Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Chapter 573: Master’s presence and absence

Hearing that Li Dingguo had led his troops to retreat, Sun Kewang did not stop and led the army to pursue him. He found that Li Dingguo had entered Guangxi via Pingle from Yongming, so he gave up.

He did not realize that after Li Dingguo left Hunan, he fell into a situation of fighting alone. Instead, he was complacent about monopolizing the territory of Hunan. In the eyes of this king, the Qing army was already defeated and he had more than 200,000 elite troops, including more than 100,000 in Hunan alone. There was nothing to worry about.

The situation seems to be true. Although there are hundreds of thousands of Qing troops in Hunan, they have been resting and recuperating. They are probably afraid of being beaten by the Ming army and have not dared to make a large-scale counterattack.

Seeing that the Qing army was so weak, Sun Kewang was determined to continue the Northern Expedition. He personally led the army from Jingzhou (now Jingxian, Hunan) to Baoqing (now Shaoyang, Hunan) via Wugang. He concentrated the forces of generals Bai Wenxuan, Feng Shuangli, Ma Jinzhong and other troops. The strength of the army reached 100,000.

First to be Yue Wu Mu, and then to be Sun Tianzi, His Highness the Lord of Qin had a wishful thinking, but he forgot the principle of mastery in the presence of others and in the absence of others. The previous removal of Liu Wenxiu from military power by holding the responsibility for Baoning's defeat had aroused dissatisfaction among many elders of the Great Western Army; now, the unprovoked murder of Li Dingguo, who had conquered two famous kings and had great military exploits, had even shaken the morale of the army. This casts a shadow over the upcoming Battle of Baoqing.

Brush, brush, brush, Qing Dingyuan General Duoluobeletun wrote a memorial to Emperor Shunzhi in his own handwriting. In the memorial, he attributed Li Dingguo's departure from Hunan to his own large army. "The rebels Li Dingguo, the puppet king of Anxi, and the puppet king Ma Jinzhong led more than 40,000 horse infantry and bandits to Yongzhou. The slaves led the army of Xi'an and the commander-in-chief Ke Yongsheng. The troops were stationed in Hengzhou. The army marched towards Yongzhou on February 13th and arrived in Yongzhou on the 28th. Li Dingguo had already escaped from Longhu Pass."

The memorial was beautifully written, but at this time Tunqi was commanding his men to retreat towards Changsha. After chasing Li Dingguo to Yongzhou, Tunqi went north from Yongzhou to Baoqing, intending to withdraw to Changsha to rest. Although there are still more than 100,000 Qing troops in Hunan, their morale is low because their general Nikan was beheaded. The bravery and skill of the Daxi Army in the Battle of Hengyang frightened many Eight Banners disciples who participated in the battle.

In fact, Tun Qi chased Li Dingguo bravely, knowing that he could not catch up but still pretending to chase after him. Firstly, it is helpful to restore low morale; secondly, it is good to have an explanation to Emperor Shunzhi. Since Nikan's death in battle, Tunqi has been worried that he will be punished by the emperor. Jinshang has a good temper and holds grudges. All the people who had attached to Dorgon back then were brought up by him one by one. In the Battle of Hengyang, so many Eight Banners disciples died in the battle. Even Prince Jingjin was beheaded. The emperor was very angry. , who knows that one day he will punish himself and others to vent his anger.

However, the expected punishment did not come. Emperor Shunzhi just issued an order to scold Tunqi and other defeated generals and ordered them to perform meritorious service. The more this happened, the more Tun Qi felt a chill in his neck, so even though he knew that Li Dingguo had escaped from Longhu Pass, he still wanted to go south to catch up.

The memorial to report the meritorious service was rushed to Beijing for 800 miles. Unexpectedly, although Emperor Shunzhi was young, he was not easy to fool, so he ordered the army to organize the troops and recover Hunan as soon as possible.

When Tunqi's troops marched north from Yongzhou to camp at the Baoqing fork, they were surprised to find that Sun Kewang's forwards Bai Wenxuan, Feng Shuangli, and Ma Jinzhong had marched to Zhoujiapu, Baoqing to camp.

The fork in the road is thirty miles away from Zhoujia Pu. Tunqi did not dare to retreat. He had just been reprimanded by Emperor Shunzhi for Nikan's death in battle. If he was afraid of fighting again, the Qing military law would be strict and he would not be able to escape death. Sun Kewang was unwilling to retreat. He wanted to make an immortal contribution to the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains so that he could capture Zhu Zhu. Ming and replace. Li Dingguo can become king in two ways, why can't he? His Majesty’s heart is as high as the sky.

The Battle of Baoqing started unexpectedly and naturally.

On March 1653, the seventh year of Yongli reign (), the Qing army attacked Zhoujiapu from a fork in the road. The Ming army camped on the top of the mountain. The terrain was difficult and it was raining. The two sides lined up and faced each other, regardless of the outcome. When the battle ended in the evening, Sun Kewang, who learned the news, led his troops to come from Baoqing Mansion for reinforcements. The personal visit of the king boosted the morale of the Ming army, and the Ming army had a slight upper hand in the battle on the th. This caused Sun Kewang to misjudge the Qing army's combat effectiveness, believing that the real Manchurian army was nothing more than that, and ordered a decisive battle with the Qing army the next day.

On the 17th, the Ming army abandoned the condescending and dangerous terrain and went down the mountain to launch a full-scale attack on the Qing army. The Qing army split up to attack, and the two sides started a fierce battle. As a result, the Ming army was defeated and suffered many casualties. The Qing army captured more than 700 horses and an elephant. The Qing army took advantage of the victory and occupied Baoqing Mansion. This battle was boasted by the Qing court as a great victory, but the list of casualties announced later was a long list: the commander of the army guard Kartala, Maile Zhangjing Wei Zheng, Wu Jing, Su Maile Zhangjing Chongba Tulu, Imutu, Qikena, Kenzhe, the guards and commanders of Ekchotba, Esai, and Dahaiharba, the attendant bachelor Solsun, and the bachelor Ma Lu

Because of the heavy casualties in the Battle of Baoqing, Tunqi was unable to occupy the entire Hunan after the war. Instead, it was in a stalemate with the Ming army in Jingzhou and Wugang; the same example is in Sichuan, where Wu Sangui and Li Guohan also defeated Liu Wenxiu in Baoning. There is no strength to take advantage of the victory and go south. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were in a stalemate in Hunan and Sichuan.

He County, Guangxi, where Li Dingguo stationed troops after withdrawing to the south. On this day, while handling military affairs in the tent, Gong Yi, a close advisor, came in and said, "King Anxi, you'd better meet that man. He has been in the camp for two months."

"I am a minister of the Ming Dynasty, how can I meet the envoys of foreign countries privately?" Li Dingguo hesitated.

"Now that the defenders have strong horses and strong horses, they may be helpful to our great cause of recovery. It won't be a problem to see them," Gong Yi advised.

"Well, let him in."

Zuo Shedou, a fair and fat man, walked into the big tent. He was covered in fat and his small eyes were shining. He followed Gong Yi into the military camp on Liu Haogu's order. "David's envoy Zuo Shedou meets the King of Anxi", it sounds like an authentic Shaanxi accent.

"Is the envoy from Shaanxi?" Li Dingguo felt a little fond of him after hearing his hometown dialect.

"I and the King of Anxi are from the same township, and both are from Yulin, Shaanxi," Zuo Shedou said flatteringly.

"I see, it's hard for you to still retain Ming Dynasty clothes."

"King Anxi doesn't know something. I, the people of David, dress as they please, unlike the pseudo-Qing Dynasties who force them to shave their heads and change their clothes."

The two sides chatted for a long time. Ren Zuo Shedou talked about the benefits of joining the Kingdom of Wei, including high-ranking officials, generous salaries, gold and silver jewelry, etc. Li Dingguo remained unmoved and insisted that he would only be loyal to the Ming Dynasty and would never be a traitor. When seeing off the guests, he also gave the fat man eight words: "Everyone has his own ambitions, don't force them."

After listening to Zuo Shedou's report, Liu Haogu smiled and said, "How? I have said before that it is easy to deal with treacherous ministers, but difficult to deal with loyal ministers. In this case, we can return to your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)