Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Chapter 507 The three armies were defeated in Ningxia (Part )
Li Shiying led the generals to climb the city wall of Ningxia Town and looked into the distance. There were indeed thousands of soldiers and horses under the city, but they were all listless, dragging their flags backwards, and many of them didn't even have weapons in their hands.

Liu Hongcai felt something was wrong and said to Li Shiying: "Mr. Ge, why don't the people under the city look like Qing troops, but like defeated troops?"

"Perhaps it was a trick of the Qing captives, so they ordered the soldiers to be careful," but Li Shiying did not dare to be careless.

"Don't shoot arrows, it's me." A horse galloped close. The man on the horse had a fluttering white beard with dust on his beard and a messy bun. He was wearing an official robe of the Ming Dynasty and a black gauze hat with jade beads on his head. . Made in the Ming Dynasty, the tops and hat beads of officials of the first and second ranks can be decorated with jade; the tops of the hats of officials of the third to fifth ranks can only be decorated with gold, and all hat beads except jade can be used; the hats of officials of the sixth to ninth ranks can be decorated with jade. The top of the hat can only be decorated with silver, and the hat beads can only be decorated with crystal, agate, or fragrant wood.

"Huh? That person seems to be Qi Shoufu," Mi Guozhen, with sharp eyes, exclaimed when she saw the person on the horse.

When everyone took a closer look, it turned out to be Qi Tingjian, the Duke of Xining in the Kingdom of David and the chief assistant of the Zhangwu Dynasty.

"It's me, please open the door quickly and let the soldiers enter the city to rest."

Seeing his miserable state, Li Shiying suddenly felt something bad. It seemed that Ningxia's defender had been lost. "Let Xi Ningbo enter the city," he sighed.

Qi Tingjian led Mi Zhibo Wang Yongzhen, general Liu Denggou, Xie Rude and other remnants of the Yulin Army into the city in misery.

When asked, sure enough, Wu Sangui's troops of the Qing army, who had been stationary at Sanshanbao, suddenly went crazy and attacked the remnants of the Yulin army stationed in Huamachi. The opponent has more than 30,000 troops, and the remnants of the Yulin Army are only more than 10,000. How can they resist it? Huamachi, Geping Fort, Taoyang Fort, and Anding Fort were lost one after another, and the Ningxia Guard withdrew to the Ningxia Guard. Wu Sangui still did not give up, and pursued the Ningxia Guard again, and even defeated Zhao Ningbao, Hui'an Fort, Yanchi City, and now reached Lingzhou Station (Lingwu).

Everyone was silent when they heard that the Qing army had arrived in Lingzhou. Lingzhou is very close to the city of Ningxia, just across the Yellow River.

"What news will the chief minister hear when he evacuates Lingzhou?" Mi Guozhen asked.

People are magical creatures. When Qi Tingjian was chased by Wu Sangui and fled to the end of the world, he was unkempt and embarrassed. But as soon as he returned to Ningxia City, he regained his demeanor as the first assistant, and said calmly and calmly: "I heard a piece of news when I was crossing the Yellow River from Lingzhou: Wu Sangui wants to join forces with Tunqi in Lingzhou."

"what!"

Everyone's expression changed. It was difficult for our side to resist any one of Tun Qi and Wu Sangui. If both sides met, there would be at least 80,000 to 90,000 troops. How could we defeat them? "

"Don't be alarmed, gentlemen. When I crossed the Yellow River, I had captured the ships along the coast. The Qing army had no ships. It will take time to think about the roaring Yellow River." Qi Shoufu smiled while twirling his beard, showing his elegant appearance, except for the few lines between his beard. Applying yellow sand cannot hide the vicissitudes and embarrassment.

After hearing this, everyone felt a little at ease.

Li Shiying sighed: "The Qing Dynasty has a large number of people. I am afraid that it will not take long to build enough ships. I am afraid that the natural dangers of the Yellow River will not be delayed for long. A decision must be made early."

"What else is there to discuss? Now that we are outnumbered and have no fighting spirit, we must take advantage of the fact that the Qing army has not yet arrived, and immediately withdraw westward from Gansu and join the Wei Kingdom." There was discord and they advocated withdrawing to the west. This idea was also supported by Li Shiying, Mi Guozhen, He Keriang, Liu Hongcai and other old ministers of Zhangwu. Except for a few people such as Ji Jiao, most people were in favor of withdrawing from Gansu westward. After all, the only one with the ability to compete with the Qing Dynasty is Wei Guo. What's more, Zhangwu once professed vassalage to Wei Guo. Emperor Qianyuan of Wei Guo was nominally the lord of everyone, so surrendering to Wei was justifiable.

"Report! The Qing army's Chen Wanlue and Ren Zhen's troops have captured Zhenlu Fort and Shengjin Pass." As soon as a consensus was reached, bad news came again. Zhenlubao and Shengjin Pass are the throats from Ningxia to Gansu north of the Yellow River. If this place is lost, it will be difficult to retreat westward from Gansu! "This guy from Tunqi is so cruel that he actually cut off our army's retreat. What should we do?" After hearing the news, Qi Shoufu, who had been so calm just now, immediately became uneasy.

"Chief Assistant, I think this may not be Tun Qi's idea, but it is probably Meng Qiaofang's intention. Meng Lao has been the governor of Shaanxi for many years and is familiar with geography. Chen Wanlue and Ren Zhen are both his subordinates," Mi Guozhen analyzed.

"Well, what you said makes sense, but now our army has no wings to fly. What can I do? What can I do?" Qi Tingjian had a bitter look on his face.

"Don't be alarmed, Chief Assistant, there is still a way out," Mi Guozhen said calmly.

Qi Tingjian asked in surprise: "Is there another way? Where is the way?"

"We can cross the Tengger Desert," Mi Guozhen said forcefully. The Tengger Desert is the southeastern part of the Alxa Desert, one of the three largest deserts in China, and the Alxa Desert consists of three parts: Ulanbuhe, Badain Jaran, and Tengger. The vast desert has few water sources and is known as the Sea of ​​Death.

"Crossing the Tengger Desert? That's a narrow escape!" Everyone exclaimed.

Mi Guozhen bowed his hands to everyone and said, "If you want to avoid taking any risks, there is another way."

"Is there any other way? Come on, Mr. Mi Ge," everyone asked happily.

"The seller seeks glory! All you have to do is tie up the princess and the prince, kneel down in front of the Qing captives, shave your hair and put on Manchu clothes. Naturally, everything will be fine, and there will be no need to drill into the desert."

"What! You are so brave." "Mi Guozhen, His Highness Zhangwu has treated you with great kindness. How dare you do this?" "I'll kill you, the traitor." When everyone heard this, they even pulled out the steel in a bad temper. knife.

"Hahaha", Mi Guozhen looked up to the sky and laughed, "Since the princes are not willing to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, the only way left is to cross the desert. What is there to hesitate about? Get ready quickly. Otherwise, when the Qing army arrives, you will have to wait for the Qing army to arrive. I can’t even walk!”

The decision to cross the Tengger Desert to Gansu was quickly reached a consensus. Under the organization of Qi Tingjian, Li Shiying, Mi Guozhen and others, the remnants of the 20,000 Ming army began their journey across the Sea of ​​Death. Hearing that the Ming army was about to retreat, some loyal ministers and righteous men in Ningxia City who had not forgotten the Ming Dynasty and people who were worried about being retaliated by the Tatars withdrew with their families and the army. For a time, all ten rooms were empty.

After Tun Qi and Wu Sangui met in Lingzhou, they sent more than 80,000 troops to Ningxia City to fight. The momentum along the way was fierce and invincible. But after entering Ningxia City, they found that it was just an empty city. Not only were there no defenders, but there were not even a few civilians in sight.

"King Pingxi, the spies have reported that the Ming army has fled into the desert. We have always heard that Guan Ning's army is fast, so I will leave it to you to pursue Zhangwu Yuzai," Tun Qi said to Wu Sangui with a smile.

Crossing the desert is not an easy task. If you are not careful, your entire army will be wiped out. Hearing what he said, Prince Pingxi was filled with hatred: "Guan Ning's army is faster?" Why don't you say that the Eight Banners are invincible?

After getting angry, he still had a smile on his face and said "yes" respectfully, but secretly told his subordinates not to pursue him seriously, just pretend.

(End of this chapter)