Chen Wang only stayed in Shiquan for more than a month, then left Suocheng and returned to Hanzhong.
After meeting with the generals in Hanzhong, he led his troops to the west again, heading to the west of Hanzhong Prefecture.
The deadline for pacifying thieves in March has passed, and the court's punishments have been issued. A large number of officials have been suspended from their posts, demoted, and reduced in salary.
Chen Wang was naturally among them, but he might have been just a commander of the Guards. He had captured and killed Gao Yingxiang before, and he had made outstanding military exploits along the way.
Therefore, the rank was not reduced much. The deputy commander-in-chief and the commanding officer were all saved. The punishment given was to have their salaries reduced and suspended from duty, and to be punished for the crime of suppressing thieves.
Cao Wenzhao, He Renlong, Zuo Guangxian and other generals who followed Hong Chengchou in the suppression were eventually punished, and they were all demoted to the third level and sentenced to death for the suppression of bandits.
Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting were also reprimanded, punished and demoted, their ranks reduced, and they performed meritorious services in the name of guilt.
To be honest, punishments such as demotion and demotion are not too severe, but they still make people feel dissatisfied.
There was almost no time to stop the pursuit all the way, but all this was ignored by the people above, who directly investigated and dealt with the crime.
The rogue bandits wreaked havoc on the world no longer overnight. When Yang Sichang took office, he immediately set a deadline of three months to quell the bandits, completely ignoring the actual situation.
It is definitely a lie to say that there is no dissatisfaction in the heart. All the generals and commanders who were punished were dissatisfied and began to violate some orders.
To be honest, Yang Sichang is superior in both planning and intelligence.
But it may be because he was born too high, far away from the mortal world, and did not know the sufferings of the world. Therefore, he made many mistakes and ultimately ruined the originally good situation.
…
Hong Chengchou's order was also changed half a month ago. Originally it was only necessary to garrison Qipanguan, but later it was changed to garrisoning Qipanguan and Lueyang, blocking all roads entering Hanzhong Mansion from the west.
Chen Wang then divided his troops into two groups, letting Zhou Yumao lead the headquarters battalion, and the 3,000-person headquarters of the Second Infantry Battalion led by Hu Zhiyi to garrison Lueyang, with a total of 4,000 people.
He led the three thousand headquarters of the First Infantry Battalion and the thousand headquarters of the First Cavalry, totaling 3,500 people, and rushed to Qipanguan.
Qipan Pass is located on Qipan Ridge at the junction of Sichuan and Shaanxi. It is known as the first pass in the Western Qin Dynasty.
This is the only road hub connecting Sichuan to the north of the Qinling Mountains. There is Qipan Pass at the head of Qipan Ridge, and there are three forts built, dominating the mountains.
But now, Qipanguan has been turned into a ruins. In March, Li Zicheng led the army all the way south to attack Qipanguan. He stormed for three days and nights, breached the city, destroyed the forts, and the defenders were killed and missing. There were as many as 1,379 people, and the rest were defeated.
Guerrilla Li Ping'en died in the battle, and 13 people below the guerrilla general level were killed.
"The superiors have not allocated funds to rebuild the pass, nor have they allocated civilians. We can just repair it based on the original pass."
Chen Wang reined in his horse and scanned the surrounding mountains and roads.
"The training every five days will be changed to every ten days. During the rest of the time, we will dig more trenches on the road up the mountain."
"Repair the three forts and fill up all the cannons."
Now Chen Wang no longer doesn't know how to organize troops when he first arrived.
It has been more than two years since he became a guerrilla after the Battle of Chunhua and now serves as the deputy general guard of Hanzhong Town alone.
Marching, setting up formation, setting up camp, these basics are already familiar by heart.
Now he only needs to reach a place, and by looking at the surrounding terrain, Chen Wang can judge where it is suitable to set up artillery, where to set up camp, and where to defend and attack.
"As commanded."
This time, the generals of the three thousand headquarters of the First Infantry Battalion following Chen Wang were Hu Zhili, Chen Ming, and Chen De, all of whom were from the Chen and Hu families.
The three received the order and immediately took their respective guards to mobilize troops and dig trenches and mend the walls.
Soon the military camp on the mountain began to boil, and groups of soldiers walked out of the military camp under the leadership of their respective flag officers.
In this era, there were no dedicated engineers. When building fortifications, they basically went into battle together.
After all, some of the current buildings and fortifications do not require high-level military skills, nor do they require any great professional skills, as long as they have some strength.
Chen Wang is not prepared to change the current military establishment too much. Although he is now familiar with the military, the more he understands many things, the more he will be able to discover his shortcomings.
"Brother, Commander Hong has led his troops south to pursue us. There are still about 7,000 or 8,000 people left in Guangyuan and Jiange. There is no way we can reach Qipan Pass. There is no need to be so urgent."
Chen Gong yawned and said listlessly.
"No matter whether bandits may come or not, since you have been ordered, you must fulfill your duties faithfully."
Chen Wang looked at the scene down the mountain without squinting and said calmly.
"If the bandits really come, we won't be without any precautions."
Chen Gong's cheek couldn't help but twitch. He had not forgotten what Chen Wang said at Dingjun Mountain.
At that time, Chen Wang said, "In troubled times, storms are rising in all directions, and if you have soldiers, you will be the grass-headed king." From that time, Chen Wang began to plan.
Now he is raising troops in the Hanzhong Mansion and reorganizing the Arms Bureau. He is witnessing the continuous expansion of his power and the continuous innovation of his men's weapons.
"Brother, if you hadn't had a showdown with us at Dingjun Mountain, I would have believed your lies now."
Chen Gong raised his hand, rubbed his temples, and said speechlessly.
"Really……"
Chen Wangqing coughed. He felt a little embarrassed when Chen Gong exposed him. He also subconsciously said something about fulfilling his duties.
People such as Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, and Cao Wenzhao are all good people. They often deal with these people, so Chen Wang naturally does not dare to neglect Fenhao.
Now that the character of a loyal minister has been established, he can only continue acting according to this character.
After acting for a long time, sometimes the words I subconsciously say completely fit my identity, and it feels like I am deceiving others first.
"The war is fierce and dangerous, and there must be no luck on the battlefield?"
Chen Wang's face was pale, he changed the topic and lectured.
"It doesn't matter that you are just Mr. Qian now, but in the future you will definitely lead an army on your own. If you are so reckless and careless then, how can I safely send you out?"
"Stop it, stop it."
Chen Gong raised his riding whip and waved his hands repeatedly.
"Leave the responsibility of leading the troops to Brother Yi and Brother Li. I really can't lead the troops."
Chen Gong was a little helpless. He really didn't want to lead troops, but Chen Wang always wanted to train him to lead troops.
"I can charge into battle, kill generals and capture flags. As long as you don't let me lead troops, don't let me read and write, everything will be easy."
Chen Gong felt a headache when he thought of the tasks assigned by Chen Wang. It seemed that Chen Wang was planning to launch some kind of literacy class in the army, and they, the generals, also had to learn books like "Officers' Drill Code" and "Military Training Minutes".
He already had a lot of headaches when he went to school in ethnic studies. Now he has to study and learn calligraphy as a soldier. It's better to just give him a knife.
"General Xiao Cao has not read these books. He can also lead troops to fight, and his military exploits are listed first along the way. Is it possible that without these books, he will not be able to lead troops and fight wars?"
Chen Gong complained helplessly. He really didn't understand why Chen Wang always liked to open some literacy classes or schools.
Some schools were set up in the two health centers to teach people to listen, listen, read and write. Later, some engineering schools were built to teach people how to work and forge iron.
Now we are planning to implement literacy classes in the military, and officers will also have to read and study.
"Then you are really wrong."
"There are several military books in my study that were given by General Xiao Cao. You don't think that others are really illiterate and don't study, right?"
Chen Wang glanced sideways at Chen Gong. There were really not many generals in the late Ming Dynasty who were illiterate. The senior officers of the Guards were not only literate, they even read books on the art of war.
In the Ming Dynasty, the trend of learning and literature was very strong. There were special health schools in the health clinics, and there were also special schools in the towns.
In addition to schools run by the government, there are also many private schools, which are basically organized voluntarily by local villagers.
Basically, all older clans have clan schools, and the children in the clan will basically study for a period of time.
Although he won't be a child or a scholar, he can at least know a lot of Chinese characters, so he won't be illiterate.
"this……"
Chen Gong was a little dissatisfied at first, but when he heard Chen Wang mention Cao Bianjiao, he quickly stopped.
Originally, in the army, most people followed Cao Bianjiaowei's example, and Chen Gong was no exception. He felt that he might really need to read those military books and learn those drills.
Seeing the change in Chen Gong's expression, Chen Wang also withdrew his gaze.
Fortunately, Chen Gong didn't know that Zuo Liangyu was illiterate, otherwise he would have had nothing to do if he had used Zuo Liangyu to push him.
Now Zuo Liangyu is not the "long-legged general" after that. Ever since he was transferred to Henan, he has made great military achievements all the way down. He has defeated Chuang Taotian and Zhang Xianzhong in a row, and his momentum is at the peak of his power.
I'm afraid it won't be long before Zuo Liangyu's name is on the top list of bandits.
"By the way, brother, do you think Li Zicheng can escape this time?"
Chen Gong consciously changed the topic and asked the question he was most concerned about.
This time Li Zicheng led his troops to break through the pass and enter Baoning Prefecture, and went all the way south to defeat Guangyuan, and then defeated more than 6,000 Sichuan troops who attempted to intercept them at Jiange.
In the battle of Jiange, general Zhou Minghong died in the battle, and more than 30 guerrilla and lower generals died in the battle.
Hou Liangzhu refused to fight in Mianzhou and was defeated, so he had to retreat to Mianzhu.
"Escape..."
Chen Wang couldn't help but frowned when he heard Li Zicheng's name.
At this time, it had been almost two months since Li Zicheng entered northern Sichuan.
Sun Chuanting led his troops to Gongchang Mansion and took over the defense areas of Cheng and Jie.
Sun Chuanting, the passageways from Sichuan to Gongchang Prefecture in Wenxian and Baishui, were all heavily guarded. It was impossible for Li Zicheng to retreat to Chengdu and Tier from these two places again.
The troops from southern and western Sichuan were converging towards Mianzhu, and the eastern Sichuan army was stationed in Tongchuan Prefecture. Hong Chengchou led his troops all the way south through Baoning Prefecture, camped step by step, and forced them away.
It can be said that Li Zicheng is now surrounded in Mianzhou and Jiangyou. The roads in the east, west, north and south have been blocked. It seems that he has become a turtle in the urn.
But for some reason, Chen Wang always had a feeling that this time, Li Zicheng seemed to be able to save the day from danger...
The plot in Sichuan will not be very long, the main plot is in the north
Lao Chen is going to King Qin this time
(End of chapter)
