The news that Li Zicheng secretly entered Beijing and was accidentally captured flew everywhere from the Yellow River like wings. It reached Xi'an in just one and a half days, causing an uproar and panic among the people. The threshold of the Prince's Palace was almost broken.
, and Li Guo, who was stationed in Tongguan City, an important town on the bank of the Yellow River, naturally knew earlier.
When the news came, Li Guo was having lunch with several close generals to discuss the military situation. When he heard the news, the wine glass in his hand slipped, and the generals were dumbfounded and looked at him.
Li Guo reacted quickly. The sound of his wine glass hitting the floor woke him up. Then he curled up his lips and smiled coldly: "Li Yan is getting more and more unable to attend the banquet. He really does anything to disrupt the morale of our troops. It's just this kind of continuous
A three-year-old child can't tell lies and yet he is trying to demoralize our army. He really underestimates our army."
After hearing this, the generals relaxed and looked at each other with smiles. They all laughed and scolded Li Yan for being a real villain and using dirty methods. The two armies often spread rumors to disrupt each other's morale, but this time it was too false.
"The confrontation between the two armies across the river is about to break out. How can my father do such a boring thing if the defense is so serious?" Li Yan looked disdainful, and everyone agreed. After all, King Chuang is an adult in his forties, and he is not mature enough to be stable.
The teenage eunuch on the other side was a monkey, and he was running around without knowing the importance.
"General, where is King Chuang now?" Some generals asked. Although Li Guo dispelled their suspicions with just a few words, the storm spreading throughout the city still had an impact on his soldiers, so he asked.
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"Yes, let King Chuang go around for a while, the rumors will be disproven, and Li Yan will be slapped in the face..."
Li Guo smiled slightly: "My father is in Dali at the moment. I received a secret letter from him yesterday... I believe he must have heard the rumor by now and will be back soon."
The generals nodded. They knew that Li Zicheng secretly came to the front line to patrol the defense some time ago. For safety reasons, his whereabouts were kept extremely secret. Only few people knew about it, but Li Guo was one of them. Hearing what he said now, there was no doubt.
"Li Yan, the dog thief, has always been known for his scheming. How did he create this fake news that was full of loopholes? What did he do?" A general asked, and Li Guo lowered his eyebrows and thought for a moment: "I am also confused by it.
There must be a deep meaning behind it." He stood up and walked into the courtyard, looking up at the sky and seeing the white clouds drifting by. The more loopholes in the rumor, the easier it is for people to believe it, and the truth or falsehood of the rumor itself is not important at all. What is important is that it can
As long as he achieves his goal, his goal this time is...
Destroy the morale of the army!
Li Yan suddenly turned around, and all the generals looked solemn.
Why is he disturbing the morale of our troops at this juncture of military talks?
There is only one answer!
He needs to take action!
The two armies faced each other across the river, and there were attack points everywhere in the defense line for hundreds of miles, but it was obviously impossible for the other side to attack the wilderness. Their attack points were only three from south to north, Tongguan, Chaoyi, and Hancheng.
The defense of the important town of Tongguan can be said to be iron-clad and heavily garrisoned, making it extremely difficult to attack. Hancheng is located at the foot of the vast mountain in the north, and there are several cities behind it to defend against each other. Troops can be sent out at any time to reinforce and encircle the siege. It is also difficult to capture and will fall into a stalemate if it is not deep enough.
middle.
So, all that was left was Chaoyi, a small county town built on a rock on the bank of the Yellow River.
Rather than saying it is a county town, it is more accurate to call it a military fortress because it is very small.
Although Xiao was indeed the closest bridgehead to the confrontation between the Dashun Army and the Ming Army, less than fifty miles behind it was Dali County, which was also heavily defended and could rush to help as quickly as possible if a war broke out.
However, Chaoyi City had less than two thousand soldiers, and it was too close to the other side. It was completely within the fire range of the officers and soldiers. If a war broke out, the Ming army would be the first to unplug this monitor!
Just why did Li Yan launch an attack during the military talks, and once the war started, it would affect the whole body. They were already ready for a full-scale war?
If not, what's the point of just taking the imperial court? Even if they pull out the spy, they will soon be surrounded and become an isolated city. What's the point of them clinging to an isolated city on the other side?
The generals couldn't figure it out, but it was no longer time to explore what the purpose behind Li Yan was. During this period, every move by both parties was extremely sensitive. Since the other party made an action, no matter what the purpose behind it was, the first thing was to respond quickly. reaction.
So after some deliberation, Li Yan sent generals to Chaoyi to assist in the war, and at the same time ordered the defense around Tongguan to enter a state of combat readiness. At the same time, he sent people to Dali to inform Li Zicheng that it would be best for him to return to Tongguan to stabilize the morale of the army.
Of course, the more important thing is to quickly stabilize the morale of the troops in Tongguan and order the generals to return to their camps to appease them, telling them that this is just Li Yan's trick. King Chuang is well in Xi'an at the moment and will come to Tongguan soon. He must not let this rumor go. Blowing and dancing at random, God may blow the wind, snow, or even rain down knives at this time, but the morale of the soldiers cannot be disturbed.
The generals under his command went to perform their duties. Li Guo took a long breath and walked towards the hall with clenched fists. Suddenly he felt that his whole body was shaking, so much that he could hardly walk. He could not lean on the pillars and gritted his teeth. Sit down slowly.
At this moment, he felt extremely panic and fear in his heart.
He knew Li Yan, and it was impossible for him to inexplicably create such a loophole-filled rumor to confuse the public, let alone to attack casually at this juncture.
There is only one possibility: something really happened to my father.
He was one of the few people who knew that Li Zicheng had sneaked into the capital. Although he didn't quite believe that Li Zicheng had really been captured by the court at this time, something had definitely happened, or at least his identity had been exposed!
Otherwise the wind would not be able to blow.
At this time, he was not only worried about Li Zicheng's safety, but also worried about the defense and people here.
Li Zicheng had a substitute, and he was indeed with Dali at this time. However, although the substitute could fool ordinary soldiers, people close to him would know the authenticity at a glance.
If something really happened to Li Zicheng, the imperial court would immediately attack, and it was obvious that Li Yan had already begun preparations. How to stop the officers and soldiers became a top priority, but once it was confirmed that something happened to his father, those people in Xi'an would be in chaos and would take advantage of the opportunity. With cliques forming and families divided, the hearts and minds of the army are in disarray, how can we stop the little eunuch...
"Steady, steady, don't mess up, don't mess up," Li Guo muttered to encourage himself. At this time, a servant approached the yard and saw him slumped on the floor in the corridor. He quickly came to help him, but Li Guo waved his hand to stop him. Quickly send Wang Haiyang to wait for you.
Wang Haiyang was the messenger sent by Song Xiance to Xi'an to report the contents of the talks. He was just an errand boy. Naturally, he didn't know that Li Zicheng was actually with Song Xiance. After receiving the order, he rushed all the way from the capital to cross the Yellow River. He was stopped and told to go to Tongguan. Naturally, he did not see Li Zicheng in Tongguan, but reported directly to Li Guo.
In fact, this was just a pretense by Li Zicheng and Song Xiance to deceive others, so Wang Haiyang did not go to Xi'an at all and stayed in Tongguan these days.
At this time, Li Guo called him over to carefully interrogate the situation there. Although Li Zicheng's identity had not been exposed when Wang Haiyang came, Li Guo still wanted to infer the possibility of the matter from some clues. If it was true
Finding nothing, he decided to send Wang Haiyang to the capital to inquire about the news. After all, at this time, only a few of them could travel between the two sides of the Yellow River openly as messengers.
Unexpectedly, before Wang Haiyang arrived, a spy reported urgently: "General, the imperial court has been lost!"
Li Guo, who had just stood up tremblingly, sat down on the ground again, and asked with a look of horror: "When did it happen?"
"last night"
"Why did you come to report at this time!" Li Guo roared! Chaoyi is only a hundred miles away from Tongguan, and there is a post station in the middle. Three hours is enough. It should be expected that he would get the news early in the morning, but it was already noon.
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"Officers and soldiers suddenly attacked the city in the early morning, and the surrounding area was blocked..."
Li Yan actually took action. Could it be that his father really... Li Guo didn't dare to think about it any further.