The war in Henan was in full swing, and the war in Shaanxi was kicked off by Sun Chuanting leading the army out of Longyou. In terms of the time of the expedition, Sun Chuanting, who was anxious for the king, was actually a few days earlier than Guo Ruke, who started the first battle in Yuzhou. It's just that his army went northwest through Luoyang, Huizhou and other places, where large areas were steep mountains and mountains, and it was not easy for soldiers and horses to pass. Therefore, when Sun Chuanting really arrived in Qinzhou, Gongchang Prefecture, which was relatively flat, it was already early April.

Soon after the new attachment of Dashun in Shaanxi Prefecture, people thought about their homeland, Sun Chuanting was at the forefront of the troops along the way, and the people in Huizhou, Chengxian, Xihe County, Lixian and other places were furious, and they killed Dashun officials and surrendered. The official gentry who was in the same situation as Sun Chuanting at the beginning experienced Dashun's cruel "recovery of stolen goods and assistance", but instead pinned their hopes on Sun Chuanting again.

Sun Chuanting also reversed the harsh and harsh image of Shaanxi in the early years, and told the people, only saying that "all those who are anyway are all Ming children, regardless of previous suspicions, and the money and food materials in the army have nothing to do with Ercao, and all that is needed is to be paid to the thief", which was supported by the army and the people. Although his army marched relatively slowly due to the terrain, it basically did not encounter any resistance, and it was generally very smooth, so that as soon as the troops approached the city of Qinzhou, an important town at the western end of the pass, the remaining soldiers in the city opened the door to greet them, and they quickly gained a firm foothold.

At present, Dashun's military deployment in Shaanxi is roughly divided into three parts, in addition to the 30,000 people in Guanzhong Tian Jianxiu, there are only 7,000 people in Xining Wei Dang Shousu and 5,000 people in Ningxia Wei Niu Chenghu, Qinzhou is only separated from Guanzhong in the east by Longshan, to the west to Xiningwei, and to the north to Ningxia Wei, so it can be said that it is in the midst of these three armies. This is a double-edged sword, at best, as long as Sun Chuanting can hold his position, it is enough to contain the three armies of the Shun army at the same time. To put it mildly, once Sun Chuanting wavered in this situation, then he would be pressured from three sides, and defeat would only be a matter of moment.

Sun Chuanting originally had 12,000 soldiers and horses, and the road successively recruited stragglers, and the total number of troops had exceeded 15,000 when he entered Qinzhou, and most of them were veterans and generals in Shaanxi, and their combat effectiveness was not weak. Neither Dang Shousu nor Niu Chenghu had the strength to take the initiative to attack Sun Chuanting, and the only one who could pose a threat to Sun Chuanting was Tian Jianxiu in Guanzhong. Sun Chuanting was originally prepared for a fierce battle with Tian Jianxiu, but he expected to consolidate the defense in Qinzhou for nearly three days, and there was no sign of Guanzhong, and I don't know if the situation in Hanzhong or Henan affected Tian Jianxiu's decision. On the contrary, Xiningwei's party Shousu led the army to Ningxia Wei to move to Ningxiawei, the reason Sun Chuanting knew that Xiningwei was on the border, and the party Shousu was guarding there with the original intention of suppressing Tusi, but now the overall situation in Shaanxi has changed, and the importance of the border has decreased, and he went to Ningxiawei not only to be compatible with Niu Chenghu and form a strong enough field force, but also to supervise Niu Chenghu in case Niu Chenghu was lured by Sun Chuanting.

Niu Chenghu's attitude towards Sun Chuanting has always been very ambiguous, Sun Chuanting contacted him when he sent troops, and he replied that he would definitely respond when Sun Chuanting arrived in Qinzhou, but when it came to the end, Niu Chenghu did not move.

Such a typical wall-riding style was already expected by Sun Chuanting, if he sat back and watched the party Shousu enter Ningxia Wei, then even if Niu Chenghu wanted to do it anyway, I am afraid that he would be powerless, and at that time, in addition to Tian Jianxiu in the east, he would also face an opponent of equal strength in the north, and the pressure would increase sharply. After thinking about it, Sun Chuanting decided to make a desperate bet and directly advance north to Ningxia Wei to compete with Dang Shousu for Niu Chenghu.

"By no means, our army is going north, and the Guanzhong Tian thieves only need to divide one division to cross Gongchang Mansion, and the connection between our army and Hanzhong will be completely severed." Bai Guangen, the chief soldier of the Hanzhong town guard, who accepted Sun Chuanting's verbal appointment, and Gao Ruli, the deputy general of the Zuo Xieying Battalion under the supervision standard, became anxious to become ants on a hot pot when they heard Sun Chuanting's plan, and dissuaded them one after another.

"If you don't go to Ningxiawei, it will be difficult to determine the heart of Niu Chenghu, at that time, there will be the party and cattle in the north, and there will be field thieves in the east, tens of thousands of people will attack Qinzhou, and our army will be in danger!" Sun Chuanting's Yintang was red, and Zhenzhen said, "Our army went to Ningxia, harvested cattle into tigers, and blocked the party and Tian two thieves with 20,000 people. ”

Speaking of strategic vision alone, Bai Guangen, Gao Ruli and others think that they are not as good as Sun Chuanting, and ask themselves that what Sun Chuanting planned is indeed a wonderful move, but it is a pity that everyone is not an emotionless chess piece when marching and fighting, Bai Guangen and other generals have to consider their own future and net worth in addition to military affairs. From this point of view, staying in Qinzhou and maintaining the border with Zhaoying in Hanzhong is naturally the safest choice.

Sun Chuanting didn't seem to notice the embarrassed looks of Bai Guangen and the others, and continued to state his idea endlessly: "After collecting Niu Chenghu, our army will be able to transfer to Yulin through Ningxia, and the army of thieves in northern Shaanxi is weak, and our army can attack Shanxi in one go!" ”

"Attack Shanxi?" Bai Guangen and Gao Ruli rubbed their ears and looked at each other in amazement.

Sun Shoufa, the deputy general of the Hanzhong Assistant, said worriedly: "I'm afraid that the thieves will not obediently watch our army fight northern Shaanxi and enter Shanxi." ”

Sun Chuanting shook his head and said: "I have long thought about this, even if the field thieves refuse to sit still, they will not be able to stop our army with all their might, at most they will send some soldiers and horses to intercept it." Our army is an elite soldier in a hundred battles, so what is there to fear? ”

Bai Guangen tilted his head and twisted his face and said: "It is said that the thieves will not stop it with all their might, why is the military gate so swearing?" ”

Sun Chuanting said with a straight face: "Don't forget, there is still Zhao Dangshi in Hanzhong. The soldiers of the thieves are only 30,000 in the sky, and there are many Kongdao in the Qinling Mountains, but it is not so easy to be well defended, and he does not dare to take it lightly against Zhao Dangshi. He also said, "Li Chuang's palace and the families of many thieves are all in Xi'an, Guanzhong is extremely important to the thieves, and the thieves are guarding Li Chuang's old book, how can they no longer be careful." ”

Bai Guangen was speechless, Gao Ruli still didn't give up and said: "There are not many thieves in northern Shaanxi, and I heard that this may not be the case in Shanxi. The meaning of the military gate is to go to Shanxi to Beijing Qinwang, but Shanxi and Beizhili are all thieves, and there are also field thieves in Shaanxi on the back road. ”

Sun Chuanting's face changed sharply, and his tone became heavier: "What are you talking about!" The thieves rebelled against the sky, invaded my Ming land, poisoned my Ming people, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Beizhili, have always been my Ming land, and if you really want to say that the lone army is deep, he is the lone army. Our army is the leader, gathering the soldiers and civilians of the world, all of them are united, and at that time, it will not be hundreds of thousands of thieves surrounding our army, but our army will surround him with tens of millions of soldiers and civilians! After saying that, he blushed and coughed.

Qiao Yuanzhu, the supervising army, hurriedly handed over the teacup and said, "Don't be excited, take two sips of tea first." ”

Sun Chuanting took the teacup and took a sip, then sighed again.

The most feared thing is about to become a reality, Bai Guangen, Gao Ruli and others are depressed, and the scene they want to see the most is to wait and see in Qinzhou, let Zhao Ying and Shunjun know first, and then choose the opportunity to act. Thinking that Sun Chuanting is enthusiastic and wants to be a leading bird everywhere, I can't help but regret following Sun Chuanting to Longyou.

Sun Shoufa looked at Bai Guangen, who had a sad face, and then looked at Sun Chuanting, who was clenched with his fists, and said: "I heard that Zhao Dangshi has been fighting with thieves in Henan recently, I think it is urgent for us to go north to Ningxia, but to go to northern Shaanxi, it is better to slow down for the time being, depending on the situation in Henan." In the early years, when Sun Chuanting went out of Henan, the Ming army in Shaanxi was defeated because of disagreement and detachment, and now there seems to be such a trend, he is afraid of repeating the mistakes of the past, so he put forward a compromise proposal, hoping to get the approval of both sides.

Wu Dading, the deputy general of the right assistant battalion under the superintendent's mark, also said: "This is pertinent, if Henan fights well, the field thieves are bound to move, and our army will take advantage of that time to move again, and nothing will go wrong." If Henan does not fight well, our army will rush to northern Shaanxi, and the rear will not be stable. Although he felt uncomfortable when he thought of Zhao Dangshi, he wanted to get as far away from Zhao Ying as possible, but he couldn't stand the situation and had to think twice.

He Zhen, the chief soldier of the pacesetter battalion under the standard of the superintendent who is known as Sun Chuanting's confidant, said: "Military gate, first stabilize Niu Chenghu, our army can attack and retreat in Shaanxi, and we can act calmly." Maybe he can still cooperate with Hanzhong Zhao to exterminate the thieves first. In that case, our army will go to Shanxi and Beijing again, and sit back and relax. ”

Sun Chuanting pondered for a long time, his lowered gaze slowly raised, looked around at everyone, and finally landed on Hao Mingluan's body. Hao Mingluan, who was silent, glanced at Sun Chuanting and arched his hand: "My subordinates also think this plan is appropriate." ”

Everyone expects this, Sun Chuanting is not an arbitrary person, nodding his head and shaking his sleeves, he was about to make a decision, but at this time, an officer suddenly ran in from outside the door, regardless of the interception of the guards in front of the hall, rushed to the front and knelt down on one knee and said: "The military gate, Admiral Zhao of Hanzhong has an urgent letter, and I want to ask the military gate to open it in person!" ”

"Zhao Dangshi's urgent letter? Could it be that there are any variables in Henan? ”

"I think maybe Hanzhong is going to act."

The generals in the hall listened and talked with each other, Sun Chuanting took the letter, opened the silk bag wrapped outside, picked out the fire paint, and unfolded it to take a closer look. In front of everyone's eyes, Sun Chuanting's face turned from red to blue, and from green to white.

"Military Gate...... The letter ......, "Qiao Yuanzhu is the closest to Sun Chuanting, and he can see it clearly, Sun Chuanting's face is no longer bloody, his eyes are wet and red for a moment, and his lips are trembling slightly.

Just when everyone wanted to hear what Zhao Dangshi wrote from Sun Chuanting's mouth, Sun Chuanting frowned and pursed his mouth, but he finally couldn't stop the heart-piercing pain, and he actually made a "wow" sound and sprayed blood on the spot. Blood spattered in the hall, and the frightened generals jumped up in unison and rushed forward, but when they saw Sun Chuanting's eyes closed and his body tilted, he immediately fainted, and there was still blood oozing from the corners of his mouth.

"Get a doctor!" He Zhen helped Sun Chuanting and shouted loudly.

Bai Guangen found that the letter fell to the ground, so he quickly leaned over to pick it up and looked at it twice, but unfortunately he didn't know how to read, so he had to hand the letter to Qiao Yuanzhu and said, "Lord Prison Army, what is written in the letter?" ”

Qiao Yuanzhu took the letter and looked at it, as if he had seen an evil ghost, his face turned pale, and he was speechless. Bai Guangen became impatient, slapped the table and shouted: "His grandmother's, tell me quickly, what did Zhao Dangshi write!" ”

Hao Mingluan also read the letter, he looked calmer, swallowed his saliva, and said in a deep voice: "Beijing has fallen. ”

This time, Bai Guangen and all the troops present were like thunderbolts, stunned.

On March 19, the 17th year of Chongzhen, when wars broke out in Henan and Shaanxi, Li Zicheng, the emperor of Dashun who was approaching the city of Beijing, attacked the city in only two days. The secret line of the Zhao Ying Special Service Division, which was lurking in Beijing, was urgent for thousands of miles, and it only took half a month to send the news back.

"The letter said that the emperor ...... The emperor died...... The crown prince and the two princes all fell into the hands of the thieves......"

"It's over! It's all over! Bai Guangen sat on the ground with his buttocks, beating the ground and wailing, "The military gate also said how to go to northern Shaanxi and Shanxi to go to Beijing Qinwang to save the car, and now the car has collapsed, what are we still talking about!" Not only him, but most of the other generals also hid their faces and sighed.

Qiao Yuanzhu pursed his lips and couldn't speak, and when the generals were at a loss, he suddenly saw Sun Chuantingfu slowly waking up again, and opened his eyes like a gossamer.

"Military Gate!"

Sun Chuanting panted heavily, glanced at the generals who were eagerly staring at his six gods and no masters, and let out a long sigh, and then, a strong and irresistible determination was revealed in the faint voice: "I have made up my mind, go to Ningxia, go to northern Shaanxi, go to Shanxi, go to Beijing, go north to kill thieves, and those who violate the order will be killed!" ”