The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 238 Ups and Downs
"11 years, the eighth day of December..."

North Zhili, Zhending Mansion, Zhending Suburbs.

Chen Wang was wearing armor and sitting on the icy snow, staring at the Hutuo River not far in front of him, rushing eastward.

The Hutuo River is still the same as in the past, rushing eastward, making the sound of Hutuo, and rolling.

It was the same a few days ago, it was the same a few years ago, and it was the same for thousands of years.

The wheel of history is still rolling forward.

The battle outside Zhending City did not affect the strategy of the Qing army.

Lu Xiangsheng still brought the only remaining tired army under his command to the south of Shunde Mansion, marching all the way towards Julu.

The Qing troops from all directions were also gathering towards the giant deer, and kept moving closer to the giant deer, a large net was lifted straight down to cover Lu Xiang.

There are only three days left before the outbreak of the Battle of Julu Jiazhuang in history.

Now Lu Xiangsheng has led the army into the territory of Shunde Mansion, and in two days, on December [-]th, Lu Xiangsheng will be stationed in Julu's Jiazhuang.

And Gao Qiqian will also command the battalions in the towns of Guanning after the Qing army breaks through Jize, and lead the troops into Jize.

Lu Xiangsheng sent people to contact him, hoping to join forces in the next morning and fight the Qing army decisively.

However, Gao Qiqian should not answer, and went east to Linqing.

In the early morning of the [-]th, Qing troops would come from all directions and surround Lu Xiangsheng.

The war lasted until the afternoon of the [-]th, when Lu Xiangsheng's troops ran out of cannons and fought hand-to-hand with the Qing army.

At the last moment, Lu Xiangsheng jumped his horse and galloped into the formation of the Qing army, killing many people. He was hit by four arrows and three blades, and died of exhaustion.

The Qing army wiped out the last threat in Northern Zhili, then continued southward into Shandong, broke through Jinan in one fell swoop, and captured Mingde King Zhu Youshu.

Returning from Shandong to the fortress, the Ming army followed along the road and did not dare to attack. This time, the Qing soldiers plundered more than 46 Dingkou and obtained more than one million gold and silver.

After this battle, the three towns of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi of the Ming army almost all died in the battle, and they were devastated.

The plunder of the Qing army made Northern Zhili almost corrupt, and Shandong Province was in turmoil.

A large number of bandits emerged in a short period of time between the two places, and the implicated places were even more miserable, and the people were in hardship.

And all this is not the most serious consequence.

The disastrous defeat of the Ming army in Beizhili spread to the south without any accident.

Those rogues in the south who were originally defeated by the Ming army and chose to surrender became rebellious again.

The death of Lu Xiangsheng and the disastrous defeat of Beizhili made Chongzhen lose trust in the frontier army.

Therefore, Chongzhen retained Sun Chuanting and asked him to serve as the governor of Baoding and protect the capital.

Hong Chengchou was also transferred to be the governor of Jiliao, and led the Shaanxi soldiers to the east to join forces with Make in Shanhaiguan and Wu Sangui in Ningyuan.

Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting and a large number of Shaanxi troops were transferred to the north, which also made southern China extremely empty.

Among them, Zhang Xianzhong was the first to react...

In fact, until Chongzhen 12 years ago, the Ming Dynasty did not show many signs of subjugation.

Twelve years ago in Chongzhen, the pirate rebellion in the southeast was over.

Hong Chengchou, Xiong Wencan, Sun Chuanting, Fu Zonglong and other governors worked together to almost eliminate the rogue rebellion in the mainland.

And Lu Xiangsheng's military training in Xuanda has also achieved initial results, and the strength of the northern frontier army has greatly increased.

The financial crisis of the Ming Dynasty was thus alleviated a lot.

But this rare chance of recovery was interrupted by Wu Yin's transformation.

The Wuyin Change ended with a great victory for the Qing army, seeing through the weakness of the Ming Dynasty, and Huang Taiji's ambitions gradually expanded.

Yang Sichang's peace talks plan that the foreign countries must first settle down came to naught.

The ten-face net strategy also caused the resurgence of the peasant army and completely became a broken net because Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting were transferred to the capital Qinwang.

As a result, the fate of the Ming Dynasty took a turn for the worse, and the inside and outside were once again caught in the flames of war...

……

Chen Wang's heart was in a mess.

If you follow the original historical process, according to his original plan.

After Lu Xiangsheng's defeat, Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou will be transferred to the north.

In the near future, the rogue bandits will rise up again, causing chaos in the world.

At that time, he could take the opportunity to leave Beizhili, a place of right and wrong.

Twelve years after Chongzhen, the prestige of the Ming court was greatly lost, and Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou were transferred to the north.

At that time, he will no longer be subject to so many constraints in Hanzhong Mansion as before.

A large number of soldiers from Shaanxi were transferred to the north. At that time, his troops were strong and strong. The newly appointed governors of the three sides and the governor of Shaanxi will rely on him to carry out the campaign, just like they relied on He Renlong to carry out the campaign in history.

At that time, it was true that the sea was wide and the fish leaped, and the sky was high and the birds flew.

He can take Hanzhong as the center, build high walls, accumulate food widely, keep a low profile, and continue to expand his power.

only……

What he saw along the way, and the tragic situation along the way, made Chen Wang shaken.

In the ruined cities, the stench filled the air, and mutilated corpses were everywhere.

Corpses were strewn across the street, lying on top of each other, and even ditches and pools were filled with corpses.

There were also many atrocities that cannot even be described in words.

Chen Wang clenched his fists tightly, staring at the river in front of him, his heart turned a thousand times.

During this period of time, what Lu Xiangsheng said that day echoed in his mind at all times.

Thinking day by day, dreaming at night, in his sleep these days, he would dream about the battle of Jiazhuang almost every night, dreaming that Lu Xiangsheng fought fiercely with the Qing army in Jiazhuang, dreaming that Lu Xiangsheng was wounded and died at the end.

Dreaming of mourning, thousands of miles of bones.

Perhaps, Jia Zhuang can be undefeated...

Perhaps, Lu Xiangsheng can survive...

Lu Xiangsheng now has [-] troops under his command, and the surrounding troops may reach tens of thousands, which is stronger than in history.

If they can rush to help in time, even if they don't win, they can still remain invincible...

Many things have changed. Cao Wenzhao did not die, but followed Sun Chuanting all the way east.

Sun Chuanting's current progress is not the same as the original progress. Apart from He Renlong and Zhou Yuji, there are no soldiers who dare to fight, even if they want to, they are powerless.

According to the original process, Sun Chuanting stopped in Dingzhou and stagnated.

But now, Sun Chuanting led them all the way to the Zhending Mansion before stopping. The reason for stopping was no longer the incompetence of the soldiers, but because they encountered the same predicament as Lu Xiangsheng - lack of food and grass.

Compared with Lu Xiangsheng who didn't get any food and grass to support Lu Xiangsheng, their situation is much better.

The Zhending Mansion will still provide a certain amount of food and grass every day, saying that they will mobilize food and grass again, and they only need to wait a few more days to prepare the food and grass for the expedition.

However, there are still two to three days of food and grass in the army, and they will go all the way south from Zhending Mansion to Julu. If they are quick, they can rush to the battlefield before or during the battle of Jiazhuang...

Usually, Chen Wang knew exactly what he was doing and when he should do it.

But now, for the first time, Chen Wang didn't know what to do.

If he went to persuade Sun Chuanting, or through Cao Wenzhao, according to Sun Chuanting's personality, he would probably choose to lead the army south to help.

This may really change the battle situation in Jiazhuang, and even change the result of the Wuyin Change.

Only in this way, the impact will make everything afterward beyond recognition, change more things, and disrupt his original overall plan...

Everything will fall into an unknown abyss, and everything will slide in an unpredictable direction.

In the first battle of Jiazhuang, the Qing court gathered heavy troops. Lu Xiangsheng had less than 2 troops under his command, and even if they were added, there were only more than [-] people, but he had to face more than twice as many enemy troops.

The disadvantage in terms of strength is difficult to make up for, and he only has [-] soldiers under his command.

Three thousand soldiers can play a very limited role in a battle of tens of thousands of people. If something unexpected happens, if the army is defeated...

It's not impossible...

And even if the result of the battle of Jiazhuang was changed, the change of Wuyin also changed.

Whether he can go back to Hanzhong, Shaanxi is another new question.

Historically, Cao Bianjiao was left after following Sun Chuanting's northern aid.

After Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai surrendered, they rebelled again, and civil uprisings broke out again in the pass.

Zheng Chongjian, the newly appointed trilateral governor, asked Cao Bianjiao to lead his troops to the west, but was rejected by Chongzhen, and then appointed Cao Bianjiao as the commander-in-chief of the ASEAN Association.

This also laid the groundwork for Cao Bianjiao to leave the customs with Hong Chengchou and die in Liaodong.

Perhaps, at that time, he had no way to return to Hanzhong, but to follow Hong Chengchou out of Liaodong and enter Songjin...

Or maybe...

Chen Wang's mind is messy, there are too many possibilities, choosing to rescue, everything is unknown, everything is unpredictable.

After all, his current strength is still too weak, and there are too many things he can't change.

The torrent of the times engulfs the destiny of individuals.

The destiny that is engulfed by the times can only rise and fall with the times.

He went through a lot of hardships and worked hard, and finally became the commander-in-chief of a town.

But in the chessboard of the world, it is just an insignificant chess piece...

……

Chongzhen 11th year, December [-]th, early morning.

North Zhili, Julu, Jiazhuang.

At this time, the Ming army camps were filled with smoke, and every camp was filled with the aroma of rice porridge.

Lu Xiangsheng stood on the camp wall, and beside him stood a student wearing a black diagonal square scarf and a dark blue cloak.

The student's name was Yao Dongzhao, and he came to deliver food. He heard the news that Lu Xiangsheng's army was short of food.

Before the Qing army completed the encirclement, Yao Dongzhao took advantage of the cover of night and led his family members to enter Jiazhuang with a total of [-] shi of grain.

Now that the Qing army has completed the encirclement, he is also trapped inside.

The seven hundred shi of grain he sent was undoubtedly a timely help for Xuan Dajun who had been out of food for nearly three days.

After starving for more than a month, the soldiers of Xuan Dajun finally had a full meal.

only……

On the outskirts of Jiazhuang, the banners of various colors of the Qing army are constantly increasing.

If someone looked down from the sky at this time, they would be able to see a large number of Qing troops swarming towards Jiazhuang from all directions.

……

"Biography of Donglin Volume Four Biography of Lu Xiangsheng":
Xiang Sheng swore that he would die, went out of the tent in the morning, worshiped on all sides, and said: "I and the soldiers share the grace of the country. If you suffer, you will not die, and if you do not suffer, you will not live." Everyone wept, unable to look up.

　Two chapters, 7700 words, three hundred short, make up tomorrow

　　
　
(End of this chapter)