The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 113 Probing
Chongzhen eight years, October [-]th.

Outside Sanyuan City, there was a mess and devastation everywhere.

The air was still filled with a strong smell of blood, and the black and white bandits had disappeared outside Sanyuan City.

On the field outside the city, a large number of soldiers and young men with white cloths covering their mouths and noses were carrying corpses and cleaning up the battlefield.

They need to pay for the mess left by the rogues attacking the city, and they need to deal with it.

In the barracks in Sanyuan City, Cao Wenzhao, Zhang Quanchang, He Renlong and other generals and schools are all lined up on both sides.

Zuo Liangyu is not here, he has already left Jingyang and Sanyuan, leading the troops to chase after the bandits going east.

The current governor in charge of suppressing bandits outside the customs is Lu Xiangsheng, and Zuo Liangyu, as a general of Changping Town, was naturally placed under Lu Xiangsheng's command.

Hong Chengchou looked sad, and his eyes were full of deep tiredness.

In the military tent, a general reported to Hong Chengchou the military situation of various places. Every time he heard a sentence, Hong Chengchou's expression became more and more ugly.

"The invading general Li Zicheng harassed Fuzhou, Xi'an Prefecture, and the east of Guzhou, with a crowd of nearly 6 people..."

"The rogue bandits plundered east and west for thousands of miles...the rogue bandits divided into thirteen battalions and marched eastward. They have broken through Zhuyang Pass, and most of the vanguard have poured into Henan."

Taking advantage of the fierce battle between Sanyuan and Jingyang, the rogues headed east. Zhang Xianzhong led his troops eastward and galloped all the way, galloping [-] miles in a day, and made a detour to raid Zhuyang Pass in Henan.

Zhuyangguan and Lancaochuan are the main roads leading from Shaanxi Province to Lingbao and Shanzhou in Henan Province.

When he first entered the customs, Hong Chengchou ordered You Shiwei and Xu Laichen to lead 500 troops to guard the two places.

You Shiwei used to be the commander-in-chief of Changping, guarding Juyong and Changping, and later served as the commander-in-chief of Shanhai.

Later, he was ordered to lead [-] elite riders from Shanhaiguan to encircle and suppress the rogues with his deputy Zhang Waijia.

Maybe it's because the destiny is really changing, or maybe it's because of the will of God in the dark.

You Shiwei led the army to guard the barren hills for a long time, and the soldiers under his command were not acclimatized, and the disease happened to break out. Among the soldiers who can fight, there are only three out of ten.
Zhang Xianzhong rushed all the way, but You Shiwei couldn't stop him, and was defeated at Zhuyang Pass. You Shiwei was shot by a bow and arrow on the battlefield, and was injured and defeated.

Xu Laichen failed to restrain the army, and finally the army was defeated and died in battle.

The guerrillas Liu Zhaoji and Luo Dai led troops to help, but were also defeated by Zhang Xianzhong. The army was defeated and injured, so they had to retreat to Lu's family.

Afterwards, most of the rogues passed through Zhuyang Pass, passed through the Lancao River, and poured into Henan.

The frontier defense in Henan was in turmoil, and all the states in western Henan were in panic.

"Henan Qiwang and Zhang Fatzi have tens of thousands of people in Ziyang to commit Xiaogan and Yingshan."

"In Yan'an Mansion, the two stars Huidengxiang and Xiezikuai, one of them plundered the north, and the other plundered the south, causing disasters in the northern and southern prefectures."

"The south of Xi'an Prefecture plundered the tribes in Shangzhou and other places, and went south to Hanzhong Prefecture..."

"Zuo Zongbing has left Tongguan to meet with Zu Kuanzu Zongbing, and the two troops will gather in the township [wén] in the east of Tongguan..."

"The rogue brigade marched eastward, the dust rose to the sky, it was forty miles wide, and it traveled a hundred miles. The old and the weak were in the middle, and the elite rode outside. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered. All the tribes looked at the hills and did not dare to invite them to attack..."

After the last military statement was finished, the atmosphere in the entire tent dropped to freezing point, and everyone fell into silence.

The previous big victory made everyone feel hopeful. They thought it would be a beautiful encirclement and annihilation battle, and the enemy could be besieged to death in Xi'an Mansion.

But the reality slapped them hard. The rogues went out of the border and broke into Henan again. All their efforts were in vain.

Hong Chengchou looked tired, and the failure of his plans again and again made him feel unwilling and resentful.

But he can't do anything about it, every time, no matter how careful and detailed his planning is, something bad will always happen to make his plan fail.

Hong Chengchou never believed in gods and ghosts.

If the gods, Buddhas and immortals sitting high among the temples really exist in the world, why is there so much chaos in the world.

If worshiping gods and Buddhas is useful, then this world has already become a land of safety.

But now Hong Chengchou's heart has been shaken a little, maybe there is God's will in the dark.

Hong Chengchou raised his head, his eyes sparkled, he thought of the history books he had read, and the theory of destiny.

Maybe... Daming really lost his destiny...

Hong Chengchou slowly scanned the bodies of the generals in the tent with his tired eyes.

Since the fierce battle in Sanyuan, he hasn't had a good night's sleep, and the heavy burden of Wanjun is on his shoulders, making it difficult for him to continue, sleep and eat.

If he really lost, losing Sanyuan, Jingyang, and Xijing, he would become Daming's sinner.

For this reason, he was nailed to the pillar of shame in history, spurned by thousands of people, and reviled by thousands of people. He did not want to shame his clan, nor did he want to bear the responsibility.

Hong Chengchou even thought about what would happen if he was really defeated, what would happen if he was captured by the enemy instead of dying in battle.

He thought for a long time, but he couldn't figure it out after all. Later, he knew the answer from Cao Wenzhao's mouth.

When defending the city, he threw this question to Cao Wenzhao.

Cao Wenzhao's answer is very simple, if the city is really broken, he will fight until the last moment, if his strength is exhausted, he will kill himself in order to die.

The answer is obvious, he is not as determined as he originally imagined, and he is not ready to die.

Hearing one bad news after another, Hong Chengchou was not as angry as before, and his heart was very peaceful.

The prefectures in Shaanxi have not yet had peace, and the frontier defense in Henan has problems again.

It's just that now he only needs to worry about Shaanxi and Shanxi. The rogues who have entered Henan and other places are all left to Lu Xiangsheng to exterminate. Now the burden on his shoulders has been relieved a lot.

As a result, the pressure accumulated in Hong Chengchou's heart was relieved a lot.

"How is the situation in Fengxiang and Gongchang..."

Hong Chengchou asked in a hoarse voice.

Although he was thinking about other things in his mind, he did not let go of the affairs here. It is not difficult for him to focus on two tasks.

"Reporting to the army, the rogues in Fengxiang Mansion have basically been wiped out. There are only three rogues who have stolen and occupied the three places, occupying the mountains and demarcating land, and gathered in the mountains and forests. There are about [-] people."

"There is no new news from the Gongchang Mansion. The latest news is that the guerrilla Chen Wang led the army to Ma Jiquan to confront the enemy..."

Hong Chengchou frowned slightly, looked at Cao Wenzhao who was sitting on the right, and was about to say something.

But at this moment, there was a sudden report from outside the tent.

Hong Chengchou waved his sleeve to let him go.

If you haven't seen him, hear his voice first.

"Gongchang Mansion's Great Victory!"

A travel-worn messenger with a flag on his back walked quickly into the big tent.

The words he shouted changed the originally dull atmosphere in the tent.

"Five days of fierce fighting, 290 prisoners were captured, three mountain camps were broken, and [-] seven levels were beheaded..."

"...Although the cavalry tried their best to intercept them, they were outnumbered in the end. They tried their best, but failed to do their best. More than [-] remnants of the bandits fled towards Qishan..."

Cao Wenzhao, who was sitting on the right, opened his slightly closed eyes a little, looked at the soldier who delivered the order a few times, and then retracted his gaze.

Hong Chengchou's body leaned forward slightly, and after hearing the last sentence, his expression finally softened a little.

"Chen Wang..."

Hong Chengchou muttered Chen Wang's name in a low voice.

He has never met Chen Wang, but he is indeed very familiar with this name.

He personally issued the guerrilla's military rank and seal.

Marching and fighting seem to be a bit of a skill, and it can also be called first-class in the way of military training.

Hong Chengchou is very clear about Cao Wenzhao's character. Cao Wenzhao never praises others easily, and never makes any act of forming a party.

Although Chen Wang came from Cao Wenzhao's command and was Cao Wenzhao's family member, Cao Wenzhao's every move now is to distinguish between public and private.

After the Battle of Chunhua, Chen Wang sent part of the captured to Cao Wenzhao's barracks. Cao Wenzhao also wrote a letter to report one or two, and sent the captured part to the standard camp directly under his command.

However, Hong Chengchou naturally returned it. The pacesetters under his command were not short of silver, and he himself despised the captured gold and silver utensils.

But Cao Wenzhao's attitude made Hong Chengchou very satisfied.

As the governor of several provinces, Hong Chengchou is not short of money, as long as he let out a little wind, he can easily grab 10 taels of silver.

The last sentence of Cao Wenzhao's evaluation to Chen Wang is "drilling and marching, fighting in formation, all are like the Zhejiang soldiers in the past, and they have fully captured their form and meaning."

The form and meaning in this refer to the form and meaning of "Ji Xiao Bing Shu" and "Records of Military Training", and the form and meaning of Qi Jun, which is undoubtedly a very high praise.

Hong Chengchou's frown relaxed a little.

To be honest, he still has some opinions and dissatisfaction with Chen Wang's performance in Pingliang Mansion.

Chen Wang has more than [-] Liao cavalry under his command, and the escaped tiger Li Guo only has two or three thousand cavalry under his command. He only needs to use some methods to destroy it.

But Chen Wang chased Li Guo all the way, and let Li Guo escape from Pingliang Mansion and fled all the way to Gongchang Mansion.

But now this point of dissatisfaction has also dissipated with this good news.

It is difficult to suppress the bandits because there are so many elite cavalry and many horse troops, and they turn around quickly. On the way to flee, they will abandon all the food, grass and luggage they carry, but the officers and soldiers can't.

The two units that Gongchang's mansion broke into belonged to the original 36th Battalion old bandits.

Li Yangchun, the Four Heavenly King, and Lin Shengquan, the Climbing Heavenly King, are not good enemies. They have more than 2000 elite cavalry under their command, and they are a formidable force.

To be honest, there are only more than 400 veterans under Chen Wang's command, and the remaining 3000 or so are recruits.

Generally speaking, recruits do not have much combat power, because they have not experienced any battles and have not seen blood.

Hong Chengchou has his own eyes and ears, he knows that the recruits recruited by Chen Wang were all hungry soldiers at first, this is not a secret.

The reason why Hong Chengchou wanted to urge Chen Wang to attack was more because he wanted to confirm whether what Cao Wenzhao said was true, and to see how the soldiers trained by Chen Wang were.

Cao Wenzhao had the highest evaluation of Chen Wang's military training, and Shen Wang's military training method "...is like the Zhejiang soldiers in the past, and it has its shape and meaning."

The current result of the battle far exceeded Hong Chengchou's expectations.

One must know that Li Yangchun, the Four Heavenly King, is famous for his good defense, and Lin Shengquan, the Climbing Heavenly King, is extremely brave.

But these two are now defeated by Chen Wang.

Although the three led their troops to flee, there was no other way.

When Hong Chengchou issued the military order, he did not hope that Chen Wang could wipe them all out.

There are only [-] cavalry under Chen Wang's command, and they can only pursue part of them, and there are no extra soldiers to surround him in all directions, so there will inevitably be gaps where he can escape.

"4000 people..."

Regarding this number, Hong Chengchou felt that it should be a pertinent number.

"...Our department has sent a letter to Qishan, and the cavalry under our troops are chasing after them. This is the report of the Battle of the Three Mountains."

After the soldier below finished his last sentence, he took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Hong Chengchou's guards.

"Bring it up."

Hong Chengchou raised his eyebrows, and then took the Tangbao from Jinwei's hand.

Hong Chengchou opened the pond newspaper and saw a letter full of words first, but in the next moment, his eyes were attracted by another piece of paper with patterns drawn on it.

Hong Chengchou didn't ask any questions. He knew about military affairs, and he also had research on chariots and equipment.

At a glance, he saw that what was drawn on the blueprint was a cannon carriage carrying artillery.

He also recognized the cannon reproduced on the cannon carriage. It was a cannon, but the cannon carriage was a new type of cannon carriage.

It is similar to Hongyi Cannon's cannon carriage, but it is different in many places. At first glance, this kind of cannon carriage seems to be better.

Putting down the blueprint in his hand, Hong Chengchou turned to look at the battle report.

On the battle report, the details of the battle were clearly written.

Hong Chengchou's eyes also slowly changed from calm to astonishment.

When he put down the document, Hong Chengchou's heart was already agitated, but there was still not much expression on his face.

"Let Chen Wang continue to pursue the rogues in Gongchang Mansion, and be sure to wipe them out."

Hong Chengchou was expressionless and issued a military order.

After that, he didn't talk about the Gongchang mansion anymore, and pointed out Cao Wenzhao, Zhang Quanchang, He Renlong and other generals.

Cao Wenzhao led troops to suppress the bandits in Xi'an Prefecture, and Liu Chenggong led the headquarters battalion to station in Yansui Town to stabilize the situation.

He also ordered Zhang Quanchang and He Renlong to lead the troops to stabilize Fuzhou, and at the same time go north to Yan'an Mansion to suppress.

Hong Chengchou acted vigorously and resolutely. In a short period of time, he has adjusted his mentality and issued the military order.

The generals did not dare to be negligent, and after obeying their orders, they all withdrew from the camp and began to organize the army.

A quarter of an hour later, only Hong Chengchou and one of his guards were left in the entire tent.

After everyone left, Hong Chengchou's expression gradually changed.

"Know how to train soldiers, master equipment, know how to fight..."

"This Chen Wang is not easy..."

Hong Chengchou's eyes were slightly cold, and his voice was low.

How could such a person have been an ordinary servant for eight years.

"I'm afraid this person is not as simple as he appears on the surface. Send someone to Liaodong to find out his details."

Hong Chengchou leaned forward a little, pushed away all the sundries on the table, and looked at the map at the bottom.

His gaze traveled from Chunhua to Pingliang Mansion, then from Pingliang Mansion to Gongchang Mansion, and finally landed on Hanzhong Mansion.

(End of this chapter)