After hearing this, Gao Yigong showed a helpless smile and said to Li Guo who had made up his mind: "I said no, not that you can't do this, but that the general is not in Chongqing!"
"Ah?" When Li Guo heard this, he was surprised and froze.
He had considered many situations, but he never expected that Li Zicheng would not be in Chongqing!
After coming back to his senses, Li Guo quickly asked: "Where has he gone?"
Gao Yigong answered him a little funny: "I left just yesterday morning. I took Niu Jinxing and a group of literati to the south first. It is said that Liu Zongmin's offensive was successful and the road to Yunnan and Guizhou has been opened."
The fact that Li Zicheng was not in Chongqing also made Gao Yigong less worried when he agreed to Li Guo's persuasion to surrender. Otherwise, with Li Zicheng personally sitting here, Li Guo might not be able to persuade Gao Yigong so easily.
"..." Li Guo was speechless. After thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Then when will he come back?"
After hearing this, Gao Yigong shook his head and said: "The road to the south is not easy. The general is obviously arranging a retreat, and it must be arranged properly. He didn't tell me, and I don't know."
After a pause, he remembered something, and then said to Li Guo: "When the general left, he gave orders to the old brothers who were leading the army in various places and those who were not confronting the imperial officers and soldiers, asking them to start collecting money, food, and people. These things need to be done within half a month. This means that if you don't come within half a month, we will retreat to Yunnan and Guizhou!"
When Li Guo heard this, his expression immediately became serious, and he said to Gao Yigong a little eagerly: "We must act as soon as possible before his military orders are implemented in various places, otherwise the local area will be uneasy and people's resentment will boil, which will be very harmful to the brothers. Adverse!"
In the past, Li Zicheng regarded Shu as his domineering land, so he would naturally care about the local people's livelihood and would not mess around.
But now, since he has decided to evacuate Yungui? He is eager to move everything that can be moved away from Shu. After all, the land of Yunnan and Guizhou is a famous barren land, and by doing so, it can also delay the pursuit of the imperial officers and soldiers, killing two birds with one stone.
Since Gao Yigong has decided to accept the recruitment, and he still has the concern of Gao Jie's head, he understands how destructive Li Zicheng's military order will be to the local people's livelihood. Naturally, he will be more active than Li Guo. If it is done well, then There is definitely the benefit of making up for one's mistakes.
So after the two discussed it, they quickly came up with a plan.
On the Chongqing government side, Gao Yigong summoned his cronies to announce the matter and won the support of most people. Immediately afterwards, martial law began throughout the city. Chongqing could only enter but not leave.
At the same time, the messenger hurriedly contacted Yuan Zongdi and Tian Jianxiu's troops who were on their way, urging them to speed up and rush to Chongqing to control the situation.
Not to mention Tian Jianxiu, as far as Yuan Zongdi is concerned? He is very worried about Chongqing. Are you afraid that Li Guo won't be able to persuade Gao Yigong to surrender and won't be able to capture Chongqing? This would put him and his subordinates' families in danger.
However, rushing all the way to Chongqing to prevent the news from leaking was going very slowly, even if he was in a hurry, it was useless.
Therefore, after receiving the report from Li Guo's messenger, Yuan Zongdi was immediately overjoyed and immediately ordered the entire army to rush to Chongqing as quickly as possible.
On Lan Tianbao's side, he was happy and immediately sent a letter to Duke Xing Guo in an urgent manner so that the imperial court could send reinforcements to prevent any unexpected events.
Everything went smoothly and calmly. On the afternoon of the third day after Gao Yigong closed the city, Yuan Zongdi's troops, who were traveling day and night, rushed to Chongqing in a long line. Those running at the front of the team were naturally those who grew up in Chongqing.
Once things have reached this point, there is basically no problem.
Here in Chongqing, they immediately wrote letters to the bandit leaders in various places. The content was nothing more than explaining the current situation. One thing that is special is that the signatures at the end include the signatures of Li Guo, Gao Yigong, Yuan Zongdi and others, as well as the signatures of Lan Tianbao.
In addition, the families of bandit leaders from all over the country who stayed in Chongqing must also attach a letter and send it with them.
……………………
Shunqing Prefecture is adjacent to Chongqing Prefecture and is Chongqing's northern barrier. After Sun Chuanting regained Baoning Mansion, he led the main force to directly attack Shunqing Mansion, aiming directly at Chongqing Mansion.
However, after he regained Baoning Mansion, he not only had to divide his troops to occupy it, but also divided his troops to attack Kuizhou Mansion. Therefore, the number of troops he personally led in Shunqing Mansion was not even as large as the Liu bandits.
On the other hand, Li Zicheng would certainly not give up the northern barrier easily, so the leaders here were his general Liu Fangliang and the most famous young general Zhang Nai among the Boy soldiers.
In the end, the two parties came to a stalemate on the Shunqing Fucheng side. At least in a short period of time, it will not be easy for either side to defeat the other side.
The battle was in a stalemate. To be honest, Sun Chuanting was actually a little anxious. If he had it his way, it would be to assemble all the troops in Shu, kill the bandits first, and then take care of local affairs.
However, Duke Xingguo was not in a hurry at all. He had been holding his troops in Chengdu and his main energy was focused on disturbing the local areas and the chieftain territories in the high mountains.
Privately, Sun Chuanting actually always felt that Duke Xingguo was putting the cart before the horse!
Get the richest places in Shu first, and let them fiddle with the other ghost places. Even if they can't be brought under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, it's not a big deal.
Although Duke Xingguo was struggling in Chengdu, Sun Chuanting could still understand. Severely punishing the powerful local gentry and supplementing military pay and food, this is similar to his policy of "clearing the villages to replenish pay".
However, Duke Xingguo, in addition to not fighting the bandits in Chongqing, actually divided his army into many branches to wipe out the chieftains who escaped during the battle of Chengdu.
If the Anxi chieftain's territory was in the Chengdu Plain or in a nearby area, Sun Chuanting could still understand that clearing these chieftain territories would be conducive to the stability of Chengdu.
But why did Duke Xing Guo not even let go of the chieftain territory far to the northwest?
At that time, Sun Chuanting saw the military information sent from Chengdu and knew that Duke Xingguo was still focusing on taking care of northwest Sichuan, and even asked for direct access to Malasi, which is adjacent to Yunnan. He couldn't figure it out anyway.
The shore of the land, could it be the land of the king? This is indeed true. However, in such a remote place, a place with poor mountains and rivers, why should we spend so much effort at this time?
According to Sun Chuanting's idea, even if the bandits are defeated, those places can be left alone. Seal the border area and impoverish them to death.
However, that was Duke Xingguo, who was only the director of the world's military forces, so he could only be obedient and follow Duke Xingguo's arrangements.
In desperation, Sun Chuanting ignored other annoying things and just focused on the thief in front of him, but he still felt troubled.
The people on his side will naturally report to him the military situation in various places on a regular basis.
From the information compiled by Sun Chuanting, he had to admit that today's bandits are no longer the bandits of Chongzhen eleven years ago. Their strength cannot be underestimated.
As far as the strength of his troops was concerned, after the restoration of Boryeong Mansion, it was actually a bit weak. As he continued to advance, he encountered increasing resistance.
Now, not only Shunqing Fucheng is in a stalemate, but also other places.
His side is different from Xing Guogong's side. He wanted to fight back, and he would regain as much lost ground as he could, and this was all due to his hard work.
However, it’s not that I don’t want to recover more, but that I am really powerless.
Thinking of this, Sun Chuanting looked at the city occupied by the thieves opposite.
He was familiar with Liu Fangliang, the bandit in this city, and had fought against him before. He had never played against the other young general before. He was really like a newborn calf who was not afraid of tigers. The combination with Liu Fangliang's stability made him somewhat helpless.
The countermeasures that Sun Chuanting could come up with were to shrink in several other directions and mobilize troops to form a local advantage, so that he would be sure of victory.
But, if this happens, what will happen to the thieves from other directions?
Those bandits are not vegetarians, they are all battle-hardened. Gao Jie years ago was killed in battle after a bandit seized his opportunity and cut off his escape route.
If he gave up other routes, Sun Chuanting really couldn't guarantee that his retreat would be safe.
Therefore, he felt that the best measure was for the people from Duke Xingguo's side to move eastward, diagonally to the northeast, break into Shunqing Mansion, and reinforce his side. This was the best.
But……
Thinking of this, Sun Chuanting felt a little depressed.
At this time, You Yebu came back and reported to him that a messenger who had detected a bandit had entered Shunqing Fucheng. It looked like he was in such a hurry, as if something big was about to happen!
Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting's first reaction was that Duke Xingguo was finally going to start a war.
But when he came back to his senses, he felt it was impossible.
Duke Xingguo came once before with his troops, and after annihilating the troops of Yuan Zongdi and Gao Yigong, he went back again. At that time, Sun Chuanting was really angry and gritted his teeth. Why not take advantage of the victory and pursue Chongqing in one fell swoop?
At that time, morale was high and it was a good time to use troops!
From this point of view, Duke Xingguo still did not change his mind and still postponed the use of troops against Chongqing.
In this case, what big thing will happen to the bandits? It's impossible for the rogue thieves to counterattack!
When he thought of this, Sun Chuanting was suddenly a little shocked.
Since Duke Xingguo won't attack, and he doesn't have the energy to launch a big offensive, maybe it's the bandits who really want to launch a big offensive?
Then Li Zicheng figured out the strategy of Duke Xing Guo, so he first concentrated his troops to defeat his own side?
Thinking of this, Sun Chuanting didn't dare not take it seriously.
Therefore, he immediately issued an order to strengthen the vigilance, and sent more troops to stay at night to closely monitor the movements of the thieves.
However, these military orders of his had not yet left his central military tent. A general on duty excitedly broke into the central military tent. The way he looked, it was as if something great was going to happen!
