Yicheng, which was captured by the Datong Army, was easily recaptured by Liu Fangliang because there was no defender in the city, not even officials, peasants or soldiers were sent.
However, Quwo, west of Yicheng, was garrisoned by three thousand peasant soldiers.
Liu Fangliang camped on the outskirts of Yicheng, waiting on the spot for more troops to gather. Hongdong County in the north was also recaptured by the Datong Army, but was stuck in Linfen and unable to go south.
Yicheng.
Xie Yinglong went to find Tian Hu in the tent: "Uncle (Earl), the situation is not good."
"Oh, I know, the morale of the military is unstable." Tian Hu said helplessly.
Ren Guangrong, Ren Jirong, Tian Hu, and Xie Yinglong, all four of them joined Li Zicheng at the beginning. They were all from the Ming Dynasty army.
Now, the Ren brothers have run away, leaving Tian Hu and Xie Yinglong in an awkward situation.
Although Liu Fangliang continued to express his trust, he was vaguely defensive. After recapturing Yicheng, the troops sent to defend the city were all Liu Fangliang's confidants, while Tian Hu and Xie Yinglong were prohibited from entering the city.
Of course, Liu Fangliang was afraid that going too far would force Tian Hu and Xie Yinglong to rebel, so he personally led his troops and stationed them outside the city.
The reason is that the people cannot be disturbed. Yicheng is too small and too many troops entering may cause chaos.
Liu Fangliang's vigilance is normal, because Tian and Xie's troops not only have many people from Henan, but also many people from the Ming Dynasty official army. When the soldiers learned that the Ren brothers were returning to their hometown with troops, they had already talked about it and were looking forward to it.
My general also returned to Henan.
Xie Yinglong whispered: "Now that we are on guard, how can we still fight? Brother Tian, you are also a man who knows soldiers. Do you think you can win the war now?"
Tian Hu muttered: "Your Majesty treats us well, don't have any thoughts. As for the officers and soldiers in each battalion, just be patient and comfort them."
Xie Yinglong sneered.
It's really not bad. Ren Jirong, who led the troops to escape, and Tian Hu in front of him were both named General Guo Yi, and they both got a count.
But what about Xie Yinglong?
He was just a general, a mere baron dismissed.
This made Xie Yinglong extremely dissatisfied. The Ren brothers and Tian Hu were only low-level officers of the Ming Dynasty. However, Xie Yinglong was a soldier of the general, and the firearms troops under his command were extremely powerful.
Xie Yinglong and Tian Hu, together with their firearms battalion and many muskets and artillery, rebelled and dedicated the city to Li Zicheng.
Why did Tian Hu rise to power so quickly, yet he himself became Tian Hu’s general?
"Then I will go and appease the soldiers." Xie Yinglong said.
Tian Hu said: "I will go there myself."
Liu Fangliang's military camp is in the north of the city, and Tian Hu and Xie Yinglong's military camps are in the east of the city.
Tian Hu took Xie Yinglong to the camp to comfort the soldiers. He simply said that when the Dashun Army conquered Henan, everyone would be able to return home in glory.
It's of no use, but it makes the soldiers resist.
Civil servants lack a sense of belonging to the Dashun court. Do the soldiers at the bottom have the same feeling?
Li Zicheng's army was very motivated when they first entered Beijing, but they fell into disarray after being defeated by the Manchus. Their idea was very simple. The Tatars defeated the Dashun Army, and the Datong Army defeated the Tatars, so the Datong Army must be more powerful.
It was powerful, and Emperor Zhao occupied a large territory.
If you can't fight, why should you fight and die?
After inspecting the military camp and comforting him, Tian Hu went back to his tent to rest.
However, Xie Yinglong called several officers over: "I have tested it out. General Tian does not want to return to Henan. He is thinking of Emperor Dashun's kindness."
"Hey, Li Zicheng was kind to him, but he was unkind to us." The speaker was Wang Chengzhong. Like Xie Yinglong, he was a soldier of the Ming Dynasty general Luo Dai.
Another Henan officer, Xie Zhun, said: "Uncle Tian doesn't want to leave because he is greedy for his title. We don't have a title, so why should we stay? Emperor Zhao occupies half of the country, sitting on the land of wealth in the south of the Yangtze River, and the Datong Army Very powerful. Li Zicheng couldn't even defeat the Tatars, how could he destroy Emperor Zhao and take over the world?"
After some discussion, Xie Yinglong said: "Everyone goes back and gathers troops quietly. We will leave tonight, light a fire and fire the cannon as a signal, disrupt the military camp and run to the southwest together!"
midnight.
"Boom boom boom!"
Without any warning, the artillery battalion rang out cannon fire, and then each battalion lit up fire one after another, and all the tents suddenly burst into flames.
Tian Hu suddenly woke up: "Where are the cannons being fired?"
"I don't know," the soldier said in a hurry.
Tian Hu quickly walked outside the tent and found that there were fires in each camp and the shouts of soldiers were everywhere.
Tian Hu shouted: "The enemy is attacking the camp, gather your troops quickly!"
It was impossible to get together, every camp was on fire, and everything was in complete chaos.
The army led by Tian Hu, including the temporary expansion of troops, has a total of more than 8,000 people. Although there are less than 2,000 people from Henan, 90% of the officers are from Henan.
This is normal, because its prototype was the Henan official army, and Li Zicheng brought in some Henan peasant troops. Even though they were replenished many times from other places, the main generals were all from Henan, and of course fellow countrymen should be given priority when promoting officers.
More than a thousand soldiers from Henan took advantage of the chaos and ran southwest, leaving behind six thousand soldiers from Shanxi and Shaanxi at a loss.
These Shanshan soldiers did not understand the situation at all and thought that the Datong Army was really coming. When they heard the sound of cannons and saw fires everywhere, they fled like headless flies.
Most of the people ran into the mountains and would definitely return to their hometowns after they dispersed. Tian Hu's army was basically doomed.
Surprised, Tian Hu took a few soldiers and rode towards the north of the city. Liu Fangliang's military camp was very quiet, and it must have not been "night attacked". It would be safe after passing there.
Of course, Liu Fangliang was also awakened by the sound of cannons. He ordered the camp to be strictly guarded and the soldiers were not allowed to run around. It took half an hour to calm down the chaos.
"Don't shoot arrows. I am Tian Hu, and I was attacked by the enemy at night!"
Outside the camp, Tian Hu, who was shot back by several arrows, shouted in frustration at the top of his voice.
After a while, Tian Hu was brought in.
"How many enemy troops are there?" Liu Fangliang asked.
Tian Hu shook his head: "I don't know."
Liu Fangliang asked again: "Can the enemy come after me?"
Tian Hu said: "It seems not."
Liu Fangliang was furious: "You have suffered a defeat, how come you don't know anything?"
Tian Hu said: "I was woken up at night. There were fires everywhere. The military camp was in chaos. I couldn't even close the troops. How could I know the situation at night?"
Liu Fangliang could only suppress his anger and let his soldiers continue to be on guard. He did not lead his troops to the east of the city to check until dawn.
The military camp in the east of the city was in a mess, and even the place where grain and grass were stored was burned.
Fortunately, Liu Fangliang was prepared and provided military rations every ten days. There was not much food in Tianhu camp.
Liu Fangliang looked at the intact artillery, then reached out to touch the inside of the barrel, rubbed the residue on his fingertips and said: "These artillery must have fired last night, and the barrels were not even cleaned."
Tian Hu was silent, he probably understood.
Liu Fangliang sneered and said: "You are indeed loyal to His Majesty, but the soldiers under your command do not think so. You don't even know that you have been ignored by your own generals?"
Tian Hu sighed: "I am not strict in running the army and I am willing to be punished."
Liu Fangliang shook his head: "Among the Dashun army, you and Ren Jirong have the highest military rank. Ren Jirong ran away with his troops. If I punish you again, I am afraid that all the soldiers in Henan will be forced to rebel. I cannot bear such a big responsibility."
Neither of them spoke anymore.
The Henan officers under Tian Hu fled with the Henan soldiers, but the commander-in-chief Tian Hu was kept in the dark. What does this mean?
This means that both officers and soldiers have no confidence in war and are not willing to fight the Datong Army at all!
Many officers and soldiers of the Dashun Army are not only afraid of war, but also have a desire to avoid war. Such troops cannot fight, and even if they fight, they will definitely lose.
Liu Fangliang understands this truth, and the person involved, Tian Hu, naturally understands it even more.
One of them is a marquis and the other is an earl, and they have every reason to die for Li Zicheng. But ordinary generals do not, let alone low-level soldiers. These soldiers just want to survive.
But it was said that Xie Yinglong had led his troops to defect to the Datong Army, and they were all firecrackers, as well as some artillerymen who had lost their artillery. Liu Zhu was very happy to learn about the situation.
When the war was about to begin, Liu Zhu sent someone to deliver a message and discussed with Jiang Liang on the south bank of the Yellow River. He decided to temporarily retain Xie Yinglong's establishment and ordered these fire rifle soldiers to garrison Jiangzhou.
In southern Shaanxi, Li Guo led his troops towards Xi'an. When he was more than a hundred miles away from Xi'an, he was chased by a galloping horse.
"Hanzhong Prefecture Yin Zhang Luo, in collaboration with Wang Guangen and Wang Guangtai, rebelled and have occupied Hanzhong Prefecture City!"
Li Guo was shocked and at a loss.
He had just led his troops to leave Hanzhong, and Hanzhong actually rebelled?
Brothers Wang Guangen and Wang Guangtai were originally Zhang Xianzhong's generals, but were later recruited by the Ming Dynasty. Historically, they also fought with Li Zicheng and later surrendered to the Manchus.
Due to factional conflicts, Wang Guangen was killed by the Manchus. Wang Guangtai immediately raised troops to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and became one of the thirteen families in Kuidong.
In this time and space, due to the excessive power of the Ming Dynasty, the Wang brothers did not choose to fight vigorously when facing Li Zicheng, but instead led their troops to defect to Dashun collectively.
Liu Fangliang and Li Guo both went to Tongguan to fight, but both of them got into trouble.
The hearts of the Dashun court are shattered!
Li Guo's head was a little down. He didn't know whether he should go to Xi'an first or go back to Hanzhong to quell the rebellion.
The Battle of Tongguan determined the ownership of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces.
But if they don't return to Hanzhong, Sichuan's Datong Army will march straight in from Hanzhong.
There is really a Datong army over there, but Huang Yao is the only one left in Guizhou. Fei Yinggong leads his troops northward and is trying to contain the Datong army in Hanzhong.
After much thought, Li Guo decided to return to Hanzhong.
But just two days after he returned to the army, he received urgent news again: the Yangping Pass defenders were attacked from both sides, the officers and soldiers guarding the pass surrendered collectively, and the Datong Army had entered Hanzhong.
What to do? What to do? What to do?
Li Guo was distraught and furious, and fell ill in the army.
Xi'an and Hanzhong were both occupied by the Datong Army. Their general became ill again, and the entire army suddenly became confused.
Lieutenant General Gao Yigong could not be restrained at all.
Gao Yigong was the son of Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng's cousin-in-law. His fighting ability was only average and he could not bear the heavy responsibility of being ordered to do so in danger.
After that, there were deserters every day. After a few days, one-eighth of Li Guo's troops actually fled.
All fools know that Shaanxi is definitely gone, and if we continue to fight, we are not far from death.
If they were Tatars, they might still work together, but the Datong court is also Han Chinese, so why should they continue to fight?
Seeing this situation, Li Guo's general Zhang Neng left the camp with his army overnight and ran to Hanzhong to join the Datong army, taking away one-third of the soldiers.
When the news spread, there were more deserters, and in a blink of an eye there were only 2,000 people left, and the entire army was in vain.