As the vanguard of the rebels and the main force of the rebels, the new army left the capital along the official road, passed through Baoding Prefecture, Zhending Prefecture, Shunde Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture entered Changde Prefecture in Henan, and then crossed Weihui Prefecture, crossed the Yellow River at the boundary of Kaifeng Prefecture. Then, he turned west and advanced along the Yellow River to Tongguan.

Tongguan is adjacent to Qinling Mountains in the south, and there is a dangerous valley of ban ditches and deep valleys; there are Wei and Luo Rivers in the north, and the key to the Yellow River and the Pass is to be brought down; there is a barrier of Huashan in the west; the mountains on the east are connected, the valleys are deep and cliffs are broken, and the middle is connected to the Yangyan path, which only allows a car and a horse to walk in the middle, and the Yellow River is extremely dangerous. And to the west, it is a flat river in the hinterland of Shaanxi. As the gateway between Shaanxi and the Central Plains, it has always been the pass that the Guanzhong Dynasty attached the most importance to, and its military significance is extremely important.

There were many wars around Tongguan in all dynasties, especially the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, Sun Chuanting and Li Zicheng fought decisively in Tongguan, and Li Zicheng and the Qing army fought in Tongguan, which determined the rise and decline of the Dashun Dynasty.

However, after that, the war no longer started between Guanzhong and the Central Plains, and Tongguan was once spared from the war. But today, Wu Sangui launched an anti-Qing army in Shaanxi, and the Qing army wanted to retake Shaanxi, proving to the world that he still had the ability to crush the rebels, which once again became the key point in the struggle between the two sides.

As the main force of the rebels, the new army was in the hinterland, both in Zhili and Henan along the way, and the strategic movement speed was very fast, and it had even reached the point where the Eight Banners Army, which followed up, was further and further away. The new army was compiled and trained according to the European tactics, supplemented by some training methods learned by Liu Cheng from Chen Wen, and was no longer the Eight Banners Army of the past.

However, the new army's strategic movement speed was fast enough, but it was not as fast as the partial division led by Tunqi. Because this partial division was not only composed of cavalry and cavalry infantry of the Eight Banners of Manchu and Han Dynasty, more importantly, they did not bypass Shanxi like the new army, but went directly west from the capital, and then crossed the Yellow River in Shanxi, and appeared directly on the ground in Shaanxi.

After conquering Xi'an, Wu Sangui began to recover the entire Gansu-Shaanxi region. The first one was the area on the west bank of the Yellow River, because he wanted to use the natural danger of the Yellow River to block the Qing army's way from Shanxi to Shaanxi.

However, the Yellow River is thousands of miles long, and the Shanxi-Shaanxi Gorge between the two provinces alone is less than 1,500 miles long. If troops are assigned to defend everywhere, the army will be divided. Seeing this, Wu Sangui chose to focus on preventing the central and southern sections of the Shanxi-Shaanxi Gorge, while for the northern section, there are only a small number of troops to restrain and early warning, and put more troops on the front line of Yan'an Prefecture City, using it as the center of defense in the north.

The troops of Tunqi crossed Shanxi, forced their way through the northern section of Shanxi and Shaanxi Canyon, and then went south to harass all over the country, but they were still far from Xi'an, the ruling center of Wu Sangui in Shaanxi. However, the Qing army advanced westward and got the Eight Banners Army under the banner of the New Army from Henan. On the way, Wu Sangui had to shrink his troops from the west and south to concentrate on defending Xi'an. The key to defending Xi'an was in Tongguan Fortress.

Wu Sangui has long heard of this new army, but the Qing court kept it secret from the organization, tactics, and even the specific forces. In particular, since its establishment, this new army has never participated in military operations, but has been trained in the new army camp, and its combat effectiveness cannot be estimated at all.

However, this time, when the new army was dispatched, its strategic movement speed was much faster than that of the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but it was unimaginable faster than the armies of other forces.

"I'm afraid I'm a tough guy this time."

As the new army gets closer, Wu Sangui is worried. It is not only because of the partial division stationed in northern Shaanxi. The army has limited troops. Whether it can break through the Yan'an defense line is all about whether it can break through. The key is the battle of this new army and the dilemma of fighting alone this time.

Last winter, Wu Sangui recovered Xi'an. The envoys of the Yongli court's imperial edict rushed to the front of the army that night. Not only did they enthrone the title of the prince, but the key was to notify Wu Sangui that the 50,000 troops of Shu King Liu Wenxiu were on the way and could arrive at any time and advance east with Wu Sangui.

Said to be 50,000, Wu Sangui probably had about 30,000 auxiliary soldiers, but it was a great supplement to him to be able to add 20,000 Southwest Ming army troops. However, Wu Sangui was waiting around in Xi'an, while Liu Wenxiu and his army seemed to have disappeared into the uninhabited land of Sichuan. Not to mention that the army arrived, there was no news.

Historically, Wu Sangui went south from Hanzhong in Shaanxi to attack Yunnan and Guizhou. He set out in February, arrived at Baoning Prefecture in early March, and arrived in Chongqing in early April. Within a month, he had already captured Zunyi Military and Civilian Prefecture by the end of April. Wu Sangui only took more than two months to complete the whole journey, and was under the harsh situation of "the thorns are full of thorns and dense forests, and even the village guides do not know where to follow. He only traced and logged wood, cut down a journey of wood, and advanced a journey of troops."

Relatively speaking, Liu Wenxiu's army headed north from the Sichuan Xingdusi, and the journey was two hundred miles long. Logically, it was three months. But it was already February, and it had been more than four months since the angel set off, but Liu Wenxiu was still missing. So much so that Wu Sangui once suspected that the envoy sent by Chen Wen to pretend to be a disguise of the last edict, in order to use his hand to consume some of the vitality of the Qing Dynasty, or that Liu Wenxiu was attacked to avenge Baoning's battle back then, and wanted to reap the benefits of the fisherman.

"Prince, have you sent someone to Huguang and talk to His Highness the King of Qi?"

"It's useless, Chen Wen will not send troops. This man's firm character is not something that ordinary people can easily shake. Now he is dominant in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. As long as he steadily follows the route of Emperor Taizu Gao's northern expedition, the Tatars can only passively respond. Why bother to cross Henan and go to such areas like this that are not convenient for military transport, and are even more unfamiliar to help our Guanning Army."

Wu Sangui is very smart and counts many things carefully. This is actually related to his family tradition. After all, his father Wu Xiang is a businessman, and his careful calculation and judging the situation have long melted into his blood.

It was like when Wu Sangui led the Qing army into the pass. Why did he be so angry? He was just a concubine from a prostitute, giving away people is a common thing, let alone for him to break up with Dashun, who was proclaimed in the north. In the final analysis, it was because the Dashun army's policy of torture gentry offended Confucian scholars and officials. At first glance, it was not a regime that could gain a foothold. Li Zicheng had too much habit of bandits and was not a founding king who could change dynasties. On the contrary, the Qing Dynasty had more prospects.

After the betting ended, Wu Sangui was also diligent in history. He even killed Yongli and offended the people of the Ming Dynasty in the world. He had no intention of leaving a wisp in order to fight against the Qing Dynasty in the future. So when Kangxi reduced the vassal state and he had to rebound, most of the Han people who were willing to fight against the Qing Dynasty were unwilling to come out to help him. When the sudden momentum of the chaos passed, the Qing court recovered and quickly completed the defeats with the advantage of occupying most of the world.

Now, with Chen Wen's sudden emergence and the Qing Dynasty was about to end, Wu Sangui chose to place a bet again. Unexpectedly, after the bet was put, the Ming court agreed to increase the bet but did not come to the account, but he had already finished the game and had to play the bet alone, with no other way.

"It's impossible to return back now. We can only rely on ourselves. Fortunately, I haven't been idle for this period and have compiled a Spanish formation of ten battalions. Otherwise, relying on those ten battalions alone wouldn't be enough. Even if I have recently trained and practiced daily, I can't compare with those old battalions. This time it seems that I have to rely on loyalty and bravery and righteousness to those ten battalions."

In the battle of Xi'an, the Spanish phalanx compiled by Wu Sangui worked, crushing the elites of the Eight Banners Army and the Green Camp on the battlefield. Western France showed its results, and Wu Sangui naturally wanted to expand its scale. The inventory of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and part of the wealth of the city was enough to support the expenses of the old camp of Guanning Army to adapt the Spanish phalanx.

Now, the difference is that the training time is too short, the running-in degree of tactics is low, and the number of muskets is too small, so we still have to rely on the step bow to supplement some of the lack of long-range killing.

"Let Hu Guozhu defend Tongguan strictly and send a force to reinforce Tongguan. Only after we have controlled there can we continue to persevere and watch the wars rising in the north and the Tartars are running around."

Wu Sangui dispatched troops to reinforce Tongguan and would also order the troops scattered from all over the country to gather in Xi'an again, because if there were any losses here, even if other places were present, he would not be able to bear the losses in all aspects.

The new army was actively preparing, and there was no stop at all. Along the way, the officials were responsible for food, grass, civilians, camps, and even the meal was prepared. They just waited for the Eight Banners to arrive at the place to have their meals and rest. But even so, they could not ignore the rapid movement speed of their strategic movement. The army set out at the end of the twelfth lunar month, and it took only two months to reach Lingbao County in the western part of Henan Prefecture by the end of February, which was not far from Tongguan.

The current situation of the Qing Dynasty prompted the new army to not dare to stay at all, and the army went straight to Tongguan to set up camps and camps. When the new army arrived, the soldiers needed time to repair them, while the auxiliary soldiers collected in Henan prepared everything under the surveillance of the local green camp, camps, siege equipment, and everything, especially the transfer of military supplies and food, which were day and night, but the income was very small, while the civilians who died of hunger and cold were thrown directly into the Yellow River to avoid plague.

"How long will it take for Fushou and the others to arrive?"

"When you say that, Prince Xian's troops have crossed Kaifeng and are rushing to the full speed."

"Hard-difficult."

After getting this answer, Ji Du was quite dissatisfied. It is true that this new army set out first, but it was only Fu Shou who led the Eight Banners Army a day earlier. Look at it now, the difference is no longer a day's journey, but the worse it is.

From the capital to Tongguan, according to their way of walking around Shanxi, it is more than 2,000 miles away. This distance is hundreds of miles away from the capital to Nanjing. It is precisely because the distance is long enough that the difference in the strategic movement speed between the New Army and the Old Eight Banners Army becomes more and more obvious.

"When I was in the capital, there were some bannermen who spoke sour words. The new army was useless to spend money and food. They just squatted in the barracks to practice. Maybe they would be useless to get a bamboo basket. Now it seems that the speed of the march alone has greatly improved compared to the toughness of the soldiers. Western France is indeed worthy of the old tactics, and you, a slave, have also put your heart into it."

"It's still the blessing of the emperor, the prince is good at leadership, and Lord Guarjia is good at praise. The servant is just running errands and cannot be the prince's praise."

"You Han and Han military flags are just pretentious."

After saying that, Jidu laughed, obviously very satisfied with the performance of the new army until today. The Eight Banners of Manchuria was broken by Chen Wen. The loss of the Eight Banners of the Eight Banners was not only about military strength, but also about spirituality.

After two years of trembling, I worked hard to train the new army. Now I have achieved initial results. When I see hope, I feel satisfied.

"There is no need to wait for Fu Shou and the others. The servants below have already been repaired these two days. They will send troops to attack Tongguan early tomorrow morning. We don't have time to waste time with Wu Sangui."

"What the prince said is very true. The world is ignorant. The new army has been repairing here for a long time. What we know is waiting for the follow-up troops to follow up. Those who don't know must think that the new army is afraid of Wu Sangui."

Having said that, Ji Du still sent people to urge the Fushou to urge the Fushou. After all, the new army had only more than 17,000 people, and Tongguan was narrow, which was not conducive to the deployment of the army. Their attack troops were not easy to deploy, and Wu Sangui could not invest too many troops here. When Tongguan was captured, it would be difficult for the Guanzhong Plain to achieve a decisive victory without enough troops, especially Wu Sangui's Spanish phalanx was clearly placed in Xi'an.

Of course, when attacking Xi'an, the first thing to do is to kick the door of Tongguan open. The next morning, the new army set out and marched towards Tongguan.

During the Ming Dynasty, the number and intensity of wars in Tongguan were far lower than those dynasties with Guanzhong as the ruling center. However, the scale of Tongguan in the Ming Dynasty was larger than that of the previous generations, and it was easier to defend and difficult to attack.

During the Hongwu period, the Ming court expanded Tongguan. The city walls were winding and winding according to the mountain. The southeast included Qilin Mountain, Yantai Mountain and Bijia Mountain, and the southwest included Fenghuang Mountain and Scorpion Mountain. The Tonghe River into the Yellow River section included the city of Guan, allowing the Tonghe River, which flows into the Yellow River from south to north, to pass through Tongguan City.

As a result, the defense ability of Tongguan City has been greatly enhanced. The Tonghe River water is actually the irrigation water and drinking water in the city. In addition, there are more than 1,000 acres of land in Tongguan, so the defenders can stick to this for a long time in the absence of supplies.
Chapter completed!