There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

Yunyang Mansion, Fang County.

As soon as Fang Xiaoyu led the Second Mobile Combat Division arrived, he discovered that the operation to annihilate Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and others had ended.

He joked to Li Xiongxing: "Xiongxing, let you control the whereabouts of Zhang Xianzhong and others first. You have even done the fighting work, so let our army come over and clean the battlefield for you."

"Superintendent, most of the work was done by the guards led by Luo Shishuai. We only had a sip of soup when we arrived." Li Xiongxing explained quickly.

"Where are the Luo Kai people?" Fang Xiaoyu asked.

"He has returned to Xiangyang with his personal guard division. He said that the prince has sent all the troops to attack Jingzhou and Chengtian Mansion. He does not have any security forces around him and needs to go back as soon as possible." Li Xiongxing replied.

"It's time to go back, ensuring the prince's safety comes first." Fang Xiaoyu replied.

"Before Luo Shishuai left, he said that the prince had sent an order and asked us to make a simple tomb to bury Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai. Then, after taking control of the entire Yunyang, let you go to Xiangyang to meet up." Li Xiongxing sent a message.

"Then do as the prince wishes."

Fang Xiaoyu immediately arranged for people to collect the bodies of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, found two coffins, dug a hole to bury them, and erected a tombstone for the leader of the Ming peasant army, which also served as a memorial for the two of them. destination.

Then they captured Baokang, the last county seat in Yunyang, without any blood. Seeing the Zhenming Army approaching, the Baokang County Magistrate wisely opened the city gate and simply surrendered.

Fang Xiaoyu left one brigade each in Yunyang Fucheng and Fang County in the south to control the whole government, and he took the remaining brigade to Xiangyang to join together.

Direction of Chengtianfu.

Peng Xing led a brigade of the 1st Hubei Combat Division and the attached 3,000 recruits, a total of 8,000 people, rushing to Chengtian Fucheng day and night.

As the news spread that the Zhenming Army captured Xiangyang and wiped out Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other giant bandits that the Ming court had failed to wipe out for more than ten years, local officials in Huguang were greatly excited, and they all felt that the broken ship of the Ming Dynasty was about to sink. , the Zhenming Army will sweep across the world and will be unstoppable.

Therefore, except for a few stubborn civilian officials who were unwilling to surrender because of their integrity, other officers and soldiers, especially military generals, could not wait to surrender.

The towns that Peng Xing's troops passed along the way were determined by messages. As they marched, they followed Lin Feng's orders to reorganize and replenish their troops. By the time they arrived outside Chengtianfu City, their army had expanded to more than 10,000 people.

There was only one garrison from Qianhusuo in Chengtianfu City, and the other soldiers and horses had already been dispatched by Yang Sichang to encircle and suppress Zhang and Luo.

However, Liao Jiejie, the prefect of Chengtian Prefecture, was loyal to Emperor Chongzhen and summoned three thousand Minzhuang in the city. He personally came to the city and forced the officers and soldiers of Qianhusuo to lead Minzhuang to defend the city.

Peng Xing had not fought all the way and was feeling depressed. When he saw that there was someone who was brave enough to resist, he immediately opened up his formation excitedly. Without persuading him to surrender, he organized his army and launched a fierce attack from the north gate and east gate. .

The resistance at the north gate, which Liao Roger personally guarded, was relatively fierce, but the east gate defenders, led by Weisuo Qianhu, opened the city gate and surrendered after a burst of shelling by the Zhenming Army. In less than an hour, Chengtianfu City was declared lost.

The prefect Liao Jiejie wanted to commit suicide, but was stopped by his cronies on both sides and was captured together.

After Peng Xing led the army into the city, he quickly eliminated the remaining enemies in the city. According to Lin Feng's consistent teachings, he did not harm ordinary people.

Through interrogation, he learned that the prefect Liao Roger was an upright official, so he did not embarrass him and wanted him to continue to preside over the civil affairs of Chengtian City, but Liao Roger refused.

Peng Xing did not force him and asked him not to leave the city. He sent two soldiers to follow him and allowed him to move freely.

Peng Xing quickly restored order in the city and won the warm support of the people by following the methods taught by the Zhenming Officer Training Institute such as cleaning up the backlog, cracking down on big households, and renovating the old city.

Jingzhou Prefecture, Shashi.

Yang Sichang's eldest son Yang Shansong, the supervisor Wan Yuanji, and his staff Yang Zhuoran were sitting in the cabin of the big ship. Yang Shansong still showed great filial piety, and they were all anxiously waiting for the court's decree.

Since Yang Sichang requested an order to go out to Beijing to suppress bandits in June of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, the army has been defeated in a row, losing large areas of Henan and Huguang. Princes such as King Fu and King Xiangyang were killed. The entire record of suppressing bandits is a mess.

Now even the governor Yang Sichang committed suicide out of fear of crime, the army was leaderless, and the land of Jingzhou was about to face the front of the Zhenming Army. On the one hand, they were worried about the court's accountability and on the other hand, they were frightened and unable to withstand the Zhenming Army's attack. Several people also had sad faces.

The oppressive silence in the cabin did not last long. A sentry officer walked in quickly and said in a hurry: "My lords, something serious has happened. The Zhenming Army has already arrived!"

"What, the Zhenming Army has arrived so soon? It's four to five hundred miles from Xiangyang. Are they marching so fast? Is it a mistake?" Supervisor Wan Yuanji asked with luck.

"No, it's true that the Zhenming Army has a lot of armor and guns. They just made contact outside Jingzhou City and defeated more than 3,000 soldiers and horses led by Commander He. Please make up your mind quickly."

"How many soldiers and horses have come from the Zhenming Army?"

"Looking from the top of the city, they are all cavalry, overwhelming, at least tens of thousands of people." the sentry replied.

"Wan Jianjun, what should we do? You can make up your mind." Yang Shansong asked. Yang Sichang is dead, so the army will naturally be led by the supervisory army.

"I, let's go to the city head first and have a look." Wan Yuanji couldn't come up with any ideas and decided to go to the city head first to ask the generals for their opinions.

Wan Yuanji and others immediately left the ship and entered Jiangling City, the capital of Jingzhou Prefecture, from the east gate that had not been surrounded by the Zhenming Army.

As soon as they arrived at the North City Gate, the roaring artillery shells of the Zhenming Army came up, and several people hurriedly hid in a strong tower.

The generals leading the army, He Renlong and Fengruhu, were already hiding inside. He Renlong's arm was injured, as if he had been shot.

After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, the Zhenming Army's shelling finally stopped.

A commander-in-chief rushed in with a leaflet and said: "My lords, the Zhenming Army has shot a large number of these leaflets and ordered us to surrender within an hour, otherwise we will attack the city in a massive way. After the city is broken, we will be attacked by commander-in-chief and above." All the generals were beheaded.”

Supervisor Wan Yuanji took it and took a look at it before giving it to He Renlong and others for circulation.

Then he asked: "General He, General Meng, what do you two think?"

He Renlong first answered: "The Zhenming Army is very powerful. Their cavalry carries so many artillery with them, and their range exceeds the artillery at the top of our city.

The firecrackers they were equipped with were very strange. They were loaded from behind and fired very fast. My arm was injured by this firecracker.

I think it's difficult to resist the enemy. For the sake of my brothers' lives, I'd better surrender. "

"Hey, it's not that my tiger is not loyal to the court, it's just that the difference in strength is too big. We were severely defeated by Zhang Xianzhong. I heard that the Zhenming Army only took half a month to annihilate Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, killing two Giant pirates, what can we do to fight the Zhenming Army?
I don’t think we have to make unnecessary sacrifices and surrender. Anyway, even Master Lu Xiangsheng can surrender to the Zhenming Army, so it doesn’t matter if we surrender. "

"Mr. Yang, what's your opinion?" Wan Yuanji respected Yang Sichang, so he continued to ask Yang Shansong for his opinion.

"My father's body is still cold. My biggest wish now is to take my father's body back to my hometown for burial. As long as the Zhenming Army can agree to this, I will also agree to surrender." Yang Shansong replied.

"Okay, since everyone is unanimous, Commander Meng, please send someone out of the city to contact the Zhenming Army. As long as the lives and property of our Ming Army generals are guaranteed, and the remains of Master Yang Sichang can be returned to his hometown for burial, we will open the city and surrender. ." Wan Yuanji ordered.

"Yes! I'll contact you right away!" Meng Ruhu agreed.

Huang Hongchang outside Jiangling City met with the surrender representatives sent by Mengruhu and basically agreed to their two demands. This was not a big deal.

Therefore, Wan Yuanji and others opened the gates of Jiangling City and asked to surrender, and the Zhenming Army occupied Jingzhou City.

Immediately, he spread the word to other counties and cities, and soon took control of the entire Jingzhou Prefecture. Yunyang, Xiangyang, Chengtian, and Jingzhou in Huguang all fell under the control of the Zhenming Army.

(End of this chapter)