On the day of leaving Beijing, more than 100,000 Tang troops under the leadership of Li Ziyuan, who proclaimed himself the king of Tang, first arrived in Tongzhou, in the granary of Tongzhou, there were nearly one million Shi Nanyang rice, because this place was related to the grain and grass of the Beijing division and more than 200,000 Tang troops, so Li Ziyuan deliberately left 20,000 horses here. Zhao Jiquan and Wang Jiaoquan led about 50,000 horses to the north towards Miyun, and Li Ziyuan, who personally led the main force of the Tang Army, stayed in Tongzhou for one night. Although it had been arranged in the capital, there were many things that he still did not worry about. In recent days, the capital and nearby prefectures and counties have appeared headless stickers every night, scolding him for killing the monarch and usurping the throne, and publicizing that the king of the Ming Dynasty will lead a large army to crusade against the thieves and restore the Ming Dynasty. In addition, Wuchang, Luoyang, and Taiyuan also made an expedited transfer of 800 miles to the local news, saying that there were also local states and counties that were unstable, and in some places, local officials and gentry, under the pretext that the people were poor and lacking, refused to allow the imperial court to levy mules, horses, and money, and some even said that the king would definitely be the world.

Since the Northern Expedition entered Henan last year, Li Ziyuan has fought many battles, until he successfully defeated the Beijing Division, he was full of confidence in sending troops, and he never felt that there was anything to worry about. But this time the battle was very different from the past. Although this crusade seems to be full of confidence on the surface, it is extremely heavy in the heart, and even a few times it may be fruitless, and even think that it will be defeated. Although he didn't know what would happen if he lost, he also thought about what kind of situation would arise, and that situation was even unpredictable. Now he is leading all the elite of the Tang Army. In case of defeat at Shanhaiguan, there may not even be a chance to hold on and wait for help.

The reason why he came up with this idea was because he knew too well that Zhu Mingzhong used troops, Zhu Mingzhong's use of troops was different from everyone else's purpose of defeating the enemy, he was good at using strange soldiers, and he paid attention to using strange soldiers to cut off the enemy's rear road, and then annihilate his main force.

It is precisely because of this that he was able to annihilate the main force of the Qing army in one battle, so that although the Qing army had 200,000, it did not dare to go south easily, not that the Qing army did not dare to go south, but because they did not dare, they were afraid that the main force would be annihilated again after losing their elite, and in the end they could only watch Zhu Mingzhong continue to grow.

"When marching and fighting, the enemy is annihilated, the enemy is defeated, and the enemy is defeated."

Secretly thinking about Zhu Mingzhong's words back then, Li Ziyuan silently wondered if he had left any loopholes this time.

First of all, the Beijing Division, the Beijing Division has 50,000 troops to defend, and the 50,000 troops in Tongzhou form horns against each other, these 100,000 troops can top 200,000, and the 50,000 troops led by Zhao Jiquan and Wang Jiaoquan are used to prevent Zhu Mingzhong from cutting off his back road from the north road, and there are ......

Again, Yu Xinqiao calculated all kinds of deployments, Li Ziyuan finally smiled reluctantly, the arrangement was very proper, there were no loopholes to be found, no matter what kind of surprise he Zhu Mingzhong wanted to make, it was impossible to easily cut off his back road.

But even so, Li Ziyuan's heart was heavy. There was a thought in his heart, a thought that he didn't dare to tell anyone - there was no certainty of victory or defeat in this battle!

The reason why he didn't have the slightest certainty was because he knew that the Loyal Army was far from being comparable to ordinary people, and it would be a taboo to attack now, in case it was defeated......

After being stationed in Tongzhou, after a short rest, Li Ziyuan immediately ordered the messenger to come to Zhu Yingsheng to discuss several issues that he had repeatedly considered along the way.

In previous years, he had never feared possible defeat. At that time, for him, it was nothing more than a struggle, and there was nothing to lose, but now it was different, he was about to ascend the throne, he was already the king of Tang, and he would soon be the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and because of this, he would seem to be more and more troubled by gains and losses.

According to the usual practice, Li Ziyuan's temporary residence in Tongzhou is the residence of the local gentry, although it is only a temporary stay for one night, but it is also a "palace", not only to clean it very clean, but even to prepare calligraphy and painting decorations, prepare a ring to serve.

Because the issue to be discussed with Zhu Yingsheng was extremely confidential, it was natural that Yahuan could not be allowed to come in, and no one was allowed outside the window, and no one was allowed to move around in the courtyard.

Even if he knew that no one approached within the range of Zhang Xu outside the house, Li Ziyuan's words were not loud, and he suppressed his voice and said to Zhu Yingsheng,

"Yunqi, it has been nineteen years since Gu was taken into the army in the first year of Hongguang. In the past nineteen years, although Lone has experienced a hundred battles and has always survived death, he has rarely been so uncertain as he is when he goes out today. You're a lonely henchman, what do you think is the case? ”

The king's words made Zhu Yingsheng's heart tighten, and then replied.

"Although the minister is very stupid, he is favored by the king and relies on his heart. Today, the king is in charge, the sacred heart is heavy, how can the foolish minister not know? Before the king set out on the expedition, the ministers tried to discourage him, but the king's intention to go east had been decided, and if there was hesitation, it would definitely affect morale, so the ministers had to consider how to save the situation if the war was unfavorable. ”

Or at other times, Li Ziyuan may be angry, but he also understands that Zhu Yingsheng is telling the truth. But this truth made his heart even heavier.

"If you don't win, you will lose first, which is exactly the right way to use soldiers."

Li Ziyuan pondered for a moment and whispered to him:

"Yes...... Will it get out of hand? It is believed that Zhu Mingzhong only has more than 100,000 horses at most, and he has to stay in various parts of Liaodong, and his ability to transfer is only 70,000 at most. And there are 200,000 horses under the command of Lone, plus the soldiers left behind, there are still more than 100,000, even if there is something unfavorable this time, the whole division can retreat if you want to, and it will not make the overall situation out of control......"

"No, my lord! What the minister is worried about is not the elite of the 70,000 loyal and righteous army in Shanhaiguan, but the fear that the loyal and righteous army will attack Heshan and Wuchang to the west, and take advantage of the void to cut off my retreat, after all, the main force of the king is still in Zhili, but it is a fact that there is emptiness in various places. ”

At the beginning, for the Northern Expedition, the main force was dispatched north, in Wuchang, Henan and Shanxi, but there were only tens of thousands of horses.

Hearing him say this, Li Ziyuan hesitated for a moment, and then said.

"Actually, this problem, Lone also thought about it, so he decided to crusade against Zhu Mingzhong, as long as he is defeated, then Jiangbei will have no backbone, and it doesn't matter if Henan is temporarily lost, after defeating Zhu Mingzhong, Lone will lead his troops south, and then take Jiangbei, without Zhu Mingzhong, this Huai Domain will not become a climate!"

Hearing what the king said, Zhu Yingsheng smiled bitterly.

"The king is indeed wise, but the minister is worried that it is too late."

Li Ziyuan was taken aback.

"Why is it too late?"

Even if Zhu Mingzhong's army was defeated, he could retreat to Shanhaiguan and then defend it by relying on the pass, and at this time he had already recruited Min Zheng and the southwestern army, and by then he would join forces to go north. The minister was worried that our army would lose and lose against him at Shanhaiguan, and before he could return to Beijing, the Zheng family and the elite division of the southwest had already come to the suburbs of Beijing. ”

"Will it be this fast?"

Hearing him say this, Li Ziyuan's back suddenly cooled

"Great King, although the canal is frozen now, but the sea route is still open, Zhu Huai and Min Zheng are both good at naval forces, if they send the army to the shore of Weigu or Beizhili hundreds of miles by water, the coast is long, and there is no defense. Once there is a policeman, no one will report it. If he brings troops from the sea, we will only close our eyes and ears as if we were deaf, and we will be caught off guard. ”

More cold sweat broke out on Li Ziyuan's back, just because he was still trying to stay calm. But for the first time he really felt panic, for the first time he felt like he was caught in a big net, and the more he struggled, the tighter the net became.

After being silent for a moment, he really couldn't think of any good plan, so he asked Zhu Yingsheng in a low voice.

"Today's army is on the march, and the world can see it, and it cannot be changed. In case, you, you, you...... Do you have any good plans to save my Datang from the current crisis? ”

"The king, the minister thinks that with Zhu Mingzhong's habit of winning with strange soldiers, he will definitely send surprise troops to take my belly and back by sea, in order to cut off my retreat and annihilate the main force of the king, he will not only transfer the troops of Fujian and Zheng, but also transfer the loyal and righteous troops in Shandong, Jiangbei and other places, and the rear must be empty.

Zhu Yingsheng's suggestion made Li Ziyuan's eyes shine, his troops are limited, Zhu Mingzhong's troops are also insufficient, he can't only transfer Min Zheng's troops, and not his own troops, in this way, his rear is bound to be empty, if he can take Jiangbei directly, he can take his wife and children, whether it is surrender or peace talks, with this bargaining chip, why worry about others?

"Then if our army engages with Zhu Mingzhong, if there is no winner for a while, how can we prevent him from cutting off my back road with surprise troops?"

"King, now, I Datang don't have much choice, only in this way can I force Zhu to negotiate peace with us, force him to withdraw his troops from Liaodong and Shandong, and then divide the world in two."

"What if he doesn't want to divide the world apart?"

"The families of the loyal and righteous army are all in Jiangbei, when the time comes, even if he doesn't agree, how can he control the chaos of the army?"

Nodding slightly, Li Ziyuan pondered for a moment, and then said.

"If that's the case, you have to transfer the Jingshi and Tongzhou troops to the south quickly, what do you think?"

"The tens of thousands of horses in the Beijing division are not a last resort, and the minister thinks that it is better not to transfer, and the Tongzhou soldiers can be adjusted, and the king's side can also be transferred."

Zhu Yingsheng agreed.

In addition, the minister thought that when he negotiated peace with Japan, he could give Wuchang to Zhu Huai in exchange for his withdrawal from Shandong and Liaodong, one place for another, and he would not oppose it. In this way, it can be exchanged for as little as three years and as much as five years. ”

"Why? If Huguang is lost, where will the food and salary of hundreds of thousands of troops come from? Won't he fall into the trap of purging him again? ”

As soon as he heard that he wanted to let Hu Guangyu give people, Li Ziyuan immediately retorted excitedly.

"Huguang is a heavy tax place, and it must not be given to Zhu Mingzhong!"

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