The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 362 Making a decision
The Han River flows eastward and washes away everything, leaving the mustache and beard plaster with blood.

Everyone said that the flying generals of the Jun family were heroes in the old days.

Xiangyang City is located on a high terrain, surrounded by water on three sides and backed by mountains on one side.

It is surrounded by the Han River to the north, east, and south, to the west is Wanshan Mountain, and to the southwest is a series of more than a dozen large and small mountains such as Xian Mountain, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Mongolian cavalry, which was at its peak, fought for six years before they were able to capture Xiangyang.

Historically, whenever Xiangyang was mentioned, another place name would always be mentioned - Fancheng.

Fancheng and Xiangyang are two cities located at the southern end of Nanyang Basin.

Fancheng is in the north and Xiangyang is in the south.

It stands against the Xianshan Mountain, stands between the Han River, connects Jingyu and controls the north and south.

Fancheng is the gateway town in the north of Xiangyang.

Xiangyang with Fancheng and Xiangyang without Fancheng are completely different.

It is precisely because of Fancheng that Xiangyang's defense is impregnable.

Without Fancheng, Xiangyang would become an isolated city.

Zhang Xianzhong is really not clear about the importance of Fancheng to Xiangyang.

But Xu Yixian and Pan Duao, who were Zhang Xianzhong's military advisers, were very clear about it.

Therefore, on the third day after capturing Xiangyang, Zhang Xianzhong sent troops to Fancheng at the request of Xu Yixian and Pan Duao.

However, they came a step late after all.

On top of the south city tower of Fancheng, Chen Wangyuan looked at the ships leaving the Han River in the distance to the south.

Xiangyang City on the south bank is majestic and tall, with hundreds of sails racing across the river.

The departing ship was carrying the Xianjun soldiers who had hit a wall under Fancheng not long ago.

Chen Wang had already anticipated the fall of Xiangyang. When he was in Kaifeng Mansion, he had been thinking about how to go south to Huguang in a legitimate way.

But before Chen Wang could think of an excuse, Yang Sichang's military order for him to go south had already reached Kaifeng City.

After receiving the order to march south, Chen Wang naturally would not refuse even a bit.

Whether it is for future strategies or to preserve the cities and fields of Nanyang Mansion and Yunyang Mansion, going south is inevitable.

Historically, after Zhang Xianzhong captured Xiangyang, he first went north to attack Nanyang Prefecture, which was the least affected in Henan at that time.

With the influence of the Battle of Kaifeng, most of the military affairs in Henan have now been taken over by Chen Wang, and with the help of the power of military affairs, he has begun to deepen his influence on the local level.

Chen Wang has monopolized 70% of the private salt business in Nanyang Prefecture, Henan Prefecture, and Ruzhou Prefecture in the southwest of Henan.

Originally, the taxes collected by the local guards, camps, and checkpoints were collected by their own customs. After Chen Wang took over the military affairs, all the taxes naturally went into Chen Wang's pocket.

Because of this situation, Chen Wang naturally could not let Zhang Xianzhong go north.

Xiangyang has an important geographical location. If Zhang Xianzhong wants to cut off the road to the north, only by occupying Fancheng can he have a certain initiative.

Therefore, Chen Wang worked hard all the way, and finally arrived at Fancheng in time for the day before, blocking the subsequent attack by Zhang Xianzhong's army.

"Yang Sichang..."

Chen Wang looked at Xiangyang City hidden in the mist in the distance with a calm expression.

Although Chen Wang had already anticipated Yang Sichang's fate.

But when he really received the positive news, Chen Wang was still a little sad.

However, Yang Sichang's death made Chen Wang feel more relieved.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the point when the Southern Kingdom completely lost control was the death of Yang Sichang.

Although many things have changed now, the overall situation is still not much different.

The prestige of the Ming court was gradually lost with successive defeats.

Years of harsh criticism and deformed status have caused military commanders to become disloyal.

Natural disasters continue one after another with no sign of stopping.

The civil unrest intensified and became more violent.

The bitter fruits that Yang Sichang had sown before and the poisonous wine that he drank would eventually lead to disaster.

The rain is coming and the wind is all over the building.

After Yang Sichang's death, the situation in the Southern Kingdom was about to completely collapse.

Zuo Liangyu's incident alerted the eyes of most of the generals in the Southern Kingdom.

Troubled times arise in all directions, and where there are soldiers, there is the Caotou King.

After several warnings, the court did not punish him. Instead, he comforted him with gentle words and increased his salary and rewards.

The generals of the Southern Kingdom have become alienated...

"Headquarters, what should we do next?"

Zhao Huailiang stood beside Chen Wang, also looking at the departing ship in the distance, and asked.

"How to do?"

Chen Wang's eyes narrowed slightly and he raised his head, looking across the wide Han River to Xiangyang City in the distance.

"For us, there is actually only one best option now."

"What choice?"

"do nothing."

"do nothing?"

"Correct."

Chen Wang pressed his hands on the railing in front of him.

"You should have seen all the information sent by the Supervisory Office yesterday, right?"

Zhao Huailiang nodded.

The current sphere of influence of the Supervisory Office is mainly in Hanzhong and Yunyang Prefecture, and the Supervisory Office in these two places has the most powerful control.

In addition, the scope of influence of the Supervision Office has also spread to Xiangyang, Xi'an, Kuizhou, and Nanyang.

After Chen Wangwang led his troops into Henan, it gradually extended to Henan Prefecture, Ruzhou Prefecture, and Kaifeng Prefecture.

There is also a stronghold of the Supervisory Office in Xiangyang City.

Last night, the supervisors in Xiangyang City took advantage of the darkness to convey the news in the city.

Zhang Xianzhong followed Li Yan's example in opening warehouses to provide disaster relief and issuing money to recruit troops. There were already many victims gathering outside Xiangyang City due to the famine.

Zhang Xianzhong's move instantly won the support of these victims. In just two days, he had already recruited more than 30,000 soldiers, and his power skyrocketed.

"The city of Xiangyang is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The terrain is dangerous. There are many firearms in the city and the ordnance is enough to arm ten thousand people. Zhang Xianzhong has now received a large number of strong men to supplement him. The gain of attacking Xiangyang is not worth the loss."

There is no benefit in fighting Zhang Xianzhong now.

Although Xiangyang can be captured by force, it will inevitably lead to loss of troops and generals.

Even if Xiangyang is captured, there is no way to occupy Xiangyang.

It is still the thirteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, not the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign, and the Ming court has not yet reached the point of desperation.

"Now is not the time."

Chen Wang knows the current situation very well and is very patient.

"Where are the soldiers and horses in Yunyang Mansion now?" The only people following Chen Wang in Fancheng are his three thousand cavalry.

Chen Wang's main camp and other troops were left in Kaifeng Mansion by Chen Wang, and were temporarily led by Hu Zhiyi to protect Kaifeng.

Although the Wanmin Army has reached an alliance with Li Yan.

But the alliance reached with Li Yan is undoubtedly extremely fragile, and it is completely seeking the skin of a tiger.

Li Yan, the fierce tiger, temporarily lowered his expression and put away his sharp claws.

But this is because the minions of the current Wanmin Army have been injured and cannot open anymore for the time being.

And when the Ten Thousand People's Army regains its power and Li Yan discovers the flaw, he will inevitably attack again.

Zhao Huailiang pondered for a moment and replied.

"In two days, the 2,000 soldiers and horses left behind in Yunyang Mansion can arrive at Fancheng. The social soldiers have also been divided into 1,000 people, recruited in the name of auxiliary troops, and mobilized together."

"Three thousand people...enough..."

Chen Wang nodded slightly. Three thousand infantry, plus the three thousand elite cavalry under his command, were more than enough to defend Fancheng.

The actual strength of Zhang Xianzhong's military force has been clearly detected by the surveillance station he installed in Xiangyang City.

Zhang Xianzhong only had more than 5,000 cavalry in total, and it seemed extremely difficult to control the huge Xiangyang City.

At this time, most of the troops in Xiangyang City were surrendered and reorganized by Zhang Xianzhong, and Zhang Xianzhong followed Li Yan's example in recruiting a large number of new soldiers, giving them spears and practicing military formations.

Due to the lack of assistants and troops, Zhang Xianzhong did not have strong control over Xiangyang.

Because of this, the Supervisory Office is able to deliver so much information.

Knowing yourself and the enemy is the only way to survive a hundred battles.

Chen Wang withdrew his gaze, turned around and walked into the tower.

In the tower, a huge sand table has been piled up.

On the sand table, mountains, rivers and rivers intersect with each other, and every place is described in great detail.

What this sand table depicts is not just the situation around Xiangyang City, but also the situation in the seven surrounding provinces with Yunyang Mansion as the center.

"The men under Zuo Liangyu are in Kuizhou Prefecture and Jingzhou Prefecture now, right?"

Chen Wang looked towards Kuizhou Prefecture and Jingzhou Prefecture in the southwest.

Zhao Huailiang followed Chen Wang into the tower. When he heard Chen Wang's question, he asked immediately.

"The general town remembers it well. Zuo Liangyu's current lord force is ten miles east of Wushan in Kuizhou Prefecture, and his three battalions of Liu Guoneng, Li Wanqing, and Ma Shixiu are in Yidu in Jingzhou Prefecture."

"The remaining camps and towns are distributed from Kaixian County in Kuizhou Prefecture to Jiangling City in Jingzhou Prefecture."

Zhao Huailiang took a step forward, picked up the command whip on the side, and pointed at the Zuo Liangyu Department marked with a dark red flag on the map.

"Before Yang Sichang's death, he entrusted the suppression affairs to the hands of the general town, and put Zuo Liangyu under the control of the general town. This is a God-given opportunity."

Zhao Huailiang stood beside Chen Wang. He had already read the letter from Yiling in Chen Wang's hand. This was not a secret.
Therefore, Zhao Huailiang naturally knew that Yang Sichang handed Zuo Liangyu over to Chen Wanglai for control before his death.

"Zuo Liangyu's men are now considered to be strong. If they can be gathered together, it will be a big help."

Chen Wang's eyes were cold and he shook his head.

"Now is not the time yet."

At this time, Zuo Liangyu was gradually becoming a warlord.

When he was in Xiangyang, he formed a good relationship with Zuo Liangyu.

But that good karma was not enough to make Zuo Liangyu surrender to him.

This was the time when Zuo Liangyu's ambition was at its most ambitious. At this time, Zuo Liangyu did not want to be inferior to others.

This can be seen from Zuo Liangyu's change in attitude towards Cao Bianjiao.

"Yang Sichang cannot control Zuo Liangyu and cannot dispatch Zuo Liangyu."

Chen Wang knew Zuo Liangyu very well.

"Yang Sichang passed away due to illness, and the post of supervisor is temporarily vacant."

Historically, after Yang Sichang died, Ding Qirui was promoted to Minister of War and renamed as Governor, governor of Huguang, Henan, Sichuan and the armies north and south of the Yangtze River, as well as governor of the three sides.

But the situation is different now. Zheng Chongjian made no mistake and is still the governor of the three sides, while Ding Qirui is still the governor of Shaanxi.

Moreover, the civil strife in Shaanxi is still ongoing, and the Shaanxi soldiers are still under the control of Zheng Chongjian and are stalemate with Li Zicheng in the Hexi Corridor.

Naturally, it is possible for Ding Qirui to become the supervisor.

The most likely person to take over as governor is Zuo Liangyu's former benefactor, Hou Xun.

"Wan Yuanji is currently coordinating the suppression of various towns on Yang Sichang's behalf. Yang Sichang himself cannot control Zuo Liangyu. He knows that Wan Yuanji will definitely not be able to control Zuo Liangyu."

"That's why you gave Zuo Liangyu this hot potato to me, and asked me to suppress Zuo Liangyu and control Zuo Liangyu."

The Zuo Liangyu of today is far different from the Zuo Liangyu of history.

After the eight kings who had resurrected in Gucheng in Fang County ambushed and lost nearly 10,000 troops, "General Zuo Liangyu had 3,000 troops. He was listening to the dispatches of his ministers. His subordinates Liu Guoneng, Li Wanqing and others had more than 6,000 troops."

Historically, when Zuo Liangyu conquered Xiangyang under Zhang Xianzhong, his own troops and horses alone had already reached 30,000 people. The number of followers is not certain, but the total number may have exceeded 50,000.

But now there are only over 30,000 people under Zuo Liangyu's command, and the number of troops directly under Zuo Liangyu's command is only about 10,000.

According to the information Chen Wang received from all parties, the combat effectiveness of Zuo Liangyu's troops was not weak, especially the troops under the direct jurisdiction of the army had won great victories in several battles.

In the Battle of Huangling City in history, the troops under the command of Zuo Liangyu, who was as fierce as a tiger, attacked and were ambushed.

Zuo Liangyu's troops quickly collapsed after encountering an ambush, which turned into a complete army rout. As a result, the Ming army suffered heavy losses.

But this time in the Battle of Huangling City, Zuo Liangyu's troops resisted tenaciously for a long time, and finally collapsed because of the deaths of Liu Shijie and Guo Kai.

Zuo Liangyu listened a lot to Chen Wang's words.

Zuo Liangyu did not expand the troops under his command unscrupulously, but expanded the troops in a controlled manner, recruiting as many elites as possible and training them to fight.

Chen Wang recalled the information about Zuo Liangyu sent by the Supervision Office during this period.

If it were the troops under Zuo Liangyu's command in history, to be honest, Chen Wang would definitely look down on them.

Historically, the troops under Zuo Liangyu were just a bunch of rabble.

In the battle of Zhuxian Town, Zuo Liangyu was beaten by Li Zicheng to the point where he lost his armor and even lost his morale, directly losing his ambition to conquer the world.

But now the troops under Zuo Liangyu can be regarded as a qualified army.

It only takes a certain amount of training to become a strong army.

"I have my own arrangements regarding Zuo Liangyu."

Chen Wang waved his hand, now is not the time to recruit Zuo Liangyu.

The power shown on paper now, the total number of people under his command is only 30,000, which is about the same as Zuo Liangyu.

No matter from which aspect, Zuo Liangyu is not convinced.

"We are in Fancheng now, just waiting for Zhang Xianzhong."

Chen Wang looked at Xiangyang City in the distance.

The water gurgled and rolled eastward.

The road to the north has been blocked by him.

There was no way to go north and attack Nanyang.

There is only one way left for Zhang Xianzhong.