"It's not that far from Kunming." Deng Ming looked at the stone tablet on the ground, the eighteen knights were now in Yunnan, and he could feel that the atmosphere north of Kunming was quite tense.

Looking at the Dongchuan Mansion from afar, there was a lot of flames, but no one in the Qing army knew what was going on.

There is only one passage with post stations and outposts in the entire Dongchuan Mansion, and after this road is cut off, it is impossible to find out the news, and this incident even alarmed Wu Sangui in Kunming City. The battle situation in Dongchuan Mansion is very strange, it stands to reason that more and more military information should be sent over time, if the battle situation is not too complicated, the generals of the Qing army can judge how large the Ming army has sent to attack, what they want to achieve what is the purpose, and whether it is necessary to send reinforcements.

But this time there was hardly any new information, just a beacon constantly being lit. From beginning to end, it was the first report: the Dongchuan garrison went to Jianchang to accept the surrender, and then encountered an attack by the Ming army, and was trying to break through and retreat, and they also encountered a Qing army from Baoning - the fake news written by Deng Ming.

Because the situation was so unusual, the Qing generals in northern Yunnan could not understand what was going on, so they reported the situation to Kunming. Wu Sangui also felt bizarre after seeing it, this situation reminded him of his youth in Liaodong, and it was a bit similar when the Later Jin soldiers attacked the Liaoxi Corridor: back then, the Houjin pursuers, that is, their forward cavalry, ran faster than the Ming army's rout, so for a period of time, the rear only knew that the beacon towers in front were lit one after another, but they didn't know anything about what was happening on the front line, and there was no new military intelligence report as today, and there were no rumors. But in the future, the rapid speed of the Golden Cavalry will not be able to block the news for such a long time.

However, Wu Sangui quickly denied this idea, he knew very well that Feng Shuangli of Jianchang did not have a strong cavalry. There must have been many more strongholds and roads in the western Liaoning corridor than in Dongchuan now, which could quickly spread the military intelligence from the front to the rear, and some villages were scattered in the local area, which also facilitated the rapid advance of the Houjin vanguard, so that they did not have to worry too much about supplies; Although the Qing army built some warehouses during this period, the grain, grass and materials transported were still very small, that is, just enough to maintain food, and the opposing brigade would quickly stop the offensive because it could not obtain supplies on the spot. If it is said that Jianchang's Ming army completely relied on supplies from Jianchang, then if they were killed from Dongchuan in one go, how many people would be needed to carry supplies back and forth? Even if only 1,000 people are supported to kill Yunnan, tens of thousands of people will have to be mobilized, right? And what can a thousand people do when they really arrive in Yunnan?

Wu Sangui became curious, and after a few days he did not see new information, Wu Sangui's interest became even stronger - he had been in the army for decades, from the north to Yunnan, and he could see through most of the military situation at a glance through the fog, so the confusing situation in Dongchuan seemed like a tempting side dish.

Three days ago, when the report of Dongchuan only Fenghuo and no battle report was sent to Wu Sangui, he was convening a meeting of the generals to discuss how to continue to compress Li Dingguo's space for maneuver and crusade against and lure the Ming troops in Yunnan. Zhao Liangdong, who was valued by Wu Sangui very much, happened to be in the account. After the military meeting, Wu Sangui asked Zhao Liangdong to stay and take out this dish with him to share with him.

"The losses of the officers and soldiers are not small." Zhao Liangdong was now the commander-in-chief of Luozhen and knew nothing about the situation in Dongchuan, but after reading Wu Sangui's report, he also understood that the Qing army in Yunnan would not be able to attack Jianchang in a short period of time.

Wu Sangui nodded. Now Wu Sangui has planned to temporarily give up the idea of continuing to run Dongchuan, and wait until Li Dingguo is driven farther and the Ming army in Yunnan is wiped out more, and then turn his attention to the north, Wu Sangui is the commander of the 200,000 army, and the 1,000 troops invested by Dongchuan are not the focus of his attention. However, he showed Zhao Liangdong these reports, and did not ask the other party's opinion on the aftermath of Dongchuan, Wu Sangui already had a plan in his abdomen, and he didn't need others to give him ideas, what he wanted to ask was Zhao Liangdong's opinion on this bizarre situation.

As Wu Sangui expected, at first, Zhao Liangdong didn't understand why Wu Sangui would show him these things. Now Zhao Liangdong is shouldering the heavy responsibility of the southwest direction of Kunming, he is the former enemy commander-in-chief of the Qing army that killed and pursued Li Dingguo, and the affairs of Dongchuan have nothing to do with Zhao Liangdong, and no matter whether it succeeds or fails, compared to the military action of pursuing the Yongli court and Li Dingguo, Dongchuan is just a trivial matter like sesame garlic.

But gradually, Zhao Liangdong's face showed a thoughtful sè, and he flipped through the several reports that Wu Sangui gave him, twisted the beard on his chin, and showed a wry smile with a little confusion: "Interesting, really interesting." ”

"What does the general think?" Wu Sangui saw the expression on Zhao Liangdong's face and guessed his thoughts. For the development of the Dongchuan war, Wu Sangui has also experienced the process of waiting for leisure to curiosity, and then to interest, among the generals in Yunnan, Wu Sangui admires this Zhao Liangdong the most, so the two of them began to do this intellectual question.

Zhao Liangdong gave several ideas in a row, Wu Sangui laughed when he heard it, he had every idea at the beginning, but they were quickly abandoned by him. If Zhao Liangdong thought slowly, he would probably give up in the end, but now Wu Sangui didn't give him time, and immediately dismissed his assumptions that he hadn't carefully considered.

As one idea after another was refuted, Zhao Liangdong felt that this intellectual game was more difficult than he expected, he was no longer in a hurry to answer but thought seriously, during which he glanced at Wu Sangui and thought to himself: "Has he already understood what is going on?" However, Zhao Liangdong quickly denied this speculation, because he saw that there was a trace of expectation in Wu Sangui's eyes looking at him.

When Zhao Liangdong respoke, his tone became less certain: "Commander, please see, will there be a team of Jianchang cavalry, the number is not much, there are only about fifty people, Jianchang has provided one hundred and fifty horses for this cavalry, to ensure that they can carry enough baggage, and at the same time can attack quickly......"

Hearing this, Wu Sangui's eyes showed appreciation, but he was also a little disappointed, appreciating because Zhao Liangdong had caught up with his own train of thought, and his idea was already the same as Wu Sangui's latest speculation; disappointed that Zhao Liangdong still did not surpass himself, and this speculation had just been overturned by Wu Sangui himself.

"This group of Jianchang soldiers can advance very quickly, constantly attacking outposts with only a dozen defenders along the way, and this group of Jianchang soldiers are all jīng sharp in the army, and can quickly break through every outpost, so it can explain why the Jianchang soldiers can quickly advance south regardless of the supply baggage, and there has been no new report back." Zhao Liangdong painted a picture of the battlefield situation he guessed. He felt that fifty men was a more appropriate number, because the number of people was too small to withstand attrition, and the Ming army would not be able to advance to such a long distance. However, if there were more people, the horses and food needed for high-speed mobility would seem to be a problem. Besides, Feng Shuangli, can he draw a hundred jīng sharp riders and hundreds of war horses? Zhao Liangdong never believed that Feng Shuangli could have this strength, and fifty people all said it to Gaoli.

Zhao Liangdong paused when he said this, he didn't see the meaning of approval from Wu Sangui's face, and he also vaguely felt that his speculation seemed to have a big loophole, what was it?

Without waiting for Wu Sangui to remind him, Zhao Liangdong realized where his loophole was, that is, what was Jianchang's purpose in launching this battle?

"Jianchang's Feng Shuangli," Wu Sangui said slowly, and hit the nail on the head: "Does he want to fight back to Yunnan?" ”

Of course not. Let's not talk about Feng Shuangli's strength, even if he decides to counterattack Yunnan without his clear mind, he will not take the road of Dongchuan Mansion. Zhao Liangdong knew very well that the current battle in Dongchuan could only have one purpose, that is, to interfere with the construction of the Qing army, and to cut it off before the Qing army could use this passage, which was an offensive to prevent xìng.

In this case, the strongest target for the Jianchang soldiers to attack should be the northernmost and closest Qing stronghold to Dongchuan Prefecture, and the further south the stronghold, the lower their attack will become, because the cost of attacking these strongholds will increase dramatically; On the other hand, the cost of repairing the northernmost stronghold was relatively high, but the cost of repairing the southern stronghold near the border with Yunnan was relatively low. Under normal circumstances, Feng Shuangli's attacks would be quickly halted after breaching the one or two strongholds closest to Jianchang.

Why was Feng Shuangli so interested in a stronghold close to Yunnan and invested such a huge amount of resources?

Any detachment that can carry out such a rear-free, long-distance attack can be called a proud son in the army, and Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong are very skeptical that Feng Shuangli can really have such a sharp detachment. But even if Feng Shuangli did have such a fifty-strong jīng sharp force, why did he carry out this operation? Such a team of jīng soldiers can play a decisive role on the battlefield, not to mention Feng Shuangli, even if Zhao Liangdong has such a team of jīng soldiers, he will be reluctant to use it as if he loved his own eyes.

If Feng Shuangli really has such a jīng sharp, if he has plans to counterattack Yunnan now, and he has to take the road of Dongchuan, there may be a little bit of possibility for such an investment. But now Feng Shuangli doesn't have much strength, and he can't explain why he put this kind of life-saving base force into a blitzkrieg with little benefit and great risk. It is impossible to besiege the outpost without casualties, in the absence of a rear, if three or four people are wounded, one will always be killed, right, use their own jīng sharp troops to exchange for the lives of the enemy outpost guards? Or to exchange the life of his own sharp soldier for an outpost that has no threat or value?

"What would the general do if he was in Feng Shuangli's position?" Now Wu Sangui has seen Jianchang's action of sending Jin Yin to ask for surrender as a trick to lure the enemy, in order to disperse the strength of Dongchuan's defenders as much as possible in order to launch a sneak attack.

Zhao Liangdong doesn't have to think about this problem at all, and all kinds of countermeasures are ready-made. In order to disperse the Qing army in Dongchuan, Feng Shuangli could even use the golden seal of the county king given to him by the Emperor of Yongli as bait - this appalling behavior can only show that Feng Shuangli's strength is already insignificant. Zhao Liangdong estimated that Feng Shuangli did not say that he provided 150 horses to 50 strong men, even if there were 50 cavalrymen who dared to fight, it was very suspicious.

If Zhao Liangdong was in such a position, he would first set up a Hongmen banquet to attack and kill the defenders of Dongchuan, and then send troops to raid the stronghold closest to the Xingdu Division in Sichuan. After capturing one or two strongholds, he sent some soldiers to escort the Qing soldiers who had just surrendered to attack the south, and he led the main force back to Jianchang. After capturing the first few strongholds, it has been able to greatly delay the offensive of the Qing army, as for the behind, of course, let the surrendered troops fight, if they can be defeated, it is the best, and if they can't be defeated, the dead are also the soldiers who surrendered to the enemy. If he continues to attack until he completely exhausts his offensive ability, even if someone starves to death or dies of illness in the wilderness because he goes too deep, Feng Shuangli will not feel distressed.

Forced to turn around and attack friendly forces, the newly surrendered soldiers will certainly be demoralized, slow to move, and will flee in large numbers, and the Ming army will advance very slowly and quickly stop. In that case, there should be a very detailed report back to Kunming: how many strongholds were lost, how many troops were lost, how many men the Ming army dispatched, how many days of fighting it had to return to Jianchang on its own, and so on.

Feng Shuangli's most undesirable way of fighting was to draw out the sharpest soldiers in the army, equip them with all the horses and the best armor, and launch a decisive assault into the distance led by loyal family members and personal guards: you don't have to think about coming back, you can fight as far as you can, and burn as many posts as you can.

Although this assumption can explain the current situation of the war very well, it violates the principles that all generals need to consider, and also violates the instinct of generals to preserve their strength, so it cannot be true.

"Interesting, right?" Wu Sangui asked with a smile, he also saw the contradiction in it.

"The last will be dull." Zhao Liangdong couldn't find a solution to the problem, and reluctantly admitted defeat: "Please also ask the marshal to give advice." ”

"I don't know." Wu Sangui was very straightforward and bluntly admitted: "Originally, I was counting on the general to solve my doubts." ”

Like Wu Sangui, the more he couldn't figure out the military form, the more attractive it was to Zhao Liangdong, and he immediately said: "The last general will go back at night and think about it, and if he has something, he will come back to discuss it with the marshal." ”

"Okay," Wu Sangui said with a smile: "If the general can figure it out before me, I will lose to the general." ”

"It's a deal." Zhao Liangdong and Wu Sangui made a bet, and the two of them could put forward their own hypotheses, and then wait for the truth to be revealed before verifying whether they were right or wrong. For the sake of fairness, Wu Sangui will also inform Zhao Liangdong of the latest news in a timely manner.

For this reason, Wu Sangui also gave a special order, asking a personal soldier to go to the north of Kunming and the border of Dongchuan Mansion to wait, if there is first-hand Dongchuan information, send it back immediately. This puzzle was more difficult than initially thought, and both of them needed more information to refine their conjectures.

Deng Ming naturally didn't know about Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong's concern, and after confirming that they had entered Yunnan, they planned to turn around and go back. The Qing army posts here are getting denser and denser, and there has been no opportunity to destroy them for two consecutive days, and it seems that the density of the enemy will only get higher and higher further south, and it is obviously pointless to continue on.

"Let's go eat Wu Sangui first." Deng Ming said to the guards. He had already thrown away the arrows and seals of the Dongchuan guard, leaving only a piece of Baoning Qianzong's waist card, planning to use this Qing army post station to go to Yunnan to cheat a good meal and drink, and then turn around and return to Dongchuan.

The subordinates also agreed with both hands to this construction, and once they began to return to Dongchuan, then everyone could only eat the grain buried in the ground, and the post station in Yunnan could eat vegetables. Deng Ming also planned to pretend to be an envoy to the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and with this capacity, he might be able to get a supply of meat.

"Let's report another news to Wu Sangui by the way." Deng Ming planned to do one last sabotage before leaving.

He had already figured out how to explain his identity, so he said that Baoning had also received a letter from Di Sanxi asking for surrender, and that he was a messenger from Baoning to Jianchang to surrender, but he did not expect to encounter a sudden attack by the Ming army, and there was no way to go north, so he had to flee along the avenue to Dongchuan, and now he plans to return to Chóngqìng via Guizhou. Before leaving the post house, the Boryeong envoy left a half-truth report containing vague information about the Jianchang incident. The report said that Di Sanxi did replace Feng Shuangli in charge, and said that Di Sanxi was the main battle faction who presided over the ambush, at first Deng Ming felt that Wu Sangui might believe it, and he had to wait for some rìzi before he could verify the situation with Li Guoying, and found that there was no such messenger at all, and he would be suspicious of this report, so let Wu Sangui have a headache.

A qiē is very smooth, and found a post station for the Qing army. After this period of training, Deng Ming and his guards were extremely enduring, and although there were Qing soldiers inside and outside the station, they still slept loudly - this was the first time they had the opportunity to sleep under the eaves for many years, and there were beds and bedding. After leaving here, I have to sleep in the wild for a long time.

After eating breakfast the next morning, Deng Ming enjoyed the tea provided by the inn, although it was not a good tea, but it was also a luxury that he had not had for many days.

After eating and drinking, Deng Ming and his entourage were ready to say goodbye and leave, and before leaving, he pretended to ask about the distribution of post stations along the way to Guizhou, he didn't know if the Qing army in Yunnan could find out in time to be deceived, and the smoke was always released as much as possible.

At this moment, a group of well-dressed Qing soldiers suddenly rushed in from outside the door, and as soon as the leader entered the door, he asked loudly: "Is there a Baoning Qianzong here?" ”

The interrogator was none other than a soldier sent by Wu Sangui to inquire about the news, and he had just learned from the local magistrate that some witnesses to the Dongchuan incident had spent the night at the post station, and he immediately brought people to Kunming to take them.

Without waiting for Deng Ming to speak, the stationmaster of the post station had already pointed to Deng Ming's personal guard: "It's this President Qian!" ”