While Li Dingguo rushed thousands of miles to rescue Liaodong, the army that pacified Liaodong was not idle.

From April 7th to April 17th, the Ping Liao army launched several attacks on Guangning.

For more than ten days, although we made progress every day, we failed to make any substantial progress.

Even the city walls of Guangning were not visible.

The Liaohe Plain is so flat that it is simply the world of cavalry.

The large and small rivers here make it very difficult for the infantry to march.

It is well known that the Ming army's infantry was highly dependent on artillery, and artillery just restricted the Ming army's attack.

As per usual.

Each time you advance, the infantry should be in front, the cavalry should protect the two wings, and the artillery should be in the back.

If the artillery was in the front, not only would the marching speed be greatly reduced, but it would also lead to a surprise attack by the Jiannu.

They rarely wore armor and could not withstand the rain of arrows from the Jiannu.

But it's still the same problem.

The Liaohe Plain was dominated by cavalry. As long as the Ming army's artillery moved, the Jiannu would first send out a large number of cavalry to contain the Ming army's cavalry.

Then send out elite cavalry to raid the marching artillery.

So Wang Yongji had to place the artillery among the infantry and march together.

The Jiannu’s response was simple.

They first lined up to prepare to meet the enemy.

After the Ming army deployed their battle formation and set up their artillery.

The Jiannu neither attacked nor defended, but retreated a distance.

The Ming army artillery had to pack up the artillery they had just set up and move with the infantry.

Vehicles carrying artillery can move quickly on official roads with hard ground.

But the battlefield was full of soft soil, and there were even large and small pits and mud pits.

The animals pulling the cart had to exert tremendous physical effort with every step they took.

After finally rearranging their troops and setting up their artillery, the Jiannu army retreated again after a brief resistance.

As the battles continued like this, the Ming army's physical strength, patience and morale were rapidly depleted.

On the evening of April 17, Wang Yongji returned to the camp after a day of supervising the battle at the front line.

After he walked into the military tent, he felt the air was a bit depressing, so he simply went outside to breathe some fresh air.

After a while, a scout came running over and said, "Your Excellency the Governor, Li Dingguo, the commander of the Huguang militia, has arrived at the front line with 10,000 cavalrymen."

"Where are he?" Wang Yongji asked excitedly.

Although Wang Yongji did not trust Li Dingguo very much, Li Dingguo's trip to Liaodong brought him the cavalry he urgently needed.

Excitement is inevitable.

"General Li Dingguo's troops are camped in Bali behind the central army, and he is on his way to the central army." The scout replied.

"Come here," Wang Yongji shouted happily, "Prepare a banquet. This governor wants to welcome General Li."

When Li Dingguo arrived at the central army, the wine and food had already been prepared.

Wang Yongji received them personally, and Huang Degong and Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong were there to drink with him.

Gao Yigong, who was also a general of the central army, was assigned by Wang Yongji to patrol at night to prevent the camp from being attacked by the Jiannu.

After some greetings, everyone sat down.

Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong stared at Li Dingguo carefully for a while. His straight gaze made Li Dingguo feel uneasy.

After Zhu Cijiong took charge of the Jinyiwei in Liaodong, he learned some previous events from several Jinyiwei.

certainly.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard told him that all these things were authorized by Chongzhen.

What surprised him was that his father had actually mobilized so much money, people and supplies in order to subdue Li Dingguo.

What merits and abilities did Li Dingguo have to deserve being so highly regarded by his father?

Wang Yongji was the first to speak up when he was confused. "General Li has traveled thousands of miles to help Liaodong. It must have been very hard for you to sleep in the open air along the way. Logically, I should let you rest for a few days."

"But the battle of Guangning has reached a critical moment, and we urgently need cavalry to join the battle, so we can only let General Li suffer."

Li Dingguo clasped his hands together and said: "As a general, you should forget your family when receiving orders and forget your body when facing the enemy! Governor, just give the orders, and I will do as you say."

"Good," Wang Yongji raised his glass happily, "General Li is a straightforward person, and I am very pleased."

After finishing the first glass of wine, Wang Yongji put down his glass and carefully recounted the current battle situation and recent developments.

Li Dingguo listened and thought seriously in his mind.

Especially He Jin’s death, which made him feel very strange.

More than 3,000 soldiers and horses were attacked by the Jiannu army over a long distance and defeated in one fell swoop.

This is somewhat similar to the Ji Si Rebellion that year, when Huang Taiji led a large army to break through the pass and besiege the capital.

In his opinion, he would never dare to do so unless he had detailed intelligence.

At this time, Wang Yongji had finished explaining all the situations. He waited for a while and then asked, "Does General Li have any way to break the impasse?"

"To be honest, I am not very talented or well-educated and I don't have any good ideas in mind." Li Dingguo politely declined Wang Yongji.

He and Yuan Jixian learned a lot while training troops in Huguang.

Yuan Jixian told him that being an official is like being a human being, one must keep a low profile.

A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind.

If he, a surrendered bandit, actively offered suggestions when he first arrived in Liaodong, it would make others look stupid.

Even if he offered good strategies and won a battle, he would be greeted not only with military merit but also with the jealousy of other generals.

Over time, it will inevitably lead to various conflicts.

So he chose to refuse at first.

Seeing Li Dingguo's serious expression, Wang Yongji shook his head helplessly: "Drink."

Several people clinked glasses and started drinking.

Since I was on the front line, I couldn't drink too much, so I just ordered enough.

The banquet ended and everyone returned to their camps.

"Li Dingguo!"

Li Dingguo had just climbed onto his horse when he suddenly heard someone calling him from behind.

He turned his head and with the help of the firelight he could see clearly the other party, Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong.

"Your Highness Prince Ding, do you have something to talk to me about?" Li Dingguo asked.

"Of course," Zhu Cijiong urged his horse forward and motioned for him to talk while walking.

"You must have a way to break the impasse, right?" Zhu Cijiong asked with a smile.

"Li really didn't know."

"Impossible. Father had gone to great lengths to persuade you to surrender. If you were a mediocre person, wouldn't that be disappointing Father's expectations?"

"Your Highness, please forgive me. I really don't know. As for the matter of surrender, I am not very clear about it either." Li Dingguo insisted on not saying anything.

"The victory or defeat of the Guangning Battle is of vital importance to the court and Your Majesty! Now the Ping Liao army's attack is blocked. The art of war says that if you cannot capture a city after a long siege, you will lose it. Once you are defeated, no one will be left unscathed!" Zhu Cijiong reminded seriously.

"This..." Li Dingguo hesitated.

"You must have a plan, otherwise you wouldn't hesitate." Zhu Cijiong grasped this point and began to pursue it relentlessly, "Tell me, if anything goes wrong, I will protect you!"

Li Dingguo reined in his horse and looked at Zhu Cijiong in the flickering flames.

Zhu Cijiong was riding on a horse, and he didn't look like a vassal king at all.

It was precisely because he did not look like a vassal king that Li Dingguo was able to feel the other party's sincerity.

"Your Highness," Li Dingguo took a deep breath, "What do you think is the current dilemma of the Ping Liao Army?"

"The Jiannu cavalry comes and goes like the wind, and the Ping Liao army cannot engage in a decisive battle with them." Zhu Cijiong answered after thinking for a while.

Li Dingguo nodded, "So, my countermeasure is to add fuel to the fire and force the Jiannu to fight a decisive battle."