The message said that after Zuo Liangyu's troops entered Huguang, they went north along the official road and occupied Linying County in Xuzhou.

The loss of the county seat is not terrible, Li Zicheng has already explained to the prefectures and counties, if he encounters the superior strength of the Ming army, he can take the initiative to surrender, the Mandate of Heaven army only cares about the hearts of the people, and does not care about the gains and losses of one city and one place, in the case of insufficient troops and unable to control all states and counties, he chooses to control the central capital city.

The state and county are lost and can be re-defeated.

Li Zicheng's greatest hope is to reduce the losses caused by the war to the people and the destruction of agriculture, Henan has endured continuous droughts, agriculture is fragile, and the people are barren, and they really can't be tossed anymore.

But at the end of the message, the Han Qing Bureau told Li Zicheng that after Zuo Liangyu's troops occupied Linying County, they not only plundered the people on a large scale, but also implemented a policy of slaughtering the city, and at least half of the people in the city died under the butcher's knife......

This is intolerable, Li Zicheng allowed the prefecture and county to surrender to the Ming army on his own initiative, originally to reduce losses, hoping to surrender voluntarily, in exchange for the mercy of the Ming army, but he didn't expect ......

Li Zicheng has always been particularly concerned about the survival of the people, and when he got the news that Linying was slaughtered, he naturally couldn't sit still.

The Mandate of Heaven Army will return to the camp after withdrawing, and Li Zicheng immediately summoned Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and the battalion owners to attend the meeting in the big tent.

Such a military meeting will not last too long, in the face of the arrogant and cruel Zuo Liangyu, the Mandate of Heaven Army can only end the war with a war, and the generals have the same hatred for the enemy, and they have asked to be the front army and take the initiative to fight a decisive battle with Zuo Liangyu.

War is not an end, but an effective means to stop a long war!

Li Zicheng decided to withdraw his troops from Kaifeng.

Seeing that Kaifeng was already crumbling, he was really reluctant to withdraw the army at this time, but when he first attacked Kaifeng, it was originally to attract reinforcements from all walks of life of the Ming army, and the Mandate of Heaven Army could adjust its strategy at any time according to the development of the battlefield situation.

There was Zuo Liangyu's case, and the strategy returned to the original point!

The Mandate of Heaven Army, which besieged the five gates of Kaifeng, assembled in the southwest direction that night, the fourth battalion outside the north gate joined forces with the seventh battalion outside the west gate, and the independent battalion outside the east gate and Cao Gate retreated to the south gate and joined the Chengtian camp.

In the early morning of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Heavenly Mandate Army began to retreat to Zhuxian Town in the southwest, Li Zicheng looked at the silent Kaifeng City, and silently said in his heart: It's okay, the Heavenly Mandate Army has withdrawn, and the people in the city can celebrate the Lantern Festival happily......

The army went south along the official road to Xuzhou, and the rangers sent a message that Yang Wenyue's department of the Baoding army, together with Ding Qirui in Kaifeng City, followed the Mandate of Heaven army all the way to the south to pursue.

Is this to flank the Mandate of Heaven?

Li Zicheng is not worried about Ding Qirui, he has been wandering around the territory of the Heavenly Mandate Army for so long, and he has never dared to attack the capital city where the Heavenly Mandate Army is heavily armed, this will be bold, I am afraid that he still borrowed courage from others.

Yang Wenyue's department is not very good, it seems that it is just a big name, Weishi County, Mi County, Xincai County and the Heavenly Mandate Army met, they were all defeated and returned, and the soldiers were defeated.

At least when they met Yang Wenyue's department, the soldiers of the Heavenly Mandate Army had a certain sense of superiority in their hearts......

What Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue relied on was nothing more than the 40,000 troops of Zuo Liangyu's department, since this was the case......

Li Zicheng thought for a moment, and asked He Xiaomi to send out a military order: The army does not need to enter the city, continue to go south!

Less than twenty miles south of Xuzhou City, there was a forest that happened to shelter from the wind, but Li Zicheng's army did not stop here, but hurriedly drove by, and traveled twenty miles until sunset, and then set up camp along the official road.

It was still the original military tent of 60,000 people, with fences, horses, and thistles, and terrestris, and the camp was only completed when the lantern was held.

Li Zicheng sent a large number of cavalry to explore the camp in all directions, focusing on the north and south of the official road, reaching out 30 miles away.

When he arrived in Linying County, Li Zicheng received information that Zuo Liangyu's troops had retreated south to Yuncheng in order to avoid the advance of the Heavenly Mandate Army.

Yuncheng is the southernmost county of Xuzhou, and it is only 30 miles south along the official road, which is the boundary of Huguang.

Li Zicheng's heart moved, Zuo Liangyu is preparing for retreat! In case the battle is unfavorable, he can retreat back to Huguang at any time, and Huguang is his territory.

The war has not yet begun, and it has left a way out for himself, this Zuo Liangyu is really cunning, but such an army always lacks something.

Faith, the confidence to win!

Li Zicheng admires those generals who "carry the coffin for a decisive battle", like Pang De in the Three Kingdoms era, Zuo Zongtang in the Qing Dynasty, who is obviously in a disadvantaged position militarily, but has a domineering spirit of decisive victory, such a general is so strong that his heart is terrifying.

If you don't even have the confidence to win, it is clear that you are cowardly before you fight, and such a Zuo Liangyu is not worthy of respect.

No matter what kind of character Zuo Liangyu is, it doesn't matter to the Heavenly Mandate Army, if he dares to slaughter the city on the territory of the Heavenly Mandate Army, the Heavenly Mandate Army will definitely not give up.

When they meet on the battlefield, each is their master, the generals themselves are not wrong, and they should be respected by the most basic respect of the Mandate of Heaven, but Zuo Liangyu actually slaughtered innocent people, this kind of character should not live in itself, Li Zicheng's heart has already sentenced Zuo Liangyu to death!

The army has set up camp outside Linying City, now is the time, if the march, there are at least twenty miles, but he wants to go to the city to see, Linying City has suffered heavy losses, and the people need peace of mind the most.

Li Zicheng took his own soldiers and entered the city from the north gate, and just after passing the city gate, he smelled a strong stench.

How long has it been, and hasn't the body been buried? In case of a plague...... He frowned and reluctantly walked into the city.

Li Zicheng walked through the streets, and within his sight, there was a mess everywhere, whether it was a private house or a shop, the door was wide open, the gatehouse collapsed, and the windows were crooked...... Totally apocalyptic image.

Although the corpse has been treated, it is not thorough, and from time to time you can see a mutilated corpse, the male corpse is better, and the female corpse is almost defenseless, and it is all smelly.

After walking for such a long time, I didn't see pedestrians at all, and Linying City became a ghost town completely.

He Xiaomi couldn't help it for a long time, and scolded: "Ma Qiao's Zuo Liangyu, did he kill all the people in a city?" Let Lao Tzu catch it, you can't ...... it with a thousand cuts."

Li Zicheng couldn't help but feel sad, and found the county office, which was even more shocking than elsewhere, the two stone lions at the door, either missing legs, or missing ears and tails, the door number was taken off, broken and thrown aside, and thousands of people stepped on it......

On the two vermilion lacquer gates, there were many dents pierced by knives and guns, the door shaft was broken, crooked to one side, the remaining blood stains had turned black, and on the main road inside the gate, scattered clothes, broken armor, and scattered accounts......

Li Zicheng's heart sank, looking at this, there should be no one in the county office, I don't know if the official was killed or escaped, in the face of absolute strength, if he escaped, it was not a crime, but it was ...... in this city

He Xiaomi knew the thoughts of the Metropolitan Governor, and hurriedly said: "The Metropolitan Governor is waiting here, and his subordinates will bring people in to investigate, looking at this, I'm afraid there is no one in the county government......"

Li Zicheng nodded, feeling an inexplicable sadness in his heart, in later generations, every time he saw the ** massacre, the three days in Yangzhou, the ten massacres in Jiading, and the shame of Jingkang...... They are all filled with righteous indignation, eager to pick up guns and horses, and go straight to the Yellow Dragon, which are all evils imposed on the Han people by foreign nationalities......

However, in today's Linying, it is not foreign nationalities or rogues who create crimes for the Han people, but officers and soldiers, the officers and soldiers of Zuo Liangyu, who the court relies on to quell thieves!

Such hatred......

Li Zicheng didn't know, if there was no Heavenly Mandate Army and Liukou, would such a tragedy happen, could it be that the Heavenly Mandate Army came to Henan, was it a complete mistake?

No, absolutely not!

The Mandate of Heaven Army came to Henan to rescue the people of Henan, Nanyang, Luoyang, Runing, and Ruzhou, the people have lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the Defu has just been annexed, and the time is too short, and they will soon live and work in peace and contentment......

The imperial court is all the fault of the imperial court, and only by overthrowing the imperial court and annihilating Zuo Liangyu's ministry can this naked human evil be eliminated!

It is not enough to overthrow the Ming court, if it is just to change the dynasty and let the feudal dynasty reincarnate again, such a crime will always exist.

Educate!

Only by educating all the people, truly abandoning the policy of ignoring the people that has lasted for thousands of years, allowing the people to enjoy the right to education, breaking the artificial social hierarchy, and creating a society where everyone is equal......

Follow this road, China will be revived, however, this is a road full of thorns, a thousand times more difficult than overthrowing the Ming court, Li Zicheng really doesn't know, whether he can persevere, or at that time, whether he can still adhere to this ideal in his heart.

Li Zicheng looked at the incomplete pair of stone lions, and sighed unconsciously in his heart, breaking an old era is more difficult than building a new era, I don't know how many times more difficult......

I don't know when, He Xiaomi came back, "The Metropolitan Governor, his subordinates have checked it once, there is no one in the county government at all, and the county treasury has also been looted......"

Li Zicheng came back to his senses, shook his head and smiled bitterly, not only the county government, but also I am afraid that there will not be many people in the city, I don't know if the people have run away and have been killed!

This Zuo Liangyu, I remember you......

Linying City is a county seat, with a population of at least 100,000 and tens of thousands of people in the city, is it just ruined?

Li Zicheng is really unwilling, but the war has not yet ended, and there is no time to help the people of Linying rebuild their homes for the time being, but there is a temporary governor's mansion! He thought for a moment, turned over his horse, and said, "Xiaomi, go back to the camp!" ”

When he returned to the camp outside the city, it was about to get dark, and Li Zicheng didn't care about eating, so he immediately summoned Song Xiance and Luo Rucai.

Li Zicheng left them two hundred soldiers and asked them to clean up the city, form a new county government, restore order in the city, and take advantage of the declining population to re-register the population and divide the land.

Until a new government is established, they are temporarily in charge of the affairs of the county government.

The last time Li Xin took Xuzhou, because of the urgency of time, the army had to go north to besiege Kaifeng, and Xuzhou and its counties were just maintained as they were, and even the officials were not replaced, let alone the division of land.

Song Xiance was reluctant to govern such a small county town, but since joining the Heavenly Mandate Army, he was already familiar with Li Zicheng's attitude towards the people, and besides, Linying City really needed a strong man to govern, so he accepted the task.

Li Zicheng rested in the big tent for a night, and after dawn, he raised his army to the south, and Zuo Liangyu's 40,000 soldiers were in Yuncheng, fifty or sixty miles away.