At the entrance of the Qing army, nine sides were shaken.
Today's Governor of Xuanda is Chen Xinjia, not Lu Xiangsheng.
However, all the ministers in the DPRK recommended Lu Xiangsheng to lead the army.
After weighing the situation, Chongzhen still gave Lu Xiang the Sword Seal and ordered him to come to the capital at starry night to supervise the troops of the King of Qin in the world.
At the time of his father's death, Lu Xiangsheng did not want to accept the imperial edict. However, after receiving the imperial edict, he begged to withdraw the edict, but Chongzhen naturally refused.
Lu Xiangsheng had no choice but to accept the sword seal, and then sent a message to the commander-in-chief of each town to discuss invitations to join the guard.
After Lu Xiangsheng took office, he began drastic reforms. By the eleventh year, the army had established 300,000 acres of land, accumulated more than 200,000 shi of grain, and 43,000 shi of grain, and used it to benefit the people.
Chongzhen personally issued an edict to commend Lu Xiang for his contribution to the garrison, and ordered all the nine countries to follow the example of Xuanfu and Datong.
In addition to farming, Lu Xiangsheng also rectified military affairs, punished a large number of generals and officials who had failed to act, and killed the horse markets in Hukou and other places to win over the northern Mongolian tribes and use them as vanguards to fight the Qing army.
Lu Xiangsheng had been the governor of Xuanda for nearly two years and had a high prestige in the military.
When the general soldiers of the three towns received Lu Xiangsheng's order, they all did not dare to neglect it. They galloped into Yanghe at starry night and rushed to answer the order.
Lu Xiangsheng was ordered to face the danger, and divided his troops to guard the four sides. After discussing the food and grass and deciding on the garrison generals, he immediately led the soldiers and horses of the three towns non-stop, rushing all the way to the capital for reinforcements.
On October 3, Lu Xiangsheng led his troops to Changping.
Changping was originally Changping County. As the number of imperial tombs increased, so did the number of troops guarding the tombs.
In the first year of Jingtai, the Ming Dynasty built Yong'an City and set up Yong'an Camp in Bali east of Changping County.
Later, the guard station guarding the mountain mausoleum was also moved into the city.
During the Zhengde period, Changping was upgraded to a state and placed under the jurisdiction of Shun Tianfu.
During the Jiajing period, the Ming court added Changping Town and Zhenbao Town to the northwest of Beijing.
Gonghua City was also built in Shahedian, Changping. The city was two miles long from north to south and from east to west. It was used as a palace for worshiping the mausoleum.
Gonghua City is located at the strategic pass, protecting Shenjing in the south and the mausoleum of Wei in the north, shielding it from the rush of dense clouds in the east, and blocking the danger of Juyong in the west.
Zuo Liangyu and Tang Jiuzhou were both generals in Changping Town and were ordered to enter the pass and suppress the enemy.
The main function of Changping Town is to protect Juyongguan and the imperial mausoleum.
Juyongguan is known as one of the "Nine Fortresses in the World". It stands on the northernmost military capital of the Eighth Routes of Taihang. For thousands of years, countless wars have occurred here.
On June 27, the ninth year of Chongzhen, the Qing army broke into the Great Wall in three groups, moved troops to Shahe and Qinghe in Yanqing Prefecture, Gyeonggi Province, and invaded Changping.
In July, due to the internal response of Duoyan Mongolian soldiers, the Qing army captured Yong'an City.
Wang Zhaokun, the censor who patrolled the customs, Wang Yigui, the head of the household department, and others died in the battle.
The commander-in-chief Chao Pichang surrendered to the Qing soldiers and became the first commander-in-chief to surrender since the war between the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Because of this, the guard strength of Nanshan Road and Changping Town in Xuanfu Town has also been greatly strengthened.
As an important place for guarding the imperial mausoleum, it is also the base camp of the Northern Army.
Lu Xiangsheng led the soldiers and horses from the three towns into Changping, and together with the guards and horses from various places, they were also ordered to be controlled and dispatched by Lu Xiangsheng.
Reinforcement officers and soldiers from Datong, Xuanfu, Shanxi and other towns gathered in Changping to defend the capital.
On October 4, Emperor Chongzhen summoned the governor Lu Xiangsheng to the platform to inquire about the strategy.
Yang Sichang, Gao Qiqian, Chen Xinjia and others all advocated peace talks, believing that in order to fight against foreign aggression, one must first settle the domestic affairs.
Luo Rucai and other leaders of the Nine Battalions of the Rebel Army in the Yongning and Lu areas thought that Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting led their troops eastward from Tongguan to suppress themselves.
The Ming army marched eastward out of Tongguan, which caused a great deterrent to the rogue bandits in the pass.
Luo Rucai hurriedly gathered his team and ran to Junzhou, Huguang, to ask for help from Li Jizheng, the eunuch of Mount Taihe.
After Li Jizheng sent a letter to Xiong Wencan, he agreed to accept the recruitment.
Luo Rucai, the three battalions of Xiao Qin Wang Baigui and the whole hundred thousand Hei Yunxiang were stationed in Fang County, while the other five battalions were placed in the Zhuxi and Baokang areas.
At this time, most of the domestic bandit chaos has been eliminated.
However, Yang Sichang believes that the current domestic situation is still unstable. Although the domestic bandit chaos has temporarily subsided, it has not been able to achieve full success. There is a risk of resurgence, and it is a time when energy is needed.
At present, the soldiers and horses concentrated in the Gyeonggi area are almost all the combatable soldiers in the north. The Qing army's large-scale march south is obviously well-prepared, and a decisive battle with them will probably be difficult to succeed.
And if we risk a decisive battle with it, we may be in danger of capsizing after defeat.
He once again said: "In order to fight against the outside world, you must first settle the internal situation. Since ancient times, there has never been a person who can win externally without continuous internal strife."
But Lu Xiangsheng's answer was to insist on taking the lead in the battle, and said in the memorial: "I will take the lead in the battle, not in the care!"
At that time, the Ming court did not call "harmony" but "fu". Although there was still a difference between the two,
Lu Xiangsheng's words shook Chongzhen's original idea of temporarily stabilizing the slaves and focusing on quelling the civil strife.
Chongzhen was silent for a long time, and finally replied: "The outer court has said this, but I have not agreed to it."
October 5th.
Chongzhen took 40,000 gold from his internal funds to reward the army.
October 6th.
At this time, Chongzhen also made up his mind under the influence of Lu Xiangsheng.
Lu Xiangsheng's last words still moved him.
"The enemy comes with force but cannot be trapped, so that the will will disappear, and China will become increasingly despised in the future. This can be learned from the Song Dynasty. Foolish intentions can only be resolved in one battle."
With the events of the former Song Dynasty still fresh in his mind, Chongzhen believed that what Lu Xiangsheng said was correct.
Yang Sichang personally sent Lu Xiangsheng to the outside of the camp. When leaving, he stood back and warned Lu Xiangsheng repeatedly not to fight with the Qing army.
Lu Xiangsheng returned to Changping and regained control of King Qin's army.
Chongzhen sent his ministers as envoys, and also gave him a hundred royal horses, a thousand royal servant horses, and five hundred silver and iron whips.
After receiving the gift, Lu Xiangsheng sighed and said: "The holy king is powerful. What are you doing with all the talk? Is this a mediocre minister who has ruined the country?" Then he decided to discuss the war.
…
From Tongguan to Beijing, it is thousands of miles away, not a short distance.
When he was a servant, Chen Wang didn't feel how hard and tiring it was to travel because he was given first-class treatment in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation.
But now that Chen Wang is leading a battalion of soldiers and horses, the journey will not be easy.
As the Qinwang Army, it stands to reason that the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Household Affairs and other ministries should arrange for people to prepare sufficient supplies in the prefectures and counties along the way.
But in fact, along the way, we received very little supplies, and in the worst case, we couldn't even eat one meal a day.
Everything seems to have returned to that afternoon in the eighth year of Chongzhen.
The official road was filled with soldiers wearing commoners, wearing red hats on their heads, and carrying spears or firecrackers on their shoulders. All of them silently walked forward along the official road.
The atmosphere in the team was terribly dull, their faces were full of exhaustion, and their uniforms were covered with dust.
On October 22, under the leadership of Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting, the troops swore to leave the customs, entered Shanxi, and rushed all the way to the north.
In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days have passed. There were no enemies or changes in people along the way. Most of the time was spent in a noisy and boring march.
In this era, there were no cars, let alone trains and airplanes. Even if they were thousands of miles away, the only thing the army could rely on when marching was its legs.
Chen Wang held the whip and rein and followed Cao Wenzhao on a bay-red horse.
In the marching sequence, the Hanzhong Army led by him followed closely behind the town troops led by Cao Wenzhao.
There is no need to worry about enemy attacks at the moment, ordinary marching matters can be left to middle and low-level officers. Chen Wang spends most of the time following Cao Wenzhao.
You can learn a lot from following Cao Wenzhao, not only how to deal with people, but also military strategy and tactics.
Chen Wang originally felt that he knew a lot, but after listening to Cao Wenzhao's explanation, he felt that he knew too little.
When to go to war, how to go to war, and deploying troops and generals are all a science.
The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly and opportunities are fleeting. Many times, generals often have no time to think.
Instead, rely on intuition and experience to make quick judgments.
"Where is the front?"
Cao Wenzhao stopped his horses, raised the whip in his hand, and asked.
"Report to the general, if we go ten miles further, we will leave the Xugou area and enter Yuci."
Cao Dingjiao held the reins in his hands tightly, stopped his horse as well, and replied.
"Xugou..."
Cao Wenzhao frowned slightly. They were just about to cross Xugou on the ninth day of November, and their marching speed was much slower than expected.
Calculating this, it will take at least until the end of the month to arrive in the capital.
"Xugou?"
Chen Wang looked at Cao Wenzhao, who was frowning and speechless. He knew that Cao Wenzhao was probably thinking about the situation in the North and the imperial court.
The struggle between Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Sichang is already on the table.
Between the two of them, Lu Xiangsheng was in charge of fighting and Yang Sichang was in charge of caressing. They were already on equal footing and it was difficult to resolve their hatred.
The news from the capital these days about the war situation is not good.
The disagreement between the DPRK and China seemed to be getting worse. Lu Xiangsheng and Gao Qiqian had different opinions, and the two broke up and split up.
On October 14, Lu Xiangsheng led more than 20,000 soldiers from the Xuan, Da, and Shanxi groups in Gonghua City to swear an oath to fight.
Then Lu Xiangsheng led his troops to Shunyi and encountered the Qing army, winning first and then losing.
As a result, Yang Sichang and Lu Xiangsheng had another conflict, and all court officials knew the inside story.
Lu Xiangsheng scolded Yang Sichang for suppressing his troops and supporting the bandits, while Yang Sichang scolded Lu Xiangsheng for underestimating the enemy.
On October 25, the Qing army began to attack Beijing. Lu Xiangsheng led his troops to resist the battle. After nearly ten days of fierce fighting, the Qing army retreated after being frustrated.
The Qing army circled Beijing to Zhuozhou, divided its army into eight parts, and launched a massive invasion along the Taihang Mountains and the Canal, west of Beijing to Shanxi.
According to the latest intelligence reports, the main force of the Qing army has arrived in Liangxiang and Zhuozhou, and then divided into three routes to move south, one from Laishui to attack Yizhou, one from Xincheng to attack Xiongxian, and one from Dingxing to attack Ansu.
They captured Liangxiang and Zhuozhou, surrounded Gaoyang, Fucheng, Weixian and other cities in northern Zhili, and spread all over the capital.
However, these are the reasons why Chen Wang is not allowed to pronounce the place name Xugou repeatedly.
The biggest reason why the place name Xugou is mentioned is because Chen Wang has read in the book that when they arrive at Xugou, they will go east...
The rapid sound of horse hooves interrupted everyone's thoughts and conversations. A dusty horseman had already galloped in from afar, bringing news from the north.
"Jian Nu turned south to attack Zhending and Baoding... take Jingxing and rush for reinforcements!"
The military order was issued personally by Sun Chuanting, or more accurately, it was an urgent order from the Ministry of War. The Qing army marched south to Zhending and Baoding, threatening Zhending Mansion and ordering it to rush to reinforcements.
Chen Wang's expression was slightly condensed. He remembered that when Sun Chuanting led the army to King Qin, the first battle was in Zhending.
It will take nearly ten days to walk from Xugou to Zhending by Jingxing.
In other words, ten days later, he will lead the army to face the Qing army heading south for the first time.
After the military order was conveyed, Cao Wenzhao respectfully accepted the order.
Sun Chuanting led the army first, and Hong Chengchou's main force pressed behind.
The first battle is extremely important. Sun Chuanting is very aware of the Qing army's combat power. Therefore, during the march, Shangshu advocated that when encountering the Qing army, he should not waste a fight, but should strictly defend and wait for opportunities to counterattack.
Hong Chengchou also agreed with Sun Chuanting's opinion. After discussion, a total of five battalions were selected for the vanguard force.
Cao Bianjiao led the Jingqi as the vanguard, He Renlong led the Yansui troops in the rear, Sun Chuanting led the Biao camp in the middle, and Cao Wenzhao led the troops in the town behind.
Chen Wang was also selected into the fifth battalion, and together with He Renlong served as Cao Bianjiao's support.
Zuo Guangxian and Zu Dabi followed Hong Chengchou with Guyuan soldiers and Ningxia soldiers respectively, thinking of their stamina.
"The Jiannu armored soldiers are fierce and cannot be fought easily. You must be careful in the front."
After Cao Wenzhao put away the military orders in his hand, he turned around and gave instructions again before riding away.
If we are really in an emergency and march eastward urgently, we need to make a lot of preparations, so we naturally need to race against time.
Chen Wang also reined in his horse and returned to camp, constantly issuing military orders to adjust the marching speed of the army.
If the battle is to be decided, Chen Wang knows exactly what the outcome will be.
The Ming army was the victorious party and lifted the siege of Zhending.
Chen Wang knew very well what would happen next if the original historical process continued.
No matter how clear the impact of the Wuyin Incident was, he was also clear about the losses and gains of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
But now history has changed almost beyond recognition, and it is destined to be completely different from history.
Although there has been no change in general, a lot of subtle changes have taken place.
Historically, when Lu Xiangsheng was pursuing south, he handed over many of his troops to Chen Xinjia to guard the Changping Imperial Tomb.
Later, Wang Pu, who was the commander-in-chief of Datong at that time, returned to Datong on the grounds that there was a police presence in Datong. When he went to Julu, Lu Xiangsheng actually had only more than 7,000 troops.
But now, the commander-in-chief of Datong is no longer the Wang Pu who succeeds more than fails, and wants to retreat when encountering a strong enemy. Instead, he has become Du Wenhuan.
During the Wanli period, Du Wenhuan repeatedly defeated the Mongolian tribes. During the Chongzhen period, Du Wenhuan presided over the suppression campaign as the admiral. Cao Wenzhao was only his subordinate at that time.
First, the main force of the rogue bandits was defeated in Fugu, then Zhang Xianzhong was defeated in Qingjian, and then Shen Yiyuan was defeated.
The reason why he was imprisoned in the end was not because he was defeated in the battle, but because his subordinates killed good people and took credit for their merits. They were impeached by the censor Wu Zong and Zhang Chengzhao during the incident, so he was imprisoned and took away his position.
Du Wenhuan had many shortcomings, but no one said that he was not good at fighting and training troops.
If Du Wenhuan had not escaped with an excuse like Wang Pu, then the army following Lu Xiangsheng in Julu would have exceeded 10,000 people.
But now Sun Chuanting does not have many available soldiers as in history. Cao Wenzhao, who is the magic needle for all the troops in the pass, is in the army at this time.
(End of chapter)
