With such a big movement, news naturally spread quickly. Fengyang Mansion and Yingtian Mansion all knew the news quickly, and at the same time, the news was urgently delivered to Yangzhou Mansion.
Zhang Mingwei has more information and knows that Li Zicheng's true purpose is actually Sichuan. But across thousands of rivers and mountains, he didn't know whether Li Zicheng would change his mind. In addition, he didn't know what the situation was like in Sichuan.
In short, in this ancient time, due to the backward transportation and communication, Zhang Mingwei, who came from later generations, felt very inconvenient.
Having been in Yangzhou Mansion for nearly half a month, Zhang Huangyan has also sorted out the transfer affairs. At the same time, the troops who had marched long distances to the south of the Yangtze River were also resting and recuperating.
Therefore, Zhang Mingwei ordered that Jin Zhensun, who was under the Beijing camp organization, lead two thousand infantry troops to continue to garrison Yangzhou Mansion. In name, it was to protect Yangzhou Mansion from being invaded by bandits. In fact, it was to support Zhang Huangyan and deter possible counterattacks.
Then, he led the army westward and officially began the war against Zhang Xianzhong and the fifth battalion of Ge Zuo.
After this period of research, Zhang Mingwei actually still had a bit of a headache.
When they attacked Li Zicheng before, because Li Zicheng had already become powerful, after joining forces with Luo Rucai's troops, their military strength was far superior to his. Moreover, Li Zicheng already had very big ambitions and began to establish local political power. To this end, he wanted to annihilate him and started the Battle of Kaifeng.
This kind of war is what Zhang Mingwei hopes for most. Therefore, even though he won a great victory in the first battle, Li Zicheng's escape with his elite troops still caused him a headache.
Now that he has become famous and his troops are stronger, Zhang Mingwei has an even bigger headache when dealing with Zhang Xianzhong and Gezuo Fifth Battalion who are weaker than Li Zicheng.
What is he most afraid of? The most afraid of rogue thieves is rogue thieves, fighting on the move and fighting guerrillas with him.
Zheng Eryang, who was then the governor of An, Lu, Chi, and Tai Ming Dynasty (referred to as Wanfu), wrote to him to report the situation of the fifth camp of Ge Zuo, saying, "Ge and Zuo are as cunning as the eight great kings, and there are many who are good at fighting." Thousands. The most important thing is that the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo mainly relied on the Dabie Mountains (historically known as the Yinghuo Mountains) for guerrilla operations. The situation in that area was dangerous and it occupied a strategically important position.
If the Fifth Battalion of Ge Zuo goes east, it will pose a threat to Tianfu, that is, Nanjing. To the northeast, it can go directly to the Fengyang Emperor's Mausoleum. To the west, it is not far away from the Eight Kings and other bandits, and they can unite to resist the imperial army at any time. .
In their reports to Zhang Mingwei, Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo also introduced the situation of the Fifth Gezuo Battalion, saying that the Fifth Gezuo Battalion was very cunning, good at buying natives as spies, and was mostly used by divination vendors and the like. If there are many officers and soldiers, they will hide in ambush, while if there are few, they will meet the enemy. Searching the mountains and clearing the fields will highlight the suburban passes, and arraying the plains will be dangerous and deep. If the thieves are the main force and the soldiers are the guests, there will be many defeats.
To sum up, in fact, it is just one sentence. These bandits have been fighting for so many years and have refined their skills, which coincides with the essence of the famous guerrilla warfare in later generations.
If the original historical development were to follow, even if there was no plague in the capital, the Ming court would most likely not be able to eliminate these bandits. And as time goes by, people's hearts are lost, and sooner or later it will be over.
However, these people in ancient times did not have good methods for guerrilla warfare, but Zhang Mingwei did.
How the war in the south will turn out depends on the battle between the two armies.
……………………
At the same time, far away in Liaodong, Jianlu had assembled soldiers and horses, including Korean soldiers, who had also been recruited and allocated 20,000 firecrackers.
However, the morale of the North Korean fire rifle soldiers is too low and their quality is not good. Huang Taiji was worried that if the 20,000 fire gun soldiers marched for a long distance, they might accidentally fall down halfway. Therefore, he arranged for these troops to defend the city in Ningyuan and Jinzhou.
As for the troops from the eastern Mongolian ministries, a total of 30,000 cavalry came, plus Jianlu's Eight Mongolian Banners, as well as Jianlu's own cavalry, Huang Taiji really spent money, and assembled a total of about 60,000 cavalry.
The expedition to the Qin Dynasty requires entering the pass from Shaanxi. The distance is too long. It is too time-consuming to pass by the infantry. But now, taking advantage of the autumn season and the horses are fat, the cavalry can go over from the grassland, which can not only save time, but also save a lot of food and grass. .
Stimulated by the huge prospect, Huang Taiji's health improved a lot. Perhaps only the dream of becoming a king in the Central Plains could bring him back from the sadness of losing Hai Lanzhu.
Being almost inseparable from Hong Chengchou, Huang Taiji knew almost everything about the situation in Shaanxi. He considered every step of conquering Shaanxi and how to conquer the world based on Shaanxi.
In the end, he decided to personally lead the army on the expedition, leaving Daishan to look after the Liaodong headquarters.
On this day, Huang Taiji led the chiefs of various Mongolian tribes and a large group of leaders under him to hold a grand expedition ceremony. They worshiped the ancestral temple and sought blessings from their ancestors and shamans. The army marched toward the border in a mighty manner, detouring through the Mongolian grasslands.
The entire city of Shengjing, including men, women, old and young, all came out of the city to see him off.
Looking at the back of the army heading out for battle, some people were worried, while others were excited.
"This expedition is different from the past. It is to seize the Qin land of the Ming Dynasty. Can it be successful?"
"Is there anything that can't be accomplished? Master, who personally leads the army, has he ever lost a battle?"
"That's right, in the past, we didn't even dare to go into the pass. As a result, it seems that when the two Baylors were all opposed, it wasn't the master who advocated entering the pass! What's going on now? Entering the pass is not just for fun. It’s the same, if you go there once, you will gain a lot!”
"That's right, don't worry, the master will conquer it himself, there will be absolutely no problem!"
"Let me tell you, didn't the Battle of Songjin capture the Ming Dynasty's Governor of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou? He had been a governor in Qin for a long time, and he knew the reality of Qin best. With him as the leader, what else can be done? Are you worried?"
"Then if our Qing Dynasty can really occupy the land of Qin and then the world, haha, I will go crazy with joy!"
"That's not true. You can go out to play with a caged bird every day, and be served by tens of thousands of servants at home. Those Han women will sleep when they see the pretty one. Wow, I really want that day!"
"..."
After talking about it, most of the Jianlu people gave up their doubts and no longer worried. Because Huang Taiji has never let them fail. Under the leadership of Huang Taiji, they are getting stronger day by day. This is a fact.
As a result, the crowd outside Shengjing City that had been reluctant to disperse for a long time were mostly laughing and dreaming sweet dreams.
Zu Dashou was also among the crowd seeing them off, looking at the backs of the 60,000 cavalrymen and listening to the excited discussions in his ears. Although he kept a smile on his face, in fact, he was not in a good mood.
I don’t know if Wu Sangui can receive the secret message sent before.
In his opinion, with Hong Chengchou helping Huang Taiji, Qin was really likely to fall.
From what he knew, Qin's 60,000 cavalry army should be unstoppable. The remaining key is whether the people in Qin will be won over by Huang Taiji and serve Huang Taiji.
If Huang Taiji surrenders, then the land of Qin may really change hands!
And the land of Qin changed hands, and the world of Ming Dynasty...
Thinking of this, Zu Dashou didn't dare to think about it anymore.
He said that the Ming Dynasty would destroy the country. In the past, although it was the autumn of war, he never thought that this day would come. At least in his opinion, he felt that he would not be able to see this day.
However, now that Hong Chengchou defeated the 130,000 Ming army in the Battle of Songjin, surrendered to the Jianqiu, and carefully planned for the Jianqiu, and used the fact that Qin was empty as a breakthrough, is the Ming Dynasty really about to fall? ?
Zu Dashou had dealt with Huang Taiji a lot, and he knew him very well.
In terms of winning over people's hearts, this Huang Taiji is far more powerful than the previous Nurhachi. Under the threat of 60,000 cavalry, it seems that it is not difficult to use Huang Taiji's methods to turn the defeated army into a captive.
Thinking of this, Zu Dashou's mood became very bad and he sighed deeply.
I have tried my best, hoping that the secret letter sent out will reach Wu Sangui. In this way, if the court knows about this in advance and is on guard, I believe it will not be so easy for Huang Taiji to take Shaanxi!
His mood affected his expression, and the smile on his face disappeared without realizing it. His face looked a little heavy.
Just when Daishan turned around to look over, he saw that Zu Dashou seemed unhappy. He immediately became unhappy and asked Zu Dashou, "Why, are you worried about Ming Guo?"
Hearing this, everyone around him looked around. Suddenly, a large number of eyes were fixed on Zu Dashou.
When Zu Dashou saw it, he was shocked and quickly denied: "Of course not, the general was thinking that the Tumote tribe had invaded the border of the Ming Dynasty. This incident would inevitably trigger the anger of the Ming Dynasty emperor, and there would definitely be remedial measures. To prevent the Tumote tribe from entering the pass again and plundering. This means that the Ming Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty should be on guard. Therefore, the general is a little worried about this expedition..."
This reason also makes sense. After hearing this, Daishan smiled and said: "In front of the Qing Dynasty's 60,000 cavalry, so what if the Ming Dynasty is on guard?"
"My master is so wise and powerful, when have you ever suffered the consequences of the Ming Dynasty?" The traitor Ning Wanwo also laughed and echoed, "You are unfounded!"
After hearing this, Zu Dashou quickly reflected on himself and said with a smile: "I am worried in vain! Master, this time I go on an expedition, I will definitely get good news soon!"
Hearing his change of words, Daishan nodded and ignored him. Because the Shanhaiguan area was no longer guarded by the Zu family, Zu Dashou lost its greatest use, so he didn't bother to pay attention to it.
Slowly, the crowd outside Shengjing City finally dispersed. Each one of them dreamed of taking over the Central Plains in the future, but they did not expect that a fleet of ships had quietly arrived in Liaodong at this time.
