"The scenery is different from the autumn scenery in the frontier. Hengyang geese are not careful. The sounds are heard from all sides. In the thousands of mountains, the long smoke and sunset are closed in the lonely city. A cup of turbid wine is thousands of miles away. The swallows are not allowed to return. The Qiang pipes are covered with frost. People cannot sleep. The general's white hair and tears are on the battlefield." At the city of Zhending Prefecture, Northern Zhili, a middle-aged man in his forties was standing at the city gate tower and reciting something. The few people around him did not say a word, but just watched this person chanting. After this person finished reciting the famous work "Fisherman's Pride of Autumn Thoughts" by the famous poet Fan Zhongyan of the Northern Song Dynasty, a general beat him behind him.

The talented man who pretended to be a step forward and said, "What a poem. Although Qiao is a military general, he can understand the atmosphere of the frontier described by Fan Zhongyan back then, and can also hear the heroism and quality of the soldiers of the border army. Now my Ming soldiers lack this momentum." "General Qiao is also a Confucian general in the army, and he is indeed well-known." The middle-aged scholar bowed. The general said modestly: "Where, I am just a half-baked person. You are an authentic descendant of Fan Zhongyan, and I am just a general."

The middle-aged scholar turned around and said, "General Qiao, don't underestimate himself. People in the world think that good iron does not make nails, good men do not serve in the army, and literary nobles and martial arts are inferior. But I think this view is wrong from the root. Everyone should play their own value in life in the world, and civil servants and generals should not be distinguished. The so-called civil servants and military officials are just different divisions of labor. It cannot be said that anyone is noble compared to anyone. For example, in the current situation, the importance of military generals is far greater than that of civil servants. I am a scholar, even if I have a heart to serve the country, what's the use? Articles cannot kill people. Only when the general fights with real swords and guns on the battlefield can they kill the enemy." The general sighed and said, "This world is like Lord Fan."

There are not many sober people like this." The two people who were talking to him were Fan Zhiwan, the prefect of Zhending Prefecture of Northern Zhili, and Qiao Xu, the defensive general of Zhending Prefecture. During this period, Li Zicheng's army was advancing rapidly. After taking Henan, the Dashun Army began to rectify and assemble, and then launched an attack on Northern Zhili. Without the Lu family, Daming Prefecture was a mess. Although some people and officers and soldiers spontaneously organized resistance, the thief army was too strong and could not be resisted by these people. Soon, the Daming Prefecture was captured. The large thief army was constantly fighting and captured Guangping Prefecture and Shunde Prefecture. At this point, from south to north, the defense line for the Central Plains of Northern Zhili was the Zhending, Baoding, and Hejian Prefecture.

However, the crisis faced by the court was not just that. In the last battle of Wang Qiaonian sent troops to Henan, Baoding and Hejian Prefectures contributed a lot of troops. Baoding General Liu Chao personally led the team to join Wang Qiaonian's team. As a result, everyone knows that the officers and soldiers were wiped out in Henan, and Liu Chao and others died and surrendered. The Northern Zhili army basically disappeared. After that, the court simply rectified it. Originally, when Zhu Di established the Shenwu Right Guard, he set up the guards in Zhending Prefecture. Like the Five Army Governor's Office, over the years, all the left and right guards have basically disappeared. In order to deal with the current situation, Chongzhen decided to re-activate the Shenwu Right Guard system, and use Zhending Prefecture as the headquarters of the three prefectures, and the troops of the three prefectures were merged in Zhending.

The mansion was commanded by Fan Zhiwan, the prefect of Zhending Prefecture, and Qiao Xu. In order to fill the vacancy left by Liu Chao, the court added another order to appoint Qiao Xu as the acting general and temporarily manage the military affairs of the three places. However, in fact, this was just an empty affair. It was said to be the soldiers of the three governments. In fact, because Wang Qiaonian drew a lot of soldiers from the Northern Zhili, Qiao Xu had only a complete camp of generals in Zhending Prefecture, plus the remaining soldiers from Hejian Prefecture and Baoding Prefecture, with a total force of no more than 12,000 people. At the same time, some defeated soldiers who fled back from Guangping and other governments were collected. In total, plus the small number of soldiers supported by the court and veterans and corpses with combat experience temporarily recruited from Zhending Prefecture, they finally collected 20,000.

Qiao Xu placed all the 20,000 people in Zhending Mansion. The reason is very simple. If you defend separately and the bandits are in great power, you will definitely defeat them one by one. The three prefectures have a total of 20,000 troops. If they are separated, a city can only have up to 6,000 troops. This is because all counties have been abandoned. Li Zicheng's troops have an absolute advantage. Once the officers and soldiers divide their troops, they have no chance of winning. So, Zhending Mansion is currently in a strong city defense. During the Qing army's several battles, he was against Zhen.

The damage to Ding Prefecture was not great, and the jurisdiction of Zhending Prefecture just blocked Hejian Prefecture and Baoding Prefecture. If the bandits want to enter the capital, they must first cross the territory of Zhending Prefecture, and leave Baoding Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture as buffer zones. Qiao Xu believes that if Zhending Prefecture cannot be defended, then Baoding and Hejian will not be defended even more. Zhending Prefecture is the last line of defense at the capital. It can only be delayed for a longer time, and hopes that the court will issue an order immediately to call on the troops and horses of the world to support the king.

But in fact, as the acting general, Qiao Xu also knew that he could only be considered a trapped beast fighting. Now the area that the imperial court could control was shrinking. Even if he called on the world to serve the king, how many people could come? The key is what if he came. The Ming Dynasty currently has good combat effectiveness, and the remaining local troops were basically empty. It was a delusion to expect these people to achieve any achievements, not to mention that the imperial court had to face not only Li Zicheng's army, but also eyeing Jizhen.

Huang Taiji, Qiao Xu and Fan Zhiwan have both received news that Shanhaiguan had been captured by Huang Taiji, and the Qing army was directly aimed at Jizhen. Jizhen was in danger. Without Cao Bianjiao, Jizhen was a mess and had not many troops. Qiao Xu had no doubt that the Qing army could take down the entire Jizhen in a month or less, and the east side of the capital would be greatly threatened. Even if the border troops of the court were transferred back, they would probably have to keep defending the Qing army in the east, and the bandits in the south could only rely on themselves.

As Qiao Xu himself said, Fan Zhiwan is indeed a direct descendant of Fan Zhongyan. In his daily work, Fan Zhiwan always demands himself with Fan Zhongyan's standards and strives to be a person who is useful to the court and the people. Now it is time to test him. Fan Zhiwan changed the topic and said, "Reciting poems and writing can only express his feelings, but we are facing real difficulties now. To be honest, I don't know what to do. Although Zhending Mansion has been repaired, the city wall is currently solid, and the city's grain is enough to support 20,000 troops, at least for a year, it will be no problem to hold on for a year. But in the future, if the court cannot solve the crisis on one side during this period, it will only be time for us to be taken down here.

Question, if we fight against Li Zicheng, we may not be able to fight." This is also the most troublesome problem of Qiao Xu. If Li Zicheng really surrounds and doesn't fight, it's fine. At worst, everyone can confront each other, but this is impossible, because Li Zicheng's army has too many troops and the materials consumed every day are astronomical. If Li Zicheng wants to avoid this embarrassment, he must immediately urge the army to launch a fierce attack. The best way to take down Zhending Mansion in the shortest time is to think of it. It makes people feel numb. Li Zicheng's army is known as three million. Qiao Xu knows the nature of the thief and likes to exaggerate, but no matter how much it is exaggerated, it is estimated that half of them are still there, and he has only 20,000 people. If the enemy goes crazy to attack the city, how long can the officers and soldiers withstand it?

Qiao Xu sighed and said, "Oh, Lord Fan, let's take one step at a time. No matter what, this Zhending Mansion can be defended, and even if it cannot be defended, it must be defended. We must not throw it to Li Zicheng for nothing. I, Qiao Xu, believe that I am worthy of the court and the people. Even for millions of people, we must hold on and not let the thieves get a bargain here." Fan Zhiwan said, "The previous few governments have been lost one after another, and the thieves have attacked us for one or two days." Qiao Xu clasped his fists and said, "Please encourage me with Lord Fan." Fan Zhiwan nodded and said, "I, Fan Zhiwan, are not a person who is afraid of death. The city is there, the city is there, and the city is dead." "The city is there, and the city is dead and the city is dead." Qiao Xu responded in a low voice.

"Report! Report! Master, Fei Ge sent a letter to speed up military information!" In the Shunde Prefecture City, the Dashun Army was busy plundering materials and population. Since the Dashun regime launched the final offensive against Northern Zhili, it has been advancing rapidly. Each battle has been smoother than the previous battle. Daming Prefecture is a relatively difficult bone to crack. The Dashun Army took only fifteen days to capture the entire territory of Daming Prefecture. The Guangping Prefecture behind only took only twelve days, and it took only eight days to arrive at Shunde Prefecture. The Dashun Army's impact power is too strong. Just imagine, two million troops push the line at the same time, and there are no tactics and tactics. When it encounters obstacles from the officers and soldiers, the Dashun Army's troops are too powerful.

Even if you are accumulating people, the artillery and fire guns of officers and soldiers were not in time to dissipate heat, the enemy had already piled up people on the front line. Unless the Qingyi Army was there, there was no effective response. The human sea tactics could basically be cracked by the fire tactics. Li Zicheng was a little proud. At this speed, Zhending Prefecture, Baoding Prefecture, and Hejian Prefecture would probably be able to be defeated in a few days, and finally the troops would be able to come to the capital. I heard that Haoge's army had already taken Shanhaiguan, so the Qing army would definitely enter the capital next. The bets between the two sides were not over that day. In any case, the Dashun Army would take the lead in capturing the capital.
Chapter completed!