Chizhou, a mansion, Zuo Menggeng's residence. The Ming Dynasty had a rule of not repairing the yamen, so the yamen everywhere leaked everywhere, and the generals would be able to shelter from the wind and rain, and Zuo Mengeng would naturally not wronged himself.

Jin Shengheng truthfully reported the reply he got from Li Yan to Zuo Mengeng, although it was not good news, but he didn't seem to be angry when he looked at Zuo Mengeng.

Zuo Mengeng asked expressionlessly: "The soldiers are cut and trained, what about the officers?" ”

"Most of them should be retained, but the rank may be lowered." Jin Shengheng replied: "But not necessarily, Chen Yongfu was appointed to his original position, and now he is leading the troops to chase Li Zicheng." If Chen Yongfu hadn't been forced from behind, Li Chuang wouldn't have attacked us so desperately. It seems that Niu Chenghu in the northwest, Zuo Guangxian and others have also surrendered to Li Yan and are coming to the mainland with troops. ”

Zuo Mengeng nodded and didn't say anything.

Jin Shengheng remembered Xu Dingguo and hurriedly reported: "By the way, Xu Dingguo surrendered to Li Yan, but his troops looted the people and killed some people, so Li Yan transferred him out of the army and made a councilor." Four of his battalion officers were beheaded, and more than 200 soldiers were also beheaded, and their heads were hung outside the gates of Huai'an City. ”

"Hiss~" Zuo Mengeng took a breath of cold air, frowned and asked: "Xu Dingguo didn't make any moves, watching his subordinates being sanctioned?" ”

Jin Shengheng pouted helplessly and said, "Then what else can I do?" Li Yan's troops were around him, and there were quite a few cavalry. Even if they resisted, it would only be a matter of days before they were exterminated. Moreover, Li Yan divided the land among the soldiers, even if Xu Dingguo wanted to do something, there were not necessarily a few people with him. ”

"What the fuck! It's too much of a bully! Hao Xiaozhong slapped the table and shouted: "Killing people, setting fires and robbing things, this is also a matter?" With the food and salary given by the imperial court, the brothers had to starve to death. Dashuai, we can't find ourselves uncomfortable. ”

Zuo Mengeng hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is there any news from Donglin?" ”

He not only sent people to contact Li Yan, but also sent people to contact the Donglin Party. He knew that Li Yan's conditions must be harsh, but Donglin was different, these people had been suffering from the lack of military power, and they took refuge with 200,000 troops, and Donglin should not be turned away.

But the result disappointed him. Li Guoying shook his head helplessly: "There is still no news from Nanjing." ”

"Where's Scofa?" Zuo Mengeng asked a little angrily.

Li Guoying still shook his head: "There is no news either." ”

"These party people! I just want to reap the benefits, and I am only willing to fight for fame! There is no responsibility at all, they deserve to be unable to do it! Zuo Mengeng finally went crazy and scolded.

"So what are we going to do?" Hao Xiaozhong was a little worried at this time.

Without the mediation of important officials of the imperial court, there seems to be little hope of returning to the Nanming camp. There is Gaojie on the east side, and they can't fight it. There is Huang Degong in the south, and it is not easy to deal with. To the west are Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, both of whom are their mortal enemies, and the two sides have been fighting bloody battles for so many years, and there is too much hatred, and they can't resolve it for a while. And Li Yan in the north is very arrogant, and the conditions are really angry, looking around from east to west, north and south, I really don't know how to go.

Zuo Mengeng hesitated for a long time before ordering: "Go and inform the battalions, prepare the ferry, and cross the river in two days." ”

"Dashuai, do you really want to go to Li Yan?" Hao Xiaozhong asked in surprise: "When we get to Li Yan's subordinates, our brothers will all be sent elsewhere." At that time, we will have to be slaughtered! ”

Jin Shengheng also said: "Dashuai, we haven't contacted each other yet, so rashly crossing the river, I'm afraid there will be a misunderstanding." ”

"It's just that when I go to Jiangbei, I won't talk about it later." Zuo Mengeng said calmly: "In such a big place in Jiangbei, how many places did Li Yan take? Let's stay in Jiangbei for a while and get through this difficulty. After Li Zicheng passes, let's come over again, although Zhang Xianzhong controls a lot of territory, but in our hands, he can't get anything cheap. In a place as big as Jiangnan, there is always a place for us. ”

"Okay," Hao Xiaozhong finally didn't feel sad, and said happily: "If we go to Li Yan to be angry, it's better for us to fight the world by ourselves." Zhang Xianzhong's birdman can be the emperor, what can't we do. ”

"Let all battalions control the boats," Zuo Mengeng reminded: "If the boat doesn't come back and is caught by Li Yan, then you can only consider yourself unlucky." ”

"Then how do you tell the battalions?" Li Guoying asked.

Zuo Mengeng replied casually: "Tell the truth." I don't believe it, there will be people in the general staff of various ministries who are willing to treat Li Yan as a toothless dog. ”

"Xu Yong there~" Li Guoying asked.

"I'll tell him in two days, and get the boat ready for him, and he won't have much to say." Zuo Mengeng said confidently: "Li Zicheng was scared by Li Yan, and I didn't expect him to dare to cross the river." As long as Xu Yong is on the boat, there will not be much danger. ”

"Handsome and wise." Jin Shengheng and others praised in unison, which made Zuo Mengeng feel so uncomfortable.

Two days later, Zuo Menggeng's retreat was successfully completed. Under the efforts of Xu Yong's department, the other departments basically suffered no losses. It's just that Xu Yong's troops broke up because they knew that the other battalions had crossed the river, and less than forty percent of the troops could reach Jiangbei, which made Xu Yong very angry. So Xu Yong led the troops directly away from Zuo Menggeng's army, and he didn't know where he went. After waiting for more than a month, Zuo Mengeng learned that Xu Yong had actually surrendered to Li Yan.

It doesn't matter if Zuo Mengeng crossed the river, Li Zi became Chen Yongfu, who got rid of the dog's skin plaster and advanced all the way, and directly exchanged hands with Gao Jie in Taiping Mansion. After Li Zicheng knew that it was Gao Jie in front of him, he immediately transferred all the Chinese troops to clean up this traitor who gave him a green hat.

Although Li Zicheng was chased by Li Yan all the way, Chen Yongfu did not chase and fight hard according to Li Yan's intentions, but forced Li Zicheng to keep moving forward. Therefore, since Li Zicheng left Chengtian Mansion, the loss was not large. This time, Gao Jie, who abducted his concubine, directly put hundreds of artillery pieces of various types on the front line, leaving Gao Jie's troops powerless.

Gao Jie has not made a deal with Li Zicheng for many years, and he never thought that Li Zicheng, who was chased by Li Yan like a lost dog, would have such a high combat power under his command. Moreover, Li Zicheng's army had 100,000 people, which was much more than his 20,000 horses, so that he had no intention of resisting the war at all.

Out of fear of Li Zicheng, Gao Jie did not hesitate too much, and like Zuo Mengeng, he left a part of the broken rear troops, and also forcibly requisitioned countless ships and went directly to Jiangbei. Because he knew that none of these troops in Jiangnan was Li Zicheng's opponent, and if he stayed in Jiangnan, he would fall into Li Zicheng's hands sooner or later, so it was safer to go to Jiangbei. As for military power or something, I can't take care of it for the time being, and nothing is important.

...