In Ningyuan City, the two armies competed, the sound of artillery was like thunder, the sky and the earth changed color, black clouds rolled, one side's offensive was fierce, artillery and trebuchets poured down like heavy rain, the attacking soldiers covered the sky like locusts, and the defenders' far guns were close. The bow, the rolling stone and the wood were all watertight, and for a while they were evenly matched and it was hard to tell who was better.
Here we are fighting Zhenglie, thousands of miles away in the Forbidden City, the candlelight is swaying in the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen is rubbing his temples and looking at the memorial of the Dragon Case Shouning Palace, with a cup of tea next to him, the fragrance of tea is lingering.
Although he worked diligently, he had fallen asleep or started to get up in the past. However, since last night, his eyelids were twitching violently, and he even felt an inexplicable panic, which kept him unable to sleep for a long time.
The great victory in Ningyuan the day before yesterday shocked the government and the public, and the whole country celebrated. It was a rare joy in many years, but the good news was followed by bad news one after another.
His confidant, Li Zicheng, was now becoming more and more out of control. After the defeat in Taiyuan, he led his remaining troops to the east road to find Liu Fangliang's turn.
Liu Fangliang went on a killing spree on the East Road. He was unstoppable. He conquered a large area of territory in a short period of time and occupied countless cities. He first attacked Huaiqing Mansion. Ming deputy general Chen De (son of Chen Yongfu) resisted the arrest of the censor Su Jing and surrendered to the thieves. Army, Liu Fangliang set up a new defense envoy in Huaiqing Mansion, including the governor and the county magistrate, and then sent his army northward to occupy Lu'an Mansion without spending a single soldier. He appointed Sun Mingyi as the defense envoy of Lu'an and made him responsible for the payment of "system The princes, princes, clans, and officials in the countryside, instead of being tortured, asked for gold and silver, tens of millions of dollars, in the name of donation. Down to the land commissioners, no one was spared. Or the property had been lost, and the children and grandchildren were recovered and tortured. "Plundering," is the name of the old eunuchs, and the same is true for eunuchs... and the thieves are distributed in every county. "Fortunately, King Shen was taken away by the eunuch at that time, otherwise the thieves would have been advantaged in vain.
After Liu Fangliang left his general Pingnanbo Liu Zhong to guard Changzhi, he led his troops eastward to Zhangde Prefecture, and at the same time divided his troops into Daming Prefecture to capture the counties under the prefecture. By this time, Li Zicheng had already escaped from Taiyuan.
After leaving Zhangde Mansion, General Liu Rukui was left to guard the area. The bandit army passed through Cizhou (today's Ci County, Hebei Province) and entered the Jifu area. All the local officials of the Ming Dynasty in Guangping Prefecture (today's Handan area, governed in Yongnian County) fled, leaving "the city without an owner." Zhang Ruxing, the former commander-in-chief of Tongzhou who lived in Guangping Prefecture, sent his followers to Cizhou to pay the rebels.
Dashun's army entered Guangping Mansion and "you marched to the suburbs for thirty miles". After a brief rest, the bandit army marched northward. "As you go, please go forward and offer me a strategy for Beijing and Tong. Fangliang agrees." Before the team set off, Liu Fangliang appointed Zhai Fengqi as the defense envoy, leaving Guo Duwei and Chang Zhang brigade to lead 500 troops to guard it. Quang Binh.
At the same time, Chang Yu, the admiral of Dongchang, was ordered to go out to snipe the enemy, and Shi Kefa, the Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty, was ordered to go south to suppress the bandits.
The bandit army continued to march north to collect Xingtai, Hejian and other places. They all surrendered along the way and reached Baoding, the important town of Jipu.
Yesterday, the Jin Yiwei came on horseback to report that "the invaders have arrived, and they have been marching for three hundred miles. Their feathers, flags and iron armor are dazzling. The dust is rising, the day is dim; the horses neigh, the people shout, the sea boils and the mountains are destroyed. This shows the great power of the army."
The court was shocked.
Historically, it was March 21st when the bandits invaded Baoding. The capital city had been captured two days ago. However, due to the little eunuch's butterfly wings in Shandong, the historical trajectory was slightly changed.
Historical records indicate that in the Ming Dynasty, "the civil and military officials who were guarding the country all looked to the wind and fled, or the gentlemen fought to be the leader of the rebellion, dragging their clothes backwards, running away in fear of others, saying benevolence to each other and saying, "Welcome to God."
The people in Baoding City were unwilling to stick to the Zhu Ming Dynasty and asked to open the door to pay money. At this time, Li Jiantai, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty who "conquered personally on behalf of the emperor", fled into Baoding. He also believed that the situation was "unstoppable" and it was better to surrender as soon as possible. However, Shao Zongxuan, the official of the department, and He Fu, the new prefect, together with local squire Zhang Luojun and others, insisted on defending the city. They scolded "the common people for being ignorant" and not understanding the righteousness of the monarch and his ministers. They "ordered people to put Chongzhen money on their foreheads to show their righteousness to the Lord" and drove the soldiers and civilians to the city to refuse to defend. Dashun's army shouted loudly outside the city, telling them that the capital had been captured on March 19, and advising them not to be stubborn and seek desperation. Zhang Luojun, Shao Zongxuan and others remained stubborn and turned a deaf ear. Seeing that persuading them to surrender was ineffective, Liu Fangliang ordered an all-out attack on the city.
To this day, Li Jiantai has been assassinated. The garrison in Baoding is a matter of the Ministry of War. The same force that besieged Baoding was not Liu Fangliang's powerful force, but the main force of the bandit army, with Li Zicheng personally in charge.
Baoding is the southern gate of Gyeonggi, so don’t miss it!
Chongzhen and his ministers discussed for half a night, but in the end they came up with no good plan. They could only hope that Shi Kefa could defeat the bandits. At this time, the army marched south. With food and grass prepared and pay and silver in place, he ordered his own soldiers, Tengxiang and the Four Guards, to follow Shi Kefa out of the capital to suppress the bandits. Liu Liangzuo, the commander-in-chief of Shandong Province, sent troops from Jinan to the north for a pincer attack. Huang Degong sent troops to the north from the Central Plains. In the west, Zhou Yuji led the Jinwu Guards from Taiyuan and tens of thousands of troops to intercept them. They surrounded them on all sides, making it difficult for the rebels to fly.
Although the military situation in the south was urgent, Emperor Chongzhen felt somewhat comforted. After all, he had gathered more than 100,000 troops from here and there to cover the area from all sides, and with the loyal minister Shi Kefa supervising the battle, there shouldn't be much trouble.
But what about that lone army and that lone city outside the pass?
Chang Yu established a special communication channel, and intelligence from outside the customs was arriving day and night. A great victory the day before yesterday certainly excited the government and the public, but subsequent intelligence revealed that the main force of the Qing army was approaching the city!
The mighty Qing army, which numbered more than 100,000, gave Emperor Chongzhen a chill from the soles of his feet to the pit of his heart. The crimes committed by the Qing army several times were shocking and left an extremely terrifying shadow on him. He could feel it in his bones. Trembling.
Can Chang Yu stop it? What if he can't? At that time, thieves are approaching the capital from the south and Tatars are entering the country from the north. The Ming Dynasty is in danger.
Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen felt chills in his bones. Can the prince's dream be changed...
At dawn, Li Yan got up early in the city of Zhonghousuo and practiced two sets of boxing on the city. He was a little out of breath, but he was full of energy. The newlyweds were well nourished at night.
Emperor Chongzhen of the capital was worried, Ningyuan City was bombarded with artillery fire, these had nothing to do with him. The surrounding area in Zhonghou was quiet, the air was fresh, the mountains and forests were looming in the distance, and the Liuzhou River was like a white dragon...
Looking at this great river and mountains, Li Yan couldn't help but sigh, how wonderful it is!
In the past, I was a thief who had a bad reputation, insulted my ancestors, was scorned by the world, and lived an ignoble existence, living in constant fear. Now I am working for an official, and I am upright. Although I have traveled thousands of miles, endured the bitter cold, and gone out to fight, there are dangers all around. But now He felt really good about it.
It's really good. In one day, three blessings come to my door!
In the first battle after Yixi surrendered, nearly a thousand Qing cavalry were killed, and Erxi and his wife joined forces.
As for the third joy, there were some surprises.
But he said that he returned to the city with a great victory in the battle with the Qing army yesterday. In the evening, bandits from the mountains came to surrender, about 400 of them.
There are so many thieves in the mountains outside the pass. Almost all of them are gathered by defeated armies in previous years. They have become a serious problem. Chang Yu once ordered Li Yan to go into the mountains to clear them out. As the master of the bandits, Li Yan returned to the central post. He wanted to go into the mountains to clean up, but he failed. At this time, I heard that the main force of the Qing army had arrived in Ningyuan, so I did not dare to act rashly. Instead, I sent people into the mountains to communicate with the bandits, identify themselves, and inform them that this was a time when the country was in crisis, so you can stay safe in the mountains. Considered as a service to the country, if you take the opportunity to cause chaos and become despised by others, your body and bones will be broken into pieces in the future, and I swear to kill you all.
Of course, if you still have the heart to serve the country, welcome back and work together to kill the thieves. There will be food and money in the city, and you should be rewarded for your merits!
Surprisingly, the thieves in the mountains came to join the gang readily. Were they really convinced so easily?
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