Geographically, Sun Kewang occupied Yunnan-Guizhou area, which was far away from Beijing, the capital of the Qing army. Under the traffic conditions at that time, it took a long time to travel back and forth between the two places. It can be said that "the mountain is high and the emperor is far away, and the monkey is king." At this time, Sun Kewang can have enough time to prepare for the invasion or escape of the Qing army.
Secondly, Sun Kewang also occupies the "harmony of mankind", while Sun Kewang is not alone. As one of Zhang's adopted sons, they are all the main generals of Xiliang Army, echoing him from a distance, so that they can unite with the remnants of the Ming Dynasty when dealing with the invasion of the Qing army. From these three points of view, it is not surprising that Sun Kewang was able to resist the Qing army for a period of time. Unfortunately, in the end, Sun Kewang and Li Guoding clashed.
At a meeting of the Great Western Army, Sun Kewang advocated sending troops to Guangxi to continue to deal with the Ming army. Once defeated, he will turn to the South China Sea. Li Dingguo is firmly opposed. He advocated going west to Yunnan, establishing base areas and unifying the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Li Guoding was supported by most people, so Sun Kewang thought he had no power. He sent troops to Li Guoding and was finally defeated. He had to surrender to the Qing army, and was excluded from the Qing court everywhere, and finally lived a trembling old age. This shows how terrible impulse is.