The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 146 Victory
From the end of the eighth year of Chongzhen to February in the ninth year of Chongzhen.

The Ming army continued to deploy troops in the interior and sent more troops to attack the bandits. They fought and failed repeatedly along the way, but the bandits' power not only did not weaken, but became stronger.

A large number of rogue bandits were active in Henan, Shaanxi, and Huguang provinces, and only some remained in the southern Zhili area.

The bandits have actually been divided into two major factions.

The first major force is the Shaanxi Peasant Army headed by Li Zicheng and Hui Deng, mainly operating in Yan'an and Xi'an.

Although they briefly joined forces with the peasant army in Henan to attack, they all returned to Shaanxi soon after.

The commander-in-chief of the Ming army in charge of the campaign was Hong Chengchou.

The second force is the various peasant armies with Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang as the main force, and moved to Henan, Nanzhili, Huguang and other places.

The commander of the Ming army in charge of the advance and suppression was Lu Xiangsheng.

After returning to Henan from Nanzhili, Gao Yingxiang still had hundreds of thousands of rogues under his control. When they met in Henan, they often ran for hundreds of miles.

In Henan, Nanzhili, and Huguang, among the gangsters belonging to Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong was the most powerful.

Zhang Xianzhong now has [-] soldiers, and as a pioneer, he entered Nanyang Mansion in Henan Province.

Nanyang's terrain is flat and extending in all directions. Facing hundreds of thousands of rogues, the defenders from all over Nanyang Prefecture dare not go out of the city to fight.

In this way, Zhang Xianzhong went all the way to the south without hindrance. To the south of Nanyang Mansion are Xiangyang Mansion and Xunyang Mansion in Huguang.

And Gao Yingxiang's plan is to invade the Huguang area all the way through Nanyang, and reunite with all the bandits in the Huguang area, and eat in Huguang.

"Chu was born in Zeguo, farming and farming are very generous. If he gets Chai Sang at the age of one, Wu Yue will look up to him."

"As the saying goes, 'Huguang is ripe, and the world is full."

Shaanxi has already run out of food due to frequent natural disasters in recent years, while Henan, Shanxi and other places have experienced their years of looting and have not scraped much oil and water.

Now rich households and country gentry in places like Henan and Shanxi have to gather together to keep warm and build villages to protect themselves. Many villages are even more difficult to attack than some towns, and the gains they get after defeating them far outweigh the losses.

Either stay in the city without leaving the gate, or even leave their hometown and flee further south.

Although Nanzhili was rich and prosperous, it was the Zhili area after all. Every time they entered Nanzhili, the Ming court gathered troops like crazy to encircle and suppress them from all directions.

Compared with Henan and other places, Huguang is now much richer and has much more food, and because of the terrain and various reasons, there are not so many soldiers.

So Huguang is naturally the best place to go.

Zhang Xianzhong went south first, and Gao Yingxiang divided his troops into several groups and also went south.

At this time, Lu Xiangsheng also encountered the problem that Hong Chengchou encountered at the beginning-stretched troops.

There are only 1000 battalions in Huguang's body, and after excluding those who are attacking everywhere, there are only more than [-] battalions that can be sent to stop Zhang Xianzhong.

How can more than [-] people stop hundreds of thousands of bandits, and if they all go to battle, will Xiangyang City be lost?

Once Xiangyang is broken, the entire weak central and southern parts of Huguang will be exposed to the soldiers of the rogues. If the rogues enter the south, the whole south will be as riddled with holes as Shaanxi. Everything is over.

Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of Xiangyang City, more than 5000 battalions were basically concentrated in the Xiangyang area to defend Xiangyang City.

In doing so, it is undoubtedly announcing that they have directly abandoned the Xunyang Mansion to the west.

Hearing that the bandits were coming, people in Xunyang Mansion panicked for a while.

It was hard to count the number of people who fled overnight, and the fleeing motorcade was crowded with people for more than ten miles, and it was even difficult to move.

The rogues were not good at attacking the city, so most of the people in Xunyang Mansion flocked to the city.

But the number of people that the city can accommodate is always limited, and those who cannot enter the city can only embark on the road of escape.

There are mountains in the north and south. Although there are people who hide in the deep mountains and old forests, most of them take their wives and belts and flee to the Hanzhong Mansion in the west.

It's not that the rogues have never been to Xunyang Mansion, and everyone can vividly remember what they did when they came to Xunyang Mansion last time.

Because of this, they wanted to flee to Hanzhong Mansion.

Fleeing to Hanzhong Mansion, fleeing to Xunyang, fleeing to Xing'an Office, as long as they escape into the big city, the rogues will have no way to break through, and they will be able to save their lives. Many people have survived like this before.

only……

Those on the run didn't know a thing.

That is, today's Hanzhong Mansion is actually not peaceful.

……

Hanyin County is located in the hinterland of Qinba, with Qinling in the north and Bashan in the south.

Fenghuang Mountain stretches from east to west, and the Han River and Yue River diverge between them. Except for the flat terrain on both sides of the Yuehe River, most of them are shallow mountains and hills, which are quite rugged and difficult to walk on.

The name of Hanyin County began in the second year of Zhide in the Tang Dynasty. The south bank of the Han River was established by Shizhi. The south of the mountain was Yang, and the south of the water was Yin, so it was named Hanyin.

During the Song Dynasty, Hanyin County was moved to the north bank of the Moon River. Although it was located in the land of Yang, it was still called Hanyin, implying harmony between Yin and Yang.

Hanyin City is located in the middle of the river between the two mountains, with Fenghuang Mountain in the south, Wollongang in the north, Qilin Valley in the east, and Guanyin River in the west.

There is a moral: "Looking at the Phoenix flying nine days in front, leaning on Longgang as the backing, the Qilin on the left arm is auspicious, and the Avalokitesvara on the right arm protects safety."

It's just that no matter how beautiful the meaning is, it is powerless to resist the invasion of natural disasters and man-made disasters.

Not long ago, a large number of rogues passed through the territory of Hanyin, and the surrounding towns were looted to varying degrees.

Although there were warnings in advance, except for a few towns that were breached, most of the villagers escaped the catastrophe and saved their lives.

But there was no way to preserve their houses and farmland. After the rogues crossed the border, they burned everything that could be destroyed, and took away everything they could.

Seventeen miles east of Hanyin City, on the south side of the official road, Chen Wang rode a war horse and stood in front of a small town that had been burned into ruins.

The air was filled with the stench of corruption, the low town walls were already destroyed, and most of the land inside and outside the town was scorched black.

A group of soldiers stood on the official road, their eyes were looking in the direction of the town just like Chen Wang.

No one spoke, no one moved, everyone was silent and stood there quietly.

Not far in front of them, on the big tree outside the town, there were corpses that were decomposing one after another, like wicker hanging from a willow tree.

Chen Wang turned his head, his eyes flashed across the faces of the people beside him.

Most of the armored cavalry following him were young and strong from the Chen and Hu clans, and some of them were former Liao cavalry masters.

Whether it was the former or the latter, there was no emotion in their eyes.

These things can't stir up any waves in their hearts at all. They have seen scenes ten times, or even a hundred times more cruel than this in Liaodong and on the battlefield.

Chen Wang glanced over the group of armored cavalry beside him and looked at Guandao.

All the soldiers on the official road have stopped under his order.

Chen Wang's eyes slowly swept across the faces of the soldiers on the official road, carefully observing the expressions on everyone's faces.

Time passed quietly, Chen Wang withdrew his gaze, and turned his head again.

A group of soldiers above the official path have different expressions on their faces, some are fearful, some are disgusting, some are intolerable, and some are sympathetic.

But more, it is indifference and numbness...

There are all kinds of beings and emotions, but no one has resentment or sadness on their faces.

There should have been anger on their faces.

Seeing these scenes, they should be filled with indignation and anger.

Chen Wang didn't say anything, he knew why.

It's nothing to do with yourself, so it's natural to hang high, and the pain of others is just the pain of others after all.

Most of the soldiers under his command are starving people among the rogues, that is, villagers who have been coerced.

They don't actually want to be soldiers, they don't want to fight.

They want to go home, to return to their hometown, to continue farming, or continue to work.

Most of them don't have much ambition. They just want to pay less taxes, get more harvests, support their families, and reunite with their families.

The reason why they are still serving in the army is simply because they have no choice.

Because even if they go back, their houses have been burned, their fields can't grow crops, and they can't think of a way to pay off the taxes owed to the government.

Soldiers go to war not for the lofty goal of defending the country and saving the people, but because they can't survive, for the army's salary, and for a good meal.

The ideals of defending the country, helping the people, and governing the country by self-cultivation are too far away from them. Those are things that people in another world should think about.

Chen Wang turned his eyes to the corpses outside the town again, and his heart hardened little by little.

Many things in the army now need to be changed. In essence, the army under his command is still an old-time army, a thoroughly feudal army.

Going on like this, after constant tempering, the army under his command can become a strong army, enough to support a separate party after the world is in turmoil.

If you can continue to expand, continue to grow.

Using the prophet of the history of the later generations, using the familiarity with the weapons and tactics of the later generations.

Even if it is to rule the world, it is not something illusory.

But if he just goes on like this, and keeps going, then even if he wins in the end, the army under his command is still a feudal army in essence.

Chen Wang raised his head and looked into the distance. There were rolling mountains in the distance, and the mountains stretched to the sky, like a sleeping dragon.

There is a country that perishes, and there is a world that perishes.

Subjugation of the country and subjugation of the world?

Said: Changing the surname to change the name is called the subjugation of the country.

Benevolence and righteousness are full, and as a result of leading beasts to eat people, people will eat each other, which is called the destruction of the world.

Now, the world will perish...

With deep eyes, Chen Wang opened his mouth slowly.

"I'll teach you a song."

It is still the ninth year of Chongzhen, and there are still eight years to go before the 17th year of Chongzhen. Everything is still in time, everything is still in time.

Hearing Chen Wang's sudden opening, all the armored cavalry following Chen Wang turned their attention to Chen Wang.

They were all a little surprised why Chen Wang suddenly wanted to teach them how to sing at this time.

However, Chen Wang was their general, their general, and as servants, they should obey orders unconditionally.

Chen Wang raised his hand, clenched his fist, and sang the first line of the song.

"Everyone is united, the mountains... can be shaken!"

In the 41st year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, Qi's army conquered Hengyu and returned to the division triumphantly.

At that time, there was no wine in the army, so Qi Jiguang dictated a song "Song of Triumph" impromptu, and taught all soldiers to sing together, using songs instead of wine to boost morale.

"The Tribute" was adapted in later generations, but the adapted tune made it lose its original flavor.

It was the original tune of the song that the crowd he was to teach sang.

It is the tune sung by the Qi family army after their victory against Japanese pirates in the southeast.

It was also the tune sung by Qi's army when they fought against Mongolia in Jizhou Town.

It was also the tune sung by the Zhejiang soldiers at the last moment of the Hunhe Battle.

"All the people... are united, the mountains... can be shaken."

All the armored cavalry looked at each other in blank dismay. Most of them actually knew a thing or two about this song. It was the military song of the Qi family army.
Although there were conflicts between the Southern Army and the Liao Army, all the contradictions and prejudices disappeared after the Battle of Hunhe.

In the battle of Hunhe River, the troops from Sichuan and Zhejiang were overwhelmed, and the Hunhe River was stained with blood.

"Only loyalty and righteousness, angry... bullfighting!"

Chen Wang didn't care about everyone's expressions, and continued to sing.

After getting through the initial discomfort, everyone has come to their senses and continued to sing.

"Only loyalty and righteousness, angry bullfighting..."

"The Lord will kiss me better than a parent."

Chen Wang raised his voice and sang with emotion.

The change of the atmosphere and the change of thinking cannot be achieved overnight, nor can it be achieved overnight.

The initial complaints will gradually make everyone unite, and the same miserable experience will make everyone unite.

When they were in Chunhua City, Chen Wang had already told them something and planted a seed in their hearts.

Only with a sword in hand can you defeat the jackal and not be bullied...

In the face of injustice, we should fight and raise our weapons instead of bowing our heads and knees...

"The Lord will kiss me, better than... parents!!"

……

The wind raised the flag, and the spring breeze blowing from the southeast blows over the hills and forests,
The trees swayed, the leaves fluttered, and there were countless rustling sounds.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

The sound of the marching horn spread throughout the official road, and all the soldiers on the official road turned around to the east.

They stared ahead, carried spears on their shoulders, straightened their backs, held their heads high, and strode forward with strides.

Only this time, not only heavy footsteps sounded on the official road, but also a high-pitched singing voice.

The high-spirited singing sound spread from the official road to the four directions, echoing constantly among the mountains.

"When everyone is united, the mountains can be shaken."

"Only loyalty and righteousness, fighting bulls with anger."

"The Lord will kiss me better than a parent."

"If you violate the military law, you are not free."

"The order is clear, and the letter of reward and punishment."

"Go to water and fire, dare to stay late!"

"Report to the emperor, and save Qianshou."

"Kill all the thieves and captives, and find a Marquis!"

(End of this chapter)