Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 394 Entanglement
"Walk slower!"

As he heard a low scolding from behind, Zhang Xianzhong felt something sharp pressing against his waist.

That night he had already escaped from the battlefield along a small path, and as long as he left Jinniu Road he could return to Guangyuan City.

But who would have thought that after walking only a few miles, he would run into Liu Jinzhong head-on.

If it was half an hour in the morning, he would have definitely questioned them severely, but at this time he was only accompanied by Sun Kewang and a few guards, while the other side had at least forty or fifty people.

Originally, he wanted to deal with it with lies and talk about other things when he was in a safe place, but what was unexpected and reasonable was that before he could make any move, Liu Jinzhong had already killed him.

There was no suspense about what happened next. After a fierce battle, all the guards died, Sun Kewang also lost an arm, and although he himself did not suffer any fatal injuries, he had no choice but to be captured in the face of absolute numerical advantage.

At this point, he naturally knew that Liu Jinzhong had already defected. Even though the other party did not take him to the Tartars at the first time, Zhang Xianzhong knew that it was only a matter of time.

However, Zhang Xianzhong was not completely disappointed at that time. He even took advantage of this opportunity to talk to Liu Jinzhong about old stories.

But to his surprise, Liu Jinzhong was obviously a traitor, but he did not show any remorse at all. He had just said a few words when the other party directly refuted him.

What about the wanton killing of innocent people and the promotion of treacherous officials?

In Zhang Xianzhong's ears, these were just clichés used by a bunch of people who could not distinguish right from wrong to belittle themselves.

If these people could have half of his vision, they would understand the necessity behind it.

But Zhang Xianzhong already knew at that time that things had come to this point, and even if he made the greatest promises he would not be able to convince Liu Jinzhong.

After that he stopped talking until he was sent to the Qing army camp.

To be honest, although Zhang Xianzhong had not completely lost hope at that time, he also knew that the hope was extremely slim.

But there is always a way out.

Just as he was becoming more and more desperate and depressed day by day, he learned from the Qing soldiers that Liu Wenxiu wanted to exchange him for the Ming Emperor.

It has to be said that this news was like a ray of light shining in the darkness, giving Zhang Xianzhong, who was almost in despair, hope again.

At this point, although he still appeared to be in low spirits, the spirit of the Great Western Emperor had completely returned.

"Please take good care of my two adopted sons. I will reward you handsomely after we are out of this predicament."

The Qing soldiers in charge of escorting Zhang Xianzhong did not react much to his promise. There was no more pushing or scolding. But despite this, he still tasted something different from this detail.

It seems that Hauge just wanted to complete the prisoner exchange and had no other thoughts.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xianzhong felt both relieved and disappointed.

Fortunately, he was able to escape successfully this time, but he was disappointed that his position in Hauge's heart was not as important as that of the Ming Emperor.

However, he was a powerful figure who had been in power for many years, and such ridiculous thoughts only lasted for a moment before being completely dispelled by him.

After all, if you are not as strong as others, everything you say is useless nonsense.

At this time, the Emperor Minghuang already controlled nine provinces, and five or six of them could be considered obedient.

Compared with him, not only was Zhang Xianzhong nothing, but even the Qing Dynasty, which almost swallowed up the world, had to avoid his edge. It was understandable that Hauge wanted to keep the Ming Emperor in his hands.

As his thoughts turned, the bright yellow figure opposite him was only ten steps away. After seeing the other's face clearly, Zhang Xianzhong, who had already thought that he would be able to escape this time, could not help but widen his eyes.

this.
Just as Zhang Xianzhong was looking at the young man who seemed familiar but whose name he could not remember, a loud shout came from the escort team.

In this situation, he naturally understood the current situation. Without waiting for the Qing army beside him to react, he leaned back suddenly, and then took advantage of the counter-thrust force from behind to run to the other side.

“It’s a fraud!!!”

It has to be said that Zhang Xianzhong was indeed extraordinary as he managed to fight his way out of a sea of ​​blood and corpses. Even though his physical strength had begun to decline at this time, he still ran three or four steps before the Qing soldiers could react.

But how could the soldiers sent to escort them be ordinary soldiers?

Just as he was about to take another step, not only did a loud shout erupt from the Qing army, but even the Daxi soldiers on the opposite side also rushed towards him.

After this incident, the open space between the two armies immediately became chaotic. Hauge, the commander-in-chief of the Qing army, just opened his mouth and looked into the distance, but did not issue any orders at the first time.

Why is this happening?
It doesn't make sense.

Didn’t we agree to exchange prisoners?

Why did Zhang Xianzhong suddenly launch an attack?

Are you afraid of being left behind?
As his mind turned, Haoge finally had some guesses about Zhang Xianzhong's actions. Even though he felt that such guesses were a bit unreasonable, facing the reality, he could only choose to believe them.

"The guards of the Blue and Bordered Blue flags move forward!"

Fortunately, Luo Luohun was by his side, and Hauge's slight distraction did not allow the Qing army to lose the initiative. However, after issuing the military order on behalf of the commander-in-chief, Luo Luohun turned to Hauge and said.

"Your Majesty, why not send an army to bypass the enemy formation and take Guangyuan directly."

Ok?
Guangyuan?

As Luo Luohun's voice came, Hauge's gaze could not help but turn to the city behind the Dashi army formation.

This time he went south, his original intention was to enter Sichuan. Although he had to withdraw due to two defeats, this did not change the importance of Guangyuan.

Just as Luo Luohun said, at this time the Dashi army has all been lined up against the city. If we can take advantage of this opportunity to defeat them, we will be able to charge directly into the city in one go.

just
As his mind turned, Haoge couldn't help but cast his gaze towards the bright yellow figure. After some consideration and weighing, he, contrary to his usual behavior, rejected Luo Luohun's proposal.

"Let's not talk about that for now. The most important thing is to capture the Emperor Ming."

He understood clearly that the life or death of the Ming Emperor was not important to the Qing Dynasty. As long as the throne of the Ming Dynasty could be left vacant again, this old empire, which had just recovered, would inevitably fall into internal strife again due to the dispute over the throne.

But what good will this do for Hauge?
The Ming Dynasty was caught up in internal strife, and anyone could bite off a piece of its flesh.

By then, not only will Dorgon's troops be able to send troops from Lianghuai again, but military leaders may also emerge within the Ming Dynasty.

Under such circumstances, Hauge's troops, who had been fighting for several months, not only failed to maximize their interests in the first place, but also might have made things difficult for others.

In comparison, if we can capture the Emperor Ming alive.
With this in mind, Hauge raised his hand high, and when he put it down again, several small formations followed the two flags of guards out.

At this point, the prisoner exchange had the tendency to turn into a major battle. However, when everyone present focused their attention on the two armies, Zhu Cilang, who was behind the "Daxi" army formation, seemed to be unconcerned about the change. "Your Majesty! They are fighting!"

"Oh."

As Hu Yiqing's slightly excited voice came, Zhu Cilang just raised his head and glanced between the two armies before starting to ponder in his mind again. It was obvious that he was not concerned about the prisoner exchange.

This prisoner exchange was very important to Liu Wenxiu because he was trying to rescue his adoptive father.

This prisoner exchange was also very important to Hauge because he wanted to put the Ming Dynasty back into the same state as last year.

But for Zhu Cilang, the greatest significance of this prisoner exchange was to contain the Qing army and prevent Hauge from retreating to Guanzhong. As for the final result of the prisoner exchange, it was not within his consideration.

Going back to its roots, the so-called Daxi was just an empty shell. Even if Zhang Xianzhong could escape as he had done in the past, it would be extremely difficult for him to regroup.

This is not to say that Zhang Xianzhong had lost his former ability after serving as the Emperor of Dashi for two years. The truth is that the Ming Dynasty at that time no longer had the soil for bandits to survive.

It is said that time and luck are the same.

The reason why Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng were repeatedly suppressed by government troops was that after a few twists and turns, they were able to gather a large number of troops at a very fast speed.

This was certainly due to the fact that the Ming army fought on their own and nurtured the enemy for their own benefit, but at a deeper level, the problem lies in land annexation and extortion.

Due to land annexation, a large number of people became impoverished proletarians; due to extortion and heavy taxation, these proletarians could not even survive.

And when someone rises up to resist, these people who have no way to survive will immediately be like encountering flaming gunpowder, and will blow to pieces anything that dares to suppress them.

But now.
The gunpowder was exhausted.

After so many years of war, most provinces in the Ming Dynasty have lost half of their population. In places like Sichuan, nine out of ten houses are even empty.

Without people, there will be no manpower; without people, there will be no money and food.

Under such circumstances, forces like the Qing army that took the elite route could still hold on, but those like Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng who could not change their banditry could only end up in defeat.

To put it bluntly, the peasant army was defeated a few years ago. As long as they could break out of the encirclement, they would be able to form another army in less than a month or two by means of coercion.

But now, without the support of a stable territory, a team of tens of millions of people would find it difficult to survive, let alone travel across the north and south.

Zhu Cilang had a clear understanding of this, and it was precisely because of this understanding that he did not care about the prisoner exchange.

"Your Majesty, Liu Wenxiu is out."

"Oh?"

Hu Yiqing's voice came again, and Zhu Cilang was no longer indifferent as before. When he looked around, he saw Liu Wenxiu leading dozens of cavalrymen to kill between the two armies.

"Do you think he can rescue Zhang Xianzhong?"

"I look at Xuan."

"How to say?"

"Your Majesty, please look, although the main force of the Tartars is still quite far away, Liu Wenxiu only has a hundred or so men. If they are entangled by the Tartars who are responsible for escorting them, they will definitely be surrounded. By then, not only Zhang Xianzhong, but also Liu Wenxiu will be trapped."

"Well, that makes sense."

Hu Yiqing is indeed an outstanding general, and he can naturally grasp the key points of the battlefield situation.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that nearly 10,000 soldiers lined up outside Guangyuan City at this time are all dressed as Dashi soldiers, but these people are all disguised by the two armies of the Imperial Guard, and there are only one or two hundred people under their command.

It is really unrealistic to think that you can snatch Zhang Xianzhong back from the Tartars with such a small number of people.

"Your Majesty, why don't you let the two generals attack directly?"

"Oh? Why?"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being blunt. Although Liu Wenxiu tried to use a false surrender to harm you, his loyalty and bravery are rare. If we can help him escape this time, then I think that whether we can rescue Zhang Xianzhong or not, we can make him sincerely return to the Ming Dynasty."

As soon as Hu Yiqing finished speaking, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but look at him deeply.

He could understand why Hu Yiqing, who seldom expressed his opinions in normal times, would express his opinions on such matters out of the ordinary.

To put it bluntly, who would not look upon a military general like Liu Wenxiu who did his best to save his master with a different eye?

just
Seeing Hu Yiqing's hopeful eyes, Zhu Cilang finally turned his head back. After looking at the central battle group for a while, he said lightly, "It depends on fate."

Hu Yiqing seemed to understand something about his Majesty's answer, but he did not understand it thoroughly.

However, in his opinion, as long as His Majesty did not explicitly refuse, it meant that Liu Wenxiu still had a chance to survive. He then focused all his attention on the figure who was riding a horse and fighting.

At this time, the two groups of soldiers responsible for escorting were completely entangled together, and Liu Wenxiu had also reached the edge of the battle group. However, Zhang Xianzhong, who had previously wanted to escape directly, fell into the hands of the Qing army again because he was tied up. He was also forced to retreat to the rear under the escort of more than a dozen elite soldiers.

Faced with such a situation, Liu Wenxiu would not engage in a fight with other enemy forces anymore. After stabbing the Qing soldier in front of him to death with a spear, he turned his horse's head and charged towards the small team along the edge of the central battle group.

"Don't panic, Your Majesty! Wenxiu is here!"

As a loud shout reached his ears, Zhang Xianzhong, who was still struggling, couldn't help but turn his attention over.

To be honest, he adopted many sons in his life, but Liu Wenxiu was not the best among them in terms of literary and military strategy.

When it comes to governing, he is not as good as Sun Kewang, when it comes to military strategy, he is not as good as Li Dingguo. To be more specific, he is also far inferior to Ai Nengqi in breaking into battle and killing the enemy.

But such an adopted son who was not favored tried his best to save him when he was in danger. Even Zhang Xianzhong, who was bloodthirsty and cruel, could not help but be deeply moved.

Thirty steps.

Looking at the figure gradually approaching him, Zhang Xianzhong struggled even more vigorously.

He knew very well that if the Qing soldiers escorting him were allowed to escape from the central battle group, even if Liu Wenxiu could catch up with them successfully with the horse's power, he would find it difficult to defeat the majority with a small number of troops.

But now he was being held by several Qing soldiers. What else could he do except struggle as hard as he could?

After moving a few times, he felt a heavy blow on the face. He then felt dizzy and his struggles became much smaller. At the same time, the speed of the Qing army also increased by several points.

"I'm afraid I can't escape."

(End of this chapter)