Chapter 216 Chongzhen is in trouble

From early summer to early autumn, in a few months, with the help of Shanxi merchants, Shaanxi experienced a rare peace. It was also this peace that made all the soldiers and horses in Shaanxi feel relaxed, and the Oirats and Tatars were also restrained by the troops of Xuanfu and Yunfu. The Mongols continued to fight in the internal struggle, and the three border troops in Shaanxi were even more relaxed.

No one expected that the peasant army led by Wang Jiayin would return to Shaanxi at this time. The Ningxia border army did not carry forward the actions of Wang Jiayin's troops. Since there was no obstacle in the north, Wang Jiayin's troops directly broke into Pingliang Prefecture, as if they were entering a no-man. In two days, three important towns, Kehuating, Lingtai and Shiraishiyuan. The main force led by Gao Yingxiang went south from Lingtai Town. In less than half a day, they conquered Shiyao Pass.

Then Gao Yingxiang took Li Zi as the vanguard, and the four heavenly kings Li Yangchun as the deputy general, and entered Duyang Mountain and Qishan respectively. In a blink of an eye, the connection between Fengxiang Prefecture and Xi'an Prefecture was cut off. Reinforcements were blocked, and relying solely on the little manpower of Fengxiang Prefecture, the tide of peasant army could not be stopped. The prefect Gao Wenjian actually ordered the evacuation of Fengxiang Prefecture and evacuate to Hanzhong along the ancient road.

However, Qin Yu, the Fengxiang Mansion guards Ye Changhe, stayed and called on the military and civilians to defend the city together. Unfortunately, in just four hours, Gao Yingxiang broke the city. After this battle, countless casualties in Fengxiang City were killed and injured, and Qin Yu and Ye Changhe died in battle.

The peasant army's attack speed was really too fast. Xi'an Prefecture had no time to react, and western Shaanxi had become the world of the peasant army. Yang He ordered all troops to rush to Xi'an Prefecture to prevent Xi'an Prefecture from falling into the hands of the peasant army. Yang He is now staying in Xi'an City. If the city is broken and captured, then Yang He will become the first governor in the history of the Ming Dynasty to be captured alive by the peasant army.

Liu Yingyu, Cao Wenzhao led various troops to gather in Xi'an Prefecture urgently. Wu Guofu from northern Sichuan was also ordered to go north to guard Hanzhong, preventing the peasant army from breaking Hanzhong and pouring into Bashu along the Chencang ancient road. For a time, the civil unrest in Shaanxi Province resurfaced, and the situation was even more severe than half a year ago. In half a year, not only the officers and soldiers were resting, but the peasant army was also preparing for war.

During the previous several confrontations, Wang Jiayin deeply realized the gap between the peasant army and the officers and soldiers. The peasant army seemed to be crowded, but most of the time it was defeated in one battle and was chased by the officers and soldiers. The reason was that the peasant army had not been trained and had not experienced real fighting. During this period in the northwest, Wang Jiayin valued Li Zicheng, Wang Monk and other official troops and conducted concentrated training for various departments. In just half a year, although there was no qualitative improvement, at least now he knew the military order and the order of the march.

Under the training of Li Zicheng and others, the peasant army had many changes, which was also the main reason why the peasant army was able to quickly conquer Pingliang and seize Fengxiang Mansion.

On September 13, the second year of Chongzhen, Cao Bianjiao's vanguard troops collided with Zhang Yichuan, the king of sweeping under Wang Ziyong. The two sides started a small-scale battle in Sanshui County. In this encounter, Cao Bianjiao was extremely brave and led the way to retreat Zhang Yichuan's attempt to conquer Sanshui County. Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhang Yichuan retreated to Lingtai Town. Cao Bianjiao had limited troops and did not dare to pursue them rashly, so he stationed in Sanshui County.

Although it was just a small encounter, it completely exposed the real intentions of the peasant army. Gao Yingxiang's troops seemed to have a rapid offensive, and they also made great efforts to attack Xi'an prefecture in Fengxiang Prefecture, but the real killer move of the peasant army was Wang Zihua's troops.

Wang Ziyong's troops were stationed in the area of ​​Lingtai Town, and to the northeast there could be Qingyang Prefecture and Yan'an Prefecture, and to the southeast there could be Xi'an Prefecture.

In Chunhua County, Cao Wenzhao urgently negotiated the next plan with several generals in the army. In the battle of Sanshui County, the peasant army seemed to have suffered a loss, but in fact it did not suffer much loss. Instead, Cao Wenzhao had a headache.

"Now it seems that Wang Jiayin intends to divide his troops into two groups. Gao Yingxiang occupied Fengxiang Prefecture and threatened Xi'an Prefecture. Wang Ziyong was in charge of Lingtai and could attack anywhere east at any time! In half a year, Wang Ziyong had tens of thousands of armored men under his command, and his strength was much stronger than before. And we now have two choices, either go directly to Xi'an Prefecture or stay in Chunhua County."

As soon as Cao Wenzhao finished speaking, a deputy general bowed and said, "General Cao, we are short of troops at present, and it is difficult to take into account all aspects. According to the last general's intention, we should go directly to Xi'an Prefecture."

This proposal was echoed by many people. Cao Wenzhao frowned and did not say anything. He did not blame these people, but others might have made the same choice. Going to Xi'an Prefecture was to respond to the order of the three-sided governor Yang He. In the future, no matter how corrupt the situation in Shaanxi was, they would not have to bear the main responsibility. But if they did not go to Xi'an Prefecture, once there was a change in Xi'an Prefecture, the court would have to punish him heavily.

Cao Bianjiao was young and energetic, too lazy to take into account the face of others. As soon as he got up, he stood up and said angrily: "Look at you, you have not yet attacked the thief, you have thought about how to shirk responsibility. No wonder Shaanxi is so vulnerable that it makes a group of refugees frustrated, all because of yours."

"Brother Cao, who are you talking about?" Everyone's supervisor glared, and some people had already pressed their hands on the hilt of the knife. If it weren't for seeing Cao Bianjiao being Cao Wenzhao's nephew, how could he be so arrogant?

Cao Bianjiao had no intention of restraint at all, and snorted coldly: "Whoever talks will say whoever you want!"

Everyone stood up when they heard the sound. Seeing that both sides were about to perform a full martial arts campaign, Cao Wenzhao finally couldn't control his emotions and slapped the table heavily, "Enough, let me sit down. You, get out and calm down outside."

Cao Bianjiao naturally dissatisfied. It was clearly the mistake of these wine bags, but why was he driven out? He was not convinced, but he still said, looking at Cao Wenzhao's stern gaze, and went out to stand up obediently.

Cao Wenzhao is more mature than Cao Bianjiao, so it is naturally not so easy to consider things. Staying in Chunhua County is indeed a good choice, but everyone's interests must also be considered. If you cannot do both kindness and power, the group of people under your command will not work hard.

Looking at the group of local Shaanxi generals in front of him, Cao Wenzhao was also very troubled. Not long ago, he was promoted to Deputy General of Suide by accumulating merits, and Yang He also had good intentions. At that time, Yang He intended to keep Cao Wenzhao, the elite Liaodong army, and racked his brains, and then he thought of promoting Cao Wenzhao to Deputy General of Suide. Unfortunately, Yang He didn't know that after the war, Suide was no longer the same as before. As one of the nine borders, Suide's military was so relaxed that it was so relaxed that it was a muggle.

Cao Wenzhao worked hard to put together these Suide generals. If it weren't for the fact that there were some elite soldiers brought by Liaodong, Cao Wenzhao would have been worried whether he could exercise the power of the deputy general.

I had a headache before, but now I have even more headaches. If the border troops of Xuanfu and Datongfu were still there, why would it be so big as a fight?

There was no choice but to follow the opinions of everyone and go to Xi'an Prefecture. The troops were insufficient and they could care about the north, but they couldn't care about the Xi'an Prefecture in the south. In comparison, Xi'an Prefecture involved more and more widespread interests.

The next day, Cao Wenzhao ordered the troops to set off and march towards Xi'an Prefecture. As a result, Cao Wenzhao's troops encountered a large number of peasant troops in Xianyang. Coincidentally, a gust of wind, Wang Yan and Yingshan Honghua Xiaorong followed Li Yangchun's order to attack Xianyang and cooperated with the main team of the peasant army to encircle Xi'an Prefecture. Not long after Wang Yan and Hua Xiaorong conquered Xianyang, they heard that a soldier in the north came to kill him.

Xianyang, which guards the northern part of Xi'an Prefecture and relies on the Yellow River, has a very important geographical location and has been a must-fight for military strategists since ancient times. Wang Yan and Hua Xiaorong finally conquered Xianyang, so they naturally refused to give up. Unfortunately, the city of Xianyang was broken and could not form an effective defense. The two could only send people to inform Li Yangchun while organizing the remaining troops to meet the enemy.

The geographical location of Xianyang is important, Wang Yan and others know it, and Cao Wenzhao knows it even more. Therefore, Cao Wenzhao did not play any fancy games in this battle, and directly thought that the few cavalry detoured from the flanks and the army covered and killed them from the front.

Wang Yan's troops fought against Xianyang City for a long time before, and were exhausted. He encountered an unreasonable attack like Cao Wenzhao. In just one hour, Wang Yan and Hua Xiaorong were beaten and retreated to the west. Li Yangchun and Li Zicheng were defeated and responded in time. Otherwise, it is still unknown whether Wang Yan and Hua Xiaorong could retreat alive.

When he returned to Duyang Mountain, Wang Yan cursed unwillingly: "Mom, I saw Xianyang in my hand, but I met someone named Cao. Oh, the cooked duck flew away."

Li Yangchun did not blame Wang Yan and Hua Xiaorong. He had personally experienced how hard Cao Wenzhao was to fight. Seeing that the two looked unwilling, he comforted him: "You don't have to worry about the two brothers. No one expected Cao Wenzhao to come so quickly. I believe that when the leader Wang knew about the end of the matter, he would not blame us."

"I hope, after all, we are all outsiders. Although we have been under the command of King Gao Chuang, Zhang Dashou and Zhang Cunmeng have always disliked us. If these people secretly do evil, our brothers will suffer."

"I can only bear it if I have any anger at the moment. Oh, how great would it be if Leader Wu was still there?" As he spoke, Li Yangchun showed a lonely look on his face. When he followed Wu Yangui in the past, what was Li Yangchun's status? The Four Heavenly King Li Yangchun was inferior to one person and above ten thousand people. Now, it's better that when he arrived at Wang Jiayin's side, he would be angry everywhere. If Gao Yingxiang hadn't helped him from time to time, he would have been able to get over to Zhang Dashou and Zhang Cunmeng.

Zhang Dashou, Zhang Cunmeng, etc., the star of the sky, were all Wang Jiayin's confidants. If Wang Jiayin didn't know anything about it, it would be a lie.

.........

When Xi'an Prefecture learned that the Xianyang crisis was lifted, Yang He and Hong Chengchou breathed a sigh of relief. Yang He was a civil servant and did not know how to fight, but one thing is admirable, that is, he could listen to others' opinions. Now, the most correct thing was to listen to Hong Chengchou's suggestions and try his best to keep Cao Wenzhao in Shaanxi.

Just like the current situation, if Cao Wenzhao hadn't supported it outside, Shaanxi wouldn't have known what it would have been like.

Taking the official document, Yang He looked over and over again twice, and said in a little confused manner: "General Cao said in the official document that he wanted to lead his army to station in Xianyang and form a horn with Xi'an Prefecture. Lord Hong, what do you think?"

Hong Chengchou thought for a while and said with a grim brow: "Supervisor, according to the officials, General Cao's suggestion is a successful move. Xianyang is too important. If Xianyang does not defend, then Xi'an Prefecture will be safe. We will be too passive at that time. Therefore, General Cao should lead his troops to stay in Xianyang."

"But... the troops of Xi'an Prefecture..." Yang He hesitated, and he was embarrassed to say something, but Hong Chengchou could hear it very clearly. But Hong Chengchou had no choice but to smile bitterly.

Although there are many soldiers and horses in Xi'an Prefecture, the quality of the soldiers is uneven and cannot be compared with Cao Wenzhao's soldiers and horses. In short, Cao Wenzhao's soldiers and horses are always helpless and helpless in his heart if he is not stationed in the city.

"We really need General Cao to take charge of Xi'an City, but we also need Xianyang even more. Although the quality of the soldiers in the city is not very good and the combat effectiveness cannot be guaranteed, but the high walls of the city are thick, and the bandits cannot get good for a while."

"For the present plan, we must ask the court for reinforcements. As long as Xuanfu and Datongfu send troops to help in time, they will be able to drive the bandits out of Shaanxi again."

"Oh, that's all!" Yang He had to agree with Hong Chengchou's opinion.

Cao Wenzhao stationed in Xianyang and sent troops to guard Qishan strictly. In a short period of time, the peasant army in Fengxiang Prefecture failed to get a good idea. However, Wang Ziyong, who was near Lingtai Town, seized the opportunity and sent troops to the northeast to attack Sanshui County. This time, without the obstacles of Cao Wenzhao's troops, Zhang Yichuan took Sanshui County in just half a day.

Once Sanshui County was broken, a gap was opened to the east. Wang Ziyong's peasant army passed by Sanshui County like a tide and rushed into Qingyang Prefecture. Faced with this situation, the defect of insufficient troops in Shaanxi was undoubtedly revealed. Cao Wenzhao and Yang He watched the peasant army rage Qingyang Prefecture, and there was no way to do it.

There were too few officers and soldiers in Shaanxi, or too many peasant soldiers. Not long after Wang Ziyong defeated Qingyang Prefecture, another leader under his command, Zhang Xianzhong, attacked Yan'an Prefecture all the way. At the same time, Bao'an County was garrisoned. The former Qianzong of Ningxia Yu Jingyuan led the crowd to mutiny, killed the magistrate, and opened the city gate to welcome Zhang Xianzhong into the city. Zhang Xianzhong knew that the army was very fast. After taking Bao'an County, he rushed south to attack Ansai City, and pointed directly at Luochuan.

In just less than half a month, the peasant army ignited Shaanxi. Now Shangluo Road in the southeast of Xi'an Prefecture is still calm, and other places are already wailing everywhere and wars are everywhere.

The official documents requested for help from Shaanxi were sent to the capital one by one. The court was shocked and held court meetings one after another. Faced with the chaos in Shaanxi, the civil and military officials in the court could not come up with any good ideas.

If you want to solve the problem in Shaanxi, it is actually easy to deal with. As long as there are enough reinforcements, the peasant army will not be affected. But the key is that you need money and food to mobilize troops. The soldiers also need to eat, drink and support your family. But where can Chongzhen get money and food now? In desperation, Chongzhen once again proposed to collect commercial taxes and sent people to Jiangnan to urge donations.

But as soon as this idea was proposed, it was highly opposed by many officials led by the cabinet. As for the donation in Jiangnan, there was no chance. Chongzhen wanted to send someone, but no one of the civil and military officials in the court stood up. Chongzhen personally named it, and those people also urged and stopped them, looking for various reasons to shirk them.

At this moment, Chongzhen was really embarrassed!
Chapter completed!