Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 377 Retired?
Since ancient times, there have been only four roads from Shaanxi and Gansu to Sichuan: Yinping Road, Jinniu Road, Micang Road, and Litchi Road.

These roads each have their own characteristics and advantages and disadvantages, but as far as the army's march is concerned, the Jinniu Road, which has been used for military purposes since the King of Qin conquered Shu, is the most stable.

But then again, what good is stability?

The road to Shu is difficult, harder than climbing to the sky.

The widest part of this road is only wide enough for four or five people to walk side by side, and the narrowest part is only wide enough for one person and one horse. Even if the whole army is marching in a line, the movement will be extremely slow, let alone when the army is retreating?

"Go see why it stopped again?"

Hauge said something weakly to the general in front of him, and then sat down on the ground.

After the raid that night, he did not rest on his laurels because he had thwarted the enemy's plan.

But who would have thought that even though he had made arrangements for each camp and stronghold, when the enemy attacked again, the surrendered troops and the Han army were still defeated and fled in all directions, and the entire military stronghold was deserted overnight.

When he got the news, Hauge felt that Guangyuan was his Ganzhou, and he was determined to die.

But to his surprise, after the success, the Dashi Army not only did not continue to besiege the garrisons of the Eight Banners of Manchu, Mongolian and Han, but instead withdrew its troops back to Guangyuan.

When he first saw this, he was extremely shocked.

After all, after the Han army and the surrendered army were all defeated, he was already at an absolute disadvantage in terms of military strength.

As long as the Dashi Army could find a way to cut off the Jinniu Road, even if his 30,000 to 40,000 troops still maintained considerable combat effectiveness, they could only be trapped in the camp and wait for death.

Under such circumstances, if Zhang Xianzhong did not have other plans, why would he withdraw his troops and let the cooked duck fly away?
However, he had been leading troops for many years, and it did not take him long to guess the current situation.

To return to the roots, although these troops are unable to attack Guangyuan again, the remaining ones are the elite in the army. If they fight like a trapped beast, they can inflict heavy losses on Dashi.

In this way, the intention of the Dashi Army to withdraw its troops was just a trick like surrounding three sides and leaving one side open.

If he really dared to lead his army to leave the camp and retreat into the Jinniu Road, he might be blocked by the Dashi Army.

By then, the duck had not only been cooked, but also all its bones had been removed.

This huge army will probably be wiped out here.

After figuring this out, Hauge did not sit idly by.

He took advantage of the Dashi Army's "false formation" to disperse all the scouts in the army, and ordered the troops remaining in Guangyuan to gather around the central army camp.

This doesn't mean that he will fight to the death in Guangyuan.

To put it bluntly, withdrawing troops at this time would most likely fall into Zhang Xianzhong's pocket. It would be better to first form a formation based on the original military camp to protect themselves, and then make plans after the situation is clarified.

It must be said that this was also a safe move. If the Dashi Army really had an ambush, they would not be able to hide their tracks for a long time. After they withdrew, he would be confident that he could break through and bring back these 30,000 or 20,000 elite troops safely.

But the development of the situation ultimately exceeded Hauge's expectations.

When teams of scouts and scouts returned one after another, the news that there were no ambushes on the Jinniu Road made him confused again.

Originally, Hauge wanted to keep his troops in place and wait for changes, but after only one night, deserters appeared among the Mongols.

Even though he felt that Zhang Xianzhong had other plans, he had to send a small group of troops to explore the Jinniu Road.

It is not difficult to imagine what happens next.

More and more troops were evacuating, but the expected ambush had not appeared yet.

In the end, Hauge simply withdrew the remaining troops into the Jinniu Road, and the Dashi Army followed behind as if they were prepared.

The situation had come to this point, and even if Hauge couldn't figure it out, he could only admit that the Dashi Army had no other plans.

But after the army had been marching for just over a day, this narrow ancient road became crowded and difficult to travel, to the point where they could only advance a few miles a day.

Faced with this situation, Hauge was helpless.

No matter what he said, unless he dared to risk provoking a rebellion and hacking his way forward, he could only move forward at this snail's pace.

"Reporting to the prince, it is said that there is a rock rolling down ahead."

“How long will it take to clean it up?”

After he finished speaking, the general did not react at all, as if Hauge's question was the most difficult in the world and he did not know how to answer it.

If someone had ignored his questions three or four days ago, Hauge would have taught them what it meant to kill with a single blow. But now, not only did he just glance at the person and let the matter go, but everyone around him had also become accustomed to it.

This is probably what it means to be a human being transformed by the environment.

At this time, the Jinniu Road was already crowded. Anyone with a little knowledge could imagine what the situation near the traffic jam would be like. And the general was probably only able to explore the front by hearsay. How could he be expected to really know when all the sliding rocks would be cleared?

"Luo Luohun, what do you think Zhang Xianzhong was planning? Why did he let us go back north?"

These words seemed to be asked casually, but after the words fell, Haoge's eyes were fixed on Luo Luohun, without moving at all.

It was obvious that even though they had confirmed that there was no ambush on the Jinniu Road, Hauge was still very concerned about it.

After all, this defeat was too frustrating.

In just one night, the advantage that had lasted for more than two months was completely wiped out. For him, the degree of humiliation was even greater than Duoduo's defeat in Jiangnan and Ajige's defeat in Ganzhou.

Under such circumstances, it is no exaggeration to say that Guangyuan has become Haoge's inner demon. How can we expect him to keep silent about it?
"Your Highness, don't think about it. Although we lost this battle, the casualties are negligible. When we reach the end of the battle, we will be able to gather our troops again. It's okay to take the initiative to retreat."

According to Luo Luohun's original intention, he wanted to say that the loss was not great and that there would be a chance to make a comeback. However, when Haoge heard this, his face turned red and white, as he had obviously touched his soft spot.

When Huang Taiji was alive, Hauge had a smooth life under his protection. This provided him with the best conditions for growth while also making him develop an extremely proud character.

What happened next is well known to everyone. Without Huang Taiji, Haoge suffered repeated setbacks in political struggles. However, he was not good at those things to begin with, and Duoduo and Lao Daishan even fabricated reasonable charges against him.

As a result, the devastated Hauge naturally regarded leading troops in battle as his spiritual support, until he was inexplicably defeated in Guangyuan.

Under such circumstances, if Luo Luohun explained from the perspective of the surrendered army and the Han army, then Hauge might be able to accept it reluctantly. But he insisted on saying "it was a voluntary retreat", which was equivalent to admitting the fact of defeat. How could Hauge, who was still good at fighting, face it calmly?

"Pass the order! All tribes are to stop and proceed, but if one person dares to cross the line, the king's military law will fall on his entire clan!"

"king"

As soon as he heard the words, Luo Luohun wanted to give some advice, but who would have thought that as soon as he uttered a word, Haoge turned his back to him. Then, an idea suddenly came to his mind, and he swallowed the rest of the words.

Indeed, this Termination Pu is only a hundred and fifty miles away from Guangyuan. If the Dashi Army gathers here, they will definitely get the news in a short time.

To be honest, if it were someone else, even if Zhang Xianzhong knew about it, he might not be able to do anything.

But now they have just suffered a great defeat, and both military spirit and morale have dropped to the lowest level. If Zhang Xianzhong leads his troops to attack at this time, who knows how this battle will eventually turn out.

just
Alas~~~, I was still rash in the end.

Thinking of this, Luo Luohun closed his mouth and just looked at Haoge's back with a rather complicated look, without making any movement.

He has a close relationship with Hauge, and Hauge treats him like a brother. But to be honest, there is a huge difference between them not only in seniority, but also in status.

At this time, Haoge put on the airs of a prince of the Qing Dynasty. Even if he, as a prince, had some good advice, he could only be regarded as a mute. How could he have the qualifications to argue with reason?
After a while, the team in front slowly moved again.

Although Luo Luohun still followed Haoge closely as before, both of them were silent, which made the atmosphere a little solemn.

The words can be expressed in two parts.

Regardless of whether Hauge would change his mind or not, for Zhang Xianzhong in Guangyuan City, the battle came to a successful conclusion when Hauge withdrew.

If the Ming army had not been eyeing them covetously from the south, the celebration banquet might have been over by now.

To be honest, the pressure brought to Zhang Xianzhong by the Ming army was much greater than that brought to Hauge.

Firstly, Zhu Cilang won battle after battle, and even though there was a suspicion that he relied too much on the navy at times, his record could not be underestimated.

Secondly, Hauge's army had not yet broken through the Guangyuan barrier, so the threat to the cities in central Sichuan was limited.

In comparison, not only had Zhu Cilang passed the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, but the various parties in Sichuan would also cooperate more with the Ming army because of their resistance to Dashi.

Taking these two factors into consideration, Zhang Xianzhong was probably so eager to fly back to Chengdu that he would have no time to celebrate his victory.

"According to the report from the day before yesterday, the Ming army has not made any further moves since entering Chongqing. Although the surrounding chieftains have sent people over, there has not been much reaction from the Ming emperor."

As Liu Wenxiu finished speaking, all the generals couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Although Zhang Xianzhong also looked as if he was thinking carefully at this time, his eyes still inadvertently took in the expressions of the generals.

"The Emperor Ming is not a good person. If he was not worried about forcing us to surrender to the Tartars, I'm afraid the land of southern Sichuan would have already been flying the flag of the Ming Dynasty."

Thinking about it was just a cover; Zhang Xianzhong's real purpose was to use it to find out everyone's thoughts.

However, everyone present thought about it for a long time but no one dared to speak, so he could only make a conclusion on these situations.

Zhang Xianzhong was able to dominate the country for so many years, so he was certainly not a stupid man.

He was well aware that his high-pressure policy in central Sichuan had caused dissatisfaction among many in the army. Even if he demoted Liu Jinzhong as a warning, the effect was only to turn overt opposition into covert opposition, and it did not fundamentally eliminate the voices of opposition.

This situation actually exceeded his expectations.

When the decision was made to use this policy in Sichuan, the outside world was already in chaos.

During that period, the imperial court had fled to the south of the Yangtze River, but Li Zicheng was driven out of Beijing.

Under such circumstances, no matter how you think about it, all parties are no longer able to interfere in the affairs of Sichuan. He has plenty of time to kill all the chieftains and officials in Sichuan, and there will be no one in this land of abundance who opposes him, Zhang Xianzhong.

But plans are not as good as changes. Who could have thought that Li Zicheng, who once swept half of the world, would be defeated so quickly, and the Ming Dynasty, which seemed to be on the verge of complete destruction, would win a series of great victories.

As a result, Zhang Xianzhong's original plan of eradicating the roots of the enemy became a complete failure, making it impossible for him to change his ways.

At this point, even though he knew that everyone's opinions were good ideas, he had no choice but to stick to them.

"Your Majesty is right. The Emperor Ming has no good intentions!" Faced with no one to respond, Sun Kewang had no choice but to stand up himself. After looking at everyone's faces, he continued, "But his plan ultimately failed. Our army has already defeated the Tartars. If we turn south, we can defend our Great Western territory."

"That's what the general said!"

"That's right! With the power of a great victory, our army will surely drive the Emperor back to Guizhou!"

"I heard that the Emperor Ming is not very old. Why not capture him and make him a little book boy for Your Majesty?"

It was not known whether the generals wanted to show off in front of Zhang Xianzhong, or whether the implication of Sun Kewang's words made them wake up. In any case, under his leadership, all the generals expressed their determination to defeat the Ming army, as if they were not the ones who were disturbed day and night by the Ming army in Sichuan.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Xianzhong would not respond. When he saw that the generals were talking more and more outrageous, he raised his hand to stop everyone from talking.

"Although our army has just won a great victory, we are a little exhausted after spending so much time in Guangyuan. It just so happens that the Tartars have not yet completely walked out of the Jinniu Road. We will rest briefly in Guangyuan and wait for them to retreat to Hanzhong before marching south."

As soon as Zhang Xianzhong finished speaking, the generals naturally responded again, and the atmosphere in the room became several times more lively than before.

After all, regardless of whether there were large numbers of casualties among the Qing troops, the fact that more than 100,000 troops retreated in panic is an indisputable fact.

Since the Emperor of Dashi has said that he wants to make some repairs now, things like rewards and honors will inevitably be carried out at the same time.

Under such circumstances, even if Zhu Cilang in the south was the king of heaven, the emotions of the generals would be aroused and the lively atmosphere would be reasonable.

Zhang Xianzhong was of course well aware of this, and naturally would not dampen everyone's interest as he had done before. However, the trouble in the south had to be faced eventually, so he couldn't help but think about it during this opportunity.

Without the support of the narrow pass, the Ming army would certainly attack from all sides, and the center of the river is a plain with no place that must be defended.

If we take into account the role of the forces in central Sichuan, the battle against the Ming army would naturally not be able to hold out like Guangyuan.

However, Zhang Xianzhong was undecided as to whether he should concentrate his forces to launch an offensive or to engage in guerrilla warfare as he had done in the past.

"Forget it, let's talk about it after the Tartars retreat."

(End of this chapter)