Between Piyang County and Tongbai County in the southwest of Runing Province, more than 14,000 men and horses of the Runing Army hid in a small valley surrounded by mountains. Here, there was originally a Zhuangzi of the Runing Army as a fortress, but with so many soldiers and horses, there was no longer a garrison in the Zhuangzi, and only a dense camp could be set up around the Zhuangzi.

Due to the complete need for secrecy in this military operation, it took more than a month for the Runing Army to be mobilized here from the headquarters battalion. Not only did they march in batches, but they also strictly carried out night marches, and as soon as daylight came, the troops of the Runing army hid in Zhuangzi, which served as a military station along the way.

And this time, the Runing Army dispatched the Teaching Corps, the Cavalry Corps, and the Baggage Corps, as well as a battalion of the Artillery Regiment. In order to prevent the movement of the troops and horses of the headquarters from being discovered by outsiders, a group of children from the boy boy battalion wore military uniforms and rode horses from the distance of Runing Mansion every day, while the artillery regiment left in the camp also carried out intensive artillery firing every day, giving outsiders the illusion that the whole army was in the camp.

For the sake of secrecy, Wu Shigong didn't even bring Tao Xin, the commander of his own soldiers, and most of his personal soldiers, he only brought 300 personal soldiers led by Quan Dashan to rush here. So it wasn't until before the war that those civil officials in Runing Mansion knew that Wu Shigong had left the camp.

Because of the consistent performance of the Runing Army, an illusion was formed among the peasant army. That is, as long as it does not approach the area controlled by the Runing Army, and as long as it does not attack the Xinyang-Wuchang line, the Runing Army will not take the initiative to attack.

Not only the peasant army, but even the Ming army had such an illusion. Governor Lu Xiangsheng sent several letters, asking Wu Shigong's Runing army to enter Huguang to support the battle, but Wu Shigong used "No order from Governor Li Xianfeng!" "I excused myself.

But everyone didn't know that Ru Ningjun was just waiting for an opportunity, waiting for an opportunity to have a full meal.

Nine years after entering Chongzhen, the entire central and northern regions were in a major drought. Although in recent years, the Runing Army has built many water conservancy ditches. But a significant reduction in production this year is already a certainty.

The Runing Army itself was not very afraid of the drought, because under Wu Shigong's morbid insistence, his own grain reserves were sufficient. However, the impact of the drought on the situation of the war was quite enormous.

On the one hand, the peasant army was anxious to grab food, and on the other hand, a large number of refugees without food joined the ranks of the peasant army. Anyway, it's a good thing for the peasant army.

Therefore, the current peasant army has been hovering in the Huguang region, the granary of the world. At this time, Huguang also stored a large amount of grain, ready to be transported north by waterway to supply the capital and border gates.

Therefore, since March, the Ming army and the peasant army have been fighting fiercely. And in every head-to-head battle, the Ming army always had the upper hand. However, as the battle progressed, first of all, Yu Zilian's Ruzhou army withdrew from the battlefield.

It's not that the combat effectiveness of the Ruzhou Army is not good, the current Ruzhou Army is already in the Ming Army and the peasant army. broke out a reputation of "desperate San Lang", and no peasant army dared to fight hard with the Ruzhou army. The reason for the withdrawal from the battlefield. The main reason is that the logistics supply of the Ruzhou army is not available.

Among the four Ming armies that fought in Huguang. Because Lu Xiangsheng is also the governor of Huguang, there must be no problem with the supply of grain and grass for the Tianxiong Army. And Zu Kuan's Liao army and Zuo Liangyu's department, because they are both guest troops, treat the people of Huguang extremely viciously, and under the threat of butcher knives, they also eat with round bellies.

And Yu Zilian's Ruzhou army is not good. In the end, Yu Zilian is a civil official. There are still some rules for doing things, so he can't do anything to the people of Huguang, and he is not under the command of Governor Lu Xiangsheng, so he is always troubled by Lu Xiangsheng in terms of supply. So to zuihou. Yu Zilian was a little overwhelmed, and he withdrew the Ruzhou army to the vicinity of Dengzhou in Nanyang Mansion to rest.

However, as soon as the Ruzhou army withdrew in this way, the peasant army had more room for maneuver. Although they still did not dare to engage the Ming army on the front, the peasant army was wandering around, and many local people who were killed by the Ming army joined in, so their strength rose instead of falling.

Interestingly, the Runing Army made a fortune during this period. The Sihai Commercial Bank organized a large caravan to purchase looted property from the Liao Army and Zuo Liangyu and other Ming troops, and sold goods such as grain, herbs, medicinal materials, weapons and wine to the Ming Army, and even Yu Zilian also purchased a lot of materials from the Sihai Commercial Bank.

Moreover, the Four Seas Commercial Bank even did the business of the peasant army. Of course, many of the business with the peasant army involved the Yamakawa Division and the Military Intelligence Bureau's secret agents. During the course of business, those secret talks also established contacts with many of the leaders of the peasant army.

Therefore, before they knew it, the peasant army was about to forget that the Runing army was a man-eating tiger, and their range of activities gradually expanded.

As we entered June, when it was time for the summer harvest, the Ming army and the peasant army rushed to harvest the grain. Because the main force of the peasant army and the Ming army were entangled in the six counties of Yunyang, many small groups of peasant armies passed through Xiangyang and flowed between Xiangyang and Wuchang.

The Runing Army found this opportunity, and it was to wipe out all the peasant armies in this area, and by the way, plunder the grain back to the Huguang area.

"Shumo, Hefei! The two of you went straight to Zaoyang County with the teaching corps, and then Shumo led a regiment to defend Zaoyang, and He Fei took the rest of the troops to defend the line from Zaoyang to Xiangyang and cut off the road for Shaanxi bandits to enter and exit. "Because this time I used the jihua drawn up by the Military Command Department, Wu Shigong brought out Shumo and Zug.

"Young master, what should we do if Zaoyang County doesn't let us enter the city?" Shumo asked.

"Then knock it down!" Wu Shigong replied without hesitation, "Since we have already violated the rules and entered Huguang, it doesn't matter if we go to the next county." However, the two of you have to be in a good sense of proportion, and it is best to be able to scare Zaoyang down. ”

Wu Shigong then ordered: "Qian Qi! You take the Runing Army to capture Huang'an County, guard the line from Huang'an to Wuchang, and block the other end. ”

"Zug, Trois-Rivières! The two of you divided the three regiments of the cavalry corps and pressed forward on a flat surface, and the first goal was Suizhou, and then the Shaanxi bandits were pressed to the Han River and they were all wiped out. ”

Then Wu Shigong pointed to Shumo, He Fei and Qian Qi and said: "You have also heard clearly, as long as they control Suizhou in Chug, you will also press inward to narrow the space for Shaanxi bandits' activities." ”

Zuihou Wu Shigong said to Yuan Shizhong: "In the middle of the time, you will follow behind the cavalry corps with the baggage army, anyway, the main thing is to eliminate the Shaanxi bandits, and then to transport back the grain and grass." The more the merrier! Anyway, you're familiar with it! ”

Wu Shigong's words immediately caused a burst of daxiao! (To be continued......)