Chapter 240: Death of Sun Kewang
The Jianlu army now numbered over 300,000 men, and Wu Sangui, with the former Ming military officers, continued to attack Yulin City. Meanwhile, Ajigeduoduo, with Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexi, and Kong Youde, numbered over 100,000 men, besieged Yuan Zongdi.
Seeing this, Yuan Zongdi had no choice but to flee. Yulinwei was about to collapse, and Li Zicheng's investment was so quickly lost. Yuan Zongdi organized a breakout at night, losing over ten thousand men before finally breaking free.
Yuan Zongde looked back at Yulin City and said, "Let's fight again in Xi'an!" After that, he rode away.
Zhang Xianzhong and Sun Kewang were also preparing to break out. Zhang Xianzhong said to Sun Kewang, "We've lost everything this time! Let's go to the Western Regions. Maybe there's a chance for a comeback!"
"Godfather! We are unfamiliar with the Western Regions. How can we make our way there?" Sun Kewang said.
"We have traveled around most of the Ming Dynasty. You have followed us to so many places, and I have never heard you say that you are unfamiliar with the place. What's the matter? After a few years of good life, are you afraid to go somewhere else? Or do you really want to surrender to the Tartars? Before, when I said I would surrender to them, it was just talk. Do I really want to be their dog like Wu Sangui did? I can't do it! I just want to ask you, are you going or not?" After saying this, Zhang Xianzhong clenched the knife in his hand, waiting for Sun Kewang's answer.
"I'll gather my troops and break out from the west gate!" Sun Kewang said. He knew that if Zhang Xianzhong was dissatisfied with his answer, he would definitely kill him.
Zhang Xianzhong nodded, and Sun Kewang immediately went to his own military camp.
Sun Kewang consulted with several of his confidants, deciding to escape. Seeing that Yulinwei was untenable, he realized that it had been the former garrison of Wang Shengzhi, a Ming general. Later, when Jiang Xiang rebelled, Li Zicheng, sensing Wang Shengzhi's potential for rebellion, had him executed. This was the reason they were sent to garrison. The city itself was decent, but it couldn't compare to the grandeur of Xi'an. He had to leave, but he had his own plans for where to go.
Going to the Western Regions was out of the question. I'd heard since I was little that it was barren land. It was either grassland or desert. It was vast, but not very populated. How could it compare to the Central Plains?
Sun Kewang's idea was to take his elite troops and cross the mountains to the south of the Yangtze River. There was still a chance there, and even fighting back to Sichuan and taking over Guizhou and Yunnan would still be a good idea.
However, facing Zhang Xianzhong's insistence on going west, he really didn't want to do that.
"Tell me! Can we break out to the south at night?" Sun Kewang said.
The five men nodded simultaneously, and a general named Li Si said, "General, are we going to ignore the king?"
"What? Do you want to go to the Western Regions with me?" Sun Kewang looked at him and asked.
"I have followed you, the king, for many years. Today, the general and the king are parting ways. I, Li Si, am in a dilemma!" As soon as Li Si finished speaking, Sun Kewang drew his sword and chopped off his head. Blood spurted all over the ground. His body was still twitching!
"Does anyone among you have a different opinion? If we go south, we still have a chance of survival. If we follow my adoptive father to the west, you will be doomed!" said Sun Kewang.
The remaining four looked at each other, knelt down and said, "I hope the general will go south!"
"Okay! Let's set off at three o'clock tonight!" said Sun Kewang.
Zhang Xianzhong saw that Sun Kewang did not want to follow him westward, so he was prepared.
At night, Sun Kewang gathered tens of thousands of troops and was about to head towards the south gate when he saw Zhang Xianzhong blocking his way.
Zhang Xianzhong chuckled coldly from his horse and said, "Sun Kewang! I never thought! You think your wings are strong enough and you can fly on your own, right?"
Sun Kewang was surprised. He had never thought that Zhang Xianzhong would find out about his secret. So he said, "Father! I will never go to the Western Regions! I will go to Jiangnan, Yunnan and Guizhou. There is no way out west!"
"How do you get through? Li Zicheng's territory is everywhere to the south. You have so few people that you can't even deal with him! Even if you are lucky and reach the south, can Zhao Xiaofei let you go? You may not even be able to cross the Yangtze River! Yunnan and Guizhou are good places, but this is not the way to go! I originally wanted to tell you that I have the same idea as you. It's okay to go to Yunnan and Guizhou, but you have to go through the Western Regions and go through U-Tsang to avoid the encirclement of government soldiers and Li Zicheng! But now it seems that's not necessary!" After Zhang Xianzhong finished speaking, he raised his hand, and ambushes appeared on both sides of the road.
Sun Kewang was horrified. He quickly said, "Foster father! I'll go with you!"
"It's too late!" Zhang Xianzhong said and waved his hand. Archers on both sides fired thousands of arrows at once. Sun Kewang quickly hid under the horse's belly.
But it was of no use. The archers were too dense, and Sun Kewang and his four confidants were shot like hedgehogs.
Seeing that Sun Kewang was dead, Zhang Xianzhong rode forward and said, "If you follow me, I will still consider you my brothers! If you don't follow me, you will end up like Sun Kewang!"
The remaining soldiers immediately laid down their weapons and surrendered. Zhang Xianzhong completely took control of the army. He planned to break out tonight and escape to the Western Regions.
"What? Zhang Xianzhong escaped?" Zhao Xiaofei was very surprised when he heard the news. In his eyes, there was no way Zhang Xianzhong could go to the Western Regions! He could only flee south and reunite with Li Zicheng.
In fact, he thought that these people were unable to see the situation clearly, but he still underestimated the wisdom of the ancients. Later, Zhang Xianzhong entered Yunnan and Guizhou from U-Tsang, which made Zhao Xiaofei feel like he had been slapped in the face.
Seeing her husband so surprised, Li Sihong asked, "What happened? Zhang Xianzhong has always been a bandit. It's normal for him to run away!"
"He ran to the Western Regions! It will be difficult to catch him from now on!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"The Western Regions? It's a barren land. What is he going there for?" Li Sihong said.
"I don't know either! I only know that it will be difficult to catch him in the future! The Western Regions are too big, and even if we mobilize the entire country, we may not be able to catch him." Zhao Xiaofei sighed.
Wu Sangui finally planted his flag on Yulin City, but this time he suffered heavy losses. It was a truly tough battle. Fortunately, he didn't lose any of the Guanning Cavalry. Otherwise, he would have been even more distressed!
Ajige and Duoduo called everyone to the big tent for the ceremony. Ajige said, "We are almost at Xi'an now! Xi'an is getting tough, we must head south as soon as possible!"
"Your Highness, you can't do that! Zhao Xiaofei's Kenan Army and Sichuan's White Spear Soldiers are attacking Shangluo and Hanzhong. Let them consume Li Zicheng's strength, and we will take the opportunity to capture Xi'an!" Kong Youde said.
"That makes sense, but there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses to feed. We don't have time to wait!" Duoduo said.
"I think we need to capture Xi'an as soon as possible! First, there is a shortage of food and grass, and second, Zhao Xiaofei is not someone to be trifled with. If they capture Xi'an, they will have to fight him again. How can we do that without a place to stay!" Wu Sangui said.
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