"No..." Kong Youde was surprised. "What are the Liaoyang defenders doing? Won't they try to stop Li Dingguo?"

"They dare not stop us even if they want to!" The scout said sadly, "There are less than 2,000 defenders in Liaoyang. Strictly speaking, they are not soldiers, but the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled, and there are even some women! Let alone leaving the city, even defending it is a bit difficult."

Kong Youde was speechless.

In order to win this battle, Jirgalang transferred almost all his troops.

The remaining soldiers were unable to stop Li Dingguo at all.

"Shenyang!" Kong Youde began to feel uneasy after silently repeating the place name several times.

It was not until this moment that he realized that Li Dingguo’s destination was neither Haizhou nor Liaoyang, but the capital of the Qing Dynasty: Shengjing!

Attacking Haizhou and Liaoyang can only be regarded as siege and plunder.

Attacking Shengjing meant slapping the Qing Dynasty in the face.

This is not only a matter of face, but also of military morale and the stability of the regime.

Especially the allies.

When they heard that the Ming army was approaching Shengjing, would they still stand together with the Qing as they had done before?

Obviously unrealistic.

"Hurry up and eat and rest, we still have to chase Li Dingguo tomorrow!" Kong Youde gritted his teeth and ordered.

He must find a way to catch up with Li Dingguo and keep him away from Shengjing.

With the help of the Haizhou Guards, Kong Youde's troops ate early and went to sleep to rest.

At dawn the next day, Kong Youde set out again to pursue Li Dingguo.

One hundred and sixty miles away.

Gao Wengui's troops stopped at a place called Wujingying.

Wujingying was first established in the seventh year of Zhengtong. It was a barracks built by Liaodong officers and soldiers to guard Liaoyang. At the beginning, there were only 75 troops stationed there.

As time went by, it gradually developed into a village.

Because of the tense war.

The Jiannu conscripted all the young and strong men in the village into the army, either to transport food and fodder or to do odd jobs.

These lower-class people were exploited by the Jian slaves.

Although I want to resist, I don't have the power to do so.

Can only live in humility.

When the villagers saw Gao Wengui and his companions wearing Eight Banners armor and carrying Eight Banners flags, they thought they were Eight Banners soldiers.

So they offered food to please him.

There may be no benefit in trying to please the Jiannu, but there will definitely be disadvantages if you don't please them.

"Thank you for your hard work on the journey, General," the village chief stretched out his cracked hands and took out two warm eggs.

Gao Wengui did not answer but looked behind the village chief.

There were more than a dozen large pots boiling water.

Next to it were dozens of baskets filled with sorghum rice.

(In the early Ming Dynasty, the main crop in Liaodong was wheat. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the main crops in Liaodong were sorghum, soybeans and wheat. Although corn had been introduced, its per-acre yield was not much higher than that of sorghum at that time. In addition, sorghum can adapt to saline-alkali land, so local people still used sorghum as their staple food.)

Gao Wengui retracted his gaze and asked the village chief: "How much can these grains be sold for at the market?"

The village chief immediately knelt on the ground and said: "This is a gift from me to the military commander. I dare not ask for money."

"Answer truthfully."

"Yes," the village chief said after calculating for a while, trembling, "It's not much actually. It can only be sold for thirty or forty taels of silver at the market."

"Come here," Gao Wenguichao called from behind, "bring fifty taels of silver to buy these grains."

"No, General..." The village chief was shocked and afraid.

You have to know that the Eight Banners soldiers did not treat ordinary people as human beings at all.

They either treated the people as slaves and drove them around at will, or treated them as animals and slaughtered them at will.

"Just take it if I tell you to." Gao Wengui said sternly.

The village chief carefully took the money bag and wanted to count it but didn't dare to, for fear of angering Gao Wengui.

"Get some more rice to cook, there will be people coming later." Gao Wengui ordered.

"Don't worry, sir. I'll arrange it right away." The village chief hurried back to the village to collect food.

Gao Wengui and his companions had a simple meal, mounted their horses again, and headed for Shenyang.

After Gao Wengui left, the village chief took out the purse and counted the money.

After opening the purse, a number of exquisite Ming Dynasty round treasures were revealed.

The village chief's eyes suddenly filled with tears: "This money...can't be spent!"

A moment later, Li Dingguo led 8,000 Ming troops to Wujingying Village.

The village chief and the people were all dumbfounded and didn't know what to do.

You have to know that this place is only a few dozen miles away from Shenyang, and the sudden appearance of the Ming army shocked him too much.

Li Dingguo did not explain and ordered his personal soldiers and some elite troops to start eating sorghum rice.

The villagers had limited food reserves, and even if they took out all their food, it would not be enough to feed 8,000 people.

As long as his personal soldiers and some elite troops are well fed, his troops can maintain their combat effectiveness.

"General, General Gao Wengui has sent a message that Shenyang City is fifty miles ahead." The messenger reported.

“Is the information accurate?”

"Accurate. Not only did we question the Jiannu captives, we also verified it with the local people. There is absolutely no mistake." The herald replied.

"Send a message to Gao Wengui, asking him to go to the city of Shenyang immediately to show off his power! In addition, everyone should set up an ambush according to the plan after dinner." Li Dingguo ordered.

"As you command." The herald turned and left.

Under Li Dingguo's arrangement, the 8,000 cavalry were divided into two.

Four thousand cavalrymen were in the front, ambushing the invading enemies in Shenyang City.

Four thousand cavalrymen followed, ambushing the rear and pursuing the enemy.

Gao Wengui led two thousand elite soldiers and rushed towards Shenyang City on two horses.

When they were twenty miles away from Shenyang, their tracks were discovered by Jiannu scouts.

Gao Wengui also discovered the other party.

The Jiannu scouts were running in front and they were chasing behind.

The two sides soon arrived at the city of Shenyang, one after the other.

At this time, Shenyang City was filled with peace and tranquility.

"Report!" The scout rushed into the city and shouted, "Two thousand Eight Banners soldiers are coming from the direction of Liaoyang, less than five miles away from the city!"

The defenders in the city were shocked and climbed up the city wall to observe the situation and send the news to the palace.

In fact, before this, Gao Wengui's whereabouts had been discovered by the defenders of the cities and fortresses along the way and reported to the Shenyang defenders.

However, Gao Wengui marched very quickly, and after he bypassed the city, Li Dingguo also followed him.

The subsequent news of the Jiannu could not be delivered to Shenyang.

Therefore, the news received by the Shenyang defenders was that a group of Eight Banners soldiers retreated from the front line, and they had no idea what was happening behind.

By the time they learned that the target of this "defeated" Eight Banners Army was Shenyang, Gao Wengui had already arrived near Shenyang.

"Ah?" Fulin was shocked when he heard the news. "Whose troops are these? They dared to enter the capital without my order. Obviously they are rebelling. Quickly order Prince Yu to lead his troops out of the city and capture them all!"

The eunuch ran out with the imperial edict and quickly ran back, "Reply...Replying to the emperor, Prince Yu is ill and cannot lead the troops out of the city."