Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

"Humph, you despicable villain, you don't know yet, do you? I have already sent people to the west of the city to change guards. The west city gate was opened wide this time because of my people. This credit must go to me."

"FNNDP! I have already informed my subordinates that no one will come to relieve the guard tonight. The west gate of the city was clearly opened by my men!"

"You're talking nonsense, it's obviously opened by my people!"

"it's me!!"

“It’s me!!”

Seeing the two of them suddenly start arguing, the humanoids' emotions became a little incoherent: "What are they doing?"

"I don't know, I'm not a human"

"Humph, you're still being stubborn! Do you dare to go in front of the Heavenly Soldiers and see who opened the city gate?"

"Just watch, who's afraid of who?"

After being ambushed and defeated by Scarecrow, Ma Huihui and his party prepared to bypass the enemy and head straight into the heart of Yangzhou. However, unexpectedly, Lin Yangcheng seemed to fall too quickly, and the expected delay was not long at all.

Ma Huihui and his companions, who were caught up again, had to temporarily avoid the attack and make full use of the cavalry capabilities of the old camp, where every soldier carried a horse.

Although Scarecrow has fast-moving troops like Dragoons, their number is indeed too small. Heavy firepower such as Steel Lions that have large-scale destructive capabilities move relatively slowly, and are indeed at a disadvantage in such a mobile pursuit battle.

However, it is not easy to catch up with you, but it is not difficult to force you away. The Scarecrow chased and blocked Ma Huihui and others all the way to the north.

During the journey, the Scarecrow discovered something very strange. When he was forcing the enemy's retreat route, he intentionally led the enemy to the direction with more towns. Ma Huihui and his men would not avoid the large cities or towns along the way. Generally speaking, these towns were heavily guarded. When these bandits passed through, whether for the purpose of military merit or for the purpose of eliminating the bandits, they would come forward to collect tolls, fight with the enemy, harass them and take advantage of them. In this way, they could delay the enemy and it would be easier for the Scarecrow to chase them.

However, these cities remained inactive strangely, as if they had not seen the other side at all. The night here was very quiet.

The Scarecrow couldn't figure out why this situation happened. Although there would be no losses, he felt like he was being dragged down by his teammates.

Ma Huihui naturally knew the reason, because the generals in the city chose to fight the bandits with words.

The relationship between the generals and the bandits in various places is very delicate. Because of the bandits, the areas under their rule have become miserable and have caused great damage to the city. Also because of the bandits, the generals have to send troops to suppress them. This suppression of bandits gives them a place to use their skills and a chance to demonstrate their own value.

As the saying goes, when the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dogs are cooked; when the birds are all gone, the good bows are put away. Without the bandits, these places will no longer be troubled by bandits. The power in the hands of the generals will naturally be returned to the civil officials, and they will no longer have the opportunity to make money by suppressing bandits. As a result, the generals in many places will suppress bandits, but not completely. They will always leave these bandits a breath of life so that they can continue to improve their reputation next time.

After a battle, the credit was enough and they had to get something practical in return. So, the clever bandits began to send people to contact these generals and proposed to resolve their disputes through literary combat.

What is literary fight?

It was about negotiating terms. These bandits in the late Ming Dynasty had only two options when they were desperate: either to pretend to surrender or to bribe the officers and soldiers and use money to seek a way out.

In the seventh year of Chongzhen, the bandit camps were besieged in Datong. Wang Pu, the general of Datong, accepted bribes and opened a gap to allow them to escape.

Such incidents were common. If these officers and soldiers had not let them off, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others would have been captured countless times. Even if there were more bandits, they were still unable to resist the state apparatus.

These were the usual tactics used by bandits in the late Ming Dynasty, and even formed a special rule. Before the two sides started fighting, the bandits would ask, "Do you want a fight of words or a fight of arms?" If the officers and soldiers answered "a fight of words," it meant that they could negotiate terms, which would be mutually beneficial. You get promoted and make a fortune, and I go to other places to rob food and money. We'll meet again if we're destined to.

If the other party doesn't respond or responds saying "I want to fight", then there's no point in talking. Just draw your weapons and start killing each other.

For this reason, when the imperial court sent troops to quell the rebellion, it did not recruit officers and soldiers locally, but instead sent the Liaodong Army south, with Hong Chengchou in command, in order to prevent this situation from occurring. This was enough to show that Chongzhen was still somewhat wise.

This was the reason why Hong Chengchou was sent with his men including Cao Bianjiao to chase Li Zicheng in the northwest. The soldiers Hong Chengchou led were all from Liaodong and they had no connections or interests with the local people.

Ma Huihui, Ma Shouying and other bandits were very skilled in using this tactic, so they had scenes of scarecrows chasing the bandits and people pretending to be dead in towns along the way.

The strange battle between Ma Huihui and the Scarecrow naturally could not be concealed from the various forces that were paying attention here. It was difficult to conceal the fact that Ma Huihui and others were heading towards Yangzhou with such a strong momentum. After all, there were 300,000 people, not 30 people. It was impossible to hide them.

Zhang Xianzhong has always been concerned about the development of the rebel kings around him to decide his future development path. The development of the Gezuo Fifth Battalion naturally did not escape his eyes, and it was he who informed Jiang Han.

Jiang Han's main focus is no longer on this. In his eyes, it doesn't matter how these anti-kings develop. The key is his own development.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, the Gezuo Fifth Battalion was blocked by the rebel king Jiang Han, and after a great victory, he directly killed the troubled king Lin Yangcheng, and then chased the four people like chasing dogs on the land of Fengyang. To be honest, even if Zhang Xianzhong had anticipated the outcome of this battle, he had never seen such a scene.

But this is just right. Now I have ample opportunity to attack Yingtian Prefecture.

"Master Cao, what do you think is our chance of taking Yingtian this time?"

Cao Ye, also known as Luo Rucai, slowly stroked his beard and said, "It is not difficult to attack the city and plunder, but if you want to go further, it will not be easy. Yingtian is rich, the city is strong and the artillery is powerful. It should not be underestimated."

Zhang Xianzhong nodded. At this moment, his army had been besieging Xijiangkou for two days and still hadn't taken it. This made him a little anxious.

"Huang Hu, why are you so anxious? Attacking a city is not that easy."

Zhang Xianzhong turned his head and looked at the person who was speaking. This person's name was Liu Guoneng, nicknamed Chuangtatian. Liu Guoneng and Zhang Xianzhong were in a cooperative relationship, but there was a lot of rift between them. Liu Guoneng had always been worried that Zhang Xianzhong would swallow up his own troops one day, so he had always been wary of him.

Zhang Xianzhong glanced at him and said, "Why don't you think of a solution instead of talking nonsense here!"

I know you are in a hurry, but don't be in a hurry.

Liu Guoneng laughed loudly and said, "This time, our rebel army annihilated the officers and soldiers in Luzhou and seized dozens of artillery pieces. There are more than a dozen red cannons. We can just use them to blast open the city wall!"

After hearing what he said, the generals around him praised in unison: "Master Liu is wise."

Luo Rucai also said: "Yes, using artillery to attack the city is a good idea. Order the rear troops to push all the artillery up and fire at one part of the city wall. The others are ready to attack the city!"

Zhang Xianzhong was slapped in the face, feeling a little unhappy, but he couldn't find any reason to refute. Just when he was about to say a few words to Liu Guoneng, he heard Luo Rucai say again: "Brother Huang Hu, the siege army will still need you to encourage them later, don't bother with him!

Zhang Xianzhong snorted coldly, rode his horse to the front of the battle, drew his sword and shouted loudly: "Use all your strength to break the city. After entering the city, you will be provided with two meals a day. The cavalry and the old camp will supervise the battle. Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed without mercy!"

"Break the city!"

"Break the city!"

Tens of thousands of bandits raised their weapons and shouted, very excited. The temptation of food was invincible.

Zhang Xianzhong drew his sword and shouted, "Attack, break the city!"

The horns of the bandits sounded, causing a commotion in the camp. More than ten thousand soldiers broke away from the main formation and began to attack the city while shouting.

"Kill the officers and soldiers!"

The overwhelming number of bandits instantly filled the outside of Xijiangkou City. A large number of bandits carried bags of soil and filled them into the moat. Ladders were set up under the city, and dozens of cannons not far away were ruthlessly pouring shells at a corner of the city wall.

The officers and soldiers on the city wall even saw the bandits with distorted faces on the ladders. With sweat on their foreheads, they threw gold juice, rockets, ten thousand enemies and other city defense weapons to the city. The officers and soldiers' musketeers also continuously fired bullets at the city. The fierce attack and defense battle that lasted for several days began again.

Volume 284: Chapter Chapter : The Qing Army Enters the Pass

"Changzhou has been taken already?"

Jiang Han was a little surprised. How come you fell down when I didn't even use any strength?

Not only Jiang Han was confused, but other cities in Changzhou were also confused. As the capital of Changzhou, the capital city carries the hopes of the entire Changzhou. Yesterday, everyone was united as one, but how come after a sleep the next day, the capital city changed its name to Jiang?

We are ready to fight to the death, why did Your Majesty surrender first?

Everyone has been inspired by you and is ready to sacrifice their lives for the country, but when they turn around, they see that you voted?

Oops, I got fooled!!

The merchants in Changzhou wailed loudly. They had spent both money and manpower to resist the thief Jiang, but when they turned around, the soldiers attacked. It was all over, all over!

The most infuriating thing is that this group of gatekeepers turned around and started to deal with their own people. On the second day in the city, they began to arrest illegal businessmen on a large scale. The more enthusiastic I was when I donated money, the more I regretted it now.

Now those in the provincial capital can't escape, so hurry up and send a letter to tell the family members in other places to return the money quickly, because the gate chief Jiang Han is coming to confiscate the property!

"Yes, the other party's surrender attitude is... uh... very positive"

How rare can a person be? M4 was really enlightened this time. Wow, he opened the city gates, offered the city, managed public security, collected property, integrated workshops, and arranged all the work for you to comfortably hand over the city to you. Anyone who came here would give him a five-star praise.

"...I feel embarrassed to punish him...Let's take him away for reform. If he is still useful, we can use him. If not, we can continue to educate him as a poor and lower-middle peasant."

"Good commander"

"You guys integrate the resources in the city first, I will send people over to gather the whole territory."

After giving some instructions, Jiang Han immediately started calling people: "Notify them to prepare for the meeting!!"

What kind of meeting? This time, taking over Changzhou, without a doubt, gave Jiang Han's forces another piece of extremely fertile land, but at the same time, this piece of land also brought a lot of trouble.

Because of one thing: Taihu Lake.

Taihu Lake is one of the five largest freshwater lakes in China. It has numerous rivers and ports and estuaries, with more than 50 major rivers flowing in and out. The seven consecutive years of Chongzhen drought presented a pattern of drought in the north and floods in the south. People died of drought and those who were flooded died of floods. The drought-stricken areas expanded eastward and southward year by year.

Every summer, torrential rains begin to fall in Huzhou Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture and other places around Taihu Lake. People here can watch the sea at home without leaving their homes, and crocodiles roam the streets.

After the 13th year of Chongzhen, rainfall in the north increased, and the situation turned into floods in the north and drought in the south. During this period, locust disasters were rampant and plagues began to spread. The plague also raged in the north at this time, and in the 14th year of Chongzhen, it swept across the north, causing great disaster.

There are more than 10 million mu of arable land in the Taihu Lake area of ​​South Zhili, which is greatly affected by natural disasters. If it were not for Zhang Guowei, the current Nanjing Minister of Revenue, who built Suzhou Jiuli Stone Pond, Pingwang Neiwai Pond, Changzhou Zhihe Pond and other ponds to divert water during his tenure as the mayor of Suzhou, the flood would probably be even greater.

The Taihu Lake system has numerous lakes and ponds and a dense river network, with excellent conditions for water diversion and storage. However, the imperial court had no money to build dikes and canals, and could not manage the water in a timely manner, resulting in the inability to open and close sluice gates, delayed diversion and discharge, and the inability to divert low tides and insufficient diversion for high tides.

If we want to govern Jiangnan well, Taihu Lake is the key. But how to govern it? How to govern it? How to specify a detailed plan? This requires a meeting to decide. Jiang Han himself certainly does not have this ability, but his biggest advantage is that he knows that he is a lazy dog ​​and is very self-aware, leaving professional matters to professionals.

The news of the fall of Changzhou also reached Hong Chengchou's ears.

Hong Chengchou is now in a state of panic. I've been rushing so hard that my throat is about to smoke, but I still can't catch up, right? The speed at which you guys are losing cities is too fast. I'm on the road, and the news of victory is coming from all directions?

Yingtian is in a state of emergency here, Changzhou has fallen over there, and turning around, a large number of bandits are active in Fengyang Prefecture. So where should I go?

He was wondering, what do the local generals in the south do for a living? How can they be so pig-nosed? They are just a bunch of bandits, shouldn't they just kill them indiscriminately?

The classic situation is that I kill people indiscriminately and then my teammates are killed indiscriminately.

After much consideration, Hong Chengchou decided to go to Fengyang for support as soon as possible. Firstly, the distance was relatively close, and secondly, the Zhu family’s ancestral tombs were all there, and there could be no more mistakes.

Hong Chengchou was in a bad mood at the moment, his buttocks were sore from the saddle from traveling so long, and someone bumped into his hand.

"Can anyone explain to me why, while bandits were wreaking havoc in Fengyang, the troops of Xishui County stood still and allowed them to plunder?"

The deputy general stepped forward and reported: "Reporting to the Lord, the general of Xishui County was celebrating his birthday in the camp at that time, and the troops of the entire Fengyang Prefecture did not move..."

The whole Xishui County was decorated with lights and colors. You were happy when you went up, I was funny when I went up, and the whole camp was in a daze after drinking a lot of wine. Fighting? What the hell!

Hong Chengchou was so angry. He was doing well in Liaodong, but he was wondering why banditry started to run rampant in the Central Plains again. How could he govern the Ming Dynasty well if he was with insects like you?

Who is the general of Xishui? Liu Liangzuo, who won a great victory in the tenth year of Chongzhen. At the beginning of the year, Luo Rucai's subordinate Yao Tiandong led 50,000 troops, claiming to be 200,000, to attack Yunyang. The general Mou Wenshou, who had only 4,000 troops to defend the city, asked Liu Liangzuo for help. In the letter, he praised Liu Liangzuo to the sky, saying, "My dear brother, come and catch me! I'm almost melting in prison!"

Liu Liangzuo was very touched by Mou Wenshou's praise and decided to send troops to support him. However, he set a condition, demanding that after defeating the enemy, half of the captured men and women and gold and silver would belong to him.

Mou Wenshou was on the verge of life and death, so he had no time to bargain with him. He readily agreed and told Liu Liangzuo, "As long as you send troops to help me, I will take all the things and I won't take a penny!"

Liu Liangzuo was overjoyed and immediately mobilized his 28,000-strong army to rush to Yunyang. When they were less than 200 miles away from Yunyang, he ordered the army to stop advancing and let the army rest for a day. At night, Liu Liangzuo led his army to attack the bandit leader Yaotiandong's camp, set fire to it while the wind was blowing, and the bandits were defeated and fled everywhere.

At this moment, Mou Wenshou led his troops out of the city, and with the help of internal and external forces, he defeated the Yaotiandong tribe. In this battle, he killed more than 30,000 enemies and captured more than 4,000 people.

This battle made Liu Liangzuo and Mou Wenshou famous, and they received various rewards and congratulations. In order to express his gratitude, Mou Wenshou even gave him 200,000 taels of silver.

With this reputation and money, Liu Liangzuo became more and more arrogant. Later, he began to command his own troops and dominated a region. This time when Ma Huihui and others attacked Fengyang, Liu Liangzuo also chose to fight with words. Ma Huihui spent money and he got the benefits, and he didn't have to fight. How great!

Hong Chengchou was very angry, but Liu Liangzuo had a lot of soldiers under his command. If he were to hold him accountable, there might be a risk of a mutiny in the army. Moreover, he, Hong Chengchou, did not have the right to charge a regional general with a crime.

In desperation, Hong Chengchou could only change his mindset: "Bian Jiao, Fengyang is in danger this time, you lead your cavalry to Fengyang first to stabilize the situation, and our army will be there soon. If we encounter bandits, do what is convenient for you, and don't just fight them head-on."

"Don't worry, Marshal. I will kill that thief without leaving a single piece of armor behind!"

Cao Bianjiao clasped his hands together, very confident, but he had the capital to be confident, because, he was Cao Bianjiao.

He was the nephew of Cao Wenzhao, the most powerful general of the Ming Dynasty, who led thousands of cavalry to hunt down hundreds of thousands of bandits. When the bandits in various camps saw him, they stayed away from him and did not dare to fight with him.

When Cao Bianjiao was young, he served in Cao Wenzhao's army. In several fierce battles, Cao Bianjiao was always the vanguard of the army and was known as Big Cao and Little Cao.

In the eighth year of Chongzhen, after Cao Wenzhao died in battle, Cao Bianjiao had been under the command of Hong Chengchou. He recruited the lost cavalry and reorganized them into an army. He pacified bandits in various places many times and was the bravest of the three armies. He was successively appointed as Lieutenant General, Deputy General-in-Chief, and General-in-Chief.

Historically, Cao Bianjiao was a good commander of troops, daring in battle and making great contributions to the resistance against the alien rule of the Qing Dynasty. He died heroically in the Battle of Songjin in the 15th year of Chongzhen.

In the Battle of Songjin that determined the fate of the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, Cao Bianjiao led several thousand cavalrymen to break into the heavily defended Zhenghuang Banner camp of the Qing army. They fought their way around as if they were in an empty space and directly attacked Huang Taiji's imperial camp and killed all of Huang Taiji's guards. Huang Taiji was scared half to death, his blood pressure was close to Zhen Zige, and he almost died.

Later, when Wu Sangui, Bai Guangen and others saw that the situation was not right and fled, Cao Bianjiao still led his men to fight against the Qing Dynasty, and all the men in the battalion were killed in the battle.

Cao Bianjiao has three thousand cavalrymen under his command, and every man carries a horse. They are just the nemesis of these bandits and the old camp soldiers. It is perfect for him to be the vanguard.

As for Liu Liangzuo, you should write a letter to the emperor and let him make the decision. I certainly can't do anything about it.

I don’t know if the emperor can still keep his blood pressure under control after seeing this.

Zhenzi's blood pressure was indeed difficult to control at this moment, and the reason was very simple: the Qing army had entered the pass again.

"The Tartar army entered the pass, claiming to have 200,000 soldiers! It is said that the Tartar army climbed the mountains for three days and three nights, broke through the Great Wall from Qiangziling and entered the pass. The Governor of Ji and Liao, Lord Wu, and the General Lu stationed in Miyun were killed in the battle!"

"Miyun! Not good! Miyun is only two days' walk from the capital! The Tartars will soon attack the capital!"

"Hurry up and order the soldiers of the Beijing camp to assemble! Resist the Tartars!"

The Qing army destroyed the Great Wall and broke through the border wall from Qiangziling in the north of Miyun. Wu Aheng, the governor of Ji and Liao of the Ming Dynasty, and Lu Zongwen, the general, were killed in battle. The eunuch Zheng Xizhao, who was in charge of the garrison, fled. The Qing army marched straight into Miyun and approached the capital.

Qiangziling is located 80 miles east of Miyun and is regarded as the last natural barrier to guard the capital. Tens of thousands of Qing troops crossed mountains and ridges to raid Qiangziling. The Ming defenders fought bravely for several days. Cavalry Commander Gan Jitai was killed when he broke through the pass, General Wu Guojun fled in fear, and the Governor of Ji-Liao Wu Aheng who came to support was trapped alone and captured exhausted.

At that time, Yuetuo, the leader of the Red Banner, forced Wu Aheng to surrender. Wu Aheng was righteous and said: "I was born as a general of the Ming Dynasty and I will die as a heroic spirit in heaven. I will never surrender!"

Yue Tuo was so angry that he cut off Wu Ahheng's knees, smashed his teeth, pulled out his tongue, and tortured him before killing him.

When the news came that the Qing army had broken through the pass, the capital was shocked and the people were in panic.

The escaped eunuch Zheng Xizhao was worried that the emperor would hold him accountable, so he reported to the emperor that it was his birthday at the time and Wu Aheng had come to celebrate, but he got drunk that night, which led to his poor command of the surprise attack, which allowed the Tartars to break through Qiangziling and he was ultimately defeated and killed.