Coming to the table, Li Xiao, Wu Sangui and others staggered their words and plans, and for a while, the guests and hosts were harmonious. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Wu Sangui, Fang Guangchen and others were very happy that Li Xiao, who was the Duke of Tang Guo, could treat themselves so warmly.

After the banquet, Li Xiao invited Wu Sangui and Fang Guangchen to enter the living room and sit down with tea and hosts.

The three of them casually chatted about some words, Wu Sangui put down the teacup and went straight to the topic: "Tang Guogong, I am waiting to come to Dengzhou, in addition to having the intention to visit Master Li, but I also want to know what Tang Guogong thinks about the current situation in Shandong?" “

After Wu Sangui finished speaking, his eyes looked straight at Li Xiao, full of inquiry and seeking advice.

Li Xiao's brows furrowed slightly, and soon the expression on his face returned to calm. He sighed lightly and said slowly: "Uncle, with all due respect, the situation of Shandong's resistance to the Qing Dynasty is extremely unoptimistic. “

"Oh, why does Master Li think so?" A shadow flashed across Wu Sangui's face, and he asked again.

Li Xiao took a sip of tea, put down the teacup, and sighed lightly: "The Qing army is attacking this time, with a total of more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, and the momentum is very great. As far as this public knows, the 100,000 Qing troops are now stationed in the area of Leling County, where Shandong and Beizhili meet, and the land of Shandong is already in danger. In order to save this crisis, Ben Gong urgently appealed to the imperial court, requesting that Ben Gong temporarily command the soldiers and horses in Shandong, in order to unite the forces of the people to resist the Tartars. “

Li Xiao paused for a moment, and then said: "My duke never expected that the imperial court would not agree to this kind of treatment, so he decided to arrange separate actions for the soldiers and horses who came to aid Shandong and the Tang army under me. From my father's point of view, now that the great enemy is at the head, and the troops in Shandong are insufficient, we have not yet been able to form a unified command, but are fighting separately, and this is really an extremely serious strategic mistake. “

Li Xiao's words attracted Wu Sangui's warm approval.

He slapped his thigh heavily and nodded, "Master Li is right!" In the following opinion, the imperial court made a mistake first, and then sent the first assistant Liu Yuliang to coordinate the dispatch of soldiers and horses, but it was a major mistake! Thinking that Liu Yuliang was born as a civil official, he was cowardly and incompetent, he didn't know anything about marching and fighting, and he had no skills except for being good at internal fighting. Sending such a person to command the Ming official army is to put it mildly, it can be described as using a stupid pig to command a group of lions! The imperial court uses people like this, which is simply a way to bring about its own defeat. “

After Wu Sangui finished speaking, Fang Guangchen also sighed and interjected: "Master Li should also know, now the first assistant Liu Yuliang, because he was afraid of the momentum of the Qing army, just left the Beijing Division, and he cried back, which is really a bag." As a last resort, the imperial court sent Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, to take over as the commander-in-chief of Shandong's reinforcements. It's a pity that this Lord Yan is also a civilian official who has never been on the battlefield, and let him take charge of the Shandong war situation, I am afraid that it will be difficult to strengthen him, and it will be difficult to help. “

After Fang Guangchen finished speaking, there was silence in the room for a while.

It was Wu Sangui who broke the silence, and he asked in a low voice: "Lord Li, now that the arrangements of the imperial court have been decided, it is useless for me to complain." In your opinion, where will the Qing army attack next? ”

Hearing Wu Sangui's question, Li Xiao replied with burning eyes: "Uncle Chang, according to Bengong, the Qing army will definitely focus on attacking Texas next!" ”

Hearing Li Xiao's affirmative words, Wu Sangui and Fang Guangchen were not surprised.

Li Xiao continued: "The reason why this duke thinks this is because our army fought with the Qing army in Zhuozhou last time and defeated its cavalry, so after the Qing army tasted the strength of our Tang army, it will definitely have a shadow on our army. Now, this duke has ordered Tian Wei, the chief general of Xingzhong Town of the Tang Army, to lead the soldiers and horses of the A Battalion of Xingzhong Town to garrison Wuding Prefecture in northwest Shandong. In addition to the nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses of the first battalion, Bengong arranged many auxiliary soldiers, bringing a large number of trebuchets, earth-shaking thunder and other defensive weapons to assist in defending the city. Therefore, this Wuding Prefecture, it is difficult for the Qing army to capture it immediately. If the Qing army is not stupid, it is very likely that Wuding Prefecture in northwest Shandong will only adopt a feint offensive and will throw the main forces elsewhere. ”

Therefore, Tang Guogong thinks that when Wuding Prefecture is difficult to conquer, will the Qing army turn to attack another gateway to Shandong, the city of Dezhou in the west? But in the next view, now Dezhou City, the city is high, the defense measures are quite complete, and there are Shaanxi reinforcement and suppression of the general soldier Cao Bianjiao, Liaodong aid and suppression of the general soldier Zu Kuan, Shanxi deputy general soldier Liu Liangzuo, Shandong deputy general soldier Ni Pet and other troops and horses to defend together, the total number of soldiers and horses defending the city, there are also nearly 20,000 people, which is considerable. Therefore, if the Qing army in Texas City wants to attack strongly, it is not so easy to capture, right? Wu Sangui asked again.

"If that's the case, then the land of Shandong is even more dangerous." Li Xiao said with a worried face: "If the Qing army attacks Dezhou and does not resist, it is very likely to give up continuing the attack, and instead bypass Dezhou, attack Jinan or Yanzhou and other places, avoid the real and attack the weak points of our army, this is what my father is most worried about!" ”

"If that's the case, then this Luzhong area will be bad." Fang Guangchen interjected with a solemn face: "Now in the central Luzhong region, Liu Zeqing, the general soldier of Shandong, is stationed in Jinan, Zu Dabi, the deputy chief soldier of the Liaodong Forward Battalion, is stationed in Yanzhou, and our Ningyuan soldiers and horses are stationed in Jiyang, all of which have only thousands of soldiers and horses. ”

"This is what this duke is most worried about, if the inner Luzhong area, including the provincial capital Jinan, is lost, and the Qing army is allowed to poison, then Shandong is in danger! It is very likely that the Qing army will divide its forces and attack again, and break our Shandong soldiers and horses respectively. Li Xiao said with a solemn expression.

"If that's the case, maybe Master Li can crack it? There can't be any Qing army attacking rampantly, and my Ming official army is helpless, right? Wu Sangui asked again.

"Hmph, the Qing army is not a three-headed and six-armed monster, how can they not do anything!" Li Xiao snorted coldly, and said to Wu Sangui: "General Wu Bing, in my opinion, if you want, this soldier can lead the soldiers and horses of the B battalion of Xingzhong Town, send troops from Dengzhou, go to Jiyang, and be stationed in the same city with you to help each other." If the Qing army attacks, it can be defeated together, and it can be worry-free to hold Jiyang. ”

Hearing that Li Xiao was willing to send troops to defend Jiyang with himself, Wu Sangui's face was full of joy, and he said loudly: "Lord Li is willing to send the Tang army to fight with him, and he is overjoyed, so what is there to worry about!" Then it is in Jiyang City, and welcome Lord Li to send troops! ”

As soon as Wu Sangui expressed his position, Fang Guangchen on the side asked Li Xiao again: "If the Qing army moves to Yanzhou in the south, what should Lord Li do?" ”

Li Xiao chuckled lightly and replied loudly: "Now Yanzhou has two thousand Liaodong forward battalion soldiers and horses garrisoned by Zu Dabi, although there are few soldiers and horses, but in the single county in the south of Yanzhou, there is the Iron Dragon City built by our army, and now the soldiers and horses of the C battalion of Xingzhong Town are arranged. If the Qing army comes to Yanzhou, then this prince can order the C battalion of Xingzhong Town to be urgently transferred to Yanzhou City to guard it with Zu Dabi, and this Yanzhou land is nothing to worry about. ”

"Master Li's plan is very good! The deputy commander-in-chief of Nazu, seeing that Lord Li was willing to send the Tang army to help in the battle, would definitely welcome it, if there were nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses stationed in this Yanzhou city, it would be enough to defend it. Wu Sangui echoed from the side, here, he suddenly frowned, and said to Li Xiao: "Lord Li, if the Qing army bypasses Dezhou to attack, neither north to attack Jiyang, nor south to attack Yanzhou, but concentrates forces and attacks the provincial capital of Jinan, what should Lord Li do?" ”

Hearing Wu Sangui's question, Li Xiao let out a long sigh.

"What the eldest uncle said is also the most worrying thing in my father's heart!" Li Xiao frowned and said: "Now in Jinan, it is Liu Zeqing, the chief soldier of Shandong, who is personally stationed in Jinan, and this person regards this Jinan City as his private confinement, and is very suspicious of the foreign guest army. And this Liu Zeqing is really a despicable villain, and his father has always been at odds with him, so it is really difficult to work with such a villain. “

"Of course, now that the national disaster is at hand, my father doesn't want to deal with villains like him. If the Qing army really wants to attack Jinan, the soldiers will immediately send troops from Jiyang to the south to rescue. Li Xiao sighed lightly and said, "I just hope that Liu Zeqing, this guy, is not too soft in his bones, and he can hold on until the arrival of this soldier." Of course, in such a hasty response, our Tang Army will most likely suffer heavy losses, but there is no way to do it. “

There was silence in the room for a while.

The faces of the three people were all thoughtful.

"Then Lord Li, when will you send troops to Jiyang?" It was Wu Sangui who broke the silence.

"Three days later, this guild personally led the soldiers and horses to Jiyang." Li Xiao replied clearly.

"Okay, when your army arrives, in Jiyang City, set up a feast for Lord Li and the soldiers of the whole army, and pick up the wind and wash the dust." Wu Sangui responded angrily.

Seeing that Wu Sangui was a guest from other places, but he expressed such a bold attitude, Li Xiao had a good impression of him even more in his heart. So, he smiled and said, "Very good, then the prince will thank General Wu for his kindness." “

Wu Sangui and others only stayed in Dengzhou for one day, and the next morning, they hurriedly returned to Jiyang.

Before leaving, after receiving Li Xiao's promise to lead his troops the day after tomorrow, Wu Sangui looked relieved, and together with Fang Guangchen, he led the guards to return west to Jiyang City.

Three days later, Li Xiao really mobilized the soldiers and horses of the second battalion of Xingzhong Town, as well as all the cavalry troops, 2,400 Xuanhu heavy cavalry, 2,400 flying harrier light cavalry, 1,800 Manchurian cavalry, 2,000 firecrackers, 70 heavy dragon artillery troops, more than 1,500 auxiliary soldiers, and nearly 23,000 soldiers and horses, led by Li Xiao himself, and went straight to Jiyang.

And the guard of Dengju City was Li Xiao from the Pyongnam camp on Jeju Island, and a total of soldiers and horses were used to maintain law and order.

When Li Xiao led a large number of soldiers and horses to the west, the Qing army was divided into two parts, according to the previous plan, 40,000 soldiers and horses all the way, led by the ordered generals Dolgon and Prince Hauge of Su, to feint to attack Wuding Prefecture.

The other line of 60,000 soldiers and horses, led by the Yangwu general Yue Zhen, with Abatai, Dudu, and Nikan as deputy generals, as the main force of the army, turned to attack Dezhou.

When a large number of soldiers and horses of the Qing army were marching to attack Dezhou, Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, was worried about dealing with the seriously tense military-civilian relations in the city of Dezhou.

It turned out that now Texas has gathered soldiers and horses from all over the Ming army to help, but soldiers such as Zu Kuan and Liu Liangzuo have extremely bad military discipline, harassing and looting the people everywhere, and there are evil deeds of women from good families, which makes the whole Texas miserable and unspeakable.

Liu Zhixun, the governor of Dezhou, was extremely angry at the corruption of military discipline in the Ming Dynasty, and was determined to come forward and avenge the people.

So, he immediately complained to Zu Kuan, Liu Liangzuo and others about the evil deeds of his soldiers, but he didn't expect that Zu Kuan and others not only did not uphold justice, but were angry with him. What is wrong with saying that the current military salary is insufficient, and the subordinate soldiers are robbing the common people's things. There is a way that the emperor is not short of hungry soldiers, and they did not plunder and kill the people, but they are already gracious to their subordinates.

In the end, Liu Zhixun, as a dignified governor, was driven out of the barracks by a group of noisy generals and sticks, which can be described as swept away.

Liu Zhixun hated it in his heart, but he was helpless. Fortunately, Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, brought his staff Fang Wen and the two of them to Dezhou to reward the army, and Liu Zhixun, who was angry, immediately reported to Yan Jizu about these evil deeds of joining the Ming army.

Yan Jizu listened to Liu Zhixun's complaints, his face was quite ugly, but he was very helpless in his heart.

In this late Ming Dynasty, there are soldiers and horses in his hands, and he is a civil official, what can he do with Zukuan, Liu Liangzuo and others? In the end, he had to arrange Liu Zhixun with kind words, telling him to be patient for the time being, and not to worry too much about these ignorant soldiers with their heads hanging on their crotches, after all, they really annoyed these guys, they can do anything.

You must know that Kong Youde, who rebelled in Dengzhou that day, was not because he was in the boundary of Wuqiao in Beizhili, because he fought for a chicken, and overturned with the local people, and finally rebelled and poisoned the land of Denglai in Shandong, for several years or two?

The previous lesson was in the past, and there was a great enemy of the Qing army pressing the border, so although Yan Jizu was the governor and the nominal commander-in-chief of Shandong soldiers and horses, he had to be cautious and never dared to stand up for Liu Zhixun.

Liu Zhixun retreated with hatred, and Yan Jizu sighed secretly in the official residence.

Such a Ming official army that is as fearful as a tiger, but is extremely vicious to the people, can it really resist the invasion of the strong and warlike Qing army?

Yan Jizu's heart is very bottomless.

It's just that just one day after he arrived in Texas, he heard a shocking news.

That is, according to the report from spies outside the city, most of the Qing army has left Leling, one is partial to the division, and the other is the main force of the Qing army, which is overwhelming, and is killing Texas in a mighty way.

Well, the Qing army came so quickly, and he, the commander-in-chief of the war, could no longer leave Texas, so he could only reluctantly pick up the burden of defending the city of Texas.

"Pass on the order of this constitution, quickly summon all the generals, and enter my mansion to discuss matters!"

Yan Jizu, whose face changed greatly, urgently issued an order to Fang Wenhe, a staff member on the side.

"Students obey!"