Unlike history, Yu Xiang's behavior of angering the Manchus caused a butterfly effect, and the Qing soldiers advanced the time to attack the Ming Dynasty, which was August 13 in later history, and March 13 in the current history, a full five months in advance.

From the analysis of various news that came back, the current situation is extremely unfavorable to the main battle faction like Lu Xiangsheng, which reflects a significant change in the attitude of the imperial court towards Yu Xiang.

In fact, at the end of last year, Cao Huachun expressed his opinion bluntly out of concern for Yu Xiang, and he hoped that Yu Xiang would be more low-key in Henan, so as not to arouse Chongzhen's suspicion.

Yu Xiang humbly listened to his opinions, and originally decided to stop for a year this year, develop production well, and fight drought and provide disaster relief. After the Spring Festival, Yu Xiang ordered Huang Sanbo to promote the hotbed seedling method, advance the sweet potato planting time, and promote the sweet potato planting technology on a large scale. It also integrates resources and intensively develops chicken farms, cattle farms, pig farms, horse farms, etc., so as to improve the living standards of the people.

This year's situation has also developed in a good direction, and some major water conservancy projects have been completed, such as the Suyahu Lake, which will be filled by one-third of the winter rainwaters, which will irrigate a large area of fertile land and guarantee the construction of key grain protection areas. At present, the regular army of the New Guard army has reached 30,000 people, and the reserve army has 20,000 or 30,000, and Qi Dayong has been training new soldiers day and night.

The invasion of the Qing soldiers disrupted Yu Xiang's plan for recuperation and recuperation, and he had to prepare intensively for the expedition.

As expected, the Ming Dynasty was at a moment of life and death, and Yu Xiang still did not receive any orders from the imperial court to participate in or prepare for war. But Yu Xiang had already decided to play at a critical time to help Lu Xiangsheng.

Yu Xiang inspected the newly established artillery battalion, and on the artillery position of the military exercise, tiger squatting and red-clothed cannons made of pure steel were neatly arranged, and he saw a big man commanding the artillerymen to set up their guns and take aim.

Seeing Yu Xiang, the big man gave Yu Xiang a military salute and said loudly: "Zhang Youliang of the artillery battalion is inspected by the governor. ”

Yu Xiang returned to the military salute, and seemed to be familiar with Zhang Liang's name, as if he had seen it somewhere, and asked Qi Dayong beside him in a low voice: "Zhang Youliang?" Seems to have been seen somewhere. ”

Qi Dayong whispered: "Bald brother-in-law, on the day of the wedding, he attended the wedding in the auditorium. ”

Yu Xiang remembered and nodded.

Yu Xiang pointed to a small mound two thousand meters away, on which was a wooden box. He solemnly ordered Zhang Youliang: "I order the artillery battalion to knock out the drill targets ahead!" ”

Zhang Youliang received the order, went in person, adjusted the angle of the red-clothed cannon, and then confidently lit the fire. After a loud roar, he saw a puff of dust rising from the mound, and Yu Xiang could see clearly in the telescope that the wooden box on the mound had been smashed with precision.

Yu Xiang knew in his heart, this is a big killing weapon, more than 2,000 meters away, it is definitely a big killing weapon, with this thing, it is better on the battlefield. The improved redcoat cannon can shoot at a maximum distance of 2,500 meters, while the current ordinary redcoat cannon can only shoot 1,800 meters.

Yu Xiang asked Zhang Youliang to test the tiger squat cannon, and the cannon was accurate, which made Yu Xiang very impressed, but he didn't expect that Zhang Youliang, who was very arrogant, was actually a marksman, and this tiger squatted and ran in order to facilitate shooting.

The original tiger squat cannon was placed in a fixed position, much like the appearance of a tiger squatting. It is suitable for combat areas such as mountains, forests, and paddy fields that hinder the mobility of artillery. The Tiger Kick Gun has also been improved, and the effective firing range is about 600 meters, which is a significant increase from the original 400 meters. In order to facilitate flexible combat, steel wheels are also installed for the Tiger Kick Cannon, which is light and economical, and has been greatly improved compared with before.

With these big guys, Yu Xiang was at ease, so he took more than 3,000 and went straight to Anyang to join Liu Guoneng, who stayed there. Yu Xiang led the soldiers, non-stop, to Anyang, it was the beginning of April.

When I arrived at Anyang City, I inspected the defense of Anyang, the city wall of Yangcheng has been solidified, and several red-coated cannons were placed on the wall, Yu Xiang was very satisfied with Liu Guoneng's military deployment.

A large number of spies sent by Jia Binjiu, and the martial arts people led by Xiahou Shangyuan have all been dispatched to collect intelligence, and various battle reports from the front have been continuously gathered into Yu Xiang's hands. Yu Xiang knew the situation at the front well.

On March 20, after the Qing soldiers broke through Tongzhou, they slaughtered Tongzhou for three days, plundered grain and livestock, and on March 25, left Tongzhou, continued to go south, and invaded Shuntianfu, Lu Xiangsheng fought against the Qing army in Shuntianfu, and the Qing army saw that it was unprofitable, so they shook a shot, broke through Gu'an County, burned and looted for a day, and attacked Zhuozhou.

The defender of Zhuozhou was Lu Xiangsheng's confidant Yang Tinglin, Lu Xiangsheng ordered him to defend Zhuozhou, and Lu Xiangsheng took the initiative to attack on the periphery, and fought with the main force of the Qing army in Jizhou on April 10, although there was a small victory, but the casualties were heavy, thousands of dead and wounded, and the Qing soldiers relied on the iron cavalry to be mobile and flexible, and the battle was brave, giving Lu Xiangsheng's team great lethality. However, the Qing soldiers went deep alone and were unwilling to entangle with Lu Xiangsheng's team, so they crossed Zhuozhou and continued to attack Gaobeidian and Dingxing.

After fighting with the Qing soldiers, Lu Xiangsheng suffered serious attrition, and his army's individual combat ability and flexible mobility were far inferior to the Qing soldiers, and the Qing soldiers had an absolute advantage in numbers, so he did not dare to advance and decided to temporarily rest and rectify in Zhuozhou.

The most infuriating thing is that Yang Sichang not only did not report Lu Xiangsheng's merits, but participated in a book, saying that Lu Xiangsheng was cowardly and fearful of war, retreated to Zhuozhou, and delayed the fighter.

Emperor Chongzhen was furious when he heard this, and immediately dismissed Lu Xiangsheng from the post of governor of Xuanda, and handed over his 20,000 soldiers to Chen Xinjia recommended by Yang Sichang.

In order to completely eradicate Lu Xiangsheng, under the instruction of Yang Sichang, Chen Xinjia allocated 5,000 old, weak, sick and disabled Lu Xiangsheng, did not give food and grass, and appointed Lu Xiangsheng as the vanguard army to lead the team to pursue the Qing soldiers, otherwise it would be disobeyed according to the order and the military law would be engaged.

Lu Xiangsheng had no choice but to obey. led 5,000 soldiers and ran behind the Qing soldiers.

After Yang Tinglin learned of this situation, he did not care about personal gains and losses, and took the initiative to ask to serve under Lu Xiangsheng's account.

Dolgon knew that the army led by Lu Xiangsheng was no match for the Qing soldiers when they ran out of ammunition and food, but he cherished that Lu Xiangsheng was a talent and wanted to persuade him to surrender, so he was not in a hurry to strangle him, but lured him all the way.

Lu Xiangsheng led 5,000 soldiers to follow all the way, hungry to eat wild vegetables, thirsty to drink mountain springs, all the way to Hebei Julu, at this time Chen Xinjia led the troops to grind behind, claiming to be the backing for Lu Xiangsheng, in fact, it was far away from Lu Xiangsheng's team.

Lu Xiangsheng's team went deep alone without the army's food and ammunition supply.

When Lu Xiangsheng's team marched to the area of the Julu Artemisia Bridge in Hebei, the Qing soldiers who were originally running in front suddenly turned around, but quickly wanted to surround Lu Xiangsheng, Lu Xiangsheng saw that the general trend had gone, and hurriedly ordered Yang Tinglin to lead 200 cavalry to ask Chen Xinjia to allocate grain and grass, send troops to support, and said that he was willing to lead 5,000 soldiers to take the lead and let Chen Xinjia lead the troops to attack, and the battle achievements could be owned by Chen Xinjia.

Chen Xinjia flatly refused, saying that he could not risk the enemy to advance lightly, and he was ambushed by the enemy. He also ordered Lu Xiangsheng to defend the Artemisia Water Bridge to the death, and not to take a step back, otherwise the military law would be engaged.

Yang Tinglin led the troops to return quickly.

When Lu Xiangsheng received the report, Lu Xiangsheng's 5,000 soldiers had been surrounded by the Qing soldiers, three layers inside and three layers outside, and they were surrounded again and again. Lu Xiangsheng ran out of ammunition and food, looked at these generals around him who swore to follow him, and looked up to the sky and cried bitterly! The whole army cried.

Dolgon sent an envoy and issued an ultimatum that if Lu Xiangsheng was willing to surrender, he would never harm a single soldier and promise him a high honor.

Dolgon cherished Lu Xiangsheng's talent, limited him to give an answer within three days, and offered to give him ten stones of grain.

Lu Xiangsheng sternly refused and swore to fight to the death.

Lu Xiangsheng threw all the grain into the river, and the local people were moved by it and received help, but after all, it was limited, and the soldiers could only cook the people's grain, together with wild grass and wild vegetables, into gruel, barely surviving, waiting for the decisive battle to come.

And the common people went into the river to fish out the grain that was sunk by it, Lu Xiangsheng sighed long, turned a blind eye, pretended not to see it, he had no right to deprive the people of their lives. As far as the common people are concerned, whoever can make him live a good life, they will follow.

Besides, Yu Xiang sighed wistfully according to the intelligence of the front line, after he crossed over, he changed many things, but he still failed to change Lu Xiangsheng's fate, and a scene in the history of later generations was staged in a different way.

But Yu Xiang decided to change history, and he sent someone to inform the prefect of Quang Binh Prefecture, hoping to go to Julu to rescue him.

The prefect of Guangping sternly refused, and declared that the New Guards would never be allowed to set foot in Hebei territory. Otherwise, troops will be sent to block it.

Yu Xiang didn't want to provoke a civil war, so on the one hand, he had to send Zhuge Shanzhen to lead the special forces to occupy the favorable terrain first. On the other hand, Cao Huachun, Hongniangzi, Liu Guoneng, Li Yan, the four Liu brothers, and Jia Binjiu were quickly summoned to hold a military meeting to discuss countermeasures.

The participants were very worried that if they sent troops this time, without the cooperation of the prefect of Guangping, the name would be unjustified and would anger the imperial court.

The current situation is critical, and there is no room for the slightest hesitation, Yu Xiang said resolutely: "This time the Qing people are coming, in the name of crusading against me, and, if this time it succeeds, it is bound to be even more rampant, even if the Guangping Mansion does not support it, I have made up my mind, I will definitely send troops, and I must let the Qing soldiers learn a lesson." Of course, I don't want infighting and I want Quang Binh to adopt a policy of neutrality. If Quang Binh really doesn't support it, I'm not afraid of infighting. ”

Cao Huachun saw Yu Xiang's resolute attitude, so he said: "In this case, Governor Yu, you let go of your hands and do it, I will go to Guangping Mansion and persuade and persuade." ”

Yu Xiang looked at the eunuch in front of him gratefully, it seems that there are good people among the eunuchs, many times stronger than those princes and ministers who are full of benevolence and morality and are selfish. He continued: "Liu Xiangyi, you go with the prince, it will be heavier." ”

Liu Xiangyi shook his head resolutely and said, "If you want to send it, send my brothers, I will go into battle to kill the enemy!" ”

Liu Xiangzhong glanced at his younger brother, and his eyes showed appreciation, this younger brother is the youngest, so benevolent. A few days ago, he learned that Li Xiaohong was pregnant, and he couldn't let Liu Xiangyi take the risk no matter what. He ordered in the tone of his elder brother: "Fourth, there is no need to fight anymore, the matter of killing the enemy and making meritorious service is handed over to the three brothers, you have gained fame and fortune, so leave us the opportunity to be rewarded for meritorious service, and then go to persuade the prefect of Guangning, the responsibility is heavy, it is tantamount to going into battle to kill the enemy." ”

Of course, Yu Xiang knew Liu Xiangzhong's thoughts, and then he said: "Your eldest brother is right, persuading Guangping Mansion is a more difficult task than your going to the battlefield, if we persuade Guangping Mansion, we can avoid fratricidal fighting, so that we can free up our energy to deal with the Qing soldiers with all our might." ”

Liu Xiangyi was right to think about it, so he and Cao Huachun rushed to Guangping Mansion with a whip.

The prefect of Guangping was extremely reluctant to borrow the way, but the Qing people were about to go to the boundary of Guangping, and now the people of Guangping were panicked.

He gathered his men to discuss what to do. However, these subordinates were very afraid of the Qing soldiers, and unanimously suggested that they should use the Tao to let Yu Xiang fight against the Qing people.

With the previous refusal of Yu Xiang to borrow the way, the prefect of Guangping was thinking about how to round this words, at this time, I heard that Cao Huachun and Liu Xiangyi arrived, and the prefect of Guangning knew that these were all people around the emperor, and the prefect of Guangping was overjoyed, and without waiting for Cao Huachun to finish speaking, he readily agreed to borrow the way.

The prefect of Guangping was afraid that he would be responsible in the future, so he also wrote a memorandum for Cao Huachun and Liu Xiangyi to confirm by pressing the handprint, Cao Huachun sneered and pressed the handprint without hesitation, Liu Xiangyi pressed the handprint with a contemptuous smile, and both of them sighed in their hearts: Daming has such a group of mediocre officials in charge, of course, there will be more internal strife and external troubles! Fortunately, the sky has eyes, so that Yu Xiang was born, otherwise the Ming Dynasty would be over.

When the fast horse sent the news to Yu Xiang, Yu Xiang had already led his troops on the road, and Yu Xiang ordered the army to speed up the march and go to the front line of Julu.