The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 208 Depressed Wu Sangui
"General, the leader of the bandits, Sun Kewang and Ainengqi, took a part of the remnant soldiers and fled towards the east."

"How many people are left with them?"

Wu Sangui frowned, although he was mentally prepared that he might not be able to do his best, but he was still a little disappointed.

"This... General, the specific strength of the bandit army crossing the river is unknown, so it's really hard to judge, but with such a big defeat, at most two or 3000 people will follow and flee."

"Those who escape must be experienced old thieves. If there are fewer people, it will be difficult to encircle and suppress them. Once they are really allowed to flee into the Dabie Mountains and touch the south of the Yangtze River, I am afraid that it will be difficult for your Majesty and the Queen Mother to explain it!"

Wu Sangui rubbed his forehead with some headaches, he hated that Sun Kewang to the bone, he can't fight, but he is good at running away from disgusting people.

In the end, Wu Sangui had no choice but to order the army on the east bank to continue the pursuit, and also ordered the troops stationed in various places in Suizhou to guard against death to prevent the remnants of the bandit army from fleeing into the Dabie Mountains.

After giving the order, the envoys who went to Xiangyang to surrender also returned.

"How many thieves are left in the city? Who is the commander, and what conditions have they put forward?"

"Back to the general, there should be about [-] to [-]. The main general is Liu Wenxiu, the adopted son of Zhang Xianzhong, the king of Shu. Liu Wenxiu proposed to see the emperor's decree to pardon them before he surrendered the city. Otherwise, he would rather set fire to Xiangyang city. "

The emissary was the county magistrate of Nanzhang, and he replied cautiously.

Hearing this, Wu Sangui's brows were frowned into Sichuan characters. Although he was extremely annoyed that these poor beasts dared to raise conditions, but if they really set fire to Xiangyang City, he couldn't help it.

He had no choice but to say in a deep voice: "In your opinion, is Liu Wenxiu bluffing?"

"Back to the general, Liu Wenxiu's attitude is quite decisive. He is indeed ready to burn everything. It doesn't seem like a bluff. Let's report this matter to the Queen Mother first!"

"Don't talk too much, it's not up to you, a little seventh-rank magistrate, how to deal with this Marquis."

Wu Sangui's face darkened, the general's majesty was unmistakable, and he obviously wanted to teach this little civil servant a lesson, to show the anger of being bullied by the civil servants back then.

"The lower official is busy with work, so I will leave!"

The county magistrate also lost his temper, and he walked away with his hands clasped.

Obviously, he is not afraid of the great general Wu Sangui.

Wu Sangui didn't care, the more he thought about it, the more bored he became, and the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became.

It was originally planned that after quickly disposing of the Daxi Army, he would return to his division and head north to destroy King Chuang and make up for his mistakes.

But now that Liu Wenxiu is sticking to Xiangyang and attacking forcefully, it will take too long to negotiate and report. I am afraid that when the imperial decree arrives, the intruders will be captured alive by Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing.

There is also the remnant of Sun Kewang who escaped, and he can't ignore it, it's really bad luck for eight lifetimes.

Although depressed to the extreme, Wu Sangui did not dare to attack Xiangyang after all, so he had to send the clippers and fast horses to Nanjing and Beijing respectively.

There is no way, Xiangyang belongs to the south, according to His Majesty's will to divide the north and the south, how to deal with the problem of Xiangyang, you must first report to Nanjing.

Three days later, under the pursuit of the Ming army, Sun Kewang finally fled to the Dabie Mountains through Suizhou with the remnants of his troops.

Wu Sangui was so angry that he vented his anger in the big tent, and had to send a fast boat to Nanjing. At the same time, Zuo Menggeng asked Zuo Menggeng to take some soldiers and horses to station in the northern part of the Dabie Mountains to prevent the bandits from rushing in. Henan.

As for the two provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, it wasn't that Wu Sangui didn't want to mobilize troops to encircle them, but that he didn't dare to mobilize troops into the south of the Yangtze River without His Majesty's imperial edict and the order of the governor's office. Entering Huguang was already the limit. After all, Tang Tong's soldiers Ma was originally stationed in Xunyang and Xiangyang.

In fact, five days after Xiangyang was attacked by bandits, the news spread to Nanjing. At that time, the government and the public were really shocked, and Zhang Yan was even more frightened.

There is no way, since ancient times there has been a saying that if you guard the river, you must guard the Huai River, and if you guard the Huai River, you must guard the Xiang.

Xiangyang's reputation as the number one city in the world is by no means aimless, but truly important.

Fortunately, there was a veteran Zuo Liangyu, and after some analysis, it was concluded that the bandit army's surprise attack on Xiangyang was not many troops, probably a small force, and it was impossible to do anything else after the surprise attack on Xiangyang.

And it is difficult for the main force of the thief army to go south to Xiangyang under Wu Sangui's nose, so although Xiangyang was attacked by surprise, the impact was not great.

After listening to Zuo Liangyu's analysis, Zhang Yan, Ma Shiying and other civil officials felt at ease.

"Empress Dowager, Wu Sangui is a complete idiot. He commanded an army of hundreds of thousands, yet even let the bandit army rush into Huguang and attack Xiangyang. It's extremely incompetent!"

Naturally, Zuo Liangyu didn't forget to take the opportunity to apply eye drops and arrange Wu Sangui fiercely.

Then Wu Sangui is nothing, in terms of qualifications, he can't compare with him, isn't it just luck, why is he a Marquis and a general, and he is the number one military general in Ming Dynasty?

If he had been in charge, he would have wiped out the hundreds of thousands of mobs of King Chuang and the Eight Great Kings. Where would they have a chance to rush into Huguang?
Zhang Yan frowned slightly when she heard the words, and was obviously very dissatisfied with Wu Sangui, but she could only wave her hands and said: "It's not easy to order and reprimand the Ai family for this matter, His Majesty will make his own decision in the future, although Xiangyang's troops are not many, But just in case, we still have to deal with it, I don't know what advice Zuo Aiqing has?"

"What the Empress Dowager said is very true. The minister is willing to call for a battle and lead an army to recover Xiangyang. It only needs 3 horses. Within a month, Xiangyang will be recovered and the bandits going south will be wiped out."

Zuo Liangyu knew that the opportunity to perform meritorious deeds had come, so he hurriedly asked for a fight.

If the rebel army does not enter Huguang, it is not easy for him to ask for a battle. Now that the rebel army has even captured Xiangyang, it is justifiable to send troops from the south to recover it.

Zhang Yan showed hesitation on her face. Although Lang'er had given her all the military and political power in the south, and Xiangyang belonged to the south, it was only natural for her to send troops to recover it, and it was not overstepping her authority.

But if Zuo Liangyu is allowed to go, there will definitely be conflicts with Wu Sangui. I am afraid that neither of them will listen to the other, and it will be counterproductive.

So he thought about it and said: "It's rare that Zuo Aiqing has such a heart to serve the country, but let Wu Sangui recover Xiangyang, and transfer the tenth town to Wuchang to defend the bandit army going south."

"The Empress Dowager Shengming!"

Zuo Liangyu had no choice but to answer, but the disappointment on his face could not be concealed.

But Ma Shiying and all the civil officials never said a word from the beginning to the end, just like Zuo Liangyu never talked too much in government affairs.

Ma Shiying and Zuo Liangyu never communicated, and they seldom spoke. Obviously, both of them were like a mirror in their hearts, knowing that once they interfered in military and government affairs, they might not be far away from death.

His Majesty is fine in Nanjing, but now that His Majesty is not here, both of them are more cautious, for fear that if they say a few more words, His Majesty will be misunderstood and suspicious.

In addition to the tenth town in Nanjing, there are 30 recruits recruited, plus the garrisons in various places and the ninth and eighth towns in Chongqing add up to [-] horses.

This is the capital that Zhu Cihong left for Zhang Yan and Princess Kunxing to defend the south just in case.

It can be said that even if the entire Ming army in the north is wiped out and the situation collapses, with this 30 army, it can firmly hold the half of the country in the south.

Therefore, after the tenth town was transferred to Wuchang, Jiangnan did not experience any major fluctuations.

Not long after Tenth Town arrived in Wuchang, the Clippers sent by Wu Sangui also arrived in Nanjing.

Knowing that the Daxi Army had been defeated and the bandit army in Xiangyang was also surrounded, both Ma Shiying and Zhang Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)