In the dense jungle, hundreds of people are walking in a very narrow path. This forest path is very narrow, only one person wide, and there are large and small stones popping up from the dirt under your feet, and the dense jungle is flanked by it, which can hardly be called a road.

Although the road was only one person wide, they still walked forward in a parallel manner, and the outer bodies of the two people in parallel would occasionally scratch the trees next to them. And everyone should also be careful to pay attention to poisonous snakes and beasts: although since this is a road often taken by villagers, there should be no fierce beasts, but what if? Can tigers still appear on Jingyang Gang, let alone the jungle?

The group had not been long away and felt very tired and wanted to rest, when an open space appeared in front of them, large enough to hold hundreds of people, and the leader of these people ordered them to rest, and the people who were marching immediately sat down on the ground and rested; Some even lay down, oblivious to the ants on the ground crawling up on him.

One of them, who looked like a leader, also sat on the ground, and a soldier with luggage on his back put the bamboo basket on his back on the ground, and the man rested on the basket.

After resting for a while, the man turned his head sideways and asked the man beside him, "How far is this from Qinghua City?" ”

"Your Majesty, there are about two miles of land to the Zhu River, and after the Zhu River to the east, there is a five or six miles of land that is Qinghua."

"It's not easy to walk from here to Erlidi in Zhujiang, but it's easy to walk after Zhujiang Road, and you will definitely be able to reach Qinghua City before dark today." A man in light leather armor next to him replied.

"That's good." The leader sighed, "It's finally almost time to arrive at Thanh Hoa City. I was too tired for a day and a night. ”

"And there are 30,000 of my cronies near Qinghua City, and with their geographical advantages, they should be able to block the pursuing Ming army. When I arrived in Thanh Hoa City, I regrouped and resisted the Ming army. It's a pity that Wei Yan was killed in the pursuit of the Ming army. I'm missing another general. ”

The person who spoke, although he was very embarrassed at this time, was the current Emperor Hu Jichen of Annan.

The day before Zhu Zanyi led his troops to attack Nanding City, Hu Jichen led thousands of soldiers and horses to retreat from Nanding City. At that time, Hu Jichen originally wanted to withdraw to the Western Capital City and regroup in the Western Capital. There are still 30,000 of his troops in the western capital, and even if this city cannot be defended, he must bring soldiers, horses, money and food to Qinghua City in order to continue to fight against the Ming army. If Ruan Xizhou could hold on to Nanding City without losing it, he would lead his troops north after finishing the troops and horses in Qinghua City, and join forces with Ruan Xizhou to defeat the Ming army besieging Nanding.

But he never expected that Zhu Zanyi led his troops to attack Nanding City for only three days before defeating the city. After that, although Zhu Zanyi stayed in the city to prepare for the establishment of the capital, he still sent cavalry to pursue Hu Jichen.

The cavalry he sent caught up with Hu Jichen on the north bank of the Ma River, and the Hu army was instantly routed and scattered and fled. Hu Jichen, under the protection of the few hundred remaining soldiers who were still loyal to him, took advantage of the difficult terrain to escape from Ascension and burrow into the path in the jungle. The western capital was also on the north bank of the Ma River, so he ordered to flee to Thanh Hoa City.

They rested under the tree for a while, and Hu Jichen ordered the soldiers to get up and continue on their way. The soldiers dragged their tired bodies and walked for a long time, and when they heard the sound of gurgling water in front of them, they knew that they had arrived at the Zhujiang River, and they were in good spirits: it was much easier to walk after crossing the river.

Soon, all the soldiers came out of the forest. The person who led the way said to Hu Jichen: "Your Majesty, the minister knows that there is a single-plank bridge built by the local people not far from here, which can be passed, and there is no need to take a boat. The minister immediately led his soldiers across the single-plank bridge to Thanh Hoa. ”

Hu Jichen was about to nod his head in agreement, when he suddenly thought of something and instructed him: "General Bai, you take a few people to pass through the single-plank bridge first and see what the situation on the other side is." Be careful not to be spotted by the local guards. Although the guards of Qinghua should be his cronies, but the current situation is so bad, if you can't keep this person, you will have different intentions, so if you enter Qinghua City, you will be caught in the net.

Although General Bai, who led the way, didn't understand Hu Jichen's thoughts, he still bowed down and led the escort to walk towards the single-plank bridge. Hu Jichen turned his head and told everyone to sit down and rest.

If the Thanh Hoa guards had a different intention to take refuge in the Ming Kingdom, I would quietly bypass Thanh Hoa City and head south to Yi'an. Yi An is Han Cang personally led the troops to garrison, even if he has the intention of fighting with me for power, he can't take care of it at the moment, it's a big deal to officially let Xian and hand over all the general affairs to him to deal with. Hu Jichen thought.

Hu Jichen thought he had prepared for the worst, but he didn't expect that the news that General Bai brought him would be even worse than he expected the worst.

"What, you said that Qinghua City has been captured by He Rong and his troops; Not only that, but even Yi'an City has been lost, and Han Cang was captured by him? Hu Jichen shouted in disbelief.

"Your Majesty, according to the news inquired, He Rong, the general of the Ming army, led his troops to land in Pingzhang in the early morning of the 24th of the lunar month, and then went south to attack Yi'an City, and rushed to the city at noon on the 25th. The defenders of the city fought a bloody battle with the Ming army, and the whole army was defeated in the evening, and the Ming army occupied Yi'an. ”

"Today's saint has already withdrawn from the city, but Chen Yuanzhi, a rebel general who surrendered to the Ming army, found that the handsome soldiers were rushing to attack, and now the saint is hunting in the north."

After the Ming army rested in Yi'an for a few days, He Rong led 50,000 soldiers to the north at the beginning of the first month, and came to Qinghua City two days ago, that is, on the sixth day of the first month, and immediately began to attack the city. The soldiers defending the city had already learned about the loss of Yi'an City at that time, but they did not expect He Rong to attack Qinghua City so quickly, and spent their main energy on guarding against the Ming army on the coast and north, but He Rong was caught off guard and lost Qinghua City that afternoon. ”

"These news were obtained by the minister from the mouths of several rebels who surrendered to the Ming army, and the minister had already executed them all before returning." General Bai said.

"This, this, this." Hu Jichen has been here for a long time, and he doesn't know what to say. It was worse than the worst he had ever expected! Qinghua was lost, Yi'an was lost, Han Cang was captured, all the essence of Dayu had been occupied by the Ming army, more than 100,000 elite soldiers were lost, and now only 30,000 capable warriors were left in the hands of Congqi who resisted the coalition forces of Champang, Siam, and Chenla in Guangnan and Quang Zhi.

However, Hu Jichen is so old and has experienced a lot of things, so he calmed down his mood as quickly as possible and made a decision, and said to General Bai: "Since Thanh Hoa and Yi'an have been occupied by the Ming army, let's go upstream along the Zhu River, cross the river in the Blue Mountain, and go to Quang Binh Province by going through the deep mountains and old forests to bypass Thanh Hoa and Yi'an." ”