Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 170 Outflanking
On the flat and open field near the official vegetable garden on the east bank of the Sheyan River in Suide Prefecture, more than [-] thieves lined up and were preparing to fight the more than [-] official troops who were chasing after crossing the Sheyan River.

After Hong Chengchou assembled a heavy army from Yan'an Mansion, he advanced all the way to Suide and Mizhi, aiming directly at Li Zicheng and other troops who were active in this area.

Sun Chuanting's departure made Hong Chengchou secretly relieved.

It has been nearly a year since he came to northern Shaanxi with more than [-] officers and soldiers. Although he had fought with bandits many times during this period, they were basically small-scale conflicts. There were no battles involving tens of thousands of people, and the gains were pitiful.

The reason is mainly caused by the terrain conditions in northern Shaanxi.

Northern Shaanxi, where ravines are densely covered and the roads are winding and narrow, it is difficult to have a battlefield where a large army can be placed; moreover, the thieves are quite cunning. Once they find a large-scale gathering of officers and troops, they will immediately flee, and the well-equipped officers and troops often cannot catch up.

The thieves are all born and bred locals. They are extremely proficient in the terrain, and most of them are unarmored.

The Liaodong cavalry also saw little success in northern Shaanxi.There was no way, the horses couldn't run at all, and as soon as the horses were about to speed up, the thieves turned down the ravine and fled, and the Liaodong Army could only return on horses.

Now that Tuo Yangkun and Zhang Wenyao have surrendered one after another, they have removed a huge stone that was weighing on Hong Chengchou's heart.

These two have played the most times with the government and the army, and gradually figured out the tactics and details of the government and the army.

The two sides fought head-to-head several times in the beginning, and both Tuo Yangkun and Zhang Wenyao suffered a lot in front of the officers and soldiers who had an absolute advantage in weapons and armor.

After losing thousands of people, the thieves began to adopt the strategy of fighting and running, abruptly dragging the army in northern Shaanxi for nearly a year.

The court gradually became dissatisfied with Hong Chengchou's fact that he was sitting on a large army, but he had never done anything. Cities and wilds, killing people like grass"

Some fierce officials even pointed out that he was suspected of raising the bandits' self-respect.

If he can't advance and suppress, but also can't contain the bandit's power, let the bandit go back and forth, as if entering and exiting no one's land, this trip should be a crime of dereliction of duty. It is suggested that the emperor deprive him of the title of Gongbao Shangshu and urge him to take the crime and make meritorious service.

For these bombs, Chongzhen naturally kept them in the middle and did not publish them.However, Hong Chengchou's relatives and friends in the court secretly wrote to him about the content, asking him to make contributions as soon as possible, so as to eliminate the court official's attack and restore the court's reputation.

Hong Chengchou was angry and helpless about this matter.

This group of officials who like to play tricks, go online at every turn, and without knowing the truth, they actually use a soft knife like Yangkou Zizhi to kill him. How much hatred is this?

He is his mother!Come and try if you have the ability!

While being angry, Hong Chengchou also secretly rejoiced that the Holy Majesty changed his impetuous and suspicious temperament, and did not reproach him with a single word, nor urged him to suppress the bandits in time, which shows that the Holy Majesty still trusts him.

But Hong Chengchou knew in his heart that this kind of trust is not limitless. If he can't show any more achievements, maybe the emperor, under the pressure of his courtiers, took away his office as governor of the five provinces and sent someone else to replace him. .

He could even guess who the emperor would send to replace him.

Sun Chuanting and Chen Qiyu are excellent candidates.

Needless to say, Chen Qiyu, his predecessor had an outstanding record and nearly wiped out the entire army of thieves; if he hadn't cocked his tail at the critical moment and mistrusted other people's words under his complacency, how could he, Hong Chengchou, have the chance to be promoted to the first rank suddenly? The high position of a senior official?

Sun Chuanting, a young man in the imperial court, has made many meritorious deeds since he took office in Shaanxi. Recently, he has captured the greatest disaster of the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop. Although there is an element of luck in this, it also fully reflects his outstanding personal ability.

Sun Chuanting, who is close at hand, is the biggest threat to Hong Chengchou.

When he learned that Sun Chuanting was going to lead an army to northern Shaanxi, Hong Chengchou felt the pressure suddenly increase.

This is an obvious signal: the Holy Majesty expressed his dissatisfaction with him in this way, and he must show some real skills.

At this time, Hong Chengchou was overjoyed by the surrender of Tuo Yangkun and Zhang Wenyao.

These two most powerful bandits in northern Shaanxi disappeared in a blink of an eye, and the remaining [-] to [-] thieves were easy to deal with.

Breaking through Li Zicheng?Although he is well-known, he is only slightly stronger, and Hong Chengchou hasn't put him in his eyes yet.

Although there are still more rogues than officers and soldiers, they all exist in small groups, and there is no powerful person to integrate them together.

I led the army to operate in northern Shaanxi for more than half a year. Are you, Sun Chuanting, here to pick peaches?
Although he is in command of the army, if he succeeds in eradicating the northern Shaanxi bandits, Sun Chuanting's name will be included in the credit book, which will virtually weaken his Hong Chengchou's role in it.

The Holy Majesty and the courtiers would think that it was Sun Chuanting who led the army to join in that caused the bandits to be strangled quickly.

Unexpectedly, Sun Chuanting found an excuse to leave because he saw that the merits of his hands were not worth it. Hong Chengchou, who had no time to think carefully about the reasons, waved his banner and the whole army pressed towards northern Shaanxi.

He ordered the Liaodong guest army to be divided into two divisions. Wu Sangui led the [-] cavalry of the headquarters, plus the [-] infantry of Zuo Guangxian, the deputy commander of Yansui Town, to go from Anding in the north to Bailuo City and then go east to drive away the stragglers. The thieves moved to the plains around Suide and Mizhi.

Zu Dale led 3000 cavalry from his headquarters and [-] people from Ai Wannian's headquarters, the deputy commander of Gushan, to go to Yanchuan and Qingjian.

He personally led the remaining [-] men from Zuo Liangyu, He Renlong, You Jie, Sun Shoufa, etc., to advance from Ansai all the way to the northeast.

After the biggest hidden dangers such as Tuo Yangkun were eliminated, and Sun Chuanting was stimulated to capture and kill Gao Yingxiang, Hong Chengchou was impatient with the guerrilla warfare with the rogues. Gather and wipe them out, strive to complete their merits in one battle, and completely restore the damaged reputation, so that they can qualify for the imperial court.

Hong Chengchou's strategy really worked.

Wu Sangui and Zuo Guangxian's troops on the left, first killed more than [-] thieves in the north of Anding County, including the Great Heavenly King and the Sixth Squad; After Bailuo City detected the camp of the third bandit bandit and old Zhang Fei, Wu Sangui led the cavalry to rush past. After the enemy was in chaos, Zuo Guang led the infantry to rush into the formation first, and beheaded the leader of the bandits, Old Zhang Fei. Under the knife, the thieves scattered and fled.

A total of more than [-] thieves were killed in this battle, and the number of thieves who fled was countless.

With the power of two great victories, Wu Sangui and Zuo Guang turned to the east first. The thieves in their path were frightened, and most of them fled to the direction of Suide, and joined the thieves there.

Zu Dale and Ai Wannian on the right also achieved good results. They wiped out the bandits Jin Chipeng and Shang Tianlong in the area of ​​Qingjian, beheading more than [-] people, and the rest of the bandits also went north. He fled in the direction of Suide.

Only Hong Chengchou's troops on the middle road encountered no resistance along the way, because the line from Ansai to Suide was a large piece of wasteland, and there was no county town, so there were very few bandits.

Hong Chengchou was not afraid of the bandits fleeing eastward into Shanxi. The bandits would either lose or continue to flee north. The possibility of going to Shanxi was basically non-existent.

why?
Because of the natural danger of the Yellow River.

At this time, the surface of the Yellow River was very wide and the current was fast. In northern Shaanxi, where there were no large ships, if one wanted to cross the Yellow River, one had to use sheepskin rafts.

That kind of sheepskin raft can carry up to four or five people at a time, and it needs to be operated by an experienced boatman.

Not to mention that the boatman and rafts are hard to find, what is the use of finding dozens of rafts?
Dozens of leather rafts can transport no more than 200 people at a time. It takes a long time to go back and forth, and the probability of overturning in the middle is very high. It is impossible to transport thousands of thieves in less than a month. Will the army watch you cross the river?

Driven by the officers and soldiers on the two wings, the thieves gradually gathered in the Suide and Mizhi areas, and Li Zicheng, who was famous in later generations, was leading his troops to operate in this area.

Wubao on the west bank of the Yellow River is a military fort that has been abandoned for many years. After years of wind and rain, part of the outer brick wall has fallen off and collapsed, exposing the thick loess inside.

In the dilapidated hall of the fort, general Li Zicheng was discussing with several cronies how to deal with the offensive of the official army.

Li Zicheng is about [-] years old, with a high nose, big eyes and prominent cheekbones. Li Zicheng is tall and tall. Although he is thin, he looks strong and powerful.

He is of mixed race between Fan and Han. It is said that his ancestor was Li Jiqian, a party member.

Tian Jianxiu, who was a little older, said: "Hongji, the number of rebels who have fled to our group these days has been increasing day by day, and our food can't last much longer. There is no more fighting, if there is no food, who will follow us? You have to come up with a way to make it!"

Gao Yigong said impatiently: "I'm talking about Lao Tian, ​​the officers and soldiers are about to hit our door, how can we care about the food for beating shit? I'd better try to beat the officers and soldiers quickly!"

Yuan Zongdi said unhurriedly: "I feel that the officers and soldiers are coming back very quickly. We should retreat north first to avoid the limelight. It's not worth fighting head-on! Hongji, what do you think? "

Before Li Zicheng could say anything, Liu Zongmin, who was wiping two long knives with a cotton cloth, snorted coldly: "We have rebelled for many years, and we have fought less with the officers and soldiers? The officers and soldiers are not heavenly soldiers and generals. We have nearly 2 troops now. There are thousands of elites in the old battalion, and they are afraid of the old ghost Hong who is a donkey! If you come, fuck him!"

Li Zicheng praised loudly: "Jiexuan's words are so heroic! We have fought against the officers and soldiers for many years, and we have defeated them countless times! The old ghost Hong has not seen anything done to us this year in northern Shaanxi! Now there are several roads The rebels were all defeated, and we happened to gather more troops. If we fight another battle with the official army, we will be the strongest rebels in northern Shaanxi! If there are more people, we will not stay in Shaanxi. Let's go to the Central Plains and turn him upside down!"

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(End of this chapter)