When the left wing of the Ming army was finished, the center and right wing of the Ming army saw that the momentum was not good, and ran away one by one.
As a result, the tens of thousands of Ming troops expected to reinforce Wuchang in Yuezhou Prefecture suffered a major defeat before even leaving Yuezhou Prefecture.
More than 300 people died on the spot, more than 3,000 people were captured, and thousands more dispersed without a trace, leaving only 4,000 to 5,000 people who fled back to Linxiang in embarrassment.
These Ming troops who fled back to Linxiang refused to leave the city and march eastward no matter what, so they just hunkered down in Linxiang City.
If it weren't for fear of superiors, or if Yang Sichang was to blame, they would have fled directly back to Yuezhou by now.
After Yang Sichang of Changde Prefecture received the news that the Yuezhou Ming Army suffered a disastrous defeat in the eastern suburbs of Linxiang, he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
An army of 10,000 fought against 3,000 thieves, and there was definite news that most of the thieves who were protecting them were traitors wearing military uniforms... The real gray thieves were probably only a few hundred people that big.
However, Yuezhou officers and soldiers were still completely defeated!
"Is the protector a celestial being? Does he have three heads and six arms? No, the protector is also a son of man. He has one head and two hands, and he kills him with a sword. The defeat of this battle is that the general has no plan to deal with it, and the soldiers do not have the courage to kill the enemy. In this way, the soldiers are facing the protector. How can a master of thieves, tigers and wolves be undefeated!"
Yang Sichang was very hurt when he learned the news. Damn, the Bao Thief Army opposite was also born to his parents. He didn't have three heads and six arms, and he didn't say how many cannons the Bao Thief brought here!
If the over 3,000 troops that came over were all gray thieves carrying a lot of guns and cannons, it would be acceptable if they couldn't defeat them.
However, one glance at the more than 3,000 thieves revealed that only a few hundred of them were real gray thieves. The remaining two thousand or so were all rebels who were officers and soldiers not long ago.
After these rebels were reorganized by the thieves, they only had a little more food, a little higher morale, a little better swords and spears, and a little more armor, but in essence, they were no different from the officers and soldiers in Yuezhou. .
But still beaten like this.
If we encounter more main force protecting the thieves later, facing dozens and hundreds of cannons, tens of thousands of muskets and thick armor, wouldn't it be even worse?
Moreover, the momentum of the security army is too strong now. They have captured most of Wuchang Mansion and are besieging Wuchang. Once Wuchang cannot be defended, most of Chunan will be lost.
This also means that the security thief will probably come to his hometown of Changde soon. At that time, he may not have been able to successfully take over the military affairs of the five provinces.
Yang Sichang felt a little desperate when he thought of this possibility.
After receiving the news that tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in Yuezhou were defeated in the eastern suburbs of Linxiang, Yang Sichang once wanted to resolutely refuse to take over the post of Prime Minister of the Military Affairs of the Five Provinces. Now, the post of Prime Minister of the Military Affairs of the Five Provinces is not a good position at all, but a huge fire pit. , jump in and you’re done.
The security forces have now occupied the north of Chu and launched an offensive in the south of Chu. The offensive is extremely fierce. The more than 20,000 officers and soldiers on the front line of Wuchang are unable to even parry. They can only huddle in the city of Wuchang and linger. And looking at this posture, Wuchang There is a high probability that they will not be able to hold on there.
By then, Wuchang Mansion will be completely finished.
Once Wuchang is finished, the army protecting the thieves can then move westward or eastward.
If we advance westward, we can attack the Yuezhou, Changsha, and Changde areas, and then occupy the area around Dongting Lake, an important economic area in southern Chu.
Once the area around Dongting Lake is also captured by the army protecting the thieves, the strength of protecting the thieves and pretending to be Chu will increase significantly.
Because the most important and prosperous place in Southern Chu, with the largest population and the largest grain production, is Wuchang Prefecture and the area along the Yangtze River surrounding Dongting Lake.
Once this area is lost, the remaining areas in Chunan will be mountainous and hilly areas with relatively small populations.
By then, even if the security forces fight step by step, the remaining Chunan area will be captured by them sooner or later.
By then, the entire Huguang will fall into the hands of the thieves, and the entire Kyushu situation will be completely destroyed.
Because Huguang is ripe and the world is full, when this important grain-producing area second only to Jiangnan in the late Ming Dynasty is occupied by the Chu Empire, it will not only provide sufficient population, money and food for the Chu Empire, but also have a negative impact on the Chu Empire. Ming Ting caused a huge blow.
In this process of increase and decrease, the blow to Mingting will be doubled.
This is the consequence of the bandit army's westward march.
If the security forces choose to advance eastward, they will be in even greater trouble.
What is the place east of Wuchang Prefecture?
Jiangxi Jiujiang Prefecture, Nankang Prefecture, Nanchang Prefecture, Raozhou Prefecture, Linjiang Prefecture, Ji'an Prefecture and other northern and central areas of Jiangxi. These prefectures surround the Poyang Lake area and the Ganjiang River area, and also have large plains, which belong to A land of plenty in the traditional sense.
If the rebel army occupies these places, the population, money and food they can obtain will not be high.
And this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is where is the east of northern Jiangxi?
Jiangnan!
There is ten money and food in the world, and Jiangnan has half of it!
In the early Ming Dynasty, Su Changshu was the most powerful in the world. By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Jiangnan region was not only the most important grain-producing area, but also the most important industrial and commercial center and the most densely populated area.
none of them!
Even though the Ministry of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty could no longer obtain much money and food from the abundant Jiangnan region to maintain the entire huge empire, everyone knew that there was a lot of money and food here.
If this area is controlled by the Thief Guard Army, the strength of the Thief Guard Army will double.
At the same time, once the thieves control the south of the Yangtze River, the lifeline "water transportation" that the North Zhili region depends on for survival will be cut off directly from the source.
At that time, the emperors and ministers of the Ming Dynasty will not have to think about resisting the Eastern Han Dynasty externally or suppressing the traitors internally, but they will have to think about how to fill their stomachs.
It was precisely this huge harm that caused the Ming court to attach great importance to protecting thieves in a short period of time, and instantly surpassed Dongluo!
As for Gao Yingxiang's thieves, their threat level has been reduced to third-rate.
The East Riding was nothing more than a group of barbarians outside the Pass. They are still fighting with the Liaodong border troops outside the Pass. They have been fighting for decades but have not been able to break through the Shanhaiguan.
If they were to die, they would just detour through Mongolia and rush into North Zhili and other places to plunder.
Although Ming Ting was also beaten very painfully, it did not completely collapse Ming Ting. What was more uncomfortable was the continuous bleeding.
The rogue bandits such as Gao Yingxiang seemed to be very harmful, but in fact they were unable to shake the Ming court's rule in a short period of time.
Just this year when the Hometown Protection Army was engulfing Northern Chu, Hong Chengchou had actually led his troops to force a group of bandits headed by Gao Yingxiang back to Shaanxi, and continued their encirclement and suppression campaign, winning many important victories.
Now the momentum of Gao Yingxiang and other rebels has fallen to the bottom. Many rebels have been severely damaged, and the remaining troops are not allowed to hide.
Most of the main forces under Hong Chengchou have now been deployed and stationed in Guanzhong Prefecture, Xi'an Prefecture, Henan Ruzhou, Henan Prefecture and other places to fight against the security guards.
In just half a year, the Ming court's biggest concern changed from kidnapping and straying thieves to protecting thieves.
Moreover, the threat of this security thief is greater, and the momentum is more fierce. It is like a sharp blade, directly inserted into the hinterland of Mingting, making Mingting not only uncomfortable, but also the possibility of complete collapse and disintegration at any time.
Faced with such an army to protect the thieves, to be honest, Yang Sichang himself felt unsure.
Before the bandits crossed the Yangtze River and went south, he also hoped to delay it for a few months, allowing the court to have time to gather troops from more areas to implement a blockade and suppression strategy, and strive to contain the thieves in the northern Chu region.
However, as the thieves crossed the Yangtze River and moved south, the original containment strategy faced the crisis of bankruptcy, because Wuchang was a crucial link in this series of containment strategies.
With the presence of Wuchang, we can block the rebel army north of the Yangtze River, and then control the rebel army in the northern Chu region.
But can Wuchang still be able to hold on now?
Yang Sichang is very pessimistic about this!
In the past few months, he continued to collect and understand all the information about the Protectorate Army, especially gaining a detailed understanding of several large-scale battles between the imperial court and the Protectorate Army.
In the end, it was discovered that the fighting power of the thief-protecting army was astonishing.
Relying on fast-moving artillery can often gain huge advantages in field battles, and even sieges are very sharp. The battle of Zhong Xiang completely made many senior officials in the Ming Dynasty aware of the powerful attack capabilities of the anti-thief army.
Even Dongri doesn't have the ability to attack difficult situations.
Although Dongji was very strong in field battles and defeated the Jiliao border troops without temper, their siege strength was just that. Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty would not have been blocked from Shanhaiguan by the Ming Dynasty for so many years, and they wanted to enter the customs. All plundering had to take a detour through Mongolia.
How to fight against such an army of thieves?
Yang Sichang didn’t know!
This is not only a question of whether the strategic arrangements are appropriate, but more importantly, the army protecting the thieves is too strong. No matter what strategic arrangements we make, what can we do if we can't even defend the city?
After Yang Sichang thought for several days in his hometown in Changde, and after repeated discussions with local officials and his own staff, he finally came to a conclusion, or found a way to deal with it, and then wrote a memorial and dispatched five hundred miles to expedite the detour. Jiangnan was sent to the capital.
He said this in his memorial:
"The ability to protect the thieves depends entirely on the sharpness of the guns, especially the light red barbarian cannon, which has repeatedly inflicted heavy damage on our officers and soldiers in battles."
"Also, the thieves have plundered a lot of money and food. The thieves and soldiers have three meals a day, are full of food, are strong and strong, and can walk as fast as flying even if they are wearing heavy armor."
"Our officers and soldiers are short of guns and artillery, and they are even more short of food and pay. Even if our officers and men want to kill thieves, they don't have the power to kill them."
"The only plan now is to build guns and cannons, collect money and food, and train a new army to suppress them."
"I have been looking for craftsmen to imitate the new guns and cannons used to protect the thieves, and I have also found ways to protect the thieves' new army with guns and cannons. I want to learn from the thieves' skills and control them."
"When I build 200 lightweight red barbarian cannons, 50,000 new blunderbuss, and 20,000 pieces of armor, I can pacify the thieves in a matter of seconds."
"However, craftsmen are easy to find, guns are easy to make, but money and food are not enough. I wanted to make guns and cannons to train a new army, but I did not have enough money and food. So I earnestly took out five million taels of silver to make guns, cannons, and thick armor, and raised a hundred thousand new troops. "
