On 22 May, Ding Qirui convened a secret military meeting, which was attended by Yang Wenyue, Zuo Liangyu, Fang Guoan, Yang Dezheng, and Hu Dawei.

Ding Qirui gave a briefing at the meeting on the grim situation faced by the Ming army, and even added fuel and vinegar: The officers and men are short of food, and the nearby ponds and ditches have dried up.

Only by defeating the Heavenly Mandate Army in Zhuxian Town and relieving the siege of Kaifeng can we get supplies.

Yang Wenyue responded positively: Baoding soldiers are ready to meet the Mandate of Heaven Army at any time.

Zuo Liangyu showed contempt on his face, the Baoding soldiers are less than 20,000 people, if they fight against the Heavenly Mandate Army, won't they rush to the front line by themselves at that time? The casualties are your own soldiers, of course you don't feel distressed!

However, Ding Qirui is right, the situation is indeed grim, if Li Zicheng cannot be defeated as soon as possible, it will be difficult for the soldiers to get water, and chaos will inevitably be inevitable at that time......

Li Zicheng's army of 50,000 was so easy to defeat? If it was an easy task, how could the imperial court transfer itself north to Henan?

In Zuo Liangyu's heart, he already had the intention of retreating, he really couldn't do it, and he took the soldiers back to Huguang!

Fang Guoan and Yang Dezheng saw that Zuo Liangyu's face was uncertain, so they didn't dare to speak, to deal with the Heavenly Mandate Army, Zuo Liangyu's troops must fight head-on!

Ding Qirui saw that Yang Wenyue spoke in support of him, and he bowed his head slightly, and at this time, he couldn't be vague anymore, so he glanced at Zuo Liangyu, Fang Guoan, and Yang Dezheng, and said, "What do the three generals think?" Do you have a better way? ”

"Tomorrow, tomorrow's soldier's wounds should be almost over," Zuo Liangyu was named by Ding Qirui, and he had to say something to shirk, "Tonight, Lord Inspector took the initiative to attack, so that the Heavenly Mandate Army was tired to deal with, tomorrow tomorrow, the main force of our army will be exhausted, and the Heavenly Mandate Army will be exhausted after a night's fatigue, and it will definitely be defeated in a battle!" ”

Zuo Liangyu expressed his position, Fang Guoan and Yang Dezheng had to agree, agreeing that after dark, they would take the initiative to find a decisive battle with the Mandate of Heaven Army, and no matter what, they would drag the Mandate of Heaven Army back.

Yang Wenyue also sent Hu Dawei to participate in the night battle, and he bowed his hand to Zuo Liangyu, "After dawn, it will depend on General Zuo!" ”

Zuo Liangyu hurriedly returned the salute, "Lord Inspector is polite, it is the responsibility of our generals to share the worries of the court and lift the siege of Feng!" ”

The Ming army had dinner early, and after dark, Fang Guoan, Yang Dezheng and Hu Dawei joined forces, close to 30,000 Ming troops, taking advantage of the night, to Zhu Xianzhen, in order to deter the Heavenly Mandate Army as much as possible, all departments carried artillery.

Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue were afraid that the three general soldiers would not have enough numbers and would suffer losses in front of the Heavenly Mandate Army, so they did not dare to sleep in peace.

In the camp of the Ming army, only Zuo Liangyu's department was left to recuperate!

The tens of thousands of troops of Fang Guoan, Yang Dezheng and Hu Dawei suddenly attacked the camp overnight, which surprised Li Zicheng very much, the Ming army was shrinking in the camp for days and pretending to be turtles, why did they take the initiative to attack tonight?

Did the night borrow their courage? Or is there some scheme?

Hearing the "rumbling" cannon, Li Zicheng was furious, the Ming army was really about to attack, and he immediately gave Li Ji and Song Wen an order: Use mountain artillery to beat the Ming army back!

Zuo Liangyu could hear the sound of artillery coming from the direction of Zhu Xianzhen in the camp, and he did not arrange for the soldiers to rest, but asked them to wait for further information.

The rangers brought back the message of the battlefield: after the Mandate of Heaven counterattacked with artillery, the officers and troops began to retreat, and the infantry of the Mandate of Heaven had begun to leave the camp!

Just know that you are all rubbish! Zuo Liangyu scolded secretly, looked up at the dark night, and muttered, "What time is it?" ”

"Back to the general, it's already the second watch!"

The second watch is a good day, it is dark, and I can't see anything clearly......

Zuo Liangyu had already decided, and he immediately gave an order to one of his subordinate officers: "Clean all camp tents, take away mules and horses, food, armor, weapons, etc.!" ”

"Yes, General!" The officer had already turned around, but he listened, turned around and asked, "General, where are we going?" ”

"Where else can I go? Naturally, it is Huguang! Zuo Liangyu reprimanded: "Do you want to stay here and wait for death?" ”

"My subordinates understand!"

The camp of the Ming army was in a commotion, Zuo Liangyu personally led the front army, crossed the Shahe River from the stone bridge, and went south along the official road, and the rear army turned over the camp of the Ming army, and then also went out of the camp and followed Zuo Liangyu's steps to the south.

Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue have been between Shuipoji and Zhuxian Town, not only to supervise the battle, but also to wait to receive the three general soldiers, Fang Guoan, Yang Dezheng, and Hu Dawei were defeated by the Heavenly Mandate Army, they were worried, but they didn't expect the rangers in the rear to tell him that Zuo Liangyu ran away and went south to Huguang......

Ding Qirui was stunned!

Zuo Liangyu ran away with more than 100,000 main forces, how can this battle be fought? With the remaining defeated soldiers, they can't even hold the big battalion, how can they break the siege of Feng?

No, Zuo Liangyu must not be allowed to go back!

Yang Wenyue came over with a gloomy face, he knew that Zuo Liangyu was not Ding Qirui's descendant, and it had always been difficult to discipline, if such a thing happened, maybe he couldn't blame Ding Qirui, but Zuo Liangyu ran away, and the battlefield was fundamentally reversed.

"Inspector Ding......"

"Inspector Yang ......" Ding Qirui went out, things have come to this point, if Zuo Liangyu can't be chased back, the officers and soldiers will be defeated, "This governor will go and chase Zuo Liangyu back, this side of the matter, Yang Dou will resist it first!" ”

"I can't stand it," Yang Wenyue shook his head, "The three general soldiers have been defeated, with more than 10,000 people in the hands of this governor, how can they resist the tens of thousands of wolf-like Heavenly Mandate Army?" ”

"My soldiers are all left to Yang Du," Ding Qirui also knew that this was embarrassing Yang Wenyue, but there was really no other way than to recover Yang Wenyue, "As long as Yang Du resists for an hour, if Zuo Liangyu is recovered, this governor can cover up and come back, and repel the Heavenly Mandate Army, but he can't chase it back, so he can only retreat in the direction of Runing, and this governor will also converge in the direction of Runing!" ”

The situation was already rotten, and Yang Wenyue had no better way, so he had to nod and say, "I hope that Inspector Ding will recover Zuo Liangyu earlier." ”

Ding Qirui turned over and threw his hand to Yang Wenyue, "Without further ado, this governor will go south, no matter whether Zuo Liangyu comes back or not, this governor will definitely come back." ”

Yang Wenyue also gave his hand, "Inspector Ding will go early and return early!" ”

Ding Qirui didn't say anything more, turned the horse's head, clamped the horse's belly between his legs, and drove towards the stone bridge on the official road, with only a few cavalrymen behind him.

After Li Zicheng repelled the Ming army attacking the camp, he was not ready to pursue it with all his strength because it was dark and could not see clearly, but the ranger told him that Zuo Liangyu had run away and could not escape along the official road.

Is it back to Huguang?

Li Zicheng knew that the Ming army was short of water and food, and it would definitely not be able to support it for too long, so he didn't expect Zuo Liangyu to run away so quickly, but he still ran away without permission.

As soon as Zuo Liangyu's main force ran, there were only 350,000 soldiers left in the camp of the Ming army, and this was an opportunity that could not be missed.

Li Zicheng didn't even want a big battalion, and the cavalry of Liu Yunshui's department was the vanguard, first breaking through the formation of Hu Dawei and other departments, and then immediately pursued Zuo Liangyu along the official road, only to pursue with the tail.

The independent battalion of Li Xin's department and the Chengtian battalion of Gao Ligong's department also went out of the camp immediately, pursuing along the official road as fast as possible to meet Liu Yunshui's department.

Li Ji's fourth battalion and Song Wen's seventh battalion were both equipped with rifles and could not pursue quickly, so they stayed to deal with Yang Wenyue and Hu Dawei's troops.

The Mandate of Heaven Army in the large camp only left hundreds of soldiers to guard the camp, and even the Wei Ziming Department of the Third Regiment of the Chengtian Battalion, which had just been reorganized, was used.

The official road south of Kaifeng began to diverge in Xuzhou, the official road in the west passed through Nanyang Mansion and entered the important town of Xiangyang, Huguang, and the official road in the east passed through the west of Ruzhou and led to Wuchang, the capital of Huguang.

Zuo Liangyu went on the official road, intending to pass Xuzhou, so he returned to Xiangyang along the official road to the west.

All the way was in a hurry, but there were fifty or sixty thousand infantry around him, and the speed of the march could not be fast at all, and he only traveled more than ten miles, and there was a noise behind him.

Zuo Liangyu was shocked, could it be that the Heavenly Mandate Army was chasing after him?

Thinking about it, it seems unlikely, the main force of the Tianming Army was contained by Fang Guoan, Yang Dezheng, and Hu Dabuwei, it is impossible to come over so quickly, besides, there are still tens of thousands of rear troops, and even if the Heavenly Mandate Army breaks through the rear army, it will take a lot of time.

He reined in his horse and asked the guards beside him, "What happened?" ”

The guards didn't have time to answer, and a familiar voice suddenly came from behind: "General Zuo, where is General Zuo?" ”

Zuo Liangyu's head suddenly got big, how did this Ding Qirui chase here? Isn't there a lot of things waiting for you to do? He really didn't want to see this man.

However, Ding Qirui had already come, and he couldn't hide, so he rushed over, "Master Inspector!" ”

"General Zuo, I've finally found you!" Ding Qirui no longer had the same lofty momentum as before, he took a breath and said, "Why did General Zuo withdraw his troops?" The Governor is still waiting to fight back against the Mandate of Heaven...... Tiger Dawei and they are fighting against the Mandate of Heaven Army, the battle is very stalemate, if General Zuo's soldiers press up, the Mandate of Heaven Army will inevitably be defeated......"

You just make it up, if Hu Dawei can tie with the Heavenly Mandate Army, the sow will also go up the tree! Zuo Liangyu snorted secretly and said, "In that case, why doesn't the Inspector gather the Inspector in Shuipo, but chase after him?" ”

"General Zuo is confused!" Ding Qirui looked distressed, but unfortunately it was too dark, and Zuo Liangyu couldn't see his face clearly, "General Zuo was dispatched by the imperial court to relieve the siege of Kaifeng, and now that the siege of Kaifeng has not been solved, how can he withdraw the army without authorization?" General Zuo, hurry back, maybe just in time to defeat the Mandate of Heaven Army, this governor is only the general deliberately lured the Mandate of Heaven Army out of the camp......"

Zuo Liangyu thought for a moment, and suddenly laughed: "Don't spend time on the Inspector, the Inspector is the general soldier of Huguang and the general of the Ping thief, the Huguang Liukou is raging, and the Liukou of Henan will count on the Inspector!" didn't give Ding Qirui a chance to speak, turned the horse's head and turned over and left.

"General Zuo can't be confused......" Ding Qirui can't wait to kowtow to Zuo Liangyu and beg for mercy, without Zuo Liangyu, what will he do to Kaifeng to relieve the siege? But Zuo Liangyu has disappeared into the darkness and can no longer be found!

The soldiers naturally didn't bother with Ding Qirui, they followed Zuo Liangyu's pace and continued to go south, without any hesitation, Ding Qirui looked up to the sky and sighed, knowing that something could not be done, so he turned his horse's head and went in the direction of Runing.

Zuo Liangyu knew that Ding Qirui was gone, and his heart was relieved, and he ordered the soldiers to light torches, and simply went south, traveling dozens of miles, not far in front of Weishi County, at this time the east was already white, and the soldiers were running all night, thinking about whether to rest in Weishi County for half a day, when the soldiers in front of them with torches to guide the way suddenly shouted: "Where is the road?" Why is the official road gone? ”

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