The three armies fought bravely, and the sky and the earth changed.

On the sixth day of the third month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the blue sky that lasted for more than half a month between Chu and Yu suddenly changed, and the sky seemed to roll up waves overnight, gray as a thick cloth. The thick clouds that stretched out as far as they could be reached out could be touched. The dark gray and black enveloped the mountains and rivers, and the strong wind that swept through the four fields was full of slaughter, just like the dull and cramped atmosphere before the rainstorm, and the people were almost breathless.

Without any swearing-in ceremony or inscription, Zhao Ying suddenly launched an offensive against the Dashun regime on this day.

Competing for world domination, for Zhao Ying, time can no longer be delayed. Shaanxi defended and Henan attacked, and Zhao Ying's strategy was very clear. As the main force of the Zhao battalion facing the Shun army in Henan, Hou Dagui's army was the main force, and Guo Ruke's army was supplemented, and the two armies acted together and attacked Henan.

The main forces of the Shun army left behind in Henan are distributed in the state capitals south of the Yellow River, Yang Yanchang of Nanyang Mansion is 9,000, Gao Yigong of Ruzhou is 7,000, Ren Guangrong of Runing Mansion is 8,000, Wang Wenyao of Kaifeng Mansion is 6,000, and Xie Yinglong of Guide Mansion is 5,000, in addition to 10,000 Li Jiyu of Dengfeng County, 7,000 Liu Hongqi of Yiyang Sanguan, and 5,000 Shen Wandeng of Zhenyang County, totaling more than 57,000 soldiers and horses.

Considering that Wang Wenyao of Kaifeng Mansion and Xie Yinglong of Guide Mansion along the Yellow River need to guard against Xu Dingguo, the general army of the Ming army who is stranded in Huaiqing Mansion on the other bank, the Ming army reinforcements in Beizhili and Shandong in the northeast, and the key passes such as Tongguan Guard, which are guarding the Shaanxi-Henan Passage, these two Shun army armies are greatly contained, so at least in the early stage, the Shun army faced by Zhao Ying is mainly Yang Yanchang, Gao Yigong, and Ren Guangrong. These three departments perform their own duties, Yang Yanchang guards the northern part of Nanyang Mansion, Ren Guangrong guards the northern part of Runing Mansion, and Gao Yigong is stationed in the middle of Henan, and responds to the correspondence.

After more than 10 days of covert planning, Hou Dagui roughly divided the Henan operation into three stages. In the first stage, they captured Nanyang Mansion and Runing Mansion, which Zhao Ying already occupied, respectively, and opened up the entire battlefield; In the second stage, the Ruzhou passage was opened, and the key areas south of the Yellow River were captured at the same time; In the third stage, they controlled and choked several large crossings of Tongguan and the Yellow River, and cut off the possibility of reinforcements from Shaanxi or Shanxi, so as to completely control the situation in Henan.

According to Zhao Dangshi's earlier arrangement, the strategy task of Runing Mansion was in charge of Huang Degong's army stationed in Funan, and Nanyang Mansion was in charge of Guo Rukejun, and Hou Dagui followed. Due to the open and secret battles between the Zhao Ying and Shun armies, the two prefectures of Nanyang and Runing maintained a stalemate of forces on the eve of the war. Overall, in Nanyang Mansion, Zhao Ying, who occupies the capital city, has the advantage; In Runing Province, the Shun army that occupied the city of Fu had the upper hand. The same is true from the point of view of troop allocation, Nanyang Mansion only has 9,000 people from Yang Yanchang, but the 8,000 people from the Ren Guangrong Headquarters of Runing Mansion plus Liu Hongqi and Shen Wandeng have more than 25,000 troops, so the resistance encountered by Zhao Ying in Runing Mansion is bound to be greater than that of Nanyang Mansion.

Hou Dagui's arrangement was that Guo Ruke, who had been stationed in Nanyang Mansion for a long time and had been fighting for a long time, caused 7,000 people from the three battalions of Hun, Zhenxiao, and Qingtong to attack the Shun army in the north of Nanyang Mansion first. If the battle situation was acceptable, the 14,000 men of Huang Degong's army immediately launched a war against the city of Runing Fucheng, and at the same time, Guangwen Lujing and 3,000 men of the Qianying battalion, who had been stationed in Suizhou, also began to capture Liu Hongqi's troops in the three passes of Yiyang between Huguang and Runing Fu. In addition to the 5,000 people from the two battalions of the Guoan Battalion and the Wuya Battalion, Hou Dagui's army stayed in the rear, and the rest of the 9,000 people from the four battalions of the Wuyu Battalion, Jinghe Middle Battalion, Changhong Front Battalion, and Yichong Battalion then advanced to Nanyang Mansion to join Guo Ruke's army. After the overall situation of Nanyang Mansion has been decided, then divide the troops and copy the back of the Shun army of Runing Mansion, and break the enemy with Huang Degong's army.

In this way, the success or failure of Nanyang Mansion is crucial. Focusing on the battlefield of Nanyang Mansion, Hou Dagui set the tone of the battle with only one word - fast.

If you can't do a quick fix, there are too many variables.

The biggest variable is the Shun army stationed in Ruzhou. Not counting Gao Yigong's troops, Zhao and Shun are expected to invest roughly the same number of troops in Nanyang and Runing, but if Gao Yigong leads troops to reinforce Yang Yanchang, then Guo Ruke's army will face 16,000 Shun troops - these 16,000 people are considered the elite of the Shun army left in Henan - the pressure has increased sharply, and it is bound to need timely reinforcements from Hou Dagui's army to maintain the balance of power.

But in this way, the battle situation in Nanyang Mansion inevitably came to a standstill, and even the Shun army of Kaifeng, Guide and other prefectures reacted to reinforce Runing Mansion, which was also unfavorable to Huang Degong's army. Not to mention that Huang Degong's army still has the sharp knife of Yiyang Sanguan behind him, and it is still unknown whether the Guangwenlu Department can defeat Liu Hongqi and completely relieve Huang Degong's worries. If the stalemate between Nanyang and Runing is too long, causing the Shun army in Shaanxi and even Beizhili and other places to return to help, it will be even more troublesome.

Therefore, the war in Nanyang Mansion is crucial to the process of attacking the entire Henan, looking around the Zhao camp, except for Guo Ruke, there is indeed no other general who has the courage and ability to take on the heavy responsibility of command.

In the early morning of March 6, heavy black clouds filled the sky. Guo Ruke, who had been well prepared, led his army north and rushed into Yuzhou.

Guo Ruke knows the situation in Yuzhou. The walls of Yuzhou City, which had undergone several military disasters, were damaged in many places, and although they were repaired after the Shun army took over, most of the repairs were loose rammed earth with poor texture, and did not have sufficient defensive capabilities. After Yang Yanchang led his troops to station, he may have discovered the hidden dangers of Yuzhou City, and began to build green bricks on the outside of rammed earth, but according to the spies, there are at least a few sections of the long wall that have not been completed.

Even though Yuzhou controlled the key pass from Nanyang Mansion to the hinterland of Henan from the north, the cautious Yang Yanchang did not set up his headquarters here, but moved north to Yexian, which was closer to Ruzhou. Facts have proved that his approach is very wise, because although Guo Ruke did not lead troops to fight in the two years that he was in Nanyang Mansion, he paid close attention to the pre-war work. Under his painstaking management, he not only had a clear understanding of the geography and deployment of the surrounding states and counties, but also sent a large number of spies to the adjacent Yuzhou City, disguised as people from all walks of life to hide in Yuzhou City. Many of these spies are natives of Nanyang Mansion, outsiders can't see the clues, and they can endure their temperament, they have been lurking in Yuzhou City for more than half a year, they don't know each other, but as long as the upper head gives an order, they gather in an instant, there are hundreds of people, and it is not an exaggeration to say that Yuzhou City has long been eroded by Zhao Ying.

At present, there are about several hundred Shun troops stationed in Yuzhou City, which is enough to maintain order, but not enough to defend the city. Obviously, Yang Yanchang did not intend to rely on Yuzhou City, which was troubled internally and externally, to resist foreign enemies.

The soldiers and horses of the Zhao battalion arrived outside Yuzhou at noon. The defenders in the city sent people to inquire, and Guo Ruke drove the people away, and immediately ordered the whole army to raise several No. 2 Hongyi cannons to bombard a section of low rammed earth wall. After a few cannons, the crumbs fell like a waterfall, and the Shun army in the city saw that the situation was not good, and most of them coaxed away. After a few more cannons, first the eaves tiles of the city tower shook one after another, and then only a loud sound was heard that looked like the girder breaking, and the rammed earth wall collapsed and collapsed to both sides.

Seeing this, Zhou Jin, the deputy commander of the army and the commander of the Zhenxiao battalion, led the soldiers to advance bravely, and he also took the lead and flew over the gap. The soldiers of the Zhao battalion lurking in the city also responded in groups, Guo Ruke waved his army forward, and in less than an hour, Yuzhou City was conquered, and hundreds of Shun troops evacuated in a hurry through the north gate.

In Guo Ruke's expectation, he is now faced with two choices: first, hold on to Yuzhou and divide his troops to attack Nanzhao County in the west, and hold Luyang Pass in the north of Nanzhao County. In this case, the passage from the hinterland of Henan to Nanyang Mansion will be completely locked, and then wait for the arrival of Hou Dagui's army; Second, leaving a small number of troops to guard Yuzhou City, the army continued to attack Yexian County, where Yang Yanchang's base camp was located, to the north. The first option is conservative, the second is aggressive, and there is no third option.

Guo Ruke is clearly biased towards the latter.

Kong Quanbin, the commander of the Qingtong Battalion, persuaded Guo Ruke: "Yang Yanchang of Yexian County has nearly 10,000 troops, which should not be underestimated. ”

Guo Ruke replied: "Although Yang Yanchang has many people, our army also has 7,000 people, and the gap is not big. Now that a force has captured Yuzhou, the morale is high and it is available. Our army is coming to the city, and Yang Yanchang will definitely fight in the field. If the field battle is won and the Shun army is defeated, it will not be a problem to take Yexian today. ”

Kong Quanbin was puzzled: "How can the chief manager conclude that Yang Yanchang will fight in the field?" ”

Guo Ruke said: "Yexian is surrounded by plains, which can be used by the Shun army and horse army to gallop, our army has many guns, if Yang Yanchang retreats into the city, he will only be beaten, and finally fall to the same fate as Yuzhou, which is a short blow to the long." And as you said, Yang Yanchang has a lot of troops, and now he has just lost Yuzhou, and he has given up the field battle he is best at and was pressed in the city by our army with a small number of people. ”

Kong Quanbin frowned and said: "Military is not child's play, Yang Yanchang is a man in his forties, how can he be rash." ”

"Tian Jianxiu is in Shaanxi, and the Henan Shun Army is faintly headed by Yang Yanchang, but our army spies did not know that he was officially appointed by Li Zicheng. He is not Li Zicheng's descendant, his prestige is not high, and his performance is more bad, and Ren Guangrong and those people may not obey him. He wants to hold Henan, and he thinks more than the success or failure of this battle. Guo Ruke said in a deep voice, "And his experience and temper spy have rewarded me a lot." Said that he was Liu Guoneng in the army, known for his brave battles, Li Zicheng broke through Ye County and killed Liu Guoneng at that time, he held the banner to fight to the death, more than ten people could not get close, so Li Zicheng loved and surrendered in person. Being able to climb to today's status is inseparable from his fearless style of dying. Do you think such a person would choose to stay in the city and be a turtle with a shrunken head? ”

Zhou Jin echoed: "What the chief manager said is reasonable, Yang Yanchang gave up Yuzhou and set up the base camp in Ye County, which shows that he has long harbored the intention of letting our army into the plains to fight. ”

Guo Ruke pressed his sword and said: "This battle is the first confrontation between our army and the Shun army in Henan, and it is the battle of Liwei. Once our army wins, killing the enemy and occupying the land is still secondary, and the direction of the troops in the future will be strong, and it will be able to fully involve the defensive deployment of the Shun army, which will have long-term benefits for the entire war situation. ”

Kong Quanbin was silent when he heard this. Originally, he joined Zhao Ying in Yunyang, but he just wanted to find a big tree to enjoy the shade, and he didn't completely look down on Hou Dagui, Guo Ruke and other high-level generals of Zhao Ying. But in the process of slow contact, he realized that his initial idea was very wrong.

For example, Guo Ruke, his emphasis on intelligence, analysis of the current situation, and long-term military vision are far beyond the reach of ordinary Ming army officers. To be honest, Kong Quanbin thinks that the level of leading the army to fight is not as good as Guo Ruke, and he doesn't think that many of his colleagues who have worked together can compare to Guo Ruke.

At first, Kong Quanbin only said that Guo Ruke was an example, but since he became a member of Zhao Ying, he felt that it was not so much that Zhao Ying had picked up a treasure, but that Zhao Jiancheng had grown Guo Ruke.

From Dashun and Daming to Zhaoying and various local yamen, they are like a dye vat with splashed ink, and the colors in them are not the same. Some people go in white, and some go out, and some go in black, but come out white. It is undeniable that Guo Ruke used to be a piece of jade, showing off on the inside and on the outside, but if he can't get the best polishing, maybe he can only be with sand and gravel in this life, and he will live a mediocre life. But he was lucky to meet Zhao Ying. If there is no Zhao Ying, it is impossible to judge whether he still has today's status and status, the only thing that can be determined is that Zhao Ying has made him who he is today, and he has also invisibly fed back Zhao Ying. The so-called complementarity and solidarity are exactly what it means.

Kong Quanbin's fluttering thoughts were interrupted by Guo Ruke's loud voice, and he heard Guo Ruke instructing the Tang soldiers to spread the word to all battalions and units to finish lunch within half an hour and continue to prepare for the march. In the hall where the proceedings were held, three or five strong men also hummed and brought several steaming large wooden barrels, and fed food from the large wooden barrels and presented them to the officers.

"Lao Kong, I'll pull out your forward later, be flexible." Guo Ruke's voice came into his ears. At a glance, he picked up the bowl early, munched on the rice, and didn't care about the whiskers that stuck to his mouth with rice grains, and looked like a starving ghost who wanted to stuff his head into the bowl.

Kong Quanbin's Qingtong battalion has 1,000 horse troops among the 3,000 people, which is also the only horse army in Guo Ruke's army.

Looking around, there was no one to speak, and most of the officers such as Zhou Jin and Bai Wang gobbled up, and all they heard was the sound of chewing. Kong Quanbin's heart fluttered, he took the porcelain bowl handed by the soldier, and readily agreed.

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Note: The strategic situation map of Nanyang and Runing can be viewed in the boutique post for reference.