In the first month of the fifth year of Chengshun in the Great Chu Empire, although the main affairs were the implementation of the five-year development plan, these matters were limited to the civil service system.
As for the military system, it is continuing to prepare for war in Shanxi and Shaanxi.
At the imperial strategy meeting on the tenth day of the first lunar month, Luo Zhixue asked the military to capture Shanxi and even Shaanxi within this year, with the main goal of eliminating the puppet Longxing regime.
The core strategic goal is to eliminate Zuo Liangyu's and Sun Chuanting's troops, totaling more than 100,000 troops.
As long as the two main forces of Xi Ming are wiped out, the new Longxing regime will naturally become rootless duckweeds.
At the same time, Luo Zhixue asked the military to further consolidate the Jiliao and Xuanda border defense lines in the north to prevent the eastward captives from entering the pass and thus interfering with the war launched by the Dachu Empire in the northwest this year.
But the overall problem should not be big.
Nowadays, life in the Northeast is not easy, and the continuous severe cold and drought have a great impact on agricultural production in the Northeast.
In the past, Dongdu was affected by natural disasters. When life became difficult, they would think of detouring through Mongolia and entering the country to plunder.
But last year, when Dongdu failed to seize Shanhaiguan, they once tried to send troops to bypass Mongolia and enter the customs. However, they were ambushed by the Chu army and lost several thousand cavalry.
The attempt to bypass Mongolia and enter the customs was not successful, so it was naturally impossible to talk about entering and plundering. Therefore, last winter, life was not easy for the Dongdu people, and they intensified their efforts to squeeze the Mongolian tribes and North Korea and other vassals. .
With Dongri's current strength, it is impossible to tear through the Chu army's defense line and enter the pass.
Therefore, in the direction of Jiliao, the Chu army lacked cavalry, had supply difficulties, and had internal problems such as multi-front operations. It would be difficult to launch a large-scale exit operation in a short period of time. However, relying on the Great Wall defense line to block the Eastern Capture was not a problem. big.
In this way, the Chu army can concentrate enough strength to solve the Ximing problem.
In the first month of the fifth year of Chengshun, although the land in the north had not yet thawed, and even the Yellow River was still frozen, the Chu Empire still sent a large number of reinforcements and supplies to the northwest front.
The two new main divisions and the fifth heavy artillery regiment of the Fifth Army have now arrived at the Tongguan front line and can be used to attack Tongguan at any time.
At the same time, the 4th Mortar Artillery Brigade, the 7th Cavalry Brigade and the 8th Cavalry Brigade transferred from the northern battlefield, which were assembled and reorganized, have also arrived in the Luoyang area.
In addition to the 16th Division originally deployed in Tongguan, the 3rd Division deployed in Huaiqing, the 2nd Division deployed in Lushi, and the 17th Division deployed in the direction of Hanzhong.
In terms of troop deployment, the Da Chu Empire Army has currently completed the deployment of troops on the Tongguan, Lushi, and Hanzhong front lines facing Shaanxi, and can launch the Tongguan Campaign at any time and enter the hinterland of Shaanxi, that is, the Guanzhong area.
In Shanxi in the north, the Chu army has completed its troop deployment after mobilizing troops last winter.
In the direction of Datong, the Chu army deployed the 8th Division, the 5th Cavalry Brigade, the 6th Cavalry Brigade, and the 2nd Mortar Brigade. In addition, the 109th Division stationed in the rear and border areas could also participate in the southward battle when necessary.
In the direction of Taiyuan, the Chu army deployed the 4th Division, 1st Guards Division, 106th Division, 107th Division, 3rd Cavalry Brigade, 4th Cavalry Brigade, and 3rd Artillery Brigade.
In order to launch the Western Front Campaign with the main purpose of Shanxi and Shaanxi, the Chu Army assembled a total of two new first-class divisions, seven old first-class divisions, six cavalry brigades, one heavy artillery regiment, and three mortar artillery brigades.
There are 120,000 front-line troops assembled. In addition, there will be multiple second-class divisions involved in suppressing the rear and maintaining supply lines, etc., in order to free the main force to participate in front-line operations.
This force seems to be about the same quantity as the Ming army opposite, but the quality of the Ming army varies. There are a large number of young and strong civilians and ordinary guard soldiers. If these personnel are placed on the Chu army, they are all transportation At the regimental level, they are not even considered soldiers... They are not even included in the calculation of troop strength.
If these personnel with poor combat effectiveness are removed, the Ming army can only pull out 50,000 to 60,000 combat troops.
Basically, it's a comparison of the strength levels of the two.
In addition, the Chu army assembled not only a large number of troops, but also the equipment level was far superior to that of the Ming army opposite.
Even with the exception of the two new first-class divisions, the other seven first-class divisions all lacked sufficient artillery, but they were still able to assemble a total of more than 400 field guns of two and a half kilograms, five kilograms, and nine kilograms.
More than twenty nine-pound and fourteen-pound cannons.
There are more than 300 mortars of various types including 18-pound, 24-pound, and 48-pound mortars.
The number of artillery pieces alone is several times that of the Ming army opposite.
Other weapons and equipment are also significantly ahead of the opposite Ming army.
For example, armor, the first-class divisions in the Chu army are all wearing armor, and the front-line combat soldiers, such as the spearmen in the old first-class divisions, are even more heavily armored.
The armor rate of the Ming army on the opposite side was far lower than that of the Chu army.
In terms of the number of troops, equipment and even level, Zuo Liangyu's and Sun Chuanting's troops on the opposite side were far inferior to the Chu army.
However, war is something that cannot be determined by simply comparing paper data. Even if the Chu army has a huge advantage, it has to be fought to know. Otherwise, the war will be defeated without having to fight the other side.
However, what is interesting is that when the Chu army was making the final deployment of troops in Shaanxi and other places, preparing to launch a northwest offensive after the weather improved, the Chu army's second division was in Lu's and the Liu family who came from Shaanxi. The thieves fought first, and they were led by the famous Zhang Xianzhong.
However, this battle between the Chu Army's Second Division and Zhang Xianzhong's headquarters did not even alert the commander of the Shaanxi-Gansu Campaign, General Huang Dingquan.
Because it was not large in scale and did not last long, it did not cause any difficulties to the Second Division. It only took three days for the Second Division to defeat more than 20,000 men under Zhang Xianzhong's command.
Seeing that the situation was irreversible, Zhang Xianzhong simply led the remaining troops to surrender... at least he could still give his brothers a way to survive.
The surrendered Zhang Xianzhong looked at the Chu army beside him. When he looked at the group of dejected men under his command, he couldn't help but sigh.
it's all over!
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In the past few years, Zhang Xianzhong and other bandits who were active in Shaanxi, Henan, Shanxi, Chu and other places had a very difficult time.
Earlier, they were surrounded and suppressed by the troops led by Hong Chengchou, and they were driven back to Shaanxi, which greatly reduced their living space.
After Hong Chengchou was transferred to Jiliao, Sun Chuanting, who took over, was even more ruthless. Relying on his newly formed New Qin Army, he wiped out all the bandits who were still abusing them.
Gao Yingxiang was captured, and Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others were hiding. During this period, many bandits continued to be exterminated by Sun Chuanting.
By the first month of the fifth year of Chengshun, among the originally vigorous rebel armies, only Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were left. The others were either wiped out by Sun Chuanting or annexed by themselves, as well as Some tried to break into the area controlled by the Chu army, but were killed by the Chu army.
Regardless of whether it was Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong, they could only lead their troops to hide in the Qinling Mountains, but it was not easy to live in hiding, and food was extremely scarce.
Some time ago, Zhang Xianzhong's troops were encircled and pursued by part of Sun Chuanting's troops. In desperation, he could only lead his troops all the way east, and finally ran into the defense line deployed by the Chu army at Lu's.
In other words, in fact, the troops under Sun Chuanting chased Zhang Xianzhong's troops all the way, and even drove them eastward. In addition to suppressing thieves to ensure the stability of his own territory, they also wanted Zhang Xianzhong to consume the Chu army's strength. A wave of destruction or something.
But these bandits couldn't even defeat the Ming army under Sun Chuanting, let alone the Chu army, which was armed to the teeth.
The second division simply launched a surprise attack and defeated Zhang Xianzhong's main force.
Zhang Xianzhong saw that the situation was irreversible, and he also knew that the overall situation in the world was no longer the same as before. The rise of the Chu army was inevitable. There was no way for thieves like them to survive, so they were defeated simply. Surrender.
"Gene Era"
Anyway, there is no future for continuing to be a bandit, so it is better to surrender directly. At least it can give some brothers who have followed him for many years a way to survive.
The Chu army still treated the enemy troops who surrendered as favorably as before. As long as they surrendered, their lives could still be saved.
At the same time, Zhang Xianzhong also received the rank of lieutenant colonel.
However, Zhang Xianzhong is not very interested in continuing to serve as an official in the Chu Empire. He used to be a powerful man who led tens of thousands of troops and spanned several provinces. How could he be willing to become a lieutenant colonel in the Chu army? Moreover, he is still a fictitious consultant with no military rank...
So what if he just doesn't want to be reconciled? He has ambitions, but he doesn't have the strength, and the overall situation doesn't allow it.
When Zhang Xianzhong was disheartened, unwilling and helpless, many of his people had new aspirations.
Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son Li Dingguo is one of them. This person was originally named Li Dingguo. After being adopted by Zhang Xianzhong, he changed his surname to Zhang, so he can also be called Zhang Dingguo.
Although he is not old, he is already a veteran general who has led the army in many battles. This time he also surrendered with Zhang Xianzhong. After the surrender, he was also awarded the rank of captain.
Because Li Dingguo's military rank was relatively low after his surrender, and he was not a leader like Zhang Xianzhong, the Chu army had to be more relaxed about the management of low-level officers who surrendered, and they would not be placed under house arrest or residential surveillance.
Instead, follow-up arrangements will be made according to their own wishes. Those who are unwilling to join the army will go home, and those who are willing to do other arrangements will be placed in other systems.
If you are willing to continue joining the army, you need to pass the assessment. After passing the assessment, you will be arranged to study in a training school specifically for reduced generals. The content of learning in this kind of school is not military content, but political content.
After completing their political studies and passing the assessment, they will be arranged to attend a crash course at the military academy.
After the study is completed, some deputy positions and non-chief positions will be assigned. After a period of observation and assessment, the appointments will be gradually normalized.
Li Dingguo wanted to continue joining the army, so he expressed his wish to continue joining the army on the spot. Because of his sincere attitude, he passed the assessment and immediately got a ticket to Xiangyang for political studies.
However, among the important generals under Zhang Xianzhong, he was the only one who was able to enter the Xiangyang Institute of Political Science, while the others were unable to enter.
For example, Sun Kewang died long ago under the Chu army's artillery fire.
Although Liu Wenxiu also wanted to study at the Institute of Political Science and continue to join the army, he failed the examination...
Ai Nengqi expressed that he wanted to be a rich man and was unwilling to continue fighting.
So in the end, among the four important generals under Zhang Xianzhong, only Li Dingguo passed the assessment and participated in political studies, and will continue to serve in the army in the future.
Zhang Xianzhong's troops surrendered after being defeated, and the outcome seemed to be good. This also stimulated Li Zicheng and some of his generals who were still hiding in the Qinling Mountains.
They also thought about simply defecting to the Chu army. They didn't dare to say anything else, but a rich man could still keep it.
Not to mention Li Zicheng and others, even many generals under Sun Chuanting were wondering whether to surrender after hearing that Zhang Xianzhong had surrendered.
The general trend of the world is like this. Whether it is Sun Chuanting's army or Zuo Liangyu's army, there are many people who want to surrender to Chu.
Not everyone is like Sun Chuanting, who stubbornly believes that the Ming Dynasty is not dead yet, and that he can resist the Chu thieves and then revive the Zhu Ming Dynasty.
Not everyone is as ambitious as Zuo Liangyu, who wants to separate the region and become the boss himself.
More importantly, with the destruction of Youzhou City and Chongzhen's suicide, in the eyes of many people, the Ming Dynasty was dead.
Now, the Chu Dynasty is the orthodoxy of China!
