First of all, Lu Xiangsheng completely lost the trust of Emperor Chongzhen.
Because of the Ming army's repeated setbacks, Emperor Chongzhen lost all confidence and was at a loss. And under the influence of Yang Sichang and Gao Qiqian, whom he trusted greatly, he already had a strong dislike for Lu Xiangsheng.
At this time, Lu Xiang was promoted to the title of Superintendent. In fact, he could only control his own Xuan Da Army, and the strength of this army was getting smaller and smaller. In November, because Chen Xinjia went north to take up a post, the Ministry of War ordered Lu Xiang to promote one part to be commanded by Chen Xinjia;
In December, there was an alarm in Datong, and the Ministry of War ordered Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong, to lead his troops back to the defense. In this way, Lu Xiangsheng's original number of more than 20,000 people was reduced to more than 5,000, and there were only two generals, Hu Dawei and Yang Guozhu.
Although most of the soldiers were soldiers who had fought hundreds of battles and were Lu Xiangsheng's direct lineage from the Tianxiong Army, it was even more difficult for them to make a difference.
Then Gao Qiqian continued to play dirty tricks. It was very simple. He refused to provide food, and did not allow the local government to provide food. Lu Xiangsheng had nowhere to buy with the money from the army, just to force Lu Xiangsheng to submit.
If Lu Xiangsheng and Gao Qiqian were both at fault in the original feud, Gao Qiqian's actions now are obscene and shameless, and can even be said to be criminal. This led to the fact that when the Qing army caught up with them on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Lu Xiangsheng's troops had already
Completely out of food.
Both the Lu and Gao troops have now arrived in the Shunde Prefecture (today's Xingtai) area in southern Hebei, where a large number of Qing troops are gathering. The consecutive days of unfavorable battles have made Lu Xiangsheng realize that the Qing army in front of him is very different from the peasant army he dealt with in the past.
, was difficult to defeat. In addition, the Ministry of War continued to reduce its troops, and the emperor repeatedly issued strict orders to rebuke him. He felt deeply sad, angry and helpless, and was determined to repay the emperor by fighting to the death.
On December 10, Dorgon led the Qing army's main force of more than 16,000 men and had a fierce battle with Lu Xiangsheng's 8,000 troops. At this time, Lu Xiangsheng's troops had been without food for three days. Under Lu Xiangsheng's charge, he fought desperately
The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were all fighting with hungry stomachs, but they still did not lose. This was entirely inspired by Lu Xiangsheng's heroic fighting spirit.
At this time, Lu Xiangsheng was looking forward to the more than 30,000 Guan Nei troops dozens of miles away joining the battlefield. In this way, the Ming army's strength would exceed 40,000, and it might be possible to push back the Qing army. But Lu Xiangsheng was disappointed.
During this day's battle, Gao Qiqian had been standing still.
That night, in the Tianxiong Army camp in Jiazhuang, Julu County.
"Supervisor! Supervisor! Wang Pu, the man who killed a thousand swordsmen, actually ran away. Supervisor, stop him quickly!" Yang Guozhu, who hurriedly rushed into the tent, shouted.
Everyone in the big tent looked ashen. Without Wang Pu's three thousand soldiers and horses, there were only five thousand men now. How could they fight against the Qing army? Not to mention how much this behavior affected the morale of the army.
It's heavy.
Lu Xiangsheng was also livid, silent for a long time, and finally sighed: "Let him go! He can accompany the governor so far. Wang Zongbing can be considered affectionate and righteous. It has been three days since the Ministry of War issued an edict, and he can still accompany him.
Today, you are fighting side by side with us, so there is no need to blame too much. Hey——! Generals Yang and Hu, you two can do whatever you want!"
"What did the Superintendent say? I, the tiger, have no habit of escaping from battle." Hu Dawei said with dissatisfaction. But after all, he is a senior military attaché, not one who gets hot-headed after just a few words.
War Qing, so he calmly persuaded: "This is a losing battle, there is no point in fighting anymore. Supervisor! We also need to be useful. Leave!"
"Yes! Withdraw!" Yang Guozhu on the side also looked expectant.
"If you humiliate your ministers, your ears will die, if you humiliate your ministers, your ears will die!" Lu Xiangsheng repeated this sentence repeatedly, his voice was very low, as if he was talking to himself. Then he raised his voice a little more, and said resolutely: "Xiang Sheng is no longer a filial son. I hope to be a loyal minister. I have made up my mind. We will fight again tomorrow. You don't need to persuade me any more." Although these words were full of force, Lu Xiangsheng couldn't hide his desire to die. If you don't stop, it will seem like you are just returning to the past.
There was a dead silence in the big tent. Everyone also saw Lu Xiangsheng's thoughts. After a while, Hu Dawei sighed: "General, please follow the supervisor closely!"
Yang Guozhu also nodded and said: "It can be considered as a humble job! Hey -!"
Unexpectedly, the counselor-in-chief Yang Tinglin, who had been silent all this time, suddenly burst out: "Gong Lu! We are not at the end of the road yet! Give the students a few people to escort them to Eunuch Gao. As long as he is willing to send troops, there may not be a turning point!"
"But... but I am the governor and..." Lu Xiangsheng was quite hesitant.
"Gong Lu! No matter what, they are all soldiers and horses of the imperial court. At this time of life and death, maybe..., no! Eunuch Gao will definitely take the overall situation into consideration." Yang Tinglin hurriedly interrupted Lu Xiangsheng's words.
"Then... Okay!" Lu Xiangsheng hesitated, "Prepare twenty strong men for Tinglin, and be sure to send him safely to Eunuch Gao. Tinglin! Be careful!" There is hope for life, and Lu Xiangsheng certainly doesn't want to leave it like this. Go to hell, he pinned all his hopes on Gao Qiqian's rescue.
At noon on December 11, the eleventh year of Chongzhen.
Lu Xiangsheng was sweating profusely while holding a sword and shield. He and nearly a hundred soldiers were deeply trapped in the enemy's formation and had been fighting bloody battles all morning. Taking advantage of the opportunity to withstand another wave of Qing soldiers' attack, Lu Xiangsheng looked up. He looked at the sun in the sky and thought bitterly in his heart: "That eunuch from Gao Qiqian will definitely not come." After cursing secretly, Lu Xiangsheng suddenly felt despair in his heart.
In fact, before the war started today, Lu Xiangsheng had already had a premonition. When Yang Tinglin went to move reinforcements, Lu Xiangsheng still had a glimmer of hope. However, Yang Tinglin left the camp in the middle of the night, and no news came back until the early morning. Lu Xiangsheng had already I know the odds are against me.
But Lu Xiangsheng understood that he could no longer avoid the battle. Not only that the Qing army was pressing so hard, but now his own army had no strength to escape because the soldiers had been short of food for several days.
So Lu Xiangsheng led the entire army out of camp and formed a formation. Hu Dawei was on the left, Yang Guozhu was on the right, and Lu Xiangsheng was in the middle. As soon as they finished forming the actual formation, they all launched an attack on the Qing army.
The Qing army was taken aback by the momentum of the Tianxiong army. For the Qing army that had fought against the Ming army for many years, it was indeed too rare for the Ming army to dare to fight to the death like this, even though it was the Qing army that sought the battle first. But after the two sides started fighting, the Qing army was beaten back step by step.
But after all, the Tianxiong Army only had three axes. The momentum of the Tianxiong Army lasted for a short time. After the Qing army stabilized their position, they surrounded them again. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come. Vote for recommendations and monthly votes at Qidian. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please go to m. to read.)