The Ming army Liu Shengbu took a boat to the mouth of the Majiang River, and the Japanese soldiers came to Qinghua City! When the news was reported to Qinghua, it immediately shook the government and the opposition.

Originally, the defeat of Fu Ruan Shuai, the Taifu of the Great Yue Kingdom, had already made people panic. Ruan Shuai, who claimed to have an army of 500,000 troops, attacked the Ming State in about half a day, and the reinforcements of the Ming State were defeated, the military fortress defense battle was defeated, and then the city of Beijiang was lost. Ruan Jian, the squire of the military department, rushed back to Thanh Hoa and told him the details, and Chen Jikuo panicked.

Suddenly, there was news of Liu Shengjun, which made matters worse.

The entire "imperial capital" Qinghua City, chickens fly and dogs jump; Because Chen Jikuo decided to leave Thanh Hoa on the same day and retreat to Yi'an City, his land of Longxing. The defense of Thanh Hoa will be handed over to the Taibao and the Vietnamese army general Nguyen Khanh Gie. Of course, Chen Jikuo had to bring the ministers of the court and some guards to accompany him, and the matter was so hurried that Qinghua City was in chaos.

Seeing such chaos, Ruan Jian finally remembered to pacify Wang Lili...... Those who advocate that Ruan Shuai's troops should not gather troops for a decisive battle, Ruan Jian can be said to be an afterthought; But Li Li did strongly oppose it before the war began, and proposed a different strategy.

Looking back now, Ruan Jian felt that Li Li's words became more and more reasonable.

So Nguyen Jian hurried to Le Li's mansion in Thanh Hoa to hear his opinion on the current situation.

The people in Loei are also packing up their things and preparing to leave Thanh Hoa. However, Li Li's house was full of young and strong men, and his family members were not here. Ruan Jian was ushered into the living room and served a cup of tea.

After Ruan Jian met Li Li, he first had a sad face and a long sigh.

And Li Li also frowned, but he had to calm down a lot, and he quoted a Han saying: "Everything is foreseen, and everything is not prepared." When the matter comes to an end, there is no way to solve the situation in front of us, but to think more about what to do in the future. ”

Ruan recommended and said: "The emperor is going to leave the capital (Thanh Hoa) immediately, is this right?" ”

Li Li shook his head and said: "The monarch and the ministers left Beijing in a hurry, which shook the morale of the army, and it was not easy for the Taibao (Ruan Jingyi) to hold the imperial capital; If the emperor is asked to live and die with the capital, he is afraid that the emperor will not agree no matter what. Therefore, the current situation can only be like this, and there is no way.

However, the Dayue army on the other side of Dongguan still has time to arrange. If they only retreat to the sea, it will not work; It is necessary to disperse the troops, find favorable terrain all the way from the mouth of the sea to Hoa Lu (present-day Ninh Binh, Vietnam), and resist step by step, so as to consume the boats and delay time. ”

Ruan recommended and said: "The king of pacification is reasonable, and I will go to the palace again and advise the emperor." ”

Li Li asked in confusion again: "Taifu Ruan has a lot of people in Beijiang Mansion, even if he loses the decisive battle, he will not be defeated so quickly?" ”

Ruan Jian said with a complicated expression: "I saw with my own eyes on the battlefield, the Great Vietnamese Army is simply about to collapse at the touch of a button!" At that time, the various units of our army had just approached the enemy's position dozens of paces, and the Ming army suddenly attacked with guns and artillery, causing heavy casualties and horror among the officers and men of our army; Our army retreated, and the Ming army infantry immediately swarmed in, alas......"

Ruan Jian's heart was palpitating: "The firearms of the Ming army are extraordinary. The firebolt is by no means the bronze handcuff used in the past, and the lead bullet hits no closer than the bow and arrow, and hits the person harder; Its artillery can bombard a mile away, causing a large number of casualties. ”

Liley asked, "What are the shells made of?" ”

Ruan recommended: "It's just a round iron lump!" He gestured and said, "I can see clearly in the big village on the military formation, the cannonball should be flying sideways, will jump and scurry on the ground, and a single cannon can destroy a lot of people." ”

Li Li nodded slightly, noncommittal. He pondered for a while and said, "By the way, I think that if the emperor leaves the imperial capital and retreats straight to Yi'an, Yi'an will not be able to hold it." ”

(From north to south along the coast, there are three cities on this side, Thanh Hoa, Yanzhou, and Yi'an; Yanzhou is probably in present-day Hoang Mai, Vietnam, and Nghe An is probably in present-day Vinh City, Vietnam. ）

Ruan Jian hurriedly asked, "What is the plan of the king of pacifying?" ”

Li Li said: "Originally, we relied on the imperial capital to hold on, and we could also delay the enemy army. However, the surprise attack of Liu Shengbu was very sudden, the city defense of Thanh Hoa was unprepared, and the Dayue monarchs and ministers fled in a hurry, which shook people's hearts; So I don't think there's any need to defend Qinghua, it's better to abandon the defense, and I can save more troops. ”

Ruan Jian groaned: "Then if the Ming army pursues us, can we leave?" ”

Li Li sneered: "It is simply strange that the shipwrens have won a great victory in the north and occupied rich places such as Dongguan, but a large number of people and horses have come by boat; That's why we didn't expect it, it's normal, the boatmen are simply sick in the brain! They have so many ships, and they can't do it in a few days to get ashore and gain a foothold, and they have to be strictly disciplined and arranged in a proper manner, otherwise it is very easy to be chaotic. By the time the shipwrights gathered their men and horses to pursue, we would have already gone away. ”

Ruan Jian felt a little reasonable, and muttered: "No wonder King Pingding doesn't look too flustered. ”

Li Li continued: "After our army retreats to the south, we cannot defend Yi'an (Rong City), because the open terrain around Yi'an is not conducive to our army's planning and tactics. If you first guard Yanzhou (Huangmei) in the north of Yi'an, you can find a way to the north of Yanzhou, with many mountains and rivers and rivers; Use tactics such as luring the enemy to ambush and breaking through each other, constantly depleting the enemy's sharp strength and delaying the enemy's rapid offensive.

With such a deployment, the troops in the north of Yanzhou can also get sufficient supplies from the city of Yanzhou in the rear.

Yanzhou's maneuvering may still not be able to repel the attack of the ship, and can only delay time. Therefore, at the same time, the imperial court should send people to Yi'an City, and ask the civil and military forces of Yi'an to escort grain and grass to all places upstream along the Chajiang River. Our army had to set up warehouses in the mountains and forests, hoard grain, and rely on the county town of Lunian west of Yi'an for the needs of the subsequent war.

When the fighting in Yanzhou ended, the divisions continued to retreat southward, fighting and walking. At this time, I can't go to Yi'an City anymore, as I said before, the terrain there is open, and it is only conducive to the strong attack and advance of the elite infantry cavalry of the boats.

At that time, we had to go to the west of Yi'an, go to the Chajiang River Valley, and move around Lunian County and near various mountain and forest warehouses; Constantly arrange troops to ambush and harass, and once again deal with the ship. If the battle of Nghe An still cannot repel the boat invaders, our army can continue to retreat in the direction of Hue. After one battle after another, can it not be over in a few months? ”

Li Li spoke fluently, obviously not a strategy that he had come up with on the fly, but had already thought it through.

He continued: "Every time our army withdraws, we burn all the grain and grass that is left. After so many attacks, it is bound to be the rainy season. In the rainy season, the boats lack food and clothing, diseases are rampant, and the roads are muddy. They can only ask for more blessings for themselves, and it is lucky that they can withdraw their troops alive! ”

Ruan Jian nodded frequently when he heard this, and said, "I only regret knowing you late!" ”

"It's not too late." Li looked at Ruan Jian with expectant eyes.

The two looked at each other for a moment, feeling a lot of sympathy.

Ruan recommended and said: "May it be as the king of pacifying said, it is not too late!" I will take my leave first, and I must persuade the emperor to adopt the strategy of pacifying the king. ”

Li Li said: "Ruan Jun is reluctant. This is the critical juncture of Dayue, if the emperor wastes troops in vain and loses too quickly; I am afraid that Dayue's situation will only get worse and worse, and he will not be able to recover, and he will fall into a dark state of death in many years! ”

Ruan Jian bowed deeply and said, "I will do my best!" ”

For a while, Ruan Xuan, who was short in stature but had a little big head, felt that he and King Pingding had both become taller.

At this time, Li Li asked in a casual tone, "Can Ruan Jun's family members be in Thanh Hoa?" ”

Ruan Jian suddenly cooled down a little from the generosity just now, because Li Li's words made Ruan Jian think of some subtle things.

Ruan's wife, also surnamed Ruan, was a famous beauty in his hometown of Hedong (present-day Haiyang). And Li Li also has shortcomings, that is, he is more lustful, once he saw Ruan's side, and his eyes were a little wrong at that time.

Therefore, when Ruan Jian heard Li Li ask such a question, he subconsciously became a little wary in his heart, and he said quietly: "I have settled down, thank you for worrying about King Pingding." ”

Li Li nodded and sent Ruan Jian outside the door.

Nguyen Xuan left Loei and immediately rushed to the palace to ask to see the emperor, claiming that he had an urgent matter. But he waited for a long time, and only one of the emperor's attendants came out. The attendant said that the emperor was very busy, and asked Ruan what was the matter; You can say it first and let someone relay it to the emperor.

Ruan Jian said that there was a good way to pacify the king.

Unexpectedly, the attendant immediately lost interest in listening, and said: "Ruan Shilang hurry up and prepare, and when he leaves the city, it is not too late to play on the road." ”

Of course, Ruan Jian was not satisfied with such an answer, if the emperor had already left the city, would he still let Ruan Jingyi withdraw his troops from Thanh Hoa? Ruan Jian vigorously said that the seriousness of the matter is a matter of survival and critical moment, and the sooner the court decides a policy, the more capable it will be to turn the tide.

It was useless to persuade the attendants, so they simply went back impatiently. So Ruan Jian knelt outside the gate of the palace, and he had the momentum of not giving up.

After a long time, a large group of people finally came out of the palace. Many mules and horses carried heavy parcels, as if they were carrying treasures. Chen Jikuo was wearing a yellow robe and riding a horse, and came over in front of the guards. Ruan Jian, who was kneeling in the middle of the road, blocked the way, and soon a guard came over and carried him to Chen Jikuo's side.

Chen Jikuo turned his head and said: "Ruan Aiqing is going with me, what do you have to say, say slowly on the way, what kind of system does it become to kneel here?" ”

Ruan Jian had no choice but to follow the emperor's army.

So far, Ruan Jian's family can't take care of it, not to mention the chaos on the road, and it is really inconvenient for women, children, old and weak to flee with the army. Ruan Jian called a house slave and told him to hurry back to his house, tell the old lady, and take his family to a relative's house to avoid for a while.

There were a lot of people out of the city, and the army was a bit chaotic.

Fortunately, Liu Shengbu's ship only arrived at Majiangkou today, and Chen Jikuo was ready to leave immediately when he heard the news, and his reaction was very fast. It was obviously difficult for the Ming army to immediately mobilize troops and come to attack; Otherwise, with the chaotic soldiers and horses around Emperor Dayue at this time, I am afraid that he will have to be defeated again.