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Shuanghe Town is less than a hundred miles south of Jingmen, and turning east and south is Chengtian Prefecture (Zhongxiang).
As night fell, the 60,000 Dashun troops had already set up camp. After Li Guo personally arranged the sentries, he hurried towards the central army camp. Although he was less than 30 years old, he already gave people a feeling of vicissitudes of life.
From time to time on the way, I heard soldiers whispering in their tents. From these discussions, I could sense a pessimistic mood spreading among the army.
After listening to this, Li Guo couldn't help but sigh secretly. The rise of the Dashun Dynasty was so rapid, but its defeat was so sudden. The comparison between the two makes people feel deeply moved.
When the eastern expedition to Yanyun was discussed in the first month of last year, Li Guo was against it.
He advocated stopping temporarily after taking Shanxi, first governing Henan, Shaanxi, Shandong and Shanxi, and then attacking Yanjing after one or two years.
But Li Zicheng, Song Xiance, Liu Zongmin, Liu Fangliang and a large number of people insisted on attacking Yanjing, so he couldn't say much. Now the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and even Guanzhong could not be defended. They returned to the state of roaming bandits everywhere. Not to mention that ordinary soldiers were pessimistic and discouraged, even the generals in the army were disheartened. It was said that almost all the civil servants had fled.
When he reached the entrance of the central army tent, he saw Gao Yigong running in with an anxious look on his face. Li Guo hurriedly asked, "Yigong, what happened?"
"Let's talk inside the tent." Gao Yigong replied hastily. Just as he was about to ask someone to inform him, a woman's voice came from inside the tent: "Is it Yigong and Buzhi? Come in quickly."
The two entered the tent upon hearing the voice. Inside was a woman in her thirties, dressed in military uniform, with a dignified appearance and heroic spirit that was no less than that of a man. Li Guo and Gao Yigong bowed and said, "Greetings to the Queen."
This woman was Li Zicheng's queen Gao Guiying, and also Gao Yigong's biological sister.
When Li Zicheng retreated from Xi'an, he took the route of Shangluo and Dengzhou. However, Gao Yinggui, as Li Zicheng's queen, did not go with Li Zicheng, but led a small group of elite troops to quietly go through Tianshui and enter Hanzhong. Then she hid in Hanzhong, waiting for Li Guo and Gao Yigong to withdraw from Yulin in northern Shaanxi, and then tried to take a remote route, bypassing Yunyang and Baokang, passing Taiping from eastern Sichuan, preparing to go to Xiangyang and reunite with Li Zicheng.
Outsiders did not know that Gao Guiying was in the army of Li Guo and Gao Yigong. On the surface, it seemed that Li Zicheng could not wait for Li Guo and Gao Yigong to retreat south, so he retreated to Xiangyang first under the pressure of the Qing army, and Li Guo and Gao Yigong had to take a detour to chase them.
But the matter is not that simple. The fact that Gao Guiying did not go with Li Zicheng alone is very strange.
"I'm grateful for your help, but what happened?" Gao Guiying asked anxiously.
"Your Highness, I just received news that Wang Guangen and his brother from Yunyang have surrendered to the Tartars and are now chasing us with Shang Kexi. They have more than 40,000 men and horses. When the scouts came back, the enemy army had already passed Yicheng and is now only a hundred miles away from us."
Wang Guangen was also a general of the rebel army. Nicknamed Little Qin Wang, he later surrendered to the Ming court with his brother Wang Guangtai and helped Gao Doushu defend Yunyang. Li Zicheng attacked Yunyang twice but failed to take it.
The surrender of Wang Guangen and his brothers to the Qing Dynasty was like adding insult to injury for Gao Yinggui's troops.
Gao Guiying asked solemnly, "Is there any news from the emperor?"
"Your Highness, it is very difficult to contact the Emperor now. The last news we received was that the Emperor was fighting the Qing army in Yuanshui, north of Suizhou. The losses... were heavy. The army has moved to Suizhou and Anlu. We don't know the specific situation now."
Gao Guiying frowned even more. Originally, they were going to Xiangyang to join Li Zicheng, but before they arrived in Xiangyang, Li Zicheng had been forced to abandon the city and retreat to Suizhou, so they had to take a detour from Taiping to Jingmen.
The problem is that now Jingmen and Chengtianfu are heavily guarded by the imperial court. With a strong city in front and pursuers behind, morale is low, and the secret entrusted to Li Zicheng must be kept...
"One merit, make up for it, what do you say we should do next?"
Li Guo said: "Jingmen and Zhongxiang are each defended by 10,000 Ming troops. According to intelligence, these Ming troops belong to the troops of Qin Mu, the governor of Huguang. They are well-trained and defeated Liu Tichun in Jingmen last year. Our morale is low, and it is impossible to quickly break through Jingmen or Chengtian. From here to the east, we can cross the Han River to Dahong Mountain, and to the west, we can enter Jingshan. However, our army is short of food and grass. Once we escape into the mountains, it will be difficult to get supplies. I am afraid that 60,000 troops... "
Gao Yigong said, "The only solution now is to ask the Empress and Bu Zi to lead 10,000 troops to retreat to Jingshan. I will lead the remaining 50,000 troops to fight Shang Kexi and Wang Guangen to the death. If we can defeat the enemy, the dilemma can be solved. If we cannot, the Empress and Bu Zi can hide in the eastern Sichuan area first, and then go to join the Emperor after he takes over Huguang."
Gao Yigong was trying to cut off his tail to survive, but after cutting off the tail, it was not the body that escaped, but the tail.
In their current situation, there was no other option but to retreat into the dense forests of Jingshan, and most of them would probably starve to death.
Give the limited food and grass to Gao Guiying and Li Guo. Lead 50,000 troops to fight a desperate battle. If you can win, it would be the best. Even if you can't win, at least Gao Guiying and others can win a glimmer of hope.
"Yigong, you protect the queen and take the baggage into the mountains. This is the hope for the revival of my Dashun, and it cannot be lost. I will lead the army to stay and stop the enemy." Li Guo was Li Zicheng's nephew. Because Li Zicheng had no son, he adopted Li Guo as his adopted son.
If the Dashun Dynasty could continue, Li Guo would be the most likely person to inherit the throne. Based on this, Gao Guiying immediately rejected Li Guo's proposal to stay and stop the enemy.
But Gao Yigong is her own brother. The morale of the army is low now. If the troops are divided further, there will be no morale at all. In this situation, staying here will be a life-threatening situation. Gao Guiying stepped forward and held her brother's hand. This heroic woman who was decisive in killing on the battlefield was choked with sobs and unable to speak.
Who could have expected that the Dashun Army, which once swept across the country, would end up in such a miserable state? Even the empress had to face the decision of parting with her own flesh and blood.
"Report, General Li, the sentries caught a few people. They said they were sent by the Governor of Huguang, Qin Mu, and wanted to meet with General Li and General Gao to discuss something."
Suddenly, a report came from outside the tent from the personal soldiers. Gao Guiying and the other two were startled, and a question arose in their minds at the same time: What did Qin Mu send people here for
In fact, when the Qing army attacked Tongguan, Qin Mu sent people to contact Li Zicheng, hoping to go north to join forces with the Dashun Army to attack the Qing army. However, Li Zicheng was worried that Qin Mu wanted to take the opportunity to annex Xiangyang, so he refused.
Li Guo and Gao Yigong were in northern Shaanxi at the time defending against Ajige's northern Qing army and had no idea about this. Even Gao Guiying, who stayed in Xi'an, was unaware of it.
"No matter what, we might as well meet first." Gao Yigong said first.
"Okay, I'll step aside for a while. Yigong and Buzhi, you guys go find out the other party's intentions first." After saying this, Gao Guiying immediately disappeared behind the tent.
The visitor was brought in quickly. He was a man in his forties, of medium build, wearing a Confucian robe, carrying a sword, with a resolute look on his face. The guards asked him to take off the sword, but the visitor glared at the guards, showing his intimidation without being angry.
Gao Yigong and Li Guo were both highly skilled in martial arts and experienced in the battlefield. They did not mind whether the other party took off their swords or not. They signaled to their personal guards, who quickly let the newcomers into the tent.
"I am Wu Zhiyuan, appointed as the deputy commander of the Jingmen garrison, and I am here to meet General Li and General Gao. Wu came here at night because he did not want his whereabouts to be revealed, so I hope the two generals will tell them to keep their mouths shut and not discuss this matter."
Wu Zhiyuan bowed, neither humble nor arrogant. Li Guo, who was sitting in the main seat, nodded and replied: "Mr. Wu, there is no need to be polite. I will tell the soldiers to keep it secret. Mr. Wu, please tell me what you are here for."
Wu Zhiyuan said calmly, "As the saying goes, brothers quarrel within the walls, but we must defend ourselves against foreign aggression. Now the Dongyi are drinking from the Yellow River and ravaging our Han country. The world is about to fall. I, Governor Qin, share the same ancestry with you all. At this moment, I am willing to put aside the past hatred and join hands to resist foreign aggression."
Li Guo said calmly: "How do we join forces?"
"It all depends on whether General Li and General Gao are willing to join forces with our army. If they are willing, I will tell them the plan. If they are not willing, there is no point in saying more."
Li Guo and Gao Yigong were secretly in a dilemma. They knew very well that if they could really join forces with Qin Mu, it would naturally be a good thing. The problem was that they had an ulterior mission and had to ensure that everything went well.
Once they agree to join forces with Qin Mu, and then things go wrong, they will lose time to rearrange.
Li Guo and Gao Yigong exchanged glances, and Li Guo spoke up: "Brothers quarrel within the walls, but we should defend ourselves from external insults. Well said, we agree to join forces with your army, but Wu Chenshi should first explain the plan clearly."
.(To be continued..)
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