As for Engetu, who led the Mongolian Jiala under Zhenglan to rush into Yang Zhen's camp, he was killed by a volley of guns from Yang Zhen's guards.

It is no longer certain who shot him to death.

Including Eroseichen's death in battle, it was also a complete mess.

At that time, Zhang Chen and Li Shouzhong each led a large number of musketeers, while Li Lu and Yang Dagui also had a large number of grenadiers, with a total of thousands of muskets and grenades to greet Erosaichen and the hundreds of cavalry soldiers led by him. That scene went

At best, it's an overwhelming situation; at worst, it's extremely confusing.

However, even in such a scene, not everyone was shot or killed in the first place. In fact, when everything settled, there were still a handful of fatalities who only suffered gunshot wounds or were hit by shrapnel.

Wounded, and then became a prisoner.

Especially the Zhenglan Banner Mongolian Jiala led by Engetu, under the attack from the front and the three sides of fire from the left and right wings, there were still hundreds of smart guys who saw the opportunity early and had quick brains to dismount and evade at the first time. Fortunately,

Surviving until the end of the war, all of them were captured by Yang Zhen's troops.

It was precisely with the existence of these prisoners that Yang Zhen had a clear and accurate understanding of the attack launched by the Qinglu and the death of their main generals.

At noon on April 14, the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, near noon, the Ming army camp where a fierce battle had just occurred was in a mess.

In a large temporary tent, Yang Zhen stared at the two huge and ugly heads on the table in front of him for a while, and then looked up at a bald, thick man who was tied up and thrown into the tent.

The man asked:

"I heard that you can speak Mandarin?"

"Yes, yes, I can speak Mandarin. I once served in the Liaoxi Army. Many years ago, I was captured due to bad luck in the battle. Because I was born in the grassland, I also know some Jurchen dialect. After being captured, I was incorporated into the Mongolian Army led by Engetu.

La——"

"Served in the Liaoxi Army? Do you also know some Jurchen dialect?"

For this prisoner with a big face, small eyes, and a sturdy build, Yang Zhen originally wanted to confirm the identity of the Qing prisoner general before ordering him to be dragged out and executed.

But after hearing what he said and seeing that he could indeed speak Chinese, had served in the Liaoxi Army, and especially understood Jurchen dialect, Yang Zhen immediately changed his mind.

"This slave was once a horse soldier under Sangar Sai——"

"Sanghar Sai?"

"Exactly!"

Yang Zhen knew about Sanggarsai, and he also knew that most of the tribal soldiers under Sanggarsai were mercenaries who were paid to sell their lives, and they were a mixed bag of good and bad, with no credibility at all.

A considerable number of these people came from the Chahar Tribe and its affiliated small tribes. When the Chahar Tribe lost the battle with the Later Jin Army and was forced to move westward, many people were separated.

Some of them were kidnapped by the Jin Army and eventually incorporated into the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, while others fled into the Ningjin area and sought protection from the Ming Army in western Liaoning at that time.

But the loyalty of these people is very questionable.

In the original history, this group of people, including Sangarsai himself, eventually surrendered to the Qing captives.

Of course, in this life, because the decisive battle of Songjin in western Liaoning in the 14th year of Chongzhen did not go on as scheduled, Sanggarsai and his Mongolian battalions are still living in the Jinzhou Army relying on Zu Dashou and have not yet rebelled collectively.

Yang Zhen did not expect that he would hear Sanggarsai's name from the mouth of the prisoner in front of him.

However, thinking about the performance of Sanggarsai and his tribe in the original time and space, Yang Zhen soon stopped feeling so surprised.

After all, these tribal soldiers from the grasslands have no sense of belonging to the Ming Dynasty. Today they can serve Zu Dashou, but in the blink of an eye they can serve the Qing Tatars.

Of course, if used properly, they can also work for Jinhae Town.

"Have you ever fought against me in Jinhaizhen before?"

"No! Ever since I was incorporated into the banner, I have been under Engetu's command. I have always been stationed behind Xingjing. I have never met your Majesty's subordinates. This time, it is the first time——"

"The rear area of ​​Xingjing?"

"Exactly."

"May I have your name?"

"The slave's nickname is Ha La Batu."

"Ha La Batu, what official position do you hold under Zhenglan?"

"Slave——, I don't dare to deceive you. When I was captured, I had hundreds of horsemen with me, so after I was incorporated into Engetu's command, I became a Niulu Zhangjing."

"Oh? Then do you know who this head is?"

As Yang Zhen spoke, he suddenly grabbed one of the two heads placed on the table in front of him and threw it in front of Harabatu.

"Sir, this person is Jia Lazhangjing Engetu who was born in Horqin, a slave Shangguan."

Yang Zhen's sudden movement startled Hala, but he was extremely familiar with Engetu, so he took a quick look and immediately reported the identity of the head.

"What about this?"

Yang Zhen casually pushed the other head on the table to the ground.

The big round head rolled to the front of Harabatu.

"Sir, this person is Zhenglan Banner Meilezhou Meile Zhangjing Er Luo Saichen."

"Mele Zhangjing Erosaichen?"

After hearing this silly reply, Yang Zhen thought about his next plan and at the same time turned his attention to Zhang Chen.

At this time, he saw Zhang Chen looking at him and nodding towards him.

The meaning seems to be saying, this rabbit is right.

And this means that Zhang Chen and others have also confirmed the identities of Engetu and Eroseichen from the mouths of other prisoners.

When Yang Zhen saw this, he immediately withdrew his gaze and asked Ha La Batu again:

"Do you know who I am?"

"If this slave guessed correctly, your Excellency must be from Jinhai Town in the Southern Dynasty, oh no, it is Jin Haibo Yang Zhen, the chief military officer of Jinhai Town in the Ming Dynasty!"

"Haha, you guessed it right, I am Yang Zhen."

Just looking at the appearance of this rabbit, he looked like a rough and reckless man, but from his correct speech and answers, Yang Zhen discovered that he was not a reckless man with a simple mind and well-developed limbs.

On the contrary, under this man's rough appearance, he has a rough and delicate heart.

If not, he would not have survived today's battlefield.

Of course, Yang Zhen has always been quite disgusted with this kind of people.

Because of this, he rarely takes the initiative to recruit such people who have breasts and lack of loyalty.

But at the same time, Yang Zhen has been suffering from the lack of people around him who know the inside story of the Qing captives, especially the inside story of the rear.

Ma Keqing can barely be counted as one, but he was born under the banner of Qinglu. Although he knows some Jurchen dialects, his understanding is really limited.

As for other people who were later taken under his command, such as Qiu Zhenhai, Jin Yukui, Liu Zhongjin, Song Guofu, Shi Mingxiong, and even Shen Zhixiang, their social circles under the Qinglu were mainly within the Eight Banners Han Army to which they belonged.

Not only can people not speak Jurchen dialect, but they can't even understand it.

Moreover, most of these people's residences when they were with the Qinglu were in peripheral areas, so Yang Zhen also knew what they knew, and they didn't know what Yang Zhen didn't know.

In the past, this was not a big problem.

Because Yang Zhen's troops were generally on the defensive in the past, most of the battles took place in the jurisdiction of Jinhai Town.

But now, the situation is different. Yang Zhen's troops have begun to switch from defense to offense, and have pushed the war into the Qinglu's jurisdiction.

Especially this time, after Yang Zhen captured Jiuliancheng, he planned to continue advancing in the direction of Kuandian Wubao.

However, Yang Zhen and his generals did not know much about the Qing Dynasty's rear area to the west and north of Kuan Dien Five Forts, especially the terrain, roads, and the distribution of Eight Banners villages and villages.

Therefore, Yang Zhen is now eager to have some influential Qinglu generals from Qimeng come to surrender to him.

For this reason, he also had to change his past attitude towards Mingmeng prisoners. At present, unless they are extremely evil people, those who can be surrendered should be surrendered as much as possible.

Because regaining Liaodong is by no means the end. After regaining Liaodong, he will continue to go north.

On the one hand, he took advantage of the situation to conquer the Jurchen tribe in Beishan and restore the territory under the jurisdiction of Nuergandu.

On the other hand, he wanted to solve the problems of the tribes in Mobei and Dongmeng on the way back.

To do this, you should start preparing from now on.

At the same time, among all preparations, the guide or leading party is definitely the top priority.

For example, the Harabatu in front of us, although his loyalty is very questionable, but he is also a Niulu Zhangjing from the Mongolian tribe under the Qinglu banner. Recruiting him will not only benefit the progress of the current war, but also facilitate the future march into the tribal areas beyond the Great Wall.

"Ha La Batu, now that you know who I am, are you willing to serve me wholeheartedly?"

"I am willing, I am willing, I am willing to serve you sincerely!"

When Harabatu heard Yang Zhen's question, he suddenly became extremely excited. After answering, he nodded vigorously.

Ha La Ba Tu's reaction was also within Yang Zhen's expectation.

Since he was acting cunning in today's battle to save his life and refused to die for the Qing Dynasty, then he could never be a person of three virtues and nine virtues.

"Well, you go out of the tent now and behead all the wounded and captured Manchu bannermen first!"

"Slave--slave obeys!"

Harabatu only hesitated for a moment and immediately accepted Yang Zhen's order.
To be continued...