Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

On June 28th in the eighth year of Chongzhen, Suluo Village.

Today, Cao Wenzhao has been fighting bloody battles for more than half a day. He has fought against the peasant rebel army six times, and each time he took the lead. The retreat preserved most of the Ming army in an organized manner, showing his personal bravery and superb command art.

But this kind of battle also has a price, and Cao Wenzhao has already suffered several injuries.Although the injury was not serious due to the presence of Jiawei, if they did not leave this dangerous place, then the Ming army would be in danger.

But at this moment, there was another burst of drumming around, and countless flags suddenly appeared all over the mountains and plains, and the peasant rebel army stationed in ambush here rushed towards Cao Wenzhao's Ming army again.

After eliminating Ai Wannian's tribe, the morale of the peasant rebel army was greatly boosted.Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng led their troops to Ningzhou to the west, joined forces with Guotianxing, Xiezikuai, Chaos King and others who were active in Qingyang, and planned to use the revenge mentality of the Ming army to launch another ambush.

Later, it was learned that the Ming army had sent Cao Wenzhao, the old enemy of the peasant rebel army, to aid and suppress Cao Wenzhao, so these leaders carefully planned an ambush to encircle and wipe out Cao Wenzhao.

At this time, since the countryside in Shaanxi was controlled by the peasant rebel army, Cao Wenzhao, the Ming army, became blind and deaf. Unruly was detected by spies from Cao Wenzhao's troops.Under such circumstances, Cao Wenzhao's department crashed into the encirclement.

On June 27, Cao Bianjiao, Cao Wenzhao's nephew, led a sharp division to fight in the vanguard. Cao Wenzhao led the infantry to the back of the palace, and went to Qiutouxianzi. The peasant rebel army ambushed and cut the Ming army into two sections.Divide troops to encircle and kill.

The Cao Wenzhao Department, which was surrounded, didn't know that they had been tricked.Because in so many years of fighting against the peasant rebel army, the peasant rebel army with a superior number set up the Fuming army not once or twice, but every time they fought, it was because the combat power was so different that the surrounded Ming army Not only broke out of the encirclement, but in turn defeated the peasant rebel army.Therefore, Cao Wenzhao believes that the same is true for being ambushed this time.

Sure enough, Cao Bianjiao, nephew of Cao Wenzhao, took the lead in the battle as the vanguard, beheading more than [-] peasant rebels.So the peasant rebel army pretended to be defeated and retreated to the forest area to the east.

Just read "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" or other readers who describe ancient wars.Everyone knows that there is a military proverb - don't enter the forest.But at this time, Cao Wenzhao's troops were already in a daze, and they followed the defeated peasant rebel army into the forest area.

How could Cao Wenzhao's department not pursue it?According to the routine formed by years of fighting, it should be the peasant rebel army who dropped a large number of wealthy women to restrain the pursuit of Cao Wenzhao's troops, and let these soldiers have a long stream of water?

But this time the peasant rebel army did not play their cards according to common sense.Cao Wenzhao followed closely for more than [-] li.Arrive at Diaoling Pass.Seeing the Ming army entering the ambush, the peasant rebel army rushed out from all directions.He fought with Cao Wenzhao at Tiaoziao, Qiutou.

Due to the long-term pursuit, Cao Wenzhao's troops were scattered.The head and tail were hard to look at, and they immediately lost their fighting power.

On the next day, June 28th.The peasant rebel army was led by the king of troubled times, with Li Zicheng in the middle, followed by Guo Tianxing, and surrounded the Ming army again.A decisive battle with Cao Wenzhao's troops is bound to completely wipe out this Ming army.

But Cao Wenzhao chased left and blocked right, fought and retreated.At this time, the peasant rebel army deliberately let go of another opening to lure the enemy to the west, because the peasant rebel army did not just arrange an ambush.

When Cao Wenzhao's troops arrived at Suluozhai, the peasant rebel army ambushed the most elite old battalion Wanqi here. They encircled all around, gathered arrows and hedgehogs, and the battle suddenly reached a fever pitch.

"Commander! Mr. Wang Qian has opened a path!" Cao Wenzhao's captain immediately shouted when he saw the Ming army breaking through the encirclement.

"Let's go!" Cao Wenzhao held the bleeding spear in his hand, and without hesitation pulled his horse and fled in the direction of Wang Qianzong.At this time, time is extremely precious, and life and death are at that moment.

But after running a few steps, Cao Wenzhao suddenly heard a shout from the right: "General, save me quickly!" Cao Wenzhao glanced over, only to see a few Ming soldiers surrounded by peasant rebels, The man who yelled was still a veteran who had been following him, and now he was being pinned to the ground by several peasant rebels.

Cao Wenzhao hesitated for a moment, then immediately turned his horse's head and headed towards the Ming soldiers.Seeing his own commander like this, the guards around him also bravely stepped forward. After a few charges, they killed the surrounding peasant rebel army and rescued the Ming army.

Cao Wenzhao didn't talk nonsense, and greeted: "Follow up!" Then the few rescued Ming soldiers either jumped on empty horses, or rode together with other soldiers, and then went towards the gap in the encirclement.

However, Cao Wenzhao's actions immediately attracted the attention of the leader of the peasant army who commanded the battle, and at this time, another pawn in the peasant rebel army who had surrendered from the Ming army pointed at Cao Wenzhao and shouted: "This It's General Cao."

"Surround him!", "Catch him!", "Don't let Butcher Cao escape!"...

There was no need for orders from the leader of the peasant army, and the soldiers of the peasant army who had a blood feud with Cao Wenzhao were immediately overjoyed, and the siege became even more urgent.

So Cao Wenzhao fell into a heavy siege again. He was exhausted and killed dozens of peasant soldiers. After several miles of fighting, he was seriously injured in more than ten places. He passed the red mud city of Baozigou in Yancun Village and ran to Jijia Mountain. He saw no generals inside. , there were no reinforcements outside, and it was surrounded by densely packed peasant soldiers.Cao Wenzhao knew that he had no hope of breaking through.

Cao Wenzhao smiled wryly.Hunting geese all day long, he was really blinded by geese.Cao Wenzhao was also a ruthless man, he drew his waist knife without hesitation, and slayed himself.

"Marshal! Follow closely..." The captain of the guards in front of him hadn't noticed Cao Wenzhao's actions, but when he turned his head, he saw a stream of blood spurting from Cao Wenzhao's neck, and immediately his eyes cracked The ground yelled: "No—!" He couldn't help but grab Cao Wenzhao's knife, but the distance was too far, and it was just empty.

Seeing Cao Wenzhao's body fell heavily under the horse, the battlefield seemed to pause for a moment.The captain of the personal army also immediately drew out his own waist knife, and committed suicide to accompany the Lord.The remaining dozen or so Ming soldiers rushed into the peasant army shouting, and eventually the entire army was wiped out.

In this battle, the peasant army led by Li Zicheng severely damaged the Ming army, Cao Wenzhao's troops lost more than half of the troops, and more than [-] guerrilla generals and generals died.In particular, Cao Wenzhao, the No. [-] famous bandit suppressing general of the Ming army known for his proficiency in combat, was defeated and killed himself in this battle, which made the Ming army frustrated, while the peasant army cheered and was extremely happy.

However, because in the second half of the campaign, the attention of the peasant army was focused on Cao Wenzhao, so Cao Bianjiao gathered more than a thousand remnants and rushed out of the encirclement of the peasant army. achievement.

Since the peasant army in Shaanxi rebelled, what they fear most are two famous generals: Cao Wenzhao, Cao Butcher and He Renlong, a lunatic.Of course, Wu Shigong and Wu Butcher are also following suit.

Especially Cao Wenzhao, he takes the lead every time he fights, and he loves and rewards the soldiers very much, so he is very loved by the soldiers, and his troops are also very effective.

Look at Cao Wenzhao's military exploits!Cao Wenzhao successively killed Wang Jiayin, the leader of the peasant army guarding Hequ, and successively killed more than ten peasant army leaders including Diandengzi, Li Laochai, Ke Tianfei, and Liu Daojiang.Countless peasant soldiers were wiped out.As a result, the peasant army often loses face when they hear about it, and often flees. It is said that "there is a Cao in the army, and the thieves are frightened when they hear about it."

But Cao Wenzhao's attitude towards the people is completely different, and even the court can't stand it, even the Ministry of War has impeached Cao Wenzhao.At that time, there was a folk proverb circulating in Shaanxi: "It is better to be robbed by rogues than to be stopped by Cao soldiers. The robbing by rogues is limited, but the damage by Cao soldiers is endless. The rogues rob people's wealth, but Cao soldiers kill people's lives."

I really don't know whether it was Cao Wenzhao who wiped out more peasant troops, or whether he forced more people to rebel.However, because Cao Wenzhao was madly hostile to the peasant army, the court still indulged Cao Wenzhao's behavior of harming the people.

In fact, Cao Wenzhao is a typical military officer in the late Ming Dynasty, with all the advantages and disadvantages of military officers in the late Ming Dynasty.However, compared to other military officers who feared war and were cowardly and preserved their strength, Cao Wenzhao's performance was actually quite "excellent".But this kind of "excellence" is really speechless!

When Cao Wenzhao was dying, he wondered if he would think of the past, when the peasant army first rebelled, he used his power and money to support the bandits and self-respect, and he tried to make a long flow of water?You must know that the sheep in his eyes had become wolves!I really don't know if Cao Wenzhao will regret it!

After the Peasant Army killed Cao Wenzhao, the great enemy, cheers resounded through the sky.However, after obtaining Cao Wenzhao's body, Li Zicheng showed great respect for this important opponent, and did not insult the body and returned it to the Ming army.Later, his nephew Cao Bianjiao built a tomb and erected a stele in Cao Wenzhao's own place.

At this time, we can see that compared with the Ming Dynasty court's excavation of Li Zicheng's ancestral tomb, Li Zicheng at this time has already shown his grandeur.

After Hong Chengchou learned of Cao Wenzhao's death, he looked up to the sky and wept bitterly, regretting endlessly.Emperor Chongzhen was also very sad, and ordered the construction of a temple for sacrifices, which made Cao Wenzhao enjoy the glory of mourning.

The combat effectiveness shown by the peasant army this time actually shows that the battle between the peasant army and the Ming court has entered a stalemate, and the court's suppression of bandits will also become a long process.However, Emperor Chongzhen and the important ministers in the court still couldn't distinguish the situation. They still thought that the defeat was an accident, and still set a time limit, ordering Hong Chengchou to destroy the peasant army within a time limit. (to be continued..)