In the biting cold wind, flags and flags were scattered all over the Wu family building, and there were Qing soldiers with pigtails everywhere.
On the wall, dozens of Qing generals gathered around one person and looked toward the mountains to the east.
The leader was none other than the former commander-in-chief of the Western Front Encirclement and Suppression of the Qing Army—Sichuan Admiral Zheng Jiaolin.
This man was originally the military commander of Guan Ning in the Ming Dynasty, and had been guarding Shanhaiguan with Wu Sangui.
After the Qing army entered the pass, Zheng Jiaolin also followed Wu Sangui to suppress the peasant army and the Ming Dynasty. Because of his military merits, Wu Sangui recommended him to the Qing court as the governor of Sichuan.
Together with Wang Fuchen, the admiral of Pingliang, and Li Benzhen, the admiral of Guizhou, they are recognized as the three most powerful generals under Wu Sangui.
In the first year of Kangxi's reign, Sichuan Governor Li Guoying requested the Qing government to launch an encirclement and suppression campaign against the Ming army in East Kui. Zheng Jiaolin had been directing the Qing army in Sichuan against the enemy on the front line. He had successively achieved several great victories and annihilated more than 20,000 Ming troops. He could be said to be Li Guoying's right-hand man.
His excellent command ability also reassured Li Guoying to entrust him with full authority to command the entire army.
After repelling the counterattack deployed by Liu Tichun in the battle of Chenjiapo, Zheng Jiaolin has been planning an offensive against Wu Jiayuanzi in order to completely collapse the defense line deployed by Liu Tichun around this place.
Only when it snowed heavily and the Qing army's transportation was stranded did they give up.
Who knew a good thing would come from heaven - there would be chaos within the Ming army!
The news was told to Zheng Jiaolin personally by Hu Jungui, the general soldier of the Ming Dynasty who escaped from Wujiayuanzi.
Zheng Jiaolin was not gullible at first, but as more and more Ming troops came to the Qing camp from Wujiayuanzi to ask for surrender, he finally realized that the opportunity to defeat Liu Tichun was right in front of him.
And it takes no effort!
Zheng Jiaolin, who always wanted speed when using his troops, ordered all his troops to march to Wujiayuanzi without waiting for the governor's message.
After arriving, I found that the Ming army had already dispersed and there was no one in the camp.
It can be said that after ten years of operation, it was abandoned in one day.
However, when the Ming army left, they burned down all the houses and useful materials in Yuanzi, forcing Zheng Jiaolin to order the general of the suppression army, Liang Jiaqi, to cut down the trees on the spot and rebuild shacks that could be used for living.
Otherwise, it would be too much for the soldiers to sleep outside in the cold weather.
The Qing army that followed Zheng Jiaolin to Wujiayuanzi included more than 13,000 green battalion troops from Chongkui and Jianchang towns commanded by Cheng Tingjun, the general of Chongkui Town, and Liang Jiaqi, the general of the Fusuppression Department. There were also Muyi Marquis Tan Yi and others who surrendered to the Qing. More than 14,000 troops commanded by Xianghua Hou Tan Hong and Xinhua Bo Feng Qifeng.
There were also thousands of soldiers and civilians who were recruited.
Compared with the Ming army, which was short of food and clothing, the Qing army was very well-equipped and carried more than a hundred artillery pieces, large and small, and its capabilities in both field combat and fortification far exceeded that of the Ming army.
After inspecting the ruins of Yuanzi, Zheng Jiaolin saw the decapitated heads of Tian Shouyi and Suo Yanlong.
Looking at these two old rivals who had intended to surrender to the Qing Dynasty but were brutally killed, Zheng Jiaolin sighed for a while.
Then he led everyone to climb up to inspect the surrounding terrain. After studying the map, he suddenly asked the surrendered general Hu Jungui who was standing beside him: "Who is the fifth king you are talking about? Why have I never heard of such a prominent figure among the Ming thieves?"
Hu Jungui, who had already shaved his head, said hurriedly: "Back to the army, the general is not very familiar with this person. He only knows that he is Tian Shouyi's subordinate."
Whether it was because he was too hasty when shaving his hair or because the person who shaved his hair was not very good at his craftsmanship, there were obviously several small cuts on Mr. Hu’s forehead and the back of his head.
When the wind blew, the wound hurt as if salt had been sprinkled on it.
I dare not frown.
"Although the Ming Dynasty is dead and people's hearts are pure, there are still a few men among the thieves. If Liu Tichun, Li Laiheng, Yuan Zongdi and others are big thieves, then these Wang Wu are small thieves. It is a pity that the general trend of the world is that they can't The mantis' arm blocks the car."
There was emotion in Zheng Jiaolin's words.
Back then, he was also a Mingchen.
After hearing this, Hu Jungui hurriedly said: "What the military gate said is true! The general knew that the general trend was irreversible, so he abandoned the dark side and turned to the bright side. He is willing to work hard for the Qing Dynasty!"
After glancing at the newly surrendered person, Zheng Jiaolin said lightly: "The imperial court is extremely lenient to you. Just be brave enough to fight your way from now on."
"嗻!"
Hu Jungui responded loudly and stood aside cautiously like a slave.
This appearance made Muyi Hou Tan Yi in the crowd extremely despised, but he thought that he had been so humble to Li Guoying in the past.
It's really boring for the eldest brother to laugh at the second brother.
Tan Hong, the Marquis of Xianghua, who stood side by side with him, had an expressionless face. After surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, he was first appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of Northern Sichuan and placed under the command of Wu Sangui. Later, he was granted the title of General of Northern Sichuan and moved to the southwest. Because of his meritorious service, Wu Sangui recommended him to the Qing court as the Commander-in-Chief of Sichuan.
Like Zheng Jiaolin, he is highly valued by Wu Sangui, and he is also Wu Sangui's confidant in Lvying, Sichuan.
Feng Qifeng, the uncle of Xinhua who had just surrendered to the Qing Dynasty not long ago, thought for a while in the crowd, took two steps forward and whispered softly: "Junmen, since Wu Jiayuanzi has fallen into the hands of our army, the general thought that he should immediately send troops to capture the lock. hole, and then select elite soldiers to attack Lao Mukong, such a great achievement can be achieved at your fingertips!"
Hearing this, Zheng Jiaolin's deputy general Luo Tianyang immediately agreed: "Yes, there is civil strife in the old Mukong Ming army. Our army should use this opportunity to make a great contribution and capture the big thief Liu Tichun!"
Zheng Jiaolin's brows moved slightly, as if he was very tempted by this proposal.
Seeing this, Cheng Tingjun, the commander-in-chief of Chongkui Town, hurriedly reminded: "The military gate has always been Laomukong from Shaanxi, and the Eight Banners garrisoned in Xi'an are participating in this battle. If our army intervenes, will it cause anger?" Eight Banners?”
"What's so great about the Eight Banners?"
Zheng Jiaolin actually snorted slightly and said in a muffled voice: "I followed King Pingxi from Shanhaiguan all the way south to Burma. There were hundreds of battles, big and small. In every battle, I didn't take the lead. What were his Eight Banners soldiers doing? They were just following us to pick up fruit. That's it! Without me waiting, can his Eight Banners really be destroyed tomorrow?"
The generals were all surprised when they heard this.
However, some people secretly murmured that Zheng Jiaolin's words were too taboo, while others took it seriously.
Such as Tan Hong, the commander-in-chief of Sichuan, Liang Jiaqi, the commander-in-chief of the Suppression and Suppression, and Luo Tianyang, the deputy general of the Chinese Army.
Except for a few people, none of the Sichuan Green Camp generals thought that what Zheng Jiaolin said was too arrogant or that it contained treasonous meaning.
This shows the extent to which Wu Sangui penetrated the Sichuan Army.
It also shows how much the Qing generals subordinate to Wu Sangui despised the Eight Banners.
It's just that Zheng Jiaolin didn't make random remarks for no reason, but actually deliberately tested it.
Because King Pingxi and the court were already incompatible with each other.
More than a month ago, the Qing government suddenly confiscated Wu Sangui's seal of General Pingxi on the grounds that military operations in Yunnan and Guizhou had ceased!
Just half a month ago, the Qing government suddenly issued an edict to cut off Wu Sangui's right to appoint officials and return the appointment power of Yunnan-Guizhou officials to the ministry.
The signals released by these two incidents were so strong that some Wu Jun generals in Yunnan and Guizhou privately began to persuade Wu Sangui to rebel against the Qing Dynasty!
As a confidant of Wu Sangui and the commander-in-chief of the Qing army in Sichuan, Zheng Jiaolin was also a member of the "rebellion" movement.
However, Wu Sangui never expressed his attitude, and wrote a letter to Zheng Jiaolin asking him to strangle the bandits of the Kuidong Shun Army, "If you have no other thoughts, don't think about them."
This made Zheng Jiaolin really helpless.
However, he also followed Wu Sangui's wishes and tried his best to kill the Ming army.
Just because he knew that the traitor Lao Shun would not be eliminated for a day, and King Pingxi would not feel at ease for a day.
The Qing court obviously knew about this, so they spared no effort to recruit him to surrender.
Everyone on the street knows what his intentions are.
But Zheng Jiaolin doesn't care about these remnants of Li Zicheng, nor does he care about the Eight Banners soldiers!
He only knows that he is where he is today because of King Pingxi!
It’s up to him!
If Cheng Tingjun hadn't pointed out the key point, Zheng Jiaolin might have allowed the Eight Banners trash in Xi'an to take over the great achievement of defeating Lao Mukong.
Now.
After looking at the commander-in-chief of Chongkui Town who was personally promoted by Li Guoying, Zheng Jiaolin didn't think much about it and immediately ordered Cheng Bu as the vanguard to immediately capture the Suokou Cave and then lead the entire army directly towards Laomukong.
Cheng Tingjun did not dare to disobey the order, so he ordered all his troops to set off.
Array of spears, swords and shields, green flags and spearheads.
The Qing army's departure was endless.
