Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

Even Wang Wannian was a little panicked. In the past, when suppressing bandits, the officers and soldiers always had the advantage of firearms, and they used cannons and muskets to bully and beat the bandits. It was so comfortable to use long arms to beat short arms. As a result, the other side switched lanes, and the Titan Draven on the opposite duo lane came up and started the game with you directly, leaving all the Ming army soldiers at a loss.

Wang Wannian watched his carefully trained soldiers fall one after another, and his heart was broken. He was fighting refugees, but now the dead were precious fire gun soldiers! He shouted to the terrified Yang Sichang: "Governor, Li Zai Gan is a demon! Do something! Quickly order the cavalry on both wings to counterattack and seize the artillery!"

Yang Sichang was at a loss and said, "Okay, okay, order He Renlong on the left wing and Hu Dawei on the right wing to lead the elite cavalry to attack and seize the cannon..."

After the military order was issued, Wang Wannian finally breathed a sigh of relief. If the central army continued to endure the bombardment of artillery fire, their morale would surely drop greatly. If the cavalry of the Chuang army and the soldiers of the old camp took the opportunity to attack, the central army would inevitably collapse, and even the Golden Immortal could not save it!

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

The artillery shells of the Chuang army kept falling, the hard and solid iron balls hit the ground heavily, then bounced up, and rushed through the Ming army, bringing with them a teeth-grinding sound of bones breaking. Limbs, weapons, and blood mist were everywhere, and some soldiers with broken limbs had blood gushing out of their wounds like fountains.

There were constant sounds of people shouting and horses neighing. Hu Dawei and He Renlong had led the cavalry on both wings to launch an attack, intending to rush to the front of the Chuang army and seize the artillery formation.

However, they did not expect that the artillery of the Chuang army was so fierce, and the Chuang army's musketeers who began to counterattack, as the chaotic sound of gunfire rang out, the entire front seemed to be filled with lead bullets, which were fired continuously. The Chuang army's musketeers had little training and were unable to fire at the same time, but the chaotic shooting created a continuous suppressive effect.

He Renlong was frightened and quickly slowed down to hide behind a cavalryman. He looked at Hu Dawei who was not far away and said loudly: "Brother Hu, you attract them from the front, and I will attack their flank!"

After saying this, without waiting for Hu Dawei's response, he immediately led his troops to the side of the battlefield.

Knowing that He Renlong wanted to avoid the bandits' firearms, Hu Dawei was so angry that his teeth itched and he gritted his teeth and said, "Useless thing!"

A scream was heard, and several horses around him were hit by cannonballs and rolled on the ground bleeding. Seeing that the enemy's artillery camp was in front, Hu Dawei was unwilling to fail, so he continued to lead his troops forward with a fearless look on his face.

In the rebel army camp, Li Zicheng had a solemn expression. They looked at the old camp and cavalry gathered around them and breathed a sigh of relief. The rebel army could not continue to waste time with the officers and soldiers. The victory or defeat must be decided today!

He immediately gave the order: "Move out all the troops in the old camp and the cavalry to break through their formation!"

Liu Zongmin exclaimed: "Prince Chuang, the old camp is our foundation, are they going to attack too?"

As long as the old camp is there, even if the rebel army is defeated countless times, it can still make a comeback. But if the old camp is defeated, it will take several more years to fight.

Looking at the old camp in the rear, Li Zicheng gave the order without hesitation: "What else is there to say now? Everyone, attack!"

With flags waving and horses' hooves beating like thunder, nearly ten thousand brave cavalrymen from the old camp of the Chuang army launched an attack like a tide.

The generals of the rebel army remained silent. Victory or defeat depended on this battle!

Yang Sichang also discovered the situation of Chuang Jun: "This damn He Wenlong! He ruined my plan!"

He suppressed his anger and ordered: "Send a message to Liu Zeqing and Jiang Mingwu, and have them send out cavalry immediately to stop the enemy cavalry from attacking and buy time for our artillery camp and musketeers!"

Among the Mingjin cavalry participating in the battle at this time, Liu Zeqing had 7,000 cavalry, Hu Dawei, He Renlong and other troops had only 3,000 cavalry, and Jiang Mingwu and other generals had a total of 8,000 cavalry.

As long as Hu Dawei and He Renlong hold on in the front, and Liu Zeqing and Jiang Mingwu's cavalry rush in immediately to stop the attack of the Chuang army and buy time for the Ming army's artillery and musketeers, the situation is likely to be reversed!

However, the left wing troops did not attack as Yang Sichang had expected. Instead, there was a commotion, and with a few loud roars, everyone realized: "General Liu has escaped!"

It was winter now, and Yang Sichang felt that the cold outside was about to penetrate his body. He suddenly looked towards the left wing, only to see that the entire left wing was running backwards as if it had collapsed. The person leading the way was none other than Shandong General Liu Zeqing, who was galloping on horseback! He ran so fast that in a blink of an eye, his figure could hardly be seen.

Just as the generals were stunned, the Ming army on the battlefield also heard cries of fear, and countless defeated soldiers fled in all directions.

"He Renlong also ran away?" Yang Sichang was stunned. You two had discussed this, right? What do you mean by telepathy?

The black mass of Chuang's cavalry came in overwhelming numbers, chasing the defeated Ming soldiers like chasing ducks. Seeing this, Niu Chenghu and other officers and soldiers also rushed for their lives.

Baoding Governor Yang Wenyue grabbed the distraught Yang Sichang and shouted, "Governor, we are defeated. Let's go!"

Without waiting for Yang Sichang to react, he ordered Yang Ge Lao to be carried away. Wang Wannian's face turned pale. He gritted his teeth, mounted his horse, and ordered his troops to evacuate quickly.

**In November of the twelfth year, the main force of the Ming army met with the Chuang army in Zhending. The Ming army was defeated. Li Zicheng sent elite troops to intercept them from a detour. The Ming army's formation was in chaos, and they trampled on each other, resulting in heavy casualties.

From Taiping River to the city of Zhending, the road was littered with corpses, and the flags and equipment lost by the Ming army were everywhere. Li Zicheng captured tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers, more than 7,000 horses and mules, and countless military equipment and firearms.

Shandong General Liu Zeqing fled thousands of miles back to Dongchang Prefecture in Shandong. He Renlong, Niu Chenghu, Wang Wannian and others fled into Shanxi. Yang Sichang, Wang Tingchen, Fang Guoan and others managed to escape back to Zhending City, with only dozens of cavalry guards around them.

Xuanfu General Hu Dawei disappeared in the chaos, Baoding Governor Yang Wenyue was besieged and killed in battle while protecting Yang Sichang, Tongzhou General Jiang Mingwu and his generals were all killed in battle.

The various camps of the rebel army also suffered heavy losses, but in his eyes, the lives of the hungry people were worthless, and death was death. What distressed him most was the loss of the old camp and the cavalry.

After learning the reason for the Ming army's collapse, Li Zicheng couldn't help laughing: "Liu Zeqing and He Renlong, they are both great. I want to become sworn brothers with them!"

Liu Zongmin grinned and said, "The Runaway General is indeed worthy of his reputation. I really want to bring two pounds of meat to his house to express my gratitude!"

The generals of the rebel army also laughed loudly, unable to hide their excitement. From today on, there will be no more forces in the Central Plains that can hinder the rebel army. From now on, it will be a smooth journey! !

Volume 394: Chapter Chapter : Becoming Emperor and Entering Shu

After Li Zicheng's army defeated the Ming army, they did not advance northward, but turned around and entered Shaanxi again, surrounding Xi'an again.

The reason for doing this was simply because of one thing: Li Zicheng wanted to become emperor, but such a big thing as becoming emperor could not be done just by slapping his thigh, so Li Zicheng specifically consulted the old charlatan Song Xiance, whose name was pronounced as "junshi" and written as "shaman".

Song Xiance first pretended to count with his fingers, and then told Li Zicheng that if he wanted to become emperor, he had to go to Xi'an, because Guanzhong was the land of kings and princes, and had dragon energy since ancient times. If he became emperor here, great things could be accomplished, and it could also bless his descendants and ensure that the country would last for thousands of years.

In fact, it's pure bragging. There were countries that built their capitals in Chang'an before, but I've never seen a country that lasted for ten thousand years.

Shaanxi, Xi'an.

The whole city was filled with the sound of killing. The overwhelming number of bandits surrounded this ancient capital of 13 dynasties and attacked the city like ants.

Among the army attacking the city, those fighting in the front were naturally the hungry people who had not had food for many days, and even the elderly, the weak, women and children who were forced to join the attack. They came up in waves, and behind the large group of hungry people was a large group of bandits and infantry. They all held spears, lined up in neat formations, and were ready to attack at any time.

Li Zicheng agreed with Song's words very much. Shaanxi was his hometown and had suffered from disasters all year round. Moreover, Guanzhong was indeed rumored to be the place where dragons rose since ancient times, which made him almost impatient.

This was not the first time that the Chuang army had attacked Xi'an. In addition, they now had sufficient manpower and food supplies, so they were familiar with the route. Moreover, it was a surprise attack, and the Ming army had not formed an effective defense. It would only take a day or two to break the city with this human wave tactic.

Sure enough, the battle on the second day lasted only half a day before overwhelming cheers came from the city.

"The city has been breached! The city has been breached! Go in and rob!"

The rebels rushed into the city, and Li Zicheng did not delay. He laughed and said, "Follow me into the city!"

Today, the streets of Xi'an are deserted as the coronation ceremony of Emperor Yongchang of the Dashun Kingdom is being held.

A few days ago, Li Zicheng's nephew Li Guo led a large army to attack Baoding Prefecture. Grand Secretary Li Jiantai surrendered in Baoding. The Chuang army captured Baoding, one of the three major towns in the north, without bloodshed. The capital was completely exposed to the Chuang army.

Actually, Li Zicheng originally wanted to conquer Shandong and proclaim himself emperor in Jinan, but he heard that Jinan had been ravaged by the Tartars twice, and the common people and nobles had become poor, with no more money to be made, so he canceled the plan.

The main purpose of establishing a country and proclaiming himself emperor was to galvanize the soldiers and capture the capital in one fell swoop.

The martial arts arena was filled with a sea of ​​people and flags like a forest. Their arrayed formations were endless. The core was Li Zicheng's old camp. In addition, there were elite soldiers selected from hundreds of thousands of rebel troops.

As more and more Ming troops surrendered, the number of Chuang's army reached 500,000 or 600,000. Li Zicheng began to reorganize the Chuang's army and imitated the Five Army Commandery of the Ming Dynasty to set up a five-camp military system, namely the Central Camp, Left Camp, Right Camp, Front Camp, and Rear Camp.

The central camp had blue flags, and the main commanders were General Liu Zongmin and General Tian Jianxiu. The deputy generals were General Ren Jirong, the Fruitful and Resolute General. Wang Zhen was also pulled into the central camp as an exception and became the Mighty General.

The left camp had a white flag, and the commander was General Liu Fangliang, and his deputy generals were Ma Shiyao and Liu Rukui.

The right camp had a red flag, and the commander was General Yuan Zongde, and his deputy generals were Bai Minghe and Liu Tichun.

In the front camp, the flag was black; the commander was General Gu Kecheng, and the deputy generals were Xie Junyou and Tian Hu.

In the rear camp, the flag was yellow; the main general was General Li Guo, and the deputy generals were Gao Yigong, Zhang Neng, Ma Chongxi, Helan and others, who were basically all relatives of Li Zicheng.

On the stage, Li Zicheng, wearing a felt hat and a light blue robe, sat on the royal chair, overlooking the huge military formation formed by the five-colored flags. Around him were a group of Dashun generals, officials from the six governments, and surrendered Ming Dynasty officials and gentry.

The gentry who came to watch the ceremony were shocked when they saw the elite soldiers of the Chuang army in neat armor and holding their swords and spears.

Some Ming officials who surrendered bowed and nodded to Li Zicheng, saying flatteringly: "It is our powerful Dashun Army that will unify the world. Our Dashun Army is really too powerful!"

Immediately, a local gentry and an old man echoed, "That's right, what kind of shock wave is this from the Ming court's soldiers? The capital also rushed down in one go, the Dashun Army is invincible in the world!"

"I have long said that the Prince of Chuang will definitely conquer the world. It would be great if the incompetent and immoral Emperor Zhu gave up his throne as soon as possible. Look how accurate my words were..."

Faced with the huge opportunity of changing dynasties, these former celebrities and gentry turned into Tam and whipped them with their giant tongues, without any regard for the scholars' face.

At the coronation ceremony, Li Zicheng issued the edict of the first year of Yongchang to the world, established the official system of the new Dashun Dynasty, appointed Niu Jinxing as prime minister and Song Xiance as left assistant.

Under the prime minister, there were six government departments: the government of personnel, the government of households, the government of rites, the government of military affairs, the government of punishment, and the government of engineering. Officials such as assistant ministers and ministers were appointed. In the local areas, there were defense envoys, prefects, governors, and county magistrates.

After the imperial edict was read, all the officials of Dashun shouted "Long live the emperor!", and then the Shun army also shouted excitedly: "Long live the emperor of Dashun!"

"Long live!"

Listening to the overwhelming cheers of "Long live the emperor", Li Zicheng's face flushed with excitement, and he said proudly in his heart: "Hundreds of years ago, a poor man like Zhu Yuanzhang could conquer the world, so I, Li Zicheng, can do the same!"

After the coronation ceremony, Li Zicheng decided to take advantage of the new dynasty's early establishment and high morale to lead 500,000 troops north to march into the capital of the Ming Dynasty!

In Chinese history, only Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang succeeded in conquering the world by conquering the south. Zhu Yuanzhang's strategy for conquering the Yuan Dynasty in the north was: first take Shandong, remove its shield, turn to Henan, cut off its wings, take Tongguan and defend it, occupy its doorstep, and then control the situation in the world. Then, advance to the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, and then the Yuan Dynasty will be isolated and without support, and we can defeat it without fighting...

The marching route of the Dashun Dynasty was similar to that of the past. Shaanxi and Henan had been taken. Although most of Henan was in the hands of Jiang Han, it didn't matter as long as it was not in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. Now only Shandong was left. In Li Zicheng's eyes, Shandong General Liu Zeqing was just a charity show, and was considered a pure flying dance. He had no ability to resist the attack of the Dashun Army.

What Li Zicheng needs to do now is to use the Northern Expedition strategy of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, to seize the world of his Zhu family! Kill people and destroy their hearts! Kill people and destroy their hearts!!

While Li Zicheng's side was going smoothly, the situation at the imperial court was not so good. The defeat of hundreds of thousands of troops made Chongzhen heartbroken. Now the only way was to recall Hong Chengchou to Beijing to defend the king.

Hong Chengchou was also miserable. He had to visit the king twice a year and went to HaiLan Home separately.

More than a dozen imperial edicts were sent to Hong Chengchou's military camp, forcing him to regroup his troops and prepare to march north. Hong Chengchou felt very aggrieved. He had almost driven Zhang Xianzhong to death in Huguang, and some of the bandits scattered across Jiangxi had been eliminated, while others felt that there was no future in being rebels and ran away. Hong Chengchou was having a great time and was about to destroy Zhang Xianzhong in one fell swoop, but the court wanted to transfer him away again.

There is no other way. What else can I do? Go back and save them.

On the other side, Zhang Xianzhong also had a numb look on his face. The rebel army he had now was only half of what it had before. Zhang Xianzhong was helpless. It was easy to recruit people after winning a battle. With some publicity and promotion, a large number of people who couldn't make it would join the rebel army. But once they lost the battle, even more people would run away. This was the reality.

After this battle, Zhang Xianzhong began to waver in his life goals. Hong Chengchou was too cruel. It seemed that this man had suffered some loss somewhere. He was so anxious when he saw Zhang Xianzhong that he hit him very hard and made Zhang Xianzhong scream.

A commander named Jiang sneezed in his study, and 416 next to him immediately came up with a towel and wiped Jiang Han's face with concern.

"No, I just sneezed, there's no need to wipe my face. Just wipe the snot evenly for me like this..." Jiang Han's voice was muffled by the towel and could not be heard clearly.

In a valley, Zhang Xianzhong spat and cursed: "Damn it! Are these dog officers and soldiers possessed by evil spirits this year? They chased me all the way! Damn Hong Chengchou, I curse him to get smallpox, and even if he recovers, he will still have pockmarks on his face! I curse him to give birth to a son without an asshole!"

Everyone was speechless and too embarrassed to say anything to him. The rebels were forced into such an awkward situation and everyone was angry.

Seeing that no one was talking, Zhang Xianzhong asked again: "What should we do next? Where should we go? Let's go for a while."

Luo Rucai coughed and said, "The situation is still unclear. The soldiers will definitely not stop here. They will definitely surround our rebel army. It depends on whether we can hold out. If not, then there is no need to say anything. Just run away."

In fact, they had no idea that Hong Chengchou was already preparing to escape.

Zhang Xianzhong said unhappily, "You are talking nonsense, aren't you? Didn't Hong Chengchou come to Huguang just to deal with us? If we all go into the mountains, do you think we can hold out? What I'm asking is where to go next?"

Luo Rucai was overwhelmed by the current situation. He pondered for a moment and said, "It is definitely not possible to go to Guangdong. Guangdong and Guangxi are too poor. Moreover, that place has basically become Jiang Han's possession. We can't survive there. As for Fujian, there was a disaster a few years ago. Many people fled to Jilong, and few people rebelled..."

Zhang Xianzhong said unhappily: "Then we can only wait to die?"

Sun Kewang suddenly said, "Father, the richest man in our Ming Dynasty is in Fujian. I heard that Zheng can make tens of millions of taels of silver a year. Why don't we go and rob him?"

Luo Rucai glanced at him and said, "Kewang, if you want to die, your uncle won't stop you. Can you afford to offend Zheng? It's ok that the court doesn't know the strength of Zheng, but we have been robbing for several years. Don't you know how deep the water is?"

Sun Kewang stammered, "Master Cao, I really have a grasp of this. Is this Zheng guy very powerful?"

Luo Rucai rolled his eyes and said, "This Zheng has tens of thousands of subordinates. His personal guards are either black guys or red-haired and yellow-haired guys. I don't know where they got them from. These red, yellow and black people are good at using firearms. He also has a boat. Whoever messes with him must be tired of living, right?"

(Jiang Han: Hey)

Sun Kewang stopped talking immediately. This Zheng guy was so mysterious. What kind of people were his subordinates?

Seeing that the atmosphere was getting cold, Li Dingguo said, "Father, Master Cao, I have something to say. Please listen carefully."

Zhang Xianzhong nodded and said, "You go ahead."

Li Dingguo looked at everyone and said, "We can go to Sichuan! Sichuan is short of troops now. We can march into Sichuan, open up a new battlefield, occupy strategic locations, and then control the entire Sichuan!"

Li Dingguo said, "I believe that within a year, Sichuan will no longer belong to the imperial court. Once we have gained a firm foothold, we will leave Sichuan and then attack Shaanxi, Gansu and other places. Now the officers and soldiers in Sichuan and Shaanxi have been basically wiped out by Li Zicheng, and they have no time to enter Sichuan to deal with us. By the time the imperial court reacts, we will have become as powerful as Qin. What can the officers and soldiers do?"

After hearing what Li Dingguo said, several people were shocked. This idea was too bold, but the possibility of success was very high. No one dared to imagine what the situation would be like at that time.

Zhang Xianzhong also said: "But what if we encounter the Shizhu soldiers in Sichuan? Qin Liangyu is not easy to deal with, especially the white-pole soldiers under her. We have all experienced it before..."

Li Dingguo said: "Father, when we get to Sichuan, we can ignore Qin Liangyu for now. We don't need to attack her stone pillar. We can just send troops to attack other chieftains. Those chieftains are very realistic!"

Li Dingguo added: "As for how to pass through Huguang, I have a plan. We can send a group of people to attack Changsha Prefecture. There are two vassal kings in Changsha City. Once attacked, Hong Chengchou will definitely strike back. Then we can enter Sichuan from Yongzhou and Huaihua."

"If you are worried, we can send a group of troops to attack Hengzhou. Hengzhou also has a wealthy King Gui. No matter which group we attack, the soldiers will definitely attack and suppress them. Even if both groups fail, it doesn't matter. At least we have attracted the army of Huguang, and we can safely enter Sichuan from the weakly defended southern part of Huguang!"

Everyone listened to Li Dingguo's talk and felt that it made a lot of sense. Luo Rucai said, "Brother Huang Hu, you have a good adopted son. He is only 18 years old this year, but he has such knowledge. It's not simple!"

Zhang Xianzhong laughed and said, "Dingguo is the most intelligent of my four adopted sons, and he is also the most hardworking. He is really good!"

Li Dingguo nodded slightly and said calmly: "Thank you for your compliments, Marshal Father and Master Cao. I have learned a lot from Mr. Jiang."

Sun Kewang, who was standing by, felt very upset after hearing this. He felt that he was outdone. Originally, Li Dingguo was only good-looking and had some talent, but now he was not only more handsome than himself, but also smart. The most important thing was that this fourth brother had controlled his father's 20,000 troops since last year...

Zhang Xianzhong asked: "Who should we send to attack Changsha Prefecture, and who should we send to attack Hengzhou Prefecture?"

Luo Rucai took a sip of spring water and then looked up at the clouds in the sky. Hey, the shape of this cloud is a bit like a puppy?

Everyone knows that going to these two places to delay the officers and soldiers is tantamount to committing suicide, so Luo Rucai naturally does not want to be cannon fodder.

Sun Kewang looked at Zhang Xianzhong and said, "Father, I think my fourth brother can do it. The fact that he can make this suggestion shows that he is very confident. Otherwise, just let him go." You little nerd, I'm going to kill you.

Li Dingguo glanced at Sun Kewang and said, "Father, let my elder brother and I go to Changsha and Hengzhou respectively, and you and Master Cao will retreat first."

You're trying to trick me, right? Let's all die together.

"This..." Sun Kewang opened his mouth and was about to say something when Zhang Xianzhong immediately took over.