At this time, Zhu Xieyuan also felt a lot of pressure. The elite led by the Son of Heaven in Shuntianfu will not be mediocre, this Zhu Xieyuan also thought before sending troops, the opponent's strength of only about 10,000 people broke through his own array in just one hour during the attack, and it seemed to have an obvious upper hand in casualties and losses, but it was much more than Zhu Xieyuan expected.

On the way to retreat, Zhu Xieyuan asked a deputy general who had fought with the Jianzhou army during the Apocalypse in Liaodong: "To be honest, how does the opponent our army encounter this time compare with the Eastern Emperor?" These 10,000 people, how can they be the East Captives? ”

"General Hui, these more than 10,000 people are not inferior to the more than 10,000 armored soldiers in Dongyu. Cavalry and command are short, but the use of firearms is long, archery has its own merits, and the attack is as fierce. It is really another strong soldier in the world. I heard that it has been less than two years since he ascended the throne, which is really a bit incredible... ”

Zhu Xieyuan recalled some of his experiences over the past year or so, especially the performance of the new army he had trained in the Southwest War, but he also felt that it was not unusual. Although this Son of Heaven did the opposite, his bold training methods made it possible to train a strong army in such a short period of time with sufficient troops to choose from and sufficient food.

Thinking of this, Zhu Xieyuan's confidence increased a lot: "In this battle, our army suffered a lot of losses, but it also benefited a lot. If our army also spends a little more on bows and arrows, or concentrates some good archers. And in terms of individual firearms, he also imitated the opponent to make some improvements, maybe he would not suffer so much when he fought again. By the way, did most of those Western gunners withdraw safely? ”

"Fortunately, the gunners retreated in time, and there are only thirty or forty people who died in the battle and did not come back.

The Ming army of Zhu Xieyuan, who had suffered a setback, had no intention of relying on the outlying positions in the fortress area outside Linqing City to continue to resist stubbornly. Because Zhu Xieyuan also knows very well that this battle can bring huge losses to the other party. The heavy artillery that participated in the war contributed a lot, and now most of the heavy artillery is lost, and its own losses are heavier than those of the opponent. If there is another confrontation, then all the temporary fortifications and car shields may not be their own barriers, and this battle will be very difficult. Although he had a steady stream of reinforcements, when the news came that the defenders of the fortress area began to break through, it was natural for them to give up appropriately and gather troops to establish a consolidated defense in the Dongchang area.

Outside Linqing City, the elite of the eight or nine thousand teaching brigades led by Xiao Xuan and the Zhou Yuji division that broke through the siege finally completed the convergence, and the strength of the army increased again to twenty or thirty thousand. Xiao Xuansuo led the main force to reinforce the arrival, and the fierce and strong enemies before finally chose to retreat, which made Zhou Yuji, Sun Yingyuan and others settle down a little. Especially when I saw the dozens of captured jacks of guns and 2,000 pounds of guns consigned by the ship. With these, it stands to reason that even if you face a stronger opponent, it doesn't seem to be too much of a problem to rely on the defense of the capital.

"Shengshang, this time the performance of the brigades of the new army does not seem to be satisfactory, in just a few days of fighting, most of the ammunition hoarded has been consumed, although there are more than 10,000 people killed and wounded by the enemy, there are not many elite Ming troops under Zhu Xieyuan... At this time, Zhou Yuji also said frankly without hesitation.

"This time, I took it for granted. And I didn't expect the enemy's forward to be so fierce, it seemed to be as powerful as Jiannu, which I hadn't seen before, by the way, did Li Zicheng's men and horses have too much loss? Xiao Xuan asked.

At this moment, to Xiao Xuan's surprise, Li Zicheng at this time did not bring a personal guard, only brought Li Guo, Gao Yingxiang and a few other important figures in the army, and came to a place not far from Xiao Xuan without carrying weapons.

"If you don't complete the mission assigned by the Holy Lord, please punish the Holy One..." At this time, Li Zicheng said humbly. Li Guo, Gao Yingxiang and others knelt down without much scruple at this time...

Xiao Xuan was silent for a moment and said bluntly: "You have done a good job, exceeding my expectations. The matter of the Battle of Fuping was the need of a big wave to wash the sand. If you have relatives and friends who died in this battle, I hope that no one in your team will mind too much. Now that rebellions are raging, the heavy responsibility of saving the country and the people is still heavy on you... ”

"Holy rest assured! If there is any mission to be explained, I will do whatever it takes to complete it... Li Zicheng, who has never compromised, said this, which also made Xiao Xuan feel a little uncomfortable. After thinking for a while, Xiao Xuan finally felt that it was better not to easily annex the idea when his own strength was still very limited for the time being.

"How many people do you have in your current team? Especially a fairly well-preserved horse team? Xiao Xuan asked at this time.

"The casualties of the first battle of Linqing are not very many, except for thousands of baggage teams and temporarily reinforced artillery teams, 20,000 horse teams can fight on horseback. . . ." Li Zicheng replied at this time.

"20,000 people still seems a little too thin, but the main force that has been reassembled now still has about 40,000 troops. After thinking about it, although I won the previous battle, I could lose too much money on gunpowder and lose more than I lost. It is still necessary to gather troops to attack, and strive to plunder most of the gunpowder, grain and grass of the rebels going north this time, so that the future defense will be a little more certain. It's up to you to find out the strength of the enemy's forces! At this time, Xiao Xuan said solemnly. It seems that there is no mention of the action or adaptation of the team led by Li Zicheng and others.

"I am determined to live up to the expectations of the saints!" Li Zicheng also solemnly promised at this time, and it seemed that he was already like Xiao Xuan's real subordinate.

Sun Yingyuan was still a little uneasy and said: "The minister is worried that this person is not the same heart as the saint after all, and his performance can't talk about how honest he is, do you want to... ”

Xiao Xuan said: "Now that the enemy is present, how to find out the reality of the enemy army is the most important thing at the moment... ”

In this way, Li Zicheng's troops who were heading south first launched a tentative attack on Dongchang. However, at this time, tens of thousands of Ming troops gathered in Dongchang City, and they learned a lot of lessons from the previous city defense battles, and it seemed that it was not too easy to attack.

After learning that the main force of the Ming army of Zhu Xieyuan, Yang Sichang and others had retreated into Dongchang City, Xiao Xuan had no intention of attacking the siege battle again immediately. The reason is actually self-evident, it is contrary to the purpose of the main team going south this time. Therefore, in addition to the 40,000 troops and Sun Yingyuan who stayed in Dongchang City to see the Ming army gathered in Dongchang City, Xiao Xuan and Zhou Yuji led the teaching brigade and the more than 20,000 infantry teams of the Yongwei brigade to fight, under the cover of Li Zicheng and others' 20,000 horse teams, continued to move south, approaching in the direction of Lunan.

(End of chapter)