Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1402 Outflanking the enemy's rear
The territory of the Kingdom of Jin stretches very long, like a double-headed eagle, looking at the Western Regions from one end, and Guanzhong from the other, like a giant python lying in front of it.

The land of Yongliang and the Hexi Corridor are important hubs linking the east and west of the Kingdom of Jin. They are like the belly of a snake. If the Ming army can take Yongliang, it will be equivalent to dividing the Kingdom of Jin into two, and the Jin army in the Guanzhong and Longxi regions will not be able to escape westward. .

If it is possible to wipe out all the main forces of the Jin Kingdom, it will be possible to avoid the emergence of a powerful Xijin on the western border of the Ming Dynasty.

A few years ago, the Ming Dynasty began to manage the southern part of Qinghai, and re-established the relationship with Uzang. form a siege situation.

Wang Deren's responsibility was to outflank Guanlong. He led 2 troops from the south of Qinghai to the north, raided Xining Mansion, killed the Jin army by surprise, and then quickly attacked Liangzhou northward.

It's just that Yu Yin, the Household Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Jin, happened to be in Liangzhou City. Wang Deren had attacked for more than ten days, but he never broke the city.

Since the struggle between the two kings of Tang and Lu failed, King Tang was imprisoned on a high wall, and King Lu left for Nanyang, the generals of the Tang and Lu families have actually been unhappy in recent years and have become victims of political struggles.

Because of the downfall of the central government and the backstage, Wang Deren's life was not easy, and he was assigned to be stationed in the south of Qinghai, which was tantamount to marginalization and exile.

Due to the lack of supplies due to the impassable roads, coupled with the barrenness of the place, it is definitely not a comfortable thing to be stationed in Qinghai, not even as comfortable as the bitter cold outside the pass.

This time, he became the fifth army of Fajin, and he took on the task of surprise soldiers. For Wang Deren, it was definitely a chance to stand up.

After the downfall of the King of Tang, Jin Shenghuan, the big brother of the Tang Dynasty, died. Only Li Yuanyin, who was the first to join Wang Yan and had been communicating with Wang Yan, did well. Without promotion, he lost his political future.

This time he was able to get the task of outflanking the Jin army, not because someone wanted to take care of him, but because he happened to be stationed in Qinghai, a bitter place, so it fell on his head.

Wang Deren realized that this was an opportunity for him. If he could complete the task this time, it would be considered a great achievement, and he might be able to go a step further and regain the reuse of the imperial court, so as to avoid being transferred at the border for the rest of his life.

Because of this, Wang Deren put all his heart into this battle and was ready to show his skills, but food became his curse.

Due to geographical location, the roads between Qinghai and Sichuan were not smooth and there were mountains blocking them, so transportation was very inconvenient. The supplies of the Ming army in Qinghai mainly came from the southern area of ​​Qinghai controlled by the Ming army and the Uzang capital.

These two places were not rich, and Wang Deren only brought enough cattle and sheep to feed him for a month, so he marched northward.

He originally wanted to support the war with war, thinking that he could get a sum of food and grass from the Kingdom of Jin, but after taking Xining, he found that the treasury of the Kingdom of Jin was already empty, and he was even poorer than him.

Now he only has enough food for more than ten days, and he doesn't know when the main force of the Ming army will arrive. He can only conquer Liangzhou as soon as possible to solve the problem of food and grass. task.

Right now, Liangzhou City is not easy to fight, but it is not without good news. There are a batch of cattle and sheep transported from the Western Regions and Mongolia in Liangzhou City.

At this time, the morning sun gradually rose from the east, and the sun shone on Liangzhou City, embroidering a gold border on the outline of the city, awakening the entire battlefield.

The camp of the Ming army outside the city also became lively. The sounds of the cattle and sheep and the voices of the soldiers filled the camp. The soldiers walked out of the tents, and the camp gradually woke up from a deep sleep.

Seeing that the sun had risen, Wang Deren stared at Liangzhou City in the distance, then turned and returned to the big tent.

Not long after, the drums of the Chinese army gathering generals sounded, several famous generals and the accompanying Guiyi leader ate something in a hurry, and then went to the commander's tent.

At this time, on top of Liangzhou city, Yu Yin was observing the Ming army camp outside the city. The continuous attacks for several days had already made it difficult for the defenders in the city to deal with.

The situation in Liangzhou is very critical now, but compared to the situation in Liangzhou, Yu Yin is more worried about the outcome of the Guanzhong battle.

In recent days, new news has been coming in. The Ming army has entered Guanzhong. The main force of the Jin Kingdom is about to fight the Ming army. Others are in Liangzhou, but they are paying attention to the developments in Guanzhong.

"Master, the Ming bandits are going to attack the city again!" A general of the Jin army said suddenly, pointing to the outside of the city.

Yu Yin looked out of the city, and sure enough, he saw groups of Ming troops, carrying climbing ladders and battering rams, slowly walking out of the camp and starting to line up in the city.

There were only five thousand defenders in Liangzhou city, most of them were garrison troops, and none of them were elite. However, the Ming army did not have large siege equipment such as artillery, so they fought for more than ten days without defeating the city.

This time the Ming army launched a lot of goose carts and trebuchets, and the attack will obviously be more violent than before. Yu Yin's face darkened and his expression became serious. come to the city."

When the sword was on the verge of breaking out in the southern city, a messenger with a flag on his back galloped to the outside of the eastern city and shouted loudly, "Quick report from Guanzhong!"

The soldiers in the city did not dare to open the door, so they lowered the rope and hoisted the messenger up to the city.

Outside the west city, soldiers of the Ming army were forming formations. More than [-] soldiers formed several square formations. In front were sword and shield soldiers carrying ladders. The flag fluttered, murderous.

The 7000 Ming army first attacked Xining Mansion, and Wang Deren left [-] troops to guard it, and then led [-] troops to take Liangzhou. The troops were not enough to besiege the city, so the main attack was on one side.

Although limited by food and grass, the Ming army could not dispatch too many soldiers and horses, but the defenders in Liangzhou were very weak. Only Yu Yin and his guards were able to fight, and the others were not opponents of the Ming army.

The strength of the Ming army is only a little more than twice that of the city, but the Ming army is more elite than the Jin army. Wang Deren is still confident in taking Liangzhou, and he is only worried about time.

Yu Yin stood at the top of the city, put his hands on the top of the city and looked down the city. He saw that the Ming army was full of murderous intent. He also shouted loudly, his morale was gradually mobilized, and he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

But at this moment, the messenger who entered the city from the east gate was brought to the south city, came behind Yu Yin, suddenly knelt down on one knee, then held a piece of cloth in his hand, and said in a sweaty voice : "Report to Mr. Guan, urgent report from Guanzhong!"

Yu Yin trembled when he heard this, turned around hastily, grabbed the silk, unfolded it, and saw that it was Han Chaoxuan sending it quickly.

A few days ago, the Jin army was defeated in Lintong. Han Chaoxuan and Wu Sangui are currently retreating to Longxi. He is asked to prepare supplies and send troops to guard the dangerous points to help the defeated troops stabilize their positions so that the Ming army does not rush into Longxi.

The letter also mentioned that Hauge should flee to the north, and would go to Longxi with Meng Qiaofang, or go northwest to Yinzhou, and asked him to pay more attention and prepare food and grass for relief.

After reading it, Yu Yin couldn't help taking a few steps back, leaning against the city wall, his face turned pale for a while, he raised his head, and couldn't help sighing in his heart, after all, he was defeated.

But Liangzhou will be lost, how can he meet the defeated army?Although he had asked Sun Kewang to send troops to reinforce him, after Sun Kewang defeated Luocha, the situation in the Western Regions was very good. He was busy integrating the forces of various ethnic groups and managing his territory, but the promised reinforcements had not yet arrived.

(End of this chapter)