Xi'an Prefecture, Chunhua County, Guanzhong Camp of the Ming Army.
Hong Chengchou put his hands behind his back and looked gloomy, staring at the huge situation map hanging in front of him.
He had already received news from Zhangjiachuan. According to the news from Zhang Quanchang and He Renlong, the enemy was the main force of the rogue bandits and not the partial force as known from the initial intelligence.
Without collecting detective reports at night, the number of rogue bandits currently heading east from Gongchang Mansion to Fengxiang Mansion is roughly estimated to be as many as 140,000.
The bandits put the old and the weak in the middle, with the troops outside, with fine cavalry as the vanguard and guarding the left and right wings.
The marching troops were lined up for hundreds of miles across a wide area, covered in dust and smoke that covered the sun.
The banners of the leaders such as Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang, Eighth King Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui Ma Shouying and others were all among them.
Shaanxi has long been in depression and dilapidated state due to natural disasters in successive years.
The year was originally good, and some places could barely survive until after the harvest.
But the reason why Gao Yingxiang and others were running around was not only to avoid officers and soldiers, but also to find food and work.
When they crossed the border, they took away almost all the food. At the same time, various ministries and battalions also continued to coerce the people to provide help. Those hungry people who could not survive in the first place, as well as some people who had long been dissatisfied with the injustice, also came one after another when they arrived. join in.
Now the entire central Shaanxi Province has become a complete mess.
The bandits in the north of Qingyang Prefecture were also ready to go south. After plundering several counties and towns, they regrouped a large number of soldiers, and their number once again swelled to more than 70,000.
"The vastness of the land makes it difficult to encircle, and the small number of soldiers makes it impossible to defeat the enemy. If you devote yourself to death and die, the number of victory or defeat is unknown."
Hong Chengchou sighed in his heart.
In June, the imperial edict was issued, and the deadline was getting closer and closer.
But the current situation has not improved at all, but has become even more collapsed. The rogue bandits have seen through his bluff, and their intention to advance eastward is now clear.
Hong Chengchou was looking at the situation map in front of him and thinking about how to deal with it next, when he suddenly heard a noise coming from outside the tent.
"Who is making noise outside the tent?!"
Hong Chengchou's eyes were cold, he turned to look outside the tent and shouted coldly.
All the generals in the tent were shocked and turned to look outside the tent.
The two guards guarding the tent door were about to go out, but they saw the tent curtain was opened first.
A soldier covered in dust, wearing a dark red arrow jacket and carrying an order flag on his back was already running into the tent.
"Urgent report from Pizhou!"
The soldier knelt down on one knee, raised a document with both hands, and said loudly.
"The thieves chief Gao Yingen, Yiziwang, Chuangtianwang and other troops led 140,000 bandits eastward out of Pingliang."
"The three towns of Yilu, Randian, and Tingkou have all fallen, and the enemy has reached twenty miles west of Pizhou City."
"If we don't receive intelligence reports at night, the enemy's cavalry is about 30,000 people, the troops are 60,000 people, and there are 50,000 old and weak people in the center."
Hong Chengchou's pupils shrank slightly, his heart suddenly sank, and he said in a deep voice.
"Send it up."
The guards in the tent did not dare to neglect and hurried forward, took the document from the hand of the messenger soldier and passed it to Hong Chengchou.
Hong Chengchou opened the letter, and his heart became even heavier. He saw the seals of Cao Wenzhao and Zuo Liangyu, which also confirmed the authenticity of the news.
Hong Chengchou did not speak, but immediately turned back to look at the situation map behind him.
When Ye Bushuo detects such a large number of people, although the error is large, it will never exceed 30,000 to 40,000 people.
Even though he had overestimated the number of people, there were still as many as 100,000 bandits in the direction of Pingliang Mansion.
There are more than 100,000 rogue bandits in Gongchang Prefecture alone, and more than 70,000 in Qingyang Prefecture. According to Cao Wenzhao's message, they number 140,000.
The combined size of these three bandits now exceeds 400,000.
In addition to these three large-scale rogue bandits, there is also a group of about 30 to 40,000 to 40,000 bandits in Shangzhou and other places in the southeast of Xi'an, which is also constantly harassing the place.
"Four hundred thousand..."
Hong Chengchou's expression became more and more gloomy, and his mind was in chaos. Now he could mobilize very few field troops.
In addition to the two battalions of soldiers under He Renlong and Zhang Quanchang, there were only three troops from Cao Wenzhao, Zuo Liangyu, and Zhang Waijia.
The rest of the generals and colleges were assigned to garrison in other places. The bandits in Huguang and Henan were becoming more and more rampant and difficult to stop. He had to send two thousand more troops to Henan.
There are 2,800 men under Cao Wenzhao and 2,700 men under Zuo Liangyu. They are currently stationed in Pizhou to guard against Gao Yingen, Yiziwang, Chuangtianwang and other troops in the northwest direction of Pingliang.
Zhang Waijia's 2,300 men are currently stationed in Sanshui, guarding Li Zicheng, Prime Minister Hui Deng, Tuo Yangkun and other troops in the north direction of Qingyang Prefecture.
In addition to the three battalions of Cao Wenzhao, Zuo Liangyu, and Zhang Waijia, the only soldiers he can command now are the more than 2,600 soldiers of the model battalion directly under him.
Zhang Quanchang's and He Renlong's troops only have more than 5,800 people left, and they are now retreating towards Fengxiang.
All Hong Chengchou can control now is the model battalion directly under his command, plus the soldiers of Cao Wenzhao and other three battalions, as well as the soldiers of He Renlong and Zhang Quanchang, there are only 16,200 people under his command.
Hong Chengchou felt that a huge weight was pressing on his shoulders, so heavy that he could hardly breathe.
Four hundred thousand versus sixteen thousand two hundred men, a twenty-five-fold difference in strength.
This time, the military strength difference in the Battle of Sanyuan in May of the seventh year of He Chongzhen was almost the same.
He only had more than 3,000 men under his command, but he faced more than 100,000 enemies.
But now and then, although only one year has passed, the strength of the current bandits has doubled.
Among the captured enemies, Hong Chengchou learned a military order among the rogue bandits.
"If one person escapes, kill the team in charge; if he retreats, kill the entire team!"
The rogue bandits have begun to impose strict laws and disciplines on the team, and every time they encounter the rogue bandits, they will fight to the death with all their might.
Hong Chengchou sat on the Taishi chair again. He had been responsible for suppressing bandits since he was appointed governor of the three sides in the fourth year of Chongzhen.
In four years, these bandits were wiped out one after another, tens of thousands of them.
But the result was that the suppression became more intense and the situation became more and more disintegrated.
He has always advocated an all-out campaign to eliminate strongholds, first to suppress them and then to suppress them.
When Yang He was still the governor of the three sides, Hong Chengchou saw with his own eyes the bandits who surrendered and rebelled many times.
In August of the seventh year of Chongzhen's reign, all the bandits who had escaped encirclement and suppression were driven to Hanzhong. They could have been killed in one fell swoop.
But when Chen Qiyu could eliminate them all, he chose to appease them, released all the bandits, and even received additional ordnance.
Lian's recruitment arrangements were full of loopholes. In the end, the bandits surrendered again and rebelled again. Many cities fell and the war broke out again. The situation was out of control.
Hong Chengchou remained silent, and no one dared to speak of the silence in the military tent.
During the Han and Tang Dynasties, there were often military meetings, and in the early Ming Dynasty, marching and combat meetings were held.
However, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, civilians controlled military affairs. Civilian officials had extremely heavy power, while military attachés had a humble status and had little say in military discussions.
Governor Qiangang has always been arbitrary, and most of the time he asked for advice from his staff. Hong Chengchou had accumulated a lot of authority, and this situation was even more serious.
There was a long silence, and you could almost hear a needle drop in the military tent.
Hong Chengchou finally raised his head.
"Instruct Cao Wenzhao and Zuo Liangyu that Pizhou must not be lost before September."
"Send an order to Zhang Quanchang and He Renlong to lead the troops to evacuate Fengxiang Mansion and move to Xingping."
In the military tent, all the generals looked at Hong Chengchou with condensed expressions.
Hong Chengchou's move undoubtedly gave up the entire Fengxiang Mansion...
