Hao Shaoqi rode a horse and stood beside Liu Zongmin, pointed to Lu Xiangsheng's camp and said, "Brother Liu, the Mongols have been beaten back. ”

"I see it." Liu Zongmin snorted angrily, "These Yulin Army." Order, Ming Jin withdraws troops. ”

The Mongols were in front and the peasant army was behind, so they were in a stalemate with Lu Xiangsheng, and no one took the next step.

Andreas's persuasion was once again ineffective, and Lu Xiangsheng was unwilling to retreat to Luoyang after being killed. Andreas also had no idea, not knowing whether he should accompany Lu Xiangsheng here or retreat first, so he could only send someone to Luoyang to deliver the news.

Zhou Lei led the cavalry division to Yan'an at a speed of more than 200 miles a day, and after two days, Zhou Lei has been thinking about one thing. Jiang Beiming went to Wang Pu once when he left Datong, Jiang Beiming considered the movements of the Mongols, so he used commerce and trade as a condition, and asked Wang Pu to make all preparations. Wang Pu promised to be good, but I don't know if this escaped general will be Jiang Beiming at that time.

Jiang Beiming explained this plan to Zhou Lei in detail, because Jiang Beiming estimated that the possibility of Lu Xiangsheng's retreat was very small, so he made a second arrangement. If Li Zicheng and the Mongols joined forces to flank Lu Xiangsheng, then Luoyang's Yulin army, including Han Wantao's troops arriving in Luoyang, could go directly to Yan'an to aid Lu Xiangsheng without obeying Yang Sichang's orders. At the same time, no matter what, Wang Pu outflanked the back road of the Mongols, and Jiang Beiming's secret order to Zhou Lei was to defeat the Mongols and solve the threat from the north. It is best to co-opt these Mongols and use them to deal with Li Zicheng.

Zhou Lei has been thinking about his thoughts, and Yang Tao next to him asked: "Sir, is there anything uneasy, my subordinates have been restless when they see you for the past two days." ”

"You're quite observant, can you see it?" Zhou Lei smiled, "It's nothing, it's just that I'm a little worried about Andreas, this German is a bit of a tendon, I'm afraid that not only will he not be able to save Master Lu, but he will also be trapped." ”

"I can't." Yang Tao thought for a moment, "Chief Andreas already knows how to do it, didn't you give him an order?" ”

Zhou Lei didn't answer again, lowered his head and thought for a while, and said to himself: "It's still not very safe." ”

Yang Tao asked again: "Sir, what is not insured?" ”

Zhou Lei stopped his horse: "Yang Tao, you have to go back to Datong and find Wang Pu." When Commander Jiang left, he discussed one thing with Wang Pu, you must find a way to let him send troops to outflank the back of the Mongols. ”

Zhou Lei told Yang Tao all about Jiang Beiming's arrangements, and ordered Yang Tao to go to Datong to say that Wang Pu would send troops to Yulin. Zhou Lei felt that since there were 20,000 Mongols besieging Lu Xiangsheng, there would not be many Mongols in Yulin, and recovering Yulin would be tantamount to blocking the retreat of the Mongols.

At the same time, Zhou Lei told Yang Tao to tell Wang Pu not to worry. Zhou Lei left a message to Han Wantao in Luoyang, Han Wantao's infantry and artillery will also rush to Yan'an, as long as the cavalry division and Lu Xiangsheng can hold in Yan'an for half a month, the main force of the Yulin Army will reach Yan'an. Only by killing the Mongols can Li Zicheng's power be weakened.

Yang Tao did not delay any longer, and took two squads of cavalry Pegasus to Datong.

When he camped that night, Zhou Lei invited Yang Tinglin to his camp again. Yang Tinglin admired Zhou Lei from the bottom of his heart, and gave a deep salute as soon as he entered the camp: "General Zhou can go through the stars and nights, and this official will definitely ask for credit for the general in front of the emperor and Lord Lu." ”

"That's all for later." Zhou Lei smiled and saluted back, "I will invite Lord Yang over because I have something to discuss with my lord." ”

"I wonder what happened to General Zhou?"

"Lord Yang." Zhou Lei said, "Although we have made arrangements, General Han Wantao will also bring his people to rescue Lord Lu." But Lord Yang also knows that the battlefield is changing rapidly, and no one knows what will happen. If the situation was critical, Ben would be very worried that Lord Lu would be reluctant to evacuate with the idea of martyrdom. ”

"If so." Yang Tinglin's expression was very tragic, "This official will also follow Lord Lu to repay the country with death." ”

Zhou Lei said in his heart: "These officials of the Ming Dynasty, why are they all so pedantic, they know that if they die, who can still serve the country if you die." ”

"The difference between Lord Yang is that there is a saying that 'stay in the green mountains, not afraid of no firewood'." Zhou Lei didn't explain again, "Ben will have a plan, if Lord Lu really doesn't want to leave at that time, Ben will want to take him away forcibly." It's just that this is afraid that it will damage the majesty of Lord Lu, and I don't know if it should be like this. ”

Yang Tinglin stood up: "With General Lao Zhou's thoughtfulness, it is the most important thing to be able to keep Lord Lu's safety. General Zhou can rest assured that this official will also try his best to persuade Lord Lu, no matter what the consequences are, they will all be borne by this official. ”

"Thank you, Lord Yang." Zhou Lei smiled in his heart, "Just have your words, Lao Tzu resisted Yang Sichang's military order this time, how can I find someone to take the blame for Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu can't carry this pot himself." ”

The cavalry division marched for another day and met the signal corps sent by Andreas.

"Sir, Lord Lu resolutely refuses to leave when his subordinates leave." The signal corps reported the situation in Yan'an to Zhou Lei, "Although we repelled a charge from the Mongols, Chief Andreas asked his subordinates to report to the commander, the enemy army is numerous, and Lord Lu's command has been fighting hard for several days, and Commander Andreas said that he can support it for five or six days at most, and I hope that Chief Zhou can come to the rescue quickly." ”

Zhou Lei secretly calculated the time, Andreas calculated it very accurately, and when he arrived in Yan'an, it happened to be when he couldn't hold on.

"You go down and rest first." Zhou Lei turned his head and shouted, "Pass the order, the whole army will speed up, and we must rush to Yan'an within three days." ”

Xu Lang and Gao Chen returned to Beijing. Since Fan Wencheng and Tao Min left Jinzhou, there has been no movement on Shengjing's side. The next negotiation time agreed with Tao Min was a month later, Xu Lang was very worried about whether there would be any changes in Beijing, discussed it with Gao Chen, decided not to wait in Jinzhou, and immediately returned to Beijing by boat.

It was really time for Xu Lang to come back, there was a little change in Beijing, the envoy of Annam went to Beijing to pay tribute to Emperor Chongzhen, and at the same time, Wu Sangui and his son and Zheng Zhilong were also ordered to come to Beijing.

"You came back just in time, I originally wanted to send someone to Lushun to call you back." Jiang Beiming was very excited when he saw Xu Lang, "A lot of things have happened in Beijing for a while, and our plan may have to be greatly adjusted, let me briefly talk to you first." ”

Wang Chengen, Wu Sangui and Zheng Zhilong all looked for Jiang Beiming, and even Xue Guoguan, the first assistant of the cabinet, also asked Jiang Beiming about the Yulin Army in Luoyang, because Xue Guoguan received Yang Sichang's news about Zhou Lei's disobedience.

According to Wang Chengen's relay, Zheng Jie's envoy came to inquire about Chongzhen's tone in the name of tribute, and how Chongzhen would react if North Vietnam attacked South Vietnam now. Fortunately, Chongzhen is not really stupid, knowing that it is time to reuse Yulin Bay, without the Yulin Army, it will be difficult for Li Zicheng's side. Therefore, Chongzhen reprimanded the envoy of Annan, and his attitude changed 180 degrees, telling the envoy of Annan that everything in Yulin Bay in Annan was his own will, and he also hoped to maintain friendly relations with Annan, so he hoped that Zheng Jie would not act rashly.

Wu Sangui and his son came to Beijing, but Zu Dashou still did not come. Chongzhen issued an order to reprimand Zu Dashou, and at the same time promoted Wu Sangui to be the chief soldier of Ningyuan's regiment, which was greatly rewarded. Everyone knows what Chongzhen means, and Wu Sangui didn't mean anything else when he came to Jiang Beiming, but repeatedly thanked Yulin Bay for reducing the price and providing 24-pound guns and 32-pound guns. However, Wu Sangui made a new request, whether Yulinwan could help build an arsenal in the Ningyuan area and produce flintlock pistols and artillery by himself.

Zheng Zhilong has been busy doing business and making money since he took Nagasaki, and this time he was summoned to Beijing in a daze, and I don't know why Chongzhen wanted to see him. The main purpose of his coming to see Jiang Beiming was to inquire what was going on and why Chongzhen was so anxious to announce that he had entered Beijing to face the saint.

Xu Lang smiled unconsciously after listening to Jiang Beiming's narration: "It's interesting, it's getting more and more complicated." ”

"Xu Lang, don't laugh yet." Zhang Hai said on the side, "I had several meetings with Beiming and them when you were away, and we all felt that our plan should be adjusted, and we wanted to hear your opinion." ”

Xu Lang thought for a while and asked, "How many people are there in Wu Sangui's Guanning Iron Cavalry now?" ”

"There are about 30,000 or 40,000 people, but there are less than 20,000 flintlock guns and dozens of artillery pieces." Jiang Beiming replied.

"How many warships does Zheng Zhilong have in Nagasaki?" Xu Lang asked again.

"Not much." Zhang Hai replied, "He himself said that there are only three or four ships, and Zheng Zhilong is mainly doing business in Japan. ”

"What does Wang Chengen mean?" Xu Lang asked a third question.

"He's not interested right now." Jiang Beiming said with a smile, "Wang Chengen hopes that we can come up with a comprehensive plan, he can turn Chongzhen and let Chongzhen make an order." ”

"Is there any news from Xi'an?"

"The news of Zhou Lei and Han Wantao only arrived yesterday, and Zhou Lei and Lu Xiangsheng are still in Yan'an; Han Wantao did not stop in Luoyang, but also went to Yan'an. And according to the news sent back by Yang Tao from Datong, Wang Pu has already sent troops, and it is not clear that Yan'an will fight before Xi'an, and it will be a big battle. ”

"What else is there to offer?"

"Yes." Jiang Beiming said, "Qin Liangyu's white pole soldiers have already set off, but we don't know when they will be able to reach their destination; Sun Chuanting and Yang Wenyue should be in Luoyang by now; But we don't know the news from Nanjing, Ge Tao's northern terminus does not include Nanjing, and the news transmission is a bit slow. ”

Xu Lang walked to the map and pondered for a while: "I made an appointment with Tao Min to give him a final answer for more than half a month." But I now don't believe what he says, and he probably wants to buy time to convince Huang Taiji to attack Beijing, and we must not take it lightly. ”

"So what should we do now?" Pan Xuezhong asked.

Xu Lang suddenly asked another question: "Xuezhong, is your special combat team ready, we have to consider all possibilities." ”

"It's ready." Pan Xuezhong replied, "The 200-man Marine Corps, as well as the 200-member Officer Training Corps and the Quick Gun Team, are a total of 400 people. Fernandez has already sailed the Fuzhou to Tianjin, and once there is a change, he can go to Nanjing from Tianjin. ”