ongniud tribes had already sided with the Qian Dynasty.

The Zhalut, Keshiketeng, Kharchin, Ujumchin, and Hoqit tribes refused to help either side. Now only the Urad and Khorchin tribes are still standing firmly on the side of the Qing Dynasty.

In this war, Meng Jun did not use his full strength, but the Qing Dynasty had already used up all its might. Even so, the nobles of the Eight Banners in Shengjing City had already smelled a dead end.

Now all Jirgalang could do was to stabilize the morale of the army while blocking the Qian army. To this end, Jirgalang lavishly conferred titles on the Manchu, Mongolian and Han generals in the army.

But the title could not be used to mobilize troops. There were only 80,000 people left in the Qing Dynasty, and more than 50,000 troops were stationed in Jinzhou alone. Of the remaining 30,000, 5,000 were in Bolo's hands, and 10,000 were left in Shengjing to protect the court, the emperor and the empress dowager. There were only 15,000 mobile troops left.

After much thought, Jirgalang finally decided to send reinforcements to Bolo, dispatching 5,000 men to help Korea, while the remaining 10,000 Eight Banners soldiers, led by Mandahai, would go to Khorchin Mongolia.

…………

At five o'clock in the morning, Wu Keshan was still sleeping soundly. The Qian cavalry entered the grassland and many tribes surrendered to the Qian Dynasty. This made Wu Keshan anxious and stressed. He suffered from insomnia for almost the whole night and could only fall asleep very late every day.

Just as he fell asleep, someone outside the tent shouted, "Father, Father!"

Wu Keshan was in a state of tension and had a light sleep. He woke up with a start and reached out to grab the machete beside the bed. Then he replied in a bad tone, "What's the matter?"

"Father, I'm coming in!" Wu Kesan's son, Tuneh, came in through the tent with an anxious look on his face.

"Father, the Kharchin tribe has also surrendered to the Qian Dynasty. They have sent troops to support the Qian army and are going to be enemies with our Kharchin tribe!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Keshan put on his outer robe and sat up.

Seeing Wu Keshan was silent, Tunehe asked anxiously, "The tribe is in need of manpower, why did my second uncle take so many people away from the tribe at this time? He also said that you, my father, agreed!"

Wu Keshan snorted and said, "You are still so impetuous. Those tribes are all fence-sitters who sway with the wind. Now that the Qian Dynasty is powerful, it's not strange for them to join them. As for your second uncle's affairs, it's none of your business!"

After finishing speaking, Wu Keshan picked up the kettle, poured a cup of strong tea into the bowl, and then he heard what Tunehe said.

Tunehe's face turned red, and he said angrily: "Most of the tribes in the south of the desert have already surrendered to the Qian Dynasty. I heard that Huang Cheng has already gathered the coalition forces of various tribes at the Guna River. A rough estimate is that there are probably at least more than 50,000 cavalry!"

When Wu Keshan heard this, his whole body stiffened instantly before he even drank his tea.

The close bond between Khorchin and the Qing court was due, on the one hand, to fear of the Qing army's military power, and on the other hand, to a combination of interests. In particular, the marriage between Wu Keshan and the upper echelons of the Qing court made it impossible for the Khorchin tribe to surrender to the Qian Dynasty like other tribes south of the desert.

On the vast Khorchin grassland, in just two years, the Khorchin tribe rapidly weakened. There were fewer and fewer men in the tribe, and women and children became the main herding force.

The Khorchin tribe can now muster at most 15,000 to 16,000 cavalrymen, and this number of people is no match for the Qian army.

Just when Wu Keshan was getting anxious and angry, the general of the Qian army, Huang Cheng, was on the banks of the Guna River, summoning the leaders of the twelve tribes south of the desert to discuss the matter of attacking Khorchin.

The grassland is vast and the relationships between tribes are complicated, but now that the Qian Dynasty is powerful, everything seems to have become orderly.

Soon, a huge cavalry was formed, with Huang Cheng and Gulbuha's 30,000 Qian Dynasty cavalry as the core, and 40,000 cavalry from the twelve tribes south of the desert. The cavalry team that Meng Jun had been dreaming of had finally become a reality.

A total of more than 70,000 cavalrymen were preparing to sweep across the Korqin grassland. This was a rare large-scale cavalry gathering on the grassland in recent years.

Huang Cheng stood in front of the ten thousand cavalrymen, looking at the unique wild atmosphere of the grassland. At this moment, the armor on his body emitted a cold light under the reflection of the sunlight. Behind him was a huge cavalry, with flags fluttering and the neighing of war horses rising one after another, magnificent and imposing.

Huang Cheng said with emotion: "When I followed Your Majesty, I never thought that one day I would be able to lead tens of thousands of cavalry and travel across the desert!"

Huang Cheng flicked his whip and shouted, "Attack!"

With the order given, 70,000 cavalrymen set out like a floodgate, advancing rapidly into the depths of the Korqin grassland like a tornado.

The earth shook, the grass waves rose and fell with the horses' hooves, and the deafening sound of the horses' hooves seemed to change the color of the heaven and earth.