Chapter 2 Questioning

Dark clouds cover the full moon, looming.

The city was in ruins, corpses lay scattered among the jagged rocks on the plains, flags, swords and guns were skewered upside down on the ground, and even the Yellow River was dyed crimson red.

The crackling of the campfire became the only sound in Tongguan.

The Dashun soldiers who fled back to the pass huddled silently among the ruins, with fatigue and despair written on their faces.

After the defeat at Shanhaiguan, they retreated all the way from the capital to Shaanxi. The failure has become the consensus in everyone's mind, and naturally the army's morale has become disorganized.

The current Dashun Army is no longer the same New Dynasty royal division that overthrew the Ming Dynasty nine months ago.

Tongguan General Military Mansion.

Li Zicheng sat facing south, with a saber stained reddish-brown by blood standing at his feet. Li Zijing stood one step forward on the right side. On the opposite side were two advisers in the same position.

In addition, there are the generals of the fifth battalion of the Dashun Army.

Half of these generals wore light cyan arrow robes over their armor, and they were from the Zhongquan pro-army directly under Li Zicheng.

"King Chuang, just let your brother go rob the camp!"

"Ramp through, is this your tactic?"

Li Zicheng gathered the main force to march north, and made a desperate move to Tongguan for a decisive battle with Duduo's Qing army, in order to concentrate his superior forces to defeat all the troops first, and then rescue Yan'an.

After the establishment of the Xiangyang government, the Dashun Army planned the organization of five main battalions: the central camp, the front camp, the rear camp, the left camp, and the right camp. The generals of the other four battalions were dressed in arrow jackets outside their armors, which were similar to those of the generals.

The Zhongquan pro-army troops only have different colors of arrow jackets.

Amid the jeers from everyone, Li Zijing stepped forward and bravely looked directly at one of them.

A strong man with a full beard, wearing a light blue arrow jacket, and a sinewy face kept sneering.

Duduo, with 50,000 troops, blocked 80,000 Dashun troops in Tongguan, unable to get out.

The two counselors who were usually the most eloquent now pretended to be mute.

Everyone was speechless, but this was not because they were convinced by Li Zijing, but because what he said was indeed correct.

"Duduo is good at fighting. We have been fighting for many years and have repeatedly defeated the army. Is it any worse than him?"

Li Zicheng's face was as cold as frost, and he could naturally hear the murderous intent in Liu Zongmin's words.

Li Zicheng also looked at his biological brother with a puzzled look on his face.

After Liu Fangliang was helped up, he put the helmet under his elbow and armpit. A sharp light flashed in the depths of his eyes, and he immediately stepped forward.

"I have 80,000 soldiers arrayed in front of the pass, but I can't break through the barrier. The Qing army is so brave, so let's not let our brothers lose their lives in vain."

Li Zijing's eyes moved slightly, hesitating.

Although the Huaiqing battle was won this time, it forced Dorgon to shift his strategic goals.

Li Zicheng immediately stood up and walked down to support Liu Fangliang: "It's not Cihou's fault. Duduo's Manchurian guards are very powerful, and I didn't get any benefits even if I went there in person."

In a sense, he can even be equal to Li Zicheng.

Everyone in the Dashun army knew that although Li Zijing was the third brother of Emperor Yongchang, also known as Xiao Chuang Wang, he had never experienced any cruel battles.

If he hadn't come to his rescue many times, he would have died at the hands of the army.

Li Zijing was not surprised to see such a one-sided situation.

As a result, Li Zijing became more confident and gradually raised his voice.

Li Zijing had no intention of going against Liu Zongmin or anyone, let alone being a savior. He just wanted to try his best to survive in this troubled world where human life is at stake.

After the battle was defeated, everyone was silent and the atmosphere was very depressed.

Everyone burst out laughing, thinking that the farce was over.

"You said you are no worse than Dodo, but can you beat him on the battlefield?"

Liu Zongmin opened his mouth and was about to say something when he caught a glimpse of Li Zicheng with an unhappy expression from the corner of his eye, and then he changed his words with a cold face.

A burly general wearing a white arrow jacket took off his helmet, revealing the shocking stab wounds on his face, and knelt on the ground with a thud:

"I was defeated by the Qing Gou. As a pioneer, I failed to break through its stronghold. I am willing to take the blame!"

The speaker was none other than General Quan Liu Zongmin. He was the well-deserved second person in the Dashun Army, and his prestige was only slightly lower than that of Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng is still very familiar with his younger brother.

In their view, this kind of statement was simply alarmist, and they all stood up to refute it.

"What kind of place is this? A vegetable market?"

Therefore, Dorgon immediately transferred Duduo, who originally attacked Nanjing, all the way to the west, from Huaiqing to Tongguan. On the other hand, Azige fought with the Dashun army stationed in Yan'an, intending to move south from Yan'an to attack Xi'an.

This is the only hope, so he will not give up easily.

Speaking harshly at this time is tantamount to slapping yourself in the face.

The Dashun general who was named had a look of cowardice on his face.

"Well, I think he will definitely defeat Duduo and win a beautiful battle!"

However, today they went out for the first time, but because they failed to inspect the terrain outside Tongguan in advance, the Dashun Army's strength advantage was not fully utilized, and they suffered a big loss.

"I have something to say!"

Li Zicheng was slightly stunned and stared at this younger brother whom he no longer knew very well.

In the great defeat during the day, many people still can't figure out how Duduo allowed the Eight Banners Guards to appear unexpectedly on the flank of the Dashun Army.

Since the defeat at Shanhaiguan, Li Zicheng fled all the way, first to Jifu, then to Shanxi, and even to Mizhi's hometown.

Although the original person had the identity of Li Zicheng's third brother, he had no military exploits, no prestige at all, and no support from his direct troops.

After Li Zijing had the courage to finish shouting, he was surprised to find that all these murderous Dashun generals were silent.

"Brother, let me go."

"Even if it's better than once!"

Regarding Li Zijing's suggestion, most people's first reaction after hearing it was four words-disdain.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to him.

"If Duduo sets up an ambush outside the camp, it will mean that those old campers will die in vain!"

Speaking rashly will only invite ridicule and ridicule from everyone.

"General Quan is joking. My brother has never led an army. There is no need to mention this matter again."

"hehe.!"

With his own prestige and momentum, it is difficult to suppress a general like Liu Zongmin who fought his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, let alone others.

Compared with the small Hongguang court, which was in a corner and was at odds with itself, Dashun led by Li Zicheng was obviously the real obstacle to its determination to dominate the world.

Li Zijing was silent for a moment, took a deep breath, and spoke in a deep tone.

After being defeated in the daytime, Li Zicheng no longer had high hopes of defeating the Qing army. He also knew that he would never die again by going to the hijack camp and he would never lose his only brother again.

After being embarrassed for a long time, Li Zijing suddenly turned around.

As soon as these words came out, it immediately stirred up waves.

It was the first time that Li Zijing was watched closely by so many people. He immediately felt an invisible pressure and could not help but feel nervous.

"My brother, if you have anything to say, just say it."

In addition, there are several groups of Qing troops that are constantly moving westward.

Now the only people around him who can be called blood relatives are his third brother Li Zijing and his wife Gao Guiying.

In his impression, since he joined the camp a few years ago, his younger brother has never had any outstanding performance, and he has never made any suggestions when discussing battle strategies.

"King Xiao Chuang, don't let me have the ambition of Qing Gou and destroy the majesty of Dashun!"

Li Zijing drew his bow without turning back, and took a deep breath, his voice slightly trembling.

"You want to listen to the nonsense of a kid who has never led a soldier!"

Liu Zongmin's words were recognized by the vast majority of people. Although no one dared to say it so bluntly, they all nodded and talked about it.

"The commander of this Qing army is called Duduo. He is extremely brave and good at fighting. I think he will set up an ambush in advance and wait for us to take the bait. He cannot attack us head-on."

"Shit!"

But if you don't say anything now and let Liu Fangliang go on a rampage outside the Qing army's camp as he did in history, it will be the same as waiting for death.

Li Zicheng sighed deeply and paced uneasily.

Once Yan'an fell, Li Zicheng's hometown of Mizhi would not have any Dashun troops to respond.

By then, they will be massacred by the Qing army, and it will be difficult to keep chickens and dogs.

Half a month ago, the main force of the Dashun Army marched eastward and launched a counterattack in the Huaiqing Campaign. It was a massive counterattack, regaining lost ground one after another and killing Qing Army General Jin Yuhe, deputy general Chang Ding, staff general Chen Guocai and others.

Just as Li Zijing expected, Liu Fangliang was the first to stand up.

But he didn't know that Li Zijing looked the same on the outside, but deep down he was no longer the third brother he was before.

"Tonight the moonlight is dim, Qinggu has just won, so he must be complacent and let me lead the brothers from the old camp to charge again!"

A sneer, particularly abrupt.

He stared into Li Zijing's eyes and read many expressions he had never seen before, confidence, determination...

Li Zijing's sudden change surprised Li Zicheng and was a little unbelievable, but he quickly adjusted his mood and sighed.

"My brother has grown up."

"As my brother said, we will march in secret at night to prevent the Qing army from setting up an ambush!"
Chapter completed!