On November 15, the fifteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty (1642 AD), the Henan Heavenly Mandate Army began its southern expedition to Huguang.

The first battalion of the three regiments of cavalry of Liu Yunshui, the fourth battalion of Li Jibu's four regiments, the seventh battalion of Song Wenbu's two regiments, the independent battalion of Li Xinbu's four regiments, the Chengtian battalion's Gao Meritorious Service Department's four regiments, and the Fengtian battalion's Ma Shouying department's four regiments, a total of 21 regiments, more than 110,000 horse infantry.

In addition, there is also the Yangtze River Navy from Fengjie, Sichuan, down the river, with more than 20,000 people in four regiments.

This time, Li Zicheng was ready to quickly conquer Huguang and take control of the Jianghan Plain north of the Yangtze River as soon as possible.

The Mandate of Heaven Army is not unable to cross the river, there is a special Yangtze River Navy in hand, and the Mandate of Heaven Army will definitely control the golden waterway of the Yangtze River, but Li Zicheng found that the western part of Huxi, south of the Yangtze River, close to Sichuan, are Shizhouwei, Yongshun Xuanwei Division, Baojingzhou Xuanwei Division, etc., which are obviously the gathering places of Tusi.

The Mandate of Heaven doesn't have time to engage in a tug-of-war with Tusi for the time being, so it's better to occupy the agricultural land first.

The 110,000 troops were divided into two routes, the West Route Army set out from Nanyang Mansion and passed through Dengzhou, aiming at Fancheng, and the East Route Army set off from Runing Mansion, passed through Xinyang Prefecture, entered Huguang from Wuyang Pass, and directly took De'an Mansion and threatened Wuchang, the capital of Huguang.

Li Zicheng knew that after Zuo Liangyu returned from Henan, he recruited troops in Huguang, and concentrated his heavy troops on the front line of Fancheng and Xiangyang, so the heavy troops of the Mandate of Heaven Army were also concentrated on the western front, with the first battalion, the fourth battalion, the seventh battalion, the Chengtian battalion, and the Fengtian battalion, a total of five battalions and seventeen regiments, while the Eastern Route Army only had Li Xin's independent battalion, which could only be regarded as a partial division.

There are more than 20,000 people in the four regiments, if only the capture of De'an Mansion, with Li Xin's talent, it should not be a problem, but after the occupation, it is necessary to fully control and even threaten Wuchang, 20,000 soldiers are obviously too few, Li Zicheng told Li Xin that if the food and salary are available, the independent battalion can expand the army, and the army can be expanded by four regiments at most.

Li Zicheng took the cavalry of the first battalion of Liu Yunshui's department as the vanguard, led the army by himself, and then went south along the official road.

Walking to the boundary of Huguang, Li Zicheng looked at the flat land, and was already thinking in his heart, after taking Huguang, should this main road be widened, and then poured cement avenues to strengthen the transportation links between Henan and Huguang.

Although Zuo Liangyu's army is in Fancheng and Xiangyang, Li Zicheng is not worried, and the current Zuo Liangyu has at least two points that Li Zicheng does not look down on:

One is to fear the war, whether it is Yuncheng or Zhu Xianzhen, Zuo Liangyu is a heavy soldier, if he fights with all his might, there may not be no chance of victory, especially Zhu Xianzhen, at that time, only the soldiers of Zuo Liangyu's department were close to three times the size of the Heavenly Mandate Army, even if they bite with their teeth, they can also bite off a piece of meat from the Heavenly Mandate Army.

But Zuo Liangyu chose to flee, and as a result, more than 100,000 troops were defeated by tens of thousands of Heavenly Mandate troops in one fell swoop, and more than half of the soldiers were killed or wounded......

Zuo Liangyu is obviously a warlord style, he has no thirst for victory, nor does he see the overall situation, he only has interests in his eyes, on the battlefield, he is afraid of the casualties of his subordinates, everything is based on preserving strength.

Such a Zuo Liangyu is not even a general, maybe he is more suitable to be a civil official......

There is another point, that is, Zuo Liangyu's troops were defeated in the north north of Weishi County, and the soldiers who escaped from Huguang were only tens of thousands, although a large number of soldiers were recruited in Fancheng and Xiangyang, known as "200,000", but these recruited recruits were difficult to form combat effectiveness for a while, although they had an advantage in numbers, but in Li Zicheng's eyes, they were like dead branches and leaves in autumn, and they lacked a gust of autumn wind.

Sure enough, Li Zicheng traveled to the North Taishan Temple, and Liu Yunshui sent back a message: Zuo Liangyu gave up Fancheng, and the whole army crossed the Han River and defended Xiangyang on the south bank of the Han River.

Li Zicheng looked at the message, and smiled coldly, sure enough, it was Zuo Liangyu, who was cowardly before fighting!

If Zuo Liangyu guards Fancheng, although the Mandate of Heaven Army can take Fancheng, it will also have some losses, so if the Mandate of Heaven Army is given a Fancheng for nothing, can Han Shui block the pace of the Mandate of Heaven Army?

There is no unbreakable moat in the world!

Li Zicheng sent an order to Liu Yunshui to look for boats to cross the river on the north bank of the Han River, and on the other hand, he quickened the pace of the march and rushed to Fancheng as soon as possible.

At this time, Fancheng, an important town on the north bank of the Han River, was already an empty city, the officials fled, and the soldiers followed Zuo Liangyu to cross the Han River to Xiangyang in the south, and there was only a city of uneasy people.

When Li Zicheng arrived at Fancheng, the cavalry of the first battalion had already set up camp in the city, and Liu Yunshui greeted him from the north city gate, "Dadu Governor, after Zuo Liangyu crossed the river, he burned all the boats in the Han River, and his subordinates tried their best to find only some small boats......"

"Zuo Liangyu gave us an undefended Fancheng, are you still not satisfied?" Li Zicheng asked Liu Yunshui to get up, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Go, enter the city first to appease the people in the city!" ”

"Governor, the people in the city don't need to be appeased......"

"Oh, why?"

Liu Yunshui said with a smile: "Governor Dadu, my subordinates heard that when Zuo Liangyu returned to Fancheng and Xiangyang from Zhuxian Town, there were only 25,000 soldiers left, and he recruited troops in Fancheng and Xiangyang, and it is said that it has now reached 200,000, but the food and salary allocated by the imperial court is still calculated according to 25,000 people......

"Huh?" Li Zicheng was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Zuo Liangyu lacks food and salary, so he robbed the local people and merchants? ”

"The Metropolitan Governor expected a good expectation," Liu Yunshui sneered: "So the people hate Zuo Liangyu deeply, and make up songs to scold him, when Zuo Liangyu crossed the river, the people secretly burned a lot of boats crossing the river at night, and when they came to Fancheng, the people took the initiative to contribute the hidden boats," paused, and a trace of disappointment appeared on his face, "Unfortunately, they are all small boats......

"The hearts of the people are available!" Li Zicheng was overjoyed, and the imperial court has been smearing the Heavenly Mandate Army, calling them "rogues" and "rogues", but the eyes of the people are bright, and they know who is good and who is bad.

A thief is an official, and an official is a thief!

The Ming Dynasty is immortal, and the heavens are intolerable!

Liu Yunshui was only interested in fighting, although he took Fancheng, but it was an empty city for nothing, and he had not fought with the Ming army, he was unhappy, so he thought about Xiangyang on the other side, "Dadu Governor, when will we cross the river?" ”

"Don't be in a hurry to cross the river first," Li Zicheng said: "Yunshui, now you see the power of the people?" ”

Liu Yunshui was thoughtful, but he couldn't stop nodding.

Li Zicheng called Zhang Dingyan behind him, and said indifferently: "Lord Zhang, the people of Huguang, I will hand it over to you, don't let the people of Huguang down!" ”

Zhang Dingyan, who has stepped down from the position of governor of Henan Province, this time also followed Li Zicheng to the south, and in the two years he served as the governor of Henan Province in Luoyang, he not only knew more about the Mandate of Heaven Army, understood the laws of the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Office, and also had a clearer understanding of the situation in Henan and even the whole country.

In front of Li Zicheng, Zhang Dingyan no longer had the original arrogance, and the Confucian spirit on his body had also faded a lot, and when he heard Li Zicheng's words, he hurriedly said: "My subordinates understand!" After hesitating for a moment, he said, "The Grand Governor, do you want to implement all the laws of the Mandate of Heaven?" Land ......"

"Wherever the Heavenly Mandate Army goes, the four laws must be enforced," Li Zicheng understood what Zhang Dingyan meant, and said in a deep voice: "The so-called resistance should be Juntian, right?" The vast majority of the land near Fancheng and Xiangyang originally belonged to Xiangwangfu, ordinary people, land should be insufficient, this time it is to increase the land in vain, they should welcome it! ”

“……”

"Some eunuchs and gentry, the land will seriously exceed the standard," Li Zicheng said coldly: "You tell them, are you willing to let Zuo Liangyu's soldiers raid their homes and kill people, or are they willing to take out the land?" After a pause, he said: "Lord Zhang has been the governor of Henan Province for more than two years, so he should know the guiding role of the government, right?" These gentry, once they offend the wrath of the people......"

"Governor, my subordinates understand!" Zhang Dingyan was not an official, but he was worried that after the Heavenly Mandate Army came to Huguang, the policy would be loosened, and he would be relieved to get Li Zicheng's resolute support.

"Lord Zhang will take the position of Governor of Huguang," Li Zicheng took out a letter of appointment from his bosom that had already signed his name, "The territory of the Heavenly Mandate Army is only half of Xiangyang now, and this position of Xiangyang Prefect, Lord Zhang will concurrently serve for the time being, and when the Heavenly Mandate Army lays down more land, your territory will increase!" ”

"Thank you, Dadu!" Zhang Dingyan turned over and knelt on the ground.

Li Zicheng hurriedly helped Zhang Dingyan up, and said with a smile: "When the Heavenly Mandate Army first enters Huguang, it is inevitable that there will be people with ulterior motives who will secretly make trouble, organize manpower, and publicize the policies of the Heavenly Mandate Army to the people as soon as possible. ”

"Yes, Grand Duke!"

Li Zicheng stationed the army outside Fancheng, and only brought the commanders of each battalion into the city, and summoned the commanders of each battalion at the Fancheng official office where he was stationed that night.

Liu Yunshui was the first to come to Fancheng and was most familiar with Fancheng and Xiangyang, so he took the initiative to introduce: "...... Zuo Liangyu concentrated his forces on the south bank, built a water village, and sent heavy troops to guard the fords and sandbars in the river......"

Li Zicheng said in his heart: Luo Rucai has been fighting with officers and soldiers in Huguang for a long time, and with Luo Rucai's "Cao Cao" temperament, he must have a deep understanding of Han Shui and Zuo Liangyu, so he looked at Luo Rucai, Luo Rucai didn't know what he was thinking, but he bowed his head and said nothing.

Everyone came to Fancheng for the first time and entered the Huguang realm, although the crowd was excited and begged for battle, but there was no good advice.

The cavalry of the first battalion was the vanguard of this southern expedition, and Liu Yunshui took the initiative to ask for an attack to open the passage for the army.

Li Zicheng shook his head, although he didn't look down on Zuo Liangyu, but after all, Zuo Liangyu had an army of 200,000 in his hands, and he had been operating in Huguang for many years, so he was a real snake.

Xiangyang is Zuo Liangyu's old nest, and Zuo Liangyu will definitely not give up easily.

Niu Jinxing saw that everyone couldn't come up with a clever plan, so he stroked the long beard under his chin with his right hand, squinted his eyes, and said carefully: "Dadu Governor, generals, we are new to Fancheng, and we are not familiar with Zuo Liangyu's military deployment and the geography of Hanshui, so it is better to wait for tomorrow to inspect the terrain before making a decision!" ”

Li Zicheng nodded and ended the meeting.

Keep in mind that the first domain name :.com this book. The mobile version of the mobile version of the wonderful book house is :.com