Lu Xiangsheng was very tired, physically and mentally exhausted.
Regardless of the original history or this time and space, there is a big debate on whether to negotiate peace this year.
But the War and War was essentially over when the Qing army arrived in Beijing.
When troops are approaching the city, why are you negotiating with a ghost?
No matter how retarded the Manchu rulers and ministers were, they would never imagine that the Manchus and the Qing could still negotiate peace after they invaded Beijing.
Historically, the core of the contradiction between Lu Xiangsheng, Yang Sichang, and Gao Qiqian was not the war and peace written in the "History of the Ming Dynasty", but the strategic policies were completely different!
Lu Xiangsheng belongs to the "main war faction", taking the initiative to fight and waiting for opportunities to annihilate the enemy.
Gao Qiqian belongs to the "war avoidance faction", hoarding heavy troops and passively defending.
Yang Sichang belonged to the "steady war faction" and divided his troops to defend the city, and was careful not to engage in wasteful fighting.
Both Yang Sichang and Gao Qiqian expected the Manchus to rob and leave immediately. The only difference was that Gao Qiqian did not dare to fight at all, while Yang Sichang was willing to fight with full confidence.
In order to prevent Lu Xiangsheng from rushing into the wave battle, Yang Sichang even deliberately delayed the supply of grain and grass.
"Supervisor, we are running out of food and grass!"
"Send someone back to ask for food."
Lu Xiangsheng was not only fighting against the Manchus, but also fighting against the civilian and military commanders around him.
Even if Yang Sichang is transferred from Beijing, the situation cannot be changed.
Because Gao Qiqian did not want to fight in the field, Lu Xiangsheng's generals also did not want to fight in the field. Therefore, the former withheld food and grass, while the latter violated the law in order to force Lu Xiangsheng not to run around.
A general like Wang Pu, commanding eight thousand troops, is likely to retreat without a fight at a critical moment.
For the generals in the border towns, even if the entire North Zhili was robbed, as long as Beijing was not captured by the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The people were burned, killed, looted, and this matter had nothing to do with them. They just wanted to keep their troops.
Even if he saved his troops and returned in defeat, the emperor would not dare to punish him severely.
If you lose your troops, even if you win a great victory, you may lose your official position and be imprisoned for no apparent reason.
That being the case, why take the initiative to seek field battles?
Wouldn't it be a good idea to follow them from a distance of two to three hundred miles, wait until the Manchus have finished looting and leave, and then they can "recover" the lost ground?
Lu Xiangsheng was inspecting the military camp when suddenly there was a scene of commotion. He hurriedly rode over and met the messenger halfway, and immediately asked: "What happened?"
"Superintendent, Li Chongzhen's department is having trouble with wages, saying that they haven't been paid for two months. Recently, they have been cutting back on meals, and they all complain that they don't have enough to eat," the messenger said.
Lu Xiangsheng sighed helplessly and rode over to appease the soldiers who were demanding pay.
He holds Shang Fang's sword and is the governor of the world's Qinwang soldiers and horses. But Gao Qiqian is the director, supervising the world's soldiers and horses. Yang Sichang is not in Beijing, and all food and grass are controlled by Gao Qiqian.
If Lu Xiangsheng was really killed, it was impossible to be framed by one or two people.
But all the civilian and military generals responsible for leading the troops will harm him. Only if Lu Xiangsheng dies, everyone will not have to fight a tough battle. Only if Lu Xiangsheng dies, can we defend the city with peace of mind and wait for the Manchus to leave!
"Report!!!!"
Lu Xiangsheng had just calmed down the soldiers who were demanding pay, when suddenly a spy came to report: "Supervisor, the Tartar slaves are besieging Julu, and the magistrate of Julu has sent someone to ask for help!"
"Explore again!"
Lu Xiangsheng summoned the generals to discuss matters and said: "The slave army is outside Julu City and will march south tomorrow! The army of Gao Jianjun (Gao Qiqian) is in Linqing. I have sent someone to ask him to join forces to kill the enemy!"
"This is a strategy to lure the enemy into besieging the city with Tartar slaves and seeking reinforcements. Do not act rashly," Wang Pu said.
Li Chongzhen said: "The emperor is not short of hungry soldiers. The soldiers are short of food and pay, and their morale is low. How can they fight without adequate food and pay?"
Li Guozhu sighed: "Let's wait until the troops of the High Supervisor Army join forces."
Hu Dawei and other generals bowed their heads and remained silent, obviously not agreeing to rescue Julu.
Lu Xiangsheng held Shang Fang's sword and was helpless against these generals.
Because the generals were right, the Manchu Qing Dynasty must be besieging the city to send reinforcements. Moreover, if the emperor did not lack hungry soldiers and did not provide adequate food and pay, the soldiers would probably mutiny.
Forcibly order an attack, or kill someone to establish your authority, and a mutiny will occur immediately!
Lu Xiangsheng had no choice but to give up and wait for food and fodder while waiting for Gao Qiqi to come over and join forces.
As for the shortage of food and grass, it is not all Gao Qi's hidden intention to make things difficult.
The Manchu and Qing dynasties were wreaking havoc along the way. The officers and soldiers could not collect food locally, so they had to transport it from Beijing. They drove the Manchu and Qing Dynasties southward, and the food road was getting longer and longer, and they were almost reaching the border of Shandong.
There was not much food and grass in the first place, so Gao Qiqian naturally replenished himself first, and then threw the remaining scraps to Lu Xiangsheng.
Lu Xiangsheng kept waiting like this. After all, he got a little food and grass, but Gao Qiqian marched at a very fast pace. Linqing was only a hundred miles away from Julu, and the road was relatively flat. Gao Qiqian's 40,000 troops marched a full ten miles.
sky.
The two sides communicated through messengers and agreed to attack the Qing army from the north and the south.
Gao Qiqian camped and did not move, wanting Lu Xiangsheng to fight first. If Lu Xiangsheng won, he would take advantage of the victory to pursue; if Lu Xiangsheng lost, he would retreat to Linqing.
Lu Xiangsheng was full of confidence and prepared to attack together, but unexpectedly none of his generals moved.
Those guys once again incited the soldiers to quarrel with the soldiers, and all the Xuanda ministries were involved in the riot together. They refused to move forward unless they were provided with sufficient food and wages.
Lu Xiangsheng was so angry that he used Shang Fang's sword and killed more than 20 troublemaking officers one after another.
He didn't dare to kill high-ranking generals, but it didn't matter to low-ranking officers.
Finally, after two days of reorganization, the whole army set off.
The Ming Dynasty has not yet figured out how many Qing troops entered the Pass this time. It only knows that except for the artillery, the rest are cavalry, and the troops were divided into three groups and went south to plunder.
There were probably about 10,000 Manchu Qing cavalry on Julu's side.
Lu Xiangsheng led his troops to kill them. A few miles from Julu County, they were met by two thousand enemy cavalry.
"Just drive them away. Don't pursue them too far." Lu Xiangsheng sent cavalry to pursue them. He had a total of 7,000 cavalry under his command.
The two thousand Manchu and Qing cavalry did not seem to want to engage in battle. When they saw the Ming cavalry coming out, they immediately turned around and ran away. They also ran in various detours, just to slow down Lu Xiangsheng's advance.
The Sentinel Cavalry had already discovered the Qing army's camp, but did not dare to get too close.
Lu Xiangsheng led the army and approached cautiously. After procrastinating for a long time, he finally found that the situation was not good. The camp outside Julu City in the Qing Dynasty was actually empty. There were only thousands of plundered grain-carrying livestock, and not even men and women were plundered.
!
This year's Tatar victory is different from any other time in the past.
In the first two or three months of the war, there was only constant destruction and no large-scale looting.
The intention of the battle was obvious. The Manchu and Qing Dynasties were defeated around Beijing, so they divided their forces and dragged the Ming army southward. The supply lines of the Ming army were getting longer and longer, there were more and more conflicts among various departments, and the soldiers were getting more and more tired. The Manchu and Qing Dynasties were waiting for an opportunity to eliminate them.
There is vitality.
Historically, Lu Xiangsheng only had five thousand soldiers left, so the Manchu Qing Dynasty attacked Lu Xiangsheng.
Now, Lu Xiangsheng has 24,000 people, and Gao Qiqian has 40,000 people. After suffering Lu Xiangsheng's loss, the Manchus went directly to Gao Qiqian, leaving an empty camp to confuse Lu Xiangsheng.
"Director Gao is in danger, go to the rescue quickly!" Lu Xiangsheng stood in the empty camp and was shocked.
The generals in the border towns were all overjoyed.
They saved Julu County, recaptured thousands of livestock, and recaptured much of the grain and grass carried by the livestock.
It’s all for military exploits!
…
But he said that Gao Qiqian came with his troops and went directly to Jize County to station. At this time, Jize County was sandwiched between the Fuyang River and the Luo River. There were two rivers that protected the nature and made it very safe.
This guy has never thought about going to war. Otherwise, he would never be able to garrison troops in such a place that is good for defense but not good for attack.
Whatever you are afraid of will come to you.
Gao Qiqian and a few confidants lived in the city, while the army was camped outside the city. Julu County was not big, so it was impossible for all 40,000 soldiers to be crammed in. There were also countless grain, grass and baggage, so only the defenders would put the army in.
At noon that day, he was very drunk and took a nap in the city.
A eunuch ran over in panic: "Oh no, the slave army has crossed the river and is heading towards Jize!"
"How many people?" Gao Qiqian asked in panic.
"I don't know, I'm afraid there are twenty or thirty thousand cavalry!" the young eunuch replied.
At twenty or thirty thousand, the Qing army along this route could have at most more than ten thousand cavalry.
"Hurry up and let the army enter the city and refuse to defend it!"
The city gates of Jize County soon opened, and the cavalry entered the city first. Gradually, the rumble of horse hooves could be heard, and the 40,000-strong army suddenly panicked and rushed into the city desperately.
"Close the city gate!"
"Shoot the arrow, shoot the arrow!"
Instead of firing arrows at the Manchus, they fired arrows at the Ming army outside the city. They also started killing each other at the city gate.
The sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer. Seeing that they could not enter the city, the remaining soldiers immediately fled south.
Of the 40,000-strong army, only more than 12,000 elite troops entered the city.
The remaining 28,000 people, more than half of whom were civilians and auxiliary soldiers, were exposed to the slaughter of the Qing Dynasty.
The Qing soldiers pursued them all the way, and after killing the Ming army outside the city, they headed towards Guangping Fucheng without looking back. They wanted to continue to plunder grain and grass, continue to lure the Ming army south, and continue to lengthen the Ming army's supply line.
Gao Qiqian stood on the city tower, watching the Qing army marching south, and he breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, fortunately, the Tartar slaves did not besiege Jize."
Another day later, Lu Xiangsheng led troops to help, but Gao Qiqian angrily scolded him for being afraid of the enemy and refusing to advance.
The impeachment memorial has been sent to the capital.
As for the content, the two men jointly attacked the Manchu and Qing army on the West Road. Gao Qiqian fought bravely, but Lu Xiangsheng was afraid of the enemy. As a result, they were unable to form a joint attack and missed the opportunity to annihilate the enemy, causing Gao Qiqian to suffer a huge defeat.
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A few days later, Gao Qiqian joined forces with Lu Xiangsheng's generals and soon launched a pay mutiny.
Gao Qiqian issued a second impeachment memorial, accusing Lu Xiangsheng of embezzling Mo's military supplies and only caring about his subordinates, which led to the transformation of Xuanda's border army generals and soldiers.
Again, no one wants to fight except Lu Xiangsheng.
It didn't matter to them whether Lu Xiangsheng was killed or captured and imprisoned. They just asked Lu Xiangsheng to stop being the commander-in-chief. If the war continued like this, all the soldiers and horses would be eaten up by the Qing army.
To be honest, if you put aside your selfishness, it's hard to tell who is right and who is wrong.
Lu Xiangsheng's strategic decision was definitely correct in the early stage. But now in the later stage, the battle line has been stretched too long, and there is no way to fight anymore. If we continue to fight in the field, we will have to be defeated by the Qing army one by one.
Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army can withstand this kind of long-distance pursuit. How can other troops withstand this kind of long-distance pursuit?
As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, such a situation cannot be messed up.
But we had to fight, and we couldn’t let the Manchus burn, kill, and loot, right?
Whoever takes this seat will have to struggle with Lu Xiangsheng. It doesn’t matter whether he fights or not.