The rapid growth of Ma San, Liu Tichun and others relied on the Sun and Moon Banner of the Ming Dynasty.

The peasant uprisings in Shaanxi and Shanxi affected ten prefectures in Shaanxi - Suzhou, Lanzhou, Ningxia, Pingliang, Fengxiang, Lintao, Yan'an, Xi'an, Shangzhou, and Hanzhong. and the five prefectures of Shanxi - Datong, Taiyuan, Fenzhou, Pingyang, and Lu'an, and the vast majority of the rebel armies were under the banner of opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty.

Then where the regular army of the Ming Army is there, it will naturally be like a huge magnet, attracting hundreds of thousands of righteous troops from the fifteen prefectures in the Great Northwest Uprising. Therefore, it is not surprising that Liu Tichun in northern Shaanxi and Ma San in Shanxi can quickly expand their teams dozens of times.

When the form of Guanzhong was very good, Liu Wenxiu, the king of Shu, and the 30,000 Ming army under his command also broke through Yangping Pass in early April of the fourth year of Yongli and killed Hanzhong, so that the last quiet land of the Qing army in Shaanxi is now also lit with a rapid beacon fire.

The Qing army's defender in Hanzhong, Gushan Ezhen Li Guohan had also learned the painful reality that Xi'an was heavily surrounded by the Ming army at this time, so is it still meaningful to stick to Hanzhong? To keep it or not to keep it, that's the question.

The northwest of the Qing Dynasty was already in turmoil, and Li Guohan was thinking at this time: "Azig has even lost Datong, and it is naïve to expect him to save Xi'an." The huge city of Xi'an will not be able to hold out for long with only Meng Qiaofang's soldiers and horses. And the first target of Dolgon's army to rush to the rescue is not Xi'an, but Datong, if Xi'an is not rescued, and finally Meng Qiaofang is broken, my Hanzhong will definitely not be able to hold it. ”

All the realities point to one result: the northwest will definitely be lost before the arrival of Dolgon's army, and even if Dolgon comes to retake Xi'an, he will already be a pile of dry bones.

Li Guohan did not get an order to retreat to Hanzhong, he just took it step by step, seeing that the whole northwest was in turmoil, he could choose to abandon Hanzhong, and Dolgon would not execute him for losing the city, at best he took his official title.

It's just that Li Guohan is thinking about several routes in his heart, rescue Xi'an, even if he can't solve the siege of Xi'an, he can still escape all the way to northern Shaanxi.

He believed that Tongguan must be the most important target of the Ming army, and if he chose to retreat from Tongguan, he would definitely throw himself into the net.

He was going to go to northern Shaanxi, but he didn't want to go out of the Great Wall, the situation in the northwest was too bad, and all this, a very important cause was the chaos of the two Chu Huer tribes in Northern Mongolia, if Li Guohan retreated out of the Great Wall, he must be a wolf.

He was going to cross the Yellow River through the mouth of the Wubao River to Datong to join the main army, and after determining this route, he was going to fight a good battle and go to Dolgon instead of going to him to hand in a blank scroll.

But after thinking about the long-term plan, how to fight the battle in front of him and where to retreat after the battle still became a problem in his heart, "Do you want to break through to the west and go to Dasanguan?" Or do you want to retreat eastward, get out of the entanglement of the Ming army, and rush to the meridian road? ”

Turning around, Li Han split his head and asked the staff around him: "Liu Wenxiu has arrived, we are bound to fight with him, and then retreat, but how to choose the route to Xi'an?" ”

At this time, several staff members discussed one after another and said to him: "General, if our army wants to retreat, there are only two ways to go, the first way is to take the Chencang Road to withdraw to Fengxiang Mansion through the Dasan Pass, and the second is to go directly to Xi'an Mansion through Fu Luo Road or Meridian Road. The first road is Yangping Pass, which encounters the enemy head-on and has half the way, has been occupied by the enemy, so it is impossible to walk, and the second road is high in the mountains, dangerous in the road, and deep in the ditch. If the enemy army outside Xi'an City intercepts us at the exit of the mountain road, and then comes to some Ming army chasing soldiers, we will be miserable. ”

Li Guohan's face sank, "So a certain family can only sit and wait to die?" ”

At this time, another staff member whispered, "Don't worry, general, if you know a route below, you will definitely let the army retreat and evacuate Hanzhong." ”

"Oh, you have a route, let's talk about it!"

"General, from here all the way to the north, through the Baoxian Ancient Road, you can also reach Fengxiang Mansion. There is also Lianyun plank road in the middle can pass through Chencang Road, if we can take Lianyun plank road, we must be able to deceive the pursuers of the Ming army unconsciously, and secretly go to the northwest to Dasanguan. ”

Li Guohan complained: "Hey, is it better to leave the Dasanguan?" I'm afraid that the Ming army has already gone there at this time, if the Ming army occupies the city pass in advance, how can our army get by? ”

The staff said unhurriedly, "I'm afraid that the other end of the Bao Slope Road, Meixian, has already been occupied by the Ming army besieging Xi'an at this time." The Ming army attacked Xi'an this time and did not go to Hanzhong, naturally because they were afraid of the general Huwei, so the general was afraid, and the Ming army was actually afraid. Now that the Ming army has surrounded Xi'an, the Ming army will definitely capture Meixian County by the way, so as to protect their back from being attacked by the general. If they wait for you there, General, will you still be able to pass? Can I come back after I have passed? More than 100,000 Ming troops surrounded Xi'an, if there is no plan for the golden cicada to get out of its shell, I am afraid that not only can we not save Xi'an, but we can't protect ourselves. ”

Li Guohan said indignantly: "A certain family is ashamed, now and now, I, Li Guohan, am simply not as good as a lost dog." ”

"General, the lesser of the two powers, I think it will be easy for the Ming army to occupy Meixian, but it will not be too easy for Dasanguan, after all, it is Meng Qiaofang's subordinate generals who are guarding there."

Li Guohan nodded slightly, "Well, it seems that this is the only way to make it my army get out of the shell of the golden cicada in the encirclement and interception of the Ming army, so we will take the ancient road of Baoxie, and then cross the Lianyun plank road to Chencang Road, so that we may really be able to get rid of the Ming army." ”

Li Guohan glanced at the generals under his command, and said in a loud voice, "Order the whole army to be fully equipped, and break through the siege at three o'clock tomorrow!" With Li Guohan's order, a march that determined the future trend of the Ming and Qing armies in Shaanxi was about to begin.

Coming to Hanzhong was Liu Wenxiu, the king of Shu, who led 30,000 horses, of which 20,000 were his old team members of the Great Western Army.

According to the task given by the emperor, with Bashan as the boundary, Li Yuanyin would defend the entire Sichuan and provide support for Liu Wenxiu. Liu Wenxiu was to continue the attack on Hanzhong, and then arrived at the city of Xi'an to join Ma Jinzhong.

(End of chapter)