weaving

Chapter 1502 He will surely pay back double.

The fifteenth year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty.

On the second day of the ninth lunar month, the sky was overcast and there was no rain.

Li Jiyu led his Xuanwu Camp soldiers to Guide Prefecture. He would stay there for ten days to select 2,500 able-bodied men with families from the soldiers eliminated by Luo Rucai's troops to supplement his Xuanwu Camp.

His troops will depart from Guide Prefecture on September 12th and return to Xuanfu Town for rest and reorganization, so as to make ample preparations for the next year's campaign to suppress the rebels.

September 5th.

After Wei Zhice and Chen Zheng completed the handover of responsibilities, Wei Zhice led the soldiers of the Tengshe Battalion to set off one after another, heading north from Jia County and Xiangcheng respectively, in preparation for returning to Xuanfu Town to rest and prepare for the next battle.

On the same day, Zhang Guangda also led his Vermilion Bird Camp cavalry to withdraw from Baofeng County and head straight for Luoyang via Ruzhou.

September 7th.

Li Fuming led the Shanxi army to retreat from Shangshui, preparing to return to Shanxi for rest and reorganization via Sunjiadu.

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month.

Wang Pu led the Datong army, which had just withdrawn from Ye County, on a march. They would cross the Yellow River at Mengjin and return to Datong Town.

September 10th.

Yuan Shizhong led the newly reorganized Little Yuan Battalion from Wu'an County, Zhangde Prefecture, Henan Province. They traveled along the official road through Shunde, Zhengding and Baoding Prefectures, passed Zijing Pass, and entered Xuanfu Town via Zoumashuikou. There, they received brand-new armor and weapons and conducted final drills.

Xiao Yuan's camp originally had about 2,500 cavalry and more than 6,700 infantry.

However, after a process of elimination, the size of Xiao Yuan's camp is now comparable to that of the Tengshe camp of the Yongyi Army.

Xiao Yuan's camp had five battalion commanderies. The left and right battalions were cavalry battalions, the front and rear battalions were infantry battalions, and the central battalion commandery was a chariot battalion composed of chariots and supply wagons.

In addition, there are three divisions directly under the central army: cavalry, artillery, and supply wagons, which together number nearly a thousand men. Therefore, the total size of Xiao Yuan's camp is nearly six thousand men, but its combat strength is equivalent to that of Tengshe Camp.

There are still two or three thousand infantrymen selected from Xiao Yuan's camp. These men are almost all young and strong, and most of them have been through the baptism of the battlefield. Yongning Marquis will naturally not let them go to waste.

He had already promised Chen Zhong of Yanhe Camp that he would come to Wu'an County to take over the remaining two thousand or so young men, half of whom would be assigned to his Yanhe Camp, and the other half to the battalion of his brother-in-law, Ji Youci, the Weihuai Military Commissioner.

…………

The Xuanwu Camp was perhaps the most unique entity in this campaign to reinforce Henan.

This time, only the three central military commands and the three thousand-man headquarters (front, rear, and left) accompanied him to fight in Henan to suppress the bandits. However, they did not achieve much in the battle, but directly lost two full-strength thousand-man headquarters and a battalion deputy general.

Shen Jingbang's vanguard was assigned to the Independent Battalion by the Earl of Yongning, and followed Liu Shizun, the deputy general of the Xuanwu Battalion, to Xi'an to oversee the newly appointed Governor-General of Shaanxi and the Three Border Regions, Sun Chuanting.

Ji Zhiying's rear was left in Henan Prefecture by the Earl of Yongning and placed under the direct command of Zhang Guodong, the garrison commander of Luoyang, thus separating them from the Xuanwu Camp.

This is also the origin of why the Earl of Yongning allowed him to go to Guide Prefecture to recruit 2,500 young men from Luo Rucai's subordinates.

…………

September 12th, Zhuxian Town.

Looking at the white-bearded Sun Shixiang, Marquis Yongning Zhang Cheng said to him very solemnly, "Elder Sun, I'll have to trouble you to take care of things in Kaifeng."

Sun Shixiang replied with a heavy expression, "Shixiang, I'm afraid I can't live up to the Commander-in-Chief's trust."

"Oh, don't mention it."

Zhang Cheng smiled and continued, "Elder Sun, you are highly respected and learned. As my chief advisor, you are naturally the only one qualified to oversee the Central Plains." Sun Shixiang clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Shixiang, I will certainly do my utmost to live up to the Commander-in-Chief's expectations!"

"With Chen Zheng and Ming Wu in Kaifeng, Guo Dong in Luoyang, Cao Cao's camp in Guide Prefecture, Chen Zhong's Yanhe camp north of the Dahe River, and Chen Cao's troops in Kaifeng, we have nothing to fear even if the rebels come back!"

Zhang Cheng then added, “If you encounter any major issues that are difficult to decide, consult Chen Zheng on military matters and Yuan Shu on court affairs. As for everything else, I entrust you with making all the decisions yourself.”

He then looked at Tian Mingyu, the deputy general of the White Tiger Camp, and said in a deep voice, "Tian Mingyu, you are only responsible for the security of Zhuxian Town. Apart from that, you must follow Old Master Sun's lead in everything."

“Yes, sir!” Tian Mingyu answered loudly.

The Earl of Yongning glanced at Sun Shixiang again, nodded to him, and said loudly, "Gentlemen, do not see me off any further. I will return soon and join you all in suppressing the bandits."

The civil and military officials of Kaifeng, led by Gao Mingheng, the governor of Henan, and Chen Yongfu, the general, all clasped their hands in a salute and bid a reluctant farewell to the Earl of Yongning.

Without wasting time with them, the Earl of Yongning mounted his warhorse, whipped it, and led his staff, escorted by officers Zhang Mingyuan and Xu Jinyong, straight towards Xuzhou along the official road.

…………

Chen Zheng led the three central divisions of the White Tiger Camp, along with Lei Kejun's left wing and Duan Qingzhong's rear wing, to Chenzhou to command from the center.

Vice-General Yu Jinze led Zhou Sanping's central force and Song Shanquan's vanguard to garrison the Xiangcheng front line and monitor the movements of the rebel army in the Ruzhou and Nanyang directions.

Meanwhile, Pan Chengji's right flank, under the command of Deputy General Tian Mingyu, was stationed in Zhuxian Town to safeguard the security of this vital logistics base of the Yongyi Army.

In addition, there were Li Hao's 3,000 troops who retreated to Xiangcheng, Han Jia's 3,000 troops stationed in Linying, Liu Xuan's 3,000 troops stationed in Yuzhou, as well as the troops of Zhang Changtui, the garrison commander of Yifeng, Li Zhenhai, the garrison commander of Shangshui, Fang Wenyu, the garrison commander of Chenzhou, and more than 1,500 troops of Xiao Yingxun who had escaped from Biyang, totaling 16,000 to 17,000 soldiers, all of whom were under the command of Chen Zheng, the general commander of the anti-bandit forces in Kaifeng.

In addition, there were more than 3,000 troops under General Jiang Mingwu stationed in Xinzheng County. In the entire Kaifeng Prefecture, the government troops under the command of the Earl of Yongning totaled nearly 30,000, all of whom were directly under the control and command of Chen Zheng.

…………

Xuzhou City.

The office of Chen Zheng, the commander-in-chief of the anti-theft forces, was located directly opposite the prefectural government office.

This place was originally the grain transport office, which had been abandoned for many years. After renovation and expansion, it became Chen Zheng's general's office.

The east side was originally a large open space, as well as some vacant houses and courtyards. Due to the chaos caused by thieves, most of them were uninhabited and, in addition, had fallen into disrepair over the years.

Chen Zheng then converted this place into a small training ground, renovated the houses and courtyards, and used it as barracks. He also transferred Lei Kejun's left wing and the central cavalry division to be stationed here.

Now, Zhang Cheng, the Earl of Yongning, sat high in the main hall of the General's Office, looking down at the civil and military officials below, his face ashen.

"Xiao Yingxun, please remember Hao Xiaozhong's ambush of you. I promise you that no matter how much wealth Hao Xiaozhong robbed from you, he will repay you tenfold in the future."

Xiao Yingxun immediately stepped forward, clasped his hands, and said, "Although I have suffered some losses, money is just an external thing. Now that I am neither in danger of losing my life nor physically injured, this grudge... is best left unavenged!"

"What is this nonsense?"

The Earl of Yongning suddenly stood up from his chair: "Now that you are a general under my command, Hao Xiaozhong's audacity in robbing you is a slap in my face. If you don't avenge this, that's your magnanimity, but you will get your revenge sooner or later."

He then added, "You will stay in Xiangcheng for the time being to rest and recuperate. Once General Chen has recruited enough soldiers to fill the quota of three thousand, you will be stationed in Yanling for rest and recuperation."

"Yes, Commander. I thank you."

"After you arrive in Yanling, you must intensify the training of your troops and form an army as soon as possible so that you can serve me on the battlefield."

"Here!"