Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"Why are you panicking? How far is it from here? How many people are there?" Zhang Shikang asked.

Of course he knew that it was very dangerous to act so arrogantly outside Jinzhou City, so his scouts had been patrolling within a radius of fifty miles these days. Once any movement was detected, Zhang Shikang would know about it quickly.

"Reporting to the commander, we are still more than thirty miles away. There are quite a lot of people, probably tens of thousands, including infantry and cavalry."

"Ten thousand?" Zhang Shikang frowned.

This is obviously a strange number. After experiencing the Battle of Jingshui, Huang Taiji should have known the strength of his guards.

Since that guy knew that I had stationed troops here, he shouldn't have sent only 10,000 people. You should know that he has 11,000 people here, not counting the garrison soldiers.

The Jianlu rarely fought unprepared battles, and since they had few people, they certainly would not pursue a tragic victory.

"Marquis Huaining, what do you think?" Zhang Shikang asked Sun Weifan.

"Marshal, there must be something fishy about this matter." Sun Weifan walked up to him and whispered.

Sun Weifan finally got a cold shoulder from Zhang Shikang.

"There are two possibilities. One is that this Jianlu army is not here to fight. The other is that they may be preparing to lure the enemy deep into our territory." Zhang Shikang thought for a while and said.

"General, the distance is more than 30 miles. Whether we fight or retreat, we can deal with it calmly." said Liu Zhaoji, the general of Songshan.

At this point, although Zhang Shikang did not explain the real situation to anyone, Liu Zhaoji had already keenly realized that the Grand Marshal seemed to be playing a game of chess.

If the commander didn't say anything, he, as a subordinate, wouldn't ask, but he never failed to do what he was supposed to do.

"No! This is too dangerous, Marshal, you can't take risks here." Sun Weifan quickly advised.

Liu Zhaoji also thought that what Sun Weifan said made sense, and that they should at least retreat to Songshan Fort first and make long-term plans based on the fort.

"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb. Don't worry about my safety. The five thousand guards are all cavalry. It's not easy for ten thousand people to keep me.

Remind the soldiers to be smarter.

Everyone else, go ahead and continue to scold me. I won’t call it a day!”

Zhang Shikang rejected the proposals of Sun Weifan and Liu Zhaoji and spoke to his group of personal guards.

There is no doubt that Huang Taiji was by no means a fool, and it was impossible to successfully implement his plan without taking some risks.

In this case, let’s drive the tiger to devour the wolf. Come on.

Sun Weifan knew that Zhang Shikang had the final say on military affairs, so he immediately gave up the idea of continuing to persuade him and went with Liu Zhaoji to convey the order to the generals.

Hundreds of soldiers immediately went to clean up the temporary military camp, packing up all the food and drinks, and leaving behind anything that would be a burden.

Zhang Shikang came to the city of Jinzhou again and pointed at Zu Dashou on the top of the city wall and shouted angrily:

"Zu Dashou, you, a traitor, actually dared to surrender to the enemy and betray your country!

I was so blind. I should have caught all your ancestors as soon as we met!

Your treasonous behavior will sooner or later put your family on the pillar of shame in history!"

As soon as Zhang Shikang opened his mouth, his guards also began to attack him verbally. Zu Dashou looked cold and said nothing, but the hot-tempered Zu Dabi could no longer bear it and immediately retorted:

"Traitor! The Ming Dynasty will fall in your hands sooner or later, yet you have the nerve to scold me. If you hadn't gone too far, how could we have done this?

Greedy people are like a snake swallowing an elephant!

You will suffer the consequences sooner or later!"

Zu Dabi cursed back, and the other members of the Zu family were also furious. They did not want to surrender to the enemy, but the court would not tolerate them. This crappy marshal didn't even want to give them a chance to live.

For ordinary soldiers, being able to stay alive is the most important thing between life and death.

So the Liao soldiers on the city wall, speaking in a dialect with a strong accent, began to fight back against Zhang Shikang and his ancestors in turns.

The insults from both sides became more and more vicious, and soon black smoke began to rise from the top of the city wall due to anger.

Zhang Shikang quickly ordered his subordinates to retreat. As bursts of artillery fire rang out, Zhang Shikang turned his head to look far behind him, but saw that the Jianlu army had appeared in his sight.

Zhang Shikang expected that the generals of Jianlu must have heard the sound of artillery fire, so it had an effect anyway.

But this alone seems difficult to verify, after all, most of the artillery fire was just blank shots.

At this time, not only Zhang Shikang was struggling, but Zu Dashou on the top of the city wall was also frowning.

He also saw the Jianlu army not far away, and was thinking about how to express his attitude as much as possible while reducing losses.

He knew that there must be spies from the Jianlu in Jinzhou City, and they might be watching them now!

"Uncle, why don't I lead the troops out of the city? The thief outside the city is too annoying.

It just so happens that the Heavenly Army has arrived, and we have to prove to them that our Liao soldiers are not cowards!" Wu Sangui seemed to have seen something and immediately asked for orders.

Zu Dashou stared at his nephew quietly for a while before he said carefully:

"You know what to do, right?"

"Uncle, I understand." Wu Sangui said firmly.

"Okay, let's leave the city quickly, Zu Zeyuan, beat the drum!" Zu Dashou gritted his teeth and finally gave the order.

Just before the Jianlu army arrived at the battlefield, Wu Sangui rushed out of Jinzhou City with thousands of infantrymen.

Ginger is still spicy with age! Zhang Shikang squinted his eyes and glanced at the top of Jinzhou City.

"Send a message to Liu Zhaoji to meet the enemy!" Zhang Shikang immediately gave the order to the messenger.

Soon Liu Zhaoji started fighting with Wu Sangui's troops, but in less than half a quarter of an hour, Jirgalang arrived at the battlefield with 10,000 people.

"I am Wu Sangui, the Ningyuan general under the command of Vanguard General Zu Dashou. May I leave my name?" Wu Sangui said to the Jianlu army not far away.

"Jirgalang, Prince Zheng of the Qing Dynasty!" Jirgalang introduced himself but did not directly join the battle.

Wu Sangui's face suddenly showed surprise.

"Great! Soldiers, the heavenly troops have arrived. From now on, we will no longer have to be hindered by the traitor Zhang Shikang!

Follow me to kill the enemy!" Wu Sangui said as he ran towards a garrison soldier and chopped him down to the ground with a few blows.

"Your Highness, my uncle is in the city waiting for the Qing Dynasty's heavenly soldiers to take over the city. Don't worry about us. Your Highness, please enter the city!"

Wu Sangui wiped the blood off his face and spoke to Jirgalang again.

Jirgalang was still hesitating whether to join the battle, but when he heard what the Han general named Wu Sangui said, he decided to sit idly by.

The Zu family has obviously shown their sincerity. If I sit back and do nothing, Zu Dashou will definitely be dissatisfied. If this guy goes back on his word, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain myself when I return.

Thinking of this, Jirgalang saw that the enemy force was not large, and immediately gave the order:

"All soldiers, listen to my orders. Join General Wu in defeating this group of bandits!"

As soon as the order was given, the soldiers behind Jirgalang rushed into the battle formation and soon started fighting with Liu Zhaoji.

Half a minute later, Zhang Shikang looked at the chaotic three-way battlefield and realized that the show had been played out, so he immediately ordered a retreat.

Five thousand cavalry guards immediately followed Zhang Shikang and were followed by Liu Zhaoji. Since the soldiers had been reminded in advance, as soon as the order was given, everyone did not hesitate at all and retreated after blocking the enemy.

Jirgalang did not expect the enemy to retreat so decisively, and immediately planned to pursue them.

After all, pursuit can expand the results of the battle. If the enemy's retreat formation can be disrupted and the orderly retreat turned into a rout, the enemy will become a lamb to be slaughtered.

Just as he was about to give the order, he heard Wu Sangui say:

"Your Highness, the enemy has retreated. Please enter the city. I will leave the pursuit to you!"

After saying that, Wu Sangui immediately ordered his subordinates to stand in front of the Jianlu soldiers, as if he didn't want Jirgalang to steal his military merit.

……