Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

After Niu Jinxing finished speaking, Liu Zongmin and others fell silent.

A few years ago, they followed Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, and turned the Ming Dynasty upside down. Even though they suffered many defeats, they never lost the confidence to resist.

But I don’t know what happened in the past two years, everything went wrong, but the court seemed to have taken drugs and became increasingly strong.

The year before last in Sichuan, they endured hardships for two full years, training, training, and training, making their army much stronger than before.

During this period, they also encountered an opportunity, which was the time when the imperial court rebelled in the south of the Yangtze River.

On that occasion, King Chuang led his troops to Hanzhong Prefecture. They were full of confidence in leaving Sichuan. However, when the army arrived in Hanzhong, the appearance of the government troops was even worse than before.

It was also from that time that everyone's views on the government troops underwent a drastic change.

It turns out that the government troops are not always standing still. It turns out that they are training, and the government troops are also training.

Later, which happened last year, the Marshal of the Army defeated Zhang Xianzhong with only 40,000 guards and 40,000 white-flag soldiers.

In the end, Zhang Xianzhong died, Li Dingguo surrendered, and Sun Kewang led the remaining troops into the Shiwanda Mountains. I heard a while ago that they were ambushed and annihilated by the Duke of Qian.

It is said that when the Duke of Qian besieged Sun Kewang's troops, Sun Kewang had less than 10,000 soldiers left. There were many ferocious beasts and miasma in the mountains of Yunnan and Guizhou, and Sun Kewang was so daring that he dared to enter the mountains.

Although surrender was a last resort, it must be said that after seeing the appearance and equipment of the government troops, everyone lost the idea of continuing to resist.

They originally thought that the imperial court would disband their army, give these leaders some official positions, and then they would be destined to spend the rest of their lives under surveillance.

However, no one expected that the Marshal not only did not disband their army, but reorganized it and allowed them to continue to lead it. This was something no one had expected.

Atonement, haha, who would do such a thing if they didn't have to live? Atonement, haha.

This is the mood of everyone when they first arrive outside the Great Wall. They may be familiar with the inside of the Great Wall, but everything outside the Great Wall is unfamiliar.

It was icy and snowy, and there wasn't even a county town within a hundred miles. After the initial fear, loneliness came, as if there was nothing but snow in the world.

For two months, they hardly even saw the so-called Mongols.

If they were standing from their previous perspective, they hoped that the imperial court would fight with the Jiannu so that they could reap the benefits.

But now, this option no longer exists, and we can't afford to offend either side.

They surrendered to the imperial court, which asked them to atone their sins and allowed them to harass the Jiannu.

If they surrendered to the Jiannu, it was obvious that they would only be used as cannon fodder.

Either be the cannon fodder of the Jiannu or be the cannon fodder of the imperial court.

This is the fundamental reason for the dispute between Liu Zongmin and Hao Yaoqi.

Depression, fear of the unknown, confusion about the future.

Stance is a very strange thing. For generals such as Liu Zongmin, this was indeed their feeling.

But for Niu Jinxing, his position has become even more firm because of his surrender at the end of last year.

The reason is very simple. He was a juren in the Ming Dynasty, and a juren during the Tianqi period.

If he had to choose between surrendering to the Jiannu and the imperial court, he would definitely choose the imperial court because the Ming Dynasty was the legitimate one.

What are the Jiannu? Just a tribe that eats raw meat and drinks blood, how can they be worthy?

"Prince Chuang, we must unify our thoughts as soon as possible. If we are still so entangled before the battle, our death will be near!" Seeing that Liu Zongmin and others remained silent, Niu Jinxing said to Li Zicheng again.

Li Zicheng looked around at all his brothers and finally stopped his gaze at the south, which was the direction of the Great Wall. He wanted to go back, and go back openly.

There is no other choice.

With a clang, Li Zicheng drew the sword from his waist, then held the hilt with both hands and chopped fiercely at a wooden stake used to tie a horse. With just one swing, the stake was cut into two pieces.

"From now on, whoever dares to speak of surrendering to the Jiannu will be punished like this!

We are Han people. If the court is wrong, we are also at fault. But no matter what, this is a matter among us Han people. How can we surrender to the barbarians and draw our swords against us Han people?

Since the court has given us the opportunity, let's give it a try and find out whether they are true or false.

Liu Zongmin! "

Li Zicheng's tone was exceptionally calm and firm, the result of more than a decade of fighting and countless escapes from death.

"I'm here!" Liu Zongmin immediately forgot the unpleasantness just now.

Although he had his own thoughts, among the entire former rebel army, the person he admired most was his eldest brother.

Now that his elder brother has made up his mind, he naturally no longer hesitates.

Just follow your brother and go through mountains of swords and seas of fire. If you are afraid of death, you would not choose this path.

"Notify the entire army immediately. In half an hour, the entire army will break camp and attack the Balin tribe!"

"I have obeyed your order!" Liu Zongmin bowed and immediately headed towards the camp at the rear.

Soon, Hao Yaoqi, Li Guo, Liu Tichun, Tian Jianxiu and others rushed to their own camps to prepare, leaving only Li Zicheng, Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance.

"King Chuang, why not unite with the Xitumed tribe? Wouldn't it reduce the losses?" Song Xiance said after a moment of hesitation.

Li Zicheng's army had two military advisors, Niu Jinxing was responsible for strategy and tactics, while Song Xiance was responsible for logistics and the management of occupied cities.

But if he had any ideas about the war, Song Xiance would certainly speak up.

After hearing this, Niu Jinxing laughed and said:

"Song the Shorty, have you become stupid after staying in Sichuan?

Outside the Great Wall, it is a place where the strong prey on the weak. If we cannot show our skills, in the eyes of Omubu, we are nothing more than sheep that have surrendered to the imperial court.

We have to fight this first battle ourselves.

And it must be fought beautifully."

Half an hour later, the 30,000-strong army broke camp. Since the old, young, women and children were all concentrated and raised inside the pass by the imperial court, half of the supplies were entrusted to the Xitumed tribe in Guihua City.

As a result, the 30,000-strong army only had five days of rations, but at the same time, these 30,000 troops had no encumbrances and could move forward very quickly.

At dawn two days later, the army arrived only three or four miles away from the gathering place of the Balin tribe.

There was still thick fog, and everyone was breathing white air out of their noses and mouths.

Li Zicheng held the scabbard in his hand and made the final mobilization to his subordinates.

"Soldiers, we have no way out. If we cannot prove ourselves, not only will the court not tolerate us, but we will also have no place in the world.

The Barin tribe has a gathering place of about 20,000 people, but only 6,000 combat soldiers, while we have 30,000.

I need a win, and so do you.

Remember, don't fight too long. You must take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and make a quick decision. We only have an hour and a half.

Follow me and charge forward!"

……