Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 421 Secret Investigation

The Qing army entered the pass and swept across the country. Many figures who were once famous in the Central Plains were killed by the Qing army. The decision to enter the pass has always been the proudest thing in Dorgon's heart.

Even though the current situation is extremely unfavorable to Dorgon, he is still unwilling to withdraw from the area outside the Great Wall. Although the area outside the Great Wall is empty, Gao Jinku has only 10,000 people, Man Dahai is guarding the area outside the Great Wall, and there are reinforcements from Bolo. Dorgon believes that defeating Gao Jinku should not be a problem.

Dorgon still held on to one last glimmer of hope in his heart, that was if Meng Jun sent troops to Hebei. As long as he could defeat Meng Jun in a field battle, then the Qing Dynasty still had a chance to rule the world!

Dorgon always scoffed at the voices within the Eight Banners that wanted to withdraw to the outside of the Great Wall. Retreating to the outside of the Great Wall would be like drinking poison to quench thirst. If the day came when they really had to withdraw to the outside of the Great Wall, the Eight Banners might not even be able to stay in Shengjing. They could only run to places farther and colder than Heilongjiang, where they might still survive.

It was just this choice. After enjoying the warm and prosperous world inside the Great Wall, Dorgon would rather die than live such a miserable life.

At this time, outside the capital, there were 6,000 Solon soldiers, 46,000 Han soldiers, 3,000 Mongolian cavalry, and 12,000 Eight Banners soldiers.

In Zunhua, there were 15,000 Mongolian cavalry and 30,000 Eight Banners cavalry. After Bolo led his troops to leave Beijing, when the 50,000 cavalry arrived in Zunhua, Bolo followed the strategy he had formulated earlier and left 45,000 cavalry to Suksaha's command, and he himself led 5,000 Eight Banners cavalry to Shengjing.

………………

Lu Ping in Beijing city conducted a careful investigation for a long time and secretly ordered people to contact Han officials. However, these Han officials who had secret contacts with the Zhou army all swore that the capital camp had dispatched 50,000 cavalry and were heading towards the outside of the Great Wall. All the military supplies, warehouse records, etc. also matched.

Lu Ping had been struggling for several days, and his mind was a little dazed. Could it be that Dorgon was really going to withdraw to the border areas? Would he not even want the Forbidden City anymore?

Lu Ping paced back and forth, the dim wick swaying in the wind caused by his walking. Lu Ping was thinking hard. Dorgon's actions were obviously unreasonable. If 50,000 people were dispatched, there would only be more than 60,000 troops in the camp in the capital. Although the number was not small, it was obviously not enough to withstand the double threats from the king and Jiang Xiang.

As the chief of the Intelligence Bureau in the capital, Lu Ping had to be very accurate in the information he conveyed, especially information related to military operations. If he was not careful, the overall situation in the world would change.

"Boss, Mr. Mao is here." Liang Sanjin walked into the room and interrupted Lu Ping's thoughts.

"Mao Xiang? Let him in." Lu Ping was stunned. It was so late, was there something urgent?

A moment later, Mao Xiang walked into the room. He was dressed as a scholar and looked a little worried. It was obvious that he was also troubled by the complexity of the recent situation.

"Shopkeeper Lu" Mao Xiang bowed and greeted him.

Lu Ping frowned and said, "Mr. Mao, is there something urgent?"

Mao Xiang nodded and said in a deep voice: "Recently, the situation inside and outside the capital has been very treacherous. Many colleagues have said that Dorgon is going to withdraw from the interior of the country."

Lu Ping frowned and said in annoyance, "This matter has been spread all over the capital for a long time, and there are all kinds of rumors. You came here just to talk about this?"

Mao Xiang sat down and whispered, "Of course not. In my opinion, this news is very likely to be false."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ping hurriedly walked closer, sat next to Mao Xiang, and asked, "Is there any other news?"

"No, there isn't." Mao Xiang finished speaking, and seeing Lu Ping's disappointed look, he continued, "But there is no other news. Isn't that strange?"

Lu Ping's expression changed slightly when he heard this. He had been involved in this kind of underground work for so many years, and all the information and evidence were so straightforward, as if they were afraid that he couldn't hear it. But it was precisely this that made Lu Ping feel more and more that something was wrong.

Seeing that Mao Xiang also said the same thing, Lu Ping knew that something must be wrong, so he immediately asked, "In your opinion, what exactly does Dorgon mean?"

Mao Xiang pondered for a moment and spoke slowly: "Dorgon is known as the wise king, and he has always been cunning. If he really wants to withdraw from the capital, he will not do so in such a high-profile manner. Moreover, only a small amount of supplies are shipped to the border areas. If the Qing court really wants to flee, then Dorgon would be eager to plunder the northern land and leave a blank area for the king. Wouldn't that be better?"

Lu Ping nodded in agreement and motioned Mao Xiang to continue. Mao Xiang went on to say, "Moreover, the most important thing is that no one in the city of Manchuria, including the Eight Banners' families, is packing their bags. This shows that Dorgon has not given up his plan to stay inside the Great Wall."

Hearing this, Lu Ping hesitated for a long time, touched his chin, and said: "This may prove that Dorgon has no plan to evacuate. Could it be that Dorgon thinks that he can defend with only 60,000 people..."

Before he finished speaking, Lu Ping shook his head to indicate that it was impossible. At this time, Mao Xiang said, "If we make a bold guess, Dorgon might be deliberately showing weakness to lure the king to go deep into Hebei, and then use the advantage of cavalry to try to defeat the king in one battle!"

Lu Ping stood up and pondered for a long time before turning to look at Mao Xiang and said, "It is indeed possible. If this is the case, then this cavalry will definitely not leave the border and will only stay in the northern Zhili area!"

Mao Xiang's forehead was covered with sweat. He said uneasily, "The Hebei Plain is where cavalry roam freely. If this special force attacks from behind when the king is lining up to fight with Dorgon, the consequences will be disastrous."

Lu Ping forced a smile on his face and comforted him, "No, Your Majesty has the destiny, and he will not fail."

Then Lu Ping walked to the corner, pushed open the bed, and took out a map of northern Zhili from the wall tiles.

The map was spread out on the table, and Mao Xiang and Lu Ping carefully considered where the Qing cavalry might be stationed.

Mao Xiang looked at the map and said without raising his head, "Baoding Prefecture, Hejian Prefecture, and Zhending Prefecture are close to Shandong. It is unlikely that tens of thousands of cavalrymen can hide their whereabouts."

When Lu Ping heard this, he found that this idea coincided with his own. He nodded and said, "Well, I think as long as the Qing army has not left the border, the greatest possibility is that they are in Yongping Prefecture and Jizhou area."

The two discussed for a long time whether Dorgon was really misleading the world. If so, then the king would also face major changes in his strategic layout.

Thinking of this, Lu Ping no longer delayed, and immediately sorted out all the information at hand, wrote a detailed report overnight, and sent it urgently to Shandong. At the same time, Lu Ping asked Liu Guquan to order the Qingluan Guard spies in Yongping Prefecture and Jizhou area to investigate the traces of the Qing army in detail.