In mid-May, the second year of Chongqing (1644 AD), Monk An led all the troops in the second town of the Tang army to set out from Chongqing and attacked Shizhouwei in western Huguang.

When Monk An led his troops to set off, he was already ready. The Chongqing eastern Sichuan areas under him were stationed by Zeng Ying's tenth town, ensuring that there was no danger in the rear, so that Monk An could devote his entire army to attack Zuo Liang's Yu tribe with all his strength.

The Tang army had a total of nearly 50,000 troops in the second town, with sufficient soldiers and sufficient food, and numerous firearms. They rushed out of eastern Sichuan and rushed straight to the Shizhou Guard, which had extremely weak defenses in Zuoliang Yu tribe.

The area of ​​Shizhouwei, the Enshi area in modern China, is barren and mountains, and is mostly hidden by poor refugees. It can be regarded as a poor place where birds cannot shit. Zuo Liangyu thinks that his real estate is barren and there are many chieftains, so he does not pay more attention to this area. The entire Shizhouwei only has more than 2,000 troops stationed. Therefore, once the Tang army starts attacking, it completely catches Zuo Liangyu off guard.

The second army of the Tang army was in the second town of the troops. Among them, the two battalions A and B headed south from Kuizhou, and the vast troops rushed directly to the Weifu of Shizhou. The other battalions were the same. Starting from Wanxian, they attacked Jiannansi on the south bank of the Modao River. The two groups of soldiers and horses were all moving in a separate way, and they were all out of the way. Wherever they were heading, the enemy was surrendered.

In just over half a month, the Tang army quickly captured the entire territory of Shizhouwei. Most of the chieftains in the area also surrendered. Only a very small number of those who resisted were completely eliminated by the Tang army, and their entire village was completely razed to the ground. All men, women, young and old were arrested as prisoners of war and taken to eastern Sichuan for labor reform.

As the Tang army was playing the roar of the Wei in Shizhou, they quickly sent the letters of help to the Ningnan Marquis Mansion in Wuchang. Soon, his son Zuo Menggeng handed the letters for help to the Ningnan Marquis Zuo Liangyu with the fastest running speed in his life.

Seeing the Tang army suddenly sending troops from eastern Sichuan and siege cities and land in western Hubei, Zuo Liangyu, who was already very tight in defense lines in the southeast area, felt a headache, after seeing these hateful urgent letters, the depression and anxiety in his heart were simply indescribable.

His whole body was trembling, his teeth were making noises, but the expression on his face was inexplicably frightened and panic.

Unexpectedly! The Tang army took action so quickly that they defeated Zhang Xianzhong's troops and immediately turned around to deal with themselves, but they caught themselves off guard.

When Zuo Liangyu was panicked and uneasy, his son Zuo Menggeng's words came from the side again.

"Father, the Shizhou Guard has been lost quickly now. The Tang army will definitely not stop here and will continue to attack Yunyang, Jingzhou and other places. If we don't think of a solution quickly, these two important prefectures will probably fall into the hands of the Tang army!"

When Zuo Liangyu heard this, he felt even more worried and uneasy. As soon as he became ruthless, the letters in his hand were already tightly clamped into a ball.

The trembling words of the son Zuo Menggeng, who was next to him, continued: "Father, in the eyes of the child, the troops in western Hubei are weak and are not enough to fight against the Tang army at all. If we want to protect those prefectures, counties and towns, the only feasible way is to draw troops from the eastern front line to the western Hubei area. Only in this way can we block the Tang army's offensive and temporarily protect our territory."

As soon as Zuo Menggeng's words came out, Zuo Liangyu became more anxious and more uncomfortable.

He also knew that the only feasible solution now was to dig the east wall to repair the west wall, and draw a large number of troops from the heavy defense line in the east to go to the prefectures in western Hubei. In this way, we could barely protect the prefectures, counties and towns in western Hubei and not fall into the hands of the Tang army.

However, if you do this, the biggest danger and disadvantage lies in the defense line in the east.

Because a large number of troops were drawn to help western Hubei, the troops stationed on the eastern front were not enough, so the Tang army's troops in the east were probably about to be ready to move.

If there is a loss in the east, the situation will be even more dangerous.

After the Tang army broke through the important border defense center on the eastern front, it will lead its troops to attack its old nest Wuchang. Once Wuchang is lost, its forces in northern Huguang will completely collapse. Then, if you do not surrender, you will have to flee south to western Hunan and survive in this way.

Thinking of this, cold sweat oozed out of Zuo Liangyu's face, and his face became increasingly ugly.

He stood up from the tiger-headed chair, pulled open his chest laces irritably, and then paced back and forth like a trapped beast in front of the steps.

Seeing that his father was so irritable and uneasy, Zuo Menggeng, who had wanted to say a few more words, shut up tactfully. He looked at his father with a pitiful look, looking helpless.

In the whole room, except for Zuo Liangyu's clattering footsteps, there was no sound, and there was a depressing silence.

Zuo Liangyu walked back and forth on the steps for a long time before he stopped and cursed in a low voice: "Damn it, Yu Lingzhi can only have a gamble."

"But please tell me clearly."

Zuo Liangyu turned around, his eyes were very complicated. He said in a deep voice: "The land in western Hubei is the back and forth of our army. We must not make any mistakes. In order to protect its land from the Tang army, we can only draw troops from the eastern defense line and send it to the west to ensure that it will not be lost."

"Father, if this is the case, then to the east..." Zuo Menggeng looked anxious.

Zuo Liangyu waved his hand and signaled that he didn't need to say anything further. Then he sighed: "The situation is so critical, we can only take one step at a time. How can we have a perfect solution? I think that the Tang army in the east now has the greatest danger to the Tang army in the ninth town of Jiujiang City, which is the army of the rebel Huang Degong headquarters. If Jiujiang City is lost, the Tang army can reach Wuchang from both land and land, and its momentum is unstoppable. This is a situation that must not happen."

"What does Father mean?"

Zuo Liangyu snorted coldly, his eyes as cold as iron: "Since the troops stationed in Hao Xiaozhong, who was stationed in Jiujiang, are so important that they cannot be adjusted, then we can only draw a total of 100,000 troops from the Jinshenghuan army stationed in Susong, Wang Deren's army stationed in Macheng, and relevant prefectures in southern Henan to urgently enter the Yunyang Prefecture and Jingzhou Prefecture in western Hubei, and then we can only take it."

"Father, just..."

Zuo Liangyu waved his hand again, indicating that he didn't have to say much, and then continued, "Meng Geng, I know, you will definitely say that if so many troops were drawn from Macheng to Susong area, as well as the entire southern Henan, the defense line in the east would be very loose, so that the Tang army had an opportunity to take advantage of it. My father has thought about this carefully, but for the current plan, the only way to win in danger is to bet. We can only bite the bullet and gamble."

Zuo Liangyu paused and said in a deep voice: "Now, my Hongguang court has formed an alliance agreement with Li Zicheng in the north. Then, we can urgently ask them for reinforcements and send troops to southern Henan to consolidate the defense line in the east so that the Tang army dare not act rashly. Therefore, for my father, I ordered you to quickly send envoys to the Li Zicheng boundary in northern Henan to seek reinforcements and let them urgently enter the southern Henan to prevent the Tang army from taking advantage of the fire to invade our boundary."

Zuo Menggeng responded in a low voice, but asked hesitantly: "Father, I agree with this plan, but you don't worry. What if Li Zicheng's troops enter the states and counties in southern Henan, and they will not retreat and turn aside, and invade my territory by turning a guest, what should I do?"

Zuo Liangyu sighed softly, and a look of unbearableness appeared on his face. He shouted softly: "Meng Geng! Do you think that you didn't see this when you are a father? It's just that the matter is prioritized. The most important thing needs to be solved now is the Tang army, which is a big problem for me! In order to solve the Tang army, don't say that you will send troops to garrison southern Henan now. If you need it, you can give this Wuchang City to Li Zicheng for the time being!"

Seeing Zuo Menggeng's face tense and silent, Zuo Liangyu continued with a heavy face: "Then Li Zicheng, the bandits started their own business, was a man with no faith. He wanted someone like him to help, without any sweetness or practical benefits. With just a short slogan of an alliance, can we expect them to send reinforcements immediately? Isn't it just a joke! Therefore, this southern Henan is also a piece of bait given to them by his father, which made Li Zicheng greedy for this land, and he immediately sent reinforcements. As long as Li Zicheng sent troops to southern Henan, then

They can be responsible for the defense of the land. As long as we have to do our best to deal with Macheng from Susong, even if we have drawn 100,000 troops to aid western Hubei, we will have a good chance of winning against the Tang army's attack in the east. As long as we can defeat the Tang army and protect our lives, even if the southern part of Henan was occupied by Li Zicheng for a while, we can find another way to drive Li Zicheng's forces out of southern part of Henan and take these places back."

After hearing Zuo Liangyu's nagging words, although Zuo Menggeng looked ugly, he also knew that Yu Jin's plan and his father's words were the only feasible plan.

What is even more pessimistic and shameful is that such seemingly humiliating strategies need to be implemented immediately and must not be delayed. Otherwise, if the defense line in the east collapses, even if Li Zicheng's troops enter to assist Henan, it will be useless.

Zuo Menggeng sighed and bowed and replied, "What the father said is very true. The child understands. He will arrange a confidant messenger to hurry to Dashun Middle School for help. The father and the father are waiting for good news quietly."

Zuo Liangyu's plan was established, and then he started to take action immediately.

He immediately dispatched 100,000 troops from Macheng, Susong, and southern Henan. He led his son Zuo Menggeng to urgently enter the two prefectures of Yunyang and Jingzhou in western Hubei. When his troops arrived in western Hubei, the envoys sent by Zuo Menggeng rushed to Kaifeng City in northern Henan.

Last year, after Li Zicheng captured the capital, Henan General Chen Yongfu received the order from Emperor Chongzhen to serve the king, leading all his troops to travel north day and night, and the defense of the entire northern Henan was suddenly empty.

Unexpectedly, the army rushed northward and neglected to reconnaissance. Finally, in the Hejian Prefecture area, the entire army was defeated. Chen Yongfu and his son were both killed, and as many as 50,000 or 60,000 surrendered to the bandits.
Chapter completed!