Li Guoying planned to wait for two days, and then start to withdraw his troops step by step, but Deng Ming and Yuan Zongdi did not know Li Guoying's thoughts, what they saw was that the Qing army was as safe as a rock, and even an army of thousands of people did not retreat.

"Probably there are still a lot of Qing troops left behind in the Guangyuan area," after waiting for two days without movement, Deng Ming and Yuan Zongdi analyzed: "So Li Guoying is not too worried about the back road, as long as he sends a few messengers back to report Jǐng." ”

"If that's the case, there's no way we can scare Li Guoying away." Yuan Zongdi admits that this analysis makes sense, but Yuan Zongdi thinks that there may be other reasons for Li Guoying's insistence: "Maybe Li Guoying doesn't believe us at all and thinks we are bluffing." ”

"If that's the case, they won't withdraw their troops, and once they see through that we're bluffing, they'll stick to the chóngqìng."

"The last general thought that the Admiral might as well come to the army in a few days with great fanfare." Yuan Zongdi proposed a new Jianyì, although Deng Ming arrived in the Ming military camp with guards and prisoners for two days, but he has not shown the banner, this news has not been fully publicized, Yuan Zongdi thinks that he can continue to scare Li Guoying: "Li Thief may be lucky now, thinking that we are deceiving him, or thinking that the Admiral defeated Gao Mingzhan but also suffered a lot of losses, and he was unable to attack Guangyuan for a while." Therefore, the Admiral might as well suddenly raise the banner, and when Li Thief saw that the Admiral had indeed arrived, he would think that the Admiral's army might arrive at any time, and it would be too late for him to leave at this time. ”

"Well, let's give it a try." Deng Ming knew that if Chóngqìng's Qing army did not worry about the back road, they would not be scared away, and now he could only hope that Yuan Zongdi's judgment was correct, and Li Guoying was just a fluke. However, Deng Ming didn't think there was any need to wait until a few days later: "Without further ado, let's arrange it, and I'll put out the banner tomorrow." ”

"It's fine." Yuan Zongdi nodded: "If the Tartars are indeed pretending to be calm, it is naturally best to scare them while they are still in shock." ”

"There is another, more important reason, we can't afford to miss the agricultural time." The frost-free period of the Chengdu Plain is long, and the crops can be harvested twice a year, but it takes longer to reclaim the wasteland and plant it for the first time: "It's already February, so we quickly scare Li Guoying away, take the chóngqìng, and then I have to take people back to the capital to clear the wasteland and sow seeds." This year, we must hurry up to grow food, or at least harvest our own rations. If you take chóngqìng a day earlier, you can start farming a day earlier, and if you drag it on for too long, the farm work will be delayed. ”

The next day, Li Guoying landed on the top of the city early and carefully observed the positions of the Ming army, and in the past two days he had already deployed the task of retreating in batches, and the artillery was also secretly transferred to the rear to block the Jialing River, so as to prevent the Ming ships from taking advantage of the weakness after the division withdrew. The first one to go was, of course, Wang Mingde, who was of course very happy after getting this task, and there were many dissatisfied people, many of whom asked to act with Wang Mingde, and Li Guoying spent a lot of effort to persuade them to stay.

Today, another batch of Ming ships came from downstream, and more than 10,000 Zhejiang soldiers and Chu soldiers arrived, and now the number of Ming troops on the other side has exceeded 35,000. The Qing generals who had to stay looked at the Ming army positions on the other side, and they all felt heavy, standing beside Li Guoying silently.

Li Guoying observed the banner of the Ming army and figured out the intentions behind Yuan Zongdi's various deployments, he felt that the Ming army did not seem to have a good opportunity to pursue, and he might not be able to detect the retreat of the Qing army at the first time. Of course, Li Guoying didn't think that he could hide his movements in front of Yuan Zongdi for a long time, but the later the Ming army found out, the longer they would have to react. After Wang Mingde left, Li Guoying would begin to withdraw the Qing troops upstream in batches, alternately covering each other to prevent the Ming army from pursuing, and of course he himself would be the last, Li Guoying felt that only in this way could he avoid the Qing army refusing to obey the order to take turns and scrambling to flee back to Baoning.

However, there was a new movement on the side of the Ming army, and it seemed that countless people began to shout loudly, and this shout was so loud that it floated from the westernmost camp of the Ming army across the Yangtze River to the head of the city of Chóngqìng.

"What's wrong with the thief?" Li Guoying looked to the west with some puzzlement, where the Ming army seemed to have moved.

This movement spread rapidly eastward along the Ming camp, and the shouts of the soldiers on the other side of the river became louder and louder, and soon Li Guoying made a judgment: "This is the thieves cheering, they are cheering like crazy, why?" ”

No one on the left and right could answer Li Guoying's question, and all eyes at the head of the city were attracted by the source of the sāo movement, which was a tall general flag, as if a small group of cavalry was carrying this flag to inspect the Ming army camp.

The banner was getting closer and closer, and soon an officer from the riverside sent someone to report: "Your Excellency, it seems that the thief has arrived, and the thief on the other side of the river is shouting the word 'Admiral'." ”

"Hmm." Li Guoying's face was heavy, and he nodded slightly, and soon the head of the city could clearly see the warm cheers of the Ming army.

"Sure enough, Deng Ming has arrived." Li Guoying thought but was afraid of the young man who suddenly appeared, when this person led a group of rout soldiers under the city of Chóngqìng, he defeated Tan Hong, who was waiting for him, and also completely annihilated Tan Yi, who was pursuing, so that the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi made a big fool of himself in front of the imperial court; Fortunately, Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong's clumsy expressions overshadowed Li Guoying and eliminated the image of a laughing stock for him; After Hu Quancai was defeated and died, no one thought that defeat under Deng Ming was still a ridiculous thing; After the news of Nanjing came, the Sichuan-Shaanxi Green Camp completely changed its opinion of Tan Hong and Tan Yi, thinking that it was strange that the two of them were undefeated.

If Deng Ming was just fighting in the field, maybe Li Guoying and his subordinates would not be so afraid of him, but Deng Ming swept through Hubei like a devastating force, making everyone realize that this person's siege ability is also very strong. Anyway, Li Guoying asked himself, was it an absolute way to use Yuan Zongdi, Liu Tichun and other four people's subordinates to break through the Hubei defense line so lightly.

After enjoying the cheers of the soldiers, Deng Ming ordered the sailors to go out again, and put out all the flags he had brought from Gao Mingzhan, some small honor guard supplies, and the green flags of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Green Battalion, and simply crossed the river with the crossbows on the ship - although the Qing army already knew that Gao Mingzhan's entire army was destroyed, Deng Ming felt that they might still have illusions, hoping that the Ming army was exaggerating, and now after revealing these evidences, it must be able to break the last luck of the Qing army.

These evidences did achieve the effect that Deng Ming hoped for, after seeing the flag honor guard of Gao Mingzhan's department, the already demoralized Qing army became even more depressed, and in the past two days, there have been rumors that the back road has been cut off and Chóngqìng has become a lonely city. When these iron-clad evidences appeared in front of them, some desperate soldiers even cried, thinking that everything was over.

After seeing the Qing army flag sent by his subordinates, Li Guoying's face became extremely heavy, and he walked down the city without saying a word, returning to the yamen in the city of chóngqìng.

Wang Mingde waited for a long time, and did not wait for the order of the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi to start retreating, and finally couldn't bear it anymore, so he ran to the governor's temporary yamen to ask for a meeting. When Wang Mingde entered, many Qing generals were also waiting outside, and many of them planned to go and plead with Li Guoying again, agreeing to let them act with Wang Mingde and the sailors.

After a while, Wang Mingde rushed out of the yamen with a red face, and as soon as he saw the people outside the door, he shouted angrily: "Your Excellency the Governor said that he will not withdraw again!" ”

"What?" Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

"The Governor said that he would stick to the chóngqìng." Wang Mingde shouted hatefully: "The thieves have come to reinforce the army again, and Deng Ming has also come, but the governor has changed his mind." ”

Everyone was stunned for a while, and their feelings broke out together, and they collectively rushed to the yamen and shouted at the guards: "We want to see the governor!" ”

Seeing so many generals running violently, even the standard camp guards at the door were also afraid, and he stubbornly stopped the generals: "Generals, don't be impatient, mark this and report to the governor." ”

"Quick, quick!" The crowd urged impatiently.

A standard battalion guard ran in with a smoke, and without asking everyone to wait long, he rushed out of it again: "Your Excellency, please let everyone in." ”

Shut down

Everyone was waiting for this sentence, and they rushed in without hesitation, and when they entered, they saw Li Guoying sitting behind a table in the lobby.

After seeing the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi with a stern face, the anger in everyone's hearts because of anxiety was also suppressed a little, and they saluted Liu Guoying one after another: "Your Excellency the Governor." ”

"You're going to withdraw your troops, aren't you?" Li Guoying looked around at the generals who poured in and asked in a calm tone.

"Yes, Lord Governor, Deng Ming has arrived, and his army will definitely arrive in the near future, and it will be too late if he doesn't leave."

Li Guoying waved his hand to signal everyone to come forward, and after everyone walked up, they saw Li Guoying spreading out a map on the wide desktop, and there was a stack of warrants next to it. Li Guoying did not start speaking immediately, but asked the guards to summon all the generals who had not yet arrived to the yamen, and waited until everyone came before Li Guoying began to speak slowly.

"This is the deployment and warrant for alternate retreats," Li Guoying carefully explained his plan to everyone, but most people didn't listen too much, and everyone only cared about when it was their turn to go.

Although Li Guoying saw everyone's impatience, he still patiently continued, and his plan also included some counterattack means to deal with the possible pursuit of the Ming army.

After saying everything, Li Guoying pushed aside the map and warrant, and said calmly: "But I don't plan to let you carry out these deployments. ”

When everyone listened to Li Guoying's statement just now, they thought that the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi had agreed to withdraw his troops, but now Li Guoying's words were undoubtedly poured down in a bucket of cold water, extinguishing all the flames of hope in everyone.

"I don't think you will act according to the plan at all, and no one will be willing to stay and hold on to my orders, but run back to Baoning and Hanzhong as fast as you can." Li Guoying said coldly: "The current shape reminds me of the Battle of Songshan between Taizong and Hong Jinglue, when Emperor Taizong was able to kill Hong Jinglue's 130,000 army in a blink of an eye, it was because Hong Jinglu agreed to withdraw his troops. ”

Li Guoying's words left everyone present speechless.

"When Hong Jinglue's army retreated from Songshan, it was killed by Emperor Taizong in just a few days, but the people who did not retreat still held out in Songshan for half a year." Li Guoying paused for a moment before continuing: "Except for the King of Pingxi, who started to flee first, almost no one can return to Ningyuan alive. From Chóngqìng to Hanzhong, we have to walk a longer road than from Songshan to Ningyuan, and there are no inhabitants on the road at all, which of you thinks you have the luck of the King of Pingxi? Will you be able to go back alive? If your troops are lost, do you think the court will not be guilty? ”

"But if you stay here, you're going to die." Finally, someone couldn't help but refute.

"But at least we can die a few days late, and we can kill a few thieves to avenge ourselves, and as long as the army is not chaotic, we still have a chance to retreat together." Li Guoying shook his head and said, "Didn't you see the situation in the camp just now? If I let you go now, do you dare to say that the soldiers will still obey orders honestly, and still be able to control your men? ”

"That'...... So why is the Governor showing us this? Wang Mingde pointed to the map on the table, as well as the warrants that Li Guoying had just written.

After making up his mind to continue to hold on just now, Li Guoying realized that the army's morale was extremely unstable, and his generals were on the verge of mutiny, he didn't know that his current situation was very similar to what Hu Quancai had encountered, but Li Guoying was stronger than Hu Quancai, and he immediately thought of a strategy to deal with it.

"I think that withdrawing troops at this time is no different from suicide, but as long as we stick to chóngqìng, there is still a chance to live, there is a three-month store of grain in the city, we control a large area, we can fish, we can hunt, we can save food to eat, and there should be no problem in holding on for half a year. A lot may happen in the past six months, and the imperial court will also have the opportunity to mobilize reinforcements to relieve us from the siege. Even if we still have a chance to save ourselves, the enemy may not have enough military rations, so he will relax his jǐng ti and give us a chance to break through. Li Guoying first gave everyone some hope, and then his face sank: "I have commanded the army for many years, and I will definitely not kill myself, so as long as I am alive, I will not order the withdrawal of the troops." As he spoke, Li Guoying drew his sword and rested heavily on the table: "If you are determined to run, kill me, and then report to the court that I died in the chaos." ”

"The Governor is serious." The generals were all taken aback, and they all pushed two steps away: "How dare the last generals have such evil intentions? ”

"If you must withdraw, then after killing me, you will act according to my deployment, and you will have a much better chance of escaping," Li Guoying seemed to have not heard everyone's words, and still said to himself: "But I think you will definitely not be able to help each other, but each of you will run for your life, and in the end you will be chased by thieves like dogs and hacked to death on the side of the road." At that time, I dare to conclude that you will definitely regret it, regret why you didn't stay in chóngqìng, at least you can kill two thieves to cushion yourself! ”

There was silence in the lobby, and after waiting for a while, Li Guoying shouted in a deep voice: "Wang Mingde! ”

"The end will be." Wang Mingde, who was in deep thought, shuddered, and hurriedly responded: "What does the Governor command?" ”

"Are you going to leave your official and brothers behind and be the first to escape alone?"

"The last general...... Wang Mingde felt a surge of anger surging up, overwhelming the fear in his heart, and suddenly straightened his chest: "The last general is willing to live and die with the governor." ”

"Okay." Li Guoying nodded, turned his head and nodded the name of another general, and asked him the same question as Wang Mingde.

"The last man will be a good man in Shaanxi, and our northwest men will never leave their brothers to escape!"

"Okay." In this way, Li Guoying asked all the people one by one, and all of them gave Li Guoying satisfactory answers.

"This official didn't say that he must defend to the death, but at the moment, the army's heart is unstable, and he must not leave chóngqìng." Before Li Guoying asked everyone to leave, he reiterated again: "As long as you can rein in the hearts of the soldiers, so that the soldiers are no longer so panicked, and if the back road is not cut off, the officer will still order a retreat." However, this withdrawal must be carried out in an orderly manner, and the mistakes of Hong Jinglu must never be repeated. ”

…… After waiting for a few more days, seeing that Chóngqìng still didn't move, Deng Ming and Yuan Zongdi groaned again and again, but they couldn't come up with a better way.

"Why is Li Guoying so stable?" Yuan Zongdi said suspiciously: "It is impossible for him to know that you didn't send troops out of the Sword Pavilion, Admiral." ”

"Maybe that's what I said, he still has a large army in Guangyuan and Boryeong, and he is not afraid at all." The more Deng Ming thinks about it now, the more he feels that this possibility is very large, and it can also explain the actions of the Qing army.

"Chóngqìng fortified city, if it is attacked, I am afraid that the loss will be very large." Yuan Zongdi thought for a while, and had to move out of the original plan again: "Our army is about to arrive, and when the last batch of soldiers and horses arrives, let's split up, the admiral will sit here, and the last general will lead the troops to outflank the upper reaches of the Jialing River." ”

"If Li Guoying still has a large army in Baoning, General Yuan may be attacked by him on both sides." Now Deng Ming suspects that Li Guoying still has considerable strength in the rear, so the division of troops will become very dangerous.

"Even if there is, he won't dare to use it, Li Guoying always has to guard against the Admiral's partial division out of the Sword Pavilion." Yuan Zongdi felt that even if this ploy could not scare Li Guoying away, it would not be completely in vain.

"But if the Jialing River is about to be cut off, and the Sword Pavilion hasn't seen our army come out yet, will Li Guoying ignore the crisis in front of him in order to guard against the danger that he doesn't know when?" Deng Ming shook his head: "If I were him, I would definitely transfer troops to flank General Yuan, and get through the difficulties in front of me first." ”

"Ugh." Yuan Zongdi sighed and no longer insisted on the plan to divide the troops: "How can Li Guoying have so many soldiers? ”

After a while, Yuan Zongdi suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Admiral, do you say that we are pressing too hard?" So Li Guoying didn't dare to go? ”

"What is General Yuan's opinion?"

"The meaning of the last general is that Li Guoying doesn't want to go, but he doesn't dare to go......" Yuan Zongdi hurriedly analyzed, and then retreated for several miles, and didn't let the sailors gather at the mouth of the river and put on an aggressive posture: "Let's relax the pressure a little and see, how about it?" ”