In mid-June, Li Chuang's coalition army, which had thought it was going to force Kaifeng, stopped at Taikang, and not only that, but part of their army returned to Runing Mansion and attacked urgently. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Kaifeng City and outside the chaos inside, Ruyang City has Chongwang Zhu Youqiao inside, where the vassal king is, if it falls, everyone is very guilty.

At this time, the superintendent Ding Qirui led the reinforcements from the four towns to Xuzhou, but he was slow and had not yet arrived in Kaifeng.

However, when the news arrived, they were the closest to Ruyang City, and when Ding Qirui ordered the Kaifeng generals to rescue, Yang Wenyue, the governor of Baoding, and Gao Mingheng, the governor of Henan, shirked in every possible way, and they hinted that Ding Qirui should rescue Runing Mansion close to the rescue, not far away.

Ding Qirui had no choice but to discuss with Zuo Liangyu, Yang Dezheng, Fang Guoan and others, at this time, the martial artists were domineering, and Zuo Liangyu and others were even more difficult to command, and they all felt that they should not return to Runing, so as not to fall into the tricks of the thieves.

Ding Qirui was born as a scholar, had no military talent, and was more indecisive.

In this way, he swayed left and right for more than ten days, and it was not until the beginning of July that the military situation in Runing Mansion was very urgent, so he made up his mind and led the army to rescue.

Of course, the combat power of Pingqi Town under his command is the strongest, but Zuo Liangyu is unruly and unruly, and his military discipline is extremely bad, burning, killing and looting, and doing all kinds of evil. Fang Guoan is also a capricious person, belonging to the kind of slippery person, who doesn't see rabbits and eagles.

Yang Dezheng said that he had a strategy, and that the national military training was his proposal, and he wrote to the imperial court, believing that the reason why the thieves were difficult to calm down was because they were impermanent and mobile. The key to exterminating thieves is to strengthen local armed forces.

He suggested that the localities should implement "cutting and training", and the government should eliminate the general judgment, and set up a post of training and preparation, with the rank equivalent to that of a garrison, and the state should cut off judges, and the county should set up a post of general training, and the grade would be equivalent to that of the general.

Practice preparation, practice total. All belong to the prefect, the prefecture, and the county. He is responsible for training the village soldiers, and his duty is to defend the countryside and not to be transferred to other places.

In terms of amount, each prefecture trained 1,000 township soldiers, 700 prefectures, and 500 counties.

His upper book. Appreciated by the imperial court. Especially Yang Sichang's appreciation at that time. It was proposed to be implemented first in Kifu, Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi, and then spread to other places, and Yang Dezheng was promoted from deputy general army to chief military officer.

However, the implementation of this proposal has been very ineffective. All localities have nothing more than falsely reporting a military training figure, and then desperately searching for it in the name of "training salaries" to add a fire to the already critical national situation.

Moreover, they are the officials and generals in the hinterland of the Central Plains, there are not many horses, and their mobility is very poor, and they often follow the rogues to eat ashes, and the main force of the battle is more family, all of them are very cherished, and after returning to the army to rescue, it seems that they are inseparable from the thieves, but in fact, they are all fighting and fighting.

Or cut off the heads of some homeless people, and they will be anxious to report a great victory, clamoring for a reward for military merits.

Yang Dezheng and Fang Guoan were ambushed by thieves several times, and a lot of soldiers and horses under their command were scattered, but along the way, they also collected a lot of hungry soldiers who were coerced and trapped, and in the end, they didn't know whether they were soldiers or thieves gathered in the camp.

And because the military discipline has become worse, the supply of grain and grass is also intermittent, so most of the time, they rely on looting to obtain military rations, thieves also rob, soldiers also rob, plus scattered routs, rogues everywhere, along the way suffered military disasters, thieves disaster people want to cry without tears.

Although Yang Dezheng, Fang Guoan and others reported great victories, they did not achieve any major results, and the thieves still attacked Runing Mansion in a hurry.

Yang Dezheng was ambushed again in Xiping, this time Yang Dezheng was extremely miserable, only 100 cavalry escaped under his command, even if he collected the rout in the future, he did not recover much, so he had to collect some homeless people as battalion soldiers.

Zuo Liangyu fell on Shangcai and defeated the tens of thousands of thieves who were ambushed, although most of their horsemen ran away, but defeating so many foot soldiers was enough to make him proud, and he received tens of thousands of soldiers, and his momentum was even more arrogant, which made Ding Qirui more important.

The siege of Runing Mansion was resolved, and several towns under Ding Qirui's command lost troops and generals, and only one Zuo Liangyu was completed.

The vassal king was worry-free, and Ding Qirui was triumphant, but the current situation, the thief strategy, Ding Qirui also felt that the fog was heavy and incomprehensible, and the large number of thieves went south not long after, and it was reported that hundreds of thousands of thieves rode to Guide and even Xuzhou.

Guide is the Jianghuai to rush, Xuzhou in the east, not far from Caoyun, and from Guide, Xuzhou crossed the Yellow River to the north, directly into Shandong, the north of the territory of Zhili, there is no room for loss, Ding Qirui was shocked, and urgently ordered Yang Wenyue, the governor of Baoding, and Gao Mingheng, the governor of Henan, to rescue.

At this time, he was in Runing Mansion, quite far away, and his subordinates fought with thieves in a series of battles, the soldiers were exhausted, and they were naturally confident, so they only ordered the officials and generals near Kaifeng to rescue, not to mention, near Kaifeng, there were Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tingchen, Hu Dawei and other strong troops.

……

When the "Xuanfu Town Military Observation Group" arrived in Kaifeng, everyone was full of curiosity about this observation group, and the ambassador of the regiment was Wen Shiyan, who had the rank of Captain Zuo.

The General Staff Department of the Jingbian Army has Wen Fangliang as its ambassador, and Han Chao, Zhong Xiancai, Zhong Tiaoyang, Gao Shiyin, Sun Sanjie, Li Guangheng, and Zhao Xuan as deputy envoys.

Wen Shiyan belongs to the city, and personable, good at traveling, literati, and Henan governor Gao Mingheng, Baoding Governor Yang Wenyue, etc., can be calmly dealt with, feasting and playing, warriors, and the chief soldier Chen Yongfu, Hu Dawei, etc., can also be discussed.

For a while, he became a man of the year in Kaifeng City, many people were heartbroken by his knowledge and demeanor, and they were proud of being the first, and some people even sighed in private, feeling that their pearls were secretly invested, and they were willing to work hard for the martial artists, and they did not bury their reputation.

The staff officers of the Jingbian Army are all quite Confucian generals, needless to say in terms of temperament, many people mistake Wen Shiyan for a literati background, which can be understood.

Wen Shiyan didn't break his original martial artist identity, but said with a smile, Yongning Hou has great talents, and it is my blessing to be able to serve him.

Privately, Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tingchen, and Hu Dawei all visited the observation group to discuss the current war. After the analysis of the praise paintings in the group, they thought that the thieves were powerful and their whereabouts were strange, and they should not be led by the nose.

It's just that they only have the right to observe in Kaifeng, not to mention the right to make decisions. Not even the right to make recommendations. The officials in the city seemed to be polite, but they chanted to each other, pointed out the mountains and rivers, and talked about specific military strategies. They all looked to him on the left side. It has a taste of respecting and staying away.

Wen Shiyan's approach. It is through Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen that they influence strategic decision-making.

The two were friendly with Wang Dou, and they were also quite optimistic about the staff system in the other army, and they were counts. The status is noble, above Ding Qirui, Yang Wenyue, Gao Mingheng and others, even if they are controlled by Ding Qirui and others militarily, they still have a great right to speak.

Kaifeng's army did not go to Runing Mansion, which was the result of their influence, of course, this decision was also in line with the interests of Kaifeng's officials and generals at this time.

However, after the army of thieves forced to Guide Mansion, the imperial court couldn't sit still, Yang Wenyue, Gao Mingheng and others couldn't sit still, and the importance of Guide and Xuzhou could be seen by anyone with a discerning eye, and the imperial court was determined not to allow Cao Yun to be cut off, or even thieves poured into the border between Shandong and Beizhili.

Even if Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen suppressed Yang Wenyue, etc., but Emperor Chongzhen personally issued an order, they had to listen, and the strategy of "waiting for work with ease, seeing the right time, and smashing the Yellow Dragon" also had practical difficulties.

At present, Li Zicheng has united Luo Rucai, Sun Kewang, Ge, Zuo Fifth Battalion and other departments, with a total number of 700,000 and nearly 100,000 horsemen. After all, the combat effectiveness of the thieves is not as good as when it was just beginning.

In July, Li Chuang's army raged in the area of Guide Mansion, even if the city was high and deep, it was difficult to capture it for a while, but the surrounding Suizhou, Ningling, Luyi, Zhecheng, Yongcheng and other places were captured one after another, and the army rolled horses, and even went straight to Xuzhou.

Like Guide, these areas, the Yellow River floods are also frequent, the people are miserable, and any hundreds of horses can coerce out tens of thousands of hungry people, they attack and attack the city, and before most of the army arrives, they capture some cities in advance.

The horse team that broke into the army even rushed to the canal and burned some of the boats, which shocked everyone in the court.

In mid-July, under the strict orders of the imperial court, after deliberation, Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen led their own horse army eastward, while Hu Dawei and others stayed in Kaifeng Mansion to support according to the situation of the war.

All the way, the eyes are full of desolation, the four fields are depressed, the countryside is everywhere, there are ten rooms and nine emptiness, and on the side of the road, you can see the lodging of hunger from time to time.

The long-term drought, military disasters, and the looting of thieves are everywhere in Henan, and they are miserable.

However, Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen were a little numb, and they went all the way south into Henan, and they saw too much of this kind of tragic situation.

Knowing the importance of grain and grass, they brought more grain and grass in the army in this battle, but they did not have the baggage battalion of the Jingbian Army, and the transportation capacity was insufficient.

Gao Mingheng, the governor of Henan, also promised Cao and Wang that they would do their best to continuously supply grain and grass.

At this time, the road from Kaifeng to Guide Fucheng, about four or five hundred miles, after leaving Kaifeng, go to Chenliu, there are many wanderers along the way, these hungry and red-eyed people, but also want to rob their grain team, after the bird is chirping in the army, it will be scattered.

About to Qi County, not far from the boundary of Guide Province, there are a lot of intrusive army horsemen around, from time to time to rush to meet the situation, pay close attention to the situation of this army, if the attention to intelligence, whether Zhang Xianzhong or Li Zicheng, etc., will not be inferior to Wang Dou, the difference lies in their respective sentinel capabilities.

Cao and Wang were in the sentinel cavalry, constantly driving away these rogue horse teams, but although their cavalry was stronger than the rogue horse soldiers, there were too many snooping thieves, and after the loss, they were reluctant to release more fights.

When the army entered the boundary of Suizhou, Guide Prefecture, a group of horsemen came to harass them, and even ran to the rear to harass the follow-up escort team.

In order to cover the grain road, the armies of Cao and Wang marched more slowly, and the grain and grass in the army were rapidly consumed, and the replenishment of the rear was intermittent.

After entering the boundary of Suizhou, not only the thief horse team, but also their infantry team, and the hungry people who were coerced appeared frequently, rushing from Suizhou, Ningling, and Zhecheng in several directions, sometimes even fighting several times a day.

Their horse team is very flexible, often see that the situation is not good, immediately escape, the rest of the hungry people, killed, the heart can not pass, and now the court officials and imperial history, for the warrior Bohou, keep a very close eye on it. Once there is a mistake, it is often expanded tenfold or hundredfold, and the group rises up to attack it.

Let go, these hungry people turned around and became thieves again, and after being recruited by the old thieves, they turned to the scourge in the blink of an eye, and even went to rob their food team.

Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen had a feeling of being stuck in a quagmire, only to feel that there were thieves everywhere, and frequent battles were going on day after day. The soldiers all had a feeling of mental exhaustion.

And now there are many troops of soldiers. The anti-sentry cavalry battle was quite effective, and the two of them only felt that there was a heavy fog in front of them, and it was difficult to know where the old camp of the thieves and enemies was, their plans, and so on.

Special thieves frequently harass the grain team. Grain and grass in the army. It is becoming more and more difficult to supply. Many of the states and counties they passed through were in ruins and could not be helped.

Some villages and towns have formed villages to protect themselves. He was even more hostile to the Donglai army, did not supply grain and grass, nor did he provide intelligence, so that the two had no place to buy food if they had money, and some food was provided by individual villages, which was also a drop in the bucket.

Under these circumstances, the officers and men of the army had already begun to loot the countryside in order to obtain military rations.

In this regard, Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen were silent together, and only one day Wang Tingchen sighed to Cao Bianjiao: "Little General Cao, I regret going south to beg for thieves, and I hope that I will return to the north as soon as possible, and it is best to transfer to Liaodong Town and fight Tartar." ”

Cao Bianjiao let out a long sigh: "Yes, Brother Wang, I think so too." ”

On this day, the army set up camp, Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen sat in the camp unintentionally, with their personal guards, and patrolled around.

At this time, it was August, after entering the boundary of Guide Province, ninety percent of the plains were wilderness, but the four fields were scorched yellow, many rivers and canals were cut off, not far ahead, there seemed to be a village, which seemed to belong to a small village that was not capable of forming a village.

The two of them ran over, and saw that the village was full of thatched adobe houses leaking on all sides, staggering from side to side, and some mud fence walls were also full of holes.

On all sides of the village, there are some open wheat fields, on which some winter wheat is sparsely planted, but looking at the fields, they have been ruined, and even if everything goes well, by next year there will not be much wheat.

Some people in the village, mostly old and weak, all in ragged clothes, with yellow faces, sat numbly and stood, like walking corpses, or whining and weeping, when they saw Cao Bianjiao and others coming, they looked at them with hatred or fear.

In front of a ruined house, a skinny old man sat on the stone steps with straight eyes, muttering something, and beside him, his lame son, trembling to himself, with an obvious palm print on his face, he shrank beside the old man, whining and crying bitterly.

Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen got off the horse, Cao Bianjiao walked to the old man's side and said tentatively: "Old man, old man? ”

The old man's eyes were still straight, Cao Bianjiao sighed, and the Wang courtier beside him said loudly: "Hey, old man, what about talking to you?" Let me tell you, this is ...... Something is ......"

The old man still shouldn't, and Wang Tingchen said, "Deaf." ”

The old man suddenly said something, and Wang Tingchen said loudly: "Well, what did you say? ”

The old man's voice became clearer, with a trembling local accent, and he said, "The old man doesn't understand. ”

Cao Bianjiao said gently: "Uncle, what do you want to say?" ”

The old man said: "The old man doesn't understand, in his life, the old man has followed the rules, followed the royal law, and the imperial grain and national taxes, and never dared to be in arrears...... Why, I was innocent, but in the end I suffered retribution? My wife was killed by the soldiers, and my son was also broken by them. Some time ago, my daughter-in-law was robbed by thieves, and today, the last remaining grain and rice in the family has also been robbed, which is the officers and soldiers of your camp......"

He was referring to the camp of Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen, he stood tremblingly and cried loudly: "Cao Shuai, Wang Shuai, I know you, you are fighting Tartars with the Marquis of Yongning in Liaodong, and you are heroes and heroes." But why, do you want to rob my family of the last living rice? Why do you want to hurt my son? ”

"The thieves spoil the people, Cao Shuai, Wang Shuai, are you and others training the army also to spoil the people?"

He cried loudly, causing a whimper around him, Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen stood dumbfounded, Cao Bianjiao opened his mouth, he had a thousand reasons, but in the face of the old man, these villagers, they couldn't speak.

The royal courtiers beside him also avoided their gaze.

In the end, Cao Bianjiao sighed and said, "Leave some silver, leave some for each household." ”

After putting on the horses and leaving the village, Cao Bianjiao couldn't help but look back and saw that the old man was still crying bitterly, and his figure was quite desolate. (To be continued.) )