The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 147 Xing'an
Hanzhong Mansion, Xing'an.

At the beginning of Ming Dynasty, it was not called Xing'an, but Jinzhou.

In the 11th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, heavy rain continued day and night and floods spread and submerged the entire city.

The current Xing'an Institute is the new city built at the foot of Zhaotai Mountain in the south of the city that year.

Since that year, Jinzhou has also been renamed Xing'an Prefecture.

The meaning of Xing'an is prosperity and peace.

Perhaps the place name of Xing'an was really good. In the next few decades, there were no major disasters around Xing'an.

Over the past few decades, Xing'an City has gradually become prosperous and peaceful as the implied meaning has gone from east to spring.

The wars and turmoil in the outside world don't seem to have much to do with Xing'an, although in recent years there have been bandits and bandits sneaking into Xing'an's surroundings.

But as the largest city in the east of Hanzhong Prefecture, those rogues had no way to break through the solid city walls.

It's just that now Xing'an may no longer be able to stay out of the matter, and can no longer continue to thrive and be safe as its name implies...

The city of Xing'an was completely under martial law at this time. There were either soldiers on patrol or government servants armed with knives between the streets of the city. Residents in the city were not even allowed to leave the city without orders.

Zhou Yumao looked solemn, frowned tightly, and walked along the street to the west of Xing'an City, holding the Yanling Saber.

Dozens of masters, all wearing helmets and armor, with bows and knives, followed Zhou Yumao on foot.

The soldiers along the road were shocked when they saw Zhou Yumao, who was surrounded by everyone, wearing a general's armor, and quickly knelt down to salute.

Zhou Yumao's (mào) gaze didn't stay on them, he strode past a group of saluting soldiers, and walked quickly towards the City Guard Office on West Street.

The soldiers who were ignored didn't complain at all because of being Zhou Yumao, they just felt relieved.

The look on Zhou Yumao's face was not pretty, and no one wanted to touch its bad luck at this time.

The City Guard Office is the military department responsible for the defense of Xing'an City. The chief officer of the City Guard Office is Deputy Qianhu, who is under the jurisdiction of Qianhu in Xing'an Prefecture.

At this time, the city guard office was full of soldiers, and the soldiers guarding the city guard office were all wearing armor and high-topped helmets, all with bows and knives.

Zhou Yumao's eyes moved slightly, and after taking a look, he noticed that there were still a large number of war horses tied up in the stable on one side.

And these soldiers guarding outside the city guard office look like elites, not to mention their excellent military equipment, but just by their aura, they can be seen as elites who have experienced many battles.

Before being a guerrilla in Hanzhong, Zhou Yumao was originally a leader in Yansui Town, so his eyesight was not bad.

These soldiers are full of murderous aura, and they walk and stand without exception revealing their ability and sharpness, they are definitely the elite among the elite.

There are definitely no more than a hundred people in a battalion of such elites.

Chasing all the way to the front, Zhou Yumao narrowed his eyes slightly, slowed down his pace, adjusted his breathing, and then walked straight towards the gate of the city guard office.

But just when Zhou Yumao was about to step into the city guard office, a hand was placed in front of him and blocked his way.

The atmosphere was tense in an instant, Zhou Yumao's face did not change much, but the servants behind him changed their colors one after another.

A group of soldiers outside the city guard office still looked indifferent, but many soldiers who had been guarding in the distance had already approached.

Zhou Yumao raised his right hand, signaling to the people behind him to be calm, then cupped his fists, bowed slightly, and said in a low voice.

"Hanzhong guerrilla Zhou Yumao, please see me, please pass it on."

The general who was in charge of guarding the gate of the office also clasped his fists in return, and then said calmly.

"General Zhou, please wait here."

Although I said please, there was not much politeness in the words.

The faces of the servants following Zhou Yumao sank again, but they didn't make any further moves.

Originally, Zhou Yumao thought that he might have to wait at the door for a long time, but he did not expect to receive the news of permission.

After a short period of hesitation, Zhou Yumao started to walk towards the door, but just when he passed the door, he stopped and turned his head to face the servants behind him.

"You wait outside first."

Facing Zhou Yumao's own military order, all the servants behind him restrained their expressions and bowed their heads to obey the order.

After Zhou Yumao issued the military order, he turned around and walked into the city guard office. He didn't encounter anyone's obstruction along the way.

Zhou Yumao slowed down after walking all the way outside the main hall of the city guard office.

Outside the main hall, more than a dozen generals stood in line, and an invisible sense of oppression rushed towards them.

Zhou Yumao took a deep breath and walked into the main hall.

Stepping into the main hall, Zhou Yumao directly lowered his head, half-kneeled on the ground, bowed and said in a deep voice.

"Humble post Zhou Yumao, kowtow to see the general."

On the main seat in the main hall of the city guard office, Chen Wang was wearing a fish-scale bust and a robe with narrow sleeves, cloud shoulders, sleeves and knees, and sat on it.

Looking at Zhou Yumao who was kneeling respectfully, Chen Wang secretly nodded in his heart.

He is also a battalion general and has armor on his body. Strictly speaking, Zhou Yumao doesn't need to kneel and salute.

However, Zhou Yumao still bowed politely, and his attitude was very humble.

Chen Wang's purpose was to test whether Zhou Yumao would be honest in serving under his command.

Now it seems that Zhou Yumao has no intention of confronting him face to face, and still has a sense of proportion.

As the saying goes, a senior official crushes people to death, and there is a clear distinction between the upper and lower ranks in the army.

The undisciplined subordinates who often appear in dramas are not many in reality.

Although Chen Wang didn't know what Zhou Yumao was thinking, at least for now Zhou Yumao was honest and respectful, which was enough.

Zhou Yumao only has more than 1000 soldiers under his command, and if he really wants to fight, the effect is just better than nothing.

There are hundreds of thousands of followers under Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong, and more than 1000 people will be submerged if they can't even lift the waves.

Moreover, Chen Wang had inspected it yesterday, and his combat power was not bad among the mainland soldiers, but it couldn't compare with the frontier troops.

The rate of wearing armor is very high. The main soldiers in the battalion are all wearing cloth face armor or cotton armor, but it is unknown how many iron sheets are inside and how protective it is.

Chen Wang raised his hand slightly, and continued.

"Zhou Guerzilla has traveled all the way, please take a seat."

Hearing Chen Wang's order, Zhou Yumao responded again, and then followed the guidance and sat on the seat on the right.

Chen Wangduan sat on the chair, looked at Zhou Yumao sitting on the right,

Zhou Yumao didn't wear a helmet on his head, but a net scarf.

Zhou Yumao's age is not very old, about thirty years old, his eyes are calm, his complexion is slightly dark, his face is full of dust, and his brows are full of exhaustion.

"I just arrived in Xing'an not long ago, so I'm not familiar with the surrounding situation. How are the rogues near Xing'an now? Does Zhou Gueran have any news?"

Zhou Yumao just sat down, when he heard Chen Wang's question, he quickly stood up and bowed his head to report.

"Xizhi fought fiercely with Zhuantian Harrier Wang Cheng in the east of Ziyang City seven days ago. After receiving the information from the general, he did not dare to neglect, so he moved the camp at night and returned to Xing'an."

"Five days ago, Jin Chi Peng Lushi led a large number of soldiers and horses from outside Xing'an City to Ziyang. There were about [-] horsemen and more than [-] hungry soldiers in the infantry."

Chen Wang's eyes narrowed slightly, and Lu Shi really turned and ran towards Ziyang, probably at the same place as Zhuantian Harrier Wang Cheng now.

Although Lu Shi was the leader of the thieves, his predecessor was just an ordinary villager, and he had some insight.

At the beginning, Lu Shi ran around like a headless chicken, and the time when he really started to plan his actions was when he chased all the way to the territory of Xixiang County.

After arriving at Lu Shi, he headed east all the way, then passed Hanyin, took the road to Xing'an, and then went southwest to look for Ziyang's Zhuantian Harrier Wang Cheng.

It is absolutely impossible to know the distribution of cities in Hanzhong Prefecture based on Lu Shi alone.

Lu Shi should have gathered the fine cavalry and horse army under Zhang Yuan's command. Among those fine cavalry and horse troops, there were people who knew geography to advise Lu Shi.

"You and Wang Cheng have been fighting for many days, how many casualties are there, how many people are there under Wang Cheng's command, and what is the situation in Ziyang County?"

Chen Wang frowned slightly, and asked questions one after another.

Zhou Yumao didn't think for long, just paused, and then began to report.

"Wang Cheng is cunning. He occupied a mountain in the northeast of Ziyang County and set up a camp. I waited for many days to siege and just pulled out the outer strongholds. When I was about to attack the main village, I received news from the general, so I didn't get much. results."

"Over the past few days, more than [-] people have been killed in the army, and more than [-] bandit soldiers have been killed or wounded, but most of them are hungry troops."

"Wang Cheng still has nearly 3 people under his command. There should be [-] elite cavalry. There are more than [-] cavalry troops. The rest are infantry soldiers. There are also many women, children, old and weak."

Zhou Yumao had already memorized all this information by heart before he came here. Chen Wang is now a general in Hanzhong Mansion, and he led troops all the way to pursue him. He will definitely preside over the campaign later, so he will naturally ask questions.

If you ask three questions and don't know, you will definitely leave an impression of incompetence.

In order to be able to answer the questions, Zhou Yumao naturally prepared a draft in advance.

"There are more than [-] militiamen and a thousand guards in Ziyang County. The county magistrate has mobilized strong men to defend the city. There is enough food and grass in the city, and it can last for more than a few months."

"Last year, the walls of each city were reinforced, and all kinds of defense equipment and materials were prepared, which is quite sufficient. If the rogues do not have siege equipment, they should not be able to attack Ziyang County."

Chen Wang looked at Zhou Yumao who was standing at the bottom, and information about Zhou Yumao also began to emerge in his mind.

As a general in Hanzhong Mansion, he naturally got information about Zhou Yumao from Hong Chengchou.

Strengthening the city walls, making city defense equipment, and preparing city defense supplies are all measures taken by Zhou Yumao to stabilize the banditry in Hanzhong Mansion.

As a guerrilla, Zhou Yumao was completely qualified, and even surpassed the passing line by a lot.

It was not Zhou Yumao's fault that Hanzhong Mansion fell into turmoil again.

Before the civil uprising broke out in Fengxian County, Zhang Yuan and Wang Cheng had been suppressed, and bandits and bandits from all over the country could not pose a threat to the cities.

At that time, Hanzhong Mansion was considered stable.

However, when civil uprisings broke out in Fengxian County and Chenggu and other places, the Hanzhong Guards responsible for the suppression of Zhangyuan were affected and quickly lost, which made Hanzhong Mansion lose control.

At that time, Zhou Yumao was confronting Wang Cheng in the eastern part of Hanzhong Mansion, and he was beyond his reach in the face of the chaos in the central part of Hanzhong Mansion.

The civil uprising in Fengxian County was completely unexpected. If it weren't for the fact that the government's tax recovery was too harsh and too insulting, the civil uprising could have been completely avoided.

Originally, Zhou Yumao was also a guerrilla in Yansui Town, and his combat exploits were pretty good. Later, Hanzhong Prefecture set up guerrillas, so he was flatly transferred to Hanzhong Prefecture.

"Follow me back safely to the Xing'an army. There are more than [-] soldiers, including more than [-] guards and more than [-] militiamen."

Zhou Yumao raised more than 100 servants under his command, and his battalion had a total of 200 soldiers, including [-] auxiliary soldiers, and their combat effectiveness was not bad.

Although Chen Wang didn't ask this question, Zhou Yumao reported all of them together. Anyway, these questions will definitely be asked when the time comes.

"Six thousand three hundred people..."

Chen Wang calculated in his mind that this number was not too small.

These guards and militiamen are not pure recruits.

Zhou Yumao trained these guards and militiamen for a period of time.

None of the militiamen wore armor. After all, they were militiamen, so naturally they were not allowed to wear armor.

Most of these militiamen are pikemen, and their mission is to assist in defending the city and help transport luggage in peacetime...

Of course, there is also acting as cannon fodder on the battlefield.

During the reign of Chongzhen, the militias in various places were not managed by local gentry, but were recruited by magistrates of counties and prefectures in various places as troops to defend the city.

"How many soldiers and horses does Xunyang have?"

Chen Wang put his hand on the table and tapped lightly.

He was going to talk about these things later, but since Zhou Yumao reported in advance, he decided to start with this matter first.

Zhou Yumao did not expect that Chen Wang would ask about Xunyang's situation. Xunyang City is located in the northeast of Xing'an City, close to Xunyang Mansion, and there are no rogues there.

The bandits who had previously entrenched around Xunyang had also been wiped out by him. Wang Cheng was entrenched in Ziyang, and he had to go through Xing'an City if he wanted to go from Ziyang to Xunyang.

Xunyang is not a threat now, so Zhou Yumao didn't deliberately remember Xunyang's information.

Zhou Yumao still had some impressions about the strength of the city's defenders. After recalling it, Zhou Yumao also gave the answer.

"Xunyang City now has more than [-] guards and more than [-] militiamen."

Chen Wang's eyes flickered. There were 800 soldiers in Xunyang City, and 6000 and 300 soldiers in Xing'an. Adding the soldiers and horses of his headquarters, the total number of soldiers and horses he can mobilize now is [-] people.

300 sounds like a lot, but if you compare it with hundreds of thousands, it's not much at all.

Chen Wang leaned forward slightly, stared at Zhou Yumao, and asked,

"If I ask you to mobilize all the people in Xing'an and Xunyang, how many people can you mobilize in total?"

Zhou Yumao didn't answer Chen Wang's question immediately this time, and he didn't prepare a draft for this question in advance.

Moreover, Chen Wang's question made him think of an extremely terrifying thing.

(End of this chapter)