Li Guo was nicknamed a tiger. Li Yan and Gu Junen judged based on the actions of the bandits that the tiger was not in the mountains, that is, Li Guo was not in Dali.
The reason is very simple. Based on his understanding of Li Guo, if he was in Dali and learned that the imperial court was captured fifty miles away, he would immediately send a large army to counterattack. However, the spies reported that they only had two thousand soldiers and horses, and they were cautious and hesitant.
, obviously here to test and not to counterattack.
This is not Li Guo's style. It seems that as Hei Zhizi said, Li Guo is not in Dali, but Gao Yigong, Li Zicheng's brother-in-law. Although he is a close confidant of Li Chuang, his military ability is far inferior to that of Li Guo, and
At this time, Li Guo must also obey orders.
In order to confuse the officers and soldiers and make it difficult for them to detect the truth, the bandits tried their best. As the frontline commander, Li Guo was supposed to be stationed at Tongguan, the most important city. However, during that time, in order to confuse the officers and soldiers and to inspect various defenses, he was running around everywhere.
It really confused the officers and soldiers. They once thought that he was hiding in Dali County, the rear area of Chaoyi. In fact, it was Gao Yigong who was really in charge of Dali.
Both Li Guo and Gao Yigong were direct descendants and confidants of Li Zicheng, which shows that he attached great importance to the defense of the Yellow River. Gao Yigong was his brother-in-law who was loyal to him, so he was appointed to take charge of Dali, because it is opposite Puzhou City.
, is most likely the place where officers and soldiers first attacked, and is an important target outside Tongguan.
Gao Yigong also lived up to the great trust and worked hard to manage the city. He believed that the iron walls were iron-clad and the danger of the cliffs facing the river. Looking down at the river bank from a high position, it was extremely difficult for the officers and soldiers to break through. Even if he was forced to attack the city and besiege the city, his troops in Dali could not do it.
It can provide reinforcements in a very short time and complete the situation of inside and outside encirclement.
It can be said that Gao Yigong was quite confident in the defense of Chaoyi, and he even came for a stroll the next day, boarded the East City Tower to observe the movements of officers and soldiers on the other side, especially when Li Chuang proposed peace talks and sent Song Xiance and others to the capital.
During the negotiations, he sometimes even came once a day, but he didn't notice anything unusual on the other side. He went on regular patrols and drills, but even so, he still didn't dare to be careless.
He is a cautious person by nature.
But who would have expected that as soon as the front foot left, and he was fine yesterday, he would get a report so early in the morning that the officers and soldiers had broken through the city! At that time, he was stunned in the place, and then he grabbed the messenger and said: "You...
Stop talking nonsense!"
"General, the imperial court was really invaded by the officers and soldiers. The young man only managed to escape with his life to report the news..."
"Impossible, impossible..." Gao Yigong pushed him away. How could the officers and soldiers suddenly launch an attack? How could they defeat the impregnable cliff city in just two days? Before that,
He didn't even notice the other party's intention.
"There are cannons used by officers and soldiers, there are many cannons, and the sky is full of cannonballs..." The messenger collapsed on the ground and said with tears and snot in his nose, but Gao Yigong didn't have the heart to listen to what he said. At this moment, he was extremely shocked.
He was shocked and frightened because he suddenly thought of something.
The officers and soldiers suddenly attacked. Could it be that the rumor... is true?
Was Li Chuang really captured by the court?
But if they were really captured, shouldn't they use it to persuade them to surrender first? Besides, they already said they were going to surrender, so why did they continue to fight?
This unscientific!
But he couldn't figure it out.
But he was extremely scared in his heart. He was afraid that Li Chuang would really be captured. In that case, the consequences would be very complicated. Even if you surrender, the court will feel that you have no weight, and we are not qualified to raise conditions. But if you don't surrender,
, I'm afraid things are going to be a mess here, and the so-called Dashun Kingdom will soon disintegrate into many mountains, and maybe they will kill each other soon...
Gao Yigong was full of panic at this time and didn't know how to deal with it. The officers and soldiers made a surprise attack in the early morning and successfully broke through the city. This caught him off guard. If he got the news during the attack, he would immediately send his troops to support, but
Now that others have been fighting for a long time, what should I do?
No matter what he did, he couldn't do nothing. At this time, the people in Chaoyi didn't know what was true and he didn't dare to send troops to counterattack rashly, so he sent two thousand soldiers and horses to test it. At the same time, he sent someone to report to Li Guo in Tongguan urgently to see how he was doing.
decision making.
Before Gao Yigong's people arrived at Tongguan, Li Guo had already received another batch of information. He was as frightened as Gao Yigong. He sat down on the ground at that time. No one knew better than him what the officers and soldiers' attack represented.
The meaning of.
Dashun had previously reached a consensus with the imperial court that the two armies would cease fighting and not attack each other during the peace talks. But now the imperial court suddenly sent troops to attack the city. What does that mean? No more talks, has the talks collapsed?
In addition, there are rumors that Li Chuang has been captured... The reason why they let go and went to work without any scruples is because they really captured Li Chuang?
Everything was unknown, but it put Li Guo into a deep panic, but he had to work hard to deal with it. At this time, one mistake would cost him everything. The soldiers helped him into the hall and lay down on the chair.
After a long while, Li Guo slowly straightened up.
You must retaliate in kind!
Because no matter whether Li Zicheng was captured or not, no matter whether the negotiations failed or not, he could not allow the officers and soldiers to step across the Yellow River!
Because this is a matter of life and death for Dashun!
As long as we hold on to the Yellow River defense line, we still have bargaining chips for peace talks, even if Li Zicheng is captured.
But if it breaks through the defense line, everything will be over!
Call Ma Bao and Luo Hu over! Li Guo was furious. At this juncture, the big bosses in Xi'an city were unreliable and useless, so he wanted to call in two of the youngest and bravest tiger generals in his direct line to fight Li Yangang head-on.
The geographical location and symbolic significance of the imperial court are too important and must not be lost. No matter how you lose it, you must get it back!
When he came back, the messenger was called back by Li Guo as soon as he went out. He walked slowly to the door of the hall, looked up at the sky, smiled coldly, and then called the messenger and said a few words in his ear.
In Chaoyi City, Ma Huabao and the others were sharpening their knives and their eyes were red. They were just waiting for a fight. However, Dali's bandit reinforcements were always ten miles away and refused to come in. This made these people scream and curse.
, wanted to lead his troops to charge and kill, but Li Yan had already issued a military order and only defended and did not attack.
In fact, Ma Huabao and the others were also shouting casually. They are all veterans who have been on the battlefield for a long time. Are they stupid if they don't defend the city and go to fight with others in the wild?
Horse Leopard is not stupid, but he is very sleepy!
He stayed up all night, his eyes were red, but the rebel reinforcements were ten miles away and wouldn't come in, so he couldn't sleep well. He was sleepy and sleepy, and it was very painful.
They stayed up like this until dark, and the bandit army retreated.
But Ma Huabao didn't dare to sleep anymore.
They didn't come in all afternoon and left suddenly. Who knows if there would be a surprise attack at night. Ma Huabao drank a few pots of strong tea and Zhang Shiyi waited at the top of the city to patrol the defenses again and again. At this time, the city was already a bridgehead for the officers and soldiers, and they could be attacked at any time.
To withstand the crazy counterattack of the bandit army, he did not dare to be careless no matter how trapped he was. He was even more afraid that the bandit army would retaliate in their own way, such as launching a surprise attack in the early morning.
To the east of Chaoyi is a river bank cliff. When they came over, they could only attack from both sides. The rebels also built fortifications on both sides of the river outside the city. If it weren't for the fire suppression of the Shenji Battalion, it would be really difficult to attack, but now their identities are reversed.
They were now on the defensive, but they lost the advantage of the cliffs on the east bank of the river. Dali had no danger of being defended on a flat plain to the west, and the bandit army could either attack from the front or outflank it from both sides.
It’s much easier than when they attacked!
But Li Yan ordered to defend, and Ma Huabao was ruthless. He ordered thousands of soldiers to dig three trenches in the west of the city in just a few hours and used horses and debris as obstacles. The purpose was to prevent the rebel army from advancing straight into the city. After all, on this river bank
The small town has no moat.
The three trenches can block the rebels' offensive and interrupt their cavalry momentum. Within the fire range of the city, the red cannons are still slowly tossing this way, but the five hundred musketeers and tiger crouching cannons have been deployed.
The city has three sides and is very maneuverable. Support whichever side is under the most pressure.
"Even if the thieves come here with thousands of troops, they still have to give in." Bo Yongfu said coldly, looking at Zhengxi. There was a little fire flashing in the distance. Zhang Shiyi chuckled: "I don't believe that Dali can have anything at this moment."
Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses." As he spoke, he glanced at Ma Huabao outside: "Old Ma, what do you think?"
"Maybe not, but of course there are more than this number in the surrounding areas." Ma Huabao exhaled: "If tens of thousands of people really come to fight in this tiny place, we will be in danger."
"That may not be possible." Zhang Guozhu looked back and said, "There are thousands of people behind us. Li Yanzhong wouldn't want to watch us trapped and die without saving him." Ma Huabao smiled: "That's not the case, either.
This is precisely the reason why the bandits did not come for a long time. If they came too little, they would not be able to defeat them. If they came too many, they would mobilize their whole body and gather their troops and horses here. Otherwise, they would be afraid that Li Yan would divert the tigers away from the mountain and be attacked elsewhere."
Hey, after hearing what Ma Huabao said, Yu Shaoxun slapped his thigh: "By the way, Li Yan's original intention was to throw us here as bait to attract the bandit army to encircle him, but he wanted to sneak attack Tongguan. Don't forget what he did a few days ago."
Orders have been sent to Wu Sangui to gather. To be honest, Li Yan's move was really cruel. He captured Chaoyi by surprise. Although the rebel army was very angry, it would be useless to attack him, and it would be useless not to attack him."
"The reason why Li Yan is so highly regarded by the young eunuch is because he is a good fighter," Ma Huabao said, "It is very possible that he pointed to Chaoyi and intended elsewhere, but one thing is that the rebel army in Chaoyi will definitely counterattack.
It's just that the fall was too sudden for the thieves, and they were caught off guard. When they are ready, they will come..." The more they thought about it, the more likely it became.
Li Yan was good at strategizing, and was obsessed with military use, making people unpredictable. Ma Huabao and others also participated in military affairs discussions, but their status was lower and they could not know the higher strategic secrets.
Only big guys like Gu Junen, Wu Sangui, and Ma Ke are qualified to know Li Yan's true strategy, because they need their cooperation.