"There are two ways to fight." Li Dingguo looked at Niu Jinxing and said word by word, "Qingtong Pass is handed over to the Dashun Army, and our Daxi Army bypasses Qingtong Pass to attack Xiangyang directly, which can threaten the back road of Qingtong Pass, and second, it can distract the cavalry of the Central Army stationed in Xunyang, thereby reducing the pressure on the Dashun Army." ”

Li Dingguo's voice fell, and Sun Kewang was shocked: "Second brother, are you crazy? ”

Niu Jinxing was overjoyed and said: "Is General Li's words true? ”

After Li Dingguo was willing to take a detour, Niu Jinxing was of course happy.

From Sichuan, Shaanxi into Huguang has always been only two roads to go, one is along the Yangtze River through Wanxian, Yunyang, Fengjie, Badong to Yiling, the other is along the Han River through Hanzhong, Xunxian to Xiangyang, in addition to these two roads, the rest of the place is high mountains and dangerous obstacles, people and beasts are difficult to cross, which is also the reason why hundreds of thousands of Dashun troops are blocked by a small Qingtong Pass.

A Qingtong Pass can only hold an official road, not all the intersections, the Dashun army can completely bypass the Qingtong Pass to attack the hinterland of Huguang, but Niu Jinxing did not dare to do this, because he was afraid of being surrounded by the official army in Huguang, so he did not pull out the nail of Qingtong Pass, did not reserve a back road, Niu Jinxing would never dare to take the main force of the Dashun army into the hinterland of Huguang.

At the beginning, the Dashun army was not so particular when it was still a rogue, and where there was a gap, it would drill where, but now the Dashun army is no longer a rogue, although it still retains the custom of eating big households, but the thing of poisoning the people has not been done for many years, and of course there is a point in this war.

Now Li Dingguo proposed to attack Xiangyang in a roundabout way, Niu Jinxing of course can't ask for it, if Qingtong Pass can be taken, the Dashun army can drive straight in, and the Daxi army will be able to carve up the military supplies captured in Xiangyang City, if Qingtong Pass can't be taken, the Dashun army can also retreat, and the Daxi army will be difficult to break out of Xiangyang......

In any respect, this move is only good for the Great Shun Army, but not bad.

"Seriously." Li Dingguo said solemnly, "But we still hope that the Dashun Army can take Qingtong Pass as soon as possible." ”

"Of course." Niu Jinxing said, "As long as the Great Western Army is willing to attack Xiangyang in a roundabout way, our Dashun Army will definitely be able to capture Qingtong Pass in the shortest possible time." ”

"Nope." Sun Kewang suddenly said, "Ben Shuai doesn't agree." ”

"Big brother." Li Dingguo tugged at Sun Kewang's robe and said in a low voice, "Take a step to speak." ”

After that, Sun Kewang couldn't help but say it, and Li Dingguo pulled him out of the tent.

Looking at the figures of Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo leaving the account, Li Shuangxi asked Niu Jinxing: "Military advisor, really let Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo divide their troops and go back to Xiangyang?" ”

Niu Jinxing sighed and said in a solemn tone: "Major General, the current situation is different from two years ago, two years ago, the biggest enemy of our Dashun Kingdom was Jiannu and the Great Han Annihilation of Wu Sangui, and the Great Western Army is also our enemy, if there is a chance, of course, the Great Western Army will be annexed by any means." ”

Liu Zongmin said in a sullen voice: "What's the difference now? ”

Niu Jinxing frowned and said: "It's different now, now the main enemy of our Dashun Kingdom has been replaced by the Ming Imperial Court, and the current Daming Central Army is much more powerful than Jiannu, the Battle of Jining Jiannu and the 300,000 Tartar allied army was actually wiped out by less than 30,000 Daming Central Army, I can't believe it!" ”

Liu Zongmin and the others were silent.

Niu Jinxing said: "In the face of such a terrible enemy, we must have the Great Western Army join forces, and the account of the Han Dynasty to annihilate Wu Sangui will not be counted until later, in short, now our main enemy is the Ming Dynasty, before the Ming Dynasty is not overthrown, we must not turn our faces with the Great Western Army, this is also the reason why Long Live is willing to share Huguang with the Great Western Army, do you understand, young general?" ”

Li Shuangxi breathed a sigh of relief and said in a condensed voice: "I understand, if Sun Kewang is willing to take a detour later, this commander is willing to allocate ten days of dry food to them from the military rations that are not abundant." ”

Niu Jinxing said happily: "That's right, although Sun Kewang is a widow, but that Li Dingguo has the demeanor of a general, you can't lose to that Li Dingguo, young general." ”

Li Shuangxi's eyes froze, and he said in a deep voice: "Li Dingguo?" Ben Shuai will never lose to him. ”

Soon, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo went and returned, although the expression on Sun Kewang's face was not very happy, but he did not oppose the decision of the Great Western Army to take a detour, and the matter of dividing the troops was decided, and Li Shuangxi really allocated ten days of dry food from the military rations of the Great Shun Army to the Great Western Army.

The next day, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo led 80,000 Western troops to bypass Qingtong Pass and march towards Junzhou along the south bank of the Han River.

■■■

Qingtong Pass, temporary admiral.

It has been more than half a month since the army of thieves pressed the border, although there has been no big move, but Zhao Xin has never dared to take it lightly, last night Zhao Xin inspected the city defense until three or four o'clock in the morning before returning to Xingyuan, this has just been squinting for less than a few hours, and the loud voice of the guards sounded outside the signing room: "Report!" ”

Zhao Xin woke up suddenly and said loudly: "Come in." ”

The guards entered in response and said loudly: "General, the thieves have divided their troops. ”

"What?" Zhao Xin was secretly taken aback when he heard this, and said in a condensed voice, "The thieves have divided their troops?" ”

The guard said: "At about dawn, our army probed the horse and found that a large group of thieves drove out of the camp and marched east along the south bank of the Han River, the specific strength is unknown, but the forward troops of the thieves have left the camp for forty or fifty miles, and their follow-up troops are still in the camp outside Qingtong Pass. ”

"Forty or fifty miles?" Zhao Xin said in a condensed voice, "If the thieves act in a four-way column, then there must be at least seventy or eighty thousand people, God, this is not a small group of thieves!" ”

"That's ......," Zhao Xin thought for a moment and said, "immediately report the news to the former enemy headquarters by flying pigeon." ”

After the thieves divided their troops and sent more than 80,000 people to the side of Qingtong Pass, this is not a trivial matter, Zhao Xin was a little unsure of the true intentions of the thieves for a while, and he did not dare to rashly ask the cavalry battalion of the Red Lady to intercept it, after all, the cavalry of the Central Army only had three battalions of troops, but the other party had at least 80,000 people, not to mention that the terrain around Xunyang was hilly, mountainous and river, which was not conducive to the mobility of the cavalry.

■■■

Nanyang, former enemy headquarters.

The flying pigeon passed the book quite quickly, Zhao Xin first sent the news back to Xun County from Qingtong Pass on a fast horse, and then sent the news to Nanyang hundreds of miles away with the flying pigeon at the mouth of the White Lotus Church in Xun County, before noon, Liu Ru had already received the news, and Liu Ru immediately convened a military meeting to discuss countermeasures.

Liu Ru held a wooden pole and pointed to the map hanging on the wall and said: "According to the latest news, about 80,000 to 100,000 thieves have bypassed Qingtong Pass and are slowly marching along the south bank of Hanshui towards Junzhou. ”

Zheng Chenggong, who had just been promoted to the rank of chief soldier, frowned and puzzled: "Before Qingtong Pass is down, the thief soldiers dare to divide their troops to go deeper, aren't they afraid that this partial division will be surrounded by us in Huguang?" ”

"What Zheng Zongbing said is extremely true." Li Chengdong, who has been restored to the rank of general soldier, also said, "After all, Huguang is now heavily armed, in addition to General Zhao Xin's three mixed battalions of the Central Army and Governor He Tengjiao's local security team, there are also three cavalry battalions of Madame Hong, as well as three musket battalions, three baggage battalions and artillery battalions directly under the headquarters!" Such a powerful army encircled and annihilated these tens of thousands of thieves and departed divisions, so it was not easy to capture? ”

Liu Ru smiled slightly and said: "In my opinion, the thieves are not afraid but do not know, after all, our Central Army has an incomparable advantage in intelligence spying and information transmission, and it is difficult for the thieves to grasp the movement of our Central Army, even if they are lucky enough to spy on the news, it will take a long time to send it back to the camp in time, therefore, the thieves do not know that the main force of our Ming Central Army has gathered in Huguang." ”

"It's a great opportunity." Zheng Chenggong said excitedly, "I will definitely take this opportunity to encircle and annihilate this thief in one fell swoop!" ”

Liu Ru bowed her head happily and said coquettishly: "The generals listen to the order." ”

Zheng Chenggong, Li Chengdong, Gao Jinku, Li Benshen, Liu Konghe and others stood up with a sigh, and everyone's eyes focused on Liu Rushi's face.

■■■

On the south bank of the Han River, on the mountain road from Qingtong Pass to Junzhou, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo are leading 80,000 thieves to march forward, 80,000 thieves are not a small army, the vanguard in front has gone out forty or fifty miles away, and the men and horses at the back have not left the thief camp.

Sun Kewang looked at the ranks of the Great Western Army that had been stretching forward, and said to Li Dingguo with a solemn expression: "Second brother, have you thought about it, if we can't open up the situation in Huguang, and the Dashun army can't capture Qingtong Pass for a long time, the consequences will be unimaginable, maybe this Huguang is where you and my brother are buried." ”

"Big brother don't have to worry." Li Dingguo comforted, "Although the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty can fight well, but the strength is limited after all, the younger brother has already sent someone to find out, and the Central Army stationed in Huguang is also three battalions under Zhao Xin, with a total strength of 15,000 people, of which 5,000 people are stationed in Wuchang, 5,000 people are stationed in Badong, and the remaining 5,000 people are stationed in the area of Qingtongguan and Xun County. ”

Sun Kewang said: "But second brother, don't forget that there are still tens of thousands of central troops stationed in Henan." ”

Li Dingguo said: "Henan's central army must beware of Wu Sangui, not to mention that even if they go south now, I'm afraid it's too late!" The younger brother has already calculated, about three hundred miles from Xunxian to Xiangyang, the eldest brother, you lead a large group of men and horses to march in a majestic posture to attract the attention of the court spies, and the younger brother leads the elite soldiers to take a shortcut to attack Xiangyang! ”

Sun Kewang said, "How many people are you going to take?" ”

Li Dingguo said: "If there are too many people, it is easy to expose the target, and the action is slow, and the younger brother only brings 3,000 elite soldiers!" ”

Sun Kewang's eyes froze when he heard this, and he said in a deep voice: "You only take 3,000 people with you?" ”

Nodding, Li Dingguo said again: "The terrain from Xunxian to Xiangyang is very familiar, if there is no accident, you can walk these three hundred miles in two days and one night, and you can rush to the outside of Xiangyang City by tomorrow evening, the security team in Xiangyang City will definitely not expect our army to kill like this, and it is easy to attack Xiangyang without warning!" ”

Sun Kewang gasped and didn't say anything.

Li Dingguo's idea is very crazy and bold, two days and one night of rapid march of 300 miles, this is something Sun Kewang can't think of, just after the rapid march did not have time to rest and recuperate, he hurriedly launched an attack, in Sun Kewang's opinion, it is even more incredible, this is completely contrary to the common sense of marching and fighting!

Li Dingguo didn't know what Sun Kewang was thinking, and then said: "After capturing Xiangyang, we can completely disrupt Zhao Xin's defense system, and as soon as the main army of the eldest brother arrives, we can use Xiangyang as the foundation to gradually encroach on the surrounding prefectures and counties, and then the connection between Qingtong Pass, Xun County and the rear of Huguang will be completely cut off, and the situation will fall into our control." ”

Sun Kewang said: "But don't forget that Xun County still has tens of thousands of cavalry stationed in the Red Lady." ”

Li Dingguo said: "Big brother doesn't have to worry too much about the more than 10,000 cavalry, the banks of the Han River are mostly hilly and mountainous, and there are a large number of criss-crossing rivers, constrained by the terrain, the cavalry of the Red Lady can't give full play to the advantage of maneuver at all, and really want to fight for the speed of the march, hehe, her cavalry is only afraid that it is not as fast as our infantry." ”

"Okay then." Sun Kewang nodded and said, "But if you find that the situation is not right, don't force it." ”

"Little brother will take care of it."

Li Dingguo agreed, ordered 3,000 elite soldiers to take the path and left.

Looking at Li Dingguo's figure disappearing at the end of the wild vision, Sun Kewang's mood was undoubtedly quite complicated.

Sun Kewang hopes that Li Dingguo can successfully capture Xiangyang, but he does not want him to succeed, hoping that Li Dingguo can succeed is naturally for the sake of the Great Western Army, but he does not want Li Dingguo to succeed but for the sake of his own status, because once Li Dingguo captures Xiangyang, his weight in Zhang Xianzhong's heart will completely exceed Sun Kewang.

Zhang Xianzhong has no children under his knees, only Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, Ai Nengqi four righteous sons, after Zhang Xianzhong's death, the foundation of the Great West Kingdom will only be passed on to one of the four of them, originally Sun Kewang is the eldest son, and among the four, he also has the longest qualifications and prestige, and the greatest credit, so it can be said that he is the best candidate for the prince of the Great West.

But in recent years, with the growth of Li Dingguo, he is gradually showing his outstanding military talent, and even Liu Zongmin, the general of Dashun, was defeated under him, and he also shook nearly 100,000 Dashun troops with more than 20,000 weak soldiers.

After the Battle of Hanzhong, Zhang Xianzhong praised Li Dingguo in public more than once as a natural military commander.

Now Li Dingguo has seriously threatened Sun Kewang's position, if he succeeds in capturing Xiangyang this time, then his weight in Zhang Xianzhong's heart will completely surpass Sun Kewang, then Zhang Xianzhong will have no suspense in appointing Li Dingguo as the prince of the Great Western Kingdom, which Sun Kewang does not want to see.

Sun Kewang really wanted to replace Li Dingguo and lead the elite soldiers to attack Xiangyang, but he didn't think he had the ability, so he led 3,000 elite soldiers to run 300 miles in two days and one night, and then attacked and occupied a well-defended city in one go, which he couldn't think of, and only Li Dingguo dared to think about it.

■■■

The next evening, in Xiangyang, the provisional governor was in charge.

He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, is now stationed in Xiangyang, and Zhao Xin is stationed in Qingtongguan and Xun County with a mixed battalion of the Central Army, and He Tengjiao also temporarily moved his governor's line from Wuchang to Xiangyang, the purpose of which is of course to coordinate the supply of military grain and grass, to do a good job in logistics support for the troops at the front, and at the same time to do a good job in the resettlement of the people who have fled from the front.

He Tengjiao's purpose as an official is to do things for the people, no matter when and where, he always puts the people first!

At noon, the front had just sent an urgent delivery, saying that the brigade of thieves who had bypassed Qingtong Pass had entered the city of Junzhou, and after several unsuccessful attacks on Junzhou, the thieves gave up continuing the attack and continued to march eastward along the south bank of the Han River, which was less than two hundred miles away from Xiangyang at that time.

The brigade of thieves is less than two hundred miles away from Xiangyang, and there are only five brigades of security teams in Xiangyang City, but He Tengjiao is not worried, because the three musket battalions of the main force of the Central Army stationed in Xinye have already moved south along the Baihe River and will arrive in Xiangyang at dawn tomorrow.

The thieves are still two hundred miles away, and they will not arrive until the day after tomorrow at the earliest, but the three musket battalions of the main force of the Central Army can arrive before dawn tomorrow, so what else does He Tengjiao have to worry about? The only thing he has to do now is to prepare grain and grass for the Central Army that is about to arrive and do a good job in logistics support.

He Tengjiao, who was busy collecting grain and grass, did not know that Li Dingguo's three thousand elite thieves had quietly approached Xiangyang City under the cover of night.

In this march, Li Dingguo chose a very tricky marching route, tried to avoid the main road, and picked the inaccessible mountain paths to walk, although he also met a lot of woodcutters and hunters along the way, but these woodcutters and hunters did not have the consciousness of reporting to the imperial court, and occasionally there were woodcutters and hunters who thought of going to report the news, and they didn't know who to find in a hurry, or when they found people, Li Dingguo's elite soldiers had already driven for too long.

Therefore, when Li Dingguo quietly drove to the outside of Xiangyang City with 3,000 elite soldiers, the security team in Xiangyang City and He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, were still ignorant, thinking that the thieves were still two hundred miles away.

Although the 3,000 elite soldiers had just passed a 300-mile long march, and they were already as tired as dogs, Li Dingguo did not hesitate at all, and immediately led the army to launch a surprise attack.

As Li Dingguo expected, the security team in Xiangyang City did not expect that the thieves would suddenly collapse out, and they were stunned all of a sudden, and before these security teams came to their senses, the thieves had already poured into the city like a tide, and the two security squadrons stationed at the south gate were soon wiped out, and Xiangyang City was easily captured by Li Dingguo!

(To be continued)