Jingzhou.
"Reporting to Commander Feng, the Ming army is divided into four routes." The scout rushed into the military tent and knelt on one knee to report.
"Zhang Yingyuan attacked Xiaogan in the north, and Wang Yuncheng attacked Xianning in the south."
"Jin Shenghuan of the Western Route Army has taken the water route and has now captured Hanyang. His troops are now at the gates of Yuezhou."
"Ma Jinzhong of the Western Route Army has taken the land route and has now entered Qianjiang County, 150 miles away!"
Feng Shuangli, the governor of the Dashi Rear Army, supported his chin with his left hand and tapped the table with his right hand.
The Ming army is coming with great force. How should we respond?
The main force of the Dashi Army had been transferred to the eastern Sichuan area by Zhang Xianzhong. It was impossible for him to fight a field battle with the Ming army with the people under his command.
The only way is to defend the city.
Everyone understands the truth, but what is there to be afraid of when defending a city?
Afraid of seeing no hope.
There is not much food left in Yuezhou City. If the defenders do not see reinforcements, they will surrender sooner or later.
"Alas!" Feng Shuangli sighed, "I was careless! If I had known this would happen, I would have given up Yuezhou and defended Jingzhou."
The generals present advised: "General Feng, don't blame yourself. It was the Ming army that dispatched too suddenly."
"Yes, Yuan Jixian had been stationed there for months without making any moves. Unexpectedly, he suddenly split into four groups and caught us off guard."
"Yuan Jixian is too insidious."
"That can't be said," Feng Shuangli shook his head. "Warfare is a matter of deception. Yuan Jixian is indeed a good military commander."
"Everyone," Feng Shuangli continued, "The Ming army is besieging Yuezhou. Do you have any good ideas?"
Everyone fell silent.
How to save?
The total strength of the Ming army is as high as 70,000!
You should know that these 70,000 people are the number after excluding the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled.
Although their combat power is not as good as that of elite troops, they are still stronger than ordinary soldiers.
Their total military strength is only 30,000.
A head-on confrontation will only lead to death.
Seeing this, a general stepped forward and saluted: "General, I am willing to lead a group of soldiers out of the city and attack the Ming army's food supply route from behind."
"Oh?" Feng Shuangli looked towards the source of the voice.
The person who spoke was called Xu Yong, formerly a general under Zuo Liangyu.
After Zuo Liangyu was killed, he completely gave up on the Ming court and led 4,000 troops to join him.
Also joining him was Li Guoying, who had previously been a general under Zuo Liangyu.
"General Xu's courage is commendable, but his tactics are questionable." Feng Shuangli affirmed Xu Yong's attitude and denied Xu Yong's tactics.
If they rashly leave the city and fall into an ambush by the Ming army, their already scarce military force will be even more stretched.
"What's going on in Chengtian Prefecture?" Feng Shuangli asked the scout.
The scout thought for a moment and said, "To reply to Commander Feng, the garrison commander of Chengtian Prefecture, Ma Bao, does nothing but training his troops every day."
"However, there are rumors that Li Yan and Hong Niangzi's thousands of troops are on their way, but it's unclear whether it's true or not."
Li Yan is here?
After hearing the news, Feng Shuangli was happy at first, but then his face turned worried.
The good news is that Li Yan has a sense of the overall situation. If Jingzhou is in trouble, he will most likely choose to provide support.
The worrying thing is that Li Yan is Li Zicheng's man after all.
Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had a grudge against each other.
Will Li Yan take advantage of the opportunity of support to launch a surprise attack on him and take over Jingzhou?
This is hard to predict!
Xu Yong stood up and asked the scout, "Does anyone know where Zhang Yong is? He left the city with us. We went to join Commander Feng, and he said he wanted to join Li Zicheng."
The scout shook his head: "I don't know."
Xu Yong sighed, returned to his original position and waited for orders.
Feng Shuangli thought for a long time and said slowly: "Everyone, Yuezhou is definitely not going to be able to be defended."
The generals nodded solemnly.
Seeing that no one objected, Feng Shuangli clenched his right fist and slammed it hard on the table, saying: "Yuezhou cannot be lost in vain. We must let the Ming army see how powerful the Dashi Army is."
Feng Shuangli's plan was simple.
The Ming army chose to advance in batches, and he chose to defeat them one by one.
As long as we concentrate our superior forces to defeat one of the Ming troops, the rest will be easy.
After careful consideration, he set his sights on Qianjiang.
That is Ma Jinzhong.
Among Yuan Jixian's troops, Ma Jinzhong ranked among the top three in terms of strength.
As long as Ma Jinzhong is defeated, the strength of the Ming army will be greatly damaged.
At the same time, it can relieve the pressure on Yuezhou, delay their surrender, and buy more time for Zhang Xianzhong to enter Sichuan.
Feng Shuangli had a good idea, but he underestimated Ma Jinzhong, and even more so Yuan Jixian.
Ma Jinzhong's bravery concealed his cunning.
Yuan Jixian specialized in defeating the peasant army. If he had not been implicated and exiled to Guizhou, the peasant army in the Huguang area would have been defeated by him long ago.
Ma Jinzhong, who was stationed in Qianjiang, was about to have a meal when a scout rushed in to report: "Your Excellency the General, tens of thousands of troops have left Jingzhou and are heading straight for Qianjiang."
"How far is it from here?"
"Forty miles from here."
"There's still time. Tell everyone to pack up their bags and baggage immediately and retreat with me to Mianyang County. Also write a letter to Governor Yuan and tell him the news."
Half a day later, Feng Shuangli arrived outside Qianjiang County.
The magistrate of Qianjiang was very tactful and brought hundreds of the elderly, the weak and the sick to kneel outside the city gate to welcome them.
"Welcome the Dashi Army into the city!"
Feng Shuangli's face turned green: "Where's Ma Jinzhong?"
"He ran away!" the Qianjiang County Magistrate answered respectfully.
"Run away? How long did he run? Where did he run to?" Feng Shuangli was furious.
He rushed more than 150 miles overnight, with the intention of trapping and eating Ma Jinzhong when he was not paying attention.
Unexpectedly, Ma Jinzhong did not offer any resistance and just ran away.
"We ran towards Mianyang County this morning. We took away all the baggage, food, and even the clothes that were hung out to dry." The Qianjiang County Magistrate still had a respectful look on his face.
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