Outside the Great Wall in the north of Beijing, there are mainly three places of Baoanzhou, Yanqingwei and Xuanfu, which are connected to Mongolia in the north and Datong in the west, and are connected with Zhili in the north through Juyong Pass in the south.

It was originally a military stronghold against the Mongols, but after the Qing defeated Dzungar last year, all the Mongol tribes surrendered, and the troops stationed there withdrew to the south of the Great Wall.

The defenses of Xuanfu, Baozhou, and Yanqingwei became more and more relaxed, and the soldiers and horses in the three places were less than 7,000.

If it weren't for the unstable factor of Datong Jiang Xiang, the soldiers and horses in these three places would be even less.

In September, Jiang Xiang suddenly rebelled against the Qing Dynasty, Jiang Xiang's brother Jiang Youguang led 10,000 soldiers, more than 10,000 righteous troops, took advantage of the weakness to enter, and broke the three places.

The strength of the town guarding Xuanhua was less than 4,000, led by the surrender general Hao Xiaozhong.

This Hao Xiaozhong, originally a deputy general of the Ming Dynasty, subordinate to Zuo Liangyu, in the second year of Shunzhi (1645), in Jiujiang with Zuo Mengeng to the Qing Dynasty, under the Han Army is the white flag, and he is really loyal to the Qing Dynasty.

In history, he made repeated military exploits for the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and later was killed by Sun Kewang when the Ming army counterattacked Hunan, and the Qing court also posthumously awarded him as the governor of the capital, in the seventh year of Yongzheng, and ordered to enshrine the Zhaozhong Temple, his son Erde, inherited the hereditary position.

Xuanhua is a Xiongcheng with the same name as Datong, with a large population and prosperous commerce, it is a material transit station for Jin merchants and Mongolian trade, there are nearly 100 warehouses of all sizes in the city, in addition to storing the furs purchased from Mongolia, there are also a lot of grain and other materials used to exchange with Mongolia.

It is precisely because of these materials and warehouses, as well as the Jin merchant shops in the city, that Jiang Youguang is bound to Xuanhua.

He led 10,000 Datong elite soldiers, plus more than 10,000 hurriedly pulled up the righteous army, and the surrendered military forts around Xuanfu and the guards of the original Ming Dynasty, stormed Xuanhua, but because of Geng Liao's report, Hao Xiaozhong was prepared, plus Fan Yongdou and others consciously came to the end, and paid money and food to help the Qing army defend the city, Jiang Youguang attacked several times, but was blocked by the Qing army.

Jiang Youguang saw that he couldn't take Xuanhua, so he could only let people sweep away Baozhou and Yanqingwei, which had only more than 1,000 garrisons respectively. The two cities surrendered in one battle, the garrison of Baoan Prefecture surrendered without a fight, and Yanqingwei was broken by the Datong army, and all the defenders were slaughtered.

After winning Baoan Prefecture and Yanqingwei, the Datong Army has already approached Juyong Pass, and after passing Juyong Pass, it is Beijing City. The Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs for nearly ten years, but there was no kindness to the world, Shanxi rebelled, and the news that the army was approaching Yongguan spread to Beizhili, and the entire Hebei undercurrent was also surging.

In Singping County, north of Beijing, there was the original Ming Dynasty who instigated anti-Qing Dynasty, led hundreds of people to drive away Zhixian, occupied the county seat, and prepared to meet the Datong army.

Although there was no major turmoil in Hebei for the time being, the Manchu Qing also realized that it was urgent to extinguish the Jiang Xiang rebellion!

It's just like what Dol Roll expected, Wang Yan's house really didn't give up, and the army of the other side ordered the southern expedition to change the offensive to the defensive, and slowly broke away from the contact with the Ming army, and the Ming army chased the Qing army's buttocks.

On the front line of the Huai River, the Ming army in Huai'an took advantage of Ma Guanghui's contraction to Xuzhou, pursued along the canal, and even went down to Siyang, Suqian, Pizhou and other places, and approached the southeast of Xuzhou.

The Ming army in Hefei also took advantage of the trend to go north, recovered the entire territory of Fengyang Prefecture, captured the important town of Bozhou to the north, approached Guide Mansion in Henan, took Suzhou to the northeast, and approached the southwest of Xuzhou, forming a flanking attack on Xuzhou with the Ming army of Huai'an.

In addition, the East China Sea Division of the Ming Army advanced along the coast and captured Haizhou, threatening Shandong.

Ma Guanghui once again hid in the important town of Xuzhou, and the 50,000 horses of the Qing army on the front line of Xuzhou, Dolgon did not dare to mobilize at all.

In Henan, the Ming Dynasty took advantage of the retreat of the Qing army attacking Nanyang to the north, and the Ming army not only recovered the entire territory of Nanyang, but also took advantage of the situation to take Runing Mansion and Ruzhou, and pressed the line of Shaomu Mountain and Yishui River, and could attack Luoyang, Kaifeng and other places at any time.

It can be said that the Ming army has entered the predetermined position of the Northern Expedition, and it is just about to start the Central Plains War when it is ready.

Although Dolgon rejected Shunzhi's proposal for peace, he still sent people south to delay time, but before the envoy could reach Nanjing, he was humiliated by the Ming army and driven back.

In the face of the pressure of the Ming army, Dolgon's plan to transfer 80,000 horses and horses in Henan to quell the rebellion also failed, and in the end, only Kong Youde and Wakda were transferred to lead 60,000 soldiers and horses to cross the Yellow River. Kong Youde led 30,000 troops from Huaiqing Mansion to attack Wankou Pass and Tianjing Pass in the east of Wangwu Mountain to take Jincheng, and 30,000 people from Wakdaring went out of Zhangde Mansion to attack Yuxia Pass and Huguan line, take Lu'an Mansion, and enter Shanxi from the southeast of Jin.

Shang Kexi and Wang Yuele of Anjun, who went south from the starry night of Beijing, led 100,000 horses to garrison the front line of Luoyang and Kaifeng to prevent the Ming army from advancing north.

The whole territory of Shanxi was opposed, but because of the containment of the Ming army, the number of men and horses that Dolgon could put into the rebellion was very limited, far less than the number that could pacify Jiang Xiang.

Xuanhua City, from Jiang Xiang's rebellion to Xuanhua besieged for more than a month.

Although Xuanhua's insistence made Jiang Youguang dare not cross the Great Wall rashly, and bought time for Dolgon's troops to arrange the formation, but for such a long time, the reinforcements have not yet come, and the pressure of slaughtering the city after the city is broken is like a boulder, and it weighs heavily on the hearts of Hao Xiaozhong and Fan Yongdou.

Hao Xiaozhong is a native of Liaodong, because of this relationship, after he followed Zuo Mengeng to the Qing Dynasty, he was soon reused by the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

At the head of the city, Hao Xiaozhong stared at the rebel camp in the distance with melancholy eyes, Jiang Youguang failed to attack Xuanhua several times, but he did not give up, he directly set up the camp outside Xuanhua City, obviously unwilling to give up Xuanhua.

Hao Xiaozhong naturally knew that Jiang Youguang's purpose was to defeat Xuanhua, if he didn't take the nail of Xuanhua, he wouldn't dare to cross the Great Wall and threaten Beijing, in addition, if Xuanhua was taken, there would be a barrier to the east of Datong, even if the Datong rebels didn't go well, they could still use Xuanhua to resist the imperial army and defend Jiang Xiang's old nest, Datong Mansion.

In addition to these, the wealth in Xuanhua City is also the reason why Jiang Youguang must get Xuanhua.

Jiang Xiang rebelled against the Qing Dynasty with Datong Mansion, with few soldiers and poor land, although the rebels soon controlled the entire Shanxi if they were gathered, but Jiang Xiang wanted to be the leader of the alliance, he must have money and food, and without money and food, the righteous army that swarmed in Shanxi, why should he listen to Jiang Xiang?

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, in order to express their gratitude to the Jin merchants who had supported them, they gave Zhangjiakou to the eight imperial merchants headed by Fan Yongdou, specializing in trade with the Mongols.

After all, Zhangjiakou is only a pass, the main goods of the Eight Imperial Merchants are still funds, or in Xuanhua, plus the merchants are well-informed, many shops of the Eight Imperial Merchants themselves bear the responsibility of collecting intelligence for the Manchu Qing Dynasty, when Geng Liao arrived in Xuanhua, Fan Yongdou also received the news, so he transferred the goods and silver from Zhangjiakou to Xuanhua City overnight.

Over the years, Fan Yongdou and others have bet on both sides between Jin and Qing, although part of the industry has been transferred to the Jin country, and part of it is in the hometown of Fenzhou, but in Xuanhua City, the assets of the eight imperial merchants are still enough to make people salivate.

There are countless furs here, as well as more than 200,000 stones of grain, and at least a million dollars of silver, once these materials are obtained by Jiang Youguang, then Jiang Xiang can quickly recruit troops and horses, and then pull up a team of tens of thousands of people, then it will be difficult for the Qing Dynasty to pacify Shanxi.

Now, although Jiang Youguang has failed to attack the city several times, Xuanhua has become an isolated city, and the strength in the city has not increased, but the rebels who have defected to Jiang Xiang in the border towns outside the city are constantly gathering, which makes Hao Xiaozhong very worried.

The Ming Dynasty's guards were corrupted, but the degree of corruption was different, the southern guards had not been at war for a long time, so the guards were overwhelmed, but the Xuanda region, the Ming Dynasty's guards and fortresses everywhere, because of the long-term war with the Mongols and Qing soldiers, still had a certain strength.

The Jiang family guarded the Xuanda area for decades, and had a high prestige in these fortresses on the border, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty still levied taxes on the border fortresses, which made the original Ming Dynasty's guards and fortresses very dissatisfied with the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

These people knew that there was money and food in Xuanhua City, and they wanted a piece of the pie, so they gathered in Xuanhua one after another, so that Jiang Youguang's men and horses not only did not decrease due to the siege of the city, but slowly rose to 30,000 people.

In the face of the growing rebel forces, Hao Xiaozhong's face was full of melancholy, and his expression fell into the eyes of Fan Yongdou, who was even more melancholy than him.

"Junmen, the money and food of our eight firms in the city, the Junmen only needs to be deployed, the guys of the merchants and the young people in the city can also be armed, and we will definitely be able to hold on until the reinforcements from the imperial court arrive!"

Fan Yongdou was afraid that Hao Xiaozhong would not have the determination to stick to Xuanhua, so he was busy cheering him up and strengthening his confidence.

(End of chapter)