I, Emperor Chongzhen, have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by five hundred years.

Da da da……

A fast horse galloped in, heading straight for Liu Fangliang's central command tent.

"What did you say?"

Upon hearing the scout's report, Liu Fangliang's expression changed drastically, and he nearly dropped his teacup.

Wang Yongzhen's 5,000 elite troops were completely wiped out!

This news is hard to believe. After all, Hong Niangzi only had three thousand soldiers and was not good at tactics. How could she annihilate Wang Yongzhen's five thousand soldiers in such a short time?

This battle was fought strangely, very strangely!

Upon seeing this, Ma Chongxi quickly pressed, "Did you see clearly? How many soldiers does Hong Niangzi have?"

The scout replied with a grave expression, "Hong Niangzi indeed only has three thousand men, but three thousand Ming soldiers have appeared out of nowhere, all of them cavalry."

Liu Fangliang frowned and turned his gaze to Ma Chongxi.

Ma Chongxi thought to himself, "What use am I to you? You're the commander-in-chief, and I'm the commander-in-chief."

However, he remained outwardly calm and replied, "This must be reinforcements from the Ming army, and they are definitely elite troops."

Liu Fangliang, puzzled, asked, "Why would the Ming army support Hong Niangzi?"

Ma Chongxi pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "There is only one possibility: Hong Niangzi has already surrendered to Chongzhen."

Liu Fangliang was instantly enraged. He smashed the teapot in front of him to pieces and shouted, "Pass on my order! The entire army is to attack! I want to personally kill this traitor!"

"My lord, please wait!"

Ma Chongxi quickly stopped him, saying, "The situation is unclear right now; we still need to investigate..."

Before he finished speaking, another scout galloped over. He was so nervous that he fell off his horse, but he didn't care about the pain and scrambled to Liu Fangliang's side.

"Report! A large Ming army has been spotted fifty li to the south, heading towards our positions!"

Ma Chongxi's expression changed, and he quickly asked, "How many people are on the other side? What banner are they flying?"

The scout replied, "The banner bears the character 'Liu,' and the number of people... is no less than ten thousand!"

Ma Chongxi quickly opened the map, examined it carefully, and then pointed towards Zhengyang, saying, "It should be General Liu Liangzuo of Zhengyang!"

Liu Fangliang, his face grim, said, "Hong Niangzi is entangled with the Ming army, and now there's Liu Liangzuo too. How are we supposed to fight this battle?"

Liu Liangzuo was no pushover. He was originally a rebel general under Gao Yingxiang, but was later recruited by the Ming Dynasty and turned against the rebels to suppress them. He rose step by step to become a general and was stationed in Zhengyang for many years.

Liu Fangliang naturally despised this two-faced traitor, but the opponent's strength should not be underestimated. If Liu Liangzuo and Chongzhen joined forces, it would be very difficult to fight.

Ma Chongxi frowned, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Hong Niangzi's troops are not a threat. However, Chongzhen has a cavalry force by his side, which is said to be a reorganized elite force selected from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. It is very likely that this force defeated Wang Yongzhen."

As he spoke, he drew a circle on the map and continued, "Now that Liu Liangzuo has led his troops to our aid, our army is attacked from both sides, and we must act with even greater caution."

Liu Fangliang studied the map, pondering his next move. He said, "We have 30,000 men here. If we head directly south and wipe out Liu Liangzuo's troops, we can not only avoid fighting on two fronts but also replenish our supplies. What do you think?"

Ma Chongxi shook his head and said, "I'm afraid that more than one Liu Liangzuo will come."

Liu Fangliang was taken aback by these words and asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Ma Chongxi sighed and explained, "It means we might face attacks from multiple Ming armies simultaneously, finding ourselves in a desperate situation..."

"Report—"

Before he could finish speaking, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from outside again.

Liu Fangliang suddenly felt nervous, a sense of foreboding creeping over him.

Sure enough, another scout galloped in, reporting in a panic: "A large number of Ming troops have been spotted sixty li to the east!"

Liu Fangliang's heart skipped a beat; his premonition had come true.

Ma Chongxi hurriedly asked, "How many men? Do they have any banners?"

The scout replied, "Roughly estimated, there are 20,000 men, and their banner bears the character 'Liu'."

Liu Fangliang angrily retorted, "Why is it Liu again?"

Ma Chongxi examined the map again, sighed, and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this time it's Liu Zeqing, the Shandong General."

Liu Fangliang's face darkened. To the north was Baoding Prefecture, with an estimated 20,000 troops. To the south came Liu Liangzuo with 10,000 troops, and to the east came Liu Zeqing with 20,000 troops. How many were there in total...?

In short, in terms of numbers, our side is already at a disadvantage.

Today, he finally felt the panic.

He thought that by returning to the Southern Route Army, replacing Li Yan, and taking Baoding, he could then march straight to the capital.

However, the reality was quite different.

Although Li Yan was captured, Hong Niangzi escaped.

Having lost a fierce general and 5,000 soldiers in the first battle, and now with Chongzhen's reinforcements arriving one after another, they are likely to launch an offensive, turning the tide of the battle and making themselves the targets of attack.

Ma Chongxi continued, "My lord, the situation is extremely unfavorable. I believe we should focus on holding our ground while simultaneously requesting reinforcements from His Majesty immediately!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Fangliang pondered for a long time before finally sighing helplessly and saying, "That's the only way. Send the order to seal the city gates and prepare for a defensive stand!"

"That's strange..."

Ma Chongxi was still staring intently at the map, seemingly searching for something.

Liu Fangliang asked, "Any other questions?"

Ma Chongxi gestured and said, "Judging from the map, the Ming army is encircling us from the north, east, and south. Why did they specifically leave the west side undefended?"

Liu Fangliang couldn't help but smile and said, "The Zijing Pass is just to the west. If our main force comes to support us, the Ming army will be attacked from both sides. At that time, it's uncertain who will defeat whom!"

"I hope so!"

Ma Chongxi put down the map, but he still felt uneasy.

Half an hour later, a fast horse galloped out and headed towards Zijing Pass.

"Giddy up! Giddy up!"

The rider on horseback kept waving his whip, when suddenly the warhorse neighed and fell heavily to the ground!

Tripwire!

The moment the thought crossed the knight's mind, he and his warhorse were launched into the air.

Pfft!

This sudden fall left the person completely disoriented, seeing stars.

He staggered to his feet, but was held down and led to the back of the mountain, where he found it teeming with people.

"General Gao, we've discovered a spy from the rebel army, and we even found a letter!"

Gao Jie took the letter, read it carefully, and said with a smile, "Liu Fangliang is scared and has asked Li Zicheng for help. Let's cut off his retreat. Send the order down to capture Zijing Pass first!"

The procession arrived at the foot of Zijing Pass in a grand procession, with the dark muzzles of cannons pointed at the city gate.

"Don't fire, I surrender!"

Before Gao Jie could give the order, Liu Dadan, the garrison commander of Zijing Pass, had already ordered his men to open the city gates.

Why risk your life for a salary of just a few hundred dollars a month?