Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 113 Leading the Emperor’s Horse

Plans don't change fast!
Emperor Chongzhen had a deeper understanding of this sentence!

Needless to say, the imperial reinforcements outside the city were the new Beijing army led by Emperor Chongzhen himself.

Originally, he had discussed with the generals that there were about [-] bandit troops outside Baoding City. How should they fight?
There are two ways to play, one is to capture the thief first and capture the king first.Once they arrived at Baoding, they attacked the center of the rebel army and defeated the main force. The rest of the army was naturally vulnerable.

Another way of playing is to attack the miscellaneous army of the thief army by surprise, and drive the miscellaneous army to attack the middle army of the thief army, so that the middle army of the thief army cannot effectively counterattack, thus defeating the thief army.

Unexpectedly, just as we set out in the dark, it started to rain, and the military firearms could no longer be used.

After arriving in Baoding, I found that the rebels were attacking the city so early, and they were fighting fiercely, almost with all their strength, and they were about to capture Baoding City.

Ever since, there is no need to worry about which tactic to choose, just cover and kill!

The rebel camp outside the city had already been swept by the government troops. Of the nearly [-] imperial officers and soldiers, [-] were beating the rebels' butts.Emperor Chongzhen led five to six thousand troops as a reserve force. The soldiers did not attack and could only fight outside the city.

He saw Jin Zhensun and other generals who had guaranteed their status rushing as fast as they could, and their cavalry shot into the south gate like a sharp arrow.

"Kill..."

In fact, there is no suspense about the outcome.

The moment the imperial officers and soldiers appeared, the bandits lost their fighting spirit and began to flee.Today's imperial officers and soldiers are just chasing and killing.

The thieves who have already entered the city cannot retreat and have no way to escape, and some are still resisting.

Fang Zhenghua stood beside Emperor Chongzhen and said with some emotion: "Thanks to your Majesty for leading the army to arrive in time, otherwise Baoding City would have been lost!"

He used to be the director of Baoding, and he was assigned to supervise the army here, so he was somewhat sentimental.It’s really great to be able to save him!

Emperor Chongzhen just smiled slightly after hearing this, and then said: "That's it, pass on the decree, and those who surrender will avoid death!"

Therefore, as the decree was passed down, the voice of "Those who surrender will be spared death" became the loudest voice in the sky above Baoding City.

On Emperor Chongzhen's side, Zhongyong Bo Zhou Yuji, who did not participate in the battle, came to Emperor Chongzhen's side after inspecting the Dashun Army camp. He said with a smile: "Your Majesty, there is a large amount of food and grass in the rebel camp, which is enough for our army to at least After a month, there are still many siege equipment that have been built but have not yet been assembled.”

This food and grass is definitely good news, it can just make up for the shortage of food and grass brought by the army from Jin.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded with satisfaction and said: "Zhou Qing, go and prepare. The next step is up to you!"

"The general will obey the order!" Zhou Yuji immediately became serious after hearing this. He immediately clasped his fists to accept the order and replied loudly.

The battle to relieve the siege of Baoding was just the beginning of the battle in Gyeonggi.

This battle was an unexpected victory, and it was a good start, but more importantly, it depends on the next battle.

If they win, it will not be a problem to defeat or at least repel Li Zicheng's army; if the expected combat goal cannot be achieved, then Emperor Chongzhen and his army will be in embarrassment for a while, looking for opportunities to fight Li Zicheng's main army again.

About an hour later, from outside the city, imperial officers and soldiers were everywhere escorting prisoners to the original Dashun Army camp outside the city for centralized custody.The people in the city, led by Baoding Governor Shao Zongyuan, rushed out of Baoding City and came to greet the emperor.

The cry of "Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" was full of sincerity and resounded in the sky above Baoding City.

The drizzle continued, but it could not dissipate the enthusiasm.All the people, men, women, old and young, officials and common people, paid no attention to the rain falling on them.

Emperor Chongzhen was wearing three layers of armor and sitting on a tall horse. At a glance, he saw that there were people kneeling in the mud, in the blood, and next to the corpse. He immediately shouted loudly: "Ping Sheng!"

The energetic voice spread far away.

Emperor Chongzhen's voice continued: "...be careful of getting caught in the rain and cold. Those who have no responsibilities should go home quickly."

However, none of the soldiers and civilians of Baoding City stood up and moved. They all looked at their emperor, their eyes full of gratitude!
If the emperor had not personally led the army to rescue him, Baoding would have fallen and many families would have been killed!

Your Majesty, that one who rides on the horse with extraordinary valor is the current Emperor!
Shao Zongyuan responded respectfully: "Your Majesty's body of thousands of gold is especially drenched by the rain. How can I take shelter from the rain first!"

When other people heard this, they became worried and tried to persuade the emperor to take shelter from the rain.

Everyone's voice is not loud, and they may even be facing the emperor, so they speak in a low voice.But they were all worried about the emperor's health, so they spoke out.

These sounds gathered together and became very chaotic, like a vegetable market, with a "buzzing" sound.

Emperor Chongzhen glanced at the concerned faces he could see, without any pretense, and immediately said: "Shao Qing, lead the way, everyone go back!"

After hearing this, Shao Zongyuan stepped forward and led the emperor's horse.

The people still didn't leave, they all watched the emperor see him off.

Emperor Chongzhen understood that if he didn't leave, they would most likely not leave.

So, without being pretentious, he was led by Shao Zongyuan, sat on his horse and headed for the city.Wherever he passed, the soldiers saluted, and others bowed their heads in salute.

After passing the city gate, Emperor Chongzhen found that many lightly wounded soldiers were standing or sitting under the eaves of the street and saluted him before they could be dealt with.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw it, he said, "Liu Lanyu!"

When the female general Liu Lanyu who was following him on horseback heard this, she immediately clapped her horse forward and responded with clasped fists: "The general is here!"

In the team behind the emperor, there was a group of heroic female generals, who naturally attracted attention.But before, everyone's attention was on the emperor, but with this appearance, everyone suddenly focused on the female general, with curiosity in their eyes.

I only heard Emperor Chongzhen's instructions: "Please lead the soldiers of Lanling Camp to assist Baoding City in rescuing the injured soldiers."

In the current Lanling Camp, except for Liu Lanyu herself and several female companions who are military generals, the soldiers recruited are all female soldiers for rescue.Along the way, I have learned a lot about basic nursing.Of course, there was some guidance from Emperor Chongzhen.Now, there is a place for it.

"The general obeys the order!" Liu Lanyu responded immediately after hearing this, then rode out of the queue, issued an order to her men, and joined the ranks of treating the wounded.

When the wounded soldiers saw them bandaging their injuries, they were all excited and didn't know how to heal!

Emperor Chongzhen just saw this and moved on. For him, there was still a lot to do.

Not long after, Emperor Chongzhen sat in Shao Zongyuan's original seat in the lobby of the Governor's Office, with civil and military officials lined up underneath.

On the civilian side, there are local officials headed by Shao Zongyuan.On the military general's side, the Beijing camp commander stood at the front, followed by the local generals behind him.

At this time, everyone was listening with excitement as the Governor of Baoding reported the war situation in Baoding to the emperor.

Shao Zongyuan naturally wanted to repay the money and effort provided by the big families in the city, such as the Zhang family, Jin family, etc. Of course, he also wanted to repay the military generals, including local and guest generals;

Of course, these are just preliminary achievements, after all, the emperor is here.The specific merits will still need to be reported.

After saying this, Shao Zongyuan suddenly knelt down solemnly and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "If Your Majesty had not personally led the army to rescue today, Baoding would have fallen, and the people would become the prey of the bandit army. I don't know how many families would be destroyed and people would be killed. Your Majesty, Baoding will definitely fall." The kindness is recreated, and as a local magistrate of Baoding, I thank the emperor for his kindness on behalf of the people under his rule!"

After saying this, he kowtowed and went down.

When other officials from Baoding saw this, they came out one after another and followed him. While kneeling on the ground, they chanted in unison: "I thank you for your kindness!" Before, they were really desperate. .As a result, they never expected that the current emperor would personally lead the army to kill them, saving their lives and saving them from the separation of life and death from their relatives.

In fact, they have actually tasted the feeling of separation between life and death, because they are really desperate.Likewise, they were grateful from the bottom of their hearts for the emperor's kindness of reinvention.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw this, he said kindly: "Everyone is safe!"

The emperor's favor is there, there is no need to be modest, and as an emperor, there is no need to be modest!

Shao Zongyuan obeyed the order, led the people behind him to stand up, and then said with confidence: "Your Majesty's arrival, the people of Baoding will feel at ease!"

Unexpectedly, after Emperor Chongzhen heard this, his face became serious and he said to him: "This time we only defeated a partial force of Li Thief's army. The main force of Li Thief is still alive. I will lead the army to fight again. I want you to continue to hold on to Baoding. If you have any difficulties, tell me first!"

Upon hearing this, Shao Zongyuan and others came to their senses. Yes, Li Thief's main army went to attack the capital.According to the emperor's opinion, it was not the emperor who defeated Li's army and later rescued Baoding.

Seeing their dazed look, Emperor Chongzhen continued: "The army I am leading is the newly formed Jingying camp. There are only [-] untrained soldiers, and they cannot go head-to-head with the bandit army. Baoding must continue to hold on. , until I defeat the main force of Li Thief’s army. Among them, it is not certain that Li Thief’s army may come to attack Baoding again.”

If the troops are strong or have an advantage, the siege can also be turned into a siege for reinforcements.

This move was used by Liaodong Jianlu many times.For example, the Ming army besieged Jinzhou and then rescued it. It worked repeatedly!
It is not easy for Li's army to attack the capital, but it is relatively easy to attack Baoding.If there are no reinforcements to rescue, Baoding will easily fall.But if reinforcements rescue Baoding, Li's army can attack the reinforcements instead of chasing them.

Regarding this point, Emperor Chongzhen discussed this with the generals before leading his troops to rescue him, and felt that it was one of the tricks Li Thief might use.

If you don't want to be fooled, either the reinforcements have the strength to defeat Li's army; or Baoding needs to ensure that it can hold on for a long time and consumes the food and supplies of the rebel army and has to retreat.

This cracking method is also suitable for dealing with Liaodong Jianlu.Take the Battle of Songjin as an example. If Jinzhou can hold on and the reinforcements led by Hong Chengchou just stay on the periphery without saving them, they will drain all the energy of the Liaodong Jianlu!

After all, if a large army besieges a city, it will cost you a lot!

It’s just that Emperor Chongzhen didn’t travel back in time before this period of history took place, otherwise, it wouldn’t be so difficult now!

At this time, Shao Zongyuan felt a chill in his heart after hearing the emperor's words.If possible, I really don't want to go through the previous city defense battle again.

But he had to go through it if he didn't want to do it again. After thinking about it, he was not polite and immediately raised the difficulty of defending the city to the emperor.

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen said to him without much hesitation: "On the issue of food and grass, I have seized a large amount of food and grass outside the city. Most of it can be stored in Baoding City and used as needed. As for the military strength, Liu Jiuqing?"

"The general is here!" Liu Jiuqing, one of the six generals in the Beijing camp, heard the emperor calling his name and immediately came out of the queue to respond.

Emperor Chongzhen looked at him and issued an order: "You will lead your four thousand infantry troops to garrison Baoding and follow Shao Qing's orders."

"The general will obey the decree!" Liu Jiuqing was actually unwilling in his heart, but since the decree was given, he had no choice but to agree.

In this way, the food, grass and troops needed for Baoding to defend the city have been solved.

After hearing this, Shao Zongyuan asked for instructions again: "Your Majesty, what should we do with the prisoners outside the city?"

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen did not answer him directly, but named him again: "Where is Ma Ke?"

"The general is here!" When Ma Ke heard this, he didn't know what was going on and didn't dare to neglect, so he quickly came out of the queue and replied.

Emperor Chongzhen looked at him, was silent for a moment, and then said: "You have served Baoding well, so I will transfer my troops to the capital camp, select troops from the prisoners outside the city, and expand it to five thousand troops."

"The general will obey the order!" When Ma Ke heard this, he was immediately overjoyed and responded with a louder voice.

It seems that he was right to stick to Baoding. Now that he has joined the newly formed Beijing camp, he no longer has to worry about the affairs of the camp and can concentrate on fighting, and the emperor can see it.

Emperor Chongzhen called the names of other generals in the capital camp and ordered them: "You also go and choose some, maybe five hundred or one thousand, it depends on you."

"The general will obey the order!" He Zan and others were overjoyed after hearing this and quickly agreed.

Later, Emperor Chongzhen looked at these general soldiers and ordered: "Still the same principle, tell those prisoners that they can join the army or go home, but they must not become thieves again!"

If there is no replenishment of soldiers, the army's strength will only become smaller and smaller when fighting.Obtaining soldiers from prisoners and transforming them for use is the most direct method.

Originally, these prisoners could also be added to the Baoding garrison.But they had just attacked Baoding, and the two sides had a grudge.Emperor Chongzhen thought for a moment and decided to forget it. He directly transferred a group of troops from the Beijing camp to Baoding, and he himself supplemented it from the prisoners.

There is no time to do ideological work, but the promise of military pay can indeed be obtained.If they are inserted into each squad of the original army, there is basically no need to worry about anything happening to them.

Unless you have a deep grudge against the imperial court, entering the capital camp and serving in front of the imperial court is the best way out.You don’t need to be taught how to choose.

On Marco's side, it might be a little more troublesome.His own soldiers and horses, the real elite, are just his servants.

After the Baoding city defense battle, he only had 500 men under his command. Expanding to 5000 men and horses was a test for his leadership ability.

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen had already planned that if he really wanted to attack the city later, this army would go first.Even if they do not attack the city, they will not assign the most important tasks to this army.After the Battle of Gyeonggi is over, we can go back and reorganize again.

After giving the instructions, Emperor Chongzhen said solemnly: "The whole army will rest today and set out early tomorrow morning!"

"I will obey the order!" Everyone responded in unison, whether they knew where they would go tomorrow.

After the military meeting, Emperor Chongzhen went to the back office to take off his armor and change his wet clothes. What should be dried, Fang Zhenghua naturally asked Jin Yiwei to do it.

After a battle, it's still rainy, so rest and recuperation is a must.

However, Emperor Chongzhen had not yet rested. Next, he met with his ministers alone, such as Shao Zongyuan, Zhang Luojun, Jin Yudong and others.

In fact, the whole city is busy.

Shao Zongyuan had to mobilize the people to move grain outside the city. He also had to transport the corpses accumulated in the city and bury them outside the city. He also had to cut down some firewood and repair the damaged city walls. There were many things to do.

The generals had to change their defenses, select and place prisoners, and the soldiers also had to keep warm and dry their clothes, etc. It could almost be said that the entire city of Baoding was very busy inside and outside.

Later, the situation of the war became clearer and was reported to Emperor Chongzhen.

The thief general Liu Fangliang escaped. In addition, he learned from the captured thief that Baoding South Gate guard Wang Dengzhou surrendered to the thief and opened the south gate.Therefore, Wang Dengzhou, who was originally held to account for the crime of losing the city gate, was interrogated again.

According to Emperor Chongzhen's practice, it goes without saying that he left it to the common people to vent their anger.

Just because Wang Dengzhou opened the door this time, countless people died in Baoding City. After their relatives knew the truth, they naturally wanted to eat Wang Dengzhou's flesh!
In the prison camp outside the city, a total of 3 people were captured, which was about half of the Dashun army.After reporting to Emperor Chongzhen, these 3 people actually wanted to join the army and join the Beijing camp.

This time, it was Emperor Chongzhen who was in trouble.

He has less than 4 people in total. If he digests [-] prisoners at once, he will be exhausted to death.

Finally, after selecting the best, Emperor Chongzhen sent a team of troops, leading about 1 captives, and organized them into a field army. They entered Jin from Zijin Pass and arranged for them to farm.In this era, there is a shortage of mature men everywhere.

In the evening, Emperor Chongzhen was discussing matters with local officials in Baoding. He saw He Zhen coming to report in a hurry. He was shocked and reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, we have captured the rogue messenger from Taiyuan at night. After interrogation, we learned that , there is a famine in Taiyuan Prefecture, and we urgently ask the leader of the thieves to provide food."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was a little surprised and said: "Is there no food at this point?"

(End of this chapter)