Chapter 320: Starry Night Goes South

In the eighth year of Chongzhen, on the sixth day of the first month, the Liukou army fell into Xingyang. The peasant army Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui, Luo Rucai, Ge Liyan, Zuo Jin Wang, Reincarnated King, Shooting Collapse Heaven, Hengtian King, Mixed 100,000, Guotianxing, Nine Dragons, Shuntian King and other thirteen families and seventy-two battalions met in Xingyang to discuss the rejection of the enemy. The crowd adopted Li Zicheng's strategy of "dividing the troops to determine the direction", and attacked the Sichuan and Hu soldiers with Geli Eye and Zuojin Wang; Hengtian King, mixed 100,000 soldiers; Luo Rucai, crossing the sky and the stars on the river; Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng are slightly eastern; The old returns, and the nine dragons come and go. Later, because of the sharp soldiers of Shaanxi, they increased the number of people who collapsed the sky and changed the king.

On the same day, Kyoshi.

"Tell me, what should I do?" In the face of the rapidly deteriorating situation, Zhu Youzhen had to face up to Chen Xie's twists and turns. Once again, he put this military general who he liked very much at first, but later hated it.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid Xingyang won't be able to hold it." Zhang Fengyi, the secretary of the military department, had to stand up and speak. At this time, others will not be kind enough to stand up and take the blame. Zhang Fengyi has a weak personality and is incompetent in governing the country, and belongs to the cabinet ministers who are not a threat to Wen Tiren. Such a person can finally die in office, I have to say that it is because Wen Tiren gave face.

"I didn't ask you if Xingyang could hold on, what I asked was what to do if Xingyang fell?" Zhu Youzhen endured his anger, his emaciated face showed a rosy flush of shame, and he tightly grasped the handle of the dragon chair.

"The sin of the minister deserves death!" Zhang Fengyi immediately knelt down and confessed, and he didn't have any good way at this time.

Zhu Youzhen thought of Chen Xie's performance, although it was torn to pieces. He remembered the above words very clearly. "Xingyang is located in a key area, and once it falls, thieves can attack everywhere. The Qin army is elite, good at fighting, and the production of the north is not enough to eat. The only one to worry about is the southeast. When he was able to go to the southeast, stop the thieves, and ensure the central capital. If His Majesty does not give up, he can make the Chang Shi Ren Department go to the middle capital. ”

All the buildings are now clearly emerging in Chongzhen's mind. Thinking of Fengyang being lost. The ancestral grave is not protected. After Zhu Youzhen, his spine was full of cold sweat. The problem is that now the Manchu Dynasty is civil and military, and no one has raised the issue of Fengyang. On the surface, Fengyang has more than 10,000 capital camps guarding the town. In fact, the combat effectiveness of the Beijing battalion. It has proven to be extremely low many times before.

There is one more problem. Do you want to believe Chen Xie? No, it's whether you want to use it or not.

Zhu Youzhen was entangled, in fact, at this time. He still has a chance to keep Fengyang, the capital of the central capital. As long as the horse is fast, the Dengzhou battalion can ride south at any time. Zhu Youzhen, who wants to save face, is still struggling with this issue, counting on the ministers to bring it up.

The result of this meeting was that the Ming court transferred more than 70,000 troops from the northwest and the south to Henan to fight, and ordered Hong Chengchou, the governor of the five provinces, to go out of the customs to take command, and Zhu Dadian, the governor of Shandong, to assist in the attack.

At the beginning of the first month, after the Xingyang Conference, Zhang Xianzhong, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng and other peasant armies developed eastward according to the agreement. When the Ming army Jiangbei was single, the defense was empty. Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other troops invaded Anhui with lightning speed. Capture Gushi, Huoqiu, and Shouzhou. On the tenth day of the first month, Zhang Xianzhong's troops conquered Yingzhou. The peasant army marched straight to Fengyang, the land of Ming Longxing.

When the news of the fall of Yingzhou reached Jingshi, Zhu Youzhen fell into a panic. Summoned the ministers again to discuss the countermeasures, but the problem was that it was too late. At this time, a Wenchen finally stood up and played the script: "Your Majesty, the Dengzhou camp can be adjusted to go south quickly to ensure that nothing is lost." The minister thought that Chen Sihua, the chief soldier of Dengzhou, should be strictly ordered to personally lead the main force of Dengzhou to go out. ”

The person who stood up for the book was Tobe Shosho Hou, the only cabinet minister who did not take a stand in the campaign to reverse Chen.

Zhu Youzhen breathed a sigh of relief, and finally had a step to go down, and urgently ordered the Dengzhou battalion to go out to rescue Zhongdu. When the news was delivered to Dengzhou, it was already the sixteenth day of the first month. The daylilies were cold, but Chen Xie once again gave the emperor face.

On the fifteenth day of the first month, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other thieves took advantage of the victory to capture Fengyang, the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Fengyang is the hometown of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. After the peasant army captured Fengyang, they destroyed the emperor's mausoleum, burned the Longxing Temple, killed more than 60 eunuchs, and beheaded Zhu Guoxiang and thousands of officers and soldiers left behind in the Ming Dynasty. The thieves set up the banner of "Gu Yuan Zhenlong Emperor" and drank together to celebrate their victory.

The Dengzhou battalion again gave the order for an emergency assembly.

In the big tent, Sun Yuanhua, the governor who has not yet stepped down, is in the center, Wang Dehua is on the left, and Zhang Yao and Song Guanglan are on the right.

Chen Xie, who was dressed in military uniform, strode forward and stood with his hands over: "I was ordered to arrive." ”

Sun Yuanhua raised the silk book in his hand with both hands and conveyed the order of the military department. "The Dengzhou battalion immediately went south, Chen Sihua rushed to the central capital, and Wang Dehua accompanied him to supervise the battle." At this time, Chen Xie knew very well in his heart that Fengyang had fallen. But he still had to pretend to be loyal and replied loudly: "Zhongcheng, saving soldiers is like fighting fires, and it is too late for the whole army of the Dengzhou battalion to hit the road." The humble man led the elite cavalry to the south of Zhongdu in the starry night, and the main force then went south. May I ask the prison army, are you going with the lowly position? Or wait for the army to assemble and then head south? ”

Chen Xie's attitude is really surprising and delightful, no one expected Chen Xie to agree so simply. Who would have thought that Chen Xie was thinking at the moment? Zhongdu has fallen, and how much property has fallen into the hands of thieves, so I have to hurry up and rob it. If it's late, there won't be much left, and it's cheaper to turn around Lu Xiangsheng.

"Okay, that's it." Sun Yuanhua nodded and agreed with Chen Xie's opinion, he actually didn't care, he already knew that he was going to be finished. staring at Wang Dehua with his eyes, this will make Wang Dehua panic in his heart. Why? I'm afraid of death! He didn't expect Chen Xie to be so active, is he really a loyal person? I'm a little hard to believe this.

"The army is going south, but the supervising army still stays in the Chinese army and does a good job of logistics for the Dengzhou battalion." Finding a very lame excuse, Wang Dehua covered up the embarrassment of his fear. How many soldiers there are in the Dengzhou battalion, no one really knows. I don't dare to say more, there must be 20,000 main forces, so many people going south, logistics supplies, etc., there are a lot of things.

Chen Xie had no excuse to drag on for five days and eight days. Now that he doesn't delay, everyone won't be playing. Or that he was played bad by Chen Xie, hey! Your rhythm isn't the rhythm of a feudal town! Wang Dehua wanted to cry a little and didn't know how to play.

After a group of people finished discussing, they came to the city, and the smoke and dust were billowing outside the city, if it weren't for the fact that Chen Xie and his guards were riding horses in the open space under the city, they would really suspect that there were rogues. A group of cavalrymen with a red and black pattern of eagles appeared. Looking at this banner, everyone in Dengzhou knows that this is Chen Xie's most precious Dengzhou cavalry.

The sound of the horses' hooves in Tata Tower was like the sound of dense war drums, and a group of cavalry stopped in front of Chen Xie, lined up neatly. An officer came to Chen Xie with a standard-bearer, saluted and shouted loudly: "Report to the general, the first team of the Dengzhou cavalry battalion has been assembled, and I am here to report for duty." Chen Xie returned the salute and said lightly: "Take a break, stand by!" ”

The cavalry dismounted neatly and stood like javelins. The atmosphere of the scene was instantly solemn. Everyone knows that Chen Xie made a fortune in Liaodong, and no one knows how many war horses he got back. Another group of cavalry arrived, repeating the previous process. The civil officials at the head of the city counted very clearly, a team of five hundred, a total of twelve teams, this is six thousand. The key is one person and two horses, this formation is too shocking. The last one to arrive was not a normal cavalry team, more than half of the horses were tied with thin barrels, as well as a lot of wheels and boxes. At this glance, you can know that it is artillery, and the Dengzhou cavalry is also equipped with artillery?

Seeing this scene, Sun Yuanhua was still very proud. This is a cavalry 3-pounder gun that he personally presided over and developed, which can be divided into six large pieces, carried by horses, and assembled very quickly, without taking five minutes. The boxes were full of shells and gunpowder.

"In the report, the Dengzhou cavalry battalion has completed its reorganization and asked to leave." Chen Xie turned around and shouted towards the city.

Sun Yuanhua restrained his excitement and said loudly: "Let's go!" ”

The warriors are like tigers, the war horses are like dragons, the Dengzhou cavalry battalion, counting the artillery team and the baggage team, there are more than 7,000 people in total, and more than 15,000 horses. The marching procession marched away in an orderly manner in a long queue and neat queues. Left last were the artillery corps and the baggage corps pulling two-wheeled carts. The baggage team must be carried, and the nutrition of the war horse depends on the soybeans carried by the baggage team.

In February, after Zhang Xianzhong captured many towns in Jiangbei, Hong Chengchou hurriedly led his army out of Tongguan and arranged to encircle and suppress the peasant army. At that time, the peasant army launched a large-scale mobile operation between Qi, Huang, Runing, and Guide. In the first month, after Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng and other troops captured Fengyang, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng did not agree, but divided the army to the east. The initial attack on Luzhou (now Hefei) was not overcome, and the transfer to Shucheng was not overcome. On the 23rd, Xianzhong led the army to capture Chao County. On the fourth day of Yue, he attacked the Lujiang River again. Tomorrow, he will go down to Wuwei Prefecture and kill Zhang Huashu of Zhizhou. On the first day of February, Zhang Xianzhong led the army to besiege Qianshan and conquer it. Kill Zhao Shiyan of Zhixian County.

In the early spring of February, Zhang Xianzhong went down to Taihu Lake and Susong, and the Taihe, Huoshan, Lu'an, and Haozhou were captured. Luotian bounds the intersection of Huguang and Jiangbei. After Zhang Xianzhong's troops captured Susong, they also connected Xuzhou and Yucheng, Shangqiu, Runing, Zhenyang, and Xincai, trying to open the passage of Shaanxi through Henan to the north to the Ming army, and after encountering resistance, they turned to the south, and on the fourth day of the first month of February, their other troops captured Luotian and opened the gateway to Huguang.

On 13 February, due to the loss of the imperial mausoleum, Yang Yihe, the governor of Caoyun Shangshu, was arrested and imprisoned. Yang Yihe is a native of Hunan Province, Chongzhen six years to the left of the military department to worship the household department of Shangshu and the right to the imperial history, the governor of Caoyun, the governor of the four prefectures in Jiangbei. So he was arrested and imprisoned with Wu Zhenying, the inspector of the imperial history, and Yang Ze, the eunuch who guarded the tomb. Yang Ze committed suicide first, Yang Yipeng abandoned the city, and Wu Zhenying fought on the side.

Zhang Guowei, the governor of Yingtian, rushed to the east and west, busy coping, Xuzhou reinforcements overcame Fengyang, and a news came that made him happy and afraid, the Dengzhou battalion crossed Fengyang and attacked Luzhou. (To be continued......)