When night fell, the majestic Tongguan was like a huge armored warrior, standing in the mountains, guarding the land of Guanzhong.

But now, around this huge warrior, there were campfires and tents, spreading from the east and west sides of Tongguan to the depths of the night, as if boundless.

Sun Chuanting stood on the tower of the urn city in the east, with Cao Bianjiao beside him, and the faces of the two were extremely solemn and full of pathos.

"Xuanfu Town, it's over!"

Cao Bianjiao couldn't help but have red eyes, and said angrily: "The imperial court mobilized the border army of the six towns to go south, but only Yang Shuai and the last general came all the way. It's hateful that Wang Pu and Li Fuming returned halfway, Tang Tong and Ma Ke couldn't delay, and their hearts could be punished! ”

"Poor Yang Shuai did not die on the battlefield of Liaodong, but died at the hands of thieves, which is sad and lamentable!"

When Yang Guozhu fell down with a bang, and hundreds of thousands of thieves cheered, Cao Bianjiao and Sun Chuanting both saw it in their eyes and heard it in their ears, and they were sad and indignant in their hearts.

At this moment, Sun Chuanting said angrily: "If there are still many people who really serve the country today, and how many people are really for the people?" Relying on a few of us to fight to the death ten thousand times, we can't turn the tide! ”

"Governor, what now?"

In Cao Bianjiao's view, the reinforcements of the six towns finally only arrived at Tongguan from Dongxie Town, and the troops were seriously damaged and demoralized.

Sun Chuanting thought for a long time and said: "Now there are more than 7,000 people in the city's superintendent battalion, more than 2,000 defenders, and more than 30,000 soldiers in Dongxie Town, and the total strength of our army is about 40,000. Now the money and grain in Tongguan can still support one

For a period of time, my opinion is that our army will continue to defend Tongguan, with the help of Tongguan's complete city defense and city artillery, kill and wound a large number of Li Zicheng's troops, and wait for the reversal of the tide of battle. ”

Cao Bianjiao nodded, for the sake of today's plan can only be like this, but Cao Bianjiao is very pessimistic about the current battle situation at this time, he has been in the army for many years, and has experienced a lot of dangerous bloody battles, but it is the first time he has encountered such an extremely frustrating defeat as today.

At this time, Cao Bianjiao missed the days of fighting side by side with Liu Yan, even in the face of hundreds of thousands of elite Qing troops, as long as Liu Yan's new army was there, Cao Bianjiao could not be afraid, and his heart was full of confidence.

So Cao Bianjiao sighed from the bottom of his heart: "If Dingyubo is here and the Shandong New Army is here, why did this battle come to this point, maybe the siege of Tongguan has been lifted!" ”

Sun Chuanting couldn't help but be moved, he didn't have much communication with Liu Yan, but he had been famous for Liu Yan for a long time, and he had long wanted to associate with him, but he had never had the opportunity, let alone the opportunity to lead the army to fight side by side with Liu Yan.

Thinking about it now, Sun Chuanting also has a little regret in his heart: "Yes, I really want to take a look at the demeanor of the Shandong New Army and the tiger power of Dingyubo!" ”

At dawn the next day, there was a commotion inside and outside the governor's palace, Sun Chuanting was busy with military affairs last night, and only fell asleep in the second half of the night, when he was awakened by the sound of commotion, and hurriedly got up and walked outside.

I saw Cao Bianjiao striding over with a sad and angry face, and shouted: "Governor, a team of soldiers and horses sent by Li Zicheng is holding Yang Shuai's head to the east outside the city!" ”

Sun Chuanting's face suddenly turned angry, and he strode out of the mansion without saying a word, wearing a closet

Turning over his horse, he rushed towards the eastern city wall.

Cao Bianjiao and a group of generals also hurriedly rode horses to follow, and everyone soon came to the east of the urn city tower, only to see a team of thieves outside the city cheering, shouting and galloping on horseback, and the first thief lieutenant held a wooden pole in his hand, on which Yang Guozhu's bloody head was inserted.

Sun Chuanting's cold gaze swept over the defenders on the city, only to see that everyone was frosty, everyone's eyes contained anger, the city was silent, everyone looked outside the city, eager to devour the thieves outside the city.

"Fire!"

Cao Bianjiao shouted loudly: "Don't be a governor, Yang Shuai's head is there, and he will be injured by mistake!" ”

"Ben Du order, fire!"

"Governor!"

Sun Chuanting glared at Cao Bianjiao and roared angrily: "Yang Shuai has sacrificed his life for the country, and he deserved to die!" What those of us who are alive have to do is to kill the enemy and avenge Yang Shuai, understand! ”

"Fire!"

Cao Bianjiao roared, and then strode to the front of a loaded Franco cannon, the two gunners were very excited, adjusting the angle with their hands and feet, Cao Bianjiao roared angrily and grabbed the torch and lit the fuse with his own hands.

The gunners next to the more than a dozen artillery pieces around lit the fuses one after another, and in an instant, more than a dozen artillery pieces opened fire one after another, constantly smashing near the rogue thieves, directly smashing more than a dozen people to bones on the spot and dying on the spot.

The surviving thief rode away in a panic, and the thief commander just now also galloped wildly in a panic, leaving Yang Guozhu's head directly.

Cao Bianjiao saw it clearly, and immediately sent hundreds of iron horsemen out to rob it. Fortunately, it was watched from afar

A large group of thieves rode very cautiously, and did not enter the range of the city's artillery to scramble, and the Ming soldiers successfully snatched back Yang Guozhu's head.

On the same day, Sun Chuanting set up a mourning hall in the pass, carved the body with good wood, and Yang Guozhu's head was buried together, and the defenders in the city all wore filial piety, and then buried Yang Guozhu in the Tongguan City.

After today's thief's provocation, the morale of the Ming army in Tongguan was not only not suppressed, but was unusually high, as the so-called mourning soldiers will win, almost all the Ming soldiers were full of grief and indignation, for the siege of hundreds of thousands of thieves outside the city, the soldiers had no fear in their hearts, instead of a strong hatred.

When Li Zicheng heard that he had lost Yang Guozhu's head, he immediately ordered the beheading of the lieutenant who went to be selected, and the rest of the horsemen who fled back were also killed.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Yuan Zongdi, Li Dingguo, Ai Nengqi, Li Yan, Niu Jinxing, Gu Junen, Song Xiance, and Liu Zongmin and other generals of the middle camp gathered together.

At this time, Li Zicheng said angrily: "After losing Yang Guozhu's head, the morale of Sun Chuanting's department will not only not be affected, but will rise because of resentment. ”

Yuan Zongdi glanced at Li Dingguo, and then said in a strange manner: "Let General Li talk about this matter, he has a lot of ideas, and there should be a way." ”

Li Dingguo's face did not change, his eyes did not squint, and he did not speak.

Li Dingguo said: "At the moment of the great enemy, you still put your mind on the big war, don't say anything about hurting peace, and don't do anything about hurting peace!" ”

Yuan Zongdi smiled and stopped talking.

Li Yan on the side sighed and said, "This battle is in the camp."

60,000 horses were lost, of which 4,000 were armoured soldiers alone. The right battalion also lost at least 3,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry. Not to mention the firearms battalion, which is basically considered disabled, 3,000 of the 8,000 firearms have been lost, only more than 3,000 of the 10,000 pikemen and armor are left, and most of the infantry has been lost, and only more than 10,000 people have been recovered. As for the 200 artillery pieces, after being damaged by the officers and soldiers, only more than 130 of them can continue to be used after repair. ”

"In addition, Liu Tichun was seriously injured, although there was a doctor to treat him at this time, but he also injured his vitality, and he had to recuperate for at least a month or two."

After Li Yan reported the loss, he sighed: "This time, our army seems to be strong and strong, but the preparation for attacking the city is not sufficient. Like King Chuang, we all thought that Liu Yan's department was far away in Shandong, and was suspicious of the Ming court, so he would not send it again, and the rest of the Ming army was not worried, but I didn't want Yang Guozhu, Cao Bianjiao, and Sun Chuanting to be none of them good, although the officers and troops under their command were not as good as the Shandong New Army, but they were also a first-class strong army, and the battalions of our righteous army fought against it, even if they won, they would have to pay a huge price! ”

"Therefore, the students think that for the capture of Tongguan and the defeat of Sun Chuanting and Cao Bianjiao, our righteous army must not continue to attack, otherwise even if Tongguan is defeated, the battalions of the righteous army will suffer heavy casualties, and it will be very unfavorable for the next operation to expand the territory of the righteous army."

Liu Zongmin laughed and said: "Haha, his grandmother's, this can't work or that, the gentleman is talking about it, how to fight this battle?" ”

Li Zicheng said: "Sir, please tell me directly. ”

Li Yan said: "For today

plan, the best way is to lure Sun Chuanting out of the customs. ”

Song Xiance laughed and said: "Sun Chuanting is an ordinary person, the current battle situation is not favorable to him, will he get out?" ”

Niu Jinxing also couldn't stop laughing, only Gu Junen was silent.

Li Yan said: "Previously, the Ming court mobilized troops one after another, fought the Battle of Jinzhou and the Battle of Kaifeng, and then rewarded the army of the towns that triumphed from Liaodong. Therefore, I conclude that there is no silver in the Ming court now, and there is no grain and grass. At present, in this battle of Tongguan, the Ming Court can't hold out for long! ”

Li Zicheng's eyes suddenly sparkled, and he said, "Okay! What Mr. said was reasonable, since this was the case, the battalions continued to be stationed in various places, and the right battalion also returned to Shanxi Jingluo first, and entered Datong Town and Shanxi Town, leaving only the middle battalion and the firearms battalion to besiege the city of Tongguan. ”

"I want to see how long Ming Ting can hold out!"

Niu Jinxing said: "The life of the Ming Court is not easy, and so is my righteous army, the millions of troops consume a huge amount of money and food, and if we delay time, our righteous army will also have a hard time." ”

Li Yan said with a smile: "Fortunately, there is a large amount of money and grain in the hands of the vassal kings, gentry, and powerful people in various places, and King Chuang can order to ask for money and grain from these people, and then distribute land to the people everywhere to cultivate, and then select strong men from the households to be incorporated into each battalion, while stabilizing the place, while expanding the military war, in this way, the world can be determined!" ”

Li Dingguo nodded frequently when he heard this, and said secretly: "This is the strategy to dominate the world, Mr. Li Yan is really a talent!" ”

Li Zicheng said: "Well, what Mr. said is very true, and it should be so. ”

More than ten days later, Sun Chuanting and Cao changed

Jiaobu was besieged in Tongguan, Wang Pu and Li Fuming withdrew to the military town without authorization, Ma Ke and Tang Tong were still wandering in Beizhili and were unwilling to go south, Chen Yongfu surrendered, Gao Mingheng was executed by Li Zicheng, Yang Guozhu and the soldiers of Xuanfu Town were all killed in battle, and so on, all kinds of news successively spread to Beijing and Jinan.

After Hong Chengchou heard the news, he showed a rare panicked look on his face, hurriedly found Chen Xinjia, and ordered him to strictly order Wang Pu, Li Fuming, Ma Ke, and Tang Tong in the name of the military department to arrive at Tongguan within one month, otherwise they would be punished for disobedience!

Chen Xinjia smiled bitterly and said, "Elder Ge, I have already sent someone to send them two copies of such an order, but no one pays attention to it. Since the last time Liu Yan led a disturbance outside the Desheng Gate, these chief military officers no longer take the orders of the military department seriously, they only think about how to preserve their strength, and they only have the soldiers and horses in their hands in their eyes! ”

Hong Chengchou sighed and said, "How can state affairs be so corrupted! ”

"Elder Ge, the most important thing at the moment is to advise Your Majesty to immediately recruit Liu Yan's troops to help Tongguan. If Tongguan is lost and Sun Chuanting and Cao Bianjiao are defeated, then the entire Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi are doomed to fall! ”

Hong Chengchou smiled bitterly and said, "How could Your Majesty agree? ”

"Now that you and I have only done our best and obeyed the destiny of heaven, let's go to the palace to face the saint!"

In the capital city of Jinan, Liu Yan sat alone in the main hall, constantly recalling all kinds of things in the Liaodong battlefield in his mind, when Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Cao Bianjiao, Li Fuming and others gathered around Liu Yan, several people fought side by side and formed a comradeship.

But today, it is a matter of things and people, even Yang Guo

Zhu also died in battle, and Liu Yan couldn't help but feel sad in his heart.

At this time, Miao Shao walked in and said, "Governor, the mourning hall is ready, and the governor can go over to pay respects." ”

Liu Yan nodded, and came to the backyard of the Governor's Mansion with Miao Shao, where a mourning hall has been set up across the courtyard, and the tablets of Yang Guozhu and the total tablets of the soldiers of Xuanfu Town are enshrined here.

Liu Yan respectfully incense and burned paper for Yang Guozhu and the soldiers of Xuanfu Town, and then said in a deep voice: "Send a team of people to Xuanfu Town and send 100,000 silver coins to Yang Shuai's family." In addition, tell Yang Shuai's family that if you don't have a satisfactory life, you can come to Shandong, and I, Liu Yan, will be supported for life! ”

"The draft uploaded on the 24th, I heard that little Japan sent nuclear wastewater into the sea, and this group of scumbags eats people and doesn't do anything, so they should smash a few large-yield hydrogen bombs over and clean up the little book!"