"Cheng'en, where have you been?"
Zhu Yuanzhang asked in surprise because he had not seen Wang Chengen before, but now he saw him coming in a hurry.
Wang Cheng'en heard this and knelt down to plead guilty: "Your Majesty, I heard that the rebels were coming. In order to prevent someone from taking advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble, I took it upon myself to go to Dongchang to summon people to escort me. Please forgive me!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was a little dissatisfied when he heard that he summoned Dongchang troops, but then he thought about the last time Wang Zhixin rebelled. Fortunately, he defended him to the death, and Zhou Hou and others were safe.
So he suppressed the anger in his heart and said: "Cheng'en, the identities of the people in Dongchang are complicated, you should disband them as soon as possible!"
Wang Chengen nodded a little lonely, turned around and exited Dongnuan Pavilion.
At this time, the sky was already slightly bright, but the sound of cannons was still faintly heard from Chaoyang Gate, which made Zhu Yuanzhang, who was already a little worried, even more worried.
Because according to his estimation, if Liu Zongmin wanted to intercept Gong Yonggu halfway, he would not have too many troops to attack the city, so he could only pretend to be reinforcements and deceive the city gate into opening.
Now that the sky was getting brighter, this method was no longer feasible, which made him doubt his judgment.
At this time, Wu Mengming hurriedly walked into Dongnuan Pavilion, bowed and reported: "Your Majesty, Duke An Guo and Uncle Jingnan have led their troops to repel the rebels."
"Due to the heavy casualties of An Guogong's cavalry, he requested to enter the city for repairs. Since it was almost midnight, Wang Shangshu sent someone to ask if the city gate could be opened."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he felt relieved and said in a deep voice: "Tell Wang Shangshu that it is our will. Because there are thieves in the capital, we will open the city gate after the thieves are caught!"
Wu Mengming was about to ask, but he remembered that Li Ruolian had told him that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't like people asking for details, so he responded respectfully and turned around and went out.
"The rebels are quite cunning. They waited until now to deceive us. If this plan fails, they will lead an ambush to attack the city."
"If Pingxihou can return to his army at this moment, he may be able to annihilate the rebels under the city..."
Zhu Yuanzhang thought and couldn't help but shook his head.
Because Gong Yonggu should be fighting fiercely at Juyong Pass at this moment, how could he return to the army to quell the rebellion.
"Boom!"
...
At this time, another burst of fierce cannon fire came from the direction of Chaoyang Gate. It seems that Liu Zongmin saw that he could not trick the city gate into opening, so he began to attack the city with all his strength.
Zhu Yuanzhang gradually smiled on his face as he listened to the sound of cannons.
Because after he saw through Li Zicheng's plan, he thought that Liu Zongmin had suffered losses at Zhangyi Gate and Chaoyang Gate. With Liu Zongmin's character, he would definitely attack one of the two gates when he came back this time.
So he not only sent additional soldiers to these two gates, but also asked Huang Nilu to concentrate the few artillery shells in these two places.
But before, when he saw Liu Zongmin attacking Chaoyangmen from the beginning, he was worried that he had made a mistake.
At this moment, when I saw Liu Zongmin attacking Chaoyang Gate again, I was immediately reassured.
Sure enough, about half an hour later, the sound of artillery gradually became sparse, thinking that Liu Zongmin was having trouble attacking the city and was preparing to return to the army to help Li Zicheng.
However, although Liu Zongmin's calculation was good, he didn't know that this time he had really fallen into a trap.
Because Zhu Yuanzhang had told Gong Yonggu that if he could not capture Juyong Pass within an hour, he would let Ma Jinzhong and others feint to attack, while he led 20,000 elites to ambush on the only way to Juyong Pass to ambush the rebels rushing to rescue.
Now that Liu Zongmin was rushing, either Juyongguan had been captured or he was ambushed by Gong Yonggu.
No matter what the situation is, it is not a good thing for Liu Zongmin.
Just when Zhu Yuanzhang was considering whether to lead a group of troops to pursue Liu Zongmin himself, Wu Mengming ran in again with a look of panic and reported: "Your Majesty, something serious has happened!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was startled when he heard this, and then he forced himself to be calm and said: "Wu Qing, don't panic, tell me if you have anything to do!"
Wu Mengming suppressed the panic in his heart and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I have just received news that Lord Wang, Governor of Jiliao, has been killed in battle due to a sneak attack by the rebels. Now Ping Xibo is resisting vigorously, but Guan Ning's cavalry has suffered more than half of its casualties. I’m afraid it won’t last long.”
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned and frowned: "How many rebels are there who attacked Ping Xibo?"
Wu Mengming said: "Originally, there were only more than 30,000 people who attacked Ping Xibo, but because General Li's position was lost, the more than 30,000 rebels rushed over and attacked Ping Xibo and others from both front and back, causing Mr. Wang to die in battle."
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "Okay, we understand. You go and convey our will and tell Ping Xibo that if he can fight, he will fight. If he can't fight, he will lead his army to retreat. We have our own strategy to defeat the enemy."
Wu Mengming heard this and said with some confusion: "Your Majesty, we have no troops to mobilize now. If Pingxibo retreats, the rebels will not only besiege the capital, but also attack Pingxihou. Then the situation..."
"Wu Tongzhi, you don't need to say more, just convey our wishes!"
Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted Wu Mengming loudly before he could finish what he said.
Seeing this, Wu Mengming bowed in agreement and hurriedly walked out of Dongnuan Pavilion.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Wu Mengming's back and shook his head slightly, then murmured to himself: "Since Wu Sangui dared to let Wang Yongji die in battle, the number of rebels can't be wrong."
"But if Liu Fangliang's army is besieging Wu Sangui, then where did Liu Zongmin's troops come from to attack the capital?"
Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, walked quickly to the table, and started drawing on the map.
After a while, he straightened up and said to himself: "This Li Zicheng is really courageous, but this battle is a disaster!"
"It's a pity that we no longer have anyone available. Otherwise, when the territory is empty when the traitor Li has transferred troops from all over Shanxi, if there is a big general to lead the army, even if he cannot regain the entire territory of Shanxi, he can still occupy favorable passes, which will be beneficial to the later stage. It’s also very beneficial in combat.”
"If we can cut off Thief Li's escape route and trap him in Shanxi, we may be able to accomplish his mission in one battle!"
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang actually became a little excited.
However, after careful calculation and finding that no one was available, he had no choice but to give up.
After about half a cup of tea, Wang Chengen hurriedly walked in again and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, I am so happy, so happy!"
Zhu Yuanzhang heard this and said, "But the rebels under the city have retreated?"
Wang Chengen nodded and said: "Yes, not only have the rebels retreated, but Duke An Guo has also lifted the siege of Baoding and is now waiting for orders at the city gate!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was a little surprised and said: "What are you talking about? Duke An Guo is back. Is it really Duke An Guo?"
Wang Chengen was stunned and said: "It's Duke An, and the news came from Zhang Dabiao. I can't be wrong after thinking about it!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed and said: "Okay, okay, you immediately send someone to announce that Duke An has entered the palace!"
After Wang Chengen agreed, he turned around and left Dongnuang Pavilion, his footsteps much lighter than before.
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled, came to the case again, and studied the map carefully.
About half an hour later, Liu Wenbing walked into Dongnuan Pavilion dusty.
After Zhu Yuanzhang listened to his report, he learned that Li Ruolian had led his army south to attack Ma Chongxi, and Li Jiantai had also set off to Shanxi to persuade him to surrender.
Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Li Jiantai was not available, and was about to let Liu Wenbing lead his army to Shanxi when he saw Zhang Dabiao walking in quickly.
Zhang Dabiao didn't wait for Zhu Yuanzhang to ask, and told him excitedly that Gong Yonggu not only captured Juyong Pass, but also successfully ambushed Liu Zongmin's troops.
Because Li Zicheng had already gone to Shanxi first, the remnants of the rebel army were now fleeing to Shanxi.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang realized that he had lost the opportunity. In addition, Liu Wenbing only had 3,000 cavalry after dividing his troops. Even if he led his troops at this moment, he might not be able to get an advantage, so he gave up his previous idea.
At this time, Wu Mengming came to report again, saying that Wu Sangui had repelled Liu Fangliang's army and was now pursuing the remaining enemies.
Liu Wenbing was overjoyed when he heard the news and immediately asked Ying to pursue the rebels.
Zhu Yuanzhang knew that the pursuit at this moment was of little significance, and since he had not received any news from Shen Zhanran, he was worried that Shen Zhanran would be lost, so he asked Liu Wenbing to lead his cavalry to respond.
