The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 198 Variables
The cold wind was bitter, icy cold and bone-piercing, blowing past a person's body like a steel knife scraping bone.

The strong wind blew across the fields east of Mianzhou City.

On the plain, countless banners fluttered in the wind, making the sound of hunting.

What filled the air was the disgusting, suffocating and extremely strong smell of blood, as well as an extremely unpleasant smell of ruin and corruption.

The grass above the ground was already soaked in blood and stained red, and the originally hard ground became extremely soft under the erosion of blood, making it difficult to even walk.

The dark red blood slowly flowed on the green grass, and finally gathered together, forming deep red blood pools in the low-lying places, and then gradually solidified, turned purple, and turned black.

What you can see is the scars all over the ground, with countless corpses piled up on top of each other,
In the wilderness, tens of thousands of corpses lay dead...

Chen Wangshen walked forward stepping on the pool of blood with one foot shallow and the other foot shallow. His armor was already soaked in blood.

Surrounded by a purgatory-like scene, the ground is full of cold corpses, and countless people have died together.

"call--"

Chen Wang clenched the Yanling knife in his hand, supported the ground with the tip of the knife, and slowly exhaled the turbid air in his chest.

The stench of iron embroidery filled Chen Wang's mouth and nose.

On the distant field, a large number of rogues are retreating, and the mountains and plains are full of defeated rogues.

The chasing cavalry of the Ming army scattered forward, driving the defeated bandits across the land like quicksilver.

The nearly [-] Chuang troops guarding Mianzhou and Weicheng have completely collapsed under their fierce attack for several days.

Looking at the routed bandits in the distance, Chen Wang's face was not even a little bit happy.

"Li Chuang led the army back to Jiangyou, passed through Qingchuan, entered Baishui territory, and then went north into Gongchang Mansion..."

Just yesterday, Cao Wenzhao announced a message to them, a message from Long'an Mansion, and the person who sent the message was Hong Chengchou, who is now appointed as the governor of the three sides.

Before they had time to complete the encirclement, the bandits jumped out of the encirclement net laid by the Ming army one step ahead, leaving them far behind.

Now Li Zicheng led the main force into the mountainous area of ​​Gongchang Mansion again, and the time spent was extremely fast.

Hong Chengchou had already issued an order for them to cooperate with the eastern Sichuan army to defeat the remnants of the intruders entrenched in Weicheng and Mianzhou, and then go north to Lueyang again to block the possible road for the insurgents to go south.

Coming all the way from Mian County, after more than a month of trekking, they finally arrived at Zitong, and now they have to transfer to Lueyang in Hanzhong Prefecture again, and it will take at least another month in between.

as usual……

There are many thieves who ride well, and every time they straddle two horses, they gallop and move forward. Relying on horsepower, they can march day and night without stopping, and they can cover hundreds of miles in a row.

Chen Wang used to be a member of Cao Wenzhao's subordinates, and most of the time he recalled, he was constantly chasing after them.

The rogues are mostly cavalry troops, and when they flee, they turn into the wind, and the officers and soldiers generally use three steps and seven steps on horses, how can two legs run better than four legs.

The rogues can be "satisfied with food and lodging" everywhere, and they don't have to carry food, but the Ming army that is going to suppress needs to be supported by transportation and food. They can't plunder places like the rogues.

Therefore, whenever "heaviness comes, the bandits have fled", although the Ming army that was advancing and suppressing was in an advantage in a frontal confrontation, there was not much way to expand its advantage and chase after it at all. less than.

Most of the officers and soldiers who went on the offensive had just set up camp to rest, and they were still breathing.

Basically, the bandits marched without a definite direction, and they often avoided and persisted. The officers and soldiers who attacked and suppressed could only fortify everywhere, setting up roads, and thus scattered their forces.

In fact, Hong Chengchou can control as many as 5 to [-] troops. This is not counting the guards in various places, but because of the need to disperse defenses in various places, as the governor of the three sides, the army directly under his command is often less than [-].

The reason why the Ming army has been campaigning and suppressing for many years, but still returning without success is precisely because of the existence of these problems.

It is easy to defeat the rogues, but it is extremely difficult to destroy the rogues.

After receiving the news from Long'an Mansion, Chen Wang checked Li Zicheng's marching route against the map.

It has to be said that Li Zicheng's plan is indeed outstanding.

Although Li Zicheng has many shortcomings and cannot be regarded as an outstanding leader, his attainments in military command are indeed not low.

Of course, it is only above the military command.

In terms of strategy, Li Zicheng's vision is indeed somewhat unsatisfactory.

To be precise, in terms of strategy, Li Zicheng's vision can be described as a disaster, not even reaching the passing line.

Historically, Li Zicheng captured Xi'an and controlled Shaanxi and other places. Logically speaking, he would attack the south according to normal logic.

Because at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Northern Zhili and other northern provinces were suffering from disasters for a long time, and expenditures were always in a state of making ends meet.

The taxation and economic powerhouses of the Ming Dynasty were all in the south, and the densely populated areas were also in the south.

Attacking the north, even if the city of Beijing is captured, will only temporarily destroy the Ming court, but most of the southern provinces will establish a new king to continue fighting and will not surrender.

Moreover, the mess in Liaodong has lasted for decades, and the hole is getting bigger and bigger. The national power of the Qing Dynasty was also on the rise at that time, and the threat was becoming stronger and stronger.

To conquer the north is undoubtedly to face the threat of the Qing army.

At that time, the Southern Ming Dynasty and the Northern Qing Dynasty will face enemies from both sides.

Compared with attacking the north, capturing the southern provinces can obviously gain greater benefits.

But Li Zicheng in history, just let the southern provinces not fight, but wanted to fight the north first.

With Zhu Yuanzhang's pearls and jade in front, it is obvious that as long as he replicates Zhu Yuanzhang's successful path, build high walls, accumulate food widely, become king slowly, first conquer the southern provinces, and then develop slowly, he can easily seize the world.

However, Li Zicheng did not follow suit. In March of the 16th year of Chongzhen, when his foothold was not stable, he changed its name to Xiangjing in Xiangyang, and impatiently called him "Xin Shun Wang".

Then he pushed Zhang Xianzhong to the opposite side and completely isolated himself.

When dealing with the Liaodong Group, Li Zicheng fell ill one after another, and finally pushed Wu Sangui to the opposite side, so that the Qing army entered the pass, and was finally defeated by a stone, ruining the originally good situation.

Li Zicheng has general talent and can lead an army alone.

But he doesn't have the talent of a leader, and his vision is really bad.

However, the current situation does not require Li Zicheng's leadership skills, only his general talents.

Li Zicheng went north this time and then entered the deep mountains and valleys of Cheng and Jie in Gongchangfu. It seemed that nothing had changed, and he returned to the original place.

But actually everything has changed.

Hong Chengchou is now leading Zuo Guangxian, He Renlong and other elites to stay in Pingwu County, Longan Prefecture, Sichuan.

According to the normal speed, it would take at least ten days to return to Wen County.

And it will undoubtedly take more than a month to return to Cheng County where he was originally located.

Such a long time is enough for Li Zicheng to lead the main force to complete the transfer.

A group of generals who stayed at the intersection of the mountainous areas of Cheng and Jie for defense did not have enough troops to stop a small group of rogues.

But it is not enough to let them face the main force of the army led by Li Zicheng.

That is to say, the siege nets that Hong Chengchou originally set up in Cheng and Jie are actually useless, and there is no way to restrict Li Zicheng's actions.

Li Zicheng could break through the encirclement net of Cheng and Jie at any time and go to other places in Shaanxi.

This game of checkmate was revived by Li Zicheng.

There is no doubt that Li Zicheng is indeed a famous general.

Even in a situation where he was close to death, he was able to accurately find that ray of life, which made people have to admire.

Today's situation is completely different from the original process.

Everything in the future has become a mystery.

According to the original process, when Li Zicheng returned to his army, he was ambushed by Hong Chengchou in Zitong. After his defeat, he turned to Jiangyou, passed through Qingchuan, and entered Gongchang Mansion via Baishui.

But now that Li Zicheng has returned to Gongchang Mansion, the main force has not been damaged, and has even been strengthened.

Li Zicheng didn't enter Sichuan from Qipan Pass, so he naturally didn't think about leaving Sichuan from Zitong, so he also avoided possible ambushes.

Because of the butterfly effect, many places have changed. Hong Chengchou did not personally lead the army into Zitong in Baoning Prefecture, but led the army from Wen County into Sichuan.

Most of the events have changed, and Tuo Yangkun and Zhang Zhengyao did not surrender, but brought into the army to join Li Zicheng's command, which greatly enhanced Li Zicheng's combat power.

Li Zicheng's current strength is more than a little bit stronger than in the original process.

Chen Wang felt that this time Li Zicheng might not be defeated in Tongguan Nanyuan again, and only eighteen cavalry fled into Shangluo Mountain.

I am afraid that the land of Shaanxi will once again set off huge waves, just like Gao Yingxiang led the army back to Shaanxi in the eighth year of Chongzhen...

It's just that in this way, he is afraid that he will also join the team of attacking and suppressing.

Chen Wang was a little helpless. As a battalion general, even if he was the head of a town, a battalion commander was a battalion commander and he didn't have much autonomy.

After a word from the military gate and the governor above, they need to move camps and deploy troops.

Now Chen Wang's situation can be described as involuntary.

Although he now has the status of an officer of the guard, his main job is still the deputy guard of Hanzhong Mansion.

His identity as the commander of the Hanzhong Guards was only obtained after he got on the line of Sun Chuanting and coincided with his intention to rectify the guards.

Now if he joins the ranks of the offensive again, Han Zhongwei's development may be slowed down a lot because of his absence.

But right now, Chen Wang has no reason or excuse to let himself stay in the Hanzhong mansion.

Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Guoneng and other ministries were defeated in Anqing Mansion in Nanzhili, although they returned to the mountainous area of ​​Yunxiang.

But they did not show the slightest interest in Hanzhong Mansion, not even a single bandit crossed the border into Hanzhong Mansion.

And according to the original process, after Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Guoneng and other ministries finished their rest and recovered from the shadow of defeat, they sent troops to Yunxiang again at the beginning of Chongzhen's 11th year, that is, at the beginning of next year.

Then he was defeated by Zuo Liangyu and Chen Hongfan in Yunxi, Liu Guoneng fled to Fuzhou and chose to surrender.

Under the guise of officers and soldiers, Zhang Xianzhong went north again and attacked Nanyang Mansion.

On the way, he met Zuo Liangyu, was seen through by Zuo Liangyu, and then fled to Gucheng.

Then Zhang Xianzhong felt that he was alone and alone, and pretended to choose to surrender.

Although Zhang Xianzhong made a false surrender, Xiong Wencan thought it was a real surrender and gave him very high preferential treatment.

With Zhang Xianzhong's surrender, by the beginning of next year, the crisis of bandits in the Yunxiang area can be said to have been temporarily eliminated.

Hanzhong Mansion is no longer under threat, and naturally there is no need for people to sit in it.

I'm afraid it would be a waste of time to follow Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou all the way behind Li Zicheng.

Unless Chen Wang learns from Zuo Liangyu and respects himself, he will not move after hearing the order.

Xiong Wencan's personality is soft, Zuo Liangyu is dissatisfied with him, he can support himself, and it's okay to find an excuse to stand still after receiving the transfer order.

After all, Xiong Wencan didn't have many generals and schools available under his command, and his prestige and reputation were not enough, so he had to rely heavily on Zuo Liangyu most of the time.

Zuo Liangyu acted so recklessly because he was sure that Xiong Wencan would not dare to touch him.

However, one of Chen Wang's bosses was Hong Chengchou and the other was Sun Chuanting. These two people and Xiong Wencan were two extremes.

If he dared not to listen to Hong Chengchou's transfer orders, he might not be long in the official position, and all kinds of crimes would fly over like snowflakes. At that time, whether he would survive or not would be anyone's guess.

Sun Chuanting is even more terrifying, he will not fabricate charges like Hong Chengchou, but he is more direct and more terrifying.

Historically, He Renlong refused to obey orders, and the first thing Sun Chuanting did after his reinstatement was to cut off He Renlong's head.

and……

Chen Wang also thought of one thing...

In September of the 11th year of Chongzhen, Dorgon and Yue Tuo led the troops to invade the fortress from Qiangziling and Qingshanguan, and invaded North Zhili.

Chongzhen first ordered Lu Xiangsheng, who was worried about Ding's father, to regain his love, and the governor's soldiers and horses fought against the Qing Dynasty.

Then on October [-], he ordered Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting to go to Beijing to serve as king.

After receiving the edict, Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting immediately summoned a group of generals and schools who were in Shaanxi and other places to go to the north to help.

At that time, Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou had already defeated Li Zicheng in Nanyuan, Tongguan, so Chongzhen ordered him to go north to King Qin.

If Li Zicheng hadn't been defeated in Nanyuan, Tongguan, then there would inevitably be infinite variables...

……

"History of Ming Dynasty Volume 270 III Biography No. 160 I"

"In the first month of the 11th year, Liangyu and the general Chen Hongfan defeated the bandits in Yunxi."

"Zhang Xianzhong attacked Nanyang under the banner of a false official and stationed at Nanguan. Liangyu arrived, and he was suspicious and called him urgently. Xianzhong went away."

"Chasing after him, he shot two arrows and hit him in the shoulder. Then he swung his knife again and hit him, his face was bleeding. His subordinates saved him, and he fled to Gucheng."

"In a few days, please surrender. Liangyu knows his hypocrisy, so please attack him with all his strength, but Wen Can will not allow it."

(End of this chapter)