The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 381 Collusion
The cold light in the hotel makes me sleepless, and the guests' hearts become sad.

Tonight I miss my hometown thousands of miles away, and I will see another year of frost on my temples tomorrow.

The Ming Empire took another trembling step forward.

Even though its interior had long been rotten and even though it was battered by wind and rain outside, the Ming Empire was still a giant at this moment and its momentum remained.

In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, on the first day of the first lunar month, early in the morning.

Southern Zhili, Fengyang Prefecture, Guzhen.

Chen Wang was leading the red horse under him and standing on a low slope.

At the bottom of the slope, a group of armored cavalrymen wearing helmets and armor stood in four directions, all holding their swords and drawing their bows, fully alert.

Guzhen, which was once extremely prosperous and a meeting point for merchants from the north and south, is now burning with fire.

After the Hanzhong army's armored soldiers broke through the defense line of Guzhen, the Wanmin army stationed in Guzhen resolutely set the entire Guzhen on fire.

The huge fire that shot up into the sky almost illuminated the entire sky, making it as if it were daytime.

The terrifying flames kept swaying in the cold north wind. The red light reflected between Chen Wang's eyes and in the hearts of every soldier of the Hanzhong Army.

The stench of blood filled the air among the ruins, and the cold north wind howled across the vast plain road.

Everyone was watching Guzhen burning in the fire.

The orange-red flames kept leaping, and every lick of the flames would cause the buildings inside to emit wailing sounds.

The military formation of the Hanzhong army.

Silence and silence.

The successive victories did not boost the morale of the Hanzhong soldiers.

Instead, it made the atmosphere in the Hanzhong army even more depressing.

because.

There's nothing to be proud of.

There is nothing to praise.

This comes all the way.

What they were facing was not an army at all.

What they faced was just a group of people holding scrap copper and iron, wooden swords and bamboo spears.

A group of people who are struggling to survive in troubled times and trying their best to stay alive.

A group of ordinary people who, like them once were, had their families destroyed and their homes abandoned due to natural disasters and man-made calamities, and were forced to rise up in rebellion.

Those who fell under their swords, guns, and cannons were not invading foreigners or bandits who poisoned the local area.

Those so-called bandits were almost all pale, skinny, and ragged.

Even those soldiers who were wearing armor and were obviously dressed as commanders were like this. There were very few strong ones among them.

The rabbit dies and the fox grieves, and things harm its kind.

Chen Wang's eyes were calm and his heart was peaceful as he watched everything.

The depressed atmosphere in the army did not disappoint Chen Wang at all.

Because all this is exactly what Chen Wang wants to see.

On the contrary, if the soldiers under his command saw such a scene, they would turn a blind eye and remain indifferent.

Then Chen Wang will be truly disappointed.

Because that means that the army under his command is the same as most armies of this era.

It is nothing more than a tool of rule in the hands of bureaucrats and landlords, without heart or soul.

Chen Wang lowered his eyes and slowly passed over the group of armored soldiers standing still at the foot of the hillside.

He knew clearly that the army under his command was completely different from the armies of this era.

It's not just the superficial things like armament and training, the bigger difference is the inner difference.

The sound of horse hooves came from far away. Chen Gong, dressed in military uniform, led a team of armored cavalry and galloped down the slope. The armored cavalry along the way seemed to make way for a path as if breaking through the waves.

Chen Gong rode his horse at full speed, and only stopped when he got close.

Then Chen Gong led his warhorse to Chen Wang, frowned and whispered, reporting to Chen Wang.

"Including the 400 million old and weak militiamen outside Guzhen Town, our army has already taken in more than 250,000 old, weak, women and children along the way..."

"Li Yan... is a man who can accomplish great things..."

Chen Wang looked calm and composed a comment.

At this point, Chen Wang has already understood most of Li Yan's plan.

“It solved the food shortage in the army, but also put a huge burden on us.”

Li Yan made a decisive move and placed 250,000 of the elderly, the weak, women and children among the generals in the area from Guzhen to Suzhou, allowing them to be captured.

Along the way, they found that there was very little food and grass in the camps of the Wanmin Army, and it was obvious that they were not prepared for a long battle.

Chen Wang could naturally guess what Li Yan was thinking.

The court's military deployment has never been a secret.

Li Yan's vanguard was naturally Chen Wang, while the one who went south to lead the troops was Sun Chuanting.

The reputation of the Hanzhong Army also spread far and wide because of the battle to defend the king.

The strict military discipline of the Hanzhong Army is obvious to all, just like the Yue Family Army in the storytelling, they would rather freeze to death than collapse their houses, and would rather starve to death than plunder.

Sun Chuanting was a ruthless and upright person, but his targets were always the bureaucrats who abused their power and the landlords who exploited the people.

Sun Chuanting could neither be tough nor cruel towards the people.

When Sun Chuanting went to Qin to take up his post as the governor of Shaanxi.

It was the people of Sanqin who gave up their sons and daughters and donated their remaining money and grain to help him secure his position as the governor of Shaanxi.

In the Battle of Heishui Yu, all the standard-bearers who followed Sun Chuanting into battle were injured, and most of them died, including Qianhu Baifan.

When he went north to support the king, the people of Zhili carried water and food, watched the wind and reported the news, and followed him for thousands of miles.

When he was framed and the Jinyiwei came to arrest him, and was about to be thrown into prison, thousands of people heard the news and rushed to the scene, surrounding his prison car, trying to rescue Sun Chuanting.

The people don't understand.

The border situation had been corrupt for a long time, and the Jiannu invaded and ravaged the area several times.

In this way, a governor finally emerged who could lead troops to fight, drive out the northern barbarians, and avenge them.

Why did the imperial court punish him and put him in prison?

So they surrounded and locked up the Jinyiwei who had taken Sun Chuanting to prison.

In the end, the people who surrounded the Jinyiwei dispersed after being persuaded by Sun Chuanting.

Sun Chuanting suffered from illness for many days and was attacked by his political enemies. Since he entered politics, he has always been strong no matter what he has experienced.

But when facing the people who protected him, Sun Chuanting shed tears.

How could Sun Chuanting, who had experienced all this, turn his butcher knife on these unarmed elderly, weak, women and children?

Therefore, Li Yan selected and settled almost all the elderly, weak, women and children among the generals in the area from Guzhen to Suzhou.

The purpose was to allow the Ming army to "capture" these people in a reasonable manner.

This is a naked conspiracy.

The daily food, clothing and other expenses for 250,000 people are undoubtedly a huge number.

These 250,000 old, weak, women and children were of little use to the Wanmin Army, but they were a huge burden. However, now, Li Yan transferred the burden of supporting these 250,000 old, weak, women and children to the Ming army heading south to suppress the rebellion.

The one who was worried about providing food, clothing and other expenses for these 250,000 people every day was no longer Li Yan, but Sun Chuanting.

The imperial court's finances were unsustainable, and it had been living beyond its means for years. How could it possibly have much food and fodder prepared for this military campaign? Add to that the embezzlement and exploitation at all levels, and in reality it was barely enough to supply the army.

Now there is an additional 250,000 people to feed and clothe, which undoubtedly makes Sun Chuanting extremely anxious.

During these days, Sun Chuanting has been coordinating with all parties and instructing prefectures and counties across the country to properly resettle the people.

Even the suppression efforts were slowed down a lot because of this.

All of this has many similarities with what Chen Wang remembered about the historical situation in which Sun Chuanting led his troops out of Tongguan to suppress Li Zicheng, and Li Zicheng's response.

Historically, after experiencing the defeat at Shiyuan, Sun Chuanting went out of Tongguan to suppress the rebellion.

At that time, Henan was a barren land with a shortage of food and fodder. Li Zicheng adopted a strategy of luring the enemy deep into the territory, fortifying the city and clearing the fields along the way, making it impossible for the Ming army to gather food locally.

Li Zicheng then deployed his main forces in the area south of Jiaxian County, leaving the logistical issues to the officers and soldiers who were going to suppress the rebellion.

After the Ming army advanced deep into the country and reached Jia County.

Li Zicheng appointed Liu Zongmin as his general and dispatched more than 10,000 light cavalry to bypass the enemy and attack Baisha in the northwest of Ruzhou. He took advantage of the situation to cut off the Ming army's food supply, causing the Ming army to run out of food.

Sun Chuanting was shocked upon hearing the news and had to turn back to open up the food supply route. The Ming army was already short of food and clothing, and there were already divisions within the army.

It would be fine if they had been winning all the time, but when they suddenly suffered a setback and heard that the food supply was cut off, conflicts began to grow secretly.

Finally, Sun Chuanting made a move and the three armies fell into chaos.

Li Zicheng took the opportunity to lead his troops to attack, and thus defeated the Ming army with one final blow.

Everything Li Yan is doing now is in many ways consistent with the arrangements made by Li Zicheng in history.

"What's the situation in Xuzhou?"

Chen Wang pondered for a moment and asked Chen Gong.

"Xuzhou is still the same as before. The Wanmin Army in the city is guarding the city wall and has no intention of attacking."

Many times, the absence of abnormalities is actually the biggest abnormality.

Previously, all the money and food for the troops heading south to suppress the rebellion were transported by grain ships sent through the canal.

But now it is already deep winter, and the river has frozen in many places, making it difficult to navigate.

Therefore, all food and fodder were transported by land.

Henan was in ruins, with thousands of miles of barren land and refugees all over the province. There was not enough food and fodder for disaster relief, let alone for military use.

The situation in the Southern Zhili region was also extremely bad due to the influence of the Wanmin Army.

The Wanmin Army attacked along the way, and all the towns and villages they passed through were fortified and cleared, even the wells and springs in the villages were blocked, and they could not raise any food at all.

In the 13th year of Chongzhen, the disaster continued to move southward, and the northern part of Nanzhili was also affected by natural disasters.

Coupled with the invasion and deliberate guidance of the Wanmin Army, the northern parts of Nanzhili are now also filled with smoke and chaos, making it difficult to supply food and fodder.

Therefore, most of the food and fodder nowadays are transported by land from Shandong and Northern Zhili.

The food and fodder transported from Shandong and northern Zhili had to pass through the important city of Xuzhou on their way south.

But now, Xuzhou is still firmly in the hands of the Wanmin Army.

Due to the shortage of food and the crisis in Fengyang, the Ming army heading south had no choice but to cross Xuzhou and continue to rush to Fengyang for support.

Chen Wang lowered his eyes and asked after a while.

"How long can the food and fodder carried by the army last?"

As the deputy general, Chen Gong naturally knew all about these things.

"We have a large number of mules and horses, and the food and fodder they carry is enough to sustain our troops for ten days."

The troops that Chen Gong referred to were the 12,000 people directly led by Chen Wang, and did not include the Henan troops commanded by Hu Zhiyi.

If Li Yan's plan was to cut off the supply of food and fodder, and if he could save some money, it would be enough to deal with the next incident.

But now everything is speculated by Chen Wang based on past situations.

Chen Wang had no idea what Li Yan was going to do now.

Chen Wang reined in his horse and pondered in his heart.

Father, like son.

Sun Chuanting was recalled from prison and reappointed as prime minister. The imperial court issued an urgent order to lift the siege of Fengyang.

Although Sun Chuanting's military strategy can be considered first-rate, human resources are ultimately limited.

Even the wise Zhuge Liang could make mistakes in his calculations, let alone Sun Chuanting?

Judging from the overall arrangements during this period, Sun Chuanting's entire attention is now focused on the siege of Fengyang. He has not noticed that his situation is gradually becoming dangerous, and he has not sensed that anything is wrong.

Or perhaps, Sun Chuanting may have noticed something wrong, but because of the urgent order from the court and the crisis in Fengyang, he had to take the risk.

The blazing flames reflected in everyone's eyes.

In the darkness, everyone's eyes were bright.

Chen Gong first looked around slowly and exchanged glances with the Hanzhong army generals around him.

Finally, at the very end, he stayed on an officer who was wearing armor and had half of his face covered by a black scarf. He looked a little out of place among the others. He finally withdrew his gaze.

It is freezing cold, and it is not surprising that many soldiers wear face scarves to keep warm.

The reason for being out of place was that the officer's body was not as strong as the others.

Although he was wearing armor and a helmet, he did not have much of the temperament of a military commander.

On the contrary... more like a civil servant...

Chen Gong stepped forward a little, looked at Chen Wang who was standing in front of everyone, and asked.

"General, what should we do next..."

When Chen Gong spoke, he did not call Chen Wang "Big Brother", but "General".

At this moment, all the generals of the Hanzhong Army around them turned their heads and cast their gazes on Chen Wang.

Everyone was waiting for Chen Wang to speak, waiting for Chen Wang's military order, and waiting for Chen Wang to make a decision.

Chen Wang led the warhorse and turned around. He knew very well what the fiery looks in everyone's eyes meant.

Chen Wang's gaze first swept across Chen Gong, and then slowly swept across the officers and soldiers of the Hanzhong Army in front of him, and finally, like Chen Gong, stopped on the officer at the end.

At this time, the generals of the Hanzhong Army around them also followed Chen Wang's gaze and looked at the officer at the same time.

"Mr. Song."

Chen Wang looked indifferent and spoke slowly.

"General, please speak."

The cavalry officer standing at the end of the group rode his horse forward a step, facing the gazes of the crowd, and answered respectfully.

The blazing fire in the town and the light of the torches in the hands of the guards on the top of the hill complemented each other, revealing the slightly thin body of the cavalry general.

The cold wind howled, carrying up countless flags and streamers, suppressing all the chaotic sounds around and making the world clear and bright.

At the top of the slope, Chen Wang had made the final decision.

Song Xiance's lowered head represented everything.

……

Baofeng County Chronicles: The city was broken, and the troops rushed in. The city was in an uproar, and the fire was as bright as day. The court sent more than ten cavalrymen with command arrows to shout at the city gates: "Anyone who kills a bandit will be rewarded with ten gold coins, and anyone who kills a civilian will be beheaded!"

I was not feeling well and I am really sorry for not updating for a long time. I will resume updating from today.