Tunba saw that his war elephants had smashed his army into pieces again, and he was angry, frightened, and at a loss. However, Tunba was a veteran on the battlefield after all. After a brief moment of panic, he calmed down and hurriedly ordered the army to retreat to the city.
Just then, someone pointed to the east and shouted anxiously. Tunba and others immediately felt something bad, and quickly looked to the east, and suddenly saw smoke and dust billowing in the city. It was obvious that a large force of the Ming Army had entered the city. Then he saw smoke and dust billowing from the edge of the city wall, but another Ming army was rushing towards this side along the city wall. When Tunba and others saw such a scene, their hearts sank to the bottom. Everyone looked at Tunba, and Tunba also looked panicked. Although Tunba had experienced wars for a long time, the situation in front of him still made him at a loss.
Without waiting for Tunba's order, the Bagan army began to flee in all directions, like ants exploding in a pot. But those crazy war elephants were still rushing around like crazy, knocking Bagan soldiers away from time to time, and screams kept coming and going.
…
The chaotic battlefield finally calmed down. The fields were littered with corpses, all of which were Bagan people. A considerable number of them were killed by their own war elephants. Most of the Bagan people who were lucky enough to survive could not escape. He became a prisoner of the Ming Army; those crazy war elephants before became quiet now. Their owners surrendered to the Ming Army, so they also surrendered to the Ming Army. The war elephants at this moment have returned to their docile and obedient appearance. , completely different from the crazy scene just now.
Accompanied by a group of generals and soldiers, Shi Liancheng rode up to the war elephant. The officer responsible for escorting the prisoners shouted to the prisoners: "When the general arrives, everyone kneels down!" The shout was in Bagan language. When the prisoners heard this, their hearts trembled and they knelt down one after another. All the captives had their hands tied with ropes, one by one, each holding their own war elephant. In this way, they could take the war elephant with them without worrying that they would jump on the war elephant and drive the war elephant to escape.
Shi Liancheng looked at these huge wall-like war elephants in front of him, and couldn't help but marvel in his heart. He felt that these war elephants were even bigger than the war elephants of Yue Li Dynasty. Just looking at them was shocking. He really couldn't help it. Imagine what it would be like to be rushed into the military formation by these behemoths! Then Shi Liancheng thought again: 'Although this kind of war elephant is unparalleled in power, its shortcomings are also very obvious, that is, it is easily frightened! Although these war elephants have undergone rigorous training and can withstand ordinary fire and loud noises, they cannot withstand the huge power of explosive packs! As soon as the explosive pack exploded, these behemoths were all frightened and jumped around uncontrollably. As a result, they trampled their own troops! The reason why this battle was won so easily was because the Bagan army was trampled by its own war elephants! However, although these war elephants are easily frightened and difficult to take on important tasks on the battlefield, they can be used to transport heavy supplies off the battlefield! This kind of giant has unlimited physical resources and is good at moving in the steep mountains and rivers in the south. Using these elephants as transportation tools must be a good choice. '
Shi Liancheng looked solemnly and went to inspect other places. Later that day, Shi Liancheng and other generals gathered in the tent to discuss the situation in Dali. In fact, Shi Liancheng had already received an urgent report of the fall of Dali City before the battle with the Bagan people. However, he had already put the issue of Dali City aside for the time being as the arrow was on the line. Now that the Bagan army has been annihilated, the issue of Dali City must be considered.
The information Shi Liancheng has received so far is very limited. He only knows that Dali City was captured by Duan Zhichun and that the Dali Emperor was dead. The specific situation is not yet known. Shi Liancheng has sent all the light cavalry troops to the Eighth Legion Commander Xing Fang to rush to Longwei Pass. He is worried that Duan Zhichun will raid Longwei Pass after attacking Dali City.
Shi Liancheng pointed to Dali City on the map and said: "I received an urgent report not long ago that Dali City was attacked by Duan Zhichun." The generals had already received the news and knew that Dali City had been attacked by Duan Zhichun, so they heard Shi Liancheng's words were not surprising.
Sun Xie frowned and said: "This incident is really unexpected! It seems that the period of Zhichun has buried a lot of secrets inside Dali City, otherwise it would never be possible to capture Dali City in an instant!"
Shi Liancheng said: "It should be like this." Then he said: "Although the specific situation is not very clear yet, we expect that there will not be too many enemy troops in the direction of Dali City! If nothing unexpected happens, our army will be able to successfully capture Dali City !" He glanced at the generals and said: "My plan is that the army will enter Longwei Pass, and then leave some troops to guard Longwei Pass, while the main army will arrive at the gate of Dali City." The generals nodded thoughtfully, No objection was raised. Seeing that no one had any objections, Shi Liancheng said: "Okay, it's settled!" Hu Yanbixian asked: "General, what should we do with those Bagan prisoners?" Shi Liancheng pondered for a moment and said: "You send out 10,000 soldiers under your command. Horse, escort the prisoners to Shanchan Mansion and wait for disposal." Hu Yanbi showed his promise with clasped fists.
After Duan Zhicheng captured Dali City without bloodshed, he immediately left 30,000 trusted soldiers to guard Dali City. He himself led an army of more than 100,000 people to leave Dali City and march towards Longweiguan. He intended to capture Longwei Pass by surprise before the defenders of Longwei Pass knew that Dali City had fallen. In this way, both the Tianzhu and Bagan people were blocked from the scope of Dali City, causing great damage to Dali. Reduced to the lowest level! At this time, he had sent two envoys with the intention of informing the Bagan and Tianzhu people that when he came, the Tianzhu and Bagan people would stop attacking Dali City after receiving his notification. In fact, he was vaguely worried that the two hired helpers would not listen to greetings, but he was unwilling to think about the bad side.
Just as the army was advancing towards Longwei Pass at full speed, a scout officer caught up from behind. Duan Zhichun reined in his horse and looked at the scout who was running quickly, feeling a little nervous.
After a while, the herald galloped up to him, reined in his horse, turned over and dismounted, and reported urgently: "General, the envoy to the Tianzhu military camp is back!" While speaking, a group of people were riding from behind. The people coming on horseback were the same people who were sent to the Tianzhu military camp by Duan Zhichun not long ago. Duan Zhichun was surprised and didn't understand why they came back so soon. ! All kinds of speculations came one after another for a while, sometimes happy, sometimes worried.
When the messenger came to Duan Zhichun, he ignored the salute and said urgently: "General, it's bad, the Tianzhu people have escaped!"
Duan Zhichun didn't understand what it meant for a moment, so he frowned and asked, "What did you say? What ran away?"
The messenger said: "The Tianzhu people are no longer outside Longwei Pass and have retreated towards Tengchong Mansion!"
Duan Zhichun was stunned for a moment, unable to accept this incident, and said angrily: "The Tianzhu people ran away? How could they run away? This kind of thing is impossible!"
The messenger said: "This is absolutely true! When I passed through Diancang Mountain and arrived at the south of Longwei Pass, I saw that the people from Tianzhu had already disappeared. I was greatly surprised, and immediately went to the local farmers to inquire, only to find out that the original Before, the Ming army raided Tengchong Mansion and burned the food and grass gathered by the Tianzhu people there! The Tianzhu people were short of food and grass, so they had to retreat!"
Duan Zhichun was shocked and unsure, and didn't know what to say for a moment. Then he thought of the Bagan people and asked hurriedly: "Where are the Bagan people? What is the situation of the Bagan people?"
The messenger said: "I heard that General Shi Liancheng of Yanyun gathered hundreds of thousands of troops and surrounded the Bagan people near Zhao Yancheng. I am afraid that the Bagan people are in danger!"
Duan Zhichun panicked and murmured absentmindedly: "How could this happen? How could this happen?" He really couldn't believe it, how could the situation suddenly take a turn for the worse? ! Recalling that the Ming Dynasty had done almost nothing for a long time, I couldn't help but feel that the Ming Dynasty had been planning since then. I thought everything was under my control, but I didn't expect that in the end, it was a mantis stalking the cicada and the oriole. is behind!
Duan Zhichun's eyes suddenly showed a ruthless look. He wanted to take advantage of the fact that the Ming army's main energy was still dealing with the Bagan people, to capture Longwei Pass in one fell swoop, and then use Longwei Pass to keep the Ming army out of the pass. However, his reason told him that this was not possible. Not to mention that he had just occupied Dali City, people's hearts were unstable, and internal undercurrents were raging. Even when he was at his strongest, he might not be able to withstand dozens of people with just one Longwei Pass. Ten thousand Ming army! However, Duan Zhichun felt that this might be an opportunity. If he could capture Longwei Pass in time, then move out of Longwei Pass and attack the back of the Ming army, he might be able to win a big victory. If this can be done, the whole chess game will come alive! Duan Zhichun wanted to leave Longwei Pass at one moment, but at another he was worried, with an uncertain expression on his face.
After a long while, Duan Zhichun finally gave up his intention of capturing Longwei Pass and then marching out of Longwei Pass, because he felt that given the current situation of the Bagan people, it might be impossible to persist until he captured Longwei Pass.
Duan Zhichun gave the order, and the army immediately turned and retreated towards Dali City. Just after returning to Dali City, news came that the Bagan people were besieged by nearly 300,000 Ming troops near Zhao Yancheng, and the entire army had been wiped out!
Although Duan Zhichun had expected this result, he was still shocked when he heard the news and did not want to believe it. Duan Zhichun immediately summoned his subordinates to discuss matters after a brief period of confusion. When everyone heard the news that the Tianzhu people were forced to retreat and the Bagan people were annihilated, they were shocked and inexplicable. They looked at each other and were speechless for a long time. Finally Concubine Dao Gui broke the silence, looked at Duan Zhichun, frowned and asked: "Why didn't the general capture Longwei Pass first? If Longwei Pass was in our hands, the situation would not be as unfavorable as it is now! "
Duan Zhichun felt that Dao Guifei had taken it for granted and explained: "This is impossible! It is impossible for me to capture Longwei Pass in a short time, but the Ming army will arrive at Longwei Pass soon!"
Dao Guifei didn't understand military affairs. When she heard Duan Zhichun's words, she only felt that they were specious. She frowned and said: "Longwei Pass has been lost. It is useless to talk about Longwei Pass now. General, what are your plans?"
Duan Zhichun frowned and said: "Dali City can no longer be defended, so I decided to abandon Dali immediately and retreat towards Fengyu County..." Dao Guifei did not wait for Duan Zhichun to finish his words and immediately expressed her objection: "No, we How can we abandon the capital?" Then he said: "Dali City is high and the river is wide, and the money and food reserves are enough to support an army of hundreds of thousands for several years. We can completely refuse the city and hold on, why give up such an important city!" Several people followed Concubine Dao to defect. The generals and ministers who met Duan Zhichun nodded in agreement. They were obviously unwilling to give up Dali City. It's no wonder that almost all of these people's worth is in Dali City. Now they are suddenly asked to give up. How is it possible? They all had a sense of luck in their hearts, and they were all thinking: with an army of hundreds of thousands, with a solid city to rely on, and sufficient money and food, they should be able to withstand the attack of the Ming Dynasty!
Duan Zhichun understood what everyone was thinking, frowned, and said: "You think Dali City can resist the Ming Army by taking care of everything. But I want to tell you, this is not enough to rely on! The Ming Army has a weapon called a cannon, which can emit thunder Thunderbolt is extremely powerful, and the stone city wall is like paper in front of this weapon, vulnerable! Hundreds of thousands of troops, haha, it is indeed a lot, but the enemy army is twice as big as ours, and the Ming Dynasty Xiaorui is invincible , even if their military strength is equal to ours, we can't resist it, let alone now!" Every time Duan Zhichun said something, Dao Guifei and others' expressions darkened. By the time Duan Zhichun finished speaking, Dao Guifei and others' expressions had changed. It became very embarrassing. Some people couldn't help but regret in their hearts. They originally saw Duan Zhichun with help from Tianzhu and Bagan, and he was so powerful that they thought that by relying on him, they could keep their glory and wealth, but they didn't expect that there would be unforeseen circumstances! The Ming army was so cunning and fierce that they first forced back the Tianzhu people and then completely annihilated the Bagan people! The situation reversed in an instant. I thought I could sit back and relax, but I didn't expect to fall into a deeper abyss!
Concubine Dao Guifei asked Duan Zhichun: "According to what you say, we will only die?"
Duan Zhichun smiled slightly. When everyone saw his smile, they couldn't help but calm down after being panicked. Just listen to Duan Zhichun say: "As long as we give up Dali City, we can make a comeback. The right way is to take a step back and the sky will be brighter. The situation is urgent now, so we can't lose ourselves for the immediate affairs."
Concubine Dao Guifei and others were very unhappy when they heard that he wanted to give up Dali City again, but they knew that what he said was reasonable. Now, it seemed that they had no other choice but to give up Dali City. A noble said: "General, can we hold on to Dali City and then ask for help from the Tianzhu people! As long as the Tianzhu people arrive in time, we will save the day! No matter how strong the Ming army is, we should be able to hold on for a while!" The eyes of all the nobles lit up and they all agreed.
Seeing that they still didn't want to give up Dali City, Duan Zhichun felt a little unhappy and said angrily: "You must stay and guard the city. That's up to you. Anyway, this general is leaving!"
When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but look at each other and said to themselves: If you leave, wouldn't it mean that those of us who stay here are going to die?
Duan Zhichun glanced at everyone and said in a tone that could not be argued with: "Everyone go back and clean up immediately. I won't wait for you for a long time. I will evacuate after an hour!" Everyone was shocked, and one person shouted loudly: "How can you not wait for an hour?" Is it too late? Even if it takes three or four days, there will be no time to clean up!" Duan Zhichun stood up suddenly, waved his sleeves and said: "There is no bargaining! If you wait and see, I will not do anything to you, but I am afraid that the Ming army will come. I won't let you go! The Ming army has always been cruel to the rich and nobles. If they come into the city, how do you think they will deal with you?" When everyone heard this, their faces turned pale.
Duan Zhichun stopped talking to everyone and went alone, followed by the generals. The remaining nobles looked at each other, feeling at a loss.
"My Lady, what should we do?" a noble asked Concubine Dao.
Dao Guifei frowned and said angrily: "What else can we do? Let's go back and clean up!" Everyone felt depressed, looked at each other, and left silently.
Concubine Dao hurriedly came to the harem and ordered her trusted eunuchs and maids to pack up the valuable treasures. Suddenly, the harem was full of chaos, and there were eunuchs and maids everywhere in a hurry to pack up the treasures. Dao Guifei ran straight behind the screen. Behind the screen, there were many mahogany cabinets and wooden boxes with gold rims, large and small, stacked on top of each other. Concubine Dao frowned, feeling very embarrassed. After a moment of hesitation, she walked straight to the cabinet on the left, took out the key from her side, and opened the cabinet door. Immediately, the entire palace was filled with jewels and jewels. It turned out that she was the one who stored everything in this cabinet. The most precious treasures, such as jade and coral, pure gold Buddha statues, etc., each one can be said to be a rare treasure.
Concubine Dao took out a large piece of wrapping paper from the bedside table and spread it on the embroidered couch. Then she put all the treasures in the cabinet on the wrapping paper and wrapped it carefully.
At this moment, footsteps came from outside the huge landscape screen, and then the voice of the palace maid came over: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
Concubine Dao stopped packing and turned out of the screen. When the palace maid saw Concubine Dao Gui coming out from behind the screen, she hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, and then said: "I'd like to report to you, Master Li and Master Feng are here. They say they have something urgent to see you." The palace maid said that Master Li and Master Feng belonged to The Li family and the Feng family are the two largest nobles in Dali besides the royal family. Master Li and Master Feng are the current heads of the Li family and the Feng family. Since they both hold important positions in the Dali court, they are also implicitly the leaders of the entire non-royal aristocratic system in Dali.
Concubine Dao Guifei was a little surprised when she heard that Master Li and Master Feng were coming. She immediately did not dare to neglect and said to the palace maid: "Go and bring the two adults to the palace." When the palace maid heard this, she showed surprise. It turned out that Foreign ministers were never allowed to enter the palace where the harem and concubines lived. It was a taboo for foreign ministers to enter the palace of the concubines, and they would often be punished with lese majeste.
Seeing the palace maid's hesitant look, Concubine Dao frowned and asked, "Why don't you go?"
The palace maid hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, foreign ministers have never been allowed to set foot in this harem! Let them come, I'm afraid..."
Concubine Dao said angrily: "What time of day is it now, why are you still taboo about these things? Go quickly!" The palace maid quickly agreed and ran down. After a while, he led two middle-aged men with fair looks and a somewhat fairy-like temperament to Concubine Dao Guifei's palace. At this time, there was a commotion in the palace, but the palace was still very quiet.
The two of them saw Concubine Dao Guifei and worshiped together: "Wei Chen has met the empress."
Dao Guifei said: "You two adults didn't go back to clean up, but you came to my place. I don't know why?"
The two of them looked at each other, and Mr. Li said: "Madam, is it really okay for us to abandon Dali City and flee? The foundation of all of us is here. Not only do we have thousands of buildings, countless industries, but also vast hectares of fertile land. ! When you leave, you will lose all of these!"
Concubine Dao sighed, "There is no other way! As the general said, we cannot be the opponents of the Ming Army at all. If we stay, we can only become prisoners of the Ming Army! Now that we leave, we will one day be able to make a comeback and take back the Everything is lost!"
Lord Feng asked, "Do you believe there will be such a day?" Concubine Dao Gui was stunned and frowned. Master Feng said: "Previously, Duan Zhichun joined forces with the Tianzhu and Bagan people, and the three-party alliance was so arrogant! However, in an instant, the Tianzhu people were forced to retreat, and the Bagan people were completely wiped out. The Ming army was gone in the blink of an eye. It’s about to sweep in! In the future, will Duan Zhichun be able to muster the same strength as before? I’m afraid it will be difficult! Even if he can, the Ming army has already established a foothold in Dali by then. We are still defeated by the Ming Dynasty. When the Ming Dynasty comes After Dali has established a firm foothold, can it actually compete with them?" Lord Li nodded and said: "Master Feng is so right!"
Concubine Dao glanced at the two of them, frowned and asked, "Why did the two adults suddenly come to me and say such things to me?"
The two looked at each other, both looking hesitant. Master Feng raised his eyebrows and said: "Master Li, the matter has come to this, what else is there to worry about! Just say it!" Master Li hesitated for a moment, nodded, and said to Concubine Dao: "Mother, we They all think that instead of throwing away more than a hundred years of foundation, it is better to stay!" Mr. Feng nodded, and then said: "The Ming Dynasty is actually not very bad to us nobles, they just want to take it away from the nobles. It’s just the land, but it protects all other industries and even encourages business. Instead of throwing away the foundation of more than a hundred years, it’s better to defect to the Ming Dynasty!”
Dao Guifei was startled and shouted subconsciously: "How can you say such things! Shut up quickly, if the general hears it, you will all die without a burial place!"
Now that the two of them had talked about it, they simply gave up. Master Li said: "My dear, running away is definitely not the best option! From now on, we can only live a life of constant fear! No matter Duan Zhichun, Neither the people from Tianzhu nor the people from Bagan can come back. If we leave Dali, we are destined to die in a foreign land and not have a good death!" Concubine Dao was shocked.
Master Feng said: "The only truly wise choice is to stay! Although we will lose some land, we still have enough gold and silver treasures to last us for several lifetimes, which is enough for us to spend the rest of our lives in peace! Why bother anymore? Go and suffer the pain of being homeless and precarious!”
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
