stubborn thief

Wang Jiazhen felt that he had come to Henan too early.

He was the newly appointed governor of Henan, in charge of military affairs in nine provinces including Zhili, Shanxi, Hebei, Sichuan, and Hubei.

A month ago, having just received the imperial edict from Emperor Chongzhen, he immediately took up his post and rushed into Luoyang, Henan Prefecture.

Not long after he entered Luoyang, the Yellow River breached its banks in Kaifeng, and the marshal's army, with its momentum like wildfire, poured into Henan Prefecture.

Within a month, all the cities west of Luoyang fell, and even Mengjin to the north of Luoyang and Sishui and Xingyang to the east were captured in the blink of an eye, unable to stop Zhang Tianlin in the slightest.

Wang Jiazhen's world has collapsed.

Having just taken office, with personnel and intelligence still not sorted out, Luoyang has become an isolated city, destined to be besieged and fight like a trapped beast.
Fortunately, Luoyang still has Chen Yongfu.

Wang Jiazhen waited all day outside the West Gate of Luoyang.

Outside the city gate, Chen Yongfu's cavalry was entering the city one after another.

Just yesterday, a cavalry of four hundred men left the city from here and then exited the outer city wall from the west.

Their objective was to raid the marshal's cavalry scattered in the outskirts of Luoyang, collecting horses and mules, in order to boost the morale of the defending troops.

The long walls have protected Luoyang well for the past two years, but this time the opponent is different from the past.

When Zhang Tianlin's Guanzhong Brigade passed through, even the small detachments that remained brought a sense of impending doom to the Luoyang defenders.

The 40-mile-long rammed earth wall, while preventing the Guanzhong cavalry from scaling it and launching attacks, also forced the understaffed Luoyang garrison to disperse and defend against attacks from all directions.

The marshal's army outside the city would bury gunpowder to blow up the city walls every few days. The Ming army did not know what they were using.

All I know is that at night, during the brief intervals between the patrols of the guards along the long wall, one could hear an explosion if they weren't watching for even a moment.

When troops were sent to investigate, they could only see a few holes left by the marshal's army on the long wall. These holes were generally small, only half a foot of rammed earth was lifted at a certain height, and sometimes they were even large holes that were only the width of a fist and a foot deep.

After a few days, the garrison stopped taking the nighttime explosions seriously.

But the night before last, a series of explosions blasted a gap in the west side of the wall, destroying a four- or five-foot-wide rammed earth wall into a slope, which was not discovered by the garrison until the morning.

Fortunately, the marshal's army did not take the opportunity to breach the long wall.

Even so, Chen Yongfu was still shaken. He demoted the captain guarding the west wall to a sergeant and led his troops out of the city to harass the enemy, while ordering the Henan Guard Banner Army to quickly repair the breach that had been blown open.

Now, the cavalry has returned, seemingly with a considerable haul, bringing with them some vehicles and men, appearing to have won a great victory.

However, they seemed to have low morale.

Wang Jiazhen was very shrewd. He originally wanted to reward the victorious soldiers on the city wall, but he sensed that something was wrong, so he hastily ended the matter and had his attendant lead Chen Yongfu to the government office before asking about the situation.

"Return to the governor's office."

Chen Yongfu sighed and cupped his hands, saying, "I traveled along the Luo River for dozens of miles without receiving any intelligence from the enemy. When I arrived at Yiyang City, my scouts discovered that the enemy was besieging the two strongholds of Yunzhong and Zhangbai, so I led my troops out to attack."

"Fortunately, thanks to the bravery of the soldiers, we won a minor victory and rescued Zhang Dingyan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and his son from Zhang Wu, and captured seventeen prisoners."

Wang Jiazhen's eyes widened as he asked, "Zhang Dingyan, is he Mr. Baoyi's son?"

After Chen Yongfu nodded, Wang Jiazhen said in surprise, "I thought he had already perished."

The so-called Bao Yi was Zhang Lun, the governor of Sichuan. After retiring, he returned to his hometown of Yongning. When Zhang Yichuan left Tongguan, he led the elders of his hometown to defend the city and died of plague.

After Zhang Dingyan's father died, his son succeeded him and continued to lead the defense of the city. However, the city was eventually breached by Zhang Yichuan's army, and Zhang Lun's brothers and nephews all died in the city.

Upon hearing that Zhang Lun's eldest son was still alive, Wang Jiazhen felt a weight lifted from his heart.

He also knew Zhang Dingyan, who was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the second year of the Tianqi reign. After Chongzhen ascended the throne, Zhang Dingyan served as a supervising secretary in the Ministry of War and participated in impeaching the second-ranking minister of the cabinet and several ministers of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War. He was very fierce and was highly appreciated by Chongzhen.

In the following year, he was promoted four ranks and successively served as the Director of the Verification and Appointment Department of the Ministry of Personnel in both the northern and southern capitals, in charge of the appointment of officials. He enjoyed the emperor's favor and was unparalleled in his prominence.

In the same year, he suffered a backlash. As his father annihilated She Chongming and An Bangyan, Zhang Dingyan, who was in office, praised his father's achievements and was impeached. He returned home and stayed at home.

Wang Jiazhen thought he had also died in Zhang Zhi's rebellion.

"It seems that when the city fell, he hid in a well and escaped by chance, then sought refuge in Zhangwu."

Zhangwu has no relation to Zhang Lun. It has been a famous fortified village since the Han Dynasty, named after Zhang Baiqi, the leader of the Black Mountain faction of the Yellow Turban Army.

Surrounded by Xiong'er Mountain, Longwochuan, and Luohe River on three sides, the area is a necessary passage from Yongning to Yiyang. Its geographical features resemble a pocket, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. It has everything one could need, including farmland, water sources, mountains and forests, and natural barriers, making it uniquely advantageous.

During the Jian'an period, Gao Gan rebelled against Cao Cao, and Zhang Baiqi once established Zhangwu to defend against Cao Cao. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Quan Jingxuan guarded Zhangbaiwu to resist Hou Jing. Since ancient times, it has been a strategic location fought over by military strategists.

Normally, Wang Jiazhen would have made a special trip to ask Zhang Dingyan questions, but right now, he clearly had something else on his mind.

Looking at Chen Yongfu's expression, he asked in confusion, "General, this raid should have been a great victory, so why do you seem so worried?"

Upon hearing him mention the word "great victory," Chen Yongfu's expression became even more unpleasant. He quickly clasped his hands and said, "This humble official is ashamed and dares not claim it as a great victory. The enemy forces besieging Zhangwu were not the troops of Zhang Tianlin in Guanzhong, which our soldiers had previously scouted, but rather the three yamen runners and disaster relief laborers led by Kang Wanmin, the fake magistrate of Yiyang."

Chen Yongfu blushed when he talked about it.

He only knew that enemy troops were besieging Zhangwu, so he led his troops to attack. He took advantage of the enemy's momentum to break into the camp and drove them out.

After the battle, they realized that they had only fought a bunch of scattered soldiers.

"A fake county magistrate has been appointed in Henan Prefecture?"

Chen Yongfu nodded and said, "Liu Chengzong has long-term ambitions. According to the prisoners, he has sent false officials to various counties in Henan Prefecture. The county magistrates are all from Qin, and the yamen runners are mostly disbanded guards, retired soldiers, and surrendered soldiers. They are not easy to deal with in close combat."

They are more than just difficult to deal with.

Although Chen Yongfu was victorious, the thought of the seized supplies still made him shudder.

The Luoyang camp's 400 cavalrymen were only equipped with eight Yongzhu small cannons, three of which were recently cast and replenished just before the battle. Otherwise, even a cavalry vanguard of 580 men would only have five Yongzhu cavalry cannons.

The three shifts of yamen runners of Yiyang County, after their camp was breached, seized bows and arrows, long swords, large axes, horse-chopping swords, three-eyed guns, six guillotine cannons, and a 400-pound breech-loading cannon made in the second year of the Tianqi reign by the Xi'an Guard.

Chen Yongfu still can't understand what's going on in Liu Chengzong's head. Why would he equip the three shifts of yamen runners with these things?
Shouldn't the yamen runners be carrying sticks?

The duties of patrol officers, constables, and horse runners were all to patrol the area and arrest criminals; killing was a matter for the executioner after the criminals were caught. A few pistols, clubs, iron chains, and whips were sufficient for patrolling and apprehending thieves; even being issued a waist knife was considered a sign of a sufficient budget for the county government.

Liu Chengzong, on the other hand, equipped the yamen runners with a bunch of long-range weapons and heavy firepower, so they just attacked here and there, clearly not intending to arrest anyone.

When he raided the camp, he really thought the opponent was an army. Only after he finished fighting and interrogated the prisoners did he realize that he had spent a lot of effort to disperse a group of yamen runners.

However, Chen Yongfu was not mistaken; in Liu Chengzong's mind, these yamen runners and militiamen were indeed considered soldiers.

An army that has not yet been properly trained.

To be precise, it was a newly recruited reserve force composed of several retired border soldiers as officers, a dozen or twenty garrison soldiers and militia members as the core backbone, and one or two hundred militia members, who had not yet undergone formal training.

In Liu Chengzong's strategic plan, the main objective of the Marshal's army's expedition to the southeast was to take advantage of the Yellow River's breach to occupy Huguang (Hubei and Hunan), and he had no intention of crossing the Yellow River to enter Beizhili (Hebei) or Shandong.

Therefore, Henan will be an important war zone where the Ming army will be locked in a protracted struggle and attacked from multiple directions. These veterans can help him supervise county officials, and after establishing a foothold in each county, they can train these military personnel.

They don't need to be highly elite, but at least they should be familiar with battle formations, the normal operation of weapons, and able to garrison county towns in peacetime and command the defense of the city in battle. When necessary, they can be used by front-line field brigades to supplement their forces for unforeseen circumstances.

It was for this reason that the Marshal's Office distributed a lot of standard Ming army weapons to the yamen runners in various counties.

After all, there was simply too much stuff in Xi'an. The academy was piled high with guns and weapons, and the various brigades were still re-equipping themselves, with batches of retired guns and cannons being sent to Xi'an.

As Liu Chengzong's territory expanded and his army grew, the shortage of military equipment remained significant.

However, his generals were very fickle; if there was new equipment, they didn't want the old; if there was homemade equipment, they didn't want the Ming army's standard equipment.

After all, the elite generals were used to the new weapons of the marshal's army and knew the advantages and disadvantages of muskets, heavy guns and heavy cannons. The surrendered generals were the ones who knew their power better than anyone else in the world.

Therefore, when the army expands, the first thing generals do is to equip themselves and change their uniforms.

The batches of muskets, three-barreled guns, matchlock guns, and other firearms such as the Yongzhu, Mielu, and Folang guns had nowhere to go after they were retired.

Not only did Xi'an Prefecture have a lot of weapons, but the garrison brigades of various circuits also had many. The best place to go was the Juerwan Arsenal in Xining.

The Juerwan Arsenal, managed by He Xin, the chief clerk of the military affairs office, has now opened two more workshops dedicated to modifying old military equipment, specifically turning muskets into three-barreled guns and refurbishing the barrels of matchlock muskets.

The three-barreled guns were transported to the Tianshan Mountains by the Lianbingwei, while the arquebuses were used for trade with the Oirat.

As for the old cannons, they could only be melted down as scrap metal.

Although it's called scrap iron, it's mainly iron used for guns and cannons. The iron ingots made by heating, breaking, and crushing the iron have fewer impurities, so even when sold on the market, they are more expensive than new pig iron or wrought iron.

However, the ordnance bureau usually stacks pig iron, wrought iron and scrap iron in three layers in one furnace, and melts the top layer first to form cast steel. After testing, the steel is used to inlay blades for weapons such as swords.

In this process, the Marshal's Office played a decisive role by controlling a large number of Hongwu cannons in various cities and garrisons in western Ming Dynasty.

The casting process of the Hongwu cannon was excellent, and many parts were made of steel. After being broken up, they were used as scrap iron base material, which yielded very good materials.

Chen Yongfu only thought that equipping the county magistrate with a large number of firearms was too wasteful.

But in Wang Jiazhen's view, this was a sign that Henan was about to lose all its territory.

This was the most terrifying thing for him.

Being the governor of Henan was no easy task. In less than ten years since the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, Henan had already had eight governors.

There is also a two-year vacancy period.

In other words, a governor's term lasts only eight months before he has to leave office.

What's even more frightening is that of those seven predecessors, only Fan Jingwen survived the Jisi Incident and went to the capital to defend the emperor. Now he is the Minister of War in Nanjing, which can be considered a promotion.

Besides these, of the remaining six, one retired, one was imprisoned, and four were dismissed from their posts and returned home. One of them even died of anger on his way back home.

In other words, without an unexpected event like the Jisi Incident, a high-ranking official who became the governor of Henan in those days would have to endure a 14% mortality rate within eight months, quickly ending his political career.

From the Tianqi era to the present, no year has seen such a terrible death rate among Shaanxi disaster victims.

However, Wang Jiazhen still accepted the imperial edict from Emperor Chongzhen, shouldering the mission of managing the military affairs of nine provinces, and took office without hesitation.

The Ming Dynasty has never lacked stubborn officials.

However, the Marshal's army's offensive was even more resilient than steel.

Wang Jiazhen thought to himself, if he couldn't get past this hurdle, he would most likely become the shortest-serving governor of Henan in the Ming Dynasty.

He had thought that even if things went wrong in Henan during the dead of winter, it would be springtime by then, giving him two or three months to prepare.

However, firstly, no one expected that the Kaifeng section of the river would break at this time; secondly, no one expected that Liu Chengzong would send troops out in the winter month.

Historically, generals have tried their best to avoid launching campaigns in winter. However, since Liu Chengzong acquired land for cotton production and the fur trade, the frequency of winter battles has increased, and he has become increasingly reluctant to wage war in the sweltering summer.

Now that things have come to this, Wang Jiazhen asked Chen Yongfu, "If the enemy has long-term ambitions, then we must defeat them one by one as soon as possible, lest they establish their own officials and gain a foothold. At that time, Luoyang may fall in an instant."

"Reporting to the governor, our army is currently short of troops."

Chen Yongfu was very cautious and did not agree directly. He simply clasped his hands and said, "I have 2,700 battalion soldiers under my command and have also gathered more than 3,000 banner soldiers. However, only a little over 1,100 soldiers are fit for battle. If we lose the battle outside the city, the city will be difficult to defend."

Wang Jiazhen listened with relief. With five or six thousand troops, they could easily capture the counties once they amassed their forces.

Upon hearing that only 1,100 soldiers were capable of fighting, he frowned and asked, "Why is that?"

Chen Yongfu thought to himself, "Is there even a need to ask?"
Only armored cavalry can counter armored cavalry in open field battles.

He quickly replied, "The Luoyang garrison is more than capable of dealing with the fake officials and their yamen runners, but the enemy troops scattered in the outskirts of Luoyang are the troops of Zhang Tianlin, a general under Liu Chengzong."

"Their soldiers plundered horses in Henan, with each soldier carrying three or four horses and mules, three soldiers with two armors, or four soldiers with three armors, carrying long spears and large bows, all resembling border troops; our army only had a thousand sets of armor and eight hundred warhorses, which, even including donkeys and mules, was less than two thousand. The garrison only had firearms, and going out of the city to challenge them was like throwing eggs against rocks."

"Moreover, I also heard from the captured officers..."

Chen Yongfu took a deep breath, gritted his teeth slightly, and said to Wang Jiazhen, "Liu Chengzong has arrived." (End of this chapter)