"Just as King Chuang expected, the officers and soldiers set up defenses everywhere along the way. They set up camp step by step, broke out of the stronghold and advanced slowly. Now they are coming from all sides with the intention of encircling our army!"
Tian Jianxiu walked quickly all the way, hurriedly climbed to the high slope where Li Zicheng was, and reported anxiously.
A few days ago, urgent news came from the east. The Ming Dynasty's suppression army, led by Hong Chengchou, had arrived in Zitong.
He Renlong, Zuo Guangxian, Zu Dabi, Gao Jie, and Ma Ke were among them, with a total force of thirteen thousand.
The vanguard troops led by Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao have arrived in Wei City, which is only a few dozen miles away from Mianzhou where they are located, and will arrive overnight.
The Ming army in eastern Sichuan is also gathering. Not long ago, a group of chieftain soldiers came from Shizhu Xuanwei Division, which greatly boosted the morale of the Ming army in eastern Sichuan.
Xuanweisi is also commonly known as Tusi. Shizhu Xuanweisi can be traced back to the Southern Song Dynasty. It was originally one of the six major Xuanweisi of Tujia people.
The former ambassador was Ma Qiancheng, and Qin Liangyu was his wife.
After Ma Qiancheng was killed, Qin Liangyu took over the duties of her husband because his son Ma Xianglin was young.
Shizhu Xuanwei Division also rose to prominence because of this. Qin Liangyu was courageous and intelligent, good at riding and shooting, fluent in poetry, elegant in manners, marching and managing troops, and giving strict orders, so he was feared far and near.
When he commanded the Shizhu Xuanwei Division, the prestige of the Shizhu Xuanwei Division reached its peak, and all the ministries were impressed. In fact, he had become the first of the six major Xuanwei Divisions of the Tujia Nationality.
This time, it was Ma Xianglin, the current Shizhu ambassador, who led the troops to aid eastern Sichuan.
Ma Xianglin is now in his prime, thirty-three years old.
With extraordinary bravery, he began to follow Qin Liangyu in his campaigns south and north when he was young. He tried to charge into battle alone and captured Qu Kui.
When we were rushing to aid Liaodong, there were arrows in our eyes, so we drew our arrows and rode our horses to chase away the thieves, and the capture was the same as before.
The arrival of Ma Xianglin greatly boosted the morale of the Ming Army in Eastern Sichuan, and he became the chief general of the Ming Army in Eastern Sichuan as the Xuan comfort envoy, in charge of all ministries.
Generally speaking, no matter how many chieftains send troops, Han officials will be the main generals, but this unspoken rule does not apply to Shizhu Xuanweisi now.
Qin Liangyu's status was unusual. In the third year of Chongzhen's reign, Chongzhen issued an edict to praise Mei. He summoned him to the platform and personally gave Liangyu colored coins, sheep and wine, and wrote four poems to praise his merits.
The Shizhu Xuanwei Division is now the anchor of the entire Sichuan. The reason why all the tribes in Sichuan remain as honest as ever despite this chaos is because of the Shizhu Xuanwei Division.
During the Battle of Bozhou, the Shizhu Baigan soldiers were already famous.
During the She'an Rebellion, Shizhu Xuanwei Division was the main force in countering the rebellion.
If Shizhu doesn't rebel, neither will the other five major Tujia Xuanwei divisions, and the chieftains in Sichuan won't dare to have the slightest dissent.
They all can see how powerful the Shizhu White Pole Soldiers are.
The pressure from the east and south was already making it difficult to breathe.
Now, there is another commotion in the west. Hou Liangzhu, who has been quiet in Mianzhu for a long time, may have received the order and made some moves.
"Sichuan General Hou Liangzhu led most of the Sichuan army out of Mianzhu, and reported back. The number of troops should be more than 15,000, and they are marching towards Mianzhou..."
Tian Jianxiu climbed up the high slope, and he had already noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere.
Chief Qi, King Renyi and other five battalion leaders, as well as Liu Zongmin, Gao Yigong and others were all standing on the high slope at this time.
Of course, to be precise now, there is no longer a distinction between a battalion leader and a team leader. They have all been renamed leaders.
He was the only one left to lead the tenth team, and they were already ready.
"You came just in time. It seems that the messenger I sent to inform you missed you."
Li Zicheng nodded slightly, as if he had already heard the news, and the expression on his face did not change at all because of the news from Tian Jianxiu's mouth.
Tian Jianxiu's heart was full of doubts, but he knew the situation very well and did not ask any more questions. Instead, he stood where he had always stood before.
"Yu Feng has already said part of what I want to say first. This is probably the current situation."
Li Zicheng wore a felt hat as always, but his arrow jacket had been changed to blue.
"Officers and soldiers are surrounding us from the east, west and south. Wen County and Baishui in the north have now been completely blocked by Sun Chuanting."
"There are more than 13,000 officers and soldiers on the East Road, more than 15,000 officers and soldiers on the West Road, and about 9,000 officers and soldiers on the South Road. The total number is nearly 40,000..."
All the leaders on the high slope were silent. Everyone's eyes were focused on Li Zicheng. They were all waiting for Li Zicheng's order.
Fighting from Chengjie Mountain to Jingyang, and then from Jingyang back to Chengjie, there was a continuous back and forth, constantly moving, crossing Guanshan in both directions, leaving the Ming army far behind.
Along the way, they grew stronger and stronger day by day, and all the credit for this must be attributed to Li Zicheng.
Li Zicheng looked around at the generals standing beside him. He knew one thing clearly from their eyes. Now he had accumulated enough prestige in the army and was convinced and recognized by everyone.
"From the time I entered Sichuan, I have actually thought about the current situation."
Li Zicheng's eyes were deep and he spoke slowly. What he said attracted everyone's attention.
"Over in Henan and Huguang, you all know that Zhang Xianzhong and Liu Guoneng have surrendered..."
Zhang Xianzhong and Liu Guoneng were defeated one after another, and the news of their final surrender had already been known to everyone. The Ming army publicized it vigorously, and even if they didn't want to know, it was impossible. As a result, the morale of the army became even more depressed, even after successive battles. Despite the victory, he still didn't feel much better.
Now in the east, only Luo Rucai, He Yilong and other troops are still holding on, but the officers and soldiers are constantly shrinking the encirclement network.
The newly appointed Prime Minister Xiong Wencan does have some skills in dispatching troops and generals, which is not much inferior to Lu Xiangsheng. He even has a very good understanding of how to fight in these areas because he has been an official in the south for a long time.
Moreover, Xiong Wencan also had a group of Southern soldiers brought from Guangzhou under his command. Those Southern soldiers had sharp weapons and strict formations. They were fearless in close combat, were fierce and dared to fight, and made many meritorious deeds.
The battlefield to the east is now a mess. Luo Rucai and He Yilong only have tens of thousands of people under their command. Originally, hundreds of thousands were defeated. How can they win now? They may not be able to hold on for long before they are wiped out or destroyed. surrender.
"Now, we are the only ones left..."
Li Zicheng's voice was low and his eyes were serious.
The officers and soldiers who were advancing in the suppression came from all directions, setting up nets from all directions, setting up camp step by step, and overcoming pressure. Even if they were lucky enough to have one or even two layers of defense, there were still several levels of obstacles waiting for them.
The Ming army in Shaanxi has now all concentrated in the southern Shaanxi area, and the large Sichuan army has also gathered. Once the Ming army completes the encirclement, they will become turtles in the urn, with no way to the sky and no way to the earth.
From the time Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Guoneng and others were defeated, they were actually in a deadlock.
The Shaanxi Ming army led by Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting no longer had the threat from Henan, and they freed up all their hands to encircle and suppress them.
At the same time, due to the easing of the fighting on the eastern battlefield, a large number of Sichuan soldiers returned to Sichuan. Their return made Sichuan an iron barrel again.
After years of fighting, Li Zicheng was no longer the postman and general who had lived in Shaanxi for a long time and had no idea how big the world was.
Although the She'an Rebellion that broke out in Sichuan previously dealt a heavy blow to Sichuan, because of this, most of the soldiers in Sichuan Province, including the guards, now have a certain degree of combat capability, not the same as those in Henan. Provinces that have been waiting for peace for a long time are generally unbearable.
In the previous two battles between Jiange and Guangyuan, although they were defeated both times, they were both miserably defeated, and they still had the advantage in first attack and troop strength.
"In a head-on battle, no matter which way we fight, we don't have much chance of winning."
Li Zicheng looked calm and spoke calmly.
Use a very calm expectation to describe the possible failure.
The expressions of all the generals on the high slope changed slightly. They were all waiting for Li Zicheng to order where to go, waiting for Li Zicheng to lead them out of the encirclement again.
But Li Zicheng now said that no matter which way he faced him, he had no chance of winning.
It seemed that...the only path waiting for them ahead was defeat.
Tian Jianxiu's heart felt slightly cold, and waves of chills could not help but slowly rise in his heart.
He couldn't accept it for a while. They had obviously won consecutive battles all the way, and were in the limelight for a while. They had obviously not lost yet!
Tian Jianxiu wanted to say something, but after clenching and unclenching his fist several times, he still had no words.
Because what Li Zicheng said is indeed true, no matter which lane they face, they have no chance of winning...
The officers and soldiers had not moved for a long time, but at this time they were marching towards Mianzhou, which undoubtedly proved that the officers and soldiers were ready.
Hong Chengchou, Hou Liangzhu, and Ma Xianglin respectively led three armies to join the attack. No one among the three was easy to get along with. This time, the army's attack was inevitable.
This time, they may have really reached the end...
wrong……
Tian Jianxiu's eyes suddenly became clear. If he had really reached a desperate situation, Li Zicheng should not have this attitude and expression.
Tian Jianxiu's eyes moved slightly, and he noticed that Li Zicheng's expression was still calm and clear, and that Tuo Yangkun's expression, who was standing not far away from him, had also not changed much.
Tuo Yangkun stood at the forefront of the generals. Li Zicheng established five battalions and ten teams. Tuo Yangkun ranked first by virtue of his qualifications and strength.
Even Liu Zongmin and Gao Yigong, who had been following Li Zicheng, were now far inferior to Tuo Yangkun.
Tuo Yangkun was afraid that he knew something, so he was so indifferent.
Not long after Tian Jianxiu came to his senses, Manager Qi, King Renyi, Gao Yigong and others also came to their senses.
They all came out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, and they were able to survive through bloody battles along the way. Which one of them is a real mediocrity?
"Brother, we will do what you say!"
Liu Zongmin, wearing bright silver fish scale armor and a high-topped helmet, was the first to shout loudly.
Liu Zongmin has a strong figure, but the fish scale armor that should have been loose on his body looks bulging, like a brown bear in the forest.
He has been following Li Zicheng from very early on, never missing a single battle, and is Li Zicheng's true confidant.
"If King Chuang's military order is given, I will go through fire and water and I will never refuse."
All the generals also expressed their stance and agreed solemnly.
A gleam flashed in Li Zicheng's eyes, and his sharp gaze swept across everyone.
"There have been many times when we were in desperate situations along the way."
"The officers and soldiers are well prepared and the forces are strong. We have always lost more in head-to-head confrontations, but now we are forced to face them head-on."
Li Zicheng said in a deep voice with a deep look in his eyes.
"The troops of all the battalions on the east road abandoned their troops and surrendered, thinking they were lackeys of the imperial court!"
"Without the threat from the east route, the officers and soldiers on the west route now have no external worries. They can only target us."
"Now only one part of our army is still supporting on the west road. The officers and soldiers are bound to gather heavy troops to strangle them."
Li Zicheng raised his voice a little, and his eyes slowly swept over the faces of everyone in front of him.
"The building is about to collapse and cannot be supported by a single tree!"
"This time, the officers and soldiers gathered 40,000 heavy troops, came in three groups, and deployed troops to block the road to our north, blocking my way back to Gongchang."
"Even if we can break through the encirclement of officers and soldiers this time, what about the next time?"
Li Zicheng tightened his grip on the riding whip and said coldly.
"Next time...the officers and soldiers will definitely gather more soldiers."
"The area where we are located has been restricted. Officers and soldiers are fortified everywhere and camped at every step. Now we don't have many available people in northern Sichuan and southern Shaanxi. Even if we do have them, they are of no use. You all know why."
The human sea tactic is useful. There are only three to four thousand officers and soldiers. The human sea tactic is very effective. Once the officers and soldiers are surrounded, they can be annihilated in one fell swoop.
However, the human wave tactic is useless in many cases. When the number of officers and soldiers reaches more than 10,000, they have all the equipment and sufficient supplies, and no amount of crowds can disperse them.
The only ones that are really useful at this time are the elite cavalry and horse troops in each of their teams.
However, if each qualified Jingqi and Cavalry Army dies, one will be lost. Every death is a huge loss that cannot be afforded at all.
"so……"
Li Zicheng slowly raised his riding whip, everyone's eyes were focused on him, and the air almost became stagnant for a moment.
"Even if we can win the battle in Mianzhou, we still can't win..."
Tian Jianxiu's eyes widened, his pupils involuntarily dilated due to fear, and the rest of the generals also had the same expressions.
But Li Zicheng continued to talk as if he didn't see their expressions.
"In the battle of Mianzhou, we must be defeated, we must be defeated, and it must be a disastrous defeat..."
Li Zicheng took a step forward, his expression was cold and his tone was firm.
"Hong Chengchou must be made to think that we have been completely defeated..."
Li Zicheng turned north and looked in the direction of Jiang You.
The current situation is extremely unfavorable. The years of famine have been alleviated a lot this year, but the power of the officers and soldiers is unprecedentedly strong.
But...as long as we survive this year and this period of time, everything will change dramatically.
The four-right and six-corner strategy set by the Ming court will soon suffer backlash.
The tax of 2.8 million yuan has indeed greatly strengthened the strength of the officers and soldiers.
But once famine breaks out again, these extra taxes will become the sharpest knife and gun thrust into the heart of the Ming Dynasty...
He and Zhang Xianzhong have never dealt with each other, but he knows Zhang Xianzhong very well.
It is impossible for Zhang Xianzhong to truly surrender. When the backlash comes, Zhang Xianzhong will definitely rebel again.
Moreover, the northern barbarians move south every year and launch a large-scale war every few years.
At that time, the Ming court will definitely mobilize a large number of troops to go north to Qinwang. This is also their opportunity!
(End of chapter)
