stubborn thief

The wilderness at night is not peaceful.

Hong Chengchou was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

The army was in a panic. Ge Rulin, a lieutenant general who had escaped from the Left Town, brought back more than a thousand defeated soldiers. At night, a captain advised him to surrender and killed them. As a result, more than 200 soldiers fled.

Ding Qirui was also on guard against mutiny in the camp at night, and there was a curfew all night, so even trenches could not be dug.

This is because Generals Ge and Ding are both well-known talents with strong influence and can control the army.

The position of Bingbeidao was positioned as the deputy of the governor-general, especially during the Chongzhen period, when he was a powerful local official and a minor figure who was likely to become a general or a prime minister.

Because one of his duties was the most difficult task in that era, supervising food and wages.

So if you don’t have the ability to do the job, it doesn’t matter if you can’t do it well.

Ding Qirui, whose uncle is Ding Kuichu, is currently the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and Governor-General of Ji, Liao and Baoding.

Ge Rulin came from a family of officials. His great-grandfather was the Minister of Punishments Ge Shouli, and his father Ge Xin was the supervising official of Wanli Dingling Mausoleum and the Minister of Shangbao Temple.

However, because Ge Xin built Dingling so well, not only was the quality high, but the cost was only two-thirds of that of Yongling. As a result, Wanli held accountable the officials who supervised the construction of Yongling, and offended many people.

Ding and Ge had a close relationship. Five years ago, Ge Rulin spent four months in the imperial prison and was later punished to Maoshanwei in Baoding Prefecture, where he was taken care of by Ding Kuichu, the uncle of Ding Qirui.

As for the other four battalions, there was no danger of mutiny, and trench digging could be carried out normally, except that more than 200 soldiers deserted.

This is not because military officers are better than civil officers in leading troops.

In fact, if it is in Shanxi and Henan, the troops under the command of the Bingbei Dao are much more stable than the headquarters of the general.

It’s just that the influence of civil officials in the army came from above, and Hong Chengchou cut off this part, which led to the weakness of military preparations.

A large part of the power of military officers comes from the support of their subordinates. Veteran generals such as Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, and Feng Ju certainly have much stronger control over their soldiers than civil officials who have lost the support of the court.

In general, Hong Chengchou still had high morale among the remaining four and a half battalions.

However, this made Hong Chengchou secretly complain in his heart.

He wanted to escape because he felt that he had little chance of winning if he continued to fight, and there was no point in surrendering.

It’s not that he still has any moral standards after fighting this far, but it’s of no benefit to him to surrender to the Marshal’s Office.

The sphere of influence of the Marshal's Office is positively correlated with its attractiveness to civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty.

The greater Liu Chengzong's power, the more attractive he became to civil and military officials at all levels of the Ming Dynasty.

Now is the time when it is most attractive to senior generals like the Lieutenant General.

It was normal for the guerrilla general to want to surrender to Liu Chengzong. Liu Chengzong's territory was expanding, and it was easy for him to be promoted and make meritorious contributions. He had also seized stable territory, and there was no hope that the Ming Dynasty could push back in the short term.

Hong Chengchou was different. He surrendered to Liu Chengzong. Could Liu Chengzong still give him a higher official position than that of the Ming Dynasty?

But should he really be martyred for his country?

Hong Chengchou was in a state of confusion all night long. He occasionally wanted to draw his sword and commit suicide, and he always wanted to run away.

He finally strengthened his conviction and was about to call Ge Rulin and Ding Qirui to discuss how to escape, when the flag officer in the camp came running over in great joy.

"General, one of General Ge's subordinates tried to persuade him to surrender, but General Ge pushed him to the gate and beheaded him!"

"General Ding has also imposed a curfew on the entire camp. Please rest assured, no one will escape tonight!"

Hong Junmen rubbed his hands and smiled falsely: "Okay, okay."

As soon as the flag officer finished delivering the message, Hong Chengchou said, "Please invite General Cao to discuss matters."

There was no way. When Hong Chengchou wanted to escape, his lieutenant commander Ding Zizhen was unreliable.

He was also a young man full of hatred. He spent half the night sharpening his knife in front of the brazier in the tent without saying a word.

His father, Ding Shaoyin, died in the battle where Liu Chengzong attacked Zhuanglang River. At that time, he was ordered by his father to help Cao Wenzhao deliver important letters to Ningxia. He never expected that the letter was written by his father to Hong Chengchou, saying that he would die in the battle in Gulang Gorge and entrusted his only son to General Hong.

Not long after, Cao Wenzhao, who was supervising the troops digging trenches for defense at the front line, hurried over.

He had originally looked quite relaxed, but when he heard that Hong Chengchou was planning to retreat, he immediately said nervously, "General, this is absolutely not allowed!"

Hong Chengchou became unhappy when he heard this.

At present, all six generals of the government army hold the same position as Cao Wenzhao. The problem is that Hong Chengchou believes that this battle is difficult to win!
Well, when Zuo Liangyu was around, Hong Chengchou didn't like him, but now that Zuo Liangyu is gone, Hong Chengchou misses him very much.

If Zuo Liangyu were here, he would have taken him and run away without saying a word.

But Cao Wenzhao had his own judgment. He saluted respectfully, and then explained frankly: "General, you don't know that retreat is easy, but in the current situation, I'm afraid that among the thousands of troops who can reach Yansui Town, there will not be even a battalion left."

Hong Chengchou was shocked when he heard this: "How could it be possible?"

Seeing this, Cao Wenzhao sighed and thought to himself, General Hong thinks that escaping is an easy thing, that's because the generals under your command are of a certain level.

Although you think that they are both useless, you also have the misunderstanding that they can run away if they want to.

But in fact, if guys like Bai Guangen and Zuo Liangyu were not in Shaanxi, they would be ruthless characters who would run rampant in the world if they took a battalion to other places.

Besides, it is not easy to escape from the battlefield as an organized unit.

The generals must be of unified thought with the officers so as not to fall out with each other. At the same time, they must have a comprehensive understanding of the situation and the location of the enemy forces, so as to at least avoid running into the arms of the enemy.

Soldiers must also obey orders, walk in an orderly manner and run fast, be prepared for interception and attacks at any time, and march faster than the enemy's pursuit.

It tests not only the talent and ability of generals, but also the training level of soldiers.

The Liu Chengzong they are facing now is a man whose troops are good at marching. In the past, the army was able to escape from his clutches only by luck.

Now that Hong Chengchou was in the battle line, Cao Wenzhao didn't even dare to think about escaping.

Because Hong Chengchou might run away, and the army might also run away, but it is difficult for both of these things to happen at the same time.

Cao Wenzhao's suggestion was to continue fighting: "In my humble opinion, rather than letting the army collapse in the rout and allowing the rogue soldiers to disrupt the fighting spirit of the Yansui garrison troops, it is better to give it a try."

What he said was very unusual.

In the past, when Cao Wenzhao spoke to his superiors, he would never describe a retreat as a rout.

Now that he had said this, Hong Chengchou did not dare to say anything, but only advised: "In this battle, you and I will both die for our country."

Cao Wenzhao just said "hmm", clasped his hands together, and said nothing.

He didn't need to say anything more, because soon, people outside the camp shouted loudly and beat war drums.

There was a commotion outside the battle array. After a moment of silence, someone rushed to the center of the army and saw Hong Chengchou and Cao Wenzhao together. He was stunned for a moment, then bowed and said, "General, Cao, some thieves have come to the trench and shot arrows, and shot the letter over."

After that, he clasped his fists and presented the letter. Hong Chengchou thought it was a letter to persuade him to surrender, so he quickly stepped forward to take the letter. When he opened it, he was shocked and almost died of anger.

After calming down, he handed the letter to Cao Wenzhao unhappily: "It's for you."

Not to persuade him.

To be precise, this is not even about persuading surrender, but about persuading escape.

Liu Chengzong said in the letter that he had assembled the first and second field brigades, with more than 20,000 troops near their positions. Within three days, troops from the three garrison brigades of Yanqing, Longxi and Linliang would arrive, and by then there would be more than 50,000 troops gathered nearby.

If Cao Wenzhao did not dare to fight, Liu Chengzong could spare him once more before the battle. This would be his best chance to escape. He could remain useful for the time being and flee to Northern Zhili to continue serving the emperor.

But if you insist on fighting, we will settle all new and old grudges together.

The letter had no signature, but Cao Wenzhao knew at a glance that it was written by Liu Chengzong.

At the end of the letter, he wrote: I will kill you.

After reading the letter, Cao Wenzhao gnashed his teeth and tore the letter into a ball.

The hatred between him and Liu Chengzong had long been irreconcilable. Liu Chengzong's fellow villagers, subordinates, and general Buchi were all killed by him. His subordinates, brothers, and nephews also died at the hands of Liu Chengzong. The blood feud had long been irreconcilable.

Cao Wenzhao stared at the messenger with gritted teeth and asked, "Which direction did the messenger come from?"

The messenger recalled for a moment, then clasped his fists and said, "Replying to General Cao, southwest, it is southwest."

Cao Wenzhao waved his hand and ordered his men to leave. He turned to look at Hong Chengchou and said, "General, Liu Chengzong must be in the southwest. He said in the letter that there will be tens of thousands of reinforcements within three days. In my humble opinion, it is better to strike first!"

Hong Chengchou hesitated and said, "General Cao, Liu Chengzong is always cunning. His words cannot be trusted."

He was really fooled by Liu Chengzong. He originally had nearly 40,000 troops, and even when the war broke out, he had a slight advantage in terms of military strength.

It was all his fault that he believed Liu Chengzong's lies, thinking that his troops had just set out from Xi'an Prefecture, which resulted in the Marshal's army descending from the sky like a god, and wiped out Bai Guangen and Zhang Yingchang's five battalions of troops on the battlefield.

As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, one will be afraid of ropes for ten years. Hong Chengchou now felt that no matter what Liu Chengzong said in the letter, it was all nonsense.

But Cao Wenzhao didn't think Liu Chengzong was a good man.

But the situation is like this, it’s not a question of whether to believe it or not, but there is no choice left.

He looked at Hong Chengchou helplessly and said, "General, whether he is cunning or not, we only have more than 10,000 soldiers. There is nothing we can do except fight hard."

Hong Chengchou thought to himself that it was because he had no soldiers that he didn't dare to let them follow him into battle!

The trenches have been dug and the camps have been set up, but you insist on going out and fighting to the death.

So what is the use of this trench camp?

Hong Chengchou would rather stay in the camp and be surrounded and bombarded with cannons than watch the troops run away and disappear.

However, he saw the letter that Cao Wenzhao was still holding in his hand out of the corner of his eye, and he suddenly raised his eyebrows, then shook his head after a moment.

He realized it was too late.

Based on his understanding of Liu Chengzong, this person sent the letter for only two purposes.

Either it was to confuse the enemy and gain an advantage; or, he thought he had already won.

Hong Chengchou thought to himself that if things were as he thought, then he would have been surrounded by Liu Chengzong by now and would not be able to escape.

If things were not as he expected, according to Cao Wenzhao's idea, there might be a turning point.

So he quickly adjusted his mindset and asked Cao Wenzhao, "If we are to go to war, does General Cao have a plan to defeat the enemy?"

But to his disappointment, Cao Wenzhao also shook his head and said, "We dare not say that we have defeated the enemy. We can only march at night and attack Liu Chengzong's camp directly. If they surround our army on all sides, we still have a chance of winning this battle."

Hong Chengchou nodded slowly.

Surrounding the enemy from all sides would disperse the troops, and it would be difficult to mobilize the troops at night. However, Cao Wenzhao concentrated his troops to attack the direction from which the letter was sent, and in a short period of time he was able to form a troop advantage in that local direction.

As for the ultimate goal of the battle, it goes without saying, it is still to attack and kill Liu Chengzong.

Cao Wenzhao dreamed of rushing up to Liu Chengzong and stabbing him to death with a spear.

Just as Hong Chengchou and Cao Wenzhao were preparing to fight to the death, Liu Chengzong on the other side of the battlefield also stayed awake all night.

He had just finished giving a speech to the deputy commanders of each battalion and issued orders on the direction of defense and response to sudden changes to the twenty battalions near the battlefield.

After seeing off the adjutants of each battalion, Liu Shizi was still in high spirits. He had no choice but to move his chair and sit at the door of the general's tent, bored. He held a few stones in his hands and threw them for fun in the light of the fire swaying in the night breeze.

"Send out troops, don't send out troops; send out troops, don't send out troops..."

He did not lie to Cao Wenzhao. Many reinforcements would indeed arrive within three days. He even told Cao Wenzhao the affiliation and numbers of each camp in the letter.

To be precise, most of the reinforcements arrived last night, and they had already arrived at the designated battle position before Liu Shizi wrote to Cao Wenzhao.

The purpose of writing that letter was very simple.

Most of the enemies who fled in front of the battle line would be despised by Liu Shizi, and when they met again, he would describe them as cowardly.

But Cao Wenzhao is an exception.

If that reckless man could escape to Beijing because of a letter, Liu Shizi would be amazed at his flexibility and would think that he was even more difficult to deal with.

Based on Liu Chengzong's understanding of Cao Wenzhao, even if that guy didn't fly into a rage when he saw the letter, he would definitely be holding his breath and would want to rush to Liu Chengzong and stab him to death with a spear.

This was exactly Liu Shizi's goal. He wanted the enemies in the trenches to jump out on their own.

This has nothing to do with whether he has many soldiers or few soldiers, or whether his soldiers are strong or weak.

But the Art of War has thousands of chapters and sentences, and they all focus on attacking others without being attacked by others.

The core idea of ​​all military strategies is to strive for the initiative with all your might, to move the enemy from a favorable position to a disadvantageous position, and then to defeat the enemy with the advantage.

Suddenly, a fire rose in the distant night sky. Liu Chengzong raised his head suddenly and smiled in disbelief.

The signal came from their north, which was also the west of the enemy, the direction defended by Yang Yanchang and Yang Chengzu.

A fire means an attack by the enemy force of less than 500 men.

Soon, Liu Tichun ran into the central army and said with a fist: "General, the enemy is trying to break through in the west."

"Don't be fooled. There will be several more such exploratory attacks, but their ultimate target must be the First Brigade. They think I'm there."

Liu Chengzong stood up, threw down a few stones in his hand, and laughed, "It seems that Hong Hengjiu is of no use. Cao Wenzhao is just as I thought, still the same as before, with some skills, but not much."

"They are dead!" (End of this chapter)