The peasant rebel army opened a gap in Wang Pu, but the number of people who crossed the river was more than 200,000, as long as the other troops of the Ming army arrived in time, it was impossible to completely annihilate the peasant rebel army, but most of them could still be left. What are the other Ming armies that can form an encirclement doing?

Robbery! Unbridled robbery!

Gao Yingxiang's fraudulent surrender was quite successful, so that the vast majority of the Ming army thought that the peasant rebel army had really surrendered this time, and the battle to exterminate the Shaanxi bandits was basically over.

So these Ming soldiers, in addition to a feeling of success, also have a deep sense of loss. Because, they will never be able to make a lot of war money again.

For this reason, with the mentality of getting a vote, Cao Wenzhao, Zuo Liangyu and other subordinates, at first, the soldiers went out of the camp to rob the neighborhood in twos and threes, and then the middle and low-level military attaches led the team. When they arrived in Zuihou, even Cao Wenzhao, Zuo Liangyu and others felt that the peasant rebellion might make a trick to surrender, but they could not control the army.

If you don't let your soldiers let go of the robbery, then the people's hearts will be scattered immediately, and the team will definitely be difficult to lead. Therefore, with the tacit indulgence of these generals, the Ming army divided their respective plots and went to rob the people in the plots frantically.

It's not a scrape anymore. Because these Ming soldiers were more vicious than the bandits and the peasant rebel army. Bandits and peasant rebels against the army were robbing property and rarely hurting anyone. But as long as these Ming troops saw the people who were not pleasing to the eye, they immediately cut off their heads and killed the good and risked their merits. And the surrounding area is a miserable scene.

However, Cao Wenzhao, Zuo Liangyu and other generals are also measured. As long as it is an official eunuch, they still dare not move. However, the wealth of the people is basically concentrated in the hands of those eunuchs, so if you want to get a higher harvest, the robbery of the people will be even more crazy.

So when the peasant rebel army broke through the gap in Wang Pu's department. After crossing the Yellow River on ice, Cao Wenzhao, Zuo Liangyu and other generals were unable to gather their troops for a while. By the time they finally gathered their troops to pursue them, the peasant rebel army had already crossed the Yellow River.

And after receiving the holy decree in late October, Henan Governor Xuan Mo did not dare to slack off. On the one hand, he sent fast cavalry to raise the vigilance of the Henan troops stationed along the Yellow River, and on the other hand, he immediately gathered the Henan troops near Kaifeng to support and strengthen the defense of the Yellow River.

However, Henan Governor Xuan Mo only took office in the spring of this year, and the relationship between the various army leaders in Henan had not yet been completely straightened out, so who to send troops to, and a compromise was discussed for nearly ten days.

This was followed by the Ming Dynasty's backward communications and shoddy army mobilization until November 27, a little over a month later. Only then did he gather more than 3,000 troops and set off from Kaifeng.

And when November 29th. When the governor of Henan received an urgent report from the Yellow River, the army that went to support it had only left Kaifeng City for more than 100 miles.

The Henan Ming army, which defended the Yellow River defense line, was even more unprepared, and they were also infected by the joyful atmosphere of the peasant rebel army about to surrender. Therefore, when the peasant rebel army crossed the Yellow River, Yuan Daquan, an officer in Henan Province, rushed to meet the battle and was killed by the peasant rebel army. In this way, the main force of the rebel army broke through the Yellow River in one fell swoop. Leave behind the heavy troops transferred by the Ming government. From then on, the peasant rebel army galloped back and forth over a wider area.

Henan was the heart of the Ming Empire. Militarily, it was the land of four wars. The Ming government's defenses here were relatively weak, and the civil and military officials had no experience in fighting the rebels. Therefore, on the one hand, Henan Governor Xuan Mo mobilized garrisons from all over Henan to concentrate in Kaifeng City, and on the other hand, he urgently asked the imperial court for help.

In the face of the edge of the peasant rebel army, Henan Governor Xuan Mo no longer dared to send troops, and he recalled the more than 3,000 Ming troops who had already set off back to Kaifeng City. And concentrated all the more than 11,000 Ming troops near Kaifeng to ensure that the big cities along the Yellow River were not lost. In other places, until the arrival of reinforcements from the imperial court, they can only resign themselves to fate.

December 1 and 3. The news of the peasant rebel army crossing the Yellow River was sent to the imperial court from the prison army and the Henan governor Yamen. Emperor Chongzhen was furious when he heard the news. But this time, the mistakes were also made by the military attachés with heavy troops and the prison troops sent out by the inner court. Therefore, under the persuasion of Shoufu Wen Tiren and Wang Chengen, Emperor Chongzhen temporarily suppressed his anger and ordered military generals and local officials in Henan to make meritorious contributions.

On the 4th day of the first month of December, Zhu Youzhen ordered: "Since the thieves have crossed the river, the neighboring areas of Henan should be strictly guarded against rushing." Qin and Yun Zhun each selected and dispatched soldiers to intercept and suppress, and Zuo Liangyu, the governor of Yu and Jin, pursued together, and still strictly punished the officials of the prefecture and county of Daofu, and encouraged the township soldiers to try to block the emperor. If you make a mistake again, you will not take a light loan. ”

However, after the peasant rebel army crossed the river, it quickly got rid of the pursuit of the Ming army and achieved a thousand-mile leap forward. Within a month, the rebels had covered almost all counties in western Henan, and then rushed to Huguang, Anhui, and Sichuan. For the Ming court, what was originally a local problem has since become a major problem.

What is even more terrifying is that as soon as the peasant rebel army arrived in Henan, it immediately merged with the local poor peasants, forming a surging torrent of rebellion. Due to the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth years of Chongzhen, Henan suffered a severe drought year after year, and the Ming government not only did not provide relief, but also "added to the demand, and the emphasis was on supply". So the number of peasant rebels who received a large number of refugees to join the army grew sharply.

At this time, the peasant rebel army was also divided into two routes. One of them wanted to go back to their hometown in Shaanxi all the way, and under the leadership of the rampant wolf, Yidougu, sweeping king, Mantianxing, etc., a total of more than 100,000 people from the eight battalions entered Wuguan in the west, and then Shanyang, Zhen'an, and Shangnan fell on the same day. Then go north to the south and advance to Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi.

This sudden return to the horse pistol made Hong Chengchou very shocked, and he hurriedly transferred to Haoyang, and the Hancheng garrison intercepted it head-on. The peasant rebel army then turned around and went south, and conquered Xunyang on the 15th day of the first month of the seventh year of Chongzhen. After that, Ziyang, Pingli, and Baihe were also conquered one after another. When Hong Chengchou's army arrived, the peasant rebel army had already moved south to Sichuan.

On the other hand, the peasant rebel army was the main force. They included Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Ma Shouying, Zhang Xianzhong and other subordinates, and entered the Lushi Mountains.

The terrain of the Lushi Mountains is very dangerous. There were originally a number of local mine thieves who were forced to defy the imperial court's ban on mining for a living due to the loss of land.

When the peasant rebel army arrived, the miners actively participated, acting as guides, leading the rebel army from the mountain path to the inner countryside, and then through Dengzhou and Xishui to the south of Huguang Yunyang and Xiangyang. From the end of December of the sixth year of Chongzhen to the first month of the seventh year, the rebel army broke through Yunxi, Shangjin, Fang County, and Baokang counties. It's like walking straight into an empty and no-man's land.

It should be said that because of Wu Shigong's long conversation with Gonggong Qin, Emperor Chongzhen did pay more attention to the harmfulness of the peasant rebel army breaking out of the encirclement and crossing the Yellow River. However, due to various reasons, history still corrected Wu Shigong's influence and pulled the historical process back to its original track.

And when Wu Shigong also learned the news from the military department on the second day of December, he immediately prepared to leave and rushed back to Runing to preside over the overall situation.

This time, Wu Shigong will only take his own escort and ride a horse day and night. And his wife Xue Yufei will stay in Xue Mansion to recuperate. The other wives and Wu Chengying, under the escort of the Xue Mansion's guards, will slowly rush back to Runing in a carriage. Of course, Wu Shigong did not forget Father Carrera, who will also be on the road with the ladies' motorcade.

The reason why these ladies were sent back to Runing was because Wu Shigong knew the safe period too well. Because during the filial piety period, it is not possible to have sexual intercourse. But without intercourse, how could Carreli and Manling get pregnant?

Of course, Wu Shigong didn't know that there was such a rule, but his father-in-law Xue Lian told him. But since this is already the case, it is better to send it to Runing, where the emperor is always far away. If the two expectant wives are left in the capital, it will always be a handle for Wu Shigong.

The day before Wu Shigong left the capital, his father-in-law Xue Lian wrote more than 40 letters to Wu Shigong, and those letters were all letters of introduction written by Xue Lian to his old friend and Nanjing Xungui. Xue Lian asked Wu Shigong to ask for help with these letters of introduction in case he needed them. As for the face of Xue Lian, the Marquis of Yangwu who has lost power, those old friends and Nanjing nobles still sell or not, it is only fate.

In the early morning of the fourth day of December, Wu Shigong took more than 100 guards and left the capital again when the Desheng Gate was opened. Half a day later, Wu Shigong's official documents to the military department and private letters to Qin's father-in-law were sent by Xue's subordinates to their respective locations. The reason why Wu Shigong did this was because he was afraid of being intercepted and delayed his return to Runing.

But Wu Shigong was also too worried. In this difficult season, there is a military attache who is willing to take the initiative to go to the front, which is a great thing that the imperial court can't ask for, and which official cares about the small matter of whether he keeps filial piety?

Wu Shigong is still walking along the Grand Canal and returning to Runing through Guide. Although this is also a long detour, after all, there are too few people around Wu Shigong. Not to mention that there may be a peasant rebel army, or some large groups of bandits and refugees, Wu Shigong and others may be in danger.

Wu Shigong was in a hurry to return to Runing to preside over the overall situation, but the Runing army had already started to act according to the predetermined plan.

On November 30, after receiving an urgent report from the secret posts along the Yellow River, the Runing Army began its general mobilization. Xue Yongli, who was in charge of military operations, finally led his troops out for the first time.

Xue Yongli ordered Zhou Xun to stay behind, and he took Zhang Biao's cavalry corps of more than 1,300 people (the horses purchased by Wu Shigong in the capital were not yet in place), plus all the cavalry of other troops in his headquarters of more than 800 people, and set off first on the third day of December.

Li Sanhe led the Teaching Corps, the Artillery Regiment and the Engineer Regiment (lacking cavalry battalions) with a total of 4,600 men (lacking cavalry battalions). They will join Hefei's Nanyang Army of more than 2,800 people in Nanyang (the rest of the soldiers of the Nanyang Army were left behind under the leadership of Shumo), rush out of their own defense area, and take the initiative to attack the peasant rebel army.

The Runing Army began its march! (To be continued......)