"Brother Mingyuan (Liu Fangliang's name), you are too worried!"
Gu Kecheng said with disdain: "You must know that our morale is at its peak now, and Chongzhen just suffered a coup in the capital, and even the mother-in-law was killed."
"I'm afraid he is still worried in Beijing. The ability to send three thousand soldiers and horses is probably his limit. Where can he find the courage and soldiers to attack our rear?"
Liu Fangliang shook his head and said, "Brother Kecheng, you don't know something. I just got a secret report. At noon today, Chongzhen ordered Cen Hangui to lead five thousand troops out of the city and go south to attack Zhu Hengjia!"
"We must know that we have the upper hand at the moment. He only sent 3,000 troops and horses to help, but sent 5,000 troops and horses south. Moreover, the marching route of this army and horses was right between us and the brothers Buzhi (Li Guo's word) , this matter is too weird, we can’t do anything about it!”
Hearing this, Gu Kecheng frowned and said, "What does he mean by doing this? And who is Cen Hangui? I haven't heard of this person before?"
Liu Fangliang explained: "Cen Hangui is the son of Cen Tingduo of Tianzhou, Guangxi. He had previously led an army to attack Chongzhen, but somehow he surrendered again."
"Chongzhen may want to use the Cen family's influence in Guangxi to undermine Zhu Hengjia's power, but he may also be taking the opportunity to deal with us."
Gu Kecheng looked puzzled and said: "It's not that Chongzhen was suspicious, how could he re-employ someone who wanted to kill him?"
Zhang Nai on the side also nodded and said, "Yes, I've heard of it too!"
"Furthermore, although Chongzhen has appointed many new people in the past few months, the people who hold the power are still royal relatives like Liu Wenbing. This shows that he is not a generous person. How could he suddenly re-appoint a subordinate general? Is this news wrong?"
Liu Fangliang shook his head and said: "This news came from Li Laiheng from Beijing. There is no way it is wrong, but the matter..."
"Li Laiheng came to Beijing again?"
Zhang Nai interrupted Liu Fangliang with some surprise, and at the same time a fighting spirit ignited in his eyes.
It turns out that Zhang Nai and Li Laiheng were similar in age, and they were both very brave in battle, so they were known as the two heroes among the younger generation.
Because the two of them were often compared, they also had a rivalry with each other.
When Liu Fangliang saw this, he couldn't help but frown slightly, then nodded and said: "Before, we were unstoppable, so Li Laiheng took the initiative to ask for help and was willing to go to Beijing to serve as internal correspondent. He never thought that Chongzhen would suddenly come back, but now he is a little passive..."
While several people were discussing, a sentry rider walked in quickly and handed a secret letter to Liu Fangliang.
Liu Fangliang took a look at the secret letter and said in surprise: "Cen Hangui actually surrendered after being captured by Zhu Yuanzhang in Jizhou. This is too unreasonable..."
After hearing this, Gu Kecheng took the secret letter from Liu Fangliang's hand, read it, and then said with a look of sudden realization: "That's right!"
"You see in this secret letter that most of the five thousand soldiers and horses are ruffians, you know that Chongzhen does not trust Cen Hangui. The reason why he did this is to take the opportunity to confuse us and buy time!"
"To gain time?"
Liu Fangliang said with some confusion: "Why do you have such an opinion?"
Gu Kecheng said carelessly: "Isn't this very simple?"
"You must know that Chongzhen didn't have many troops. With the Jurchen invasion from the south, the few troops he has are now either in Shanhaiguan or Datong."
"He knew he was no match for us, so he sent those soldiers out to confuse us, and at the same time it could reduce the variables in the city. If we fall into the trap, he can let Liu Wenbing attack us when the Jurchens retreat!"
Liu Fangliang shook his head and said, "No, your statement is based on the situation that we fall into the trap, but what if we don't fall into the trap?"
"According to Li Laiheng's information, there were originally only about 20,000 people in Beijing. Although Chongzhen brought back 3,000 or 4,000 people, nearly 10,000 people have been sent out this time. The maximum number of people in the city is only about 15,000. It can be said to be unprecedentedly empty."
"If Chongzhen didn't have a perfect plan, he would never do such a dangerous thing, so I think it's better to be more cautious!"
Hearing this, Gu Kecheng said with some dissatisfaction: "If you are worried about Cen Hangui, give me three thousand cavalry, and I will chase them and kill them all!"
Liu Fangliang said a little speechlessly:
"Although we have 50,000 people, most of them are refugees and people who have fallen into the grass. They have little fighting ability. There are only more than 10,000 truly capable warriors, and there are only 5,000 cavalry. How can we divide our troops?"
"If this is the case, it is better to go back to the defense. You must know that Dang Shousu has escaped Ma Shiying's siege and has five thousand elite soldiers under his command. They are on the way now. After we meet with him, we will defeat him in one fell swoop. , wouldn’t it be better!”
Gu Kecheng shook his head repeatedly and said, "No!"
"What Chongzhen is using now is a delaying strategy. If we delay any longer, we will play into his hands. In my opinion, it is better to fight quickly and decide quickly!"
Liu Fangliang knew that Gu Kecheng had an impatient temper, so he had to patiently advise: "Brother Kecheng, this battle has a lot to do with it, we must not be careless!"
"You must know that Chongzhen has almost never failed since he claimed to have obtained the true biography of Zhu Yuanzhang. If he dares to do this now, there must be a deep meaning in it. If we act rashly, we will most likely fall into his scheme."
Gu Kecheng said dissatisfiedly: "Then tell me, what can he plot against us with just a few soldiers?"
Liu Fangliang naturally couldn't answer, but he felt uneasy in his heart, and said with a worried look on his face: "I can't tell at the moment, but I just think you shouldn't underestimate Chongzhen. I think back then Chongzhen only had an isolated city, and there were rebels inside, and there was no strong support from outside. .”
"And not only did we have an ambush inside, but we also had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses surrounding the city outside. We had every advantage, but in the end we still fell short. This shows that Chongzhen is not simple."
"Now that he has led his army back to Beijing and started killing without fear, he must have something to rely on. We should be careful to avoid making the same mistake again!"
Gu Kecheng had been brooding over the fact that in the previous battle in the capital, he not only lost troops but also lost an arm. When he heard this, he felt that the other party was deliberately exposing his shortcomings, and he immediately shouted dissatisfied: "Cihou, why are you always there? To enhance others' ambition, destroy your own prestige!"
"Although we were defeated in the previous battle, if it weren't for that bitch Song Xiance's pretentiousness and he had to enter the city on time, and those bastards Bai Guangen turned their backs on the battlefield, you... how could we have lost?"
Gu Kecheng wanted to say that the southern army led by Liu Fangliang arrived late, but he temporarily changed his tune after thinking that the enemy had fought all the way and Li Zicheng did not ask the southern army to encircle Beijing, but only asked them to block the reinforcements.
Liu Fangliang saw that Gu Kecheng not only had an angry look on his face, but also changed his name, knowing that the other person was really angry.
In fact, he was a little angry, but when he saw the other party's empty left sleeve, he sighed secretly, looked at Zhang Nai and said, "Xiao Zhanghou, what do you think of this matter?"
When Zhang Nai asked, he hesitated and said: "I haven't seen any plans from Chongzhen, but I haven't heard any news from my father so far. I'm afraid he may not be able to come to help. If we delay any longer, the situation may be even more unfavorable!"
Liu Fangliang nodded and said, "This is what I'm worried about too!"
"According to the previous agreement, His Majesty should have arrived a long time ago, but now he has not arrived. Moreover, your brother Li also received a letter saying that Zuo Liangyu has arrived in Xinzhou, which seems to mean cutting off his return."
"We originally planned to attack separately for a while, and if we still couldn't break through, we would join forces. But now that Cen Hangui's troops suddenly appeared among us, I'm afraid it won't be easy."
Gu Kecheng was angry for a while. Seeing Liu Fangliang's worried look, he took the initiative to say: "If you are really worried, you might as well join forces with Bu Zhi's brothers in advance, so as to take the opportunity to eliminate Cen Hangui's troops. Anyway, What he is leading now are ruffians, not wolf soldiers, and he doesn’t have..."
"Wolf soldiers!"
"By the way, it's the wolf soldiers!"
Liu Fangliang suddenly exclaimed, and then showed an expression of sudden realization.
