November 11 of the seventh year of Chongzhen.

In the morning, Guan Kesong, the prefect of Runing Prefecture, all the officials of the prefect's yamen, Zhou Junwu, the representative of Xuanmo, the governor of Henan, Ye Zhong, the military supervisor of Runing, and Wu Shigong, Baiding, were discussing at the palace.

Fierce arguments ensued during the proceedings, and all the other officials disagreed with the decision of the Runing Army to abandon the southern part of Runing Province and to prevent the main force of the Runing Army from marching.

The only one who could participate in the deliberations, an official recorded Wu Shigong's situation at that time in his diary, that is, "He hated it!" ”。 Zuihou, Wu Shigong pushed the governor's representative Zhou Junwu to the front line and told the officials that it was the governor's order. It was only then that all the officials pinched their noses and confessed. But Zhou Junwu, who had no choice but to become Wu Shigong's shield, immediately became the most unpopular person in the entire Runing Mansion officialdom.

After the deliberations, all the officials who were qualified to take the proclamation jointly wrote the resolution into the proclamation, stamped their respective official seals, and sent it to the imperial court as soon as possible. Among them, Wu Shigong has no official seal and only a signature, while Zhou Junwu was forced to sign his name, which also indicates that this is an order from Xuan Mo, the governor of Henan.

At this point, the officials in the Henan officialdom have completed the memorandum. In the event of the loss of the southern part of Runing Province, the responsibility will not be held on the shoulders of the officials of Runing Province and the military attache of Runing Army.

In order to reassure those officials in Runing Mansion, Wu Shigong left all the famous generals Xue Yongli and Qiao Song in the Runing Army Headquarters. In addition, four six-pounder artillery pieces were transferred, more than 1,000 people from the Internal Affairs Division and the Mountains and Rivers Division were dispatched, and 2,000 people from the village and road guards entered Runing Mansion under the leadership of Qiao Song and Xue Qiang to strengthen the defense. Of course, Qiao Song's role was to reassure those officials, and Xue Qiang was the commander who specifically commanded the city defense.

Immediately after the meeting, the government sent an official letter to the southern counties, telling all the people in the field to evacuate to the north or hide in the county seat. After the meeting, Wu Shigong also issued an order for a comprehensive retreat through Deng Qifan, and the Runing Army left only two militia groups on the southwest border of Runing Province. Observing the movements of the peasant rebels, they are ready to evacuate at any time if there is a change.

At the same time, the Runing Army issued a general mobilization order, and all the young people who had participated in the military training in Tuntian were assembled, and their weapons were issued to enter a state of combat readiness. And the order for the transfer of the various units was also passed on as soon as possible.

That night, Wu Shigong entered the camp of the Runing Army Headquarters, and the war machine began to be launched.

On the same day, the Henan Ming army led by Henan Governor Xuan Mo all withdrew from the Lu defense line, and Henan's belly was completely exposed to the peasant rebels.

November 12th.

A total of 8,000 people from the Runing Army Headquarters Teaching Corps, Cavalry Corps and other units were all dispatched. In the end, in order to ensure the safety of the grain road and build fortifications, Wu Shigong decided to bring the engineer regiment with him. The Guide Corps and the Runing Corps also all received orders to transfer. They began to assemble the whole army.

Ye Zhong, the supervising army, did not set off with the Runing army. And Zhou Junwu, who stayed in Runing Mansion and had no taste, could only go with him. And when he saw the number and equipment of the Runing Army Headquarters, Zhou Junwu was completely stunned. However, at this time, Wu Shigong was not interested in hiding the true strength of the Runing Army from outsiders.

On the same day, the Xingyang Conference of the Peasant Rebel Army was held, and the division of troops into multiple routes was decided.

November 13th.

An infantry regiment and a cavalry battalion of the Guide Corps, totaling more than 1,500 horses, began to march towards Yexian County under the leadership of the corps commander Xue Yong. The rest of the troops will be defended in the Iron Triangle area under the leadership of Deputy Commander Qian Qi.

The Runing Legion, under the leadership of the corps commander Yang Rusong and the deputy corps commander Liang Hui, marched rapidly towards Yexian. The whole army had more than 3,300 horses. And a militia group went to Guide Mansion City with Wu Shigong's letter to Old Lady Hou and Zhao Ming, and they would arrive in Guide Mansion City five days later.

November 14th.

The peasant rebels were dispatched from all walks of life. On the same day, the soldiers and horses of the East Road occupied Lu's line. The North Road crossed the Yellow River. The soldiers and horses of the South Road advanced towards Nanyang Mansion.

November 15th.

The main force of the Runing Army Headquarters rushed to Yexian. Combined with the 3,300 men and horses of the Nanyang Army, the total number of the whole army reached 11,500.

Wu Shigong met with Li Lu and the local gentry. The defense of Yexian, Luojia Town, Daying and Longyan Town bases was arranged. The whole army rested. and sent a large number of scouts to the northwest.

November 18th.

The Runing Army rushed to Yexian. And because Henan was full of displaced people, the reconnaissance cavalry sent out by the Runing army did not gain much, but lost more than a dozen cavalry when they were alone at a long distance, and Wu Shigong ordered the exploration area to be reduced to a distance of thirty miles ahead.

On the same day, the peasant rebels on the East Road approached Kaifeng Province.

In Taiyuan, Zhang Yingchang and Cao Wenzhao's troops heard that the peasant rebels on the North Road had entered Shanxi. Regardless of the Shanxi governor's best efforts to retain, he took the initiative to meet the attack with 3,000 soldiers and horses.

Xuan Mo's troops successfully withdrew to the banks of the Yellow River. At the same time, he sent 8,000 troops from Zuo Liangyu to Kaifeng to prevent the peasant rebels on the North Road from re-entering Henan here.

The militia sent out by the Runing Army entered the city of Guide to help defend it.

November 19th.

The Guide Corps rushed to Yexian. Wu Shigong ordered the whole army to rest for a day.

On the same day, the advance of the peasant rebel army on the South Road approached Nanyang Mansion. The vanguard of the peasant rebel army on the East Road entered Kaifeng Mansion.

November 20th.

The whole army of Runing Army was dispatched. The total strength is 17,000 soldiers and horses.

On the same day, the Nanyang prefect and the Nanyang general Sun Wei's letter of help; A letter of request for help from the governor of Ruzhou arrived in Ye County. And the reconnaissance cavalry of the Runing Army also discovered the enemy situation for the first time.

At dusk, a cavalry regiment in front of the Runing Army, with a total of 1,200 cavalry, took the initiative to charge the mixed vanguard of 500 cavalry and more than 2,500 infantry in the vanguard of the peasant rebel army on the southern road.

Caught off guard, the vanguard of the peasant rebels was crushed at a rendezvous. It was only because it was getting dark that the cavalry of the Runing army did not take advantage of the victory to pursue.

In this battle, more than 500 heads were cut and more than 200 were captured. More than 40 horses and a number of weapons were seized. A small win in the first game.

November 21.

Under Wu Shigong's order, all the reconnaissance cavalry of the Runing army stopped moving, and all the cavalry in front of the assault also retreated.

The peasant rebels on the South Road, which were suddenly attacked, immediately sent a large number of spies, but found nothing. Faced with the calm after the blow, Ge Liyan and Zuo Jian Wang, who led the peasant rebels on the South Road, immediately fell into a daze.

After analyzing the possible cause of the interference of a small group of Ming cavalry, after a pause for a day, Ge Liyan and Zuojian Wang sent 10,000 peasant rebels as the vanguard and continued to advance towards Nanyang Mansion.

On the same day, most of the main forces of the peasant rebel army on the East Road entered Kaifeng Province.

November 22nd.

The entire cavalry of the Runing Army, with a total of more than 4,300 cavalry, suddenly dispatched a long-distance attack under the leadership of Li Sanhe, the commander of the cavalry corps. At noon, they met the vanguard of the peasant rebel army.

In the face of the peasant rebels in array, the cavalry of the Runing Army came up with a newly invented cavalry tactic: they first sent two teams of cavalry with four or five muskets to run horizontally from a distance of about 50 paces in front of the peasant rebel army. In the process of running, the cavalry turned sideways and fired at the peasant rebels in formation.

When the firing was finished, and the two groups of cavalry crossed each other, revealing the "gate" in the middle, the cavalry, which had already been lined up behind, passed through the "gate" through the array that charged the peasant rebels.

The peasant rebel army, which had been hit by the firearms, was completely crushed, and then after being charged by the cavalry formation, the entire 10,000-strong army was in an uproar and immediately scattered and fled.

And this is the new tactic invented by the cavalry of the Runing Army, and Wu Shigong gave it a very vivid name - one fast and two swimming!

Then the cavalry of the Runing Army began to repeatedly charge, slash and kill everywhere, outflank and divide, and cover up the situation, and the whole battle immediately became a tactical training course for the cavalry of the Runing Army.

In this battle, more than 4,000 heads were cut, and those cavalry were killed, and basically no prisoners were left. In the end, the peasant rebel army on the southern road collected less than 3,000 forward troops.

At the same time, the main force of the Runing Army began to march rapidly to a distance of forty miles southwest of the city of Ruzhou, which was thirty miles away from the main force of the peasant rebel army on the South Road. The peasant rebel army was suddenly in an embarrassing situation in which it could not fight or retreat.

After the two battles, the casualties of the Runing army had not exceeded 100, and the whole army was suddenly in a joyful mood. There were also 130,000 or 40,000 peasant rebels on the South Road, led by Ge Liyan and Zuojian Wang, and they immediately asked for help from other peasant rebels. Soon, more than 70,000 troops of the King of Sweeping and the King of Taiping came.

The peasant rebel army on the East Road also delayed its action and sent nearly 100,000 troops of Zhang Xianzhong, the eighth king, to rush here.

Seeing that the peasant rebels on the opposite side were gathering more and more, the Runing Army, on the one hand, overhauled the fortifications, and on the other hand, constantly sent cavalry and small detachments to harass and attack the peasant rebels, just to prevent them from evacuating smoothly.

At this time, Wu Shigong thought that he had mastered the rhythm of the whole battle, and his Runing army had already entangled the main force of the peasant rebel army. Because the peasant rebel army on the opposite side has gradually exceeded 300,000 people. But Wu Shigong didn't know that many of them were newly taken refuge by Henan refugees.

Moreover, because the north-south traffic in Henan has been blocked by the peasant rebel army, until now, Wu Shigong still did not know that there were several other peasant rebel armies in action.

November 23rd.

The peasant rebels on the North Road encountered Zhang Yingchang and Cao Wenzhao. As soon as they saw the banner of the butcher Cao Wenzhao, they were in a big mess, and hurriedly threw down some gold and silver cloths and turned to flee.

In this battle, Zhang Yingchang and Cao Wenzhao's troops did not gain much, and only cut more than 200 heads. However, the peasant rebels of the North Road, which had become frightened, immediately bent back to the Yellow River and wanted to cross the Yellow River and enter Henan again.

On the same day, Zuo Liangyu, who returned to Kaifeng along the Yellow River, arrived in Kaifeng City, he left his army outside Kaifeng City, and entered Kaifeng City with his own soldiers. (To be continued......)