When the military rations in Nanzhili were shipped out, the battlefields of Huguang, Jiangxi, and Henan were already full of beacons.

Because the decisive battle on the Shandong battlefield is a major battle related to the ownership of the world, if Fang Yuan's Northern Expedition is successful, the next one will inevitably be Li Zicheng's turn. Under the strong encouragement of Niu Jinxing, Li Zicheng maintained the three-legged momentum and decided to officially declare war on the Xuanjia Army.

After Li Zicheng only occupied the four prefectures of Kuizhou, Chongqing, Baoning, and Shunqing in Sichuan, he gave up the offensive against Chengdu Prefecture and transferred the general Liu Zongmin out of Sichuan and entered the Huguang battlefield. After Liu Zongmin led the main force out of Sichuan, Li Zicheng's troops in the north of Huguang and the Yangtze River had a huge force of 150,000.

Coupled with the 50,000 soldiers and horses of Li Guo in Henan, Li Zicheng's soldiers and horses in the Eastern Expedition reached 200,000.

The first thing in front of Li Zicheng was the two mansions of Wuchang and Huangzhou guarded by Li Yan and his wife, especially Wuchang Mansion, which had been impregnable for several years after several years of operation by Li Yan and his wife.

In addition to the defense line of Wuchang Mansion, what gave Li Zicheng even more headache was the natural danger of the Yangtze River, as well as the Xuanjia Army Naval Division stationed in Wuchang Port.

After Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing discussed, he decided to salute first and then soldier, and first sent a letter of persuasion to Li Yan and his wife, promising that as long as the two were willing to surrender, the previous festival would be sold as soon as they were merged. Li Yan was a general and continued to lead his own troops to defend Wuchang.

Li Zicheng's letter of persuasion was sent to Li Yan's barracks, and Li Yan was hesitating when he read the letter. The red lady who heard the news didn't think about it, and immediately tore up the letter of persuasion.

Li Yan asked in surprise, "Lady, who are you?!" ”

The red lady said angrily, "What kind of thing is Li Zicheng, you can catch it if you want to, and you can make peace if you want to?!" The regent is as kind to me as a mountain, and he has a life-saving grace to your husband, and he trusts me and my wife without reservation, and entrusts me with the important task of running Huguang. Who is the master, who is the faint king, at a glance, husband, I will never descend! ”

Li Yan looked at her silently for a while, his expression became more and more resolute, and he strengthened his determination to resist, "Lady, there is a huge disparity between the strength and weakness of this battle, I am afraid that there will be more than one bad luck, and I am studying the method of resisting." ”

The red lady said loudly, "Li Zicheng has 150,000 people, and he will definitely not be able to hold it." I suggest that the offense be the defense, and hit Li Zicheng by surprise first. ”

Li Yan looked at the sand table in the middle of the barracks, and slammed his fist on the military case, "What the lady said is reasonable, the Yangtze River is our strongest line of defense, as long as we send sailors along the river to attack all the ports in Jiangbei that can cross the river, we can contain Li Zicheng's army in Jiangbei!" ”

Li Yan was the first to strike, and immediately sent the Xuanjia Army to support the sailors, from Huangzhou, Hanyang, and Yuezhou, all the way to the north of the Yangtze River to the ground, sniping Li Zicheng's army across the river.

Li Zicheng was annoyed and angry, and directly ordered Liu Zongmin to lead an army to attack Huangzhou Mansion in Jiangbei. Under Liu Zongmin's rapid offensive, Li Yan did not fight with the main force of the Chuang army in Jiangbei, but transferred the 10,000 soldiers stationed in Huangzhou Mansion back to Ezhou Port in Wuchang Mansion to garrison.

Within half a month, the Huangzhou Mansion was declared to have fallen.

Liu Zongmin captured Huangzhou Mansion and opened up the passage to attack Luzhou, Anqing, and Fengyang. But he did not dare to go any further. Because Li Yan's retreat to the south of the Yangtze River was just an attack on defense, as long as Liu Zongmin's main force was dispatched, he could cross the river again at any time and copy Liu Zongmin's military rations.

Liu Zongmin could only send someone to inform Li Zicheng and tell him to decide on the next military action.

After receiving Liu Zongmin's battle report, the biggest problem in front of Li Zicheng was Li Yan's 50,000-strong army in Wuchang Mansion.

If you don't solve the 50,000 army, you will attack Nanzhili, which is full of crises. Because the Xuanjia army has the advantage of the water division, they can cross the river at any time and copy Li Zicheng's nest in Huguang.

But how to capture the impregnable opposite side of the Yangtze River, as well as the Wuchang Mansion where the Xuanjia Army Navy patrols and guards, Li Zicheng has nothing to do. If he forcibly crossed the Yangtze River to attack Wuchang Mansion, he would definitely lose, and after thinking about it, he could only choose the method of attacking in a roundabout way.

Li Zicheng ordered 50,000 troops to detour from Jingzhou Mansion to Changde Mansion, and then from Changsha Mansion to the north, bypassing the huge Dongting Lake, and going to attack Wuchang Mansion.

Li Yan, who received the battle report, immediately ordered the 10,000 defenders of Changsha Mansion to clear the wilderness, and retreated all the grain in the official warehouse of Changsha Prefecture, as well as the people who were willing to move, to Baling County, Yuezhou Prefecture. As a result, the resources of Changsha Mansion were empty, forming a buffer zone of 300 miles in front of Wuchang Mansion. If Li Zicheng wants to cross Changsha Mansion and attack Wuchang Mansion, he will inevitably face heavy logistical pressure.

Baling is the southern gateway of Wuchang Mansion, and the Red Lady took the initiative to ask Ying to go to guard Baling and snipe Li Zicheng's army outside Wuchang Mansion.

The battle for Baling has become the key to the defense of Wuchang.

Li Zicheng invested 50,000 troops to besiege Baling County, and besieged it day and night on all sides. There were 10,000 soldiers in Baling City, and the Red Lady brought 8,000 soldiers to the south, a total of nearly 20,000 soldiers, plus there was plenty of grain and grass in the city, and Li Yan also sent soldiers from Wuchang Mansion to support Baling.

In the face of Li Zicheng's onslaught, the two sides engaged in a month-long tug-of-war in Baling County, but there was still no victory.

When Huguang was in the middle of the war, Li Guo of Henan also got Li Zicheng's military order and prepared to lead the cavalry to attack Fengyang Mansion by land.

If the cavalry is ordered to break into Fengyang Mansion, even if they can defend Fengyang City, the damage to the livelihood of Fengyang is also very amazing. Fang Yuan spent a lot of energy before, and the people's livelihood restored in Fengyang would be beaten back to before liberation one day.

After discussing with the eight commanders under his command, Gan Hui decided to adopt the tactics of keeping the enemy out of the country, and immediately sent troops to attack Runing Mansion in Henan while Li Guo was still preparing for battle.

Because the invasion army is a rogue nature, Li Guo's main force has been stationed in Nanyang Mansion, and the local officials and gentry in Runing Mansion have been looted by the invasion army many times, and they do not cooperate with the rule of the invasion army in Runing Mansion at all, so Li Guo's management of Runing Mansion is seriously insufficient, and the defense is almost useless.

Gan Hui's Xuanjia Army was divided into two routes, one way to attack Ruyang City in Runing Mansion, and one way to Xinyang in Runing Mansion, which was divided into north and south to contain the only way for Henan's army to march into Fengyang.

The battlefield advanced from Fengyang in the south to Runing Mansion in Henan.

Compared with the unprincipled looting of the intruding army, the local officials and gentry in Runing Mansion are willing to stand on the side of the Xuanjia Army in both public and private affairs. Although under Fang Yuan's rule, the various privileges of the gentry have been curbed to a considerable extent, as long as they obediently do not commit crimes, the family wealth and the female dependents of the family can be kept.

In the face of privileges, their own lives, and family wealth, the only choice for these gentry can only be Fang Yuan.

Under the leadership of the local gentry, Gan Hui's two Xuanjia army divisions entered the two cities of Ruyang and Xinyang without blood. In order to support the Xuanjia Army's War of Resistance, the gentry even took out food and wine for the army.

Li Guo saw that the Xuanjia army was the first to attack Henan. And the local officials and gentry of Runing Mansion were all biased towards the Xuanjia Army, so they were furious and immediately sent troops in two ways to fight a decisive battle with the Xuanjia Army.

The battle between the two sides unfolded in Ruyang and Xinyang.

Due to the ferocity of the cavalry of the invading army, Gan Hui directly cleared the walls in Ruyang and Xinyang, and with the cooperation of the local gentry, most of the grain and people were moved to the city.

Gan Hui's strategy was to defend the city and not go out of the city to fight the cavalry.

Li Guo was sniped under the second city, and he was also in a dilemma. Fengyang is in front of him, and he can send cavalry to Fengyang to plunder. However, as soon as the elite cavalry leaves, the Xuanjia army in the second city will directly copy his old nest in Henan, Nanyang Mansion.

With the reputation of the Xuanjia Army and the Chuang Army, as well as the lessons of Runing Mansion, if there is no Chuang Army to defend it, how long can Nanyang Mansion defend, and even whether anyone will hold it, Li Guo is not at all sure.

Li Guo's only choice could only be to capture the second city first, and then advance the war to Nanzhili.

At this point, Li Zicheng's two-way Eastern Expeditionary Army fell into a stalemate with the Xuanjia Army in Wuchang Mansion and Runing Mansion.