In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 226 Governor Sun Chuanting

"Eunuch Gao, in order to conquer the Lin bandits this time, we, the Ming Dynasty's elite border troops, can be said to have used all of them. If we are not careful and the battle fails, the consequences will be disastrous.

What's more, at this time, the three generals, Cao and He, are far away at Ningwuguan, and their command is extremely inconvenient. If they send out troops rashly to attack, they are likely to be defeated by each other. If the father-in-law insists on marching in a hurry, then the governor will have no choice but to go to Ningwuguan. Warlord, let the father-in-law lead the generals of the Xuanfu! "

Faced with Gao Qiqian's pressure, Hong Chengchou simply acted like a fool. He would never march rashly without being sure of victory, not to mention that the three generals in Ningwuguan also really needed a supervisor to coordinate.

Compared with the eight general soldiers who commanded the Xuanfu, he actually preferred to supervise the three men who turned into dragons and congratulated people.

Because these eight general soldiers obviously sided with Gao Qiqian, the supervisor. If at this critical moment, he used Gao Qiqian to cause differences, these general soldiers did not obey his orders and did their own thing, no matter how many soldiers and horses they had. All must be finished.

This is also the main reason why he has been reluctant to advance.

Gao Qiqian's eyes suddenly lit up and he was quite moved, but he also knew that neither the emperor nor the civil servants in the court would agree to let him, a eunuch, directly control the eight chief military officers.

So he laughed dryly and said: "What are you saying, Governor Hong? Long Live Lord sent us here just to supervise military affairs. We don't dare to exceed the power of commanding the army. Governor Lu should report to His Majesty and choose another good minister to supervise the army at Ningwuguan." !”

"In that case, please ask the father-in-law and the governor to jointly submit the memorial!"

When Hong Chengchou saw that he was retreating to advance, he really frightened the eunuch. He sneered in his heart and did not mention going to Ningwuguan again.

"All right!"

Gao Qiqian did not refuse. Apparently he was really afraid that Hong Chengchou would give up his choice and go to Ningwuguan to supervise the army.

Immediately, the two drafted a memorial and rushed it to the capital eight hundred miles away.

The next day, Emperor Chongzhen received a joint memorial from the two.

"Yang Aiqing, in your opinion, who should be sent to Ningwuguan to coordinate the general troops of the three towns?"

After reading the memorial, Chongzhen did not ask anyone else, but looked directly at Yang Sichang, Minister of War.

Obviously, he also knew that now that Lin Rui had broken into Datong, it would be more advantageous to send troops directly from Ningwuguan to attack Xuanfu by detouring the army from Ningwuguan.

It's just that Cao Bianjiao, as fierce as a tiger, and He Renlong are of different types. It's impossible without a governor to coordinate. There will definitely be trouble.

"Your Majesty, you can switch the governor of Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting, to the governor of Shanxi, and temporarily control the three generals."

Yang Sichang thought for a while and said, in fact, the most suitable person is naturally Lu Xiangsheng, but he is not willing to let Lu Xiangsheng recover. Even if he is willing, His Majesty probably will not be able to lose face and issue orders to win love again.

Besides Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting was the most suitable. After all, Sun Chuanting knew the three generals very well. He and Hong Chengchou had cooperated with Hong Chengchou many times in the past to suppress thieves, and there would be no situation where governors and governors competed for merit and undermined each other.

It has to be said that Yang Sichang, the Minister of War, is still very qualified. At least he has the ability to recognize people and understand the overall situation at critical moments.

But after all, my knowledge is limited, and I cannot see that the Central Plains seems to be stable, but in fact it has become a huge powder keg.

After all, although Li Zicheng, the king of rebellion, has fled into the Nanyang area again from the mountains to cause rebellion, his momentum is still very small. Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai are also staying in Gucheng and Yunyang honestly and have not rebelled yet.

The other rebels all surrendered and hid, so neither Emperor Chongzhen nor Yang Sichang took Li Zicheng seriously at this moment.

In addition, the power of establishing slaves in Liaodong was also weak. Because of this, Emperor Chongzhen dared to transfer [-]% of the Ming Dynasty's capable troops to Datong Xuanfu.

In Emperor Chongzhen's view, as long as Lin Rui is eliminated, there will basically be no major threats to the Ming Dynasty in the future.

"Well, let's draft the decree then!"

"Your Majesty, the armies in Liaodong have always been arrogant and domineering. This war is related to the country of Ming Dynasty. I would like to ask your Majesty to give Hong Chengchou, the governor of Xuanda, Shang Fang's sword, so that it can be done expediently!"

Chief Assistant Liu Yuliang also stood up and played at this time.

Obviously he wanted to win over Hong Chengchou and fight against Yang Sichang, the Minister of War.

After all, if this continues, I am afraid that he will have to give up his position as chief assistant to Yang Sichang within a short time.

Chongzhen frowned.

Obviously since Hong Chengchou abandoned the Great Wall defense line and retreated to Xuanfu, Chongzhen's impression of him was extremely bad. If the war had not been imminent and he couldn't find a suitable supervisor, he would not have been given the opportunity to plead guilty and meritorious service. Now he wants to take it back I was extremely reluctant to give him the Shangfang Sword again.

But thinking that this battle was really important to Ming Dynasty, he only hesitated for a moment and nodded in agreement.

The imperial edict reached Shaanxi, and Sun Chuanting rushed to Ningwuguan after a long and dusty journey. It was already December, and the temperature was so cold that it almost turned into ice.

This time Sun Chuanting only brought a few dozen personal guards and entourage. As soon as he arrived at Ningwuguan, he couldn't wait to ask about the situation of the battle.

"Three of you, how is the situation in Datong now?"

"Futai, the bandit army is now divided into three groups, one is looting near Shuozhou, the other is in Yanghe area, and the main force is in Datong." Cao Bianjiao pointed to the map on the wall and introduced.

"How many horses and infantry are there in the three groups of rebels? Can we find out?" Sun Chuanting looked at the map and then turned around and asked.

He was not surprised that the rebel army was divided into three groups. It was obvious that they wanted to capture the three cities of Shuozhou, Yanghe and Datong.

"Well, the specific strength of the troops is unknown. At present, we only know that the cavalry is between forty and fifty thousand, all Mongolian cavalry." Cao Bianjiao said helplessly.

"Well, a general must first ascertain the enemy's situation before he can have an idea of ​​what's going on. Why has it been so long without even ascertaining the specific strength of the enemy's troops?"

Sun Chuanting frowned suddenly and looked at the three of them with a rather stern tone.

It would be fine if the other party was wandering around like the rebels from all walks of life in the Central Plains, but now the other party has been staying in Datong for almost three months, and they haven't even figured out the specific strength of their troops. This is simply dereliction of duty.

"Futai, it's not that we have neglected our duties, but that there are a large number of young men in the rebel army. There are as many as 15 in Shuozhou alone. It is really hard to tell who is the soldier and who is the citizen!"

"Yes, Futai, those young men, you say they are the people, but many of them have knives and guns in their hands. You say they are the army, but their clothes are obviously different from those of the rebel army. It is really difficult to distinguish them! "

The three of them hurriedly explained, with grim expressions on their faces.

"What? There are 15 people in Guangshuozhou alone? Are these young and strong men kidnapped by the bandit army? Then the old and the weak together must not number in the millions?"

Sun Chuanting's expression suddenly changed and his eyes widened.

"Futai, these 15 are not all young and strong. There are also many strong women, but there are no old or weak. According to what the general has learned, Lin Rui, the leader of the bandits, has won the hearts of the people in the Datong area, to the point where he has responded to every call. In fact, most of these young and strong men and women joined voluntarily.

Moreover, this group of thieves is not like the rebels in the Central Plains who burned, killed and looted. So far, they have not burned down and looted a single village.

Even those castles that they conquered only took away food and supplies. Not only did they not kill anyone indiscriminately, but even the female relatives of the wealthy families were not violated in the slightest. "

Cao Bianjiao explained. After speaking, the three of them were all amazed. It was obviously the first time they had seen such a style of rebel.

"This...this, how is this possible? Even if Lin Rui can restrain the Han people under his command, how can he restrain the Mongolian cavalry?"

Sun Chuanting also looked as if he had seen a ghost, with a look of disbelief on his face. He naturally understood that to achieve this, military discipline must be very strict. Not to mention a group of rebels, even the officers and soldiers could not do it.

The three of them were speechless because they couldn't figure out how the other one did it.

"It seems that this thief has great ambitions and his knowledge is not comparable to that of ordinary rebel thieves!"

After a while, Sun Chuanting looked at the map and took a deep breath, his tone unprecedentedly solemn.

A rebel who knows how to win people's hearts and has strict discipline can also drive [-] to [-] Mongolian cavalry to work for him. Thinking about it makes people shudder.

At this moment, Sun Chuanting began to complain about Hong Chengchou in his heart. He was so confused that he gave up the Great Wall defense line.

"How many people are wearing bandit uniforms on this road to Shuozhou? How many castles have they captured so far?"

Although he knew that this battle would probably be difficult to fight, Sun Chuanting still asked again, wanting to determine how many real troops the opponent had.

"In Futai, there were about [-] people wearing uniform clothes at the beginning, but now it has reached [-]. Except for Shuozhou City and several county towns, Qianhusuo, and Baihubu, almost all nearby civilian forts have been occupied by them. It's broken." Cao Bianjiao replied honestly.

"What, all the civilian forts have been breached? What do you do for food?"

"Cao Bianjiao, you have four thousand cavalry under your command, why don't you rescue them?"

When Sun Chuanting heard that the rebels had captured all the civilian forts, he also asked Cao Bianjiao loudly and heartbroken.

"Futai, I'm wronged. It's not that the general doesn't want to send troops to rescue, but Governor Hong has strictly ordered us not to go to war without permission."

Cao Bianjiao immediately cried out that he was wronged. It was not that he did not want to save, but that the thieves in Shuozhou had ten thousand cavalry. In addition, He Renlong and Fengruhu were unwilling to fight. Even if he wanted to attack without authorization, he could not do it.

"We must not allow the rebels to continue to grow. If I am not wrong, they should be training their troops every day, right?"

Seeing the three men carrying Hong Chengchou out, Sun Chuanting did not criticize him too much, but gave the table a heavy hammer.

He was even more dissatisfied with Hong Chengchou. Not only did he directly abandon the Great Wall defense line, allowing the rebels to break into Datong easily, he now had an army of 15 in Xuanfu, watching helplessly as the rebels attacked the city and continued to grow. Indifferent.

"Yes, in Futai, whether it is Shuozhou, Datong, or Yanghe's camp, the sound of forging iron is almost constant, and the sound of drills is heard from morning to night. If this continues, until the spring of next year, the rebel army will I'm afraid the number doesn't have to be hundreds of thousands." He Renlong said with a palpitating expression.

"Hey! Soldiers are more skilled than more numerous. No matter how many young men we have hastily trained, they are just a bunch of rabble. When the battle comes, if we are not careful, we will be defeated thousands of miles away. As long as our army works together and our soldiers fight bravely to kill the enemy, We will definitely defeat it!"

When Sun Chuanting saw He Renlong and Meng Ruhu, fear appeared on his face, and he quickly waved his hands to comfort them.

Then he wrote a letter, ordering people to bypass Datong and send it to Xuanfu without stopping. He wanted to communicate with Hong Chengchou and send troops as soon as possible to attack from both sides.

(End of this chapter)