In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 301 The Central Plains is not so easy to occupy

Kaifeng.

In the Protector's Mansion, the angry King Chuang Li Zicheng threw the proclamation that Hua Kingdom had just issued to the ground.

"Mr. Li, I, Old Li, listened to you and supported the King of Zhou as the emperor and became the protector of the Ming Dynasty. I originally agreed to use the emperor to command the princes, but now? If I had known, I would have been like this. It would be better for me, Old Li, to be the emperor and be happy and comfortable."

Seeing that the Chinese army was about to move south, and Henan was bearing the brunt, Li Zicheng could no longer help but roar at Li Yan.

He didn't care at all whether the Hua Kingdom was conquering or conquering him. What he cared about was that the southern provinces did not rush to surrender according to their original fantasy. The three pseudo-emperors of Northwest Huguang and Jiangnan even wanted to join forces to conquer him.

Every time I think about this, I feel regretful that I listened to Li Yan's instigation.

Song Xiance and Niu Jinxing on the side were gloating about his misfortune. Li Guo, Liu Zongmin and other elders also looked at Li Yan with angry eyes.

"Hey, I didn't expect that the Donglin Party members in Jiangnan would be so disregarded of the overall situation that the five emperors are now standing side by side, wasting this great time and opportunity."

Li Yan also sighed, bent down and replied with a guilty look on his face. He really did not expect that the Donglin Party members in the south would be so selfish and completely disregard the Ming Dynasty.

He originally expected that even if the civil and military officials in Jiangnan were dissatisfied with King Zhou and King Chuang, the most they could do was to move their capital to Nanjing and everyone would fight in the court. However, he never expected that the Southeast Party members would directly establish an emperor. As a result, the entire south is now like a piece of scattered sand, unable to resist the Chinese army moving south.

"Hmph, brother Li, could he just get away with it if he didn't expect it?"

"That's right. If you had followed my brother Niu's suggestion and the king directly proclaimed himself emperor in Luoyang, now Northwest Huguang might not have surrendered long ago. How could he be as stuck as he is now?"

"It's so urgent, what's the use of saying all this? The Chinese army's 50 troops have already moved south and will reach the Yellow River soon. Let's think about what to do!"

When Lady Hong saw Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance attacking her husband-in-law, the other generals of the Chuang army were also eager to try. King Chuang's face became even more ugly and he quickly stood up and said.

Sure enough, when the Chinese army was mentioned, King Chuang knew that now was not the time to find out who was right and who was wrong. He waved his hand and said, "Brother Li can't be entirely blamed for this. Let's talk about what our army should do next, right?"

Everyone was silent for a moment, obviously they didn't have much confidence. After all, the Chinese army claimed to be 50, and their full attack was only 20. Half of them were still deployed in Nanyang Prefecture, Henan Prefecture and Runing Prefecture to guard the northwest of Jiangnan. Guangdong and Guangxi.

King Chuang roared angrily when he saw this: "Why don't you speak? Are you all mute?"

"Mr. Song, Mr. Niu, tell me, if our army defends along the south bank of the Yellow River, can we stop the Chinese army?"

"This…"

Both of them were hesitant and obviously didn't know whether they could block it.

King Chuang had no choice but to look at Li Yan again: "Brother Li, what do you think?"

"I'm afraid it will be difficult."

Li Yan shook his head, and then explained: "Both sides of the Yellow River in Henan are all flat and there is no danger to defend, and it is thousands of miles long. If we divide our troops and set up defenses everywhere, it is very likely that we will not be able to defend anywhere. Once the opponent breaks through, The entire defense line will collapse directly.

Therefore, even if we want to defend, we can only concentrate our forces to defend the Kaifeng section, and then rely on the two strong cities of Kaifeng and Luoyang to deal with the opponent. At the same time, we will send envoys to the northwest, Huguang, and Jiangnan to seek a coalition between the four to fight against the Chinese army. This is the only way Only then can we have a chance of survival! "

After Li Yan finished speaking, he sighed in his heart. In fact, he knew that this was just self-comfort.

Even if Northwest Huguang and Jiangnan really send reinforcements in time, it will probably be extremely difficult to counter the Chinese cavalry in Henan, not to mention that the four parties are not united.

"In this case, wouldn't the life and death of our army depend on others?"

King Chuang frowned. He thought it was unreliable. If the three parties did not agree to send reinforcements, they would be surrounded in Kaifeng and there would be no place to run.

"King Chuang, this Central Plains is the land of the Sixth War. Whoever has occupied it since ancient times will basically have no good end in the end. I think we should just avoid it and go directly to Huaibei and give this Central Plains land to China." Although Niu Jinxing He was not familiar with military affairs, but after all, he was born in Juren and was familiar with history books. He knew that all the heroes who took the lead in occupying the Central Plains in history did not end well.

And the strength of those heroes is overwhelming all parties, and they will end up defeated in the end. What's more, their current strength is far inferior to that of the Chinese army. If they insist on relying on the Central Plains, the end will be absolutely miserable.

In fact, Li Yan didn't know this, but he knew that if the Chuang army fought desperately in the Central Plains and all parties desperately supported it, there might be a chance. But once the Chuang army directly gave up the Central Plains area to the Chinese army, then the final outcome would be The end result is that all the forces in the south will be dismantled and eliminated one by one by the Chinese army.

First of all, the northwest region will definitely not be able to stop the Chinese army. Then, the three parties of Hu, Guang, Jiang, Huai and Sichuan will fight on their own. The Chinese army can concentrate its forces to destroy whichever side it wants. Things like the Battle of Chibi will never happen again.

"Yes, there is the Xiangyang Han River in Huguang, Tongguan in the northwest, and there are lakes and rivers in the Jianghuai River. As long as we give up the Central Plains, no matter where we go, the opponent's cavalry will lose their use."

Song Xiance also stood up and nodded, supporting the escape.

The generals of the invading army also nodded. Obviously, everyone is not a fool. They have all seen the power of Guan Ning's cavalry. If they stay in Henan and fight with the Chinese army, when the opponent's tens of thousands of cavalry cross the Yellow River, how can they resist it?
"Well, do you think we should go to Jianghuai or Huguang?"

King Chuang didn't hesitate. Although he couldn't bear to part with the geomantic treasure land of the Central Plains, he really didn't have the courage to stay in Kaifeng City. In fact, he wanted to go to the northwest. After all, wealth is like walking at night in brocade clothes, but the northwest is too poor. , and there is a natural danger in Tongguan. It is definitely unrealistic for so many people, horses and supplies to take the trail.

"I think it would be better to go to Huguang."

"If Huguang is not possible, we should go to Jianghuai and then Jiangnan. Jiangnan is much richer than Huguang."

Everyone immediately started arguing. Some wanted to go to Huguang, and some wanted to go to Jianghuai. In the end, they almost started fighting.

"Brother Li? Do you think we should go to Jianghuai or Huguang?" In the end, Chuang Wang looked at Li Yan and wanted to hear his opinion.

"King Chuang actually wants to retreat, naturally to Jianghuai, but it will take time for the army to retreat. My husband and I are willing to stick to Kaifeng City to cut off the throne for King Chuang and all the brothers."

Seeing that King Chuang insisted on leaving, Li Yan had no choice but to stand up and speak out, and offered to stay in Kaifeng City with Lady Hong.

"That's good. It's great that Brother Li and Sister Hong are willing to cut off the queen. But you shouldn't delay too long, lest they be besieged in the city by the Chinese army."

King Chuang didn't refuse even after thinking about it, and nodded.

After all, Li Yan and Lady Hong were guarding Kaifeng, and by delaying time, they could better evacuate to Jianghuai.

After the meeting ended, Chuang Jun began to get busy. Even if King Zhou was reluctant, he could only take the whole family to clean up in a hurry.

The Chuang army finally showed its fangs and looted all the wealthy merchants in the city. The entire city of Kaifeng was wailing for a while, but no one cared about it at this time.

It took ten days for the invading army to move southeast with the young and the old. The team was huge, with large and small vehicles stretching for hundreds of miles, and a total of millions of people.

Only Red Lady and Li Yan guarded Kaifeng with 2 troops.

Looking at the devastated Kaifeng City, and then at the retreating team, Lady Hong looked at Li Yan with some confusion and said, "Ms. sir, do we really want to stay in Kaifeng City?"

"In the whole world, is it the land of the king? On the shore of the land, is it the king's ministers? Where can they go if they don't stay in the city?"

Li Yan clasped his hands behind his back and let out a long sigh. It was obvious that he was no longer optimistic about King Chuang, nor was he optimistic about other places in the south.

"Did your husband think of returning to China?" Lady Hong was not stupid, and she immediately understood Li Yan's plan.

In fact, Chuang Wang, Niu Jinxing and others also guessed that Li Yan might want to join the Chinese army when he stayed, but after all, the Red Lady had [-] soldiers and horses, and her combat effectiveness was not weak. In addition, time was tight, so she did not want to cause any complications.

(End of this chapter)