The 20th year of the Hongxing reign of the Ming Dynasty, the third day of February.

The morning breeze blows coldly from the top of the city in Lueyang. The city that was hot a few days ago now feels cool.

On the low first level of the city, a few defenders were sparsely deployed. A flag of the Three Armies Command and a flag embroidered with the words "Gong Wu of Liang" were dancing in the wind at the head of Lueyang City.

This Lueyang City is not an old city, but a new city built by the Dashun Dynasty, which mobilized tens of thousands of people and took several months to build. It is located at the corner of the Jialing River and Rhinoceros Horn, with Xiangshan Mountain at its back and a long and narrow city in front of it.

The peninsula is not a bastion, but a mountain city built on the southern slope of Xiangshan Mountain. The city wall is low, but it has four layers of layers, and the highest layer is built to the middle of Xiangshan Mountain.

Needless to say how important the geographical location of this castle is, just look at Wu Sangui's general flag and the three-army commander's flag still flying high on the top of the city. You will know that Kong Tingxun, the long-legged general, brought several soldiers with him on the morning of February 2nd.

Hundreds of defeated soldiers fled back! In the afternoon, evening and morning of the third day of the second day of the lunar month, more than 3,000 people came back one after another, all of them had lost their armor and were in a miserable state.

From the mouths of these defeated soldiers who ran back, Wu Sangui learned that Shang Kexi and Shang Zhixin, father and son, had become loyal martyrs. He also learned that the Dashun Dynasty had at least 60,000 troops in the Hanzhong Basin, including at least 1,000 people with broken-eared horses.

Elite cavalry.

With so many elite rogue soldiers stationed in the Hanzhong Basin, Wu Guogui who marched from Malingguan would probably be defeated!

In addition, Wu Sangui also sent a small group of troops to test Yangping Pass in the past few days, and found that there were many defenders there, and they were quite elite!

But Wu Sangui was still reluctant to give up Lueyang.

Because Lueyang is too important, as long as Lueyang is defended, Sanguan Road and Qishan Road will be firmly controlled by the Ming army. Reinforcements, baggage, grain, grass and artillery will be continuously transported from the Guanzhong Plain. Moreover, rogue bandits will

Hanzhong, Jinniu Road, and Yinping Road in your hands will be under pressure from the Ming army at any time, and you will be extremely passive strategically.

For Li Dingguo, the gains and losses in Lueyang were equally important, and could even be compared with the gains and losses in the Hanzhong Basin.

Because Lueyang is the junction of Sanguan Road, Jinniu Road and Qishan Road. If it cannot be recaptured, not only Sanguan Road will be firmly under the control of the Ming army, but even Qishan Road will also be occupied by the Ming army. Li Dingguo has no intention of giving up.

Qishan Road! He stationed heavy troops in Qiuchi Mountain, Chengxian, Jiezhou, Linjiangguan, Wenxian, Yinpingzhai and other places. If the Ming army only attacked from Qishan, the defenders in those places could hold on for a long time.

However, if the Ming army attacks from both ends of Lueyang and Qishan, and is attacked from both sides, the Shun army on the Qishan Road will not be able to withstand the loss of the Qishan Road. Not only the Yinping Road will be threatened by the Ming army, but even the Songpan Wei will be threatened.

Something went wrong!

Therefore, the success or failure of Lueyang City will be directly related to the success or failure of the Ming Dynasty's campaign into Sichuan!

Wu Sangui, who had already made up his mind to defend Lueyang, started from the early morning of the third day of February with several staff in the Chinese Army Hall in Lueyang City, calculating how much supplies he could have on hand to support his troops and the volunteers who followed him.

We stayed in Lueyang for a few days. Lueyang's terrain was difficult, and the city was considered strong, so we could hold on to it. The problem was that the food reserves were not enough. When the bandits retreated, they didn't leave a grain of rice behind, and Wu Sangui's army did not have enough food.

It was almost consumed. If it weren't for the "righteous people" from Lueyang and Feng County who brought food to the army, Wu Sangui might not have enough rice to support him even if he wanted to defend it.

"Commander, it's not enough!" Liu Maoxia had already made up his mind and said to Wu Sangui with a bitter face, "There are now more than 8,000 soldiers in Lueyang City, and there are as many as 54,000 volunteers and refugees from all over.

There are still many people and many mules and horses.”

"Don't count the mules and horses," Wu Sangui waved his hand, "No one can take care of the animals, and the animals have been slaughtered for army rations! How many days can this last?"

"If you don't kill the animals, you can last for up to fifteen days!" Liu Maoxia said, "Even if you kill the animals and save some food, you can last for up to twenty days."

Another confidant of Wu Sangui, Guo Zhuangtu, said: "Commander, if you want to support him for a few more days, you have to"

He didn't say anything further, but Wu Sangui also knew what he meant. If he wanted to hold on for a few more days, he would have to drive out the people! Drive out all the people in the city. If there are fewer people, the food will be enough.

This guy is pretty good at math!

However, Wu Sangui was a little embarrassed to speak, because most of the food in Lueyang City was provided by the volunteers who came to seek refuge. After being a warlord for most of his life, Old Wu was so popular with the people for the first time!

Just turn your back and refuse to recognize anyone?

"Commander," Guo Zhuangtu understood what his master meant, so he thought of a way and said, "We can move the people to Feng County. The grain shipped from Guanzhong should arrive in Feng County today."

Wu Sangui looked at Liu Maoxia again, and Liu Maoxia quickly shook his head and said: "There are more than 200 miles from Feng County to here. People are walking. They have to walk for at least ten days. What do they need to eat in these ten days? Are they allowed to leave the city with ten days of food?"

?”

Of course this won’t work!

Liu Maoxia added: "If General Wu is defeated, the rogue bandits are likely to outflank Malingguan. By then, these 40,000 to 50,000 people will be captured by Li Dingguo! Most of these people are strong and strong, and Li Dingguo will definitely drive them away.

Siege the city!

Rather than letting them be used by rogue bandits, it is better to incorporate them all into the official army, train them hastily for 15 days, and then send them out of the city to fight to the death with the bandits!"

Wu Sangui frowned, and when he was hesitating, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the lobby, and then he saw Wu Sangui's personal battalion officer coming in and saluted: "Commander, there are a large number of bandits heading up the Jialing River.

When you come, your subordinates can see it from the city wall!"

"What?"

Wu Sangui took a breath of cold air, stood up suddenly, and strode out of the lobby. This lobby is located on the top floor of Lueyang City. Outside is the city wall built against the mountain. The city wall faces the Jialing River, and it is well realized. You can see more than ten people.

The view of the Jialing River inside and outside is no longer visible, as it is blocked by the mountains on both sides of the Jialing River.

Lifting the telescope, Wu Sangui could clearly see two parallel fleets of ships appearing on the narrow Jialing River waterway at some point. The fleet did not know how long it was. Anyway, he could only see the heads, not the tails at all. All the ships were separated by

The trackers pulled and moved slowly, and the deck was full of "men in blue", some of whom were still working hard to paddle.

"It seems that Li Dingguo has been preparing to attack Lueyang for a long time." Wu Sangui frowned.

It has only been a few days since the battle over Mian County? The rogue bandits to counterattack Lueyang have already arrived! This shows that Li Dingguo was well prepared from the beginning to counterattack Lueyang after the decisive battle in Hanzhong!

Guo Zhuangtu and Liu Maoxia also followed Wu Sangui out of the lobby. They both took the telescopes from Wu Sangui's soldiers and saw the Dashun fleet on the river.

"Commander," Guo Zhuangtu said, "there may be some craftsmen among the people in this big city where there are thieves and thieves. You must not be benevolent as a woman!"

Liu Maoxia retorted: "There are at least 20,000 men in the city. How many spies can there be? Now is the time to disperse them and recruit them into the army. They will be supervised and controlled by veterans to fight against the thieves!"

"Sichuan people may not be willing to fight with thieves!" Guo Zhuangtu shook his head.

"The people of Sichuan have been bitter thieves for a long time. If the commander-in-chief can grant military households land, why can't they be loyal to the country?"

"How can the commander-in-chief have the right to grant land to Sichuan people?" Guo Zhuangtu still didn't believe in the people.

Liu Maoxia said: "The commander-in-chief has the right to act expediently, and the matter is urgent, so why not? Moreover, the land is not given to the military households for free, they are all paid for by people's lives!"

While the two were discussing, Kong Tingxun hurried over again, bringing bad news! Chen Yongfu, a large group of bandits coming from the direction of Hanzhong, had already arrived at Feihuling and could cut off the traffic between Lueyang and Malingguan at any time.

.

Wu Sangui gritted his teeth and said: "Forget it, I believe that these Sichuan people have returned to Xuanchu. Go and talk to Wang Youwen and ask him to choose more than a hundred righteous leaders who can be listened to. I have something to say to them!"
Chapter completed!