The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 444 Internal and external troubles
"The situation in Sichuan is critical. The entire Songpanwei has been occupied. Only Jiangyou remains in Long'an Prefecture. Sichuan troops are now stationed in Jiangyou and Diexi to barely resist the Qiang troops."

"The Khoshut Khanate has been making frequent moves recently. The Intelligence Department has reported that Gushri Khan is constantly mobilizing troops to march eastward. The troops currently gathering in Qinghai have a size of over 10,000 cavalry."

Hu Zhili frowned, bent down, and placed his hand on the northwest corner of the map.

"The original analysis from the Intelligence Department was that the Khoshut Khanate was trying to defend against threats from the Western Regions, but now it seems that they might want to join forces with the Qiang people to attack Sichuan."

The Intelligence Department did not have much deployment in the southwest, but it began to deploy in the snowy areas very early on.

The Intelligence Department has developed many strongholds and informants in the eastern Tibet region, and has also established contact with some local resistance forces. It has even sent a group of instructors and transported a lot of obsolete weapons.

Ma Yuying's expression changed slightly, worry appeared in her eyes, and she said.

"General Zhang is already trying to support them. If tens of thousands of Mongolian cavalry enter Songpan, I'm afraid..."

Ma Yuying's concerns are also Chen Wang's concerns.

The current situation in Sichuan is not the same as when Shao Jiechun was here. The military is in disrepair, military pay is insufficient, the generals have no desire to fight, and the soldiers have no will to fight.

The reason why they can still hold on now is that the Qiang and Han coalition forces of Songpan Wei are not strong.

Once the powerful Mongolian troops from Qinghai join in, the situation of the war will completely tilt towards the Songpan Guards.

"How's the situation in Zangdong?"

Chen Wang tapped lightly on the wooden table in front of him and asked Hu Zhili.

"In the eastern Tibetan region, there are about 7,000 local chieftains who are still resisting, and they have basically completed their militarization."

"The militarization of eastern Tibet did not follow the camp system of Hanzhong Town, but was based on local conditions, with 400 to 500 soldiers in each camp, scattered across the country."

Chen Wang nodded slightly. The situation in the snowy area was different from that in the heart of the Central Plains.

The Khoshut Khanate has basically taken control of the entire snow zone, and now only the eastern Tibet and western Tibet regions are still resisting.

Ngari and eastern Tibet are so far apart that there is no way to communicate with each other and they cannot respond to each other.

The resistance forces in eastern Tibet are located behind enemy lines and will undoubtedly be unable to resist in a head-on confrontation, so the right approach is to reform the military system in accordance with local conditions.

"The eastern Tibetan resistance army is now composed entirely of cavalry, equipped with two horses, and they move as fast as the wind. They do not engage in direct confrontation with the Khoshut Khanate, but mainly harass towns and strongholds controlled by the Khoshut Khanate, using guerrilla warfare as their main method."

"The rest of the people and horses are hiding in various valleys and mountains as logistics."

"According to the instructions of the general, the craftsmen sent by our army are helping them to build the bastion with all their strength."

"According to the plan, the second batch of firearms will be delivered to eastern Tibet in early August."

The resistance forces in eastern Tibet are too weak.

In history, after the fall of the Baili chieftain, the remaining main forces were wiped out not long after.

However, even so, the remnants of the Baili chieftain family continued to resist in the Shiqu and Baiyu areas of northern Kang, and did not completely disappear until the 18th century, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi.

Therefore, Chen Wang’s first batch of support consisted of military instructors, craftsmen and firearms.

Use military instructors to train the army and develop guerrilla tactics.

Use craftsmen to build bastions and fortresses.

The Khoshut Khanate lacked siege tactics and was mostly composed of cavalry, while its retainers were civilians forcibly conscripted from the snowy regions.

Firearms, as the firepower support of the bastion, are enough to deal with large numbers of Mongolian cavalry.

Even if you are defeated in the end, you can still inflict heavy damage to it.

"The current leader of the Eastern Tibet Resistance Army is called Awang Tashi, right?"

Chen Wang hesitated for a moment and confirmed.

"Correct."

Hu Zhili nodded and replied.

"After the Baili Tusi was destroyed and the old Tusi died, his second son Awang Zhaxi led his people to flee and subsequently contacted the surrounding Tusi to continue the resistance. After we contacted him, Awang Zhaxi said that as long as we can help, he will obey the general town as the leader."

"According to the instructions of the General Town, with the approval of the Central Military Department, the Ministry of Internal Affairs drafted an order based on the actual situation to establish the Eastern Tibet Town, with Awang Zhaxi as the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Tibet Town."

Chen Wang's gaze swept across eastern Tibet, Songpan, and finally landed on Chengdu Prefecture.

"Send a message to Awang Zhaxi that our army will march into Sichuan at the end of the year to provide him with support..."

Hu Zhili's expression changed slightly, but he did not interrupt Chen Wang.

"In November, we gathered the troops from all the camps in the eastern Tibetan town and tried our best to harass the districts in eastern Tibet."

"November?"

Ma Yuying looked puzzled.

It is already the end of July. Even if they set out from Xiangyang Prefecture and headed for Sichuan, it would be difficult for them to reach eastern Tibet in November.

The claim of providing support is completely groundless.

And most importantly, under what name did they march into Sichuan?

Although now Hanzhong Town has completely disobeyed the imperial court's orders.

However, the imperial court still has the reputation of being righteous. Chen Wang's current behavior can still be covered up with high-sounding reasons such as a general is not subject to the orders of the emperor when away from home, lack of food and grass, and low morale of the army.

After all, Hanzhong Town did not really break off relations with the imperial court.

Now that the South Country is under control, it is only natural for Chen Wang to do so.

He was the general who suppressed bandits and had the power to control all the towns.

The court also approved his appointment to be in charge of military affairs in Huguang and Henan.

The imperial court is now in a precarious situation and unable to protect itself, so all it can do is let everything take its course.

Even though Chen Wang's ambitions were obvious, they couldn't completely fall out at this time.

But marching into Sichuan would mean crossing this red line.

The reputation of righteousness is often illusory, but it is indispensable.

Otherwise, the kings, princes and powerful officials who rebelled in every dynasty would not have found a high-sounding excuse.

Either to purge the emperor's side, or to pretend to be God's will.

Zhu Di's excuse was to quell the rebellion in accordance with the will of heaven.

Even An Lushan raised his army under the pretext of worrying about the danger to the country and claiming to be following a secret imperial decree to attack Yang Guozhong.

It's all for the sake of righteousness.

The biggest difference between ancient and modern times, in fact, at the deepest level, is in thought.

The people in ancient times had a natural reverence for the emperor, and many even regarded him as a god.

This is why the emperor's personal expedition would greatly boost the morale of the army.
Of course, the emperor leading the army in person is not invincible. Constantly torturing his officers and soldiers like the God of War of the Ming Dynasty will not only fail to boost the morale of the army, but will also lower it.

"I have never issued an order to march into Sichuan."

Chen Wang smiled. His words were only meant for Zangdong Town, to give Zangdong Town the confidence to launch an attack.

"Our main problem right now is still in the Southland."

Chen Wang's eyes first fell on the map in front of him, and then he looked at Hu Zhili.

"Have the leaders of the Huguang and Jiangxi uprisings been arranged?"

Hu Zhili took out a document from his bosom, held it in both hands and placed it on the table. "The civil unrest in both places has been arranged."

"Jiangxi suffered a severe disaster last year, and was hit by war again. Many people were displaced, and the troops in the camps and towns in various places were almost completely lost in rushing to support Nanjing, so there are still many rebel troops in Jiangxi."

"The grievances among the people in the countryside and the market have been accumulated for a long time. It only takes a little spark to set off a prairie fire."

Chen Wang picked up the list handed over by Hu Zhili and reviewed it slowly.

He had impressions of the people on these lists. The Intelligence Department had already reported information on many people before. The current list was just a summary of those people.

The list contains information about the various rebel forces and potential leaders of the uprising that they are about to support.

From age, parents, clan, family background, to marital status, everything is included.

The total number of people, the number of young, strong, old and weak people, the number of combat-ready soldiers, and the amount of military equipment are all recorded in detail.

After talking about Jiangxi, Hu Zhili hesitated.

"In Huguang, the southern part has not experienced any major disasters, so it may be difficult to stir up a storm if a civil uprising is launched."

"And the same situation also occurred in Jiangxi, although Jiangxi was able to launch a civil uprising involving more than 100,000 people."

"But the imperial court has lifted the ban for a long time, and the officials and gentry in every city and state have been training their troops. Now the militias in every county and state have become powerful. I'm afraid it's difficult for them to be as unstoppable as Sun Qiyun was in Henan..."

"I know."

Chen Wang raised his hand and interrupted Hu Zhili's words.

“So I didn’t pin my hopes on these civil uprisings.”

"Things are different now. What we need is..." Chen Wang leaned forward slightly, his bright eyes flickering at him, "just a pretext to justify his actions."

"A reason that will allow us to enter these two provinces with justification and dignity."

Hu Zhili's eyes narrowed slightly. He is a smart man.

It's just because of his habitual thinking that he finds it difficult to think of many things.

Chen Wang's words instantly made Hu Zhili's originally confused mind clear up.

When their army pushes into Jiangxi and Huguang, won't they have the final say on what the war and situation will be like?
Ma Yuying on the side also understood what Chen Wang meant.

Chen Wang did not hide much about the situation in Hanzhong Town from Ma Yuying.

After all, Ma Yuying will be the one who will accompany him forever in the future.

So Ma Yuying already knew a lot of things that Chen Wang had done.

Ma Yuying was not a lady from a wealthy family who never left her house. In terms of military command, her talent was even better than that of her brother Ma Yuanshan. Although she was not yet capable of leading a division of soldiers, her ability was more than enough to surpass that of an ordinary battalion commander.

Ma Yuying had arrived in Hanzhong from Sichuan very early, and the wedding was delayed because Chen Wang was away.

When Ma Yuying was in Hanzhong Town, he spent most of his time in the General Staff Office of the central army of Hanzhong Town.

Therefore, the strategic vision is no longer what it used to be.

“It’s easy to enter Huguang and Jiangxi, but it’s not easy to take over these two places.”

"These county officials will not allow the rebels to enter the city, and they will not allow us to enter the city either."

The situation that Ma Yuying described is the actual situation in various parts of the Ming Dynasty today.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, due to the shortage of food and wages, as well as the indulgence of military commanders, military discipline was mostly broken.

Therefore, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, a common saying was often circulated.

The enemy comes like a comb, the soldiers come like a rake.

A comb is a hair combing tool made of bamboo. It has a beam in the middle and dense teeth on both sides, which are denser than the old wooden combs.

What this sentence means, of course, is that the government soldiers plundered more cruelly than the bandits.

So many times, officials from states and counties would close their gates when soldiers arrived.

When Chen Wang followed Cao Wenzhao, he encountered this situation many times.

The worst thing was that during a suppression operation in Meng County, Shanxi, the army was short of food, so they asked Meng County to send them food.

Not only did Yu County refuse to provide food, it even fired cannons from the city, injuring the soldiers who went to ask for food.

"Now these things..."

Bad memories from the past came to his mind, and the coldness in Chen Wang's eyes became increasingly severe.

“It’s no longer up to them.”

"The era when civil servants are arrogant will soon be over."

Chen Wang raised his head and looked to the right.

On the weapon rack on the right, there hangs a lone sword.

A yellow satin brocade sheath with dragon pattern wrapped around most of the sword, leaving only a wisp of sword tassel hanging down.

The sun shone through the curtains, shining on the jewel-encrusted hilt of the sword.

"However, Sichuan still needs to send troops."

Chen Wang clicked on the locations of the six major Xuanwei offices on the map.

"The reorganization of the six major Xuanwei offices needs to be accelerated."

"Shizhu has organized two divisions and twelve battalions, totaling 24,000 combat soldiers."

"Yong and Bao also organized two divisions with twelve battalions. Youyang organized one division. Rongmei and Sinan merged and also organized one division."

"There should be a lot of young and strong people under the six divisions. If there are insufficient troops, we can directly recruit them. The recruitment standards are similar to those of Hanzhong Town, but we also need to adapt to local conditions."

Hu Zhili calculated and replied.

"The six major Xuanwei offices have a total of six divisions and 24 battalions, with a total of 72,000 soldiers. This should be enough to deal with the changes in Sichuan."

Hu Zhili pondered for a moment and then spoke.

"But the Xuanwei Division is generally underequipped."

After all, the Xuanwei Division was not the regular army of the imperial court, and its troops were essentially the private soldiers of the chieftains.

Therefore, the imperial court would not allow the chieftains to have too much power.

Even for chieftains like Shizhu who had always stood on the side of the imperial court, the imperial court only slightly relaxed its policies.

The rate of soldiers wearing armor in the six major Xuanwei offices was less than 30%.

Many times, the imperial court would only distribute armor to the chieftains for use in war after it had recruited them.

This is also the important reason why Qin Liangyu, who had only 30,000 soldiers, was defeated by Zhang Xianzhong in history.

Chen Wang nodded slightly. This was indeed a problem.

Although the armor rate of the Qiang soldiers and the Songpan Guards was not high, the military equipment of the Qinghai Mongols was indeed quite sophisticated.

Moreover, it is possible that Li Zicheng would send a detachment to join him.

If the chieftain's soldiers are too poorly armed, there will probably be heavy casualties on the battlefield.

The soldiers of the six major Xuanwei offices are basically veterans with strict discipline, from the same hometown and clan, good at mountain warfare, and strong combat power. They will undoubtedly be the best help in the future march into the southwest.

It would be a real pity if such elite soldiers were lost in vain due to lack of weapons.