Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 161 Sun Chuanting's first shot, a good start
Yinghuo Mountain, at the junction of Huguang and Henan.

That is the area around Yingshan, Huoshan and Lu'an, which belongs to the Dabie Mountains and stretches for hundreds of miles. It is the base of the Huige Left Fifth Battalion.

At this time, there was a team wandering in the mountains, they were the soldiers who offered tribute to the bandits.

"Godfather, why is it so unsatisfactory?"

"This time, that time!"

Zhang Xianzhong sighed deeply, it was obvious that his negotiations with the Huige Left Fifth Battalion did not meet his expectations.

In the ninth year of Chongzhen, the rebel army held a meeting in Xingyang. Among the thirteen families present, the Huige Zuowuying occupied five seats. By this year, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others were all defeated under the encirclement and suppression of the government troops.

On the contrary, their five battalions were extremely powerful and stood out among the rebel army.

Last year, I attacked Fengyang and fought in Huguang. I was so powerful at that time. When Huige Zuo Wuying wanted to join forces, I was still wavering. Now the situation is stronger than me!
But in fact, the Huige Left Five Battalions were not unwilling to merge their troops, but only raised the issue of their affiliation after the merger.

Zhang Xianzhong had served under Lao Huihui and Ma Shouying twice, and for this reason, he did not want to serve under Lao Huihui again.

How is it that being your own marshal is not better than relying on others?
……

Return to the Left Fifth Battalion,
Ma Shouying, nicknamed Lao Huihui, came from the border army of the Ming Dynasty. He led his troops in an uprising, so his military proficiency was superior to most of the rebel generals.

So Hui dismissed the five camps on the left and made Hui the leader.

At this time, Ma Shouying took a sip of wine and snorted, "Zhang Xianzhong has a good plan. He wants to use the Huige Left Five Battalions to resist the Ming army, but he doesn't want to contribute, and he doesn't want to give up his reputation."

"Who the hell is he? If big brother hadn't taken him under his wing, how could he be where he is today?" He Yilong snorted coldly.

"Ungrateful thing."

"Puff~" Zuo Jin Wang He Jin also spit on the ground.

Among the several peasant uprising armies in the late Ming Dynasty, the most famous ones were Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong since the capture of King Gao Yingxiang.

Compared with Li Zicheng, no one had any good feelings towards Zhang Xianzhong. This bastard originally came out of the old Huihui camp, and later developed into a powerful figure. When the Huige Left Fifth Camp was in danger, he hid far away.

Now that he has suffered a defeat, he comes to ask for an alliance?
It's fine if they just join forces, but they also want to occupy a dominant position. How can that be justified?
"Brother, Zhang Xianzhong said that the Ming army will arrive at our Yinghuo Mountain soon. Is this true or false?"

He Yilong, the idiot, cursed: "Even if the government troops arrive, what can they do? Don't they see where we are?"

"We have mountains and steep cliffs here, and there are hungry people everywhere. They are the natural base of our rebel army. They come here, beat us up, and then leave. It's nothing more than starting all over again."

What they said was correct. Since the fifth year of Chongzhen, the government troops had invaded Yinghuo Mountain many times, but every time the government troops had just left, the peasant army would immediately reappear behind them.

What they didn't know was that the court's strategy this time was far more ruthless than before.

……

At this time, Sun Chuanting had already set up an iron wall and pressed towards the peasant army.

The first peasant army they encountered was that of more than 10,000 people led by Scorpion King Tuo Yangkun, who was once as famous as King Chuang and Gao Yingxiang. He was once very prominent and was called "Chuang Scorpion".

Sun Chuanting clenched his fingers and said, "Gao Yingxiang is the strongest, and Tuo Yangkun has the most followers, so-called King Chuang's scorpion block."

"It's him!"

I met this person in my first battle as the Governor of Three Borders. I don’t know whether it was my luck or his misfortune.

"Tell Cao Bianjiao that this battle can only be won, not lost."

"Also, let the Loyal and Brave Army's Firearms Battalion help as well."

"Yes!"

Although the emperor appointed him as the governor-general of three frontiers, he knew how much pressure Haili was under, and he also had a disagreement with Yang Sichang before.

However, the emperor rejected Yang Sichang's plan of "120,000 soldiers and 2.8 million taels of silver for military pay" and instead supported his own plan of recruiting elite troops and generals.

Sun Chuanting knew that he had to fight a good battle to shut up those civil servants.

The Loyal and Brave Army was Sun Yingyuan's army, and the emperor named it the Loyal and Brave Army.

Sun Yingyuan led his subordinates into Sichuan, but the firearms battalion he led remained in the central army, which was in the hands of himself, the governor-general of the three borders.

This time, the Loyalist Army brought sixty cannons and three thousand muskets from Kyoto.

This time he plans to let them all play.

……

East of Hanzhong,

The army was led by Cao Bianjiao, who rode his horse and pierced the chests of two bandits with a spear, pinning them to the ground like piercing a gourd.

He brought his troops to block Scorpion Block Tuo Yangkun's retreat as soon as possible.

A coalition of several peasant armies led by Scorpion Tuo Yangkun, numbering more than 20,000 people, was surrounded by Cao Bianjiao's troops in the valley area east of Hanzhong.

"kill!"

"Kill~"

The shouts and cries of killing were deafening. The terrain here was narrow and not conducive to horse charging, but it was also not conducive to breaking out.

There was wailing on the battlefield at this moment.

Tens of thousands of officers and soldiers killed the bandits and sent them fleeing in all directions. Despite the leader's shouts, they were unable to organize any defense.

These bandits are no match for the Eight Banners soldiers, let alone the Mongolian and Korean soldiers.

Among the 20,000 bandits, 90% were starving people and they had no fighting power at all.

In addition, among that one percent, more than half are infantry and cavalry who have participated in several battles. The most core members are the veterans brought by Scorpion from his hometown. Their combat power is also the strongest, but there are less than a thousand of them.

"Retreat!" Seeing that he was invincible, Scorpion Block called on his direct subordinates to retreat. As long as these people did not die, they could quickly gather a team of more than 10,000 people.

But he soon discovered that the reality was different from what he had imagined, because there were government troops everywhere.

Not only are there government troops, but there are also a large number of artillery pieces...

"Boom boom boom~~"

The air was filled with smoke, the earth was shaking, and shrill screams and painful groans echoed throughout the valley. The strong smell of blood penetrated into the lungs, making people want to cough it out.

Scorpion Block watched as tens of thousands of people fell down in rows like wheat being cut. No matter whether they were infantry or cavalry, even his own direct subordinates, they could not even hold out for a single round before their lives were harvested.

The government troops' momentum was like a tidal wave that smashed the peasant army into pieces.

The sixty cannons were the secret weapons that Zhu Changgan gave to Sun Chuanting. When they appeared for the first time, they stunned everyone. Both Cao Bianjiao and Scorpion Block could not help but take a deep breath.

Cao Bianjiao, the nephew of Cao Wenzhao, deputy general of the Yansui East Route of the Ming Dynasty, has made many contributions and is now the general of the East Association.

He was quite familiar with the Ming Dynasty's firearms. He was riding a horse to kill the enemy, but when he saw this scene, he stopped suddenly and was shocked.

"Is this the artillery that the three battalions used to defeat the Qing Dynasty? How could it be so powerful? And how could it change its ammunition so quickly?"

"No wonder~"

Cao Bianjiao looked in the direction of the firearms camp. In less than an incense stick of time, nearly a thousand shells had been fired. Under such an impact, the bandits were defeated instantly.

"The Emperor's three camps are coming?" Scorpion's head was buzzing and cold sweat was pouring down his forehead. How could he fight?
The three major camps are able to defeat even the Qing cavalry. How can they survive with such a small number of people?
Just as he was hesitating about what to do, he saw the Firearms Battalion suddenly changed their formation, and thousands of people were pointing muskets towards them.

"Firegunner~~" Scorpion Block suddenly shouted in panic: "Quick, lie down, lie down..."

But no one listened to him, let alone the hungry people, even those direct descendants were so stunned that blood suddenly burst out from their bodies and faces, and they fell to the ground.

After just this brief confrontation, Scorpion Block knew that the troops before them were not ones they could resist, and their combat effectiveness was not comparable to any government army he had encountered before.

"General, what should we do?" A sergeant who had been following him from Shaanxi couldn't help but ask.

"How about we surrender?"

"Yes, we should surrender. The government troops are too strong..." Scorpion Block was silent for a while. "It's not that we can't surrender. I heard that Hong Chengchou has already entered the capital, and Sun Chuanting is in charge now."

The reason why Sun Chuanting was the one in charge at this time was because some people could surrender, but some people could not, such as Hong Chengchou, who absolutely could not surrender.

In the fourth year of Chongzhen, Shaanxi Governor Zhang Fuzhen and Yansui Governor Hong Chengchou jointly encircled and suppressed Zhang Cunmeng.

Zhang Cunmeng betrayed the other two peasant army leaders and surrendered to the Ming army.

At that time, the eight captains under his command all refused the Ming army's surrender. The first captain Yan Qian'er died in battle, the second captain Dian Dengzi Zhao Sheng, the third captain Li Jinwang, the fourth captain Xiezikuai Tuo Yangkun, the fifth captain Lao Zhang Fei Zhang Wenchao, the sixth captain Luan Shi Wang Guo Yingpin, the seventh captain Yebushou Wang Wenyao and the eighth captain Li Zicheng all abandoned Zhang Cunmeng and went to fight in Shanxi.

What did Hong Chengchou do during this round of amnesty? He ordered He Renlong to set up a banquet and ambush and kill 320 rebel soldiers.

Zhang Cunmeng was killed by Hong Chengchou.

If the person on the other side is Hong Chengchou, anyone who surrenders is a fool. Now Hong Chengchou has been recruited by the emperor and has come to Beijing. Sun Chuanting is in charge. Instead of fighting with an egg against a stone, it is better to surrender temporarily and survive first.

But their calculations were wrong. Although Hong Chengchou had entered the capital, they were now facing Cao Bianjiao.

Cao Bianjiao had fought under Hong Chengchou for many years and was known for his ferocity and cruelty. "Want to surrender? The situation is on my side now, why should I ask them to surrender?"

Under the joint efforts of Cao Bianjiao's troops and the musketeers, the 20,000 peasant soldiers were hunted down like rice and their heads were chopped off.

The reason why Cao Bianjiao was so angry was that two months earlier, Xu Zhong, a soldier under Sun Chuanting's command, rebelled and colluded with the rebel general Hun Shiwan Ma Jinzhong to plan to attack Xi'an.

Cao Bianjiao was chasing Guo Tianxing outside. When he heard that a rebellion had occurred here, he hurried back, causing the rebels to escape.

These rebels later joined the Scorpion Block, Guotianxing and Huntianxing tribes. Hong Chengchou sent Bian Jiao, Zuo Guangxian, Zu Dabi and Sun Xianzu to launch a joint attack.

There were many casualties, but the battle ended in failure because the food and fodder had been eaten up.

It was raining heavily at this time.

The wind was carrying rain, and the raindrops were as big as beans, hitting the ground with crackling sounds.

It rained heavier and heavier, and soon it was like a downpour. Cao Bianjiao sat on his horse, watching the rain in the sky like a waterfall. The wind blew over, and the rain, as dense as rag, was blown into smoke, fog, and dust.

"Besides, the Governor said that this battle cannot be won without a great victory. Kill them all, and leave no one alive!"

After saying that, he took the lead and charged into battle.

With the heavy rain falling, the power of muskets and artillery was greatly reduced, and the battlefield now completely turned into a hand-to-hand fight between Cao Bianjiao and the Scorpion Group.

Seeing that surrender was impossible, Scorpion Block could not help but cheer up his own people who were showing fear: "Either way you will die, you may survive if you fight, but if you don't fight, you will just let them kill you, it's your choice. If we can grab some artillery and muskets, we will be completely prosperous."

"Kill the officers and soldiers!"

"Kill them! Even if you have to die, you must take a few people with you..."

At this point, the soldiers on both sides could no longer care about anything else. If they didn't fight hard, they would die...

Some bandits even wanted to attack the Loyal and Brave Army, which was the main force of the Scorpion Block. The hungry people had already collapsed, so how could they have such a strong will to fight.

But the soldiers of the Loyal and Brave Army looked coldly at the people who were shouting and rushing towards them.

"Throw the palm thunder!"

The palm thunder is wrapped in several layers of oil paper and covered with oilcloth. It is not soaked in water and can be ignited.

"Boom boom boom~~"

Clouds of smoke rose up, and a large number of the bandits who had just rushed over fell down.

After one round of throwing is completed, another round follows.

Nails and stones flew everywhere, causing the bandits to tumble on the ground. Some of them had holes all over their bodies and were wailing in pain.

Of course, there were also lucky ones who were only slightly injured and still struggled to rush towards the Loyal Army.

Qian Chuanwu, the commander of the Zhongyong Army's firearms battalion, shouted, "Attach bayonets!"

"Kakaka~~"

Dozens of Scorpion Block's direct followers finally rushed over, but soon fell under the bayonets. It is true that they are a firearms unit, but it does not mean that they have no close combat ability.

Even Scorpion Block's direct descendants were like this, and the infantry and cavalry who followed the direct descendants and wanted to come and reap the benefits were even more timid and dared not move forward.

"You can't retreat. Come on..."

Scorpion Block was roaring and suddenly covered his neck with his left hand, but found that he could not cover the blood. He stared blankly at the red flowing on the ground, and then plunged into a puddle.

As Scorpion Block fell to the ground, the bandits fell into complete chaos, and Cao Bianjiao's troops arrived at this time and protected the Loyal and Brave Army's Firearms Battalion.

This is the governor's treasure. Not to mention the artillery, even if a few musketeers were killed or injured, I would be in big trouble.

What remains is a one-sided massacre...

The killing lasted for more than two hours. The entire valley was trampled into mud, and the low-lying areas had turned into pools of blood.

All that was left on the ground were headless corpses.

……

Except for the body of Scorpion Block, all other bodies were burned. This was the death order given by Sun Chuanting.

On their way back to the camp, they met many civilians. They had hidden themselves when the battle started. Now, seeing the government troops returning to the camp, they realized that the battle was over.

Everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

You can survive!

An old man came out of the house and bowed respectfully, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, General. This is some food we...we have gathered for you, General. This is all we have."

They know the rules.

Every time the government troops suppressed a rebellion, if they were victorious, they would give out money and food.

If the rebels win, they will face a bloodbath at the hands of bandits.

It would be fine if you followed them and became a rebel, but if you didn't follow them, you would lose your life.

"Father, we are the personal army of His Majesty the Great Ming. We are marching south to suppress the rebellion and we cannot take even a single needle or thread from the common people." Qian Chuanwu, the commander of the Firearms Battalion of the Loyal and Brave Army, said solemnly while clasping his fists in the direction of the capital.

"Your Majesty's personal army?" The old man's cloudy eyes suddenly widened, "Royal Army?"

At this time, someone in the village came out after hearing this and asked, "Master Wang is heading south?"

"Your Majesty still thinks of us..."

"Long live your Majesty!"

The people hiding in the dark finally dared to show their heads after hearing the cheers outside, and then they hugged each other and cried bitterly.

Those who have a country and a family do not worry about scarcity but inequality; they do not worry about poverty but instability.

The people in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and other places have suffered from banditry for a long time. If the officials are corrupt and pervert the law, they will suffer death.

But if bandits pass through the border, there will be no chance of survival.

They only want to get more people to join their team, and the lives of the people are not their concern.

The old man's eyes were filled with tears. "General, I heard that our Shaanxi and Henan regions are tax-free. Is that true?"

"It's true. Your Majesty will exempt Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi and other places from tax for three years."

"What about the suppression pay?"

"They are all exempted. If anyone collects taxes again in the future, they are all corrupt officials. The Independent Commission Against Corruption will soon establish an Independent Commission Against Corruption Office in Shaanxi. You can then report to the Independent Commission Against Corruption Office."

Upon hearing this, the people all knelt down, unable to hide their excitement, "Long live His Majesty...Long, long live His Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)