At the head of Xiangyang City, Li Dingguo was cheering for the Daxi soldiers under his command.

"Brothers, the general has sent someone to reply, the main force of our Great Western Army is rushing towards Xiangyang, and it will be able to arrive soon, and then we will be able to defeat the Ming Central Army outside the city in one fell swoop, as long as the Central Army outside the city is defeated, Huguang will be our Great Western Army, and it will not stop there......"

"Once the central army is destroyed, the Ming Dynasty will no longer have an army that can block the front of our Great Western Army, after occupying Huguang, we can still wave our army east along the Yangtze River, sweeping the rich and prosperous Jiangnan, Jiangnan, the whole world will be our Great Western Kingdom, brothers, we must hold on, wait for the arrival of the army!"

Li Dingguo's shouting is undoubtedly quite encouraging, he outlined an incomparably beautiful vision to the soldiers, if the Great Western Army can sweep the south of the Yangtze River, then the Great Western Dynasty will replace the Ming Dynasty to become the co-lord of the world, at that time, everyone here will become the founding father, and then seal the wife and son, live three wives and four concubines, brocade clothes and jade food......

Soon, the morale of the Great Western Army, which had been somewhat low, began to rise high again.

"Heighten vigilance." Li Dingguo nodded with satisfaction and instructed several generals under him, "Once you find any change in the Ming army, or the arrival of the main force of our Great Western Army, you will report it immediately." ”

"Yes."

Several Onishi generals agreed to the promise, and Li Dingguo returned to his temporary post with confidence.

Li Dingguo has more important things to do, he can convince his soldiers to believe that Sun Kewang will definitely bring a large army to help, but he can't convince himself that Li Dingguo knows Sun Kewang too well, and in this case, Sun Kewang is very likely to choose to die or not to save him!

Waiting for someone to save is not Li Dingguo's style, he wants to save himself!

How can I help myself?

Stubborn? It can only be a dead end!

This morning's fierce battle in less than a cup of tea left a deep impression on Li Dingguo, the strength of the Ming Central Army is far beyond his imagination, if such a fierce battle comes a few times, Li Dingguo's 3,000 elite soldiers should be wiped out, therefore, Xiangyang City must not be defended!

Since you can't defend it, there's only one way left to retreat!

Li Dingguo knew that it was not difficult to withdraw from Xiangyang, but it was difficult to withdraw to Qingtong Pass and join Sun Kewang's main force of the Great Western Army, but it was the Ming Central Army that appeared outside Xiangyang City, and it was obviously not the army under Zhao Xin, this should be the Central Army directly under Wang Pu!

Regarding Wang Pu's prestige, Li Dingguo can be said to be thunderous.

Li Dingguo is deeply jealous of Wang Pu in his heart, and Li Dingguo is jealous of Wang Pu because Wang Pu has not tasted defeat since he led the troops to fight, and he is an undefeated general in the true sense! It is not easy to defeat the strong with weak forces, but it is not impossible, but if you can always win a strong enemy with weak forces, it is not trivial, and Wang Pu is such a general!

Wang Pu's army has already appeared outside Xiangyang City, will Wang Pu be far from here?

With a famous general like Wang Pu, a veteran general, and an undefeated general on the battlefield, Li Dingguo did not dare to have the slightest slack and carelessness, although Wang Pu was only ten years older than Li Dingguo, but the two were not on the same level at all, Wang Pu participated in too many big wars and vicious battles, and he Li Dingguo only fought a few battles with the Dashun army.

Therefore, with Wang Pu's strength, how could he easily let Li Dingguo and his army flee back to Qingtong Pass?

Can't go back to Qingtong Pass, can only follow the Han River to the east, and suddenly Li Dingguo flashed an almost crazy idea in his mind - a surprise attack on Wuchang!

Of course, the surprise attack on Wuchang was just a pretense, and the purpose was just to mobilize the Ming Central Army outside the city, as long as the Ming Central Army outside the city was completely mobilized, Li Dingguo and the remnants of his Western Army would have a chance, and it would be possible to escape from death and return to Sichuan alive.

■■■

In the evening, Liu Ru took the staff officers and guards of the headquarters, as well as the follow-up baggage battalion and artillery battalion, to the outside of Xiangyang City, and joined the main force of the musket battalion of Li Chengdong, Zheng Chenggong and Liu Konghe.

As soon as the logistics personnel of the headquarters set up their tents, Li Chengdong, Zheng Chenggong, and Liu Konghe arrived.

Li Chengdong stepped forward to salute Liu Rushi, and said with a face full of shame: "Commander, you are incompetent and have disgraced the Central Army. ”

Liu Ru waved his hand and said indifferently: "Victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and General Li doesn't have to worry too much, but what happened this morning?" ”

Li Chengdong briefly recounted the fierce battle in the morning.

After listening to Li Chengdong's narration, Liu Ru frowned and said: "It seems that the general of Onishi in Xiangyang City has a certain understanding of the weapons and tactics of our Central Army, otherwise under the intensive fire of the musket team, it is impossible for him to let the archers of the rebels risk their lives to stop the approach of our army's gunners." ”

Li Chengdong nodded and said: "It should be so, if the rebels didn't know the power of the Dragon King Cannon in advance, they would not have been able to stop our gunners from approaching at the cost of casualties, because the gunners did not carry ladders for siege, and it seemed impossible to pose a threat to the city wall that was more than two feet high." ”

"It seems that this Onishi general is indeed not simple." Liu Ru said this, then looked back and asked, "Is there any news from the cavalry battalion of the Red Lady?" ”

"Not yet." The staff officer who was asked shook his head and said, "But it should have been in Gwanghwa, right?" ”

"Report to the ......" The staff officer's voice fell, and suddenly a signal soldier came in panting and said, "Report to the commander, the first and second battalions of the cavalry of the Central Army have crossed the Han River from Guanghua, and found that the Daxi rebels stationed in Sheepskin Beach are retreating. ”

"Retreat?" Li Chengdong was stunned when he heard this, "How did the Daxi rebels do it, they don't come to Xiangyang?" ”

After a little hesitation, Liu Ru shook his head indifferently and said: "Order, the cavalry battalion continues to monitor the rebels and cannot be pursued." ”

"Yes."

The herald sent by the Red Lady took the order.

"Commander." Li Chengdong said in a low voice, "What's going on with the Onishi rebels?" ”

"There are two possibilities." Liu Ru said indifferently, "One is to deceive us by playing tricks, and the other is that there is a gap within the Great Western Rebels, if it is the first one, what tricks can the Great Western Army have?" The rebels retreating from Sheepskin Beach were numerous and slow, making it difficult to play any tricks...... Well, it seems that it should be the second possibility, it should be so, it must be! ”

As he spoke, Liu Ru persuaded himself.

Li Chengdong said in a condensed voice: "Is the commander saying that the rebels in Xiangyang City have been abandoned by the commander of the rebels?" ”

Liu Ru nodded and said, "Now we don't have to rush to attack the city, let's try to persuade this rebel army to surrender first." ”

■■■

It's night, Xiangyang.

He Tengjiao's provisional governor's line has now become Li Dingguo's line.

Li Dingguo was thinking hard about the time to get out of trouble, and out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a set of dresses on the hanger, which was He Tengjiao's governor's dress.

Looking at this set of governor's dress, Li Dingguo's eyes suddenly lit up, and Huo Ran raised his head and shouted, "Someone is coming." ”

A pro-soldier had already entered in response to the call, clasping his fists and responding: "What do you command?" ”

"Let's go." Li Dingguo waved his hand and said, "Follow me to the munitions depot." ”

At that moment, Li Dingguo took dozens of personal soldiers to the munitions depot in the provisional governor's line, and sure enough, he found what he wanted, and said with great joy at that time: "The order, the whole city is immediately under martial law, and before the martial law order is lifted, the gentry and ordinary officials in the city are not allowed to go out, and those who violate it will be killed!" ”

"Yes!"

A pro-soldier led the way.

Li Dingguo said again: "If you order again, the whole army will assemble immediately, and you must not talk loudly, you must not make noise, and those who violate the order will be beheaded!" ”

"Yes!"

Another soldier was ordered to leave.

Li Dingguo's gaze finally turned to the captain of the personal soldiers behind him, a trace of gloom suddenly flashed in his eyes, and he said in a low voice: "Seventh brother, you are the person I trust the most, so this matter can only be left to you." ”

The captain of the pro-soldier instinctively heard that this was not a good thing, but he still puffed up his chest and said loudly: "Obey the orders of the commander." ”

■■■

At dawn the next day, Liu Ru ordered Xiangyang City to be surrounded, but no troops were sent to attack it.

The Daxi army in Xiangyang City also seemed very calm, and even did not send many soldiers to guard on the city tower, only a dozen rebels of Liao Liao were patrolling back and forth on the empty city tower, and all the gates were like this, but there were bursts of loud trumpets and shouts of killing in the city, it seemed that the Daxi rebels were not idle, and were taking time to practice.

If the scouts of the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty could reconnoiter the situation in the city from the sky, then they would definitely be surprised, because it was not actually the Daxi rebels who were "training" in the city, but hundreds of unarmed people in the city, who were gathering together under the threat of dozens of rebels and shouting at the top of their throats.

■■■

Two days later, a brigade of the "Central Army" suddenly opened up in front of Mao'er Pass, with more than 2,000 people!

Mao'er Pass is located between Xunyang Mansion and Jingzhou Mansion, it is a steep Xiongguan, and there are two brigades of security teams stationed on the pass, the security teams of these two brigades were originally the guards of Qutang Wei Changning, but they are no longer military households, but civilians, and they come to the security team to be soldiers just to earn an extra five dollars of silver per month.

Mao'er Pass is more than 300 miles away from Xiangyang, and more than 200 miles away from Qingtong Pass, and there are mostly rugged mountain roads in the middle, which are steep and difficult to walk, so although the Great Western Army and the Dashun Army have been fighting with the Ming Central Army in Xunyang, Qingtong Pass and Xiangyang, Mao'er Pass is still very calm, and the security team on the gate has no atmosphere of war at all.

"Open the door!" An officer of the Central Army rushed to the gate on a tall horse and shouted arrogantly, "What about you, you are deaf, hurry up and open the city gate!" ”

The security team on the closed door was so shocked that they got out of the fart, and quickly opened the gate to let them go.

The cat who was having breakfast in the barracks hurriedly put down his rice bowl, urgently assembled the security team on the gate, and lined up on both sides of the official road through the pass. It was the trump card of the trump card, the descendant of the lineage, not only well-equipped but also well-paid, which was not at all comparable to their security team.

This team of the Ming Central Army is wearing light blue cotton coats, wearing wide brims and large covers, and long thick-soled riding boots on their feet, which is not imposing, but they are holding the same spears as the security team in their hands, and it seems that they are the spear battalion in the Central Army, not the most elite musket battalion.

As expected by the officers and soldiers of the Maoerguan security team, this team of the Ming Central Army was really arrogant, and when they passed through the pass, they didn't even look at them with their eyes, and the captain of the security team wanted to come forward to talk, but they were stunned and were slapped three times, and two teeth were lost.

■■■

Outside the city of Xiangyang, the headquarters of the Central Army.

Liu Ru finally felt that something was wrong, in the past two days, she sent people into the city several times to contact the rebels, but they were all refused, and the six Central Army soldiers sent to shout were shot and wounded two! Liu Ru faintly felt that something was wrong, but she didn't expect that the Onishi rebels in the city had sneaked away two nights earlier.

This can't be blamed on Liu Ru's carelessness, in fact, if Wang Pu led the army, he couldn't imagine that Li Dingguo would abandon the city without hesitation that night! It is not easy for the rebels to capture a large city, and the wealth and women in the city are even more tempting for the rebels who are accustomed to burning, killing and plundering, how can they give up these easily?

After several considerations, Liu Ru asked Li Chengdong's musket battalion to attack again.

The result was very unexpected, Li Chengdong's musket battalion actually blew up the city gate without much effort, in order to prevent the rebels from having any conspiracy, Li Chengdong only dared to send two squadrons of troops into the city, but the soldiers who entered the city quickly reported back to Li Chengdong, except for the hundreds of rebel corpses on the city tower, there was no shadow of the rebels at all.

In other words, Xiangyang City has become an empty city!

When Li Chengdong reported the news to Liu Ruyi, Liu Ruyi was also unbelievable, the rebels abandoned the city so decisively It was beyond Liu Ruyi's expectations, and what made Liu Ruyi even more unbelievable was that the group of rebels who abandoned the city disappeared out of thin air like air!

Liu Qingyan on the side said: "If it's a girl, will this group of rebels hide in some hidden place?" ”

"Impossible." Liu Ru shook his head and said, "Xiangyang is a densely populated place within a radius of hundreds of miles, and it is not easy for thousands of troops to hide, and it is possible to hide their tracks at night, but in broad daylight, they can't hide people's eyes and ears at all, as long as they go out of the city, someone will definitely find them, but the strange thing is why no one returns?" Could it be that they are disguised as fleeing civilians? Hey...... Disguise!? ”

Liu Qingyan said in a condensed voice: "If it's a girl, what's wrong?" ”

Liu Ru suddenly said: "Sister Qingyan, did you mention it to your little sister at noon yesterday, saying that there is a central army from Wuchang in Yicheng, with about 2,000 people?" ”

(To be continued)