Han ride

Chapter 359
"Your Majesty, I thought that Jiannu would not retreat easily. Although our army has Qin Wang's troops gathered in the capital, there are only two or three troops who can fight. The strength is very different from Jiannu. Most of them are infantry, let alone the opponent. These Qin Wang's divisions are all hastily forming an army. If Jiannu comes to attack, the outcome is uncertain. At this time, Jiannu withdraws, I am afraid that there is something wrong with the rear. At this time, we should fight the enemy bravely." Lu Xiangsheng The voice was very loud, and he directly accused Wen Tiren that although King Qin's army was relatively large in number, only the Tianxiong Army under his command and the frontier army under Hong Chengchou's command were actually able to fight.The rest of the army is also the guard army, which is useless at all.

Wen Tiren was very afraid of Jiannu. He was afraid that when he fought Jiannu, his soldiers would be defeated by Jiannu, so he ordered the army not to fight Jiannu without authorization, and those generals were all cowardly and afraid of death. In an instant, on the land of the Central Plains, hundreds of thousands of troops were closely approaching the Jiannu army, but in fact they were following behind the army, and a strange situation appeared before them, not daring to fight with them.

"Your Majesty, I also agree with Lord Lu's opinion. Jiannu is not an army that can be accepted as soon as it is good. The chief of Jiannu, Huang Taiji, is ambitious. I heard that the army of Jiannu is directly targeting the Shandong area, but The army did not capture any cities in Shandong, but only captured some people, and the army retreated, which is obviously unreasonable, and the minister also guessed that something might happen after the founding of slaves." The speaker was a short and fat man He is the well-known Hong Chengchou in history, with the style name Yanyan and the name Hengjiu. He is currently the trilateral governor of Shaanxi in the Ming Dynasty.This time he also led the army, but he was different from Lu Xiangsheng. He was reluctant to come because he had done a good job in Shaanxi. The people were besieged to death, and it seemed that this part was about to be wiped out. This is all right, an edict from King Qin came. As a last resort, he had to withdraw his troops and return to the court. As soon as his soldiers and horses withdrew, Gao Yingxiang and the others survived Come here, I received information two days ago that these more than 24 people have been transferred to western Henan and northern Chu. These places are places where the military power of the imperial court is relatively weak. Once these guys enter, their strength will increase again. Next time When it comes to extermination, it may be even more difficult.

The other troops of the imperial court are too incompetent, otherwise, how could the great Ming Dynasty not even have a single combat army?The enemy has already invaded the capital, so the emperor can only order Qin Wang, and the emperor will come as soon as he is called, and Qin Wang's army is getting more and more, which is not a good thing.It shows that the power of the imperial court is getting weaker and weaker.Is the Royal Forest Army just a show?Right now, Jiannu is about to retreat. According to Hong Chengchou's experience, something must have happened in the rear. This is a good time to attack.Even if they were caught in an ambush for a while, but there are many troops in the imperial court, if one is caught in an ambush, the other can continue to attack!It's a pity that there are more stupid people like Wen Tiren in the court.It's just stupid to waste time here.

"Report, Your Majesty, there is someone outside the city claiming to be the envoy of the Marquis of Zhengbei, and he has something important to see His Majesty." At this moment, a eunuch said loudly outside the hall.

"Li Xin? Where are his soldiers and horses? Come on, let him in." Chongzhen finally remembered that he had sent an order to Li Xin to ask for King Li Xinqin, but there was no news these days, and He just learned that Jiannu had already withdrawn his army, so he let go of Li Xin's thoughts, but he was a little surprised at this moment.

"The person who came here just presented a copy of Zheng Beihou's memorial. He said that he would go back to fight and win the battle." The eunuch who came showed a trace of anger on his face. What an honor it is to see the emperor, but in the eyes of the other party , the battle exploits are the most important thing, it is very rude to leave the memorial and run away without a trace, it is very rude, is this not the case that Zhengbeihou's subordinates are all such roles?

"Quick, show it to me quickly." Emperor Chongzhen seemed to have thought of something, and he didn't need Wang Chengen on the side to pass it on, so he stepped forward and snatched it.I can't wait to open it, and burst into laughter.

"Li Qing will live up to me, Li Qing will live up to me!" Emperor Chongzhen said loudly, "Xifengkou was taken back by the Marquis of Zhengbei, and Jiannu has become a turtle in a urn."

"Ah!" After Wen Tiren and the others heard this, the boss opened their mouths. They never thought that such news came from Li Xin. At this time, everyone knew why Jiannu retreated. It was not because King Qin's army was too strong, or because there was not enough food and grass. But Li Xin had already occupied the Xifengkou Fortress, Jiannu's retreat was cut off, no wonder he was in such a hurry.If we don't take down Xifengkou, I'm afraid we won't even be able to go home.

"Didn't Zheng Beihou go west to Qinghai? Why did he appear at the entrance of Xifeng?" Wen Tiren asked in surprise.

"Hmph, Zheng Beihou shortened his defense because of the lack of troops, but he did not forget to monitor Jiannu. When he heard the news of Jiannu sending troops, he immediately led [-] personal guards, one person and three horses, to return to the cloud. He led an army of [-] to attack Xifengkou, and then occupied the fortress of Xifengkou." Emperor Chongzhen snorted coldly, and finally sighed: "Li Qing is still loyal and brave!" He seemed to see that Li Xin was alone and three horses , Changing horses without changing people, galloping on the grassland, I couldn't help but sighed.

"Your Majesty, Zheng Beihou can tell you how many troops he has deployed at Xifengkou?" Hong Chengchou was also taken aback. He did not expect Li Xin to be so brave. With 1 troops, he could capture Xifengkou. We know that place, but it is a dangerous pass, not at all under the Shanhai Pass, if we attack from the south, it is still possible, but it is very difficult to attack from the north.Even if he used a trick, it showed Li Xin's extraordinaryness.

"There are 1 people now, but Li Xin said that follow-up soldiers and horses will arrive soon, what's the matter?" Emperor Chongzhen asked curiously, and he handed the memorial in his hand to Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou opened it and frowned immediately. Li Xin wrote very little on it. He just briefly said that he had already captured Xifengkou, and he didn't tell the process. Like simple things, I didn't say what I was about to face.

"At present, the [-] troops of Jiannu are returning, and they want to regain their only way out of the customs. The soldiers are still fighting to the death! If there are many soldiers and horses under Zheng Beihou's command, then it doesn't matter. If there are few, I'm afraid it will be blocked I can't stand the opponent's attack!" Lu Xiangsheng said worriedly, stroking his beard.

"Hong Aiqing, is that really the case?" Emperor Chongzhen was a little worried.After finally blocking Jiannu in the pass, he was going to wipe out the opponent in one fell swoop, so that the northern border of the Ming Dynasty would have no future troubles, but he never thought about it, but Lu Xiangsheng said these words.Emperor Chongzhen was a little worried. Just now, he even thought about the future. After killing Huang Taiji, he asked Zu Dashou to attack Jiannu. As for Li Xin, for his loyalty, he canonized He was the Duke of the state, and then he was enshrined in the capital and given glory and wealth.However, the military power has to be handed over. Right now, even if Jiannu is blocked, once Jiannu escapes, all of this will be impossible.

"Then what should we do now? The army immediately caught up and blocked Jiannu at the entrance of Xifeng." Emperor Chongzhen thought for a while, and quickly said: "Hong Chengchou, you are responsible for this matter, and all the soldiers and horses under Lu Xiangsheng and Zhang Fengyi belong to you. , I don’t need anything else, I just want to build slave Hongtai’s head.”

"Chen Zunzhi." Hong Chengchou thought for a while, and then said: "I still need the command of Zunhua. Zunhua is now stationed in the south of Xifengkou like a nail, and there are 2 troops under Wu Aheng's command. To command the [-] people, Dorgon must be dragged to Zunhua, only in this way, Zheng Beihou will have time to strengthen the city defense of Xifengkou, and then he can hold out until the arrival of the army." Now he is very fortunate that there is still Zunhua Once Zunhua let Jiannu occupy it, it means that Jiannu temporarily has a place, with an army of [-], who can deal with King Qin's army while attacking Xifengkou, which has few soldiers and horses. The possibility of slave breakout.So Hong Chengchou wanted power.

"I promise you this." Emperor Chongzhen said impatiently.

"Report, report." However, at this moment, there was an urgent report, and everyone in the hall suddenly had a bad feeling that Wang Chengen ran out quickly.

A moment later, Wang Chengen came in with a blood-stained memorial, looked at Chongzhen and said, "Your Majesty, Zunhua City has been defeated. There are only [-] elites left, and the commander-in-chief Wu Aheng asked the imperial court to send reinforcements."

"What? There are tens of thousands of Zunhua troops defending the city, but there are only [-] troops left." Emperor Chongzhen's complexion changed drastically when he heard the words, and his eyes became extremely red. He also got the news that Li Xin had blocked the Xifeng entrance. He also handed over the defenders of Zunhua to Hong Chengchou's command, and saw that Jiannu could be wiped out at the mouth of Xifeng, but in a blink of an eye, there were only [-] troops left in Zunhua City. What can these [-] troops do.One must know that Huang Taiji is now leading an army of [-] to return to the north. How can this [-] army stop Huang Taiji's attack? It is conceivable that if Zunhua does not have the support of reinforcements, it may be a matter of time before Zunhua falls.

"Zunhua guard Wu Guojun and supervisor Deng Xizhao pursued Dorgon, but they never thought that they were ambushed by Dorgon, and the [-] troops were completely lost. Wu Guojun and Deng Xizhao just led hundreds of troops and fled back to Zunhua .” Wang Chengen handed over the memorial and said softly: “This is the memorial written by Wu Aheng.”

"Stupid, stupid, you should be killed, you should be killed." Emperor Chongzhen took the memorial, looked at it a few times, and said loudly: "Wu Guojun deserves to die, Deng Xizhao deserves to be killed, Wu Aheng's crime is unforgivable because he doesn't know anyone." The victory was about to be won, but such a thing happened, Emperor Chongzhen was furious, and he threw the memorial in his hand on the ground fiercely.

Chongzhen could ignore it, but Hong Chengchou had to watch it, but he never thought that after watching it, he almost jumped up in anger.If it weren't for the crime of being frustrated by Mr. Gu, I'm afraid he would have started scolding him long ago.This Wu Guojun is really too stupid. The competition for military merit has reached such a point that he went after others without even knowing the situation. There are only a few hundred of the ten thousand elites left.This is downright stupid.

"Your Majesty, the city of Zunhua must not fall into the hands of the enemy. Otherwise, Jiannu only needs to garrison Zunhua with some soldiers and horses to block our army's way, and then attack Xifengkou with a large army. The Marquis of Zhengbei has few soldiers and horses , I'm afraid we can't stop the enemy's attack!" Hong Chengchou thought for a while, and said quickly: "I want to lead the army to Zunhua immediately."

"Okay, okay." Emperor Chongzhen thought for a while, and then said: "When Jiannu is destroyed, I will celebrate for you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Hong Chengchou's expression didn't change, he faintly felt that things might not be that simple.

"When the war is over, tell Marquis Zhengbei that I want to see him. Let him come to the capital. I will not hesitate to reward you." Subconsciously, Emperor Chongzhen still believed that the victory of this battle was decided, and the next goal of the court was to weaken Li Xin's power. Power, if Li Xin can be brought to the capital right now, then things will be even simpler.

"I understand." After hearing this, Hong Chengchou moved his body and said quickly.Why didn't he know the meaning of Chongzhen's words? If he wanted to come to Jiannu to go home, he would forcibly attack Xifengkou. Even if Li Xin, who lacked soldiers and horses, blocked Jiannu's attack, he would suffer countless casualties. It is enough to deter Li Xin and let Li Xin come to the capital.As for what happened next, it was out of Hong Chengchou's consideration.

However, when Hong Chengchou dispatched troops and generals, a major event happened in Zunhua, hundreds of miles away.In Zunhua City, there is Wu Aheng's General's Mansion, and Wu Guojun's General's Mansion. Although the General's Mansion is not very luxurious, it is absolutely extraordinary. Wu Guojun is not simply a general. Well, he did not seldom do usury, but he did it in a very secretive way, not as good as other generals, but his family has a lot of money anyway.Only now he is in a hurry.Because he knew that Wu Aheng had told the emperor about his defeat.

"After this battle, even if I win, I will be in bad luck. I might even lose my life." Wu Guojun walked back and forth in the hall with a gloomy expression.In this battle, he made great achievements in defending Zunhua, but he attacked rashly, was ambushed, and lost [-] elites. This kind of thing was known by Chongzhen, and it was a matter of losing his head. Thinking of his wonderful life , Wu Guojun was about to walk on the guillotine, and Wu Guojun was full of unwillingness.

"General Wu." At this time, a high-pitched voice came, and Wu Guojun looked over, but saw Deng Xizhao, the supervisor, walked in at some point. He saw Deng Xizhao's face was pale, and his eyes could not hide the panic He immediately knew that the other party was also afraid.After all, he was also involved in this matter.

"Eunuch, you are here, please take a seat." Wu Guojun and Deng Xizhao have a good relationship. Every year when Deng Xizhao celebrates his birthday, Wu Guojun will go to congratulate him in person.

"General Wu has already told the emperor about our defeat." Deng Xizhao said with a wry smile, "This is not a good time."

"Yeah, originally you and I had meritorious service in this war against the establishment of slavery, but this is going to be unlucky. This is not an ordinary defeat for an army of [-]. In addition to Li Xin's victory, you and I will be defeated." People's failures are more obvious." Deng Xizhao has been a military supervisor all year round, so he naturally knows the problem.

"Eunuch, this is not what the general is worried about now. Zunhua City originally had 1 troops, but after you and I lost 1 people, there are only 1 people in the city now. These 1 people can resist Dorgon. But once Jiannu Hong Tai leads the army, I'm afraid Zunhua City won't be able to defend it with an army of [-]." Wu Guojun said worriedly: "The loss of [-] horses is just a crime of defeat. , may be able to escape this difficulty, but once Zunhua is lost, I am afraid that the emperor and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty will not let us go."

"Then what should I do? Why don't you go to Zhengbeihou and let Zhengbeihou come to Zunhua?" Deng Xizhao's face suddenly showed panic. He lost his soldiers and horses. After a great victory, but if Zunhua is lost, I am afraid that no matter how much money is spent, it will not be able to save himself, but if Li Xin can be allowed to sit in Zunhua, he will not be afraid of Jiannu's attack.

Wu Guojun heard the words and was about to speak when suddenly there was a noise outside the door, and then he saw soldiers rushing in, and said a few words in Wu Guojun's ear, Wu Guojun paled in fright, and finally waved his hands, driving the soldiers away go out.

"Elder-in-law, I'm afraid it's too late. Jiannu Hongtai has already killed his army, and his vanguard of [-] Zhenghuangqi soldiers is only ten miles away from Zunhua. Now it's too late to invite Li Xin. Zunhua seems to be If you are about to fall, go and report to the Chief Soldier, now you have to come up with a charter, whether to fight or defend, or retreat. We are all grasshoppers connected by a rope."

"Retreat? Where to retreat? Wu Aheng may still survive, but you and I will surely die." Deng Xizhao's cold voice sounded, and he said to Wu Guojun: "You must know that the reason why Zunhua was lost is because It's because of you and me that an army of [-] can't resist Jiannu's attack, but an army of [-] is enough to last until King Qin's army arrives. If you and I retreat now, we will surely die when we return to the capital."

"What do you think the father-in-law should do? Do you want to stick to it? It must be impossible." Wu Guojun shook his head and said.

"Our family still has many years to live? How can we die?" Deng Xizhao sneered, "General, we still have another way to go. It depends on the general's willingness."

"Eunuch, what do you want to do?" Wu Guojun seemed to have thought of something, his complexion changed, and he looked at Deng Xizhao with horrified eyes.

"People don't kill themselves. I, Deng Xizhao, don't want to die. Does the general want to die?"

"This?" Wu Guojun suddenly showed a trace of panic, looked at Deng Xizhao, and finally said: "Elder-in-law wants to sacrifice Zunhua City? But Li Xin is at the entrance of Xifeng, even if we surrender now, Li Xin occupies Xifeng Well, even Jiannu can’t return to the north, and we are the ones who are unlucky in the end.”

"Don't worry, although this Li Xin occupies Xifengkou, our family wants to let the soldiers retreat, but it's just a matter of raising our hands." Deng Xizhao laughed loudly, and finally whispered a few words in Wu Guojun's ear.Wu Guojun laughed out loud.

That night, Zunhua General Wu Guojun and Supervisor Deng Xizhao opened the city gate of Zunhua.

(End of this chapter)