On the first day of the fifth month, Li Zicheng's horse army finally received Liu Fangliang from Shunyi after losing more than 3,000 horsemen. , the latest chapter access: ШШШ.79xs.СоМ . And Gu Ying, who was in Miyun, was also ordered to lead his troops back to Beijing to strengthen Beijing's defense.

It was also Liu Fangliang who knew about the situation in Beijing and knew that Li Zicheng was unlikely to send reinforcements to rescue him in the short term. Therefore, after he saw that the Qing army was trying to besiege the city, he immediately led his team to break through and go south, which brought out 2,000 remnants of the army. Otherwise, these 5,000 men and horses would not be able to hold out for two or three days.

Wu Sangui was not so lucky. One is that he has an army of 30,000 and is embarrassed to retreat directly. And he has just joined the new dynasty, and he wants to show his strength through this big battle to stabilize his position in the new dynasty. What's more, the Qing army was menacing, and Wu Sangui did not dare to break through. He fought against the Qing army all the year round and knew the field strength of the Qing army. If he broke through, he would have to lose at least half of his troops, which was not acceptable to him.

Moreover, Tongzhou is the 'door' household in the east of Beijing, only 30 miles away from Beijing, and it happens to be the horn of Beijing. It is more advantageous for him to hold on to Tongzhou than to withdraw to Beijing.

On the second day of the first month of May, the Qing army's two armies met on the outskirts of Beijing. The Qing army camped in the northern and eastern suburbs, preparing to attack Beijing. Wu Sangui of Tongzhou has been surrounded, and after the Qing army knew that the defenders of Tongzhou were Wu Sangui, they did not plan to attack, but like they did with Jinzhou, let their accompanying servants do it, and began to dig a trench five miles away from Tongzhou, and trap Wu Sangui first.

As for the area south of Beijing, they did not dare to rashly send troops to surround it, but sent outposts to reconnoiter along the way to 'find out' the details of the Shun army. Their banner of revenge for Chongzhen is quite good, although Chongzhen was also stubborn and self-serving when he was in power, but compared with Li Zicheng's roasting and plundering, it made the old and young of the previous dynasty miss it even more. Therefore, where the Qing army passed, it was relatively easy to 'get' all kinds of information.

In the Qianqing Palace, Liu Fangliang reported: "The artillery of the Qing army is very powerful, powerful, and farther, not worse than Li Yan's artillery. And there are a lot of them, those gunners are also very well trained, two or three hundred paces away are very accurate, my two 'guns' outside the city were damaged by the Qing army's artillery. ”

Liu Zongmin said: "This can't be fought. There are many Qing soldiers, good artillery, and cavalry, which are much more powerful than Li Yan. We can't wait any longer, we have to go. Those small cities in the south are estimated to last two or three days. After a while, the cavalry of the Qing army will not be able to outrun if they want to go. ”

Gu Ying also persuaded: "Yes, we have 8,000 cavalry, and now only half of them are left." However, the cavalry of the Qing army, to say the least, had fifty or sixty thousand. If we let them bite us, few of us will be able to return to Shaanxi. ”

It is now the second day of the fifth month, and there are only six days to go before the enthronement ceremony, and Li Zicheng is really unwilling to give up. So he sat on the dragon chair at this time and didn't say anything.

Liu Zongmin didn't care whether Li Zicheng was the emperor or not, and after waiting for a while, he still wanted to drag it out when he saw Li Zicheng. He said directly: "Isn't it just a ceremony, I'll 'get' it tomorrow, and then leave quickly." Now there are more than 10,000 soldiers who have lost their combat strength due to illness, and if it drags on for a while, all of them will not be able to stand up, so we can only wait for death in the city. If you hesitate any longer, I won't wait for you. ”

"You!" Li Zicheng said angrily, but he didn't scold. He knew in his heart that he couldn't be rash at this time.

He looked at the others and saw that they were all looking down and not seeing. So he had no choice but to say, "Okay, let's go back and prepare." Tomorrow the enthronement ceremony will be held, and then immediately retreat south. ”

Song Xiance hurriedly persuaded: "Your Majesty, three days is not an auspicious day. Your Majesty would rather not ascend the throne than 'mess' to hold a ceremony on a certain day. Otherwise, it will be against the will of God, and fortune will change immediately. ”

Li Zicheng was a little hesitant. But if he didn't ascend the throne, how could the world know that the Ming Dynasty had officially died and his Great Shun Dynasty had officially been established? The thoughts of the subjects of the world about the Ming Dynasty are endless, and it is not so easy for the world to return to Dashun.

"Sir is overthinking, it's just a ritual. The artifact of China, this is the will of heaven, and nothing will change! Li Zicheng said categorically. He knows that only the army is the most important, and everything else is nothing. Seeing that the old brothers are about to deviate from morality, he must deal with this matter well and let the old brothers restore their trust in him.

After that, he instructed Niu Jinxing: "Prime Minister, you work harder, and redraft the edict again." Organize hundreds of civil and military officials to participate in the enthronement ceremony tomorrow. After that, I asked Mr. to do it for me. ”

Niu Jinxing bowed down and agreed. Fortunately, the Temple of Heaven is in the outer city to the south, so there is no need to worry about the attack of the Qing army. Otherwise, this job is not the emperor's trust in his subordinates, but to let the subordinates go down to death.

After that, Li Zicheng suddenly ordered: "Send someone to send a letter to Li Yan and tell him that I have given him the whole of Zhili and Shandong." ”

Everyone was silent when they heard it, and at this time, it is obviously unrealistic to rely on this method to trap Li Yan. But it's just a try, there are dates and no dates to hit a pole. If Li Yan and the Qing army fought, it would be easier for them to retreat.

At this time, Wu Sangui, who was in Tongzhou, received a letter of persuasion from Dolgon. The Qing court's persuasion of Wu Sangui was not once or twice, and since he became a registered commander-in-chief, it has not stopped persuading him to surrender. When he is alone outside the gate, it will be even more persuasive. Huang Taiji personally wrote letters, his brother Wu Sanfeng wrote to him, his uncle Zu Dashou wrote to him, and Hong Chengchou also wrote to him, all asking him to surrender to the Qing court.

However, he refused, and had no intention of surrendering to the Qing court. Even after knowing that Chongzhen committed suicide, he also surrendered to the Dashun New Dynasty without considering the Qing court. After all, these people have been fighting with the Qing court for many years, and the two sides have a lot of grudges, even if his relatives and old 'friends' have a good life in the Qing court, but he Wu Sangui surrendered in the past, it is really hard to say what the outcome will be.

At this time, Wu Sangui naturally refused. Tongzhou had a lot of grain in stock, and there was plenty of ammunition for arrows and ammunition, and he didn't think that the Qing soldiers could easily take the city of Beijing. As long as Dashun's reinforcements rushed over, these hundreds of thousands of Qing soldiers still had to retreat outside the pass. Moreover, his family members are still in Beijing, and he can't help but consider the safety of his family.

And Li Yan in Tianjin also received a letter from the Qing army, which was sent by the surrendered Shun army. However, what the Qing army gave him was not to persuade him to surrender, but to fight jointly with Li Yan and attack Li Zicheng together. The letter promised that after the world was stabilized in the future, wealth and wealth would be shared and the soil would be rewarded.