Li Guo was nicknamed a tiger. Li Yan and Gu Junen judged based on the actions of the rebels that the tiger was not in the mountains, that is, Li Guo was not in Dali.
The reason is very simple. Based on his knowledge of Li Guo, if he were in Dali and learned that the imperial court was captured fifty miles away, he would immediately send a large army to counterattack. However, the spies reported that they only had two thousand soldiers and horses, and they were cautious and hesitant. , obviously here to test rather than counterattack.
This is not Li Guo's style. It seems that as Hei Zhizi said, Li Guo is not in Dali, but Gao Yigong, Li Zicheng's brother-in-law. Although he is a close confidant of Li Chuang, his military ability is far inferior to that of Li Guo. At this time, Li Guo must also obey orders.
In order to confuse the officers and soldiers and make it difficult for them to detect the truth, the bandit army tried their best. As the frontline commander, Li Guo was supposed to be stationed at Tongguan, the most important city. However, during that period, in order to confuse the officers and soldiers and to inspect various defenses, he was running around everywhere. It really confused the officers and soldiers. They thought he was hiding in Dali County, the rear area of Chaoyi. In fact, it was Gao Yigong who was really in charge of Dali.
Both Li Guo and Gao Yigong were direct descendants and confidants of Li Zicheng, which shows that he attached great importance to the defense of the Yellow River. Gao Yigong was his brother-in-law who was loyal to him, so he was appointed to take charge of Dali, because it is opposite Puzhou City. , is most likely the place where officers and soldiers first attacked, and is an important target outside Tongguan.
Gao Yigong also lived up to the great trust and worked hard to manage the city. He believed that the iron walls were iron-clad and the cliffs facing the river were dangerous. Looking down at the river bank from a high position, it was extremely difficult for the officers and soldiers to break through! Even if he was forced to attack the city and besiege it, his troops in Dali could send reinforcements in a very short time and complete the internal and external encirclement.
It can be said that Gao Yigong was quite confident in the defense of Chaoyi, and he even came for a stroll the next day, boarded the East City Tower to observe the movements of officers and soldiers on the other side, especially when Li Chuang proposed peace talks and sent Song Xiance and others to the capital. During the negotiations, he sometimes even came once a day, but he didn't notice anything unusual on the other side. Regular patrols and regular drills were going on. Even so, he still didn't dare to be careless.
He is a cautious person by nature.
But who would have expected that as soon as the front foot left, and it was fine yesterday, there would be a report so early in the morning that the soldiers had broken into the city! At that time, he was shocked and stunned, and then he grabbed the messenger and said, "You don't have to talk nonsense!"
"General, the imperial court was really invaded by the officers and soldiers. The little one risked his life to escape and report the news..."
"Impossible, impossible..." Gao Yigong pushed him away. How could the officers and soldiers suddenly launch an attack? How could they defeat the impregnable cliff city in just two days? Before that, He didn't even notice the other party's intention.
"There are cannons used by officers and soldiers, there are many cannons, and the sky is full of cannonballs..." The messenger collapsed on the ground and said with tears and snot in his nose, but Gao Yigong didn't have the heart to listen to what he said. At this moment, he was extremely shocked. He was very scared, because he suddenly thought of something.
The officers and soldiers suddenly attacked. Could it be that the rumor... was true?
Was Li Chuang really captured by the court?
But if they were really captured, shouldn't they use it to persuade them to surrender first? Besides, they already said they were going to surrender, so why did they continue to fight?
This unscientific!
But he couldn't figure it out.
But he was extremely scared in his heart. He was afraid that Li Chuang would really be captured. In that case, the consequences would be very complicated. Even if you surrender, the court will feel that you have no weight, and we are not qualified to raise conditions. But if you don't surrender, , I'm afraid things are going to be a mess here, and the so-called Dashun Kingdom will soon disintegrate into many mountains, and maybe it will soon kill each other...
Gao Yigong was full of panic at this time and didn't know how to deal with it. The officers and soldiers made a surprise attack in the early morning and successfully broke through the city. This caught him off guard. If he got the news during the attack, he would immediately send his troops to support, but Now that everyone has been fighting for a long time, what should I do?
No matter what he did, he couldn't do nothing. At this time, the people in Chaoyi didn't know what was true and he didn't dare to send troops to counterattack rashly, so he sent two thousand soldiers and horses to test it. At the same time, he sent people to report to Li Guo in Tongguan urgently to see how he was doing. decision making.
Before Gao Yigong's people arrived at Tongguan, Li Guo had already received another batch of information. He was as frightened as Gao Yigong. He sat down on the ground at that time. No one knew better than him what the officers and soldiers' attack represented. The meaning of.
Dashun had previously reached a consensus with the imperial court that the two armies would cease fighting and not attack each other during the peace talks. But now the imperial court suddenly sent troops to attack the city. What does that mean? No more talk, has the talk collapsed?
In addition, there were rumors that Li Chuang was captured... The reason why they let go and started fighting without any scruples was because they really captured Li Chuang?
Everything was unknown, but it all put Li Guo into a deep panic, but he had to work hard to deal with it. At this time, one mistake would cost him everything. The soldiers helped him into the hall and lay down on the chair. After a long while, Li Guo slowly straightened up.
You must retaliate in kind!
Because no matter whether Li Zicheng was captured or not, no matter whether the negotiations failed or not, he could not allow the officers and soldiers to step across the Yellow River!
Because this is a matter of life and death for Dashun!
As long as the Yellow River defense line is defended, everything will still have bargaining chips, even if Li Zicheng is captured.
But if it breaks through the defense line, everything will be over!
Bring Ma Bao and Luo Hu over! Li Guo was furious. At this juncture, the big bosses in Xi'an City were unreliable and useless, so he decided to transfer the two youngest and bravest tiger generals in his direct line to confront Li Yangang.
The geographical location and symbolic significance of the imperial court are too important and must not be lost. No matter how you lose it, you must get it back!
When he came back, Li Guo called him back as soon as the messenger went out. He walked slowly to the door of the hall, looked up at the sky, smiled coldly, and then called the messenger and said a few words in his ear.
In Chaoyi City, Ma Huabao and the others were sharpening their knives and their eyes were red. They were just waiting for a fight. However, Dali's bandit reinforcements were always ten miles away and refused to come in. This made these people scream and curse. , wanted to lead his troops to charge and kill, but Li Yan had already issued a military order and only defended but not attacked.
In fact, Ma Huabao and the others were also shouting casually. They are all veterans who have been on the battlefield for a long time. Is it stupid to go and fight with others in the field without guarding the city?
Horse Huabao is not stupid, but he is very sleepy!
He stayed up all night, his eyes were red, but the rebel reinforcements were ten miles away and wouldn't come in, so he couldn't sleep well. He was sleepy and sleepy, and it was very painful.
They stayed up like this until dark, and the bandit army retreated.
But Ma Huabao didn't dare to sleep anymore.
They didn't come in all afternoon and left suddenly. Who knows if there would be a surprise attack at night. Ma Huabao drank a few pots of strong tea and Zhang Shiyi waited at the top of the city to patrol the defenses again and again. At this time, the court was already a bridgehead for officers and soldiers, and they could be attacked at any time. To withstand the crazy counterattack of the bandit army, he did not dare to be careless no matter how trapped he was. He was even more afraid that the bandit army would retaliate in their own way, such as a surprise attack in the early morning.
To the east of Chaoyi is a river bank cliff. When they came over, they could only attack from both sides. The rebels also built fortifications on both sides of the river outside the city. If it weren't for the fire suppression of the Shenji Battalion, it would be really difficult to attack, but now their identities are reversed. They became defensive, but they lost the advantage of the cliffs on the east bank of the river. Dali was in a flat plain to the west and there was no danger to defend. The rebels could attack from the front or outflank them from both sides.
It was much easier than when they attacked!
However, Li Yan ordered to defend, and Ma Huabao was also ruthless. He ordered thousands of soldiers to dig three trenches in the west of the city in just a few hours and used horses and debris as obstacles. The purpose was to prevent the rebel army from advancing straight into the city. After all, on this river bank The small town has no moat.
The three trenches can block the rebels' offensive and interrupt their cavalry momentum. Within the fire range of the city, the red cannons are still slowly tossing this way, but the five hundred musketeers and tiger crouching cannons have been deployed. There are three sides of the city, and the mobility is very good. Support whichever side is under the most pressure.
"Even if the thieves come here with thousands of troops, they still have to give up." Bo Yongfu said coldly, looking at Zhengxi. There was a little fire flashing in the distance. Zhang Shiyi chuckled: "I don't believe that Dali can have anything at this moment." Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses." He said and glanced at Ma Huabao outside: "Old Ma, what do you think?"
"Maybe not, but of course there are more than this number in the surrounding area." Ma Huabao breathed out: "If tens of thousands of people really come to fight in this tiny place, we will be in danger."
"That may not be possible." Zhang Guozhu looked back and said, "There are thousands of people behind us. Li Yanzhong wouldn't want to watch us trapped and die without saving him." Ma Huabao smiled: "That's not the case, either. This is precisely the reason why the bandit army did not come for a long time. If they come too little, they will not be able to defeat them. If they come too much, they will mobilize their whole body and gather the soldiers and horses here. They are afraid that Li Yan will divert the tigers away from the mountain and be attacked elsewhere."
Hey, after hearing what Ma Huabao said, Yu Shaoxun slapped his thigh: "By the way, Li Yan's original intention was to throw us here as bait to attract the bandit army to encircle him, but he wanted to sneak attack Tongguan. Don't forget that he attacked Tongguan a few days ago." Orders have been sent to Wu Sangui to assemble. To be honest, Li Yan's move was really cruel. He captured Chaoyi by surprise. Although the rebel army was extremely angry, it would be useless to attack him or not to attack him."
"The reason why Li Yan is so highly regarded by the young eunuch is because he is a good fighter," Ma Huabao said, "It is very possible that he clearly pointed to Chaoyi and intended elsewhere, but one thing is that the rebel army in Chaoyi will definitely counterattack. It's just that the loss was too sudden for the thieves, and they were caught off guard. When they are ready, they will come..." The more they thought about it, the more likely it became.
Li Yan was good at strategizing, and was obsessed with military use. The reality and reality were unpredictable. Ma Huabao and others also participated in military affairs discussions, but their status was lower and it was impossible to know higher strategic secrets.
Only big guys like Gu Junen, Wu Sangui, and Ma Ke are qualified to know Li Yan's true strategy, because they need their cooperation.
