national surname chiming

Chapter 201
Under heavy pressure in several directions, Zhang Xianzhong had to go south to Xiangxi, and tried to penetrate the hinterland of Hunan from this.

This decision is not wrong from a strategic point of view, because right now he really has no better option, he can only be the tallest among the dwarfs.

Li Dingguo, who had just carried out the killing mission for three months and was a little numb to the killing, did not raise any objections after a little calculation. He just reminded him out of the human nature that has not yet disappeared:
"Father wants to march into Hunan, and my child dare not object. In fact, there is no other way. Relying on the chieftains of Shizhouwei and Xiangxi Yongshun Xuanweisi to maintain the army is indeed not a long-term solution.

However... Our army has recently been in Shizhouwei and other places. The killing is too ruthless. The soldiers are lost every day, but the source of troops cannot be replenished. The only way to fight the locals is to fight to the end.

In the past, our army fought on the territory of the Han people. At any rate, we only killed the rich and scattered the money, so that we could recruit the poor to join the army, so that we could support war with war.This time, if we can go out of the mountains and enter Yuezhou and Changde, we can also ask our father to restore the Japanese military discipline, so as to expand the Latin army. "

Li Dingguo's words can't be called "loving the people and benevolent". After all, he is a thief now. This is not blackmailing him or washing him, this is the most real state.

He persuaded Zhang Xianzhong to kill less for the time being after he returned to Han, not because he couldn't bear it, but because he knew that indiscriminate killing would not last long, and the troops would fight less and less.

Moreover, the Han people are different from the Miao people. The Miao people are isolated and not very literate. The news is basically passed on by word of mouth. If a chieftain tribe is massacred in one place, even if it is extinct, another Miao tribe and Tu tribe may be hundreds of miles away. I don't know, the next time Zhang Xianzhong's army flees there, the local people's desire to resist will not be much more intense than the previous tribe.

However, the literacy rate of the Han people is high, and the pressure of public opinion is great. If a county and a government are slaughtered, the news can spread far, and no one will be a soldier in the future.It is generally more beneficial to only kill the rich and rob and win over the poor.

Because Li Dingguo later resisted, many people in later generations beautified his life experience, which obviously does not conform to the arc of the character.

It's a complicated world.

Anyone's human nature will grow. In his early years, Cao Cao just wanted to be the general who conquered the west.

Of course, regardless of Li Dingguo’s motives, he persuaded Zhang Xianzhong to restore the original relatively loose killing policy after he returned to Han soil. From the facts and results, it is indeed relatively better, and hundreds of thousands of additional innocent Han people can be avoided.

Zhang Xianzhong's brain is also easy to use, and he can immediately figure out this truth, so he decisively made a wish:

"That's natural. This king loves the people like his son. As long as he enters Yuezhou and Changde, he doesn't have to kill the people living outside the city, as long as the land is less than one hundred mu.

Wealthy households with more than [-] mu of land, or those who live in the county town, or even have shops in the city, will all be killed, and all their money and food will be used as military supplies, and recruits will be recruited by the way. "

The corner of Li Dingguo's mouth twitched slightly, but he didn't object anymore.On the contrary, he seconded with an excited face: "Since the father has made a decision and can guarantee that innocent people will not be killed indiscriminately, the child also feels that this matter should be done sooner rather than later.

Once the military discipline of the army is corrupted, they will kill anyone they see, and it will be difficult to recover after a long time.Nowadays, there are too many killings in Shizhouwei and other places, but the income is decreasing day by day. It is better to quickly enter Changde and support the army with rich land. "

In the past few months, the reason why he worked so hard was because he knew that his father was giving him a chance to test him.

Since the sneak attack on Xiangyang last year, we won first and then lost.

In the beginning, they obviously relied on the intelligence around Yang Sichang to investigate the emptiness of Xiangyang in advance, and took the opportunity to open the city gate by fraud, and entered the city to kill all directions.

But in the end, Shen Shuren's troops returned to the division and passed through Xiangyang without Yang Sichang's dispatch. Our own secret work did not find out this, which led to the cavalry being hit by Shen Shuren, and more than a thousand cavalry were annihilated. Fourth brother Ai Neng Qi was sent to Ling Chi in the capital.

Although Li Dingguo fled back from Yuema Tanxi, he was indeed under the suspicion of his father for a period of time, his elder brother Sun Kewang and third younger brother Liu Wenxiu said nothing strange on their faces.

But in private, in Zhang Xianzhong's army, many people secretly chewed their tongues, "Why did Ai Lao Si fall into the trap of the dog officer and was captured? Why did some people come back alive? It is the confidant of the king who is responsible for contacting Yang Sichang's secret workers. what news."

Li Dingguo's cultural level is not high among Zhang Xianzhong's adopted sons.

Among the other three, Ai Nengqi, who died, was the most famous Kong Wu without brains, Liu Wenxiu was relatively average, and the eldest son was expected to be famous for having read books, and Zhang Xianzhong also valued him the most. Leave everything to him.

Therefore, it is also Sun Kewang's responsibility to collect and analyze the intelligence sent back by Yang Sichang's hidden work.

Since then, Zhang Xianzhong has thought about a question many times in his mind:
Was it an accident that the surprise attack on Xiangyang failed and Ainengqi was killed?Or is there a problem with intelligence work?Or is it that the troops who executed the order were out of shape and ineffective during the execution process, and sold their teammates on a whim?
In terms of motivation, if Sun Kewang killed Li Dingguo and Ai Nengqi at once.There was only one Liu Wenxiu left, and he was absolutely powerless to compete with him, even civil and military.Sun Kewang will inherit all of Zhang Xianzhong's positions in the future, and he will be completely stable.

If Li Dingguo just wanted to kill the brainless Ai Nengqi, it would be useless.

However, if he could criticize Zhang Xianzhong's intelligence chief for having problems, imply that he was cheating on the outside world, and tripped up Sun Kewang's tricks, it would definitely be a huge profit once and for all.

Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong really couldn't make a conclusion at that time.

Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo also occasionally realized in their hearts that their father was worried about this issue, but they didn't say it clearly or show it.

The army has maintained harmony on the surface, and Zhang Xianzhong has been secretly giving them a chance to prove himself for more than a year.

In the past few months, letting Li Dingguo storm Badong County, Shizhouwei, and Yongshun Xuanweisi to see if he can send most of the seized grain and grass materials back to Zigui after victory is actually part of Zhang Xianzhong's test.

It was tacitly understood by both parties that in order to avoid suspicion, Li Dingguo was relentless in killing people. He slaughtered all the chieftain tribes wherever he went. Except for enough rations for his own troops to feed for more than ten days, all other confiscated goods were transported back to Zigui.After a few months, I finally proved myself.

And Zhang Xianzhong personally went south this time, leaving Sun Kewang to guard the house, maybe it was also part of the test. Zhang Xianzhong just wanted to see how Sun Kewang would choose when the army's food and grass were all in the hands of Sun Kewang.

At present, it seems that Li Dingguo supports his plan very much and urges him to hurry up, so Li Dingguo should be fine.

……

It took Zhang Xianzhong another day or two. After learning about the situation ahead, he immediately went back and urged Sun Kewang to send the rear army across the south of the Yangtze River in batches as soon as possible, and also brought all the stored food needed for the troops to fight.

However, after sending this order back to Zigui, Sun Kewang dissuaded him a little.

Sun Kewang himself did not go south to cross the river, but sent a general as a grain escort to make a face-to-face plea to Zhang Xianzhong when he went south with the main force of the Chinese army and grain.

That general was named Feng Shuangli, and he was also an old subordinate who had fought with Zhang Xianzhong's army for many years. Zhang Xianzhong saw that he came with food, checked the amount, and found that it was a little less than what he asked Sun Kewang for. Feng Shuangli escorted him into the big tent for interrogation.

"Why is the military ration and troop assembly so slow? Didn't Wang'er try to transport Zigui's stored rations as much as possible?"

Feng Shuangli kowtowed tremblingly and stated: "Your Majesty, there are few boats and slow crossing of the river. General Sun was afraid that you would have to wait, so it was only the first batch of reinforcements and food that had just crossed the river. Let the last general bring them back first. The day will come. Besides, General Sun has something to say and wants to persuade the king..."

Zhang Xianzhong raised his eyebrows, touched his nose fiercely, and said calmly, "Say it!"

Feng Shuangli kowtowed again: "General Sun said that the king wanted to enter Hunan, and he saw the same thing as the three generals, presumably because he had found out the real situation of the officers and soldiers ahead, and he also felt that he should enter.

However, in the remote and dangerous mountainous areas, it is difficult to transfer grain and grass, and the loss is huge.Our army originally raised food for several months, grabbed the food in the south of the Yangtze River, and finally transported it back to Zigui for storage. Now it is transported back to the south of the Yangtze River again.

Why don't you go to the Yongshun Xuanwei Division to kill and slaughter a few more chieftain tribes, and use war to support the war? By the way, wait and see the reality of the government and army, and see if the main force of Shen Shu's army is really going north, and whether there is any new military news from Henan. Come.

General Sun also said that for the sake of the king, if Li Zicheng has the upper hand in Henan, then our army will not need to worry. We just need to kill more barbarians to raise food.The greater Li Zicheng's advantage is, the more Yang Sichang will draw from Shen Shuren to go north.

If the follow-up shows that Li Zicheng's attack is not good, and the officers and soldiers stabilize the situation, it may lead to the officers and soldiers getting more prepared, and our army has to fight quickly-specifically, General Sun has a secret letter to the king, please read it. "

Zhang Xianzhong took over Sun Kewang's letter of advice, and what he said in the letter was roughly the same as Feng Shuangli's plea, with two more points added.

One is that Sun Kewang has little confidence in Zhang Xianzhong's detailed operation system, especially last year's surprise attack on Xiangyang was counter-killed and his fourth brother died, which made him feel that Shen Shuren might often disobey Yang Sichang's orders and act without authorization.

However, Zhang Xianzhong's army has never been able to place close attention to Shen Shuren's side. Shen Shuren's subordinates are all direct descendants for many years, or because they followed Shen Shuren to get promoted and made a fortune quickly. A person who has resentment and is willing to be a traitor because he does not reward his meritorious service.

So much so that Zhang Xianzhong's army now has to rely on the surveillance of Yang Sichang to obtain all the sources of information about Shen Shuren's department.If Shen Shuren did something that Yang Sichang didn't know about, and even his boss concealed it, Zhang Xianzhong's army would be caught blind.

Therefore, Sun Kewang hoped that Zhang Xianzhong would be a little more cautious, don't worry.Although he couldn't produce any evidence, he always felt a little bad foreboding.

And the second point that Sun Kewang emphasized in his letter of remonstrance is to hope that once Zhang Xianzhong decides to relax and take it easy, he will not worry about the issue of military rations—the big deal is that he will continue to slaughter wildly in the Tusi Miao area, and he will always be able to hold on. live for a while.

Everything is coming to an end, within a month and a half.I have survived the hardest winter and the slack in spring. Now that it is summer, I can always find something to eat. Even if the food is not yet ripe, the vegetables are always ripe, and there should be a lot of wild vegetables.

If we can stay on the sidelines for a while longer, until the time when troops are dispatched to Hunan, the autumn harvest is about to come, or at least the time when summer grain is going to be stored in the warehouse, that would be the best, absolutely stable.

In the end, Sun Kewang also said that Zigui's grain storage should not be transferred too cleanly, nor should it be planned with the assumption that "if it succeeds in Hunan, all the troops on Zigui's side will be transferred to follow south".

Zigui's side is at least one of Zhang Xianzhong's army left behind, in case the Hunan side is unfavorable, at least there is still a way to enter Sichuan.

These remarks are also in line with Sun Kewang's consistent personality. He is more rational and calm than Li Dingguo. After so many years with the thieves, his heart is so cold that he will not calculate how many people kill, as long as it is beneficial.

So killing a few more chieftains and Miao tribes is nothing to Sun Kewang.It doesn't matter if the troops are raised to be more bloody and the military discipline will not be recovered in the future.

However, if it was normal, Zhang Xianzhong would be able to listen to Sun Kewang's reasoning in this way, but at this juncture, the situation is quite different.

"Wang'er didn't suggest that I put the whole army at once? What does he want to stay in Zigui for? If our army succeeds in Hunan, the officers and soldiers counterattack and cut off the connection between the army and horses left behind in Zigui and the troops who transferred to Hunan, wouldn't he? To fight alone?"

In Zhang Xianzhong's heart, his doubts about Sun Kewang also deepened. Now his inner balance gradually tends to trust Li Dingguo more.

However, what Sun Kewang said was indeed reasonable, and Zhang Xianzhong would not turn against his adopted son just because of this suspicion.
Therefore, he selectively accepted the opinions of both sides: he listened to Sun Kewang on the layout, and listened to Li Dingguo on the timing.

It not only allowed Sun Kewang to stay behind, deal with Fang Kongzhao well, and prevent him from being sent to his old nest.However, he did not accept Sun Kewang's point of "waiting and watching cautiously, inquiring more about the battlefield in Henan, and delaying the summer grain storage before entering Hunan".

He chose to join Li Dingguo, regardless of cost and casualties, and immediately stormed Yongshun Xuanweisi, and then from there along Tianmen Mountain north and south, divided his troops to attack Yuezhou and Changde in two ways!
After the order was issued, Zhang Xianzhong's army moved quickly. In just three to five days, they stormed and took down several chieftain tribes in Yongshun Xuanweisi.

Zhang Xianzhong did not seek to wipe out all the tribes in the large valleys in Yongshun Xuanweisi, as long as he grabbed some food and corpses, enough for the troops to consume along the way, and cut through a route to Changde, it would be easy. enough.

On the third day of June, Zhang Xianzhong's army pierced through the Yongshun Xuanwei Division and came to a dangerous place equivalent to the "Zhangjiajie Tianmen Mountain Scenic Spot" in later generations. After passing Tianmen Mountain and walking out of the mountain, the Hunan Plain around Dongting Lake is in front of it.

Zhang Xianzhong made up his mind and divided the army with his adopted son Li Dingguo.

Li Dingguo led an army to the north of Tianmen Mountain and attacked Yuezhou along the Lishui River to capture the mouth of Dongting Lake and prevent the officers and troops from reacting. Then they went south to reinforce Hunan by the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake waterway.

And he himself was in charge of the main attack, going south of Tianmen Mountain, attacking Changde along the Yuan River, and planned to attack Changsha after capturing Changde.

To put it bluntly, it was he himself who was responsible for personally attacking the fertile land, enclosing the land and robbing the strong men, while Li Dingguo did the hard work and fought to block the reinforcements of the officers and soldiers.

The plan was implemented very smoothly, and just three days later, when Zhang Xianzhong's army came out of the mountains, several counties in the Yuezhou and Changde prefectures did not organize effective resistance at all, and they almost went on the sidelines. All the rich and landowners were slaughtered.

The snowflake-like urgent report was quickly delivered to Fang Kongxuan and Shen Shuren's desks.

Shen Shuren was not on guard against the movement here, and it was impossible to be on guard—but it was not that Shen Shuren was incompetent, but because his official position was too small.

His jurisdiction only reaches Wuchang Mansion, and he can't get across the Yuezhou Mansion further south, and it's not easy to arrange detailed operations and sentries in advance, let alone arrange military patrols.

If he overstepped the bounds, the Ming court's laws could impeach him to the brim.

Therefore, it can only be said that Chongzhen was wary of his subordinates, and that Shen Shuren, a famous minister with both civil and military skills, outstanding ability and loyalty, could not put his heart to his heart and reuse him unconditionally and without limit, which led to all this.

To take a step back, if Shen Shuren had been made the governor of Huguang earlier, and the imperial decree had clearly given him the power of life and death in the Huguang area, wouldn't there be no such shitty things?
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PS: It's a little late, but this update is almost [-] words long.The enemy's reaction must also be described, otherwise only the perspective of the protagonist will be written, and you will not know how the situation got to this point.

My book deduction is relatively high-level, the enemy does not follow the history, so it must be deduced with a waste of pen and ink, don't be too watery.

Only those books in which the enemy is not disturbed by the butterfly effect and has always followed the historical inertia can not write about the changes in the hostile camp.

(End of this chapter)