The late Ming Dynasty in the living room

Chapter 161 A life-threatening battle
“Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!”

While the two were talking, the messenger in the distance had already put away the command flag, and instead took out a small gong from behind and started beating it. The gong beat two quick beats and one slow beat, meaning stop immediately, stop immediately.

The soldiers knew that today's march was finally over! They were already full of resentment, and at this time they were tired and hungry. Many people sat down on the ground without waiting for the second gong. The originally neat team suddenly became chaotic. Some people cursed the Henan people loudly (they didn't dare to curse their superiors), saying that they couldn't defend Kaifeng and caused the Baoding soldiers to travel thousands of miles to die; some people looked at the Laishui County not far away and shouted that they wanted to go to the city to play; more people scolded the cooks, saying that they were blind and didn't quickly set up the pot to cook for everyone.

Uncle Ding also took the opportunity to curse a few words, and then laughed foolishly with Fan Sihai, as if bullying others could bring a little sunshine to their gloomy lives.

Just as they were making more and more noise, suddenly a group of officers from the central military (also known as material officers) came riding in. They were wearing white Wenshan armor and holding long swords for beheading horses. The sharp blades of the swords were almost pointing at the faces of the soldiers.

The middle officer's face turned livid and he shouted in warning: "Silence! The land ahead is favored by the gods!"

"The Governor has ordered that we camp outside the city tonight. Anyone who disobeys orders and leaves the camp without permission, or who speaks rudely and disturbs the gods, will be killed immediately!"

Uncle Ding's silly smile froze instantly, and he couldn't even close his mouth in surprise...

Commander Yang Wenyue was not in the army.

At this time, the Laishui County Government Office once again became a temporary governor's office. Several intersections outside the county government office had already been under martial law, with large groups of officers and soldiers patrolling on duty, and the atmosphere was grim.

In the lobby, Yang Wenyue, wearing a red bullfighting suit, sat upright under a plaque hanging high above a bright mirror, his face expressionless, but the generals, deputy generals, and lieutenant generals standing in the hall did not even dare to breathe.

Fang Yu had the impression that Yang Wenyue was very gentle, with a smiling face. Even when he met Gao Er, Liu Ji and other minions, he would often take the initiative to say hello, just like those good-tempered old men in the park.

In fact, he was one of the most powerful people in the Ming Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, the governors-general were divided into two types: the governors-general for special affairs and the governors-general for military affairs. In comparison, the number of the governors-general for military affairs was smaller and their power was greater. The governor-general of Baoding was one of the few military governors-general. Moreover, his jurisdiction was close to the most important capital area. Moreover, the governor-general of Baoding governed not only Baoding, but also Zhending Prefecture, Shunde Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture, and Daming Prefecture. The overall jurisdiction was frighteningly large. Even after the eleventh year of Chongzhen, even the three prefectures of Shandong, Tianjin, and Denglai were once under the jurisdiction of the governor-general of Baoding. (Because the governor of Ji Liao died)
In later times, such great figures can only be seen in the news broadcast.

Yang Wenyue sat in the middle of the hall, and officers who came to report on military affairs came and went like a stream of water:
"The governor's battalion has 30,000 troops, and the town's battalion has 10,000 troops. They have now arrived outside the south gate of the county town. The two battalions are set up in separate plots four miles apart."

"Commander Kang Shide came to the gate and requested the central army to pay an additional seven days of horse rations."

"The baggage camp is still ten miles away from the resettlement site. Because two horizontal cannons (also called red cannons) fell into a pit and overturned, more militiamen are being sent..."

After the military affairs were properly handled, there was news that the foreign army came to contact:

"Ten thousand troops from Tongzhou arrived in Bazhou yesterday."

"Henan's general Bu Congshan has gathered 20,000 troops and stationed them in Sishui. Recently, an envoy came to Laishui County, saying that he is looking forward to our Baoding army day and night and is willing to help us. Bu Congshan also has a handwritten letter, please check it, Governor." "The 80,000 troops of the anti-bandit army have set off and will be stationed in Xiangyang. General Zuo Liangyu sent his deputy general Hui Dengxiang to Laishui County two days ago, and there is also a handwritten letter..."

Well, those of you who are familiar with the history of the late Ming Dynasty know that the war that Yang Wenyue is preparing for now is the famous Battle of Zhuxian Town.

This was the third time Li Zicheng surrounded Kaifeng City.

Unlike the previous two fierce attacks, this time he adopted the strategy of "cutting off the branches and withering the main trunk". Since the end of April, Li Zicheng divided his troops into two groups, one group besieged Kaifeng City, and the other group swept the counties outside Kaifeng, successively breaking through Xihua, Chenzhou, Taikang, and entering Guide Prefecture (now Shangqiu), and then breaking through Suiyang, Ningling, Zhangde...

From then on, Kaifeng officially became an isolated city, in danger of being attacked at any time!

Kaifeng City could not be lost at all costs, as it was related to the life and death of the Ming Dynasty. Once the city was broken, the capital would be like a beautiful girl who was powerless to resist a pervert and could only be forced to accept the invasion - the road from Kaifeng to the capital was flat and there was no strategic location to defend, so it would be a matter of a cavalry corps's charge.

Even if Li Zicheng did not take the capital, he could still cut off the shipping of the Grand Canal to the east, cutting off the food and supplies from the south, just as Anhui Governor Zheng Eryang said in his memorial: "Kaifeng is the hub and the heart of the country, the throat connecting the north and the south. If Kaifeng is not defended, there will be no Henan. If Henan is not protected, there will be no Central Plains. If the Central Plains is not protected, the throat of the (Yellow) and Hebei provinces will be cut off, and the situation in the world will be very dangerous!"

It was precisely because of this extreme danger that both Emperor Chongzhen and the high-ranking officials in the court had to show their utmost determination to lift the siege of Kaifeng.

They temporarily put Zhang Xianzhong in the south aside, then emptied the national treasury and the inner treasury, concentrated all the elite troops in the Central Plains and surrounding areas, and formed a large army with the last strength of the Ming Empire.

This army was commanded by Ding Qirui, the Minister of War and General Inspector of Henan, and Yang Wenyue, the Governor of Baoding, as his deputy. They led 40,000 troops from Baoding, 10,000 troops from Tongzhou, and a total of 100,000 troops from Shanxi, Sichuan and Henan.

In addition, Emperor Chongzhen also took out the gold vessels used for sacrifices in the palace and gave them to his son-in-law (brother-in-law) Gong Yonggu to sell, and also sold a few wild ginsengs left by his grandfather Emperor Wanli, and collected 150,000 taels of silver to "buy" Zuo Liangyu's 80,000 troops. (He promised 500,000 taels, but the other 350,000 taels were not paid until the end of the Ming Dynasty)

One hundred thousand plus eighty thousand, a total of eighteen thousand troops, went to Henan to rescue Kaifeng, claiming to the outside world that there were four hundred thousand troops.

This was the largest battle in the history of the late Ming Dynasty with the largest number of participants and the largest scale, and was later known as the Battle of Zhuxian Town.

Some people also call it a battle of life and death.

Because after this war, the Ming Dynasty no longer had the strength to organize a decent war.

Including the later battle of Tongguan when Sun Chuanting led 30,000 new troops to die bravely, but the court could not even provide him with the most basic food.

(End of this chapter)