In the twentieth year of Hongxing in the Ming Dynasty, the third day of the second month.

The morning breeze blew coldly from the city head of the slightly sunny city, and the city, which was hot a few days ago, now gives people a cool feeling.

On the low first layer of the city, a few defenders were deployed, and a flag of the three armies and a banner embroidered with the words "Liangguo Gongwu" danced in the wind at the head of the city of Luoyang.

This city of Lüyang is not an old city, but a new city that took tens of thousands of people to build in a few months, located at the corner of the Jialing River and Rhino Horn, backed by Xiangshan Mountain, and in front of it is a long and narrow peninsula. It is not a fortress, but a mountain castle built on the southern slope of Elephant Mountain. The city wall is low, but it has been built in four layers, and the highest layer of it has been repaired to the halfway point of Xiangshan Mountain.

Needless to say, how important the geographical location of this castle is, just look at Wu Sangui's general flag and the three armies command flag still flying high above the city...... Kong Tingxun, a long-legged general, fled back with hundreds of defeated soldiers on the morning of the second day of the second month of February! In the afternoon, evening and morning of the second day of the new year, more than 3,000 people came back one after another, all of them lost their armor and were embarrassed.

From the mouths of these defeated soldiers who ran back, Wu Sangui knew that Shang Kexi, Shang Zhixin, father and son had become loyal martyrs, and also knew that the Dashun Dynasty had placed at least 60,000 troops in the Hanzhong Basin, including at least 1,000 elite cavalry with folded horses.

There are so many elite soldiers in the Hanzhong Basin, and most of Wu Guogui, who marched from Maling Pass, will also have to be deflated!

In addition, in the past few days, Wu Sangui also sent a small force to test Yangping Pass, and found that there were a lot of defenders there, and they were quite elite!

But Wu Sangui was still reluctant to give up Luoyang.

Because Lüyang is too important, as long as Lüyang is held, Sanguan Road and Qishan Road will be firmly controlled by the Ming army, and reinforcements, baggage, grain and grass and artillery will be continuously transported from the Guanzhong Plain. Moreover, Hanzhong, Jinniu Dao, and Yinping Dao in the hands of Liukou will be under the pressure of the Ming army at any time, and they will be extremely passive strategically.

For Li Dingguo, the gains and losses of Lüyang are also crucial, and can even be compared with the gains and losses of the Hanzhong Basin.

Because Luoyang is the junction of Sanguan Road, Jinniu Road and Qishan Road, if it can't be recaptured, not only Sanguan Road will be firmly under the control of the Ming army, but even Qishan Road will be occupied by the Ming army - Li Dingguo has no intention of giving up Qishan Road! He stationed heavy troops in Qiuchi Mountain, Chengxian, Jiezhou, Linjiangguan, Wenxian, Yinpingzhai and other places. If the Ming army only attacked from Qishan, the defenders in those places could hold out for a long time.

However, if the Ming army fought from both ends of Luoyang and Qishan, and suffered from the enemy on the belly and back, the Shun army on the Qishan Road would not be able to bear it...... As soon as Qishan Dao is lost, not only Yinping Dao will be threatened by the Ming army, but even Song Panwei will have a problem!

Therefore, the gains and losses of Luoyang City will be directly related to the success or failure of this battle of the Ming Dynasty!

Wu Sangui, who had already made up his mind to defend Lüyang, began to work with several staff members in the lobby of the Chinese army in Lüyang City from the early morning of the third day of the second month, calculating the supplies at hand so that his army and the righteous people who followed him could hold out in Lüyang for a few days...... The terrain of Lüyang is dangerous, and the city is strong, but it can be defended. The problem is that there is not enough food in stock, and when the Liukou retreated, not a grain of rice was left, and the rations carried by Wu Sangui's army were almost consumed. If it weren't for the "righteous people" in the area of Luoyang and Fengxian who brought grain to join the army, Wu Sangui would probably have no rice and grain to support him.

"Dashuai, it's not enough!" Liu Maoyao had already made his calculations, and said to Wu Sangui with a bitter face, "Now there are more than 8,000 soldiers in Luoyang City, more than 54,000 righteous people and refugees from all over the city, and many mules and horses ......."

"Don't count mules and horses," Wu Sangui waved his hand, "people can't take care of it...... The cattle were slaughtered for the rations! How many days will this last? ”

"No slaughter can last up to fifteen days!" Liu Maoyao said, "Even if you slaughter the animals and save some food, you can support 20 days at most." ”

Guo Zhuangtu, another confidant of Wu Sangui, said: "Dashuai, if you want to support it for a few more days, you have to ......."

He didn't say any more, but Wu Sangui also knew what he meant-if he wanted to support it for a few more days, he would have to get rid of people! And they drove away all the people of the city, and when there were few people, there would be enough food to eat.

This guy's math is still very good!

However, Wu Sangui was a little embarrassed to speak, because most of the food in Luoyang City was provided by the righteous people who came to take refuge...... Lao Wu has been a warlord for most of his life, and it is the first time that he is so popular with the people! This is turning around and not recognizing people?

"Dashuai," Guo Zhuangtu understood what his master meant, so he thought of a way and said, "You can move the people to Feng County, and the grain transported from Guanzhong should go to Feng County today." ”

Wu Sangui glanced at Liu Maoyao again, and Liu Maoyao hurriedly shook his head and said, "Fengxian County has more than 200 miles to this place...... The people walked away for at least ten days, and what did they want to eat during these ten days? Shall they go out of the city with ten days' provisions? ”

Of course not!

Liu Maoyao said again: "If General Wu is also defeated, the Liukou is likely to outflank Maling Pass. At that time, these forty or fifty thousand people will be obtained by Li Dingguo! Most of these people are strong...... If Li Dingguo gets it, he will definitely drive it to attack the city!

Rather than let them be used by the rogues, it is better to integrate them into the official army. Hastily train for 15 days, and then let them go out of the city to fight the thieves to the death! ”

Wu Sangui frowned, and when he was hesitating, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the lobby, and then he saw Wu Sangui's pro-barracks officer walk in and saluted: "Shuai, there are a large number of thieves coming along the Jialing River...... My subordinates can see it on the city wall! ”

"What?"

Wu Sangui took a breath of cool air, got up suddenly, and strode out of the lobby. This lobby is located on the top floor of Lüyang Castle, with a wall built against the hill outside. The city wall is facing the Jialing River, and the realization is good, you can see the Jialing River more than ten miles away - the vista is invisible, and it is blocked by the mountains on both sides of the Jialing River.

Raising the binoculars, Wu Sangui clearly saw that on the narrow Jialing River waterway, two parallel fleets appeared at some point, and the fleet did not know how long, anyway, he could only see the head, and he couldn't see the tail at all. All the boats were pulled by slender men and walked slowly, and the decks were filled with "men in blue", some of whom were still trying to paddle.

"It seems that Li Dingguo has been preparing to fight Luoyang for a long time......" Wu Sangui frowned.

It's only been a few days since the fight was over there? The rogue of the counter-attack has arrived! This shows that Li Dingguo was ready to counterattack Luoyang after the decisive battle in Hanzhong from the beginning!

Guo Zhuangtu and Liu Maoyao also followed Wu Sangui out of the lobby, and they both took the binoculars from Wu Sangui's personal soldiers and saw the Dashun army fleet on the river.

"Dashuai," Guo Zhuangtu said, "the thieves are powerful...... Perhaps there will be their fine works among the people of the city, but there shall be no mercy of a woman! ”

Liu Maoyao retorted: "There are at least 20,000 Ding Zhuang in the city, how many spies can there be?" Now is the right time to disperse the crowd, and then join the army, supervised and controlled by veterans, and fight against the thieves! ”

"The Sichuan people may not be willing to fight with the thieves!" Guo Zhuangtu shook his head.

"The Sichuan people have been suffering for a long time, if the marshal can allow the land of the military household, how can he not be loyal to the country?"

"How can the marshal have the right to grant the Sichuan people land?" Guo Zhuangtu still doesn't believe in the people.

Liu Maoyao said: "The marshal has the right to act cheaply, and the matter is urgent, what is there to do?" And the land and military households are not given in vain, they are all exchanged for people's lives! ”

The two of them were discussing, and Kong Tingxun hurriedly came again, bringing bad news! The large stream of Liukou (Chen Yongfubu) who came from the direction of Hanzhong has arrived at Feihuling...... The traffic between Lüyang and Malingguan can be cut off at any time.

Wu Sangui gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, Lao Tzu will believe these Sichuan people once...... Xuan Chu, you go and talk to Wang Youwen, let him choose more than 100 righteous people who speak and have people to listen, and Ben Shuai has something to say to them! ”