Finding that the army of the Eight Banners of Manchuria did not continue to advance, Xia Guoxiang and others immediately came to see Luo Keduo, and after the meeting, they exchanged pleasantries. Then Xia Guoxiang cautiously asked Luo Keduo: "Lord Jun, why did the army stop, didn't you say that you want to return to Guizhou?" ”

Luo Keduo said: "I can't go, now the Ming army has captured the victory pass." Xia Guoxiang was suddenly shocked: "What? How is it possible, doesn't it mean that the army is in Guiyang? Besides, there are seven or eight hundred miles from Guiyang to Shengjing Pass, and there are many passes in the middle. ”

Luo Keduo said: "They bypassed the pass in the middle, and Anshun, Annan and other places did not receive any military report of the Ming army's attack. ”

Xia Guoxiang said with a confused face: "Could it be that the Ming army fell from the sky?" How could it be possible to suddenly capture the victory pass without any military report? ”

Luo Keduo said: "Put these things aside, Ji Xiha and the others have already rushed to Shengjing Pass to check, it is estimated that they will be able to rush back today and tomorrow, and we will make plans then." ”

Xia Guoxiang returned to the Guanning military camp with some reluctance, and Hu Guozhu saw this and said: "Prime Minister Guo, what's going on with you these days?" It's always such a virtue. You can't do that, it's easy to go wrong when you start a war. ”

Xia Guoxiang asked Hu Guozhu: "Do you say that this Ming is really still saved?" When Hu Guozhu heard Xia Guoxiang's words, he was immediately startled and said, "Prime Minister Guo, what nonsense are you talking about?" There is no land in the former Ming Dynasty, and there are few ministers. There are only a few rangers left, and you say that there is still salvation in the future? ”

Seeing that Xia Guoxiang was about to say more, he hurriedly raised his hand and stopped: "Don't tell me anything about the people's hearts in the world, if the people's hearts are used, can the Qing Dynasty win the world?" And don't forget, it was our prince, and it was you and my father-in-law who brought the Qing soldiers into the customs. ”

Xia Guoxiang sighed and said: "Yes, that's why I'm a little confused, I always felt that it was nothing for the prince to do this, even if he brought the Qing soldiers into the customs." That was also the mediocrity of Emperor Chongzhen of the former Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng was even more excessive, he actually directly copied the prince's house, and robbed the prince's wife, everything we did was understandable. ”

Hu Guozhu said: "Then what are you still confused about?" Don't think about it, otherwise it will be bad for the prince to be known, not to mention that my brother is still in Beijing. ”

Xia Guoxiang said: "I don't think about anything else, I just don't understand." Obviously, Yunnan has already been defeated, why do you still want to slaughter the troops, those are also the people of the Qing Dynasty. Is it the former Ming who is shaking the foundation of the Qing Dynasty, or is the Qing soldiers themselves shaking the foundation? ”

Hu Guozhu didn't know why Xia Guoxiang got to the tip of the horns, and said: "You have a fever, how can you talk nonsense, you dare to say this, you think about Hong Chengchou's impeachment and robbery at that time, it was only vague, who dared to say who did it?" Even if anyone knew, they would say that those who were killed were rebels and traitors. I really don't know what happened to you these two days, your mind is full of messy things. ”

As he spoke, he got up, and didn't forget to tell Xia Guoxiang: "You can't talk nonsense anymore, otherwise you will get into trouble." Hu Guozhu was just about to walk out of the tent door, when he suddenly stopped and said, "You see that I was interrupted by you and forgot about my business." You went to King Pingjun to inquire about the military situation? Why is it that now that the army has all stopped in Qujing, didn't it say that it was okay to rush back to Guizhou? ”

Xia Guoxiang said a little absent-mindedly: "I can't go back now, the Ming army has captured the Shengjing Pass." When Hu Guozhu heard this, he was shocked and said, "What? Shengjing Pass was occupied by the Ming army? Then we are not blocked in Yunnan, so what are we waiting for here? Hurry up and march to attack the victory pass. ”

Xia Guoxiang said: "Who doesn't know that you have to attack the Shengjing Pass quickly? But Ji Xiha and the others have not come back to inquire about the situation, so they are not waiting for news. Hu Guozhu said: "Confused, what news are you waiting for at this time, we should hurry up and send troops to attack the Shengjing Pass, only by laying the Shengjing Pass, we can return to Guizhou and not be trapped in Yunnan." ”

Xia Guoxiang was also taken by Hu Guozhu to think about the military situation at this time, and then looked at Yutu and said: "By the way, it is said that Anshun, Annan and other places along the way in Guizhou have not received the military information of the Ming army's attack, and the Ming army appeared at Shengjing Pass as if it fell from heaven." ”

Hu Guozhu looked at Yutu and said: "I'm really confused, look at how many passes and how many cities there are along the way from Annan to Guiyang." When we attacked Guizhou, we didn't take this road, why did the Ming army have to take this road? ”

Xia Guoxiang looked at the map and understood: "Indeed, if you go this way, not only will there be many passes in the city, but the news will also be easy to be leaked." Looking at the actions of the Ming army, it is obvious that they want to catch us off guard, so they will definitely not take this road. In addition, there are many toasts in southern Qiannan, and the variables are extremely large, coupled with the high mountains and dangerous roads, which is not conducive to the action of the army. ”

Hu Guozhu took over and said: "The Ming army must be the same path we took at the beginning, going to the west of the water. However, we went west by water into Wumeng, and then the army entered Yunnan, and they went down to the southwest of the water to win the pass. ”

Hu Guozhu said: "That's right, they have bypassed Anshun and other places, no, we have to go and talk to King Pingjun, otherwise we will also bury our bones in Yunnan." ”

Xia Guoxiang couldn't take care of his previous thoughts now, and immediately took Hu Guozhu to find Luo Keduo as soon as he heard it. As soon as he arrived at Luo Keduo's residence, he saw people from the Eight Banners of Manchuria and the Eight Banners of the Han Army gathered together.

When Xia Guoxiang saw this, he immediately felt uncomfortable, obviously the Guan Ning army was about to be used as cannon fodder, so they didn't need to discuss the military situation, and what was waiting for them would be just death.

Although Xia Guoxiang felt uncomfortable, he still repeated his and Hu Guozhu's analysis to Luo Keduo and said: "Lord Jun, the purpose of the Ming army now is very clear, that is, to trap our army in Yunnan, so that we can be defeated by starvation alone. ”

Luo Keduo said: "What you said is very reasonable, the information sent back by the old general Jixiha is also like this, and now the Ming army has moved all the soldiers and civilians of Pingyiwei, as well as food and materials. It is nearly two hundred miles from Qujing to Shengjing Pass, and there is no one left. ”

The people of the Manchurian Eight Banners and the Han Army Banner who were present obviously knew about the situation, so they did not make a fuss. But Xia Guoxiang and Hu Guozhu heard it for the first time, and immediately said: "This, we are in danger, there is a road without people for two hundred miles ahead, how can we supply grain and grass." Hundreds of miles back to Kunming, there is no one left, we can't move forward now, and we can't go back. ”

When Du Lan heard this, he immediately felt that Xia Guoxiang was accusing himself of slaughtering the people all the way, and immediately said: "Why is there no way, as long as we capture the victory pass, won't there be a way?" ”

Hu Guozhu said: "Lord Belle, although the words are so, how can you pass these two hundred miles?" Even if we don't have food, how can we attack the city hungry? Now there are no people, and there is no one to build siege equipment. ”

Seeing that he was accusing himself of slaughtering the people, Duran immediately said angrily: "Even if there are no people, what's the matter? If you don't have those coats, let you go. Aren't you also the servants of our Manchurians, do you want us to go up if you don't go up? ”

Seeing that Du Lan was in front of so many people, he directly said that Xia Guoxiang and Hu Guozhu were slaves, and the two of them were suddenly full of shame, and their faces suddenly turned red. The two of them looked at Duran with torch-blowing eyes, and they didn't know what to say for a while.

In the end, Baylor Shangshan couldn't see it, and said: "Okay, what slaves are not slaves, everyone here is the emperor's slaves, and only by working together to do the emperor's errand well, everyone can get better." ”

Luo Keduo also took the opportunity to say: "Yes, now it is important to attack the victory pass, and other things will be talked about when we conquer the victory pass." ”

Xia Guoxiang and Hu Guozhu saw that Luo Keduo came out to speak, and they immediately stopped pestering. Everyone discussed the matter of attacking Shengjing Pass, and sure enough, they let Guan Ning's army rush to the front line and act as cannon fodder for attacking Shengjing Pass.

But now that they were surrounded by soldiers from the Eight Banners of Manchuria and the Han Army, Xia Guoxiang and Hu Guozhu couldn't think of any reason to oppose it, so they had to acquiesce to this plan. The next day, the army marched to Shengjing Pass, but the desolation along the way seemed to tell the tragedy of this attack on Shengjing Pass.

Because he was preparing to attack the Shengjing Pass, Luo Keduo did not urge the army, but just reached the Shengjing Pass after two days of marching at the normal marching speed.

Looking at the pass in front of him, he recalled that when the Qing army entered Yunnan, the army easily got the victory pass, and now when he really wants to attack the victory pass, he found the majesty of this pass.

Luo Keduo didn't give Xia Guoxiang much time to sigh, after arriving at Shengjing Pass that morning, after eating a meal by killing horse meat, he immediately asked Xia Guoxiang to send 3,000 soldiers to attack Shengjing Pass.

Now the guard at the Shengjing Pass is Guo Liai, and when he saw the Qing army coming, he was suddenly frightened. Xiong Yansheng said to the next side: "Now that the Qing army is coming, we are afraid that it will be more auspicious than good luck to guard the pass, so I think it is better to hurry up and ask for help from the Marquis of Pingyu." ”

Xiong Yansheng did not fight with the Qing army, but he saw that the sky was full of flags and swords and guns. For a while, he was also a little frightened, and said: "Now there are only 5,000 defenders on the pass, and it is the banner soldiers of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and the Han Army Banner who came to attack the pass, so it is natural for us to ask Hou Ye for help at this time." ”

With Xiong Yansheng's support, Guo Liai immediately did not hesitate, and immediately sent a messenger for help, and transferred Zhu Shouquan to bring his army, as well as 5,000 troops and recruits from Pingyi to support.

With these arrangements, Guo Li Aixin finally settled down a little, so he went to the wall to check, defend and attack the city.

At this time, the Guan Ning army under the gate had already been reprimanded by Wu Guogui and began to slowly fight the team. Because they are cannon fodder, the Qing troops standing under the pass are all sluggish, and they can't eat well these days. The whole army was listless, Wu Guogui saw it, and shouted: "Cheer up Lao Tzu, so that you can win the victory?" ”

Hearing Wu Guogui's words, there was a general banner in the team that said: "General Wu, you want to let your brothers work hard, why don't you have a good meal, even if you use us as cannon fodder and cushion our backs." The general shouldn't care about this meal. ”

Suddenly, the other soldiers also complained, Wu Guogui saw it, and scolded: "You are willing to use you as cannon fodder, you are all the hole cards in the hands of the prince, and now they are used as cannon fodder by those dog days, and the prince must not scold us to death if he knows it." ”

The general flag said: "In this case, let other people be cannon fodder, we are all elite soldiers, so let's send us to death, isn't it a waste?" ”

Wu Guogui said: "You shut up Lao Tzu, you see who they are?" It's either the Manchurian uncle or the master of the Han military flag, and you let them go and use you as cannon fodder? You haven't woken up yet, just talk nonsense to Lao Tzu, cheer up, as long as we win the victory level as soon as possible, we can survive. The longer the battle drags on, the greater the chance of your death. Did you hear that? ”

These soldiers of the Guanning Army are all people who have been crawling in the pile of dead people for more than ten years, and they don't know this truth, seeing that they have not been cannon fodder for themselves, and they have to be cannon fodder for others.

Now I heard Wu Guogui say this, and immediately shouted: "Don't worry, general, we will definitely try our best to win the victory pass as soon as possible, and let those bastards who ride on our heads and pee all day long to see how powerful our Guan Ning army's methods are." ”

The other soldiers also chimed in: "Win the victory level and let them see." Wu Guogui saw that his morale was up, and he immediately shouted: "Win the victory level and win glory for the prince." ”

The other soldiers also roared with Wu Guogui, and for a while, the Qing army in the city was in high morale and excited. The slogan of laying down the victory pass spread far and wide. Xia Guoxiang and Hu Guozhu in the distance nodded when they saw it, and even in the military formation of the Eight Banners of Manchuria, Luo Keduo saw this situation and the people around him: "The army of the King of Pingxi is indeed an elite division, even under difficult conditions, it can have such momentum, and it will definitely be easy to capture the victory pass." ”

Ji Xiha, who was beside Luo Keduo, also said: "Yes, with a leading general like King Pingxi, I can sit firmly in the world in the Qing Dynasty." ”

Only Du Lan said: "Hmph, what's the big deal, if you can't beat the victory level, you must correct all these Han barbarians who show off their might." ”

When Luo Keduo heard this, he turned his head and glared at Du Lan, and said, "King Pingxi is the King of Pingxi of my Qing Dynasty, you should complain less." Take a good look at the marching formation and leading the troops into battle. ”

Du Lan still didn't think so, but now that Luo Keduo opened his mouth, it was not good to say that Wu Sangui was not, so he had to be angry on the sidelines, thinking in his heart that he must make Wu Sangui and his Guan Ningjun look good.

Xia Guoxiang and Hu Guozhu were not by Luo Keduo's side, so they naturally didn't know this scene, and seeing that Wu Guogui in front of them had already begun to approach Shengjing Pass with a large army, they immediately paid attention to the siege of the city.