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Chapter 1301 Division of Troops

This military meeting lasted for most of the day, from noon to night.

In addition to the two detachments in the east and west, the troops under the command of Shanxi Deputy General Jiang Mingwu also moved from Chenliu to Tongxu County, preparing to move westwards to seize Weishi County and cut off the retreat route of the rebel army, attempting to force the rebels to divide their troops and deploy defenses along the Shahe River to prevent Jiang Mingwu from capturing Weishi.

At the same time, he also adopted Sun Shiguan's suggestion to continue to recruit Kaifeng civilians to dig trenches and build walls, and continued to strengthen the defense of the camps around Xinchengji, in order to trick the rebels into thinking that the Yongyi Army was going to hold Xinchengji for a long time.

After the military meeting, the deputy generals of each camp who participated in the meeting had a simple dinner at the headquarters of the Earl of Yongning and then returned to their camps. However, the main generals of each camp did not leave immediately. They still had to discuss some specific details of the battle with the rebels one by one.

During this period, Yongning Earl's personal advisor Liu Chengzu also proposed a very bold idea...

He said that as far as he knew, not all the soldiers in the rebel army were loyal to King Chongzhen. Among them were many hungry civilians who were taken hostage. Most of them were afraid that they would starve to death if they left the rebel army because they had no food, and they were also afraid that they would be hunted down by the rebel army if they escaped.

There were also many surrendered government soldiers who were mostly like this. They stayed in the rebel army just to save their lives. It was just that the rebel army discipline was very strict, so they were fearless and brave on the battlefield. In fact, it was not out of loyalty to King Chuang.

Then there are the various bandits who later defected to King Chuang. Their initial idea was simple. They just wanted to sit under a big tree for shade and eat and drink with King Chuang. However, they never expected that the military discipline of the bandits was very strict, and many of them were very unhappy.

It was precisely because Liu Chengzu had spent some time in the rebel army and had personal experience of these situations that he suggested to the Earl of Yongning: could they send out scouts to the rebel activity areas around Zhuxian Town and post some notices saying, "No matter what crimes the soldiers and servants of the rebel army have committed before, as long as they are willing to lay down their butcher knives and surrender to the government army, they will be pardoned and exempted from punishment!"

Yongning Bo appreciated his suggestion very much, and said that Liu Chengzu's proposal was in line with his thoughts. He further said: "Since it is a pardon, then don't distinguish between bandit generals and bandit soldiers. Just be straightforward and say, 'Except for the bandit Li Ni, all the rest of the rebel army, regardless of their official positions or crimes, as long as they are willing to surrender to the Yongyi Army, will be pardoned!'"

Some generals and officers present objected to this. They said, "It's easy to deal with the small and medium leaders in the rebel army, but generals like Liu Zongmin, Tian Jianxiu, Li Guo, and Liu Fangliang are on the list of the Ministry of War. They are the great thieves designated by the current emperor. How can we just pardon their crimes?"

However, everyone had already witnessed the courage and broad-mindedness of Earl Yongning, so they were just expressing their concerns and giving him a reminder. In the end, it would all depend on Earl Yongning's words.

This matter fell on Liu Chengzu's shoulders. Earl Yongning asked him to draft a notice and arrange for the military clerks to copy out 500 copies overnight, which would be delivered to the cavalry on patrol the next day.

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On June 13, the 500 rangers of the Qinglong Camp rushed out of the camp in batches. They were in groups of five or ten, and headed southwest.

On the 14th, the 1,000 light cavalry of the Qinglong Camp were ready to go. They set out in two groups. The first group was the 500 light cavalry of the Left Division. They had followed the commander Zhang Guangda to the southwest before noon. The second group was the 500 light cavalry of the Right Division. They set out in the afternoon with the captain Ma Sanzhuang. After leaving the camp, they galloped all the way west.

On the same day, the Xuanwu Camp's Central Army Cavalry Division, led by the Central Officer Zhou Ruli, also rushed out of the camp in a hurry.

On the 15th, Ji Zhiying, the commander of the rear of Xuanwu Camp, led his soldiers, and Gu Zhide, the officer of Qinglong Camp, led the cavalry, artillery, and chariot divisions of the central army, and left the camp for Mixian and Dengfeng. On the same day, Li Jiyu also led the left wing of Hou Xuguo's infantry, as well as the artillery division and chariot division of the central army, and set off towards Tongxu in eastern Henan.

Almost at the same time, outside the Ming army camps around Xinchengji, there was a busy scene with crowds of people. Among them were soldiers from various camps and civilian laborers recruited from Kaifeng and surrounding areas.

Everyone was holding a shovel or a pickaxe in their hands. Many people carried sacks on their shoulders or carried baskets of earth on their backs. There were also some strong men who carried two baskets of earth on a shoulder pole and walked back and forth.

Looking from the high ground of Zhuxian Town, Xincheng Market looks like a big ant nest. The busy soldiers and civilians are like groups of worker ants, rushing to build their nests.

…………

Although the scouts of the Yongyi Army had already suppressed the scouts of the Chuang Army on the battlefield around Zhuxian Town, such a large-scale and multi-wave troop mobilization could not completely hide their tracks.

What's more, Earl Yongning had no intention of hiding the whereabouts of his army. He would rather let the rebels know the movements of the Yongyi Army so that they would become suspicious and doubtful, and would not be sure of the Yongyi Army's true purpose!

Things developed just as Earl Yongning had expected. After Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, learned about the mobilization of the Yongyi Army, he became suspicious and postponed the general attack on the official army camp at Xianggong Temple.

In the military meeting of King Chuang's headquarters, two factions with distinct opinions were formed...

Among them, the group of rebel generals headed by Liu Zongmin advocated taking advantage of the opportunity to launch a general attack on the government army camp in Xianggong Temple, while the group of rebel generals headed by Tian Jianxiu advocated caution and prudence, and advised not to act rashly before clarifying the movements and intentions of the government army, so as to avoid falling into the evil scheme of the government army.

Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, did not say a word during the military meeting, but just listened quietly to their respective thoughts and opinions...

"Prince Chuang, since Zhang Cheng has divided his troops elsewhere, let's not worry about what he wants to do. Anyway, we still have the advantage in military strength in Zhuxian Town, and the morale of the boys is also very high. It's a good opportunity to take down Xianggong Temple in one fell swoop, so that we can focus on dealing with the government troops in the north."

Liu Zongmin asked directly about Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion. He could not remain silent any longer, so he said, "Jiexuan, your opinions and Yufeng's are both reasonable. This battle is of great importance, so we must be cautious.

If we win this battle, not only will no more government troops in Henan dare to fight us, but by then, there will be no army in the entire Ming Dynasty that dares to fight us. Even if the Ming court in the capital wants to mobilize troops to encircle and suppress us, it will be in vain. They can only send us some new soldiers and weapons. "

Liu Zongmin insisted, "Prince Chuang, we have a large number of troops and horses, and our daily consumption of food and grass is staggering. We cannot afford to waste them for long."

He then added, "Besides, there have been many rumors recently that Luo Rucai, the damned one, wants to surrender to Zhang Cheng and join forces with the Xuanda Border Army to attack us. If we delay here for too long, I'm afraid something will happen... Prince Chuang!"