Wuchang is known as one of the three major furnaces in later generations, the weather is hot in summer, and the rain today is particularly low, and the city is becoming more and more sultry.

Kong Youde's mood was as anxious as the weather.

The Western Army and the Chu Army fought in Huguang, the troops invested by both sides continued to increase, the total number has exceeded 200,000, and the three fronts in the west of Huxi fought viciously repeatedly, just like three tornadoes tore everything around them to pieces, Kong Youde monk Kexi was trapped in the two lonely cities of Wuchang and Hanyang, just on the edge of the storm, torn by this huge force and unable to stand steadily, like hiding in the cellar in Wuchang and Hanyang City did not dare to come out, every day was frightened, uneasy.

The Western Army has been gathering momentum for a long time, as soon as it is a bamboo, Sun Kewang connected the capture of Yuanzhou, Chenzhou, and continued to march to Baoqing, Chu Army Teng Shuanglin and other troops hurriedly rushed to support, mobilized heavy troops to prepare to defend Baoqing, Sun Kewang was lightweight, flexible and flexible, after a slight setback in Baoqing Mansion, he suddenly turned to the northeast and attacked Changde.

Changde is the territory of blocking Yinxi, after several years of painstaking management, has been his foundation, although seeing the strength of the western army, but also unwilling to give up easily, leading the gentleman's battalion to resist desperately, but the difference in strength between the two sides is too large, after a vicious battle or was defeated by Sun Kewang, had to lead the remnants to retreat into the city of Changde, closed doors.

Teng Shuanglin led his troops north from Baoqing, intending to relieve the siege of Changde, but the Western Army had already prepared, Bai Wenxuan and Feng Shuangli two troops fought against Teng Shuanglin, Teng Shuanglin fought hard, unable to break through the defense line of Bai Wenxuan and Feng Shuangli, in order to avoid being surrounded by the main force of the Western Army, he had to temporarily withdraw his troops.

At this time, the reinforcements transferred by the Chu army from other provinces also arrived, Wang Sheng led Zhang Jiayu, Lu Renqing and other troops from Jiangxi, got off the boat on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and fought a fierce battle with Sun Kewang on the shore of Dongting Lake.

The Chu army temporarily blocked the western's eastward advance and lifted the threat of Yueyang and Changsha, but it also failed to relieve the siege of Changde.

During this period, Li Dingguo of the northern line set out from Sichuan, all the way along the banks of the Yangtze River to the east, at the beginning of his speed was the slowest, but after the Three Gorges natural danger, the speed of advance suddenly accelerated, in just a few days successively broke through Zigui and Yichang, the front of the army pointed directly at Jiangling, the capital of Jingzhou Prefecture, if it were not for the lack of water division, his troops may have appeared under the city of Wuchang.

Liu Wenxiu on the southern front made the slowest progress, half of his troops were transferred by Sun Kewang, but the Chu army was joined by Liu Fangliang, Dang Shousu and He Zhen.

In general, at the beginning of the Battle of Huguang this time, the Western Army still had a clear advantage, not only firmly grasping the initiative on the battlefield, but also causing great losses to the Chu army, because they had already invaded the hinterland of Huguang, and the Chu army had no danger to defend, so it could only disperse its forces and fortify everywhere, and it was continuously broken by the Western Army.

The friendly army reported frequently, but the monk Kong Youde was more and more anxious and undecided.

"I thought that the Chu thief was the first-class strong army in the world, and since the Eight Banners, no one has been invincible, who would have thought that the Western thief would be so able to fight? Since they have this ability, why didn't they go and occupy Beijing back then? I don't have to wait for the customs to enter the customs, so I am in a dilemma today! Kong Youde didn't fight anywhere, suspecting that Zhang Xianzhong was pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger back then, and Mazi didn't call Mazi a pit person, which caused endless harm, and he still pits himself to this day.

"I think it's Sun Kewang who is talented, far better than Zhang Xianzhong back then, the back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves, our generation is already old." Shang Kexi sighed, and was also very surprised by the sudden rise of the Western Army.

After the last battle between the Qing army and the Chu army in Huguang, the entire Huguang fell into the hands of the Chu army, but he and Kong Youde have been sticking to Wuchang and Hanyang, not because they don't want to retreat, but because they are surrounded by the Chu army, they can't leave, they can only stay in the lonely city, gritting their teeth and insisting. Shang Kexi was usually stationed in Hanyang, and although Wuchang was only separated by a river, it was also cut off by the Chu army, and recently under the onslaught of the Western Army, the Chu army was no longer able to maintain the original encirclement, so it could come to Wuchang to meet with Kong Youde.

"Brother Yuanji, do you think we should evacuate Wuchang now?"

"This ...... I can't say it either. ”

After two years of fighting with the Chu army, they already know each other for a long time, Kong Youde and Shang Kexi know the strength of the Chu army best, just with Wu Sangui and Tan Tai, the two of them, at most they can relieve the siege of Anqing's Tunbul, and it is almost impossible to fight Huguanglai, if you don't retreat now, and then want to leave later, I'm afraid there will be no chance.

Thirty-six strategies, go for the best policy.

But Dorgon didn't want them to go.

After much consideration, Dolgon still decided to hold on to Wuchang and Anqing, and sent someone to send a message to the monk Kong Youde, ordering them to continue to hold on to Wuchang and not to retreat easily.

Dolgon's plan was to divide the river with the Han people, and try not to let them get involved in the north of the river, regardless of whether it was the Western Army or the Chu Army.

To divide the river and rule the country, it is necessary to keep the provinces of Hubei, Anhui, and Henan, otherwise it will not be the rule of the river, but the rule of the river. In that way, the territory of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was too small, and the population was too small, so they could not grasp Henan, an important place in the Central Plains, and lost the two important grain-producing areas of Hubei and Anhui...... After a long period of war in the north, the fields in many places are barren, and the population is not one out of ten, and it will take at least ten years to resume normal production, otherwise there will not be enough farmers to cultivate the land, and the most basic food will not be self-sufficient.

The monk Kong Youde continued to be nailed to Wuchang, in addition to suppressing the Chu army, it could also prevent the Western army from occupying Hubei, and then continue north, entering Henan and Anhui.

This is a big strategy of a game of chess in the country, although Dolgon knows that Kong Youde and Shang Kexi are inadequate, or hope that they can create a miracle and protect Hubei for our Qing Dynasty, in order to mobilize their enthusiasm, Dolgon also showed his tone, as long as Kong Youde and Shang Kexi can complete this glorious and arduous task, they can establish a vassal state in Huguang.

Monk Kong Youde was grateful on the surface, but secretly sneered.

The establishment of a vassal state in Huguang, the king of the torn soil, can have all the people, property and power in the place, it is indeed full of temptation for the two of them, but it is like a carrot hanging in front of a donkey, you can see it but you can't eat it, the Chu army has been busy fighting everywhere in the past two years, and it has no use all its strength against Huguang, only sending Teng Shuanglin and the second-line troops of the old battalion, forcing the monk Kong Youde and Shang Kexi to be trapped in a lonely city, and now there is a more ruthless western army, where can they establish a feudal state?

What is the strength of the Chu army, what is the combat effectiveness of Teng Shuanglin and Lao Chuangying, Kong Youde and Shang Kexi have the most right to speak, they actually suffered defeats in front of Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo, these two Qing princes never expected it at first, if the Western Army beat the Chu army away, and then came to attack Wuchang and Hanyang, it would really be a wolf at the front door, and a tiger at the back door, and it would be more and more a dead end.

This possibility is completely existent.

The Manchus and the Western Army did not formally form an alliance, although there was a verbal agreement of "Lianming to fight against thieves" and "Lian Liang to fight against rebellion", but they could tear their faces at any time. Generally speaking, this kind of alliance formed by the situation will choose different battlefields to fight, the troops of the two families will not be in direct contact, and they can echo from afar, once the two sides are in direct contact, it is almost inevitable that there will be contradictions, just like Sun and Liu united to resist Cao, but because of the fight for Jingzhou, they fought to the death first - the situation on the front line is so complicated, it is clearly a Ming version of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo in order to seize the territory of "Jingzhou", they just found a reason to merge with Kong Youde and Shang Kexi, and no one can give them two justice.

If you give up Wuchang and retreat to Henan or Anhui, Monk Kong Youde will be happy but not daring.

First of all, Kong Youde monk Kexi's strength is insufficient, he does not dare to bargain with the Qing court like Wu Sangui, and even play tricks, after more than a year of hard fighting, Tianyou soldiers and Tianzhu soldiers have long been disabled, Kong Youde monk Kexi is the most difficult time, every day watching the Chu army show off their might outside the city, but they have no strength to go out of the city to fight back, just with the soldiers and horses in their hands now, if they tear their faces with the Qing court, Dolgon will not hesitate to kill the chicken to show the monkey.

Secondly, Kong Youde and Shang Kexi both surrendered to the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the early years, and then they have been acting as pawns of the Qing court, fighting with the Ming army many times, their hands are stained with the blood of the Han people, and the troops under their command are also mixed into the Han army flag, and they can no longer easily defect, and there is one less way back compared with Wu Sangui. Speaking of which, Kong Youde and Shang Kexi admire Wu Sangui very much, this guy is obviously a traitor like himself, but he has a good reputation, so when facing the Qing court, he has three more points of confidence in speaking.

"Wu Sangui, sitting in Xuzhou with his buttocks, hitting Fengyang with his fists, is stable, he has no intention of going south at all, and he must not be able to count on it."

"Yes, in the current situation, only by counting on the West Thief and the Chu Thief to fight and lose, the situation will have a chance to take a turn for the better, as for Wu Sangui's fight, hehe, he must have the idea of stepping on two boats, and he may have made contact with Wang Kefan secretly, but he doesn't know where it has progressed."

Monk Kong Youde did not dare to evacuate Wuchang, another reason is that the time is not yet ripe, although the Western Army and the Chu Army have started a full-scale war, but the real Armageddon has not yet broken out, both armies have retained a considerable part of the mobile forces, Kong Youde Monk Kexi once he leaves Wuchang, he will be eaten by the Chu Army or the Western Army in one bite.