The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 209
"As King Chuang expected, the officers and soldiers set up defenses all the way, step by step, pulled out the stronghold and advanced slowly, and now they are coming from all sides, intending to encircle our army!"

Tian Jianxiu walked fast all the way, hurriedly boarded the high slope where Li Zicheng was, and reported anxiously.

A few days ago, there was an urgent message from the east that the Ming court's suppressing army had arrived at Zitong under the leadership of Hong Chengchou.

He Renlong, Zuo Guangxian, Zu Dabi, Gao Jie, and Ma Ke were all among them, with a total force of 3000.

The vanguard troops led by Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao have reached Weicheng, only a few dozen miles away from Mianzhou where they are located, and they will arrive sooner or later.

The Eastern Sichuan Ming Army is also gathering. Not long ago, a group of chieftain soldiers came from Shizhu Xuanwei Division, which greatly boosted the morale of the Eastern Sichuan Ming Army.

Xuanweisi is also commonly known as Chieftain. Shizhu Xuanweisi can be traced back to the Southern Song Dynasty, and was originally one of the six Tujia Xuanweisi.

The former comfort envoy was Ma Qiancheng, and Qin Liangyu was his wife.

After Ma Qiancheng was murdered, because his son Ma Xianglin was young, Qin Liangyu took over as his husband.

The Shizhu Xuanwei Division also rose because of this. Qin Liangyu was brave and wise, good at riding and shooting, proficient in words, elegant in manners, marching and controlling the army, and had strict orders, so he was feared by far and near.

When he was in charge of the Shizhu Xuanwei Division, the prestige of the Shizhu Xuanwei Division reached its peak, and all the ministries were overwhelmed. In fact, it has become the head of the six Tujia Xuanwei Divisions.

And this time it was the current Shizhu Consolation Envoy Ma Xianglin who led the troops to rush to the aid of Eastern Sichuan.

Ma Xianglin is now in his prime, thirty-three in his forties.

He was extremely brave, and when he was young, he began to follow Qin Liangyu to conquer the north and south, and tried to charge the battle alone, and captured Qu Kui.

When rushing to the aid of Liaodong, there were arrows in his eyes, and he still pulled out the arrows and rode the horses to chase the thieves, and the capture was as good as before.

The arrival of Ma Xianglin greatly boosted the morale of the Eastern Sichuan Ming Army, and even became the chief general of the Eastern Sichuan Ming Army as a consolation envoy, in charge of all ministries.

Generally speaking, regardless of the number of troops sent by the chieftain, Han officials are the main generals, but this unspoken rule does not apply to Shizhu Xuanweisi now.

Qin Liangyu's status is unusual. In the third year of Chongzhen, Chongzhen issued an imperial edict to praise her beauty, and summoned her on the platform.

Shizhu Xuanweisi is now the Dinghai magic needle of the whole Sichuan. The reason why all the tribes in Sichuan are still honest under the chaos is because of Shizhu Xuanweisi.

During the Battle of Bozhou, the Shizhu white pole soldiers were already famous.

During the She'an Rebellion, the Shizhu Xuanwei Division was the main force in suppressing the rebellion.

If Shizhu did not rebel, Xuanweisi, the other five Tujia clans, would not rebel, and all the chieftains in Sichuan did not dare to have the slightest dissent.

The strength of the Shizhu white-armed soldiers is obvious to all.

Originally, the pressure from the east and south was already difficult for people to breathe.

Now, there was another commotion in the west. Hou Liangzhu, who had been silent in Mianzhu for a long time, might have received an order and moved.

"Sichuan General Soldier Hou Liangzhu led most of the Sichuan army out of Mianzhu, and returned from the expedition. The strength should be more than 5000 people, and they are marching towards Mianzhou..."

As Tian Jianxiu climbed up the high slope, he already noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere.

Director Qi, King Renyi and other five battalion leaders, as well as Liu Zongmin, Gao Yigong and others were all standing on the high slope at this time.

Of course, now to be precise, there is no distinction between the battalion leader and the management team, and now they have been renamed as management leaders.

The leader of the tenth team is only missing him, and it is already complete.

"You came just in time. It seems that I sent someone to inform your messenger and you just missed it."

Li Zicheng nodded slightly, as if he had already heard the news, the expression on his face did not change at all because of the news Tian Jianxiu said.

Tian Jianxiu was full of doubts in his heart, but he was very clear about the situation and didn't ask any more questions, but stood where he had always stood in the past.

"Yufeng has already said part of what I want to say first, and the current situation is probably like this."

Li Zicheng wore a felt hat as usual, but the arrow jacket on his body was changed to blue.

"Officers and soldiers are encircling from the east, west, and south roads. Wen County and Baishui in the north are now completely blocked by Sun Chuanting."

"There are more than 9000 officers and soldiers on the East Route, about 4 officers and soldiers on the West Route, and about [-] officers and soldiers on the South Route, for a total of nearly [-] soldiers..."

All the leaders on the high slope were silent, all eyes were on Li Zicheng, they were all waiting for Li Zicheng's order.

From Chengjie mountain to Jingyang, and then from Jingyang back to Chengjie, continuous back and forth, continuous transfer, both crossing Guanshan, leaving the Ming army far behind.

Along the way, they grew stronger and stronger day by day, all of which should be attributed to Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng looked around at the generals standing beside him. From their eyes, he already knew one thing. Now he has accumulated enough prestige in the army, and has been convinced and recognized by everyone.

"From the time I entered Sichuan, in fact, I have already thought about the current situation."

Li Zicheng's eyes were deep, and he spoke slowly. What he said caught everyone's attention.

"Henan, Huguang, you all know that Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Guoneng and the others have already surrendered..."

Zhang Xianzhong and Liu Guoneng were defeated one after another, and the news of their final surrender had already been known to everyone. Under the victory, there is still not much improvement.

Now in the east, only Luo Rucai, He Yilong and other ministries are still insisting, but the officers and soldiers are constantly shrinking the encirclement net.

The newly appointed prime minister, Xiong Wencan, was indeed quite capable, dispatching troops was not much inferior to Lu Xiangsheng, and even because he had been an official in the south for a long time, he knew how to fight in these regions.

Moreover, under Xiong Wencan's command, there is also a Southern soldier brought from Guangzhou. Those Southern soldiers have sharp firearms and a strict formation. They also have no fear in close hand-to-hand combat, are fierce and brave, and have made many achievements.

The eastern battlefield is now a mess. Luo Rucai and He Yilong have only tens of thousands of people under their command. They were defeated in the past. How can they win now? surrender.

"Now, we are the only ones left..."

Li Zicheng's voice was low and his eyes were serious.

The officers and soldiers encircled from all directions, spread their nets from all directions, and came under pressure at every step. Even if they were lucky enough to have one or even two lines of defense, there were still several barriers waiting for them.

The Ming army in Shaanxi has now all concentrated in the southern part of Shaanxi, and the Sichuan army in the brigade has also gathered. Once the Ming army completes the encirclement, they will become turtles in the urn, with no way to go to the sky and no way to enter the earth.

From the time Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Guoneng and others were defeated, they were already in a dead end.

Without the threat from Henan, the Shaanxi Ming army led by Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting freed up all their hands to encircle and suppress.

At the same time, due to the easing of the fighting on the eastern battlefield, a large number of Sichuan soldiers returned to Sichuan, and their return made Sichuan an iron barrel again.

After years of fighting, Li Zicheng is no longer the postman and general who lived in Shaanxi for a long time and didn't know how big the world is.

Although the She'an Rebellion that broke out in Sichuan had dealt a heavy blow to Sichuan, but because of this, most of the soldiers in Sichuan Province, including the guards, now have a certain combat power, not the same as Henan. Provinces that have waited for peace for a long time are generally unbearable.

In the previous two battles at Jiange and Guangyuan, although they were victorious both times, they were both miserable victories, and they still had the advantage of first attack and military strength.

"Fighting head-on, no matter which way we face, we don't have much chance of winning."

Li Zicheng looked calm and spoke lightly.

With a very calm expectation, he described the possible failures.

All the generals on the high slope changed their faces slightly, they were all waiting for Li Zicheng's order to go, waiting for Li Zicheng to lead them out of the siege again.

But Li Zicheng is now saying that there is no chance of winning either way.

It seems that... waiting for them... there is only one path of defeat.

Tian Jianxiu's heart was slightly cold, and a chill slowly rose from the bottom of her heart.

He couldn't accept it for a while, they had fought and won victoriously all the way, and they were in the limelight for a while, and they obviously haven't lost yet!

Tian Jianxiu wanted to say something, but after loosening and clenching his fist several times, he still didn't speak.

Because what Li Zicheng said was really good, no matter which way they faced off, they had no chance of winning...

The officers and soldiers have not moved for a long time, but at this time they have marched towards Mianzhou successively, which undoubtedly proves that the officers and soldiers are ready.

Hong Chengchou, Hou Liangzhu, and Ma Xianglin led the three armies and came together to suppress them. None of the three was a good friend.

This time, they may have really come to an end...

wrong……

Tian Jianxiu's eyes suddenly became clear. If he was really in a desperate situation, Li Zicheng shouldn't have this attitude and expression.

Tian Jianxiu's eyes moved slightly, and he noticed that Li Zicheng's expression was still calm, and the expression of Tuo Yangkun who was standing not far from him was also unchanged.

Tuo Yangkun stood at the forefront of the generals and schools. Li Zicheng set up five battalions and ten teams. Tuo Yangkun ranked first by virtue of his qualifications and strength.

Even Liu Zongmin and Gao Yigong, who have been following Li Zicheng for a long time, are far inferior to Tuo Yangkun now.

Tuo Yangkun probably knew something, that's why he was so indifferent.

Not long after Tian Jianxiu came to his senses, Director Qi, King Renyi, Gao Yigong and others also came to his senses.

They all came out of the mountain of corpses and the sea of ​​blood. They survived the bloody battle all the way, so which one is the real mediocre?

"Brother, what you say to do, we will do it!"

Liu Zongmin was wearing bright silver fish scale armor and a high-topped helmet, and was the first to shout loudly.

Liu Zongmin has a strong figure, but the loose fish-scale armor on his body looks bulging, like a brown bear in the forest.

He has been following Li Zicheng from a very early age, and has never missed a single battle. He is Li Zicheng's true confidant.

"Chuang Wang's military order, I will go through fire and water, and I will never refuse."

A group of generals also expressed their positions one after another, and agreed in a solemn voice.

A sharp light flashed in Li Zicheng's eyes, and his sharp gaze swept across everyone.

"Along the way, there are not a few times when we are in a desperate situation."

"The officers and soldiers are fully equipped and powerful. We have always lost more than we lost in direct confrontations, but now we are forced to face it head-on."

Li Zicheng said in a low voice and serious eyes.

"The soldiers and horses of the battalions on the East Road surrendered, thinking that the imperial court is running dogs!"

"Without the threat from the East Road, the officers and soldiers on the West Road now have no external worries. They can only target us."

"Now only one part of our army is still supported by the West Road, and the officers and soldiers are bound to gather heavy troops to strangle them."

Li Zicheng raised his voice a little, and his eyes slowly swept across the faces of the people in front of him one by one.

"The building will collapse, and it cannot be supported by a single tree!"

"This time, the officers and soldiers gathered [-] heavy troops and came in three directions. They then dispatched troops to block our northern road and cut off my return to Gongchang."

"Even if we can break through the encirclement net of officers and soldiers this time, but next time?"

Li Zicheng clenched the whip in his hand and said coldly.

"Next time... officers and soldiers will definitely gather more soldiers."

"The area where we are located has been restricted. The officers and soldiers have set up defenses everywhere, and we are at every step. Now we don't have many available people in northern Sichuan and southern Shaanxi. Even if we have, they are useless. You all know why."

The crowd tactics are useful. There are only three to 4000 officers and soldiers.

However, crowd tactics are useless in many cases. When the number of officers and soldiers reaches more than ten thousand, they are equipped with equipment and sufficient supplies. No matter how many people there are, it is impossible to disperse them.

The only ones that are really useful at this time are the fine cavalry and cavalry in their teams.

However, every death of a qualified Jingqi and Ma Jun would result in one less, and each death would be a huge loss, which could not be afforded at all.

"so……"

Li Zicheng slowly raised his horsewhip, everyone's eyes were on him, and the air almost froze for an instant.

"Even if we can win the battle in Mianzhou, we can't win..."

Tian Jianxiu's eyes widened, his pupils involuntarily enlarged due to fear, and the rest of the generals also had the same expressions.

But Li Zicheng continued to talk as if he didn't see their expressions.

"In the battle of Mianzhou, we must lose, and we must lose, and it must be a disastrous defeat..."

Li Zicheng took a step forward, his expression was stern and his tone was firm.

"We must be made to think that Hong Chengchou has completely defeated us..."

Li Zicheng turned to the north, looking in the direction of Jiangyou.

The current situation is extremely unfavorable, the years of famine have eased a lot this year, but the forces of officers and soldiers are unprecedentedly strong.

But... As long as he survives this year and this period of time, everything will change dramatically.

The policy of four positives and six corners set by the Ming court will soon suffer a backlash.

The taxation of 280 million has indeed greatly strengthened the strength of the officers and soldiers.

But once famine breaks out again, the extra tax will become the sharpest weapon pierced into Ming Ting's heart...

He and Zhang Xianzhong have always been at odds, but he knows Zhang Xianzhong very well.

It is impossible for Zhang Xianzhong to truly surrender. When the backlash comes, Zhang Xianzhong will definitely rebel.

Moreover, the northern captives went south every year, and a large-scale war would be launched every few years.

At that time, the Ming court is bound to mobilize a large number of soldiers to go north to serve the king, and this is also their opportunity!

(End of this chapter)