A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 380 Legend
The officers and soldiers won a great victory that day. Under the hard pursuit of the cavalry of the Shun Township Army, only more than 1000 people including Liu Fangliang escaped from the last tens of thousands of soldiers.

Nearly 3 soldiers were captured in this war, and there were about 3000 taels of gold and silver, which were obviously captured by the soldiers near Ruzhou, as well as many carts and wheelbarrows.There are more than [-] shi of grain and grass, and an army of tens of thousands of people, with only this little grain left, it is obvious that the intruders are about to run out of food, no wonder it is urgent to attack Ruzhou City.

There were also a lot of knives, guns, bows and arrows seized, as well as more than 2000 horses and mules.Among the income, Wang Dou and Chen Yongfu shared the gold and silver equally. After careful consideration, Chen Yongfu divided more than 300 war horses, and the remaining [-] mules and horses belonged to Wang Dou.

Those carts and wheelbarrows, as well as knives, guns, bows and arrows, were all presented by Wang Dou to Chen Yongfu and Ruzhou Zhizhou Qian Zuozheng, which made them very happy.

As for the food and grass, he took it all by himself.

In this battle, the casualties of officers and soldiers were extremely slight, and such a great victory was achieved at such a small price, which made Chen Yongfu, Qian Zuozheng and others amazed, and they were deeply in awe of the combat power of the Shunxiang Army.

The news of Ruzhou's great victory spread, the whole city of Ruzhou was beeping with drums and music, and firecrackers were blowing. All the gentry in the city went to the gate of the city to welcome the victorious Wang Dou, Chen Yongfu and his party.Zhizhou Qian Zuozheng held a celebration banquet, and the city continued to jubilate for several days.

On that day, the victory documents of Ruzhou's great victory were also delivered to Kaifeng and Luoyang by horses. At that time, Kaifeng and Luoyang were shaken, and the names of Wang Dou and Chen Yongfu were spread in all the prefectures. Cited as a legend.

The good news spread to the capital, and Emperor Chongzhen and the cabinet ministers were not surprised by Wang Dou's victory.Although everyone has different attitudes towards Wang Dou, they have a rare evaluation of Wang Dou's army's combat power.

Although the victory report stated that this battle was the result of the joint efforts of Wang Dou, Chen Yongfu, and Qian Zuozheng, in addition, Henan Governor Li Xianfeng, Henan General Soldier Wang Shaoyu, and Wang Yinchang, who participated in politics, also had hard work in strategizing, but for the princes in the court Say, you know what's going on at a glance.

To them, it is normal for Wang Dou to conquer the rogues, and it is normal to win, but it is abnormal to fail. After all, Hong Tai, the slave chieftain, fled in embarrassment under the attack of his Shun Township Army.While discussing how to bestow rewards, the cabinet only urged Wang Dou to go to Luoyang, and only after the siege of Luoyang was relieved, he was asked to lead the army to Sichuan.

It was Yang Sichang who was angry. In November, he led the army into Chongqing. He promoted the former general of Shaanxi to be the president, and Zhang Yingyuan, the general of Huguang, as the vice president. Let them lead the army to continue to pursue Zhang Xianzhong.All the generals retreated here and there, as fierce as tigers, exhausted from running for their lives, and only knew how to burn and loot everywhere.

Yang Sichang ordered Zuo Liangyu to go to Sichuan for suppression nine times. Zuo Liangyu ignored the orders and did not move in Huguang. He Renlong left Yang Sichang early and returned to Shaanxi on his own.

The rest of the troops were either incompetent or domineering, which led to catastrophe in Sichuan. Shifang, Mianzhu, Anxian, Deyang, Jintang, Rongchang, and Yongchuan were looted by Zhang Xianzhong. No fireworks.

The fact that the siege and suppression of thieves went so bad was because there was no capable general. Yang Sichang was looking forward to Wang Dou's arrival, but what he was looking forward to was an official document from the imperial court. I hate the local officials in Henan very much.

In December, Yang Sichang was even more angry when he got the news of Wang Dou's victory in Ruzhou.Tens of thousands of bandits were wiped out under Wang Dou's attack, which proved his fighting power. If he came to his command, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai would have died long ago, and he could return to the court with glory.

Therefore, on the one hand, Yang Sichang urged the court to let Wang Dou come to Sichuan as soon as possible, and on the other hand, he personally wrote a letter to Wang Dou, asking him to quickly end the local affairs in Henan and lead the army to join him.

……

After the great victory in Ruzhou, Wang Dou rested in Ruzhou for a period of time, but after the news of the great victory came out, Wang Dou was not at ease resting in Ruzhou, because Kaifeng Prefecture and Henan Prefecture kept asking for help and urging official documents, all of which made Wang Dou Dou led the army to Luoyang as soon as possible.

In December, the situation in Henan Province became more and more serious. Now around Luoyang, not to mention the earliest counties of Lushan, Jiaxian, and Yiyang, it is Yiyang, Yongning, Lushi, Shanzhou, Lingbao, Mianchi, and Xin'an. Luoyang, Yanshi, Mixian, and Baofeng have been successively captured by Li Zicheng. Only Luoyang City and Ruzhou City in Henan Province have not fallen, especially Luoyang has become an isolated city.

It is rumored that Li Zicheng's troops, including the hungry people, were deployed in Mianchi, Xin'an, and on the two lines of Yiyang and Yongning. It was said that there were [-] troops.They are eyeing eagerly, and the trend of attacking Luoyang is becoming more and more obvious.

Facing the aggressive situation of Li Zicheng's army, especially the killing of King Wan'an, King Fu and officials of all sizes in Luoyang City panicked.Under their repeated requests for help, Wang Yinchang, who participated in politics in Henan, led Wang Shaoyu, the general soldier of Henan, and guerrilla Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai to Luoyang at the beginning of the month.The defense of Luoyang City was also stepped up, moats were dug, and city walls were built.

But this can't make them feel at ease. Chen Yongfu has already made a name for himself in Ruzhou, surpassing Wang Shaoyu, the commander-in-chief in the minds of Henan governor Li Xianfeng and others. He must go to Luoyang to relieve the siege.In particular, it is even more powerful. The legendary Wang Dousun Township Army can only go to Luoyang, and the officials of all sizes in the city will feel at ease.

So from the end of November, Kaifeng City, Luoyang City, a few official documents a day, urging Wang Dou to get up quickly.In order to impress Wang Dou, the officials and squires of Luoyang City promised that as long as Wang Dou came, he would definitely pay him more, and he would never break his promise.Li Xianfeng, governor of Henan Province, wrote a letter to Wang Dou, implying that he could not accept money and do nothing.

In fact, after Chen Yongfu received the official document in November, he planned to get up immediately, but Wang Dou didn't move, and he didn't dare to move.

The road from Ruzhou to Luoyang is not far from Yiyang, where there are many intruders. What if he is alone on the road and is besieged by bandits?What should I do if I am ambushed?So whether to move or not, he depends on what Wang Dou wants.

On the sixth day of December, after Wang Dou received an urgent letter, he finally "rested" enough in Ruzhou and prepared to leave for Luoyang.

The letter was written by Yang Sichang, which said: "The most important thing in the holy will is to sacrifice one person. If the generals and soldiers come...", there are a lot of letters, which means that the credit for capturing and beheading Zhang Xianzhong is the first in the emperor's heart. One, there is no need to flirt with Li Zicheng and other bandits in Henan and other places.

Of course, Luoyang City is a place of relatives, and King Fu is even the uncle of the current emperor. Yang Sichang was inconvenient to let Wang Dou ignore him, but he just persuaded him to come here as soon as possible after the siege of Luoyang was relieved.He, Yang Sichang, will definitely give him a great credit and wealth.

Putting down the letter, Wang Dou smiled slightly. Zhang Xianzhong would definitely meet for a while, but there was no need to travel thousands of miles to Sichuan by himself.At the same time, it is wonderful to have an outstanding force in hand, and all parties are vying to win him over, but he is sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai.

Knowing that Wang Dou was finally going to get up, Chen Yongfu was overjoyed, but Qian Zuozheng, the magistrate of Ruzhou, was quite reluctant.Wang Dou's army is not only outstanding in combat power, but also fair in business, and Qiu has committed no crimes, which is refreshing.During the period when he was stationed in Ruzhou, the common people and gentry praised him as the teacher of benevolence and righteousness.

When they heard that Wang Dou was about to leave, they were equally reluctant, and worried that the bandits would come back after they left.Qian Zuozheng hoped that Wang Dou could leave some soldiers and horses as guards there. Wang Dou considered again and again, and decided to leave Sun Sanjie's luggage in Ruzhou for future plans.

Sun Sanjie's general supplies have already left a whole force in Kaifeng to guard the food, grass and silver belonging to the Shunxiang Army in Zhuxian Town.However, Wangdou in Ruzhou has gained a lot. Qian Zuozheng has already supplied 3 shi of grain and grass, and 3 taels of silver from the local gentry to reward the army.In this seizure, there were also [-] stones of grain and grass, [-] taels of silver, and [-] horses and mules.

From Ruzhou to Luoyang, you have to go through some mountainous areas, and the transportation is inconvenient. In addition, there are supplies in Luoyang City, and there are future strategic plans, so Wang Dou does not intend to transport these grains, grasses and silver to Luoyang, so he stays in Ruzhou. , under the care of Sun Sanjie.

Wang Dou reckoned that he would gain something when he went to Luoyang, so those horses and chariots still rushed to Luoyang, but they went there empty, only carrying food and grass needed for a few days on the road.

Of course, artillery, gunpowder and other supplies must accompany the army. In the battle last month, the ten red barbarian cannons in Wang Dou's army showed their talents.Wang Dou hopes that they will continue to show their power in the future battle against Li Zicheng.

Qian Zuozheng was very happy that Wang Dou left the three generals behind. These people were called heavy soldiers, but in Qian Zuozheng's view they were very elite.

Before leaving, Wang Dou also asked about the situation of the nearly [-] captive invaders, as well as the thousands of disaster victims he had brought from Jia County.What Qian Zuozheng meant was to resettle them as civilians and recruit some of them as soldiers.

After natural disasters, man-made disasters, and military chaos, all parts of Ruzhou were empty and the people were short of people. If these soldiers were resettled as civilians, Ruzhou City could slowly recover. some assistance.In this regard, Qian Zuozheng is vigorously writing to the court.

"Thieves are also innocent children. If they are willing to change their ways and return to righteousness, and keep their own place, the imperial court should give them a chance."

This is what Qian Zuozheng said.

Chen Yongfu also agreed with Qian Zuozheng's opinion. Most of these captives were young and strong, a rare source of labor and soldiers.

Chen Yongfu intentionally organized some young and strong men among them into the army, while Wang Dou was a guest soldier and could not stay in Henan for long.And since he has already made a name for himself, in the future the provinces in Henan will rely heavily on him. If he proposes to train a new army, he will definitely get strong support from Henan Governor Li Xianfeng and others.These captives are a good source of soldiers.

In the Battle of Ruzhou, the Shunxiang Army gave Chen Yongfu a great shock, and he had already planned in his heart how to imitate the Shunxiang Army to train troops.

They are local generals and officials in Henan, they all said that, so what can Wang Dou say?He is here to make a name for himself this time, and to see how the rogues fight, and he is not willing to get too deeply involved in Henan's local affairs.

If they were ordinary disaster victims, Wang Dou also intended to take them back when he turned back to the east.However, these intruding soldiers who had been thieves were still exempted. I couldn't let them spoil the people under my rule.

In fact, Wang Dou suggested to Qian Zuozheng to single out and kill those who had serious vices and all the leaders among the prisoners of the Chuang army. Chance.It's just that Qian Zuozheng is submissive and doesn't take it seriously, so he can only wish him good luck.

On the seventh day of December in the 13th year of Chongzhen, Wang Dou left Sun Sanjie in Ruzhou, led the remaining Shunxiang Army, and together with Chen Yongfu, went to Luoyang in a mighty way.

Ruzhou Zhizhou Qian Zuozheng went out of the city to see him off, and the people in the city also mobilized, reluctantly, watching Wang Dou and others go away.

(End of this chapter)