The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 191 Choices
"There are more than [-] rogue bandits outside Jitouguan, and they stormed Jitouguan... There are many hungry soldiers in their army, and few elite cavalry troops. Thousands of..."

"Recently, the rogue bandits have been active in the Lueyang area, gathering a large army. The bandit leader Li Zicheng, the sixth team, General Manager Qi, King Zhengyi, King Renyi and others have a total of six battalions of nearly 6 soldiers and horses, and they jointly attacked Mian County..."

Sun Chuanting frowned, leading his horse along the side of the official road.

Some time ago, Chen Wang sent a letter from the Pegasus of Hanzhong Mansion. After reporting the situation of Hanzhong Mansion, he also wrote a conjecture.

"...there is no way to divide the troops to defend against Yangping and Ningqiang."

"Northern Sichuan is in turmoil, and Sichuan soldiers are aiding Huguang and other places, so the interior of Sichuan is very empty..."

"The thieves clearly intend to attack Hanzhong, but in fact they intend to go south into Sichuan..."

These days, Sun Chuanting has been presiding over the campaign in Fengxiang Mansion, while Hong Chengchou is in Gongchang Mansion, and the two of them are constantly shrinking into the encirclement net, one east and the other west.

Sun Chuanting was very clear about Chen Wang's situation.

The combined army of Chen Wang and Zhou Yumao in Hanzhong Mansion was only 5000 people.

But now there are nearly 10 soldiers in the Chuangjun attacking Hanzhong Mansion in two ways. The strength of the two sides is very different. The pressure on Chen Wang's side is huge.

It is indeed unable to divide troops to defend Yangping and Ningqiang.

Now stationed in Xing'an Prefecture, there are only hundreds of regular troops from Xing'an Guarding Thousand Households, and more than a thousand militiamen.

So for Chen Wang's letter, Sun Chuanting wrote back to comfort him, asking him to guard Mian County and Jitou to prevent bandits from entering Hanzhong Mansion, and don't worry too much about the rest.

For Sichuan, since the seventh year of Chongzhen, the rogues have always kept them at a respectful distance.

In the seventh year of Chongzhen, it was the time when Zhang Xianzhong was in the limelight, and he once had the potential to surpass Gao Yingxiang.

At that time, Zhang Xianzhong led his troops westward and captured Kuizhou, an important town in eastern Sichuan, in one fell swoop.

Qin Liangyu led his army to help, Zhang Xianzhong was defeated and fled, and then Qin Liangyu led his army to pursue, and he and his son Ma Xianglin attacked back and forth, defeating Zhang Xianzhong.

Zhang Xianzhong only returned with a thousand riders, but lost hundreds of thousands of riders in one day.

Sichuan soldiers were fierce and brave to fight, and the white-armed soldiers were still the best at fighting. The rogues feared the Sichuan soldiers more than the Liao soldiers.

Because although the Liao soldiers are powerful, they will not pursue them as long as they go into the deep mountains and huge valleys, and they will be helpless.

But when they encountered Sichuan soldiers, they drilled into the deep mountains and huge valleys, and the combat power of Sichuan soldiers was even stronger because of this.

Sichuan is mountainous. For Sichuan soldiers, the deep mountains and huge valleys are like returning home. Among the winding mountains, Sichuan soldiers often walk on flat ground.

The authorities are confused, but the bystanders are clear. Sun Chuanting really never thought that Li Zicheng might plan to march in the direction of Sichuan.

But after reading Chen Wang's detailed description of the current situation in northern Sichuan in his letter, Sun Chuanting also began to think about whether there was such a possibility.

After some deduction, Sun Chuanting came to the conclusion that not only is it possible, but the possibility is still very huge.

Sun Chuanting knew that the rogues had a set of methods to listen to information, and he also knew how the Ming army behaved in some places.

Raise bandits to be self-respecting, join forces with bandits, sell information, collect money to let them go, and even sell armor and soldiers.

The reason why Sun Chuanting thinks that Yang Sichang's four points, six corners and ten sides is not advisable is precisely because he clearly knows what these things are.

The plan is good, but there is a problem with those who cannot carry it out.

The rogues don't even need to fight, they just take out the looted gold and silver in exchange for a way out of the encirclement net.

Gao Yingxiang was originally located in Yunxiang, but he knew the situation in other prefectures very well. Because of bribery and money, he learned information from the Ming army in various places.

Northern Sichuan has been empty for a long time, and there is no concealment of troop mobilization.

Now Li Zicheng probably knows no less than him about the strength of troops in northern Sichuan and the actual situation of the deployment.

Hou Liangzhu only has more than 2000 soldiers and horses to mobilize, and there are too many places to guard against, and there is no time to spare.

And even if a defense is set up, it can't stop so many soldiers and horses under Li Zicheng's command.

Sichuan is mountainous, rugged and difficult to navigate. There are many miasmas in the valleys and hills, and there are many snakes, insects, rats and ants. Now that summer is approaching, once Li Zicheng brings the bandits into Sichuan, the difficulty of attacking and suppressing them will suddenly increase.

The most important thing is that once the rogues entered Sichuan, they had crossed the border, and they had insufficient authority to send troops across the border to suppress him. They had to report their facial expressions and wait for the imperial court's permission.

On the official road, a group of soldiers wearing hats, blue clothes, and spears on their shoulders were walking slowly.

Unlike ordinary troops, although the military uniforms on these soldiers were also covered with dust, they were not old and dilapidated.

What filled their eyes was not indifference, but vitality.

They are the elite selected from the battalions in Shaanxi, and they are the standard supervision battalion directly under Sun Chuanting's command.

Since the establishment of the battalion, they first beheaded King Qi, then Sai Machao, besieged King Shuntian, and exterminated Gao Yingxiang. They have made great achievements.

The setbacks outside Jingyang did not break them, but the rebellion sparked by Deng Zhong made them more united.

"The vanguard of our army has already reached the north of Fengxian County, and the rogues are stationed in Fengxian County. There are about ten thousand people..."

Tang Ma's return came from the front, and Sun Chuanting withdrew his slightly divergent thoughts.

Now that the situation is critical, all he can do is to do his best and obey the fate.

……

In the west of Mian County, the sound of shouting and killing was loud.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

The sound of the Ming army's war drums echoed continuously over the wilderness.

From the west of Hanzhong Prefecture, if you want to enter Mian County and enter the Hanzhong Basin, there is only one way to go at this time of year.

And this road must pass through the west side of Mian County, and the west side of Mian County is where Yangping Pass was located in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Hanzhong fought around this pass.

Time has passed and everything has changed. Although the ruins of the ancient Yangping Pass are still there, they have already lost their defensive function.

The places defended by the Ming army today are all newly repaired defensive measures.

Standing on the watchtower, Chen Wang looked up from here and could see the situation on the entire battlefield.

He had handed over the defense of Jitouguan to Hu Zhiyi.

Chen Wang left two infantry troops for Hu Zhiyi and dispatched [-] guards as supplementary defense.

These 30 guards are the main army in the two newly built Qianhusuo on the right and the rear. They have already undergone three months of training, although the total training is full and full, it is only [-] days.

It may be reluctant in field battles, but it is more than enough for defending the city.

Chen Wang also left Hu Zhiyi with twenty tiger squat cannons, fifteen Franco cannons, and the three-eyed blunderbuss in the general's inventory, as well as the three-eyed blunderbuss that were replaced, all of which were left at Jitouguan.

Jitouguan is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Little Red Wolf and Hun 10 are two people. One is the leader of the 24th Battalion, and the other is the leader of the 24th Battalion. Not elite either.

They were able to have so many troops under their command because Li Zicheng dispatched them, and they didn't have the ability to command so many people at all.The attack has always been the simplest tactics of crowds, ants attached to attack the city.

As long as Hu Zhiyi doesn't leave Guanlangzhan, Jitouguan will be as stable as Mount Tai.

So Chen Wang's order to Hu Zhiyi was to guard Jitouguan.

Hu Zhiyi has always been prudent, and he is strict in his work and office. During the guarding of Xing'an Prefecture, he took care of the defense of the entire city in an orderly manner.

Along the way, not only Chen Wangqian, Hu Zhiyi, Hu Zhili, Chen Gong, Tang Shiping and Zhao Huailiang, they are also moving forward together.

Among them, Chen Gong was the youngest and had the worst temper. Oftentimes, Chen Gong was careless and looked frivolous and idle.

But in fact, no matter when he never forgot to practice martial arts, hone his skills, he even calmed down and read military books that he had never read before.

Even if Chen Gong is like this, the rest of the people are naturally working hard to move forward.

Water flows to lower place, man goes to higher position.

Money and silk move people's hearts, while power fascinates people.

Opportunities are rare, and they all know that if they can't keep up with Chen Wang's footsteps, someone will eventually take their place, and their careers and development will come to an end.

"kill!!!"

Shouting like a tsunami came from afar again, penetrating into Chen Wang's ears.

The rogues and hungry soldiers swarmed in like a wave of waves. They shouted, vented, and roared crazily.

Crowds of people came here, most of them were just ordinary farmers and hunters, obeying the law and being honest.

But at this moment, everyone's expression is ferocious, crazily twisted...

Hunger has already turned them into evil spirits...

The brigade of rogues and hungry soldiers swarmed in. They seemed to want to use their roars to arouse the little physical strength left in their bodies and dispel the fear in their hearts.

"Bang! Bang! Bang bang!!"

The rogues and hungry people continued to attack wave after wave, but without exception, they were all smashed to pieces in an instant.

The explosion of the guns echoed over the Han River, and mixed with the sound of the water rushing towards the Eastern Han River, playing a funeral song of death.

Gunpowder smoke filled the air, and the sound of gunfire was deafening. The hungry soldiers charging forward fell down like a wheat field blown by a strong wind.

Everywhere you look, there are corpses and blood all over the place. The morale of the hungry soldiers is not high. This matter has undergone a major change, which one still has the will to fight?
All the hungry soldiers panicked and wanted to run backwards, but they were often slashed head-on on the front door as soon as they turned their heads, and fell to the ground on the spot.

"Don't retreat! Go up!!"

After experiencing countless battles, the rogues already had their own set of tactics, and among the Chuangjun, they were even more proficient at how to use the hungry soldiers.

Ordinary bandits drive the hungry soldiers to attack. Generally speaking, they are only followed by a small number of infantry or horse troops, or a mixed part of old bandits, driving the hungry soldiers to charge, consuming the ammunition and physical strength of the officers and soldiers.

Chuangjun's tactics are to gather a large number of archers behind the hungry people, and then arrange a large number of sword and shield soldiers to charge into the formation.

They used the hungry people as human shields to weaken the firepower of the Ming army. After the battle, the archers of the rear team used diffuse fire to suppress the gunmen and archers of the Ming army.

They are not worried about accidental injury, because even if it is accidental injury, it doesn't matter. The battle itself is killing people's lives for this sake.

The Sword and Shield Soldiers acted as an escort and supervisor. Once the formation of the Ming army was shaken, they would immediately charge away, looking for an opportunity to open a gap.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Accompanied by the sound of a high-pitched horn, the bandit archers lined up behind the hungry soldiers suddenly let go of their bowstrings.

On the hundreds of meters long front line, countless bowstring vibrations suddenly sounded like plucking cotton.

In the next instant, countless arrows flew into the sky, and the densely packed arrows rose into the sky almost at the same time, like a swarm of locusts in a drought.

"hidden!"

On the wall of the village, the generals of the Ming army shouted loudly.

All the soldiers lowered their heads, crouched down, and raised their shields while holding their shields. Without shields, they leaned their bodies as close as possible to the wall of the village as much as possible.

The rain of arrows came pouring down. Although the warning was issued early, there were always people who didn't have time to react, or were shot through the narrow gap due to bad luck.

On the wall of the stronghold, the wounded by the arrows wailed in pain.

But their wailing was quickly overwhelmed by the shouts of killing that almost pierced through the clouds and rocks outside the wall.

A large number of arrows poured from the sky in waves, and the hungry soldiers in the bandit formation were being driven forward by the troops holding swords and shields in the formation.

At this time, the Ming army on the wall was being suppressed, and it was the best opportunity to get close to the wall.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

Puffs of white smoke rose from the bandits, and the explosive sound of Fran's cannon reached everyone's ears in an instant.

The caliber of most Franco cannons is not large, but even the smallest cannons are still cannons.

Many walls that were not very strong were broken down or damaged.

There were screams again after the wall of the village, and many soldiers were injured by the splashed wood.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

In the ranks of the rogues, the horn sounded again, and this horn was the signal for the whole army to attack.

However, as several loud bangs sounded over the pass again, the sound of horns among the bandits stopped abruptly.

The eight firing cannons that Chen Wang had placed on the high ground were already firing their roars.

The cannon weighing more than four catties drew beautiful arcs in the air, and then smashed hard into the army formation of the rogues, causing countless blood mist and countless broken limbs and arms in an instant.

Under the telescope, Chen Wang could see everything clearly.

In the camp, a group of soldiers were also encouraged by this, and the drums became louder again because of this.

The group of rogues who were about to rush to the side of the wall of the stronghold finally had their courage to be defeated again.

A large number of bandits retreated towards the rear like the ebb tide of the sea.

Chen Wang also moved his gaze away from the binoculars in front of him.

Li Zicheng was indeed just bluffing. For so many days of attacking, he only invested two fine cavalry to join the attack.

Li Zicheng's real goal is always Sichuan...

Chen Wang took a step forward, leaning on the railing in front of him with both hands, looking further north.

There are too few soldiers under his command, and most of the recruits are not very powerful.

In Mian County and Ningqiang, Chen Wang can only defend one place, and he has to make a choice.

But even though he chose to give up Ning Qiang, Chen Wang did not choose to sit still.

He had already handed over all the information he knew to Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou.

History may change because of this, or it may go to an unknown end, making him lose the great advantage of being a prophet.

But all this is not terrible, everything will change eventually, it is just a matter of time.

Changes earlier and later, in fact, the impact is not great.

The Ming Dynasty has too many evils, even if there is no Li Zicheng to stir up the world, there will be other people to cause turmoil.

(End of this chapter)