Chapter 309: Surprise Attack on Xiangyang

"The troops were divided into two groups." Li Dingguo looked at Niu Jinxing and said word by word, "Qingtong Pass was handed over to the Dashun Army. Our Daxi Army bypassed Qingtong Pass and directly attacked Xiangyang. This could threaten the rear route of Qingtong Pass, and secondly, it could distract the attention of the Central Army cavalry stationed in Xunyang, thereby reducing the pressure on the Dashun Army."

As Li Dingguo finished speaking, Sun Kewang was shocked and said, "Second brother, are you crazy?"

Niu Jinxing was overjoyed and said, "General Li is serious about this?"

Li Dingguo was willing to detour and go against the back, so Niu Jinxing was of course happy.

There have always been only two roads to go from Sichuan to Shaanxi to Huguang. One is to go along the Yangtze River through Wanxian, Yunyang, Fengjie, Badong to Yiling, and the other is to go along the Han River through Hanzhong and Xunxian to Xiangyang. Except for these two roads, the rest are all over the place with high mountains and obstacles, which is difficult for humans and beasts to cross. This is also the reason why more than 100,000 Dashun Army was blocked by a small Qingtong Pass.

A Qingtong Pass can only guard one official road, but not all intersections. The Dashun Army can completely bypass Qingtong Pass to attack the hinterland of Huguang, but Niu Jinxing dared not do so because he was afraid of being surrounded by the official army in Huguang, so he did not pull out the nail of Qingtong Pass and did not reserve a retreat. Niu Jinxing would never dare to lead the main force of the Dashun Army to deep into the hinterland of Huguang.

When the Dashun Army was still a bandit, there was not so much attention. They would go wherever there was a gap. However, the Dashun Army is no longer a bandit. Although it still retains the custom of eating big families, it has been a long time since the poisoning of the people. Of course, there are also some considerations in this war.

Now Li Dingguo proposed to attack Xiangyang by detour. Of course, Niu Jinxing was unable to seek it. If Qingtong Pass could be taken down, the Dashun Army would be able to march straight into and divide the military supplies obtained from the looted city of Xiangyang with the Dashun Army. If Qingtong Pass could not be taken down, the Dashun Army would be able to retreat unscathed. It would be difficult for the Dashun Army to break out from Xiangyang...

In any aspect, this move will only benefit the Dashun Army but not harm it.

"Take it seriously." Li Dingguo said solemnly, "But we still hope that the Dashun Army can take down Qingtong Pass as soon as possible."

"Of course." Niu Jinxing said, "As long as the Daxi Army is willing to attack Xiangyang by roundaboutly, our Dashun Army will definitely be able to capture Qingtong Pass in the shortest time."

"No." Sun Kewang suddenly said, "I will not agree."

"Brother." Li Dingguo pulled Sun Kewang's battle robe and whispered, "I'll talk with you one step."

After saying that, Sun Kewang couldn't help but say something, Li Dingguo took him out of the tent.

Looking at Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo's figure left the tent, Li Shuangxi asked Niu Jinxing: "Military advisor, really let Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo divides his troops and detours to Xiangyang?"

Niu Jinxing sighed and said in a solemn tone: "Major General, the current situation is different from two years ago. Two years ago, the biggest enemy of our Dashun Country was Jiannu and the traitor Wu Sangui, and the Daxi Army was also our enemies. If you have the opportunity, of course you will use any means to annex the Daxi Army."

Liu Zongmin said in a muffled voice: "What's the difference now?"

Niu Jinxing frowned and said, "It's different now. Now the main enemy of our Dashun country has been replaced by the Ming court. Moreover, the Ming Central Army is much more powerful than Jiannu. In the Battle of Jining, Jiannu and the 300,000 coalition forces of the Tatars were defeated by less than 30,000 Ming Central Army. It's simply unbelievable!"

Liu Zongmin and others stopped talking.

Niu Jinxing said: "Faced with such a terrible enemy, we must join forces with the Great Western Army. We must wait until later to make up for the traitor Wu Sangui. In short, our main enemy is the Ming Dynasty court. Before the Ming Dynasty court is overthrown, we must not turn against the Western Army. This is also the reason why Long Live is willing to share Huguang with the Western Army. Do you understand, Major General?"

Li Shuangxi sighed comfortably and said in a calm voice: "I understand. If Sun Kewang is willing to detour later, I am willing to allocate ten days of dry food from the not-enriched military rations to them."

Niu Jinxing said happily: "That's right. Although Sun Kewang is a child, the Li Dingguo is quite handsome. Major General, you can't lose to that Li Dingguo."

Li Shuangxi's eyes were fixed and she said in a deep voice: "Is Li Dingguo? This coach will never lose to him."

Soon, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo returned. Although the expression on Sun Kewang's face was not very happy, he did not oppose the decision of the Daxi Army to detour. The matter of division of troops was decided, and Li Shuangxi indeed allocated ten days of dry food from the Dashun Army's rations to the Daxi Army.

The next day, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo led 80,000 Western troops to bypass Qingtong Pass and marched towards Junzhou along the south bank of the Han River.

Qingtong Pass, the temporary admiral headquarters.

The bandit army has been in the territorial territory for more than half a month. Although it has not taken any major moves, Zhao Xin never dared to take it lightly. Last night, Zhao Xin inspected the city defense until three or four o'clock in the morning. After only a few hours of snarling, the loud voice of the guards sounded outside the signing room: "Report!"

Zhao Xin suddenly woke up and said loudly: "Come in."

The guards came in and shouted loudly: "General, the bandits are divided."

"What?" Zhao Xin was secretly surprised when he heard this and said in a narrow voice, "The bandits are divided?"

The guards said: "About dawn, our army's horses discovered that a large group of bandits were driving out of the camp and heading east along the south bank of the Han River. The specific strength was unknown, but the vanguard troops of the bandits had already left the camp forty or fifty miles, while their follow-up troops were still in the camp outside Qingtong Pass."

"It stretches for forty or fifty miles?" Zhao Xinning said, "If the bandits act in the four columns, there will be at least 70,000 or 80,000 people. God, this is not a small group of bandits!"

"This way..." Zhao Xin thought for a while and said, "Immediately report this news to the front enemy headquarters with a letter from Fei Ge."

The bandits divided their troops and sent more than 80,000 people to detour the Qingtong Pass. This was not a trivial matter. Zhao Xin was a little embarrassed for a moment, and he did not dare to ask Hongniangzi's cavalry battalion to intercept. After all, the Central Army's cavalry only had three battalions of troops, but the opponent had at least 80,000 people, not to mention that the Xunyang area has many hills, mountains and rivers, which was not conducive to the movement of the cavalry in the brigade.

Nanyang, Front Enemy Command.

Feige sent the letter very quickly. Zhao Xin first sent the news back to Xun County from Qingtong Pass. The Bailian Church in Xun County was then sent the news to Nanyang hundreds of miles away by Feige sent the letter. Before noon passed, Liu Rushi had already received the news. Liu Rushi immediately convened a military meeting to discuss countermeasures.

Liu Rushi held a wooden pole in his hand and pointed to the map hanging on the wall and said, "According to the latest news, about 80,000 to 100,000 thieves have bypassed Qingtong Pass and are slowly advancing along the south bank of the Han River toward Junzhou. The intention of this group of thieves is very obvious, which is to attack Xiangyang along the east of the Han River, cut off the connection between Qingtong Pass and the rear, and make the defenders at the pass become an isolated army."

Zheng Chenggong, who had just been promoted to the rank of general, frowned and puzzled: "Before Qingtong Pass, the bandits dared to divide their troops into deeper. Aren't they afraid that this partial army will be surrounded by us in Huguang?"

"General Zheng said very well." Li Chengdong, who had already restored his rank of general, also said, "After all, Huguang is now full of heavy troops. In addition to General Zhao Xin's three central army mixed battalions and Governor He Tengjiao's local security team, there are also three cavalry battalions of Mrs. Hong, as well as three musket battalions of the direct headquarters, three baggage battalions and artillery battalions! Such a powerful army is enough to encircle and annihilate these tens of thousands of bandits and partial troops?"

Liu Rushi smiled slightly and said, "In my opinion, the thieves are not afraid but do not know. After all, our Central Army has an incomparable advantage in intelligence spy and information transmission. It is difficult for the thieves to control the mobilization of our Central Army. Even if they lucky enough to spy on the news, it will take a long time to send it back to the camp in time. Therefore, the thieves do not know that our main force of the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty has gathered in Huguang."

"This is a rare opportunity." Zheng Chenggong said passionately, "I must take this opportunity to encircle and annihilate this bandit's side troops in one fell swoop!"

Liu Rushi nodded happily and said in a sweet voice: "All the generals obey the orders."

Zheng Chenggong, Li Chengdong, Gao Jinku, Li Benshen, Liu Konghe and others stood up in a daze, and everyone's eyes focused on Liu Rushi's face.

On the south bank of the Han River, on the mountain road from Qingtong Pass to Junzhou, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo led 80,000 bandits to march forward in a mighty manner. Eighty thousand bandits are not small troops. The vanguard in front has already walked forty or fifty miles away, and the last troops have not left the bandit camp.

Sun Ke looked at the Daxi Army that had been extending forward and said to Li Dingguo with a serious expression: "Second brother, have you ever thought about it? If we cannot open up the situation in Huguang and the Dashun Army cannot capture Qingtong Pass for a long time, the consequences will be unimaginable. Maybe this Huguang is the place where you and my brothers buried their bones."

"Don't worry, brother." Li Dingguo comforted him, "Although the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty is good at fighting, its military strength is limited after all. I have sent people to find out. The Central Army stationed in Huguang is only three battalions under Zhao Xin, with a total force of 15,000, of which 5,000 are stationed in Wuchang, 5,000 are stationed in Badong, and the remaining 5,000 are stationed in Qingtongguan and Xun County. The remaining 5,000 are stationed in the remaining prefectures and counties. The security teams are simply mobs, with few people and little combat power."

Sun Kewang said, "But second brother, don't forget that there are still tens of thousands of Central Army stationed in Henan."

Li Dingguo Highway: "The Central Army of Henan should be wary of Wu Sangui, not to mention that even if they are heading south now, it is probably too late! I have calculated that from Xun County to Xiangyang about 300 miles, you will lead a large group of troops to march in a mighty manner to attract the attention of the spies in the court, and I will lead the elite troops to take shortcuts to attack Xiangyang!"

Sun Kewang said: "How many people are you planning to bring?"

Li Ding Guodao: "There are too many people and they are easily exposed to their targets, and they are slow to move. I only bring three thousand elite soldiers there!"

When Sun Kewang heard this, his eyes were fixed and he said in a deep voice: "You only bring three thousand people there?"

Nodding, Li Dingguo said again: "I am familiar with the terrain from Xun County to Xiangyang. If nothing unexpected happens, I can walk these 300 miles in two days and one night. By the evening of tomorrow, I can just arrive outside Xiangyang City. The security team in Xiangyang City would definitely not have expected that our army would come like this. Without any defense, it would be easy to attack Xiangyang!"

Sun Kewang took a breath and said nothing.

Li Dingguo's idea was crazy and bold. It was something that Sun Kewang dared not think about when he marched for 300 miles in two days and one night. After the marching, he hurriedly launched an attack before he had time to rest. In Sun Kewang's opinion, it was even more incredible. This was completely contrary to the common sense of marching and fighting!

Li Dingguo didn't know what Sun Kewang was thinking, and then said: "After capturing Xiangyang, it will completely disrupt Zhao Xin's defense system. As soon as the main army of elder brother arrived, it will gradually erode the surrounding prefectures and counties based on Xiangyang. At that time, the connection between Qingtong Pass, Xun County and the rear of Huguang will be completely cut off, and the situation will fall into our control."

Sun Kewang said: "But don't forget that there are still tens of thousands of cavalry stationed in Xun County."

Li Dingguo Highway: "Brother, don't have to worry too much about these more than 10,000 cavalry. The Han River is mostly hilly and mountainous, and there are a large number of crisscrossing rivers. Under the constraints of the terrain, Hong Niangzi's cavalry cannot play its maneuver advantage at all. If you really want to compete for the speed of marching, hehe, her cavalry is afraid that it is not as fast as our infantry."

"Okay, then." Sun Kewang nodded and said, "But if you find that the situation is wrong, don't force it."

"I'll take care of it."

Li Dingguo agreed and lit up the three thousand elite soldiers and took a small path.

Seeing Li Dingguo's figure disappearing at the end of the wild sight, Sun Kewang's mood was undoubtedly quite complicated.

Sun Kewang hopes that Li Dingguo can successfully capture Xiangyang, but he does not want him to succeed. He hopes that Li Dingguo can succeed is naturally for the sake of the Daxi Army, but he does not want Li Dingguo to succeed, but for his own status, because once Li Dingguo captures Xiangyang, his weight in Zhang Xianzhong's heart will completely surpass Sun Kewang.

Zhang Xianzhong had no son, only Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu and Ainengqi, four adopted sons. After Zhang Xianzhong's death, the foundation of Daxi Kingdom will only be passed on to one of the four of them. Originally, Sun Kewang was the eldest son, and among the four, he also had the highest reputation and the greatest contribution. He can be said to be the best candidate for the Grand Western crown prince.

But in recent years, with Li Dingguo's growth, he is gradually showing extraordinary military talent. Even the Dashun general Liu Zongmin was defeated by him, and he still beat nearly 100,000 Dashun army with more than 20,000 weak soldiers. You should know that Liu Zongmin defeated Zhang Xianzhong several times back then and almost killed Zhang Xianzhong.

After the end of the Battle of Hanzhong, Zhang Xianzhong praised Li Dingguo as a natural military commander more than once.

Now Li Dingguo has seriously threatened Sun Kewang's position. If he successfully conquered Xiangyang this time, his weight in Zhang Xianzhong's heart will completely surpass Sun Kewang. Then there is no suspense about Zhang Xianzhong's appointment of Li Dingguo as the crown prince of Daxi Kingdom, which is something Sun Kewang does not want to see.

Sun Kewang really wanted to replace Li Dingguo and lead the elite troops to attack Xiangyang, but he believed that he did not have the ability and led three thousand elite troops to run 300 miles in two days and one night. After that, he had to attack a city with strong city defense in one breath. This was something he didn't dare to think about, and only Li Dingguo dared to think about it.

The next evening, Xiangyang, the temporary governor's headquarters.

Huguang Governor He Tengjiao is now stationed in Xiangyang, and Zhao Xin led a mixed battalion of the Central Army to be stationed in Qingtong Pass and Xun County. He Tengjiao also moved his Governor's headquarters from Wuchang to Xiangyang. Of course, the purpose is to coordinate the supply of military supplies, provide logistical support for the front army, and also to resettle the people who fled from the front.

He Tengjiao's purpose as an official is to do things for the people. No matter when and wherever he is, he always puts the people first!

At noon, an emergency delivery had just been sent in front of him, saying that the large group of bandits who bypassed Qingtong Pass had advanced outside the city of Junzhou. After several attacks on Junzhou without success, the bandits gave up on the attack and continued to march east along the south bank of the Han River. At that time, it was less than two hundred miles away from Xiangyang.

The brigade of bandits is less than 200 miles away from Xiangyang, and there are only five security teams in Xiangyang City. However, He Tengjiao is not worried because the three main musket battalions of the Central Army stationed in Xinye have already moved south along Baihe and will arrive in Xiangyang at dawn tomorrow.

The bandits are still two hundred miles away, and they will not arrive the day after tomorrow, but the three musket battalions of the Central Army's main force can arrive before dawn tomorrow. What else does He Tengjiao have to worry about? The only thing he has to do now is to prepare food and grass for the arrival of the Central Army and do a good job in logistics support.

He Tengjiao, who was busy raising food and grass, did not know that the three thousand elite bandits of Li Dingguo had quietly approached Xiangyang City under the cover of the night.

During this march, Li Dingguo chose a very tricky march route, trying to avoid the main road, and specialize in walking on the mountain paths that are rarely visited. Although he met many woodcutter hunters along the way, these woodcutter hunters did not realize to report the news to the court. Occasionally, woodcutter hunters thought of going to report the news, and they were anxious and didn't know who to look for. Or when they found the person, Li Dingguo's elite soldiers had already been driving for too long.

Therefore, when Li Dingguo led three thousand elite soldiers to the outside of Xiangyang City, the security team in Xiangyang City and the governor of Huguang He Tengjiao were still unaware of it. They all thought that the bandits were still two hundred miles away. What's more coincidental was that a team of grain trucks loaded with sweet potatoes arrived from Yicheng just now. After nightfall, the closed south gate opened again.

Although the three thousand elite soldiers had just passed a long and urgent march of 300 miles and were as tired as dogs, Li Dingguo did not hesitate at all and immediately led his army to launch a surprise attack. The so-called surprise attack focused on the word "strange", and the focus was on surprise. Once it was unexpected, the enemy would have lost half psychologically!
Chapter completed!