In the 30th year of Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty, Ningqiangwei was built in the county, and Ningqiang Prefecture was later established.
Ningqiang Prefecture is located at the intersection of the Qinling Mountains and the Bashan Mountains. It occupies an important road, connecting Guangyuan in Sichuan Province to the south and Mian County in the Hanzhong Basin to the north.
Ningqiang Prefecture was originally the acropolis of Ningqiang Guards. It was originally built and set up according to the specifications of a military city.
Although more than hundreds of years have passed and the acropolis has become a state city, the city defense is stronger than an ordinary state city.
The moon is dark and the wind is high, and the cold wind corrodes the bones.
At this time, there was a brazier standing every few steps on the wall of Ningqiang City.
The flames burned fiercely in the brazier, illuminating most of the city wall as bright as day.
Under the bright firelight, there were strong soldiers wearing winter clothes one after another.
They were at the crenellations of the city wall, and no one was cheating, slipping, or taking a rest.
They were all vigilantly observing the situation outside the city, and from time to time, soldiers wearing armor and armor would patrol from one end of the city wall.
The current atmosphere in Ningqiang Prefecture can be described as extremely serious.
They have received news from Lueyang.
A group of bandits escaped from Gongchang Mansion and entered Hanzhong Mansion. Yuguan was still not defended this time. This group of bandits who entered Hanzhong Mansion numbered tens of thousands and were heading south.
Lueyang is located on Chencang Road. Although Chencang Road is extremely dangerous, the prefectures in the interior have been peaceful for a long time.
The rise of rogue bandits has indeed caused all prefectures and prefectures to start preparing for war and defense.
But building a city and building a fortress and recruiting troops and horses are not easy tasks.
In the seventh year of Chongzhen's reign, the rogue bandits came from Chencang Road, and the officers and soldiers could not stop the rogue bandits at all.
Now the officers and soldiers must not be able to resist the same. Not long ago, the Hanzhong Mansion summoned strong men from all over the country to serve. The soldiers and horses have all gathered in Xixiang. Where are the soldiers to defend the west.
Ningqiang Prefecture has been under martial law for nearly three days. During these three days, no one dared to slack off.
If there is no war in Xixiang, Ningqiang Prefecture can still gather hundreds of soldiers and more than 2,000 strong guards to help defend Yangping.
But now there are only more than 70 soldiers in Ningqiang, and they have no ability to go out of the city to fight in the field.
During these three days, no one stepped out of Ningqiang City.
Naturally, no one knew that just east of Ningqiang City, a group of soldiers and horses were hiding in a dark valley.
These troops hidden in the dark valley are Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan.
At this time, both Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan were in a miserable state, without any of the prestige they had in the past.
Li Yangchun is now disheveled, and the original raven-black sleeves with floral woven gold gauze can't even be seen clearly.
I don't know where the jade belt around his waist fell. Now it's just tied up with a tattered leather belt. Even the net scarf on his head is missing.
Lin Shengquan was even more embarrassed than Li Yangchun. All that was left of his original golden helmet and golden armor was a pair of gold-plated fish scale breastplates.
The breastplate was covered with dust and dark red blood stains, and there were many marks of slashing and burning. His face was covered in dirt, like a tabby cat.
As leaders, both of them were like this, and the soldiers under their command were even more embarrassed.
"Martial law has been enforced inside and outside Ningqiang City, and our spies can't get in..."
Lin Shengquan sat next to Li Yangchun, he pressed his abdomen and said with a grin.
"The surrounding villagers gathered together and everything was taken away. There wasn't much room left to rob. Last time..."
He was hit by an arrow in the abdomen. The arrow did not penetrate deeply, but it almost killed him.
This arrow was shot from the bow in Chen Wang's hand. No one of the guards around him reacted at all. The arrow flew towards him and directly penetrated his golden armor.
If the flesh is not penetrated deeply, it can be cured quickly if treated in time, but that son of a bitch Chen Wang did not give them a chance at all, and the cavalry from Liaodong followed them like a shadow.
The bumps and fatigue along the way caused the wounds on his abdomen to constantly open and heal.
Li Yangchun nodded numbly, his eyes not very bright.
"How much food is there, how much are the brothers still alive..."
They went all the way south via Lueyang, passed the Maming Pavilion Road, passed the ancient pass, and then passed through Yangping. They wanted to turn directly into Mianxian County, but they were ambushed in Jinniu and were forced to flee into the territory of Ningqiang Prefecture.
Although Ningqiang is a prefecture, it is much poorer than several counties in the Hanzhong Basin. The terrain is complex and the people are fierce. They suffered a lot when they first arrived.
They abandoned dozens of corpses under a stronghold. Not only did they return without success, they were ambushed by villagers on the way back, and suffered nearly a hundred casualties.
"When we entered Ningqiang, we still had more than 1,400 people... The few people who were seriously injured yesterday have already..."
Lin Shengquan's expression was gloomy and his voice was hoarse.
"Now there are only more than 1,300 people left in the valley..."
Lin Shengquan paused and lowered his voice.
"The rations in the valley are only enough to last three more days..."
"One thousand three hundred people..."
Li Yangchun's eyes moved slightly and looked towards Gu Nei.
It was late at night, and the valley was quiet, not a single sound could be heard. In order to avoid hiding, they did not even dare to light the lights.
Li Yangchun opened his mouth, he wanted to say something, but in the end his thousands of words just turned into a sigh.
Not long ago, on Jizhong Mountain, the two of them were sitting on more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, running rampant across the country.
At that time, Li Guo led his troops and he was secretly happy. As long as it took some time, he would be able to swallow up the fine cavalry under Li Guo's command.
The two thousand elite cavalry at that time were enough to put him at the forefront of the upper camp and give him more power.
But now, less than ten days have passed, and everything has turned into ashes.
"Ning Qiang..."
Li Yangchun's eyes were dull and he was sitting on a dead tree.
His throat moved, but he only said the word Ning Qiang.
In the Battle of Sanshan, the Ming army broke through the camp he established, forcing him to flee with his elite cavalry.
But Li Yangchun just felt that with the help of artillery, he did not lose courage.
But the battle in Lueyang was an upright battle.
At that time, Chen Wang suddenly arrived with 900 leading cavalry. He completely routed the cavalry at the rear and raided the Chinese army while the other ministries were looting.
They could only rely on the simple camp to fight back with difficulty, and when the ministries hurried back, the officers, soldiers and infantry of the brigade were already swarming over.
The officers and soldiers had numerous firearms. From the moment they picked up the station, the sound of Franco machine guns, squatting tiger cannons, and large and small muskets almost never stopped. There were also countless rockets whizzing past their heads. People were already dead and wounded before they even got close. Most of it.
Li Yangchun was really aggressive at that time and drove the hungry soldiers into the formation, and even sent elite cavalry and horse troops to lead the charge as dead soldiers. However, no matter how they attacked, the infantry formation of the officers and soldiers remained as solid as a rock and stood still.
"Chen Wang drove us all the way to Ningqiang. What exactly did he want to do..."
Li Yangchun closed his eyes and said angrily.
Rather than saying that they escaped to Ningqiang, it is better to say that they were driven to Ningqiang.
Starting from Gongchang Mansion, all their action trajectories were the roads paved for them by Chen Wang.
Lin Shengquan stared intently at the dark woods in the distance. Li Yangchun's problem was also his problem.
He could have killed them many times, but Chen Wang let them go in the end, just like a cat playing with a mouse.
At the foot of Lueyang City, he watched Chen Wangzhen kill Li Guo.
When the horse was crossing, the blade of the horse in Chen Wang's hand directly cut Li Guo's throat.
The more than 300 elite cavalry who followed Li Guo into the formation were all defeated by the Liao cavalry in just one encounter, without causing much waves at all.
You must know that many of Li Guo's elite cavalry were soldiers from border towns in the North.
I don't know how long it took, but Li Yangchun's voice sounded in Lin Shengquan's ears again.
"We have two roads in front of us now."
Lin Shengquan opened his eyes, turned his head to look at Li Yangchun on the side, and saw Li Yangchun's shining eyes in the darkness.
"The first one is to the southwest."
Lin Shengquan pondered for a while, then shook his head.
"You can't go southwest..."
To the southwest is Guangyuan, Sichuan. On the way to Guangyuan there is a checkpoint called Qipanguan.
Qipanguan is located at the foot of Qipanling at the junction of Sichuan and Shaanxi. It is known as the first pass in the Western Qin Dynasty. Together with Baishui Pass, Jiameng Pass and Jianmen Pass, it is one of the four famous passes in northern Sichuan.
Everyone knew that the Sichuan soldiers were tyrannical, and it was not that others had never thought of entering Sichuan.
The land of Shu is rich and has the reputation of a land of abundance. Why don't they want to go to Shu to get a share of the pie?
But the road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to reach the blue sky. The roads in the four passes in northern Sichuan are rugged, and one man can pass the pass and ten thousand men cannot open it.
When Gao Yingxiang gathered a crowd of more than 100,000 people, he did not dare to question Qipanguan. Now they only have a total of more than 1,300 defeated soldiers under their command to go to Qipanguan. Are they not seeking death?
Lin Shengquan raised his head, looked at Li Yangchun and asked.
"Where is the second way?"
Li Yangchun's hoarse voice came out from the darkness.
"northwest."
"northwest?"
Lin Shengquan was slightly startled. There was indeed a road heading northwest from Ningqiang Prefecture. This road did not lead to any other province, but to the hinterland of Hanzhong and to their originally decided destination - Mian County.
"The northwest...can't go there..."
It happened that a cold wind blew, and Lin Shengquan couldn't help but shudder.
Chen Wang naturally had a plan in driving them to Ningqiang and would not let them run around easily.
He felt that if they went northwest, they might be ambushed or intercepted by officers and soldiers again.
"You really can't go."
Contrary to Lin Shengquan's expectation, Li Yangchun finally agreed with his words.
"I'm afraid the officers and soldiers have already gone to the northwest and cut off the road. We can't go to Mian County. That Chen Wang wants to trap us in Ningqiang..."
Li Yangchun's eyes were horribly bright in the darkness.
"The two roads in front of us are dead ends. In fact, we have no choice at all."
"The only way to survive is to stay in Ningqiang, in this forest valley..."
Li Yangchun stood up slowly, his eyes looking outside Lingu.
…
Mian County is located in the hinterland of Hanzhong Prefecture and the westernmost end of Hanzhong Basin.
Bordered by the Qinling Mountains to the north and the Bashan Mountains to the south, it lies at the strategic crossroads of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. It has always been a battleground for military strategists.
During the Three Kingdoms period, fierce battles broke out between Liu Bei and Cao Cao in Hanzhong, and a series of battles such as the Battle of Dingjun Mountain were triggered around Mian County.
Dingjun Mountain is located about ten miles southeast of Mian County, but what we are talking about here is Dingjun Mountain in a broad sense.
In a broad sense, Dingjun Mountain belongs to the Daba Mountains. Its veins run from Gaomiaozi to the plains, and have twelve beautiful peaks.
It stretches more than ten kilometers from Shishanzi to Dangkou Temple from east to west, collectively known as Dingjun Mountain. The mountains are rolling and the peaks are undulating, just like a dragon playing with a pearl, so it is called "Twelve Mountains with a Pearl".
Dingjun Mountain in the narrow sense is actually the main peak of the twelve consecutive peaks.
As the main peak, Dingjun Mountain is more than 800 meters above sea level and is the tallest.
This was once a garrison area for the Han army. In order to compete for Hanzhong at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Bei led his army to forcefully cross the Mian River and penetrate Dingjun Mountain, occupying the favorable terrain of Dingjun Mountain. Cao's army Xia Houyuan came to fight, and the Battle of Dingjun Mountain began. .
But after thousands of years, everything has changed. Today, there are no longer a large number of troops stationed in Dingjun Mountain, and the mountains and forests here have become lush again.
Standing on the top of the mountain, Chen Wang had a panoramic view of all the scenery.
"Dingjun Mountain..."
Chen Wang held a riding whip in his hand and stood in front of a stone tablet.
There are four words written on the stone tablet - "Gu Dingjun Mountain."
Chen Gong and Hu Zhili followed closely behind Chen Wang, while Zhao Huailiang and Tang Shiping stood far away with dozens of soldiers.
"Where are Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan now?"
Chen Wang tilted his head slightly and asked Chen Gong beside him.
"Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan are currently stationed among the mountains in the southeast of Ningqiang Prefecture. They occupy the mountains and build strongholds. They seem to want to hold on."
Chen Gong took a step forward and whispered.
Chen Wang nodded slightly to understand that Li Yangchun was indeed a smart man.
Chen Wang's eyes only stayed on the stone tablet for a short time, and then moved to the north of the mountain.
The fertile fields in the north of the mountain are vast, with long acres of flat land, criss-crossing roads, and scattered villages. Looking from the top of the mountain, you can clearly see the city walls of Mian County.
Although Hanzhong Mansion also belongs to Shaanxi Province, it has not suffered much drought attack and impact. Therefore, the people here can still survive and order can still be maintained.
Shannan is surrounded by mountains, with the clear Yangjia River and many houses and farmland.
There is a large natural pot-bottom-shaped depression in the south of Shannan. It should be the "Yangtian Depression" that was recorded as "capable of housing tens of thousands of troops." It has now become a gathering place for the people. It is scattered at a glance, but it is There are as many as a hundred households.
"Hanzhong..."
Chen Wang tightened his grip on the riding whip, traveled thousands of miles, and finally entered the Hanzhong Mansion as he wished...
No one can understand his current mood.
It is already November of the eighth year of Chongzhen. At this time, the rogue bandits are so powerful that they number millions. Under the leadership of Gao Yingxiang, they practice to win and defeat the officers and soldiers.
Many people have begun to harbor ambitions, looking back at Xijing and wanting to build a country to rival the Ming Empire.
Unfortunately, it was at this time that Lu Xiangsheng entered Henan, and a large number of border troops were transferred into the hinterland to suppress the rebellion.
What awaits them is not a bright future, but endless darkness.
The seventh and eighth years of Chongzhen were the initial prosperous periods of the bandits, but the following nine, ten, and eleven years were their darkest moments.
Although the Ming Empire of this era has declined greatly, it is still the largest country in the world.
I wish you all a happy new year, peace and blessings every year
