Which one should fight first, the wolf or the tiger?
After discussing with Gong Yingzhen and others, Li Dingguo decided to capture the situation first.
"One mountain has four seasons, and the sky is different for ten miles" Mount Emei was transformed into the same sky by Marshal Li.
In the same way, a lookout post and a simple beacon tower were set up on each mountain peak, and three hundred soldiers were stationed on the top of the mountain. As soon as the bandits were discovered, the beacon fire would be lit. When the Ming troops from each mountain saw the beacon fire, they would go to the beacon fire. Gather them everywhere and destroy them.
If Yuan Tao and Wu Dading were still there, this move would be impossible to use. If only three hundred soldiers were sent into the mountain where tens of thousands of bandits gathered, it would be like giving the bandits their heads.
Now that Yuan Tao and Wu Dading are gone, although Li Qiande claims to have five thousand troops, most of his subordinates are newly recruited rabble, and their combat power is far inferior to that of Yuan Tao and Wu Dading's old bandits. His five Thousands of people may not be able to defeat Yuan Tao's 500 soldiers. They wanted to capture the hilltop where 300 Ming troops were stationed, but they couldn't do it in a long time. In half a day, the Ming troops from other hills had already arrived.
The lookout posts and beacon towers effectively made up for the lack of Ming army strength, allowing Li Dingguo to blockade the entire Emei Mountain area with a smaller force.
Under the raids of the Ming army, Li Qiande had to move the location of the camp many times and was restricted to a small activity space.
"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"
Li Jiude slept soundly and snored like thunder.
Li Qiande stared at his younger brother's young face, a trace of love flashing in his eyes.
My little brother is twenty-one years old and he looks really like his mother.
My little brother, who is usually fair and fair and loves to be clean the most, has been following me during this time, with unkempt hair, disheveled clothes, and a faint smell of sweat.
"Woo", Li Jiude stretched out and the felt blanket slipped off.
An eldest brother is like a father. Li Qiande gently covered Li Jiude with a felt blanket.
Li Jiude was startled and woke up suddenly, "Are the Ming troops coming?"
"Don't be afraid, little brother, it's me."
Li Jiude was a little embarrassed: "Brother, I had a nightmare??"
After this fuss, the two brothers could no longer sleep and just started chatting.
"Brother, if this continues, we will be discovered sooner or later. I have thought about it, if you tie me up and surrender to the Ming army, you will definitely save your life."
"Brother, who do you think I am? I will never betray my brother for glory!"
"Obey, brother is getting old, and he will die if he dies. You must live well and leave a legacy for Lao Li's family."
Li Jiude disagrees life and death.
Li Qiande sighed: "Brother, since you can't bear it, so be it. You take the letter I wrote and go to the Zagu Department of Jiarong Babu to find Sang Jiepeng, the Xuanfu envoy. I have an old relationship with him, and he I will definitely take you in."
When Li Qiande met Sang Jiepeng, they were both young, equally talented, and equally ambitious. Li Qiande wanted to be a marquis and prime minister, while Sang Jiepeng wanted to unify the eight tribes of Jiarong.
"Alas! Things change and people change. It's fate that manipulates people!"
Li Qiande, who has always made perfect calculations, actually miscalculated this time.
The reason why he refused to go with Yuan Tao and Wu Dading was that he wanted to lead his troops through Yazhou and defect to the Zagu tribe. According to common sense, Yuan Tao and Wu Dading led the main force, and the Ming army should pursue the main force. , let go of this small force of yours. Unexpectedly, Li Dingguo actually let the main force not chase, and started hunting for himself first. How sad!
He didn't expect that Li Dingguo regarded him as a wolf that was more difficult to deal with than a wolf. He would catch the wolf first and then the wolf.
Miscalculation! Some mistakes cannot be made, otherwise you will lose your life.
Li Jiude still disagreed: "Brother, I'm not going anywhere, I'm just staying here with you. If we die, we two brothers will die together!"
"Brother, you are confused!"
Li Qiande tried to persuade his younger brother, but his tears couldn't stop flowing down.
??
Another early morning has arrived.
In order not to expose their whereabouts, the bandits all choose to cook in the early morning. In the early morning, the fog in Mount Emei is very thick, which can effectively cover up the smoke from cooking. The bandits prepare the food they need for the day in the morning and do not dare to light a fire at noon and evening. Dry food.
There are exceptions to everything. This morning, there was not much fog.
The smoke produced by the bandits attracted the attention of the Ming army's lookout post on the nearby hilltop.
"Commander, look, there is smoke there," the sentry reported to the commander.
The sentry commander was an old scout. He squinted and observed carefully. There was not only smoke, but also firelight.
"You are so lucky. You have made great achievements. Hurry up and report to the camp that the bandit's lair has been found."
The Ming army secretly surrounded the bandits' camp without the bandits noticing.
"Kill!"
Dou Mingwang brandished his two swords and chopped down several gangsters in front of the village gate.
The bandit archer on the arrow tower was about to draw his bow. Jin Tongwu shot an arrow and the archer fell down from the arrow tower.
As soon as the Ming army invaded the village, the bandits' fighting spirit collapsed. Some surrendered and some fled. The Li brothers also became prisoners of the Ming army.
??
Looking at Li Qiande who was tied up in a twist, brothers Li Jiude and Lieutenant General Li Dingguo burst into laughter.
"Gong Qian De, the last time I wrote a letter to persuade you to surrender, the Duke wrote back and said, 'The waterway can accommodate boats and horses, and the land route can accommodate carriages and horses.' Now, I don't need boats and horses, and I can capture a few beacon towers." What else can I say about this? Hahaha!"
Li Qiande was ashamed and annoyed: "A scholar can be killed but not humiliated. Kill me quickly!"
Li Dingguo asked again: "The words that insulted my ancestor in the last reply were also written by Qian Degong, right?"
Li Qiande was very tough: "Yes, it is exactly my handiwork."
Li Dingguo was extremely angry: "Gong Qian De is worthy of being a Jinshi in the fourth year of Chongzhen's reign. He writes brilliantly and well. He writes well! Come on, drag Gong De Qian and his younger brother out and behead them."
Li Qiande was shocked: "I wrote the letter, what does it have to do with my brother? Why did you kill him?"
"You are rebellious, and you should be punished by the clan."
"I am the governor of northern Sichuan granted by Emperor Yongli. Firstly, I have not surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and secondly, I have not surrendered to the thieves. I am defending the land for the late emperor. How can I be rebellious?"
"This??"
Li Dingguo was speechless for a moment. This Li Qiande was a minister of Emperor Yongli and had never accepted the official position of Prince Jing. It seems a bit far-fetched to say that he was rebellious.
"As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, you have joined the bandit den and deserve to be killed!"
"Hahaha! If you are a bandit, you should be killed. Then, Marshal, what is your previous background?"
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"This??"
According to this theory, Li Dingguo was born as a Daxi thief and should have been killed countless times.
If you can't argue, don't argue, just kill him.
Li Dingguo smiled coldly: "What a clever word, drag him out and kill him!"
"Wait a minute," Li Qiande shouted urgently, "If the commander-in-chief is willing to let my brother live, I am willing to help the commander-in-chief earn money and open up Hongya City."
??
After escaping back to Meizhou, Wu ordered Zhang Linxiu to lead 7,000 troops to guard Hongya City, Yuan Tao's 3,000 remnant troops to guard Danling City, his nephew Wu Guoyong to lead 5,000 troops to guard Pujiang City, and his son Wu Guozhi to lead 5,000 troops to guard Mei. In the prefecture city, he personally led 13,000 troops to garrison his hometown in Qingshen County, Meizhou Prefecture.
Hongya County in Sichuan is a holy land of Taoism, and the famous Five Pecks of Rice Road was born in Hongya Wawu Mountain.
Zhang Linxiu has been a bandit for many years and has quite a lot of experience. He divided his troops into two thousand to guard Wawu Mountain, and he led five thousand troops to guard Hongya City. They were the horns of each other.
"Cheer up, everyone. If anyone dares to doze off, I will kill him." Zhang Linxiu cursed while patrolling the city.
This is his habit, he likes to scold his subordinates before a battle. Strangely enough, after he scolded him like this, the nervous mood of the bandit soldiers dissipated a lot.
"General, look, there's a troop coming from ahead."
Zhang Linxiu took a look and saw that hundreds of defeated troops were fleeing towards him, followed by Ming troops chasing them.
The defeated army fled to the city gate and shouted loudly.
"Open the city gate quickly, we are the subordinates of Military Advisor Li".
Zhang Linxiu shouted: "Don't get close, or you will be shot to death."
"Is this General Zhang? I am Li Qiande. Open the city gate quickly, the Ming army is chasing me."
Zhang Linxiu took a look and saw that it was indeed Li Qiande.
"Mr. Li, aren't you in Mount Emei? Why did you come here?"
"It's hard to say anything. After you leave, the Ming army searches the mountain. I am weak and unable to survive, so I have to go to the general. Hurry and open the city gate. If it is too late, the Ming army will catch up."
Seeing that the pursuers were approaching, Zhang Linxiu ordered his men to open the city gate.
Li Qiande's troops hurriedly entered the city.
Since they were old acquaintances, Zhang Linxiu naturally wanted to greet him, walked down the city wall, and said hello to Li Qiande.
"Mr. Li was frightened."
Suddenly he saw a man standing behind Li Qiande, wearing a white helmet and white armor and shining a silver gun. He was not angry but had a murderous aura. He couldn't help but be surprised and said: "Who is this leader? It seems that I have never seen him before."
The white-robed general smiled: "I am Li Dingguo of Yan'an."
"Ah!"
Before Zhang Linxiu could finish screaming, the bright silver gun was like a snake, hitting his throat.
Without the general, the bandits were in chaos. Li Dingguo took advantage of the situation and led his troops to kill the bandits and captured Hongya City.
The Wawushan bandit army did not dare to fight and fled to Qingshen.
Li Dingguo did not rest even after capturing Hongya, and led his army to kill Danling City.
Danling guard Yuan Tao has three thousand soldiers, two thousand of whom are old bandits and are quite powerful.
If we really want to defend Danling City, there will be a fierce battle.
But these three thousand people are Yuan Tao's only remaining subordinates, and they are regarded as his lifeblood. How can they be willing to fight against the Ming army for Wu Dading?
"Retreat, retreat quickly!"
Hearing that Li Dingguo was calling, Yuan Tao was not willing to fight with Li Dingguo even though he was known as the "King of Fighting for Heaven". He led his men and galloped away. He ran to Meizhou City in one breath and joined forces with Wu Guozhi.
??
In Hongya City, Li Dingguo called brothers Li Qiande and Li Jiude to his side.
This time his attitude was much better, and he said to Li Qiande very politely: "Mr. Qiande, I said that I should not kill you when you help me break the city this time. But I offered a poison plan to Yuan Tao and Wu Dading to kill Yang Zhan." General, the people of Sichuan hate you to the core. If you don’t kill me, the people will not be angry. To be honest, when you enter Sichuan this time, the supervisor personally lists you, Yuan Tao and Wu Ding as the two thieves who must be killed. Therefore, I really don’t want to kill you. I dare to pardon Mr. Qian De. Please forgive Mr. Qian De."
Li Qiande looked calm: "Commander, there is no need to explain. I have already expected this. I just hope that Commander can keep his promise and let my brother live."
"Don't worry, Lord Qiande, I keep my word and will never embarrass my brother."
"That's it, thank you so much, Marshal!"
Li Qiande said to Li Jiude who was crying: "Brother, what I am today is a cycle of cause and effect. You must not have any thoughts of revenge! After returning to your hometown, marry a wife and have children, and leave a legacy for the old Li family! I want to thank my dead parents very much. You!"
Li Jiude cried bitterly: "Brother, don't worry, I will remember it!"
Li Qiande walked outside the tent.
"Please wait a minute, Mr. Qian De", Li Dingguo poured a glass of wine and handed it to Li Qiande, "Please drink this glass before you go on your way."
Li Qiande laughed: "Beheading is a painful thing! Drinking is a happy thing! Drinking and beheading is a happy thing! Thank you, Marshal!"
Drink it all in one gulp and walk out of the tent.
Soon, a bloody head was delivered to Li Dingguo.
"Brother!"
Li Jiude was heartbroken.
Li Dingguo sighed: "Come here, give him a horse, a knife, one hundred taels of silver, half a month's dry food, and give him an official document to return home. No troops will cause trouble along the way!"