March 4, the ninth year of Chongzhen.
Shaanxi Province, Hanzhong Prefecture, Baihe County.
Baihe County is named after the Baishi River within its territory.
Baihe County is located at the junction of Xunyang Prefecture and Hanzhong Prefecture.
The terrain is high in the south and low in the north, with mountains and valleys alternating with each other in the county, and there is no one hundred-acre flat land.
Surrounded by Chu on three sides in the east, north and south, it is the choke point from the Central Plains to Shaanxi and Sichuan.
In ancient times, it was known as "the head of Qin and the tail of Chu". All goods that wanted to enter Hanzhong Prefecture from the east had to pass through Baihe County.
It is precisely because of this trade road that Baihe County has been prosperous for thousands of years.
However, Baihe County may not continue to prosper from now on...
Billowing black smoke rose and the fire spread among the streets and cities in Baihe County.
Just three days ago, Baihe County had fallen.
In the north of Baihe County, a group of soldiers wearing gray clothes and gray scarves were heading west along the official road.
Their eyes were calm, and they moved forward slowly with spears on their shoulders.
On the official road, except for the dull and chaotic footsteps, there was no other unnecessary sound.
Their goal is to the west of Baihe County - Hanzhong Prefecture in Shaanxi Province!
These soldiers, who marched neatly, marched without disorder, and wore gray clothes and gray scarves, were not Ming troops.
They are the Chuang Army, the Chuang Army under Gao Yingxiang's command.
Unlike other bandits who dress messily, Gao Yingxiang has begun to require neat military uniforms.
The main color in General Gao Yingxiang is gray.
Gray is basically dyed with plant ash.
Dying other colors can be expensive, but dyeing gray is easy.
All you need to do is pour plant ash on a white cloth, roll it over and rinse it, and it will turn gray after drying.
Plant ash is not hard to find. Every day in the army, a large amount of plant ash is produced for cooking and burning firewood.
Neat military uniforms can improve the appearance of the army, but improving the appearance of the army seems to be just a superficial project.
But in fact, the external appearance of an army can have a great impact on morale.
Gao Yingxiang had never read any military books, nor had he listened to any lectures by famous generals, but the battlefield was the best teacher.
One thing Gao Yingxiang knows very well is that those officers and soldiers who have neat military appearance and orderly formation are often more powerful than other officers and soldiers.
Not only have the specifications of military uniforms been unified, but the Chuang army under Gao Yingxiang and other bandits are actually different in many ways.
Most of the peasant army rested immediately after they were safe, looting everywhere to replenish food and grass.
Gao Yingxiang, on the other hand, divided his troops into subdivisions. Some of the troops trained, while the other part went to look for food and grass, taking turns.
Now Gao Yingxiang has 8,000 fine cavalry, more than 26,000 horse troops, and 20,000 troops under his command.
There are 20,000 women and dependents in the army, and more than 30,000 extra-staff soldiers. The total number of soldiers exceeds 100,000, and the strength is the first of the 72 battalions.
Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui and others combined could only barely match Gao Yingxiang's strength.
Gao Yingxiang's position as the leader of the alliance was not so much because of his sufficient prestige, but rather because of his overwhelming strength, so that everyone could only bow his head.
You must know that among the seventy-two battalions, the leader of the twenty-fourth battalion can only have a thousand elite cavalry.
The middle twenty-fourth battalion only had a few hundred elite cavalry, while the lower twenty-fourth battalion was even weaker, with a total number of only a few thousand.
…
Gao Yingxiang wore a Fan Yangli on his head and a plain white jersey. The right sleeve of the jersey was tucked behind his waist, leaving his right shoulder exposed.
Under the battle robe, he wears an indigo mountain-patterned half-armor and a dragon-patterned gold-and-vermilion battle skirt.
Gao Yingxiang's face looked much more haggard than when he was in Shaanxi half a year ago.
His beard and hair were messy, and his eyes were bloodshot.
Gao Yingxiang rode his white horse and stood on a high slope, gazing at the mountains in the distance.
All the personal guards led horses and carried swords, silently guarding under the high slope.
Gao Yingxiang's eyes were cold, and he thought of what was written in the imperial newspaper.
One million taels of military expenditure will be issued, and the thieves will be eliminated within six months...
Those high-ranking officials who sit high in the temple would rather spend millions or even tens of millions of taels of silver to counter rebellion, but are not willing to spend a little money to relieve the victims...
Gao Yingxiang closed his eyes, and the warm wind blowing from the southeast slowly blew over the hills.
"Instead of sitting there and dying of hunger, why not die of stealing!"
Gao Yingxiang can no longer remember who said this sentence first.
But this is not important. This sentence has already spread throughout Shaanxi, and even the whole world...
For several months, I traveled from Shaanxi Province to Henan Province, then from Henan Province to Nanzhili, and then back to Henan, all the way south to Huguang.
Traveling to many places and traveling thousands of miles, nine years have passed since the first year of Chongzhen.
In the past nine years, the Ming army has been following like maggots on the tarsus.
For nine years, Gao Yingxiang did not dare to slack off or relax for a day.
He knew how valuable the head on his neck was and how much those officers and soldiers wanted to take his life.
Gao Yingxiang sighed softly and opened his eyes. He was too exhausted.
In the past nine years, more and more soldiers and horses have been under his command, and more and more people have followed him.
Originally there were only a few hundred people under his command. When he walked out of Ansai, the number of soldiers and horses under his command had grown to more than 3,000, and then to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.
Along the way, many of those who walked in front of him, walked with him, and followed him have passed away.
"Xi'an..."
Gao Yingxiang's eyes were deep. His proudest moment was when he became the leader of the 72nd Battalion.
He unified the 72nd battalion and led an army of one million people, with a battalion of hundreds of miles. The beacon light was shining brightly in Xijing.
But even with all their efforts, they still failed to capture the city of Xi'an.
The power of the officers and soldiers is becoming more and more powerful, and the troops coming to counter the rebellion are becoming more and more powerful.
Although the forces under his command are constantly growing, they are always inferior in skills and power when facing the officers and soldiers.
To be honest, his ambition was being wasted by the constant running and fleeing.
The world is so big that he didn't even finish it in nine years.
Even in nine years, there is no way to change it.
No matter how many officers and soldiers they defeated, no matter how many battles they won.
Officers and soldiers will always come in a steady stream from all over the world...
This time, officers and soldiers recruited a large number of Liaodong cavalry from the north.
In the Battle of Chuzhou, Zu Kuan led the Liaodong Iron Cavalry to appear on the battlefield like a divine soldier descending from heaven, and then easily stepped through the multiple lines of defense he had laid out...
Everyone knows the result - a complete failure.
Gao Yingxiang led the horse and turned around, looking back to the east with a gloomy expression.
Lu Xiangsheng is now gathering troops in Nanyang Prefecture to guard the Han River, and Xiangyang Prefecture is also gathering heavy troops.
If you attack Xiangyang at this time, you will inevitably be flanked by two sides. Now is not a good opportunity to attack Xiangyang.
In the past nine years, although they seemed to be powerful, they had conquered countless cities and lands along the way.
But no big city was captured.
Fengyang can't be counted, because Fengyang didn't even have a city wall, and it was flat and there was no obstacle.
The sound of footsteps came from behind, but Gao Yingxiang did not turn his head.
"Our vanguard has crossed the Baihe River and arrived in Xunyang. The first reconnaissance cavalry has harvested secret returns from outside the city. Please check it out, Your Majesty."
The speaker's name is Liu Zhe. He is Gao Yingxiang's deputy general and has been following Gao Yingxiang since Ansai.
Gao Yingxiang looked sideways slightly, his red phoenix eyes flashed with a glint, and then he slightly stretched his right hand downwards.
Liu Zhe noticed Gao Yingxiang's actions and immediately stepped forward and handed the letter to Gao Yingxiang with both hands.
Gao Yingxiang didn't know much about literacy before, but he started learning continuously after the uprising.
If the transmission of some military information is not recorded with pen and paper, errors will inevitably occur, especially for this kind of intelligence gathering.
"Chen Wang..."
Gao Yingxiang narrowed his eyes slightly, his memory has always been very good.
When he saw Chen Wang's name, he immediately remembered the eight-year battle of Chunhua.
He knew how capable his nephew was, but Li Zicheng was defeated despite a crowd of tens of thousands.
Then Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan, who he sent to Gongchang Mansion as a secret chess player, were also killed by Chen Wang.
"General Hanzhong..."
Gao Yingxiang's heart sank slightly. Before, Chen Wang was just a guerrilla, but in less than half a year, he was promoted to a general.
This kind of promotion speed is extremely fast in the entire Ming army system.
Gao Yingxiang glanced at ten lines and quickly read the contents of the letter.
After reading the letter, Gao Yingxiang frowned more and more, and his expression began to become uncertain.
Even though the letter clearly stated the matter in black and white, he still couldn't believe the information recorded in the letter.
Because what I wrote at the end of the letter was a bit too unbelievable.
"On February 20th, the officers and soldiers of the brigade evacuated from Xing'an City towards Hanyin."
(End of chapter)
