Daming kill

Chapter 235
Li Zicheng's extermination of the Xiaoyuan camp certainly had some problems unique to the leader of the Xiaoyuan camp, Yuan Shizhong.

For example, Xiao Yuanying, who once joined forces with Li Zicheng, suddenly left before the peasant army attacked Kaifeng for the second time (the peasant army lost in this battle, and Li Zicheng was also blind in one eye). For example, Yuan Shizhong killed the person Li Zicheng sent to join forces again before his downfall, and so on.

Of course, these things are not all Yuan Shizhong's problems. Li Zicheng has been calling Yuan Shizhong around like a subordinate and constantly using Xiao Yuanying as cannon fodder. He is also very responsible.

In any case, there was some resentment between Li Zicheng and Yuan Shizhong, and it was relatively deep, but it was not so deep that it was life and death.

Li Ping felt that at a deeper level, Li Zicheng's strategic focus should start to shift to the north in an all-round way, otherwise Li Zicheng would not have to kill Xiao Yuanying, who was thousands of miles away to the north.

This should also be the main reason for Li Zicheng's overall contraction in Huguang in the past few months.

Li Ping's guess was not wrong, and besides the history he knew in advance as a time traveler, many signs also confirmed his guess.

The entire army of Li Zicheng began to move northward soon after completing the annexation of Luo Rucai and Gezuo Fifth Battalion. Not only did his troops completely withdraw from Hanyang, but they only retreated in the Hanchuan area, and their strength was also very sparse.

Even the top general of the Peasant Army in the entire Chengtianfu area is just a man named Bai Wang that few people have heard of, and the Hanchuan defender is simply Xie Yinglong, a descendant of the Ming army who was renamed last year. The generals and family members.

However, Li Zicheng's strategic choice was not made casually, let alone wishful thinking beyond one's own strength, but the result of a careful choice.

After the establishment of political power in Xiangyang, the political ambitions within Li Zicheng's group naturally began to explode, and three opinions on the future soon emerged.

They are Niu Jinxing's idea of ​​taking Hebei first and then going straight to the capital; Yang Yongyu, the minister of the Li government, advocated taking Jinling (Nanjing) first, cutting off the north-south water transport, sitting in the capital and then taking the opportunity to attack the north; Beijing.

Gu Junen believed that "Jinling is in a low position. Although it is a great cause, its strategy is slow to fail. It is urgent to expose the capital directly. In case of defeat, there is no return. One hundred and two mountains and rivers have won two-thirds of the world, established a country and established a business, then plundered the three sides, used their forces to attack Shanxi, and then moved to the capital.

Gu Junen's opinion fully took into account the characteristics of the current situation in the world and the actual situation of Li Zicheng's army itself.

Because at this time there were only three heavy military groups on one side of the Ming court, namely Wu Sangui's Guanning Army, the army controlled and newly trained by Sun Chuanting, the governor of the three sides, and Zuo Liangyu's army.

Among them, Wu Sangui's Guanning Army had already been overwhelmed with defense against the increasingly powerful Qing Army and could not be transferred to the interior. Although Zuo Liangyu's army had the largest number of troops, it was also the weakest and vulnerable.

Only Sun Chuanting's army dared to fight and had a large number, and it directly posed a strong threat to Li Zicheng.

Gu Junen believes that if Li Zicheng takes Beijing or Nanjing first, Sun Chuanting, who is currently in Shaanxi with great offensive awareness and strategic ability, will definitely attack them from the side and rear, making them suffer from the enemy.

But it’s different to tackle the key points first. You can advance, attack, retreat, or defend. In particular, Guanzhong is also the place where Li Zicheng’s peasant army started, and it has a better foundation for the people.Zuo Liangyu in Huguang and Jiangxi would most likely not attack them from behind in order to preserve his strength.

In the end, Li Zicheng adopted Gu Junen's opinion, which also meant that he must first and must kill Sun Chuanting, who was supervised by the Ming court and supervised the military affairs of Huguang and Sichuan.

It can be said that the task is heavy and the pressure is great.

Huguang only left light soldiers and little-known generals, which also shows Li Zicheng's recognition of the difficulty of this goal.

He must concentrate!
In this way, Xiao Yuanying, who had been flirting with Da Ming all the time, could only surrender or perish. Li Zicheng had to clear all other obstacles before the battle with Sun Chuanting.

In the end, the alternative Xiaoyuan camp at the end of Ming Dynasty was like a flash in the pan and was quickly submerged in the long river of history. Even the people of later generations had almost no way of examining the details of the Xiaoyuan camp's establishment and composition.

However, the destruction of Xiaoyuanying also surprised Li Ping.

From the conversation with Qin Yi, Li Ping could clearly understand that Xiaoyuan's camp has never had a solid base, and the main area of ​​activity has always been the unsafe plain area, or the place of the Fourth World War. It is difficult for the battalion to maintain a long-term focus on its subordinates, and it also seriously lacks the ability to deal with changes.

The most important thing is that Xiaoyuanying has always lacked a clear goal, so that its strict military discipline not only failed to transform into combat effectiveness, but also greatly affected its combat effectiveness.

Money, ideals and women must be the same!

Xiaoyuan's battalion collapsed under the attack of Li Guo, who was even at a disadvantage in strength, and most of them surrendered, which is the cumulative response to this problem.

You must know that Xiao Yuanying is not incapable of fighting, on the contrary, his combat effectiveness is still very strong.

The simplest example is that the Xiaoyuanying took the initiative to go north to attack the Qing army that entered the customs before its collapse. The farthest Bingfeng even reached the outskirts of Jinan.

But Xiao Yuan Ying, who had just finished the tough Qing army and had few casualties, was surprised when he faced Li Zicheng's troops.

Obviously, Li Zicheng, who is not of a foreign race and has become more and more powerful, is more and more attractive and tempting to the officers and soldiers of the Xiaoyuan camp.

Even Qin Yi, who couldn't understand Li Zicheng, had to admit that Li Zicheng was a hero under the general desire and respect of the people around him, and then unconsciously used the honorific name Chuang Wang.

Li Ping realized that his army and situation had many similarities with Xiaoyuanying, and he had to learn the lesson of Xiaoyuanying's collapse.

He needs a safe base that is large enough and has sufficient strategic buffers, a base that he can absolutely control, and his subordinates need affiliation and a home.

As for these, Fu Chi and Xing Guozhou obviously couldn't satisfy him.

The devilish thought in Li Ping's heart also became stronger and stronger.

The Ming Dynasty is heading towards its demise along the historical track that Li Ping is familiar with, and Li Ping is currently unable to defeat Zhang Xianzhong, let alone Li Zicheng, and he is completely incapable of changing this historical process.

If he doesn't want to be buried, he must change his previous ambiguous attitude. He needs a clearer goal. He needs to leave Fu Chi and Zuo Liangyu who have too many fetters. He must stay away from the influence of the Ming court. He needs to be able to control his own destiny.

Now that Xiaoyuanying was destroyed, Zuo Liangyu didn't have the guts to trouble Li Zicheng. If Li Ping's calculations were correct, the next unstable factor that Li Zicheng could solve would be Zhang Xianzhong, who had always been at odds with him.

Li Ping realized that Zhang Xianzhong's sudden departure from Wuchang in history was probably caused by Li Zicheng, and it was impossible for Li Zicheng to allow Zhang Xianzhong to cause hidden dangers behind his ass.

It's just that Li Ping didn't know what method Li Zicheng took, nor did he know when it happened.

But tomorrow will enter July, and there is not much time left for Li Zicheng. It is impossible for him to let this problem affect the progress of his overall deployment.

"Everyone should be ready to leave Fuchi and Xingguo Prefecture immediately. We have to change places." After thinking about it, Li Ping found three of his most loyal subordinates, Ma Yong, Duan Qiang and Hu Zhongshan, and told them Confession.

After the first regiment withdrew to Fuchi, Ma Yong immediately took over the position of chief of staff who had been vacated according to the original arrangement, and returned to his old job.

"Where are we going?" Everyone's faces were filled with shock, including Zhao Lanyue who was bored at the side.

"Zhang Xianzhong should leave Wuchang in a short time, we will follow him." Li Ping selectively expressed some of his thoughts.

"Shall we follow Zhang Xianzhong?"

No one questioned Li Ping's judgment that Zhang Xianzhong would leave Wuchang in a short time.Whether they understand it or believe it or not, they are already used to Li Ping's thinking about the big picture.

Moreover, the magistrate of Macheng is also Zhang Xianzhong's Minister of War Zhou Wenjiang. He heard that he had just raised Macheng and returned to the imperial court.

But what does it mean to follow Zhang Xianzhong?
Many people could have expected to leave Fuchi sooner or later, especially for the senior officers in Li Ping's army. They were used to discussing and judging such issues within the army.

After all, it is a time of war, and they have been walking since they left Xiangyang.

But where we will go in the future is uncertain for everyone. It can only be said that there are some rough predictions. After all, this has always been a matter of Li Ping's arbitrary decision, but there is no such thing as following Zhang Xianzhong in all the predictions. item.

"That's right, follow Zhang Xianzhong, where he is going, where we are going. You should start making preparations! But remember, where we are going is not allowed to be leaked, only a few of us know, the troops only need to know to prepare for the departure Just be prepared, and you must also control the scope, and don't know if you don't need to know." Li Ping said seriously without doubt.

"Understood." Duan Qiang's answer was quick and firm.

But Ma Yong hesitated for a moment, and then quickly asked carefully: "Our army currently has a lot of local soldiers, and most of them are recruits. It's good to guard Xingguo Prefecture. If they leave their hometown, many people may not be willing."

It is a rule that Li Ping's army has gradually formed not to engage in forced recruitment and not to kill deserters who do not want to leave their homeland. Ma Yong's problem is very real.

"Do more ideological work first, or don't force it if you don't want to. Anyway, they are basically recruits, so it's not such a pity." Li Ping's answer was very straightforward, and he had obviously thought about this issue.

Seeing Ma Yong and Li Ping's natural question and answer, Hu Zhongshan's expression relaxed, and then he followed up and asked: "What about the workshops and craftsmen in the security camp? The workshops can be destroyed, but the new recruits What about so many craftsmen? If they don’t leave, many of our unique technologies will be leaked.”

"Several departments that produce iron and steel, artillery, and salt are forced. Others are meaningless. It is also a good thing for us to open up some things, including gunpowder and agricultural production. Song Yingguan should have considered the few departments that need to be compelled. , there won’t be too many people involved, just deal with it when he comes back.” Li Ping continued to set the tone smoothly.

Seeing that Li Ping had already considered everything, the three of them stopped asking any more questions and hurriedly left to make arrangements.

There are too many things to prepare for the army to set out.

"What do you want to do?" Zhao Lanyue asked solemnly when there were only the two of them left in the yard.

"I want to go to Sichuan." Li Ping did not hide this time.

"Why Sichuan? I remember you said before that Zhang Xianzhong almost slaughtered Sichuan. Are you going to save it? But how can you guarantee that you can defeat him?" Zhao Lanyue's tone became heavy.

But Li Ping said with a strange expression: "I can't save anything, I just want to save ourselves. Sichuan is remote and fertile, and it is very convenient for defense, and Zhang Xianzhong's massacre nature can help us wipe out everything that occupies there. Obstacles, so we will have infinite possibilities. As for whether we can beat him, I can't guarantee anything, but at least we have a chance, a big chance."

"That's why you want to follow him?" Zhao Lanyue's eyes widened with disbelief.

"What can't be broken can't be built! Some things must be broken. Zhang Xianzhong is better than us, and it can increase our chances of winning." Li Ping's eyes darkened.

……

Notes:

The theory about Yuan Shizhong being Li Zicheng's son-in-law was actually fabricated by Yao Xueyin in his "Li Zicheng", which cannot be true.

(End of this chapter)