Li Zicheng's use of troops this time followed the path of using justice and winning by surprise. Zhenghe is to fight the main force of the Qing army in the Guguan-Jingxing area, attracting all the main force of the Qing army here.
Qisheng, the 40,000 cavalry deployed in Zezhou, commanded by Tian Jianxiu and Li Guo, waited for the opportunity to go north to Zhending Prefecture via Huaiqing Mansion, Weihui Mansion, Zhangde Mansion, and Shunde Mansion, threatening the Qing Dynasty to attack Guguan. The rear of the main force of the army!
Of course, the great detour of these 40,000 cavalry was not to engage in a life-and-death battle with the main force of the Qing army, but to force the Qing army to retreat from the Great Wall by threatening the rear of the Qing army.
Li Zicheng did not seek to annihilate the Qing army in large numbers, but only wanted to force the Qing army back and maintain the Guguan defense line. In this way, the situation of the Dashun Army in Shanxi is considered stable. Because the Qing army's territory within the pass was not large, it was basically the area around Beizhili.
According to the information obtained by Li Zicheng, during the prosperous Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the total land area of Beizhili was less than 50 million acres, and the total tax revenue was less than 600,000 shi. This amount of land and tax revenue was simply not enough. Supply more than 100,000 Qing soldiers coming from the east and hundreds of thousands or millions of Eight Banners family members and servants.
As long as Zhu Cihong is not so stupid as to give 4 million shi of "grain tribute" to Donglu every year in order to marry Dorgon's daughter, there will soon be a famine in Beizhili of Donglu! At that time, there will be no more energy left to attack Shanxi...
Li Zicheng's thoughts were interrupted by the rapid sound of horse hooves. He looked up and saw Chen Chuan, the deputy general of the Children's Camp, galloping towards him. He got off the horse when he reached the foot of the mountain. Then he walked up the mountain and greeted Li Zicheng respectfully. The prostrations.
"Your Majesty, Uncle Tongguan is supervising the battle in Jiuguan. Today he has repelled three attacks by the Wu thieves. Now he is fighting fiercely with the Wu thieves who came up for the fourth time."
Li Zicheng asked: "How is the morale of the Wu thieves? Can they fight?"
Chen Chuan replied: "Reporting to your Majesty, the morale of Wu thieves and soldiers is obviously lower than before."
Song Xiance, who was following Li Zicheng, smiled and said: "Your Majesty, the soldiers and generals of Wu thieves used to be fed with money in the Ming Dynasty. There were millions of grains and wages a year... Now they are better." , follow the Tatars and eat grass!”
Li Zicheng smiled and said, "That's right, it's time to make Wu Thief suffer!"
General Quan Ruhou Liu Zongmin was also with Li Zicheng and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the morale of the Wu thieves has been lost. This is the opportunity to send troops to strike hard. I have trained 1,000 cavalry, so I can choose the front!"
Liu Fangliang, the general of the Zuoying system, also immediately called for battle: "Your Majesty, I have trained 2,000 iron soldiers. They are the most elite. They can steal the Wu thief's camp tonight."
Liu Zongmin's iron cavalry and Liu Fangliang's iron men are all elite soldiers compiled and trained by Li Zicheng for the decisive battle now, which he had the five old battalions under his command.
In addition, since his troops retreated from Shanxi in May, Li Zicheng has greatly expanded the old camp. The four old battalions of Zhongquan Qinjun, Zuoying, Youying and Houying who followed him on his eastern expedition were all expanded to more than 25,000 people, and the total strength of the four battalions reached 100,000.
Chen Yongfu was also appointed as the general in command, and a total of 20,000 soldiers and horses from all over Shanxi and Chen Yongfu's old troops were gathered to stay in Taiyuan Prefecture to prevent rebellion between Datong and the local gentry in Taiyuan Prefecture.
"Don't move Huang Hu's cavalry yet. When Wu Sangui withdraws, we will punish him severely. We must avenge our old brother who died in a stone!"
Liu Zongmin cupped his hands and said, "I accept the decree!"
After Li Zicheng finished speaking, he turned to Liu Fangliang and said, "Fang Liang, let's see how your iron man performs tomorrow night. Remember, you have to give up when you are ready, and don't be reluctant to fight. Wu Thief's soldiers are not afraid, but Wu Thief is still behind him The unknown number of real prisoners cannot be underestimated... This is the first battle, and the first battle must be successful, even if it is a small victory!"
Liu Fangliang also cupped his hands: "I will definitely be careful."
Behind a piece of stone, the Dashun army hated Wu Sangui's troops, but was afraid of the Manchu soldiers!
Now that the coach is fearful, he will inevitably be timid when directing.
...
On one side, Li Zicheng became timid, while on the other side, the Qing army became extremely courageous.
Whether it is the Dashun Army in Taiyuan or the Ming Army in Datong, they are not in their eyes!
The only thing that troubled Dorgon, Duoduo, Hauge and other senior Qing army officials was Zhu Cihong's troops in Denglai.
Because Duolong, the first warrior in Manchuria, fell into their hands, and the Denglai Ming army had a strong city in Dengzhou on land, and also built fortresses on many islands along the coast.
In addition, there is also a Beiyang navy stationed in Dengzhou Water City that makes the Qing Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty's tributary North Korea powerless... Although this navy has not done much extraordinary things yet, it is just in the Beiyang sea. They tolled people on the roads and forced the Korean Kingdom to trade with them. But for the Qing Dynasty, which had no navy, threats from the sea were always uncontrollable and uncertain!
However, the Denglai Ming Army and the navy in the Beiyang Sea are not the turn of the Qing Dynasty Prince Duduo to worry about. He is now not responsible for the war in the south and at sea. Instead, he is leading the inter-ministerial expedition to the west, taking Li Zicheng's retreat.
A large force consisting of 20,000 Eight Banners troops and more than 10,000 Han troops from Kong Youde and Shang Kexi were traveling between the mountains connecting Yanshan and Taihang Mountains.
The passage they marched through was the Lingqiu Ancient Road in Feihuxing, one of the Eight Passages in Taihang. It started from Zijingguan in the east and reached Pingxingguan in the west. During this period, you have to pass through five dangerous places, including Futu Valley, Shimen Gorge, Yima Ridge, Tiechailing Ridge, and Lingqiu Mountain City, before you can reach Pingxing Pass.
These five dangerous points were previously under the control of the Datong Ming Army. Although the Datong Ming Army was relatively weak, as long as they held on to the dangers, it would be enough to give Duduo a headache. It's not that it can't be defeated, but it will take a lot of time and the news will be leaked so that Li Zicheng can be prepared. As long as there are more than ten thousand Dashun's elite troops stationed at Pingxing Pass, it will be easy to block Duduo's troops who do not carry Hongyi cannons until they run out of food!
If the Datong Ming army can go further and join forces with Li Zicheng to set up ambushes at any of the five dangerous locations including Futu Valley, Shimen Gorge, Yima Ridge, Tiechailing, and Lingqiu Mountain City, then they can travel through the mountains. The Qing soldiers who pulled out a long march that could not be seen from end to end would probably be defeated.
If Duoduo's troops, as a surprise force, were defeated on the Lingqiu Ancient Road, then Azige and Wu Sangui's troops would not be able to achieve any victory under the Guguan Great Wall. This wave of offensive by the Qing soldiers was completely frustrated!
But two hours ago, Duduo's Chinese army had already passed through Lingqiu Mountain City, the last dangerous point on the Lingqiu Ancient Road. Thirty miles ahead was Pingxing Pass where the Dashun Army was stationed... .
The sky was gradually getting dark. Duduo looked back at the Lingqiu City illuminated by the setting sun and let out a long breath - these stupid Nikans had missed the best opportunity to defeat the Qing Dynasty's heavenly soldiers.
Now we just have to wait for Kong Youde and Shang Kexi to win the battle...
A passerby hurriedly came from the front and found the large banner held high beside Dodo and the white flag-encrusted Bajala soldiers guarding Dodo, and he came closer. He was stopped by a white-armored soldier on the outside. After giving the password, he was brought to Duduo.
"Your Majesty, King Gongshun's army has arrived at Pingxing Pass. They found that the defenders at Pingxing Pass were panicked and unprepared, so they ordered the forward battalion to deploy and prepare to attack the city!"
Really unprepared!
Duduo said in his heart: Those Nikans in Datong are so honest, and they didn't even let Li Zicheng know... It seems that Li Zicheng's torture and land equalization really made them anxious!
"Rest on the spot and eat some dry food." After Duduo conveyed the order to rest on the spot, the Eight Banners soldiers who had worked hard for most of the day did not say much and sat down to rest and eat the dry food they had brought with them.
Duduo did not rest, but led his Pegasus of Bagala troops forward and ran towards Pingxing Pass. Before they even saw the city gate, they heard the sound of firecrackers firing like fried beans coming from the front.
A white-armored soldier who followed Duduo was a lucky survivor from Dagu. Hearing the sound of the cannon, he trembled and loudly said to Duduo: "My lord, there is danger ahead, Nikan's fire cannon!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he was whipped by Duduo with a riding crop, "Nonsense, that's Wuzhen Chaoha, the King of Obedience, and it's our Qing Dynasty's firecrackers who are killing Nikan!"
