*****
Yan Gaofei hurried into the side hall of the General Staff and reported in a low voice to Qin Mu: "Sir, our people have just found out the news. There is something very strange. Li Zicheng's queen Gao Guiying did not go with him, but came to Li Zicheng. Passing through the army.”
"Oh?" Qin Mu thought about it and felt that this matter was indeed a bit strange. According to common sense, if Li Zicheng wanted to escape, he would take all his family members with him. There is no reason not to take his wife with him. You must know that if something happens to the queen of a country, , has a great impact on morale, "Quickly, what else is there?"
"Sir, Gao Guiying led half of Dashun's old camp to leave Xi'an first. Li Zicheng did not take the Shangluo road. Instead, he went west to Tianshui, then south to Hanzhong, and then waited in Hanzhong for Li Guo and Gao Yigong to leave from Shaanxi. North Yulin withdraws from the west line to join;
At this time, Gao Guiying already had 60,000 to 70,000 elite troops in his hands. It was supposed that there would be no opponents for them along the way, but they did not choose to take the shortcut from Yunyang to Baokang to join Li Zicheng. Rather, they would rather go around eastern Sichuan and come to Xiangyang via Taiping. This is obviously a deliberate attempt to avoid something. "
After hearing this, Qin Mu walked to the sand table and asked Yan Gaofei to point out Gao Guiying's marching route. Indeed, there were many unreasonable things in the tortuous route chosen by Gao Guiying;
Ordinarily, Gao Guiying would not go with Li Zicheng and just wait for Li Guo and Gao Yigong's troops. But after waiting, he should join Li Zicheng as soon as possible to strengthen the strength of the Dashun army.
Although Li Zicheng claimed to have 200,000 troops around him, half of them were family members and the elderly and the weak. The actual number of troops that could be put into battle was at most 100,000. Under Azige's pursuit, he had to fend off the pursuers while taking care of the elderly, weak, women and children, and the troops were stretched thin. , so that they suffered consecutive defeats and even left many women and children behind.
In this case, Gao Guiying's 60,000-strong army should join Li Zicheng as soon as possible. However, they gave up the shortest and best route from Hanzhong via Yunyang and Baokang, and instead took a long way to Xiangyang via Taiping, thus missing the opportunity to meet Li Zicheng in Xiangyang.
The internal reasons for this are indeed intriguing.
Yan Gaofei thought for a while and said: "There are not any old, weak, women or children in the Gao Guiying army, but there are many wheelbarrows. These wheelbarrows can be pulled by donkey horses or manpower. One or two people can hold the handles behind. Carrying cargo over mountains and ridges.”
"How many cars are there?"
"Our people only said there were a lot of them, but the specific number was not reported."
"Give me the order to find out what is on the wheelbarrow as soon as possible. Keep an eye on the whereabouts of these goods and make sure there is no mistake."
"Yes, sir."
"Report!" At this time, another messenger rushed in and shouted: "Sir, there is a message from Chief Zhao who was sent to Li Zicheng's army."
Qin Mu took the letter and tore it open, reading it at a glance.
"Sir, how are you?" Sima An and others couldn't help but come up and ask.
"Li Zicheng agreed to join forces with us to fight against the Qing army." Qin Mu said calmly, "However, Li Zicheng hopes that we will let his army cross the river first. After Zhao Han objected, Li Zicheng proposed to let him station in Hanyang City and join hands with us to create a war. enemy."
"He's dreaming!" a staff officer named Lu Mingjiong blurted out.
Sima An said calmly: "Just wait, we can afford to wait. I'm afraid Li Zicheng can't afford to wait."
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Yunmeng County is located in the northern part of the Jianghan Plain. It is four miles wide and stretches as far as the eye can see. The highest place in the county is Fengzigang in the northeast of the county. It's only about twenty feet tall.
In the 16th year of Chongzhen, when Li Zicheng became king in Xiangyang, he changed Yunmeng County to Guzhou. It means that your political power is stronger. But later Qin Mu changed his name to Yunmeng.
It was half deep, but Li Zicheng couldn't fall asleep. The whispers of the guards could be faintly heard outside. Although he couldn't hear clearly what they said, Li Zicheng could guess what they said.
With a heavy mind, he tossed and turned for a long time, then simply put on his clothes and got out of bed. He thought about the people who failed to wait for the queen in Xiangyang and now their whereabouts were unknown. He thought about the Manchurian soldiers chasing after her, and he fled in embarrassment; he deeply regretted that he had not listened. Li Guo's advice was to manage Guanzhong, Shanxi, Henan and other places well first, and then take Yanjing after the foundation was solid. If he had really listened to Li Guo's advice, why would we be here today
Thinking of this county that he had renamed Guzhou, Li Zicheng felt it was extremely ironic, because Qin Mu had to give up on him to settle in this county.
The bleak future and desperate predicament made him feel powerless all over. He slumped down on the chair, looked up at the roof beams, and sighed: "Oh my god! Oh my god! There is no place for me, the Dashun Dynasty, to stand in the vast vastness of China!" "
At this moment, the rapid sound of horse hooves came from outside the county government office, and soon a personal guard came in with a messenger and reported to him: "Your Majesty, General Tian said that the Qing army is attacking the city day and night, and Suizhou may not be able to hold out for long. , please make preparations early.”
When evacuating Suizhou, Li Zicheng stayed in Suizhou and led 5,000 elite troops to defend Suizhou. However, he did not expect that Suizhou would soon be in danger. Li Zicheng quickly ordered: "Quickly send the message to the prime minister and others to come to discuss matters."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The guards rushed away, and soon Song Xiance, Niu Jinxing, Gu Junen, Yu Shangyou, Yuan Zongdi, Liu Fangliang, Hao Yaoqi, Liu Tichun, Zhang Nai, Wu Ruyi and other civil servants and generals rushed to the county government.
There were several oil lamps lit in the lobby of the county government office. When the wind blew, they swayed, making the entire lobby look shadowy and like a ghost land.
There was nothing that could be done about it. When Qin Mu abandoned Yunmeng County, he carried out the task of clearing the country and carrying all his things very cleanly. Not even a lantern was left behind, so that the emperor of the Dashun Dynasty actually fell into the trap of being touched by lamp grass. People feel desolate.
What makes people feel even more desolate is that in the past, the civil servants of the Manchu Dynasty were full of talents, but now there are only a dozen or so people left in front of them.
Needless to say, all the ministers who had surrendered to Shanxi and Beizhili had already fled when they withdrew from Yanjing.
After evacuating Xiangyang a few days ago, one or two hundred people including Song Qijiao and Zhang Linran, the ministers of the government, also fled one after another, leaving the Dashun Dynasty empty.
Of the ministers who had voted since Xiangyang became king, only Gu Junen and Yu Shangyou were still following him. Feeling their loyalty, Li Zicheng specially rewarded them with a lot of property during the day.
Just that Gu Junen and Yu Dayou stayed behind could not cover up the overall desolate scene of fallen trees and scattered hozens.
This desolate scene is constantly disintegrating the morale of the Dashun Army, causing the number of army sergeants to flee sharply.
Li Zicheng knew very well that he must find a place to settle down as soon as possible, otherwise if the Qing army continued to pursue him like this, all his soldiers would escape without fighting.
As soon as Li Zicheng told the news from Tian Jianxiu, the faces of the civil and military ministers in the lobby became ugly.
Gu Junen first said: "Your Majesty, once Suizhou is lost, I'm afraid Anlu will not be able to defend it for long. Most of the Manchus are cavalry. There is a vast plain around Yunmeng, which is very beneficial to the Manchu cavalry in combat. We must move as soon as possible, otherwise the Manchu cavalry will be deployed." "The consequences are disastrous."
Li Zicheng forced himself to calm down, nodded and said: "Where is the best way to move, all ministers, please tell me."
According to the previous plan, Tian Jianxiu was to block the attack at all levels to buy time for the main force to capture Wuchang. Now that time is running out, we must reconsider carefully, otherwise the Qing army may catch up before Wuchang is captured.
Yuan Zongdi asked: "Prime Minister, how was your conversation with Zhao Han?"
Zhao Han was the envoy sent by Qin Mu, and Prime Minister Niu Jinxing was responsible for negotiating with him. Zhao Han had previously rejected the possibility of letting the Dashun army cross the Yangtze River first.
Niu Jinxing said: "I proposed that our army be stationed in Hanyang, and the two armies would defend together. Zhao Han strongly opposed it at first, but later agreed to send people back to Wuchang to ask Qin Mu for instructions, but there is no reply yet."
Zhang Nai said with some annoyance: "If it doesn't work out, let's first move our troops to Hanyang to negotiate nearby, and then seize Hanyang and wait for an opportunity to cross the river."
Liu Tichun immediately objected: "No, the Qin army is well-trained and fights bravely, which is definitely not comparable to other Ming armies. This move is absolutely impossible. Qin Mu does not allow us to cross the river, which shows that he is very defensive. Let's go. Not only will we not be able to capture Hanyang, we are afraid that we will be blocked at the foot of Hanyang City. When the Qing army comes to pursue us, the whole area of Hanyang will be flat and it will be impossible for us to resist the Manchu and Qing cavalry. The consequences will be worrying. "
Yuan Zongdi also immediately agreed with Liu Tichun's statement. He and Liu Tichun led the right battalion to attack the remaining troops of Zuo Liangyu. They fought fiercely with the Qin army at Jingmen and suffered a heavy defeat. He had a deep understanding of the Qin army's combat power, but Dashun The rest of the army just didn’t believe it.
Song Xiance, the great national advisor, said at this time: "Now that the pursuers are approaching, it is indeed inappropriate to break up with Qin Mu. Your Majesty, why don't we retreat to Huangzhou first, or follow the momentum of the Dabie Mountains and Qin Mu to fight against the Manchus together; or wait for an opportunity. Capture Anqing and Jiujiang and enter Jiangxi."
Li Zicheng was silent for a while, then nodded silently.
..(To be continued...)
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