The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 384 Everyone has their own agenda
In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, it was the Lantern Festival.

The wind and snow stopped, but the fighting did not stop.

Outside Fengyang City, the fields are filled with lights.

The Wanmin Army was divided into several parts, one part stayed in Xuzhou, and the other part was left in Suzhou.

Li Yan abandoned most of the elderly, the weak, women and children and handed them over to the officers and soldiers to delay their advance.

But even so, the number of soldiers gathered in and outside Fengyang is still 400,000.

And the most terrifying thing is that more than 80% of these 400,000 people are young and strong men who can fight.

The successive failures of the imperial court's suppression campaigns and the strong military strength of the People's Army led to more and more landless people, refugees fleeing famine, and poor people with nowhere to go joining the ranks of the People's Army.

The addition of the Gezuo Fifth Battalion made the Wanmin Army even more powerful, and its lack of cavalry was also made up.

The Wanmin Army at this time was more powerful than the 36 battalions that surrounded Xi'an.

The camp of 400,000 soldiers and horses was set up in an area dozens of miles wide, with Fengyang inner city as the center and radiating in all directions.

As far as the eye can see, the mountains and fields are filled with dazzling lights, spreading into the distance, almost connecting the sky and the earth.

The night wind was cold, like a sharp blade scraping at the bones.

In the east of Fengyang City, in the Ming army camp, in the brightly lit central tent, a group of officers and soldiers gathered together, but the air was eerily quiet, and the atmosphere was so depressing that it made people feel extremely suffocated.

No one spoke, and no one moved.

The howling of the wind outside the tent from time to time seemed to be the only sound in the world.

Sun Chuanting stood in front of the stage with his hands behind his back, staring at the huge map hanging in the tent.

"Cough cough - cough cough cough -"

It was unknown how long it had been before a violent cough interrupted Sun Chuanting in the tent. He lowered his head, his chest heaving violently.

When Sun Chuanting was imprisoned, he was still ill. After being imprisoned, although there were prison doctors to treat him, the environment in the prison was too bad.

The air was difficult to circulate, and it was dark and damp, which left Sun Chuanting with considerable sequelae.

Not only has the hearing in both ears deteriorated significantly compared to before, but the lungs have also developed problems.

Sun Chuanting clenched his fist and put it to his mouth to stop coughing.

His face was filled with worry and gloom.

This battle has lasted too long.

Before the war, Sun Chuanting felt that he had overestimated the combat effectiveness of the Wanmin Army.

But now, Sun Chuanting realized that he had underestimated it after all.

The fierce battle had lasted for eleven days, but they had only advanced the front line to less than twenty miles.

After a bloody battle yesterday, the frontline positions were only pushed to the Prince's Tomb in the northeast corner of Fengyang Outer City, and had not even entered the territory of Fengyang City.

According to the information received previously, Fengyang City was on the verge of food shortage.

Even if food is strictly controlled, the defenders in Fengyang City will be out of food by the end of the month at the latest.

Once the food and grass are cut off, how can the army be effective?

By then, the fall of Fengyang City would be a foregone conclusion.

Sun Chuanting slowly turned around and looked back at a general in the military tent.

He wanted to say something, but in the end he was unable to speak.

Among all the soldiers and generals below, who has not fought bloody battles?

So far in the fierce fighting, two lieutenant generals and three guerrillas have been killed, and even more officers below the rank of captain and centurion have been killed, with the total number of soldiers killed and wounded reaching over 3,000.

The twenty miles of land they advanced on were all piled up with flesh and blood, and the camps were pushed forward one by one.

The People's Army is not the Thirty-Six Battalions of the past with weak fighting will. They are neither bandits nor local thugs.

They have clear goals, firm wills, and are united in their determination to change the world!
They are a real rebel army!
“Since ancient times, the rise and fall of emperors has been accompanied by the omens of the people.”

How could an army that could shout such slogans be a group of bandits?
Sun Chuanting was confused.

The situation is ever-changing and unpredictable.

He didn't understand why the world had undergone such earth-shaking changes in just a few years.

In prison, he confidently responded to the angel who came to him for help.

However, the current situation is far more difficult than what the court told us.

However, the situation was critical, and Fengyang had to be rescued even though they knew they were not prepared.

Sun Chuanting's expression changed, and finally he sighed, waved his hand gently and gave orders.

"Everyone, go back to your tents. Today is Lantern Festival. Take out all the meat in your camp so that the soldiers can have a good meal."

Inside the central military tent, all the generals lowered their heads in silence and saluted together.

The Lantern Festival is a time for family reunion, but they have to travel thousands of miles to fight the enemy.

It can be predicted that tomorrow will be another fierce battle.

However, although Sun Chuanting had issued the order to disband, no general left the military tent.

Sun Chuanting frowned slightly and looked at Chen Wang who was standing on his right.

At this time, all the generals in the tent looked at Chen Wang together.

Chen Wang looked at Sun Chuanting helplessly, then looked left and right, and then took a step forward.

"Governor, I have something I want to ask you. I wonder if you can answer my question."

Chen Wang's expression and actions naturally did not escape Sun Chuanting's eyes.

Sun Chuanting narrowed his eyes slightly and understood Chen Wang's situation.

I'm afraid the question Chen Wang wants to ask is not what he wants to ask.

Instead, the officers in the army wanted to use Chen Wang, the highest-ranking general who was in charge of suppressing bandits, to pass on the message.

"It has been a long time since the suppression, but the salaries of the various camps have been in arrears and have not been paid yet."

"When the troops were stationed in Pei County, they were compensated with two months' food and wages, but now each camp still owes at least half a year's wages."

"The bloody battle has lasted until now, and all the troops have suffered heavy casualties, but there is not even a single cent of compensation..."

Chen Wang did not finish his words in the end. He put down his saluting hand halfway through and looked at the other officers in the tent.

Sun Chuanting's heart sank. Although he had anticipated this situation a long time ago, when the problem really came to him, he still felt a little overwhelmed.

Sun Chuanting turned and looked at the generals under his command.

Hu Dawei lowered his head with a sad expression.

Fang Guoan tilted his head, frowned and said nothing.

The rest of the officers had all kinds of expressions, some were indifferent, some were resentful.

The atmosphere in the tent suddenly became tense.

Sun Chuanting remained silent. How could he not want to pay the soldiers?

However, this time when he was ordered to go south to supervise the suppression, the court only gave him 200,000 taels of silver.

All of this silver had already been distributed by Sun Chuanting, and there was no surplus at all.

Two hundred thousand taels is just a drop in the bucket for an army of tens of thousands.

The food and money that should have arrived later were delayed in arriving.

Shunde Prefecture, Hejian Prefecture and Daming Prefecture all experienced severe epidemics, with the disease spreading rapidly and killing eight to nine people.

In order to prevent and control the epidemic, the imperial court dispatched doctors and soldiers from various places, which naturally increased a lot of expenses.

At the same time, the situation in Liaodong was critical. The Jiannu had already broken through the outer city of Jinzhou. The north was mobilizing troops, and reinforcements from all over the country were constantly rushing to Shanhaiguan to gather and plan to go out of the pass to provide assistance.

And all of this requires money and food.

The imperial treasury was already empty, and the government had been spending money for a long time. Every place was short of money, and every place was in urgent need of money. Therefore, the silver and money agreed upon later were suppressed and have not been issued to this day.

The issue of asking for salary was ultimately left unresolved.

Sun Chuanting naturally could not produce money and food, but he used words to appease the generals, promising to make up the difference later, and even offered his own reputation as a guarantee.

Sun Chuanting's promise is naturally of some use.

The generals' demand for money this time was just to show their attitude, not to really rebel.

In the end, they all went their separate ways without further entanglement, but dissatisfaction still accumulated in their hearts.

And these dissatisfactions will not cause much impact at first.

But when it accumulates continuously and accumulates continuously, it will eventually lead to extremely serious consequences...

Chen Wang led the warhorse and a group of armored cavalry slowly towards the camp in the north.

This time, he led his troops to relieve Fengyang and stationed them in the northern part of Fengyang city.

Sun Chuanting led his troops to occupy Linhuai, east of Fengyang City.

One to the north, one to the east, two routes moving forward simultaneously.

This was naturally Chen Wang’s suggestion.

In the scene of asking about pay in the central army tent, Chen Wang seemed to be pushed by everyone and had no choice but to be the first to stand out.

But in fact, all this was Chen Wang's own planning.

The army has been in arrears of pay for a long time, and with a little help, this can be accomplished.

"Have you arranged the retreat route?"

Chen Wang turned to look at Chen Gong beside him and asked.

Chen Gong was riding his warhorse closely following Chen Wang. When he heard the question, he answered immediately.

"Don't worry, bro. Everything has been arranged."

Chen Gong glanced towards Fengyang City in the southwest and said in a deep voice.

"The Supervisory Office's informants reported that the cavalry of the Wanmin Army has passed Lingbi."

"Lingbi..."

Chen Wang narrowed his eyes slightly, and after calculating the time it took to go back and forth, he was afraid that the cavalry of the Wanmin Army had already rushed to the city of Suzhou.

Suzhou is where grain is stored.

When he attacked Suzhou, he specially mobilized artillery to destroy many of Suzhou's city walls.

"Just like what Big Brother said before, there is something wrong with the deployment of the Wanmin Army. Many elite troops have been transferred to our side."

"The number of cavalry that passed through Lingbi is also incorrect. The total number reported by our spies is probably more than 15,000."

Chen Gong looked fierce, snorted coldly, and said with disdain.

"It seems that Li Yan really wants to keep us here as well."

"You have such a big appetite. You are not afraid of being stuffed to death, and you don't even consider your own weight."

Chen Wang didn't have much emotion in his heart. He had naturally expected Li Yan's reaction.

"Teaming up with Li Yan is a win-win situation for both sides. It's just a deal, not a real alliance. It's normal to say one thing in front of others and another behind their backs."

"If there is a chance to keep me here completely and solve all my worries, why not do it?"

Chen Wang's mind was clear.

"If it were me, I would make the same choice as Li Yan."

The Ming army in Fengyang City was already trapped.

After cutting off the follow-up food supplies coming from the north to support the Ming army, Sun Chuanting was defeated.

In the entire southeast, the only camps and towns that still posed a threat to them were Zuo Liangyu and Hanzhong Town.

Zuo Liangyu is now pursuing Zhang Xianzhong, so he is not a threat for the time being.

But the threat from Hanzhong Town is imminent.

Nowadays, the military towns in Hanzhong Prefecture, Xiangyang Prefecture, and Henan, one province and two prefectures, are all under the control of Chen Wang.

The biggest enemy of the Wanmin Army in the southeast in the future will undoubtedly be Hanzhong Town.

Li Yan naturally wanted to keep himself here.

However, such an idea is undoubtedly a fantasy.

Chen Wang had made preparations as early as when he went south to Guzhen.

In December, he asked the local authorities in Guide Prefecture to send people to report that there were bandits on the scene.

This gave Gao Mingheng, who had been promoted to deputy general of Henan, an excuse to lead the new army into Guide Prefecture as a support.

Guide Prefecture is just to the west of Xuzhou, and it will only take a few days for the assistance to arrive.

"Although everything has been arranged, we still should not let our guard down. Never underestimate the enemy at any time."

Chen Wang saw that Chen Gong looked down on the Wanmin Army and warned him.

Chen Gong subconsciously wanted to refute, but when he saw Chen Wang become serious, Chen Gong immediately restrained his contemptuous look and spoke honestly.

"Don't worry, bro. I will definitely remember it."

Seeing Chen Gong honestly admit his mistake, Chen Wang's expression eased a little, and then he said.

"Go to Zhiyi later and explain the retreat plan to him clearly."

Chen Wang now has a large number of troops under his command, so it is naturally impossible for him to command the entire army by himself.

The Henan troops had the lowest level of training and were not included in Chen Wang's direct jurisdiction. They had always been under the command of Hu Zhiyi.

"Also tell Zhiyi that if the situation is not right, just let him lead his guards to break out."

Although the Henan soldiers have been trained for a long time and have seen battles, their weapons and equipment are still not up to standard, and they have not experienced bloody and bitter battles, so they can hardly be relied upon in times of crisis.

Where there is life, there is hope.

If things are impossible, the best option is to break out alone.

Chen Gong looked serious, adjusted his attitude completely, nodded firmly, and accepted the task.

"Don't worry, big brother. I will definitely pass on your message."

Chen Gong paused for a moment and asked.

"But tonight we..."

As they were talking, Chen Wang and Chen Gong had already walked out of the camp.

"Everything remains the same. According to the order passed down by the general, pigs and sheep will be slaughtered, and more meat will be added to the meal."

Chen Wang looked at the brightly lit camp not far away, and at the soldiers who were riding their horses to meet him, and just gently raised the whip in his hand.

Even though he knew that the Wanmin Army was about to launch a surprise attack, Chen Wang did not do much to respond or change his original plan.

Chen Wang was well aware of how much trouble would arise after the battle, and any inattentive details could become the seeds of suspicion.

"Follow the order."

All the soldiers were cheered up after hearing the order.

After fighting for a long time, the soldiers have been eating simple meals and rarely having meat. Today, the soldiers are slaughtering pigs and sheep to add more meat to their meals. How can they not be happy?

Just as everyone shouted and surrounded Chen Wang to return to the camp, a rapid sound of horse hooves came quickly from the southeast, shattering the momentary joy.

The sound of horse hooves was getting closer, attracting everyone's attention.

The man who came was carrying a command flag on his back and holding a command order in his hand. He was the messenger of the central army, and he also brought the news that Chen Wang had been waiting for.

"There's something wrong in the army. General Chen, please rush to Linhuai Camp!"