Chen Wang stared at the map in front of him, and the historical materials and documents he had seen appeared in his mind.
There are very limited records in history books about the first half of the ninth year of Chongzhen.
Especially in March, the history of Gao Yingxiang's troops passing through Nanyang Prefecture in Henan Province, entering Xiangyang and Xunyang in Huguang Province and returning to Shaanxi is even more ambiguous.
The records of all parties are also quite messy, but it is not difficult for Chen Wang to sort them out.
If the timeline of the ninth year of Chongzhen is broken down by month, as well as the three regions of the south, north, and Guanwai, everything will be very clear as we slowly advance.
The south here refers to the Hanzhong Prefecture area in the south of Henan, Huguang, and Shaanxi Provinces, which is the area where Gao Yingxiang and others are active.
The north refers to the central and northern areas of Shaanxi, which is the area where Li Zicheng and Hui Dengxiang were active.
Outside the customs naturally refers to Houjin in the north.
January.
South: Gao Yingxiang and other troops were active in southern Zhili and other places. After being frustrated, they moved west to Guide and then returned to Henan.
February.
Northern battlefield: Shaanxi peasant army suffered heavy losses, Ningxia mutiny.
Southern battlefield: Gao Yingxiang attacked Mi County and Podeng Prefecture, joined forces with Zhang Xianzhong and other troops, and went south to Nanyang Prefecture.
Lu Xiangsheng ordered Zu Dalue to guard Runing Mansion to the east of Nanyang Mansion, and asked Zu Kuan to guard Dengzhou in Nanyang Mansion, while he led the army to pursue Gao Yingxiang.
During this period, Gao Yingxiang's main force was not seriously damaged, but he was exhausted from being chased all the way by Lu Xiangsheng.
Although in the battle with Lu Xiangsheng, there were always more defeats and fewer victories, the majority of the casualties were cavalry troops and ordinary infantry soldiers, not to mention injuries.
But this was actually the time when Gao Yingxiang's army was at its weakest.
Lu Xiangsheng knew that Gao Yingxiang wanted to cross the river southward and enter the Xunyang and Xiangyang areas, so he informed Wang Mengyin, the governor of Huguang, and Zushun of the Song Dynasty, the governor of Yunyang, in advance, and ordered them to lead troops to set up defenses along the Han River to prevent Gao Yingxiang from crossing the river.
However, after the two learned in advance that Gao Yingxiang was about to cross the river, they still failed to hold the Han River.
Gao Yingxiang led his elite cavalry to sneak across the Han River from Guanghua into Xunyang. The Han River defense line collapsed. Wang Mengyin, governor of Huguang, and Song Zushun, governor of Yunyang, did not dare to fight in the field and led their troops back to the city.
The victory in the Battle of Hanjiang gave Gao Yingxiang another idea.
After Lu Xiangsheng crossed the river. Gao Yingxiang returned to fight Lu Xiangsheng again.
Lu Xiangsheng suffered a disastrous defeat in this battle. He only fought back on a single horse and almost died. He also lost an important defense seal.
The Chronicle of Duke Sima Lu of the Ming Dynasty records:
"The thieves entered Xiangyang from the Yangskin Beach of Actinic Du, or suddenly arrived at Yun or Jun."
"General Qin Yiming and his deputy Lei Shisheng went into the mountains from Nanzhang and Gucheng Keqi to attack the bandits. In the later stage of Yiming's loss, the bandits found no help, so they cut off the road around the mountain and counterattacked from behind. Lei Shisheng died in the battle. "
"The man rode alone across Juejian, defeated his defense, and then joined the army."
"Border soldiers are trained in riding and shooting, but it is inconvenient for them to climb and ford. The mountains are fumigated and they are prone to diseases."
Gao Yingxiang led his troops calmly southward and entered the mountainous areas of Xunyang, Junzhou and other places.
After Lu Xiangsheng gathered the remaining troops, he met with the generals again and sent Zu Kuan to lead Guan Ning's army to attack again.
The Guan Ning army under Zu Kuan was already prone to diseases, lacked military pay, and was not familiar with the mountainous terrain. There were many mutiny callers at that time.
Lu Xiangsheng could only recruit local soldiers from Sichuan and Guizi to hunt down the peasant army in Junzhou.
"History of the Ming Dynasty·Biography·Volume 149" records:
"Kuan and other cavalry are not in a position to block the pass. Deputy General Wang Jinzhong's army rebelled. Many of Luo Dai and Liu Zhaoji's soldiers fled. The pursuers bent their bows and turned inwards."
"Xiang Sheng dispatched soldiers from Sichuan and Guizi to search for Junzhou thieves."
At this time, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong and other troops were active between Xunyang Mansion and Xiangyang Mansion.
However, Lu Xiangsheng suffered a disastrous defeat and his troops suffered serious losses. He was unable to pursue the attack again and could only temporarily stabilize the front and station troops along the Han River.
March.
After Shanxi suffered from successive years of drought and insect disasters, a major famine occurred.
At that time, the hungry people had no food and had to eat bark, grass and leaves.
When the bark and grass leaves are gone, people can eat them.
Famine also occurred in Nanyang, Henan, near Shanxi.
King Yujian of the Tang Dynasty reported that there was a famine in Nanyang, Henan, and there were mothers who cooked their daughters for food.
Emperor Chongzhen issued an edict to distribute 3,500 gold to support Shanxi and Nanyang, and exempted the affected counties in Shanxi from old and new pay.
In the south, Gao Yingxiang led the army to march from Yunyang and Xiangyang to Xing'an and Hanzhong.
In the north, Li Zicheng crossed Shang and Luo from Nanshan and invaded the northern part of Gongchang Prefecture. He was defeated by Zuo Guangxian and Cao Bianjiao and then fled all the way to Huan County in the north of Qingyang Prefecture.
There are only a few records in the history books, only a few words, and no large-scale war broke out.
But an extremely important event also happened this month. Although this event did not cause many waves at the time, it greatly affected the course of history - Sun Chuanting arrived.
In March of the ninth year of Chongzhen, Gan Xuekuo, the governor of Shaanxi, was dismissed, and Sun Chuanting took over as the new governor of Shaanxi.
At this time, Sun Chuanting had just come back to power. Although he had a small reputation and was praised as a "borderline talent", he was promoted to Prime Minister of Shuntian Prefecture, but his reputation was limited to Shuntian Prefecture.
When Sun Chuanting took over as governor of Shaanxi, not many people actually valued Sun Chuanting.
At this time, no one would have thought that less than two months after Sun Chuanting arrived in Shaanxi and took office, he would have done a major thing - capture Gao Yingxiang alive!
April.
In April, there were no major turmoils or incidents inside the pass, but something happened outside the pass that made Chongzhen extremely angry - Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor.
April 11th.
Outside the customs, Huang Taiji worshiped heaven at the Temple of Heaven in Shengjing, Liaodong, and "practiced the throne of the emperor". He was honored as the "Kuanwen Rensheng Emperor", named the country "Qing", and changed it to Chongde in Yuan Dynasty.
In the hinterland of the pass, officers and soldiers and bandits were in a stalemate in the Xunyang area.
It is only known that Gao Yingxiang has been active in the east of Hanzhong Mansion, and there is no record of how many cities he captured.
After Lu Xiangsheng suffered a defeat in March, he has been leading his troops in the Xuxiang area. Guan Ning's army has many cavalry who are not used to fighting in the mountains.
Therefore, after Lu Xiangsheng discussed with Hong Chengchou, in April of the ninth year of Chongzhen, Lu Xiangsheng sent Zu Kuan and Li Chongzhen to lead the Guan Ning Army to aid Shaanxi, and asked other generals to guard Xunyang and Xiangyang.
Let "the mother of Qin thieves come out and the mother of Yu thieves enter".
"The Chronicle of Sima Lugong, the Great Sima of the Ming Dynasty" records:
"In the fourth month, the generals were divided into the Yunxiang area, and they unified the Guanning troops into Henan. They ordered Zu Dalue to go to Yongning, and Zu Kuan and Li Chongzhen to go to Lingbao."
"At that time, all the thieves from Central Henan also moved into the Wanshan Mountains at the junction of Qin, Henan, and Shu. There was a severe famine in Henan, and the money was not coming, and there were troops on the border."
"History of the Ming Dynasty·Biography·Volume 149" records:
"The Chu and Yu thieves and Yingxiang are all in the mountains at the junction of Qin, Chu and Shu. Xiang Sheng is heading towards Xiangyang from Nanyang to advance his troops."
"There are many thieves but few soldiers. However, there is a great famine in Henan and lack of pay. The soldiers on the border are becoming more and more fierce."
"Chengchou and Xiang raised the issue, Guanzhong was flat, and the cavalry was used to advance the army into Shaanxi with a wide and heavy town. However, Xiangyang, Jun, Yi, Gu, Shangjin, Nanzhang, and the surrounding mountains were all thieves."
】
May.
In the northern battlefield, the original history was that Prime Minister Hui Deng, Hun Tianxing, and Man Gypsophila worked together to kill Yu Chongxiao, the commander-in-chief of Yansui Town, and thus regained momentum.
However, due to previous changes, Yu Chongxiao died at the hands of Prime Minister Hui Deng a year earlier.
The commander-in-chief of Yansui Town has now become Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong who historically escaped first in the Battle of Songjin, causing the collapse of the Ming army.
And now Hun Tianxing and Man Gypsophila have died in the dry salt pond.
Chen Wang could no longer imagine what the battlefield in the north would look like in the future.
In the southern battlefield.
Chongzhen issued an edict "amnesty to thieves from Shanxi and Shaanxi".
But although the edict sounded very nice, it actually had no effect.
Bao Fengqi, a member of the staff department of the Ministry of War who was ordered to recruit, proposed to solve the problem in his memorial.
It is necessary to first solve the problem of resettlement land, and first to provide loans for "cattle breeding expenses" to solve its survival problems. At the same time, it is necessary to have "people who are dedicated to cooking" so that it can be "livable, farmable, and happy to work in the new area." .
But in fact, apart from this paper edict, there were no other measures at all. After going around and over, the court still had no money and the treasury was empty.
The edict did not have any effect, and Gao Yingxiang led his troops from Hanzhong Mansion back to Huguang Province.
Then Lu Xiangsheng summoned a group of generals and troops to gather in Luoyang, Henan Prefecture, blocking his way back to the Central Plains.
Same month.
On the battlefield outside the pass, Huang Taiji sent Prince Azige of Duoluowuying County and others to unite 100,000 soldiers of the Eight Banners. The soldiers were divided into three groups and entered the pass through the air suction port and the Dushi Pass.
Wang Zhaokun, the censor who patrolled the pass, refused to fight and was defeated and died.
The Ming army retreated to Changping, and the Qing army invaded Juyong and Changping North Road again.
June.
In the southern battlefield, rogue bandits conquered many counties in Yunxi. Zhang Xianzhong and other troops joined forces to attack Xiangyang. Wang Mengyin, governor of Huguang, asked Lu Xiangsheng for help.
Gao Yingxiang led his soldiers and horses back to Hanzhong Mansion again and advanced all the way to the central area of Hanzhong Mansion.
The Qing army broke through many cities in June and threatened the capital. This was the Bingzi Incident.
July.
In the northern battlefield, the original timeline was that after Li Zicheng broke through the siege net set by the Ming army, he entered Suide and wanted to cross the Yellow River eastward and enter Shanxi.
However, Shanxi Governor Wu Sheng promptly led troops to fortify the area, and Li Zicheng's plan to cross the river was foiled.
Li Zicheng then led his troops back to his hometown of Mizhi, Yan'an Prefecture, and at the same time marched towards Yulin in the north.
In the southern battlefield, Gao Yingxiang came out of Nanshan and commanded his troops to drive directly to Xi'an, enter Xi'an Prefecture, and return to the Guanzhong Plain.
However, when the army reached Heishui Valley in Zhou Dynasty, they were ambushed by Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi Province, and captured. He was taken to Beijing and executed at Lingchi.
Lu Xiangsheng crossed the Xihe River and went south to Huguang, chasing down the peasant army and participating in the illegal activities of the Tang palace.
Same month.
The Qing army entered the capital, captured Changping and Liangxiang, and then besieged Shunyi.
Shangguan Xin, the magistrate of Shunyi, and Su Shiyu, the guerrilla general Zhi Guoqi and the commander of the capital, held the city to death. After the city fell, all three of them died for their country.
Kebaodi, entered Dingxing, went down to Fangshan, and fought in Zhuozhou, Gu'an, Xiongxian, Anzhou and other places.
Twelve cities were conquered, fifty-six battles were won, and 179,820 men and animals were captured.
They circled the capital tightly and ravaged the territory.
Chongzhen urgently mobilized Lu Xiangsheng to go north to defend the capital.
…………
Within seven months, the southern battlefield, the northern battlefield, and the battlefield outside the pass were all in turmoil.
Although the three battlefields appear to be independent of each other, they are actually connected together.
Chen Wang is thinking about how much the changes he caused will change the historical process.
What a huge storm will be caused by the flapping wings of this butterfly.
The rescue of Cao Wenzhao and the early participation of Gao Jie have already caused changes to begin on the northern battlefield.
However, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui, Gezuo Fifth Battalion and others have not been affected for the time being, and the southern battlefield is still developing along the original historical process.
The layout of Hanzhong Mansion is actually not much different from the original time and space, except that the rogue bandits are weaker.
Zhang Yuan and Lu Shi surrounded Hanzhong, but in the end they could not capture it for a long time. The Hanzhong Guards recovered their strength and defended Hanzhong City.
The rogue bandits lost their spirit, suffered setbacks one after another, and their power was constantly frustrated. Then these people joined Gao Yingxiang's army after Gao Yingxiang entered Hanzhong Mansion.
Chen Wang took out the military order from Hong Chengchou from his sleeve.
The letter clearly states that the safety of King Rui should be the first priority in the defense of Hanzhong.
What Chen Wang wants to do now is to restore history as much as possible without affecting the original process.
Because, no matter what, Gao Yingxiang must die.
If Gao Yingxiang had not died, the bandits would not have surrendered on a large scale.
If the rogue bandits do not surrender on a large scale and still choose to resist stubbornly, then Henan, Huguang, South Zhili, Shaanxi, Shanxi and other places will be even more corrupt.
History will also be completely changed beyond recognition, and everything will be unknown.
You will lose the advantage of completely losing the prophet.
Although the butterfly effect has now been triggered and the original process has been changed, the general trajectory has not changed.
Chen Wang is very aware of his current strength.
The only people under his command now are a mixture of more than 6,300 new recruits and veterans, among which there are only more than 900 cavalry, and including the personal guards, there are only a thousand.
Although the weapons and equipment are excellent, they are only compared to ordinary battalion soldiers, and are still much worse than the elite among the Qing soldiers.
Now the combat power of the veterans under his command is at most comparable to that of the ordinary Qing army. If they encounter the elite of the Qing army, they will inevitably fall into a hard fight.
Chen Wang knew very well how much he weighed, and the military power he had now was simply not enough to expand him.
Chen Wang slowly sorted out each incident, and the texts in the documents and classics he had read emerged one by one in his mind.
"Xing'an...Xunyang..."
"Hanyin...Shiquan..."
Chen Wang's eyes slowly swept over the map of Hanzhong Mansion on the table.
If any city in Hanzhong Prefecture falls, he, as the general of Hanzhong, will not be able to escape responsibility.
"The first priority is King Rui's safety..."
Chen Wang's eyes flickered, considering the military order sent by Hong Chengchou.
Chen Wang's eyes gradually moved to the left, and finally stopped at Chenggu County.
The middle of Hanzhong Mansion is Hanzhong Plain.
If you want to go from the eastern part of Hanzhong Prefecture to the central part, you must pass through Chenggu.
To the east of Chenggu County, there are two roads that can lead directly to Xi'an Prefecture, one is Tangluo Road and the other is Ziwu Road.
