The Golden Cicada Leaks Out of Shell

At the top of Xiangyang City, Li Dingguo was cheering up against the soldiers of the Daxi under his command.

"Brothers, the general sent someone to reply. The main force of our Daxi Army is advancing towards Xiangyang and will arrive soon. At that time, we will be able to attack inside and outside to defeat the Ming Central Army outside the city. As long as we defeat the Central Army outside the city, Huguang will belong to our Daxi Army, and it is more than that..."

"Once the Central Army is destroyed, there will be no army in the Ming Dynasty that can stop the army of our Daxi Army. After occupying Huguang, we can still follow the Yangtze River to the east and sweep the prosperous Jiangnan. After Jiangnan, the whole world will belong to our Daxi Kingdom. Brothers, you must hold on and wait for the army to arrive!"

Li Dingguo's voice was undoubtedly quite inspiring. He outlined an extremely beautiful vision to the soldiers. If the Daxi Army could sweep across the south of the Yangtze River, the Daxi Dynasty would replace the Ming Dynasty and become the common ruler of the world. At that time, everyone here would become the founding fathers, and then they would be granted a wife and son, live a good life of three wives and four concubines, and have a rich life...

Soon, the morale of the Great Western Army, which was originally a little depressed, began to rise again.

"Strengthen the alert." Li Dingguo nodded with satisfaction and ordered his generals, "Once you find any abnormal movements in the Ming army, or if our main force of the Western Army arrives, come and report it immediately."

"yes."

Several generals from the Western Conference agreed, and Li Dingguo returned to his temporary headquarters with confidence.

Li Dingguo had more important things to do. He could convince his soldiers to believe that Sun Kewang would definitely bring a large army to aid, but he could not convince himself. Li Dingguo knew Sun Kewang too well. Under such circumstances, Sun Kewang had a great chance of choosing not to save him!

Waiting for others to come to save is not Li Dingguo's style, he wants to save himself!

How to save yourself?

Holding to the death? It can only be a dead end!

The fierce battle in less than a cup of tea this morning left a deep impression on Li Dingguo. The strength of the Ming Central Army was far beyond his imagination. If such a fierce battle happened a few more times, Li Dingguo's three thousand elite soldiers would have been exhausted. Therefore, Xiangyang City must not be defended!

Since you can't defend yourself, you'll have to retreat!

Li Dingguo knew that it was not difficult to withdraw from Xiangyang, but it was difficult to withdraw from Qingtong Pass and join the main force of the Daxi Army of Sun Kewang. The Ming Central Army appeared outside Xiangyang City, and it was obviously not the army under Zhao Xin. This should be the Central Army that belonged to Wang Pu!

Li Dingguo can be said to be well-known for Wang Pu's reputation.

Li Dingguo was deeply afraid of Wang Pu in his heart. Li Dingguo was afraid of Wang Pu because Wang Pu had never been defeated since he led the army to fight. He was a truly unbeaten general! It is not easy to defeat the strong with weak forces, but it is not impossible. But if you can always win the strong enemy with weak forces, it would be a big deal. Wang Pu is such a general!

Wang Pu's army has appeared outside Xiangyang City. Will Wang Pu still be far away from here?

In a battle with famous generals like Wang Pu, long-time generals, and undefeated generals, Li Dingguo dared not be slackened or careless. Although Wang Pu is only ten years older than Li Dingguo, his experience is not on the same level. Wang Pu has participated in too many big and fierce battles, but Li Dingguo has only fought a few battles with the Dashun Army.

Therefore, with Wang Pu's power, how could he easily let Li Dingguo and his troops escape back to Qingtong Pass?

He could not go back to Qingtong Pass, so he could only follow the Han River to the east. Suddenly, a nearly crazy idea flashed through Li Dingguo's mind - a surprise attack on Wuchang!

Of course, the surprise attack on Wuchang was just a cover, and the purpose was to mobilize the Ming Central Army outside the city. As long as the Ming Central Army outside the city was completely mobilized, Li Dingguo and his remaining soldiers of the Daxi Army would have a chance, be able to escape from death, and be able to return to Sichuan alive.

In the evening, Liu Rushi led the commander, guards and subsequent baggage battalions and the artillery battalions to the outside of Xiangyang City, meeting with Li Chengdong, Zheng Chenggong and Liu Konghe's main force in the musket battalion.

The headquarters’ logistics staff had just set up the tent, and Li Chengdong, Zheng Chenggong and Liu Konghe arrived.

Li Chengdong stepped forward and saluted Liu Rushi, saying with shame: "Commander, I am humble and incompetent, and I am embarrassed to the Central Army."

Liu Rushi waved his hand and said calmly: "Victory and defeat are common in military affairs. General Li doesn't have to worry too much, but what happened this morning?"

Li Chengdong briefly described the fierce battle in the morning.

After listening to Li Chengdong's narration, Liu Rushi frowned and said, "It seems that the generals in Xiangyang City have a certain understanding of the weapons and tactics of our Central Army. Otherwise, under the intensive shooting of the musket team, he would never let the rebel archers risk their lives to stop our army's gunners from approaching."

Li Chengdong nodded and said, "It should be so. If the rebels had not known in advance how powerful the Dragon King cannon was, they would not have been able to stop our gun thrower from approaching without hesitation, because the gun thrower did not carry the ladder for siege, and it seemed that it would not be possible to pose a threat to the city walls that were more than two meters high."

"It seems that this general in the West is not simple." Liu Rushi said this and looked back and asked, "Is there any news about Hong Niangzi's cavalry battalion coming back?"

"Not yet." The staff officer who was asked shook his head and said, "But it should have reached Guanghua?"

"Report..." As soon as the staff officer finished speaking, a communications soldier suddenly came in panting and reported, "Report to the commander, the first and second battalions of the Central Army's cavalry have crossed the Han River from Guanghua and found that the Daxi rebels stationed in Yangpitan were retreating. The Red Commander asked the headquarters to send troops to chase him?"

"Retreat?" Li Chengdong said in surprise when he heard this, "What did the Daxi rebels do? Isn't come to Xiangyang anymore?"

After pondering for a moment, Liu Rushi shook his head calmly and said, "Tell us the order that the cavalry battalion continues to monitor the rebels and should not be chased."

"yes."

The messenger sent by Hong Niangzi took the order.

"Commander." Li Chengdong whispered, "What's going on with the Daxi Rebels?"

"There are two possibilities." Liu Rushi said calmly, "One is to be a mysterious person and want to deceive us, and the other is that there is a gap within the Daxi Rebels. If it is the first type, what tricks can the Daxi Army have? The rebels retreating from Yangpi Beach have many troops and are slow to act, so it is difficult to use any tricks... Well, it seems that it should be the second possibility. It should be like this, it must be!"

As he spoke, Liu Rushi convinced himself.

Li Chengdong said in a narrow voice: "Commander, is the rebels in Xiangyang City have been abandoned by the rebel commander?"

Liu Rushi nodded and said, "Now we don't have to rush to attack the city anymore. Let's try whether we can persuade this rebel to surrender."

That night, Xiangyang.

He Tengjiao's temporary governor's headquarters has now become the headquarters of Li Dingguo.

Li Dingguo was thinking about getting out of trouble in the headquarters. He suddenly caught a glimpse of a dress on the clothes hanger from the corner of his eyes. It was He Tengjiao's Governor's Gown. After the Longwu period was changed, the dress of the Governor of the Ming Dynasty changed its standard. It was no longer the former big red official robe and black hat, but it was changed to a modern dress designed by Wang Pu and Dong Xiaowan.

Looking at the Governor's dress, Li Dingguo's eyes suddenly lit up, and he suddenly looked up and shouted, "Come."

A personal soldier had already responded, clasped his fists and replied, "What are the commands of the Grand Marshal?"

"Let's go." Li Dingguo waved his hand and said, "Follow me to the military guarantor."

At that moment, Li Dingguo brought dozens of personal soldiers to the military gulf in the temporary governor's headquarters. Sure enough, he found what he wanted. He was overjoyed at the time: "Send an order to the whole city immediately. Before the martial law order was lifted, no gentry, people and officials in the city were allowed to go out. Violators will be killed without mercy!"

"yes!"

A personal soldier took the order and left.

Li Dingguo said again: "Another order, the entire army will gather immediately, no loud conversations, no noise, and those who violate the order will be killed!"

"yes!"

Another personal soldier took the order to leave.

Li Dingguo's eyes finally turned to the captain behind him, and a trace of gloom suddenly flashed through his eyes, and he whispered: "Brother Qi, you are the person I trust the most, so this matter can only be left to you."

The captain of the personal soldiers instinctively heard that this was not a good thing, but he still raised his chest and shouted: "Leave the commander to the commander."

The next day, Liu Rushi ordered the Xiangyang City to surround it, but no more troops were sent to attack.

The Daxi Army in Xiangyang City also seemed very calm, and did not even send many soldiers to guard the city tower. There were only a dozen rebels patrolling back and forth on the empty city tower, and it was like this for each gate. However, there were loud trumpets and shouts of killing in the city. It seemed that the Daxi Rebels were not idle and were leisurely practicing.

If the scouts of the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty could reconnaise the situation in the city from the sky, they would definitely be surprised, because the one who was "training" in the city was not the Daxi rebels, but hundreds of unarmed people in the city gathered together under the threat of dozens of rebels and shouted loudly.

Two days later, a brigade of "Central Army" suddenly drove in front of Maoer's pass, with more than 2,000 people!

Maoer Pass is located between Xunyang Prefecture and Jingzhou Prefecture. There are two brigades of security teams stationed at the pass. The security teams of these two brigades were originally the guards of the Changning Prefecture of Qutang Guard, but now they are no longer military households, but civilians. They come to the security team to join the army just to earn more than five cents of silver per month.

Maoer Pass is more than 300 miles away from Xiangyang and more than 200 miles away from Qingtong Pass. There are mostly rugged mountain roads in the middle, which are steep and difficult to walk. Therefore, although the Daxi Army and the Dashun Army have fought with the Ming Central Army in Xunyang, Qingtong Pass and Xiangyang, Maoer Pass is still very calm, and the security team at the lockdown has no atmosphere of fighting at all.

"Open the door!" A Central Army officer rushed to the front of the pass with a tall horse and shouted arrogantly, "Who are you? Your ears are deaf. Open the city gate quickly!"

The security team that was closed was so shocked that they all got out of their way, so they opened the door and let it go.

General Guan Guan, who was having breakfast in the barracks, quickly put down his bowl of rice and urgently assembled the security teams at the close, lined up along both sides of the official road passing by. For these local security teams, the Central Army is like a sky. Who is the Central Army? That is the ace among the aces. The direct line among the direct line, not only is well-equipped but also has good salary, and is not comparable to the security teams like these.

The Central Army of the Ming Dynasty were all wearing light blue cotton coats, large covers with wide eaves, and long tubes and thick-soled horse boots on their feet. They were very majestic, but they were holding the same spear as the security team in their hands. It seemed that they were the spear battalions of the Central Army, not the most elite musket battalions.

As expected by the officers and soldiers of Maoerguan security team, the Ming Central Army was indeed very arrogant. When they passed by, they didn't even look at them directly. A small team leader of the security team wanted to come forward to chat with him, but he was slapped three big slaps in the face and two of his teeth were taken off.

Outside Xiangyang City, Central Army Headquarters.

Liu Rushi finally felt something was strange. She sent people to the city several times in the past two days to contact the rebels but was rejected. The six Central Army soldiers sent to call were shot and injured two! Liu Rushi felt something was wrong, but she had not yet realized that the Daxi rebels in the city had sneaked away two days ago.

This cannot be blamed on Liu Ru's carelessness. In fact, if Wang Pu leads the army, it would have been unexpected that Li Dinggong abandoned the city without hesitation that night! For the rebels, it is not easy to capture a big city. The large amount of wealth and women in the city are even more tempting for the rebels who are used to burning, killing, and abducting. How could they give up these easily?

After several considerations, Liu Rushi asked Li Chengdong's musket battalion to launch an attack again.

The result was surprising. Li Chengdong's musket battalion exploded the city gate without any effort. In order to prevent the rebels, Li Chengdong only dared to send two squadrons of troops into the city. As a result, the soldiers entering the city quickly returned Li Chengdong. Except for the hundred rebel bodies on the city tower, there was no trace of the rebels.

In other words, Xiangyang City has become an empty city!

When Li Chengdong reported this news to Liu Rushi, Liu Rushi was unbelievable. It was beyond Liu Rushi's expectations that the rebels who abandoned the city so decisively disappeared out of thin air. What Liu Rushi couldn't believe was that the group of rebels who abandoned the city disappeared like air!

Liu Qingyan on the side said, "My sister, will this group of rebels hide in some secret place?"

"Impossible." Liu Rushi shook his head and said, "Xiangyang is a densely populated place within a radius of hundreds of miles. It is not easy to hide its troops from thousands of people. It is possible to hide their tracks while the night is dark. But it is impossible to hide in broad daylight. As long as they leave the city, someone will definitely find them. But what is strange is why no one will repay them? Could it be that they disguised as fleeing people? Huh... disguised!?"

Liu Qingyan said in a cold voice: "What's wrong with Rushi girl?"
Chapter completed!