When Deng Ming withdrew from Chongqing, Wang Jinbao had to stand by because of the lack of troops, and as for Chongqing, he did not take the slightest action, watching the Ming army retreat calmly...... After the Ming army had transported all the prisoners away, Li Guoying and Daniel Zhang escaped from the mountains with great difficulty, and Li Guoying was really overjoyed to see that Chongqing had not been lost.

Originally, the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi was worried that Chongqing had already been abandoned, and the Ming army was chasing and killing the Qing army retreating to Baoning. At present, the worst situation did not happen, and Li Guoying immediately rushed back to Chongqing City at full speed.

After hearing that Li Guoying had returned, Gao Mingzhan immediately went to meet him outside Chongqing. Deng Ming was determined to act immediately after retiring from the army, without the slightest drag, so Gao Mingzhan did not have to pay the ransom fee. After Li Guoying entered the city, Gao Mingzhan accompanied him to inspect the city defense and inventory everywhere, and served before and after the saddle.

Recalling the course of this war, Li Guoying was angry, and he couldn't stop the transaction between his subordinates and Deng Ming. In the final analysis, the strength of these descendants is also related to Li Guoying's future, if there are no these loyal subordinates, Li Guoying's strength will definitely be greatly reduced, how to repay Beijing's kindness, how to conquer Sichuan for the imperial court?

"Well done!" Li Guoying was completely relieved. Although he was very happy to learn the news of Chongqing's defense on the road, he suspected that Gao Mingzhan had made some deal with Deng Ming, especially when he heard that Deng Ming had also come to Jialingjiang, which made things even more suspicious.

As a result, after rushing back to Chongqing, Li Guoying carefully inspected the city defense and warehouse, and found that there was no shortage of things he had stored when he left, and he was very happy in his heart. Gao Mingzhan acted above board and stayed alone in the lonely city, and he was always worried about the character of his deputy, which made Li Guoying feel guilty: "To be honest, your appearance this time is very unexpected to me." ”

"Is the Governor worried that the lower officials will abandon the city and escape again?" Gao Mingzhan's face was calm, and he talked to Li Guoying: "The last time Xia Guan was in distress in Chongqing, he abandoned the city and the generals and escaped alone, and afterwards he relied on the care of the governor, so he was not blamed by the imperial court...... Whenever he thought of this, the lower officials were ashamed of themselves, and secretly vowed to change their past mistakes and live up to the kindness of the governor. ”

"Rare, rare." Gao Mingzhan has been Li Guoying's old subordinate for many years, although he knows that this person is overwhelmed, Li Guoying has always taken good care of him, helping him get credit as much as possible, and the two of them don't have too many scruples when they talk in private. In the past, Li Guoying only sheltered him for the friendship between the two, but now Li Guoying suddenly feels that his hard work is not in vain.

"A saint has a word, and shame is almost brave." Gao Mingzhan didn't know that Jiang Guozhu had erected a monument for Deng Ming, let alone the plaque on the pavilion: "The lower official swore to be ashamed and brave, and wrote a plaque with his own hand, and put it in the lower official's study." When the army of Deng thieves besieged the city, Xia Guan was not afraid in his heart, but every time he looked at this plaque, he regained his courage and determined not to let the trust of the governor be in vain. ”

Li Guoying nodded approvingly, and patted Gao Mingzhan's shoulder vigorously: "You and I have worked together for more than ten years, you don't have to be so restrained in talking, it's rare that Brother Gao is so heart-to-heart with me today." Alas, think about the position of you and me over the years, but the brotherhood seems to have faded a lot. ”

"The Governor is serious, brotherly affection is not a lip service," Gao Mingzhan forcefully pointed to the position of his heart: "And between square inches." ”

Li Guoying, who was in a good mood, asked Gao Mingzhan about his deployment these days, and learned that it was Gao Mingzhan who ordered the sailor to go to Baoning to pick up Wang Jinbao, and the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi was even more amazed. Li Guoying also knew the arrogance of the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty, and if it weren't for Gao Mingzhan's wise decision, Wang Jinbao's reinforcements would not have arrived so quickly, Chongqing would not have been able to turn the danger into a disaster, and Li Guoying would not have had the opportunity to return to the mountain city......

Li Guoying and Gao Mingzhan did not know that Deng Ming was already at the end of his crossbow, and after accepting tens of thousands of prisoners, the Ming army was almost dragged down by logistical pressure; All they saw was that Deng Ming's loss was not large, and his strength was almost intact, and he did not dare to besiege Chongqing, obviously it was only Wang Jinbao and the follow-up Zhao Liangdong who played a decisive role. Whether it is the timely arrival of reinforcements or the efforts to ensure that Chongqing is not lost, Gao Mingzhan has made great contributions.

"General Sun doesn't know anything about the battle array, and the lower officials know that they can't count on him at all, for the safety of the Governor and Chongqing, the lower officials will not hesitate to break their bones, so why are they afraid of making General Sun unhappy?" Gao Mingzhan made another generous statement, which made Li Guoying sigh.

Not long after, the troops under the command of Zhao Liangdong arrived in Chongqing one after another. While the Qing army re-blockaded the Jialing River and repaired the facilities damaged by the Ming army, the Qing army sent ships to pick up the green camp in Shanxi.

Now these Shanxi green battalion wolves who followed Li Guoying to break through are unbearable, the weapons they originally carried with them have been lost in the mountains, and the soldiers are also reduced by half, and most of the Shanxi green battalion soldiers who have not been knocked down by the epidemic are exhausted, and after getting on the boat, they are three points like people and seven points like ghosts. But in the end, they were bitter, thinking that they could escape alive and not die in the desperate situation of Zhongxian, these Shanxi people still thanked the Bodhisattva loudly for his blessing. Everyone knows very well that this kind of escape without a rear is extremely dangerous, and being able to save a life is the accumulation of virtue by ancestors.

"Thanks to Wang Shuai, they are." The Shanxi generals and officers who escaped death knew that in addition to the Bodhisattva and their ancestors, Wang Mingde was the reborn parent, if it wasn't for the Gan Shaanxi Green Battalion to control the rebels and not let the Ming army find out about the breakthrough action at the first time, then everyone would definitely be intercepted and pursued. Although the mountain road behind was difficult, the Ming army never came to pursue, and it must have been dragged by Wang Mingde and his death.

Thinking of Wang Mingde and Hu Wenke, many Shanxi generals were about to burst into tears, and as for those Manchurian princes who sacrificed themselves, the gratitude of the green camp cannot be described in words. If the Manchurian soldiers ran with them, the little horses and food they had would definitely have to be handed over, and it would be good not to cut their own flesh for the Manchurian Taijun to satisfy his hunger.

Daniel Zhang snorted after hearing these emotions, his eyes were fierce, and he didn't say a word. Later, when he heard that the Shanxi people were still chattering about Wang Mingde and them, and were worried about their suffering, Daniel Zhang, who could not bear it, got off the ship to find his old brother Zhao Liangdong.

At this time in Chongqing, Li Guoying was discussing with Gao Mingzhan how to report this defeat to the imperial court.

Because of this large-scale attack launched by Li Guoying, Deng Ming had a new assessment of the threat to Chongqing, and he had the idea that he must capture Chongqing. But Li Guoying's perception was completely different from Deng Ming's, he didn't know that the Ming army was extremely nervous for a while, he only saw that Yuan Zongdi's strength was strong, and Deng Ming was at ease - the fact that he withdrew his troops without a bow and arrow after invading the Jialing River also made Li Guoying suspect that Deng Ming had other plans; Moreover, Li Guoying also knew some things that Deng Ming did not understand, that is, the Ganxi Green Battalion brought by Zhao Liangdong and Wang Jinbao was still shouldering the task of guarding the northwest direction, and could not stay in Chongqing for a long time, and sooner or later it would have to be transferred back to fill the vacancy. If Sun Sike hadn't modified Li Guoying's plan without authorization, these Gan and Shaanxi soldiers would not have arrived; And if it weren't for the fact that Chongqing was now in danger, Li Guoying might have asked them to go home instead of continuing to Chongqing.

"We can't compete with Deng Thief on the Yangtze River at all, this battle can't be fought at all. Yuan Zongdi is not able to win it lightly now. Li Guoying felt that Chongqing had become completely useless, and the people lost in this defeat were still within the bearability of Shaanxi and Shanxi, and since he brought the people here, Li Guoying had no intention of letting them go back. But tens of thousands of people lost all of a sudden, but they never expected it. If the army is to be maintained in Chongqing, it is necessary to recruit unarmored soldiers from the rear again, which may have a bad impact on the rear. When Shanxi sent tens of thousands of people to Chongqing, they would never have thought that it would be exhausted in such a short time, but thought that it would be enough for Chongqing for a few years.

After working hard and suffering heavy losses, Li Guoying felt that Chongqing should be abandoned. But Gao Mingzhan doesn't think so, first of all, he is the governor of Sichuan, if Li Guoying returns to Baoning and sits in person, what is the value of Gao Mingzhan's position? If Chongqing is not lost, the imperial court may be able to fool around, even if the imperial court knows that this is another fiasco, but in order to maintain its prestige, it will consider lenient treatment, and even help Chongqing cover up the loss; On the other hand, if Chongqing is lost, it will be the first large-scale strategic contraction of the Qing army in several years, which is enough to make the world look sideways. At that time, the imperial court will not only not be able to cover it up, but it is likely to hold people accountable in order to cheer up people.

When Deng Mingbing came to the city before, Gao Mingzhan also felt that he had the opportunity to put the responsibility on Li Guoying, and he might rely on the lonely city to get by. But now that Li Guoying is safe and sound, and he has regained his internal and external power, Gao Mingzhan is just trying to shirk his responsibilities or publicize his own exploits, and there is a layer of separation -- no matter how you look at it, Gao Mingzhan, the dispensable governor of Sichuan, is a big favorite to be a scapegoat, even Li Guoying may not be willing to protect him.

Although Gao Mingzhan didn't say it explicitly, Li Guoying could guess that he was worried that he would be questioned.

No matter how Sun Sike comes in, he has a backer in the court, and it is impossible for him to bear the responsibility, and Li Guoying will not say anything bad about him. And Gao Mingzhan performed very well this time, which can be called turning the tide, Li Guoying feels that if Gao Mingzhan is unlucky, it will be too unfair, not to mention that this is still an old subordinate who is loyal to him.

Therefore, Li Guoying was also a little hesitant for a while, and since he was determined to retreat, he would not be shaken by Gao Mingzhan's persuasion, but now he still can't help but consider the feelings and interests of this great hero who defended Chongqing.