It’s an extremely critical situation anyway. As long as there is a turnaround, no matter how hard you try, it won’t get worse, right?

What's more, various signs indicate that this Mr. Huang is very likely to be the third prince Zhu. Even if it is not possible, he should be related to the third prince, or even a close confidant of the third prince.

Yuan Zongdi took his son Yuan Dongbao, accompanied by Li Laiheng, to meet with Mrs. Gao. They also talked about the current situation and the matter of persuading Huang Li. Their opinions were basically unified.

In fact, Mrs. Gao cannot make decisions. She has retreated behind the scenes to take care of her old age. However, Li Laiheng and others visited and asked for advice out of respect, which strengthened their confidence.

After leaving the back house, Li Laiheng accompanied Yuan Zongdi to casually visit the handsome manor. The two talked while walking and began to discuss seriously.

"Guangxing, the Duke of Jing State in Shizhou Guard, has not participated in the battle. He still has more than ten thousand troops in his hands, which is a considerable force. If the third prince is here to give orders, he might be able to fight with us."

Yuan Zongdi pointed to a small pavilion not far away and took the lead in walking towards it, apparently wanting to sit down to rest and discuss.

Li Laiheng followed and said slowly: "Actually, as long as Duke Jing does not surrender to the Qing Dynasty, the Qing army in Sichuan will not be able to attack with all its strength, and the containment effect is not small."

In fact, only eight of the thirteen Kuidong families are left. Except for He Zhen's subordinates who have surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, there are also Liu Tichun, Yuan Zongdi, Hao Yaoqi, Li Laiheng, Dang Shousu, Ta Tianbao, Ma Tengyun, and Wang Guangxing.<

/p>

Among them, the first seven families were all from the Shun Army, and their relationship was not bad. Only Wang Guangxing, who was from the Ming Army, had a very distant relationship with them and rarely contacted them, let alone joint operations.

Wang Guangxing did not obey Liu Tichun's orders, but it would be completely different if he were the third prince.

Obviously, Wang Guangxing, who came from the Ming army, should have a closer and closer relationship with the third prince than other families who came from thieves and bandits.

After a pause, Li Laiheng continued: "The Duke of Anhui has contacted Dang Shousu, Ta Tianbao and other ministries. Can they send troops to help?"

Yuan Zongdi smiled bitterly, sat down on the stone bench in the pavilion, and said with some helplessness: "Wushan was defeated miserably, and each family suffered a lot of losses. It will not be easy for the Duke of Anhui to unite all the families to fight again. If the third prince is used,

The name should be more promising."

Although various anti-Qing armed forces from the Shun Army accepted the canonization of the Nanming Emperor, they were also ostracized and discriminated against.

Therefore, they all have knots and worries about the experience of attacking the capital, destroying the Ming Dynasty, and forcing Chongzhen to death.

If the third prince is born, they should work hard to make the third prince put aside their past grudges and relieve their hidden worries.

The key is that today is different from the past. The only ones holding high the banner of the Ming Dynasty on the mainland are the Kuidong armed forces. Besides them, who else can the third prince rely on?

"Mr. Huang's cooperation is still needed." Li Laiheng said thoughtfully: "Whether it is the third prince or someone sent by the third prince, it can achieve the purpose of uniting the morale of the army and reviving morale. It will also be of great help in unifying the actions of various families."<

/p>

Li Laiheng smiled self-consciously and said: "I didn't explain it to my uncles before, but I was worried. I was worried that some people would suspect that I was using the title of Third Prince to seize power."

Yuan Zongdi nodded with understanding and said: "The Duke of Anhui and I have also guessed your hesitation and embarrassment, and they all know that you are not that kind of person. In the current situation, using the title of Third Prince has both advantages and disadvantages, and you are not afraid

He has become the primary target of the Qing army, and he has to send troops to fight back alone. How can we trust him, and how can we not help him with all our strength?"

Li Laiheng bowed his hand to Yuan Zongdi, his gratitude was beyond words, but he didn't need to say anything more.

"This time the Duke of Anhui sent five thousand troops, our troops sent out five thousand, and Duke Yi sent one thousand troops." Yuan Zongdi tapped the stone table with his finger, and said with some shame: "This is almost the total number of troops that Duke Yi and I can send."

All the men and horses have been dispatched."

After a pause, he added: "If the Qing army in Sichuan takes the opportunity to attack and the troops left behind cannot resist it, the Duke of Anhui and I will take our soldiers and family members to surrender to you!"

Before the Battle of Wushan, Yuan Zongdi and Hao Yaoqi's armies were successively defeated by the Sichuan Army and the Shaanxi and Henan Green Camps, suffering heavy losses. Now, they are really powerless.

"My uncles have tried their best to help me, and I can't thank you enough. Don't say such kind words as taking refuge. Being able to come and get together is what I wish for."

Li Laiheng raised his hand in thanks and said: "In this way, the number of counterattack troops will reach nearly 30,000, giving them an advantage over the Qing army in Huguang."

With these more than 6,000 reinforcements, Li Laiheng prepared to dispatch 20,000 troops, leaving only 6,000 to 7,000 troops to defend his home. With this arrangement, both offense and defense are taken into account, so it is not too risky.

"The military advantage is limited, and Yiling has a strong city and a vast pool, so the chances of winning are not very good!" Yuan Zongdi did not feel relaxed and shook his head solemnly.

During the counterattack on Wushan on the western front, each Ming army was able to dispatch 50,000 troops, but it lost more than 7,000 in the first battle, which was considered a serious injury!

If it weren't for Huang Li's appearance, the Ming army would have lost the ability to take the initiative to attack. But the main reason was that it suffered a heavy setback in spirit and morale, and was restrained by the Qing armies of the three provinces, making it difficult to launch a desperate unified action.

The key is Huang Li's identity. Whether he is the third prince or a close associate of the third prince, he is the hope of each family from Shunjun and the capital of unified command.

You must know that although the Thirteen Families are nominally headed by Liu Tichun, in fact they all have their own differences. Whether they listen to orders or not depends entirely on relationships and personal interests.

Furthermore, the Yongli court did not trust these remnants of the shun army and mainly used them.

After the death of the governor Wen Anzhi, the Yongli court sent Mao Dengshou, the governor-general, to be responsible for liaising with various families. However, among the Duke Guangxing's army of Jing Kingdom, the gap was very obvious.

The so-called intermediary liaison is just empty talk. For example, in the Battle of Wushan, Wang Guangxing did not send troops to help. When the Qing army invaded Sichuan, he did not take any action to restrain it.

Li Laiheng smiled and said, "I want Uncle Yuan to know that in the past few days, Mr. Huang has modified gunpowder and taught tunnel blasting techniques, which has greatly improved our army's ability to attack difficult areas. Although Yiling is strong, it is not without hope.

”

Oh?! Yuan Zongdi made a sound of surprise and looked at Li Laiheng, waiting for him to elaborate.

However, Li Laiheng simply told the story and said with a smile: "Tomorrow is the practice drill, and Uncle Yuan and I will be watching together."

"Seeing is believing." Yuan Zongdi nodded his head and said: "In that case, let's meet with Mr. Huang tomorrow for discussion. What do you think?"

"That's fine." Li Laiheng saw the soldiers approaching and knew that the meal was ready. He stood up and said, "Uncle Yuan, it's been a long journey, so you'd better go and have a meal and rest first."

Yuan Zongdi was not polite and left with Li Laiheng.

Although Liu Tichun, the Duke of Anhui, decided to send troops to fight again and break the passive situation, he still had doubts about attacking Yiling.

The reason why Yuan Zongdi was invited here was, firstly, to see whether the Third Prince was real or fake, and secondly, to investigate and estimate the chances of winning a counterattack.
Chapter completed!