I was living at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and I dealt a brutal blow to the Eight Banners!

Zhang Jingchuan and Cao Mingsheng led over 20,000 cavalry.

They ignored the two lines of defense the Qing army had in the south and bypassed Lianyun Pass.

Heading north, north, north.

right now,

They have arrived at Fengjibao, which is only a hundred miles away from Shengjing.

It actually took quite a lot of time.

Although they did not encounter any Qing troops along the way and were simply traveling, it still took them five or six days.

Cavalry, especially large-scale cavalry,

The speed of travel was not as fast as expected.

Humans can go a day without food and persevere when they are tired, but horses are different. They need to rest, to walk and stop, and to stop to replenish water and food in order to restore their strength.

Liaodong is not Mongolia, so it's impossible for one person to have two or three horses.

If it were a high-intensity march, a cavalryman could only manage to march a hundred li (approximately 50 kilometers) in a day and night.

However, in order to maximize secrecy, Zhang Jingchuan only traveled for five hours after dark out of the twelve hours of the day, which meant he could only travel sixty or seventy li in a day and night.

In order to achieve the goal of infiltrating behind enemy lines

all of these,

It's all worth it.

After replenishing their rations for the next few days with the help of the Qing army's provisions at Fengjibao, they hid in the woods and waited for nightfall.

"My lord, Shengjing is a fortified city with high walls and deep moats. Although the city's garrison is only about ten thousand men, they are all elite troops from the Plain Yellow Banner and Bordered Yellow Banner. With just our twenty thousand cavalry, I'm afraid it will be difficult to take Shengjing smoothly!"

Cao Mingsheng said with concern.

In fact, Cao Mingsheng was somewhat worried when he learned that the Marquis was going to send a surprise attack on Shengjing.

But considering that the Marquis had almost never been defeated since his rise in Liaodong, he must have a backup plan.

But over the past few days,

Cao Mingsheng had not seen any other preparations made by his lord, which is why he asked this question.

The Marquis was sitting on a rock, breaking off a small piece of flatbread from his hand and chewing it.

He stammered:

"Let alone 20,000 cavalry, even if there were 20,000 more, without the assistance of artillery, it would be difficult to break through the gates of Shengjing."

"So what are we doing...?" Cao Mingsheng asked, puzzled.

"Waiting for reinforcements?"

“But our troops are tied up in Haizhouwei and Lianyunguan, and it will probably be difficult to break through the Qing army’s defenses in a short time…” Cao Mingsheng said worriedly.

Zhang Jingchuan looked up at Cao Mingsheng, grinned, and said, "I'm waiting for the Qing reinforcements!"

Cao Mingsheng raised an eyebrow and asked in surprise, "Does the Marquis intend to besiege the stronghold and attack the reinforcements?"

Zhang Jingchuan smiled, said nothing, and continued breaking the dough.

"Will the Qing troops in Dongningwei come back to reinforce?" Cao Mingsheng asked.

“It’s not a question of whether or not we will do it, it’s a question of whether we definitely will.” Zhang Jingchuan put the remaining half of the pancake back into the cloth bag. “To be honest, if this tactic of besieging a point to attack reinforcements had been used a few months ago, I really wouldn’t have dared to use it.”

As for now, Huang Taiji is bedridden and his days are numbered.

As the Qing Dynasty faced a critical juncture of power transition, the city of Shengjing appeared united against a common enemy, but undercurrents were surging beneath the surface.

Whether it was the emperor of the Qing Dynasty or our Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, there were indeed many differences.

But ultimately

The power structures on both sides are the same.

The closer one gets to the center of power, the greater their ambition for the dragon throne becomes.

Just like those merchants, who would complain about having too much money?

Cao Mingsheng frowned and remained silent.

Seeing that he still didn't understand, Zhang Jingchuan continued to explain:

"You don't need to overthink it; this world is just a giant makeshift operation."

The reason why Huang Taiji was able to become emperor was not only due to Nurhaci's will, but mainly because Huang Taiji was the most powerful among the four Beile. Only with power could he secure the throne.

The most concrete manifestation of Huang Taiji's power was the Plain Yellow Banner and the Bordered Yellow Banner.

This is why,

The reason why Huang Taiji left his two strongest banners of troops in Shengjing.

“My lord, I understand,” Cao Mingsheng said thoughtfully. “Huang Taiji will not allow the already limited troops of these two banners to be lost to us. Therefore, Huang Taiji will definitely send Daishan of Dongning Guard to lead troops back to reinforce us!”

“That’s right!” Zhang Jingchuan grinned and said, “The more this is the case, the more eager those princes, beile, and banner lords in the Qing army who hold heavy troops will be to express their loyalty to Huang Taiji.”

in this way,

That way, he wouldn't be purged when Huang Taiji was paving the way for the new emperor.

Whether it's the Qing Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, or any other dynasty throughout history, they all had this kind of mentality!

Do not know why,

When Cao Mingsheng heard these words from his lord, he did not feel that it was presumptuous. On the contrary, his respect for Lord Zhang increased even more.

He was even somewhat relieved.

When he was at his wit's end, he resolutely embarked on a long march of thousands of miles, just to serve under the banner of the Marquis of Pinglu.

I originally thought that Marquis Pinglu only had a high level of skill in combat, but I didn't expect him to have such a high level of skill as well.

Zhang Jingchuan glanced at the dark sky and said:

"Alright, we should get going. Let's try to get the Qing scouts around Shengjing spotted by tomorrow afternoon!"

……

The next morning, as dawn broke.

No longer resorting to covert maneuvering, Zhang Jingchuan boldly launched a high-profile attack towards Shengjing.

Without considering home and logistics

His cavalry force of over 20,000 riders was like a nomadic tribe from the north moving south.

Ignore all the cities, fortresses, and checkpoints along the way!

They simply ignored it.

I know that the main force of your Qing army is in Haizhouwei, Dongningwei, and Lianshanguan. There are some Qing soldiers in the camps and forts near Shengjing, but not many.

or,

You can either come out of the city and have sex with me in the open, or you can stay at home, cover yourself with a blanket, and let me continue to penetrate deeper.

After a long day of running,

Along the way, whenever any Qing troops in the camps dared to block their way, they would immediately divide their forces to defeat them, and the main force maintained a rapid marching momentum.

I will not allow the Qing troops in your camps to gather together, nor will I allow you to return to aid Shengjing.

Each camp had one or two cavalry units, but not many; the majority were infantry, mainly Han Chinese.

My side is all cavalry. How can you compare to me in terms of mobility?

at last,

In the afternoon.

Zhang Jingchuan led his personal guard battalion and the cavalry to the Hun River!

Here,

It was originally a ferry crossing, but because the river was frozen, all the boats had to be towed ashore.

The thunderous sound of iron hooves alarmed the Qing people on the opposite bank of the river, as well as the convoy that was preparing to transport supplies and provisions to the front lines.

For a time,

Panic screams echoed from the opposite bank of the river, revealing a scene of utter chaos.

The Ming dogs are here! The Ming army is here!!!

This kind of panic is exactly what Zhang Jingchuan wanted!

Only such a sense of panic could have the greatest effect after it reached Shengjing.

This led Huang Taiji and the Qing court to make hasty decisions without knowing how many troops Zhang Jingchuan had brought!

Riding on horseback, Zhang Jingchuan was using his telescope to observe the situation on the opposite bank of the river.

Suddenly, a wicked sense of humor arose within him.

Place your hands around your mouth.

He shouted towards the opposite bank of the river:

"Run! Ming's coming!"

……