Of course, it was impossible for Yang Zhen to bury the contributions of his brothers in his camp, such as Zhang Degui. Yang Zhen credited Zhang Degui with his contribution to capturing the Tatars' yellow flag, Baya Lajia Lazhangjing Arsalan.

Although Arsalan could die at the hands of any of the musketeers or grenadiers at the scene, or even under the arrows of the heavy cavalry archers under Zu Keyong's command, the most likely outcome was death.

Under the shotgun attack from the left and right wings of the artillery team.

Therefore, when Yang Zhen did this, Xu Changyong and Zu Keyong had no objections, and Yuan Jin was even less likely to have any objections.

Such an achievement of beheading a general on the battlefield is much greater than the ordinary achievement of beheading a Tatar.

Others, such as Li Lu, Pan Xi, Zhang Chen, Zhang Guogan, Pan Wenmao, Yang Zhan'ao, Yan San, Guo Xiaowu, Deng En, he was not left behind.

The only person who had great merit but was left behind, and the only person who had great merit but was not mentioned at all, was Yang Zhen himself.

However, as the commander in chief of this battle, does he still need to mention his merits in the merit document that he dictated and signed?!

Wouldn't it be better to leave the credit for his achievements to Fang Yizao, the governor of Liaodong?!

Therefore, he just laughed it off and didn't care at all about what Zu Keyong said to him, especially what he said about being unfair to him.

After everyone was sent away, the sun had already set and the sky was dimming again.

The fire in the reed marsh on the west side of Shazhou Island has burned far away, and only clouds of smoke still hang over the tidal flat where the reed marsh is located.

On the reed swamps burned by the fire, only patches of black reed roots were left, as well as some remaining corners that had escaped the turmoil of the fire.

The original beauty was destroyed, just like the few strands of hair that survived on the sideburns of a bald man, it was extremely ugly.

It's like a battlefield that has just experienced a fight, and it looks extremely desolate.

At dusk, when night fell, Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu finally came back.

The news they brought back verified some of Yang Zhen's conjectures.

"Sir! In the morning we followed the waterway in the reed marshes, and under the cover of the remaining reeds, we arrived at the shore. Apart from observing some Tatar horseback riding, we did not see any large groups of Tatars! There were no Tatars in sight.

Signs that a large group of troops are gathering eastward to attack us!

"After noon, Xiaowu and I both felt that since noon had passed, the Tatars had lost the best opportunity to attack our camp and would not come again! In order to figure out the Tatars' movements, Xiaowu and I

We took a detour by boat to enter the mouth of Xiaoling River, and went all the way up Xiaoling River. We stopped and stopped along the way, hiding here and there, and unexpectedly bumped into the vicinity of the Empress’ Palace!

"Right there, we found that the people and horses from the Tatar Empress Palace camp were leaving the camp one after another and heading north to cross the river! There were many Tatar people crossing the river at that time, and they all had war horses. Xiaowu and I didn't dare to act rashly

, just hide in the reeds and wait!

"Later, after the Tatars passed through, Xiao Wu and I were worried that the Tatar troops would detour to the north bank of the Xiaoling River and take a boat out to sea to cut off our retreat when they left the camp. Therefore, we went down the river again, from Xiaoling

From Linghekou, we went north along the coast to explore!

"Nothing was found! The fire was still burning in the reed swamp there, and it was spreading to the north with the wind! Even if the Tatars wanted to find a place to build a dock, it would be difficult! So, Xiaowu and I had a bold idea

The idea——”

When Yang Zhan'ao said this, he stared at Yang Zhen with excitement. He wanted to say it but was afraid that he would say the wrong thing, so he hesitated and did not say it.

At this time, Yang Zhen smiled at him and said: "The Tatars are going to withdraw their troops! Is this a bold idea that you are going to say?!"

"How do adults know?!"

As soon as Yang Zhen finished speaking, Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu widened their eyes at the same time, looking at Yang Zhen in disbelief.

In their minds, the Tatars did not capture Jinzhou, nor did they capture Songshan. They just lost their food and grass camp and hundreds of Bajala elites died, so they are about to withdraw?!

Could it be that the advance battalion killed hundreds of them and burned down their food camp right under their noses, and they withdrew without even taking revenge?!

These are things that they cannot figure out and are puzzled by.

It was only after they had been out scouting for a whole day that they discovered that a large group of people from the Tatar Empress Palace camp had crossed the river and headed north, did they dare to make such a guess.

"We just can't figure this out, so we've been running outside all day! But so far, apart from this conjecture, the Tatar Empress's palace's behavior is really unreasonable! However, the Tatars are doing well

They are surrounding Songshan, why are they retreating?!——"

At this point, Guo Xiaowu seemed to realize that he had said something wrong. He quickly waved his hands and said to Yang Zhen: "Bizhi is not speaking for the Tatars! I always feel that there is something fishy in this?"

!

"Could it be that the tens of thousands of Tatars only lost a few hundred people here before they retreated?! Could it be a plan to lure us ashore, or lure the Jinzhou and Songshan troops out of the city?!"

"Yes! Sir! This is also an idea that we couldn't figure out along the way! The Tatars may have really abandoned the Empress Palace camp, but what on earth are they going to do? Are they really just withdrawing their troops?

"Or is it that the Tatars have another plan to lure us ashore or lure Jinzhou and Songshan officers and soldiers out of the city? We can't figure it out, so we come back and report to you!"

When Yang Zhen heard this, he looked at Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu with admiration again.

The results they guessed based on historical trends were almost the same based on their observation posts in front of the enemy!

"Who can clearly explain the thoughts of the Tatar leader?! You can guess that the Tatars may want to withdraw their troops, which is amazing! The reason why I can guess this is because the Tatars are supposed to withdraw today

came to attack us, but they did not come!

"As for why they withdrew their troops, it may be because they feel that the food and grass have been burned and the army cannot survive! It may also be because they feel that Jinzhou and Songshan are already difficult to conquer! Of course, it may also be because Ningyuan is taking the land route again.

Reinforcements are coming! In short, everything is possible!"

According to original history, Huang Taiji led a large army to garrison outside Songshan City, and did not retreat until he ran out of food in early April.

But this time, it was almost a month in advance, which was really weird.

If we say that Yang Zhen and others burned down the Tatar food camp, they ran out of food and the besieging army could not survive, then Songshan and Jinzhou are only more than 300 miles away from Guangning City under the control of the Tatars.

, even it is only five or six hundred miles away from Shengjing City. If the food and grass are burned out, why not just send another batch?

According to Yang Zhen's boldest guess, it is very likely that Huang Taiji felt that the plan to encircle the point and mobilize reinforcements had failed, and he himself had no intention of actually capturing Jinzhou and Songshan at the moment.

His real purpose was to eliminate the last military force of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong, and then let the Ming Dynasty continuously mobilize other troops in the pass to leave the pass and go north.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty's hinterland in the pass will become increasingly chaotic, and he and his Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners troops can wait for work, waiting for the Ming Dynasty to send the troops in the pass to die in front of them.

It stands to reason that Huang Taiji's little trick should not be hidden from people like Zu Dashou. But this time Zu Dashou resisted the pressure and refused to send a large army to the north for rescue. In the end, he could not withstand the pressure, so he sent an outsider to take charge.

Bringing 600 people north for rescue actually showed that Zu Dashou guessed Huang Taiji's intention, but was unwilling to submit.

However, although Huang Taiji's tactics could not be concealed from the civilian and military officers in front of the Liaodong Army, they were enough to cause chaos in the Ming Dynasty's court. It was also enough to prompt Emperor Chongzhen and his Minister of War to help Huang Taiji and constantly urge and force the Liaodong Army to move north.

After rescuing the siege, they fell into the traps and traps set by Huang Taiji.

Among them, the most terrifying possibility is that Huang Taiji and Zu Dashou have already reached a tacit understanding.

Yang Zhen really didn't want to speculate in this aspect, but the actual situation forced him to speculate in this aspect.

This time, Huang Taiji besieged Songshan and Jinzhou for more than two months. Zu Dashou did not send any reinforcements. However, the reinforcements that were finally sent were not only a piece of fat, but also almost broke one.

The bones of the teeth.

Did this result completely break Huang Taiji's illusion about Zu Dashou's cooperation with him? Did he realize that this time it might be in vain and decided to withdraw his troops?

Apart from this, Yang Zhen could not think of any other more convincing explanation.
Chapter completed!