The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 369 Hou Xun
The sound of war drums sounded like thunder, echoing in the streets and alleys of Xiangyang City.

The Ming army that ascended the city wall first was already in close combat with the defenders on the city wall.

The shouts of killing were deafening, the smell of blood was pungent, and one banner after another kept swaying in the river wind.

The siege of Xiangyang has lasted for fourteen days.

In fourteen days, a total of more than 3,000 corpses were dumped outside the city.

But they still stopped at the outer city of Xiangyang. Although they climbed to the top of the city several times, they were stubbornly repelled by the defenders inside Xiangyang City.

Of course, not all of the more than 3,000 corpses were soldiers of the Huguang Sixth Battalion.

The reinforcement battalions under Chen Gong and Zhou Yumao were also in the process of besieging Xiangyang.

As a general, the most taboo thing is to favor one over the other. This can easily damage the morale of the army and damage morale.

Therefore, Chen Wang did not put his Hanzhong Army in a safe position.

Moreover, as early as when Chen Gong and Zhou Yumao came to help, Chen Wang had already informed them in advance.

Let them bring half of the veterans and the other half to bring the recruits who have just completed training, using Xiangyang as a training ground.

Zuo Liangyu's attack direction was Nancheng, and the main forces involved were Wang Yuncheng, Liu Guoneng and Ma Shixiu.

He also sent his son Zuo Menggeng to lead more than 2,000 soldiers to join the siege.

Because of the advance ventilation, new soldiers were also sent to participate in the siege, using Xiangyang as a whetstone, and each battalion took turns to attack continuously.

The siege of Xiangyang City is still going on, and there is no slackening due to the heavy casualties.

The heavy casualties on the front line did not deter the refugees wandering around Xiangyang from joining the army. On the contrary, every time when the recruiting officers walked to the gathering place, they would soon be surrounded by water.

The pensions issued to the war dead are white rice, rice that can keep them alive.

Chen Wang has sent troops to intervene in several large-scale refugee camps to ensure basic order and ensure that the white rice for pensions will not be robbed.

And not only did they die in battle, there were also soldiers who had won military exploits, rode on tall horses, and cheered in front of them, and the soldiers returned to the camp. Their families and children were also connected to the Ming army's camp.

These refugees outside Xiangyang City left their homes and fled all the way because they couldn't survive.

Originally, he could barely survive by relying on Xiangyang City, doing some work and chores, and receiving financial aid from the government.

However, with the fall of Xiangyang City and the city being controlled by rogue bandits, this ecological order began to get out of control.

At the beginning, Zhang Xianzhong sent a large amount of money to recruit soldiers, and opened warehouses to release grain and provide relief, which benefited the refugees outside Xiangyang City and gave them a way to survive.

However, this only solves an urgent need, because the refugees outside Xiangyang City have no permanent property and no fixed livelihood, just like rootless people.

After Zhang Xianzhong left Xiangyang City, Li Dingguo tightened the defense line and recruited refugees to defend the city, but not all the refugees were recruited into Xiangyang City.

There are still a lot of refugees left outside Xiangyang City, and most of them are people with families.

Most of the lonely young men were either recruited by Zhang Xianzhong in advance or recruited into the city by Li Dingguo.

In the past few days, although the food originally sent by Zhang Xianzhong had solved the urgent need, as the food stocks dwindled, and the gates of Xiangyang City were still closed, many camps had begun to panic.

At this time, the recruiting officer of the Hanzhong Army arrived, which undoubtedly gave them hope.

A person who has fallen into the water will grab even a piece of straw without hesitation, let alone a piece of driftwood.

On Zigai Mountain, Chen Wang stood under the shade of the trees on the top of the mountain.

In the distance, Xiangyang City, surrounded by the Han River, heard shaking sounds from time to time.

The buzzing shouts can be faintly heard even from miles away.

Compassion does not command troops, and there is no war without death.

Years of military service had already hardened Chen Wang's heart.

There were no weapons or weapons on the battlefield, and the clan members of the Chen and Hu clans in Liaodong who followed him in the battle suffered many casualties, not to mention the ordinary soldiers at the bottom.

All we can do is live up to their sacrifice and continue to move forward.

Ensure that all pensions are paid in place, and the families of the war dead are properly settled, so that the soldiers under our command will not have to worry about the future, and will not sweat, bleed, and shed tears.

The mountain breeze dissipated the unbearable heat.

"Zuo Liangyu is gone."

Chen Gong's voice came from behind. Chen Wang did not turn his head. He had naturally seen the situation at the bottom of the mountain.

Not long ago, after Zuo Liangyu received Hou Xun's transfer order, he also came to the camp to explain to him in advance.

Hou Xun had already arrived from the north to the south, but he did not go to Henan first as in history, but to Fengyang Mansion in Nanzhili.

After all, the most turbulent situation in the entire southern country now is not Henan, but Southern Zhili. The situation in southern Zhili is now extremely bad, and tens of thousands of people's troops have surrounded the city of Xuzhou.

Huang Degong had only three thousand soldiers and horses under his command. It was already difficult to defend Xuzhou, let alone take the initiative to attack.

Yang Wenyue's troops bypassed the defense line of the Ten Thousand People's Army and crossed the Yellow River from Fangcunji in the southeast of Xuzhou. The first battle was unfavorable and they were defeated by the Ten Thousand People's Army and lost more than a thousand troops.

Although the army was not defeated, it was difficult to rush to support Xuzhou City.

After the Wanmin Army defeated the reinforcements led by Yang Wenyue, they sent some troops south to attack Suzhou, a city in the north of Fengyang Prefecture. The frontline of the troops was directed towards Fengyang, the central capital, causing great shock in southern Zhili.

As the supervisor, Hou Xun's first stop must be to go to Fengyang, the central capital.

After Hou Xun arrived in Fengyang, he issued a series of orders.

Most of these orders were to recruit troops from various places to fill the defense lines and prevent rogue bandits from expanding their victory. There were no large-scale military operations.

Hou Xun may also know that he does not know the military, so he did not interfere in the local suppression affairs.

The military affairs of the 5th Battalion of the Left in the Southern Zhili Campaign to Suppress the Revolution were still controlled by Lu Jiude, while the military affairs of the Suppression of the Ten Thousand People's Army were still in the hands of Yang Wenyue.

However, it is not that Hou Xun did not make any useful measures.

Hou Xun went south this time and brought a total of 400,000 taels of military supplies.

These 400,000 taels of silver were promised by Hou Xun to be distributed to the troops who had made meritorious service in the campaign.

However, the actual demand for military pay was not 400,000 taels, but only 200,000 taels.

Because the other half, two hundred thousand taels of silver, was sent directly to the gates of Fancheng.

Chen Wang and Zuo Liangyu each received one hundred thousand taels of military supplies.

Historically, when Hou Xun went to the south to supervise his division, he paid the troops first and then issued orders.

It has to be said that although Hou Xun is mediocre in ability, he does not know military skills.

But he is indeed a smart man, a smart man who knows his abilities very well.

Not long after Hou Xun was appointed as the governor, he asked Qiu Lei, who had just been released from prison, to be transferred to his subordinates as a staff general.

Qiu Lei and Zuo Liangyu have an excellent relationship, otherwise Qiu Lei would not have taken the blame for Zuo Liangyu after the incident.

Hou Xun knew Zuo Liangyu well. He knew that Zuo Liangyu was very kind, so he promoted Qiu Lei. In fact, it was to win over Zuo Liangyu.

And as Zuo Liangyu's benefactor, he directly sent him 100,000 taels of military pay, leaving Zuo Liangyu with no possibility of rejecting it.

So Zuo Liangyu was transferred to the south by Hou Xun to pursue Zhang Xianzhong.

Zhang Xianzhong was invincible all the way in the Jianghan Plain these days, and no Ming army along the way dared to challenge him.

Wan Yuanji led his troops to defend Yuezhou Prefecture and set up defenses along the river to prevent Zhang Xianzhong from going south to the south of Huguang. At the same time, he urgently recruited soldiers and horses from surrounding Wuchang to aid Wuchang.

Meng Ruhu and Cao Bianjiao led their troops to follow Zhang Xianzhong. Due to the problem of insufficient troops, they could not do anything to Zhang Xianzhong and could only cause some trouble to Zhang Xianzhong.

Zuo Liangyu left Wang Yuncheng, Liu Guoneng, and Ma Shixiu behind, while he personally led the troops to capture Zhang Xianzhong.

Chen Wang was not worried about whether Zuo Liangyu could win.
Although Zhang Xianzhong is cunning enough, he can often find another way to win.

Zuo Liangyu is almost Zhang Xianzhong's nemesis.

Even after the defeat of Zhuxian Town's elite, Zhang Xianzhong was beaten to the point of losing his armor. It is not an exaggeration to say that he was suppressed by his bloodline.

Zhang Xianzhong never seemed to get much benefit from Zuo Liangyu, and he almost died in Zuo Liangyu's hands several times.

Nowadays, Zuo Liangyu's soldiers are stronger than in history, while Zhang Xianzhong's troops are much weaker than in history.

Originally, Zhang Xianzhong was assisted by Luo Rucai at this time, but because Zhang Xianzhong escaped first, Luo Rucai and Zhang Xianzhong turned against each other.

Luo Rucai was besieged by the Ming army in Sichuan and could not escape, so he chose to surrender and accepted all Yang Sichang's recruitment requirements except for a few.

After the recruitment, he had to lead a battalion alone and join in the pursuit of Zhang Xianzhong.

Luo Rucai obtained the title of deputy commander-in-chief, led the troops out of Sichuan in July, and is now under the command of Wan Yuanji.

Now Zuo Liangyu went south to pursue Zhang Xianzhong, and Hou Xun also gave Zuo Liangyu the power to control the towns in Huguang.

Zuo Liangyu is now in charge of the campaign, and Zhang Xianzhong is destined to be unable to stir up much trouble in Jianghan.

It's just that Zhang Xianzhong has a cunning character and a unique sense of threat.

Maybe it can cause a lot of trouble in unexpected places.

This chapter is a bit dry. I know where the problem is. The state is really bad. I originally wanted to correct it before posting it tomorrow, but the interruption was too painful, so after thinking about it for a long time, I decided to post it.

I will try my best to adjust the status and update it stably.