Hong Chengchou saw that Li Zicheng was so magnanimous, so he also put his heart at ease, bowed and thanked him again, and then stood up and returned to his seat.

Then Li Zicheng said with a solemn expression: "Now my Dashun soldiers have broken into the territory of Beizhili, but in the face of Liu Yanbu, they have been defeated one after another, and more than half of the million army has been lost. ”

Niu Jinxing was the first to speak, and said: "Your Majesty, now that my Dashun soldiers have suffered huge casualties, Liu Yanbu has won one after another, and its troops are sharp, it is better for our army to temporarily withdraw from Beizhili, first stabilize Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and other places, restore troops, continue to strength, and then wave troops to the east, which will definitely destroy the withering and decay, and lay the foundation of Dashun in one fell swoop!" ”

As soon as the words fell, Hong Chengchou got up and retorted, saying, "What Master Niu said is wrong! ”

"Oh? I want to hear about it! ”

Although Niu Jinxing said this, his eyes had already revealed dissatisfaction.

Hong Chengchou turned a blind eye and continued: "Although my Dashun army has suffered successive defeats, the remaining battalions are fully equipped elite battalions, and they still have an absolute advantage in terms of strength. ”

"What is the situation in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and other places now? The defenders everywhere were miscellaneous soldiers, not even soldiers. The people's livelihood in various places is withering, and the treasury is empty, which can be described as a thousand miles of red land! At this time, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses of my Dashun army and more than 400,000 family members withdrew, what to eat? With what? When the time comes, don't talk about replenishing troops and accumulating strength, without Liu Yan to attack, we ourselves will be trapped and killed in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and other places! ”

"And what about Liu Yan? Now Liu Yan

He is already the first assistant of the cabinet of the Ming court, he has already controlled the government of the Ming court, and it is said that he is ready to implement the new policy in all provinces of the world, the longer the time drags on, the more beneficial it will be to Liu Yan, because he can rely on the foundation of the Ming court to obtain a large amount of manpower, material resources and financial resources, the new army in Liu Yan's hands will continue to expand over time, and eventually the advantage of my Dashun army in terms of strength will no longer exist! ”

"So in the face of Liu Yanbu, fight early than late, even if you are defeated, you must hit Liu Yanbu hard, and buy time for my Dashun to regain strength!"

Hong Chengchou's remarks immediately won the approval of most people, and Li Zicheng also nodded in agreement frequently, saying: "What Hong Junshi said is very true, this battle is imperative, and Lone will never go back!" ”

Now that Li Zicheng set the tone, everyone then began to discuss the direction of the next step.

Because the specific location of Liu Yanbu was still unknown at this time, the people in the lobby were basically divided into two factions.

Wu Sangui, Chen Yongfu and Li Fuming, Wang Pu and other Ming generals were a faction, and everyone advocated that the army should immediately go north, and hundreds of thousands of troops rushed to Beijing with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai, rather than "hiding and seeking" with Liu Yan here.

However, Liu Zongmin, Liu Fangliang, Li Laiheng and other battalion commanders were eager for revenge and insisted on continuing to encircle and suppress Liu Yanbu.

Subsequently, Li Yan, Gu Junen, Song Xiance, and Niu Jinxing also joined the controversy.

Li Yan and Gu Junen stood on the side of Liu Zongmin, Liu Fangliang, Li Laiheng and others, believing that it should be difficult first and then easy, and to exterminate Liu Yanbu first.

Song Xiance and Niu Jinxing were full of the idea of approaching the city, changing the dynasty, and entering the Forbidden City

Wu Sangui, Chen Yongfu and others instigated Li Zicheng to order to go north.

Seeing that everyone was arguing, Li Zicheng looked at Hong Chengchou and asked, "What does Master Hong think?" ”

Hong Chengchou frowned at this time, and after a moment of deep groaning, he got up and said: "Your Majesty, my subordinates think that our army should annihilate Liu Yan's troops first, at least inflict heavy losses on his troops, and then wave his army north to attack Beijing City!" ”

As soon as these words came out, Wu Sangui, Chen Yongfu, Wang Pu, Li Fuming and others were all taken aback, and everyone thought that Hong Chengchou would definitely stand on this side, after all, everyone took refuge from the imperial court, and they should be hugged together when they encounter major decisions.

Liu Zongmin, Li Laiheng, Liu Fangliang and others were also very surprised, and they didn't expect Hong Chengchou to support their side.

Li Zicheng asked, "Mr. Hong, tell me in detail, why is this?" ”

"Your Majesty, the great truth has actually been explained by my subordinates just now, just because Liu Yanbu's strength is still there, our army can't sit idly by."

Hong Chengchou looked at everyone, and at this time, everyone cast their eyes, and everyone's focus was on Hong Chengchou, which made Hong Chengchou feel a trace of satisfaction in his heart.

"Beijing has a strong city defense and a large population, even if the Ming court lacks financial resources, but in Beijing, it can still mobilize a large amount of money, food and materials. In addition, Liu Yan had already left a battalion of garrisons in Beijing City, and according to the investigation of the scouts, Liu Yan also left several battalions of garrisons at several passes in the north, so it can be said that the defense of Beijing City was very complete at this time. ”

"Attacking such a fortified city with sufficient troops to garrison, my Dashun army does not have much experience, and Beijing City does not

It's Kaifeng and Luoyang, and we don't have enough time and troops to spend in Beijing this time. ”

Hong Chengchou said worriedly: "I'm worried that once our Dashun army attacks Beijing City, it will definitely stay under the city for a long time, and our army will not be able to break the city quickly." With Liu Yan's style, he will definitely lead his troops to kill from behind, and when the time comes, our army will be blocked by a strong city in front, and there will be a strong enemy raid in the rear, and the defeat will be small, I am afraid that my Dashun foundation for many years will be buried under the city of Beijing! ”

After Hong Chengchou finished speaking, everyone present was silent, even Li Zicheng frowned, and his face was ugly.

When the army first entered Beizhili, how high-spirited everyone was at that time, and the million-strong army swept eastward, with the potential to sweep the world and change the dynasty!

But now less than a month has passed, the Dashun army has lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, several generals have been killed, and the future of the army has instantly dimmed, such a situation is difficult for everyone to accept, and the anger in the lobby is extremely depressed at this time.

After a long time, Li Zicheng said: "Gu has decided, the army will continue to search for Liu Yanbu's traces, looking for an opportunity to encircle and annihilate Liu Yanbu first, and then go north to attack Beijing City!" ”

Everyone was relieved when they saw this, only Wu Sangui, Chen Yongfu, Wang Pu, Li Fuming and others changed their expressions slightly, and when everyone thought of confronting the strong army under Liu Yan, they couldn't stop feeling fear in their hearts, and sitting in the lobby was like sitting on pins and needles.

Hong Chengchou's gaze swept over everyone, and he sighed in his heart, how could he be willing to face Liu Yanbu's soldiers?

It's just that the situation is right now, even if he doesn't want to do it in his heart, Hong Chengchou

There is no way back with Wu Sangui, Chen Yongfu and others, so they can only do their best and obey the destiny of heaven!

Then Li Zicheng said: "From today onwards, all battalions will temporarily set up camp around Xingtang County, except for the old battalion soldiers and horses and the former battalion soldiers and horses stationed in the city, the rest of the battalions must be stationed outside the city, all the battalions must dig trenches and set up roadblocks, and all battalions must deploy open and dark sentry posts to be strictly guarded to prevent a possible surprise attack by Liu Yan's troops!" ”

"Yes!"

"From today onwards, all the scouts of each battalion will be scattered out to investigate in all directions, and make every effort to investigate the traces of Liu Yanbu!"

"Yes!"

After the end of the Japanese military conference, the soldiers and horses of the thieves began to camp inside and outside Xingtang County, and there was a busy scene around the city.

After Li Yan came out of the county office, he took a few guards to a house in the north of the city, which was the temporary residence of the old camp generals, and the surrounding houses were the temporary residences of Niu Jinxing, Tian Jianxiu and others.

"Husband is back?"

As soon as Li Yan entered the yard, he saw the red lady cleaning in the yard, and said with a smile: "The lady doesn't take a break?" ”

The red lady sighed and said, "The family members in the old camp have all been left by His Majesty in Montenegro, and there is nothing to do in the camp, where do I need to rest?" ”

Li Yan closed the courtyard door and said, "Don't say anything after you go out, Your Majesty is also helpless." ”

"I understand."

The red lady then followed Li Yan into the house and asked, "What did the military council say today?" Where does the army go next? ”

Li Yan shook his head and said: "I don't know for the time being, Your Majesty has made up his mind to fight a decisive battle with Liu Yanbu first, and then go north after defeating Liu Yanbu."

Attack the city of Beijing. Now that the scouts have been dispatched, let's stay in Xingtang County for the time being. ”

The red lady's face changed slightly when she heard this, and she said, "Do you want to fight with Liu Yanbu?" When I entered the city, I saw the rout of the front battalion and the rest of the battalions, and they preached the strength of Liu Yanbu everywhere, and now the military morale of each battalion is a problem, and many soldiers have begun to fear Liu Yanbu's new life! ”

Li Yan stood up suddenly, walked out with a step, and said loudly: "I'm going to see Your Majesty!" ”

The red lady looked at Li Yan's hurried back, leaving only a long sigh.

Li Yan hurriedly returned to the county office, and after seeing Li Zicheng, he reported the collapse of the battalions and shook the hearts of the army, Li Zicheng was furious, at such a critical juncture, there were still people who shook the hearts of the army, when even Gu Junen was found, and ordered Li Yan and Gu Junen to lead the troops to inspect the battalions together, and anyone who spread rumors and shook the morale of the army, whether it was a soldier or a general, no matter which battalion, would be beheaded on the spot!

After Li Yan and Gu Junen received the order, they took the 1,000 armored soldiers of the old battalion to act separately and began to patrol inside and outside Xingtang County, and after only half a day, they captured 237 defeated soldiers, who belonged to the front battalion, the rear battalion, and the right battalion.

Most of these routs were even talking about their experiences to the left and right people when they were captured, and the surrounding thief soldiers were all gloomy and panicked after hearing about Liu Yan's powerful firepower and elusive raid methods, and all kinds of news about Liu Yan's powerful combat power began to spread among the battalions.

Although the bands of thieves have been followed more than once

Liu Yanbu fought, but like this time, four battle battalions were completely wiped out one after another, and Li Guo, Liu Tichun, Yuan Zongdi and several other world-shattering warriors were killed, and it was the first time that such a major blow was blowen.

Therefore, with the promotion of the defeat of the battalions, the fear of Liu Yanbu of the thieves began to intensify rapidly.

At dusk that day, Li Zicheng directly summoned the commanders of the battalions and escorted the 237 captured rout soldiers to the north of the city, and beheaded all the 237 rout soldiers on the city in front of many soldiers and battalion generals.

Only Li Zicheng's roar was still echoing: "All battalions immediately rectify military discipline, and anyone who dares to shake the morale of the army will be killed!" ”

That night, the battalions began to strengthen military discipline, especially Wu Sangui and Chen Yongfu, in order not to be taken out by Li Zicheng as a model in this stall, the two even personally led the team to inspect the barracks to prevent soldiers from chewing their tongues again.

Three days have passed in a blink of an eye, and the news that Li Zicheng has been waiting for has finally been sent back: Liu Yanbu is in the direction of Dingzhou!

After learning the news, Li Zicheng immediately found Hong Chengchou, Li Yan, and Gu Junen to discuss, and several people were very surprised, Liu Yanbu had always been elusive before, why did he suddenly appear this time, and put on a posture of sticking to the city?

Li Zicheng looked at Hong Chengchou, Hong Chengchou informed, and said: "Your Majesty, my subordinates think that Liu Yan's soldiers and horses should also be tired, plus our army has been huddled together, Liu Yan saw that he couldn't find a chance to raid, so he simply put up a frame and waited for our army to make a decision in Dingzhou."

War! ”

Li Zicheng nodded and said coldly: "Since Liu Yan is interested, then Gu can't refute his face!" Order all battalions to march in the direction of Dingzhou early tomorrow morning! ”