Li Zicheng has not had a good sleep recently, and the news from Shanxi is very bad.

After the Qing Dynasty's British King Ajige and Wu Sangui led the main force of the Qing army to return to Beijing from Zhending, the Qing court sent general Ye Chen to lead 5,000 Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners troops to attack Shanxi.

After Ye Chen's leadership of the army set out from Beijing, he did not go to Shanxi immediately, but went from Raoyang in northern Zhili to Huaiqing, Henan, to help the general of Huaiqing appointed by the Qing court, Jin Yuhe pacified the prefectures and counties under Huaiqing, and then he turned westward to Taiyuan.

Although Ye Chen's Eight Banners soldiers of the Manchu and Mongolian Banners had only 5,000 troops, but their combat power was strong. On the way to march towards Shanxi, they successively set up nine prefectures, twenty-seven prefectures, and one hundred and forty-one counties, and they also arranged officials and gathered residents. Ye Chen sent people to persuade them to surrender, and now the troops have reached Taiyuan.

Han Wenquan, the Shanxi governor appointed by Li Zicheng, was prepared to fight to the death with Wenshui Bo Chen Yongfu, while seeking emergency help from Xi'an.

Han Wenquan reported that there were 30,000 to 40,000 new subordinates who were recruited, but they did not attack the city immediately after arriving in Taiyuan. According to detailed work, they found out what Western magical cannons the Manchus were waiting for.

Therefore, Han asked the emperor to send reinforcements to Taiyuan within one month, otherwise the Taiyuan city wall would definitely be able to resist when the Manchus' Western magic cannons arrived.

In addition, Wu Weihua, the Marquis of Gongshun of Ming Dynasty, and Jiang Yan, the rebel, also occupied the northern part of Shanxi. In the past three months, dozens of Dashun generals were killed by rebels and lost more than 40,000 troops.

Among them, what made Li Zicheng most distressed was the killing of General Zhang Tianlin. Zhang was one of the eighteen cavalry of Shangluo and was the old friend of Li Zicheng. Before, two old friends died in battle, one was Qihou Guying, and the other was General Gu Kecheng.

In just three months, Dashun lost two-thirds of Shanxi prefectures and counties, causing the original plan to counterattack Shanxi as the frontier to be delayed again and again. Even Niu Jinxing and others have suggested giving up Taiyuan and withdrawing all troops in Shanxi into Shaanxi and defending Tongguan.

Li Zicheng asked Niu Jinxing and others why there was chaos everywhere in Shanxi.

After considering it, Niu Jinxing said: "It is mainly because Your Majesty has adopted lenient means to the officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty after the Eastern Expedition, so that these eunuchs and gentry in the village have not been attacked and have great power in the local area. If Your Majesty is not defeated, these people will definitely recognize Your Majesty as the lord of China. But now, when these people saw Your Majesty withdraw from Beijing, they thought that I was not strong enough, so they took the opportunity to rebel and wanted to restore the Ming Dynasty."

"Restore the Ming Dynasty's territory? Are these people blind? Don't they know that the Manchu Tartars are coming to occupy China now, and is it that Wu Sangui who became a traitor?" Li Zicheng was angry and stopped smoking.

"We understand the truth, but those people don't. They all think that Wu Sangui is just borrowing troops from the Manchus." Niu Jinxing shook his head and said.

"Don't worry! No matter how bad this situation is, can it be ruined for ten years of Chongzhen?"

Li Zicheng went to see Liu Zongmin who was recovering from his injuries. After talking about the current situation to the old brother, he no longer worried. Instead, he suddenly laughed and said, "If you want to continue to break up, will you still follow me to Shangluo Mountain?"

"I just had a wife and gave birth to two cubs, but I was a little reluctant to let it go,"

When Liu Zongmin said this, he knocked on the big pipe, "When will you go to Shangluo Mountain? Say it in advance, so I can do it, so as not to ask the Tartars to catch them and threaten me."

"If you say this, I can't let you Liu Zongmin die. Whether it's Zhu or Tak, if you want to tell me Li Zicheng to admit defeat, you have to cut off my head!"

After coming out of Liu Zongmin, Li Zicheng regained his fighting spirit.

It’s true that there is no place for everyone, and there is bad news everywhere, but a good news comes - Shandong won!

This news surprised Li Zicheng. Unexpectedly, he, the main force of Emperor Yongchang, lost one after another. At the beginning of the year, the "little brother" who was newly acquired in Huaiyang gave him anger in Shandong.

As a military advisor, Song Xiance boldly proposed a counterattack plan after carefully reading the good news from Lu Bizhou. That is, let Lu Wenzong, the Marquis of Huaiyin who had already captured Jinan, go north to Zhili and launch an offensive to the capital area. The main force of Dashun launched a counterattack in Taiyuan, Shanxi and Huaiqing, Henan at the same time.

"As long as Lu Wenzong is ordered to go north, the Qing court will not dare to let his troops threaten the capital. At that time, a large army will be sent to conquer, so that the pressure on our side will be lighter."

Niu Jinxing repeatedly thought about Song Xiancai's plan and believed it was feasible.

General Ma Shiyao stood up and said to Song Xianke: "Song Shorty, you are not authentic. If you let Lu Wenzong's brothers go north to attract the Manchurian Tartars, then the Tartars really come out with all their strength. Isn't Brother Lu dead ugly?"

Li Zicheng also felt that this approach was a bit inappropriate, and it was clearly a matter of letting Lu Wenzong be a "cannon fodder" for Dashun.

"How can this be a death for others? Lao Ma, fighting is not a joke, you have to start from the overall situation. Do you think if Brother Lu can attract the main force of the Qing army and restrain it, we can attack Ye Chen from here, and he, Ye Chen, can he, stop it? If Ye Chen is defeated, the entire Shanxi area will be recaptured immediately. At that time, we will take advantage of the main force of the Qing army that cannot make a move to force Beijing, so the Tartars will not withdraw their troops and fight with us?"

Song Xiancai refuted Ma Shiyao's "short-sightedness" and pointed out that letting the Huai Army go north to Zhili was not really a cannon fodder, but attracted the main force of Manchuria. When Dashun revived the entire Shanxi and marched towards Beijing, the Manchurians would have to withdraw their troops, so how could they get involved with the Huai Army?

"As long as the troops of Huaiyin Marquis can support them for three to five months, I will be able to encircle the Tartars in Beijing!"

Niu Jinxing made an assertion.

Li Zicheng discussed it over and over again and agreed with this plan.

Song Xiance further said: "The main force of the five generals, Yuan Zongdi, Gao Yigong, Liu Jianxiu, Li Guo and Liu Fangliang, was the army of five generals. A 100,000 troops were met with Chen Yongfu from Taiyuan to attack Ye Chen first, then wipe out Jiang Guan, Tang Tong, and then from Jingxing to the capital."

"Where is in Henan?" Li Zicheng asked.

"Henan asked the Bai Wang brothers to lead 30,000 elite troops into Nanyang and met Dong Xueli to Huaiqing north. This will not only cooperate with Shanxi, but also reduce the pressure on Shandong Lu brothers."

Niu Jinxing said: "Henan mountain villages are large, tens of thousands of people occupy many prefectures and counties; as small as more than ten thousand people, they also occupy one prefecture and one county. If these Tujia Villages surrender to the Manchus, it will be a big problem for me; if they are named by the Nandu and used by Nanjing, it will also be a big problem for us."

Niu Jinxing means that Lu Bizhou will spare no money to win over the Tumen in Henan, so that they will not be enemies with the Shun Army. Even if they are unwilling to surrender, they will let these Tumen wait and see for the time being and not surrender to Manchuria.

"Since you all say it's possible, then issue an order."

Li Zicheng estimated that if the Huai Army on the Eastern Front could restrain the main force of the Qing army, the counterattack on the Western Front would definitely be able to win.
Chapter completed!