At the end of December, the tenth year of Chongzhen.
Li Zicheng led the main force out of Baishui and transferred to Gongchang Mansion, directly taking Jiezhou.
When Hong Chengchou led troops to Wenwen County in the south, Zu Dabi, the commander-in-chief of Ningxia, guarded Jiezhou, and Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Yansui, guarded Chengxian County.
Generals Ma Ke, Sun Xianzu and other generals led their own troops and recruited guards to guard the key passes to resist the bandits.
After Li Zicheng entered Gongchang Mansion, he immediately sent a message to the armies to recruit elite troops.
In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, it was the tenth day of the first lunar month.
Li Zicheng led 7,000 fine cavalry, 40,000 horse troops, and four battalions including General Hui Qi, King Renyi, King Zhengshi, and King Datian, and entered the Minzhou Wei Center in the eastern part of Gongchang Prefecture via Jiezhou.
Liu Gao Yingde and Tuo Yangkun were still in the deep mountains and valleys of Cheng and Jie, controlling their troops and hungry soldiers.
Zu Dabi was guarding Jiezhou and had no more than 4,000 troops under his command. Li Zicheng led the invading army roaring in. Zu Dabi felt that it was too difficult to defeat the enemy and did not dare to fight, so he stuck to Jiezhou and could not avoid the battle.
On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, Hong Chengchou led the three battalions of Zuo Guangxian, He Renlong and Gao Jie, with 7,000 men, and finally arrived at Jiezhou, where they joined forces with Zu Dabi.
After receiving Li Zicheng's marching route, Hong Chengchou made an immediate decision and raised his troops to pursue Li Zicheng's marching route north. At the same time, Pegasus delivered a message and ordered the Lintao Town camp to gather heavy troops to defend the pass and not allow the bandits to pass.
On the 26th of the first lunar month, Li Zicheng led the army all the way north, passed the Minzhou Guard, broke through the Sancha Pass, and advanced into the Taozhou Guard.
After Li Zicheng entered the Taozhou Guard, he besieged the Taozhou Guard City with a large army, sent envoys to negotiate with the local Qiang tribes, traded jewelry, gold, silver, war weapons and other items with the Qiang people for horses, and even recruited troops from the Qiang tribes. .
At this time, Hong Chengchou led his troops to the Minzhou Guard. After hearing that Li Zicheng had reached a deal with the Qiang tribe, he immediately led his troops to break camp and go north to stop Li Zicheng's move without taking a break.
On the third day of February, Hong Chengchou led the army to Taozhou Guards, and an encounter broke out with the army led by Li Zicheng.
He beheaded the 865th level, defeated the beleaguered army outside the Taozhou Acropolis, and solved the siege of Taozhou.
However, Taozhou's victory only eliminated the threat of Taozhou and was of no help to the overall situation.
Li Zicheng had achieved his goal. He purchased more than 3,000 war horses from the Qiang tribe and recruited 2,000 Qiang cavalry. He broke through Yangsaguan in the north of Taozhou Acropolis and broke into Lintao Mansion.
Although Wang Hong, the commander-in-chief of Lintao, fought hard to lead his troops to intercept, he was ultimately alone and unable to support himself due to the situation, and finally retreated to Didao.
At this time, Gao Yingde and Tuo Yangkun, who were originally staying in the deep mountains and valleys of Cheng and Jie, also began to mobilize their troops and launched an attack on the surrounding areas.
Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Yansui, guarded Chengxian County and provided support from both sides, but he did not want to play into Tuo Yangkun's ambitions.
On the seventh day of February, Tuo Yangkun concentrated his forces, broke through the encirclement network while the Ming army dispersed its defenses, broke into the Xihe River through Zhifangtoupu, and headed north to Li County.
Although Wang Pu immediately led his troops to pursue him, it was too late.
Tuo Yangkun and Gao Yingde had already led most of the troops across the Qishan Pass, and their way into Qinzhou was now clear.
Li Zicheng also happened to lead the army from Weiyuan in Lintao Prefecture to Longxi City in the northwest of Gongchang Prefecture.
At this time, Li Zicheng's plan was completely exposed to everyone.
Li Zi divided his troops into two groups and led his cavalry to the west. He went all the way to replenish horses and recruit Qiang soldiers. At the same time, he once again forced the invading Ming army to divide their troops, deepening their fatigue and consuming their physical strength.
Tuo Yangkun and his infantry took the opportunity to break through the encirclement and headed north via Li County.
The final destination of both groups is Qinzhou, where they want to complete their rendezvous.
Qinzhou is located between the main roads of Gongchang Prefecture, connected to Pingliang Prefecture in the north and Fengxiang Prefecture in the east.
By then, no matter where Li Zicheng chooses to march, he will be able to achieve his goal - escape.
Hong Chengchou led his troops on a rapid march from Wen County to catch up. In fact, he was aware of Li Zicheng's intention to march.
But there are many things that you don’t have to do if you don’t want to do them. Just like when Li Zicheng attacked Yang on the outskirts of Chengdu, he had to personally lead the troops to rescue him. Otherwise, he would be guilty of sitting back and watching his vassal in danger, even if he was a member of the three sides. The governor cannot afford it.
When Li Zicheng entered the northwest this time, he also had to lead troops to pursue him. If he did not pursue him, he would be unable to avoid the battle and fall into the city. He still could not bear this responsibility.
The soldiers in Lintao Town couldn't stop Li Zicheng, and there was nothing he could do.
On Wang Pu's side, he had also given a warning in advance, but the soldiers led by Wang Pu still failed to stop Tuo Yangkun, so what could he do.
A clever woman can't make a meal without rice. The total number of generals he can control is only tens of thousands, and his troops are stretched thin.
He has no control over the Sichuan soldiers. Sichuan is under Xiong Wencan's jurisdiction, and the soldiers from Sichuan are now defending Sichuan.
The black gauze hat on the head of Wang Weizhang, the governor of Sichuan, had already fallen to the ground, and he was seizing the official position and sending him to the garrison.
As the commander-in-chief of Sichuan, Hou Liangzhu's poor defense put Chengdu in danger, and many cities were lost. He was demoted three levels in a row, but he still led his original troops to plead guilty and meritorious service.
In addition to the various battalions of adults and ranks, he could also mobilize only the three battalions of Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, and Chen Wang, with a total strength of 8,000.
Baoning Prefecture has high mountains and long roads. On the seventh day of February, Cao Wenzhao led his troops to Lueyang, northwest of Hanzhong Prefecture, and was preparing to rush north to aid Gongchang Prefecture in Zhengzhou.
But now Zhengzhou no longer needs defense, because Tuo Yangkun and Gao Yingde and other tribes entrenched in the mountainous areas of Cheng and Jie have already entered Li County and headed north to Qinzhou.
The new order was to recruit them to continue north and go north to Fengxiang Mansion via Baoxie Road to prevent Li Zicheng, Tuo Yangkun and other troops from entering Fengxiang Mansion from Gongchang Mansion.
Hong Chengchou, who was in Weiyuan, could not hide his fatigue at this time. From the end of ten years to now, he had hardly had a day to rest peacefully in the past few months.
He didn't even take off his armor for many days, and just slept with his clothes on.
Hong Chengchou is approaching the age of destiny, and his physical strength is no longer as strong as before. The continuous attacks over the years have also been consuming his energy and physical strength.
Hong Chengchou, with a tired face on his face, rode on his horse and advanced slowly along the official road.
On the official road beside him, a group of soldiers who were marching and dusty also had tired faces. Most of their clothes were covered with dust, and they looked quite embarrassed.
Hong Chengchou frowned. The northwest was extremely windy and sandy and extremely cold.
Along the way, he felt unbearably cold even in his fur coat.
Even though he was wearing fur clothes, most of the soldiers under his command only had cotton clothes to wear, and many of these cotton clothes were made of shoddy materials.
Along the way, the casualties caused by the weather even exceeded the casualties in the Battle of Taozhou.
Gao Jie led the horse and followed Hong Chengchou, reporting the situation in the army to Hong Chengchou.
"The weather is slowly getting warmer, and it's much warmer when we enter Gongchang Mansion. I found a batch of winter clothes from Weiyuan City before. There has been no reduction in the number of Japanese troops in the past few days..."
Gao Jie pulled Lameng's face mask up over his mouth and nose. It was bitterly cold in the northwest. If he didn't wear a face scarf at this time of year, the cold wind would blow over his face like a steel knife scraping bones.
And after a while, there was no feeling on the face, and the whole face became frozen.
Hong Chengchou nodded slightly and lowered his eyes.
Pursuing all the way from the Minzhou Guard, there were not many people in the army who had their toes frozen, and their hands and feet were so ulcerated that they could not walk at all.
The snowy mountain roads are difficult to travel, and there are many people who fell into the deep mountains and huge valleys and disappeared.
"What's the situation on the east side?"
After walking for a while, Hong Chengchou suddenly raised his head and asked.
"Governor Sun has quelled the bandits in the northern part of Hanzhong Prefecture. The bandit chieftains, including a hundred thousand people, have surrendered. Little Red Wolf is nowhere to be seen. Most of the tens of thousands of bandits under his command have been annihilated, and only a few groups of people have fled into the mountains."
"During the first month of the lunar month, Governor Sun has been leading troops to suppress the troops in various mountains."
"After the governor's order was issued, Governor Sun responded by immediately leading troops to assist Fengxiang Mansion."
Gao Jie paused and thought for a moment.
"According to the schedule, Governor Sun should have led the troops to Baoji in Fengxiang Mansion by now."
"If the rogue bandits want to go eastward through Fengxiang Mansion, they will definitely be unable to do so."
Hong Chengchou was slightly calm. After becoming aware of Li Zicheng's plan, he immediately mobilized his troops to respond and stated all the stakes to Sun Chuanting.
When he led troops into Sichuan to pursue Li Zicheng last year, Sun Chuanting presided over the campaign in the north of Hanzhong Fu. His troops were undoubtedly the closest to Fengxiang Fu.
"How is the situation over there in Pingliang Mansion?"
Gao Jie looked a little ugly. He knew that after Hong Chengchou finished asking questions about Fengxiang Mansion, he would definitely ask Pingliang Mansion.
He also knew something about Li Zicheng's plan. After all, he was a camp officer and now a direct descendant of Hong Chengchou, so he naturally knew the inside story.
"There are not enough troops in Pingliang Prefecture, and Guyuan Town has no troops to mobilize. The northern part of Saibei is harassing the border, and slaves are going south to invade the border area. Most of the troops in Yansui Town are guarding the northern part of the Saibei and are unable to support from the south."
Gao Jie looked embarrassed. The situation at Pingliang Mansion was not optimistic, and not many defensive forces could be mobilized at all.
In fact, this situation is normal, because the field forces that the Shaanxi Prefecture can mobilize have already been mobilized by Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting for suppression.
The soldiers left to guard each town can number thousands of soldiers and horses, which is already very good.
The deeper he goes into the core and the more he understands the secret, the more Gao Jie regrets it.
I chose Anyway, partly because of the Xing family, and partly because I was not optimistic about the future.
From the first year of Chongzhen to the eighth year of Chongzhen, the officers and soldiers kept suppressing them and fighting...
I thought that after all, life would be much easier for the direct lineage after becoming a camp officer and a governor.
But what I didn't expect was that the current situation of the court was not optimistic.
The Jiannu in the North were at the height of their power. The border troops who came from Liaodong and chased them to the sky and had no way to reach the ground were actually beaten by the Jiannu in Liaodong and their armor was thrown off.
The Mongols in the north have now been subdued by the slaves. The slave chief Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor in the ninth year and the establishment was in the limelight for a time.
What's even worse is that in the ninth year of Chongzhen, the entire North Korea fell and was occupied by Jiannu.
Gao Jie had not read any books, but he knew that this situation could be described in one word - internal and external troubles.
Internal and external troubles are undoubtedly the worst case scenario...
"Send a message to Bai Gu and ask him to send 10,000 horses to support Pingliang Mansion and set up defenses in Pingliang Mansion."
Hong Chengchou pondered for a moment and already had a plan in mind.
"Governor Sun has only 12,000 people under his command, so 10,000 people were sent to Pingliang..."
Gao Jie's eyes flickered and he hesitated.
"There are only two thousand people. I'm afraid... we can't defend Fengxiang Mansion..."
The elite cavalry troops under Li Zicheng's command totaled more than 50,000, and the infantry under Tuo Yangkun and Gao Yingde also numbered 70,000 or 80,000. The two armies combined had more than 100,000 troops. If they could coerce some of the hungry soldiers, they could easily break through. Two hundred thousand people.
It is true that Sun Chuanting led 10,000 troops to the north to defend Pingliang Mansion, but since Fengxiang Mansion only has 2,000 people, how can it be defended.
"I know……"
Hong Chengchou's eyes were serious and his voice was low.
"The only way to solve Fengxiang's problem is to pass it on Pegasus, hurry up Baili, and let Cao Wenzhao enter Fengxiang Mansion quickly."
There is still plenty of time. After Li Zicheng and Tuo Yangkun met, the march was not very fast due to the drag of the infantry. Cao Wenzhao should be able to lead the troops to Fengxiang Mansion.
Hong Chengchou reined in his horse and looked back at the troops behind him who were marching hard against the wind and snow.
No matter whether Li Zicheng breaks through Pingliang Mansion or Fengxiang Mansion, it is a situation that he cannot accept.
The current situation in Shaanxi is not optimistic, and he has already been reprimanded by the emperor.
The most serious thing is that the period of "Three March Bandits" is approaching.
The relationship between Hong Chengchou and Yang Sichang was not good, and the relationship between Sun Chuanting and Yang Sichang was even worse.
At first, when Yang Sichang took over the post of Shangshu of the Ministry of War and proposed the strategy of Four Righteousness and Six Corners, Sun Chuanting expressed his opposition.
Although Hong Chengchou also tried to persuade him, he had little effect.
On the surface, the military deployment of the four-right, six-corner and ten-sided network plan formulated by Yang Sichang seems to be very strict and watertight.
But in fact, this kind of plan is more just a plan on paper. The rogue bandits come and go quickly, move in like the wind, and can concentrate superior forces at any time.
If there are nets on all sides and many places are fortified, the troops will inevitably be dispersed. It is not an impenetrable iron wall at all.
The rogue bandits only need to concentrate on breaking through the net at any point, and the so-called watertightness will be shattered and become a torrent that bursts the embankment.
When governors from all over the country reported their recruitment quotas, only Sun Chuanting's memorial was not sent.
Hong Chengchou knew very well that if the rebellion in Shaanxi could not be suppressed in March this year, Yang Sichang would not give up this opportunity to attack him.
Not only may it be impossible to suppress the rebellion, but the civil unrest in Shaanxi may even expand...
Hong Chengchou looked eastward with deep eyes.
Li Zicheng's eastward advance will most likely choose to attack Fengxiang Mansion.
There are more than 10,000 soldiers under Sun Chuanting's command. Their morale is like a rainbow and they are ready to work.
Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, and Chen Wang had only more than 7,000 troops under their command. They traveled long distances and were exhausted...
This multiple choice question is not difficult to choose.
I just hope that Cao Wenzhao can withstand the pressure and defend Fengxiang...
…
"History of the Ming Dynasty: One Hundred and Fifty Biographies"
"We will recruit Yang Sichang as our own army, and we will make a strategic plan... We will defeat the thieves in a hundred days..."
"The court sent a letter to argue about it, saying: 'It is useless, and this is not the case. The troops have been defeated many times, the people are exhausted, and they fear that they will not survive.'"
"'You must do it, the thieves do not need to be killed, and they will harm the country.' Thousands of words have been written, and Si Chang has great disobedience."
"...I will meet with all the governors to recruit troops and recruit troops, but I will not be able to send a message to the court."
(End of chapter)
