Traveling through the Ming Dynasty, as soon as you open your eyes, you will die

Chapter 147 Return of the King

The morning court was held as usual, Chongzhen's steps were still steady and his tone was still kind. His face was just paler, and he took out a handkerchief from his sleeves from time to time to wipe the sweat that kept pouring out of his forehead.

The next day, what the ministers were worried about did not happen: Chongzhen was still diligent as usual and treated his ministers well as usual; he did not change the established policies set by King Ding, and he was constantly improving and repairing them.

It was as if his third son had never been born.

After retiring from the court, as long as he was out of the sight of his ministers, Chongzhen could only walk on Li An's back.

Qi Fei sold the cattle and sheep plundered from the grassland, and the antique jewelry was also taken away by Zheng Hongda. The total amount was more than four million silver. This time, all the soldiers did not ask for the stipulated war dividends, and all were handed over to the court.

Then all the cavalry soldiers knelt at the Meridian Gate to apologize.

Chongzhen was too generous to convict them, but they were beaten and scolded by all the soldiers and the people of the capital.

The entire army endured a day of beatings and scoldings before returning to camp. Some soldiers secretly swore that if the prince did not come back in the spring, they would walk alone on the grassland and die for the prince.

On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, Chongzhen distributed double rewards to officials, subordinates, and soldiers.

And on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the most luxurious lanterns since he ascended the throne were extravagantly held to entertain the people.

But no matter how Chongzhen tried to hide it, the morale of the military and the people was unstable, and Chongzhen was aging at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Chongzhen has been here for eighteen years. On the first day of the dynasty, Chongzhen decided to send King Yong to Shanhaiguan to supervise the division, and replaced the prince to return to the dynasty to assist in the administration and learn government affairs and governance.

Order Li Yan to reorganize the army and regain confidence.

Wu Sangui was ordered to launch an attack on Yuan Zongdi's Xuanda area, and everything was done in accordance with the established policy.

At this time, the white-haired wind on the grassland subsided, and countless Jin Yiwei, Dongchang Fanzi, and Ming Dynasty warriors quietly poured into the grassland, looking for the already desperate hope.

Just when the Ming Dynasty was panicking because of Lu Mou's disappearance, Lu Mou was nesting in the central tent of You Banner, counting the original owner's jewelry and teaching his little sister to count.

A guard in Jinyi, who had come back from the wind and snow, came in and reported excitedly: "Your Majesty, good news, great news."

"What's the good news?" Lu Mou continued to teach Xiaoya to count without raising his head.

"After the wind died down, we scouted the enemy's situation and encountered the enemy's camp."

"How many more of them are there?"

"The two camps on the left and right have a total of three to four hundred thousand people."

Lu Mou stopped teaching Xiaoya and directly picked her up and shouted: "Brothers, gather together, let's run away quickly."

Lu Mou was really sad for himself. People traveled through time and killed everyone in all directions. And if you look at yourself, you will either be running away with a bucket, or you are preparing to run away with a bucket. This time traveling is so frustrating.

The old Jin Yiwei quickly stopped him and said, "Your Majesty, please wait until I finish my report before making a decision."

"By the time you finish your long-winded report, three to four hundred thousand enemies will be right in front of you."

"Your Majesty, they won't come, because all we see are dead bodies and dead horses that have frozen to death. The corpses are piled on top of each other, covering the vast grassland of Nuo Da. They are all unable to distinguish things because of the sudden blizzard. , they could only camp on the spot, and they all froze to death. Only less than 30,000 to 40,000 snow queens survived and fled into the Zhongqi, which was damaged by us, and they all suffered from frostbite."

Lu Mou sat back down again calmly and continued to teach Xiaoya how to count. "We will go home when the snow melts a little."

Spring is warm and flowers are blooming. Outside the Great Wall in Yongning, a decisive battle between 30,000 Guan Ning's cavalry and 70,000 Yuan Zongdi's peasant army is in full swing.

Under Chongzhen's urging, Wu Sangui had fought to the death with Yuan Zongdi several times.

Of the 50,000 Guan Nings, ten thousand have been lost, and ten thousand should be left in case of any eventuality. Now there are only 30,000 people going to war. Yuan Zong's more than 100,000 bandits also lost more than 40,000, and now only 70,000 are left.

Now it's time for a decisive battle between the two sides.

Now on this huge battlefield, both sides are gritting their teeth and holding on.

The Ming army was defeated and the inner Great Wall could no longer be defended. Yuan Zongdi forced his troops to force the capital.

Yuan Zongdi was defeated, and he had no choice but to flee back to the northwest. With the main force following Li Chuang south, he could no longer gain a foothold.

Wu Sangui asked anxiously: "Where are Li Yan's reinforcements?"

The report of the report: "Master Li led the Third Army, and the Fifth Army came to the rescue urgently with 60,000 soldiers. But they were all infantry, and Li's military department did not dare to delay. They rushed day and night, but now they have only reached Juyong Pass, and it will take at least three days before they dare to to the battlefield.

Wu Sangui regrets this.

When my father and uncle left seclusion, they launched a liberation war for the slave herders. When passing by here, his father and uncle repeatedly told him that Guan Ning must launch an attack on Yuan Zongdi as soon as possible to reserve a way out for them in case of emergency. He also repeatedly instructed that after Yuan Zongdi was driven away, the Xuanda area within and outside the Great Wall must be firmly controlled by Wu Sangui's Guan Ning. Don't let anyone get involved.

In fact, Wu Sangui did not want the two old men to tell him, he had to do the same. Because, Shanhaiguan, he can never go back. Even if Zhao Youhu allows himself to go back, Shanhaiguan is now the only isolated city left, and there is no room for development.

Now, only by occupying the Xuanda area and connecting with my father and uncle who went north to develop, can I gain a foothold.

Therefore, even if Chongzhen did not issue an order to supervise the battle, Wu Sangui must go to fight Yuan Zongdi.

It's a pity that Yuan Zongdi is indeed not someone to be trifled with. Several battles each had its own winner or loser. Especially the heavy snowfall in winter that was rare in a century. The snow melted, causing rivers and rivers to overflow and the land to become muddy, which seriously restricted the movement of the cavalry. On the contrary, Yuan Zongdi's Xiaoyuan Battalion, which consisted of mostly infantry, was at ease.

The battle was very hard.

The decisive battle finally came, and in order to prevent others from interfering with his upcoming territory, he did not ask for reinforcements from the court. Even though Li Yan offered to mobilize troops to support him several times, Wu Sangui refused with various excuses.

As a result, the two sides formally engaged in a decisive battle. Guan Ning, who was accustomed to defending, failed to show the purpose of forming this cavalry in the first place, and fought with his hands tied.

The muddy land and flooding rivers further restricted the combat effectiveness of the cavalry.

But what Yuan Zongdi was fighting was a life-and-death battle that involved advancement or retreat. Seventy thousand soldiers fought to the death without retreating.

But when Wu Sangui felt that something was not going well and urgently asked Beijing for help, it seemed that it was too late. This is really self-inflicted and greed is harmful to others.

The fierce battle continued for another two days. The rogue bandits became more and more courageous as they fought, and Guan Ning was already in danger.

Li Yan's reinforcements were exhausted. Even if they arrived on the battlefield a day later, they would be exhausted and of little use.

A new battle begins again as the sun rises. By noon, Guan Ning's military formation was already in danger, and its collapse seemed to happen in the blink of an eye.

Wu Sangui was desperate. He prepared to gather the remaining soldiers and retreat.

At this moment, Yuan Zongdi's rear formation was suddenly in chaos, and a powerful cavalry team descended from the mountain like a tiger and came to kill them. Especially this army, with its tens of thousands of horses rushing into battle, defeated the rogue army in one fell swoop.

Wu Sangui, who was on the verge of complete despair at that time, wondered who and where did the soldiers come from to resolve his crisis?

Looking carefully from a high place, he saw a big yellow flag.

Rubbing his eyes, he saw the words on it. Then he rubbed his eyes again in disbelief. He still couldn't believe his eyes. He asked Zhongjun: "What is written on the flag?"

The soldier's voice changed with excitement: "This is King Ding, this is King Ding's great prayer. King Ding is not dead, King Ding is back."

(End of this chapter)