In the tenth year of Chongzhen, February 17th.
To the east of Shiquan City, the city of Hanzhong Wei Youqianhu Station has begun to take shape.
Although the city wall is still not erected, many buildings in the city have been repaired.
Not far to the east of the city is Chihekou, which is the only way from Shiquan to Hanyin. The mountains on the north and south sides converge here and become narrower and narrower.
Except for the area around Chihekou, other places are relatively gentle.
Most of the barracks are located in the southern urban area. With barracks stationed there, naturally there is also a need for training places.
Although the main purpose of setting up the garrison was to develop the fields, this did not mean that military training could be temporarily put aside.
After setting up the barracks, Chen Wang ordered the craftsmen to build a martial arts arena in the open area south of the city where You Qianhu was located.
The designated area for the martial arts field was about a hundred acres, which was almost the size of ten standard football fields in later generations.
Although there are still many things that are not perfect, they are almost usable.
There are also low walls for isolation, horse barriers, and roads for easy travel. The construction of the shooting garden, bell and drum towers and general platform for observation have almost been completed.
There were not many well-built barracks in the guardhouse. The soldiers under Chen Wang did not live in the barracks. Instead, they camped directly to the west of the martial arts field.
At this time, dozens of square formations were distributed on the martial arts field, and the sound of shouts and horns resounded in the sky above the martial arts field. All these incomparably showed that there was a military drill on the martial arts field at this time.
Han Fuliang sat on the cold ground. He put his hands together and rubbed them gently.
Although it was February and spring was already here, the weather was still a bit cold. After standing there for almost two minutes, his ears and hands were already freezing to the point of freezing.
He was originally a farmer in Feng County, and later followed Lu Shi's team all the way south. He was captured when he was in Hanzhong, and then he was recruited into the army in a daze.
He is twenty-seven years old, and his family lives in the outer suburbs of Feng County, about ten miles away.
Han Fuliang has never been to Feng County in his life, nor has he been too far away from home.
But many times, people can't help themselves, and they are carried along by the huge flow of people all the way to the south.
"clang------"
A clear bell sounded in the distance, attracting everyone's attention.
The sound of the bell is clear and melodious, ringing continuously.
After staying at the martial arts arena for five or six days, he had learned to tell the time by listening to the number of bells ringing.
There are three hours of training every day, one hour in the morning and two hours in the afternoon.
In the afternoon, they started training at no time (13:00). The current bell means that the time (15:00) has arrived, and they need to train for another hour.
When the bell rang, Han Fuliang's body subconsciously tensed up.
"stand at attention!"
A familiar voice came from the side. Han Fuliang jumped up, picked up the spear placed aside, and then stood up immediately.
Han Fuliang was not the only one to react. Almost at the same time, everyone who was sitting on the ground to rest jumped up as if they were electrocuted, picked up their weapons, and stood up straight.
Han Fuliang looked sideways slightly, and from the corner of his eye he saw Flag Commander Huang Hu striding towards him, carrying a military stick.
As expected, the sound of military sticks hitting people started to be heard one after another. You didn't need to look at Han Fuliang to know that some people must have not picked up their weapons when they stood up.
"How many times have I told you!"
Huang Hu's curse came from the side, and Han Fuliang's heart couldn't help but tighten again.
"As soon as you hear the bugle or the command, when you stand up, grab your weapons!"
"You don't even have weapons, but you hit people with your fists on the battlefield?!"
Huang Hu's curse made Han Fuliang subconsciously tighten his grip on the wooden gun in his hand.
"Liu Zhongwen, you have made mistakes three times. If you make one more mistake, you can go to the logistics team."
Han Fuliang glanced to the side again. The person their flag general Huang Hu was scolding now was Liu Zhongwen. He was on the same team as him and was the musketeer in the team. He stood at the bottom of the team because he was the shortest.
"Liu Zhongwen deducted one cent from his monthly salary, and captain Zhou Changfu deducted half of his monthly salary for his lax management of the team."
Everyone's faces became nervous when they heard about the logistics team. No one wanted to go to the logistics team.
They are all camp soldiers now, and each of them can get one tael of silver every month, and those with excellent performance can get one or two taels of silver.
I heard that in the future, as long as everyone passed the assessment, everyone would get one and a half taels of silver. At that time, those with the best performance would get a full two taels of silver.
Now they don't have to pay for food and clothing, and they have extra pay after being promoted to military positions.
The logistics team has nothing. If you join the logistics team, you will be out of the camp. You only have six dollars a month. You have to do miscellaneous things every day. During this time, you have been helping to repair the house. Compared with training, Much more tiring.
Han Fuliang raised his head subconsciously and looked over the shoulder of the sergeant in front of him to look at a group not far away who was also lining up in a seemingly chaotic military formation.
Those people are newly recruited military households, and they have been training with them from the past few days.
The military has issued a notice, and the next step is a three-month assessment.
They and these military households will be competitors. Only those with the best training can truly become regular soldiers, while the rest who are eliminated can only serve as the logistics team and military households.
"Carry weight!"
Huang Hu held the military stick in his hand, glanced at the soldiers standing obediently, and began to issue orders.
Han Fuliang's expression changed slightly, but he still did not dare to delay. He took out iron bars from the small backpack behind him and tied them to his arms and calves.
The rest of the soldiers, like Han Fuliang, quickly tied up their hands and feet.
Huang Hu looked at the new recruits in front of him and couldn't help but think of the time when he was in Pizhou.
At that time, he was worse than these recruits. These recruits have already seen blood and been in battle.
When he was in Pizhou, he was a refugee. He didn't have a full meal for more than ten days in a row, and he was so hungry that his chest pressed to his back.
Later, when he became a soldier, he had enough to eat and was paid.
"Change the marching queue and run around the school grounds!"
Han Fuliang leaned his spear on his shoulder, then turned to the left and began to adjust the queue.
They started training in February this year, and their stride time was spent training on running and formation.
As soon as I open my eyes every morning, I first form a formation and run around the martial arts field.
Then in the morning it was about exercising and practicing skills, and in the afternoon it was about lining up and running with weights.
Repeatedly, boringly, with little change.
However, Han Fuliang only thought about it in his heart and did not show it.
"Rumble--"
While they were still forming the team, Han Fuliang suddenly heard a sound like muffled thunder.
Han Fuliang subconsciously turned his head to look in the direction of the sound. The scene in front of him was a little strange.
Not far away, nearly a thousand cavalry were practicing. The cavalry in the front row held long spears with their spear points pointed forward, while the cavalry in the following rows held bright sabers leaning on their shoulders.
They were cavalry, but like infantry, they marched in several rows, maintaining a strict formation and moving forward slowly.
…
On the general stage, Chen Wang stood behind the railing and looked at the soldiers who were practicing in an orderly manner on the martial arts field.
These Liao cavalry under his command have excellent riding skills. After only about half a month of training, they are almost guaranteed to maintain the basic formation when marching.
The two newly built cities are still a long way from completion, and it will take at least three months before they are on track.
But some things don’t wait until everything is ready.
The tide of the times is still rolling forward. Although many things have changed because of Chen Wang's appearance, the 72nd Battalion is still divided as usual in history.
Gao Yingxiang's death was like a huge earthquake, destroying the confidence of many people in the 72nd Battalion.
In October of the ninth year of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang's head was sent to the nine provinces as a demonstration.
In November, the whole world already knew the news of Gao Yingxiang's death.
As soon as Zhang Xianzhong received the news of Gao Yingxiang's death, he informed all the battalions still in Xunxiang to join forces and took advantage of Lu Xiangsheng's northward march to King Qin to break through the Ming army's heavy encirclement.
Before breaking out, they could still work together.
But after the breakout, a huge dispute broke out internally.
When Zhang Xianzhong first received the news of Gao Yingxiang's death, he was first shocked and then filled with long-term fear.
But as time went by, after the fear dissipated, the long-standing desire in his heart surged up again.
Zhang Xianzhong began to have the idea of replacing Gao Yingxiang's original position.
Once this idea came up, it was out of control...
The seventy-two battalions are leaderless. Among all the battalions, he is now the strongest and no one can surpass him...
Zhang Xianzhong's idea is understandable, and now that the entire 72nd Battalion has enough strength and prestige at this time, the only person who can take the lead is actually Zhang Xianzhong.
Whether it is Cao Cao, Luo Rucai, or He Yilong from the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo, their prestige and strength are difficult to overwhelm everyone.
But Zhang Xianzhong can, he has enough prestige, and like Gao Yingxiang, he joined the team in the early stage of the civil revolution.
Zhang Xianzhong and Gao Yingxiang once served as generals under Wang Jiayin together, and the relationship between Zhang Xianzhong and Wang Jiayin was closer than that of Gao Yingxiang.
At this time, Zhang Xianzhong is actually the only one who has the ability to take charge, save the peasant army, and put everything back on track.
but……
Zhang Xianzhong failed to seize this opportunity.
Zhang Xianzhong is not Gao Yingxiang, he does not have Gao Yingxiang's courage, nor does he have Gao Yingxiang's mind, nor Gao Yingxiang's vision.
After breaking through the encirclement and getting out of danger, Zhang Xianzhong showed his fangs and wanted to swallow Gao Yingde, as well as the scorpion block Tuo Yangkun, Zhang Miaoshou Zhang Wenyao and other forces who originally belonged to Gao Yingxiang.
Zhang Xianzhong was too domineering. When he received the rejection, he was not thinking about how to persuade, but wanted to show his sword...
Zhang Xianzhong's actions could not be hidden from Gao Yingde. Gao Yingde sensed the danger. Before Zhang Xianzhong could take action, China Unicom Tuo Yangkun, Zhang Wenyao and others chose to leave the brigade.
Then several people took their soldiers and horses all the way north, fled into Nanyang Mansion in Henan Province, and fled to Xi'an Mansion on the west side, hoping to join forces with Li Zicheng.
At this point, the 72nd Battalion, which had been twisted together under Gao Yingxiang, split apart.
Gao Yingde, Tuo Yangkun, Zhang Wenyao and other six battalions, with a total of more than 20,000 elite horsemen, went north and entered Xi'an Prefecture at the end of December in the ninth year of Chongzhen.
However, Lao Hui Hui Ma Shouying, Cao Cao Luo Rucai, Chuang Taotian Liu Guoneng, Hengtian Wang Zishun, Yizi Wang Tuoxianling and Gezuo Fifth Battalion are still with Zhang Xianzhong.
However, even though the troops were gathered together, everyone was on guard because of Zhang Xianzhong's previous behavior.
After all, no one wants to be annexed by others and feel inferior to others, even if they belong to the same camp.
Although Zhang Xianzhong is the most powerful, he has no capacity to tolerate others and no mastery.
They huddled together and formed a vague alliance to prevent being annexed by Zhang Xianzhong.
No matter how much Zhang Xianzhong did, they never mentioned choosing another alliance leader.
Compared with Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng did show his outstanding abilities in the Battle of Longzhou at this time.
Hong Chengchou came to Gongchang Mansion in person, and Cao Wenzhao, He Renlong, Gao Jie, Sun Shoufa and others joined forces with 18,000 people to attack Li Zicheng.
The 72nd Battalion split in Xunxiang, while Li Zicheng relied on the mountains of Longzhou and sent troops from all directions, fighting alone.
The Ming army launched thirteen campaigns in a row, but all ended in defeat.
The most thrilling time was when the two armies were fighting fiercely. Li Zicheng came to the front line and met Cao Wenzhao.
During the encounter, Li Zicheng was shot in the left arm by Cao Wenzhao, but he still calmly commanded his troops, and finally stabilized the situation once again, leading the army to escape into the mountains again and escape. The pursuit of the Ming army.
At the end of the ninth year of Chongzhen, Chen Wang received more than ten messages from northern Shaanxi in five days.
This news was either sent by Sun Chuanting or released by Hong Chengchou.
Gao Yingde, Tuo Yangkun, Zhang Wenyao and others had already rushed into Xi'an Mansion at the beginning of December.
Sun Chuanting led his troops to fight with him. In the end, Sun Chuanting won, but he could not stop his advance.
Gao Yingde and Tuo Yangkun were all elite cavalry troops. In order to avoid Zhang Xianzhong's pursuit, they abandoned all their troops and hungry soldiers.
They bypassed the defensive position set up by Sun Chuanting and approached Fengxiang Mansion.
The news that Li Zicheng was now in Gongchang Mansion had been intercepted by them, so Gao Yingde and Tuo Yangkun naturally led their troops to rush to rescue Li Zicheng.
Li Zicheng seemed to have obtained the news through some means. Soon after, Li Zicheng suddenly led his troops to move northeast and headed towards Fengxiang Mansion.
The messages Chen Wang received all told him to guard the Jitou Pass and ensure that no mistakes were made in the way of praise. He must not let Li Zicheng or Gao Yingde go south and enter the Hanzhong Mansion.
(End of chapter)
