Although Duduo is young, he is a famous general who has been on the battlefield for a long time.
Faced with the initiative of the National Defense Forces, he did not attack rashly. Instead, he sent out scouts and conducted all-round reconnaissance.
There is no doubt about the ability of Qing army scouts.
When he learned that the National Defense Force in front of him actually had 60,000 troops, Duduo understood that this was far beyond what he could handle.
After careful consideration, he decided to avoid the sharp edge of the Wehrmacht.
He wrote a letter to Dorgon explaining the situation in detail. At the same time, he led his army south, intending to surround and kill Li Zicheng with Azig, and then consider the follow-up actions.
His reason brought Li Zicheng disaster.
Near Elong Town is the Jianghan Plain area.
When the Qing army came from all directions, the Shun army was unable to resist.
The battle entered a chaotic phase from the beginning.
Li Zicheng was completely unable to effectively command the ministries, and he just listened to all kinds of bad news coming one after another.
"Your Majesty, the Holy Buddha Temple has been captured by the Qing army. General Yuan Zongdi has suffered heavy losses and is retreating all the way."
"Your Majesty, Jiazhou is lost. Wu Sangui is advancing on both land and water, going down the river. We can't stop him!"
"Your Majesty, Duduo's flag has appeared in Huang'an, and General Liu Fangliang is in danger."
Li Zicheng sat in silence and did not give any orders.
Facing the crisis, he finally felt helpless.
Li Zicheng himself couldn't explain why. Now his head was empty and he would never be able to return to his previous state.
He didn't know that this was entirely because he had lost his original intention after ascending the throne and proclaiming himself emperor.
Even though he had only been emperor for a few months, after enjoying enough, he had forgotten the original taste of hard work.
"Tell all the ministries that the only thing we can do now is fight to the death. We have two shoulders carrying one head, so what are we afraid of?"
This was the only thing he could say to the generals, but it had no effect at all.
The situation on the battlefield worsened after three days.
Duduo firmly controlled the front lines of Huang'an and Macheng, and at the same time sent Suksaha to seize Luotian, completely blocking Li Zicheng's eastward path.
Azig is even more steady and steady in the west, neither arrogant nor impetuous.
He established a stable defense line in Huangpi, and burned all the ships of the Shun Army in a battle on the shore of Wu Lake, completely eliminating Li Zicheng's idea of wading across the river.
More than 200,000 soldiers were completely confined to an area of less than 30 miles with Elong Town as the center.
The only places they could hold on to were some simple villages. But it happened to be on a plain, with no danger to defend.
When the Qing army's artillery was mobilized, the situation of the Shun army became even more precarious.
Seeing that the war was going smoothly, Azig and Duduo got together and began to negotiate the next move.
"Zuo Mengeng's side has taken the lead in occupying Fengyang, and I'm afraid we won't be able to hold it back any longer. We must deal with Li Zicheng as soon as possible, otherwise I will always feel terrified."
Although Azig had his eyes open, his eyes were unfocused, and it was obvious that his mind was wandering.
"Prince Yu, do you think...will Zuo Mengeng come from behind to kill you?"
Duduo felt a chill and shook his head.
"I have made careful arrangements in the rear, and the scouts have been placed three hundred miles away. If there is any trouble, we can detect it immediately."
Azig was slightly relieved to hear that he was so cautious.
"After I led my army to chase Hanyang, I saw Zuo Mengeng's warship with my own eyes. It was a complete monster on the water, far beyond human power. It is extremely difficult for us to cross this big river in the south!"
Duduo is much more realistic.
"Now is not the time to consider crossing the river and conquering the south of the Yangtze River. Everything will stop until Zuo Menggeng is solved."
There was no joy on Azig's face.
"I always feel that Zuo Mengeng's silence is quite strange. Judging from what this person has done before, there is no reason to be so dormant. Where is the omission in our arrangement?"
Dodo has thought about this issue for a long time.
"The flaw lies in the capital. Now that most of the soldiers and horses have been brought out by us, there are quite some shortcomings in the capital."
Azig doesn’t see it that way.
"The regent has been prepared for a long time. He has established seven lines of defense between the capital and Cangzhou, which can delay enough time. If Zuo Menggen launches from there, we only need to outflank him from behind, and maybe we can succeed in one battle."
Is it really?
Duduo thought of the National Defense Forces in Fengyang, and his heart cast a shadow.
He suddenly discovered that his side seemed to have overlooked an important issue.
How many troops does Zuo Mengeng have in his hands?
According to the intelligence obtained by the Manchus, there are four main field divisions in North Korea, as well as several security divisions, with a strength of at least more than 300,000.
Although the National Defense Forces opposite Cangzhou are looming, their strength will definitely not be less than 100,000.
The National Defense Force he encountered in Fengyang had more than 60,000 troops.
This adds up to nearly half a million horses.
However, I heard that the National Defense Forces were still conquering cities and territories south of the Yangtze River, making rapid progress, and they must have invested a lot of troops.
If this is the case, Zuo Mengeng's strength is too terrifying.
"No matter what, Li Zicheng must be completely eliminated within five days."
Duduo felt cold all over and decided to speed up the progress.
Before he finished speaking, Ma Futa bumped in excitedly.
"Two princes, our army has just invaded Li Zicheng's old camp and captured Liu Zongmin, Song Xiance and others."
Azig and Duduo jumped up, their faces full of surprise.
Liu Zongmin was Li Zicheng's number one general, and Song Xiance was ranked among the top civil servants.
Now that both of them have become prisoners of the Qing army, doesn't that mean that Li Zicheng is powerless?
The capture of Liu Zongmin and Song Xiance was actually full of drama.
Following Li Zicheng's order, they led 30,000 troops and deployed them in Zhonghe Town, west of Elong Town, to guard the Dongliu River and prevent Huang'an's Qing army from moving south.
Although the terrain is not advantageous, the military strength is not advantageous, and the combat effectiveness is at an absolute disadvantage. But Liu Zongmin and Song Xiance fought hard to survive.
The two of them established layers of defense lines on both sides of the river north of Zhonghe Town.
Du Lei led his army to attack fiercely, and was completely mixed up with Shun's army. It was difficult to tell the winner for a while.
Judging from the situation of the battle, if they continued to fight, Dulei would be the loser.
But just when the generals were about to lose their support, no one expected that another Qing army would appear behind Zhonghe Town by chance.
After Gong'a burned the Shun army's ships at Wuhu, he originally planned to march eastward. Capture Xinzhou and establish a southern encirclement.
However, at the banks of the Daoshui River, Gong'a was ambushed by Li Jin and was beaten to the point of confusion.
Gong A was afraid of dying here, so he quickly led his army to escape.
As a result, he lost track of direction while escaping and actually ran to the back of Zhonghe Town.
Liu Zongmin and Song Xiance had already tried their best to deal with Du Lei, but suddenly the Qing army appeared behind them, and the situation was irreversible.
The Shun Army collapsed completely, and no matter how hard Liu Zongmin and Song Xiance tried, they could not reintegrate.
Du Lei and Gong'a were not polite and immediately led their troops to kill them.
During the fierce hand-to-hand combat, Liu Zongmin was hit by an arrow in each leg, fell to the ground, and became a prisoner.
Song Xiance, a scholar, didn't have much integrity. He was greedy for life and feared death, so he simply knelt down and surrendered.
