The rapid loss of Shandong made Li Yan very worried. He knew very well that the Huben Guards were about to arrive in the capital.
But what he didn't know was that Ding Yunyi made an extremely bold decision: to use troops on both sides.
He wanted to use his main force to attack Beijing with all his strength, while he personally led 20,000 elite cavalry to bypass the capital with only one destination: Shanhaiguan!
There he has to stop a force that is far more terrifying than the bandit army!
No, it’s two forces!
Wu Sangui and the Manchu Qing are about to form an alliance!
This is a crazy and bold idea. Wu Sangui has 50,000 elite troops. If coupled with the Manchu elite who may arrive, the enemy's strength far exceeds that of the Tiger Guards.
But Ding Yunyi was unmoved at all. He had to concentrate all his efforts to capture Beijing in the shortest possible time, and then Beijing would come to his aid.
I am just a chess piece blocking the enemy from entering the Central Plains!
Those massacres of Han people by the Manchu and Qing Dynasties that happened in history will never be allowed to happen again. If you can't even do this, what qualifications do you have to call yourself King Wu Lie?
He did not tell anyone this idea in his heart, but his subordinates were always full of worries: How should we fight this battle between 20,000 people and more than 100,000 people?
"It's nothing more than heavy casualties." Ding Yunyi smiled faintly: "But I can never let Jin Lu into the prison. You can just carry out the battle in the capital with peace of mind. I will be there at Shanhaiguan!"
I'm there at Shanhaiguan!
This seemingly careless sentence proved to everyone how heroic Ding Yunyi was.
All the generals know what kind of tremendous pressure King Wulie will face there. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, has there been any prince like him?
Every battle must come first!
"I will take away the cavalry, and leave all the other firearms units to you. Your mission is only one, the capital!" Ding Yunyi's words were very calm: "Don't consider any situation there. You will capture the capital every morning.
This is equivalent to relieving me of one more day of stress, so my safety depends on you."
His eyes swept over the generals one by one. Except for the naval generals, all the Tiger Guard generals arrived. Then his eyes fell on Li Dingguo: "Dingguo, how old are you among these people?"
You are the youngest and the most junior, but I want to entrust you with an important task. Do you dare to be the commander-in-chief of the attack on the capital?"
This was a shocking decision. Li Dingguo was only twenty-four years old at the time!
But what's even more surprising is that Li Dingguo didn't hesitate at all: "Dare!"
Ding Yunyi smiled and said to his generals: "Everyone, maybe some of you are dissatisfied, such as you, Ah Hu. But my decision has been made. Here, Li Dingguo is me!"
"Your Highness, don't worry!" Ah Hu, who has grown into a great young man, said loudly: "Yes, I do not obey Li Dingguo, but for the safety of Your Highness and to capture the capital as soon as possible, I must listen to Li Dingguo, no, Li Dingguo's command
Made it!"
"We are all willing to obey Commander Li's orders!" the generals replied loudly.
At this time, Ding Yuanzhao, who had been listening there, said slowly: "Your Majesty, I am also willing to go to Shanhaiguan with you!"
"Father."
"No, I am not your father now, and you are not my son." Ding Yuanzhao interrupted his son: "You are King Wu Lie of the Ming Dynasty, and I am the imperial envoy appointed by His Majesty. You are here
Where, where am I going!”
His voice never looked back.
"And me!" It was Zhang Pu who made this voice: "Your Majesty, the common man Zhang Pu begged Your Majesty to take me with him on the expedition. Although I don't have the power to tie a chicken, I am willing to use a pen in my hand to record what Your Majesty has said to me.
The loyal and iron-blooded Ming Dynasty!"
"Okay!" Ding Yunyi laughed loudly: "I will let you record my loyalty to the Ming Dynasty!"
At this moment, King Wu Lie Ding Yunyi made the most important decision in his life
On April 2, the Huben Guards' vanguard arrived outside Beijing, which immediately aroused two completely different reactions in Beijing.
King Wu Lie is here! The Tiger Guards are here! The subjects who are still loyal to the Ming Dynasty cheered.
The Ming Dynasty is not dead, the Ming Dynasty still has King Wu Lie!
The Martial King who is victorious in every battle—Ding Yunyi!
And those who surrendered were in panic all day long. King Wulie is here, King Wulie is here! Will he retake the capital? What will he do to people like himself if he retakes the capital?
No one can answer them.
There is another, even stranger reflection, that of the officials of the so-called Dashun regime. The vast majority of them actually don’t take the arrival of the Tiger Guards seriously at all. They are still plundering the capital.
All the wealth that can be plundered is still spent in debauchery and drunkenness.
Starting from Li Zicheng to Liu Zongmin and other generals, no one took this seriously.
Except Li Yan.
Li Yan knew what the loss of Shandong meant. He asked to see Li Zicheng several times, but was blocked outside the palace gate on the grounds that His Majesty was busy with official duties.
Li Yan knew that Li Zicheng was so busy with official duties that he spent all his time in the palace drinking and drinking.
Your Majesty is like this, and those ministers are rushing to follow suit. They no longer have the original ambition and unity. What is the difference between this kind of Dashun and the Ming Dynasty that was overthrown by them?
But Li Yan had no choice. He was excluded from colleagues who seemed out of tune with him.
Until the vanguard of the Huben Guards arrived outside the capital, the Dashun generals were still in a state of intoxication. After Li Yan repeatedly persuaded him, he finally reluctantly allowed Li Zicheng to hold a "court meeting."
The situation is already very critical. Once the main force of the Tiger Guards arrives, they may attack the city at any time.
"Outside the capital are the 20,000 elite cavalrymen of the Huben Guards!" Li Yan did not say much, and straight to the point told the dire situation Beijing was currently facing: "Now the 20,000 elite cavalry did not attack immediately, because they were in
Waiting for the arrival of the main force of the Huben Guards. Commanding the cavalry are Huangfu Yunjie and Hou Lu, the powerful generals under Ding Yunyi's command. They are both powerful generals who have followed Ding Yunyi in his expeditions to the north and south all year round. They are almost always victorious!"
"Are you afraid of General Zhi?" Before Li Zicheng could speak, Liu Zongmin had already said coldly: "We have defeated the millions of Ming Dynasty troops, so what does a small Tiger Guard mean?"
Li Yan was angry: "I heard that General Quan was once defeated by the Tiger Guards. Why is General Quan talking about the 'little Tiger Guards' now?"
"Li Yan, you bastard!" Liu Zongmin was ashamed and angry when he mentioned his scandal.
This is a scar in his heart, a scar that will never heal.
Even in his dreams, he would often be awakened by that terrifying scene
The roar of "Kill the enemy" shook the heaven and earth, and the bloody battlefield made the sun no longer bear to watch.
Ding Yunyi's armor and face were covered with blood, and he stood majestically on this battlefield like a bloody god of war.
The first year of high school was anxious. For the "rebels", the existence of Ding Yunyi was really terrible. He couldn't help shouting: "Liu Zongmin, aren't you known as the number one general of our rebels? Are you afraid of Butcher Ding?"
Yet?"
Yesterday's killing, Ding Yunyi's shadow will forever be stationed in Liu Zongmin's heart. Although he is unwilling to admit it, Liu Zongmin has never taken the initiative to look for Ding Yunyi since the beginning of the war.
The war horse galloped in the direction of Ding Yunyi, the two swords making a "wuwu" sound in his hands.
Ding Yunyi swung his sword again, but Liu Zongmin struggled to block it with both swords. In the midst of the lightning and flint, Ding Yunyi suddenly crossed his left hand, pulled out the dragon's tooth with his right hand, and swung out his sword.
Liu Zongmin was caught off guard, and a scream came from his mouth.
Fortunately, he managed to dodge in time, but even so, the dragon's teeth also cut off a large piece of meat from his leg.
Liu Zongmin was so heartbroken that he turned his horse's head and ran away regardless of the rhetoric about killing Butcher Ding. Two of his subordinates rushed up to block Ding Yunyi.
Ding Yunyi wielded his sword from the left and right, and killed two bandits one after another. He sheathed the sword, pointed at the direction of Liu Zongmin's retreat and laughed, "In front of me, you are worthy of being called the number one general!"
This knife broke Liu Zongmin's courage.
Liu Zongmin has never been afraid of anyone, but after this battle, Ding Yunyi became his nightmare
"The murderer Ding Huben, the butcher Ding Yunyi; Ding Huben, no one can stop him, Ding Yunyi, the murderer! Huben is full of blood everywhere, and when the butcher comes, there are mountains of corpses!"
Li Yan talked about Liu Zongmin's sadness, and the terrible ballad echoed in Liu Zongmin's ears again.
"Okay, okay, we are all brothers, why argue and ruin the harmony in vain." Li Zicheng became the peacemaker at this time: "What about those people outside the city? Who of us is willing to go on an expedition?"
No one spoke.
Who is outside the city? It's the Tiger Guards, the Tiger Guards who have been victorious in every battle and once killed the rebel army in rivers of blood! Who dares to confront them head-on?
"Report! Your Majesty, the cavalry outside the city has begun to retreat!"
"What?" The sudden report surprised and loved everyone in Dashun. Li Zicheng also stood up suddenly: "Have the Tiger Guards retreated?"
But before the excitement had passed, someone soon came to report: "Report, a large number of Ming troops are moving towards Beijing!"
Li Zicheng sat down slowly: "Retreating for a while and coming again for a while. What exactly does Ding Yunyi want to do? Military Advisor Song, what do you think?"
Song Xiance, who was named the "Founding Military Advisor of the People's Republic of China", frowned and thought for a long time, with confusion on his face: "Your Majesty, I really can't think of what Ding Yunyi wants to do?"
No one knows what Ding Yunyi wants to do, and no one here can know what Li Yan really thinks about Ding Yunyi's heart.
"Brothers, the Ming army is still preparing to attack Beijing no matter what. What do the brothers say?" Li Zicheng asked helplessly.
"Soldiers are coming to stop you, and water is coming and the earth is flooding you. Why should your majesty be worried?" Gao Yigong, Li Zicheng's brother-in-law, said loudly.
Li Zicheng once again turned his attention to Song Xiance, the military advisor he relied on. Song Xiance pondered for a while: "Your Majesty, the current plan is nothing more than to prepare for the battle. Although the Tiger Guards are famous all over the world, I don't think they will do anything this time."
They will not give up their home base of Fujian and come out in full force, so there will definitely not be too many people coming. And Hu Benwei and Wu Sangui's Guan Ning Army are the two most capable troops after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. As long as they are defeated, the rest of the Ming Dynasty
The remaining strength will inevitably be defeated by the wind. Therefore, I think that a general should be stationed outside the city with his army, waiting for action, while your Majesty will personally lead the army to be ready to attack at any time."
What he said seems to make sense, but the question now is, who is willing to lead an army stationed outside the city to directly face the Tiger Guards?
These people were feared to be killed by the Tiger Guards back then!
"Gao Yigong, how about I send you there?" Li Zicheng asked tentatively.
Gao Yigong was startled, you Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin are afraid of the Tiger Guards, aren't I afraid? But since Li Zicheng has chosen him and he is his brother-in-law, it makes no sense for the court to refuse.
Gao Yigong bit the bullet and said: "I accept the decree!"
On April 3, the two main forces of the Huben Guards arrived outside Beijing again. Initially, the so-called military ministers of Dashun were a little frightened, but then a piece of news quickly stimulated them: Ding Yunyi is not in the army!
During another court meeting, Li Zicheng could hardly believe his ears: "Ding Yunyi is really not in the army?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, it is absolutely true, it is Li Dingguo who commands these Tiger Guards!"
"Li Dingguo? Why does it sound familiar to me?" Li Zicheng frowned.
"Returning to my subordinates, he was originally Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son, but he later surrendered to Ding Yunyi."
"Why should you worry about a yellow-haired boy?" When he heard that Ding Yunyi had not come, Liu Zongmin suddenly became excited: "Li Dingguo is just a big kid in his twenties. There is no need to worry, brother. Let Gao Yigong go and kill him first.
Gao Yigong is dead, so Lao Liu personally goes to get Li Dingguo's head!"
Prime Minister Niu Jinxing next to him frowned. This General Quan actually still calls His Majesty "Big Brother" until now. He had already told them that His Majesty is now a serious emperor, even though there has not been a formal enthronement ceremony.
Ceremony.
Li Zicheng didn't notice anything wrong at all, but said happily: "Okay, I have the authority to be a general, so why should I be afraid of the Tiger Guards? Go tell Gao Yigong and let him look for opportunities to attack!"
After Li Zicheng heard that Ding Yunyi was not outside the city, he felt relieved. His mind was no longer on those tiger guards. Yesterday, his men presented two more beauties, which kept him busy.
Already.
It's good to be the emperor. It's really good to be the emperor. No wonder so many people are staring at that position.
"Your Majesty has changed." After going down to court, Li Yan let out a long sigh: "Commander Song, your Majesty is no longer the same Majesty as before."
"It's not just His Majesty who has changed?" Song Xiance smiled bitterly: "After entering Beijing, everyone has changed. Liu Zongmin only knows how to extort money, but what about Niu Jinxing? Since entering Beijing, he has been dazzled by the glory and wealth.
, are busy preparing for the enthronement ceremony, building the government and officials, welcoming visitors, and living a life of debauchery, and none of them think of working hard to govern."
Li Yan looked stern: "Although we have captured Beijing, there are still so many Ming troops. I have repeatedly warned your Majesty that the Ming army may counterattack at any time, but your Majesty refuses to listen to me. Now the enemy has
Even after we hit the city walls, they still didn't take it seriously."
The two of them sighed at each other, and now no one knew what to do.
"Tell me, why is Ding Yunyi not in the army?" Li Yan suddenly asked.
Song Xiance shook his head blankly, and after a while, he said to himself: "Did Ding Yunyi go to Shanhaiguan?"
"What?" Li Yan was surprised.
"Ah, I'm just talking nonsense. I'm afraid Ding Yunyi doesn't have the courage."
Song Xiance shook his head and quickly rejected his idea: "I heard that his banner was to avenge Chongzhen. Besides, capturing Beijing is of great significance. Even if he had the courage, he would not dare to divide his troops at this time.
Let's go to Shanhaiguan? Wu Sangui's troops there are very strong."
"I don't think so." Li Yan frowned and said, "Ding Yunyi is very courageous and can do anything. Besides, I once heard that Ding Yunyi and Wu Sangui are sworn brothers. If he really wants to
Speak to Wu Sangui."
"No, no, I hope it won't be like this." Song Xiance was worried: "But if it is really what you said, it would be terrible. The Hu Ben Guards and Guan Ning Army are united together, just in case something happens again
If we add the Qing army, we will not be able to resist it."
Song Xiance and Li Yan will never understand Ding Yunyi. No matter what, he will not join forces with the Qing army. Even when he went to Shanhaiguan this time, he fought against the Qing army!
Although his actions seemed absurd and bold, he knew what he was doing.
Li Yan sighed softly: "Prime Minister Song, how much longer do you think we can stay in Beijing?"
Song Xiance didn't know how to answer. Not many people in Dashun knew about the situation now, but he and Li Yan knew very well that if this continued, they would soon be unable to gain a foothold in Beijing.
But what can they do now? Li Zicheng trusted people like Liu Zongmin and Niu Jinxing, but not them.
They don't want to see everything they have worked so hard to lose. They want the Dashun regime to last forever, but it seems to be so difficult now.
There are still so many Ming troops, there are Hu Ben Guards, there are Guan Ning troops, there are still Qing troops, and there are so many enemies watching eagerly. Why didn't Your Majesty think of it?
Sooner or later, your Majesty will regret it, but by that time it will be too late.
A gust of cold wind blew, and Li Yan couldn't help but shiver. The sky in Ming Dynasty has changed, but what about the sky in Dashun? Could it be that the sky is going to change again today?
Li Yan really doesn't want to see this most terrible day come!