Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 385: Visitors from Guangyuan
Everything changes rapidly. It really changes rapidly.

Zhu Cilang was just about to make preparations according to the current situation, but Zhang Xianzhong's victory suddenly turned into a great defeat.

To ordinary people, this seems to be an extremely incredible thing, but for these civil and military officials who have fought on the battlefield for many years, it is within the acceptable range.

No matter what, Haoge was not a clay doll that could be manipulated by anyone. While Zhang Xianzhong was trying to expand his victory, he was also trying to reverse the situation.

However, the information brought back by Yang Zhan and his men was too vague. They only knew that Zhang Xianzhong first won and then lost after chasing into Jinniu Road, but they had no idea why he was defeated or to what extent.

This cannot be blamed on the two generals at the front. After all, your Ming Dynasty has been eyeing Dashi covetously. Even if you have won the favor of the middle and lower-level soldiers by providing some money and food, the vigilance of the upper-level figures has increased instead of decreased.

At this time, the two of them had already done their utmost by being able to report the news of Zhang Xianzhong's defeat as soon as possible. Who could blame them?
"Your Majesty, I am your servant."

"Your Majesty, I am your servant."

After all, Fan Yiheng and Wang Yingxiong were not the kind of civil servants who would protect themselves. Even though the current situation was not clear, when they saw their Majesty frowning again, they both started talking at the same time.

"Please speak, Governor Fan."

"Please go first, Governor Wang."

It has to be said that when internal disputes were kept within a controllable range, most officials of the Ming Dynasty were still considered qualified.

Just like the officials who maintained the situation in Central and South China at the end of Longwu period and the beginning of Yongli period, they naturally did not hold back when fighting among themselves, but they were also unambiguous at the last moment.

With Zhu Cilang's suppression at this time, the tension between Fan Yiheng and Wang Yingxiong was not so strong. After a little humility, they reported their ideas one after another.

"Your Majesty, since Zhang Xianzhong has been badly defeated, his army will surely be difficult to control in a short period of time. If our army increases its efforts to recruit him on the basis of defending the three cities, I think we will have a lot of gains. By then, even if Zhang Xianzhong still has other ideas, he will not be able to cause any trouble because he is alone."

Nodding to Wang Yingxiong who had stepped back voluntarily, Fan Yiheng expressed his thoughts. However, before he finished speaking, Wang Yingxiong's voice came up.

"Your Majesty, we should increase our efforts to recruit the pacification troops, but in my opinion, it is no longer appropriate to continue to defend the three cities. It would be better to send Li Guo's cavalry to Guangyuan quickly. If the defenders accept the recruitment, we can resist the Tartars together and wait for the arrival of the large group of troops. If the defenders are stubborn, we can take appropriate measures outside the city."

As Wang Yingxiong finished speaking, Zhu Cilang understood the general ideas of the two.

One of them was slightly conservative and thought that making some adjustments on the original basis would be enough to cope with the current situation, while the other one focused on Guangyuan, which was considered to be a complete overturn of the plan of guarding three cities.

Faced with such a situation, Zhu Cilang did not express his opinion immediately, but first fundamentally analyzed the reasons for the difference.

The reason why Wang Yingxiong advocated advancing on Guangyuan was largely because he believed that the morale of the Dashi Army had collapsed; while Fan Yiheng's idea was based on the assumption that the Dashi Army could still maintain a certain structure.

It is obvious that there were subtle differences in their perception of the "great defeat", and therefore they had different views on the subsequent responses of the Onishi Army.

However, there is a problem here. They did not take the Qing army into consideration.

If the Dashi Army suffered a terrible defeat, Guangyuan would inevitably fall into the hands of the Tatars, and Wang Yingxiong's plan would be in vain anyway.

In comparison, although Fan Yiheng did not think of the Tartars, he could deal with such variables by guarding three cities.

In this case, it is self-evident which side Zhu Cilang will support.

"Send an order, order Gao Yigong to lead the infantry to capture Jiangyou, and order Li Guo to lead his cavalry to provide support."

Since His Majesty had issued the military order, the two men had to follow the order. But when they were about to bow and say yes, they saw Zhu Cilang slightly raised his hand.

"Send another person to contact the Guangyuan garrison. If they can make them surrender, Li Guo will lead the cavalry north to Guangyuan."

"Sir, obey the order."

"Sir, obey the order."

On the surface, Zhu Cilang's final decision seemed to be a bit of a compromise.

After all, he followed Fan Yiheng's idea and maintained the strategy of guarding the three cities. At the same time, he separated Li Guo's cavalry and was ready to head north to Guangyuan at any time.

But given his personality, how could he be so clingy?

The reason for this is actually an adjustment made due to changes in the situation.

According to the previous situation, Zhang Xianzhong would definitely retreat quickly after his victory. If he did not use his cavalry to attack Jiangyou by surprise, he would not be able to occupy this pass.

But now that Zhang Xianzhong has been defeated, he will either defend Guangyuan to the death or flee quickly. Naturally, the time pressure to capture Jiangyou will not be that great.

In this way, the freed-up cavalry unit can certainly be used as a mobile force to respond to changes in the situation.

In the final analysis, it was all because we were not clear about the situation in Guangyuan, so we had to keep enough cards in our hands every time we made a decision.

How could it be as simple as described in the stories to just gather information about the enemy's military intelligence?
Just when the rear was worried about insufficient intelligence, Yang Zhan and Zeng Ying, who were already near Bazhou, were also frowning about the matter.

"General Yang, didn't you serve as a garrison commander in Guangyuan? Didn't you leave behind some hidden lines?"

"I'm an official of the imperial court. I don't need to leave any secret clues."

As soon as Yang Zhan heard Zeng Ying's words, he glared at him fiercely.

He did serve as a garrison in Guangyuan for a period of time, but who could have imagined at that time that such an important place would fall into the hands of the enemy?
What's more, he had no intention of rebelling, and all the information was provided by the court.

Under such circumstances, there was no point in him laying any secret plan.

Zeng Yingzi, who came from an official family, knew all about this. However, the two of them sent a letter of unclear information to Guang'an Prefecture, and until now there has been no follow-up.

Faced with such a situation, his words were more like venting his frustration than complaining.

"I feel that there must be some hidden reason behind Xian Ze's defeat. Otherwise, why would only the news of his defeat be spread, and nothing else be leaked?"

After saying this, Zeng Ying's eyes kept looking at Yang Zhan's face, but the other party just stared out of the tent in a daze, as if he didn't hear anything.

Seeing this, he was not discouraged. After rolling his eyes for a while, he spoke out his thoughts directly.

"General Yang, why don't you send a few soldiers who are familiar with the terrain to take a small path into Jinniu Road to investigate. If they can find some clues, we won't just be able to report back a message saying 'the bandits have been defeated'."

After Zeng Ying found out about Guangyuan's defeat, he repeatedly hinted to Yang Zhan. However, faced with such obscure words, the other party either avoided the topic or pretended not to understand, which made Zeng Ying, a rather proud young man, want to give Yang Zhan a good beating.

At this time, almost two days had passed since they got the news, and Zeng Ying was so anxious that he had to speak out directly. Otherwise, given his personality, he probably wouldn't have been able to say such words that were almost like a request.

But to Zeng Ying's surprise, even though he had done so, Yang Zhan was still staring out of the tent in a daze. When his anger was about to explode, he heard the other party say quietly, "You are right, there must be something behind the defeat of Xian the thief."

"Then send someone to investigate!"

It has to be said that Zeng Ying was still inexperienced, and it was quite rude for him to speak to his colleagues in such a tone. However, who would have thought that Yang Zhan, who was also known for his arrogance, not only did not show any signs of anger, but instead spoke to him quite calmly.

"Look, we know that the bandits robbed the Qing army camp, and we also know that the bandits chased into the Jinniu Road, but we only know that the bandits were defeated, and we don't know anything else."

Having said that, Yang Zhan paused and looked at Zeng Ying with burning eyes, but Zeng Ying obviously didn't understand what he meant at this moment, and was a little dazed facing the other party's gaze.

Seeing this, Yang Zhan did not keep the secret. He thought for a moment and then spoke hesitantly.

"Could this be false news spread by the thief?"

"Fake news?! Why didn't you tell me earlier?! The messenger must have already seen His Majesty!"

"Be calm and don't be impatient. Be calm and don't be impatient."

Faced with the startled Zeng Ying, Yang Zhan could only helplessly comfort her repeatedly. After she sat down again, he continued speaking.

"It's all right. Your Majesty is not so petty. Besides, we didn't mean to deceive you. If we can find out the truth, we won't be in trouble."

"Then send someone to investigate!"

Seeing Zeng Ying being so entangled, Yang Zhan suddenly felt annoyed.

"What are we investigating? Where should we investigate? Should we send people to Jinniu Road or Guangyuan?!"

After three questions in a row, Zeng Ying suddenly became dispirited.

After all, he is not one of those fools who only knows how to talk on paper. He naturally knows that many things are not as simple as they sound.

However, this time, it was His Majesty who was personally directing the operation. He always wanted to show up in front of the Holy Emperor, so he was a little confused due to his concern.

However, this is also the advantage of the combination of old and young. Yang Zhan finally brought the clarity of his mind back. After calming down, he also understood the other party's implication.

"We should send people to Jinniu Road. The news that spreads to Guangyuan is always true or false. It is better to go directly to Jinniu Road for more credibility."

At this point, the conversation began to take on some real meaning of a negotiation, and after seeing Zeng Ying's performance, Yang Zhan poured out all that was on his mind.

Since he could say that the news was difficult to tell whether it was true or false, he naturally wanted to send people to Jinniu Road. However, as a former garrison commander of Guangyuan, he naturally knew how complicated the situation in Jinniu Road was.

If we rashly send people in without knowing where the battle between the Qing and Western armies took place, whether we can find out the real news is secondary. If the Dashi Army is indeed up to some ulterior motive, then the Ming army's thoughts will be exposed.

At that time, the situation will become that the enemy is in the dark and I am in the light.

After listening to Yang Zhan's statement, Zeng Ying only thought about it for a moment before expressing his approval.

After all, war, in addition to testing the morale, combat effectiveness and logistics of both sides, is also a psychological game. Whoever's true thoughts are discovered first will be in a passive position in every way.

But just standing there like this was ultimately a passive move, and totally out of character for the two's fighting style. He then began a heated discussion about the next course of action.

"If you ask me, we should go deeper and go directly to Qipanguan to take a look. Maybe then everything will become clear."

"Qipanguan? Why didn't you say we were going to Hanzhong? Even if Zhang Xianzhong hadn't been defeated, he certainly wouldn't have been able to take Qipanguan. Were we going there to spy on the Tartars?"

"You old man, I think you are afraid of the enemy and afraid of fighting!"

"I think you are just talking on paper, kid!"

Just when the heated atmosphere was about to reach its climax, a soldier outside poked his head out timidly. Both of them were veterans of battle, and even though most of their attention was focused on each other's words, they still kept a small part of their attention on the surrounding situation.

"What's the matter?!"

"What's the matter?!"

Following the two scoldings, the soldiers who had intended to avoid the limelight could only bow outside the tent. Then, a piece of news that shocked Yang and Zeng reached their ears.

"Generals, there are messengers from the bandits outside the camp, saying that their General Fu Nan, Liu Wenxiu, wants to invite you two to meet him thirty miles north of the camp."

The two of them heard the words, and no matter how fiercely they had argued before, they both looked at each other at the same time.

Both of them had fought in the Dashi Army many times, so they naturally knew the weight of the name Liu Wenxiu in the Dashi Army.

It was only two days after the news of Zhang Xianzhong's defeat that General Funan of Dashi was about to meet with them. The information revealed by this move could not help but be carefully savored by the two of them.

"Where is the messenger?"

"left already."

After hearing what the soldier said, Zeng Ying was about to reprimand him, but before he could open his mouth, Yang Zhan asked first: "Tell me in detail the dress, appearance and body of the messenger."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zeng Ying seemed to have thought of something. Then the soldier recalled and described what had happened, while Yang and Zeng listened attentively, as if this ordinary information was very important.

After a moment, the soldier poured out everything he could think of. Before Yang Zhan could open his mouth, Zeng Ying asked, "How's his spirit? How's that man's energy?"

"It seems a little wilted."

Hearing this, the two men waved their hands to signal the soldiers to retreat. After they thought for a while, Yang Zhan spoke first.

"I'm afraid we've really lost."

"It could also be due to the long journey. Hmm. The possibility of failure is not small."

Yang Zhan didn't care too much about Zeng Ying's deliberate argument. After he finished the second half of the sentence, he thought for a moment and said firmly, "I'll go see General Funan, and you stay in the camp to prevent any accidents."

"Forget it, I'll go. You're old and weak, and if something happens, I'm afraid you won't be able to escape."

"."

(End of this chapter)