In terms of the strength of the three parties, even if Zuo Liangyu unites some chieftains, he is still the weakest.
The strongest one is Li Zicheng's army. However, because it was later, the people's livelihood in the places occupied by Zuo Liangyu was basically destroyed by Zuo Liangyu. Therefore, the supplies that Li Zicheng's army can obtain, whether in terms of military strength or There was very little food and grass. Relatively speaking, it restricted the growth of Li Zicheng's troops.
As for the imperial court, originally faced with the attack from these two parties, it was probably a total defeat, because the Sichuan governor Chen Shiqi had no military knowledge at all.
Fortunately, with the intervention of Duke Xingguo and the overwhelming power of the government, ordinary civil servants know how to read the wind.
Since Duke Xingguo valued Qin Liangyu, Chen Shiqi followed Qin Liangyu's advice after receiving the urgent report. Qin Liangyu, who was originally alone in history, was able to barely hold on to the most important cities in Sichuan because of the assistance of Wu Sangui's troops, and the situation was not completely defeated.
Faced with the news from Sichuan, Zhang Mingwei was a little helpless. It was really too far away and felt a little out of reach. If he did not deal with Zhang Xianzhong and Gezuo's Fifth Battalion here in Huguang, he would not be able to enter Sichuan to fight.
Originally, the Qin army led by Sun Chuanting could enter Shu from Hanzhong to fight. In that case, the imperial court would have the strongest military strength. It's a pity that Jianlu interfered again and restrained Sun Chuanting's troops.
Of course, if the cavalry led by Li Laiheng can cause enough trouble in Liaodong to contain Jianlu and prevent Jianlu from leaving Liaodong, Sun Chuanting's troops can escape and join the Sichuan war.
For this reason, Zhang Mingwei had previously sent an order to Zuo Yingxuan, the governor of Shanyong, asking him to send night guards deep into the grasslands to detect whether there were any captives detouring through the Mongolian grasslands as an early warning.
Thinking of this, a key point in the overall situation of the Ming Dynasty came out, that is, whether Li Laiheng's troops can achieve the expected goals!
If it can be achieved, then the entire war situation of Ming Dynasty will be survivable; but if it cannot achieve the goal, then Ming Dynasty will continue to be trapped in a bitter battle, forming three battlefields.
The first one is the battlefield between Sun Chuanting's troops and Jianlu at the Great Wall defense line; the second one is the confrontation between the imperial army, rebels, and thieves on the Shu side; and the third battlefield is naturally the Huguang side.
If that really happens, we can only hope that Huguang will deal with Zhang Xianzhong and Gezuo's fifth battalion as soon as possible, and then depending on the situation, we can either enter Sichuan westward and eliminate the bandits and rebels first, as well as the chieftains who take the opportunity to cause rebellion, or go north Reinforce Sun Chuanting's troops to fight against Jianlu.
But here in Huguang, it is actually very easy to defeat these bandits, as long as the whole army is pressed. Zhang Mingwei is confident that with the military power he currently has at his disposal, he will definitely be able to defeat Zhang Xianzhong and the 5th Gezuo Battalion, even if their strength is now expanded.
However, I am afraid that after defeating these bandits, they will reappear as soon as the main army leaves. By then, the army will be running back and forth, wasting money and food, and the situation will be even more unfavorable.
It is almost impossible to surround and annihilate the bandits without letting their leader escape. As long as there is still soil for the bandits to survive, the possibility of the bandits coming back is very high.
The same is true. In the war in Huguang, the top priority is to attack people's hearts and win the hearts of the people. Only in this way can it be settled once and for all, which is the fastest strategy to suppress thieves.
And this takes time.
But of course Zhang Mingwei will not let the war drag on too long. It has already entered October, and the cold winter is coming, and the war will become more and more difficult by then.
Fortunately, a long time ago, when he was still in Kaifeng, he had already begun to make arrangements to exterminate the bandits in the south. That is to say, he sent people who originally belonged to Luo Rucai in advance to go south to join the bandits and lurk there.
Previously, he did not explicitly ask them to incite and disintegrate the bandits. Because without strong external pressure, once there is such a sign, it is likely to be discovered by Zhang Xianzhong and others and quickly suppressed.
Therefore, in the past, these internal agents who lurked in the bandit team were at best like normal. When others came to ask how the north was and how the battle in Kaifeng was, they would just answer the truth and not say much. .
But now, in Huangzhou Prefecture, the two armies are facing each other and a public opinion war is unfolding, so it is necessary to activate these internal responses.
At the same time, Zhang Mingwei also learned about the origins of Li Dingguo's subordinates during the confrontation with the opposite sentry at night, and then adjusted the deployment of the public opinion war in response to this situation.
On this day, just across the Ba River, soldiers on both sides were shouting to the other side. Suddenly, the bandit suddenly discovered that there was something going on on the other side of the river.
"What's going on? Those people are not imperial officers and soldiers. Why are they over there?"
"Yes, old ones, young ones, and women. What are they doing on the battlefield?"
"Could it be that the imperial officers and soldiers want to learn from us and let those people take the lead, and then the imperial elite hide behind and attack?"
"..."
For a moment, the bandits were a little confused because they found many old, weak, women and children coming from the other side.
This situation immediately attracted more stray thieves to watch. On the west side of the Bahe River, there were suddenly many bandits, and there were also bandits who came after hearing the news.
After these days of dealing with the officers and soldiers of the imperial court on the other side, the bandits already know that the officers and soldiers of the imperial court on the other side should be considered to have good military discipline and are not as harmful to the people as Zuo Liangyu's army was back then.
But suddenly, so many old, weak, women and children appeared in front of the opposite army. This confused them and they all came to see the situation.
Just when more and more thieves were gathering, and even the general Li Dingguo heard the sound and came over to see the situation, the old, weak, women and children on the opposite side suddenly shouted away with a loudspeaker.
"Is Sanwazi here? I am your father. Life is getting better now. Stop being a thief!"
"Gouzi's father, the government has repaired a house for our family, and we also have land. Come back quickly!"
"..."
After one shouted, another person continued shouting, all with similar words, trying to persuade the possible relatives of the thieves on the other side of the river that their family life would be better and not to rebel again.
No one knows whether Sanwazi or Gouzi is his father. However, the people shouting on the other side were all in dialect, coming from places like Huguang and Luzhou Prefecture.
Among the current bandit army, due to the rapid expansion after occupying Huguang, most of them are from Huguang. The bandits originally stayed in Luzhou Prefecture for a long time, so there are also many people from Luzhou Prefecture.
As soon as they heard the persuasion with a local accent, they were a little dumbfounded.
Moreover, with so many people shouting, there is also a probability issue. Maybe someone will be shouted out.
No, I heard someone from the bandit's side said to his companions in surprise: "Sanwazi, can that really be your father?"
This young thief named Sanwazi stared at the opposite side carefully, and actually nodded and said: "It's my dad, yes, it's my dad!"
After answering, he felt a little helpless and asked his close companions: "What should I do? My father is here to see me!"
Chinese people have valued family ties the most since ancient times, and this is still true even in later generations!
In the past, the family could not survive, and the thieves followed the thieves. But at this time, if the family's life is better, how many people will be happy in this day when they may die at any time!
Like Sanwazi, who happened to have relatives on the other side, there were a few of them on the bandits' side, and they immediately started talking about it.
"My dad said this, it seems life is really getting better!"
"It's possible. I've heard before that the imperial court also organized something to help repair houses and water conservancy projects. It seems like this is true!"
"That's not necessarily true. It's possible to deceive people. Those who shouted might have been threatened by the officers and soldiers. If they don't shout as they say, they will be beaten or killed. Do you think they will shout?"
"But, look, it doesn't look like a threat!"
"It's useless to let you see it. I definitely can't let you see it as a threat!"
"..."
When these people were talking a lot, Li Dingguo became worried.
With his position among the bandits, he certainly knew that these things were true. The Duke Xingguo opposite was really kind to the people. Not to mention anything else, the people who benefit the most from the salt policy reform are the people who have no money.
Privately, he also listened to the sketch performances that the sentinels saw from the areas controlled by the imperial army.
Li Dingguo knew well that facts were facts, even if they were denied, they were still facts. Sooner or later, his subordinates would be convinced that it was true.
In this way, although the military adviser said that his adoptive father became king, he could stabilize the morale of the army. But he understood that under such a powerful popular offensive from the imperial court, the counterattack of the king and hegemon was actually very limited.
In the final analysis, it is estimated that most people in the army at this time still considered themselves thieves.
With such worries, Li Dingguo did not dare to neglect, and quickly ordered that except for those designated to shout to the other side, everyone else should return to camp and not be bewitched by the imperial officers and soldiers.
However, what if his men go back? What they have heard is what they have heard. At this time, the internal agents lurking in his army had already seen the signal from the opposite side, and began to become active and take the initiative to discuss this matter.
A few days later, what Li Dingguo least wanted to see happened: deserters occurred in the army!
The most annoying thing about the officers and soldiers of the imperial court on the opposite side was that they actually let those who escaped, then picked up the microphone and shouted over here, asking more people to go home quickly!
As a result, Li Dingguo was under great pressure.
You say let's fight. For now, he has no chance of defeating this imperial army.
Just say no to the fight. Such a psychological battle from the other side has made everyone in his army panic. If this continues, something big will happen sooner or later!
what to do?
What he never expected was that before he could think of a way, the other side made another move!
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