national surname chiming

Chapter 301 The Last Battle Against Zhang Ni

Although Bai Wenxuan surrendered and killed Pan Duao to save his life, the sporadic fighting in Chongqing continued for a whole day before ending.

After all, in the chaotic battle of the army, especially after entering the street battle, there is no command center at all, and the news of the general's surrender may not be quickly conveyed to the ears of the troops fighting on their own.

Some captains and brigade-level rogue officers, even if they heard that the officers and soldiers announced that Bai Wenxuan had surrendered and forced them to lay down their weapons immediately, they would think it was a lie that the soldiers never tire of.

They would not believe it unless Bai Wenxuan himself was tied up in every position and ran over to shout out one by one, and it would take time.

On the morning of the seventh day of the first lunar month, the smog gradually dissipated everywhere in Chongqing.

After controlling the situation, the officers and soldiers also counted the population and damage in the city, only to confirm that almost no good people survived, and those left by Zhang Xianzhong were indeed recruits who were willing to join the bandits.

More than 20 people and nearly 30 people were completely slaughtered and looted by Zhang Xianzhong before spending so much money to snowball the army.

(Note: The cases of Zhang Xianzhong's massacre in Wuchang, Chongqing, and Chengdu in history are all clear historical facts, and there is no need for a butterfly effect to cause it, and there is no need for blackmail.

But to say that Zhang Xianzhong slaughtered all of Sichuan is watery and a bit dark. The exact proportion of Zhang Xianzhong and the Qing army’s slaughter is impossible to verify. It is said that each killed less than half to more than half of them, so I will not jump to conclusions.However, it is certain that the above-mentioned large cities will be completely slaughtered as soon as they enter the city. )
The situation was so complicated, Zhu Shuren had no choice but to deal with the surrendering troops according to the situation.

First of all, the hands of many people were stained with innocent blood, and there were quite a few of them, and some of them massacred the city many times. It is absolutely impossible for this kind of troops to be directly incorporated into the official army.

Even if it is used as cannon fodder for the death-defying battalion, if it is used to attack Zhang Xianzhong's camp in the follow-up battle, who knows if it will be cold-blooded again.

So in a hurry, Zhu Shuren could only make a quick decision on a few principles for drawing lines.

Lock everyone up first, temporarily put them in a hard labor camp, and slowly screen them out.

For those who have just been coerced in Sichuan, you can see if there are any bad deeds. If it is just for survival, and they are still healthy and not weak, then they can be incorporated into Fang Guoan's troops after a short period of transformation.

Of course, it also included Wang Guangchang and Wang Guangxing under Fang Guoan, and Tan Wen under Qin Liangyu.

If it is a local recruit in Sichuan, but it is identified as a local rogue bandit, it can only be militarized management and reclamation, and production will resume, and weapons cannot be issued.

In addition, these Sichuanese were the targets of robbing. After the officers and soldiers arrived, it was impossible to directly return the robbed property, and there was no way to calculate it, which was prone to false accounts and confusion.Therefore, a portion of the booty was uniformly taken out as a settling fee for reconciliation, and each person gave a few stones of grain to survive the cold winter and spring famine, and then saved some as seeds for spring plowing.

These local people are relatively easy to arrange, and the old battalion in Zhang Xianzhong's army needs to be handled carefully.

Zhu Shuren didn't want to divide the danger by region, but the current situation was such that he couldn't help it. He simply made a one-size-fits-all first, and distinguished by the old camp in Shaanxi and the old camp in Henan according to the number of years he had been a thief.

For the Shaanxi people who have followed Zhang Xianzhong for more than seven or eight years, they must not be incorporated into the army. All of them will be punished with the heaviest hard labor and strictly guarded. These people are too dangerous.Even if it is to be used as a death camp in the future, it will have to wait until the Tartars enter the pass and fight the Qing army, and then release these people to fight the most dangerous battles, and only when they come back alive can they gradually be exonerated.

The Henan old battalion generally served in the army for a maximum of five or six years, and Huguang had fewer soldiers. They could gradually be eliminated and screened as death battalions in the follow-up battle to pacify the thieves as appropriate.

In the end, Zhu Shuren asked the captives to identify each other among the old Shaanxi thieves, selected some who had committed the most serious crimes, such as those who actively participated in the massacre and looting many times, and executed about hundreds of people.

And the soldiers from Huguang, Henan, who want to take up arms again immediately to avoid the punishment of the hard labor camp, must participate in the execution, and they will stab the old thieves in Shaanxi who were sentenced to beheaded. Just see the blood.

After all, Zhu Shuren couldn't massacre the surrendered troops. There were only a few hundred who should be sentenced to death, and there were tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers who needed to surrender, which was not enough to kill.

After accepting the certificate of vote, Zhu Shuren will of course take the initiative to publicize it to the outside world. All his surrendered soldiers have received the certificate of vote, so that once the news reaches Zhang Xianzhong's ears in the future, his old thieves from Shaanxi will follow these traitors from Huguang, Henan. With hatred, the Huguang traitors in Henan did not dare to waver and vote back so easily.

Of course, it is doubtful how effective this little trick will be, but it is better than nothing, and it is also urgent.

……

It took two days to rectify the rear in Chongqing, and another batch of military rations was transported from Fengjie to Chongqing to stock up. After ensuring the material foundation for the follow-up attack, it was almost time for Zhu Shuren to start westward again.

At the same time, in the past two days, the father-in-law Wang, who was in charge of supervising the army at the rear of Huguang, and the family of the newly appointed governor of Sichuan, Fang Kongxuan, also hurried to Chongqing. (except for Fang Yizhi, who will stay in Wuchang as an official)

Zhu Shuren originally planned to "invade Chongqing City for the New Year" before the battle, but in the end it was delayed until the sixth day of the first lunar month before the city was broken, and the sporadic fighting was completely ended on the seventh day of the first lunar month.

Wang Gonggong and Fang Kongxuan actually arrived in Fengjie County on the third day of the first lunar month, but after inquiring in the rear, they learned that the battle situation ahead was still tense, and their group of eunuchs and civil servants had nothing to do, so they stayed for two more days. After Feng Jie got the news of the broken city, he rushed forward in a hurry.

Although Zhu Shuren spent the New Year in the 16th year of Chongzhen in the barracks, and those people lived in the boat on the Yangtze River, but at any rate, it can be regarded as rushing to Chongqing to celebrate the Lantern Festival.

When everyone arrived, it was the tenth day of the first lunar month.

The city was dilapidated, and it was impossible for Zhu Shuren to throw extravagant banquets, so he just took a ham that was stored and transported as military food, and some fresh fish just caught from the Yangtze River, and entertained Wang Gonggong and Fang Kongxuan and his party.

As for the officials and staff who are lower than them, they can't even smell ham. At most, they just drink the soup boiled with ham bone in a bowl, and put a small fish in the soup.

The food was so bitter that the prince and his father didn't read much, so he immediately realized the predicament and difficulty in Chongqing, and he didn't dare to ask for food and drink. Instead, he felt rather embarrassed by Zhu Shuren's war awe.

And Zhu Shuren also knew in his heart that the only person he needs to respect and stabilize right now is the prince in front of him——

He will be related to how to report the situation in Sichuan to Chongzhen after Chongqing was captured and Fang Kongxuan established a temporary residence in Chongqing.

If Chongzhen asked whether Zhu Shuren had been passive in his work or even supported the bandits in the process of assisting Fang Kongzhang to take office and regain his foothold in Sichuan, he would also rely on the report of the military supervisor prince.

Therefore, Zhu Shuren did it very safely. Although he lived a miserable life in seeking truth from facts and could not get any luxury food, on the other hand, he was absolutely not lacking in etiquette. Even if it was just a few pieces of ham and fish, he would personally toast and persuade the food.

At the same time, in order for the prince to experience the difficulty of taking Chongqing so quickly, Zhu Shuren also specially selected Bai Wenxuan, who was in a captive state, and removed the shackles, but he was guarded by special elite guards and sent to the hall to wait for the prince to question him at any time.

In addition, Zhu Shuren can still do superficial kung fu even though he is here.For those who surrendered before the battle, even if they came late, he would not abuse them in life, so he gave Bai Wenxuan a fish, two bowls of rice, and a few cups of bad wine. Best meal ever.

At the welcome banquet of water, wine and thin vegetables, Zhu Shuren also briefly described the difficulty of the Battle of Chongqing in front of Wang Gonggong. In addition, he asked Wang Gonggong to keep the details of the tactics a secret for the time being, because there were some tricks, which were useless this time. , maybe it can be used next time.

Then, Zhu Shuren mentioned sadly: "There is another bad news. At that time, Eunuch Lao will come to Datian to hear: I have already received the reward of visiting horses from the front on the third day of the first lunar month, that is, seven days ago, and Chengdu has been captured by Zhang Xianzhong.

In the next few days, new information came back one after another. On the sixth day of the lunar new year, it was confirmed that Zhang Xianzhong had massacred the city in Chengdu. The day before yesterday, it was confirmed that the whole family of the King of Shu had died——

However, it happened on New Year's Eve, and when our army arrived in Chongqing and began to organize the siege, it was already around the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, and it took less than ten days to recapture the eastern Sichuan gate, which was already very fast.At that time, it was impossible for the official to rush to Chengdu to help regardless of the food road being cut off.

Even if we don't stop, don't need food roads, and only rely on carrying food to fight, from Chongqing to Chengdu, marching along the Yangtze River and Minjiang River will take at least [-] miles.

In five days, the infantry could not travel that far by boat. If they did not march along the river on foot, they would be exhausted there.If we only let our army's more than 1 cavalry abandon the infantry and go first, they will lose their combat effectiveness when they rush to the city of Chengdu, so it is really impossible to rescue.

On this point, please be sure to tell your majesty the truth after returning to Beijing. The generals and governors of Huguang and Sichuan will all be grateful for your righteous words. "

After Wang Gonggong heard this, he was also shocked, and felt a little sad at the same time.But he saw the battle situation in Chongqing, Zhu Shuren only used a total of twelve days to completely solve the battle, which is already very remarkable.

In Wanxian, Hezhou and other places before, it was as short as one or two days, and as long as three to five days.From Yiling into Sichuan to Fengjie to Wanxian to Chongqing, we walked two distances of seven or eight hundred miles, and the sum totaled [-] miles to the west along the Yangtze River. What more could the emperor ask for?
Chengdu was temporarily destroyed and slaughtered, and it was really too late to save it.

We can only hope that the follow-up damage will not expand any more. It would be a surprise to completely kill Zhang Xianzhong's dumplings in the Sichuan Basin.

Compared to Wang Gonggong's astonishment, Bai Wenxuan's shock was more serious and inexplicable.

"What? The Guoxing Lord sent Tan Wen to lure me with a false surrender plan, but what he said was true? Chengdu was really broken by Zhang Xianzhong? He dared to use real information to use it, and he was not afraid of boosting the morale of the defending troops. ?
Or does it mean that I can't believe it, or even if I believe it, I don't dare or feel that it is unnecessary to publicize it to the whole army immediately?This strategy of employing troops corresponding to reality and reality is simply terrifying!Losing in the hands of such a person is really convincing.

Alas, could it be that Zhang Xianzhong was punished by the heavens? Seeing him slaughter so much, it would be impossible for him to bring down the surname of the country... If he continues, he will really betray his relatives. "

When Bai Wenxuan was shocked, he couldn't help showing it. Even the spoons and chopsticks in his hand couldn't help falling to the ground, making a crisp sound, just like Liu Bei heard Cao Cao say, "Today's heroes, only the king and Cao Er "It's almost time.

Of course, this is not to say that Bai Wenxuan's mental quality is too poor. After all, he is already a prisoner and has no military aircraft to keep secret, so there is no need to deliberately cover up his emotions.

The prince and Fang Kongzhang who were sitting in the upper positions also noticed this abnormality. Fang Kongzhang was steady and pretended not to see it when he saw it.

However, Wang Gonggong had no scruples, and immediately asked: "Why did the Tang descended general lose his composure?"

Bai Wenxuan didn't dare to hide anything, so he said it concisely.Wang Gonggong was also slightly stunned when he heard it, he didn't expect Zhu Shuren to be so eclectic in his tactics, so affordable and let go, he really dared to take risks.

After sighing with emotion, Wang Gonggong remembered to ask how Chengdu was breached. After all, he also had to consider how to explain to Chongzhen after returning.

When Bai Wenxuan heard this question in the hall, he also pricked up his ears, because he also wanted to know the answer very much.

Of course, Zhu Shuren would not hide anything on this occasion. The clearer he said, the less likely Chongzhen would suspect his responsibility in the future.

So he gave a detailed description: "My father-in-law may not know that the city walls of Chengdu have been in disrepair for hundreds of years, because since ancient times, the troops stationed in Shuzhong have never expected the enemy to break into the Chengdu Plain and rely on defending the city of Chengdu to persist. .

According to my official's intensified inquiries in the next few days, the most detailed information I have learned so far is that Zhang Xianzhong took advantage of the two or three days before New Year's Eve to relax his siege efforts and induce the officers and soldiers to slack off, thinking that the bandits would also rest for the New Year , and then he suddenly stepped up his efforts on New Year's Eve, catching Shao Jiechun's defenders by surprise.

In addition, Zhang Xianzhong lacked firearms and did not use gunpowder when he first attacked the city, which paralyzed the officers and soldiers. On the last day, he dispatched a large number of digging wood donkeys to dig and destroy the city wall, and concentrated all the gunpowder in the bandit army. The bombing of the city completely collapsed a section of the city wall and flooded into the city to fight in the streets.

According to the latest news, Shao Jiechun should have died for the country with the King of Shu. "

(Note: Zhang Xianzhong used gunpowder to blow up part of the city wall of Chengdu. This is also a historical fact. In the book, he did not open a reverse cheat to make Zhu Shuren more difficult. When Zhang Xianzhong broke down Chengdu in history, this was an important factor, but not the only factor. )
After Wang Gonggong heard this, he couldn't help but sigh.

On the other hand, Fang Kongzhao knew more about military affairs, so his sighing comment was more meaningful: "It is really unexpected that the city walls of Chengdu are so vulnerable.

Shao Jiechun didn't take enough precautions, probably because he was careless. He didn't expect that the city walls of Chengdu would be so unexploded—as far as I know, just half a year ago, when Li Zicheng attacked Kaifeng, which was guarded by Chen Yongfu and Mr. Chen, he used almost Exactly the same move,

Drove Min Zhuang to push the wood donkey to dig the city, regardless of the casualties, forcibly approached the base of the wall with arrow stone firearms of the defenders to destroy the hole, and then filled the coffin with gunpowder and carried it to the hole in the wall to bury it, and ignited the fire and blasted it.However, the city walls of Kaifeng were high and thick, and Li Zicheng failed to succeed in several attempts. It is said that he miscalculated the power of the blast and killed many dead soldiers who dug the wall and buried the medicine.

That was all before May and June last year, and Sichuan was not in a hurry at that time.Shao Jiechun also knew about these battle cases, but he didn't expect that the lights would be dark and he would not be on guard.

Sure enough, the soldiers are fierce and the battle is dangerous, and you must not rely on your old experience to count on conquering the world. Once you become paralyzed, you may pay the price of your life at any time, alas. "

Fang Kongxuan's words were based on a fair standpoint, and he found a way for the death of Shao Jiechun and the King of Shu.Eunuch Wang doesn't know much about military affairs. After being explained by such a neutral bystander, he certainly learned a lot. He knows how to report to Chongzhen after returning to Beijing and explain the lessons learned.

And Fang Kongxuan seemed to be saying "the dead are the greatest" and said good things for the martyred Shao Jiechun, but in fact, he also helped Zhu Shuren from the side, and then indirectly helped himself——

If Chongzhen could figure out the truth and lessons, then even Shao Jiechun, who died for the country, would not be held accountable, so how could he be dissatisfied with Zhu Shuren and Fang Kongxuan who cleaned up the mess later?
This is like a fund manager. When he takes over the client’s funds, the big A’s market has already fallen below [-] points. Then there is no room for further speculation. No matter how much the client’s capital is lost, it is no wonder. on his head.

What he and Zhu Shuren took over was a dish that was in the basement on the [-]th floor right after they got it!

Climbing back to the seventeenth floor of the basement is all their credit and ability!
Eunuch Wang would not believe everything because of these few words, but he also stated that he would not go to Chengdu.

He stayed in Chongqing and waited for Guo Xingye to prepare the army for the next expedition, and then sent Qin Zongzhen (Qin Liangyu), Fang Shenjiang, Zhang Daotai (Zhang Huangyan, the new Sichuan military preparation officer), Fang Futai (Fang Kongzhao), and the part of the Huguang reinforcements temporarily assigned to Fang Futai and Zhang Daotai to obey orders, went to Chengdu to encircle and destroy Zhang Xianzhong.

Now that Chengdu is lost, whether to get it back immediately is not so important.

In contrast, it is more important to block Zhang Xianzhong's route of continuing to escape westward and northward, so that he can be completely caught and died in Sichuan.

Therefore, the final battle of Chengdu must not be fought as a chase or defeat battle, but must be deployed in advance to encircle and annihilate the route.

Zhu Shuren also suggested that on the way to Chengdu, the largest main force must take the Minjiang route——

Because although Chengdu is on the verge of the Minjiang River, it is on the east bank of the Minjiang River after all.Therefore, if the return route of the Minjiang River is cut off from the west, from Leshan Meishan Qingcheng Mountain to Dujiangyan, blocking the pass of the Minjiang River leaving Qingcheng Mountain will prevent Zhang Xianzhong from fleeing to the northwest to become a mountain monkey.

This way of fighting is like in order to prevent malignant tumors and abscesses from festering, when excision, it is necessary to remove a little more of the good meat next to it, so as to prevent the sepsis from being pulled out completely and leaving residual poison.

There is also a price, that is, the people of Chengdu may suffer a little more for a few days, and the massacre and looting will last for a few more days.But in order to completely solve the problem in Chengdu, for the sake of the world, this is the only way. Fang Kongxuan and Zhang Huangyan have no choice.

Wang Gonggong also fully understood this strategic idea, and said that he would wait and see in Chongqing until after the Lantern Festival, and then return to Beijing to explain the difficulties to His Majesty.

(End of this chapter)