Chapter 446, Zhongyuan Ren Zongheng 1
If it weren't for Emperor Chongzhen's self-destruction of the Great Wall, choosing the latter between him and Yang Sichang, and putting Sun Chuanting in prison, it is difficult to predict how many peasant armies would be left at this time. [No pop-ups. 】
At this time, Sun Chuanting held the military power, and Chongzhen also gave full trust, and personally gave Shang Fang the sword, and no one in the court could match it. And Sun Chuanting is grateful for Chongzhen's kindness, and he must work hard. This battle will be unprecedentedly fierce.
Although Luo Rucai came to join the army, and the peasant army was greatly prestigious, it was still not careless when faced with enemies on three sides.
A few days ago, Li Zicheng learned that Sun Chuanting was stationed on the north bank of the Yellow River and was about to cross the river, and the war was about to begin.
At this time, Li Zicheng received a letter from the King of Qin, saying that Qin Junnian would send men and horses to help the enemy because of the feelings of the two sides joining forces against the enemy many times.
Li Zicheng was overjoyed when he saw the letter, and immediately consulted with his generals. Liu Zongmin and other generals were very happy when they heard that the Qin army was going to send troops to come, and Hao Shaoqi even patted his thigh and called his friends enough.
Song Xiance was a little unimpressed, and said to Li Zicheng: "King Chuang, let's not be too happy too early." ”
Li Zicheng was stunned: "Why did the military advisor say this," Song Xiance said: "King Qin is a very smart person, and he is very optimistic about the situation. In the current situation, the battle of Kaifeng can be said to determine the success or failure of the Ming Dynasty and our rebel army, and no one can lose. If we defeat Sun Chuanting, the Ming Dynasty will no longer have a force to fight against our army, enter Beijing, and destroy the Ming Dynasty, that is just around the corner. If we lose, with Sun Chuanting's style, he will definitely chase and fight, and he will not stop attacking until the righteous army is completely annihilated. At this moment, Qin Jun suddenly came uninvited, and it was King Qin who also understood the situation. ”
Liu Zongmin nodded: "Because of this, the Qin army couldn't sit still, so he had to go out of the customs to help the war." King Qin is indeed not a fool. ”
Song Xiance said: "But the Qin army has just pacified Hanzhong, and now it is appeasing the displaced people, and the north has also hit the Great Wall, such a large ground, and the Qin army does not have many men and horses, and the King of Qin wants to pacify the situation in Shaanxi, so it is impossible to send too many people and horses." ”
Li Zicheng nodded: "I know, the Qin army will only have a few thousand people at most, but for us, it is also a very good thing." Because the Qin army can harass from behind the official army, the official army will definitely divide their men to deal with the Qin army, so the pressure on our side will be reduced a lot. ”
Song Xiance said: "But if the official army knows that the Qin army does not come much, maybe they won't pay too much attention to it. In my opinion, let's spread the news and say that the Qin army in Guanzhong will raise troops to help in the war, so that the officers and troops will definitely pay attention to it. ”
Li said: "The Qin army may come secretly, let's spread such news, won't it be a betrayal of the Qin army?"
Song Xiance smiled: "As soon as the Qin army enters Henan, Sun Chuanting will immediately know that there is no need for us to betray." When the Qin army entered Henan, it was no longer a secret. Therefore, let's simply exaggerate the matter and surprise Sun Chuanting, which may have a greater effect. ”
Li Zicheng nodded: "This is also an idea, Li Guo, you immediately send someone to inquire and see who the chief general of the Qin army is, I will write to him here, and tell him what we have agreed on, so as not to be suspicious." ”
Li Guo gave the order and immediately sent his subordinates.
Li Zicheng ordered again, the whole army contracted, Kaifeng City was withdrawn, and all the horses were gathered together to prepare for a decisive battle with the official army.
A few days later, Li Guo's people came back and told everyone that the commander of the Qin army would be Li Yan. At this moment, the personal soldiers sent by Li Yan also arrived and handed Li Zicheng a handwritten letter from Li Yan.
Li Zicheng was overjoyed after reading it, since the two sides parted in Tongguan, it has been nearly a year, Li Zicheng can have today's momentum, Li Yan has also made great contributions, those few nursery rhymes are still being sung, and the range is wider. This time, when they saw that Li Yan personally led the troops to come, everyone was very happy, and they felt that the Qin army was indeed interesting enough, so in order to avoid their suspicions, they specially sent this Li Gongzi, who had the best relationship with the Chuang army.
Now the two sides join forces against the enemy, and there is no barrier.
Li Zicheng entertained this personal soldier, and then immediately wrote to Li Yan, asking this personal soldier to take him back, and rewarded him with a lot of gold and silver when he left.
Speaking of Li Yan, he led his men and horses to rest in Tongguan for a day, and then took advantage of the dark night to fight out of Tongguan and enter Henan.
The 5,000 cavalry quickly marched eastward, and arrived under the county seat of Lingbao before the third watch.
The red lady asked Li Yan: "Do we want to capture the Lingbao," Li Yan shook his head: "The Lingbao is too close to Tongguan, the officials and soldiers here must be prepared, and they can't take it in a hurry." In my opinion, let's bypass Lingbao and attack Michi County. It is far away from Tongguan, and it is close to Shanxi, and it is adjacent to the Yellow River, and the officials and soldiers will definitely not think of it. ”
Everyone agreed with Li Yan's opinion, so Li Yan led the army to quietly bypass Lingbao County and go straight to Mianchi County.
The northern and western parts of Henan are close to Shaanxi, and since the Qin King's appeasement order arrived, many peasants here have left their homeland and gone to Shaanxi, so many villages and towns in this area have no people, and there are only a few people left in some towns, so Li Yan's men and horses have traveled all the way without encountering any obstacles, unlike other places where there are sometimes some village soldiers.
The next night, Li Yan led his men and horses to Mianchi County. Sure enough, as he expected, there was not much defense in Mianchi County, and the officers and troops paid more attention to the east, in case Li Zicheng's peasant army was killed, and he never expected that the Qin army would be killed in the west, and it was late at night, and the city did not send many soldiers to patrol the city.
Five thousand cavalry swept into the city like a violent wind, and immediately killed the officers and soldiers in a daze.
There were not many officers and soldiers in Michi County, and when they heard that the Qin army had broken through the city and entered the city, they flew out of the sky and fled one by one, and even the county commanders and generals fled.
Li Yan was almost bloodless, and he took Mianchi County.
After occupying the county seat, Li Yan strictly ordered the soldiers of the Qin army not to kill the people, not to rob the people's property, and not to rape the women.
Li Yan commanded the troops and led the generals, and the military discipline was always strict, and all the troops knew it, so the people in Michi City were not harmed in any way.
At this time, the Red Lady instructed some soldiers who could speak and dared to brag to go to the homes of the poor people in the city, tell them about the Qin army's appeasement strategy, and persuade these people to leave Henan and settle in Guanzhong.
Originally, these poor people had heard that the Qin army was recruiting displaced people, but on the one hand, these people were difficult to leave the country, and on the other hand, they were suspicious of this kind of thing, so they did not go. At this time, after seeing that the Qin army entered the city, they did not slaughter the city, rob, or kidnap women, and immediately had a good impression of the Qin army. Listening to these people's words again, it is simply said that Guanzhong is a country of abundance. As long as you go, you can be fed and clothed, and you will not suffer from war.
These people were like seeing a savior, pulling the soldiers of the Qin army to ask questions and inquire about the benefits of Guanzhong.
Before dawn, hundreds of poor families were willing to go to Guanzhong to join the Qin army.
Li Yan comforted these people, and then ordered that some of the grain he had collected be distributed to them for the people to eat on the road.
After dawn, Li Yan had already collected the money and grain in Mianchi County, left Mianchi, and continued to the east. Prepare to attack Luoyang.
Since Luoyang City was captured by Li Zicheng, the official army fled. Li Zicheng was ready to attack Kaifeng with all his might, so he did not send people to garrison, but only destroyed most of the city wall, and after the peasant army left, the court sent troops to occupy Luoyang City and appointed officials. At this time, there was no prosperity in Luoyang City, because the rich people were robbed and killed, and they didn't dare to live anymore and moved one after another.
The officers and soldiers did not want to hold on here, because most of the city walls were demolished and could not be defended. Therefore, only a thousand men and horses were stationed here.
The news that Li Yan's cavalry entered Henan and defeated Michi immediately spread to Luoyang City. The guards in the city were very nervous, afraid that Li Yan would come to attack, but without Sun Chuanting's order, he did not dare to withdraw without authorization.
The guard general listened, but did not say a word, and abandoned the city and fled.
Li Yan occupied Luoyang and immediately notified everywhere that he was also bluffing, which coincided with Li Zicheng's thoughts. Li Yan knew very well that he only brought 5,000 men and horses, and it would not have any impact on the situation in Kaifeng, but the only way to do it now was to make a big show and confuse the officials and soldiers. so that Sun Chuanting couldn't guess how many people he brought, so that Sun Chuanting could be forced to divide people to deal with him and reduce the pressure on Li Zicheng's side.
He made a big fuss in the notice, saying that he had brought 100,000 horses to help Li Zicheng and completely annihilate Sun Chuanting outside Kaifeng City.
At this time, Li Zicheng's letter also arrived, and what the letter said was exactly what Li Yan wanted to do, Li Yan couldn't help but laugh secretly, it was really the same as the hero.
The defender of Luoyang City fled to Kaifeng and reported to Sun Chuanting, he fled without a fight in order to cover himself, and also tried his best to exaggerate the number of the Qin army, saying that the Qin army had at least tens of thousands of horses, and the killing in the dark night was like the sky falling apart, and he only had a thousand people, which was really impossible to resist.
Sun Chuanting had already received news at this time, saying that Li Yan led 100,000 horses into Henan and captured Luoyang.
He looked at Qin Jun's notice, smiled slightly, and threw the notice away: "100,000 horses, hum, bluff, his men and horses are no more than 30,000." ”
Yang Wenyue asked on the side, "Why does the superintendent think so?"
Sun Chuanting said: "The Qin army has developed rapidly in the past year, recruiting troops and horses, accumulating grass and hoarding grain, but the people recruited are all new soldiers, and they will never dare to bring them out without training, so Li Yan's men and horses should be a long-fought army." And the Qin army's long-fought division will never exceed 30,000 people. ”
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