Quyang County.

At this time, the flags outside Quyang County are all over the place, the front camp of the thieves led by Li Laiheng and the firearms battalion of the thieves led by Li Dingguo have surrounded the city, and today is the second day of the siege, and the defenders in the city can no longer hold on, if it were not for Li Laiheng and Li Dingguo to cherish their troops, I am afraid that the city would have been broken yesterday.

In the city of Quyang County, the county commander and hundreds of soldiers are trembling and guarding the city, and there are more than 1,000 people who are also assisting in the defense of the city, but compared with the army of thieves outside the city, this bit of soldiers and horses in the city is not enough to see. Everyone also knew that it was only a matter of time before Quyang County was captured, and everyone felt a deep sense of despair.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Li Laiheng and Li Dingguo were drinking and eating, and the Zuo Guoyi generals Gu Kecheng and Xie Junyou of the front battalion, Tian Hu, the right Guoyi general, and Ai Nengqi, the right Guoyi general of the firearms battalion, were also in the tent.

Everyone's sea bowl has been filled with Quyang County's unique Quyang jujube wine, also known as Quyang jujube wine.

It is no longer known when this specialty was made. According to legend: As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Lin Xiangru, a doctor of Zhao State, was born in Quyang, and went to Handan, the capital of Zhao State, at the age of eighteen to serve the country. During this period, Lin Xiangru got lost in the mountains of Quyang, and the dry food he brought with him had already been eaten, and he was tired and hungry, and fainted by a puddle. When he woke up, he found that there was a smell of jujube fragrance coming from the puddle, and he tasted it in his hand, which tasted very mellow, so he filled a backpack and took it to the capital Handan. After arriving in Handan, he paid tribute to the pure fragrant jujube wine on his back

In the king of Zhao, the king of Zhao drank the great joy and gave the name "jujube fragrance jade liquid".

However, it is difficult to verify whether this legend is accurate, but it has become a fact that jujube wine was brewed at that time.

At this time, Rao is Li Dingguo didn't like to drink, and he also drank two bowls, which shows the sweetness of this Quyang jujube wine.

"General, let's break the city today?"

Li Dingguo asked, after staying in Quyang County for two days, the speed was already a little slow, but Li Dingguo was worried that the speed of the army's attack was too fast, which would disconnect the battalions, so he asked and wanted to hear what Li Laiheng meant.

Li Laiheng said: "Tomorrow, before noon tomorrow, the army will take Quyang County, anyway, now the defenders in the city have been almost defeated, and we can break the city at any time." After breaking the city tomorrow, the army will rest for an hour, and I will leave a soldier and horse to wait for the little general, and you and I will lead the troops to Baoding Mansion City together! ”

"Directly hit Baoding Fucheng? Don't fight the cities along the way? ”

Li Dingguo felt a little presumptuous, but Li Laiheng didn't care, and said: "The scouts have already explored Tang County, Wan County, and Qingdu County along the way, and there are no soldiers and horses. ”

"That's the best."

Li Dingguo immediately said: "It's just that then again, the little general should have sent someone to contact him early this morning, but no one has come so far, is there an accident delay?" ”

Li Laiheng was slightly stunned, and the rest of the people also put down the sea bowl in their hands. Quyang County and Xingtang County are not very far apart, and when everyone divided their troops, they set an iron law: send fast horses to contact once a day, and they must not be interrupted.

But now Li Guobu didn't

There was news coming, which made everyone's hearts clouded with a layer of unease, could it be that something happened to Li Guo's side?

Li Laiheng thought for a moment, stood up suddenly, and said, "I look at this, let Tian Hu, the general of Youguoyi, lead five thousand horsemen to go back quickly, and see if something happened to the little general." ”

Li Dingguo nodded in agreement.

Tian Hu also dried up the jujube wine in the sea bowl, then clenched his fists and resigned, and went directly to order troops and set off.

At the same time, Liu Fangliang and Liu Zongmin merged together, and now the two of them have arrived in Lingshou County with the middle camp and the left camp of the thieves, ready to take a short rest and continue to search in the direction of Xingtang County.

On the city wall, Liu Zongmin asked with a worried expression: "Have all the people been sent out?" ”

Liu Fangliang said: "General Quan, don't worry, when we set off, I will send people and horses, not only to report to Your Majesty, but also to send people to contact the right battalion, so that Yuan Zongdi can also lead his troops north to respond." ”

"That's good, that's good."

At this time, Liu Zongmin was worried about the war, and he also had a good face for Liu Fangliang, and said: "Liu Yan's trick is really beautiful, it directly disrupted the net of millions of soldiers in our Dashun, and it is estimated that now except for the front battalion, the rear battalion, and the firearms battalion, the rest of the battalions have been mobilized by Liu Yan." ”

Liu Fangliang said worriedly: "Now I'm worried about the situation on the little general's side. The scouts of the various departments have explored dozens of miles to the south, and they have not found any trace of Liu Yan's department, which means that we have not been able to block more than 100,000 elites of Liu Yan's department in Lingshou County, and now most of Liu Yan has led the army through here and rushed straight to Xingtang County, I am afraid that the little general will miss ...... in case of a mistake."

“

No, it won't! ”

Liu Zongmin said categorically: "The rear camp of the little general has more than 200,000 horses, which can be called the strongest military battalion in Dashun, even if it is raided by Liu Yan's army, it will never collapse easily." Let's rush to Xingtang County from here, that is, a few days of hard work, with the talent of a little general, we will definitely be able to hold on! ”

Liu Fangliang sighed and said: "I hope our guesses are all wrong, Liu Yan did not raid Xingtang County, but led the army directly back to Beijing City, I hope the little general is fine!" ”

Then Liu Zongmin asked, "When do you say we will continue to hurry?" ”

Liu Fangliang said: "I will set off after half an hour, let the soldiers take a breath, what does General Quan think?" ”

"Good! Half an hour later, the army set off, and did not stop along the way, and rushed directly to the territory of Xingtang County to rest again. ”

Just when Liu Zongmin and Liu Fangliang decided to continue northward, Li Zicheng led the old camp of thieves and the left and right battalions of the new army had also set off from Montenegro, and at this time, three battalions of 225,000 soldiers and more than 400,000 families of thieves were marching eastward.

Because there were a large number of thieves' families in the army, and a huge amount of money, grain, and materials were transferred with the army, Li Zicheng's troops marched very slowly, and they had not yet arrived in the Fangshan area on the west bank of the Zihe River.

"Report!"

Suddenly, Li Zicheng and his entourage Hong Chengchou, Li Yan, Gu Junen, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and others saw a team of scouts running in the distance, and when they came closer, they submitted an urgent letter to Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng calmly handed the letter to Li Yan and ordered him to read it.

Li Yan opened it and only read a few sentences, and Li Zicheng and the others were shocked.

This is Yuan Zongdi's faction

The urgent report sent claimed that a large amount of money and grain abandoned by Liu Yanbu had been found in the area of Huolu County, and that Liu Yan must have withdrawn from the area of Jingcheng Pass, so he did so in order to grab time.

Li Zicheng, Hong Chengchou, Li Yan and others will be suspicious, I can't figure out what kind of trick Liu Yan played, this person has always been scheming, will this time it be deliberately done in order to mobilize the army around Jingcheng Pass?

But before a few people could discuss the reason, the urgent report sent by Liu Zongmin and Liu Fangliang also arrived.

This time, it has been made clear on the urgent report sent by the two that Liu Yan's troops have withdrawn from Jingcheng Pass, and there is no trace at present, but Liu Zongmin and Liu Fangliang think that Liu Yan must have led his troops to intersperse between the battalions, and now most of them are going to the area of Xingtang County.

"Xingtang County?"

Hong Chengchou was shocked and said: "Your Majesty, Xingtang County is the central point in this strategy, so I will let the little general lead the powerful rear battalion to sit in Xingtang County to ensure smooth communication between the battalions." If Liu Yan really led the army to jump out of the encirclement of our army, and then marched to attack Xingtang County, with the combat strength of Liu Yan's army, the little general would be caught off guard and would be defeated! ”

At this time, Li Zicheng no longer had the calm and calm just now, and said with a hideous face: "Immediately order Liu Fangliang, Liu Zongmin, and Yuan Zongdi to lead the army to support Xingtang County." In addition, the army is ordered to speed up, and if the women and children can't keep up with the speed, they will be placed in the nearest places along the way! ”

"Order!"

"Your Majesty, something is wrong, how did Liu Yan find out about our army's intentions?"

Hong Chengchou couldn't understand, Li Zicheng was also confused, and Li Yan and Gu Junen next to him frowned

There are all kinds of possibilities, and Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance are pretending to be ghosts and pinching their fingers, but the two of them can't say anything.

At this time, the old battalion and the left and right battalions of the new army received orders to speed up, and more than 200,000 troops began to advance eastward in great strides.

The more than 400,000 old and weak women and children in the old camp were panicked, thinking that the war ahead was unfavorable and they were about to start a life of exile and fleeing, so they cried and followed the pace of the army, and some old people with bad legs and feet even fell directly, and were immediately trampled to death by the crowd behind, and it didn't take long for the team to become chaotic.

Li Zicheng was furious when he saw this, and after asking, he said angrily: "The miscellaneous people actually shook the heart of my Dashun army!" ”

Immediately, Li Zicheng was about to kill in anger, but was persuaded by Hong Chengchou: "Your Majesty is angry!" Your Majesty can send someone to appease the people, only saying that the army in front has surrounded the main force of the official army, and the two battalions of the old battalion and the new army are about to go to encircle and annihilate them, as long as this battle is won, the city of Beijing will be just around the corner, and let the women and children of the old battalion wait in place for the time being. ”

Li Yan added: "Your Majesty must leave some money and food to appease people's hearts, otherwise if the women and children of the old camp are allowed to make trouble, the whereabouts of our army will definitely be revealed, and the time will ......."

Suddenly, Li Yan stopped talking, and Li Zicheng, Hong Chengchou and others were also stunned.

Yes, with the transfer of millions of soldiers and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in Dashun, it is still possible to hide from the ordinary Ming army, but if you want to hide from Liu Yanbu, who has many elites who do not collect at night, how is it possible!

Hong Chengchou immediately apologized and said: "Your Majesty, it was his subordinates who didn't think of this, which caused our army's strategy to be calculated by Liu Yan, if there was anything wrong in this battle."

, please punish your majesty! ”

Although Li Zicheng was angry at this time, Hong Chengchou was indeed very talented, and there was no problem with this strategy itself, and the reason why the news was leaked was because the battalions of the Dashun Army were undisciplined.

So Li Zicheng got off the horse and helped Hong Chengchou up, and said: "This is not Mr.'s crime, how can Lone be held accountable for Mr.?" If you win this battle, the first credit is Mr.'s, if you lose this battle, you will bear the consequences alone! ”

Although Hong Chengchou was very suspicious of surrendering Li Zicheng in his heart, he was impressed by Li Zicheng's approach at this time, regardless of whether Li Zicheng was acting or not, just this mind and mind were much stronger than Emperor Chongzhen.

So Hong Chengchou saluted again and said: "The minister should bow and die for Dashun!" ”

"Haha!"

Li Zicheng laughed and said, "Okay! Since Mr. has a heart, then let's lead the army to the aid of Xingtang County together, and see whether Liu Yan can turn things around in this battle, or whether my Dashun can stabilize Beijing City! ”