In the ninth year of Chongzhen, June 29th.
There was a killing spree in Xi'an Mansion, outside Xi'an City, and in the Ming Army camp.
Outside the Chinese army's tent, a group of Ming army generals stood on both sides with their helmets on.
There were soldiers on all sides guarding the area, with spears and spears like a forest.
Sun Chuanting entered Xi'an on May 16 and officially took up his duties, succeeding Gan Xuekuo as governor. It had been more than a month since then.
After Sun Chuanting entered Shaanxi, the first thing he did was to reorganize the guard station, inventory the farmland, and recruit pacesetters.
The Ming army with bright armor and high morale now stationed outside Xi'an City is the model battalion directly under Sun Chuanting's command.
Most of these soldiers are elite warriors selected from the guards in various places, and some are elites drawn from the garrisoned battalions in various places. Their momentum is naturally compared with ordinary camp guards. There is a huge difference.
"Da da da--"
The rapid sound of horse hoofbeats came from the outside, and the Ming army generals and generals who had been waiting for a long time outside the Chinese army tent all looked sideways.
A roll of yellow dust rolled in, and a group of cavalry galloped from outside the gate of the Chinese army.
Whether it was the generals wearing general armor or the soldiers standing outside the tent with weapons in their hands, they all bowed their heads and worshiped.
"Welcome to the military gate!
"
Before the sound of greeting had finished, Sun Chuanting had already fallen from his horse to the ground.
Sun Chuanting was tall and handsome, with a dignified appearance. His short beard was thick and black. His eyes flashed from time to time, and there was an unconcealable energy in his eyes.
Unlike ordinary civil servants whose faces are extremely well maintained, Sun Chuanting's can clearly see the traces of time.
Sun Chuanting held a whip in one hand and a sword in the other. He nodded slightly and strode toward the central military tent.
The soldiers guarding the Chinese army's tent had already stepped forward and opened the curtain.
A group of military generals outside the tent stood up after Sun Chuanting entered the tent, and poured into the tent one after another according to their rank and military position.
Sun Chuanting sat on the first seat, took off the three-flag moonlight and dark golden helmet he wore on top, and placed it on the wooden table.
He did not wear official uniforms and black gauze hats like other governors and governors, but wore armor and armor and was fully armed.
He was still wearing a dark gold fish scale breastplate, a fish scale brocade vermilion war skirt, and blue and black military academy cavalry boots on his feet.
】
Just when Sun Chuanting was sitting down, a group of military generals had already divided themselves into positions in order.
Sun Chuanting's sharp eyes swept over the generals in the tent one by one and asked in a deep voice.
"Is there any news from Hanzhong Mansion?"
"Report back to the army gate."
Li Yingke, a Chinese guerrilla, stepped out of the line with fists clasped and replied respectfully.
"At two o'clock today, we received an urgent report of the arrival of the guerrilla Zhou Yumao from Hanzhong Prefecture."
"The frontline of the intruders has reached Xixiang and Yangxian counties. They have not yet crossed the city walls, but most of them are temporarily in Shiquan, Hanyin and Hanyin."
"The intruders tried unsuccessfully to attack the city a few days ago, and instead looted the surrounding towns."
Sun Chuanting's eyes were calm and his mood was peaceful.
"Is there no news from Xing'an Prefecture yet?"
Li Yingke shook his head and replied.
"Since June 18, no news has been received from Xing'an Prefecture, and our army has lost contact with it for more than ten days."
Li Yingke paused, thought for a moment, and then continued.
"The intruders also entered the Hanzhong Prefecture from the west and besieged Xing'an in April. The siege lasted for two months. Although they conquered Pingli, Ziyang, and Xunyang cities, they failed to conquer Xing'an Prefecture City in the end."
Sun Chuanting frowned slightly and asked.
"If I remember correctly, the guard general of Xing'an City is the current general of Hanzhong Mansion, named Chen Wang."
"Junmen remembers it correctly."
Li Yingke recalled Chen Wang's information in his mind. He was responsible for liaison with Hanzhong Mansion, so he naturally knew the current situation of Hanzhong Mansion in advance.
"Chen Wang was originally a guerrilla in Datong Town. Due to his military exploits in the Battle of Hanzhong, he was recorded as Hanzhong General. He officially accepted the appointment in the first month of this year, and then led the troops to continue to suppress the remaining bandits in Hanzhong Prefecture. Soon after entering Xing'an Prefecture, the bandits passed through Nanyang Prefecture and committed suicide. Rush into Xing'an Prefecture."
Sun Chuanting nodded slightly. When he first took office as governor of Shaanxi, he spent most of his energy on recruiting model soldiers and rectifying military and government affairs. He was not familiar with most of the generals in the province.
The admiral in charge of military affairs in Shaanxi Province was still Hong Chengchou, and the areas he could govern were quite limited.
Just ten days ago, he was inspecting the fields occupied by wealthy gentry and wealthy households in various military stations. A military report from Xing'an Prefecture interrupted his original plan.
"The intruders returned to Xing'an from Xunxiang and marched northward. The march was several miles wide. It was difficult to exhaust all the troops and horses. There were many horses and elite cavalry, but few were old or weak."
Sun Chuanting narrowed his eyes slightly. On his way to his post, he learned about the situation in Shaanxi Province in advance and had a general understanding of most of the generals in the province.
Li Yingke's report also made him remember more information.
Hanzhong Prefecture was established in the ninth year as a general. Chen Wang was the first general of Hanzhong Prefecture. He was from Liaodong. He was originally a servant of Cao Wenzhao. He was promoted to the rank of camp general due to the Battle of Chunhua, and then to the rank of general due to his merits. .
There is a Liao cavalry of nearly a thousand people under his command. They were originally the cavalry under Zhang Waijia, the deputy commander-in-chief of Shanhai Town. Zhang Waijia died in battle and was taken over by him.
As a general in Hanzhong, Chen Wang had nearly 3,000 soldiers under his command. It was said that he also had many auxiliary soldiers recruited under his command.
A rough calculation shows that if Chen Wang's men were to defend the city, they would have more than 5,000 men to support them.
Five thousand people, plus the supporting guards and civilians, were able to hold off the invading army under Gao Yingxiang's siege for nearly two months. They were a talented general.
Although he has never met Chen Wang, Sun Chuanting also has a rough outline based on this information.
"How many days will it take to complete the assembly of the capable guards in the mansion?"
Sun Chuanting raised his eyes and looked at a guard officer wearing mountain pattern armor beside him, and asked.
Seeing Sun Chuanting's gaze, the guard officer suddenly felt on pins and needles, and small drops of sweat broke out on his forehead.
"It will take about five days to report to the military gate, collect the ordnance, transfer procedures, and come from the place..."
Sun Chuanting frowned coldly and interrupted the guard officer's words.
"Three days."
"I will give you three days. Each guard will mobilize 4,000 combat-ready troops to Xi'an."
"This...obeys the order..."
The guard officer's face turned pale, but he did not dare to respond.
He must not dare to reject Sun Chuanting at this time.
There are three fires when a new official takes office, and Sun Chuanting's fire as governor is more intense than that of the previous governors.
The commander of the right guard of Xi'an was demoted and fined by Sun Chuanting because of poor performance. He had learned from past mistakes and did not want to suffer the same punishment himself.
"Three days..."
After asking all the questions, Sun Chuanting did not go to account for the generals.
Although Sun Chuanting was different from Hong Chengchou, who was arbitrary in Qian Gang, he did not ask the generals for their opinions.
Because even if he asks questions, these generals will not give any useful suggestions. This is the unspoken rule today.
Formulating strategies is what the governors should do. As generals, they are only responsible for fighting the war. They can fight how the governor tells them to fight.
The so-called military meeting is actually just an occasion to announce military orders.
Sun Chuanting thought about the time in his mind, and it would be July in three days.
Time is too tight and there is not much time to train these guards.
Sun Chuanting lowered his head and looked at the map on the table.
The map placed on his desk at this time depicts the internal situation of the entire Shaanxi Province.
Cities, mountains and rivers from various places are all depicted on it one by one, extremely clear.
The map is interlaced with black and red.
In the central core of the huge Xi'an Mansion, there are only a few red flags, but the surrounding areas are covered with black flags representing rogue bandits.
Sun Chuanting looked calm, and his eyes fell on the map at the Hanzhong Prefecture, Shiquan, Hanyin, and Xing'an Prefecture.
The black flags representing rogue bandits are densely covered in every corner from Xing'an all the way to Shiquan.
The last time there were nearly 300,000 bandits who entered Hanzhong Mansion, the leaders were Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong.
At that time, the rogue cavalry had penetrated deep into the surrounding area of Shiquan.
But this time, there were only more than 200,000 bandits who entered Hanzhong Mansion. Zhang Xianzhong was not here, and Gao Yingxiang was still leading the troops.
This time the rogue cavalry crossed Shiquan and walked dozens of miles westward, entering the area around Xixiang and Yangxiang.
"There are many horses, fine cavalry, and few old and weak..."
According to information from Henan Province, the reason why the rogue bandits returned to Hanzhong Prefecture was because they suffered a setback at Jingmen at the end of May, and their hungry soldiers and troops suffered a lot of losses.
The rogue bandits who entered Hanzhong Prefecture stopped attacking Xixiang and Yangxian County within a few days. They did not seem to have a firm determination, but more to rob people and food.
According to the previous methods of the rogue bandits, Gao Yingxiang's return to Hanzhong Mansion this time should be to coerce more people into the army, and then return to Xunxiang.
The best evidence is that what the troops did before entering Hanzhong Mansion is similar to what they do now.
In the Xuxiang Mansion area, the upper battalions of the 72nd battalion, including Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Guoneng, and sweeper king Zhang Yichuan, did not withdraw. They were still confronting the Huguang battalion and the Henan troops led by Lu Xiangsheng.
But Sun Chuanting had already noticed something different from it.
Sun Chuanting's eyes kept wandering on the map in front of the table.
In the current situation, there are many things that are full of doubts.
Why did Li Zicheng want to go north to Mizhi County in Yan'an Prefecture? Northern Shaanxi had been hit by successive disasters and there was already no food to be found. The land was thousands of miles away. What could he find there?
Shanxi has also been hit by large-scale disasters this year. It is impossible for Li Zicheng not to know this news.
Most of the rogue bandits in Shaanxi are active in the mountainous areas near Tongguan in the east of Xi'an Prefecture, and in the mountainous areas of Yan'an Prefecture.
The main force of the rogue bandits took a desperate stance in Xunxiang and Xiangxiang, as if they were preparing to fight to the death with the officers and soldiers.
Sun Chuanting looked at the map and Hanzhong Mansion on the map.
He was thinking, if he were Gao Yingxiang and one of the bandits, how he would survive and what choices he would make.
Looking at the Hanzhong Mansion on the map, a plan gradually emerged in Sun Chuanting's mind.
Two hundred thousand troops plundered Yangxian and Xixiang, marched into Hanzhong, and attacked Baocheng in the north.
The city of Hanzhong was fortified, and there were more than 1,000 battalions and more than 4,000 guards in the city. A large number of wealthy households in the city could recruit soldiers and servants to help defend the city, making it difficult to capture Hanzhong City.
However, the central part of Hanzhong Mansion is open and flat, which is most suitable for cavalry operations.
Except for Hanzhong, the other prefectures and counties did not have much military defense. In order to protect the safety of the feudal lord, the soldiers in Hanzhong City absolutely did not dare to act rashly.
Although Hanzhong Prefecture belongs to Shaanxi, almost all other places in Shaanxi have suffered from large-scale famines, but Hanzhong has never suffered much damage.
Only in the seventh year of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others broke into Hanzhong Mansion for a while, but they were quickly kicked out at that time.
In fact, many places in Hanzhong Mansion have not been damaged. Most places are relatively wealthy and densely populated.
The army swept all the way westward and plundered the entire Hanzhong Mansion, which could at least take away nearly 200,000 people.
Sun Chuanting's eyes stayed on Yuguan above Lueyang.
Yuguan is a pass in the northwest of Hanzhong Prefecture. This pass connects Hanzhong Prefecture and Gongchang Prefecture.
It turned out that Chen Wang was chasing Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan all the way past here and entered Hanzhong Mansion.
Gao Yingxiang can definitely lead the army to Gongchang Mansion and enter the interior of Shaanxi Province again...
Or enter Sichuan...
Now a large number of Sichuan troops are gathering towards Huguang, and Sichuan's defense is much weaker than in previous years.
but……
Now the invading army has indeed stopped at Xixiang and Yangxian.
This is unusual.
Sun Chuanting looked at the map in front of him, his eyes swept over the towns in Hanzhong Prefecture, and finally stopped at Xi'an City in Xi'an Prefecture.
At this moment, he had already confirmed his opinion.
If not for Gan Xuakuo's dismissal, he would have taken over as governor of Shaanxi and recruited a battalion of 3,000 pacesetters.
So Xi'an Mansion is unprecedentedly empty. The total number of guards around it is only four thousand, and there are only more than two thousand guards in the city.
Once the enemy troops approach the city, not to mention that it will take time for the surrounding guards to come to the rescue, but whether they dare to support or not is a huge problem.
With only more than 2,000 guards, plus some civilians to assist in the defense, how could it be possible to defend the city of Xi'an in the face of more than 100,000 ferocious bandits?
And Hong Chengchou is now leading troops in Yan'an Mansion. Even if he sends cavalry to gallop at night, it will take several days to go back and forth, and there is no way to get back.
"What a courage..."
Even though he was an enemy, Sun Chuanting couldn't help but praise him.
If Gan Xuekuo had not been dismissed, if he had not been in Xi'an.
Maybe Gao Yingxiang...
Sun Chuanting narrowed his eyes slightly, and a stern look flashed in his eyes.
Time is also fate.
There is no if in reality.
Sun Chuanting raised his head and looked around at the generals in the tent.
After meeting Sun Chuanting's gaze, all the generals in the tent bowed their heads.
They didn't know why they felt that Sun Chuanting's momentum had changed.
"Tomorrow we will make food at the fourth watch, set up camp at the fifth watch, and head south to Hu County."
Sun Chuanting held his helmet and pressed his sword, and ordered in a deep voice.
"The guards have been assembled. Go south immediately and go to Huxian County together!"
