Liu Wenbing saw that Zhu Yuanzhang was still silent after reading the march map, and he couldn't help but think secretly.
He was originally a smart man, but because of the complicated matters before and the fact that the safety of his friends was at stake, he was temporarily confused.
After calming down at this moment, I immediately realized that something was not normal.
Because judging from Dorgon's previous performance, the opponent should be someone who has a strategy in mind and moves after making a decision. He will definitely not lead his army to the expedition after losing Jinzhou and other places.
Moreover, even if Dorgon delayed sending troops until now due to the dispute at court, it should still be a stealth attack. It is impossible for the news to have spread before the army set off.
Therefore, Liu Wenbing suspected that Dorgon did this to confuse everyone and cover his ambush.
It's just that Wu Sangui and Zu Dashou are not mediocre people. If Dorgon's troops have arrived, it is impossible for them not to discover them.
Could it be...
Thinking of this, he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in panic.
Zhu Yuanzhang saw his gaze and shook his head as if knowing what he meant.
When Liu Wenbing saw this, he immediately thought that Zheng Hongkui and others were also in Jinzhou. Even if Wu Sangui and Zu Dashou had different intentions, it was impossible for the Zheng brothers to conspire with them.
Because the Zheng family has always been unruly, and they have an invincible navy at their disposal, they can retreat calmly even if they are defeated.
In addition, the Zheng family has recently been ennobled, and Zheng Zhilong and Zhu Chenggong are both in the pass. Zheng Hongkui and others should not do such a stupid thing.
But if not, how to explain Dorgon's unusual behavior?
Just as Liu Wenbing was deep in thought, he heard Zhu Yuanzhang's voice: "Wang Qing, can you find out who leads the rebels in Baoding?"
When Wang Shoulin heard this, he bowed and said: "There is no definite news yet, but judging from various signs, the person leading the army may be Liu Fangliang, who previously besieged Baoding!"
"Liu Fangliang!"
Zhu Yuanzhang repeated it in a low voice, and then asked: "Is there any news about Thief Li?"
Wang Shoulin shook his head and said, "There has been no news about Thief Li since he withdrew from Xi'an, but just now the Jin Yiwei sent news that Niu Jinxing was found among the Jurchen army outside Datong."
"And I heard that the reason why Jierhalang and Daishan stormed Datong was because of his plan. In addition, the sons of Shanxi wealthy Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu and others were also secretly helping the Jurchens under the instruction of Fan Yongdou."
"If Master Chen hadn't skillfully used fire attacks and Wang Fuchen and others fought hard, I'm afraid Datong would have fallen..."
When Liu Wenbing heard this, he was a little surprised and said: "Didn't Zuo Liangyu take Fan Yongdou and other wealthy people to Shaanxi? How could he help the Jurchens?"
Wang Shoulin glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang, and when he saw him nodding slightly, he said: "Zuo Liangyu did escort a group of wealthy households from Shanxi to Shaanxi in the name of sightseeing."
"However, Fan Yongdou got the news from somewhere, used a substitute to fool him, and took advantage of Wang Denku and others' departure to expand aggressively..."
When Liu Wenbing heard this, he frowned when he thought that Gong Yonggu had received funding from Wang Dayu and others.
After Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes flashed with murderous intent, he asked again: "Where is Song Xiance, is there any news about him?"
Wang Shoulin said: "Since he was defeated by Gao Jie, there has been no trace of him, and no one in the rebels mentioned him again. I don't know if Li Thief no longer trusts him, or he has died in the rebellion. ”
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang saw that Liu Wenbing was no longer as anxious as before, so he said, "Dong An Guo, what do you think of this matter?"
Liu Wenbing muttered: "I heard that Song Xiance was very resourceful and logically should not be defeated by Gao Jie."
"To say that this was Li Thief's arrangement, Li Thief should not have escaped so hastily when Xi'an was captured. Therefore, I suspect that Song Xiance felt that Li Thief's situation was over and turned to others."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "We also have this idea, but even though Li Thief was defeated, he is still the strongest among the rebels. Where can Song Xiance go?"
After he finished speaking, he saw Liu Wenbing frowning and said nothing, and then looked at Wang Shoulin and said: "Wang Qing, please order the Jinyi Guards to pay close attention to the whereabouts of Fan Yongdou and others, and to find out the status of their fields."
"In addition, let Huang Degong from Shanxi divide his troops to guard the main road from Baoding to the capital. He is clearly ordered to only block the enemy in this battle and not to advance rashly. If the people under his command dare to disobey the order again, we will not be lenient!"
"As for the capital..."
Zhu Yuanzhang said, stopped again and looked at Liu Wenbing.
In fact, he was not too worried about Shen Zhanran's defeat.
Because based on his understanding of Shen Zhanran, the defeat in the first battle may be a strategy of Shen Zhanran.
But he thought that Gong Yonggu, one of Liu Wenbing's friends, was in danger, and now Shen Zhanran was defeated again, and Liu Wenbing had shown a worried look before.
Although Liu Wenbing has returned to normal now, Zhu Yuanzhang is still a little worried, worried that Liu Wenbing's state of mind will lose control, which will affect the next war.
When he was thinking about how to comfort him, he suddenly saw Zhang Dabiao walking in with Jiang Yingkui.
After Jiang Yingkui saluted, he glanced at Liu Wenbing before respectfully presenting a secret letter in his hand.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw the words "Sincerely from Duke An Guo" written on the envelope, he did not accept the letter. Instead, he asked Jiang Yingkui to hand the letter to Liu Wenbing.
Liu Wenbing took the letter, read it quickly, and said with a happy face: "Your Majesty, Master Shen did not lose the battle, but wanted to lure the enemy deeper..."
It turned out that Shen Zhanran, because the cavalry under Hauge's command were fierce and most of his men were infantry, in order to reduce casualties, he pretended to retreat and planned to use the towns along the way to divide the Jurchen cavalry, and then defeat them one by one.
He was worried that Liu Wenbing would not know the truth and rashly led troops to help, which would affect the overall situation, so he sent someone to deliver the message.
At the end of the letter, Shen Zhanran repeatedly emphasized that the situation in Liaodong was strange and that Liu Wenbing should not act rashly to avoid falling into Dorgon's scheme...
After Zhu Yuanzhang listened to Liu Wenbing's story and read Shen Zhanran's letter carefully, he let go of some of his worries.
Then he asked Liu Wenbing to organize the army and prepare to march to Shanhaiguan tomorrow.
Unexpectedly, that night, Zhu Chenggong sent news that he accidentally captured a Jurchen spy in Shanhaiguan. After interrogation, he learned that a Jurchen army had secretly sneaked into Shanhaiguan, preparing to seize the pass.
However, how the Jurchen sneaked in and who commanded the troops have not yet been found out.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang believed that the matter was reasonable, he also felt that it was a bit unexpected, so he did not set out, but asked Wang Shoulin to rush to investigate at night.
At noon the next day, news came from Wang Shoulin that the Jurchens had sneaked in by sea, and that the leader of the army was Dorgon's brother Duduo, with about ten thousand people.
When Zhu Yuanzhang received the news, he realized why Dorgon had previously punished Kong Youde and lost Jinzhou and other places. It turned out that it was because of Duoduo's cavalry.
So he immediately sent an order to Wang Shoulin to keep Gao Di without letting spies notice, and to closely monitor Zhu Chenggong's movements.
Then he asked Liu Wenbing to pretend to return to the capital with 10,000 soldiers to confuse Dorgon, Hauge and others. After nightfall, he, Zhang Dabiao and Jiang Yingkui led 3,000 cavalry to Shanhaiguan at night.
Some people died, but not completely...
