Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 973 Beware of Hauge
On July [-]th, the Ming army's attack stopped at the gate of the city. Although the Ming army broke through the urn, but because Sun Kewang sent the old battalion and personally supervised the battle, the Ming army was blocked in the gate and could not break into the city. The sergeants were almost squeezed into meatloaf.

The Ming army broke through many places on the city wall. A team of nearly a hundred people even broke into the city from the place where the red cannons bombarded them. However, because there was no progress at the city gate, the Ming army could not enter the city continuously. All directions rushed to the west city, and finally drove the Ming army out of the city.

After the truce that day, Sun Kewang asked someone to count. The Western Army's miscellaneous soldiers had 4000 casualties, the old battalion also killed [-], and the Ming Army's casualties were less than [-]. He couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat.

If the old battalion hadn't been mobilized in time for support, I'm afraid that the [-] miscellaneous soldiers would not be able to defend even a morning, and Luzhou would fall.

For a while, he didn't dare to have any idea of ​​preserving his strength, so he could only arrange less than [-] old battalions in the west city to participate in the defense of the city, and blocked the two gates of the Wengcheng City and the Inner City with stones.

On the side of the Ming army, they failed to capture Luzhou in one go, which made many generals a little unhappy. However, in this siege battle, there were 8 people in the city, and only one wall was guarded. If the Ming army could break through so easily, the city would be destroyed in one morning , Sun Kewang is too incompetent.

Although many generals knew in their hearts that Luzhou would have to be surrounded for at least a month or two and attacked more than a dozen times before it would be reasonable to break the city, many generals felt that it was a pity for today's siege.

"Straight mother thief, almost, blocked at the city gate at the critical moment, I was so mad!" Ma Jinzhong was so angry that he almost smashed his helmet on the seat.

The other generals were also very angry, because it was a pity that if Sun Kewang didn't use the old battalion, they would have entered the city.

The Western Army started to use some miscellaneous cards. The Ming Army’s troops were like an old man beating his son. It was a smooth move, and they went to the city with almost no casualties. It was because of this that the generals naturally decided that the city would be destroyed when they saw this, and they were secretly excited. They thought victory was at their fingertips, but when they thought they were about to enter the city, Sun Kewang brought the old battalion to support them and blocked them from outside the city.

As a result, the hearts of the generals were naturally very different, and they all felt that it was a pity, thinking that if they rushed to the front and tried harder, the city might be destroyed.

He Tengjiao was also up and down every day. He was touched by the morale of the Ming army in the early morning, and his blood was boiling. When there was a loud noise at the city gate, he exhaled even more excitedly. Rather ugly.

Most of the Ming army attacking Luzhou belonged to the Chu party. Ma Jinzhong belonged to He Tengjiao, and Wang Guangtai's three brothers belonged to Wang Yan. Superintendent, although we didn't break the city today, we know that the city is weak. Although there are many people in Luzhou, the general doesn't seem to be able to fight. One month, the city must be destroyed!"

He Tengjiao's expression softened when he heard what he said, "The attack went very smoothly at the beginning of today, and the governor hopes that the generals will make persistent efforts tomorrow and break the city in one fell swoop!"

After hearing this, all the generals stood up one after another, and then prepared to salute as promised, but Li Dingguo stood up and said, "Supervisor, wait a moment, generals!"

When He Tengjiao, Ma Jinzhong and others saw him coming out to interrupt, they couldn't help frowning.In terms of the large system, the Ming army is divided into three major factions: Chu, Tang, and Lu. Among the major factions, there are many small factions. Among the factions of King Lu, Zhang Mingzhen and Xie Qian are two factions. Among the factions of King Tang, Zheng Chenggong is one faction, Jin Shenghuan and Wang Deren are another faction, and Sun Shoufa is another faction. Wang Yan's Chu Party faction is even more complicated. There are Yangzhou faction, Shunjun faction, Western Army faction, He Tengjiao faction, and Jiang General factions and local factions are extremely complicated.

Of course, this kind of situation is an inevitable phenomenon. Some people have struggles, and some people have mountain tops. As long as the factional struggles are controlled within a certain range, it will not hurt to fight for military merits in wartime, for supplies in peacetime, and for the court's resource allocation. But if it develops to compete for territory, then the problem will be big.

Wang Yan wants to rebuild the five-army governor's office and reform the military system in order to prevent the formation of warlords and threaten the central government.

Ma Jinzhong has a bad temper, and he doesn't dislike the sudden rise of Li Dingguo, but he can't say he likes it. When he heard Li Dingguo interrupted, he was a little unhappy, "General Li, what do you mean?"

He Tengjiao also looked at him and said, "What does Dingguo have to say?"

Li Dingguo ignored Ma Jinzhong, who was bored, so he could only sit down, but Li Dingguo saluted He Tengjiao at this moment and said: "Master, the general thinks it's better not to attack the city tomorrow, so as not to hurt morale."

When He Tengjiao heard this, his expression was a little bad, "You mean tomorrow, the city still won't be broken!"

"Is General Li building up the ambitions of others and destroying his own prestige!" Ma Jinzhong said sideways, "Sun Kewang is just a bandit, and it is not difficult to destroy it. As long as he attacks the city tomorrow with today's strength, he can keep the city broken!"

Li Dingguo was also from the Western Army. Hearing Ma Jinzhong's words, his face sank. In fact, Ma Jinzhong didn't mean to humiliate him, because he was also from a bandit himself. The elder brother didn't laugh at the second brother. Luzhou was broken, and Li Dingguo refused to let him fight, so he was naturally annoyed.

After all, Li Dingguo is a vanguard officer, and he has done enough to recruit Di Sanpin, defeat [-] Western troops, and establish a beachhead for the army so that the army can cross the river smoothly.

Li Dingguo had enough to eat and drink, but Ma Jinzhong hadn't opened yet, so if he was not beaten at this time, wouldn't he be prevented from making meritorious service?
Seeing this, Wang Guangtai came out to persuade him to make peace again, and said with a smile: "The two armies are fighting, and it is most important for us to be united. Don't worry about Madu Town. General Li must have his reasons for saying this. It doesn't hurt to listen to it."

He Tengjiao nodded sullenly, "Dingguo, tell me what you think!"

Li Dingguo calmed down, and then cupped his hands and said: "Master, to defend the city today, Sun Kewang obviously didn't use the elite in advance, but used miscellaneous soldiers to consume us. Finally, he had to use all the elite."

Speaking of this, Li Dingguo looked at Ma Jinzhong, softened his tone, and took the initiative to show his favor, "Ma Du Town and Wang Du Town are almost destroyed today, and Sun Kewang will be in a cold sweat. He must not dare to defend the city with miscellaneous soldiers. Go to the city and strengthen the defense, if we attack hard, I'm afraid we won't be able to win!"

These words made Ma Jinzhong feel a little comfortable, but he didn't change his point of view. He interjected and said loudly, "Should we stop fighting when his old battalion of elite soldiers went to the city? My old horse fights the elite."

He Tengjiao looked at Li Dingguo, wanting to hear his explanation, but Sun Kewang couldn't send elite guards, so he didn't attack the city.

Li Dingguo was about to say something, but Wang Guangtai frowned and stood up, "Is General Li worried about Hauge?"

Everyone heard the words, their hearts sank, and He Tengjiao's heart trembled, "Didn't the governor ask Wang Guangen to lead 1 people to Doushan Town to guard against the Jin army, are you ready?"

"Master, if Hauge wants to go south, 1 people may not be able to stop him." Li Dingguo said worriedly: "The general is afraid that we will consume too much in Luzhou, and the Jin army will suddenly kill us."

He Tengjiao was also very worried about Hauge, and he could even be said to be a little scared. He was silent for a while, and suddenly asked Wang Guangtai: "Wang Guangen, is there any news coming back these days?"

Wang Guangtai's heart tightened, "Master, Guang'en said that the Jin army blocked the passage to the south and guarded every checkpoint closely. He didn't find any valuable information."

After he finished speaking, Li Dingguo's face darkened, and He Tengjiao stopped talking.

(End of this chapter)