When Zhao Han returned to Ji'an, the war situation in Beizhili was somewhat stalemate.
Yang Sichang was transferred out of Beijing and went to Hubei to fight against the bandits. This did not seem to have any impact on the war in the north.
What about Yang Sichang and Gao Qiqian who conspired to frame Lu Xiangsheng? The content of the story is very much like a romance novel. Even if the frame-up was really going to happen, it would not be so low-level. Otherwise, how could Yang Sichang always be trusted by the emperor?
The real situation is that Lu Xiangsheng took the initiative to propose dividing the troops and wrote to Yang Sichang to discuss it, and Yang Sichang agreed to the plan.
This can be verified through the memorials of the two men. Lu Xiangsheng chose to divide his troops according to the war situation. The original words in his memorial can be summarized as follows: armies from all walks of life gathered together, seemingly united, but in fact it was bloated and a waste of force; dividing the troops to defend each city, it was
Forming isolated armies, joining forces to hoard, and dividing them to defend the city are all taboos for military strategists. They should be divided and combined according to the trends of the Qing Dynasty.
The Qing army divided its forces, so Lu Xiangsheng also divided his forces, otherwise the Manchus would be allowed to plunder the place.
Yang Sichang cooperated very well and asked Lu Xiangsheng to command Xuanda's troops, with a strength of 31,500. Fearing that Lu Xiangsheng would make a mistake, he also transferred Ji Zhen troops, so Lu Xiangsheng's strength reached 40,000, exceeding Gao Qiqian's 39,000.
In this time and space, Yang Sichang was transferred away, and Lu Xiangsheng took charge of the war.
The start is exactly the same, without any change. The troops are divided into two groups. Lu Xiangsheng has 40,000 soldiers from Xuanda, Shanxi, Jizhen, and Baoding, and Gao Qiqian controls 39,000 troops.
What happened next was exactly the same.
Chen Xingjia, the governor of Xuanda, was transferred to Northern Zhili to garrison the imperial mausoleum, and Lu Xiangsheng allocated some troops to him.
At the same time, some key cities and strongholds must be garrisoned with troops, and the task is assigned to Jizhen, Baoding and some Shanxi troops.
The situation became that Lu Xiangsheng led 16,000 men to pursue and intercept the Qing army. Chen Xinjia led 4,500 men to garrison the imperial mausoleum. The high potential rate was 39,000 men to pursue and intercept the other Qing army. The remaining troops were all used for defensive strategies.
Key points.
Let's take a look at how the situation of the battle changed dramatically.
Changping, Imperial Mausoleum.
"General System, Jibei Daotang Newspaper!"
"Bring it!"
Chen Xinjia grabbed the military newspaper with one hand, which was sent by Zhu Jiashi of North Hebei Province.
Supervisor Wu Yijing reported to the Shanyin County Magistrate that he had discovered that the Qing army had passed Longquan Pass, and the news was passed on to Chen Xinjia.
Before that, Chen Xinjia also received a military report saying that the Qing army had arrived in Huolu and was going to enter Shanxi through Jingxing and Guguan.
Both military reports indicated that the Qing army was going to Shanxi.
It’s just that one takes Longquan Pass and the other takes Gu Pass, which are two completely opposite routes.
After Chen Xinjia thought carefully, he wrote a Tang report to the Ministry of War. The general content is: The Tang report was received the day before yesterday. There were Tatar slaves in Zhending. The outpost has reached Huolu and Jingxing. Bengu was passed out of Shanxi. Today, the Tang report was received in North Hebei Province.
, Nuyi has passed Longquan Pass, which is consistent with the content of the previous report.
Two completely opposite newspapers actually perfectly matched each other in the hands of Chen Xinjia, and they even dared to send them to the Ministry of War.
Historically, it was Chen Xinjia's military situation that led Lu Xiangsheng to die fighting alone.
Among them, Yang Sichang was also responsible, because after Yang Sichang received the information, he immediately transferred Chen Xinjia and others back to Shanxi.
Then, Yang Sichang wrote to Lu Xiangsheng, saying that the Qing troops had passed Longquan Pass. Lu Xiangsheng thought that the Qing troops had divided their forces and plundered Shanxi, so he immediately dispatched the elite troops of Wang Pu and other generals to pursue them. As a result, he was surrounded and annihilated with only a few thousand lone troops left.
.
Chen Xinjia, like Xiong Wencan, was recommended and promoted by Yang Sichang.
Were Yang Sichang and Chen Xinjia not familiar with geography, which led to misjudgment? Or did they do it deliberately and wanted to kill Lu Xiangsheng?
It's all possible, I can't tell clearly, so future generations can only guess.
Now because of the rise of Zhao Han, Yang Sichang has been transferred to Hubei and is no longer in command in Beijing.
There were a lot of ministers from the Ministry of War, and they were all sent to serve as governors. Only Xie Wenjin, the minister on the left, and Sun Bixian, the minister on the right, were left.
These two people were both from the Donglin Party and were promoted by Yang Sichang.
Yang Sichang and the Donglin Party are sworn enemies. If these two people were promoted, they probably betrayed the Donglin Party.
After receiving the military report, Xie Wenjin immediately said: "Such important military information should be reported to His Majesty for discussion as soon as possible!"
Sun Bixian frowned. He had served as an inspector in Shanxi, and he was from Shaanxi. He knew some military common sense and Shanxi geography. However, the military information sent by Chen Xinjia seemed problematic no matter how he looked at it.
The Tatars entered the customs this time, with only tens of thousands of people. They had already divided their troops before, so how could they now divide their troops into two groups and take two opposite routes to Shanxi?
"Cough cough cough cough!"
Sun Bixian was already terminally ill. According to history, he would die of illness in half a month.
If Yang Sichang had not left Beijing and the Ministry of War was in urgent need of someone who knew the military, Sun Bixian would have been lying at home.
"That's not right...cough cough cough, it must be wrong." Sun Bixian said with chest tightness and shortness of breath.
The two went to find Chongzhen together, but Sun Bixian could not walk, so he had to be carried to Qianqing Palace by the eunuch.
Seeing that Sun Bixian was weak, Chongzhen ordered the eunuch: "Bring two chairs."
Before Sun Bixian could sit down, Chongzhen asked anxiously: "But is there any important military information?"
Xie Wenjin immediately took out the newspaper written by Chen Xinjia to the Ministry of War: "Your Majesty, the Tatars on the West Road have passed Longquan Pass and entered Shanxi."
"Who is the guard of Longquan Pass? There was no warning before, but it was suddenly attacked by the slave army!" Chongzhen said angrily.
"Your Majesty...cough cough cough!"
Sun Bixian coughed repeatedly: "The military situation is not right. Longquan Pass and Gu Pass are one in the south and one in the north. It is impossible for the Tartar slaves to appear in two directions at the same time."
"Get the map!"
Chongzhen asked the eunuch to get a map. After finding the two passes, he nodded and said, "It is indeed very far away."
Sun Bixian asked the eunuch to move his chair, helped him sit closer, pointed to the place east of the two passes, and said: "Some time ago, the Tartar slaves were still here. The two passes were in completely different directions, so this seemed quite serious.
Weird."
Xie Wenjin said: "According to the report sent by Chen Xinjia, the Tatars are likely to send a small number of troops to attack Guguan. This strategy is to divert the tiger away from the mountain and induce the officers and soldiers to pursue the south. The main force of the Tatars secretly headed north to catch them by surprise.
Attack Longquan Pass! This is a God-given opportunity. This Tatar army is advancing so quickly, so it must not have much baggage. The officers and soldiers can block Longquan Pass, order all prefectures and counties in Shanxi to strictly guard the pass, and catch turtles in the jar to annihilate them all!"
The analysis seems to make sense.
Chongzhen was quite happy to hear this, nodded and said: "It must be so!"
Sun Bixian still vaguely felt something was wrong: "Your Majesty, the situation on the front line is changing rapidly. How about handing over this report to Lu Xiangsheng intact and letting him make his own judgment?"
Chongzhen hesitated.
If the information in Tang Bao is true, then this Qing army will go deep into Shanxi alone and will most likely be wiped out. Once successful, it will be the greatest victory against the Manchu Qing since Chongzhen ascended the throne.
But if the information in the newspaper is false, or something unexpected happens, it will lead to a disastrous failure.
Chongzhen wanted a great victory, but was afraid of a disastrous defeat.
He did not dare to make a decision and suddenly regretted it. It would have been better if Yang Sichang had not been transferred. At such a critical moment, Yang Shangshu would definitely be able to make the decision, unlike the two ministers in front of him who came to argue in front of the emperor.
"Do you dare to believe that the military information is true?" Chongzhen asked Xie Wenjin.
Xie Wenjin hesitated and hesitated to speak. He believed in his analysis, but what if something went wrong? He would be blamed!
Chongzhen wanted to let Zhang Wenjin make the decision, and he could also let Zhang Wenjin take the blame if something went wrong.
Zhang Wenjin didn't say anything, so Chongzhen could only ask Sun Bixian: "Are you sure that the military information is false?"
Of course, Sun Bixian didn't dare to say nonsense, and he coughed quickly. As a result, the fake cough turned into a real cough. He couldn't stop the cough. He covered his mouth and coughed for a long time, and his palms were full of blood. He said ambiguously: "I just feel that the military situation is strange.
Very, you can send it to Lu Xiangsheng intact. Lu Xiangsheng is a man who knows the war, and he will make his own judgment."
The three monarchs and ministers seemed to suffer from difficulty in choosing at the same time.
After Chongzhen thought carefully, he said: "Order Chen Xinjia, the governor of Xuanda, Ye Tinggui, the governor of Datong, and Song Xian, the governor of Shanxi, to immediately take their respective pacesetters back to Shanxi to defend Shanxi. Send the original copy of Chen Xinjia's Tangbao to Lu Xiangsheng."
These two orders seem to be very comprehensive.
Transferring one governor and two governor's pacesetters to Shanxi can defend against the Qing troops who may appear in Shanxi. At the same time, the action route of the main force of officers and soldiers is left to Lu Xiangsheng himself to decide.
But with such a deployment of troops, Lu Xiangsheng's defense line in the north was directly turned into a sieve...
Three days later, Lu Xiangsheng received this military information.
Lu Xiangsheng was dumbfounded and couldn't understand it for a moment, so he quickly called Wang Pu, Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, Li Chongzhen and other generals to discuss the matter.
"What do you think?" Lu Xiangsheng asked.
Everyone read the military report and was equally confused.
Wang Pu asked: "Could it be that the defenders of Guguan and Longquan Pass reported the whereabouts of the Tartar slaves randomly after hearing the reports?"
"That's not right," Yang Guozhu said. "The information that the Tartar slaves have passed Longquan Pass was sent by the magistrate of Shanyin. If it is true, it means that the Tartar slaves have already arrived in Shanxi."
"If the Tatar thieves had gone to Shanxi earlier, then the Tatar thieves we are chasing these days are all ghosts?" Hu Dawei asked back.
Li Chongzhen's judgment was exactly the same as that of Xie Wenjin, the left minister of the Ministry of War: "Maybe the Tatars have divided their forces. One group is plundering in the front and guiding the main force of our army southward. A small group is heading to Guguan to confuse our army. The Tatars on the west route
The main force actually went to Shanxi secretly."
Wang Pu said: "The Tatar thieves were divided into two groups before. How can the Tatar thieves in the west group be divided into three groups?"
The pressure for military judgment now fell entirely on Lu Xiangsheng.
Historically, the military intelligence received by Lu Xiangsheng, after being processed by Chen Xinjia and judged by Yang Sichang, had long since changed beyond recognition. He was so frightened that he quickly sent a large number of troops to Shanxi, causing him to be surrounded alone.
What he received at this moment was only Chen Xinjia's rough information, and Lu Xiangsheng was also confused.
This thing can only be guessed!
Once you guess wrong, you lose everything.
Lu Xiang screened the generals and dug out all the military reports for the past month to compare the time, location, and route.
Lu Xiangsheng had a vague feeling that the Manchu Qing Dynasty did not send any more troops to Shanxi.
But he can't be sure, because the other military reports he has are also very likely to be inaccurate.
Still have to guess...
"Instruct all generals to pursue according to the original route and not to return to defend Shanxi!" Lu Xiangsheng had to take a gamble.