On December 15, the eleventh year of Yongli, just two months after Sun Kewang surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government impatiently issued an edict to assemble a three-pronged army to attack the southwest.

In the first route, Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi, was appointed as the general of Pingxi. Together with Li Guohan, the bodyguard of Zhenmolegan in Gushan, he led the Eight Banners of the Han army from Hanzhong, Shaanxi, to Sichuan and attacked Guizhou. In the second route, Gushan, who was originally scheduled to be stationed in Jiangning, was appointed.

Ezhen Zhao Butai was the general who conquered the south. He led his troops south to Hunan, and some Han soldiers were allocated by Hong Chengchou, who passed through Guangxi and joined the National Security Department of Dingfan's lower admiral stationed in Guilin to attack Guizhou in the north; and the third route was

Ping Gushan'e Zhenzong's clan Luotuo was appointed as the general of Jingkou in Ningnan. Together with Gushan'e Zhenji Xiha and other commanders, they went to Hunan, and together with the Han troops controlled by Hong Chengchou, they attacked Guizhou from Hunan.

The Qing army suddenly assembled a large army, making it clear that they were fighting to the death. Judging from the lineup alone, it was a luxury that could only be compared when they first entered the pass. And now that they are old and withered, it is even more difficult.

However, less than a month later, on the ninth day of the first lunar month, due to Hong Chengchou's advice, the Qing court realized that even if it had Sun Kewang in its hands, the lion would fight the rabbit with all its strength. Therefore, the Qing court chose to increase investment and appointed Duo Luo

Duni, the king of Xinjun, was the general of Anyuan Jingkou, and led the kings of Pingjun, Luo Keduo, Beile Shangshan, Du Lan, Gushan Ezhen Alzin, Bashan, Zhuoluo, and Gushan Ezhenyi who was stationed in Zhejiang.

De's troops and others led a large number of Eight Banners troops southward to "take Yunnan exclusively."

The first three groups were used by the Qing government to defeat the Ming armies in Huguang, Sichuan, Guangxi and Guizhou. They would turn around in Guizhou and wait for the arrival of the main force of the Eight Banners Army led by Doni. After Doni arrived, he became a de facto

The commander-in-chief of the army led various troops to march directly to Yunnan. Before that, Hong Chengchou was in charge of dispatching the two Qing armies in Guangxi through Huguang and Guizhou, with the exception of Wu Sangui and Li Guohan who moved south from Shaanxi.

This exception is precisely the most powerful of the first three armies. Shaanxi's folk customs are fierce, coupled with the grain harvest caused by natural disasters and the Qing court's excessive expropriation, if it had not been almost exhausted by the end of the Ming Dynasty, where would it have been?

I'm afraid it will be a place where the Qing government is scratching its head even more than the south.

Therefore, when the Manchu and Qing Dynasties first entered the Pass, while the army was chasing the Dashun Army who fled west, they quickly built a defense system in the northwest - with various admirals and deputy generals patrolling and guarding the place, and Wu Sangui's Guan Ning Army.

As the backbone, he assisted everywhere in extinguishing the fire of resistance to the Qing Dynasty. However, Wu Sangui was unable to lose his tail, so the Qing government sent the Morgan bodyguard Li Guohan, the most trusted Han flag general of the Manchu and Qing royal families, to lead a Han flag general to monitor Wu Sangui. Similarly,

In order to prevent Wu Sangui and Li Guohan from colluding with each other, the Qing government even built Mancheng in Xi'an to garrison the Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners' four left-wing banners in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.

For the Manchus and Qing Dynasties, the Eight Banners of Manchuria were the most trustworthy, followed by the Eight Banners of Mongolia, who were also barbarians. The Eight Banners of the Han Army were, at most, nobler than the Green Army, even though the Eight Banners of the Han Army had performed better than the Mongolians in recent years.

The Eight Banners is better, but given the national attributes, this is inevitable.

Within the Eight Banners, Manchuria was used to ally with Mongolia, and Manchuria and Mongolia were used to control the Han army. This was a national policy, just like the Eight Banners were used to control the Green Camp, and the Green Camp was used to control local areas, thereby achieving the fundamental purpose of ruling a small barbarian tribe and enslaving a large civilized country.

As soon as the Qing government took action, it sent Wu Sangui and Li Guohan, which was to let the tiger out of the woods. The last time, it was to prevent the Ming army from running Sichuan, the country of abundance, and it had to do this to completely expand. But this time

, then it will move south from Hanzhong, Shaanxi, sweep across Sichuan, and completely block the possibility of the Yunnan-Guizhou Ming Army moving north to join the Kuidong Ming Army like Mount Tai pressing down on the top.

This was the strategy advocated by Liu Wenxiu, and the Qing court naturally saw the pros and cons clearly, and knew that if the Ming army succeeded, whether it was to enter Huguang or attack Shaanxi, the Ming court would indeed have a chance to come back to life.

Regarding Liu Wenxiu, Wu Sangui also commented that after the Battle of Baoning, he was the most powerful enemy he had ever seen in his life. However, now that his powerful enemy is dead, Li Dingguo is alone and unable to fight. Wu Sangui does not believe that just one person can take care of multiple strategies.

direction.

After the edict was issued, Wu Sangui and Li Guohan immediately ordered their troops to march south. After receiving the edict in February, the fourth army had already arrived in Baoning in early March. On the seventh day of the lunar month, it passed through Nannan County and Xichong County and advanced southward.

Arrive in Hezhou on the same day,

The Battle of Baoning in the sixth year of Yongli has been nearly six years now. After the battle, the defeated Ming army withdrew, and Wu Sangui did not dare to pursue southward rashly with lingering fear. As a result, in the past few years, the Qing army

The Ming army controlled Baoning, while the Ming army occupied Chongqing, Chengdu and other places from a distance, and the large land in the middle became a no-man's land.

“The empty mountain is filled with cuckoos’ cries and tears, and the remaining houses once had no breasts and swallows’ nests.”

The army passed Hezhou and continued southward. There were no human settlements along the way. "There were thickets of tangerine thorns and dense forests. Although the village leaders didn't know what to do, they could only trace the wood. Cutting down a step of wood will lead to a step of soldiers." Wu Sangui's copywriting staff

Ma Yu couldn't help but sigh like this as he followed the army forward.

"The road should be easier once we get to Chongqing."

Wu Sangui's command was based in Shaanxi. The first was to suppress the anti-Qing movements in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia. The second was to prevent the Ming army from Sichuan from moving north to prevent the Ming army from entering the scenic spot of Hetong and then moving down the Yellow River.

Sweeping thousands of miles across the Northland. As a copywriting staff member, Ma Yu knew more about military intelligence than other colleagues.

Once human settlements are cut off, nature will take over again. As for Chongqing, due to the need to communicate with the Ming troops in Kuidong and Yunnan-Guizhou, the official roads there will not be re-occupied by vegetation. This kind of suffering will end there.

. Sure enough, in early April, when the army arrived in Chongqing, the official ruin was still inevitable, but the predicament was no longer the same as before.

"Report to the prince that the bandits abandoned the city and fled!"

"Enter the city."

The Ming army's garrison in Chongqing was Chief Military Officer Du Zixiang. The troops under his command were pitifully small in the Ming court where officials and nobles were ruined. At this time, it was discovered that Wu Sangui's army was heading south. Knowing that he was outmatched, he immediately abandoned the city.

And left without any hesitation. And for Wu Sangui, this was also not beyond his expectations.

"Your Majesty, there are still many bandits in eastern Kui and western Sichuan. What should our army do next?"

"The imperial court wants me to wait until we go south to join forces, so naturally we will go straight to Guizhou."

"The thieves from east Kui and west Sichuan..."

"Leave some soldiers and horses here to guard the rear and food routes for the army. As for those bandits, we will talk about it later."

For many years, Li Guohan had been around Wu Sangui in the name of assisting, but in fact, he was monitoring. Wu Sangui certainly knew this. When Li Guohan asked about his next move, Wu Sangui made it clear without hesitation that he would comply with the Qing court's will.

Come.

The army was exhausted after going all the way. So, unlike what happened in Baoning and Hezhou, Wu Sangui made an exception and allowed the army to rest in Chongqing for ten days, leaving only Yongning Commander-in-Chief Yan Ziming and Chongkui Commander-in-Chief Cheng Tingjun behind.

, he and Li Guohan led the army across the Yangtze River and continued towards Guizhou.

In Sichuan, after the Battle of Baoning, most of the Daxi Army's operations here were concentrated in southern Sichuan. In the hinterland of Sichuan, the main force was the Kuidong Thirteenth Army, which was composed of the old Sichuan Army, the former Dashun Army and other anti-Qing armed forces.

Home. The two major towns in this province, Chengdu, the provincial capital in western Sichuan, and Chongqing, the center of Cuba in eastern Sichuan, are guarded by chief military officers Liu Yao and Du Zixiang respectively.

Wu Sangui is in Chongqing, and Du Zixiang has led his troops to flee. Liu Yao's side is far away, and his troops are short of troops. Yingcheng can defend itself, but it is absolutely impossible to send troops on an expedition. What can be counted on?

, there is only the Kuidong Ming Army.

When Wu Sangui's army went south and Chongqing was lost without a fight, Liu Tichun, the Duke of Anhui, and Ma Tengyun, the Marquis of Tongcheng, who were closest to Kuidong's Ming army, got the news almost immediately. The Qing army was on the side, and Chenjiapo, Ba County, where they were stationed, could be said to bear the brunt.

He quickly reported to Wen Anzhi, the governor of Sichuan and Hubei who was stationed in Kuizhou Prefecture, and asked for help from other ministries.

Wen Anzhi got the news immediately. He looked at the map and thought about it for a long time before sighing: "With the strength of the generals, I don't think there is much chance of winning against Wu Sangui. For the current plan, perhaps we can only use the division."
Chapter completed!