[221] Battle of the Three Towns of Wuhan 1

In April of the second year of Daming Hongde, Li Zicheng completed his withdrawal plan and successfully arrived in Hubei. Li Zicheng secretly discussed with his cronies and military personnel how to deal with it. They believed that it was necessary to preserve the troops of Huguang who had retreated, never to fight in vain, not to fight hard with the enemy, but to retreat from Chengtian to the edge of the Yangtze River, and to the south of the Yangtze River at any time. In order to easily retreat to the south of the Yangtze River, it was necessary to station heavy troops in Jingzhou and Shashi, one to contain the enemy, and the other to protect the smooth flow of the Yangtze River.

Li Zicheng ordered the men and horses stationed in Dengzhou to quickly retreat across the Xiangjiang River, leaving only 2,000 men to resist for a while, and played the role of delaying the enemy. Who retreated to Jingzhou and who retreated to Chengtian were decided at this meeting. Among the generals, Liu Fangliang and Yuan Zongdi retreated to Jingzhou, and Niu Jinxing, Yu Shangyou and Niu Yan went together to operate the upstream. Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin led the main force of the Dashun army to retreat to central Hubei, and the camera united with Zuo Liangyu or captured Wuchang. When the Ming army occupied Dengzhou and continued to march towards Xiang and Fan, Xiangyang's retreat plan had been completed, leaving only a few thousand people to guard the south bank of the Xiangjiang River, covering the people to leave the city and flee to Nanshan. Niu Yan is the Yin of Xiangyang Mansion, and finally withdrew, and Niu Jinxing retreated all the way from Yicheng. Li Zicheng also withdrew last with Niu Jinxing. He looked back at Xiangyang City, and then looked east at the bank of the Xiangjiang River, feeling that the future was boundless, and he was infinitely sad

In order to make a final struggle, Li Zicheng sent Hao Shaoqi, Yuan Zongdi and Liu Fangliang to lead a part of his men and horses from Xiangyang to the south, occupy Jingzhou, and operate the upper reaches. He secretly discussed with Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, and his confidant Liu Zongmin, and decided not to fight against Zuo Liangyu under the current circumstances to fight for Wuchang. If the Qing army crossed Xiangyang and pursued it, he ordered the men and horses occupying the Jingzhou area to send troops to contain it, and he and Liu Zongmin led the main force and the women, the old and weak, and the baggage, crossed the Yangtze River from the area of Shashi and Xiantao Town, and entered Hunan, so that the Ming army and the left army fought each other. In view of the importance of the situation in Jingzhou and Yiling, he ordered Niu Jinxing, Niu Yan and his son to rush to Jingzhou after the deployment of Xiangyang's defense. Niu Venus sits in the upper reaches with the dignity of the prime minister, and Yu Shangyou and Niu Yan serve as his assistants. Yu Shangyou had already left with Yuan Zongdi. When Li Zicheng was about to arrive in Chengtian, he received a Pegasus report from Niu Jinxing, saying that he had obeyed the holy decree and had passed Yicheng, and as soon as Niu Ji arrived, he would rush to Jingzhou together.

With half a lifetime of military career and experience in a hundred battles, Li Zicheng knew that the Dashun army lacked combat effectiveness, so he hurriedly withdrew from Xiangyang and galloped to central Hubei. However, he hoped to leave behind a morale-friendly army, and with the help of the strong city of Xiangyang and the surging Xiangjiang River, where the spring flood began, he could stop the Ming army for more than ten days, so that he would have the opportunity to stay for a short time in the rich prefectures and counties of the Jianghan Plain, collect grain and grass, and take a look at Zuo Liangyu's movements in Wuchang, and then make plans. Now he is completely in a very unfavorable passive situation, with the left army in front and the Ming army in the back, leaving only Jingzhou and Chengtian as his room for maneuver for the time being.

When Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin arrived near Wuchang, they learned that Zuo Liangyu had gone to the east of the Shunjiang River, "Qingjun side", and died of illness in Jiujiang on April 4, his son Zuo Mengeng led his subordinates not only failed to clear the Jun's side, but also surrendered to Hongguang, so Li Zicheng successfully captured Wuchang, but at the same time he also received an extremely unfavorable news - Niu Jinxing disappeared

The spies sent by Li Zicheng initially said that Prime Minister Niu was still staying in the countryside near Yicheng, waiting for Yin Niu Yan of Xiangyang Prefecture. Li Zicheng hurriedly sent officials to lead the cavalry to Yicheng all the way to meet him. But they didn't welcome the prime minister, and they didn't know where the prime minister's father and son were going. The officials sent from Yicheng to Xiangyang inquired again, until they reached the vicinity of Xiangyang City, and could not go any further. Unexpectedly, the prime minister's father and son were nowhere to be found, and they didn't even leave a word. Li Zicheng was shocked when he received the reward. From Xi'an to Xiangyang, one or two hundred important ministers of Dashun, such as Song Qijiao and Zhang Xuanran, fled one after another. Now, if the Niu father and son escape, the civil and military ministers of the Dashun Dynasty will be completely disheartened and unable to maintain.

Although Li Zicheng was very angry, his mind was still calm, and he strictly ordered his cronies not to spread the news, and at the same time immediately ordered Wu Ruyi to lead 500 cavalry to set off, and rushed to Yicheng and Xiangyang overnight to continue to look for the prime minister. He guessed that Niu Jinxing's father and son were captured by the village warriors or eunuchs who betrayed the Great Shun Dynasty, and hid somewhere in the mountains, or had been killed, or were dedicated to the Ming army when the Ming army arrived. He said to Wu Ruyi:

"As long as you find out the news of the prime minister, you can quickly pick him up and tell him that I can't live without him for a day, and he doesn't have to go to Jingzhou. If you are powerless to save him, send someone to play it quickly, and I will send thousands of elite soldiers to save him. ”

Li Zicheng waited in Chengtian for six or seven days, and it was not until Wu Ruyi came back and told him that Niu Jinxing's father and son were nowhere to be found, and he concluded that they had betrayed him and fled. He paused hatefully and scolded:

"As the prime minister, he absconded against the king, was ungrateful, and he would never be spared after he was caught!"

At this time, Wu Ruyi knelt on the ground, Liu Zongmin, Song Xiance and others sat below, and no one dared to say a word. And Song Xiance and Gu Junen were even more afraid of the emperor's suspicion, and they almost stopped breathing.

Li Zicheng sighed and asked again: "Can you hear any news from Yunyang and Junzhou?" ”

"Legend has it that the Wang Guangsi brothers have surrendered to the Ming army, and it seems to be true."

"The whereabouts of the queen now...... Didn't you hear it at all? ”

"Nope."

"What's going on with the Ming army?"

"The Ming army has already arrived in Xiangyang with 20,000 or 30,000 troops, and there are many follow-up troops behind. At the moment they are collecting food, grass, and boats, and will soon be chasing our army by land and water. I also heard that Song Youliang, the general of the army, also went to Xiangyang in person. ”

"Oh?" When Li Zicheng heard that Song Youliang had arrived in person, his heart suddenly moved

Song Xiance said: "Although our army is newly defeated, there are 70,000 people from all walks of life, many of whom are also veterans of war. It is better to take advantage of the fact that the Ming army has not yet assembled, and when Song Youliang's soldiers and horses are scarce, kill the horse gun and go to Xiangyang. If he can kill Song Youliang, it's best, if he can't, he will be terrified. ”

Tian Jianxiu also said: "Yes, our army really needs a victory to boost morale. ”

At this time, there was a report from Tanma, saying that in recent days, the Xiangyang Ming Army had successively sent seven or eight teams of men and horses to nearby prefectures and counties to collect grain and grass, and each team had about 2,000 people.

"That is to say, there are no more than 20,000 soldiers and horses in Xiangyang City at the moment!" Song Xiance said: "At least there may only be more than 10,000 people, Song Youliang is arrogant like this, if Your Majesty does not take the opportunity to kill, it is a pity." ”

"No~~" Li Zicheng shook his head, "I still have to wait for Gao Yigong, Li Shuangxi, and He Zhen to arrive!" Li Zicheng said stubbornly, "There is no news of the queen for a day, and I feel uneasy for a day!" Because Zuo Liangyu's whole division went east, Li Zicheng had a glimmer of hope in the near hopelessness - to occupy Wuchang and establish a foothold in order to make a comeback. For this reason, he eagerly looked forward to the queen's news, hoping that she would be able to lead an army of 200,000 divine soldiers with Li Guo and Gao Yi to come to Huguang to help him at this time. He said in his heart: "We must rely on the natural danger of Guishan and the Yangtze River to stick to Wuchang!" Alas, Queen, where are you now? ”

Fifteen days later, Empress Gao finally came to Wuchang from Hanzhong under the escort of Gao Yigong, Li Shuangxi and He Zhen, Li Zicheng's soldiers and horses at this moment increased by 200,000, and Li Zicheng finally had the confidence to attack Song Youliang in Xiangyang. However, at this time and then, Sun Chuanting, who pacified Shaanxi, sent Wu Sangui and Zu Dashou's Guanning army southward, plus the troops and horses from all walks of life mobilized from Guanwai, Hebei, and Shandong, and the Ming troops from all walks of life gathered in Xiangyang Mansion at this moment have also increased from 30,000 people half a month ago to 100,000. As a result, Song Youliang first launched an attack on Li Zicheng, aiming at Yingcheng and Xiaogan, the gateways to the northwest of Wuchang.

Although Liu Fangliang and Yuan Zongdi put up stubborn resistance at Yingcheng and Xiaogan, they were defeated by the Ming army's artillery fire and had to retreat to Wuchang and retreat all the way to Hanyang. Li Zicheng understands that the battle of life and death has arrived

On April 20 of the second year of Daming Hongde, the Battle of Wuhan Three Towns began

The battle first began with the battle for Liujiamiao, which was located ten miles north of Hankou, which was the only way for the Ming army to go south, and was also the outpost position of the Shun army to defend Hankou, and Li Zicheng sent Liu Fangliang, who was brave and good at fighting, to lead 10,000 soldiers and horses to defend it.

The Liu Jiamiao who was responsible for the attack was the Guanning Army led by Wu Sangui and Zu Dashou and the Kong Youde Department of the Liao Army. In the early morning of 20 April, under the cover of Kong Youde's artillery fire, Wu Sangui and Zu Dashou led the Guanning army to attack Liu Fangliang's army.

Although Liu Fangliang's department also has some large and small artillery, in front of Kong Youde, who is famous for his good use of artillery and equipped with advanced sights, it is simply a big axe in front of Lu Ban and a big knife in front of Guan Gong.

I only listened to Kong Youde's order, "Ignite the cannon~"

Boom boom boom~~~ More than a dozen large-caliber 24-pounder howitzers roared together, and the hot wrought iron shells fell into Liu Fangliang's formation with a roar, causing a scream.

"Phew~" Liu Fangliang poked his head out of a shooting corner, and kept spitting out the dirt that splashed into his mouth, "The artillery of the Ming army is really getting more powerful!" Liu Fangliang muttered

Wu Sangui's subordinate Yang Kun took the lead with a steel knife in his hand and shouted: "Brothers, avenge the brothers who died in the battle of Shanhaiguan!" ”

Coincidentally, Liu Fangliang also picked up his gun and got on his horse, and also shouted to the soldiers of the Shun army behind him: "Brothers, avenge the brothers who died in the battle of Shanhaiguan!" ”

So two armies shouting the same slogan collided like Mars hitting Earth

Yang Kun led 3,000 cavalry to attack Liu Fangliang's army fiercely, but unfortunately Liu Fangliang was too brave, an iron spear danced, flying up and down, stabbing left and right, like a poisonous snake spitting out the core, no one could get close, as if Zhao Yun descended to earth during the Three Kingdoms period. Yang Kun fought with Liu Fangliang with the courage of blood, but only walked thirteen times under Liu Fangliang, and was stabbed in the left shoulder by Liu Fangliang, suffered a slight injury, and fell off the horse. Yang Kun's injury greatly demoralized the Guanning Iron Cavalry, and Liu Fangliang took this opportunity to rush in desperately.

Yang Kunbu couldn't stop Liu Fangliang, and the tide receded. Zu Dashou saw that the other party broke through his left flank, and couldn't help but be anxious, he was also experienced in a hundred battles, and knew what it meant once the flank was broken by the other party, so he hurriedly sent the second brother Zu Dale and the third ancestor Dabi to lead the barracks and rushed up.

Liu Fangliang's subordinates, most of whom are Shaanxi veterans, have been able to survive until now, which is enough to show their toughness, so the battle of Liujiamiao was at a stalemate for a while.

Li Zicheng has been paying close attention to the situation on the left flank, and he knows that it is difficult for his infantry troops to break through the Liao army's defense line head-on, and if he attacks strongly, he will command to hit his head in front of the Liao army's powerful firearms and break the bloodstream. Therefore, he pinned all his hopes on Liu Fangliang on the flank, and Liu Fangliang's performance did not disappoint Li Zicheng

"Victory~ We need victory!" Li Zicheng said: "Even if it is a victory in a battle. So Li Zicheng signaled Yuan Zongdi to send reinforcements, striving to win a victory and take the lead in the first place. Yuan Zongdi waved the flag, and General Guo Yi Ren Weirong led 10,000 infantry into battle immediately.

Half of the soldiers under General Guo Yi's command, Ren Weirong, were newly recruited Hubei locals, armed only with spears. But at this moment, the Shun army had the upper hand, and Li Zicheng sent him to fight, first, to train the team, and secondly, to test his strength. Ren Weirong really did not disappoint Li Zicheng, those newcomers who had been in the army for less than half a year can be described as newborn calves who are not afraid of tigers, wielding iron spears towards Guan Ningjun is a chaotic stab. Although there are some rules and regulations of the original three walls, it also makes the Guan Ning army chaotic