Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 959 Advance to the Southwest
In the second year of co-government, at the end of April, Hauge, who claimed to drive the Western Army out of southern Sichuan within a month, failed to do so. His army has been trapped in southern Sichuan for more than four months.

After Sun Kewang entered southern Sichuan, he was still the same old way. He knew that the gentry didn't like him, so he didn't intend to make them change their views on him. His attitude was that every time he occupied a piece of land, the rich and powerful gentry, good or bad, would kill them all. Funds and land are distributed directly to the local poor.

In this way, he obtained enough military funds to allow him to continue the war, and at the same time obtained a certain foundation of public opinion, allowing him to gain a foothold.

Although the folks have a bad opinion of Sun Kewang, and the gentry who have the right to speak describe him as a murderer and a bandit leader, but ordinary poor people are not particularly disgusted with him. After all, he can divide the land, and Sun Kewang also has his own ideas. , "Resist the Tartars, kill all the injustices, my disease is uneven, the rich and the poor are uneven, now it is yours, establish a peaceful country, and let the tillers have their land."

"I would rather be a dog of peace than a person in troubled times." In one sentence, how much blood and tears were shed.

Throughout the ages, farmers and all self-reliant people have undoubtedly longed for peace in the world, hoped for a normal social order, and hoped for a clear and fair political system.

In an era of disputes, the Qing army, Ming army, Jin army, and bandits fought in Sichuan for more than ten years. The people longed for peace, so Sun Kewang proposed to give the land, kill all injustices, and restore peace to the world. Such a clear political proposition, or Very provocative.

This allowed the Western Army to gain a firm foothold in southern Sichuan and gained the support of many low-level people. When they faced the powerful Jin Army, although they were not defeated, the Jin Army captured the city, but they were unable to eliminate the Western Army. Formed a situation in which the Jin army occupied the city and the Western army occupied the four fields, so that Hauge's troops did not dare to attack deeply.

Hauge withdrew his troops from eastern Sichuan and turned to compete with Sun Kewang for western and southern Sichuan. Due to the gap in strength, Sun Kewang voluntarily gave up the occupation of western Sichuan and focused on defending southern Sichuan, which has a large population and is relatively wealthy.

At the beginning of the war, the Jin army was in full swing and captured Jiading Prefecture. However, when it advanced to Luzhou and other places, the situation began to change. It has been a month since the Jin army besieged Fushun. Frustrated, Hauge's offensive became a little weak.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty further increased its troops to the southwest. The two elite troops that originally belonged directly to the Huguang battlefield entered Guizhou, and even Wang Yan's personal guard, the Kesheng Battalion, had already arrived in Guilin, Guangxi.

Hauge attacked southern Sichuan in order to drive Sun Kewang out of Sichuan and regain the fruits of his victory, but now he is in a stalemate. The goal of capturing southern Sichuan may not be achieved, and the spies reported that the Ming Dynasty continued to increase troops, which made him impatient.

At the end of April, Hauge put all his eggs in one basket and left his division to continue besieging Fushun. He ordered Sony to take a detour to attack Luzhou with 2 troops, in order to end the war as soon as possible.

Who knew that Sun Kewang was eager to defeat Haoge when he saw that the Ming army continued to increase its troops. He saw that the Jin army had been attacking Fushun for a long time, and their morale would inevitably be low. He came up with the idea of ​​​​attacking the back of the Jin army.

The two devious armies met unexpectedly on the trail and fought a battle, but neither side's goals were achieved.

After this battle, Hauge had no choice but to retreat to Jiading Prefecture temporarily. Both sides realized that they could not drive each other out of southern Sichuan. Coupled with the pressure brought by the increase of troops in the Ming Dynasty, the flames of war between the two sides gradually extinguished. holding stage.

In May, in the hills and forests of Guizhou, many people were cutting down trees and removing weeds with hoes in relatively flat places, creating patches of dry land.

This kind of land was originally not suitable for farming, but the government shipped a large amount of sweet potatoes from Fujian this year, saying that they can be grown on dry land, and the people were skeptical, but the government distributed them first, and only charged for the sweet potatoes after they were harvested. Decided to give it a try.

At this time, there were many people scattered in the mountains, working on the dry land, and on the mountain road below them, a group of people and horses were winding forward like a big snake.

The working people straightened up, and saw countless people with dish helmets and red feathers on their heads undulating on the official road. There were more than ten thousand people. They lined up in three rows, with bright armor, carrying spears and flags, and walked forward with their heads bowed. There was no sound, only the creaking of carts and the lashing of animals with leather whips reached the ears of the people.

It looked like an elite army, but the people working on both sides of the mountain road were not surprised. Many people looked at it for a while, and then bent down to continue tidying up the dry land.

"Soldiers have been going all day long, this month is the sixth batch!" A young man held a hoe in both hands, looked at the officers and soldiers below, and said to no one in particular: "There are so many people. Who are you going to fight?"

An old man who hoeed the ground straightened up, "A few days ago, I went to Baozheng's house to get sweet potatoes. I heard that the imperial court suffered a loss in Sichuan last year. I guess this is to save face."

Another person stood up, "When the team of officers and soldiers who passed by a few days ago came to my house to beg for water, I heard from the military master that they were going to fight Sun Mowang, not Sichuan."

The young man who was the first to speak was a little unhappy when he heard this, "Old man Wu, don't listen to that guy Baozheng's nonsense, I have found out everything, this time the government stipulates that each household will be given [-] catties of sweet potatoes The idiot gave me [-] catties, and I swallowed [-] catties at once. You can calculate how many households there are in our village, and how many were swallowed up by that straight lady thief. Then King Sun just killed beasts like that straight lady thief, and returned it to you. Let's divide the land, it's not the murderous demon king that guy said at all."

"Niu Er, don't die. The Sun Demon King is an enemy of the government. In fact, the government treats us very well. Otherwise, we wouldn't have any sweet potato seeds. We just want to keep that guy right."

It was originally about talking about the military under the mountain, but the topic was quickly diverted.

In mid-May, the mobilization of various ministries of the Ming army was basically completed, and various materials were piled up like mountains.

Since the war broke out in September last year, it has been eight months now, and the Ming Dynasty spent nearly seven months preparing for the war.Now it can be said that the various ministries of the Ming army in the Southwest did not have to worry about food, clothing, and expenses. There were only two problems before the Ming army, one was morale, and the other was the order of the court.

The defeat in eastern Sichuan was a rare defeat for the Ming army in recent years. It lost nearly 4 people, and Hezhou had 5000 people. Only more than 1000 people were returned in exchange. It was almost a tragic scene of annihilation of the entire army. The blow was heavy, and the morale of the army was low. If Li Dingguo hadn't saved a little face in an ambush, the Ming army would not have recovered easily.

However, even if the Ming army killed the No. [-] warrior of Dajin, it would not be easy for the soldiers to restore their morale. People in the army were still in panic. There were private rumors that the Jin army was powerful and Chongqing might not be safe. Pessimism spread in the barracks, and In this situation, after the reinforcements of the Ming army continued to come in, the soldiers' confidence slowly recovered.

(Kneel and beg the masters to support the genuine version, please subscribe, ask for a monthly pass, recommend)

(End of this chapter)