Hurrying back to Zunyi, the army was ready. Wu Sangui went to visit Li Guohan first. The sick look on this "old partner"'s face was completely different from before the expedition. He said that he had already stepped into the army with one foot.

There are people in Yama Hall who believe in it.

"Your Majesty, today An Kun, the Shuixi Xuanwei Secretary, has changed his position to the Qing Dynasty as the orthodox one. This is a memorial to plead guilty and a local atlas of Shuixi. It can be jointly delivered to the capital when the prince comes back."

"Brother Xian has been working hard recently and is recovering well. The court and Brother Yu will have many places to rely on in the future."

Since occupying Zunyi, Wu Sangui and Li Guohan have been busy recruiting surrenders and rebels. During this period, including An Kun, the Shuixi chieftain whom Li Guohan just mentioned, there are also Ran Qibi, the Xuanwei chief of Xiyang, and She Baoshou, the Xuanwei chief of Linzhou.

King Xing Ningbo and more than 7,000 of his men surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty's control area in the southwest was expanding every day. The actual capture was extremely limited, but they "surrendered" thousands of people.

Li Guohan was not in good health, but he still tried to follow Wu Sangui back to the army. Wu Sangui naturally understood his thoughts, but if he took Li Guohan with him, he would probably die on the way, and there was no way to explain it to the Qing court. The two discussed for a while, and finally compromised

Li Guohan's deputy was asked to accompany him with a thousand Han troops and Eight Banners, while Wu Sangui still led the army back to Chongqing to ensure its retreat.

The army was sent out to return from the original route. Under the city of Chongqing Fucheng, sixteen battalions of elites from Yuan Zongdi, Liu Tichun, Li Laiheng, Ma Tengyun, Ta Tianbao, Tan Wen, Tan Yi, Tan Hong and others had already surrounded the place.

There is no way to drain the water.

Outside the east gate of the city, the soldiers had begun to clean up the plum blossom piles that were used to hinder the advancement of siege equipment. Some of these plum blossom piles had long been rotten, and they could be kicked to pieces without any tools such as axes.

Some are completely made of fresh wood, probably the masterpieces of the day or two when the army forward approached Chongqing Fucheng.

"I heard from the local soldiers that some of these plum blossom piles can be traced back to the time when the Western pirates, er, Zhang Xianzhong and his men entered Sichuan."

That happened many years ago, so much so that the capital of Wen'an cannot remember what happened that year. However, looking at those plum blossom piles, the old man seemed to be more troubled than he, an old man who is nearly seventy years old.

, so I don’t have much time to think about it anymore.

The Ming army has arrived at the city. Although the measurement units of the town and the camp are different, the Qing army in the city has no desire to come out to fight. Now they are guarding the city, sitting and watching the actions of the Ming army outside the city, trembling.

At the same time, he was probably anxiously looking forward to Wu Sangui's return. Even though Wen Anzhi's eyesight was no longer what it used to be, he was still like a bright mirror.

However, the plan went smoothly, but Wen Anzhi was much more worried than before the expedition. The original plan was to use the natural dangers at Sanpo, Hongguan and Shitaiguan to delay Wu Sangui's march, so that they would have

There are more opportunities to weaken the strength of the Qing army, and even take advantage of the current sparse population in Sichuan to implement a starvation offensive against the Qing army.

This is the possibility of a counterattack. Although the chance is very small, it is not without hope. However, as the Qing army quickly captured the place, Wu Sangui's army continued to move south and swept through Zunyi Prefecture. It was indeed possible to hold Wu Sangui back on the way back. More

time, but in terms of the deterioration of the situation, it is completely indescribable to say that the gains outweigh the losses.

The scouting horses had already been sent far away, and the outposts and secret posts had already been separated in Qijiang County, which was the most convenient place for Wu Sangui to return to his army. They were just waiting for the news to come. And before the news arrived, the Ming army still had to prepare to attack the city. After all,

, God knows what will happen next when the situation has changed to this point.

The Ming army was quickly clearing the Qing army's defense facilities outside the city. The east side of the city was the planned main attack direction, and naturally it was also the fastest to clear. Within a few days, the east side of the city had been cleared. Wen

An Zhi immediately gathered all the generals and launched an siege against Chongqing Fucheng.

Artillery fire rang out in this mountain city. This attack by the Ming army was not just to force Wu Sangui to return to the army. If they could take advantage of the situation and capture Chongqing, even if they could not hold on for a long time, they could also destroy more of the Qing army's logistical material transportation channels and connect with each other.

The following battles are always beneficial. Therefore, once the Ming army's offensive started, it was quite ferocious. The ferocity of these veterans, who came from the Dashun Army and the old Ming Army after hundreds of battles, only took an hour.

In no time, the two Qing army generals guarding the city were forced to use their best tactics.

The main method of attacking the city is still the primitive ant attack. With the fortified city, the probability of the Qing army holding it is still not small. However, the fierceness of the Ming army's offensive really scared them. At any rate, both sides used

The Ming army fought repeatedly for their strength, so that more and more corpses were piled up and down the city. It was not until Tan Ma sent back the message that the Ming army's offensive suddenly came to a halt.

"It shouldn't be a problem to capture the capital of Chongqing. But based on the itinerary, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch up with Wu Sangui before he arrives."

"Then there is no need. Even if we hold back Wu Sangui and take the city by taking advantage of the opportunity, it will definitely not be enough to make up for the losses of the various ministries. On the contrary, there is a greater chance that Wu Sangui will be involved. At that time, losing troops and generals would actually lead to losses.

The ability to contain it.”

"Withdraw your troops, Commander, we have achieved our goal by bringing Wu Sangui back."

Wu Sangui's command was strong, and there were Qing troops in two towns in Chongqing. The generals had already begun to think about retreating. Wen Anzhi also knew that they had indeed completed the initial plan. In this case, it was indeed true.

There is really no need to take greater risks in order to forcibly expand the results, it is unwise.

In this case, the Ming army quickly ceased its troops and marched down the Yangtze River, returning to their respective defense areas to await further developments. When Wu Sangui hurried to the gates of Chongqing Fucheng, all he saw was the ruins and empty space caused by the siege.

There was no one in the camp, and the more cheerful the Qing garrison, the more frightened the Qing army guards could be seen.

"Fire a few cannons at the bandit's camp, then report the victory to the court, and say that I, the king, will unite the defenders to defeat the bandit."

"Your Majesty, the number of beheadings..."

"The bandits are going down the river, and the officers and soldiers have to ensure the safety of the city and don't dare to pursue them too far."

"Students understand."

With so many soldiers under his command, appropriate rewards are still necessary. Wu Sangui gave the order casually, and soon the two general officers stationed in Chongqing were greeted. When the two saw Wu Sangui, they praised him again. When they waited for these "courtesy"

"After that, Wu Sangui asked about the battle situation again, and without much effort, he figured out the strength of the Ming army from those secrets.

"The troops of the Kuidong bandits are limited, but their fighting power is extremely strong." With this calculation in his mind, Wu Sangui couldn't help but curse in his heart: "These intruders can kill a thousand people!"

He is known for his bravery, but he is not that kind of muscular military commander. When it comes to scheming, compared to his father Wu Xiang, his uncle Zu Dashou is much stronger. In front of others, he can't express his emotions or anger.

Yu Se, but when the two chief military officers retired and were surrounded by their son-in-law Xia Guoxiang, Hu Guozhu, and his adopted son Wang Pingfan and his like, he also wanted to listen to their opinions, so he simply stopped trying to hide it.

"Father, if Chongqing is handed over to these two people, we can't hold it!"

"Yes, Mr. Father-in-law. These remnants of thieves are indeed not fuel-efficient lamps. But if the soldiers are to attack, the terrain in eastern Kui is complicated. It is not the province of Sichuan and Hubei. It will take tens of thousands of troops to mobilize and it will take one or two years to launch a campaign.

The success cannot be accomplished in one battle. If our army were to advance, success or failure would be uncertain, and it would be difficult to explain if it ruined the imperial court's plan to invade Yunnan and Guizhou."

Both Wang Pingfan and Hu Guozhu were thinking hard, so Wu Sangui turned his attention to Xia Guoxiang, whom he trusted most. At this time, just by looking at his expression, you could tell that he agreed with the former's view and even thought more deeply.

.

"My son-in-law thought that it would be better to deploy troops and horses to garrison. It would be better to ask the court to send Gao Mingzhan..."

"Gao Mingzhan, this is a good idea."

The Gao Mingzhan mentioned by Xia Guoxiang is the current governor of Sichuan. Before the Qing Dynasty entered Yunnan and Guizhou this time, Sichuan Province only occupied Baoning Prefecture, so Gao Mingzhan's main job was only in Baoning. This person is the current governor of Sichuan.

A close confidant of Li Guoying, the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi Province, Li Guoying was once a subordinate of Zuo Liangyu in Chu Town, and Zuo Liangyu was first a member of the Guan Ning Army. This relationship is actually almost the same as three thousand miles apart, but

With such a layer of incense and love, they don't have to worry about their food and grass being stuck in the local area. And Wu Sangui handed over the military power in Sichuan, and the Qing court will also feel at ease. For the present and the future

The feudalism will have great benefits.

This was a way to get the best of both worlds. Wu Sangui agreed and rushed 800 miles to the capital. However, before Gao Mingzhan arrived and before additional troops were stationed in Chongqing, the army had to continue to garrison here - to frighten the Kuidong Ming army.

At the same time, make preparations for those who come after you. After all, this is a defense zone for those who come after you, and it is also a food route and retreat route for them.

In July, Wu Sangui began the work of restoring the city's defenses. Soon, Gao Mingzhan, the governor of Sichuan, and Wang Mingde, the additional commander-in-chief of Jianchang Town, arrived one after another to strengthen Chongqing's defenses. In October, Wu Sangui made a trip to Guizhou

After that, he came back and led the army back to Zunyi. To put it bluntly, Duoni had already arrived all the way from Beijing. During this period, Chen Bing wasted no money on the country. It was time to assemble the army and go south to Yunnan Province.
Chapter completed!