In mid-May of the 20th year of Chongzhen, news from the capital reached Yunnan.
"Dingguo, Dingguo..." Sun Kewang walked quickly into the tent with the official report.
"What's wrong?" Li Dingguo looked away from the map on the table and looked at Sun Kewang.
"Well...you...you should take a look at it yourself." Sun Kewang handed over the report in his hand.
Li Dingguo picked up the official report with a suspicious look on his face.
Just one look and he was shocked.
A trace of surprise first flashed across Li Dingguo's eyes, and then he was covered with indescribable shock.
He stared at the newspaper in his hand, and his right hand holding the newspaper began to tremble uncontrollably.
The official bulletin clearly read: "The traitor has died, and the internal troubles have been resolved."
"This..." Li Dingguo couldn't believe what he saw, and asked in a trembling voice: "Where did this report come from?"
"It was brought here by merchants from the capital."
"Which businessman? Where is he?" Li Dingguo asked anxiously.
He still didn't believe what was in the newspaper and planned to find the businessman to question him in person.
"Dingguo, calm down. This is the imperial court's report. It can't be wrong."
Sun Kewang's words finally made Li Dingguo calm down temporarily.
He turned his eyes back to the newspaper and began to read below the headline.
As he read more, he became more shocked and sadder.
After watching the end, Li Dingguo fell on the stool and remained silent.
Zhang Xianzhong is dead.
Ainengqi also died.
Although Wang Zhaolin's death brought him a little joy, the news that Zhang Xianzhong's youngest son and Liu Wenxiu were executed in the autumn made him feel complicated.
Although he had surrendered to the imperial court, he still had not forgotten Zhang Xianzhong's kindness in raising him.
In addition to Zhang Xianzhong's kindness in raising him, he and Liu Wenxiu also had a brotherly relationship.
We can't just sit back and do nothing.
"I have to do something..." Li Dingguo stood up and walked out.
"Where are you going?" Sun Kewang asked.
"Go to Governor Wen and ask for mercy!"
"You...wait for me." Sun Kewang chased out.
The two of them soon arrived at the central military headquarters.
Inside the military tent, Governor Wen Anzhi was handling official business.
He is the busiest person in Yunnan, no doubt about it.
Under the fierce offensive, the Ming army has recaptured all areas except Mengzi, the old nest of Sha Dingzhou.
After recovering these areas, it was necessary to appease the chieftains and prevent them from rebelling again. At the same time, it was also necessary to urge all localities to resume production as soon as possible to ensure the supply of food in central Yunnan.
"Report, General Li Dingguo and Guerrilla General Sun Kewang want to see you." The personal soldier came to the tent to deliver the message.
Wen Anzhi put down his pen, rubbed his sore wrist, looked up and said, "Let them in."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang strode in.
"Do General Li and General Sun want to talk to me about something?"
Li Dingguo asked in a deep voice: "Excuse me, Governor General, do you know the news of Zhang...Zhang Xianzhong's death?"
"I know," Wen Anzhi replied slowly, "The court mentioned this in an official document a month ago."
A month ago?
Li Dingguo took a deep breath and continued to ask: "Since you knew about this a month ago, why didn't Governor Wen tell us? Although we are surrendered generals, we have already surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. Are we qualified to know this kind of news?"
Wen Anzhi nodded gently: "I am qualified, but it is meaningless."
"Why is it meaningless?" Li Dingguo showed signs of losing control of his emotions.
"So what if you knew? Can you stop anything? Obviously not! Not only can it not prevent things from happening, it will also affect your mood, which will be extremely detrimental to the upcoming war." Wen Anzhi explained in a reprimanding tone.
"Your Majesty sent us to Yunnan to quell the rebellion. Winning the battle is the only way out. As a soldier, you should stay in the situation and not be disturbed by external affairs, otherwise there is a risk of defeat."
Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang were stunned and kept silent.
Wen Anzhi's words left them with no reason to refute.
"But..." Wen Anzhi changed the subject, "I have already sent an official document to the court, saying that Wang Zhaolin had committed many evil deeds and deserved to die. He deserved to be smashed to death. Your Majesty, please be lenient with Liu Wenxiu. As for Zhang Xianzhong's youngest son, this governor can do nothing about it."
Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang were stunned for a moment, then saluted Wen Anzhi with surprise and said, "Thank you, Governor!"
They did not expect Wen Anzhi to plead for Liu Wenxiu, which would greatly increase the probability of Liu Wenxiu being pardoned.
Wen Anzhi chuckled: "Let's put aside the external affairs for now and talk about the upcoming war."
"Okay!" Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang took a few steps forward at the same time and came to the table where the map was placed.
Wen Anzhi followed to the front of the map and began to explain the situation.
"Mengzi is Sha Dingzhou's old nest. He has been operating here for many years and has a deep foundation. However, according to the news sent by the Jinyiwei, there are no cities in the Mengzi area. They are all camps built by various tribes."
"The camps are of different sizes and built to different specifications."
“The walls of the large camp are mostly made of a mixture of stone and wood, with sentry towers outside and arrow towers inside.
"The walls of the small camp are mostly made of wood, and the number of sentry towers and arrow towers is much smaller."
Sun Kewang laughed loudly: "A wooden wall? Great, our artillery can blow the wall apart."
"General Sun, don't be happy too soon," Wen Anzhi reminded him, "Mengzi has high mountains and dense forests, and the roads are rugged, so it's impossible to transport artillery. The only firearms we can bring are the bird gun and the three-barreled gun, and the big gun."
"Besides, the air there is humid. If the gunpowder that has been opened is not used up quickly, it will easily become damp and ineffective."
"So...you two should think carefully about how to win this battle!"
Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang looked at each other and frowned at the same time.
Sha Dingzhou's situation is hopeless and the Ming army will win sooner or later.
but...
Li Dingguo was not satisfied with this.
He wanted to achieve victory while minimizing his own casualties as much as possible.
This would not only achieve good results in battle, but also save the court a lot of pension money.
Based on this principle, Li Dingguo began to formulate tactics.
Two days later.
More than a thousand Tusi soldiers left the camp first and issued a manifesto to the nearby camps.
"As long as the villages that have joined the rebellion of Sha Dingzhou open their gates and surrender, the Ming court will forgive them. Those who refuse to surrender will be massacred!"
There are hundreds of tribes, large and small, in the Mengzi area.
Seeing that Sha Dingzhou had lost power, and with the Ming army actively calling for surrender, these tribal leaders immediately raised the banner of surrender: "The Ming army is mighty! Sha Dingzhou and I will never reconcile!"
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