A large number of men and horses led by Li Zicheng started from the capital city on April 13 and walked for four days, and then arrived at Yongping, which was only less than 150 miles away from Shanhaiguan.

In Yongping, the Dashun army easily broke through the first line of defense arranged by Wu Sangui.

That night, Li Zicheng also met with the peace envoy sent by Wu Sangui, although he did not fully believe the claims of these gentlemen, but he only imprisoned the six people with the army, and planned to take them to Shanhaiguan together.

At the same time, Li Zicheng also sent the former Ming Dynasty to demote officials, and Wang Zeyao, the governor of Miyun, went to Shanhaiguan to negotiate with Wu Sangui as the secretary of the Dashun military government.

In fact, at this time, Li Zicheng still had hope for the surrender of Wu Sangui.

He really couldn't figure out what better way out the other party could have except surrender to himself?

However, when Wu Sangui withdrew to Shanhaiguan, he implemented "clearing the wilderness with strong walls and destroying stoves and plugging wells" along the way, which also made Li Zicheng wary of it.

This led his army to travel from Yongping to Shanhaiguan for another four days because of the detour.

In these eight days, Wu Sangui's Guan Liao army not only repaired the gap in the wall of Xiluo City, but also sent people to transport the large and small firearms guarding Ningyuan City to Xiluo City in Shanhaiguan.

However, the Guan Liao army, which was waiting for the battle, did not attract Li Zicheng's great attention, and the army drove for eight days in a row, so he immediately ordered his soldiers and horses to recuperate that night and not attack the city for the time being.

Originally, Li Zicheng thought that Wu Sangui would definitely come to surrender, and he originally sent Wu Sangui to lead his headquarters as the vanguard of the southern expedition, and went south to recruit Ming generals and pacify Nanming's plan, but he didn't expect it to become the current situation.

And after Zhou Shixian's reminder, although Li Zicheng sent Yuan Zongdi to Shandong, he also brought 10,000 more old battalion soldiers than in the original history, just in case.

To subdue Wu Sangui, forty or fifty thousand old battalion soldiers were actually more than enough, and the extra 10,000 were to prevent possible Manchu Tartars.

However, when he saw the tall city walls of Shanhaiguan and the dozen or so thousand-pound cannons on Xiluo City, he couldn't help but be a little worried.

Because Li Zicheng's army did not carry large artillery - the Dashun army was accustomed to mobile combat for many years, did not have an artillery manufacturing base, and did not attach importance to the huge role of firearms in the war.

This can't be blamed on Li Zicheng, he has been fighting with officers and soldiers in the Central Plains, and has never fought with the Manchu Eight Banners, although he has also heard rumors that the Eight Banners are brave and good at fighting, but when he thought that the Ming army could resist them for decades, he didn't take it seriously.

Although he was not afraid, just in case, Li Zicheng still brought 10,000 more old battalion soldiers, and asked Tang Tong and Bai Guangen to bring 10,000 more elites from the former Ming border army, which was 20,000 more soldiers and horses than originally planned.

One night later, as the sun rose, the Dashun army immediately set up a position outside Shanhaiguan.

"Father!"

Li Zicheng's adopted son, Zhang Nai, took a few personal guards cavalry and galloped to his side, "All the troops and horses are ready to start attacking at any time." ”

"Is there anything going on outside the gates?" Li Zicheng narrowed his eyes and asked in a flat tone.

"The thirty or so scouts sent out have all returned, and nothing unusual has been found." Zhang Nai said very firmly.

"Hahaha, I just said, how dare the Tartars come?"

Li Zicheng laughed, "Sure enough, it was Zhu Ming's trick, that kid is really good at playing with people's hearts, he said it in a good way, half-truths and half-truths, I almost believed it when I saw Wu Sangui's appearance." This person seems to be difficult to deal with! ”

Zhang Nai listened, flattered a few words, and then took out a piece of paper from his waist and reported the situation of the soldiers and horses of each battalion to Li Zicheng:

"General Liu Zongmin led the Zhongquan pro-army, 19,000 people; Liu Fangliang led the left battalion, 22,000 people; Liu Xiyao led the front battalion, 7,000 people; He Jin led the old camp of Ge Zuo, 8,000 people; Tang Tong, Bai Guangen led the headquarters and Xuanda/the elite of the border army, 29,000 people; A total of 85,000 people. ”

Li Zicheng listened and nodded slightly, these more than 80,000 people are the most soldiers and horses he can spare when he takes into account the situation in the whole country, and it is definitely enough to deal with just one Wu Sangui.

"What about Wang Zeyao, is there any news coming back?" Li Zicheng asked with concern.

A few days ago, he specially sent the newly appointed military government Shangshu to Shanhaiguan to finally persuade Wu Sangui, but now it seems that it is in vain.

Zhang Nai shook his head and said angrily: "Father, so far, Wu Sangui's thief doesn't know what to do, but he is full of antipathy, and we must not let him go." ”

Li Zicheng narrowed his eyes and sighed slightly, he still didn't understand in his heart why Wu Sangui refused to submit to him.

But at this point, the reason doesn't matter anymore.

Since Wu Sangui didn't want the father and son to be the two marquises, but wanted to touch the stone with an egg, then Li Zicheng would definitely not be polite.

Although the Guanning army is said to be strong, it is only 30,000 horses, of which Wu Sangui can rely on the personal guard army, but only 3,000, plus more than 10,000 people of the general army of Shanhaiguan, and the newly recruited 10,000 Liaodong Xiangyong, at most 50,000 people.

"Order the three armies, and all departments will attack as planned, defeat Wu Sangui, and take Shanhaiguan!" Li Zicheng immediately ordered.

As Li Zicheng's military order spread throughout the entire army of Dashun Army, in front of Xiluo City in Shanhaiguan, the sound of the army marching, the sound of the formation, the command of the general, the sound of the soldiers shouting, the sound of the horses' hooves stepping on the ground, and the sound of the soldiers rubbing and colliding for a while, mixed together, suddenly became a noisy sound.

The vanguard of the Dashun army faced the first line of defense deployed by Gao Di, the general of Shanhaiguan and Yang Kun, the general of Wu Sangui, in Shihe, about 8,000 soldiers and horses, stationed on the north and south banks of the Xishihe defense line.

And Wu Sangui personally led 3,000 elites to defend the second line of defense in Dongshihe.

A large number of artillery pieces were also deployed between the two lines of defense, which would provide fire support against the advance of the Dashun army, which lacked artillery cover.

However, the situation was no different from the original history, the two sides went back and forth, each other won and lost, and the Dashun army did not make any substantial progress.

One of the besieging troops managed to attack the auxiliary city from the northern flank, but was quickly repelled by the Wu army general Gao Dejie with 200 elite soldiers, and the battle situation immediately returned to its original state.

On the second day, after Li Zicheng figured out Wu Sangui's strength, he immediately decided to dispatch the main force to attack.

Moreover, the Tang Tong Division, which was deployed outside the gate last night, had discovered the advance of the Manchu Eight Banner Army, which was terrible news for Li Zicheng.

If Shanhaiguan can not be captured again, and Wu Sangui and the Manchus really collude together, then the soldiers and horses he brought will not be enough to win.

In addition to the main city, there are four auxiliary cities connected with the main city and each other, the north and south directions are called the north wing city and the south wing city, and the east and west direction are called Xiluo City and Dongluo City, of which the south wing is close to the sea, the north wing is connected to the Great Wall, the east Luo city leads to Ningjin, and the west Luo city faces the main force of the Dashun army.

The city wall is strong, and there are more than a dozen thousand pounds of artillery on it, dozens of various types of artillery are blessed, full of lethality, although the Dashun army is high-spirited, sacrificing their lives to attack the city, but for a while and a half will still not be able to make any progress.

Li Zicheng stood on the hill, with a panoramic view of the entire battle situation, and the 3,000 cavalry of the standard battalion of the Chinese army led by his adopted son Zhang Nai were guarding beside him.

Because he brought more soldiers and horses, Li Zicheng still had two reserve units in his hands, He Jin and Liu Xiyao, a total of 15,000 people, who could be mobilized at any time according to changes in the battlefield situation.

To the west of Shanhaiguan, the fighting between the two armies intensified, and the battle situation became more and more anxious.

With the superiority in numbers and high morale, the Dashun army gradually occupied the advantage of the battlefield.

Just when the situation was just improving, Li Zicheng suddenly discovered that on the Huanxi Ridge on the east side of Guancheng, a strong cavalry appeared, which can be described as "a hundred flags are displayed, which is very spectacular".

However, Li Zicheng did not panic, but secretly scolded Tang Tong and Bai Guangen in his heart. only

Judging from the current situation, the posters are real, the Manchu Tartars are really here, and looking at the black pressure, there are at least fifty or sixty thousand people.

And judging from the slopes of their station, they should have just arrived, still resting, and they have not yet been able to fight in a short time.

Therefore, Li Zicheng did not immediately put the two reserves led by He Jin and Liu Xiyao into the battlefield, but immediately ordered Liu Zongmin and Liu Fangliang to step up the attack, and he must immediately deal with Wu Sangui, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.

You must know that under such a decisive battle, in front of the "Guanning Iron Cavalry" and the Manchu Qing Tartars, shrinking their forces and retreating from the battle, there is only one way to die, and it will inevitably become a one-sided massacre in the end.

Although Li Zicheng also knew in his heart that if he continued to attack the city, the casualties would inevitably be huge, but success or failure lay in this move, and for the sake of the great cause of the dynasty, it was inevitable that a few more people would die.

At this moment, on the west side of the Shanhaiguan city wall, a northwest wind suddenly blew, and the sand and rocks flew away for a while, covering the sky and the sun.

Seeing the situation, Dolgon, who was outside the pass, urgently ordered Azig and Duoduo, who had secretly entered the pass last night, to lead two white flags and 20,000 people to ride the wind and wave the white flags against the Dashun army.

This is what Li Zicheng never expected - the Qing army had secretly entered the city last night, and Tang Tong sent someone to deliver the news after the rout overnight.

Well, such a pig teammate is worthy of the Ming army who has just returned to obedience.

Suddenly, thousands of horses galloped in the east of the north wing of the city, flying arrows like locusts, and the Dashun army was caught off guard and suffered heavy casualties.

Liu Zongmin's troops were at the downwind of the storm, and under the impact of the oncoming sandstorm and the retreating army, the formation was chaotic for a while, and the soldiers retreated one after another, and they were simply powerless to fight back under the attack of the Manchu cavalry.

The dense arrows rained down on the Dashun army, and Liu Zongmin, who was the first soldier, was quickly shot and fell from his horse, and the Dashun army, which was at a disadvantage and lost its main general, immediately panicked.

But Li Zicheng did not panic, he immediately ordered the two reserves led by He Jin and Liu Xiyao to go into the battlefield, wanting to save the defeat.

Although the Qing army came by surprise, as long as the front was stabilized, the Dashun army was not without the ability to continue the battle.

However, Dolgon did not give him a chance, and immediately ordered two yellow flags and two red flags to be killed from the city of Xiluo and launched a general attack on the Dashun army.