"In other words, a group of cavalry disrupted the grain road?"
Li Zicheng's face was ugly, and he said solemnly: "Why can't you catch me?"
"This group of cavalry is very special. They distribute all the food they grab. And unlike other Ming armies, they do not rob the people, but blend in very well..."
Tian Jianxiu said helplessly.
"That means this cavalry is from Shaanxi."
Li Zicheng rubbed his eyes, this is the most difficult thing to deal with.
When the Shaanxi soldiers entered Shaanxi, they spoke the same words and did not plunder the villagers. They also distributed food. Naturally, they were willing to accommodate those shallow-sighted and unruly people.
"Is there a shortage of food in the city?"
"There is not much shortage." Tian Jianxiu said truthfully: "There is a lot of food in the warehouse. If there is a confrontation, it will consume the Ming army to death, and once the Ming army plunders, it will force the people to rebel, which is beneficial to us."
"That's good!"
Li Zicheng finally heard the good news and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he immediately understood the meaning of this sentence. He narrowed his brown-green eyes and frowned:
"You don't approve of field wars?"
"Your Majesty!" Tian Jianxiu's heart skipped a beat and he said nervously:
"This year's food supply, plus the fact that there is no need for an expedition, is enough to sustain the army for three months. It's snowing heavily and there is a white field outside Xi'an. Where can the Ming army get food?"
"In a month at most, the Ming army will retreat without a fight."
"When the time comes, it will be another battle for Ruzhou."
Hearing about this battle, Li Zicheng showed a smile.
Sun Chuanting, who was famous all over the world, had to retreat hundreds of miles and died in Tongguan because of heavy rain and the cutoff of logistical food routes.
The last Optimus Prime of the Ming Dynasty fell, and Beijing was like searching for something.
And if Zhu Yixi also falls, wouldn't Huguang, Sichuan and other places be like ripe fruits, left to their own devices?
"No, it's different now!"
Li Zicheng sighed. Even though it was tempting, his rationality told him that it was difficult to replicate.
"Ignore the artillery outside Lantian Pass for now. Looking at the Xi'an City Wall, can it be defended?"
"They don't have red cannons!" Tian Mixiu said cautiously.
"Maybe it's a back-up move?"
Li Zicheng shook his head, his face full of determination: "Besides, we are not good at defending the city. Brothers prefer to fight in the field."
Tian Jianxiu fell silent and could only nod helplessly.
Even if a majestic Xi'an City is placed in front of them, few people can use it smoothly.
The turnover of materials, the deployment of personnel, the response of the city defenders, the management and control of the civilians in the city, and the application of the major organs in Xi'an City are almost all half-understood.
Once these arrive on the battlefield, they will immediately become loopholes, making the defense of the city fall short.
Today's Chuangjun no longer dares to gamble.
"That being said!"
Li Zicheng changed his voice and continued: "But we can set up the military camp under the city, not just on the city wall."
"In this way, if we cannot defeat the more than 100,000 troops under the city, Xi'an City will be as stable as Mount Tai."
"In addition, send cavalry to cut off its food routes."
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Tian Jianxiu praised.
So, on the ninth day of December, Zhu Yixi led an army of 100,000 people and came in force.
Less than thirty miles away from the city of Xi'an, the two armies faced each other.
…
At the same time, the entire Huaihai region was in extreme chaos.
Gao Jie raided Shouxian County, and by using deliberate tactics and the information from the Search Division, he successfully defeated Liu Liangzuo and collected his troops.
In an instant, his troops expanded to 80,000 men again, becoming an important point in the Jianghuai region.
Gao Jie, who had no time to enjoy the honor and was determined to retaliate, did not follow the advice of searching for Ke Chuyu to recharge his batteries and wait for the right moment. Instead, he waved his army and marched north.
Yes, he wants to regain the Xuzhou and Suzhou areas to strengthen himself.
His timing was also chosen very cleverly.
At this time, Xu Dingguo, the general who occupied Suzhou, was not yet stable and was trying to appease the defeated troops and receive the fruits of victory.
On the other side, Azig led the Qing army and marched south with lightning speed, forcing their troops to attack Yangzhou and locking Nanjing.
No one can take the direction of Xuzhou and Shouzhou into consideration.
The two places far away from the canal are in a stable state.
"Baihu, this Gao Jie took the wrong medicine and didn't want to go east. Why does he want to take revenge?"
The members of the Search Division were forced to get involved and were coerced to go north. They were extremely dissatisfied.
Is this the attitude toward heroes?
Chu Yu looked confused and said in a deep voice: "Although this Gao Jie is unruly, he still has some brains."
Looking at the puzzled looks on everyone's face, he explained softly: "He was tricked by the Manchus for a while, so he would not easily surrender to the Qing Dynasty, and he was even more reluctant to help the imperial court fight the enemy, so he expanded his territory in the name of going north for revenge, that is.
It’s inevitable.”
"You can go to Lu'an or Anqing and join His Highness Prince Yu!" the subordinate said.
"King Yu? He has nearly 100,000 troops. How can he pay attention to King Yu?"
Chu Yu sneered and said: "Gao Jie thought that after the two towns merged into one, both the imperial court and the Manchu Qing Dynasty would definitely continue to win over him, playing both sides, which would be very satisfying!"
On the other side, Gao Jie did what Chu Yu said, thinking of merging the two towns and becoming the lord.
Moreover, since his foundation is still shallow, he also wants to establish his prestige through war, so as to control this embarrassed army.
"Bah, if the Duke wants me to save Yangzhou, just wait for death!"
With a cold snort, Gao Jie was not satisfied with the favor of the Nanjing court. He had greater ambitions in his mind.
In the Manchu Qing Dynasty, even Wu Sangui and Shang Kexi were crowned kings. Why can't I?
Like Gao Jie, Azig was also full of enthusiasm and high spirits.
From Huai'an down, Lian Kebaoying and Gaoyou could hardly resist for half a day before surrendering without any resistance.
The biggest difficulty was that the small city of Jiangdu resisted to the death for two consecutive days, and finally massacred the city, leaving no one alive.
This time, I thought I could shock the entire South Zhili.
Unexpectedly, Yangzhou City, which was only a few dozen miles away, did not know whether to live or die and prepared to defend the city and resist.
For the Qing army armed with red cannons, even a strong city wall would only take a few more days of effort.
The only thing that worried him was the constantly freezing canals, which blocked the transportation of grain ships.
However, those Han troops were finally of some use.
"Shi Kefa? It's just the bones in the grave."
Azig laughed wildly and looked at the towering Yangzhou City without taking it to heart at all.
"Your Majesty is so wise and powerful that it is easy to capture Emperor Ming alive. The small city of Yangzhou is just a threshold."
Shang Kexi and he had the friendship from the previous campaign in northern Shaanxi, so they couldn't help but get closer and flatter him.
"You're right!"
Azig said rather presumptuously: "When we enter Nanjing and the emperor is arrested, I will give you some concubines to try. Don't say I won't take care of you then."
Shang Ke was happy to hear this and began to flatter him again.