When Li Zicheng crossed the Yuanwanggou, in addition to the cheering soldiers, there was a busy crowd like ants, and a large number of hungry people wielded hoes to widen the road on this side of Yuanwanggou, so as to facilitate the passage of the baggage in the camp. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

No matter how the war fought in the future, there were many thoroughfares on both sides of the ditch.

When entering Nanyuan, Li Zicheng sighed with emotion, he was no stranger to this place, which was also called Lintoe Yuan, where he was defeated by Sun Chuanting, and only eighteen horsemen fled into Shangluo Mountain.

The original place in front of you is flat and wide, dozens of miles long from north to south, and then five miles from the west of the distant ditch is the forbidden ditch. Of course, Li Zicheng was very concerned about the defense of the Ming army in the forbidden ditch, so after going to the ditch, he led everyone to the forbidden ditch in the west.

There are some local tunpu villages on the southern plains, which were also used as the garrison of the Ming army during the war a few days ago, and they were all abandoned at this time.

There was no obstacle all the way, and soon Li Zicheng and the others came to the edge of the forbidden ditch, looking at the deep ravine in front of them, Li Zicheng and the others were speechless for a long time.

It is deep and wide, the ditch is deep and the slope is steep, there is almost no road down the hill, and there are many tall fire road piers standing on the side of the hill, which are covered with bricks and stones, and are very solid. Not only that, but these fire piers and city walls are connected to the city below, and it is more appropriate to say that they are not so much fire piers as enemy platforms.

Then the city wall was connected to the city, and then it winded up again, until it was connected to the Tongluo River on the opposite side, where there were also fire road piers. In other words, attacking the fire road pier, the defenders on the Tongluo River can come to support through the city wall. It is not the same thing at all with those isolated fire piers on the opposite side of Yuanwanggou.

And there are a total of twelve fire road piers and cities on both sides of the forbidden ditch, which is the so-called twelve cities.

Not only that, the topography of Shaanxi is that the river washes the plain into ditches, beams, and ravines. There are many such ditches, beams, and ridges on the edge of the southern plains. Those fire piers are also mostly built on top of the beams, and the fragmented terrain makes it extremely difficult to pass.

Looking at the vertical and horizontal ravines on the sides of the piers of each fire road, I don't know how many times stronger than the artificially dug trenches.

Looking at it from a distance, the forbidden ditch of the long valley is very winding. It is connected to the Qinling Mountains in the south, the city is connected to the north, and the valley that is dozens of miles long completely blocks the east-west passage, not only Li Zicheng, but also the generals who break into the camp have ugly faces, and this forbidden ditch is many times more difficult to fight than the Yuanwang ditch.

Gu Junen's excitement and pride after seizing Yuanwanggou slowly faded, and looking at everyone's somewhat uncertain faces, he forced a smile and said: "In the past, Tang General Tian Lingzi led 100,000 troops to guard Tongguan, but he was still sneaked over the forbidden ditch by Huang Chao. Go around to Xiguan, and finally seize the city and go straight to Chang'an. Weichen researched, but Huang Chao went around from Shimen Pass to Tongluochuan, and then went straight to Xiyuan, and the students thought they could go there to have a look. ”

Li Zicheng nodded, it was all the same, and they walked along the edge of the ditch. From time to time, I encounter a fire road pier, but look at the fire road piers on the ridge beams are heavily guarded. In addition to the guns, there were also a lot of small cannons and big guns, and Li Zicheng and the others didn't dare to get too close.

They rode their horses for dozens of miles, and when the forbidden ditch was about to end, a tall and majestic city appeared in front of everyone's eyes, and they saw that two miles away from the opposite side was the lower south gate of Tongguan City. Also known as "Yingxun Gate", the terrain is flat, but the city wall on that side is also very high and thick, it is estimated that it reaches as many as four zhang, and all kinds of horse faces are towering.

Li Zicheng stood on the horse and looked out. The city wall winds over the plains, and from the northeast of the lower south gate is the upper south gate, where the terrain is slightly higher, and most of the city wall is still part of the Kirin Mountain. And there is a rather high plateau about two miles southeast of the upper south gate, the terrain is superior, and it seems that you can condescend to overlook the whole Tongguan city.

There is a castle on the plateau, which is Taojiazhuang Fort.

Sun Chuanting also seemed to know the importance of this castle, and all the castles in Nanyuan were abandoned, but only Taojiazhuang was stationed with heavy troops.

Looking at the tall city walls in the distance, the strict guards, and the high momentum of the defenders, Li Zicheng felt a chill in his heart, and a sense of anxiety floated in his heart. However, he then comforted himself that compared to the difficult offensive and defensive battles of the previous days, this place was already very good, and at least he could play his best crowd tactics.

He calculated in his heart that if he only attacked the south gate, it would be difficult to fully exert his superiority in strength, and he would have to attack the south gate together.

Of course, this must take Taojiazhuang Fort in advance, otherwise if you attack the upper south gate, you will be caught between the Taojiazhuang defenders and the upper south gate defenders.

It's just that the anxiety in his heart has been lingering, thinking about the tenacity of the Yuanwanggou defenders during this period of time, and the uncertainty of the future, Li Zicheng hopes that he can tell Gu Junen that there are loopholes in the Ming army's defense line, and he can sneak through the forbidden ditch like Huangchao, go around Xiguan, and finally seize the city.

So after looking at the walls for a while, they came to the edge of the hill and looked down.

I saw a river valley below, and the forbidden ditch water and the Tonggou water converged into the Tong River, and then flowed to the Nanshui Pass. The valley is not wide, only about 100 steps, and the terrain of the valley is deep and narrow when you look down from the plateau. The tall city wall goes to the lower hill from the west of the lower south gate, and after connecting the Nanshui Pass Tower, it continues to go west and connects to the Phoenix Mountain.

Then the city wall winds along the Phoenix Mountain to the south for about two miles, and at the southernmost end is a tall and thick tower, which is the Shimen Pass.

Shimen Pass and several fire road piers at the northernmost end of Tongluo River form a clamp to form a tight defense line......

Want to sneak through here?

The hearts of Li Zicheng and the others have been cold.

Not to mention that it is not easy to attack Shimen Pass, even if some men and horses are lucky enough to pass by, they will be outflanked by the back of Tongluochuan and the defenders of Xiyuan.

Moreover, the Shimenguan city wall is a part of the entire Tongguan city, and it is too easy for the defenders to deploy troops.

Li Zicheng was speechless for a long time, and the tight defense line in front of him was like an impregnable wall, blocking all his ambitions.

It is not only the dangerous terrain and the strong defense line, but most importantly, the momentum and confidence of the defenders. It seems that the retreat from Yuanwanggou is only part of their strategy, shrinking the defensive line and concentrating troops. In this way, if we fight again, perhaps the process will be more tragic, longer and more painful than the battle of Yuanwanggou.

And Li Zicheng is more and more unconfident that he can win, and he doesn't know how long he will stay here after the war starts, after all, Tongguan is not a lonely city that he captured in the past, and they have the whole of Shaanxi as support.

To fight or not to fight, the question that I had forgotten a little about the past two days involuntarily came to Li Zicheng's mind again.

The generals behind him were also silent, and Li Guo muttered for a long time: "It's still a hair, such a line of defense." Do you want to die tens of thousands of people like Yuanwanggou? ”

Liu Xiyao said softly: "Maybe it's more than that." ”

Gu Junen wanted to say something, but looking at the faces of the generals, he couldn't say anything in the end.

……

On the way back to the camp, the group was speechless, and after a long time, Li Zicheng asked Gao Yigong: "How is the battle situation along the way Brother Liu?" ”

Gao Yigong shook his head and sighed: "They stopped when they hit Shangzhou." It's all trails over there, it's not easy to walk, and it's even harder to fight. The city of Shangzhou was built between Donglong Mountain and Jinfeng Mountain, and there was Danshui around the city as a moat, so it was difficult to besiege and attack. The sentry cavalry came to report that Feng Shikong, the governor of Shaanxi, was defending the city, and Brother Liu was unable to enter again. ”

Gao Yigong was in charge of the soldiers and horses of the old battalion, and he was also in charge of the affairs of the sentry cavalry. They are now only separated from Liu Fangliang's way from the Qinling Mountains, and the brigade is not easy to walk, especially with baggage, but it is still no problem for small sentry horses to pass.

Li Zicheng sighed, and the generals were also silent, and in the end, hope was broken.

After returning to the old camp, Li Zicheng summoned Liu Zongmin alone, and he asked, "Jiexuan." We're old brothers, and you tell me the truth. Should this Tongguan City be beaten? ”

Liu Zongmin said: "King Chuang, if you insist on fighting, I will definitely support you if I don't say it." According to what I said, our righteous army is not good at attacking fortifications, so it is better to fight on foot. ”

He said: "If you really want to deal with Sun Chuanting, why bother with him in front of this strong city." Think of King Cao...... It doesn't matter if you take Shaanxi sooner or later, anyway, this place is here, and he won't run away. ”

……

A steady stream of thieves crossed the Yuanwang ditch, and they would attack Tongguan City and the forbidden ditch in the next day, and Sun Chuanting did not dare to slack off. He also inspected the defense line of the city and the ravine, cheering everyone on.

On the afternoon of the 13th, he summoned the generals to discuss the matter in the Xingyuan, and at the meeting, Sun Chuanting said firmly: "No matter how long the thief stays, the thieves will not want to take a step from Tongguan City. The city is in the people, the city is dead, and the governor is here to live and die with the generals! ”

"Victory!"

Both the local new army officers and the Jingbian officers and generals were enthusiastic when they heard this, and they waved their fists and shouted together.

Guyuan General Zheng Jiadong and others also waved their fists with hideous expressions, in the new defense line arrangement, most of them were arranged on the west plateau, and the tragic and vicious battle in the future will also let the new army go to the top, so that they can restore a lot of confidence.

After the meeting was dispersed, the Jingbian army generals turned back to their camps, Wu Zhengchun and Gao Xun walked in some words, and Li Zhengjing and Zhao Rongsheng walked together.

Zhao Rongsheng touched his face and said thoughtfully: "Sun Du's determination is very great, it seems that we still have to stay in Tongguan City for a long time." ”

Li Zhengjing said: "Of course, Sun Duchen can't retreat, and we can't retreat." Not to mention that for the sake of the Shaanxi fathers, it is said that Sun Du borrowed millions of taels of silver from the general, if he loses, who will go to this silver? ”

They were followed by Luo Liangzuo, Lai Dexiang, Chen Sheng, Han Kaihui and other commanders, and after listening to Li Zhengjing's words, everyone showed interest on their faces, and this kind of insider story is only known to senior officers like Li Zhengjing.

Han Kaihui said: "Old Armor Chief, do you really have a few million taels of silver? ”

Li Zhengjing laughed and said, "Of course......"

He blew endlessly, Wen Shiyan smiled and listened to it, he glanced thoughtfully outside the city, if the thieves were going to besiege the city for a long time, maybe ......

……

On 14 May, Li Zicheng suddenly rewarded the three armies in Nanyuan, especially rewarding the meritorious officials, and the patrol battalion was rewarded with 1,000 horses and mules, 5,000 taels of gold and silver, and Lao Hu was also promoted from a mighty general of the fifth rank to a general of the fourth grade, Guo Yi.

And in the white tasseled black satin flags fluttering densely around the surroundings, in the brave knights surrounded by layers of trees, Lao Hu also saw Li Chuang and the generals around him at close range for the first time.

But he didn't think much about it, and the joy of being promoted and making a fortune made him kowtow heavily: "Thank you to King Chuang, thank you to King Chuang, the little one must do his best and die." ”

Li Guo, who was beside Li Zicheng, laughed and said, "Stepping Dragon, it seems that you will be able to enter the old camp soon." ”

Lao Hu smiled on his face, and he said: "It all depends on the cultivation of the generals. ”

After rewarding the soldiers, Li Zicheng stood up, he opened his mouth, his expression was a little complicated, and finally he said: "My Changyi Mansion has decided to withdraw from Tongguan, transfer to Henan, and encircle and open the seal!" ”

The surrounding soldiers were stunned. Then the overwhelming cheers rang out, and I had long wanted to leave this ghost place.

In the cheers of everyone, Gu Junen's face was pale and his expression was lost, and Niu Jinxing was smiling, with a hint of smugness in his eyes.

After the announcement. Li Zicheng and the others couldn't help but look in the direction of Tongguan, it was this place that blocked their footsteps from entering Shaanxi.

Hometown, hometown, you are only in a dream.

……

"The thieves have retired?"

From April to mid-May, the whole Ming Dynasty was paying attention, Wang Dou was no exception, he got the news the fastest, when the good news reached Guihua City, he was greatly relieved, and said with a smile: "Finally, this investment was not in vain." It seems that Sun Chuanting still has two brushes. ”

He was happy but also a little regretful, because of time, distance, food and grass supply, and the possibility of sending troops privately to the court suspicions, he had only been concerned about this war.

However, the biggest factor in exterminating the thieves is not to suffer from thieves gathering, but only to suffer from thieves, if Li Zichang has been around Tongguan for a long time, it will inevitably make him think, whether to gamble or not. However, Li Zicheng left soon, and Wang Dou gave up. Maybe the thief shouldn't have died at this time.

Seeing that Wang Dou was happy, his subordinates were all smiling. Zhong Susu said with a smile: "As long as Sun Du can delay until next year, I will be able to advance and retreat freely." ”

Wang Dou nodded, and the intelligence said that Li Zicheng left 100,000 hungry people, and then led his troops to retreat to Kaifeng Mansion, and the large army surrounded Kaifeng City. I also played the set of encirclement and reinforcement. The opinion of the General Staff Department was that Sun Chuanting hoped that Sun Chuanting would try his best to reorganize his armaments and increase his strength in Shaanxi, and even if he wanted to go out of the customs, he would take every step of the way and run Luoyang and other places as much as possible. Solve the problem of food routes.

It's just that after this big victory, the higher Sun Chuanting's voice, the emperor will not sit idly by and watch the fall of Kaifeng City, and the Ming Dynasty has no available soldiers.

And Sun Chuanting has a sharp and paranoid personality, and is a little stubborn and self-serving, and he is not a very patient person, under the danger of Kaifeng, he is afraid that he will not be able to withstand the pressure of the court, and second, he is afraid that he will be carried away by the victory results, and he will venture out of the customs under the expansion of self-confidence, causing a big disaster.

However, in this situation, Sun Chuanting should be able to hold Li Zicheng back for a while.

Not long ago, Wang Dou also got the news that Sun Chengzong, the former Taifu and the secretary of the Ministry of War, passed away and died at the end of his life.

When he got the news, Wang Dou was a little emotional, Sun Chengzong's result was much better than the ending in history, remembering his past experience with Sun Chengzong, he decided to ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send people to Gaoyang to mourn, and at the same time pay homage to the soldiers who died in Julu.

……

The news of the great victory in Tongguan spread everywhere, when the good news reached the Beijing Division, the Beijing Division was boiling, and Emperor Chongzhen was even more overjoyed, he laughed and said: "Sun Chuanting lives up to my expectations, and it is really useful." ”

Sun Chuanting in Shaanxi "nonsense", impeachment of his people is like a mountain, has been the emperor to withstand the pressure, stay in the middle of the news, at this time the good news came, Emperor Chongzhen deeply felt that he knew people, excited, immediately ordered to pass the decree to commend, and dedicated to the Jietai Temple.

Of course, those hungry people who were victimized by thieves need to find a way to resettle them in Shaanxi.

At this time, no one talked about Sun Chuanting, but some people talked about the thieves and surrounded Kaifeng, and urged Sun to get out of the customs as soon as possible and lift the siege of Kaifeng, especially the officials from Shaanxi.

Emperor Chongzhen was also a little moved, but he also knew that the new army in Shaanxi should not be moved lightly and should be acted cautiously at the beginning of the training.

Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, also strongly advocated that Sun Chuanting should not be moved lightly, he stated the interests and disadvantages, and pointed out that if Sun Chuanting did not move in Shaanxi, the thieves would have worries about going north and south, and if Sun Bu broke away from Tongguan and went deep alone, once an accident occurred, the consequences would be unimaginable.

He accused the Shaanxi officials who were clamoring for Sun's troops to beggar-thy-neighbor, and many courtiers agreed with Chen Xinjia's view.

Under the serious disagreement, Emperor Chongzhen was even more hesitant, although he had the illusion of annihilating the thieves in one drum after Sun Bu left the customs, he also knew that the current thieves were difficult to defeat, and he should give Sun Chuanting more time to train and save money and strengthen his strength.

At the same time, some people impeached the governor Hou Sui for failing to do anything after arriving in Kaifeng, fearing the enemy and avoiding war, causing the thieves to surround Kaifeng again.

Thinking of the Inspector Hou Sui, Emperor Chongzhen also had some hatred: "Incompetent! ”

The reason why Emperor Chongzhen used Hou Sui was because Hou Sui was a native of Guide Mansion in Henan Province and had a better understanding of the situation in Henan, and secondly, because Hou Sui was kind to Zuo Liangyu and could encircle Zuo Liangyu, who had many soldiers at that time.

Now Zuo Liangyu is dead, the town of thieves is in ashes, Hou Sui to Kaifeng, but also only on a strategy to play sparsely, advocating Shaanxi, Baoding, Shandong, Fengyang, Huguang, Huaixu governors to stick to their own territory, cut off the thief's escape road, he himself sat in Kaifeng, the camera acted, it is best to let the thief starve to death in Henan.

Song Shu said it well, but the essence is a copy of Yang Sichang's "ten-sided net", and the thieves will not be wishful thinking to squat in Henan and starve as Hou Sui thought.

Moreover, this performance also saw Hou Sui's selfishness, if the governors of various places failed to prevent and block, they would inevitably become the scapegoat of his Hou Sui, which made Emperor Chongzhen even more displeased, thinking that Hou Sui was a cunning person and had his own trust.

Hou Sui has been in Kaifeng for a while, and now he has achieved nothing, and Kaifeng has been besieged again, which makes Emperor Chongzhen more and more dissatisfied with Hou Sui.

Some courtiers thought that Sun Chuanting should replace Hou Sui as the superintendent, and the military affairs of Baoding, Shandong, and Hebei should be fully controlled to suppress the thieves.

Sun Chuanting looked much stronger than Hou Sui, an incompetent person, especially after the news of the victory in Tongguan.

However, he still held on, at this time Kaifeng was besieged again, the enemy is current, the replacement of Hou Sui will only make Kaifeng Mansion unnecessary turmoil, to change Hou Sui, it will only be after Sun Chuanting is completed and the siege of Kaifeng is lifted.

Kaifeng must be rescued, but the Ming Dynasty has no available soldiers and horses, Emperor Chongzhen wants to think about it, in addition to the decree to let Sun Chuanting step up the training of soldiers, he has to tell Henan and other places to organize regimental exercises, and record the merits of the landlords who are armed with the villagers, hoping that these soldiers and horses can more or less unwind the siege of Feng.

At this time, thieves from all over Henan were embraced, such as Liu Hongqi according to Runing, Han Jiadi according to Xuzhou, Li Jiyu according to Dengfeng, Li Hao according to Yuzhou, Liu Xuan according to Xiangcheng, divided into hundreds of li, with more than 100,000 people, and the total number of soldiers and horses should not be underestimated.

Emperor Chongzhen named all the people who were willing to be appeased as deputy commanders-in-chief, and he said in his holy decree: "It is far from being possible for the Tuzhai people to gather the people to resist the thieves and protect the place." Specially issued edicts, sent officials to proclaim, pardon sins and record merits. However, if you can capture and behead the puppet official, you will be rewarded, if you can restore the city and offer prisoners, you will be promoted, and the rest of the drama will be compiled into a village warrior and a team practice. ”

He also promulgated a reward, and those who could capture Li Zicheng were rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver, and he was knighted as a marquis. Those who can capture Li Zicheng's subordinates will be rewarded with 5,000 taels of silver, the best official and hereditary.

It was also announced that Henan Wufu land rent would be exempted for three years in order to reflect the virtue of the imperial court. (To be continued.) )