Chapter 475: The turn of the road, the desperate situation has come true

Before cement concrete appeared, roads in the East and West were compacted land, and some places could not do this. Only a few wealthy cities could ensure that they were paved with stone slabs or stone strips in a few areas.

On rainy days, traffic on land becomes a disaster. Of course, the main tool for transporting materials on the road is the same. When traveling on hard roads, it can pull a lot of supplies and ensure the speed of travel.

But if it is raining, the land becomes muddy under the rain, it will become very troublesome. On that day, Zhang Kun led the leading team to take the large carriage all the way, and thought about it. He caught up with the continuous rainy days. As a result, he walked very slowly on the road. Every day, the soldiers following the carriage were transporting and driving the carriage, exhausting all their physical strength, and the speed of travel was not improved at all.

This Ming army, which was victorious in Henan, has been lucky after coming out of Tongguan. The scenery has recovered in recent years, but this year, Henan has been drought again. It has not rained for two months, so the road is naturally dry and solid, and the Ming army's carriage is quite convenient to move.

As the saying goes, the right time and place, this drought weather should be said to be the time for the Ming army, which is also one of the important conditions for victory.

Because of the pursuit of the two cavalrymen, He Renlong and Xu Dingguo, Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, had no chance to stand firm and gather the team, and could only retreat again and again.

The supervisor Hou Xun, who was following behind, urged the army to move forward. Although Baofeng and Jiaxian were building offensives in advance and preparing to launch a battlefield here, the matter was now only to evacuate the troops of various units, and the supervisor Hou Xun was still seeking stability.

He led a large army to Baofeng and Jiaxian, imitating the Ruzhou and Yiyang areas, and stationed large troops in these two cities. They are supporting each other and look after each other. At present, the power of the two sides is relatively large. Although the Shun army is unable to attack and besiege the two cities at the same time, and is still oppressed by the Ming army.

Luoyang general Niu Chenghu led the cavalry to attack, and dug out the Shun Army's place where the women, children, and elderly people lived in Tang County, and beheaded nearly 30,000. After returning, the general Hou Xun wrote a document to report the merits in an expedited manner and sent it to the capital. However, he did not tell the capital how many members of the Shun Army had killed, but said that he had killed more than 30,000 thieves.

More than 30,000, what a great achievement this was. Emperor Chongzhen naturally praised it. The general of Luoyang, Niu Chenghu, originally joined the official army later. This time he was first awarded the title and was named Pingnanbo.

He Renlong, Xu Dingguo, Gao Jie and Bai Guangen were either from border soldiers or military generals after the refugee army was recruited by the official army. Their qualifications and relationships were much higher than those of Niu Chenghu, but this time they were taken first by Niu Chenghu. Everyone had the intention of being dissatisfied.

Thirty thousand women and children, almost 80% of the middle and senior officials in the Shun Army, were in charge of the family members. I thought that the King of Chuang would make up the world and everyone would marry a wife. With children, I could enjoy the happiness together, but who would have thought that such a disaster would happen.

The atmosphere of the Shun Army became extremely depressing after the Mid-Autumn Festival. On the one hand, the garrison troops in various areas controlled by the Shun Army strengthened their defenses, but on the other hand, they sent people to Tang County to check.

Two of the officers sent to the place were mentally ill when they came back. They saw a scene that was too bloody and cruel, and their families were among them. They had exceeded their psychological endurance. The remaining few were drunk every day and wiped their weapons every moment.

The Shun Army was a poor man who couldn't survive. He fought from Shaanxi to Henan for many years. He had never seen any miserable things. His heart had been training like iron and stone, but they still couldn't stand the scene he saw in Tang County. It can be seen how cruel it was there.

The commander Hou Xun is now greatly promoted. The following five generals, even if they hold military power, are still severely scolded by Hou Xun for a minor mistake, and the five generals dare not speak out. This series of victories can increase the prestige and power of people. Hou Xun is already extremely proud. He feels that Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting, Hong Chengchou and others claimed to be good at using troops, but they are still far behind him.

When the thieves were destroyed, from the founding of the country, there was another minister who could compete with his achievements. Then Zhang Juzheng was in a state of greatness back then.

General Niu Chenghu is already a lieutenant of Pingnan. He has such a title and great achievements. He is already a figure of Jian Zai Zhen. He naturally cannot let him do the chore of clearing the retreat of the food road. Moreover, he has defeated the bandits several times, but the bandits have not been damaged and can gather their troops again.

A decisive battle must be established to ensure the complete destruction of the bandits. The governor of the five provinces and the commander Hou Xun were ready to concentrate all the forces he could use to fight.

After several battles, the militia of the landscaping troops led by Niu Chenghu was integrated and grown up. It can be regarded as a useful force. It can be held in the war and sent to the front. As for the food route and the retreat route, it will be handed over to the landlord militia that rushed over from all over the place.

After Li Zicheng led the army to retreat to Xiangcheng, he went north to Kaifeng City and east to Guide Mansion. If he wanted to retreat to Runing, he would be in the face of the threat of the two Huai forces in Jiaozhou Camp, and he could no longer retreat. The next thing was to prepare for a decisive battle.

On August 18th, although the weather became a little cooler, it started to rain lightly. The villagers in the military farms in the areas of Kaifeng and Guide were ecstatic. After half a year of drought, they all needed to use the Yellow River water to irrigate, which was very laborious and laborious. Finally, it rained.

But when it comes to the generals, he feels something is wrong. The general Hou Xun is now chanting poems with his subordinate Qingke every day, which is extremely elegant.

Now the supervisor Hou Xun wants to do the land, let these aides and guests write poems that praise their merits, and when the achievements are completed, they will be returned to the court and return to their hometown, and collect and publish them, and publish them all, so that their reputation will be even more glorious.

Hou Xun, who was extremely glorious, now had a hidden danger in his heart, which was the letters he wrote to Shandong while he was in a daze on the north bank of the Yellow River. At that time, he suggested that the court allocate Shandong troops to rescue the situation in the north and south. Although these were not a big mistake, they were a handle. If the political enemy knew about it, it would be a big trouble.

Hou Xun didn't know how to save him. He had to send someone to secretly talk to someone to help him, or lay some preparations in the court.

The supervisor Hou Xun is now completely thinking about how the future will be and how to avoid things that will damage his future. However, the following generals, no matter how they are, understand what the impact of rain outside will have.

In field hedging, the Ming army has never been an opponent of the Shun Army. The reason why we can win step by step is that we rely on big chariots, which can be used as cover when attacking, and as position when retreating. Is there any good way for the Shun Army to destroy these vehicles?

The Ming army's own Shanxi cavalry cooperated with the formation of chariots to advance and withdraw, which often resulted twice the result with half the effort. Shunjun had no choice but to use this, and this was the source of victory.

It's raining now. Is the weather clear at all? The roads and the ground are constantly softening and muddy, and it is inevitable that vehicles will move. Moreover, these large vehicles are still responsible for transporting baggage and armor in normal times. This will be very troublesome for both combat and marching.

For the current plan, perhaps it is to attack as soon as possible while the rain has not yet penetrated and the ground has not become very muddy. Anyway, the thief leader Li Zicheng has almost entered a desperate situation. After attacking, he has to fight.

Yansui General Gao Jie and Yulin General Bai Guangen had never had any chance to fight. Seeing Niu Chenghu, who was far inferior to theirs, was very uncomfortable in his heart. The weather has become unfavorable to him, so he used this as an excuse and hurried to ask for the battle with the Supervisor Hou Xun.

The supervisor Hou Xun had no specific experience in fighting. Hearing the pros and cons of several generals under his command, saying that if the weather was like this, the army would not be able to be dispatched, and the advantages of the chariot camp could not be revealed in the field battle, and it was likely to fail, and he suddenly became a little anxious.

The victory of the army of thieves is everything that the commander Hou Xun is. Only victory can he have glory and wealth. Only in the future. If he loses, Yang Sichang will commit suicide if he is favored. Sun Chuanting made such great achievements, he was ordered to be arrested and imprisoned. What reason can he have to protect his geography?

What's more, in a series of victories, from the commander Hou Xun to the Qianmao below, the general manager had an increasingly contemptuous attitude towards the combat effectiveness of the bandits and horses. It seemed that this was the case, and there was indeed nothing to be afraid of.

Since this is the case, Hou Xun asked the other three generals. He Renlong and Xu Dingguo had similar thoughts as Gao Jie and Bai Guangen, and Niu Chenghu was also thinking of making new contributions. Of course, he would not have any opinions on this matter. The Ming army could be said to have quickly unified their opinions and set off immediately. The troops stationed in Baofeng gathered around Jia County, merged together, went south to Xiangcheng, and forced Li Chuang to fight a decisive battle.

Be cautious in everything first. Hou Xun had already written this sentence into a banner and hung it in his tent. This time, the soldiers of Jia County remained motionless, and the soldiers of Baofeng County slowly advanced eastward and headed for the round.

This time the march was very different from the past. Although the distance between the two counties was only a hundred miles, it was a bit difficult to move. The cart was trapped in the mud or slipped down the road. The soldiers and civilians always had to work hard to transport the cart back again.

Moreover, in this situation, they had to worry about whether they would be attacked or harassed by the bandits' army because of the slow marching, and even deployed their forces to defend themselves. This short road actually took three days.

The commander Hou Xun sought stability and waited for the joining army before making plans. The rain was raining all the time these three days, and the rain was always intermittent, but the ground was less and less suitable for the movement of the car camp. Hou Xun, who was confident, began to gradually become anxious. The only thing he thought was appropriate, that is, the army gradually became a group, and there was no need to worry about any mistakes.

But so many soldiers gather here, and they consume a huge amount of land, food and grass every day. All officials involved in the supply of food and money will make a fortune. However, all the good people involved in the supply of food and money will suffer a lot, and their families will be destroyed.

On August 23, General Tian Jianxiu personally led 8,000 light cavalry to Yuzhou, Dengfeng, and into Henan Prefecture. It was far from the main battlefield and it was a big circle.

Along the way here, there are lands where landlords and wealthy groups are buzzing, and marching will also be very troublesome. However, no matter how big the trouble is, it cannot compete with the 8,000 cavalry led by Da Mixiu. If you go here, you will be much faster.

From Tongguan to Ruzhou, it was the food route where more than 200,000 soldiers were led by the commander Hou Xun to suppress the enemy's troops. At present, only some places were under maintenance.

These gentry and high sects had hundreds or thousands of armed forces, combined into teams. Hou Xun chose the most powerful person to grant various official positions from guerrillas and chose the most powerful person as the commander. However, these people came from all over the place, not only did they have different subordinates to each other, but also had various contradictions, and they had to annex and collude with each other.

This kind of armed forces is inconsistent and has no combat effectiveness at all. After learning that the Shun Army General Tian Jianxiu led nearly 10,000 troops to the fore. Many people fled, and some forces directly threw the loyalty and patriotic things they said about being aside for the sake of their responsibilities as the emperor and patriotism that they had knelt on the ground more than ten days ago and kowtowed and swore to the side of Tian Jianxiu.

In such a chaotic situation, a few landlords who were still willing to resist were wiped out under the attack of elite troops led by Ta Mixiu.

Thousands of soldiers of the Shun Army, who had been in the area of ​​Lushi County, Henan Prefecture, began to move at this time. Cooperating with the nearly 10,000 soldiers of Tian Jianxiu, they began to sweep the militia armed forces in various parts of Henan Prefecture, and soon approached near Tongguan.

Most of the border soldiers on Shaanxi were plundered and their own garrison was very problematic. When they saw such a large army coming, they were already panicked and closed the gates of Tongguan, and did not dare to send troops to resist, and they could not send troops to inform Hou Xun, the governor in Jia County.

The food route of the army in charge of the army was pinned down. General Guoyi Liu Fangliang and Liu Tichun led 20,000 troops from Ye County to the north, defeated the defenders in Baofeng, occupied Baofeng, and took advantage of the leadership to advance again and rushed straight to Ruzhou and Yiyang.

For the supervisor Hou Xun, he had always wanted to gather his troops and make his headquarters strong enough to avoid being defeated by the bandits' army with superior forces.

Under such circumstances, the general Hou Xun could not distribute too many soldiers to garrison the cities he occupied. The defenses of these cities were like the food roads, and they were all garrisons of armed militias to grant officials and make wishes and win over local gentry.

What can these militia groups do? They can be used when fighting for power and profit to show loyalty. When they see this army attacking, they are suddenly filled with horror. Not only can they not afford to resist appropriately, but they also turn around and rebel on the scene. It is really lively, and there was such a joke once.

A certain bandit has always been a disaster for the local area and is rampant. The local people hate him to the core. When the general Hou Xun leads his army to come, the bandit leader will look at the wind direction and pretend to be a loyal minister and adopt a son to join him. Such a "righteous man" will naturally give him some rewards.

After taking the official position, he did something wrong in the county. The local gentry and people all wanted to die with him, but the bandit was extremely vicious and could not do anything for a moment. A month or two later, the Shun Army returned to kill, and the people in the city cheered and thought that the savior had finally arrived and could punish the evildoer.

Who would have thought that when the army came, the bandits led their troops out of the city, and they should have fled when they saw that the situation was not good. The city was celebrating with great joy, setting off firecrackers, and gentry organized the people to welcome the Shun army into the city.

As a result, as soon as the Shun Army entered the city, the new generals of the Shun Army were familiar with it. It was the bandit leader who had transformed himself into a loyal and righteous man who surrendered to the Shun Army. The city was once again in dire straits. Of course, it is not to be said that the absurdity of the changing king's flag on the city was evident.

Only in troubled times will such a mess happen, which makes people laugh and cry. Of course, the people who cry are always unarmed and obedient.

In Henan Prefecture and Ruzhou, in addition to the subsequent food and supplies, the supervisor Hou Xun also plundered a large amount of military funds stored by the Shun Army in various places, so it could still support it for a while. In addition, he knew nothing about the cut off of Henan Prefecture's own food channels and was still looking forward to the sunny advance.

On August 28th, the continuous rainy weather finally cleared. All the Ming officers and soldiers stationed in Jia County cheered and cheered. The supervisor Hou Xun even burned incense and prayed in his courtyard, hoping that his ancestors would protect him.

But this clear weather proved to be a coincidence. On August 29th, the rain started again, which made the Ming Dynasty official army, which had been inspiring for a day, fall into a depression again.

It was still rainy on the second day of September. The news of the fall of Ruzhou, Yiyang and Baofeng reached Jiaxian one by one. These peripheral strongholds that were considered as retreats and relying on were removed one by one. Everyone knew exactly what it meant, and their morale was depressed and gradually became panic.

On the morning of the third day of September, when the commander Hou Xun and the five generals were discussing the matter. The military officer reported the situation for the next few days, and even if he was saving, he could only support five days. But the subsequent supplies were still not delivered. Could it be that it was because it was raining heavily that delayed the trip?

The army has no supplies and rations, and the soldiers have no strength to fight without anything, not to mention the subsequent collapse and despair of morale in the military. This is disastrous.

It was not until this time that the general Hou Xun made up his mind to divide his troops to Ruzhou and Yiyang areas, and divide his troops to open up the food channel. The general Niu Chenghu of Luoyang was naturally given an important task.

But this time, the two strong generals of the Shun Army, Liu Tichun and Liu Fangliang, were guarding Yiyang and Ruzhou. These two were both figures of the Eighteen Cavalry. Following Li Zicheng's veterans, they also led elite troops from the Shun Army. This time Niu Chenghu led his soldiers to attack. But he did not have the same good luck as before.

His men were just armed forces from the landlords and democratic groups. The chariots had no choice but to move in the muddy roads, so they had to go out lightly.

In the field battle, the backbone of the Ming army was not an opponent of the Shun Army, let alone such a mob. When more than 8,000 infantry and cavalry led by Niu Chenghu reached the middle of the journey, they encountered the troops led by Liu Fangliang. The two sides fought in the rain, and the troops of Niu Chenghu and other troops had no rules. When they marched in the rain, they were exhausted from the troops under their command, and this battle had already lost the opportunity.

During that day, Niu Chenghu led his troops to the old camp in Tang County to attack and massacre the women, children, and young people from Shunjun over there. Liu Fangliang's wives, concubines and children were among them. When they met at this time, they were really enemies, and they were extremely jealous.

The hatred in Liu Fangliang's subordinates' hearts does not need to be less than the chief general. In addition, before the march, Liu Fangliang's camping and marching were all preserved to the greatest extent of the soldiers' strength and spirit. At the beginning of this battle, it was destined to be without any suspense.

The hatred between the Shun Army and the landlords' Democratic League was deeply rooted, and fighting with each other did not require any mobilization. However, an army with disciplined and group consciousness was much stronger than a group of thugs who only knew how to fight with red eyes. The battle between the front of the Shun Army and Niu Chenghu's front team was very short. Then Niu Chenghu's troops completely collapsed, and his troops were divided and then annihilated.

The only thing Niu Chenghu could do was turn around and run away. He and his trusted cavalry rushed towards the direction of Jiaxian. It was raining heavily, the ground was muddy and slippery, and the horses were slightly wrong, and they fell and broke their bones. However, they thought that the casualties were large numbers. Not only did Niu Chenghu's troops escaped and suffered heavy losses, but even the chasing troops were also quite injured. However, Liu Fangliang still ignored it and led the crowd to chase.

It was fifteen miles away from Jia County. Yulin General Bai Guangen led his troops out to support him before giving up. The battle suffered heavy losses. When Niu Chenghu left Jia County, he led nearly 100 people, but when he returned to Jia County, he had only more than 100 cavalry and his morale was low. At this time, the available military rations in Jia County were less than two days.

Since leading the people from Tongguan to Henan, the general Hou Xun has won victories and his reputation has shaken the world. He has become more and more confident. When he arrived in the Jiaxian area, he had already forced the King of Rebellion Li Zicheng into a desperate situation. He could further achieve his full achievements. But suddenly, the situation suddenly took a sharp turn, and the one who fell into a desperate situation became the Ming army led by the general Hou Xun.

The food route was cut off and the rear route was blocked. The nearly 200,000 Ming army was now filled with Shun troops from all directions, and they were already trapped in a siege.

What to do? Supervisor Hou Xun suddenly found that he had no choice...

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, martial law was implemented everywhere in Shandong, and economic activities could be carried out, but the most severe blockade was implemented around all military camps and military facilities, and anyone who spied was severely sentenced. The people have become accustomed to this situation. This has been the case in Shandong in recent years. Everyone knows that if you are doing it, you can live a good life without touching the minefield. However, for those who are interested, it is even more difficult to inquire about some information.
Chapter completed!