March 25, the 24th year of Chongzhen.

Wang Yongji received news that Li Chengdong, Li Benshen and Li Dingguo were about to go to Liaodong for support.

Wang Yongji did not show the expected happiness at the arrival of the three Lis.

Deep down, he did not really trust these surrendered generals.

I don't really believe in their loyalty, nor do I really believe in their abilities.

Li Dingguo led troops twice after surrendering to the court.

One time he went to Yunnan to quell the chieftain rebellion.

Another time was when he sent troops to Shandong to quell a civil uprising.

The individual combat effectiveness of the Yunnan chieftain soldiers may be very strong, but they lack armor.

When they gather together to fight as a group, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

Not to mention the fighting power of Shandong refugees. When the Guanning Army first entered the pass to suppress bandits, it was often just a thousand people chasing tens of thousands of people.

As the saying goes, the worse you play chess with a bad chess player, the worse you get.

Li Dingguo had never fought in a tough battle, so Wang Yongji believed that the combat effectiveness of Li Dingguo and his cavalry was very average.

Li Chengdong and Li Benshen are not much better.

After they surrendered to the imperial court, they have been fighting against bandits in various places.

After getting used to fighting the bandits, there will be a huge psychological gap and even fear when fighting against the Eight Banners Army.

So Wang Yongji was not optimistic about them either.

However, Wang Yongji was just thinking about it in his mind and did not express it in words.

The court was already doing him a favor by sending him more troops, and he could only express his gratitude.

Furthermore...

Most of the defenders of Yizhou were Mongolian cavalry. The advantage of Mongolian cavalry was that they could pull the enemy back and forth and launch a fatal attack when the enemy was tired.

As long as Li Chengdong and Li Benshen do not fall into the trap, it will be difficult for the Mongolian cavalry to defeat them head-on.

March 29th.

Li Chengdong and Li Benshen arrived in Jinzhou first. After settling the troops, the two went to Dalingh Fort to meet Wang Yongji.

Wang Yongji seemed very happy.

He first entertained the two men with great hospitality, and then immediately paid them military salaries.

Finally, they were sent to Yizhou to replace Li Xingzhong.

With Li Chengdong and Li Benshen stationed in Yizhou for defense, it was very difficult for the Mongols to bypass Yizhou and attack him from behind.

And Li Dingguo was also on his way to Liaodong.

Even if the Mongols could break through the Yizhou defense line, they would encounter Li Dingguo who was rushing over.

With the double guarantee, Wang Yongji sent troops to Guangning Guard.

Guangning Wei is located on the west side of the Liaohe Plain. The terrain here has a characteristic: there are many rivers!

In addition to the Daling River and the Xiaoling River, there is also the Liao River.

There don't seem to be many rivers.

But...the Liaohe River also has tributaries.

Its tributaries include Xisha River, Dongsha River, and Raoyang River.

And these three rivers have their own tributaries.

(Xisha River was called Banqiao River in the Ming Dynasty, Dongsha River was called Xiaosha River, Raoyang River was called Zhuzi River, and Liao River has the same name in ancient and modern times.)

River Schematic

The army that pacified Liao first crossed the Daling River and then marched to the west bank of the Xisha River.

One characteristic of northern rivers is that they have a flood season in spring, also known as the peach blossom flood.

In March and April every year, the ice and snow in the upper reaches of the river melt due to rising temperatures, and the river water level rises due to increased spring rainfall.

Wang Yongji was very unlucky to encounter the spring flood.

Looking at the rushing river, Wang Yongji had a bad feeling.

After the beginning of spring, the war encountered troubles one after another.

First was the Battle of Yizhou. Although Li Xingzhong took Yizhou without bloodshed, his troops were tied down.

After finally waiting for reinforcements, we encountered spring floods.

However, as things had developed to this point, he had no choice but to go ahead with it.

"Cross the river!" Wang Yongji collected his scattered thoughts and ordered to cross the river.

More than 10,000 Ming troops laid a pontoon bridge and rushed to the other side, embarking on the road to attack Guangning Wei.

......

On the first day of April, the news of the Ming army's expedition reached Guangning Wei.

Before receiving the news, Jirgalang was conspiring with Bolo to engage in smuggling.

"Your Highness," Bolo whispered to Jirgalang, "I have sent someone to contact Wu Sangui."

"What's his attitude?"

"Ah..." Bolo sighed and replied, "He didn't agree."

"What did you say originally? Please repeat it to me." Jirgalang was a little anxious.

"After meeting Wu Sangui, my men expressed their willingness to buy food, weapons and armor from him at three times the price."

"Wu Sangui's original words were, 'I don't agree, so you can go back.'" Bolo said.

"In other words, Wu Sangui only expressed his disagreement but did not refuse?" Jirgalang asked.

After pondering Wu Sangui's words and Jirgalang's words, Bolo said, "It's not impossible for Your Highness to understand it this way."

"Of course you can understand it that way," Jirgalang said confidently, "There is no one in the world who doesn't like money, and Wu Sangui is no exception. As long as our price is reasonable, there is nothing he won't sell."

"Then may I ask Your Majesty, what should I do next?" Bolo asked with blinking eyes.

Before Jirgalang could answer, hurried footsteps were heard outside the door.

The voice stopped when it reached the door, and then someone said outside the door: "Urgent news! The Ming army has left Dalinghe Fort and is heading towards Guangning."

"The Ming army has sent out troops?" Jirgalang was stunned for a moment, then he opened the door and asked, "How many troops did the Ming army send out?"

The scout knelt on one knee and replied: "There are at least tens of thousands of them, and the exact number is still being investigated."

Jirgalang was very happy.

Yes.

He was neither frightened nor surprised, but rather delighted.

It seemed as if it was begging the Ming army to attack.

"Inform all departments to act according to the plan!" Jirgalang ordered the soldiers at the door.

After the guards left, Jirgalang said to Bolo, "Do you know why Wu Sangui did not explicitly refuse smuggling? Because he was waiting and watching."

"What are you waiting for?" Bolo asked.

"Let's wait and see whether the battle of Guangning will be won or lost!" Jirgalang gritted his teeth, "Wu Sangui is a selfish person! If the Qing Dynasty wins, he will do business with the Qing Dynasty behind the Ming court's back, making a fortune from us while continuing to receive military pay and food from the Ming court."

"I'm not afraid even if the Ming court finds out. The Ming court can't do without him anyway."

"If the Ming army wins, he will ignore our request and continue to be loyal to the Ming court! After all, the elite troops of each unit are still there. If the smuggling is discovered, he will have no way out."

Bolo also gritted his teeth and said, "Wu Sangui is such a person. It's really abominable."

"There's nothing to hate about it. Any general who has his own army will do the same." Jirgalang laughed, "So the next key is to win the battle of Guangning!"

"If you win, you'll have everything!"

"Defeated..." Jirgalang put away his smile, his face grim, "The Qing Dynasty will face a catastrophe!"