Wuchang Mansion

Li Zicheng's 150,000-strong army into Sichuan had captured Bazhou and was advancing to Chengdu, where Sichuan's administrative office was located.

In the direction of Zhang Xianzhong, in the Sichuan battlefield, there were successive defeats, and the entire Bazhou in eastern Sichuan had already fallen, and only the Chengdu Plain in central Sichuan, as well as a few states such as Suizhou and Mianzhou, still survived.

When Zhang Xianzhong entered Sichuan, there were 200,000 soldiers and horses, known as 400,000. Now he and Li Zicheng have consumed nearly a year, and the battle deaths and surrenders are only 120,000 or 30,000.

His four righteous descendants can be expected, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, Ai Nengqi, Liu Wenxiu has died in Bazhou, Ai Nengqi was demoted to the military because of the defeat, and went to southern Sichuan to operate. Now in Chengdu, only Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo are left.

Zhang Xianzhong ordered the most trusted righteous descendants to be expected to be deployed in Suizhou and Mianzhou. Because of the ferocity of Li Zicheng's cavalry, the Chengdu Plain is a flat river, and it can be lowered overnight. As the last barrier of the Chengdu Plain, the ownership of Suizhou and Mianzhou, which are located at the junction of mountains and plains, became the key to the First World War in Sichuan.

Li Zicheng, who was in the Bazhou military camp, received a letter from Sun Chuanting, in which he said that Fang Yuan's main force had been dragged south by Sun Chuanting's army in Fengyang, Xuzhou, and Huai'an.

Sun Chuanting asked Li Zicheng to immediately send troops from Huguang to attack Jiangxi, and then go south to Jiangnan, gather the strength of the two armies to encircle and suppress Fang Yuan's forces in Jiangnan, and then Sun Chuanting got the land north of the Jiangnan, and Jiangnan was owned by Li Zicheng.

The stakes are high, and the strategic significance of Sun Chuanting's letter even exceeds the significance of attacking Sichuan. Even though Li Zicheng captured the entire Sichuan, he only solved the dilemma in front of him. But in the future, it can only live in the southwest corner, and there is no hope of winning the world.

If he can take the opportunity to take over Fang Yuan's Jiangnan, with Jiangnan's sufficient resources, the warriors under his command can fight well, it will be enough to win the world!

Li Zicheng immediately handed over the heavy task of attacking Suizhou and Mianzhou to the general Liu Zongmin and the military advisor Song Xiance. And Li Ziben himself took Niu Jinxing and other generals back to Wuchang Mansion, and summoned Li Guo from Henan to hold a meeting to discuss whether to cooperate with Sun Chuanting's actions, take advantage of the empty Jiangnan to take Jiangxi first, attack Nanjing, and then sweep Jiangnan.

Li Zicheng showed Sun Chuanting's letter to everyone and began to ask for everyone's suggestions.

His nephew Li Guo is sincere for meritorious service, and this letter from Sun Chuanting was handed over to him first, and then to Li Zicheng.

Li Guo was the first to stand up and preemptively said, "King Chuang, I have been to Jiangnan several times, Jiangnan has been operated by Fang Yuan for several years, it is extremely rich, and there are many grains, silver, goods, and beauties. Now that Fang Yuan's light troops are advancing, Jiangnan is empty, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the opportunity must not be lost and will not come again! ”

Li Yan saw that everyone, including King Chuang, was stunned, and Sichuan dared to fight on two fronts before it was taken, and took the initiative to provoke Fang Yuan. In his plan, he wanted to wait for Fang Yuan and Sun Chuanting to consume each other on the battlefield in Jiangbei, and Li Zicheng took the opportunity to take Sichuan.

If Sichuan is taken, after the three-legged momentum is completed, Fang Yuan and Sun Chuanting are still fighting fiercely, they can gather the main force of the army to march eastward and encroach on Fang Yuan's territory in the south of the Yangtze River.

Obviously, the time is far from coming, although Fang Yuan and Sun Chuanting are facing each other in Jiangbei, they have not fought a vicious battle, it does not look like a war at all, but a military parade. If you rashly turn your face at this time and send an army to the east, you will never be able to bargain.

Li Yan hurriedly came out and said, "King Chuang, don't do it!" Although Jiangnan had fewer troops, the Xuanjia army had the advantage of a naval division, which was enough to cut off the waterways of the Great River. If our army crosses the river in a hurry, once there is a mistake, the whole army will be annihilated! ”

Li Guo was already dissatisfied with Li Zicheng's trust in Li Yan, and he also shared most of his power. At this moment, Li Yan suddenly stood up and disagreed with him, and he was even more displeased, and said with a gloomy face, "Our army is going eastward, and it is invincible everywhere it passes, and you can eat in Jiangnan, why are you worried about being cut off from the waterway?!" ”

Li Yan retorted, "If you eat in Jiangnan, it will inevitably cause the same hatred and hatred of the whole Jiangnan, and when our army advances, it will be difficult and bloody step by step!" Moreover, Fang Yuan's Xuanjia Army may come back to help at any time. The waterways and hills in the south of the Yangtze River are dense, and they are not suitable for the galloping of our cavalry at all, but they are going to be broken by Fang Yuan! ”

Li Guo said coldly, "Li Yan, you are the one who grows up to destroy your own prestige!" Fang Yuan was confronting Sun Chuanting on the Huaibei battlefield, where did he dare to draw troops south? If he returns to the division for reinforcements, Sun Chuanting can cover up and chase after him, and Fang Yuan will be defeated! ”

Li Zicheng nodded again and again when he heard this, in his opinion, the army of Chuang Jun and Sun Chuanting was close to 400,000, and all of them were elites who had experienced a hundred battles. No matter how Fang Yuan deployed his defenses, the numerical inferiority of the army was enough to overstretch Jiangnan's defense line, and there were loopholes everywhere that could be attacked. The capture of Jiangnan was too tempting, and Li Zicheng was ready to move in his heart.

Seeing Li Zicheng's constant nodding expression, Li Yan was obviously standing on Li Guo's side, and he was busy kneeling on the ground, and said bitterly, "King Chuang!" It is easy for us to capture Jiangxi, but Jiangnan is the foundation of Fangyuan, and it is the place where we must be saved. He will definitely adopt the strategy of abandoning the Jiangbei Prefectures, holding the waterway of the Yangtze River, and confronting our army with all his might. If Sun Chuanting takes the mountain in Jiangbei to watch the tiger fight, he will order us to merge with Fang Yuanhuo. We sent troops to Jiangnan, but we just made a wedding dress for Sun Chuanting. Sun Chuanting sent this letter with ill intentions! ”

Li Yan stepped forward and grabbed Li Zichengming's dangling armor, cried and continued to admonish, "King Chuang!" We and Sun Chuanting are not all the way at all, and we can't bet the fate of the army on Sun Chuanting's cooperation with us! ”

"King Chuang! We and Fang Yuan are all the way, and only Fang Yuan will sympathize with us because the officials forced the people to rebel, and we have to rebel. And the capital court, Sun Chuanting will only regard us as a big rebel, and he wants to get rid of him quickly! King Chuang, I dare to say a big rebellious word, if we lose to Fang Yuan, at least we can be crowned marquis and worship the general, rich and glorious. If we lose to Sun Chuanting, we will die without a place to be buried! ”

Li Zicheng looked down at Li Yan, who was constantly admonished, and his expression became more and more relaxed. To plan, we must not only think about victory, but also think about defeat.

Although what Li Yan said made him feel frustrated, it was by no means unbelievable. was conquered by Fang Yuan, maybe he could save his life, at least the big and small warlords Zheng Zhilong, Liu Liangzuo, and the generals of the left army who were defeated by Fang Yuan all survived, and even became rich and glorious. It can be seen that Fang Yuan is really a benevolent monarch and does not kill indiscriminately.

And Liu Zeqing, who was defeated by Sun Chuanting, was wiped out by the whole family, and there was not a single hair left, how can this kind of ruthless person be trusted? !

Li Zicheng squatted down and was about to help up Li Yan, who was admonished, but saw the chief military advisor Niu Jinxing suddenly stand up and say, "King Chuang, I have something to report." ”

Niu Jinxing is a middle-aged literati in his fifties, who has been promoted to the army, and later defected to Li Zicheng's army, and is currently serving as the chief military advisor. Because he is good at strategy, familiar with etiquette models, and political structure, he has won Li Zicheng's trust.

Niu Jinxing took out a letter from the literati's robe, handed it to Li Zicheng, squinted at Li Yan and said, "King Chuang, this is the secret agent I planted in Wuchang, and the letter I robbed is related to General Li. ”