The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 367 Whetstone

into the night.

Outside Xiangyang City.

The mountains and camps fell silent again.

It was quiet inside the camp.

Except for the soldiers guarding and patrolling outside, almost everyone had already fallen asleep.

The sun has set again into the embrace of the mountains.

Night fell, covering the whole world.

The sky and the earth were dark.

The camp at the foot of Zigai Mountain has also returned to peace.

Chen Wang stood on the lookout outside the Chinese military tent, looking down at the tents scattered below.

There were dots of firelight in his field of vision, as if it were daytime.

The crackling sound of burning wood came from the nearby brazier from time to time, echoing near the lookout.

The mountain wind howled and traveled throughout Xian Mountain, causing the firelight in each camp to sway continuously.

The dancing firelight kept flashing in Chen Wang's eyes, and the mountain breeze blew in and dissipated the heat around him.

distance.

Beyond the dark area, there is a dim firelight under the night, which is where Xiangyang City is located.

At this time, Xiangyang City had already fallen into silence, but the light shining on the city wall proved that Xiangyang had not completely fallen into sleep.

Looking at Xiangyang City in the distance, Chen Wang slowly exhaled a breath of turbidity.

In five years, he traveled thousands of miles and experienced countless hardships.

From being a servant to the commander-in-chief of a town, to being awarded the title of general to defeat thieves, to spanning three provinces and controlling five prefectures, he has been fighting all the way with little rest. Now, he finally has a short time to stop.

But this is just the calm before the storm.

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

In Liaodong, the Battle of Songjin has begun.

This time, the strength of the Ming army and the domestic situation were much better than in history.

During the Wuyin Incident in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the damage and gains caused by the Qing army's entry into the Pass were much smaller than in history.

The Qing army failed to capture Jinan and suffered a major defeat at Qingshan Pass. The Ming army was able to snatch back a lot of people and baggage.

Although the main force of Xuanda's troops led by Lu Xiangsheng suffered heavy casualties, the main body was still there.

Now after two more years of training, the three towns of Xuanda have recovered a lot of their combat power. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty's power in the Northern Kingdom is much stronger than in history.

Moreover, Wang Pu, the culprit who caused the defeat of the Ming army in the Battle of Songjin, is not the commander-in-chief of Datong Town now.

In the previous battles between Cheng and Ji to encircle and suppress Li Zicheng, Wang Pu, then the commander-in-chief of Yansui Town, was defeated by Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng crossed Guanshan and entered northern Sichuan, leaving the pursuing Ming army far behind.

In anger, Hong Chengchou took away Wang Pu's official position and wiped him out.

Therefore, during the Wuyin Incident in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the commander-in-chief of Datong Town who followed Lu Xiangsheng into battle was Du Wenhuan, not Wang Pu.

In times of internal and external difficulties, Du Wenhuan did not lead his troops to leave Lu Xiangsheng, but chose to continue to follow Lu Xiangsheng.

The battle situation also shifted towards another outcome. The Ming army in Jiazhuang and the main force of the Qin army, which came thousands of miles away for reinforcements, won the final victory in the battle of Jiazhuang.

If Wang Pu was still the commander-in-chief, he would definitely lead the main force of Datong Town to escape first. I am afraid that the already sparse Jia Zhuang Ming Army would not be able to hold on for that long.

In the later stages of the Battle of Songjin, if the Ming army could follow Hong Chengchou's strategy and withdraw in an orderly manner, the Ming army's losses would never have been so heavy.
The reason that led to the defeat of the Ming army was that Wang Pu disobeyed military orders and led his troops to break out at night and escape, causing panic in the towns of the Ming army and leading to chaos in the army.

Soldiers and horses in various towns fled in chaos, cavalry and infantry trampled each other. In the dark night, the Ming soldiers were in chaos, with countless casualties. It was impossible to tell which soldiers and horses came from. The Qing army took advantage of the situation to cover up and kill them, and the Ming army completely collapsed.

The elite of the Nine Fortresses, the grain of China, all thrown away...

In the Battle of Songjin, the Ming army was not fully prepared, and its defeat was normal.

But according to common sense, no matter what, it would not suffer such a disastrous defeat.

Wang Pu is an undoubted sinner.

After the war, Wang Pu was beheaded for "the first escape".

But this time, Wang Pu had no chance to appear in Songjin.

The current commander-in-chief of Datong Town is Jiang Yu, who was born in a northern general.

In history, Jiang Yu first surrendered to Dashun, then to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and later rebelled against the Qing Dynasty again, and finally died and the city was destroyed.

Although Jiang Yan's moral character and reputation were lacking, no matter what, he was still much better than Wang Pu.

In addition to the changes in the general army of Datong, there is another change in the towns on the nine sides of the North.

Because of Chen Wang's influence, Cao Wenzhao did not die in the battle in Qiutou Town and was still active inside and outside the court.

After the Battle of Qingshanguan, Cao Wenzhao did not return south, but was left in the north.

Naturally, the original position of Chief Military Officer of the Suppression Relief was resigned, and Cao Wenzhao was appointed as Chief Military Officer of Jizhou Town.

This time Song Jin, the Ming army will most likely be defeated, because the core problem has not changed.

But this time, Song Jin's defeat shouldn't be so painful.

Now the entire Northern Kingdom's attention is focused on the Songjin line, and all the towns on the nine sides have begun to implement martial law.

As the situation in Songjin continued to escalate, the Ming court also sent many reinforcements to Liaodong to support Songjin.

Although the large-scale confrontation in the Battle of Songjin would not begin until March of the 14th year of Chongzhen, that is, March of next year, when Hong Chengchou led the Eighth Army to march.

But apart from Chen Wang, it is naturally impossible for anyone to know this matter.

Now because the situation in Liaodong is becoming more and more tense, all the Ming troops in the north are on combat readiness and dare not move without permission.

No matter what the final outcome of Song Jin was, the Ming court would be in a situation where it would be unable to mobilize northern troops to go south, and all its troops would be used to defend against Jiannu.

And this is undoubtedly good news.

The current situation is developing in a direction favorable to Chen Wang.

Just as Chen Wang was thinking, a burst of footsteps came from behind Chen Wang.

Chen Wang tilted his head slightly, and happened to see Chen Gong who was leading several armored soldiers back from patrolling the camp, and asked with some confusion.

"Have you finished patrolling the camp?"

During this time, Chen Gong was responsible for the task of patrolling the camp. Generally speaking, the time it took to patrol the camp should be about two quarters of an hour.

But it should have only been a quarter of an hour now, less than half of the usual time, and Chen Gong rushed back first.

When something goes wrong, something is wrong.

"Halfway through the camp tour, Ye Bushou outside the camp received the intelligence sent back from the Northland by the Supervisory Office. They didn't dare to neglect and submitted it."

Chen Gong walked closer and handed over a tightly packed bamboo tube.

The fire paint on the bamboo tube is intact, the sealing is also intact, and there are two shallow marks carved on it.

This is a commonly used method of sealing messages delivered by supervisory offices. The scratches on the outside of the bamboo tube represent the urgency of the message. One is ordinary information, and the other two are urgent information that must be processed urgently.

Engraving three lines means it is extremely important and must be delivered as quickly as possible at any cost.

Chen Wang opened the package, glanced at the letter inside, and then handed it to the guard on the side.

The messages delivered by the surveillance office are naturally not in clear text, and the letters delivered need to be translated according to the corresponding codebook.

The guard beside him took the letter from Chen Wang's hand and walked quickly towards the side tent, looking for someone to translate the letter.

Without waiting long, the content of the letter was translated.

Chen Gong stood beside Chen Wang and frowned.

"Brother's prediction was correct. The new supervisor is indeed Hou Xun."

In a sense, the court of the Ming Dynasty was like a large sieve.

The conversation at the Great Court meeting cannot be kept secret at all, and can be obtained by spending only money.

Chen Wang's expression did not change. He succeeded Yang Sichang as the supervisor. As he had expected at the beginning, the imperial court finally sent Hou Xun to take over.

Although Lu Xiangsheng survived and survived the disaster.

But Lu Xiangsheng was still not activated after all. After the Wuyin Incident, he was convicted and questioned, and he was supposed to be imprisoned.

Because Lu Xiangsheng was observing filial piety, he was specially allowed to return to his hometown to observe filial piety.

The period of keeping filial piety lasts for three years, and it is not easy to win love.

Therefore, even if the current situation is difficult, Chongzhen cannot use Lu Xiangsheng if he wants to.

In the capital, Chen Wang also had some channels, which were naturally financed with money, just like Zhang Xianzhong in history.

After Yang Sichang's death, Lu Xiangsheng's name was mentioned at the court meeting as a candidate for the governor of the Southern Kingdom, but it was quickly rejected for this reason.

Hou Xun was Zuo Liangyu's benefactor. When Zuo Liangyu was young, he committed the crime of robbing military uniforms and was stripped of his official position and demoted to a soldier.

Later, Hou Xun promoted Zuo Liangyu and granted him military power, which made Zuo Liangyu stand out in the campaign to aid the Liao Dynasty. From then on, his career was smooth sailing and he became a general.

As Zuo Liangyu's benefactor, Hou Xun serves as the supervisor, which may make Zuo Liangyu change his mind.

Zuo Liangyu is a person who attaches great importance to kindness.

Zuo Liangyu originally joined the army to plunder military supplies and then tried to kill him according to law.

As a result, Qiu Lei, who was traveling with him, chose to bear the blame alone.

Zuo Liangyu was acquitted, but Qiu Lei was sent to the Ministry of Punishment Prison.

Later, Zuo Liangyu was rewarded for his merits, and he donated tens of thousands of taels of silver to rescue Qiu Lei.

Historically, Hou Xun became the governor, and Zuo Liangyu indeed obeyed Hou Xun's call and went to suppress the army.

Chen Gong naturally didn't know these things, but his worries were also the worries of normal people in this era.

In this era, ordinary people also attach great importance to the friendship between teachers and benefactors.

"Hou Xun is actually insignificant to the overall situation. He can't save the situation."

Chen Wang glanced at the military camp on Youshan, which was where Zuo Liangyu's headquarters was located, just two miles away at the foot of the mountain.

Using Hou Xun can indeed control Zuo Liangyu, but using Hou Xun can only control Zuo Liangyu.

Hou Xun's ability and prestige are insufficient. He has no way to control other generals, and he has no ability to solve the current problems in the South.

Although Hou Xun had served as a minister in the Ministry of War before, he did not understand military affairs.

"The situation in the southern country can be alleviated a little if we send Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting south."

"If you send Hou Xun down, it won't be long before it completely collapses."

In terms of military capabilities, Hou Xun, Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Sichang are naturally incomparable. Not only are they not up to the level of Xiong Wencan, but they are not even one star lower than Chen Qiyu.

"Seven days ago, Zhang Xianzhong broke through Qianjiang and entered the Mianyang area, advancing towards Wuchang."

"Wan Yuanji is just as I expected. He has been standing still since he led his troops to Yuezhou Mansion."

"By the time Hou Xun takes office, Zhang Xianzhong will probably turn most of Huguang upside down."

It's not that Chen Wang looks down on Hou Xun, but that Hou Xun really can't handle the current situation.

Except for Zhang Xianzhong, the fifth battalion of Gezuo is now causing a lot of trouble in South Zhili.

Because of the Wanmin Army's attack on Xuzhou, a large number of soldiers and horses were mobilized northward, which gave the Fifth Battalion of Ge Zuo an opportunity.

At the beginning of July, the fifth battalion of Gezuo captured Shucheng, defeated the officers and soldiers of South Zhili, and marched towards the capital of Lu'an Prefecture. The march was overwhelming and shocked South Zhili again.

The Wanmin army captured Shangqiu in June and captured the entire territory of Guidefu.

The Yellow River was in summer flood season, so Li Yan formed his troops and stood guard along the river. Yang Wenyue's troops were blocked to the north of the Yellow River, making it difficult for him to rush south for reinforcements.

The Ten Thousand People's Army entered the northern part of South Zhili in June, surrounded Xuzhou, plundered the surrounding areas, and recruited villagers. The momentum was extremely huge and it continued to flourish.

How could Hou Xun be able to handle such a complex and severe situation?
"However, Hou Xun will arrive in the South Kingdom soon, and Xiangyang City cannot just besieged but not attacked."

During these days, Chen Wang did not order an attack. He only occupied Sanxian Mountain in the southwest and connected Fancheng in the north, but did not attack.

After all, capturing Xiangyang would not be of any benefit to him now.

The price paid is far more than the gain.

It is better to leave Xiangyang City in Zhang Xianzhong's hands temporarily.

During this period, Chen Wang used the siege instead of attacking because he wanted to integrate all the armies, rush to make siege equipment, and wait for the navy.

Huguang's navy had arrived outside Xiangyang three days ago, but there were not many warships.

Because Wuchang was threatened, the main force of the navy was concentrated around Wuchang.

Moreover, so much time had passed and the siege equipment was almost ready. Chen Wang naturally had no excuse to stand still.

"Huguang soldiers, how many days until we arrive?"

Chen Wang leaned on the railing of the observation deck with his hands and asked Chen Gong who was standing aside.

"The Huguang soldiers will arrive at Fancheng at noon tomorrow."

It is natural to attack Xiangyang.

But it is definitely impossible for Chen Wang to use his elite troops to fill the trenches of the strong city of Xiangyang.

Therefore, some time after the siege of Xiangyang, Chen Wang dispatched the Huguang troops stationed in Henan.

Most of the rogue bandits in northern Henan have been wiped out by the new battalion soldiers taken away by Chen Yongfu.

The newly formed battalion has experienced blood and fire, and has begun to take shape. The vacancies in Henan have also been filled, and the soldiers and horses from Huguang can naturally be mobilized.

These Huguang soldiers were originally controlled by Chen Hongfan, but Chen Hongfan didn't pay much attention to them. Most of his attention was on his servants.

Therefore, these Huguang camp soldiers have almost all the bad habits of the inland camp soldiers.

Their fighting power is weak, their discipline is loose, and they are not useful for much purpose. They are like old rusty swords.

And Xiangyang is undoubtedly the best whetstone.

The refugees outside Xiangyang City can just be used as a supplement to the military reserves...