Ming Empire

Chapter 184 The situation has reached a critical point
(Another New Year's Eve is coming, and Dusk is here to wish all book friends a happy new year and a healthy family! Thank you for your support!)——
Before the army set off, Chang Yanling and others invited Cao Yue, who was busy day and night, to Qingxianglou for a drink under the pretext of discussing some confidential matters.Cao Yue originally refused to go, but after hearing that Chang Yanling said that he wanted to discuss some confidential matters, and that Qinhuai Bayan would also come together to do his best for him, after thinking about it, he finally went.

Chang Yanling's so-called confidential matter is actually nothing. It is probably about how the Nanjing Jinyiwei, whose main force is in their hands after Cao Yue led the army to leave Nanjing, will monitor and control the officials in Nanjing.

With more than [-] troops in the Nanjing New Army, Chang Yanling and others, who are Cao Yue's best friends, are also living very well, and no one dares to provoke them.Even their several superiors basically did not intervene in Jin Yiwei's affairs and let them toss.It's just that after Cao Yue led the army to leave, what will happen to the officialdom in Nanjing, and whether the two officials in Nanjing Jinyiwei who are higher than them will let them run amok, no one knows.

Chang Yanling didn't know what to do, so he wanted to ask Cao Yue for something to make them feel at ease.

They didn't know about some of the arrangements made by Cao Yue. In order to reassure Chang Yanling and others, Cao Yue also revealed to them some arrangements that he didn't want to tell them, and told Chang Yanling a few killer tricks.

Chang Yanling and others were naturally relieved, not afraid that after Cao Yue led the army to leave Nanjing, their power would be weak and they would be plotted against.Cao Yue still has a lot of military forces left in Nanjing, more than enough to control the situation in Nanjing.

After several people discussed the confidential matter, they went out to meet Qin Huai Bayan who had been waiting for a long time.

Although it is said that seeing beautiful women will definitely make people feel happy, Cao Yue today does not want to tarnish his reputation because of meeting so many women. The soldiers looked down on him, so he didn't stay too long, toasted all the glasses of wine, and after accepting the toast of Qinhuai Bayan, Gu Zi left.

After Cao Yue drank a glass of wine boldly, he cupped his fists and apologized to everyone present: "Everyone, Cao can't stay for a long time today because of military affairs, so I use this wine as an apology. I can't drink with you today. I appreciate you all." The girl is talented, after the army returns from victory, I will drink the wine to celebrate with you!"

Seeing the back of Cao Yue leaving in a hurry, everyone was stunned, including Chang Yanling and others, as well as Qinhuai Bayan.Whether it was Chen Yuanyuan, Liu Rushi, or Dong Xiaowan, they all wanted to say some words of encouragement and encouragement to Cao Yue before he set off on the expedition, and wished Cao Yue a victory and a triumphant return.They also wanted to show their unique skills, Bo Cao Yue smiled.But unexpectedly, Cao Yue didn't even give them a chance to speak alone. After drinking two glasses of wine, he left on his own, leaving the eight sisters and his brothers in Qingxianglou.

At first they were a little resentful of Cao Yue's airs, but after Chang Yanling and others explained it and thought about it seriously, they were relieved and admired Cao Yue's personality.I even felt that when Cao Yue left, his back was very chic and graceful, which is definitely the best embodiment of masculinity.

"I believe that General Cao will solve Beijing's crisis and come back victorious!" Chen Yuanyuan murmured softly.

"General Cao is leaving in such a hurry, the situation must be very critical, I hope I will be safe!" This is Liu Rushi's worry in her heart, she feels that she has never cared about the current situation as much as she does now, and prays for General Daming, hoping that they can defeat The rogues, solve the danger in Beijing, and hope that Cao Yue can return with a big victory and return to Nanjing safely.She also did not forget to tell Chang Yanling and others: "Masters, if there is news about the military ahead, I hope Mr. Chang, Mr. Guo, and Mr. Zhang can tell our sisters as soon as possible. Thank you!"

Chang Yanling and others naturally agreed.

Dong Xiaowan and the other sisters, no matter whether they have feelings for Cao Yue or not, they all care about Cao Yue and pray that the crisis in Daming can be resolved.

In fact, none of them knew that the current situation had reached a critical moment.

Li Zicheng's group of men and horses made rapid progress after the expedition, and the Ming army they encountered along the way hardly offered any decent resistance.

On the second day of August, the troops led by Li Zicheng personally attacked Pingyang. At about the same time, Liu Zongmin's army entered Fenzhou, and Li Guo's army approached Taiyuan.At the end of August, Liu Zongmin's troops and Li Guo's troops joined forces under the city of Taiyuan, and quickly captured Taiyuan.

After the bandits broke through Taiyuan, they continued to go north.

At Wuning Pass, the rogues finally encountered stubborn resistance. Zhou Yuji, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi, led his army to defend the pass, inflicting great damage on the rogues.However, Zhou Yuji's troops were only 3 to [-], and compared with the rogues, they were at an absolute disadvantage.Zhou Yuji sent people to seek help from Jiang Xiang and Jiang Rang brothers, but the Jiang brothers not only did not send troops to rescue, but finally chose to surrender when the bandits approached, and together with the bandits, attacked Wuning Pass from behind.In mid-September, Wuning Pass fell, and Zhou Yuji and more than [-] soldiers under his command died in battle.

At the end of September, the troops led by Li Guo attacked the Xuanfu, and Zhu Zhifeng, the governor of the Xuanfu, and Wang Chengyin, the commander-in-chief, defected and surrendered.

At the end of September, Li Zicheng's troops attacked Datong, but under the heroic resistance of Datong's general soldier Zhao Xin and deputy general Zhao Tai, Li Zicheng's troops still failed after paying the price of more than 5 casualties, and were forced to give up continuing. Instead of attacking, they besieged the city with [-] horses, hoping that the soldiers and civilians of Datong would surrender when they ran out of ammunition and food.Datong was not captured because of Cao Yue’s good management at the beginning, the efficient production capacity of the firearms workshop, and sufficient gunpowder and grain reserves. Of course, the strong combat effectiveness of the remaining Datong army was also an important reason for Datong’s victory again. .

The fact that Datong was not captured did not affect the rogues who attacked east to attack Beijing.

Jiannu went south from the north and wanted to attack Beijing from the middle. The direction of Datong was an important military town on the way they had to pass. If Datong was not captured, the back road might be cut off at any time.But the rogues who attacked from the Central Plains had no such scruples.

It's just that they were worried that the defenders of Datong would rush to help Beijing or cause chaos for them, so they besieged the city with 5 horses.

The situation is extremely critical, and the imperial court's imperial edict ordering Qin Wang's division to enter Beijing flew all over the country like snowflakes, but Wu Sangui who guarded Shanhaiguan, Liu Zeqing who fled back to Shandong without a fight, and Zuo Liangyu from Hebei did not seem to have received it at all. Like the imperial court's distress report, there was no action.

Cao Bianjiao from Songshan outside the pass, and Zu Dashou from Jinzhou were temporarily unable to lead their troops back to aid, because at this time Dorgon led an army of 10,000+ to go south and stationed troops on the front line of Songshan and Jinzhou.After Dorgon received the news that hundreds of thousands of rogue troops were attacking Beijing, he quickly mobilized his troops to the south, wanting to take this opportunity to avenge his revenge.Dorgon's army was suppressing the border, and Liaodong's soldiers and horses could not rush to help Beijing. Everyone knew that if they left Songshan, Jinzhou and other strong cities at this time, they might be completely wiped out by Jiannu before they entered the customs. spank their asses.

The situation has reached a critical point.

(End of this chapter)