Chapter 459: Unwilling

Since re-entering Henan, Li Zicheng's strength has expanded rapidly again. Especially after receiving the help of the literati, he was even more sure that he was a person with a "mandate of heaven". After Luoyang succeeded, Li Zicheng was extremely confident, thinking that he couldn't go anywhere without him in the world. The strategic transfer under the city of Kaifeng is a tactical maneuver to get rid of the burden. In Li Zicheng's view, 30,000 to 2,000, in the vast Central Plains, he has the opportunity to eat the Dengzhou camp little by little.

Ambushed Mengjiazhuang again, Li Zicheng was quite proud. Lin Ya's carelessness gave him a great opportunity to break the myth of the "invincible" of the Dengzhou battalion. There are only 2,000 people, and they can pile up people to death. The defensive battle of Mengjiazhuang, on the surface, was just a very fierce battle. Looking at this battle in the context of the entire Central Plains war situation, it really crushed the confidence of the peasant army. Whether it is a defensive battle in which the troops are absolutely inferior or a field battle in which the defense is broken, the Dengzhou battalion has shown a very high level of combat effectiveness that surpasses the opponent. It's a desperate disparity.

When the gunfire on both flanks became more and more intense, Li Zicheng ordered a retreat. The battle, with a total force of nearly 70,000 men, began with a sneak attack and ended with a rout. From the beginning of the battle in the early hours of the morning to the rout at noon. It's not too long, but it's significant. The retreating civilian army turned into a chaotic rout. The four A-word battalions that rushed to the battlefield did not wait for a rest, and immediately launched a fierce pursuit battle. In the face of the mobility of everyone with horses, it became difficult for the defeated people's army to escape.

The people's army, whose will to fight was completely destroyed, fled in all directions, and tens of thousands of people's troops fled into the mountains in a scattered manner. The pursuit battle continued until dark. Li Zicheng's main force was once again routed, and he fled from the battlefield with only more than a thousand men.

Lin Ya, who ended the battle, did not have a look of joy on her face, but a heavy face. This was a big victory, but also a battle with huge casualties, and the Dengzhou battalion has never had a casualty number since its establishment. The casualties were mainly caused by white-knuckle battles, with more than 350 direct casualties and more than 800 minor and serious injuries. It can be said that this is the largest number of casualties in a single battle in the history of the Dengzhou battalion. Even in the battle in Liaoyang. Nor has there ever been such a large number of casualties.

Lin Ya, who fell into deep self-blame. Busy in the middle of the night, after settling the wounded, I still can't sleep. When the mood was rolling, I got up and wrote a battle report. One person takes all the blame. said that if it weren't for his carelessness on the issue of investigation. Intensify the investigation of nearby pine forests. Li Zicheng will not have a chance to besiege this battalion of his.

When the report was written, there was a commotion outside, and Lin Ya came out to take a look. Li Da came back and brought two people who were tied up.

"This is Li Yan, this is Niu Venus. Li Zicheng's left and right military advisors. Li Da also had a heavy face and huge casualties, and he also knew it. Lin Ya nodded, looking at the two scribes who had been captured. Niu Venus was pale, the hat on his head had fallen off, his hair was crooked, there were blood stains on the corners of his mouth, and the shoes on his feet were gone. Lying on the ground, Niu Venus closed his eyes and made a gesture of appointment. Li Yan's situation was not much better, his shoes were still there, his clothes were torn, and the cotton wool inside was exposed. The scarf was gone, and only a strap tied with the hair. Li Yan stood there, looking up at the sky with a gloomy face. Life and death don't seem to care anymore. In fact, for him, there is really nothing to be left to chance. King Fu was boiled and eaten by Nima, what else do you do?

"Escort it to the cabinet lord and leave it to him." Lin Ya thought about it and made a decision to dispose of it.

Early the next morning, Lin Ya sent someone to escort the two on the road without mentioning it. After staying in Mengjiazhuang for three days to rest, all the seizures were finally sorted out. Li Zicheng's most important thing is mules and horses, this battle was defeated in the main force, the escaped thieves had many mules and horses, and the Dengzhou battalion, which pursued everywhere, captured nearly 10,000 mules and horses. Lin Ya ordered to go to Ruyang to rest and wait for the next order.

On the whole, the results of the Dengzhou battalion in the real sense of the battle were not too great, and there were very few people caught except for mules and horses. According to post-war statistics, more than 15,000 thieves were killed and wounded, more than 10,000 mules and horses were captured, and the rest were scattered. It should be emphasized here that Li Zicheng's troops, the battle was the capture of mules and horses, the capture of guns and cannons, and then the grain, gold and silver. Because of the importance of horses, elite soldiers have 2-4 horses, and they can run very fast, and even if they are defeated, it is difficult to pursue him. In the battle of Mengjiazhuang, the Jiazi battalion was also one person and two horses, but in the process of pursuit, the results were not too great. The thieves on horseback ran very fast. This phenomenon was highlighted by Lin Ya in the report. In fact, in the battle under Kaifeng, this phenomenon appeared. A large number of mules and horses were captured, which greatly enriched the transport team.

After this battle, the strategic pattern of the Central Plains immediately became clear. Li Zicheng's main force was defeated, and it was not a matter of a day and a half to restore his confidence. It's not nice to say, it's the type of lost dog.

Chen Xie, who arrived in Nanyang, received Lin Ya's report, and was relieved and deeply saddened. Every soldier of the A-word battalion is a veteran who has been trained in battle, and every soldier is precious. If Lin Ya is at fault in this battle, it is not too much of a fault. In the end, Chen Xie wrote back to Lin Ya, and the merits were offset by the merits, and he waited for the recruits to replenish in Ruyang. At the same time, troops were sent to Xinyang to swim and completely clean up the rogues in Henan. As for Li Yan and Niu Jinxing, Chen Xie only met once, so he sent someone to Jingshi and handed it over to the emperor to deal with. The sins of these two are too great, Chen Xie can't help them, and he never thinks about saving these two. To put it mildly, they are all unambitious readers, that's all. In essence, it is not much different from the average reader.

Li Yan is a little better, Niu Jinxing is an opportunist. At this time, Chen Xie had a lot to do, and he didn't have the heart to deal with them. After dealing with this matter, Chen Xie gave a recital to Jingshi, mentioned the battle of Mengjiazhuang, and said: Since then, the battle situation in Henan has basically been settled. Only the remaining Zhang and Luo are two thieves, and the rest are not enough to trouble.

Compared with Chen Xie's battle over there, the troops commanded by Su Haochen were more smooth, and after defeating Yuan Shizhong in the first battle, the thieves in Henan fled one after another. Because it was the Dengzhou camp, few people followed. Su Haochen sent five battalions of troops to advance all the way to the west, and the thieves along the way either fled to Shaanxi or fled into the mountains, which can be described as fleeing from the wind!

At the end of the month, Su Haochen arrived in Luoyang, using it as a base, and the focus of his work shifted to the transfer and resettlement of displaced people.

Hao Shaoqi, a thief who entered Jiangbei, was originally used as a disguise, with more than 10,000 people, and after hearing the news of Mengjiazhuang, he immediately died down, turned around and fled westward. From the beginning of Chen Xie's entry into Henan, in just one month, the situation in Henan has changed, except for a few thieves who escaped into the mountains and transferred from the rogue case to a designated point to make a living, the rest of the people who were thieves accepted the relief from the Dengzhou camp and began a large-scale migration.

Speaking of which, Li Zicheng is really an unbeatable Xiaoqiang, and in the battle of Mengjiazhuang, nearly 100,000 horses were scattered. On the way to Xinyang, nearly 20,000 people were collected for him one after another, all of whom ran back from the battlefield. In Xinyang, Li Zicheng stayed for three days, did not dare to stay longer, and ran into Huguang. Since then, there has been no chance to return to Henan.

Jingshi, after receiving the report of Ding Qirui's defeat, Zhu Youzhen slammed the report on the ground, glared at the ministers and said, "This is the governor you recommended?" At this time, the ministers did not give up their original intentions, and Zhou Yanru also stood up and said: "Your Majesty is angry, the old minister thinks that no one in the world's armies can compare with the Dengzhou battalion in terms of combat power." But Your Majesty, could it be said that in the future, there will only be one Dengzhou camp? ”

I can't help but say that this is quite vicious. But it is true that it is said in Zhu Youzhen's heart, and the emperor is really afraid of this.

"Okay, Zhou Yanru, what do you say?" Zhu Youzhen, who called him by his name, was no longer angry at this time, but angry and a little helpless, his trust in Chen Xie was slightly shaken at this time, and he quickly became firm again. The reason is very simple, from beginning to end, Chen Xie did not do anything unfavorable to Daming. And Chen Xie repeated repeatedly, aiming at the sea.

With the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, and with the fear that Chen Xie will rebel, it is better to believe Chen Xie's words. At this time, Zhu Youzhen actually didn't have any choice, and he could only go dark in the way of trusting Chen Xie.

When he was called by the emperor's name, Zhou Yanru also panicked, he knew that this was a precursor to anger. The face said: "The minister thinks that the strong people in the Dengzhou camp are not only excellent guns, but also use their lives." The minister asked His Majesty to issue an order to transfer the capable soldiers of the Dengzhou battalion to Beijing to train the Beijing battalion, and asked His Majesty to send a capable person to Dengzhou to ask for excellent guns. Once the Beijing camp is reorganized, His Majesty will naturally have no worries. ”

As soon as the words fell, Yang Tinglin stood up, looked at Zhou Yanru, and sneered: "The cabinet instigated His Majesty to rob the minister's family property, I don't know what his intentions are?" According to the Cabinet Lord, even if Chen Xie doesn't plan to rebel, he has to force you to rebel. ”

Zhou Yanru heard this and didn't explain. He knew that if he didn't move Zhu Youzhen this time, he wouldn't have to think about it next time. If he doesn't gamble, he is unwilling. Why? First, Chen Xie has directly threatened Wenchen's position. Second, Dengzhou is rich, and the two major interest groups headed by the ministers and nobles have long been red-eyed. Third, the current Chen Xie, once he is suspected by His Majesty, will become the public enemy of the powerful faction in the world. If the Dengzhou battalion can fight again, can you compete with the whole world?

Zhou Yanru thought that this was an opportunity, and the key was to get the emperor's expenditure. At this time, Zhu Youzhen's face was pale, and he bowed his head and was silent. Working hard to control the situation, he finally figured out why Chen Xie told him so many financial problems of the Ming Dynasty. In the final analysis, Chen Xie has been staying in Dengzhou, because he is worried that his family will be remembered by these people. Without these family backgrounds, what does Chen Xie use to train the army, and what does he use to raise him to work hard? (To be continued......)