I

Lu Xiangsheng was very tired, physically and mentally exhausted.

Regardless of the original history or this time and space, there is a big debate on whether to negotiate peace this year.

But the war and war were essentially over when the Qing army arrived in Beijing.

When troops are approaching the city, why are you negotiating for peace?

No matter how retarded the Manchu monarchs and ministers were, they would never imagine that the Manchus and the Qing could still negotiate peace after they invaded Beijing.

Historically, the core of the conflict between Lu Xiangsheng, Yang Sichang, and Gao Qiqian was not the war and peace written in the "History of the Ming Dynasty", but the strategic policies were completely different!

Lu Xiangsheng belongs to the "main war faction", taking the initiative to fight and waiting for opportunities to annihilate the enemy.

Gao Qiqian belongs to the "war avoidance faction", hoarding heavy troops and passively defending.

Yang Sichang belonged to the "stabilizing war faction", dividing his troops to defend the city and avoiding wasteful fighting.

Yang Sichang and Gao Qiqian both expected the Manchus to rob and leave immediately. The only difference is that Gao Qiqian didn't dare to fight at all, but Yang Sichang was willing to fight with full confidence.

In order to prevent Lu Xiangsheng from rushing into the wave battle, Yang Sichang even deliberately delayed the supply of food and grass.

"Superintendent, we are running out of food and grass!"

"Send someone back to ask for food."

Lu Xiangsheng was not only fighting against the Manchus, but also fighting against the civilian and military commanders around him.

Even if Yang Sichang is transferred from Beijing, the situation cannot be changed.

Because Gao Qiqian was unwilling to fight in the field, Lu Xiangsheng's generals were also unwilling to fight in the field. Therefore, the former deducted food and grass, and the latter violated it, in order to force Lu Xiangsheng not to run around.

A general like Wang Pu, commanding eight thousand troops, is likely to retreat without a fight at a critical moment.

For the border town generals, even if the entire Beizhili was robbed, as long as the Manchus did not capture Beijing, it was enough. The people were burned, killed, and looted. This matter had nothing to do with them. They just wanted to protect their troops.

Even if he saved his troops and returned in defeat, the emperor would not dare to punish him severely.

If you lose your troops, even if you win a great victory, you may lose your official position and go to jail for no apparent reason.

That being the case, why take the initiative to seek field battles?

Wouldn't it be a good idea to follow them from a distance of two to three hundred miles, wait until the Manchus have finished looting and leave, and then "recover" the lost ground?

Lu Xiangsheng was inspecting the military camp, and suddenly there was a scene of commotion. He hurriedly rode over, met the messenger halfway, and immediately asked: "What happened?"

"Superintendent, Li Chongzhen's department is having trouble with wages, saying that they haven't been paid for two months. Recently, they have been reducing meals, and they all complain that they don't have enough to eat." The reporter said.

Lu Xiangsheng sighed helplessly and rode over to appease the soldiers who were demanding pay.

He holds the sword of Shang Fang and is the governor of the world. But Gao Qiqian was the director, supervising the world's troops. Yang Sichang was not in Beijing, and Gao Qiqian controlled all the food and grass.

If Lu Xiangsheng was really killed, it was impossible to be framed by one or two people.

But all the civilian and military generals responsible for leading the troops will harm him. Only if Lu Xiangsheng dies, everyone will not have to fight a tough battle. Only if Lu Xiangsheng dies can we defend the city with peace of mind and wait for the Manchus to leave!

"Report!!!!"

Lu Xiangsheng had just calmed down the soldiers who were demanding pay, when suddenly a spy came to report: "Supervisor, the Tartar slaves are besieging Julu, and the magistrate of Julu has sent someone to ask for help!"

"Explore again!"

Lu Xiangsheng summoned the generals to discuss the matter and said: "The slave army is outside Julu City and will march south tomorrow! The army of Gao Jianjun (Gao Qiqian) is in Linqing. I have sent someone to ask him to join forces to kill the enemy!"

"This is a strategy to lure the enemy into besieging the city with Tartar slaves and seeking reinforcements. Do not act rashly." Wang Pu said.

Li Chongzhen said: "The emperor is not short of hungry soldiers. The soldiers are short of food and pay, and their morale is low. How can they fight without adequate food and pay?"

Li Guozhu sighed: "Let's wait until the troops of the High Supervisor Army join forces."

Hu Dawei and other generals bowed their heads and remained silent, obviously not agreeing to rescue Julu.

Lu Xiangsheng held Shang Fang's sword and was helpless against these generals.

Because the military generals were right, the Manchu Qing Dynasty must be besieging the city to send reinforcements. Moreover, the emperor did not want hungry soldiers, and if he did not provide adequate food and pay, the soldiers were likely to mutiny.

Forcibly order an attack, or kill someone to establish your authority, and a mutiny will occur immediately!

Lu Xiangsheng could only give up and wait for food and grass while waiting for Gao Qiqi to come over and join forces.

As for the shortage of food and grass, it's not all Gao Qi's hidden intention to make things difficult.

The Manchus and Qing Dynasties wreaked havoc along the way, and the officers and soldiers were unable to collect food locally and had to transport it from Beijing. They drove the Manchus southward, and the food road was getting longer and longer, and they were almost reaching the border of Shandong.

There was not much food and grass, so Gao Qiqian naturally supplied himself first, and then threw the remaining bits and pieces to Lu Xiangsheng.

Lu Xiangsheng kept waiting like this. At least a little food and grass arrived, but he was marching at a very fast pace. Linqing and Julu are only about a hundred miles apart, and the route is relatively flat. The 40,000-strong army walked for ten days.

The two sides communicated through messengers and agreed to attack the Qing army from the north and the south.

Gao Qiqian camped without moving, wanting Lu Xiangsheng to fight first. If Lu Xiangsheng wins, he will take advantage of the victory to pursue; if Lu Xiangsheng loses, he will retreat to Linqing.

Lu Xiangsheng was full of confidence and prepared to attack together, but his generals did not move.

Those guys once again instigated the soldiers to make a fuss about pay, and all the Xuanda ministries made a fuss together. If they are not provided with sufficient food and salary, they will resolutely refuse to move forward.

Lu Xiangsheng was furious, took out Shang Fang's sword, and killed more than 20 troublemaking officers one after another.

He didn't dare to kill high-ranking generals, but it didn't matter to low-ranking officers.

Finally, after two days of reorganization, the whole army set off.

Ming Dynasty has not yet figured out how many Qing troops entered the Pass this time. I only know that except for the artillery, the rest are cavalry, and the troops were divided into three groups and went south to plunder.

There were probably about 10,000 Manchu Qing cavalry on Julu's side.

Lu Xiangsheng led his troops to kill them. A few miles from Julu County, they were faced with two thousand enemy cavalry.

"Just drive them away. Don't pursue them too far." Lu Xiangsheng sent cavalry to pursue him. He had a total of 7,000 cavalry under his command.

The two thousand Manchu and Qing cavalrymen seemed to have no intention of engaging in battle. When they saw the Ming Dynasty cavalry coming out, they immediately turned around and ran away. Moreover, the purpose of running around in all kinds of detours is to slow down Lu Xiangsheng's advance.

The Sentinel Cavalry has discovered the Qing army's camp, but does not dare to get too close.

Lu Xiangsheng led the army and approached cautiously. After procrastinating for a long time, I finally found that the situation was not good. The camp outside Julu City in the Qing Dynasty was actually empty. There were only thousands of plundered livestock for transporting grain, and not even men and women were plundered!

This year's Tatar victory is different from any other time in the past.

In the first two or three months of the war, there was only constant destruction and no large-scale looting.

The intention of the battle was obvious. The Manchu and Qing Dynasties were defeated near Beijing, so they divided their forces and dragged the Ming army south. The supply lines of the Ming army were getting longer and longer, conflicts between various departments were increasing, and the soldiers were getting more and more tired. The Manchus were waiting for opportunities to eliminate the effective forces.

Historically, Lu Xiangsheng only had 5,000 soldiers left, so the Manchus attacked Lu Xiangsheng.

Now, Lu Xiangsheng has 24,000 people, and Gao Qiqian has 40,000 people. The Manchu Qing suffered Lu Xiangsheng's losses and went directly to attack Lu Xiangsheng, leaving an empty camp to confuse Lu Xiangsheng.

"Director Gao is in danger, go to the rescue quickly!" Lu Xiangsheng stood in the empty camp and was shocked.

The generals in the border towns were all overjoyed.

They saved Julu County, recaptured thousands of livestock, and recaptured much of the grain and grass carried by the livestock.

It’s all for military exploits!

…

But he said that Gao Qiqian came with his troops and went directly to Jize County to garrison them. At this time, Jize County was sandwiched between Fuyang River and Luo River. There were two rivers that protected nature and made it very safe.

This guy never thought about going to war, otherwise, it would never be possible to garrison troops in such a place that is good for defense but not good for attack.

Whatever you are afraid of will come to you.

Gao Qiqian and a few confidants lived in the city, while the army camped outside the city - Julu County is not big, so it is impossible for all 40,000 soldiers to be crammed in, and there are countless grain, grass and baggage. Only the defenders will release the army. Go in.

At noon that day, he was very drunk and taking a nap in the city.

A eunuch ran over in panic: "Oh no, the slave army has crossed the river and is heading towards Jize!"

"How many people?" Gao Qiqian asked in panic.

"I don't know, I'm afraid there are twenty or thirty thousand cavalry!" the young eunuch replied.

Damn it, twenty or thirty thousand, the Qing army along this route could have at most more than ten thousand cavalry.

"Hurry up and let the army enter the city and refuse to defend it!"

The city gate of Jize County soon opened, and the cavalry entered the city first. Gradually, the rumble of horse hooves could be heard, and the 40,000-strong army suddenly panicked and rushed into the city desperately.

"Close the city gate!"

"Shoot the arrow, shoot the arrow!"

Instead of firing arrows at the Manchus, they fired arrows at the Ming army outside the city. They also started killing each other at the city gate.

The sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer. Seeing that they could not enter the city, the remaining soldiers immediately fled south.

Of the 40,000-strong army, only more than 12,000 elite troops entered the city.

The remaining 28,000 people, more than half of whom were civilians and auxiliary soldiers, were exposed to the butcher's knife of the Qing Dynasty.

The Qing soldiers chased them all the way, and after killing the Ming troops outside the city, they headed towards Guangping Fucheng without looking back. They will continue to plunder grain and grass, continue to lure the Ming army south, and continue to lengthen the Ming army's supply line.

Gao Qiqian stood on the city tower, watching the Qing army marching south, and he breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, fortunately, the Tartar slaves did not besiege Jize."

Another day later, Lu Xiangsheng led troops to help, but Gao Qiqian angrily scolded him for being afraid of the enemy.

The impeachment memorial has been sent to the capital.

As for the content, the two men jointly attacked the Manchu and Qing army on the West Road, fighting bravely from high altitude, while Lu Xiangsheng was afraid of the enemy and refused to advance. As a result, it was impossible to form a joint attack, and the opportunity to annihilate the enemy was missed, resulting in Gao Qiqian suffering a huge defeat.

A few days later, Gao Qiqian joined forces with Lu Xiangsheng's generals and soon launched a pay mutiny.

Gao Qiqian issued a second impeachment memorial, accusing Lu Xiangsheng of embezzling Mo's military supplies and only caring about his subordinates, which led to the rebellion of Xuan Da's border army generals.

Again, no one wants to fight except Lu Xiangsheng.

It didn't matter to them whether Lu Xiangsheng was killed or arrested and imprisoned. I just ask Lu Xiangsheng to stop being the commander-in-chief. If the war continues like this, all the soldiers and horses will be eaten up by the Qing army.

To be honest, if you put aside your selfishness, it's hard to tell who is right and who is wrong.

Lu Xiangsheng's strategic decision was definitely correct in the early stage. But now that it has been postponed to the later stage, the battle line is too long and there is no way to fight anymore. If we continue to fight in the field, we will have to be defeated by the Qing army one by one.

Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army can withstand this kind of long-distance pursuit. How can other troops withstand this kind of long-distance pursuit?

As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, such a situation cannot be messed up.

But we had to fight, and we couldn’t let the Manchus burn, kill, and loot, right?

Whoever takes this seat will have to struggle with Lu Xiangsheng. It doesn’t matter if you fight, it doesn’t matter if you don’t fight.

Daming, there is no hope.