The news that the grain garrison in Bijia Mountain had been burned down by the Qing army reached Songshan City in the evening of that day.

Upon hearing the news, Hong Chengchou slumped down on his big tiger-skin chair.

At this moment, Hong Chengchou's face no longer had the calmness of the past.

Panic-stricken, he looked at Cao Bianjiao standing under the tent and thought of the reminder from the other party the night before. He really regretted it.

"Master Supervisor, now that the food and grass are burned down, Songshan's food and grass are only enough for seven days. The current plan is to either fight decisively or retreat immediately."

Cao Bianjiao glanced at Hong Chengchou and sighed in his heart.

Although he had warned Hong Chengchou, he also knew that Hong Chengchou could not be blamed for this matter. After all, who knew that there would be such a big ebb tide?

At least he himself didn't stick to his point of view.

But the fact hit them all by surprise.

Now that all the food and grass have been destroyed, the 110,000 troops on the front line are in crisis of running out of food. If an immediate decision is made, it will inevitably cause moral turmoil in the army and lead to the collapse of the entire army.

"General Cao, can I retreat at this time?" Hong Chengchou said with a wry smile. As the governor of Jiliao and the commander-in-chief of the front, if he retreats without fighting, he will probably die even if he returns to the court.

"Then I will fight with the Jiannu Tatars. I am willing to fight to the death and do whatever the Lord Supervisor wants me to do."

Cao Bianjiao's eyes were bright and he replied firmly.

"General Cao's troops are strong." Hong Chengchou couldn't help showing a hint of relief, and shouted with some certainty: "Immediately summon all the generals to discuss matters."

At this time, the commander-in-chief of each town also received news that food and grass had been robbed in Bijia Mountain.

Therefore, when the commander-in-chief of each town arrived at the commander's tent, before Hong Chengchou could speak, everyone unanimously demanded an immediate breakout. Even the supervisor Zhang Ruoqi also spoke up.

"Now that we only have three days of food in front of the army, it is difficult to win a decisive battle. It is better to conserve our troops first, return to Ningyuan to replenish food and grass, and then make a decision."

As soon as Zhang Ruoqi finished speaking, he was echoed by Datong Commander-in-Chief Wang Pu, Miyun Commander-in-Chief Tang Tong, Shanxi Commander-in-Chief Li Fuming, and Shanhaiguan Commander-in-Chief Ma Ke.

Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of Ningyuan, and Bai Guangen, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, remained silent. Apparently, they also supported Zhang Ruoqi's opinion.

The six general soldiers of the eight towns have no intention of fighting. How can we fight this decisive battle?

"Director Hong, you are the commander-in-chief at the front. It is up to you to decide whether to fight or not to fight." Cao Bianjiao said anxiously.

Wang Tingchen, the commander-in-chief of Songshan Town, opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Hong Chengchou.

"Since everyone has no intention of fighting to the death, I can only follow everyone's wishes." Hong Chengchou sighed and said somewhat helplessly.

"But how can a breakout not be a decisive battle? Jiannu is watching with eager eyes. If our army moves, they will definitely pounce on us like a pack of wolves."

"Therefore, I would like to ask you, the commander-in-chief, to clearly inform all soldiers that our army has run out of food. If you defend, you will die, and if you fight, you will die."

"Only by fighting hard, we may be able to survive."

After saying that, Hong Chengchou stood up and bowed to everyone, expressing his gratitude.

"We will obey the military orders of the Commander-in-Chief." The generals looked solemn and responded with their hands in hand.

Hong Chengchou originally arranged for each town to retreat in turn early tomorrow morning to prevent Jian Nu from taking advantage of it.

But as a result, Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong, abandoned the Xingshan camp overnight and took the lead in breaking through.

When Wang Pu made a move, Ma Ke, Tang Tong, Bai Guangen and others led their troops to flee.

Following Wu Sangui, Li Fuming also led his troops to retreat to Gaoqiao.

By dawn, the cities of Tashan and Xingshan were lost one after another.

Songshan City immediately became an isolated city, and most of the hundreds of thousands of troops fled overnight.

Outside Jinzhou City, there is the Emperor’s Imperial Platform Camp of the Later Jin Dynasty.

"Report to the Emperor that the Ming army's camp mutinied and the Xingshan defenders fled."

Huang Taiji, who had been prepared for a long time, immediately put on his armor and stood up after receiving the news from the scouts.

"According to my decree, Dorgon, Duduo, Haoge, and Abatai will lead the banners to attack and defeat the Ming army in one fell swoop."

After hearing the news of the Ming army's retreat, Emperor Huangtaiji came to the battle in person and ordered the Manchu, Mongolian and Han armies and the elite Eight Banners to come out and kill at the foot of Songshan City.

The retreating Ming army was pursued and killed by the Eight Banners cavalry of the Qing army, and directly staged a scene of overwhelming defeat.

In order to escape for their lives, soldiers and horses in various towns trampled on each other and killed countless people. Coupled with the pursuit of Dorgon and Hauge's Eight Banners cavalry, the soldiers and horses in various towns of the Ming army suffered heavy casualties.

Wang Pu, Ma Ke, Bai Guangen, and Tang Tong's 40,000 troops were almost completely destroyed, and only those who escaped with their lives fled to Ningyuan.

Only Wu Sangui and Li Fuming led the remaining troops, and thousands of remaining soldiers fled back to Gaoqiao in embarrassment.

At this point, in the Battle of Songshan, the Ming army was in dire straits.

…

On the same day that Songshan Camp received the news of the robbery of grain and grass, Lian Shancheng also received the news of the robbery of military grain in Beacon Mountain.

"Yunfei, something big has happened. The 120,000 stones of grain and grass our army hoarded in Bijia Mountain have been plundered and burned by Jian slaves."

Zhu Yunfei, who was training at the training ground, couldn't help but feel a shadow in his heart when he heard the news brought by Zhang Tianfu.

Obviously, the general trend of history and the outcome of the Battle of Songjin did not change in any way because of his arrival.

The food in Bijia Mountain is related to the food that the hundreds of thousands of troops on the Songshan front line depend on for survival.

Now that it is burned down, the frontline army is bound to collapse.

Until then, Zhu Yunfei finally determined and understood why the Ming army was defeated.

Why was Hong Chengchou captured, and eventually rebelled and surrendered to the enemy, becoming a lackey of the Jiannu slaves?

"Let's go to see Huang Bangzhen and your brother." Zhu Yunfei pulled the reins of his horse and shouted to Li Hu.

"Assemble the team and prepare for battle."

"drive!"

With their legs tucked under the horse's belly, Zhu Yunfei and Zhang Tianfu immediately galloped all the way back to the camp.

Arriving at the barracks lobby, deputy general Huang Bangzhen, staff general Zhang Tianlu, guerrilla generals Cao Shiying, You Jie, and guard Wang Zhu had all arrived.

At this moment, several people in the lobby had their brows furrowed and they were all silent.

Obviously everyone is aware of the serious consequences of the robbery of food and grass in Bijia Mountain.

"Lieutenant General Huang, in this humble position, is willing to lead his elite cavalry and carry fire and thunder bombs to Songshan to support Governor Hong."

As soon as Zhu Yunfei entered the door, he bowed his hands to the generals and asked for a tassel.

"Yunfei, don't be joking." Zhang Tianlu heard this and said quickly.

"I'm not kidding. At this time, the morale of the frontline troops will inevitably be in turmoil. I will lead a group of people to go immediately, which can somewhat boost the morale of the troops."

Zhu Yunfei looked at the generals in the hall seriously, raised his hands and explained.

"Yunfei, the matter is serious and we cannot be rash." Huang Bangzhen frowned, looked at the young Zhu Yunfei, and shook his head.

"Vice General Huang and General Zhang, it's already this time, why should we still sit back and wait for death?" Zhu Yunfei looked up at the two of them and said in a loud voice.

"Now that the military rations have been burned, the morale of the troops on the Songshan front will inevitably be in turmoil, and the balance of victory has tilted towards the Jiannu."

"Now we should act decisively and take some measures to boost military morale."

"First of all, sending troops to support, even a small amount of troops, can play a role in boosting the morale of the military."

"Secondly, ask for help from Ningyuan and let the Ningyuan defenders collect a batch of food and grass as much as possible and send it to the Songshan front line. This will at least stabilize the morale of the army."

Zhu Yunfei's impassioned speech made everyone present stunned.

Obviously, no one expected that Zhu Yunfei, who was usually dissolute and arrogant, would be so bold at this time.

"Vice General Huang, what Yun Fei said makes sense. We can't just sit back and wait for death. We should do something within our power." Zhang Tianlu thought about it and agreed.

"But we only have five thousand troops, so what can we do?" Huang Bangzhen said with a helpless smile.

"Lieutenant Huang, soldiers are more expensive than finesse. Zhang Tianfu, Zhang Tianfu, and Li Hu have a thousand fine cavalry in our camp, which is enough for a battle."

Zhu Yunfei begged again: "Please give an order from Vice General Huang. The three of us are willing to lead our troops to help Songshan immediately."

"This..." Huang Bangzhen was not a strong general at first. He was so indecisive that he didn't know how to deal with himself for a moment.

"Vice General Huang, since Yunfei is determined, let him go." Seeing that Zhu Yunfei had made up his mind, Zhang Tianlu persuaded him.

Wang Zhu also echoed: "Yunfei's courage is commendable, and Vice Admiral Huang should fulfill his wish."

"Forget it, then you can set off immediately." Seeing that everyone agreed, Huang Bangzhen had no choice but to nod in agreement.

"I humbly accept my order." Zhu Yunfei bowed his hands and quickly returned to the front of the army with Zhang Tianfu.

"Li Hu, pack your bags and bring ten days of food and grass for each person."

"Yes." As Zhu Yunfei's deputy, Li Hu responded without hesitation after receiving the military order.

"There are also fire and thunder bombs. Each person should bring five. This time we will use Jiannu Tatars to test their power ourselves."

Zhu Yunfei then added another sentence.

"Understood." Li Hu responded happily.

"Tianfu, leave a letter to your brother and ask him to use the fire and thunder bombs we left behind to defend Lianshan City."
To be continued...