North of Taiyuan City, on the east bank of Fen River.
The Fen River flows from north to southeast. North of Taiyuan City, the river turns from east to west to south, turning into a north-south direction.
At this time, Hong Chengchou led the Ming army troops to march north along the river. The soldiers in each town rushed on their way quickly, and they could often see Ye Busuo from each town galloping nearby.
Hong Chengchou has been uneasy since he sent out his confidants to deliver the message. There are hundreds of miles from Taiyuan City to Shandong. Along the way, rogue soldiers and horses are constantly wreaking havoc. If the news is leaked, not only reinforcements will not come, but even reinforcements will not come. The true and false status of each department of the Ming army will also be known to the rogue thieves.
Especially yesterday, Hong Chengchou received a report from Supervisor Biao Camp that refused to accept troops at night, and discovered a small group of bandit Xiaoqi in the east of Taiyuan City. Although there were not many in number, they were very capable and were by no means ordinary scouts.
This news made Hong Chengchou very alert. He immediately summoned the general officers of each town to discuss the matter and decided to lead the army northward. He would first attack the soldiers and horses of the right camp of the bandits, then return to the soldiers and horses of Shanxi Town and Datong Town, and then obtain money and food supplies on the spot before reorganizing Soldiers and horses went south to meet the enemy.
As a result, all the troops of the Ming army hurriedly set out from Taiyuan City. Before leaving, they took with them everything that could be eaten in the city, causing the people in the city to cry and scream.
Two days after the army marched north, the various ministries sent back news one after another at night, and scouts of the bandits appeared one after another around the army.
These rogue scouts were so arrogant that they followed them all the way regardless of the power of the 110,000 Ming army. They even dared to rush forward on horseback to observe the advancing Ming army. Hong Chengchou was furious and immediately ordered Wu Sangui to lead his troops. Attack and drive away the wandering bandit scouts.
But even if
At this time, the Ming army still did not get rid of the entanglement of the bandit scouts. On the contrary, there were more and more bandit soldiers and horses around the Ming army. On the fourth day after leaving Taiyuan City, large groups of bandit soldiers and horses began to appear, as many as thousands. , ranging from hundreds to hundreds, all of them were capable rogue knights. They began to follow the Ming army all the way north, constantly harassing the Ming army soldiers.
Hong Chengchou was shocked when he saw this, and hurriedly ordered the army to stop advancing and set up camp on the spot.
In the Chinese army's tent, Hong Chengchou held a military meeting with the chief military officers of each town, but no one spoke. Even Hong Chengchou frowned and looked very solemn.
Tang Tong, the chief soldier of Miyun Town, looked away, wondering what he was thinking; Wang Tingchen, the former chief soldier of the garrison, kept exchanging glances with Liu Zhaoji, the chief soldier of Liaodong Town. The two were very close along the way, and their words were exchanged. There are also many intentions of retreating.
Zuo Guangxian, the commander-in-chief of the Relief and Suppression Forces, stared at the pen holder next to Hong Chengchou, not knowing whether he was distracted or criticizing the brushes.
As for Wu Sangui, the chief military officer of Ningyuan Town, at this time, like Hong Chengchou, his face was solemn, his brows were furrowed, and he was always lowering his head in thought.
After a long time, Hong Chengchou said: "Based on my familiarity with the bandit soldiers and horses, the bandits surrounding our army this time are by no means small groups of stragglers, but the forerunners of the main force of bandits. It seems that Li Zicheng secretly led the main force. Transferred from the Henan area, this thief wants to raid our army in order to completely wipe out the elite troops of the imperial court."
"Everyone!"
Hong Chengchou suddenly raised his voice and said: "Today has come to a time of life and death. No matter what you think in your hearts, I will work with you wholeheartedly.
Fighting against the army of thieves, only in this way can we have a way out! "
Then Hong Chengchou glanced at Tang Tong and said coldly: "If anyone shakes the morale of the army and wants to withdraw the troops, don't blame me for being ruthless! Even if the imperial court does not send a supervisory army to the side, I still have Shang Fang's sword in hand, so you can Kill first and show later!"
Tang Tong suddenly felt a chill on his neck, and then he shouted impassionedly: "We are willing to follow the governor to the death, destroy the bandits, and protect the country and the people!"
The other people also raised their arms and shouted. At this moment, everyone is stating their position, but only they know what they think in their hearts.
Hong Chengchou said: "Good! Such military morale is available. At that time, Lu Xiangsheng led his troops to Julu, and used his remaining troops to fight against tens of thousands of elite Qing troops. He became famous in the first battle, and also defeated Liu Yan, the governor of Shandong. The situation of our army today is different from that of Lu Xiangsheng's troops at that time. Quite similar, as long as you and my governor work together and destroy the army of thieves and bandits in one fell swoop, there is no guarantee that the next Liu Yan will not appear among you!"
As soon as these words came out, a wave of excitement appeared in Wu Sangui's eyes, but it only passed by in a flash.
At this time, Zuo Guang first asked: "Master Governor, we should advance and retreat together with the Governor, but now the food and grass of various ministries have been cut off, and the soldiers have been without food for two or three days. If this continues, we will not be able to eat." Can’t you restrain the soldiers and horses?”
Tang Tong said hurriedly: "Master Governor, why don't we go to the nearby city to ask for money and food?"
Everyone knows that in Shanxi, except for Datong Mansion, which is being besieged, there are no cities belonging to the Ming Dynasty. Tang Tong's intention is clearly to send troops to plunder places to supplement military needs.
But no one refuted, but they all expected
Looked at Hong Chengchou expectantly.
Hong Chengchou looked tangled. As the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the army, he naturally hated this kind of thieves' behavior. However, the cruel reality made Hong Chengchou unable to refuse. After a moment of silence, he had to say: "The army is heading north to Xinzhou at full speed. , Xinzhou is rich, there should be money and food left."
"After the army arrived in Xinzhou, it was stationed on the spot. At the same time, it was sent to the north to conduct reconnaissance at night, and contacted Wang Pu, the chief military officer of Datong Town, and Li Fuming, the chief military officer of Shanxi Town."
"As you command!"
The various units of the Ming army rested on the spot for two hours, and then Hong Chengchou did not dare to camp in the wilderness for the night, and urged the soldiers and horses of the towns to continue marching north.
At this time, it was getting late, and more and more rogue cavalry were coming from all directions. Even at dusk, when Hong Chengchou heard that the army had broken up in Ningyuan Town, he could already see the army of rogue infantry in the distance. The traces, the dust and smoke that almost covered the sky and the sun, greatly shocked the most elite soldiers of Ningyuan Town in the army. Wu Sangui even killed more than a dozen people in a row before suppressing the restless military morale.
"How many soldiers and horses does the bandit have?"
Hong Chengchou had given up the carriage at this time, and instead rode horses to march with the soldiers of Du Biao Battalion. The continuous high-intensity march made Hong Chengchou very much unable to bear it, but he could only grit his teeth and persevere.
On the side, a Ningyuan Town guerrilla general who came to report the news said: "To inform the governor, the bandit troops are endless, and it is impossible to estimate the specific strength. It's just that our unit did not accept returns at night, and discovered the bandit middle camp and left camp. , the battle flags of the front camp, rear camp, and firearms camp, and even the great banner of King Li Zicheng Dashun was discovered!"
Hearing this, Hong Chengchou
His face suddenly turned rosy, even showing an almost sickly red color.
After a long while, Hong Chengchou finally breathed a sigh of relief, waved his hand, and sent the guerrilla general back to resume his duties.
At this time, Hong Chengchou's heart was already in turmoil. He secretly thought that Li Zicheng really thought highly of him. He actually gathered all his troops and millions of troops to attack him. He really made a big deal!
"what to do?"
At this time, Hong Chengchou really hoped that a miracle would happen. Liu Yan could lead hundreds of thousands of elite troops from Shandong to appear in front of him. Then, like divine soldiers descending from the sky, they would destroy Li Zicheng's million-strong army. Then Hong Chengchou and Liu Yan would join forces. Return to Beijing in triumph and enjoy countless glory.
But the cruel reality is like a sharp knife, which cuts open Hong Chengchou's heart. He tells Hong Chengchou with a heartbreaking feeling that all this is impossible. Now he can only survive with the 110,000 hungry people in his hand. Soldiers and horses fight against millions of bandits!
"Instruct all ministries to speed up. We must reach Xinzhou City before nightfall tomorrow!"
Xinzhou leans against the Taihang Mountains in the east, the Yellow River in the west, Taiyuan, Yangquan, and Luliang in the south, and Shuozhou and Datong in the north. It has been an important town in Shanxi since ancient times, with a solid city and abundant inventory. Because of this, Hong Chengchou chose Xinzhou as a temporary residence. .
According to legend, Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, went north to fight against the Huns and was trapped in Pingcheng. When he escaped from the siege, his army went south and escaped from the Xiongnu pursuers at Xinkou. Emperor Gaozu smiled despite his sorrow, and the six armies returned home happily. Because "Xin" connected with "Xin", the name of Xinzhou was born.
The old city of Xinzhou "crosses Xigang, which occupies half of the city and is the plateau of Kowloon." Ming Dynasty Wanli twenty-sixth year
In August, after the Xinzhou city wall was completed, there were four city gates, together with eight cave gates. The cave gates and city gates faced each other and were connected to each other.
"The construction of Jiu Gong Yu Cai was started in April of the seventh year of Tongzhi and ended in October of the ninth year of Tongzhi. It took about three years before and after the repairs were completed. As a result, the pheasant stacks are magnificent and the towers and oars are Chonghuan."
Xinzhou Old City is approximately a square polygon in plan, with a city perimeter of nine miles and twenty steps. The city wall meanders and undulates along the slope, forming a curve. The inner sides of the city wall are all gently sloping. When there is an enemy situation, soldiers and civilians swarm to the end of the city wall. The northwest corner of the city wall is an obtuse angle, and the southeast corner of the city wall has the lowest height. This is the embodiment of "the sky is not equal to the northwest, and the ground is uneven to the southeast" in urban architecture.
The north gate of Xinzhou City is "Gongchen Gate", the south gate is "Jingxian Gate", the east gate is "Yongfeng Gate", and the west gate is "Xinxing Gate".
Hong Chengchou led all the Ming army units to rush day and night. When they arrived at Jingxianmen in the south of Xinzhou, the soldiers and horses in each town were already exhausted. From the general officers of each town to the ordinary Ming army soldiers, they were marching hungry and thirsty for days. We also have to be wary of the raid by bandits. The high spirits when they set out have long since disappeared. At this time, they are like a huge team of beggars, and there is no official army anywhere.
Hong Chengchou looked at the majestic city and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
I don't know whether it was because the army of bandits was gathering too slowly, or because the officers and soldiers were marching too fast. At this time, the bandits hadn't surrounded them yet, which made Hong Chengchou feel happy and nervous at the same time.
At the same time, the situation in Xinzhou was better than Hong Chengchou expected. Although the city was captured by the bandits, the bandits' troops seemed to have just looted and then withdrew, without sending troops to garrison. this
At that time, the city was searched by the leading officers and soldiers, but no defenders of the bandits were found. There was still some food and grass left in the treasuries everywhere. Although it was not much, it was enough for the soldiers to have a few full meals. .
Entering the city, Hong Chengchou first sent soldiers and horses from Supervisory Battalion to post notices to calm the people, and then ordered Zuo Guang's troops to take over the city defense, while the soldiers and horses from other towns took the time to rest.
In addition, Hong Chengchou also sent people to collect food in the city and recruited young men as backup.
In this way, Xinzhou City suddenly became chaotic. The original order issued by Hong Chengchou was to collect the grain reserves in the hands of the people according to the ratio of ten taxes to four.
However, the soldiers and horses in each town paid no attention to these rules and regulations when they were carrying out their duties. When the people in the city were plundered by the bandits and soldiers, they tried every means to hide the food. Now they were faced with the official army, but they were all robbed. How could they do it? They were willing to give up, so they all started to quarrel.
Hong Chengchou was shocked when he heard the news. He hurriedly killed several soldiers who made excessive trouble and imprisoned several common people who led the trouble. This temporarily calmed the situation.
But early the next morning, Hong Chengchou received an urgent report from Zuo Guangxian: the main force of bandits had arrived outside the city and was deploying a siege!
