The next day, the Northern Expeditionary Army began to attack Linqing Prefecture City. The defenders had been prepared for it. Linqing Prefecture City was tightly defended. Minzhuang climbed to the city and threw rolling logs and stones. The soldiers stabbed with spears and arrows under the dense rain. Zuo Liangyu ordered the Ming army to Attached to the siege, both sieges were repelled by the defenders.
The initial battle was unfavorable, and the Northern Expeditionary Army retreated to Zhengjiakou Town. The Southern Zhili soldiers who were accustomed to bullying the weak and fearing the strong were all dejected and had completely lost the joy of yesterday's looting.
Ma Hongqi's battle in the west did not go well either. This Henan tycoon lost more than a thousand soldiers and horses, but he did not gain much. There was only a moat across the city, and the bustling city of Linqing had nothing to do with him. How could Ma Hongqi not be angry? He thought that this A big canal city can be captured easily, but I didn't expect it to be such a hard nail.
Liu Zongzhou was sitting in the Chinese army's tent. After the defeat in the first battle, Zuo Liangyu entered the tent with his soldiers. Liu Zongzhou glanced at him and saw him sweating profusely and looking furious. He was about to ask about the battle ahead when he heard Zuo Liangyu say:
"How come the Liaodong soldiers who killed thousands of people recruited so many people to defend the city, and then lost so many troops and even dozens of servants? It's really abominable. When Linqing is captured, they will all be chopped into pieces. .”
Liu Zongzhou looked up at Zuo Liangyu and said calmly:
"The Qi army can't occupy more than one state at the moment. In my opinion, it's better to be trapped to death slowly."
What Liu Zongzhou said is not unreasonable. The North-South Canal is now completely cut off, and Linqing, as the hub of the North Canal, has been greatly reduced. As long as the grain and grass supplies stored in the city are exhausted, this lone army will be destroyed.
What Liu Zongzhou knew, Zuo Liangyu didn't understand. The Southern Zhili soldiers he led were the strongest among the Northern Expeditionary armies. These generals followed Zuo Zongbing from Huaiyang Fengfei. Linqing did not come here to besiege the city for a long time. Many of the weapons and armors carried by the people were purchased with their own savings. Everyone came here to make a fortune. Only by conquering Linqing City as soon as possible can we make a fortune.
"What Governor Liu said is true, but the generals and soldiers cannot afford to wait. Linqing City must be captured as soon as possible! Use the food, grass, gold and silver that the Qi army has in the city to reward the army..."
Zuo Liangyu shouted loudly. General Zuo knew that Liu Zongzhou was actually not very interested in Linqing. What the old man really wanted was to go to the capital and the Forbidden City, which had been bombed into ruins. He wanted to give the dead Emperor Tianqi a new life. Buried, of course, was the Empress of the Ming Dynasty who would rather die than commit suicide.
"I'm here to ask for help from the Superintendent. I'm going to attack the city tomorrow. Could you please let your military battalion go up? Let Shi Supervisor lead his troops to attack from the south. Ma Qihong will attack from the west. I will attack from the east and surround you three times." Que Yi will be able to defeat the city in one fell swoop."
Liu Zongzhou was silent after hearing this. He had five thousand soldiers in his camp, which was regarded as Emperor Hongguang's imperial army. Originally, Zhu Changhuan should have personally led the army in this Northern Expedition. The whole court advised the emperor to personally conquer Jiangbei and wipe out the puppet Qi. Needless to say, Emperor Hongguang was frightened by the Kaiyuan Army last time. It was as if Wanyan Gou, the founding emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, was possessed. The Ministry of War finally managed to gather 5,000 imperial troops. At the last moment, the emperor did not dare to set off.
These 5,000 men were the most direct troops of Emperor Hongguang. The emperor's smooth accession to the throne relied on more than 5,000 people in addition to the support of Jiangnan civil servants. Liu Zongzhou was marching on behalf of the emperor this time. Of course he knew the reason for this, so when Hearing Zuo Liangyu say that he wanted his own pacesetter camp, he felt a little unhappy at the moment.
"The pacesetter is only to supervise the battle, General Zuo, I still say the same thing. Linqing is only one state, and the canal has no support. The Liu thief is just lingering. If he cannot be attacked, it will be a long-term siege. For now, we still have to use Restoring Shenjing is the most important thing. If General Zuo insists on attacking and does not care about the life and death of his soldiers, please go on his own."
Zuo Liangyu's face changed slightly, and he wanted to draw the knife several times, but finally held back. He stood up, pushed Shi Kefa who was standing next to him, and threw him down under the glare of Li Sheng, Li Jingcai, Yan Ermei and others. He opened the door curtain and walked away. As soon as he walked out of the big tent, he started cursing.
Li Sheng pressed his fingers on the scabbard, turned to Liu Zongzhou and said:
"Commander! This cripple is really disgusting. He dares to be so arrogant. My subordinates will kill him now!"
Guard Li Sheng is a famous marksman in the Nanzhili area. He is only twenty years old this year. He was admitted to the Military Examination Committee at a young age. Looking at his strong arms and thick waist, you can tell that the title of Military Examiner is genuine and not like Qiao Yiqi. That was bought with money.
Shi Kefa also said angrily: "Plundering the people along the way, burning, killing and looting, so arrogant and arrogant, does the Ming Dynasty still have royal laws?"
Liu Zongzhou said nothing with a sullen face. Starting from the middle and late Wanli period, these local military leaders became more and more uncontrolled. When Li Tingji, the old man of Miaozhuge, was the chief assistant, some officers in Jiangsu built a dam on the Wusong River and occupied the river channel to raise fish. Seeking personal gain, the people finally had difficulty in using water. After Li Tingji learned about this, he actually used his own money to subsidize the officer's losses. He persuaded others to dig the dam...
"At first I thought that Linqing City could be conquered soon, but I didn't expect it to be so strong. Since it is a fortified city, it is better to abandon it. Zuo Liangyu wanted to fight, so he asked him to stay and continue to fight. I must rush to the capital as soon as possible to bury the late emperor and queen. , to comfort the late emperor’s spirit in heaven...”
Several staff members and guards in the big tent did not say anything. Everyone already knew that the capital had now turned into white ground. It was said that there were no human beings in a hundred miles radius, only some tigers, leopards and wealth wolves that ran out from the depths of Yanshan Mountain were infested and gnawing. Eat corpses exposed in the wild.
It is not that easy for the pacesetter battalion to go to such a barbaric place.
Li Jingcai hesitated for a long time, then cautiously said to Liu Zongzhou:
"Superintendent, the situation in Northern Zhili is even worse than we thought before. If we can't capture Linqing, I'm afraid Zuo Liangyu, I'm afraid even the Model Army Battalion will have to..."
"Are you going to mutiny too?"
Liu Zongzhou laughed miserably.
In April, the Hongguang court planned the Northern Expedition and finally raised 2.3 million taels of military pay. After dividing the profits among several cabinet ministers, there was still 1 million taels left. After leaving the capital, there were only 600,000 taels left, which were finally distributed to The 50,000 soldiers only had two taels of silver each, which was not even enough for transportation back and forth. No wonder these soldiers kept robbing along the way.
To make the Qiu Ba people work hard, they have to steal money, and a lot of money. Of course, Governor Liu understands these principles, so Zuo Liangyu wants to attack Linqing City with all his strength, but Liu Zongzhou also has his own unspeakable secrets.
According to the old ancestral system, only after the former emperor's empress is buried can the Hongguang Emperor he supported truly secure the throne, and the legitimacy of the Hongguang court - even if it is only superficial legitimacy - can be recognized by the world.
Looking at Linqing's offensive and defensive situation, even a person like Liu Zongzhou who knew nothing about military affairs could understand that it would be difficult for the Northern Expeditionary Army to break through this canal city for a while.
However, the funeral of the late emperor cannot be delayed any longer, and the restoration of Shenjing must be completed as soon as possible.
Just when Inspector Liu and his staff were at a loss what to do, the guards shouted from outside the tent, saying that the General Military Officer of Western Liaoning had arrived.
Several people looked at each other, and after a while they realized that it was Wu Sangui, Wu Xiang's eldest son. This son had just inherited his father's official title and was named the Chief Military Officer of Western Liaoning by Emperor Hongguang - although the Southern Ming Army has not even touched Shanhaiguan.
Inspector Liu thought for a moment, and his frown slightly relaxed.
"Please come in, Mr. Wu."
After a while, guard Li Sheng led a handsome and tall young general into the tent.
Wu Sangui, who was all armored and majestic, attracted everyone's attention as soon as he walked in. Shi Kefa, Li Jingcai and others all looked at him, all attracted by the unique temperament exuding from this handsome young man.
"The last general, Wu Sangui, comes to see the governor!"
Liu Zongzhou hurriedly stepped forward and helped Wu Sangui up. He carefully looked at the young soldier in front of him, who was only sixteen years old, and said in amazement:
"Okay, okay, Liang Huan (characterized by Wu Xiang) entrusts you to me. In the blink of an eye, you have grown into an adult!"
Before and after Emperor Wu Ding suppressed Zhang Chun's rebellion, Wu Xiang, the deputy general in western Liaoning who was living in his hometown of Gaoyou, saw that his defeat was certain. He knew that Liu Zhaosun would never spare him, so he became worried and angry, and finally died in Gaoyou Station.
After Wu Xiang's death, more than a thousand soldiers and servants who followed him into the Pass from western Liaoning all supported the young master Wu Sangui as their general and continued to occupy Gaoyou. After leaving the Wu family, these soldiers from western Liaoning could only follow Li Xianzhong to become refugees.
Wu Sangui has just turned sixteen this year. Although he is a young man, he has already won the three armies bravely and is a hundred times better than his father Wu Xiang in fighting.
In the first year of Tianqi, the bandits invaded eastward. Liu Fangliang crossed Tongguan and entered Henan, marching all the way eastward. The vanguard even approached Yangzhou. Southern Zhili was greatly frightened. Wu Sangui personally led 1,500 Liao soldiers to defeat the bandits in Fengcheng and made them Stopping at the canal and failing to get involved in the Jianghuai River, peace was preserved.
After this battle, Wu Sangui's position in the Hongguang court was consolidated, and he became a serious military commander of the Ming Dynasty. However, his jurisdiction was in western Liaoning. It was said that after the Northern Expedition was successful, the cities in western Liaoning would be divided among the Wu family. It was equivalent to the imperial court giving this young general a big cake.
This time he sent troops to the Northern Expedition. Wu Sangui led his Liaoxi soldiers and Nanzhi soldiers, a total of more than 3,000 people. Compared with Zuo Liangyu, Wu's military discipline was strict, and there were almost no soldiers who stole, killed, and looted along the way.
"The generals have already heard about Governor Liu's current situation,"
Under the gaze of everyone, Wu Sangui spoke slowly, but no change in expression could be seen on his face.
"The last general is willing to lead his Liao soldiers to escort the commander northward and regain Shenjing..."
Liu Zongzhou was overjoyed. He had long seen that this young man was unusual and would definitely not be a thing in the pool in the future. He did not expect that at the critical moment, this boy would be so loyal and patriotic. Looking at the Ming Dynasty, there were indeed very few military generals like him.
"When your father was still alive, he often told me that you can do business without conscience, but leading troops in war must be worthy of the Holy One and worthy of the people of the world."
Liu Zongzhou was quite excited and asked in a low voice:
"Where's the food, grass and military pay?"
"The general will solve the problem on his own and will not embarrass the supervisor."
"Okay! Sure enough, there is a loyal person who works for the emperor. I, Ming Dynasty..."
Wu Sangui gently interrupted Liu Zongzhou, looked around at everyone in the tent, and his eyes fell on Shi Kefa, who was younger than himself.
"It's just that there is a condition in the end,"
Liu Zongzhou was slightly startled and said quickly: "But it doesn't matter, I will help you if I can,"
"The general arrived at the capital and found the imperial mausoleum. Before burying the late emperor, he had to dig the tomb of Liu Zei. Liu Zei had already been crushed to pieces by heaven. His wife Zhang Yan and a group of rebels from Kaiyuan wanted to whip the corpse. Crushing bones and raising ashes to avenge the hatred in the general's heart!"
