It was the first day of March in the second year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty. More than 40,000 people under the command of Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi in the Qing Dynasty, took the oath at Lingbao east of Tongguan. Wu Sangui used the savings gained from years of corruption between his father and his son to reward the three armies, and then made an agreement with the three armies to "take Guanzhong and share wealth." Afterwards, he led the three armies to march westward and passed the dangerous Tongguan pass on the third day of March!
The news that Wu Sangui's entire army entered Guanzhong through Tongguan was sent to Chang'an, the capital of Dashun, 260 miles away from Tongguan by the Tangma Cavalry of the Dashun Army on the same day.
"Okay! Okay! Okay!"
In the Wuying Hall, Li Zicheng, who was wearing a blue dragon robe, received the news that Wu Sangui had entered the customs. He shouted "good" three times in a row, and a smile appeared on his face that had been gloomy for many days. He glanced at the ministers in the Wuying Palace with one eye, and then laughed again: "Hehehehe, this thief Wu Sangui will die if he enters the Qin Pass!"
"Your Majesty," Ruhou Liu Zongmin went out to the center of Wuying Hall, kowtowed to Li Zicheng, and then said: "Let me take the lead! I failed to kill this thief in the battle of Shanhaiguan, so I will definitely not call him this time. Get away!"
"Hehe," Li Zicheng smiled and shook his head, "Huang Hu, I know you are holding back your energy. But I can't ask you to go to this front, because this front can only be defeated, not won!"
"Why?" Liu Zongmin was puzzled.
Li Zicheng said: "Because the Wu thieves are still very cautious now. Wu Shanbo's pond newspaper said that the Wu thieves did not advance rashly after entering the pass, but formed a stronghold at the foot of Fenghuang Ridge. It seems that they want to fight steadily!"
"Don't be afraid of that!" Liu Zongmin said, "We have a lot of cannons in the army, and there are six Hongyi cannons. No matter how strong Wu Sangui's stronghold is, it can't be broken!"
Li Zicheng had made a lot of preparations for the decisive battle these days. In addition to piloting land reform in Xiangjing Prefecture and Yuanyang Prefecture, he also ordered craftsmen in Chang'an to cast the General Cannon and Tiger Crouching Cannon, and collected six imitation Hongyi cannons. An artillery battalion was formed and handed over to the command of Tongguan Boluohu.
"Haha," Li Zicheng smiled, "We still have to introduce the tiger into the cage! We can't beat the Wu thief away!"
"Gao Yigong!" Li Zicheng named his brother-in-law Gao Yigong.
"I'm here!"
A strong man in blue robes in his thirties came to the palace after leaving work. He followed the etiquette and kowtowed to Li Zicheng.
"How is the training in the new attached camp going?" Li Zicheng asked.
The new attached battalion was recruited by Li Zi after he successfully returned to Shaanxi. The total number was about 15,000, and a lot of money was brought from Beijing.
"Your Majesty, the soldiers in the new attached camp are barely able to fight, but their armor is still insufficient."
Li Zicheng smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, for the first time, you can take the new auxiliary battalion to Wu Sangui to practice his skills... Don't be afraid of losing. As long as you can lure Wu Sangui to Chang'an City, it will be a great achievement!"
Gao Yigong kowtowed: "I accept the decree!"
Gao Yigong accepted Li Zicheng's order and took 15,000 recruits to "die" - in order to lure Wu Sangui to Chang'an, Li Zicheng really spent a lot of money! It’s really hard to bear to recruit new soldiers to trap Wu!
However, in the opinion of Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Zhang Linran and other advisers of the Dashun Dynasty, there was no need to lure the enemy. As long as they stayed at the foot of Chang'an City, Wu Sangui would come to their doorstep.
Wu Sangui has already entered Tongguan, where else could he go if he didn't come to Chang'an to die? Are they hiding in Tongzhou, Huazhou, and Huayin?
But on the eighth day of March, unexpected news reached Chang'an. The new attached battalion led by Gao Yifeng captured the empty Wu Army stronghold at the foot of Phoenix Ridge on the sixth day of March! On the seventh day of March, Gao Yigong and Ma Shiyao led their troops to capture the undefended Tongguan.
In other words, Wu Sangui's tens of thousands of troops who entered Tongguan disappeared without a trace!
"Damn it, where did the person named Wu go?" In the Wuying Palace, Emperor Dashun Li Zicheng walked slowly around the map spread on two long tables put together, one eye squinted, and his keen gaze was on I searched over and over again on the map.
Liu Zongmin, generals Tian Jianxiu, Gu Ying, and Luo Hu also followed him to look at the map.
But they couldn't see anything... Where did Wu Sangui go? Where can he go? No more fighting in Chang'an? Why did he come to Tongguan if he didn't attack Chang'an?
"Your Majesty," Liu Zongmin stroked his beard, "has Wu Sangui seen through our situation and led his troops to withdraw from Tongguan?"
Retreat?
Hearing this, Li Zicheng stopped and shook his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of Song Xiance, who was moving towards the corner of Wuying Hall - What's wrong with you, a great military advisor? Urgent to urinate or to poop?
"Ah, great military advisor, where is Wu Sangui?"
Hearing Li Zicheng's question, Song Xiance felt a burst of pain in his heart - where is Wu Sangui? You can't even guess where Wu Sangui is! Can't you change the topic?
"What? You can't calculate it?" At this time, Li Zicheng also remembered that his military advisor had been unable to calculate fortunes since he entered Beijing. Should he change his fortune?
Just forget it! Seeing Li Zicheng's gloomy face, Song Xiance did not dare to delay.
But this time Song Xiance didn't count on his fingers, but analyzed it for Li Zicheng: "Well, what did Wu Sangui come to Tongguan for?"
"Then you still need to ask?" Liu Zongmin said, "Of course we are going to fight in Chang'an!"
"It must be an attack on Chang'an!" Tian Jianxiu also thought so.
Li Zicheng nodded: "Attack Chang'an and seize Guanzhong! Otherwise, what would he do?"
How could Song Xiance know? He was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead, and he just stammered: "If he doesn't attack Chang'an and seize Guanzhong, what else can he do?"
Yes, what else can we do if we don’t attack Chang’an? Is the tour coming? Just turn around and come back?
Luo Hu suddenly spoke at this time: "We can also go to Yan'an, Pingliang, and go west..."
"Huzi, what did you say?" Li Zicheng suddenly roared, and his face turned livid.
"Your Majesty, I, I said that Wu Sangui might still go, so go and fight elsewhere!"
"No!" Li Zicheng slammed the table, "Miscalculation! Wu Sangui is no longer an officer... Without Emperor Chongzhen forcing him, why did he have to attack Chang'an?"
It is true that he has been a bandit for a long time and has formed a fixed mindset - he still regards himself as a bandit and Wu Sangui as an officer and army commanded by Emperor Chongzhen!
When Chongzhen's army comes to Guanzhong, they will definitely attack Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province - Li Zicheng can guess what order Chongzhen's court will issue without Song Xiance counting his fingers.
But Wu Sangui is not an official soldier now, he is a fucking traitor and a Qing army... When have you ever seen the Qing army fighting against a heavily guarded fortress by the Ming army?
To be honest, Li Zicheng really misses Emperor Chongzhen a little now. Ever since Chongzhen, a good opponent, was sidelined by the traitor Zhu Cixiang, he has never won a battle! Without Chongzhen, Li Zicheng's life would be really difficult!
Li Zicheng stroked his forehead, "Ah, ah, miscalculated, miscalculated again... He's already the emperor, why do he still think he's a rebel?"
Song Xiance breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that he had passed the test this time. He walked to the map table and took a look. There are many small black chess pieces placed around Chang'an, symbolizing the main force of Dashun Army.
In other state capitals of Shaanxi Province, there are seven or eight chess pieces scattered here and there. They are very sparse and they are all miscellaneous members of the Ming army. With this small force, they cannot stop Wu Sangui's main force!
As long as he bypasses Chang'an, Wu Sangui can really go wherever he wants!
