It was the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month in the eighth year of Chongzhen.
Shaanxi Province, Xi'an Prefecture.
Sanyuan, Ming army camp.
Hong Chengchou was wearing a red python robe, a black gauze hat with two wings, and soap shoes and jade belt. He was sitting at the top of the tent.
His body moved forward slightly, and his eyes were looking forward, as if he was looking at something.
The people in the tent were sitting on both sides, with their heads lowered and their eyebrows lowered, without saying a word.
In the center of the tent, a guard wearing armor stood upright holding a tray in both hands.
Hong Chengchou's eyes were fixed on what was on the tray in the guard's hand.
Hong Chengchou stood up and walked down from the first seat.
The expressions of the generals and commanders sitting on both sides changed, and their eyes also turned towards the guard standing in the center.
On the tray, there are two round objects placed one on the left and one on the right, each covered with a piece of red cloth, making it unclear what is underneath?
"Be law-abiding."
Hong Chengchou waved gently, and Sun Shoufa, who was sitting next to him, stood up and walked closer.
Hong Chengchou turned his head and signaled to the guards on the left and right. The guards on the left and right stepped forward and took off the two pieces of red cloth from the tray.
As the objects lifted on the tray were exposed to everyone's eyes, the atmosphere in the entire tent was stagnant.
What was placed on the tray was not some delicacies, let alone gold and silver jewelry, but two ferocious-looking human heads.
Sun Shoufa's expression remained unchanged and his breathing was steady. Thousands of troops in front of the battle could not frighten him, so how could the dead heads frighten him?
And he also knew in advance why Hong Chengchou called him here.
"Reporting to the military gate, the heads on the tray are the heads of the two thieves Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan."
"I have seen these two thieves in the rogue camp before. Although I only met them a few times, I will never misjudge them."
Sun Shoufa's conclusive tone made Hong Chengchou relax a little.
All the generals in the tent turned their attention to the two heads on the tray, and many people had a look of astonishment in their eyes.
Aren't Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan the same two gangsters who ran from Fengxiang Mansion to Gongchang Mansion, and then fled all the way into Hanzhong Mansion?
Both of them were old thieves. One was the leader of the 24th Battalion, and the other was the leader of the 24th Battalion. They had already become famous very early on.
Especially Li Yangchun, who is famous for his good defense. Many of the generals in the tent have fought against him before and know the ins and outs.
Although Lin Shengquan is inferior to Li Yangchun, he is extremely brave and the multilateral cavalry under his command is also very difficult to deal with.
But now the heads of the two people were sent to Miyuan.
If I remember correctly, the person responsible for pursuing and suppressing them was a newly appointed guerrilla general named Chen Wang. It turned out that he was just a servant of Cao Wenzhao who was promoted because of his military exploits.
During the Battle of Chunhua, Gao Jie surrendered and cooperated with the inside and outside. With the help of this miraculous feat, he was directly promoted from a small officer to a guerrilla.
Then, the facts were before our eyes, Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan died like this! ?
How did these two people die?
If it was Chen Wang who killed him, they wouldn't believe it.
As a guerrilla, Chen Wang should have only two to three thousand troops under his command.
Although I heard that they had defeated Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan once with Gongchang Mansion soldiers, it was said to be a great victory.
But everyone knew clearly from the recorded military exploits that most of the people killed and wounded were hungry soldiers and infantry, and few elite horsemen.
It is not difficult to defeat tens of thousands of bandits with thousands of soldiers and horses. Which general here has not fought such a battle?
But with thousands of soldiers and horses to capture and kill two famous thieves, how can everyone believe it?
The generals in the tent had different thoughts. Some were already wondering whether it was Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan who wanted to break into Sichuan, but were defeated and killed by the Sichuan soldiers guarding the pass?
However, everyone could no longer think randomly because Hong Chengchou had already interrupted their thoughts.
"Call Chen Wang into the tent and obey your orders."
Hong Chengchou waved again, and the guards on the left and right covered the red cloth again. The guard holding the tray lowered his head slightly, holding the tray in both hands and slowly retreated.
Hong Chengchou sat back on the front seat again, and his frown finally relaxed.
In the past few months since the end of the Mihara War, he had only received one piece of good news.
The good news is that Cao Wen ordered the annihilation of the remaining bandits in Fengxiang Mansion and Pingliang Mansion.
Apart from this, Hong Chengchou never received a single piece of good news in Shaanxi. What he received were letters of urgent documents and reports of defeat...
After the victory over the rogue bandits in Luxiang, Gao Yingxiang officially took up the banner, divided into 13 families, raised 72 battalions, called a million-strong army, and marched into Luo with great force.
Divide the troops into two groups and march eastwards.
Lu Xiangsheng dispatched his troops to attack from different directions, encircling and suppressing them.
Zhang Xianzhong led the First Army to attack the Songshan and Jiufengshan areas from Ruzhou.
However, Zu Kuan had already blocked his way by waiting for work. Zhang Xianzhong was defeated and nearly a thousand of his elite soldiers were killed or injured. He could only flee westward in a hurry.
Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng led another group to attack Queshan from Yanshi and Gongxian.
What they met was Lu Xiangsheng who came with the army himself.
The result was no doubt that the Ming army was victorious, killing tens of thousands of people, and finally relieving the siege of Luoyang in one battle.
Gao Yingxiang was defeated in Queshan and was unable to advance to Luoyang, but his troops were still strong, so he diverted to capture Guangzhou and Huoqiu and advanced to the north of the Yangtze River, while Li Zicheng returned to Shaanxi.
After Lao Huihui Ma Shouying, Cao Cao and Luo Ru were defeated and dispersed, they could only occupy the chaotic mountains of Xunyang and Shangluo.
The chaotic mountains are separated by many mountains inside and outside, and there are officers and soldiers waiting to attack outside, so the various ministries and battalions cannot help each other.
The gathering force of the bandits was basically broken by Lu Xiangsheng, and they returned to fighting on their own. The biggest crisis had been lifted.
But the situation took a turn for the worse from that point on.
Lu Xiangsheng wrote a letter saying:
"I have been extremely busy traveling between Ru, Wan, He and Luo for two months..."
"There are many thieves and they are rampant. Even though there are thousands of people captured and killed, it is still not enough to defeat them."
"We must first wipe out all the Chuang Wang group within the first, second and third months of the ninth year, and then the remaining thieves can be annihilated one by one.
"...It would take 20,000 people to capture the dead, wounded and escape. Now there are still 50,000. They are still powerful enemies..."
In November, the two armies of Li Zicheng and Xie Zikuai gathered together with a total of 30,000 to 40,000 troops, and Guo Tianxing, Man's Gypsophila, and Hun Tianxing had a total of 70,000 troops. The two armies met in Tongguan County, Xi'an Prefecture at the end of November.
There were also leaders such as King Zhengong gathered together, with a total of thirteen battalions of soldiers and horses, with a total of tens of thousands of elite cavalry and tens of thousands of horsemen, a total of 150,000 people, known as an army of 300,000.
The results that He Renlong and Zhang Quanchang had finally achieved were lost again. When Zhang Quanchang was chasing the bandits, he was ambushed and Zhang Quanchang was eventually defeated and captured.
He Renlong was unable to support himself, so he could only retreat to the central part and Yijun stabilized the situation.
Hong Chengchou could only send Gao Jie and Cao Wenzhao to lead the troops north to rescue He Renlong.
Then Li Zicheng, Guo Tianxing and other 13 battalions went from Xi'an Prefecture to Yan'an Prefecture, passed Yijun and Yichuan, and circled to Hancheng, hoping to wait until the Yellow River froze and then transfer to Shanxi to continue the campaign.
But the plan could not keep up with the changes, and this time the light of destiny seemed to shine on the Ming Empire again.
This year's Shaanxi is not as cold as before, and the river water is not frozen.
Wu Di, the governor of Shanxi Province, strengthened the river defense troops, and the plan of Li Zicheng, Guo Tianxing and others to enter the Jin Dynasty failed to materialize.
Now Li Zicheng, Zhang Tianlin and others are stationed in Hancheng County, Xi'an Prefecture, confronting Cao Wenzhao, He Renlong, Gao Jie and other troops.
The two sides fought for more than ten battles, and the bandits seized a lot of artillery. According to the city, Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong's troops were exhausted, and they occupied the city for a while and fell into a stalemate.
Orders from the imperial court continued to be issued, full of edicts supervising the promotion of the suppression.
A good woman cannot make a meal without rice. Hong Chengchou has had a lot more gray hair on his head these days, and his troops are stretched thin. He has no way to break this situation.
But now, good news came from Hanzhong Mansion that made him extremely excited - Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan were executed.
Military orders were passed down level by level, and finally reached the ears of Chen Wang, who had been waiting for a long time.
"Military gate order, General Chen is asked to enter the tent and obey orders."
Chen Wang's eyes were slightly stern, and his originally calm mood still made waves.
To say that he is not nervous would be absolutely false.
Chen Wang is not afraid of the flash of swords now, but there are places in this world that are more dangerous than the battlefield.
The Chinese military tent in front of us is definitely a more dangerous place than the battlefield. If you take one wrong step, you will be plunged into an abyss!
"General Chen, please."
Glancing at the polite guard in front of him, Chen Wang nodded, took a deep breath, and then stepped forward.
Hundreds of heavily armed soldiers with guns were guarding the Chinese army's tent where Hong Chengchou was. Chen Wang passed by and felt tremendous pressure in his heart.
"Chen Wang, who holds a humble position, knocks on the door of the army."
Stepping into the tent, Chen Wang bowed his head without hesitation.
"Thanks to the promotion and trust of the military sect, he led the army all the way to fight in humble positions, and finally defeated the bandits in Ningqiang and achieved great success in one fell swoop."
Hong Chengchou sat high on the main seat, looking down at Chen Wang below.
Although Hong Chengchou did not know Chen Wang before, he had learned about Chen Wang from Cao Wenzhao and already had a rough impression in his mind.
From the moment Chen Wang walked into the tent, his eyes were already on Chen Wang.
Seeing Chen Wang, Hong Chengchou's first impression was only one - young.
It's not because of his appearance, nor because of his age.
What Hong Chengchou saw in Chen Wang was a vitality that was completely different from others.
Originally, Hong Chengchou didn't have much other feelings, but for some reason when Chen Wang walked in, he only felt that everyone else was carrying a heavy aura of twilight. Conflict and seem out of place.
Hong Chengchou narrowed his eyes slightly, the light flowing in his eyes, and his thoughts were spinning thousands of times.
Over the past few days, Chen Wang has shown that he is qualified for the position of guerrilla.
He knows how to train troops, knows how to use weapons, and knows how to fight.
However, just a few months ago, he was just a nobody, an ordinary servant.
He sent people to Liaodong to investigate, but found nothing wrong.
But it is precisely because there is nothing wrong that is the most wrong thing.
Because according to the ability that Chen Wang has shown now, it is absolutely impossible for him to remain silent for a full eight years.
(End of chapter)
