Liu Zongmin fled all the way south, and he didn't have time to stop and sort out the troops at all. The infantry behind either surrendered, or fled in all directions, hiding in the countryside and mountains and forests, so the cavalry of Liu Zongmin and others became the target of pursuit. Although they ran faster on horseback, Qian Er's fast troops were not slow on mules and horses. They were separated by less than ten miles, and they fled all the way south.

It's not that Liu Zongmin hasn't fought a counterattack, but as soon as they attack, Li Yan's pursuers will set up a formation, and they naturally don't dare to attack. And they couldn't stop the attack of Li Yan's troops, so they could only continue to retreat south, who knows how far the pursuing infantry behind them would be from here, and it would not be good to be dragged back.

Liu Zongmin led the cavalry all the way to Hejin, crossed the Yellow River, and came to Hancheng. And Liu Zhong, who was originally in charge of the Jinnan region in Pingyang, was ordered by Liu Zongmin to withdraw to Puzhou and Jiezhou.

After they crossed the Yellow River, in order to prevent Li Yan's pursuers from following across the Yellow River, Liu Zongmin sent troops to transport thousands of flowering bombs to the center of the river and blast the river ice, which was no longer thick.

After Qian Er caught up, he had no choice but to take his troops to guard in Hedong and confront Li Zicheng's troops to prevent the intruding army from entering Shanxi again. As for the Chuang army in the southern Jinnan region, he is not in a hurry to clean it up, and after someone takes over the defense of the Yellow River here, he will naturally not let the Chuang army continue to stay in Shanxi.

And Liu Zongmin asked most of the soldiers who fled back to Hancheng with him to stay where they were to help in the defense, and he himself took Ma Chongxi, Liu Rukui and others to Baishui to see Li Zicheng.

On the tenth day of the first lunar month, Liu Zongmin and others arrived at Baishui.

"See Your Majesty." Liu Zongmin took the lead and bowed to Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng didn't call out immediately, but stared coldly at these generals under him, especially Liu Zongmin, who was kneeling at his head. After waiting for a while, he asked coldly, "Zong Min, did you bring that Chen Yuanyuan back too?"

Although Liu Zongmin was angry, he lost Taiyuan and even the whole of Shanxi after all, and his prestige was greatly reduced. So I can't get angry at this time, so I can only kneel and reply: "Well, bring it back." ”

"If I were you, I'd throw her into the Yellow River," Mr. Li exclaimed, angrily.

Yuan Zongdi hurriedly played the round and reminded with his fists: "Your Majesty, let's listen to the report of the Marquis of Ru on the war." The big war is imminent, and other details, it's not too late to ask later. ”

Li Zicheng didn't dare to force Liu Zongmin to be in a hurry, otherwise he would leave with his people if he couldn't say it. At such a critical time, internal disturbance is the most unwise thing.

At last he reluctantly commanded, "Get up and speak." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Liu Zongmin led the crowd to speak in unison.

When everyone stood up, Li Zicheng first asked: "In your opinion, will Li Yan continue to attack Shaanxi?"

Liu Zongmin immediately replied: "Shanxi can't satisfy Li Yan's appetite, he is definitely coming to attack Shaanxi." ”

"So sure," Yuan Zongdi asked, "When he negotiated with us, he hoped to get half of Shanxi. Now almost the whole of Shanxi has been taken, and the east of the Yellow River is his. And his previous approach was to lay down a place, and he had to govern a place first. Now that he has won such a large piece of territory in Shanxi, he should stop to govern the place. ”

Liu Zongmin said disdainfully: "That's all in the past." Now, he can take the whole of Shanxi with 20,000 or 30,000 troops, and I don't believe that his 20,000 troops outside Tongguan are used to guard against our attack. Moreover, hasn't he already sent troops to attack Yulin, if he doesn't want to take our Shaanxi, why would he do more?"

"The Shanxi fiasco this time was caused by Li Yan's attack in the Chinese New Year's Eve and the lack of preparation of the troops. We have 10,000 elite soldiers in Tongguan, and we are already in good fights, although there is a Li Yan's army in the direction of Yulin, but after all, it is a partial division, less than 10,000 horses, and now it has been blocked outside Yulin City. Gao Yigong said.

Liu Zongmin sneered and said, "Yigong, you won't think I'm a wine bag and rice bag, right?" Li Yan captured Guguan in the Chinese New Year's Eve, and only began to fight Taiyuan in the fourth year of the first year. In the past three days, I have not done nothing, but also mobilized troops and waited for battle. It's not that we weren't ready, but that Li Yan has a new siege weapon. ”

"What is it?" asked Li Zicheng with a frown.

Over the years, Li Yan has always been able to make trouble. The flowering shells of the tiger squat cannon, as well as the short fire guns used by the cavalry, the hollow phalanx dominated by artillery, and the low walls built up with earthen bags, always gave Li Yan's troops an advantage. So at this time, he also became very concerned.

"Trebuchet." Liu Zongmin said: "It's not a stone, it's a canister of oil." It can fight more than 150 steps, and in a moment it can turn the city behind the low wall and the city into a sea of fire. Who can hold out in the fire, so Li Yan's troops can easily capture the city. ”

Yuan Zongdi said puzzledly: "We have a lot of cannons, such a big stone thrower, and so many people to operate it, how can it be allowed to enter a distance of more than a hundred steps?"

"It's not big, it's not big at all." Liu Zongmin explained: "At most, it will not be more than a zhang high, and it is easy to transport, it can be hidden behind a high wall, and the cannon is of little use." If Li Yan also used this thing to fight Tongguan, Tongguan would not be able to guard it for a day. ”

Gao Yigong didn't believe it, and asked: "If it's really so powerful, why hasn't Yulin been captured yet?"

"How do I know that maybe they just want to mobilize us, so that Guanzhong is empty, so that they can come in directly from Tongguan." Liu Zongmin said casually.

Yuan Zongdi nodded: "Well, there is such a possibility." Then Tongguan is dangerous, and it is necessary to increase troops to Tongguan. ”

Li Zicheng thought for a while and ordered: "Tomorrow, Yigong will lead people first, and the army will follow." ”

"Now don't divide this battalion and that battalion," Liu Zongmin said directly: "No matter how many infantry you send, it's useless." These days I think all the way, only cavalry is useful. Li Yan's army formation could not be allowed to get close to the city wall, the infantry was useless, and the cavalry could only be allowed to go. ”

Gao Yigong said in surprise: "Even if the cavalry is cavalry, it can't break through Li Yan's military formation." ”

"If you can't get away, you harass them. When they were marching, when they were encamped, let the cavalry go and harass them, so that they could not advance. Liu Zongmin really figured it out, and immediately put forward a plan: "Also, we must send cavalry to the rear to cut off Li Yan's grain route." He has no food and no ammunition, and with a bow and a spear, is he still our opponent?"

Yuan Zongdi asked: "Is it okay, the Qing soldiers have a lot more cavalry than us, isn't it the same as what Li Yan has done, they haven't retreated to the outside of the pass?"

"That's all I have in mind, you can think of other ways." Liu Zongmin said coldly.

When they said this, Li Zicheng was at a loss. He hesitated for a while before ordering: "It's better to do it first, and the army will follow." The 5,000 cavalry of Xi'an in Xijing were also transferred to Tongguan, and in addition, the artisan battalion was also asked to make some trebuchets and prepare some fire oil. If he Li Yan can use it, we can use it too. "To be continued.

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