Ming Zuo

Chapter 358 The Curtain Opens
This time, to encircle and suppress the White Lotus Sect in Mengshan, the new army was dispatched as a whole, with a total strength of [-].

Such a large-scale military operation can only be directed by Zuo Menggeng himself.

After returning to Mengyin County, he established his headquarters here.

After all the officers above the battalion level arrived, a huge military meeting was held here.

"This will be a protracted battle, it may last for several months, it may be a year. I hope you all prepare yourself mentally and make it clear to the soldiers below when you go back."

In fact, in terms of area, Mengshan Mountain is not large in the entire Yimeng Mountains.Just like a caterpillar, it lies in the middle of the Yimeng Mountains.

The real hard to beat is the Nishan Mountains south of Mengshan.

In the previous battle of the new army in Qufu, it was only at the westernmost end of the Nishan Mountains.

In fact, the real Nishan Mountains range from Qufu in the west to Yizhou (Linyi) in the east.The southern foot extends to Teng County (Tengzhou) and Yi County (Zaozhuang), and the northern line extends to Sishui County, Pingyi County and Fei County, covering an area of ​​more than [-] square kilometers and numerous peaks.

In such a large area, the regular army alone cannot complete the complete blockade.

Therefore, in addition to the eight regiments of the new army, there were more than [-] militiamen participating in the operation this time.

These militiamen included [-] people dispatched from Linqing, Dongchang and Anshan Lake, as well as a [-]-strong militia force that had just been established near Mengyin.

Just in the past month, Dang Huanchun, Qi Biaojia and others started administrative management.

In response to the serious damage and population loss in Mengyin County, Dang Huanchun and others implemented Zuo Menggeng's idea, that is, merging villages and towns.

The villagers with less population and barren land in the mountains will be relocated to a larger town-level resettlement site nearby.

The county government came forward to build new houses for these people, and at the same time divided the land for cultivation.

Dang Huanchun also learned from the practice of Linqing Agricultural Reclamation Group, convened the people of various towns, and discussed the establishment of several mountain forest companies.

The land in the mountains is barren and certainly not suitable for farming.However, the splendid natural environment of the mountainous area is suitable for cultivating tree species, fruit forests, mountain treasures and the like.

For the measures of the county government, the people generally do not understand.

Fortunately, after more than a month, the surviving people have not only been allocated new homes, but also received enough food to live on, and allocated land, which made them trust the government very much.

If you don't understand, then listen to the government.

At present, the exploration of mountainous areas has begun in Mengyin County, and the population has been absorbed from nearby areas.

Until the spring of next year, the operations for the mountainous areas will be launched one after another.

After the county government took a firm footing, people from the training department also entered to recruit militiamen.

Knowing that being a soldier will not only provide food, but also a lot of income, the young people in Mengyin County are very motivated.

After screening and selection, a militia force of more than [-] people was finally established.

Unlike the regular army, the militias are trained during slack farming hours.But the subjects of training are almost the same as regular troops.

Their weapons are some flintlocks, broadswords, spears, etc.

As for cap guns and artillery, they certainly cannot be assigned to militia units.

Rao is so, the flintlock guns used by these militiamen have far exceeded the arquebuses used by the Ming army and the Houjin army.

"Next, we will establish a tight blockade network around Mengshan and Nishan. The main traffic roads, cities and towns will be set up by regular troops, and the villages and small routes will be in charge of the militia. Once again, I emphasize discipline, whether it is regular troops or militia. The troops must not disturb the people. If anyone dares to forget the three disciplines and the eight precautions, they should not regret it when they enforce the military law.”

Liu Yiyuan announced the battle plan and gave a murderous warning at the same time.

The expansion of the new army is too fast, and one problem is that many soldiers have not completed the thorough training and changes, and still retain their original habits.

At this time, only strict military law can prevent the occurrence of military discipline corruption.

But after a few battles, recruits become veterans, and ideological work and educational work keep up, these current problems will naturally be eliminated.

If there are still soldiers who commit rape and criminals, it is a big wave to wash the sand.

As the battle plan was drawn up, the ministries immediately took action.It only took ten days to complete the encircling net.

The entire Yimeng Mountain Qing Suppression plan is divided into two steps, the first step is Mengshan, and the second step is Nishan.

Therefore, in terms of troop deployment, the troops besieging Nishan are mainly composed of a few backbone regiments and a large number of militiamen.Most of those who besieged Mengshan were new troops.

The purpose is to train new recruits and make them grow rapidly.

The third regiment of the first division and the fourth regiment of the second division formed the West Group, commanded by Zuo Rong, responsible for attacking from the west.

The fourth regiment of the first division, the first regiment of the third division plus some militia, formed the east group, commanded by Mao Yuanyi, responsible for attacking from the east.

The Fourth Regiment of the First Division, the Third Regiment of the Second Division, and the Second Regiment of the Third Division formed the North Group. Zuo Menggeng personally sat in charge and commanded Bai Xiaoqi, and was responsible for clearing the northern foot of Mengshan Mountain from Mengyin County as the base.

The Second Regiment of the First Division, the Second Regiment of the Second Division, the Third Regiment of the Third Division and some militia units formed the South Group, jointly commanded by Liu Yiyuan and Zuo Yong, responsible for clearing the southern foot of Mengshan Mountain, and establishing a blockade of Nepal by the way. The blockade on the north side of the mountain range.

This time the battle is completely different from the past, and it is to completely wipe out the White Lotus Sect.

Therefore, Zuo Menggeng's order is to attack slowly, but to advance steadily.Every slope, every ditch, and even every tree must not be missed, and must be cleaned repeatedly.

It is estimated that it will take two to three months to complete the encirclement and suppression of Mengshan.

................................................

At the beginning of September, Zhang Chun, who had been waiting impatiently, finally waited for reinforcements from other sources in Gyeonggi and Shandong to start the second rescue operation.

And their actions had just begun, and they were detected by Houjin.

Huang Taiji personally led the army to meet.

He was cunning and cunning, and Dodo and Dodo only led a small number of soldiers and horses to walk in front.The Ming army knew nothing about this, and the vast army was billowing with smoke, and Huang Taiji saw it from a distance.

Huang Taiji was bold and careful, and led his army to walk close to the low mountain, gradually approaching the Ming army.

Zhang Chun is also not an incompetent generation, he sprinkled scouts everywhere, and also found the trace of Huang Taiji.So the [-]-strong army came over, and Huang Taiji had only [-] personal soldiers by his side.

With such a disparate force comparison, is the outcome determined?
Sorry for disappointing the audience.

Huang Taiji personally led [-] personal soldiers to attack, and more than [-] Ming troops were smashed and defeated, and their footing was unstable.When Houjin's army arrives, it has become a cover-up trend.

The Ming army was defeated and fled, losing as much as one-third.

The second time to defeat the reinforcements of the Ming army, Huang Taiji simply took the plan and made a fake reinforcement to Dalinghe City.

Afterwards, the soldiers of the Jin army put on the armor of the Ming army, and under the banner of the Ming army, they shouted and slaughtered to the Jin army camp.

When Zu Dashou saw it at the head of the city, he was overjoyed and immediately led his troops out of the city, planning to cooperate with the inside and the outside.

Of course, Zu Dashou failed miserably.

If it weren't for the heroic generals, he himself would have been captured alive.

Since then, the generals in Dalinghe City have no idea of ​​going out of the city to fight.

They can't tell the difference between the enemy and me.

Unless the outer Ming army can defeat Houjin, otherwise, they have no idea of ​​supporting the friendly army.

....................................

In September of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Shaanxi was still dry and the earth cracked.

Looking around, the yellow sand is all over the sky, and the green is not seen for thousands of miles.Only the white bones are vaguely exposed in the wilderness, declaring that this is a lifeless land.

In Ningsai County, at this time there was a banquet and singing and dancing, as if it had nothing to do with the barbarity outside.

Everyone in the audience was already very drunk, and all kinds of ugly expressions were revealed.

Only a general with a full beard on the main seat was always sober. Seeing that the banquet was almost over, he said, "From now on, all of you will be appointed officials of the imperial court. You must know that the emperor's kindness is great and loyalty is important. After returning today, I will warn the people below, Don't take the risk again, in order to be killed and annihilated."

A group of drunken men fell to their knees one after another, mumbling wild words.

"We all listen to the guards."

"He Renlong, from now on, you are my brother to drive Sanshan. Go back... Let's drink later."

That general was guarding He Renlong.On the order of Hong Chengchou, governor of Yansui, he held a banquet for the leader of the rebel army who surrendered and was comforted.

When the leaders of the rebel army came out, many of them had already lost their minds.There was another person who couldn't hold it in any longer. He didn't have time to say hello to others. He turned around and got into the alley next to him.

When he came out again, his accomplices had long since disappeared.

This guy drank and stared, unable to distinguish things, so he had to try his best to remember the route and walk blindly.

I don't know how long I've been walking, but the fire suddenly burst into the sky in front of me, accompanied by endless screams of killing.

This frightened half of his three souls and seven souls, and at the same time he woke up.

Just when I was wondering what was going on, a large group of people rushed towards them, and all of them were very embarrassed.

Looking closely, it is not the side, but the subordinates of the leaders.

Those people also saw him and rushed over like a swarm.

The leader was Zhang Mengjin, who was his subordinate.

"Big brother, the dog official is unbelievable, and he will kill us all!"

The man's face was pale and his mind was not enough.

"How... how is it possible?"

Zhang Mengjin was in a hurry and roared: "All the leaders of several roads were killed. Our brothers saw it with their own eyes. The dog officers ambushed the officers and soldiers in the slaughter camp, and many brothers died. Brother, what should we do?"

The man was dizzy and couldn't think of anything for a while.

Zhang Mengjin was in a hurry, and his eyes were fierce.

"Big brother, you won't take the money from Gouguan and sell all our brothers?"

At the juncture of life and death, this guy finally came to his senses and hurriedly said: "For nonsense, my eldest brother was beheaded by the government, and I and the court are not inseparable."

Zhang Mengjin was overjoyed.

"Big brother, the dog officer won't let us live, let's continue to rebel and kill him happily."

At this point, this guy also knows that there is no way out, so he can only nod his head like garlic.

"Yes, yes, yes, it's the opposite, it's the opposite!"

In September of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Shen Yikui, the leader of the Northern Shaanxi Rebel Army who had surrendered, raised his troops again and captured Ningsai County.

After finally quelling some of the Shaanxi peasant uprisings, things changed again.

Immediately after that, Tan Xiong raised troops to capture Ansai County; a city, a cloud, and Xue Hongqi captured Anding; Huntianhou captured Ganquan County and Jiazhou; Huang Youcai, Liu Wu, Hao Linan, and Ketianfei besieged Huanxian.

Hong Chengchou's original plan to move to Shanxi was completely stranded, and he had to dispatch troops again to encircle and suppress the rebels in northern Shaanxi.

On the land of China, wars broke out in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Liaodong, and Shandong at the same time.

The grand curtain of the war has been completely opened.

(End of this chapter)