Huguang Admiral Dong Xueli has had a hard time these days, and what has happened in the past few days has made him feel like the sky has fallen.

No matter what he thought, he didn't understand why the tide of the battle suddenly took a turn for the worse.

Not only was the pile-lined defense line built with huge sums of money and countless manpower torn up by the Ming army, but even Xingshan City, a heavy land for hoarding military rations, was also captured by the Ming army, causing tens of thousands of troops on the front line to face a food shortage crisis.

This is not important, what matters is that the Ming army that broke through claimed to fight Wuchang!

What kind of place is Wuchang?

The Yamen of the Governor of Huguang is located, an important town on the Yangtze River, and an important thoroughfare of the five provinces!

If Wuchang is captured by the Ming army, the battlefield advantage that the Qing army has achieved in central and southern China in the past ten years of Shunzhi will be instantly wiped out.

Regardless of whether the Ming army attacked Jiangning along the east of the Yangtze River, or rushed into Hunan and Jiangxi to develop, or made a dangerous move into Henan to force the Beijing division, it would cause irreparable consequences to the war situation.

The predecessor of the loyal battalion of the Ming army surrounded in Kuidong was the Dashun army led by Li Zicheng, and the usual method of this old shun thief was to coerce the people.

Therefore, it is really called the outstanding thieves to coerce tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people, and from the governor and admiral to the garrison and the general manager of Huguang, the head has to be cut off a bunch, and the top has to be picked up.

It's a matter of life and fortune, Dong Xueli doesn't pay attention to it, and he doesn't dare to take a breath to chase after him.

Before leaving, he also ordered that the troops on the blockade line should not be relieved of the siege and withdrawn without the order of the governor or the admiral.

Whoever dares to withdraw without permission will be dealt with by military law.

As a veteran general, Dong Xueli knew very well that the Ming army claimed to fight Wuchang that it wanted to mobilize the Qing army to chase after it, so as to relieve the siege of Li Laiheng's gang of thieves.

The chase must be pursued, because the rear is empty, and no one dares to guarantee whether the Ming army will really capture Wuchang.

No one can afford the consequences of Wuchang's loss.

But it will definitely not work to withdraw all the soldiers and horses to chase after them, so there is no doubt that the Ming army will be deceived by the plan to divert the tiger from the mountain!

In view of this, Dong Xueli, who did not know that Jingxi General Mulima had been defeated and captured, did not dare to slack off, and personally led the officers and men of the third battalion of this standard, together with some soldiers and horses of Jin Wanyi, the most recent general soldier of Biyuan, a total of 8,000 people, to go out of Xingshan and chase eastward overnight.

He believed that the Ming army must not have many outstanding men and horses, and as long as all places held on behind closed doors and actively resisted along the way, it was possible to catch up with them before the Ming army arrived in Wuchang.

He also sent people to Wang Yizheng, the governor of Shaanxi, and Zheng Jiaolin, the governor of Sichuan, to ask the two provinces to support the Huguang Green Battalion with some military rations nearby, so as to prevent the morale of the various troops responsible for encircling the Ming army from fluctuating and dissipating.

All kinds of deployments are correct, but Dong Xueli ignored one point, that is, he couldn't catch up with the Ming army at all.

Because the Ming army was able to ride through the captured 3,000 Manchurian war horses and the pack horses in Xingshan City.

Where can the two-legged Qing army catch up with the four-legged Ming army.

As a result, when Dong Xueli followed the trail all the way to Guizhou City, the Ming army had gone to Yichang through Huizhou three days earlier.

Despite his anger, Dong Xueli did not return to the state in anger.

The Ming army pretended to be Manchurian soldiers to open the city gates, not the city Chinese military took the initiative to welcome the Ming army into the city.

The Ming army did not leave troops to garrison and return to the state, which made Dong Xueli even more convinced that the number of prominent Ming troops was not large.

At this time, further news also came - Jingxi General Mulima was defeated in Huanglong Mountain, 10,000 soldiers of the Beijing Battalion and Eight Banners were almost wiped out, and Mulima himself, together with Yang Maoxun, the governor of Huguang, were captured by the Ming army.

The person who passed the detailed news was Niu Wancheng, the general soldier of Yunyang.

As a witness to this battle, Niu reported in great detail.

At this point, Dong Xueli knew what caused a major hole in the defense line, and he couldn't help but Cao Mulima's mother in a hurry.

Then, he sent someone to scold Niu Wancheng for being bloody, and asked the messenger to take off Niu Wancheng's crown on the spot, so that he could wear it for meritorious service.

It stands to reason that the general army is directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, and Dong Xueli, as the governor of a province, only has the power of impeachment, and does not have the power to directly remove the general army.

But Dong Xueli was in charge of the encirclement and suppression of the Ming army in Huguang for more than three years, and was the former enemy commander-in-chief of the Qing army in Huguang, and had the right to act in special orders.

That is, the right to cut first and then play.

This point was acquiesced by the imperial court, and it was also endorsed by Zhang Changgeng, the governor of Huguang.

Niu Wancheng is Dong Xueli's personal soldier, and he is also his single-handed general, why does he turn his face and don't recognize people?

The reason is that Niu Wancheng reported the defeat of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and immediately rebelled, resulting in General Jingxi and the governor of Huguang being captured by the Ming army.

Although this matter is not directly related to him Niu Wancheng, Niu Wancheng basically did nothing in the whole incident, and even failed to lead the department to plug the loopholes in the defense line in time.

However, Dong's move is actually protecting Niu Wancheng.

It's better for him to deal with it than to find a scapegoat afterwards and cut down Niu Wancheng.

Niu Qi's side didn't know that the Admiral secretly protected his hard work, but he heard that the Admiral was not in the city when the Fifth Master captured Xingshan, so he stomped his feet angrily on the spot.

What kind of bastard and mistaken me or something.

The matter has come to this point, and it is not good to think about anything anymore, so he hurriedly informed all places of the details of the battle of Huanglongshan, and withdrew Hou Sanjiang's group of soldiers who blocked the channel in time.

No matter which side of the battle report is sent, Niu Qi will mention on it that it is the surrender of the army that led to the capture of Mulima.

It has nothing to do with him at all.

That night was pitch black, and the adults were exhausted to flee for their lives, and who knew which part of the run with them was.

The meaning of making meritorious service is to remember a major mistake first, but then continue to do it for the time being.

With merit, the official can also be reinstated.

There was no way, Niu Qi had to gather his troops and horses and go to Huanglong Mountain to prepare to continue the blockade, putting on a posture that although the army was defeated, his lone army continued to fight hard.

As a result, his subordinates found the Dingxi general Tuhai and his party who had been lost for several days in the mountains.

When they were found, Tuhai's gang was really miserable, like wild people in the primeval forest, their eyes were dazzled with hunger, and they were swinging when they walked.

"Tuhai?"

Qi Yikui knew about this and found the chief soldier with a twinkle in his eyes, and put forward a small suggestion, that is, if he quietly did Tuhai and them, the fifth master should be very happy when he knew it.

"Bastard, you can put all your eggs in one basket!"

Niu Qi reacted strongly, looking like you know what a fart.

"Huh?"

Qi Yikui didn't understand what kind of demon moth the acting chief soldier was going to make.

"Tu Hai is a Manchurian member who was reused by the first emperor when he was there, and he is also a famous general of the Eight Banners, this kind of person is very comfortable in the imperial court."

Niu Qi said his true thoughts, that is, he wanted to hug Tuhai's thighs.

It's clear that coach Mulima is finished, is it the turn of deputy marshal Tuhai to be the commander-in-chief?

And his old boss Dong Xueli is too unrighteous, so he has to think about his own future.

"Iron still needs to be hard, whether it is Ming or Qing, as long as we have soldiers in our hands, are we afraid that they will not coax us?"

Niu Qi was proud, if he could hug Tuhai's thigh, he would not need the fifth master to realize his small ambition in life.

One small step today is one big step tomorrow!