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Li Zicheng had already thought of withdrawing his troops, not from Shanhaiguan, but to abandon the entire Beizhili.

Food shortage!

Even if the Manchus could be defeated in this battle, Li Zicheng would be completely out of food. Once food is cut off, not only will the army be fried, but most of the people in Beijing will also starve to death. What is the point of being an emperor like this?

It is better to withdraw from the vortex of Beizhili, take the army to other places to get food, and then come back when the food is sufficient.

Even if they want to retreat, they have to kill the Manchu and Qing cavalry in the pass, otherwise they are likely to retreat until the whole army collapses.

When Hauge and Dorgon came again with cavalry, Li Zicheng also led cavalry to fight, but this time the equipment of Dashun cavalry changed.

Do not carry bows and arrows, especially quivers, as several quivers are heavy and heavy.

The inner armor was also taken off, and only the cotton armor for defense against bows and arrows was worn. Even the armor pieces in the cotton armor were removed.

Everything is just to reduce the burden of the cavalry.

The surviving child army also has this set of equipment.

There are only 10,000 people left in total, including Dashun Xiaoqi and Dashun Boy Army.

Hauge and Dorgon also wanted to play tricks, and they dispersed into countless groups of cavalry, and the formation was so messy that it was shocking.

The Dashun cavalry didn't care about anything. They even threw their bows and arrows at Shanhaiguan. Under the leadership of Li Zicheng, they divided into several groups and charged directly against the rain of arrows.

It means exchanging lives for lives. After the Dashun cavalry lost weight, they were able to quickly catch up with the Manchu cavalry who were fully armored and had armor on key parts of their horses.

This time it was Hauge and Dorgon who were stunned. Because the Manchu and Qing cavalry formations were too scattered, after the cavalry from both sides engaged in battle, a Manchu and Qing cavalry was often surrounded and killed by several Dashun cavalry.

Of course, the Dashun cavalry also had a difficult time. The enemies in each group were scattered and few, and after killing them, they had to find the next group. In the process of pursuit, they will be shot by arrows.

The entire battle process can be simply divided into two links -

The Dashun cavalry pursued and was shot dead by the Manchu cavalry.

The Dashun cavalry caught up and killed the Manchu cavalry.

After a battle, Dorgon and Hauge couldn't hold it anymore and immediately ordered the cavalry to assemble.

After the assembly was completed, Li Zicheng did not dare to charge again.

Because they couldn't charge, the Manchu and Qing cavalry were better equipped and had the advantage of bows and arrows. Once assembled, they could beat the weight-reduced Dashun cavalry.

Li Zicheng directly ordered the withdrawal. Their horses were now so fast that the Manchu cavalry could not catch up.

In this battle, both sides suffered more than a thousand casualties each, with an almost one-to-one record.

Huang Taiji continued to bombard wildly outside Shanhaiguan. After the bombardment, he ordered the Han army to attack the city.

That afternoon, the cavalry engaged again.

This time Li Zicheng brought bows and arrows, and both sides used traditional cavalry tactics.

After fighting, Hauge and Dorgon played tricks again. Li Zicheng ordered the entire army to throw away their quivers, and they did not wear inner armor or cotton armor at all.

Another exchange of lives for lives, the Manchu and Qing cavalry did not dare to play anymore, and regrouped to fight. Li Zicheng withdrew to Shanhaiguan again.

Dorgon and Hauge were really scared of being beaten!

Twenty thousand cavalry rushed across the Great Wall. After several cavalry battles, only fourteen thousand were killed. Although Li Zicheng's cavalry died more, how many Manchu soldiers were there in total?

In the next three days, although the Manchu and Qing cavalry would come over, they did not dare to approach Shanhaiguan for fear of being overtaken by Li Zicheng and risking their lives.

In fact, the Manchu and Qing cavalry could slightly adjust their tactics to defeat Li Zicheng's style of play, and use their equipment advantages to trade lives with Li Zicheng - although they still trade lives.

That night, Li Zicheng lured and killed Ma Ke, who was contemplating surrender, in the name of military discussions.

Then in the middle of the night, he led Dashun's elite troops and quickly evacuated Shanhaiguan. Except for the civilians transporting food (there was not much food left), the rest of the surrendered troops were abandoned.

The next day, they encountered Manchu cavalry and the infantry withdrew cautiously. Li Zicheng personally led the cavalry and went to expel Dorgon and Hauge.

After bypassing Funing, because there were no enemies in front and because Li Zicheng abandoned Shanhaiguan, the elite of the Dashun Army began to deteriorate precipitously. Especially those old thieves, they knew that if Shanhaiguan was lost, Beijing would definitely not be able to defend it, so they looted along the way and even insulted women to vent their desires.

Li Zicheng turned a blind eye to this, and Qiu Wulin's Dashun army once again became a traditional bandit.

...

Niu Jinxing, who stayed behind in Beijing, had received the news in advance and quickly organized manpower to transport the goods.

Li Zicheng did not dare to go to Shandong. Even if he captured Shandong, he was afraid of being attacked by the Qing Dynasty and Zhao Han. He wants to retreat to Shanxi, then take Shaanxi as well, and perhaps form an alliance with Zhang Xianzhong.

In the past few decades of fighting with the Manchus, Li Zicheng had only more than 50,000 elite troops left, and the number of cavalry was reduced sharply to several thousand.

Sun Chuanting took the initiative to help organize the transfer, got two horses to pull the cart, and then quickly ran back to his residence: "Hurry up, take the trip south immediately!"

"good!"

Concubine Tian brought a bag of coarse grains, only three kilograms. They only had so much grain because the officials' rations were also rationed.

There was plenty of money, but Li Zicheng was so poor that he only had money left. Sun Chuanting served as the left minister of the military government and immediately received a settlement allowance of ten taels of silver.

Those civil servants who were sent out to take over the prefectures and counties also had money to earn.

Li Zicheng couldn't afford food, so he could only give out more money.

Before the Dashun elite returned, the city of Beijing was already in chaos. Concubine Tian Guifei held her child in her arms and rode a horse, and quickly fled under the leadership of Sun Chuanting.

Wang Tingchen, who had been blocked outside the city because the city gate was closed, also rushed into the city with his servants and cavalry. Their families were all in Beijing and they quickly went home and left with their relatives immediately. Cao Bianjiao also came with his cavalry to join them.

Although Wang Tingchen and Cao Bianjiao cannot enter the city these days, they are not sitting outside the city and waiting.

They snatched several large ships, all of which were merchant ships docked in nearby towns after the canal was blocked, and they also used food to recruit a group of boatmen by the way.

As for how the food came from, of course it was borrowed from the gentry's house. Could it be that the people in Beizhili still had food to grab?

After Li Zicheng occupied Beijing, the gentry who were a little farther away from the capital were not liquidated, and even enjoyed the treatment of not paying grain. At first, Li Zicheng publicized not paying grain.

Ride on horseback and take a boat, and leave quickly.

Wang Tingchen and Cao Bianjiao have a very good relationship now. One has only more than 200 cavalry, and the other has only more than 100 cavalry. They had to huddle together to keep warm, and Cao Bianjiao even waited for many days to help Wang Tingchen go to the city to pick up his family.

When they reached the border of Xianghe County, they suddenly chased after them and shouted at the cavalry: "But Cao Zongbing and Wang Zongbing are facing each other?"

The man was stopped by the cavalry and shouted again: "I am Sun Chuanting!"

After a commotion, Wang Tingchen and Cao Bianjiao came over to check the situation, and said in surprise, "It's actually Dushi Sun?"

"Are you two going south?" Sun Chuanting asked.

Wang Tingchen and Cao Bianjiao looked at each other and asked, "Where is Governor Sun going?"

Sun Chuanting probed: "How about voting for Zuo Liangyu?"

Cao Bianjiao laughed and said, "Master Sun, please don't lie to me. How could your Excellency seek refuge with Zuo Liangyu? I'm afraid he went to Nanjing to seek refuge with the King of Wu."

"Where are the two generals?" Sun Chuanting neither denied nor admitted.

Wang Tingchen said: "Zuo Liangyu is unreliable, and we have a grudge against the bandits, so we can only go to Nanjing. Even if we can't lead troops in the future, we can live in peace and stability."

"Then let's go on the road together," Sun Chuanting waved to the rear, and Concubine Tian Gui came riding on horseback, "This is the widow of an old friend, can you let her aboard?"

Wang Tingchen smiled and said, "Please do what you want."

The crowd continued to go to Yang Village, and found that there were more pedestrians along the way. And it's very strange, these people dragged their families with them and fled towards the north.

Go north to eat soil?

Sun Chuanting rode forward and was about to inquire about the situation when he suddenly saw the dead body beside the road and turned back in shock: "Don't come into contact with strangers, there may be a serious epidemic ahead!"

"Great epidemic?" Wang Tingchen and Cao Bianjiao were inexplicably terrified.

Not only is there a great plague, but the plague and smallpox are spreading from Shandong to surrounding provinces.

The family members on board did not dare to disembark again, and the cavalry did not dare to make contact with others, and proceeded cautiously all the way. Only occasionally get out of the boat to extract well water, and repeatedly check whether there are dead bodies in the well.

Fortunately, they are not short of food for the time being, and they borrowed a lot from the gentry before.

When passing through Tianjin, the city gates here are wide open. The Tianjin officials appointed by Li Zicheng had all fled in fright because of the plague.

When they arrived in Cangzhou, everyone's food was about to run out, so they had to venture into the city to borrow food.

Cangzhou is an important place, the city is high and the pond is deep, but at this time there is no defense, and the city is in chaos. Hundreds of cavalry rushed into the city and found that every house was closed and there were very few pedestrians on the street.

After tossing and tossing for a long time, they finally borrowed grain from grain merchants and brought many wells from rich households.

The closer to Shandong, the more serious the epidemic, Sun Chuanting and the others had no choice but to bite the bullet and go south.

It was also because of the great epidemic in Shandong that the checkpoints along the canal were relaxed, and Zuo Liangyu's soldiers hid and dared not go out. Similarly, Zhao Han did not dare to send troops to Shandong, but set up checkpoints to block the people going south.

In the face of the terrible plague, all military plans had to be scrapped.

Swallowing Shandong at this time is purely courting death. Even if he hadn't fought Zhang Xianzhong, Zhao Han would not take risks in Shandong.

When the team reached the boundary of Yutai County, what Sun Chuanting was worried about happened.

One family member was infected with smallpox, and two cavalrymen were infected with plague. Wang Tingchen and Cao Bianjiao responded quickly.

The family members disembarked, the cavalry left, and they were thrown two bags of miscellaneous grains to fend for themselves.

At the border of Pei County, the number of people infected with the plague had increased to double digits, and the entire team was in panic.

But apart from abandoning the sick person, they have nothing to do, and they don't even dare to leave alone.

The team finally arrived in Xuzhou, but was blocked on the other side of the Huaihe River and was not allowed to come over.

Every day, Datong soldiers patrolled the river by rowing boats, and drove back those who tried to cross the river. This is extremely inhumane, but it is necessary. The plague must not be allowed to spread southward.

"I have a solution, maybe I can try it." Sun Chuanting said.

Cao Bianjiao asked, "What can I do?"

Sun Chuanting finally told the truth: "There is a prince on our ship, we will see if the other side will let him go."

Two merchant ships sailed to the center of the river, and soon the Datong Army came by boat.

The soldiers raised their guns and shouted: "Go back immediately, if you dare to cross the river again, the artillery on the bank will serve you!"

Concubine Tian Gui held her young son who was having a fever, knelt on the deck and said loudly: "Imperial Concubine Tian of the Ming Dynasty, I am asking the King of Wu to take me in with my prince!"

The soldiers did not dare to neglect, and went back to report to the superior.

Fei Ruhe discussed with the governor of Xuzhou and agreed to let these people cross the river, but they had to be quarantined separately by the river for a month.

Not only Concubine Tian Gui, but also the rest of the smuggled people were treated in the same way.

There are always people taking advantage of loopholes to sneak across the border, can they all go back? Some of Zhao Han's sites are not blocked by rivers, so it is easier for people to run over.

The borders of the jurisdiction, the counties, villages and towns, grassroots officials and peasant associations have already started functioning.

Mobilize the masses to defend and guard. Once strangers enter the village, they are immediately driven to the outermost part of the village and ordered to isolate them for at least one month.

After a month before getting sick, they were asked to boil their clothes in boiling water, and they had to wash their bodies several times before they could be allowed to take refuge in the village.

Shandong has already exploded, and Northern Zhili is about to explode. After the Manchus enter the customs, they will find that they have come to a land of plague.

(Although the third watch is late, please ask for a monthly pass.)