Golden-winged Penghulu Shi and Black Killing Tiger Zhang Yuan gathered more than 100,000 people and came in force. Everyone thought that what followed would be an epic battle.
However, the Battle of Hanzhong only lasted for half a day and ended with Chen Wang breaking into the formation and killing Zhang Yuan, and more than half of the more than 100,000 rogue bandits collapsed.
No one expected that the Battle of Hanzhong would come to an end in just half a day.
After defeating the rogue bandits outside Hanzhong City, Chen Wang did not give up, but continued to lead his troops in pursuit.
They pursued for three days and for more than 150 miles, from Hanzhong City to Xixiang City before withdrawing their troops and returning to the camp.
More than 100,000 rogue bandits died and scattered, all of them were defeated.
The bandits would run away at first, but on the second and third days they ran out of energy. As soon as the officers and soldiers arrived, they dropped their weapons and lay down on the side of the official road to surrender.
Chen Wang led the cavalry in pursuit, while the infantry that followed continued to take prisoners.
The date Chen Wang sent the letter was the dusk of January 4th. After leading the troops and chasing them all the way to Xixiang City, he simply counted the casualties and results and reported the situation.
Hong Chengchou actually received the message on January 7, but the reply was not sent to Hanzhong until January 18.
A total of fourteen days passed, and it didn't take long to go back and forth. Hong Chengchou was actually thinking about it in the middle time.
Of course, Chen Wang was completely unaware of all this.
The imperial newspaper even followed the orders from Hong Chengchou.
On January 3, Li Zicheng, Man Tianxing, and King Zhengong suddenly set up camp, broke through the defensive positions set up by Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong, and headed all the way to Heyang and Chengcheng.
Li Zicheng and Hun Tianxing walked from Chengcheng through Hancheng, Heyang, Yichuan, Luochuan, and Yanzhou, and headed north toward Yan'an, Huanxian, Qingyang, and Guyuan.
The Tianxing and Gypsophila parts will start from Zhenning and Heshui, heading east towards the Gaoling and Sanyuan areas of Shaanxi.
Hong Chengchou was worried that the provincial capital Xi'an would be lost, so he was forced to divide his troops to pursue and suppress them.
He personally led the army back to Shaanxi and suppressed the Tianxing, Mantianxing, and Huntianxing tribes, and allowed Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong to continue to pursue Li Zicheng, Zhengong Wang and other tribes in the west.
In the same month, Gao Yingxiang returned from Shaanxi and attacked eastward, capturing Hanshan and Hezhou. Together with Xianzhong, Liu Guoneng, Shake Tiandong and others, he besieged Chuzhou with hundreds of thousands of soldiers. They formed a camp around the mountain for more than 100 miles. They marched together in hundreds of Yunti caves. .
Chuzhou City was defenseless, so there were few soldiers. Fortunately, Li Juesi, the minister of Taipu Temple, and Liu Dagong, the governor of Zhizhou, led their soldiers and people to defend the city, so Chuzhou did not fall immediately.
Soon, Lu Xiangsheng arrived with Zu Kuan, Luo Dai, Yang Shien and other generals.
Lu Xiangsheng urgently ordered Zu Kuan to lead Guan and Liao Jin soldiers as the vanguard, while he used the Biaobing camp and the remaining three battalions as the back-up force to attack Gao Yingxiang's army.
Although Zu Kuan usually has an arrogant attitude, he is always brave when fighting in battle.
The two sides fought fiercely at Zhulong Bridge. Gao Yingxiang and other troops were defeated in a panic. Some of them fled to Dingyuan, while others fled to Guangwu and all the way to Tuchi River.
Gao Yingxiangze, Ziweixing, Sweeper King and other 24th Battalion surrendered and then invaded Xuzhou.
The five battalions including King Sao Di, Tuo Xianling and Luo Rucai attacked Kaifeng from Guide.
Today, Henan, eastern Shaanxi, and the southeastern provinces are already in flames of war, with smoke everywhere.
Hanzhong Mansion, outside Xixiang City.
Chen Wang respectfully held the military order in his hands and raised it in front of his forehead with a solemn expression.
When the messenger who came to deliver the order turned around and walked out of the tent, Chen Wang clenched his fists unconsciously.
Hong Chengchou sent a total of two letters this time, one was a military order and the other was a private letter.
The military order from Hong Chengchou was very concise and clear. The general idea was to let him continue to wipe out the Golden-winged Peng, Sky-Diamond Harrier and others.
However, the military order sent by Hong Chengchou when he was still in Hanzhong City was for him to assist in the guerrilla suppression of Hanzhong.
But this time the military order used the word "together". Although there is only one word difference, there is a huge difference between the two.
One master and one assistant. Chen Wang used to be the assistant, but now he is the master.
It was also mentioned that people had been sent to inspect the military merits.
Although he didn't say it explicitly, the hidden meaning was very clear. After this discussion, Chen Wang would be able to transform from a guerrilla to a general.
Chen Wang's eyes narrowed slightly, this time he was right again.
The safety of Hanzhong City is crucial, not only strategically, but also politically.
Prince Rui is a close vassal, and in terms of blood relationship, he is closer than the average vassal king.
King Rui Zhu Changhao was the fifth son of Ming Shenzong Zhu Yijun, the half-brother of Ming Guangzong Zhu Changluo, and the uncle of Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian.
This is why banditry in various places is constantly changing, and the turmoil continues. The power of the rogue bandits in Hanzhong can only be regarded as quite satisfactory, but Hanzhong's military strength is still constantly improving.
Just because some rogue bandits fled into the hinterland, they were directly upgraded from guard station to guerrilla, and now they are going to continue to be upgraded to general.
There are many provinces with military towns, but there are basically no military towns in inland provinces with guerrillas.
Generally, there are generals in the province or towns under the command of the general army. There are no guerrillas and generals in a separate government.
Among so many military towns, only Hanzhong has set up a guerrilla camp. Everyone knows why.
The military orders are concise and written in official terms.
And the private message is what you really want to say.
Chen Wang watched the messenger disappear from sight before opening the private message sent by Hong Chengchou in his hand.
Chen Wang slowly scanned the contents of the letter. Most of what Hong Chengchou wrote was to remind him and ask him to pay attention to certain things, such as protecting the safety of King Rui and stabilizing the situation in Hanzhong.
Of course these are not important, what is important is the information mixed in.
But Chen Wang is no longer the novice he was before. Cao Wenzhao also explained many key points to him in the last night chat, and he himself also learned some tips from Zhao Huailiang.
After folding the letters in his hands again, Chen Wang also raised his head.
This time his harvest was far richer than he had expected.
I really want to be promoted to a general, and it is very likely that I will become a general in Hanzhong.
In his letter, Hong Chengchou mentioned the safety of King Rui and the court's intention to strengthen Hanzhong's military strength.
"General Hanzhong..."
Chen Wang raised his head, looked at the curtain, and murmured in a low voice that only he could hear.
Originally, he wanted to rely on rogue bandits to wipe out the original Hanzhong guerrilla Zhou Yumao, but now there is no need. Zhou Yumao has become his subordinate.
Hanzhong Mansion is under the jurisdiction of Shaanxi Town. Hanzhong Mansion has one garrison general, one guerrilla general, and two guards.
There were two guards, one guarding Hanzhong City and the other guarding Baocheng. They also guarded Jitou Pass. The guerrilla general was still Zhou Yumao.
The commander-in-chief leads the main barracks, the deputy commander-in-chief leads the special barracks, the participating generals lead the reinforcement battalion, and the guerrilla leader leads the guerrilla battalion. One general and one battalion all have a certain degree of independence.
The commander-in-chief has the highest status. In addition to the main barracks under his command, he also has the power to command all the battalions in the town.
Each town is divided into several co-defendants and deputy generals.
Below the auxiliary guard, there are divided roads, and each road is equipped with a general.
Take Datong Town as an example.
There is one general military officer guarding Datong, stationed in Datong town.
There is one deputy commander-in-chief of the Xieshou, who was formerly the deputy commander-in-chief Zuo. In the fifth year of Wanli, he left Zuozi and was stationed in Zuowei City.
They are divided into nine generals: the East Road General, the North East Road General, the Middle Road General, the West Road General, the North West Road General, Jingpingcheng General, and Xinpingbao General. He said that the governor-general named Zuoye the general, and Weiyuancheng the general.
Nine generals were stationed in key cities in various places.
Then there are two guerrilla generals, four guerrillas in the guard, two officers in the camp, and thirty-nine guards.
Once an invasion is encountered, the first to arrive are the reinforcement battalions led by the generals guarding the road and the guerrilla battalions led by nearby guerrillas.
Then there are the Qibing Battalion to assist the deputy generals in the area and the main barracks to guard the general soldiers.
In fact, guerrilla battalions are often used as assistance. In emergencies during war, generals can command guerrillas.
Although Zhou Yumao commanded a battalion, strictly speaking, he was Chen Wang's subordinate.
However, as the Hanzhong general, the deputy commander and chief soldier of Shaanxi Town could not control Chen Wang.
Hanzhong Prefecture is not a border, but belongs to the hinterland, and will not encounter the invasion of northern barbarians.
The reason why Hanzhong Mansion originally set up military camps was to protect King Rui's safety and prevent rogue bandits from entering Hanzhong Mansion.
The current purpose has not changed much from the original intention.
The most the General Soldier can do is take care of border affairs. Nowadays, domestic counter-insurgency affairs are under the control of local governors, and the General Soldier has no power at all.
Although there is a title of Chief Military Officer for the Assistance and Suppression, the Chief Military Officer for the Assistance and Suppression and the Deputy Chief Military Officer are nominally the generals with the power to command the counterinsurgency.
But in reality, no one takes this power seriously.
Nowadays, civil servants have been respected and military officials have been humble for hundreds of years. Planning and formulating strategies as commander-in-chief has always been a matter for civilian officials. Military generals can just obey orders honestly.
It sounds stupid, but it's true.
In the late Ming Dynasty, the power of military attaches was continuously weakened.
In any major war, the imperial court would send civilian officials as supervisors to lead the troops in the battle.
As for the civil servants who commanded the troops, most of them were lowly people, even worse than Zhao Kuo.
After all, Zhao Kuo could at least talk about war on paper and understand some of the art of war, but some of the civilian officials who commanded the army in the late Ming Dynasty probably didn't even read all the military books and knew nothing but rhetoric and big words.
In the late Ming Dynasty, there was actually no shortage of elite soldiers and strong generals, but one general was incompetent and the three armies were exhausted.
The most famous example is Yang Hao.
No matter how much rhetoric or excuses you make.
During the Wanli Campaign to Aid Korea, the Ming Army was advancing with great success and could have won the Battle of Ulsan. However, due to Yang Hao's command error and hasty withdrawal, the Ming Army suffered heavy losses.
Then in the Battle of Sarhu, Yang Hao destroyed a large number of elite troops of the Ming Army, and generals such as Du Song and Liu Wei also died on the battlefield.
As a result, the offensive and defensive momentum between Ming and Jin was completely reversed, and the Ming army collapsed on the Liaodong battlefield.
Isn't it child's play to think that the dangers of military warfare are high?
Those self-righteous civil servants, after reading a few military books, thought they could strategize and win decisively thousands of miles away.
Little did they know that Zhang Liang, who was known as the Three Heroes of the Early Han Dynasty, also wore armor and went into battle many times, went to the front line in person, and went through countless battles before finally sitting firmly in the Chinese army's tent.
Chen Wang's eyes narrowed slightly, although Hong Chengchou had poor personal ethics.
But I have to say that he really knows how to fight, and his strategy and leadership are first-rate.
A general under his command would at least not become one of the three armies that was exhausted.
Moreover, Hong Chengchou's tiger skin is considered to be a big one in the current court, and you can enjoy a lot of benefits by following him.
Chen Wang's eyes swept across the generals in the tent. All the generals in the tent were sitting upright, with their heads lowered, waiting for orders.
He didn't speak, he didn't tell anyone else what was on his mind.
Now Chen Wang is doing everything arbitrarily, without asking anyone else's opinions.
Because there is no use talking about it. No matter Chen Gong, Hu Zhiyi, Hu Zhili, Zhao Huailiang or Tang Shiping, they can't help now.
The one with the most knowledge and the highest official position was Zhao Huailiang.
But just a few months ago, Zhao Huailiang was just a commander, leading four to five hundred soldiers.
Tang Shiping was just a vice president, not to mention Chen Gong, Hu Zhiyi, and Hu Zhili, they were all servants.
It is actually quite difficult to be able to manage the soldiers under your command well now.
The food must be eaten one bite at a time, the things must be done one by one, and the road must be walked step by step. It is useless to rush for quick success.
At the beginning, Chen Wang also asked them for their opinions, but there were not many useful opinions.
Although they all now lead one unit, their vision is always focused on the headquarters. All their thoughts are based on themselves and the people in charge.
Changes in vision and thinking do not happen overnight.
Chen Wang turned around, walked slowly to the first seat in the tent and sat down again.
The Supervision Office was established not long ago, but it is still in a preliminary state. So far, it has only just recruited the basic personnel.
Tang Shiping is responsible for the logistics. Although Tang Shiping has tried his best to handle it, he is still somewhat powerless.
In addition to logistics and supervision, as the army expands, there are also various chores in the army, and many tedious things require people to handle them.
Fortunately, Hu Zhiyi brought a lot of people from Liaodong. Although the Chen and Hu clans were not a big clan, they at least had clan knowledge.
Although they don't have the ability to take the exam, most people can at least listen, read and write, and quite a few people can do accounting and arithmetic.
After all, the clan also needs to keep accounts and take care of the property, and one must not be illiterate.
Chen Wang withdrew his gaze. With the expansion of his power, his shortcomings were also exposed.
Most of the people under his command do not have high horizons due to their status, and those with talent and knowledge are extremely rare.
Perhaps, I can take advantage of this opportunity in Hanzhong Mansion to recruit some staff...
