Song Xiance's guess was correct. The main force of the imperial army had arrived, and Duke Xingguo was personally leading the army.
After Tian Jianxiu and Lan Tianbao discussed it, they reported the battle plan to Chengdu.
After Zhang Mingwei convened his staff team for analysis, he felt that Tian Jianxiu's plan was not sound.
Li Zicheng spent so much effort on arranging a false surrender, and even released the imprisoned Li Guo. From this, it can be seen that Li Zicheng not only wanted to defeat Tian Jianxiu, but maybe also wanted to defeat Tian Jianxiu. Destroy this road.
And if you want to completely annihilate Tian Jianxiu's group, relying solely on Yuan Zongdi's troops will definitely not be enough. Therefore, Chengdu judged that once Li Zicheng felt that Tian Jianxiu had been fooled, more people would definitely be mobilized.
In this way, it is natural that if Tian Jianxiu wanted to use Diyin Li Zicheng's troops once, his troops would not be enough.
Although given the current situation, Zhang Mingwei still wants to delay the fight for a while. There are four reasons.
First, the various troops sent to the chieftain's territory were so close that they had already produced results, but most of the chieftain's territory was still under conquest. The army is stationed in Chengdu and can provide necessary assistance at any time.
Second, there is more than just one city in Chengdu on the Chengdu Plain, there are many more in the surrounding areas. Inspecting the fields, clearing out hidden households, and reorganizing the fields and population are very big things. Without a large army, the local gentry will definitely counterattack.
Third, the garrison army organized by prisoners also spread out vigorously on the Chengdu Plain. Under the watch of the army, at least the first round of grain harvesting was completed. After going through the whole process, there will be a rule to follow in the future.
Fourth, of course, is the issue of military rations. As far as the current grain and grass are concerned, it is not enough to support the large-scale use of troops by the army against Li Zicheng's troops, and they need to wait until the next grain harvest.
In addition, if the delay continues, Li Zicheng's military morale will become increasingly unstable. In other words, time is on the court's side.
However, the situation on Tian Jianxiu's side requires reinforcements, and Zhang Mingwei doesn't mind if the army moves to eliminate one of Li Zicheng's troops. It can also shock Li Zicheng's side and accelerate the collapse of his military morale.
So, he personally led the army over.
It's not a coincidence, but the army is waiting behind. Contact Tian Jianxiu and ask him to start the war. If he encounters an enemy situation, he can just lure the enemy over.
In the face of the arrival of the main force of the imperial court and their absolute strength, even if all the bandits are here, they can still be beaten. Not to mention, the bandits still have to deal with Sun Chuanting, who still has so much territory, so it is impossible for many soldiers to come.
This battle started from uncovering the news and setting up traps. In fact, the imperial officers and soldiers basically won.
At this time, Zhang Mingwei was on a hill behind the battlefield, using his binoculars to watch the tidal wave of imperial cavalry chasing the fleeing thieves. He couldn't help but yawned, turned to Zhu Yuluo beside him and said, "I've said it. This battle is quite boring, yet you still come with me!"
When he came, Zhang Mingwei asked her to stay in Chengdu and not to go back and forth. He just went back. But Zhu Ailao didn't agree, so she just came with him.
At this time, seeing him yawning and saying such things, I couldn't help but laugh a little and said, "If a bandit hears what you said, he will probably be mad at you!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Mingwei couldn't help but become a little interested and said: "When you say that, I have an idea. I wonder if I can make that Li Zicheng angry to death!"
"..." When Zhu Ainao heard this, she couldn't help being speechless, so she just said it casually. Did the husband really have such an idea?
Thinking of this, she opened her eyes wide and asked with a little surprise: "Sir, can you really make Li Zicheng angry to death?"
"..." This time it was Zhang Mingwei's turn to be speechless. If Li Zicheng could be so angry that he would still be Li Zicheng?
After coming back to his senses, Zhang Mingwei smiled and shook his head and said: "It's probably impossible to get angry to death, but it's okay to make him feel uncomfortable!"
"Then what are you going to do, sir?" After hearing this, Zhu Yuyao immediately asked curiously.
After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei grinned, and in Zhu Yuyao's expectant eyes, he said, "I won't tell you!"
"..." Zhu Ailao was dumbfounded for a moment, and then became annoyed. Of course, she wasn't really annoyed...
The Jin Yiwei on the side looked at it. Suddenly, they felt very speechless. More than 100,000 people in the two armies were fighting, but the coach was "flirting"? This style of painting is a bit unacceptable!
In the evening, each army escorted the prisoners back one after another, and at the same time reported the results of the battle.
In this battle, more than a hundred people under Tian Jianxiu's command were killed and over a thousand wounded, most of whom were killed and wounded while luring the enemy into retreat. As for the main cavalry, the casualties were negligible.
As for the bandits, Yuan Zongdi and Gao Yigong had more than 80,000 troops in total. Except for a few who escaped on horseback, it can be said that the entire army was wiped out.
The reason why the results of the battle were so brilliant was because the back and forth killings in front of them consumed their physical strength, and then they were chased by the cavalry who were waiting for work, so it was naturally impossible to escape.
It is a pity that the bandit leaders, Yuan Zongdi and Gao Yigong, as well as Song Xiance, all escaped by them.
However, Zhang Mingwei could imagine this situation and didn't care much! It's just a matter of time to catch them.
Besides, even if they escape, they still have difficulties to overcome.
When Liu Jin compiled the results and gave the data to Zhang Mingwei, it was already very late.
Therefore, Zhang Mingwei did not deal with these matters immediately, but told them to settle the prisoners tomorrow. It can be said that if there are bandits who are unable to surrender due to family reasons or other reasons, they will be released.
In the past, this was not considered. However, Zhang Mingwei considered this because Li Zicheng made a small threat to the family and made the bandits pretend to surrender.
So, in the next few days, the imperial officers and soldiers were doing this. They did not take advantage of the victory to pursue the bandits, and even went straight to Chongqing.
There is strength in numbers, and the results Zhang Mingwei wanted were quickly tallied up.
Not counting those who died, a total of about 65,000 prisoners were captured, including the wounded. Of course, not all the others were dead, there were some who escaped.
Among these people, there are nearly 5,000 people who, for various reasons, do not want to accept the reorganization with peace of mind.
In response, Zhang Mingwei asked people to gather all five thousand people.
Although they understand the court's policy, they do not want to be reorganized after all. Therefore, these five thousand thieves are very uneasy.
Many people are even thinking that they should accept the reorganization. Otherwise, if the Duke gets angry and kills them all, it seems to be a normal thing!
However, based on Duke Xingguo's reputation, they were not frightened and immediately changed their stance, but wanted to take a look at the situation before talking.
At this time, they were all gathered around the temporary platform under the supervision of the imperial officers and soldiers.
On the stage, naturally, there were the high officials of the imperial court headed by Duke Xingguo.
Almost all the bandits, no matter far or near, looked at Duke Xing uneasily, waiting for their fate!
After Zhang Mingwei came on stage, he looked at the crowd below and knew what they were thinking by seeing their faces. So, without delaying, he immediately said loudly: "Don't worry, what I said will definitely count. If I say I'll let you go back, I'll let you go back!"
When these words were spread far away by the Jin Yiwei who passed the message, and reached the ears of most of the bandits, they felt relieved and at the same time couldn't help but shed tears of gratitude to Duke Xingguo.
In this case, I really have to let them go back. I really have nothing but gratitude.
"But there is one thing I want to remind you of!" Zhang Mingwei then changed the subject, his expression became serious, and he said to them, "When we face the imperial army again in the future, if anyone resists and is captured, he will be killed. No mercy. If you still want to go back, if you still want to survive, and if you still want to be reunited with your family, it is best to surrender when you encounter the imperial officers and soldiers."
After a pause and letting the captain of the Jinyi Guards spread the word, he then said sternly: "If you are sent by the bandits to pretend to surrender in the future and do not take the initiative to be honest, once it is exposed, you will be killed without mercy. If you are If you are sent here, you have to pretend to surrender, but if you can be frank with the court, then you will be fine. I hope you'd better keep this in mind!"
After finishing speaking, he waved his hand.
In the distance, I saw groups of Jinyi guards, two escorting one, escorting a group of people over, and stood in the middle of the crowd, which was a specially set aside space near the stage.
There are big men with ghost-headed swords standing behind them. Needless to say, they know what will happen next.
Zhang Mingwei said coldly on the stage: "These people came to pretend to surrender under the orders of the bandit leader. The leader even betrayed his clan brother He Yilong, causing He Yilong to be killed by Li Zicheng."
Hearing this, many of these thieves suddenly showed contempt. Some even spit at the mouth.
When He Baisui heard what Duke Xingguo said, he struggled hard and wanted to shout. However, his mouth was blocked and his hands were tightly held behind his back by two guards in golden robes. He couldn't move at all and could only say "oooooooo "the sound of.
Zhang Mingwei was not polite to people like He Baisui. He gave the order directly, and the executioner below raised his knife and dropped the head.
Zhang Mingwei was not used to this situation when he first arrived, but after leading the army for a long time, he has turned a blind eye to it and no longer feels any discomfort.
After the demonstration, Zhang Mingwei didn't keep them much. After all, there was not much food, so he let these people go directly.
Of course, their armor and weapons will definitely not be returned to them.
Before leaving, Zhang Mingwei also asked them to bring a message to Li Zicheng.
Watching these bandits leave, he smiled. Opening more than five thousand mouths would definitely further undermine the morale of the bandits and give Li Zicheng a headache.
