In the fifth year of Chengshun's reign in the Chu Empire, in the first year of Longxing in the Western Ming Dynasty, March 23rd.
In Taiyuan, Shanxi, Zuo Liangyu was silent as he looked at the military intelligence report that had been opened on the table.
The military intelligence report on the right hand side arrived in Taiyuan this morning. This is a battle report on the Jiezhou front line.
The battle report said that the mountain passes outside Jiezhou and Xiwen lines were attacked intensively by Chu thieves. Four of the eight fortresses built by Zuo Liangyu's troops along the passable checkpoints along the mountains had been captured by Chu thieves. Thousands of defenders suffered heavy casualties.
However, the Chu bandits' offensive was still very fierce, and the front line of Jiezhou was in danger.
Just this battle report was not enough to make Zuo Liangyu lock himself in his study and remain silent. With the powerful combat power of the Chu army, even without carrying a large number of heavy artillery, he launched a fierce attack on the Jiezhou front line. Some light artillery and their large number of armored elite soldiers can also cause great losses to Jiezhou's defense line.
What's more, the front line of Jiezhou was previously stationed by Sun Chuanting's troops. Their sudden withdrawal caused great trouble to Zuo Liangyu. Not long after Zuo Liangyu's troops took over the defense urgently, they were attacked by Chu thieves.
He was actually mentally prepared for the defeat on the Jiezhou front line. Five thousand reinforcements were already on the way, and they would be able to reinforce the Jiezhou defense line in a few days.
What really concerned and even alarmed Zuo Liangyu was the military intelligence report on the left hand side.
Tongguan was unexpectedly captured by Chu thieves five days ago. According to reports from the personnel sent by Zuo Liangyu to observe the battle situation on the north bank of the Yellow River.
On the 17th, the defenders were already unable to withstand the situation. They broke through that day and night, but by dawn the next day, there were only a few thousand people who broke through, and most of the Tongguan defenders finally surrendered.
Tongguan is lost!
"It is a famous gate in the world, and it is garrisoned by tens of thousands of Sun Chuanting's elite men, and dozens of long-barreled artillery to guard it. It can't even hold on for just a few days!"
Zuo Liangyu stood up, walked to the window and looked outside, but he had no intention of admiring the blooming flowers in the courtyard outside the window, and continued to frown.
"Although the Chu thieves are strong in combat, they are not that strong."
Zuo Liangyu couldn't figure out why Sun Chuanting was defeated so quickly. According to his estimation, although Sun Chuanting was old-fashioned and pedantic, and he only cared about the court and not the court, and he did not hesitate to send troops to attack him for the sake of the Longxing regime, he still had abilities. .
Who could say that in just two or three years, all thieves in Shaanxi and Gansu could be wiped out, and Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others who had caused harm to Shaanxi and Gansu for many years could not take care of themselves, and in the end they could only hide in the mountains to survive. Sun Chuanting was incompetent, Zuo Liangyu could slap him in the face and say something.
However, such a person, with the main force of the most elite New Qin Army under his command, tens of thousands of troops, and relying on a place like Tongguan that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, failed to defeat the Chu thieves.
This is unreasonable!
As for the Chu thief, it's not like he has never seen or fought him before. Under his influence, although the Chu thief is strong, he is not that strong!
There must be something wrong here.
Maybe it was the Ming generals who rebelled in Tongguan City, causing the defense line to collapse, but it was more likely that those damn Chu thieves had adopted some new weapons and tactics.
Otherwise, based on his understanding of the Chu thieves, even if the Chu thieves could capture Tongguan, it would not be so easy.
If the Chu thieves could easily attack Tongguan, Zuo Liangyu would have died in the battle long ago.
When he was stationed in Henan, he fought on and off with the Chu bandits for several years. Especially in the confrontations in the following years, small-scale battles between the two sides were actually very frequent.
During this process, Zuo Liangyu also gained a deeper understanding of the Chu thieves.
The Chu thieves are very strong, especially their guns and cannons are extremely sharp. Their armor rate is even more astonishing. They are also well paid. The soldiers are physically fit and have high morale.
However, even so, Chu Thief is not without flaws, and is invincible in all situations.
For example, cavalry among Chu thieves is not their strong point.
Also, although the guns and cannons among the Chu thieves are sharp, if the defenders only want to fight defensively, and they also have a certain number of long-barreled artillery to assist in the battle, and build a large number of fortifications to defend against shelling, then the advantage of the Chu thieves' guns and cannons can be offset. a part of.
If the Chu thieves wanted to attack by force, they would have to mobilize their so-called commandos, which were heavy infantrymen wearing heavy armor.
This has been the case in many actual battles in the past and in friendly force battles.
The reason why some fortresses with complete fortifications and long-barreled artillery were finally lost was because they were unable to withstand the opponent's commandos during the hand-to-hand combat stage between the infantry of both sides.
Therefore, Zuo Liangyu also believes that although the Chu thieves have sharp guns, among the Chu thieves, it is their heavily armored troops that have the greater ability to determine victory or defeat on the battlefield.
The hundreds of artillery pieces among the Chu thieves did not frighten Zuo Liangyu, but the tens of thousands of heavy armored infantry among the Chu thieves made Zuo Liangyu sleepless and uneasy.
Nice romance
In order to be able to defend Shanxi, he has been trying every means, such as learning from friendly forces to build a large number of anti-artillery fortifications, building a large number of two and a half kilograms or even five kilograms and nine kilograms of field cannons, and even learning from the Chu thieves to make some mortars to fire explosive shells. This gadget can not only be used in offensive battles, but can also be used in defensive battles. However, the price/performance ratio is very low, so it is better to just use field artillery.
However, when facing Chu bandit attacks, they often dig trenches to advance, and like to deploy mortars in trenches and even anti-slope positions. Therefore, Zuo Liangyu believed that even the defenders must have mortars as a counterattack force.
At the same time, he tried to increase the armor coverage rate of his troops as much as possible. Because there was money and food, and the number of craftsmen was limited, he could not let his troops achieve a too high armor coverage rate. His method was to imitate the Chu thieves and directly set up a number of forwards. Battalion, this forward battalion is the same as the heavy armored commando team in Chu Thief, with heavy armored infantry as the core, supplemented by elite musketeers, and two and a half kilograms of field artillery.
The purpose is to compete with the heavy armored commandos among the Chu thieves.
As long as they can resist the opponent's heavy armored commando when the Chu thieves charge, then the battle will be fought.
Zuo Liangyu thought that his preparations were sufficient, especially after last year's carelessness that led to the loss of Guguan. He calmed down and made considerable reforms to his army.
He still had some hope of holding Shanxi. Even if he couldn't hold it in the end, he didn't think that his army would be defeated quickly. At worst, he would retreat to Guanzhong to join Sun Chuanting.
But what Zuo Liangyu didn't expect was that Sun Chuanting's army would be defeated so quickly. In just a few days, Tongguan was already lost.
The loss of Tongguan almost meant that the entire Guanzhong was exposed to the guns of the Chu thieves, and Sun Chuanting lost a large number of his main troops. Chang'an and even the entire Guanzhong hinterland would not be able to be defended in the future.
Well, the Chu thieves captured Tongguan on the 18th, and now it is the 23rd. Maybe by this time the Chu thieves have already arrived at Chang'an City.
Tongguan is only more than a hundred kilometers away from Chang'an. With the Chu bandits' almost abnormal marching ability, five days is enough for their forward troops to reach Chang'an.
If this pass is about to fall or has already fallen into the hands of Chu thieves, then one of his major escape routes will be completely cut off, not to mention that Puzhou will face a direct attack by Chu thieves in the future.
At the same time, the defense line between Jiezhou and Xiwen will also be under greater offensive pressure from the Chu army.
Under such heavy pressure, several prefectures and counties in the southeast of Pingyang Prefecture will fall soon. At that time, the Chu bandits will be able to move north along the Fen River and the plain terrain along the coast. Not only Pingyang Prefecture will be finished, but Taiyuan in the north will also be finished.
Coupled with the huge force of the Chu bandits in the east of Taiyuan and the Chu bandits in Datong in the north, Taiyuan will be besieged from three sides. Even if Zuo Liangyu still has three heads and six arms, it is unlikely that he can withstand it even if his troops are doubled. ah.
what to do?
Zuo Liangyu looked up at the flowers outside the courtyard, and finally sighed!
Shanxi cannot be defended anymore!
My ambition to separate one side with Shanxi as the basis, and even eventually establish a greater hegemony, will also be destroyed.
The Chu thief is stronger than he expected!
Faced with such a bad and complicated situation, Zuo Liangyu naturally would not sit still and wait for death!
He wants to jump out of Shanxi, a place that is about to be strategically surrounded.
On the same day, he ordered his civil and military officials to search the entire Shanxi Province. Regardless of whether it was grain, cloth, ironware, or gold and silver, everything that could be taken away must be searched and prepared for transfer to Yan'an Prefecture in Shaanxi Province in the west.
There are also various craftsmen who are more important, especially those who make guns.
He brought these craftsmen all the way from Henan, and also plundered some of them in Shanxi. It was because he had thousands of craftsmen under his command working day and night to build guns and armor for him that he was able to produce so many guns and armor.
The whole of Shanxi is about to become a battlefield, and Zuo Liangyu is not confident that he can completely block the Chu thieves from his home, so he needs a more stable rear area.
Although the Loess Plateau in the west is not the best choice, it is the only option left at present.
However, it also takes time to organize the strategic transfer of personnel and materials, so Zuo Liangyu cannot allow the frontline army to retreat directly, and must continue to resist stubbornly, especially in the direction of Taiyuan and Datong, where the Chu bandits on the opposite side have not yet launched a large-scale attack. , you can't just run away before the enemy comes in, right?
But there is not much time left for Zuo Liangyu!
After a whole spring of preparations, especially the preparations for intensive material transportation after the cold winter, the Chu army in the direction of Taiyuan and Datong already had the ability to launch a large-scale campaign.
When the news that the army under the Shaanxi-Gansu Campaign Command had captured Tongguan reached Zhending Prefecture in Hebei Province, the Military Intelligence Department reported that the Ming army on the opposite side seemed to be organizing personnel transfers. Army General Li Dongshao, commander of the Shanxi Campaign Command, decisively ordered his army Launched an offensive towards Taiyuan!
On March 27, the Chu army's frontline had already reached Pingding Prefecture in Taiyuan Prefecture.
A few days later, General Dong Mingjie, the deputy commander of the Northeast Campaign who was slowly informed of the news and was specifically responsible for the defense of Xuanda and also served as the commander of the Second Army, immediately ordered his Eighth Division to launch an offensive southward from Datong and directly approach Yanmen Pass.
The 109th Division, which was reorganized from the Ming Datong border army, was dispatched to launch an attack in the direction of Ningwuguan!
Pingding Prefecture in the east, Yanmen Pass in Daizhou in the north, and Ningwuguan in Shanxi Town, these three strategic locations were attacked by the Chu army at the same time. For a time, Zuo Liangyu's painstakingly built northern and eastern defense lines in Taiyuan were in emergency!
