national surname chiming

Chapter 309 Zhang Xianzhong collapsed

On the night of the first battle of the siege, the city of Chengdu was gloomy and gloomy.

Because the city of Chengdu is too large, and the water troops of the government and army came from the direction of the Minjiang River in the southwest of the city, and the land troops came from the direction of Longquanyi in the southeast of the city,

Therefore, in the initial stage of the siege, the officers and soldiers had not yet completed a comprehensive encirclement in all directions.The current situation is still a typical encirclement with three missing and one missing, leaving the north of the city empty.

But Zhang Xianzhong and several of his main generals understood that there is a high probability that the officers and soldiers put on this posture on purpose.The purpose of leaving the retreat in the north of the city is to make the defenders lose their fighting spirit and shaken when they see that there is still a way to survive.

It was also this kind of situation that made Zhang Xianzhong reluctant to go to the camp for a while, reluctant to part with Chengdu's property and young men, and always felt that "the encirclement has not been closed for a long time, which shows that the officers and soldiers are not strong enough. It’s too late to go.”

Who would have thought that Zhu Shuren would actually set up a siege network on a large provincial map, allowing Chongzhen to allow Cao Bianjiao to enter Hanzhong from Guanzhong, and directly stuck to the north entrance of Jinniu Road from Chengdu to Hanzhong.

This encirclement is made big enough. If all this is true, even if Zhang Xianzhong fled to Mianzhu, and then to Jiangyou and Jiange, it would be absolutely futile to defend against danger——

Although the Jiange is well-known in the world as a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, even if the Jiange is defended, from the Jiange to the north, until the Jiameng Pass, the long Jinniu Road in the middle is simply poor.There is only one sinister valley, with no population and no resources, money and food. Sooner or later, you will starve to death.

The officers and soldiers blocked both ends of the Jinniu Road, so there was no need to attack at all, just wait for the remnants of Zhang Xianzhong to kill each other without food.

……

People around Zhang Xianzhong also knew about these situations, that's why the atmosphere at the military meeting late at night was so heavy.

"Everyone is dumb? Who thinks that we should withdraw our troops and continue to fight to the death with Shen Gouguan! I'm afraid the city will not be defended for a long time, and it will take less than three days for the city wall to be blasted open!

The king decided to divide his troops and go out from the north of the city to the Xiazhai, and fight against the people in the city. If the army bombards the city wall like this starting tomorrow, the soldiers and horses outside the city will turn around and attack the Hongyi cannon positions of the army from the flanks!

Our army has a large number of soldiers and horses, but the number of officers and troops is less than [-]. Compared with the number of troops, our army has several times the advantage!Now that things are up to now, the only chance is to fight in a chaotic war! "

Zhang Xianzhong took the lead in explaining his views to the generals.

He also knows a little bit about soldiers. Although last year in Xiangxi, he was defeated because of the field battle with Zhu Shuren, but he knew that if he ran, these strong men would still have to be lost, so he might as well fight a battle, even if he loses in the end, no matter what. Also try to fight off tens of thousands of people on the opposite side!
Bai Wenxuan had already died in battle (in fact, he surrendered, but Zhu Shuren promised Bai Wenxuan and declared his death in battle to prevent Zhang Xianzhong from killing his family), and Liu Wenxiu was sent to Jiangyou, so Zhang Xianzhong really didn't have many people who could talk to him up.

He took the lead in asking Feng Shuangli, the governor of the Left Army, to express his opinion. Feng Shuangli could only follow along:
"What your majesty saw is quite in line with the art of war. Most of our soldiers have not been trained. Once there is a gap in the city wall, the whole army may collapse immediately, and they will not have the courage to fight against the officers and soldiers.

If it is to divide the troops, while defending the city, send people out of the city to attack on the side. The attacking troops may dare to use their lives for a while because the city is still strong and there is still a way to retreat, but this kind of morale will not last for a few days.If one or two field battles cannot be left, the morale of the entire army will be exhausted. "

Zhang Xianzhong's cheeks twitched, he refused to comment, and turned to ask the lower-level generals such as Di Sanpin and Qi Sansheng. These people are not even commanders, but now they have the opportunity to participate in this level of military discussion.

The two looked at each other, and then at Li Dingguo, who had been treated coldly for a long time, a little afraid to speak out.

At this time, it was still Li Dingguo who, regardless of the fact that he had lost the trust of his adoptive father, dared to say: "Father, why don't you think about how to withdraw the army? At the beginning of the city of Hengzhou, our army took the initiative to attack, and the results are well known. Our army can only take advantage of the danger. Guarding and hiding from Zhu Shuren's troops, he really couldn't think of a way to defeat the enemy in field battles.

If you leave early, you will still have time to take away more belongings, so you won't lose more than half of them in a hurry like Hengzhou City. "

Zhang Xianzhong was furious, and slapped the desk: "Early withdrawal can certainly take away property, but what about these Sichuan soldiers who were recruited with great difficulty? Are they willing to die for orphans? After three months of military pay for orphans, they should stay!

Ten lives can be exchanged for the life of a dog officer and soldier!Otherwise, let them submit to the dog officer after eating for nothing, and I will pay for the dog officer Shen to support the people for three months! "

Zhang Xianzhong's meaning was very clear, and he knew he couldn't beat him, but he just didn't want people who had eaten him and taken his money to continue living in vain without dying for him.

If he eats and takes what he takes, he will squeeze out the last bit of value. If the person who took his money is still alive to leave his control, he will scratch his heart and panic.

After hearing these words, Li Dingguo also realized that Zhang Xianzhong was already in a trance, and was forced into a trance.It's a pity that his identity cannot be betrayed, so he had to change his angle and finally say:

"Father, try to evacuate now. We need to preserve our belongings, and we can retreat slowly by land and go to Jiangyou to find our third brother. Hanzhong may not really be taken by Cao Bianjiao sent by Chongzhen. We have a glimmer of life in northern Sichuan.

These gold and silver treasures can still attract people elsewhere. If we can sneak into Guanzhong, or bet on Li Zicheng's ability to win Guanzhong, we will serve him at the worst.

The Bashu people are not of the same mind as us at all, they are forced to send them, the army and horses have no fighting power at all, they have never been harmed by the bitter life of thousands of miles away, and their hatred of the government is not as fierce as our Shaanxi people.

If we don't withdraw now, we will have to finish this last field battle, or even wait for the government army to injure us severely and close to encirclement.At that time, if we retreat by land, the cavalry will not be able to take out much property at all.

At that time, we can only bet that the rumors spread by the officers and soldiers are false, bet that the eldest brother is still waiting to pick us up at the Dadu River, and we rush to the Minjiang River, seize the boat and take the waterway to transport the property out. "

Whether Sun Kewang reached a tacit understanding with the officers and soldiers, and whether Cao Bianjiao occupied Hanzhong, these two points were all temporarily publicized by Zhu Shuren today in order to hit the morale of the bandit army.

From the standpoint of Zhang Xianzhong and Li Dingguo, neither of these two points can be confirmed.

It's just that there were more clues and rumors about the previous point, which seemed more real.The latter point has no warning at all, and I just heard about it suddenly today.

Therefore, in Li Dingguo's heart, he felt that the probability of Sun Kewang becoming self-reliant was higher, while the probability of Cao Bianjiao in Hanzhong was lower.But his identity and position made it impossible for him to say this conclusion in front of Zhang Xianzhong. Who made Sun Kewang his righteous brother? If he said that Sun Kewang had a higher probability of defecting to the enemy, it would be considered jealous.

Sure enough, although Li Dingguo didn't say it clearly, Zhang Xianzhong rolled his eyes for a while, and thought of something: "You still have the face to call your elder brother! You really hope that your son will be abandoned as a father, and then you will be able to inherit the whole army." Bar!

Wang'er is not this kind of person!I raised him for many years, he would be so ungrateful?It's decided, stay in the city, and fight the official army for the last battle!If the soldiers in Sichuan are too dead and injured and unable to fight any more, we will try our best to break through to Xinjindu, open a hole, and forcibly flee south of Minjiang to break through!
There is a fleet available, and property can be taken away.Even if the officers and soldiers have warships, if they sail down the Minjiang River with full sails at full speed, the officers and soldiers can still hold them back! "

Li Dingguo knew that he had no way to persuade him, so he could only let him mess around.

……

The next day, the official army continued to attack the city, while Zhang Xianzhong divided his troops and set up camp from the north of the city to prepare.After a day of fierce fighting, Chengdu didn't break through so quickly, but several city walls were obviously unable to withstand the gap, and the gap could almost be rushed in directly by stepping on the slope.Zhang Xianzhong had no choice but to use his most direct brothers from the old camp to fight hand-to-hand, trying to stop him.

In the end, although the city was not broken, the casualty exchange ratio of Zhang Xianzhong's army became more and more tragic, and the army was almost on the verge of collapse.

On the third day, when the government army attacked the city again, Zhang Xianzhong finally let the troops who set up a battalion in the north of the city turn around and attack the artillery formation of the government army. The troops leaving the city were led by Feng Shuangli. Zhang Xianzhong didn't expect these people to go back alive at all, as long as the artillery positions of the government and army were smashed, even if the tens of thousands of people died, Zhang Xianzhong would not regret it.

However, the officers and soldiers saw that Zhang Xianzhong's troops finally dared to go out to fight in the field, and they threw out a very terrifying killer. On the eve of the outbreak of the field battle, the morale of Zhang Xianzhong's army was almost collapsed.

On the eve of the time when the bandit army was about to charge against the official formation, Zhu Shuren suddenly had a row of prisoners tied up in front of the formation, and asked them to speak to Feng Shuangli's department.

The leader shouted: "Brother Feng, it's me! I didn't die in Chongqing. Fortunately, the second general was righteous and persuaded Zhang Xianzhong to release my family. It's come to this point. If you follow Zhang Xianzhong, you will definitely die. He just knew that he If you can't survive, you want to drag a few more brothers to the back, what's the point of such a person working hard for him?"

As soon as these words came out, Feng Shuangli's troops immediately became a little confused.Although the words were relayed by scolding soldiers and amplified by dozens of people, they could be heard by most of the enemy soldiers, but Feng Shuangli's eyes were sharp, and he could vaguely see that the opponent was from Chongqing only by the slightest voice at the beginning and his observation of the opponent's appearance. Bai Wenxuan was said to be dead when it fell.

Feng Shuangli's friendship with Bai Wenxuan was not bad. When he encountered this scene, he was a little at a loss. There were some eyeliner pawns and military supervisors who were loyal to Zhang Xianzhong by his side, and they quickly threatened him to protect the lord: "Feng Dudu! Shoot the arrows to kill all the scolding players on the opposite side! Charge! Charge quickly!"

Feng Shuangli had no choice but to believe it completely because of these few words, so he gritted his teeth and asked the archer to step forward and shoot the arrow.

Seeing this, the officers and soldiers on the opposite side were also full of firearms. Taking advantage of the gap between the two rounds of firing, the suspected prisoner of Bai Wenxuan shouted: "Brother Feng, don't doubt it! I am the court that killed Pan Duao and surrendered! Daming has no shortage of skills Scholars! Killing these dog-headed military divisions will still get rid of the crime!"

As soon as these words came out, the faces of the military supervisors around Feng Shuangli and Zhang Xianzhong's undercover agents all changed, but Feng Shuangli didn't make a statement, and they didn't dare to make trouble. The whole army fell into a terrible central stagnation, and no one dared to give orders indiscriminately. , the troops had to rely on inertia to rush forward.

It turned out that when Bai Wenxuan was captured and surrendered, and after he killed Pan Duao as a certificate of surrender, he had agreed to Zhu Shuren and sent his confidant back to Li Dingguo to intercede, so that Li Dingguo could find a way to use the news of his death and release his family.

But in the end, when it came to the implementation level, Zhu Shuren played tricks again. He didn't let the people who were sent back tell Li Dingguo that "Bai Wenxuan is still alive." Please bring out the news that Governor Bai died in the city", and then let Li Dingguo use his subjective initiative to find his own excuses to release Bai Wenxuan's family.

Zhu Shuren's arrangement has three purposes:

First of all, if these people who are sent back don't help Bai Wenxuan with the words, they will directly tell the truth to Li Dingguo, or even inform Zhang Xianzhong.The result was nothing more than the leak of news of Bai Wenxuan's surrender and the killing of Bai Wenxuan's family.

Zhu Shuren has already made a rescue effort, but no one knows how the process failed. Bai Wenxuan also commanded that he hated Zhang Xianzhong even more, and followed the court wholeheartedly to avenge his family.

Secondly, if the person who released them was reliable and followed the order completely, and Li Dingguo also had a heart of compassion and ran up and down to release Bai Wenxuan's family, then in the future when the truth comes out, Li Dingguo can be dragged into the water as well.

In the end, if the person sent back is reliable but Li Dingguo did not help, then there is no one to blame. It can only be said that this is also a test for Li Dingguo. If Li Dingguo is determined to be loyal to Zhang Xianzhong, he will not care about the life and death of his other brothers. If you want to follow the Dufu all the way to the dark, then you will be charged with a felony if you win the battle in the future, and there is no way to reverse it.The most Zhu Shuren saw in history was that he had resisted the Qing Dynasty, so he was left alive.

Fortunately, Li Dingguo did not choose this path in the end. He seemed to have a bit of humanity, and helped release Bai Wenxuan's family. Then Zhu Shuren could take advantage of this, and suddenly attack the bandits when the final decisive battle was at hand. morale.

He didn't have to worry about whether Zhang Xianzhong would directly kill Li Dingguo after hearing this, because this matter was not a crime that deserved death, and Zhang Xianzhong would not kill his adopted son just because of trivial matters.

Secondly, Li Dingguo himself may have been deceived by Bai Wenxuan. Zhang Xianzhong could not prove that Li Dingguo had deliberately betrayed him, and he would also worry about whether this was a conspiracy by the officers and soldiers.

Zhu Shuren's series of coquettish operations completely destroyed the morale of the field troops sent by Zhang Xianzhong.When the troops completely lost the follow-up fine-tuning of the command center, they rushed forward blindly relying on the initial instructions.

Some units have low morale, are out of touch, and no one cares about them. Halfway through the rush, the disjoint formation between the various ministries is already serious.

And under the dense array of muskets and long spears of the officers and soldiers, the scattered bandit soldiers who rushed forward were also vulnerable to a single blow, and were quickly defeated one by one, like a broken bamboo.

Feng Shuangli was in the chaos of the army, only thinking about how to protect himself, how to prove his innocence, and finally got involved with Zhang Xianzhong's military supervisors and undercover agents.

Finally, when the defeat was approaching, the tension between the two sides became more and more tense, and the guns went off for a while. Out of self-protection, Feng Shuangli had no choice but to act preemptively, and asked his confidants to kill both the supervisor and Zhang Xianzhong's confidantes. Then reluctantly dropped the knife and surrendered.

Zhang Xianzhong sent tens of thousands of troops outside the city, causing only minor casualties to the officers and soldiers, before they collapsed completely.

After the old battalion was defeated, at least [-]% of the local Sichuan farmers were left, trembling, putting down their crude weapons and surrendering directly on their knees.

(End of this chapter)