A few days later, Boye County, Baoding Prefecture.
It is recorded in "Baoding County Chronicles" during the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty: "Boye County is ninety miles southeast of Fuzhi, twenty-seven miles east-west and sixty miles north-south of the old territory. The country was re-established and reached the boundary of Li County in the east. Fifteen miles, fifty miles to the Dingzhou boundary in the west, sixty-five miles from east to west; thirty miles to the Anping boundary in the south, thirty miles to Qingyuan in the north, and a vast area of 60 miles from north to south."
Boye County has a long history and outstanding people. It is the hometown of Liu Ji, a famous historian in the Ming Dynasty. The word "Boye" is the name of "Boshuizhiye". In the Tang, Yu, Xia and Shang Dynasties, it was the territory of Jizhou, in the Spring and Autumn Period it was the territory of Jin, in the Warring States Period it was the territory of Zhao, and in Qin it belonged to Shanggu County.
At this time, all industries in Boye County were in decline, and the people in the city were all poor. Although there were no bandits or wars here, the people were very poor. Even if Liu Yan wanted to spend money to buy some supplies in the city, he would still have money. The prices are low, and you can't buy anything at all, not even food.
In the guard camp, Liu Yan frowned. The situation at this time was far worse than he expected. This was Baoding Prefecture, Beizhili, and logically it should be the richest place in the Ming Dynasty.
But even here, it is so desolate, which shows how turbulent the current situation is!
"Sir, the situation of each battalion has been summarized. Will the army continue to march tomorrow?"
Liu Yan once ordered each battalion to make statistics on the material situation. At this time, the heavy troops of each battalion carried a lot of money, food and materials, and Liu Yan had to be aware of it.
So Liu Yan said to Xun Jingyun: "How is the situation?"
"There is plenty of food and grass, which can last the army for more than a month, and there is a lot of money. If the imperial army's salary supply is not timely, we can temporarily cope with it. It is enough to pay the army for two months."
"In addition, the situation of military equipment is slightly better. On average, each cannon gunner can have seventy-seven rounds of fixed ammunition. If the shells of various artillery guns are evenly distributed, each artillery can have about thirty rounds. As for Zhentian Lei, there are still thirteen thousand eight hundred and fifty-one."
"There are also a lot of other spears, swords, shields, armors and other equipment. I estimate that it will be enough for our army to go to Henan."
Liu Yan nodded and said: "Even so, we must be cautious. We don't know what we will experience along the way. Moreover, Li Zicheng's army is different from slave thieves. Not only does Li Zicheng's army have sufficient troops, there are hundreds of thousands of troops, and even It claims to have millions of troops, and the battle in Henan is going to last for who knows how long, so the more supplies the better."
"Every time you pass a city along the way, you have to send people into the city to buy it. It doesn't matter if you run out of money. As long as you can buy food, grass, medicine and other supplies, don't ask the price, just buy it."
"yes!"
At dusk, Liu Yan, accompanied by Miao Shao, inspected the forts of the Guards Camp. Looking around, he saw that each battalion was encamped around the Guards Camp. More than 76,000 soldiers from several battalions were burying pots and making rice, surrounded by people. From a distance, the smoke looks like a huge city, with human fireworks glowing under the setting sun.
Suddenly, Liu Yan frowned and saw a group of night guards from the personal guard battalion coming from the north on horseback. They were accompanied by several officials from the Ministry of War.
"problem occurs!"
Liu Yan felt his heart beating rapidly. It was definitely not a good thing to be overtaken by people from the Ministry of War as soon as the army set off. Either something happened on the battlefield in Liaodong, or the situation in Henan deteriorated again.
"grown ups!"
Miao Shao also saw the situation in the distance, said something, and then called his subordinates to come to the rescue, and soon brought the Jinyi guards to Liu Yan.
"Cheng Ming, a young member of the Ministry of War, has met General Dinglu!"
The leader dismounted and saluted first. Liu Yan said, "No need to be too polite. I'm catching up so late. Is there something wrong with me, sir?"
Cheng Ming took out an order from the Ministry of War with a solemn expression and handed it to Liu Yan: "General Liu will know after reading it."
Liu Yan took the order, and after reading it, his heart suddenly sank, and the corners of his eyes turned slightly red.
While the Ministry of War mobilized Liu Yan's new army to go south to support Lu Xiangsheng, it also mobilized Shaanxi Governor Fu Zonglong to lead his troops to help.
Fu Zonglong led more than 30,000 Shaanxi soldiers and horses to Henan. They encountered Li Guo's troops in Xiangcheng. They were surrounded by an army of 100,000 bandits, and more than 30,000 Ming troops were immediately defeated.
Fu Zonglong led thousands of defeated soldiers back to Xiangcheng, and was immediately surrounded by hundreds of thousands of troops led by Li Guo. The army of bandits besieged them day and night. Fu Zonglong's troops only held on for two days, and Xiangcheng was declared to have fallen. Fu Zonglong, the governor of Shaanxi, died in battle, and none of the thousands of Ming army soldiers in the city survived. The people in the city were also hijacked by Li Guo's troops, and they all became the new "cannon fodder" for the bandit army.
And this is just one of the bad news.
When Fu Zonglong was defeated and retreated to Xiangcheng, he sent someone to contact Lu Xiangsheng who was stationed in Kaifeng City, hoping to ask for help from Lu Xiangsheng.
After receiving the request for help, Lu Xiangsheng wanted to attack from both inside and outside, first defeating Li Guo's troops and trying to reverse the decline of the Henan battlefield.
However, Lu Xiangsheng never expected that Fu Zonglong's troops only held on for two days. When Lu Xiangsheng led thousands of soldiers to Taikang County, he was ambushed by an army of 300,000 people led by Li Zicheng.
Lu Xiangsheng died in the battle, and General Lu Huaiying also died in the battle beside Lu Xiangsheng. All the remaining members of the Supervisory Biao Battalion died in the battle, and no one survived!
After Liu Yan read it, he looked up to the sky and sighed. Miao Shao also hurriedly took it and started reading it, and then exclaimed: "Sir, the land of the Central Plains has become the world of thieves!"
Cheng Ming said: "General Liu, the latest news is that Li Zicheng has mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to besiege Kaifeng Mansion. Now only deputy general Chen Yongfu leads more than 2,000 people to defend the city. The situation is very critical!"
"Chen Yongfu?"
Liu Yan knew this person. When Li Zicheng led his troops to capture Luoyang for the first time in the 14th year of Chongzhen, Chen Yongfu was still the deputy general of Kaifeng City Guards and was ordered to lead the army to rescue Luoyang. After that, when Li Zicheng opened Kaifeng three times, Chen Yongfu stayed in Kaifeng three times. He repelled Li Zicheng's attack and was promoted to chief military officer due to his military exploits.
However, Chen Yongfu later defeated and surrendered to Li Zicheng. After Li Zicheng's defeat in the Battle of a Stone, he led thousands of people to defend Taiyuan. After the fall of Taiyuan, Chen Yongfu disappeared.
At this time, Chen Yongfu was still a deputy general, but he was already the highest-ranking Ming general in the entire Henan Prefecture.
Liu Yan suppressed the grief and anger in his heart and asked, "What does this soldier mean?"
Cheng Ming said: "I have an order: please General Liu to rush to Kaifeng City day and night immediately, and we must not let Kaifeng fall!"
Liu Yan thought for a while and said: "Even if our army travels day and night, it will take more than half a month to reach Kaifeng Fucheng at the fastest. Moreover, after entering Henan, our army must slow down. First, to save the physical strength of the soldiers. , so that we can fight at any time, and the second is to be cautious to prevent being ambushed by the army of bandits."
"In addition, this town needs to set up a memorial hall for Governor Lu and the fallen soldiers, which will also take three days. Therefore, after calculation, it will take at least twenty days for our army to reach Kaifeng City. And this is the most optimistic It is estimated that if we encounter stray soldiers and horses on the way, our army will have to attack all the way forward, and the time cannot be guaranteed."
Cheng Ming looked embarrassed when he heard this, and said: "General Liu and Governor Lu have a deep friendship, and I can understand how they feel at this time. It's just that the war is urgent. Can we postpone the matter of setting up a mourning hall to commemorate, and lead the troops to set off first..."
Before Cheng Ming finished speaking, Liu Yan glared at him. The murderous aura accumulated over time on the battlefield instantly stunned Cheng Ming on the spot, and he did not dare to say another word.
"The governor and the generals died in battle, shouldn't we pay tribute?"
"No, no, I, that's not what I meant..."
Miao Shao was worried that Liu Yan would be angry, so he grabbed Cheng Ming's collar and dragged him away: "Okay, okay, the order has been brought, so hurry up and leave. You are still here waiting for the banquet to start!"
Cheng Ming was held by Miao Shao all the way to the horse and pushed to the front. Then Miao Shao waved his hand and said: "When I get back, I told the army that our army is rushing to Kaifeng Mansion and ask the Ministry of War to raise money and food supplies as soon as possible. The rest, Don’t say one more word, understand!”
After saying that, Miao Shao threw two large silver ingots to Cheng Ming, totaling more than thirty taels. Cheng Ming was stunned for a moment, then looked at the silver in his hand and nodded hurriedly, saying: "Don't worry, General, I understand how to do it."
Liu Yan looked at Cheng Ming and others riding away, feeling heavy in his heart. After all, Lu Xiangsheng did not escape his fate and died on the battlefield defending the Ming Dynasty.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty was riddled with holes. Corrupt people, incompetent people, and party-fighting people abounded. These people were like countless moths, lying on the giant ship of the Ming Dynasty and constantly eating away. , regardless of whether the ship will sink.
Lu Xiangsheng was one of the very few who wanted to save this giant ship. After trying hard, he realized that he was powerless after all. This realization was very painful and desperate.
Therefore, dying on the battlefield may be the best destination for Lu Xiangsheng.
At this time, Liu Yan felt as if there was sand in his eyes, and he rubbed it a few times. Although he and Lu Xiangsheng were superiors and subordinates in the past few years, they were close friends.
Liu Yan first met Lu Xiangsheng out of admiration for the national hero, and he was glad for his choice.
Now that Lu Xiangsheng, Lu Huaiying, Xu Tonghui, as well as the soldiers from Dubiao Camp and Fubiao Camp died in battle, Liu Yan felt not only grief but also admiration for all the soldiers.
"I, Liu Yan, will avenge this revenge for you!"
"I, Liu Yan, will accomplish whatever the governor has not accomplished!"
Miao Shao came over and asked softly: "Sir, are we still leaving tomorrow?"
Liu Yan said: "Starting from tomorrow, the army will be stationed in Boye County for three days. You and your people will set up a mourning hall in the Chinese army's tent to pay homage to the governor, General Xu and General Lu, as well as the fallen soldiers of the Governor's and Fubiao camps. Soldiers!"
Miao Shao advised: "Sir, the war is urgent. If Kaifeng Mansion falls..."
Liu Yan said categorically: "I want these three days not only to pay homage to the governor and soldiers, but also to buy time to hoard food and supplies!"
"Now Henan is under Li Zicheng's rule. The land has been turned into a wasteland by the bandit army. Tens of thousands of our troops have arrived. Can the war be ended within two months? Impossible! So I have to wait three days."
After speaking, Liu Yan turned around and walked towards the Chinese army's tent. When he reached the entrance of the tent, Liu Yan turned back and said to Miao Shao: "Immediately send someone to the capital and tell Chen Xinjia: If he wants to regain Henan, he will have to do so within ten days." , to transport the food and fodder our army needs for March, which must be delivered to the army before our army enters Henan."
"I will wait for him here for three days, and then I will lead my troops to Kaizhou in North Zhili, and let Chen Xinjia chase our army all the way towards Kaizhou. Tell him that as long as the food is not available for a day, I will never enter Henan. !”
Some people died, but not completely...
