Even if he stayed inside the city wall of Fangshan, Li Zicheng didn't sleep well that night. This is not because of a defeat during the day, the exchange ratio during the day is of course ugly, but in fact, the losses are very limited. Over the years, Li Zicheng has suffered more defeats on the battlefield than once or twice, and there are so many more defeats than this that he can't count. This little setback, Li Zicheng really didn't take it to heart. It's just that I don't know why, Li Zicheng always feels that his heart is not very steady.

"When we get to Zhuozhou, it's easy to say." Li Zicheng thought.

For this retreat, Li Zicheng had already made some preparations, and now Yuan Zongdi was guarding there with more than 10,000 people, and the city had hoarded enough food and supplies to support Li Zicheng's army for a period of time. Moreover, Yuan Zongdi also renovated the city wall of Zhuozhou. And the Ming army chased all the way, considering that most of the materials in Beijing had been consumed, the Ming army did not necessarily have a lot of materials in their hands. And the supply line extending all the way from the Jinghai side will also cost a lot. Li Zicheng felt that the Ming army, at least for now, did not have the ability to confront him for a long time in Zhuozhou, so he felt that as long as he arrived in Zhuozhou, he could retreat slowly and calmly. And Li Zicheng's army needs to go for another three days, three days at most, and they can rush to Zhuozhou. Li Zicheng felt that the Ming army set off later than himself, and he should not be able to catch up with him. And their cavalry, chasing all the way, had another big battle yesterday, they may not still have the combat strength today, especially their war horses, they may not have such physical strength.

But Li Zicheng still felt unsure. This is probably because this Ming army is different from any Ming army they have seen before.

Li Zicheng and Yi squinted slightly on the bed for more than two hours, then got up, called the guards, helped put on the armor, hung the sword, tied the dagger to the leg, and then put on the hat, and went out to inspect the city wall.

It was close to dawn, and the half-moon was hanging in the middle of the sky, so it wasn't too dark. Li Zicheng walked to the women's wall and held the women's wall with his hands and looked north. But I saw a gray-white official road, faintly visible under the stars and moon. The road winds north, then disappears behind a dark grove in the distance. Further north, there is only the bright Big Dipper.

Li Zicheng looked to the east again, but saw that the morning star had not yet risen, and the sky in the east was still dark and dreary, and there was still some time before sunrise.

"What time is it?" Li Zicheng asked.

"Your Majesty, it's just the time of the year." One of the guards replied.

"Hmm." Li Zicheng nodded and said, "It's time for the army to prepare for dinner and march." Well, you're going to see if they're ready? ”

The guard answered, and went down. Li Zicheng stopped him again and said, "Lao Liu is a veteran, and most of them are already arranging at this time." ”

Sure enough, after a while, I saw that the barracks outside the city gate began to be busy, and it was obvious that the preparations before the march had begun.

"Your Majesty, shall we go down?" A guard asked.

"There's no hurry." Li Zicheng said, "When the sun comes out and the preparations below are almost complete, we will go down." ”

The barracks were busy, the soldiers had already gotten up, some of the soldiers began to bury pots and cook, and puffs of cooking smoke rose from inside the city and from the barracks outside the city. At this time, the sky gradually brightened.

Li Zicheng came down from the city, had breakfast, and was ready to go.

"Brother Flag Waver!" Li Zicheng called Hao Shaoqi from afar.

"Your Majesty!" Hao Shaoqi lost a battle yesterday, although Li Zicheng did not blame him, Hao Shaoqi himself felt very ashamed. Now seeing Li Zicheng calling him, he hurried over, lowered his head, and was very embarrassed.

"Ah, Brother Flag, how is the horse you caught yesterday?" Li Zicheng asked.

"Yesterday it ran a little more, but now it doesn't have the strength to go. It's okay to walk with you, but if you run on a ride...... The last general was worried that he would wear out the horse. Hao Shaoqi replied.

"Oh, so the enemy cavalry won't be able to catch up today." Li Zicheng smiled, "Brother Flag Waver, I just said that you didn't lose yesterday, didn't you?" ”

While he was talking, a guard suddenly came in a hurry and whispered something in Li Zicheng's ear. Li Zicheng's face suddenly changed and said, "Wave the flag, you follow me to the city wall." You go and find Lao Liu. He commanded the guards again.

A few people went up the city wall and looked far away to the north, but saw a dozen or so scout cavalry of the Ming army appear on the official road in the north.

"This is not yesterday's cavalry, their horses are different." Li Zicheng put down the telescope in his hand and said. This telescope was originally sold by the Zheng family to the leaders of various military forces of the Ming army to make money. However, these military leaders are not very proficient in strategy and tactics, but they are particularly interested in military logistics and how to be a good transport captain. So a lot of these things have fallen into the hands of rogues like Li Zicheng.

"So, their army shouldn't be far away." Liu Zongmin said.

"Nothing." Li Zicheng smiled and said, "We are not far from Zhuozhou." They rushed all the way, and the ancients said, 'If you seek profit for a hundred miles, you will surely jump to the general.' 'When they come running like this, where is there strength to fight?' Besides, the last time we suffered a loss, it was actually a loss on their cannons, but I don't believe that they can still run over with the cannons this time. ”

This is a lot of comfort to everyone. However, whether it was Liu Zongmin, Hao Shaoqi, or even Li Zicheng, none of them wanted to have a decisive battle with the main force of the Ming army here. Because even if the Ming army has no artillery, those who participated in the last battle can see that the combat effectiveness of that Ming army is definitely very strong. Even if artillery is not considered, the Shun army will most likely not be able to defeat them in the field.

What's more, Li Zicheng's team also carried a lot of wealth this time, although before, he also successively let those teams preparing for the retreat take away some of the gold and silver, but firstly, to avoid being discovered by others His intention to retreat, and secondly, he was also worried about whether anything would happen if others returned with so much money. Therefore, more than half of the silver that Li Zicheng looted in Beijing was in the army. Since there was so much silver in the army, Li Zicheng naturally didn't want to have a decisive battle with the Ming army at this time.

"Alright, ready, let's go." Li Zicheng said, "Pass the order down, set off immediately!" ”