From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 649

"Hurry up! Faster!"

Qu Shaogeng urged the army to move forward at the fastest speed. Shanhaiguan is 600 miles away from Shenjing. He has marched for four consecutive days and has already walked half of the distance.

Accurate intelligence from Xuanfu has also arrived. Huang Taiji did arrive in Xuanfu on November 27 and easily captured it.

Calculating the time, Shenjing may have been surrounded by now, and even the battle has started.

Qu Shaogeng was anxious, but he was also somewhat fortunate that Zhou Yuan did not take the 3,000 camps. Although the 40,000 people had problems with their morale, they cooperated with the more than 10,000 people of the Five City Bingma Division and the more than 10,000 people of the Shenji Camp, which was about 70,000 people.

The combat effectiveness of these 70,000 people was not strong, and could even be said to be very weak, but there should be no problem in defending Shenjing City.

As long as his 40,000 troops supported Shenjing, Huang Taiji would have no choice.

At that time, Huang Taiji would most likely have to take the cavalry to Shanhaiguan to join the other 50,000 troops.

Ninety thousand troops joined together to attack Shenjing by force, but there seemed to be little hope.

Thinking of this, Qu Shaogeng breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he was smart and did not defend Shanhaiguan. Otherwise, he would be attacked from both sides and tens of thousands of people would be killed.

If they were all killed, Shenjing would be in real danger.

"Hurry up!"

He was still in shock and could not help but continue to urge the soldiers.

But soon, he raised his head and his face became extremely solemn.

There was a faint sound of horse hooves in the wind.

His heart sank to his bones.

After only a few dozen breaths, at the end of the distant skyline, dense cavalry appeared. They were just wearing leather armor, holding scimitars, carrying bows and arrows, and galloping at an unimaginable speed.

Eastern Tartar Cavalry! Huang Taiji has arrived!

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Qu Shaogeng shouted: "Line up! Line up to meet the enemy!"

His heart was about to jump out of his throat. Huang Taiji didn't go to Shenjing to waste time. Instead, he calculated that he was going to give up Shanhaiguan and came to kill him halfway.

This bastard, how dare he conclude that I was going to give up Shanhaiguan!

Qu Shaogeng felt that Huang Taiji was more and more terrible. He was calm and decisive, sent troops in a strange way, had a comprehensive plan and was good at adapting.

How could 40,000 infantrymen fight against 40,000 cavalrymen? Moreover, the opponent was the most elite cavalrymen of the Eastern Tartars, and each of them was good at fighting.

And now the 40,000 infantrymen on his side were reorganized after the Battle of Shanhaiguan this year. Their combat effectiveness had not made a qualitative leap, and they could not fight at all.

The Eastern Tartars' cavalry was too fast. They rushed at the fastest speed and roared.

Before the horses arrived, bows and arrows rained down.

As they were on the road, the soldiers gathered together, and this wave of arrows made Qu Shaogeng's soldiers fall down in large numbers.

"Shieldmen are in front! Guard tightly!"

Qu Shaogeng shouted: "Long spearmen! You must hold the horses!"

The quality of the Jinmen troops under his command was not very high, and their coordination ability was limited, so they barely responded.

But the opponent's cavalry turned around and rode around the team, and kept shooting arrows at a distance of 20 to 30 feet.

The advantage of cavalry lies in this point. They are fast, can keep a distance, pull the formation, and find the most appropriate time to disperse you.

He can make countless mistakes, but if the infantry makes a mistake once, they will be broken.

Qu Shaogeng knew that this time he was probably in danger.

So he shouted decisively: "Right Wing Army and Right Wing Army, form a team to block their way! Left Wing Army and Left Wing Army, listen to my orders and run to Shenjing!"

He wanted to use half of his strength to hold back Huang Taiji and win the chance for the other half to escape.

This is the only thing he can do now.

In the distance, Huang Taiji sat on the chariot, watching this scene coldly, with no expression on his face.

He just said calmly: "Shenjing has no soldiers to support them. This vast wilderness is the best battlefield for our cavalry."

"Don't rush to charge, slowly consume them, consume a day or two, their infantry will be too tired to hold the sword."

Wanyan Daichan said: "Qu Shaogeng wants to cut off his arm and protect some people to escape."

Huang Taiji said: "In the wilderness, the infantry can't decide the direction. Even if it's a fight to the death, I will lose at most 7,000 or 8,000 people."

"But I won't give him a chance to fight to the death. I just want to consume their physical strength until they are overdrawn and can't even stand up."

The cavalry kept harassing and the bows and arrows kept serving. Qu Shaogeng wanted to counterattack, but the other side quickly pulled away.

Qu Shaogeng had no choice but to continue to adopt the tactic of cutting off his arm. 20,000 people were responsible for dealing with the cavalry harassment, and 20,000 people accelerated their pace to attack Shenjing.

However, peopleLegs can't outrun horses, and Huang Taiji's soldiers were divided into two groups, one to harass and the other to block the way ahead.

The guards surrounded them, and the leading general shouted: "Governor! We will protect you to retreat to the capital!"

"Let's flee to the south! The Donglu people will definitely not catch up!"

Of course they also have horses, but only a few hundred, but it is still no problem to send Qu Shaogeng away.

Qu Shaogeng gritted his teeth and shouted angrily: "Shut up! Don't mention escaping again!"

Thirteen years ago, I failed to support Datong.

Last year, I failed to save Jizhou.

My five thousand brothers are facing a dead end in Shanhaiguan.

Now, I don't want to escape anymore.

"I will not abandon my brothers and live in disgrace!"

Qu Shaogeng drew his sword and shouted: "I don't have clothes! I will share the same robe with you!"

"I don't have clothes! I will share the same robe with you!"

Countless soldiers roared, facing the cavalry that kept harassing them, with only anger and determination in their eyes.

"I don't have clothes! I will share the same robe with you!"

Perhaps the fate of a soldier is to die on the battlefield.

A brave man pledged his country and buried his bones in the green mountains, but Qu Shaogeng was not afraid.

He just roared, stood with countless soldiers, held his chest high, and faced the last battle of his life.

…

Late at night, the female guard hurried into the Ziwei Palace and shouted, "Urgent report! Urgent report!"

"Your Majesty, after Huang Taiji's 40,000 cavalry broke through Xuanfu, they quickly rushed to the southeast and intercepted the Jinmen army returning to Beijing for support on the official road. A bloody battle broke out between the two sides."

"The battle lasted from the afternoon of December 2nd to the morning of December 4th. The 40,000 Jinmen troops were completely wiped out."

Empress Zhaojing stood up suddenly, her face turned pale and her body was shaky.

Xiaozhuang hurriedly supported her and whispered, "Your Majesty!"

Empress Zhaojing gritted her teeth and asked with difficulty, "Where is Qu Shaogeng?"

The female guard said, "Qu Shaogeng, the governor of Jinmen, was captured due to exhaustion and committed suicide for his country."

"Bang!"

Empress Zhaojing slapped the desk with one hand, and the whole table was broken into pieces.

She opened her mouth, but a mouthful of blood spurted out, and she cried out in pain: "Eastern Tartar dog thief! You should be cut into pieces!"

Xiao Zhuang's face changed, and he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, take care of your body. Now that things have come to this, we should do our best to protect Shenjing."

Empress Zhao Jing's eyes were red, and her voice was a little choked: "Shanhai Pass was lost, Qu Shaogeng died, the Jinmen army was destroyed, and now Shenjing is in danger... How can the world be so difficult!"

She seemed to have lost her strength, slumped in the chair, and murmured: "Could it be that I... really am the king of the lost country?"

Xiao Zhuang said: "Your Majesty, Shenjing still has Sanqianying, Shenjiying and Wucheng Bingmasi, 70,000 troops guarding the city, Huang Taiji can't attack."

Empress Zhao Jing The emperor seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly raised his head, his eyes were cold, and he said in a cold voice: "No news from the north?"

The female guard whispered: "Your Majesty, there is no news from the north, and all the pigeons have been sent out."

Empress Zhaojing clenched her fists and gritted her teeth and said: "Little Junior Brother, how could he not come back yet! The Northwest Army followed him, the Five Army Camps followed him, and the Xuanfu Army followed him. What is he going to do!"

"He wants Shenjing... He wants Shenjing to fall!"

Xiaozhuang said: "Your Majesty, calm down. Even if Zhou Yuan marches at full speed, he can't be so fast. It takes a month to get from Mobei to Shenjing."

Empress Zhaojing took a deep breath, and seemed to have made up her mind.

She said slowly with a cold face: "Xiaozhuang, tomorrow you go to the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion and bring Junior Brother's family to live in the palace."

"Shenjing is going to be closed. There must be Jurchen spies in the city. It's very dangerous."

"Bring them all to the palace and let the imperial guards protect them!"

She said slowly: "I promised Junior Brother that I would protect his family."

"So, make sure they all move in, don't miss any of them!"