In a small city in the southern part of the Tang Dynasty, Abbas II stood at the top of the city, watching his men burning, killing and looting in the city to replenish military supplies and boost morale. It can be said that he is a bit high-spirited.
Compared with the last time, this time I completely let go of my hands and feet. Along the way, the Ming army retreated steadily, and even fled after hearing the news. It really felt like revenge, and it washed away the feeling of being abandoned by the Ming emperor. The shame of the army fleeing.
The leader of his men quickly arrived at the city and quickly went up to the city to report to him: "Your Majesty, the Ming army in this city fled too fast and cannot be pursued!"
After hearing this, Abbas II waved his hand indifferently and said: "I know!"
This is already the third Ming Dynasty city defender who has fled upon hearing the wind. It feels really good to be able to make the enemy flee upon hearing the wind.
However, in his heart, he still remembered the real main force of the Ming army, so he asked his subordinates: "Has the Ming army named Li Dingguo followed?"
Yes, he is preparing a big gift. As long as Li Dingguo's troops dare to follow up, they will definitely kill anyone who responds!
His men looked at each other and finally reported that there was no news for the time being.
Abbas II did not care about this and sneered: "It seems that he is a cautious person. In this case, let's continue to attack other cities. I don't believe he can survive!"
"Your Majesty is wise!" After hearing this, his subordinates complimented him one after another.
However, if he knew that the place he conquered was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty and was not the same as the Ming Kingdom, he might not be so sure.
By the evening, the small town was in ruins. When Abbas II returned to his Chinese army tent, the hurried detective horse brought news about Li Dingguo's troops.
"What?" When Abbas II heard this, he stood up in shock and confirmed sternly, "Say it again?"
"Back to Your Majesty, instead of pursuing us, Li Dingguo's troops from the Ming Dynasty went straight to the west. They defeated our 10,000-strong rear army and continued to the west."
The rear army of the Persian Empire did not have many troops and was mainly used to protect the food road.
After Abbas II led the army to turn north, the protection ability for the rear route became a little weaker. However, the army was far away after that, and they had just entered the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Unexpectedly, Li Dingguo's troops actually ran so far to attack the rear army!
At this time, Abbas II did not particularly care about the problem of food and fodder for the Italian army, because the food and fodder he carried with the army was enough. In addition, the Ming Dynasty was unstoppable. Everywhere they went, they burned, killed and looted to replenish military supplies. It can be said that the consumption of food and grass was not particularly large.
If it is said that Li Dingguo's troops are just to cut off the army's food route, then he will probably be disappointed. But, did Li Dingguo really just want to cut off the army's food route? Abbas II was thinking about this, and for a moment, he really couldn't confirm Li Dingguo's true purpose.
Abbas II's concerns are actually very reasonable.
As a general who had grown up in the army since childhood, Li Dingguo had a clear view of Abbas II's plans. Therefore, he did not hesitate for a long time on how to deal with Abbas II's sudden attack on the north, and quickly made a decision: to ignore the army led by Abbas II, even if he knew that they had been fighting towards Delhi. , he didn’t pursue anything, he just sent someone to report the news.
Li Dingguo himself selected the elite and fought westward towards the retreat of Abbas's army. If Abbas' army could not be mobilized, he would choose to go west and fight towards the Persian Empire.
His strategy was similar to when Tsar Alexei invaded Poland. Just kill each other to see who can't stand it first.
But relatively speaking, Alexei is still a bit more ruthless than Li Dingguo.
You must know that the Poles were burning and killing in Alexey's territory, but today's Persian army is burning and killing in the territory of the Ming vassal state, not the Ming Dynasty itself. In addition, this vassal state had just been conquered by the Ming army, so in terms of identity, it was even smaller. Therefore, relatively speaking, Li Dingguo's psychological burden is much smaller.
In addition, Li Dingguo was born as a bandit, and what he was best at was mobile combat. It can be said that he is very familiar with this tactic.
Just like that, Li Dingguo ignored the army led by Abbas II and wanted to cut off their retreat and kill all the way to the west. The rear army that defeated the Persian army did not say anything, and without looking back, they plunged into the Persian Empire.
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Compared with Li Dingguo's lack of hesitation, Abbas II was much more entangled. Continue north or turn back?
At the beginning, Abbas II felt that the border areas close to the Ming Kingdom had been cleared by him. Even if Li Dingguo's troops entered, he would not suffer heavy losses on his side. On the contrary, if he led the army northward and pointed directly at Delhi, the losses of the Ming Dynasty would definitely be even more severe! In this case, Li Dingguo's troops must have been unable to hold on and turned back.
With this in mind, Abbas II led the army and continued northward. However, Tan Ma kept reporting back, saying that Li Dingguo's troops showed no signs of turning around and had already entered the Persian Empire.
Abbas II finally lost his composure. At this time, he had already felt the determination of Li Dingguo's troops. However, he was also very unwilling to turn around and return support immediately.
With a hundred thousand troops running back and forth, what should we do with the money and food they waste? This will definitely be a big hole in the empire's finances!
Moreover, the dignified emperor of the Persian Empire was led by a bright general like this. What would others think?
He had already been defeated for a while, but if he failed again in the end this time, Abbas II would be worried about whether his throne could still be secure.
Thinking like this, Abbas II finally gritted his teeth and hoped that the domestic cities could be defended. As for himself, he led the army to speed up the northward march and rushed to Delhi.
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In the contest between Li Dingguo and Abbas II, the most unlucky person was the King of Tang. He hated Li Dingguo so much. But at this time, he had no choice at all.
The supplies and troops of the Tang State were all being transported to Lahore. The 100,000 Persian Empire troops attacking from the south had no way the King of Tang could do anything.
Seeing the Persian imperial army approaching Delhi more and more, the king of Tang finally announced his eastward journey. To put it bluntly, he meant running away to the east, towards King Fuku's vassal state.
He did not dare to run to Lahore because there were still Ottoman troops there. If Wu Sangui couldn't defeat him if he ran there, he would be in trouble. Instead, flee eastward. Even if you can't hold on, you can escape all the way, and eventually escape back to the mainland of the Ming Dynasty.
On April 23rd of the 30th year of Chongzhen, just when the Ottoman Empire Prime Minister Koprulu led the army to Mingwei Fort, Abbas II led the army to capture Delhi.
Ordinary soldiers of the Persian Empire did not know what happened to Li Dingguo's army. When they saw that Delhi had been captured and the unfinished siege of the last time was completed, they were all in a state of revelry.
But their emperor, Abbas II, was worried.
Now that we are too far away from our home country, we don’t even know how great the harm Li Dingguo’s troops can do. For him, if he leads the army and continues to pursue eastward, it will be further away from his country. The most critical thing is that at this time, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, which also limits the efficiency of marching and fighting.
Also, should we keep occupying the captured Delhi? If we don't occupy it, in this alliance with the Ottoman Empire, it was agreed that whoever conquers the territory will belong to whom. If we give up and it is occupied by the Ottoman Empire, then we won't vomit blood?
However, if we insist on occupying Delhi, we must divide our forces. A small number of soldiers is not enough. If there are more soldiers, the mobile force will be less.
At this time, Abbas II had also learned that the Ming army was holding on to Lahore and was in a stalemate with the Ottoman Empire. Then should we lead our troops westward and capture Lahore with the Ottoman Empire?
After having this idea, he quickly remembered his original cooperation with Aurangzeb. Under the intrigue, the two armies had to be wary of each other, but they could not display their combat effectiveness. Thinking this, he gave up the idea.
After hesitating for a long time, Abbas II finally decided to take Delhi as the center and conquer the surrounding areas. At the same time, people were sent to rush back to the country to see the situation. Of course, the army is also indispensable to open up the connection between Delhi and Kandahar.
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Abbas II did not know the situation of Li Dingguo's troops, but Emperor Chongzhen, who came all the way to Central Asia for reinforcements, knew it clearly. He fully understood the entire battle situation through the Class A eavesdropping seeds on Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui, Tang Wang, Li Dingguo, and even Zheng Chenggong.
I have to say that both Li Dingguo and Li Laiheng have truly inherited the lessons they learned when they were thieves. They led the troops around, causing their opponents to circle around, and occasionally biting them.
Li Laiheng's side aside, Li Dingguo's side has turned the eastern region of the Persian Empire upside down. Every time he hit him, he used the same move that Emperor Chongzhen used. Kill the rich and powerful local people, divide half of them to supplement the military, and scatter the other half among the poor. And he also took them all the way westward, vaguely pointing towards the capital of the Persian Empire.
After fully understanding the entire situation, Emperor Chongzhen also made a decision: first to deal with the Ottoman Empire's Northern Route Army, and then move south with the power of victory to deal with the other two routes.
In addition, another advantage of traveling from north to south is that as time goes by and winter arrives, you can avoid the freezing cold winds in Siberia.
As for the Tang State, they were all harmed by the Persian Empire. To be honest, Emperor Chongzhen really didn't care much. If the king of Tang sues Li Dingguo later, just give him a few words of reprimand. As for Li Dingguo's military exploits, rewards and punishments must be clearly defined and rewarded.
