Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 392: Same Situation, Different Plans

Liu Wenxiu sent someone to bring the news that the Ming Emperor had been captured.

According to him, everything went smoothly in the first half. Not only did the Emperor Minghuang not have any doubts, he even went to Langzhong in person to accept the surrender.

Under these circumstances, the success of the night attack is a foregone conclusion.

But who would have thought that the fighting power of the Ming Emperor's guards was far beyond expectations. Although they successfully captured the Ming Emperor after fighting for half the night, Oboi and Wu Sangui, who were responsible for the main attack, died in the chaos.

If the Ming army had not been so cautious, Liu Wenxiu would have been unable to escape.

The letter did not mention much about what happened later, only saying that Liu Wenxiu had retook Guangyuan and asked Hauge to exchange Zhang Xianzhong and others for the Emperor.

Logically speaking, this is definitely great news, but who would have thought that Hauge pondered for a long time after reading the letter, as if he had doubts about what was said in the letter.

"Something is wrong."

After a long while, Hauge finally uttered this sentence. After handing the letter to Luo Luohun, he continued to think.

A clay pot will break if it is kept near a well, and a general will inevitably die in the battle.

It was common for a soldier to die in battle, let alone kidnapping the emperor of an enemy country.

If it is true as Liu Wenxiu said that the Ming Emperor's guards were extremely powerful, then it would be reasonable even if the troops sent were completely wiped out.

It's just that Wu Sangui
To be honest, he sent Wu Sangui this time just to get him out of the way under the pretext of redeeming his crime, so that he could take advantage of this opportunity to plant some spies in the Guanning Army.

He never expected Wu Sangui to play a big role in this operation, and he never thought that he would die here.

After all, after fighting the Ming army for so many years, which Qing prince who led troops did not know the ancestral skills of the Guanning Wu family?
If only Wu Sangui escaped at this time, Hauge would find it more credible.

"That's not right."

Luo Luohun read the letter quite quickly, and his thoughts moved even faster. After sorting out the whole story, he agreed with Haoge's opinion.

But he is ultimately a strategist, and it is impossible for him to come to such a conclusion based on some vague feelings alone.

"According to reports from a few days ago, Guangyuan City is already in the hands of the Ming army, but now Liu Wenxiu has taken control of it. If we can find out the details of the period, we will be able to identify the internal situation."

"Oh? How do you say this?"

"If Liu Wenxiu captured the Emperor Ming, then the Guangyuan army must have been coerced into leaving the city, and their military formation should be in disarray. It is possible that they are still stationed near Guangyuan, but if..."

Having said that, Luo Luohun paused here, as if he still lacked some confidence in his own guess, and seemed to be worried about something.

"But if the Ming army retreated in a panic, or even showed signs of disintegration, then the Ming emperor would have died."

As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Luohun handed the letter back. At the same time, Hauge was so shocked by the second half of the sentence that he frowned.

To put it bluntly, the reason why he felt something was wrong was that he had some vague feeling about Wu Sangui, but it was really difficult for him to explain it in detail.

When Luo Luohun's words came to his mind, the vague points in his mind gradually became clear, and then he had some guesses about the inner story hidden behind the letter.

"You mean he was the one who killed Oboi and Wu Sangui?"

"Well, it's possible," Luo Luohun explained after nodding slowly to show his approval: "Family Wu, you also know that Aobai would risk his life to complete the mission, but Wu Sangui would never do that. If you think so, the raid that night must have encountered some difficulties, but in the end it was still successful."

As the voices continued to come, Hauge's emotions were also constantly turning.

Luo Luohun's inference was based on his trust in Wu Sangui's ability to escape.

This statement may seem a bit far-fetched at first glance, but this reputation is also earned by the Wu family through many years of brilliant achievements, and it is not for nothing.

If the surprise attack that night had failed, Wu Sangui would have surely fled before the situation got out of control, and there would have been no possibility of him "dying in battle".

But Wu Sangui died in the end. If we exclude the possibility of the surprise attack failing, the only possibility is that Liu Wenxiu suddenly turned against the Ming Emperor after capturing him.

"After they succeeded, they escaped from danger with the help of Emperor Ming, but Liu Wenxiu suddenly attacked them halfway. Oboi and his men had just fought a fierce battle, so it was inevitable that they would be defeated and killed."

Listening to Luo Luohun's words, Haoge couldn't help but nodded.

At this time, he not only understood the entire logic of Luo Luohun's inference, but also understood why the other party wanted to focus on the Ming army's retreat method as the focus of investigation.

After all, if Liu Wenxiu really turned against the Ming Dynasty, then a brave general like Oboi would never allow the Emperor to fall into his hands. Now, the easiest way to verify this speculation is naturally to explore the retreat method of the Guangyuan Ming army.

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Wouldn't this be too much of a granted thing?

Thinking of this, Haoge couldn't help but show some hesitation on his face.

Although there is an old saying that a glimpse of the whole picture can reveal a small part, it is hard to believe that so much can be concluded based on just such a concealed letter.

What's more, he had almost no cannon fodder left, but if anything unexpected happened he would have to use all the regular banner soldiers.

Under such circumstances, Hauge had no choice but to be cautious.

He and Luo Luohun were sitting opposite each other, so naturally the other saw all these expressions. But after realizing what Haoge was thinking, Luo Luohun not only didn't take it seriously, but instead started to explain with a smile.

"This is just a guess from Liu Wenxiu's letter. It cannot be taken seriously without sufficient intelligence."

Although Hauge's doubts were not resolved after hearing the words, he still nodded in agreement.

Afterwards, he sent all the most elite scouts in his army to Guangyuan, trying to obtain as much information as possible to make a decision.

At this point I have to say a few words about marching and fighting.

Although the Jinniu Road was blocked by falling rocks at this time, it did not mean that it was impossible to go to Guangyuan. If there was a real need, Hauge could send people out of the mountain through the rugged mountain roads, and even if there was enough time, he could get these tens of thousands of troops out of the mountains.

But such troops cannot fight a war.

No matter what, people can cross mountains and rivers, but the vehicles and horses that transport military supplies do not have this ability. If there is no logistical support, no matter whether it is a few thousand or tens of thousands, they will probably only become a mark in the enemy general's merit book.

Let's get back to the point. A few dozen miles of mountain road was just a little over a day for the elite scouts, but by the time they returned from Guangyuan, only a little over three days had passed.

Guangyuan is now under high alert, and strangers like them have no chance of entering the city.

However, the reason why elite scouts are called elite is, on the one hand, because each of them has extremely strong combat power, and on the other hand, it depends on their ability to obtain intelligence.

For them, not being able to enter Guangyuan only increased the difficulty of obtaining information. After traveling around the surrounding villages and towns, they quickly obtained intelligence of sufficient value.

According to the information they got from the villagers, the Eighth King's troops arrived outside Guangyuan City a few days ago, and then only one day later, the Ming army in the city abandoned the city and went south.

Of course, these scouts also asked about the specific situation of the Ming army's march south, but in the eyes of ordinary people, all armies marched in the same way, and they could not explain why.

But this is enough. In the final analysis, Huang Taiji has only been dead for two or three years. People still remember clearly how the various armies acted back then.

At this point, although Hauge and Luo Luohun still could not completely confirm the specific situation, they had some inclinations in their minds. However, while they were planning various matters, certain things were also being discussed in a small tent in the Guanning Army camp.

"Marshal, Haoge and the others must have fallen into a trap."

After looking at his young cousin, Wu Sangui nodded without saying a word.

This young man is Zu Zeqing, the fourth son of Zu Dashou, Wu Sangui's uncle. Ever since he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, this young man has been in his army and has now been promoted to the position of guerrilla.

In the original history, his little cousin once raised an army to respond during the Three Feudatories Rebellion.

However, a general like him who relied on the support of his in-laws to sit in the position of general was ultimately just a figurehead. He once opposed the Qing Dynasty, then sided with the Qing Dynasty, and then rebelled against the Qing Dynasty again. However, he was defeated by the Guangdong Qing army in a short time and ended up being torn to pieces.

Just as Luo Luohun had thought, that night when he realized that things were hopeless, he escaped from the Ming army camp as soon as possible. He then hid all the way and finally returned to Jinniu Road a few days ago.

To be honest, he knew why Hauge sent him away, and he also knew that this was unavoidable.

However, he originally thought that if he captured the Emperor Ming, he could atone for his crime, and it was impossible for Hauge to openly poach a meritorious official like him, so he did not make any response.

But now?

The Ming Emperor is definitely dead, and even Oboi is likely to have died in the chaos.

Under such circumstances, if he dared to show up again, Hauge would probably drag him out and chop off his head immediately, and his men would naturally change their allegiance.

But then again, Wu Sangui was not someone who would sit there and wait for death.

In the first few days after he returned to the army, he was still thinking about whether he could take advantage of the internal struggle of the Qing court to compete with Haoge. After learning that Liu Wenxiu was deliberately deceiving people, he became more serious.

"You should contact them in the next few days. If the situation really changes, we will have to act accordingly."

Wu Sangui's decision to sneak back into the army was an extremely bold one, but if you think about it from another perspective, it can also be called being bold and careful.

After all, he was recruited by Dorgon and could not be considered a rootless duckweed. Even if he had to choose to hide his tracks due to the current situation, as long as he could return to Beijing safely, he still had the power to resist.

However, plans could not keep up with changes. Although Hauge and Luo Luohun made a misjudgment because of his "death in battle", his trip back to Beijing was also unable to take place because of this.

Of course, he could also go directly to the central military tent to point out the mistakes of Hauge and Luo Luohun, which would also make it possible for him to make up for his mistakes.

But when things got to that point, life or death depended entirely on Hauge's wishes. How could Wu Sangui, knowing that Hauge had developed feelings for his subordinates, put himself in a completely passive position?
Zhu Cilang had no idea about Wu Sangui's plan. In fact, he made such a decision based on another consideration.

To be honest, he had no way to rescue Zhang Xianzhong, nor did he have the intention to rescue Zhang Xianzhong.

To put it bluntly, he has now completely adjusted his mindset and will no longer hesitate in order to win over his four adopted sons.

Fan Yiheng and Wang Yingxiong, both of whom were from central Sichuan, did not have many connections with Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Even though their status as civil servants made it inevitable that they would take an unstable stance on certain issues, they were able to play a role in balancing the situation in the court.

With such a change, the reason why he still said that to Liu Wenxiu was actually to delay the retreat of the Tartars.

He saw very clearly that with the capture of Zhang Xianzhong, Dashi had reached a dead end. Under such circumstances, central Sichuan fell completely into the hands of the Ming Dynasty. The Tatars, who had suffered two major defeats, lost their ability to compete for supremacy in a short period of time.

But this is only for a short period of time.

As long as Hauge could bring the Eight Banners of Manchu, Mongolian and Han back to Guanzhong safely, it would not take long for him to form a large number of cannon fodder from the vast number of surrendered troops.

By then, Hauge, who wants to use his military achievements to compete for power with Dorgon, will inevitably lead his troops south again. Not only will Sichuan not be able to recuperate, but even the entire southwest will not be able to be completely stable.

Rather than letting the situation fall to this point, it would be better to completely defeat Hauge's troops this time.

Then the problem arises.

At this time, the Qing army had already spent quite some time in Sichuan. If the plot to assassinate Zhu Cilang failed again, the only option left for anyone would be to withdraw and stop fighting.

Therefore, Zhu Cilang deceived Liu Wenxiu with false words in order to prevent Hauge from withdrawing his troops immediately, and even to trick all the Qing troops out of Jinniu Road.

As for whether Wu Sangui's escape would have any impact on this plot.
Zhu Cilang was not worried at all about this.

No matter what, Wu Sangui had no choice but to flee back alone. Even if he reported everything he saw and heard to Haoge, it was not certain that the Qing army would be able to return home.

As long as Hauge still has the desire to verify the truth in his heart, he will definitely not withdraw it immediately.

In this way, Zhu Cilang's plan came into reality.

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"Your Majesty, there are young men in our army who are skilled in martial arts, but most of them are from the countryside. Even if they wear your imperial robes, they cannot hide their rusticity."

"What? Do you really want to exchange me for your adoptive father?"

"The defeated general dares not."

After hearing what Liu Wenxiu said, Zhu Cilang raised his eyebrows and directly retorted. After seeing him bowing, Zhu Cilang thought for a moment and continued, "I have done my utmost to be kind and righteous. If you can bring Zhang Xianzhong back alive when the replacement is made tomorrow, it will be your ability. If there are any twists and turns, it will be his fate."

After he finished speaking, Liu Wenxiu felt bitter in his heart, but he had to bow his head under the eaves. In the end, he could only reply very respectfully: "I thank your majesty for your grace."

Well, I was so drunk yesterday that when I opened my eyes it was already past one in the morning. Sorry.

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(End of this chapter)