I

Beijing.

When Li Zicheng came to this city again, he saw dilapidation and desolation.

Once a large city with a population of one million, it has experienced wars, plagues, famines and plunders, with many dying and some fleeing. Now the city has less than 100,000 residents.

This is the result of Liu Zongmin's two full years of governance in Beijing.

However, the ecology around Beijing has improved. The once bare mountain peaks are now covered with vegetation. The profession of woodcutter has reappeared, and residents in Beijing no longer need to burn coal for cooking every day.

"The Tatars haven't moved yet?" Li Zicheng asked.

Liu Zongmin said: "Hauge sent someone to deliver a message, asking us to attack Bazhou first. As long as Bazhou is surrounded, they will cooperate to attack Tianjin, so that the puppet comrades will focus on one thing and lose the other."

"It doesn't matter whoever strikes first, we have to work together to defeat him." Li Zicheng's tone was quite helpless.

The forces of the Datong Army in Hebei are deployed in Tianjin, Bazhou, Baoding, Zhending, and Shunde. The west and north of this line all belong to Li Zicheng's territory.

Li Zicheng can retreat to Shanxi at any time and rely on mountain obstacles to defend. However, the Datong army could not retreat. Behind them was the great plain, so they could only defend the city with heavy troops.

Li Zicheng's total military strength is about 100,000, which is already the limit of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu's troops.

He did not dare to divide his troops to attack Henan. He could only focus on attacking Hebei, and he had to cooperate with the Manchus.

Li Zicheng had never experienced the combat power of the Datong Army, but having defeated the Eight Banners Army many times, everyone knew that it was a first-rate force.

Liu Zongmin worriedly said: "This battle will not be easy to fight. Bazhou has Fei Ruhe, and Tianjin has Zhang Mingshan (Zhang Tieniu). Both of them are famous generals in the world. After listening to the news, Fei Ruhe has been named the general of the rear army. Governor, take charge of the war situation in Hebei. If we go to attack Bazhou, it will be equivalent to attacking the commander's camp of the puppet army."

"How about laying siege to the city and calling for reinforcements?" Li Zicheng asked.

"We can only give it a try." Liu Zongmin did not hold out hope.

Fei Ruhe's first division was stationed in Bazhou.

Zhang Tieniu's second division was stationed in Tianjin.

Huang Shun's 7th Division was stationed in Baoding (Fucheng).

Wan Sitong's 16th Division was stationed in Xiong County.

Li Dingguo's 17th Division was stationed in Shunde.

There are also county towns such as Baoding, Xin'an, Anzhou, and Jinghai, with at least three thousand troops stationed in each city, all of which are peasant soldiers and police forces. Including the regular army, the total number of soldiers totaled 70,000 to 80,000.

The Datong army did not move out, and they all stayed in the city.

Li Zicheng, with a total of 100,000 people, had to leave troops to garrison the pass to prevent the Datong Army from Henan from attacking Shanxi. He can only bring about 80,000 people to the battlefield in Hebei.

How can we attack cities with one to one troops?

Of course, Li Zicheng brought a large number of civilians and auxiliary troops, claiming to the outside world that he had "sent 500,000 troops."

Li Zicheng looked at the map and said: "If we encircle Bazhou, all the puppet troops in North Zhili will come to attack us. At that time, the Tatars can surround Tianjin with heavy troops, and there will be no puppet reinforcements there. The Tatars can Fight if you can't fight, leave if you can't fight, the tough battle is all ours. How can such a good thing happen?"

This is related to the situation among the three parties. The Manchu and Qing Dynasties sent troops to attack North China, so they could only attack Zhang Tieniu in Tianjin. When the Datong Army was attacked, they could only save Bazhou first. Directly saving Tianjin would be blocked by Bazhou, and it would be time-consuming and laborious to rescue Tianjin from the south.

How could Li Zicheng step in front and let the Manchus quietly take advantage?

The coalition forces have always been like this since ancient times. They are plotting against each other and it is impossible to work together.

Li Zicheng said: "Contact the Tatars, and we will besiege Tianjin with them, and together we will besiege Tianjin and provide reinforcements."

…

Liangcheng Office.

This place is located to the north of Ninghe District in Tianjin City. It has now become a place where the Qing Dynasty stationed troops and grain after entering the customs.

From Shanhaiguan to here, there are no ordinary people all the way, so it is impossible for the Tatars to solve the military ration problem on the spot. It can only be transported from western Liaoning. The journey is very long and it is easy for the Datong Army to land on the grain road by boat, so Hauge is extremely cautious.

In Funing, Changli, Luanzhou (Luanxian County), and Kaiping (Tangshan), at least 3,000 Manchu and Qing soldiers were stationed in these cities along the way, and more than 10,000 Eight Banners troops were forced to stay behind to guard the grain roads.

The Manchu nobles were frightened by the Datong Navy!

The army brought to Liangcheng by Hauge was only more than 60,000. More than 10,000 of them were Mongolian cavalry from foreign vassals. These people no longer wanted to fight for the Manchus.

"Li Zicheng wants to fight against Tianjin with us. What do you think?" Haug asked.

Man Dahai said: "What else can we think of? If we don't agree, Li Zicheng may withdraw his troops. Wouldn't our trip be in vain?"

"Then the two sides will join forces, with more than 100,000 people, to surround Tianjin!" Duerhu said.

Duerhu is the great-grandson of Nurhaci and the eldest grandson of Chu Ying.

If Chu Ying hadn't been so ambitious and put under house arrest by Nurhachi, he would probably have become the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and Duerhu would have been the emperor's grandson.

Chu Ying and his family have been suppressed for decades. Now that the Manchu Qing Dynasty is declining, in order to balance the factional struggles, Duerhu has been restored to the right to lead the army. Otherwise, he can only serve as an auxiliary to the country in the rear.

The Manchu nobles discussed repeatedly and finally accepted Li Zicheng's proposal.

Immediately, Hauge took the lead and moved to Yangcun in the north of Tianjin to station himself. At the same time, he collected and built large and small ships. Yangcun was later the Wuqing District of Tianjin City.

Li Zicheng also moved, asking Liu Zongmin to guard against the Datong Army in the direction of Baoding, and he personally led an army of 50,000 towards Tianjin.

After the two major forces joined forces, they went straight to Dinggu, seven miles north of Tianjin.

Dingzigu used to be a hub for grain transshipment, as evidenced by poems: Thousands of miles of clouds and sails rippled across the blue sky, and village smoke and fishing fires anchored Wu boats. Thousands of kites gather in Sanguli, and clusters of scales gather on both sides of the river. The northwest group lingers on Haidai, and the southeast giant dips Gongyouyan. The shape of Fengcheng is thousands of miles away, and only Yongnu overflows Guangchuan.

Nowadays, there are almost no people.

There were only a few hundreds of people left, but they were all transferred to Tianjin City in advance.

"Have you found out the enemy's situation?" Zhang Tieniu asked.

The sentry replied: "The enemy's cavalry is covering the battlefield, making it difficult to get closer for inspection. It is better to use hot air balloons and telescopes to detect the enemy's situation from a distance. The main forces of the pseudo-Shun and the pseudo-Qing should be in Dinggu. The camps there stretch for ten miles. .”

Zhang Tieniu said: "Inform Governor Fei immediately of the news!" He then told the herald, "Let Jinghai County strengthen its defense. The enemy may divide his troops to attack Jinghai County after surrounding Tianjin."

After another two days, Li Zicheng and Hauge probably discussed it and finally led the army to the outside of Tianjin.

After the two sides joined forces, the number of combat troops reached 110,000, and there were nearly 200,000 civilians and auxiliary soldiers.

Li Zicheng's army camped between the canal and Triangle Lake. Hauge's army camped south of the canal. The camps on both sides are clearly separated, with the Grand Canal in the middle. When attacking the city, they must allocate their own walls.

In the first few days, there were shellings from inside and outside the city, and the attackers organized civilians to fill in the moat.

After the troops of Fei Ruhe, Huang Shun, Li Dingguo, and Wan Sitong were assembled in Bazhou, they gradually moved closer to the Tianjin battlefield.

The three-party large corps fighting, splitting up the troops for surprise attacks, etc. can only be regarded as small fights.

Whoever dares to send thousands of troops around the back is guaranteed to never return, or may simply be trapped to death due to lack of food.

Coupled with the issue of battlefield allocation, Li Zicheng and Hauge were unwilling to suffer losses and had no choice but to fight the decisive battle in Tianjin.

Of course, other battlefields are not idle either, and fighting has already begun.

On the Liaodong side, several divisions came out to besiege Haizhou and Fenghuang City.

On the Henan side, the same divisions came out together, trying to break through the pass and go straight to Shanxi.

The Manchu Qing and Li Zicheng took the initiative to attack in Hebei. The Datong Army took the initiative to launch attacks in Liaodong and Henan.

…

"Boom boom boom!"

Outside Tianjin, artillery fire continued.

Thousands of Eight Banners cavalry and Mongolian cavalry from foreign vassals were sent to Jinghai County for a raid. If it cannot be captured quickly, there is no need to attack by force, just plunder the villages and towns in Jinghai County.

Thousands of cavalry rushed to the outside of Jinghai County. When they saw that the city gate was closed, they immediately gave up the idea of ​​seizing the city.

"The thieves have retreated."

"This cannot be taken lightly."

The two people talking at the top of the city were Yan Yingyuan, the county magistrate, and Gao Eryan, an old acquaintance.

Gao Eryan was supposed to be the crown prince in the 13th year of Chongzhen's reign, but because he took refuge with Li Zicheng, he was labeled a traitor by the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty. With Li Zicheng's defeat, Nanming could not go, so he chose to seek refuge with the Manchus, and finally became the Minister of Personnel and the Prime Minister of the Manchus.

Zhao Han took his little sister to flee south, and met the peasant army in Jinghai County. Gao Eryan also disguised himself and beheaded the thief.

He didn't get into the Ming Dynasty's top prize because Chongzhen hanged himself early.

After the Datong Army occupied Jinghai County, Gao Eryan immediately came out to become an official, but was told that he could only start as a petty official. This guy felt that he was losing face, so he managed to remain reserved for a year, and still came out to work as a petty official. Now he has just been promoted to county magistrate.

As for Yan Yingyuan, he captured the city alone in Shandong and has been the magistrate of Jinghai County for two years.

After this territory expansion, Yan Yingyuan will definitely be promoted.

Yan Yingyuan dressed in civilian clothes, inspected the city defense with his sword in person, and handed over the dispatch of supplies in the city to Gao Eryan. As for the real "generals" who lead the troops, one is the county's public security chief, who leads the entire city's police force; the other is a retired officer in charge of the county's peasants and soldiers.

There were thousands of soldiers, and even ordinary people came to help with the defense. Rolling logs, falling rocks, gold juice, and vegetable oil were all prepared.

Unfortunately, the enemy troops escaped.

Thousands of cavalrymen were divided into three groups and went to plunder the villages and towns in the countryside of Jinghai.

After Chahar's cavalry separated from the Eight Banners cavalry by two miles, Zuo Xiaocheng rode up to catch up with Dai Qin.

"Dai Qin replied, there is no one everywhere, and the Han people have evacuated long ago," Zuo Xiaocheng said, "This is the consistent approach of the Datong Army. Prefectures and counties close to the battlefield will fortify their walls and clear the country in advance."

Dai Qin said: "Go farther away before dismounting and resting. Don't be seen by those Eight Banners soldiers."

After running another mile, Dai Qin sent out spies to spread out and stand sentry, while the rest dismounted and were lazy.

Since there's nothing to grab, why bother?

Zuo Xiaocheng said: "Dai Qin, let me answer, which side do you think can win?"

"I don't know." Dai Qin shook his head.

Zuo Xiaocheng asked again: "If the Qing Dynasty wins, what benefits will Chahar gain?"

Dai Qin said: "There is no benefit. Our Chahar tribe has always been guarded by the Manchu nobles. We are there for tough battles, but we are not there for benefits."

"Then why fight? Join the Datong Army!" Zuo Xiaocheng blurted out.