Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Between Biyang County and Tongbai County in the southwest of Runing Prefecture, more than 4000 horses of the Runing Army hid in a small valley surrounded by mountains.Here, there was originally a Zhuangzi of the Runing Army as a fortress, but with so many soldiers and horses concentrated, there was no room for camping in the Zhuangzi, so they could only set up a dense camp around Zhuangzi.

Since this military operation needs to be completely kept secret, it took more than a month for the Runing Army to be mobilized here from the headquarters camp.Not only marching in batches, but also strictly implementing the night march. In the daytime, the troops of the Runing Army hid in Zhuangzi, which was used as a military station along the way.

But this time the Runing Army dispatched the teaching corps, the cavalry corps, the supply corps, and a battalion of the artillery regiment.In order to prevent the transfer of soldiers and horses in the headquarters from being discovered by outsiders, a group of children from the Boys' Battalion wore military uniforms and rode rough horses from the distance of Runing Prefecture City every day, while the artillery regiment staying in the camp was also carrying out intensive operations every day. The artillery was fired, giving outsiders the illusion that the whole army was in camp.

In order to keep it secret, Wu Shigong didn't even bring Tao Xin, the commander of the personal army, and most of the personal soldiers. He only brought [-] personal soldiers led by Quan Dashan to arrive here.So until before the war, the civil servants in Runing Mansion didn't know that Wu Shigong had left the camp.

Due to the consistent performance of the Runing Army, an illusion was formed among the Peasant Army.That is, as long as it is not close to the control area of ​​the Runing Army, as long as it does not invade the Xinyang-Wuchang line, the Runing Army will not take the initiative to attack.

Not only the peasant army, but even the Ming army also had this illusion.Governor Lu Xiangsheng wrote several times, requesting Wu Shigong's Runing Army to enter Huguang to support operations.They were all entrusted by Wu Shigong with the excuse of "I have not received the order from Governor Li Xianfeng!"

But everyone didn't know that the Runing Army was just waiting for an opportunity, waiting for a chance to have a good meal.

Nine years after entering Chongzhen, the entire central and northern regions suffered another severe drought.Although the Runing Army has built many water conservancy ditches over the years, a substantial reduction in production this year is already certain.

The Runing Army itself was not very afraid of severe drought, because under Wu Shigong's morbid insistence, their own food reserves were sufficient.However, the severe drought had a huge impact on the war situation. [

On the one hand, the peasant army is anxious to grab food, on the other hand.Refugees with a large amount of food joined the ranks of the peasant army to teach Qianjin.Anyway, it is a good thing for the peasant army.

Therefore, the current peasant army has been hovering in the Huguang area, the granary of the world.At this time, Huguang also stored a large amount of grain, which was going to be transported northward by water to supply the capital and the border.

Therefore, since March, the Ming army and the Peasant Army have fought fiercely, and in every frontal battle, the Ming army has always gained the upper hand.But as the battle progressed, Yu Zilian's Ruzhou Army withdrew from the battlefield first.

It's not that the Ruzhou Army's combat effectiveness is not good.The current Ruzhou Army has earned a reputation as "Desperate Saburo" among the Ming Army and Peasant Army.No peasant army dared to fight head-on with the Ruzhou army.The reason for leaving the battlefield.The main reason is that the logistics supply of the Ruzhou Army is not available.

Among the four Ming armies fighting in Huguang, because Lu Xiangsheng also served as the governor of Huguang, there must be no problem with the supply of food and grass for the Tianxiong army.Zu Kuan's Liao Army and Zuo Liangyu's Department, because they were guest troops, treated the people of Huguang extremely viciously, under the threat of a butcher's knife.They also ate their bellies round.

But Yu Zilian's Ruzhou Army can't do it.After all, Yu Zilian is a civil servant, and he has some rules in doing things, so he is a bit reluctant to deal with the people of Huguang. In addition, he is not under the command of Governor Lu Xiangsheng, so he is always made things difficult by Lu Xiangsheng in terms of supply.So at the end.Yu Zilian couldn't take it anymore, so he withdrew the Ruzhou Army to the vicinity of Dengzhou in Nanyang Prefecture to rest.

But the Ruzhou army withdrew like this.The peasant army has a lot of room to move.Although they still didn't dare to fight the Ming army head-on, the peasant army ran around and got many local people who were killed by the Ming army to join them, so their strength rose instead of falling.

Interestingly, the Runing Army made a fortune during this period.The Four Seas Trading Company organized a large caravan to buy looted property from the Liao Army, Zuo Liangyu and other Ming troops, and sold them grain, herbs, weapons, wine and other goods to the Ming Army. Even Yu Zilian also purchased a lot from the Four Seas Trading Company. less supplies.

Moreover, the Four Seas Commercial Bank even handles the business of the Peasant Army.Of course, a lot of business with the Peasant Army involved agents from the Shanchuan Division and the Military Intelligence Bureau.While doing business, those secret talks also established contact with many leaders of the peasant army.

So before they knew it, the Peasant Army was about to forget that the Runing Army was a man-eating tiger, and their range of activities gradually expanded.

As June entered, and it was the summer harvest season, the Ming army and the peasant army rushed to grab the harvested grain.Because the main force of the peasant army and the Ming army were entangled in the six counties of Yunyang, many small groups of peasant armies passed through Xiangyang one after another and fled between Xiangyang and Wuchang.

And the Runing Army just found this opportunity to wipe out all the peasant troops in this area, and by the way, plunder the grain back to the Huguang area.

"Shu Mo, He Fei! The two of you headed straight to Zaoyang County with the teaching army, and then Shu Mo led a regiment to defend Zaoyang, He Fei, you took the rest of the troops to defend the line from Zaoyang to Xiangyang, and cut off the entry and exit of the Shaanxi bandits. the road.” Because this time the plan was drawn up by the military commander, Wu Shigong brought out both Shumo and Chuge.

"Master, what should Zaoyang County do if we don't let us enter the city?" Shumo asked.

"Then fight it down!" Wu Shigong replied without hesitation, "Since we have already violated the rules and entered Huguang, it's okay to take down one more county town. But you two have to be careful, and it's best to be able to scare Zaoyang down. good."[

Wu Shigong then ordered: "Qian Qi! Take the Runing Army to capture Huang'an County, take care of the line from Huang'an to Wuchang, and block the other end."

"Zug, Sanhe! You two separate the three regiments of the cavalry corps and press them forward. The first target is Suizhou, and then press the Shan bandits to the Han River and wipe them out."

Then Wu Shigong pointed to Shumo, He Fei and Qian Qi and said: "You have heard clearly, as long as Chuge and the others control Suizhou, you will also press inward to reduce the space for the Shaanxi bandits to operate."

Finally, Wu Shigong said to Yuan Shizhong: "At Shizhong, you will follow the cavalry corps with the supply corps. Anyway, the main task is to eliminate the Shaanxi bandits first, and then transport the grain and grass back. The more the better! Anyway, you are familiar with this matter!"

Wu Shigong's words immediately caused a burst of laughter!