weaving

Zuo Liangyu was quite an oddball in the late Ming Dynasty.

He came from the ranks of the army. Although he was not very literate, he was quite resourceful and good at comforting his soldiers and winning their hearts. It was these qualities that allowed him to grow stronger step by step and eventually become a major warlord in the late Ming Dynasty.

In his early years, he guarded the border in Liaodong and fought against the Jianzhou Tartars. He was quite brave and strong, made military achievements, and was promoted. Later, he was transferred to the interior to suppress the bandits.

As soon as Zuo Liangyu entered the interior of the Ming Dynasty, he became the mortal enemy of the bandits. He was skilled in combat and wiped out many bandit groups, which made the various bandit groups fear him.

Therefore, Zuo Liangyu's troops quickly became a major force in the Ming Dynasty, and he himself rose through the ranks due to his merits in suppressing bandits, eventually becoming a commander-in-chief with a large army.

But as time went on, a very strange phenomenon occurred when Zuo Liangyu faced Zhang: he would always win against Zhang and always lose against Chuang!
In other words, after the fourteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, Zuo Liangyu's army almost always won every battle against Zhang Xianzhong's "Western Camp" bandits. Although there were some defeats, they were more victories than defeats.

However, when Zuo Liangyu's army faced the rebel army led by Li Zicheng, the situation was completely different. They suffered defeats in almost every battle and never won again, resulting in a one-sided defeat.

And so, an interesting scene unfolded...

Zuo Liangyu was very enthusiastic about attacking Zhang Xianzhong's western camp; however, when it came to attacking Li Zicheng's rebel camp, he became hesitant, made excuses, and refused to go.

However, the so-called claim that Zuo Liangyu was not afraid of Zhang Xianzhong but only of Li Zicheng, and that he would always win against Zhang and always lose against Li, is actually a false proposition!

In his early battles against the bandits, Zuo Liangyu repeatedly defeated the forces of Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, and Zhang Xianzhong. These repeated defeats made the various bandits extremely wary of Zuo Liangyu, even fearing him like a tiger.

Therefore, when they encountered Zuo Liangyu's troops, they would generally take a detour to avoid Zuo Liangyu's advance!
The so-called "victory is inevitable against Zhang"...

At that time, Zuo Liangyu had not yet degenerated into a warlord who harbored bandits for his own benefit, and still retained the courage to fight bloody battles on the battlefield, because he still needed to accumulate military merits to be promoted!
Therefore, no matter how brave Zhang Xianzhong was during this period, he could not possibly defeat Zuo Liangyu.

The so-called "always losing to Li"...

After Zuo Liangyu was successfully promoted to the rank of General and then to the rank of General Who Pacifies Bandits, he lost his previous fighting spirit and began to think about preserving his strength and becoming a selfish warlord.

At this point, he no longer had any intention of fighting to the death with the rebel Li Zicheng.

On the other hand, Li Zicheng's side was no longer the destitute figure it was when it hid in Shangluo Mountain, nor was it in the predicament it was in at Yufu Mountain. Instead, it had completed its magnificent transformation—entering the Central Plains, breaking through Luoyang, and cooking the Prince of Fu!

As his battle record is verifiable, he successively killed two governors-general of Shaanxi and the Three Borders, besieged Kaifeng twice, roamed the Central Plains, attacked prefectures and counties, and was unstoppable, commanding an army of 500,000.

Not long ago, Li Zicheng had decisively defeated Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu's 200,000-strong army in Zhuxian Town, making him a formidable figure that Zuo Liangyu looked up to.

As the saying goes, time and circumstances change, and circumstances shift with the times.

Zuo Liangyu's inertia clashed with Li Zicheng's sharp edge, so defeat was inevitable!
…………

The current situation in Nanyang Prefecture, Henan Province, perfectly confirms some of the above statements...

Although the rebel army had just suffered a defeat in Zhuxian Town, it did not stop them from swaggering around and even bullying Zuo Liangyu.

In fact, although Zuo Liangyu was training his troops in Xinye, he also sent his capable subordinate Xu Ensheng to lead Lu Guangzu, Xu Yong, and Zhang Yingxiang to garrison Nanyang Prefecture.

Afterwards, he sent Ma Jinzhong to lead Changdeng to recapture Nanzhao County in the north, and even attempted to recapture Luyang Pass to the north. Unfortunately, they were no match for the rebel army led by Tian Jianxiu and retreated all the way back to Nanzhao. Three days later, Tian Jianxiu led the rebel army to attack Nanzhao City. Ma Jinzhong only held out for two days before breaking out and fleeing. Tian Jianxiu led the rebel army to pursue Ma Jinzhong to Nanyang Prefecture City. After besieging the city for three days without success, he finally led his army to retreat.

After that, things calmed down for a few days.

Tian Jianxiu changed his tactics again. Instead of attacking Nanyang City, he used Nanzhao as the center to harass the surrounding areas, breaking through the local strongholds one by one and expanding his power.

On August 19th, Li Zicheng, the rebel leader, personally led an army of 50,000 out of the Funiu Mountains and headed straight for Nanyang Prefecture.

Upon hearing the news, Zuo Liangyu immediately led an army of 100,000 to reinforce Nanyang. The two sides engaged in a fierce battle outside the city of Nanyang, which lasted for three days and nights, and Zuo's army was defeated once again.

Seeing the reinforcements retreat, Xu Ensheng, who was holding Nanyang City, knew that the isolated city was difficult to defend. So he took advantage of the chaos and led his troops to break out of the city and head straight for Xinye.

After the rebel army captured Nanyang Prefecture, Tian Jianxiu was left to garrison the city. The rebel king led his main force westward, first capturing Zhenping, then Neixiang, and then Xixiakou, connecting Xiong'er Mountain and Funiu Mountain into one area.

The area south of Yiyang in Henan Prefecture, the southwest of Ruzhou, and most of the northwest of Nanyang Prefecture became the activity area of ​​the rebel army. No government troops were stationed there, and it seemed to be becoming the rebel army's base.

Zhang Yang, who was appointed by the Earl of Yongning as the garrison commander of Zhenping, was defeated by the rebel army and withdrew from Zhenping. He then went to join Zuo Liangyu's troops in Xinye, where he was accepted and made a guerrilla under Zuo's command.

Li Hao, the garrison commander of Yuzhou, could not withstand the attack of Tian Jianxiu's rebel army and led his troops to withdraw from Yuzhou. With the help of Wang Pu, the general of Datong, they retreated to Ye County.

At the end of August, Li Hao followed Wang Pu to the territory of Kaifeng Prefecture and temporarily stayed in Xiangcheng.

…………

Although Zuo Liangyu's government troops were not good at fighting Li Zicheng's rebel army, they were no less skilled at seizing territory.

Zuo Liangyu dared not go north to recapture Nanyang Prefecture, but instead set his sights on other places. In order to expand his territory, he sent Hao Xiaozhong to lead his troops to Biyang.

Knowing he could not withstand Zuo Liangyu's army, Xiao Yingxun wisely sent someone to visit Hao Xiaozhong. He first stated that he was the commander of the Central Plains Bandit Suppression and the garrison commander of Biyang, personally appointed by the Earl of Yongning, and then clearly expressed his willingness to provide Zuo Liangyu with money and grain.

But Hao Xiaozhong didn't care about any of that. He clearly told the visitor that he only knew the orders of the Left Marshal and didn't recognize any bandit-suppressing commander or Yongning Earl.

Faced with the unreasonable Hao Xiaozhong, Xiao Yingxun was at his wits' end. He couldn't beat Hao Xiaozhong in a fight, so running away was the only option left.

Unlike the arrogant one in Zhenping, he had already sent his son to the army of the Marquis of Yongning as a hostage, so he couldn't disregard the bond between father and son.

Therefore, Xiao Yingxun proposed to Hao Xiaozhong that there was no need for them to fight each other. He said that he was willing to hand over Biyang City, only asking Hao Xiaozhong to give him three days to withdraw from Biyang.

Hao Xiaozhong accepted this offer with great pleasure.

Unexpectedly, Hao Xiaozhong did not lead his army into Biyang City, but instead ambushed and intercepted Xiao Yingxun's army on the way.

Caught completely off guard, Xiao Yingxun lost all his wealth and supplies, escaping with less than a thousand men and heading straight for Wuyang. (End of Chapter)