Hanzhongfu, Xing'an.
In the early Ming Dynasty, this place was not called Xing'an, but Jinzhou.
In the eleventh year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, heavy rains continued day and night and floods spread and submerged the entire city.
The current Xing'an Suo is the new city built in that year at the foot of Zhaotai Mountain in the south of the city.
From that year on, Jinzhou was also renamed Xing'an Prefecture.
The meaning of Xing'an is prosperity and peace.
Perhaps it was because the place name of Xing'an was so well-received that no major disasters occurred around Xing'an in the following decades.
Over the past few decades, as the east goes east and spring comes, Xing'an City has gradually become prosperous and peaceful as the metaphor implies.
The wars and turmoil in the outside world seem to have never had much to do with Xing'an, although in recent years there have been rogue bandits scurrying into Xing'an.
But as the largest city in the east of Hanzhong Prefecture, those rogue bandits had no way of breaking through the solid city walls.
It’s just that now Xing’an may no longer be able to stay out of the situation and continue to be prosperous and peaceful as its name implies...
Xing'an City was under complete martial law at this time. There were either soldiers patrolling the streets or government officials armed with swords. Residents in the city were not allowed to even step out of the city without permission.
Zhou Yumao looked solemn, frowned, pressed the Yanling knife, and walked along the street toward the west of Xing'an City.
Dozens of servants, all wearing helmets and armor, equipped with bows and swords, followed Zhou Yumao on foot.
The soldiers along the road were shocked when they saw Zhou Yumao, who was wearing general armor and surrounded by people, and quickly knelt down to salute.
Zhou Yumao's eyes did not stay on them. He strode past the saluting soldiers and walked quickly towards the city guard office on West Street.
The soldiers who were ignored did not complain at all because they were ignored by Zhou Yumao, they just felt relieved.
The look on Zhou Yumao's face was not pretty, and no one wanted to touch it at this time.
The City Defense Department is the military department responsible for the defense of Xing'an City. The chief officer of the City Guard Department is Deputy Qianhu, who is under the jurisdiction of Xing'an Prefecture Qianhu.
At this time, there were soldiers standing outside the city guard office. The soldiers guarding the city guard office were all wearing armor and helmets, and they all had bows and swords.
Zhou Yumao's eyes moved slightly, and he took a glance and noticed that there were a large number of war horses tied in the stables on one side.
The soldiers guarding outside the city guard office looked like elites at first glance. Not to mention their sophisticated weapons and equipment, just by looking at their momentum, you could tell that they were elites who had experienced battles.
Before doing guerrilla work in Hanzhong, Zhou Yumao originally led troops in Yansui Town, and his eyesight was not bad.
These soldiers were filled with murderous intent, and they showed their ability and sharpness when walking and standing. They were definitely the best among the best.
There are definitely no more than a hundred people in one battalion of such elites.
After chasing him all the way, Zhou Yumao narrowed his eyes slightly, slowed down his pace, adjusted his breathing, and then walked straight towards the gate of the City Guards Department.
But just as Zhou Yumao was about to step into the city guard office, a hand was placed in front of him, blocking his way.
The atmosphere became tense in an instant. Zhou Yumao's expression did not change much, but the colors of the servants behind him changed one after another.
The soldiers outside the garrison in the city still looked indifferent, but many soldiers who had been guarding far away had already approached.
Zhou Yumao raised his right hand to signal the people behind him to calm down, then clasped his hands into fists, bowed slightly, lowered his head and said in a deep voice.
"Hanzhong guerrilla Zhou Yumao, please see me, please pass on the message."
The general who was responsible for guarding the door of the department also hugged his fists in return, and then said calmly.
"General Zhou, please wait here."
Although he said please, there was not much politeness in his words.
The expressions of all the servants following Zhou Yumao darkened again, but they made no further moves.
Zhou Yumao originally thought that he might have to wait at the door for a long time, but unexpectedly he received the news that he was allowed to enter.
After a brief hesitation, Zhou Yumao took steps towards the door, but just as he stepped through the door, he stopped and turned his head to face the servants behind him.
"You guys wait outside first."
Faced with Zhou Yumao's personal military order, all the servants behind him calmed down and bowed their heads in compliance with the order.
After Zhou Yumao gave the military order, he turned around and walked into the city guard office. He didn't encounter anyone blocking him along the way.
After walking all the way outside the main hall of the city guard office, Zhou Yumao slowed down.
Outside the main hall, a dozen military generals stood in rows, and an invisible sense of oppression rushed towards them.
Zhou Yumao took a deep breath and stepped into the main hall.
Stepping into the main hall, Zhou Yumao lowered his head, half-knelt on the ground, bowed and said in a deep voice.
"In my humble position, I met Mao, and I went to see the general."
On the main seat in the main hall of the city guard office, Chen Wang was sitting upright, wearing a fish-scale half-armor and a narrow-sleeved cloud-shouldered robe with sleeves and knees.
Looking at Zhou Yumao who was kneeling respectfully, Chen Wang nodded secretly in his heart.
As they were both generals and had a stomach, strictly speaking, Zhou Yumao didn't have to kneel down.
However, Zhou Yumao still knelt down in a polite manner, and his attitude was very humble.
Chen Wang's purpose was to test whether Zhou Yumao was honest enough to serve under him.
Now it seems that Zhou Yumao has no intention of confronting him face to face, but still has some sense of restraint.
As the saying goes, the higher the rank, the higher the rank, the higher the rank. In the army, there is a clear distinction between superiors and subordinates.
There are not many unruly subordinates who often appear in dramas in reality.
Although Chen Wang didn't know what Zhou Yumao was thinking, at least now Zhou Yumao was honest and respectful, and that was enough.
Zhou Yumao only had more than a thousand soldiers under his command. If they really wanted to fight, their effect would be better than nothing.
Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong had hundreds of thousands of followers, and more than a thousand people would be submerged if they were put in even if the waves could not lift up.
Moreover, Chen Wang had already conducted a review yesterday. His combat strength was considered good among the mainland troops, but there was no way to compare with the border troops.
The armor coverage rate is quite high. The main soldiers in the camp all wear cloth armor or cotton armor, but it is unknown how many iron pieces are inside and how protective they are.
Chen Wang raised his hand slightly and continued.
"It's been a long journey around Youzhi, please take a seat."
After hearing Chen Wang's order, Zhou Yumao responded again, and then followed the guidance and sat on the seat on the right.
Chen Wang sat on the chair and looked at Zhou Yumao sitting on the right.
Zhou Yumao did not wear a helmet on his head, but a net scarf.
Zhou Yumao is not that old, about thirty years old, with steady eyes, slightly dark complexion, his face is dusty, and his brows are filled with fatigue.
"I just arrived in Xing'an not long ago, and I'm not very familiar with the surrounding situation. How are the rogue bandits near Xing'an doing now? Is there any news about Zhou Guerrilla?"
Zhou Yumao had just sat down and when he heard Chen Wang's question, he quickly stood up and lowered his head to report.
"Seven days ago, I had a fierce battle with the Sky Harrier King Cheng in the east of Ziyang City. After receiving the information from the general, I did not dare to neglect and moved camp at night to find my way back to Xing'an."
"Five days ago, Jin-winged Penghulu Shi led a large number of soldiers and horses from outside Xing'an City and rushed towards Ziyang. There were about 5,000 horsemen and more than 1,000 hungry troops."
Chen Wang's eyes narrowed slightly, and Lu Shi turned to run towards Ziyang as expected. He was probably now in the same place as the Sky Harrier King Cheng.
Although Lu Shi was the leader of the thieves, his predecessor was just an ordinary villager, so he had some experience.
At the beginning, Lu Shi was running around like a headless fly. The time when he really started to make planned actions was when he pursued him all the way to Xixiang County.
After arriving at Lu Shi, he went all the way east, then passed Hanyin, took the road to Xing'an, and then headed southwest to look for Wang Cheng, the harrier in Ziyang.
It is absolutely impossible to know the distribution of cities in Hanzhong Prefecture based on Lu Shi alone.
Lu Shi should have gathered the Jingqi and the cavalry under Zhang Yuan's command. Among the Jingqi and the cavalry, there were people who knew the geography to make suggestions for Lu Shi.
"You and Wang Cheng have been fighting for many days. How many casualties have there been? How many people are there under Wang Cheng's command? What is the situation in Ziyang County?"
Chen Wang frowned slightly and asked questions one after another.
Zhou Yumao didn't think for long, he just paused and then started to report.
"Wang Cheng was cunning and occupied a mountainous area in the northeast of Ziyang County to set up camp. We laid siege for many days and only uprooted the outer strongholds. We were about to attack the main stronghold when we received the news from the general, so we were unable to achieve much. results."
"Over the past few days, more than 300 people have been killed in the army, and more than 2,000 bandits have been killed or injured, but most of them are hungry troops."
"Wang Cheng still has nearly 30,000 people under his command. There should be 700 elite cavalry and more than 4,000 horse troops. The rest are all hungry soldiers, and there are also many women, children, old and weak."
Zhou Yumao had already memorized this information by heart before he came. Chen Wang was now a staff general of Hanzhong Mansion and had led troops in pursuit. He would definitely lead the campaign in the future, so he would naturally ask questions.
If you don’t know everything you ask, you will definitely leave an impression of incompetence.
In order to be able to answer the questions, Zhou Yumao naturally prepared a draft in advance.
"There are now more than 400 militiamen and a thousand guardsmen in Ziyang County. The county magistrate has mobilized strong men to defend the city. There is still enough food and grass in the city to last for more than a few months."
"Last year, all the cities had their walls reinforced, and all kinds of defense equipment and materials were prepared. They were quite sufficient. If the rogues didn't have siege equipment, they probably wouldn't be able to capture Ziyang County."
Chen Wang looked at Zhou Yumao who was standing at the bottom, and information about Zhou Yumao began to emerge in his mind.
As a general in the Hanzhong Prefecture, he naturally obtained information about Zhou Yumao from Hong Chengchou.
Reinforcing the city wall, making city defense equipment, and preparing city defense materials were all measures Zhou Yumao took to stabilize the banditry in Hanzhong Mansion.
As a guerrilla, Zhou Yumao was completely qualified, and even exceeded the passing mark by a lot.
It was not Zhou Yumao's fault that Hanzhong Mansion fell into turmoil again.
Before the civil uprising broke out in Feng County, Zhang Yuan and Wang Cheng had been suppressed, and bandits and bandits from various places could not pose a threat to the cities.
At that time, Hanzhong Mansion was relatively stable.
However, when civil uprisings broke out in Feng County, Chenggu and other places, the Hanzhong Guards responsible for suppressing Zhang Yuan were affected and quickly defeated. This caused the Hanzhong Prefecture to lose control.
At that time, Zhou Yumao was confronting Wang Cheng in the eastern part of Hanzhong Prefecture, and was really beyond his reach to face the chaos in the central part of Hanzhong Prefecture.
The civil uprising in Feng County was completely unexpected. If the government's tax recovery had not been too harsh and bullying, the civil uprising could have been avoided.
Originally, Zhou Yumao was serving as a guerrilla in Yansui Town, and his military exploits were pretty good. Later, when Hanzhong Prefecture set up a guerrilla force, he was transferred to Hanzhong Prefecture.
"There are more than 6,300 soldiers who will follow me safely back to Xing'an, including more than 2,400 guardsmen and more than 1,300 militiamen."
Zhou Yumao had almost a hundred servants under his command, and a total of 1,200 soldiers in the camp, including 2,500 auxiliaries, and their combat effectiveness was pretty good.
Although Chen Wang did not ask this question, Zhou Yumao still reported them all together. Anyway, these questions will definitely be asked at that time.
"Six thousand three hundred people..."
Chen Wang calculated in his mind that this number was not too small.
These guards and militiamen are not pure recruits.
Zhou Yumao conducted training for these guards and militiamen for a period of time.
No one in the militia wore armor. They were militiamen after all, so naturally they were not allowed to wear armor.
Most of these militiamen are spearmen. Their mission is to help defend the city and help transport baggage in peacetime...
Of course, there is also serving as cannon fodder on the battlefield.
During the Chongzhen period, the militias in various places were not managed by local squires, but were recruited by magistrates of counties and prefectures in various places as troops to defend the city.
"How many soldiers and horses are there in Xunyang?"
Chen Wang put his hand on the table and knocked lightly.
He was originally going to talk about these things later, but since Zhou Yumao reported in advance, he decided to start with this matter first.
Zhou Yumao did not expect that Chen Wang would ask about the situation in Xunyang. Xunyang City is located in the northeast of Xing'an City, close to Xunyang Mansion, and there are no rogue bandits there.
Several groups of bandits that were originally entrenched around Xunyang have been wiped out by him. Wang Cheng is entrenched in Ziyang. If you want to go from Ziyang to Xunyang, you must pass through Xing'an City.
Xunyang didn't pose any threat now, so Zhou Yumao didn't deliberately remember Xunyang's information.
As for the strength of the city defenders, Zhou Yumao still had some impressions. After recalling it, Zhou Yumao also gave an answer.
"Xunyang City now has more than 300 guards and more than 500 militiamen."
Chen Wang's eyes flashed. There were 800 people in Xunyang City and 6,200 people in Xing'an. Including his own troops, the total number of troops he could mobilize now was 13,300.
Thirteen thousand three hundred people may sound like a lot, but if the number to be compared is hundreds of thousands, then it is not much at all.
Chen Wang leaned forward slightly, stared at Zhou Yumao, and asked,
"If I ask you to mobilize all the people in Xing'an and Xunyang, how many people can you mobilize in total?"
Zhou Yumao did not answer Chen Wang's question immediately this time. He had not drafted this question in advance.
Moreover, Chen Wang's question reminded him of an extremely terrifying thing.
