Anling was just a market town that relied on the canal. Thanks to the gradual development of the canal transportation, in the 16th year of Chongzhen, due to the temporary suspension of the canal transportation, the originally lively Anling Town quickly became depressed. The gangs and people who relied on the canal transportation to make a living had to leave here and go to other places to make a living. There were not many people left behind. In addition, Anling was also affected by several years of war, and the entire Anling Town seemed even more depressed.

Wu Sangui led 20,000 Han troops under his command to arrive in Anling Town. He was a little uncomfortable at first and only settled down after several days.

Wu Sangui was not stupid. Most of the 20,000 Han troops he led were the former Liaodong border army, that is, the soldiers under his command. Those soldiers who were forcibly separated by Dorgon were almost all soldiers under Tang Tong. Whether in terms of combat effectiveness or loyalty, they were definitely not as good as those of the Liaodong border army.

What made Wu Sangui the most difficult was some of the officers in the Liaodong border army. They were loyal to the Ming Dynasty and were quite dissatisfied with Wu Sangui's direct surrender to the Later Jin court. These officers had a certain influence in the army and did not particularly obey combat orders. Fortunately, they were still loyal to Wu Sangui and did not cause trouble or rebel in the army.

Wu Sangui had no choice but to kill these officers, and he did not dare to expose them. You must know that Dorgon and the Manchus were already wary of him, King Pingxi. If he found that there were such officers in the army, wouldn’t he have found a reason to take action? At that time, King Pingxi would also be in trouble, and he would be very likely to be taken away from military power immediately.

Without the army, nothing was considered in the Later Jin court, and he was not even qualified to be a slave to the Manchus and the powerful. Wu Sangui was very clear about this, so he was particularly cautious.

There were not many Han people left behind in Anling Town. After stationing here, Wu Sangui did not attack the unarmed Han people, nor did he rob their money and food. Although Haoge and Ye Chen issued several orders to ensure the safety of the army. The implication was to eliminate all threats around the army and kill all the Han people, Wu Sangui would not execute this order. He assured Haoge and Ye Chen that Anling Town was safe and the army was safe.

It was a forced choice to surrender to the Later Jin court, not willing to do so. Therefore, Wu Sangui had his own ideas. Why did he kill all the Han people in Anling Town and completely oppose himself to the Ming court? If he was abandoned by the Later Jin court, Wu Sangui would not be involved in the world and would not die, and would not be buried in the burial place. I am afraid that even a fool would not do this.

Wu Sangui led a large army to Anling Town. One very important task was to assist Haoge and Ye Chen to investigate the truth about the battle between Wuqiao. Of course, this matter was mainly Haoge and Ye Chen. If Haoge was willing to do his best to investigate, Wu Sangui would have to cooperate with him. If Haoge did not investigate the matter for the time being, Wu Sangui would not be able to make his own decision to investigate.

The Battle of Wuqiao has always been a shadow in Wu Sangui's heart. If the army from all over the court rushed to the capital to block Li Zicheng, now Wu Sangui is still stationed in Shanhaiguan, holding heavy troops, and becoming a force that no one dares to ignore. Unfortunately, the capital was captured by Li Zicheng. For a period of time, Wu Sangui believed that the combat effectiveness of the imperial army was too weak and could not defeat others. From this, it is inferred that the demise of the Ming Dynasty was reasonable.

The Battle of Wuqiao shocked Wu Sangui.

Not to mention the combat effectiveness of the Han army, the 10,000 Mongolian Eight Banners soldiers led by Jueluo Bahana are the elite power of the Mongolian Eight Banners. The combat effectiveness is very strong, and it can be said that they are not weaker than those of the Manchurian Eight Banners. During the Battle of One Stone, Wu Sangui saw with his own eyes that the cavalry of the Dashun Army was no match for the Mongolian Eight Banners soldiers at all, but the 10,000 elite soldiers of the Mongolian Eight Banners were wiped out. Gushan Ezhen Jueluo Bahana was killed in the battle, and the Han army was killed in the battle. What a terrifying battle.

If the Ming army had such strong combat effectiveness, why did not rush to the capital on a large scale? If it means that the army's combat effectiveness was weak, why could it completely wipe out 20,000 soldiers of the Eight Banners Army?

When he arrived in Anling Town, Wu Sangui concealed Haoge and Ye Chen and secretly conducted an investigation.

The results obtained by the investigation made Wu Sangui mixed feelings. It was indeed that the imperial army completely wiped out the 20,000 Eight Banners Army. The imperial army should have an advantage in terms of military strength, but it was by no means hundreds of thousands described by some Manchu and powerful people. The force of the troops involved in the attack was about 50,000. Jueluo Bahana and Shi Tingzhu should have underestimated the enemy, and they were ambushed by the Ming army, resulting in the annihilation of the entire army.

After obtaining this investigation result, Wu Sangui could not calm down. The Liaodong border army under his command should be the most powerful among the Ming army. However, no matter what combat methods were used, the 50,000 soldiers of the Liaodong border army could not completely wipe out the 20,000 Eight Banners soldiers. It would be good if they could be tied, and they would fail if they were not careful.

Anling Town privately spread that the emperor who ascended the throne in Nanjing was brave and wise, and the gods from heaven came to earth. The emperor would definitely be able to completely defeat the Later Jin Tartars, defeat the bandits, and recover the north and the capital.

Wu Sangui was filled with anger and helplessness. Since the emperor was so brave and wise, why didn’t he care about Wu Sangui? After all, the Zu family and the Wu family have guarded Liaodong for generations and protected the safety of the capital. Of course, anger flashed by, and more of it was helpless. Nanjing was too far from Shanhaiguan. The emperor who had just ascended the throne might not have that long hand and could not control the affairs of Liaodong.

Not long after, Wu Sangui found out a lot of matters about the emperor. From the time the emperor left the capital and went to Nanjing to supervise the country, he killed Shandong general Liu Zeqing before he ascended the throne. He easily integrated 50,000 officers and soldiers under Liu Zeqing. He accurately predicted that the treach Li Zicheng might capture the capital. He was in Nanjing and actually sent people to the capital. He obtained the imperial edict and the imperial seal of the advanced emperor. After ascending the throne in Nanjing, he subdued Xuzhou general Gao Jie and Luzhou general Huang Degong, and completely integrated the army in Nanzhili.

Next is the Battle of Wuqiao.

What made Wu Sangui even more frightened was that after the Battle of Wuqiao, the emperor was not idle. He killed the Henan general Xu Dingguo, completely controlled the Ming army in Henan, subdued the Huguang general Zuo Liangyu, and integrated hundreds of thousands of troops under Zuo Liangyu.

The emperor easily surrendered the general of Huguang Zuo Liangyu, and this news had a huge blow to Wu Sangui.

Although he was in Liaodong, Wu Sangui still knew the situation of the southern general. After the Battle of Songshan, the entire Ming Dynasty court had the largest number of troops and the most powerful ones under his command were Zuo Liangyu, the general of Huguang, with hundreds of thousands of mercenaries. Zuo Liangyu was arrogant and self-reliant and was the most famous. The ancestors and the court were helpless.

It was such a arrogant general who was easily taken down by the emperor.

Wu Sangui really wanted to send a scout to Huguang to check it out and find out the truth. He even wanted to send his confidant to Nanjing, and secretly met Cao Huachun, the eunuch of the Sili Prison, and had a relationship with the court.

Cao Huachun was his benefactor of Wu Sangui and even the Wu family in Liaodong. If it were not for Cao Huachun's support, Wu Sangui would not have become the general of Shanhaiguan and would not have been able to control the entire Liaodong border army.

However, Wu Sangui still did not take any action in the end. He did not dare. If Haoge and Ye Chen discovered it, it would be a dead end. The key is that his son Wu Yingxiong is still in the capital and was detained as a hostage by the Later Jin court.

However, after figuring out many situations, Wu Sangui became extremely cautious and his requirements for the soldiers under his command became much more severe. If a soldier plundered the people, he would even behead him, and he would not be ordered to leave the barracks without ordering him.

What made Wu Sangui the most angry and annoyed was the issue of food and salary.

When Wu Sangui left Shanhaiguan, he carried a lot of money and grain, so the money was naturally hidden very well. With special personal guards, he would not be easily discovered, but the food could not be hidden. When he surrendered to the Later Jin court, Dorgon said it very well. The Eight Banners Army would not use Wu Sangui's money and grain, but it changed when he arrived in the capital.

First, he followed Duoduo and Ajige to conquer Li Zicheng. Duoduo directly called on the food and grass he brought with him, and he needed to give priority to the cost of the soldiers of the Eight Banners. Fortunately, the conquest was not too long, and Wu Sangui was able to save some food and grass. After returning to the capital, the Later Jin court ignored Wu Sangui's military salary and grass, and Wu Sangui could only grit his teeth and hold on.

Following Haoge and Ye Chen to Jingzhou and Anling, Wu Sangui did not get a stone of food or a penny of silver. Haoge's words were even more direct. The military pay and food allocated by the court was enjoyed by the soldiers of the Eight Banners and had nothing to do with the Han army. Not only that, Haoge and Ye Chen also said that when the soldiers of the Eight Banners were insufficient, Wu Sangui had to support some of the food and food.

This made Wu Sangui extremely angry, but he could not lose his temper, and he did not dare to be dissatisfied.

After coming to Anling, Wu Sangui could only limit the supply of food and grass, and the soldiers paid out of their own pockets. In order to prevent insufficient food and grass from causing the soldiers to mutiny, Wu Sangui also secretly found merchants to buy food in case of emergency needs.

The Later Jin court was a court of the Manchus' powerful people. The Han people were just slaves and slaves of the Manchus. They could not have a high status. They were known as Fan Wencheng, the first Han people in the Later Jin court. When they saw the Manchus' powerful people, they nodded and bowed carefully.

This made Wu Sangui's mentality change a lot, and he even regretted it a little.

Perhaps Wu Sangui in history finally chose to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and ascend the throne to emperor, which was directly related to all this.

A few days ago, the personal soldiers of the Manchurian Eight Banners sent by Haoge and Ye Chen made a special trip to Anling and told Wu Sangui directly that they would make all preparations. When the time was ripe, they would march towards the direction of the Dezhou Prefecture City, Shandong. The personal soldiers repeatedly warned Wu Sangui to keep it confidential and never disclose the information, otherwise they would lose their heads.

Wu Sangui didn't care. He had long expected that Haoge would never be satisfied with defending the army to Jingzhou. After the opportunity was right, he would definitely launch an attack on Dezhou Fucheng. At that time, the Han army led by Wu Sangui would become the main force in attacking Dezhou Fucheng.

Wu Sangui's headache is how to avoid becoming cannon fodder for Haoge and Ye Chen.
Chapter completed!