Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

After capturing Wuchang, General Dingyuan and Prince of Qin Chuo Siji did not march south immediately. Instead, he reorganized the surrendered troops of Hu Maozhen and others and the volunteer army of the 48 villages of Qihuang, and at the same time incorporated more than 10,000 captured Qing prisoners of war into the camp to expand his strength. At one point he had an army of 130,000 and a huge momentum.

Soon, the young general Wang received an urgent letter from the Great Khan Lianhua in the capital city, which was sent 800 miles away. The old father was both stingy and ambitious. He ordered his son to pursue the victory without sending any reinforcements, and to take all of Huguang, and even Jiangxi at the same time. He even asked his son to raise military rations in Huguang. "If Huguang is prosperous, the world will be prosperous." Since my son has entered Huguang, is he still afraid of not having military rations? Maybe he felt embarrassed, so he gave him a large stack of documents for conferring official titles, and a lot of words to encourage young people to strive.

Looking at the edict and documents sent by express horses from Dadu, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin did not know whether to laugh or cry. Fortunately, there was a lot of grain in the treasury of Wuchang Prefecture, and Cui Dai, the governor of Huguang, who surrendered to the Wei Dynasty, was also quite capable. He quickly gathered all the food and supplies needed by the army, so he ordered the First-Class Earl of Hanyang, Huguang Governor Hu Maozhen and Deputy Admiral Yang Laijia to lead 20,000 troops to guard Jiangxia, and he led more than 100,000 troops to station in Boqi and Chongyang counties southeast of Honghu Lake, with great momentum, aiming at Jingzhou and Yuezhou.

Upon hearing the news, Zheng Liuwei, the general of Jingzhou, hurriedly ordered his deputy general Du Chong to station troops in Jianli County west of Honghu Lake to support the troops of Fan Shaozu, the general of the Dongting Lake Navy, and Chen Wuheng, the lieutenant general of Yuezhou. He led his troops to defend Jiangling, anxiously waiting for the coming storm. This general was the cousin of Zheng Siwei, the former general of Jingzhou. His ancestral home was Weichuan, Henan. He followed his cousin to join Li Zicheng's uprising army, and then rebelled and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Four years ago, his cousin died of illness, and he took over his cousin's army. His more than 20,000 soldiers and horses were all experienced in battle and were quite elite. A few days ago, the Wei army pressed Wuchang, and the governor of Huguang, Zhang Changgeng, mobilized troops from various towns to reinforce. He relied on his strong troops to sell well in front of Governor Zhang, and sent Lieutenant General Ren Ruwei to lead 4,000 troops to help. Unexpectedly, Wuchang was conquered soon, and Ren Ruwei's troops were annihilated. It can be said that he lost more than he gained. What was even more terrifying was that the Wei army had gathered more than 100,000 soldiers and was about to attack Jingzhou and Yuezhou. He had thought about surrendering, but after years of hard work, he had already regarded Jingzhou as his own territory. This place was rich and could support tens of thousands of soldiers. If he surrendered to Wei, would the Kingdom of David allow him to be a local emperor?
"Has there been any news from the court?" Zheng Liuwei asked his nephew Zheng Shiyuan. Zheng Shiyuan was the son of Zheng Siwei, but he had no interest in military affairs and only liked to study classics and history books. He was regarded as a think tank by his uncle Zheng Liuwei.

"The emperor has issued an edict saying that he has appointed Prince Tunqi of Qingyang as the general of the northern expedition and Hong Chengchou, the governor of five provinces, as the deputy general of the northern expedition, and has transferred troops from Yunnan and Guangxi to support. Two months ago, Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi, wrote to say that Tunqi's army had left Kunming, and the day should be coming soon," Zheng Shiyuan said calmly.

"Wu Sangui? Humph~ This man is a separatist and powerful man. He only knows how to expand his power. I'm afraid he may not be willing to send troops to aid Huguang." Zheng Liuwei couldn't help but sneer when his nephew mentioned Wu Sangui's name. When the Zhenwu Dynasty was first established, most of the governors and governors of various provinces submitted petitions to persuade the emperor to ascend the throne, but this Prince of Pingxi instigated the two vassals of Pingnan and Jingnan to be reluctant to persuade the emperor to ascend the throne. There is news that this man sent an envoy to ask the Zhenwu Emperor for the qualification of the fake Huangyue, but was rejected. The Huangyue was originally used by the emperor. If the Huangyue was lent to the ministers, they could exercise the right of conquest on behalf of the emperor. Wu Sangui wanted this qualification, which was Sima Zhao's intention and was known to everyone.

"My nephew thinks that may not be the case. If someone else leads the troops, Pingxi Fan may not be willing to send troops. But if Tunqi leads the troops, I'm afraid Pingxi Fan will be more than happy. When two tigers fight, one will be injured. If one tiger is gone, won't everyone be happy?" Zheng Shiyuan talked freely and analyzed the current situation for his uncle. Aixinjueluo Tunqi, who is over 50 years old this year, is the grandson of Shuerhaqi. He is not only a member of the Manchu royal family, but also an old minister who followed the dragon into the pass. He has made great military achievements and has great prestige in the army. When Doni left Yunnan, he deliberately left Tunqi, Zhao Butai and Wu Sangui to stay in Yunnan together. To put it bluntly, he was worried about Wu Sangui and asked them to contain Pingxi Fan. In recent years, although Wu Sangui's power has developed rapidly, it is still difficult for him to dominate Yunnan with Tunqi. Now that he can send this plague god away by giving some troops, Pingxi Fan must be willing in his heart.

"I hope so," Zheng Liuwei sighed disapprovingly.

"Military report! There is a military report from General Zheng Bei's camp!" The uncle and nephew were analyzing the situation when suddenly a military report came in.

Zheng Liuwei opened the letter and read it, then suddenly patted Zheng Shiyuan's shoulder and laughed, "Good nephew! You are really a talented person in our family, and you can predict things like a god! Tunqi wrote to say that he has led 45,000 troops from Yunnan and Guangxi provinces to Changsha, and will soon meet me in Jingzhou."
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"Gee~Gee~" The Qing Dynasty's General Tun Qi, who was in charge of the Northern Expedition, rode his horse leisurely and slowly.

This time, he led his army to aid Huguang in accordance with the order of Emperor Zhenwu Jidu. The emperor said in the letter that his expedition to Shanxi was quite smooth. He had already captured Fenzhou and Mizhou, and conquered Wenshui, Qixian, Jiaocheng, Taigu, Qingyuan, and Xugou counties, and the front was heading straight for Taiyuan. He ordered himself to lead his army to stop the offensive of the Wei army in Huguang, and never let the Wei army seize this fertile grain-producing area and use it as a base to threaten Sichuan and Shaanxi. He and Zhao Butai only had 20,000 Eight Banners soldiers and 20,000 Green Camp soldiers under their command. In order to contain Wu Sangui, they could not take all of them away. They could only take away 10,000 Eight Banners and 10,000 Green Camps under their command, and leave the rest to Zhao Butai. It would definitely not work to aid Huguang with only 20,000 people, so they had to borrow troops from Wu Sangui. I thought Wu Sangui would not lend, but unexpectedly, he not only borrowed troops, but also gave 20,000 at a time. It is said that it was the Deputy General of the Northern Expedition and the Five Provinces Governor Hong Chengchou who asked the King of Pingxi for favors. The prince and Hong Jinglie had a teacher-student relationship, so he had to give him some face.

Alas! The world is fickle, and the Qing Dynasty is not as strong as it used to be. When he passed through Guangxi, he also asked Guangxi Admiral Ma Xiong to borrow troops, but Ma Xiong refused to lend them, saying that there were bandits in Guangxi. Fortunately, the former Guangxi Admiral and Prince Taibao Lian Guoan, who was seriously ill, was more loyal to the Qing Dynasty and ordered his deputy governor Meng Yimao to lead 5,000 troops to help. After piecing together, they had 45,000 troops. Most of these soldiers had fought in battles, and this time they would be able to make a difference in Huguang.

"Father, General Hong has something to tell you." Tunqi was just thinking about something when his eldest son, Duke Fuguo Wenqi, rode his horse to him.

"Oh," Tunqi was shocked and asked involuntarily, "How is Hong Jinglie's health?"

"Not very good. The old general has been ill to begin with, and this time he went on the expedition while ill. His condition has shown signs of worsening. When he talks to my son, he becomes short of breath if he speaks a little faster." Wen Qi is a straightforward person, and he does not beat around the bush when talking about Hong Chengchou's situation.

"Alas! Ban Dang Zhi Chun Chen! It's hard for him, at the age of 72, he still has to go to war with illness!" Tun Qi sighed and drove his horse towards the carriage that Hong Suichou was riding. (End of this chapter)