The video takes us to ancient times; Li Er transforms into the Tongtian Emperor of Shu Han.

Li Zicheng's acceptance of Dorgon was something Liu Bang had anticipated.

After Han Xin explained this move, they had already guessed Li Zicheng's choice.

But the intelligence brought back from the capital next left him somewhat puzzled.

Why did Li Zicheng allow Dorgon to lead the remaining thousand or so Qing soldiers to plunder the Central Plains?

Even if they were allowed to plunder under the guise of the Chu army, such a decision was still baffling.

Of course, if that were all, even if he didn't understand, he would still respect it.

And think carefully about what means can be used to stop, or at least help, the people avoid the Manchus' looting.

Ultimately, this can be considered a strategy.

If used properly, it can even be a two-birds-with-one-stone strategy.

The problem lies in the intelligence we finally received.

First, let Dorgon lead his troops to plunder, and then send troops to suppress him.

If it were just acting, that would be one thing, but this is clearly a real fight.

The 10,000 troops sent by Li Zicheng were almost completely annihilated. What Dorgon will face next is the encirclement and suppression by the entire nation.

"Xiao He, what do you think he's thinking?"

"Or rather, what exactly does he want to do?"

"Why do I feel like I can't see through him anymore?"

I can't see through it, I can't understand it.

Could there be something fishy going on here?

"If the facts are indeed as the intelligence reports, then..."

"Isn't this a bit too easy?"

Xiao He was also filled with disbelief.

What exactly are these two groups trying to do?

Let's go over this together.

"Dorgon was deliberately released from the encirclement by Han Xin, who sent troops to pursue and intercept him along the way, preventing them from having the opportunity to plunder and seize supplies."

"More than two thousand people broke through the encirclement. After they fled all the way to the capital, even if they ate each other, at most only a thousand or so people would remain."

"If the thousand or so people were to flee, they would be quickly wiped out, so Dorgon's only option was to surrender to Li Zicheng."

Up to this point, everything has unfolded as they predicted.

"That's right, Your Majesty. Dorgon's actions in the early stages were exactly as we predicted."

"As we expected, Li Zicheng subsequently accepted Dorgon."

"We don't know what kind of conspiracy they plotted afterward, but we can't escape a few possibilities."

"Either Li Zicheng wants to use Dorgon's power to deal with Zhang Xianzhong, or he wants to deal with us."

The latter is clearly more likely.

Although Zhang Xianzhong's power was equally formidable, due to the nature of his location, it was very difficult for him to threaten Li Zicheng or even take the step of conquering the Central Plains.

On the contrary, Liu Bang and his forces are now entrenched at Shanhaiguan, where they can either advance south or retreat to establish their own independent regime.

Moreover, Dorgon knew very well that they had a considerable number of troops, and their elite status was in no way inferior.

As soon as Li Zicheng learns this intelligence, they will immediately replace Zhang Xianzhong and become a thorn in his side.

"So we had already guessed that Li Zicheng would use Dorgon's power to deal with us."

"As for his allowing the Qing army to loot, although it is somewhat incomprehensible, it is not unacceptable."

"If Your Majesty does not wish to see the people suffer, then we can simply devise some means to stop it."

"But these next few intelligence reports..."

As he spoke, Xiao He listed out several intelligence reports separately.

In his first letter, Li Zicheng dispatched troops with some provisions to try to rescue the distressed people and demonstrate his benevolence.

The second letter stated that when Li Zicheng's troops arrived at the destination, they found that there were no civilians in need of rescue.

Or rather, the Qing army left no survivors wherever they went.

The Shun army, which had brought provisions to the rescue, must have realized something at that moment.

Even ordinary rebels, when they rob civilians, will eventually have a bottom line.

Beyond this bottom line, they will rob fish, livestock, grain, and even the seeds that people keep for farming.

Even worse, like the Ming army in the past, they would slaughter some of the most vehemently resisting civilians and kill innocent people to claim credit!

But no matter which group of people they were, they had never done anything so utterly devastating.

If this scene must be attributed to rebel forces within the Central Plains, then it was not just one group of people.

Such an outcome would require at least three or four groups of rebels to take turns looting and pillaging.

After the reinforcements from the Shun army sent the intelligence back, they also received the same intelligence.

You don't need someone who is too smart.

Anyone with eyes who has seen the ravaged lands and the miserable plight of the people will realize that this was not the work of ordinary rebels.

"Li Zicheng must have realized this after reading this intelligence report."

"The idea that he had the Qing army impersonate Emperor Gaozu is itself untenable."

“No one but the Qing army would have acted so decisively.”

"Even though Dorgon had emphasized to his troops that they should not go too far, the slaughter was ingrained in those people's bones."

“Since entering the pass, they have never had the habit of showing mercy.”

Even near the capital, and even though Dorgon had repeatedly warned them not to go too far, the final result was still exactly the same.

"So in order to correct his wrong decision, he chose to send troops to encircle and suppress them."

"If I'm not mistaken, he has 10,000 troops. He probably intends to annihilate the Qing army and capture Dorgon alive."

"Letting all the culprits be executed is his way of giving an explanation to the world. At the same time, capturing Dorgon will give him one last chance."

"His idea was good, but he never imagined that 10,000 fully armed soldiers with ample logistical support could be almost completely wiped out by just over 1,000 Qing troops."

"Those five thousand who were captured will probably become enemies in the next battle."

This can also be seen from this.

It wasn't that the Qing army was weak.

The truth is quite the opposite; the fighting ability of the Qing army's elite troops was impeccable.

Whether facing Li Zicheng's so-called elite troops or the Ming army that was once short of supplies, they were able to easily sweep them away.

For them, defeating ten times their own number of enemies is probably not the limit.

"If we follow Li Zicheng's current approach to suppress them, the Qing army led by Dorgon will likely become even more difficult to contain."

"Most likely even Han Xin himself couldn't have predicted that Li Zicheng, whom he valued so highly, would be so weak."

He's utterly hopeless.

Treating him as a formidable opponent was probably the only mistake Han Xin made in this challenge.

"So all of Li Zicheng's current encirclement and suppression efforts are just giving Dorgon an opportunity to grow stronger?"