On the afternoon of the 27th day of the 27th day of the first month of the twentieth year of Hongxing, the cavalry detachments sent people back one after another to report - no signs of the enemy lurking were found!

Not only was there no ambush, but the road between Lüyang and Chuxian was very usual, and there was no damage, and there was no material, chariot and horse discarded by the Liukou army along the way. Moreover, the cavalry of the Ming army in charge of the search also encountered many local people who were "welcoming the king". After inquiry, it was learned that the military households in dozens of towns and villages between Luoyang City and the county seat of Chuxian County were evacuated one after another in the winter of the 17th year of the reign of the Communist Party, and by the beginning of the first year of Daxing in Dongping, there were no military households living in this area.

The rule of the Liukou in the local area was based on the government soldiers, and the withdrawal of all the government soldiers meant that the rule of the Liukou court in the area no longer existed.

Considering that the retreat began last winter, that is, after Li Guo's death, the Liukou court had already begun to deploy a general retreat from the Hanzhong region......

"Dashuai, it seems that Liukou has long had plans to give up Hanzhong, and we should be able to easily win this battle!"

"Dashuai, my subordinates have prepared an army of 15,000 and can march to Chuxian at any time...... Please also give the order! ”

In Luoyang City, Shang Kexi and Kong Tingxun were asking Wu Sangui, who had only arrived last night, to fight. If Wu Sangui hadn't arrived, the two of them would have led their troops to attack a long time ago, but now that Wu Dashuai's people have arrived, it won't work without asking for instructions...... Now it depends on whether Wu Sangui is interesting enough, and whether he is willing to give them this opportunity to make meritorious contributions.

While listening to the two of them asking for battle, Wu Sangui put his hands behind his back in the middle hall of his temporary marshal's mansion, looked at a map of the battlefield situation that had just been hung, frowned slightly, and did not answer positively, but asked: "Where has Yangping Pass been explored?" ”

"Cavalry has been dispatched," Kong Tingxun said, "but they have not been able to get close to Yangping Pass, and they have been blocked by the infantry of the Liukou in the area of Juting Town...... In addition, on the slopes on both sides of the Jialing River near Juting Town, signs of the deployment of the Liukou army were also found. ”

"What about Qishan Dao?" Wu Sangui asked again, "Have you searched it?" ”

"Fifty miles along the Rhino River," Kong Tingxun said, "the situation is similar to that between Lüyang and Chuxian, and all the soldiers in that area have already been withdrawn." ”

Shang Kexi said: "Dashuai, it seems that Liukou has abandoned Hanzhong and Longnan and is ready to defend Yangping Pass." ”

Wu Sangui looked at Liu Sheng and Wu Yinglin again.

Liu Sheng said: "Marshal, you can let Admiral Wu go out of Maling Pass, let Admiral Shang and General Kong go out of Luoyang, and cooperate with the three divisions from the south of Qinling to take Hanzhong...... As long as the Five Route Army succeeds all the way, Hanzhong will be ours.

The subordinates led their troops to fight a dozen Yangping Pass to explore the reality of the rogue. ”

Wu Yinglin said: "Father, there must be a main force of Liukou in Yangping Pass, and it is purely futile to send troops to test it, so it is better to let the child and Admiral Liu lead the troops to march along the Rhino River, and take the Qishan Road together with Admiral Shi." ”

Of course, Wu Yinglin is eager for meritorious service, he is not the eldest son, he can't attack the knighthood, and he can't inherit the position of Anxi Duhu, so he can only work hard by himself. And this battle of the stratokous is undoubtedly a good opportunity to make contributions. He didn't want to waste his chance before the unbeatable Yangping Pass......

Wu Sangui understood his son's thoughts, nodded, and was about to agree. Liu Sheng on the side suddenly spoke: "Dashuai, if the subordinates and the prince lead the troops to Qishan Road, there will be fewer soldiers here in Luoyang, in case the rogues of Yangping Pass come to commit a big attack......"

"Don't be afraid!" Wu Sangui waved his hand and said with a smile, "There are ten battalions of soldiers around Ben Shuai, three of which are still Yiding Iron Army, and two battalions of artillery, and I am afraid that I will not be able to hold it." ”

Liu Sheng was still a little worried: "Dashuai, my subordinates brought 30 battalions to Lüyang, and it won't take so much to go west to Qishan Road, so it's better to leave five battalions in Lüyang." ”

Wu Sangui nodded: "It's okay...... So be it! Remember, you must be careful on the road, the mountain road is rugged, don't let the rogue ambush! ”

Of course there is no ambush!

From the very beginning, Li Dingguo did not consider setting up an ambush on the rugged mountain roads of southern Shaanxi.

There are three reasons for not setting up an ambush, one is that the enemy will definitely march very carefully - the war in the past eight years has taught them too many lessons, so they will definitely prevent Li Dingguo from setting up an ambush in the mountains, and the Hexi Army, Anxi Army, and Chuanbian Army under Wu Sangui have been reorganized and redressed many times, and now they can adapt well to mountain warfare. Therefore, fighting in rugged mountainous areas, it is impossible for the Dashun army to take too much advantage in the terrain.

The second reason for not setting up an ambush is that there are four roads into Hanzhong, and the traffic between them is very inconvenient. It is impossible for Li Dingguo to divide the forces at hand in various places - this is not an ambush, this is a division of troops!

The third reason for not setting up an ambush is that the Dashun court began to evacuate and evacuate the local government soldiers before the start of the Southern Shaanxi Campaign. As soon as the government soldiers withdrew, the grassroots power of the Dashun court in the mountainous areas of southern Shaanxi disappeared.

Considering the oppression of the working people of southern Shaanxi by the Zhongdashun court in the past 20 years, it is very likely that the people of southern Shaanxi will side with the Ming army......

Therefore, Li Dingguo simply came to the most unexpected deployment, did not set up an ambush, and also fought in the dangerous places in southern Shaanxi, but put the opponent into the Hanzhong Basin, and fought a decisive battle on the plains of the Hanzhong Basin.

That's right, it's a decisive battle on the plains, a dignified battle!

For Wu Sangui, Shang Kexi, and Kong Tingxun, this style of play is definitely the most unexpected.

Because in the past eight years, Li Dingguo has not won a dignified battle on the plain - if he could win, he would have entered Xi'an Mansion City earlier, and he would have been blocked by Wu Sangui in this original area for so many years?

And the reason why the Dashun army could not win is also very simple - the Dashun army, nested in the southwest mountainous area, is not an army that can fight a dignified battle on the plains at all.

The equipment and tactics of the Dashun army determine that they are a mountain army, and you can't win if you let a mountain division go to the plains to fight a tank regiment!

Therefore, the generals on the side of the Ming Dynasty would have thought of Li Ding's decisive battle with them in the flat Hanzhong Basin, and even if they thought of it, no one would be afraid.

Just when the Fifth Route Ming Army, with a total of more than 80,000 people, was cautiously advancing towards the Hanzhong Basin, Li Dingguo had already concentrated 60,000 elite soldiers in the Dingjun Mountain camp!

In addition, 15,000 people were placed by him along the Meridian Road, the Bao Slope Road, and the Fu Luo Road, responsible for delaying the enemy army. Another 5,000 men were placed by Li Dingguo at Xunyang and Xing'an in the eastern part of Hanzhong Prefecture to prevent a sneak attack by the Ming army through the Yugu Trail in the eastern part of the Qinling Mountains.

That is to say, Li Dingguo only let go of the two passages from Malingguan to Baocheng (of which Liuba to Baocheng belongs to the southern section of Baoxie Road) and from Luoyang to Chuxian, waiting for Wu Sangui and Shang Kexi to send them to the door.

"Lord Wang, Wu Sangui's soldiers have moved!"

"Lord Wang, Wu Sangui's soldiers are coming in two ways!"

Li Dingguo's two lieutenant generals, Luo Hu and Chen Yongfu, quickly stepped into the Chinese army of the Dingjun Mountain Camp, and also brought two good news that made Li Dingguo, who was dozing off, feel uplifted.

Li Dingguo abruptly stood up from a chair covered with tiger skins and strode to the large table covered with maps.

His sons Li Puxing and Li Sixing were also in the lobby of the Chinese army, and when they heard the words of Luo Hu and Chen Yongfu, they immediately put the two little wooden men in the corresponding positions on the map.

"It's good to be here!" Li Dingguo looked at the map, "Do you know how many people there are?" ”

"I don't know." Luo Hu said, "I don't think it will be too much...... It is impossible for Wu Sangui's soldiers to come to Hanzhong, and he cannot ignore the two directions of Qishan Road and Yangping Pass. Guanzhong also had to leave people behind, and defenders had to be deployed all the way from Dasanguan to Luoyang. ”

Chen Yongfu said: "The Meridian Road, the Baochuan Road, and the Fu Luo Road also have the Ming army...... This time, the Ming army came in five ways, and each way was up to 20,000 people, and we happened to break through each one, just like the Qing army in the Battle of Salhu! ”

"Who will hit first?" Li Dingguo asked.

"Let's beat the team that came over first!" Luo Hu said, "Send 50,000 troops to fight in formation on the north bank of the Han River." ”