Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 429
The Guangyuan Western Army made a temporary camp, and all the western armies were busy treating the wounded. The main force of the Western Army retreated from the Jinniu Road to Sichuan, and the main force of the Western Army suffered heavy losses, enough to make Zhang Xianzhong unable to recover within two years. Come.

During the Battle of Hanzhong, the Western Army assembled 13 elite troops out of Sichuan, Zhang Xianzhong’s five bodyguards had [-] personal guards, and the Four Kings’ [-] elites, but now less than [-] have safely returned to Guangyuan. Zhang Nengqi of Qingshiguan and the [-] defenders in Yangxian County are probably more ominous than good.

In other words, after half a year of the Hanzhong War, the 13 elite soldiers assembled by the Western Army spent countless money and food in Shuzhong. They originally wanted to occupy Hanzhong, and then marched into Guanzhong to compete with the Qing court, but they lost [-]% and lost The land of Hanzhong can be described as a disastrous defeat.

The Western Army lost nearly 10 horses in Hanzhong. Of course, with so many people, in addition to those who were killed, captured and surrendered, there must also be those who fled into the mountains and were separated from the main force. Come to collect, because the food in Hanzhong has been robbed long ago, and the road to Shu is basically blocked.

In this way, the Western Army actually lost [-] people, but Hauge was able to recover part of his strength with the help of surrendered troops and captives.

If you add the [-] Qing soldiers brought into Hanzhong by Wu Sangui and Obai, as well as a large amount of food and grass, the defeat of the Western Army not only severely damaged their vitality, but also greatly deteriorated the situation in Sichuan and Shu.

After the western army withdrew into Guangyuan, they rested on the spot. The defeat caused the morale of the army to drop to the bottom. The soldiers generally lost their fighting spirit, especially the soldiers from Shu. As the old saying goes, "Go to Long and look forward to Shu", now that the Western Army has lost Hanzhong, the land of Shu is in danger.

Right now, among the Western Army, Zhang Dingguo is unconscious, Zhang Wenxiu is also seriously injured, and the news of King Dingbei is unknown, so all the burdens fall on Zhang Kewang.

In Guangyuan City, Emperor Daxi Zhang Xianzhong was there temporarily, and Zhang Kewang hurried over to discuss the strategy of defending Shu.

He was led to a large hall, Zhang Xianzhong hadn't arrived, but left minister Wang Zhaoling and several ministers had already sat on the two sides, they saw Zhang Kewang coming in, and greeted him one after another.

Zhang Kewang handed over to everyone, but he treated Wang Zhaoling coldly, he snorted coldly, "Misleading the country's courtiers, killing my [-] soldiers, how can I still have the face to sit in the hall?"

The Western Army of Hanzhong originally defended against danger and defended against the enemy outside Hanzhong. With 13 horses, the Qing army would definitely not be able to break in. The Western Army repelled the Qing soldiers and occupied Hanzhong. Zhang Xianzhong adopted the strategy of luring the enemy to go deep, changed the previous strategy of the Western Army, let the Qing soldiers enter Hanzhong, and made Zhang Xianzhong take risks. Now that the Western Army was defeated, Zhang Kewang naturally put the blame on Wang Zhaoling.

Wang Zhaoling's face turned green and pale for a while, glaring at Zhang Kewang and said: "King Pingdong, the Battle of Hanzhong is a decision made by Long Live. Is King Pingdong questioning Long Live again? Truth is all about Daxi, for Long Live, saying that Truth has harmed one hundred thousand people." Soldiers, it is better to say that the kings are not good in battle, and they have failed the expectations of the truth and long live."

The defeat of Hanzhong, the loss of the master and the loss of ground, such a big pot, Wang Zhaoling would not take it back, he cupped his hands upwards, and raised the banner of Zhang Xianzhong, immediately leaving Zhang Kewang speechless, he could only wave his sleeves and snort coldly, Sit down in his place.

There was a moment of silence in the hall. After a while, Zhang Xianzhong arrived and everyone saluted together, breaking the dullness.

"Hanzhong is the barrier of Shu. Now that I am defeated in Hanzhong, Shuzhong will inevitably be shaken, and the Qing court will also be eyeing it." After seeing the ceremony, Zhang Xianzhong asked everyone to sit down, and then went straight to the topic, "Whoever has a strategy, help me secure Inside and outside."

After Daxi entered Shu, under the auspices of Zuo Xiang Wang Zhaoling, he continued to implement the strategy of attacking the gentry, killing the big families in Shu, and the gentry were very heavy.

As the old saying goes, "The gentry is the hope of a city, and the gentry is the head of the four people." The gentry was the foundation of the ancient dynasty. They controlled most of the resources and power. If Daxi attacked the gentry, they would naturally not get the support of the gentry.

Historically, Zhang Xianzhong fought on both sides of Shu, dealing with both the Qing army and the Ming army, as well as the rebellion of the gentry class, but now Daxi has reached a tacit agreement with the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming army in Chongqing Prefecture in eastern Sichuan did not attack Daxi , and the Ming Dynasty did not support the rebellion in Shuzhong.

Although the land of Shu is calm on the surface, Daxi has not been recognized by the gentry after all, and internal dangers still exist. Before Zhang Xianzhong was able to deter the middle of Shu with a strong army, the gentry dared not have any ideas, but now that Hanzhong is defeated, it is inevitable that there will be internal dangers. There are unstable factors.

Furthermore, after the Qing soldiers won the victory in Hanzhong, they definitely planned to plot the whole of Sichuan. With Haoge and Wu Sangui leading a great victory, it was inevitable to attack Shu.

Zhang Kewang had thought about the situation a long time ago. He stood up and said, "Father, my ministers think that the matter of Annei is easy. You only need to formally conclude an alliance with the Ming Dynasty, and then promise benefits to the gentry. In the end, the father will sit in Xijing, Shu The land can be stabilized. What my ministers worry about is the urgent matter of fighting against foreigners. Although the northern section of Jinniu Road has been burned, it will not take a few months for the Qing army to restore it. In addition, Qingshi What is the situation in Guan and Yang counties? We don’t know, but we have to be prepared in case the Qing soldiers take the Micang Road or the Litchi Road to attack Shu. Erchen thinks that we should mobilize troops as soon as possible to guard these two critical points. "

Zhang Xianzhong sat upright, "Micang Dao and Lizhi Dao are indeed very important. Who will defend them now?"

Half a year after Zhang Xianzhong entered Hanzhong, all the affairs of Shu were entrusted to the right minister Yan Ximing, as well as Wang Guolin, Jiang Dingzhen, and Gong Wanjing. Although many things were reported to Hanzhong by Yan Ximing, but Zhang Xianzhong's mind was on dealing with Hauge, so he didn't know much about Sichuan affairs.

"A concubine who rides the world of mortals laughs, but no one knows that it is litchi." It is said that Yang Yuhuan, the imperial concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, loved litchi very much.In order to meet the needs of his favorite concubine Yang Yuhuan who liked to eat lychees, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered that a post station be set up from Fuzhou, Sichuan to go directly to Chang'an. This is the origin of the Lychee Road.

The origin of Micang Road is relatively early. It is said that it existed in the ancient Shu Kingdom, and it was one of the earliest passages to cross Micang Mountain in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province in ancient times.

The importance of these two passages is as important as the Jinniu Road. Losing any of them will threaten the safety of Shu.

At this time, most of the left-behind ministers were in Xijing, and only Jiang Dingzhen came to Guangyuan. He quickly got up and said, "Long live, the exit of Mi Cang Road is guarded by Feng Shuangli, the commander of the rear army, and 5000 people are guarding it, and there is the commander of the right army on Lizhi Road." Zhang Hualong led 5000 people to guard Wanyuan, so there shouldn't be any mistakes."

Zhang Xianzhong nodded, "The Qing family wrote me an edict, telling Feng and Zhang Erjiang that they must guard against danger. In addition, we must investigate the situation of Qingshiguan and Yang County as soon as possible. If they are still holding on, they can be ordered to withdraw to the middle of Sichuan." .As for Jinniu Dao, you can hope to stay in the Jiange, and the rest of you will return to Xijing with me at some point."

A few days later, the Western Army regained some vitality after a rest, and Zhang Dingguo also came to his senses. Zhang Xianzhong then prepared to fight against Xijing in the south, and then arranged for ministers to formally form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty.

However, at this moment, a thunderbolt from the blue sky suddenly came. After the defeat of the Western Army in the north of Baocheng, Yang County had become an isolated city and was surrounded by the Qing Army again. The guard Liu Jinzhong surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. After passing through Xixiang and Zhenba, after reaching Wanyuan, he pretended to withdraw from Hanzhong and return to Shuzhong, took the opportunity to defeat Wanyuan guard Zhang Hualong, and entered the northeastern part of Sichuan.

(Thanks to book friend 3072, Yuedong Woxin's monthly ticket)

(End of this chapter)