On the river beach of the Wild Boar Gorge in Yan'an Prefecture, the banners of the Dashun Army of all the fortresses along the line have disappeared, and have been replaced by the dragon flags of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and the Eight Banners of the Han Army. In the middle of April, the weather is getting hotter, and the yellow dust and the wind full of heat in northern Shaanxi fly to the sky, blocking people's mouths and nasal passages, and they are indescribably depressed and uncomfortable.

Along the beach of the Fenchuan River, I know that the large and small fortresses on the bank, under the billowing smoke, are covered with the corpses of the soldiers of the Shun soldiers in yellow uniforms, and the soldiers of the Eight Banners of the Qing Army are still wearing the armor and red military uniforms of the former Ming Dynasty, but the back of the helmet has a braided of different lengths, which looks very funny. These soldiers are now wielding swords, but they are looking for the surviving Shun army in the sea of corpses and blood, and they found one, which is to cut off the head with a knife, and then the whole body of Dasuo, not even a penny is spared.

After years of drought, the water of the Fenchuan River has long dried up, and now the deepest part is no more than the waist of a person. On a high slope on the north bank of the Fenchuan River, Prince Ying's banner stood high, and Azig sat under a yellow Luo umbrella, watching the battle on the opposite side gradually come to an end.

Azig swallowed a sip of sweet fruit wine, casually threw the wine bag to his own soldiers, and gently stroked the neatly trimmed short beard with the fingers of his right hand, listening to the complaints of the Eight Banners generals around him indifferently.

"Lord Wang, after this big battle, all these minions of the Han Army Banner have been cheapened, look at it, all of them have bulging pockets, can they still walk?"

"Lord Wang, it's time for the cubs under the command of the minions to come out and spread fun, this cheap can't be taken advantage of by Wu Sangui and Kong Youde!"

Listening to these complaints, Azig smiled knowingly, picked up the horsewhip in his hand and beat it randomly, but he didn't have any strength in his hand at all.

"You minions know a piece of!" Azig stood up, dropped his horsewhip, took two steps forward, and pointed to the soldiers of the Eight Banners of the Han Army on the other side of the river. "When we entered the customs with a full number of people, we poured out, a total of 180,000 troops, and after this series of battles, although we won all battles, the number of casualties was also around 10,000 or 20,000. During the court meeting, the regent mentioned many times that the Central Plains is vast and rich, and the population is ten times and a hundred times that of ours. If the Han people are united, then we are never opponents, and therefore our warriors of the Eight Banners are extremely precious, and the next piece of territory is the most reliable only if it is handed over to our Manchurians to guard. Why do you want to expand the Eight Banners of the Han Army, and give these barbarians the title of king and worship the marquis one by one, that is, to make them die for us! Tell me, who else can you give this bloody messenger to the death if you don't hand it over to them? ”

Azig turned around and looked at the generals, "If you are allowed to go up, in less than half a year, we will have to go back to our hometown outside the Guanwai with the mountains of corpses, and the flower world in the Central Plains has not even touched the sweetness, so you are willing?" ”

Azig once again turned his gaze to the other side, and the expression on his face gradually became solemn, "Look at these barbarians, their combat power is becoming more and more powerful now. Put yourself in your shoes and let you fight this battle, and you will be able to take all the fortresses on the other side of the river so cleanly, so that the thieves will not be safe? ”

The words made the Eight Banners generals present speechless.

While speaking, more than ten horsemen waded from the other side of the river, and rushed up the high slope in mud, led by Wu Sangui, who had been named the king of Pingxi of the Manchu Dynasty.

When he came closer, Wu Sangui turned over and dismounted, and Azig greeted him with a smile and handed him a cowhide wine bag full of fine wine. "The Guanning Iron Cavalry of the King of Pingxi is really the world's first-class elite division, and it took the Wild Boar Gorge in just two hours, and at this moment, it is impossible for Liu Zongmin to defend it. In this battle, the king of Pingxi should be the first to take the lead! ”

Although you are a prince, Wu Sangui also knows that there is a world of difference between his prince and the title of Prince Heshuoying of Azig. Therefore, Wu Sangui was very respectful, and hurriedly stepped forward to take the wine bag, and wanted to kneel and bow.

Azig grabbed him with a smile, walked with his arms, and let him under his Huang Luo umbrella. Wu Sangui peeked at the huge Huang Luo umbrella, and was surprised in his heart, but his face was already respectful.

"Lord Wang, the defenders of the Wild Boar Gorge have all been cleared, and the subordinates have come to ask for their lives, whether our army will pursue them next, or rest for a period of time first, please make a decision!"

Azig smiled and asked Wu Sangui: "What do you mean, uncle?" ”

"The day before yesterday, the army of King Yu had captured Ruicheng, and it was only a stone's throw away from Tongguan. The subordinates thought that now the thieves were trapped in a corner of Shaanxi, and it was better to attack the heart than to conquer the city. The army of thieves is full of former Ming officials, and it is also expedient for these people to surrender to thieves, as long as the prince sends people who can speak, I believe that these people will definitely fall in the wind! After that, you can wipe out the scourge of thieves without blood! ”

Azig nodded, "The words of the chief uncle are very much in line with the king's wishes, and the regent also means this, the king of Yu and the king of the two routes of the army attack together in the north and south, and it is always good to have fewer casualties." After all, Shandong and Jiangnan have not yet been pacified, so we must always leave strength in case of emergency! ”

Wu Sangui suddenly remembered something, "Lord Qiqi, my subordinates just received the news that Tanma sent back. The thief chief Li Zicheng has already sent his subordinate general Li Yan to lead the army to Yan'an Mansion for reinforcements. ”

Azig waved his hand indifferently, "It's just to send more people to death, don't care!" ”

Wu Sangui hurriedly said: "The prince must not underestimate that Li Yan." This person was the mastermind of Li Zicheng's side before, and he was both wise and brave, and made great contributions to Li Zicheng's entry into Gyeonggi. Later, because Li Zicheng was jealous and suspicious of him, he abandoned it, and now this Li Yan is used again, which is a big hidden danger to my Qing Dynasty, and it must be guarded again! ”

Azig patted Wu Sangui's shoulder affectionately, "This king has a fierce general like Changbo, so why should he care about Li Yan!" ”

Wu Sangui was immediately grateful, and almost hit his head on the ground.

"The prince is trustworthy, Xiao Wang is grateful, the prince can rest assured, Xiao Wang will reorganize his soldiers and horses, wait for the battle, and vow to wipe out the army of thieves in the jurisdiction of Yan'an Mansion!"

But things are not as simple as Azig and Wu Sangui imagined. The news of Li Yan's army reinforcing Yan'an Mansion had spread throughout the Qing army in a short time. But as time passed, five days passed, but there was no news of Li Yan's approaching department. Since Li Yan's tens of thousands of soldiers and horses left Xi'an, they seemed to have disappeared, and no trace could be found.

Azig and Wu Sangui originally planned to wait for work, and while dragging Liu Zongmin, Tian Jianxiu and others, they attracted Li Yan to go deep into Yan'an Mansion, and used the fast and mobile characteristics of the Manchurian Eight Banners cavalry to gather and annihilate the main force of the Shun army in one fell swoop, but the disappearance of Li Yan's department made them a little confused, knowing that Li Yan would definitely come to Yan'an Mansion to rescue, but now there is no trace to follow, but the two of them are at a loss.

But the news that came ten days later surprised the two of them, including all the generals of the Northern Route Army.

After Li Yan's subordinates left Xi'an, they did not rush to Yan'an Mansion to rescue Liu Zongmin and others according to Li Zicheng's established plan, but sent rangers to clear the Qing army's probes and spies with the help of the seventh battalion of the Shun army. At the same time, hide the trail and travel lightly, but the direction chosen is very different.

Li Yan personally led 10,000 troops, recruited a large number of war horses, traveled night and day, and went straight to the front line of Ruicheng. Duoduo of the Southern Route Army was caught off guard all the way, and was directly inserted by Li Yan's department, Lingbao County, where the Southern Route Army was concentrated, was captured by Li Yan overnight, and the Han army was the leader of Wang Shixuan, the deputy general Meng Qiaofang, and even the Niu Lu Zhang Jing Suolun of the Red Banner died in the chaos. The baggage and military rations hoarded in the city were burned to the ground.

Duoduo was furious about this, and ordered the whole army to search for the whereabouts of Li Yan's subordinates, but after two busy days, nothing was found. Helplessly, the military supplies were burned, and Duoduo's Southern Route Army had to slow down the speed of its march and stationed in Ruicheng to wait for supplies from the rear.

It can be said that this was the first defeat suffered by the Qing army in the strict sense after entering the customs, and although the loss of soldiers and horses was not much, the entire offensive strategy was delayed because of this. The Southern Route Army was trapped in Ruicheng, and the Northern Route Army Azig was also so angry that he almost vomited blood.

The army waited carefully in Yan'an Mansion for almost half a month, full of plans to gather and annihilate the main force of the Dashun army in a battle, but he never expected that Li Yan took advantage of a loophole, under the banner of going north, but suddenly turned to the south, with the light cavalry of 10,000 people, he dared to raid the place where the heavy troops were stationed in Lingbao, and he actually got it.

This made the princes and generals of the Eight Banners who had a smooth journey embarrassed.

In a fit of rage, Azig ordered a fierce attack on Liu Zongmin's troops, and within two days he conquered Ganquan, and the 5,000 defenders of the Shun army were all wiped out, and the only more than 1,000 captured soldiers were all killed.

Liu Zongmin, Tian Jianxiu and Yuan Zongdi had no choice but to defend Fu County. Further south are Luochuan and Yijun, which are only 500 miles away from Xi'an. Without Li Zicheng's order, they would never dare to take a step back.

"Isn't the prime minister supervising the army in the army? How can Li Linquan come wantonly! Liu Zongmin scolded in Fuxian County. As early as when Li Yan's department went out of Xi'an, he received a message from Niu Jinxing. Among the Shun army, the personal grudge between him and Li Yan is already a well-known thing.

Li Yanqi, although he has always been gentle and polite, but Liu Zongmin, who was born as a blacksmith, is naturally incompatible with him. In his opinion, Li Yan, a son of an official eunuch, is the sworn enemy of the Dashun army, and they have been sucking the marrow and knocking the bones of the people for generations, how can they be of one heart and one mind with Dashun.

It was a mistake for Li Zicheng, the son of Yongchang, to appoint these Ming Dynasty officials and generals, I didn't see Tang Tong and Jiang Jiu, didn't they all surrender and reverse! If Dashun wants to show his majesty again, he still has to rely on these old brothers who have come all the way!

Liu Zongmin and Niu Jinxing's original plan was that when Li Yan arrived in Yan'an Mansion, he would completely empty it and seize the command of the whole army, with the help of tens of thousands of troops, he would definitely be able to block the pace of the Qing army's attack.

But who would have thought that this Li Yan did not play his cards according to common sense, but turned south and made such a large military exploit, which made Liu Zongmin how could he swallow this sulking.

Although Yuan Zongdi, Tian Jianxiu, Li Guo and others on the side were dissatisfied with Liu Zongmin's incompetent command, everyone knew that he and Li Zicheng were sworn brothers, and Li Zicheng had always been lenient and protective of him, so he could only pretend not to hear and let him scold and scold him on the city.

Wu Sangui's Guanning army attacked fiercely for a round, and just retreated, but the main force of the Qing army's Zhengbai Banner approached the city wall again. This time, it was not a miscellaneous soldier who was clothed or a house slave, but it was a genuine Niulu elite soldier in the flag.

Seeing that the people approaching the city wall were the heavy armor soldiers in the Eight Banners, with bulging bags on their bodies, obviously wearing two layers of heavy armor, the outer layer was iron-inlaid cotton armor, and the inner lining was fine chain mail, and the ordinary Ming army's arrows could not hurt them at all. Followed by a dense crowd of lightly armored marksmen. Before they could get closer, arrows like flying locusts swooped down on the city.

In an instant, the heavy armor soldiers had already braved the rain of arrows and rolling stones to rush to the city, holding a wooden giant shield in their left hand, and the long-handled knife and tiger tooth knife in their right hand would wave non-stop, looking at the city with fierce faces, making the soldiers of Shun shudder. R1152