Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 502 East Road Army

How to fight the Sichuan-Shu battle, Wang Yan lined up troops, a total of 11 horse infantry and horses, 60 civilian husbands, and attacked in three ways. It was said that he had [-] armored troops. He was so aggressive that he could scare people half to death.

Undoubtedly, this was the largest military operation organized by the Ming Dynasty since Wang Yanda led the Chu and Yue troops to fight with Luck Dehun, Azig, and Wu Sangui in Chu.

For this operation, the Longwu court exhausted the treasury and was heavily in debt.

Among the three groups of troops, the East Route Army, Gao Yigong and Wang Ji, set out from Hunan, passed through the east of Guizhou, occupied Fuling, joined the Western Army and the defeated Ming Army, and then went up the river to encircle Ba County from the east.

The West Route Army was a faction of King Gui, who marched from Guangxi to Guizhou, recovered Luzhou, and then outflanked and occupied Hezhou, cutting off the connection between Chongqing and Chengdu.

Wang Yan led the Chinese army with a large amount of supplies, went up the Pearl River upstream, via Guangxi and Guizhou, and pushed towards Chongqing head-on.

In this way, the Ming army launched an attack from all directions, surrounded the Qing army in Chongqing, and finally took the pot away, and then the Ming army could use Chongqing as a base to compete with the Qing army for Sichuan and Sichuan.

This plan seems to be coming out of three directions, and it is aggressive, but in fact, Wang Yan himself knows that this plan is just to announce to the outside world, to be bold and bluff people.

At this time, among the three groups of troops, the West Route Army, which was closest to Sichuan and was responsible for the detour mission, asked for 20 taels of departure fee, and has not yet left Guangxi.

The Central Route Army, because there were a lot of supplies, the trackers pulled the big boat upstream, and the speed was relatively slow.

It was the Eastern Route Army in Hunan that was the first to go. They rested in Hunan for more than half a year. The troops were full and their morale was high. Bing had just started to be implemented, and the newly recruited Sanxiang children were not particularly proficient in training.

At the beginning of May in the third year of Longwu, after receiving Wang Yan's army and the banknotes sent by Kuaima, Hunan governor Du Yinxi directly withdrew the silver from the Guangnan bank in Changsha City, and then immediately bought grain and grass, recruited civilian husbands, Within half a month, a batch of food, grass and equipment were prepared for the army.

Changsha officials built an altar outside the city and issued a call to honor the ancestors of the past dynasties. Gao Yigong Liu Tichun, Liu Tiren, and Yang Yanchang were the central army, and ordered Wang Ji to lead the three brothers Wang Guangen to be the vanguard officers of the Eastern Route Army. Kuang supervised the transportation of supplies and grass for the rear army.

3 people from Zhongzhi Town, plus 3000 post-war soldiers, traveled from western Hunan to Guizhou. Along the way, [-] chieftain Miao soldiers were recruited as guides to climb mountains and mountains together.

The Ming army was aggressive, but soon ran into trouble. After half a month, the army crossed the mountains in western Hunan and entered Guizhou. What caught the eye was still mountains, besides mountains!

When Wang Yangming first entered Guizhou, he had such a sigh, "The peaks are so close to the sky, the birds can't get through, the wanderer is nostalgic, and he can't know things." It probably means that there are too many mountains, people can't figure out the direction, and the birds can't fly. , basically a barren land where birds don't shit and chickens don't lay eggs.

Wang Ji was born in Jianghuai, so he had never seen such a terrain, and the army walked for a few days before he was convinced that the rumors that "Guizhou has no three-mile level" were true.

At this time, the warlords Huang Chaoxuan and Zhang Xianbi, who were entrenched in Sizhou, Zhenyuanwei, Tongren and other prefectures in eastern Guizhou, got the news, and began to panic in their hearts.

The two of them knew that they had committed a serious crime. Although the court did not mention it, they also knew that it was because the emperor had no time to deal with them, so they lived in this remote place as the emperor for more than half a year.

This time the imperial court said it was going to rescue Sichuan and Shu, but after the Eastern Route Army crossed the mountains in western Hunan, they raised their vigilance, fearing that the Eastern Route Army would destroy them by the way, and after discussing with each other, they decided to give way and retreat to Shiqian government.

The land of Guizhou was barren, and after the two men fled to the east of Guizhou, they didn't pay attention to management, and their [-] soldiers needed military pay and food, so they searched hard.

They not only imposed heavy taxes in eastern Guizhou to search for Han people, but also robbed chieftain and Miao villages. As a result, people in eastern Guizhou hated him to the bone.

The Ming army from the East Road finally entered Sizhou, and the vanguard Wang Ji was attacked by a group of chieftains for no reason. Nearly a hundred people were killed and injured, and the people everywhere were also hostile to them.

The [-] pioneers marched extremely slowly in an unfamiliar situation. Finally, thanks to the [-] Miao soldiers recruited earlier, Wang Ji figured out the situation. It turned out that the chieftain thought they were reinforcements called by Zhang Xianbi and Huang Chaoxuan, and wanted to suppress them. , That's why they came out to attack.

The two generals are flying the Ming flag, and the East Route Army is also flying the Ming flag. The sergeants naturally think that they are in the same group. Anyway, you Han people like to bully us Sanmiao.

The arable land in the plains is all given to you Han people, and the Miao people and native people have all gone to the barren mountains, and they still want to come to search, so naturally they have to fight.

Wang Ji figured out the reason, and then quickly explained to the chieftain of Qiandong through the accompanying Miao people that they were not here to help Huang Chaoxuan and Zhang Xianbi, but to arrest them, and the plight of the Eastern Route Army was gradually resolved.

Wang Ji strictly ordered the officers to restrain the military discipline, not to kill or plunder, and there was no crime in the past autumn. Gradually, he won the approval of the chieftain and the gentry and people in eastern Guizhou. The army had a guide familiar with the terrain of Guizhou, without harassment, and made rapid progress.

With the propaganda of the local gentry and chieftain, the East Route Army went much smoother. When the army came, it was like a flood washing away the filth. It is also like welcoming the real master Wang like the rain after a long drought.

With a local guide to guide the way, the East Route Army quickly passed through Zhenyuanwei from Sizhou, and finally arrived at the foot of Shiqian City, which shocked the people in the city.

Some chieftains who were bullied miserably, as well as the militia formed by the gentry in eastern Guizhou, did not dare to do anything to Huang and Zhang's 2 horses. Now that they heard that the imperial court sent troops to capture them, many people left the village and went to Shi Qian moved closer to the surrounding area, intending to unite with the East Route Army and make a contribution.

At the head of Shiqian City, two generals were standing on the top of the city, looking at the barracks outside the city with frowning eyes. It was Huang and Zhang who had received Wang Ji's letter asking them to hand over their military power, and then went to Guangjing accepts the imperial court's investigation, and if he refuses to comply, he will be punished according to the theory of treason, and the nine clans will be exterminated after the city is broken.

Zhang Xianbi is about 40 years old. He has a mighty appearance, leopard eyes and beards, and a cruel personality. He is more than seven feet tall, holding the city wall with one hand, and holding a sword with the other. He even chased Shi Qian to him, this is trying to kill us! If we are sent to Guangjing, I still have a way to survive~"

(Thanks for the reward of the last road)
(End of this chapter)