October 24, 8th year of Chongzhen, Gujia Temple.

"Na Zukuan didn't listen to orders and attacked without authorization, which is very hateful." Yang Tinglin said indignantly.

Although Lu Xiangsheng was also very unhappy in his chest, he still pretended to be generous, so he said: "General Soldier Zu is also for the public, although his actions are very reckless, fortunately he won a big victory, and he does not need to be blamed."

Indeed, since Zu Kuan won a big victory, it was impossible for Lu Xiangsheng to impeach the imperial court, so it was unnecessary to verbally reproach Zu Kuan. What made Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin angry was that Zu Kuan's solo attack completely disrupted Lu Xiangsheng's original plan.

Lu Xiangsheng himself is not greedy, but the food and salary of his Tianxiong army must be as much as possible. Like Zu Kuan, Lu Xiangsheng also set his sights on Zhang Xianzhong's department, who suddenly became rich after robbing Fengyang. So Lu Xiangsheng had already sent an order to Zu Kuan and other Liao army generals, asking them to wait for their Tianxiong army to arrive before attacking together.

But now Zu Kuan's unauthorized actions completely broke Lu Xiangsheng's assumption. More importantly, Lu Xiangsheng also thought of a deep-seated problem.

In terms of food and salary, even if there is no gold and silver wealth from Zhang Xianzhong's department, the food and salary of the Tianxiong Army can always be solved, after all, Lu Xiangsheng has mastered the food and salary of the bandits in the five provinces, and he will not be able to treat the Tianxiong Army, his own son. But Zu Kuan's behavior completely revealed that those military attachés who led troops completely disobeyed their orders as governors of the five provinces.

Here, we will explain the command system of the Ming Dynasty in these five provinces.

Lu Xiangsheng, as the governor of the five provinces, is, of course, the supreme commander. But because Shaanxi was in fact under the jurisdiction of Hong Chengchou, the trilateral governor, Lu Xiangsheng could only manage four provinces.

In these four provinces, the governors of each province led the Ming army of their province to protect the peace of their province. That is to say, if the peasant army enters any province, then Lu Xiangsheng passes through the governor of that province. It can also indirectly command the local Ming army in this province. But as long as the peasant army left the province, Lu Xiangsheng could not take the local Ming army from the province. Of course, because Lu Xiangsheng is also the governor of Huguang, he can also command the local Ming army in Huguang.

However, one of the more special is Yu Zilian's Ruzhou Army, because it rises like a comet, making the Ming court a little scrambling, so in the order issued by the court in a hurry, that is, the operational scope of the Ruzhou Army is not stipulated, and the combat mission of the Ruzhou Army is not stipulated, but it is only a very general order: there is a peasant army there. The Ruzhou army went there to fight. Therefore, the current Ruzhou Army has completely become a free man. Of course, except for the imperial court, Yu Zilian did not obey anyone's orders. Of course, he will not obey Lu Xiangsheng's orders.

It can be seen from this explanation that although Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of the five provinces, sounds very imposing. But he was able to directly command only three armies: his own Tianxiong Army, Zu Kuan's 6,000 Liao Army, and Zuo Liangyu's more than 12,000 troops.

But now Lu Xiangsheng found out that Zu Kuan disrespected the order, and estimated that Zuo Liangyu was also a half-catty character. Lu Xiangsheng was a little annoyed. It took a long time. Although he was promoted from Xunyang Fuzhi to the governor of the five provinces, he could still command his own Tianxiong army.

If this is the case, it will be fine, but his own defense area has also expanded a lot, and the responsibility is much heavier, and this seemingly glamorous promotion has become a search for guilt. It's really only a scolding mother.

Lu Xiangsheng's heart was turning a thousand times, but he suddenly heard Yang Tinglin sigh: "The mountain nest ahead is a good place for ambush." ”

Lu Xiangsheng knew the habits of his important staff, and everywhere he went, he liked to look at the terrain of this place. Especially where you can use soldiers. Yang Tinglin also likes to comment.

Of course, Lu Xiangsheng also has this habit. As the commander of the army, it was originally an instinct to check the terrain, plus Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin were both literati. Literati, one of the major characteristics is that they like to point out the country.

So Lu Xiangsheng also looked over with Yang Tinglin's line of sight, it is true, the terrain of the mountain nest in front is indeed very good, and it is very suitable for ambush. So at this time, Lu Xiangsheng seemed to remember something and began to groan.

Suddenly, Lu Xiangsheng seemed to have made up his mind, and ordered loudly: "The whole army will stop and set up an ambush on this mountain." ”

Yang Tinglin, who was beside him, was suddenly a little puzzled, so he asked, "Inspector!" The front is open, just in line to fight. Although this mountain is good, the terrain is narrow, and it is difficult to exert it, and it will fall into chaos. If the thief army is caught off guard, it doesn't hurt, but I am close to the thief army, and it is difficult to erase the traces of the army in a short time. If the thief army is on guard, I'm afraid I'll be too damaged! ”

After obtaining the battle report that Zu Kuan did not listen to the order and defeated Zhang Xianzhong's troops, Lu Xiangsheng did not have any intentions, and still marched with the Tianxiong army, wanting to take advantage of the victory to pursue Zhang Xianzhong's troops to expand the results. Moreover, the heavens follow people's wishes, and Zhang Xianzhong's troops also happened to flee in the direction of the Tianxiong army.

It was also because he was fleeing, so it was impossible for Zhang Xianzhong to send enough scouts to investigate from afar, so now Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army was able to understand Zhang Xianzhong's movements, but Zhang Xianzhong's troops were ignorant of the Tianxiong Army.

Of course, because there is always contact and fighting between the spies on both sides, Zhang Xianzhong also knows that there is a Ming army in this direction. I just don't know which Ming army this one is? Who is the manager? How many troops? However, if the two sides get closer, Zhang Xianzhong will definitely be able to know that it is Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong army.

Therefore, Lu Xiangsheng's original response was to speed up the approach to Zhang Xianzhong's troops, start a formation, and take advantage of Zhang Xianzhong's unpreparedness to defeat the peasant army again. But now Lu Xiangsheng's order has completely overturned the original Jihua.

So Lu Xiangsheng explained to Yang Tinglin: "After a long-distance attack, everyone and horses are tired, so it is better to wait for work here." Although it is impossible to completely erase the traces, we will do our best to eliminate them. When the thieves find out, they are also close, and it is even more difficult to escape. As for the chaotic war, what army in the world is better than our Tianxiong Army? ”

Lu Xiangsheng's words caused a burst of laughter from the people around him. Fighting hand-to-hand combat, the Tianxiong Army really wasn't afraid of anyone. Yang Tinglin also knew that Lu Xiangsheng was a person who would not easily change after making up his mind, and what Lu Xiangsheng said was not unreasonable, so he no longer persuaded him, and filled in the gap: "Withdraw all the spies to confuse the thief army." ”

Lu Xiangsheng nodded, signaling his subordinates to also carry out Yang Tinglin's order. So the Tianxiong army immediately moved with the whole army, cut off the traces of the army's march, and began to set up an ambush.

Within half an hour, the Tianxiong army disappeared behind the mountain. They all rested cross-legged, nibbling on dry food, quietly waiting for the arrival of Zhang Xianzhong's department. (To be continued......)