Liu Chengzong believed that marching from Jiayuguan to Gansu has a strong symbolic meaning and is the first step to travel across the Great Wall. This road will eventually end at Shanhaiguan.
On the other side of the Qilian Mountains, amid the sound of firecrackers at the end of the sixth year of Chongzhen's reign, Hong Chengchou, the governor of the Three Kingdoms stationed in Liangzhou, could not sleep at night. He stood up and sat next to the case to light the oil candle, frowning and unfolding the letters on the case.
Carefully
This letter was submitted by Ding Shaoyin, the hereditary commander of Liangzhou Guard.
Since Hong Chengchou entered Gansu, the four defense zones in Gansu have entered a wartime state. Except for military needs, civilians are prohibited from sending letters. A special unit is selected from the Ningxia army to set up checkpoints in various places, intercept letters, and interrogate pedestrians.
.
Both the main army in Gansu and the guest army in Ningxia had great objections to this order. First, they did not believe that the intelligence would enter Xining along with the letter.
Secondly, everyone can understand the need to be prepared to prevent intelligence leaks, but this order is too unreasonable.
The New Year is approaching, and those who are guarding the border outside write letters to their families to say that they are safe. The parents at home miss their children and send a few letters to the military fort. In Gansu, who can live without a soldier?
But Hong Chengchou didn't care about the favors of those little people, because he was once a hawker selling dried tofu, a real little person, so he knew very well that the favors of little people were worthless.
Only when you succeed can you change your circumstances.
But if he wanted to succeed, he had to avoid conflicts between host and guest soldiers. Therefore, although he could not trust the local host army, Hong Chengchou still handed over the matter to the Ningxia soldiers to execute the matter, and let the Gansu officers be responsible for the management.
The person in charge of this matter is Ding Shaoyin of Liangzhou Guard.
Like other hereditary generals in Gansu, the Ding family has been stationed in Liangzhou for more than 200 years. The Ding family's ancestral home is Yangzhou. Their ancestor Ding Zihua served tens of thousands of households in Huzhou under Zhang Shicheng. After Huzhou was captured, he surrendered to Xu Da and was awarded the post of general banner.
,Follow the southern and northern wars.
Throughout the twelfth lunar month, despite the order banning letters, there were still soldiers who intercepted them. The Ningxia border troops intercepted eighty letters in Luka, if not a hundred.
However, since the Gansu military officers are in charge, some favors have to be done in the end. Usually, after the letters are reviewed, if there are no problems, the Ningxia border troops will help deliver them.
The only exception is the two letters now on Hong Chengchou's desk.
The content of these two letters is very normal. They are letters home sent by border guards to their parents and wives. There is nothing special in the letters.
The reason why Ding Shaoyin handed it over was that something went wrong during the letter sending process. Both letters were destined to be delivered to Black Castle. However, when the Ningxia border troops who delivered the letters arrived at Black Castle, they discovered that the recipient's family was fake.
There is no such family.
And when we traced it back to Yongchang Fort, we found that the name of the sender was also fake. After checking the entire garrison in the fort, we found that there was no such sender at all.
After six days of investigation, Ding Shaoyin discovered that the two people who sent the letter were originally garrison troops from Yongchang Fort and Fenglepu Village. After the letter was intercepted, they ran away as deserters.
Ding Shaoyin thought that he just sent a letter home. After being intercepted, he just asked the officers to do more labor in the fort. He would not be punished too much and would not become a deserter because of it - there must be something fishy in it.
But he didn't see anything fishy in the letter, so he sent the two letters to Hong Chengchou out of caution.
Hong Chengchou didn't see anything wrong with the two letters, but just as he was dreaming back at midnight, a thought flashed through his mind. What if the two letters were to be read together?
Holding the oil candle, Hong Chengchou frowned and read the letters repeatedly, and finally found clues. The first letter mentioned the Hedong Fort of Muyangchuan, the war horses, and owed 260 yuan; the second letter mentioned the Hedong Fort, the armor, and the money owed.
Guarding the border for two hundred and forty-four days.
Hong Chengchou was overjoyed when he wrote down these numbers. That night he ordered his men to ride fast to Hedong Fort in Muyangchuan River and asked the fort guard whether the number of horses and armors in the fort matched these two numbers.
He waited all night, and it was not until the next day that all the generals under his account came to the official office to pay him New Year's greetings. The soldiers sent to the two places returned to Liangzhou and brought back disappointing news to him.
The number of horses in Hedong Fort in Muyangchuan is 320, and the number of horses in Hedong Fort is 440, but they cannot match these two letters.
Hong Chengchou did not give up. He thought that since someone had escaped, there must be something wrong with these two letters. He sent people to closely observe the guards of the two castles in the east and west of Muyang Sichuan, as well as the five castles of Hedong Fort, Yongchang Fort and Fenglepu Village.
Army.
It is certain that someone in Gansu is a traitor, and it must be a high-ranking official, because the information in the two letters is incomplete and obviously not the entire secret letter. Ordinary soldiers cannot know the information about several military forts.
Behind this must be an officer above the commander's level who is collaborating with the thieves.
As soon as this order was issued, the Liangzhou Health Office received an urgent report that Zhuang Langwei had fallen.
Hong Chengchou frowned and asked: "How could Zhuang Langwei's strong city be lost in an instant?"
Ding Shaoyin lowered his head and clasped his fists and said: "Back at the military gate, last autumn, the bandits from the Marshal's Mansion entered Zhuanglang River to steal food. Many banner troops fled and fled into Wushaoling to steal."
"According to the remnant soldiers who returned to the north, on New Year's Eve, the deserters returned to the acropolis with their belongings and set off firecrackers outside the city. Hongyuan, the acting commander of the city defenders, didn't take it seriously at first, but when Liu thief ordered the Yiding cavalry to rush to the city gate
It was too late to close the city, and three thousand barbarian cavalry galloped inside and outside the acropolis, causing the acropolis to fall."
Hong Chengchou asked: "Where is Hongyuan?"
Ding Shaoyin lowered his head and said: "The commander stayed in his house and defended it. He would rather die than surrender if the city fell. In the early morning of the first day of the first lunar month, he set fire to himself and closed the door to die."
Another hereditary family is gone.
The ancestors of the surname Ba can be traced back to Timur, a Yiding horse soldier under Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong during the Hongwu period. His military exploits were promoted to the general banner, and his second name was Batu'er. After he was promoted to a thousand households, later generations took Ba as the surname.
Hong Chengchou closed his eyes in pain, clenched his fists tightly in the sleeves of his official robe, and hammered them on the armrest of the seat.
He said in his heart that the traitor should not die, but Hong Yuan, who was loyal to the court and should not die, should die instead.
From Ding Shaoyin's message alone, he already realized that the situation was not as simple as he imagined. Although Liu Chengzong ran to Qinghai, his old skills as a bandit were obviously not lost, and he could still control the Wushaoling bandits remotely. p>
Obviously, wherever there are deserters, there is an environment where Liu Chengzong can show off his talents.
This kind of thing happens on New Year's Eve and the first day of the Lunar New Year. It's quite disgusting... How can we say New Year greetings like this?
"Send the news to Lanzhou. Commander Ding goes to order some troops and a few more generals to check out the situation. If the Liu thief attacks Lanzhou, you will take back the city; if he does not attack Lanzhou, the city will be destroyed."
Let him occupy it first."
After all, Hong Chengchou was not discouraged at all, nor did he take the loss of Zhuanglang Guards seriously. He just encouraged Ding Shaoyin: "General Ding, this battle has just begun. The time has come to make achievements."
It is not important to Hong Chengchou whether he has made meritorious service or established a career. What is important is to send the guards officers who may be collaborators to the front line and prevent them from causing trouble in Gansu. If a war breaks out inside Gansu, these people will cooperate with the inside and outside.
It’s so scary.
Seeing Ding Shaoyin's back after saluting and turning away, Hong Chengchou slowly released his fist hidden in his official robe, patted the armrest of the seat, and decided in his heart that the important defense of Gansu must be handed over to Cao Wenzhao and Bai Guangenlai.
Do.
These people are unreliable.
On the Zhuanglang Acropolis, three hundred miles away from Liangzhou, Xie Erhu was standing on the urn at the north gate, shooting the big iron cannon with great satisfaction.
He looked northward along the Zhuanglang River Valley, looking at the point where he could see the most, and said: "Continue to attack northward. The so-called Jiancheng Zhuanglang is nothing more than this, and we can easily capture the Gulang Gorge!"
Standing next to him was Jing Xiaoliu, who had been promoted to general manager less than half a year ago. Hearing this, he clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, Commander-in-Chief, this city was tricked by people inside and outside. There are not so many people further north." p>
In fact, in the capture of Zhuang Langwei, the Mongolian cavalry under Xie Erhu basically did not contribute much, and Jing Xiaoliu did not contribute much either.
Chengyun contacted the deserters in Wushaoling, prepared gifts for them, and returned to the Acropolis to give gifts to the officers. He expressed that he wanted to go home and stay for a while. He took advantage of the Chinese New Year to set off cannons, covering up the sound of the hooves of Xie Erhu's cavalry, and the firelight also pointed the way for them in the darkness.
, galloping all the way and snatching the Acropolis.
Except for those generals and servants who have been deeply favored by the country for generations, the banner troops scattered around the Acropolis failed to gather and were unable to form a fighting force. They mainly waited and watched amidst the shouts of Jingxiaoliu soldiers, which allowed them to easily seize the victory.
City.
Speaking of the fact that this city was faked, Xie Erhu agreed from the bottom of his heart. He turned around and looked into the city with lingering fear. The small town on Friday was built to guard against cavalry.
There are nine streets and eighteen lanes in Zhuanglang Acropolis. Except for West Street and South Street, the rest of the streets are planned with crooked gates and ramps. If you enter the city from the north gate, your war horse will not be able to run in the city.
Not to mention the cavalry running rampant on the streets, even on the West Street, which runs from east to west, in front of the commander's house in the middle, there is a large pond that is long from east to west and short from north to south, where fish are raised.
North Street is usually not used by people, and is sixty paces long in total. The east and west sides connecting the northeast corner of the city are filled with fields, and they are also paddy fields. It is too easy to block the road; South Street is spacious, and there are archways all the way from south to north.<
/p>
The archway is a thing that is not visible at ordinary times, but it becomes a useful thing in the face of war.
As they approached the city, they were surprised by the cross-piercing pier in the south. Smoke was rising from the pier. On the South Street, there were flag soldiers carrying gunpowder and rushing under the archway. Fortunately, they entered the city quickly, otherwise the stone archway would have exploded.
If it collapses, it’s just a roadblock.
If every city in the north was like this, Xie Erhu felt that he might not be able to attack other cities. He asked Jing Xiaoliu: "Do you think they will attack the city?"
"I don't know."
Jing Xiaoliu smiled and said: "The commander-in-chief said, we are throwing stones."
Liu Chengzong's deployment on the eastern front was very simple. Xie Erhu was the vanguard and led the Tunmu camp to attack Zhuanglanghe. Li Wanqing was the rear army to guard Dongguan and defend Lanzhou. In addition, Basang led the troops to station in Liancheng.
Xie Erhu can fight forward, but if he can't defeat him, he can retreat. It doesn't matter if he can't capture the city, and it doesn't matter if he loses the city... In fact, Liu Chengzong is very happy to see him lose the city, but he doesn't have much hope.
Because of the existence of the Qilian Mountains and Wushaoling, Shaanxi and Gansu are naturally divided into two parts, and the valley between Lanzhou and Gulang Gorge results in almost the same strategic posture between the north and the south.
This is a natural buffer zone. Whoever stations heavy troops in the valley will bear greater risks, because both sides can send light troops from the mountains on the north and south sides to cut off the other side's food routes, making the army in the valley a
Lonely.
Therefore, Liu Chengzong judged that even if Xie Erhu captured Zhuang Langwei, he would not be besieged by heavy troops for a while.
If they are really besieged by heavy troops, the worst possible scenario is to retreat to Hehuang. Even in the worst case scenario, Liu Shishi can accept to abandon Hehuang and return to Xining.
After all, his arsenal, Baigong Bureau, Salted Fish Workshop, and Mayuan Granary are all to the west of Xining. Temporarily abandoning Hehuang will not damage his strength, but only lose his prestige.
But if the army wants to capture the Zhuanglang River or even the Huangshui River, unless the entire Shaanxi army gathers on the front line of the Yellow River, the entire Gansu army will have to be pushed down.
Capturing Gansu would be enough to shock the world.
But at this moment, Liu Shishi was really worried about Hong Chengchou.
Because he found that the secret letter sent to him from Gansu by Master Xiaoliu of the Sanjie Society... didn't match.
Because of the existence of the Three Tribulations Society, Liu Chengzong believed that Gansu was not a black eye for him.
It would be difficult for a clever woman to make a fool of herself by letting the Three Tribulations members serve as the main force in the war, but as a support, Liu Chengzong believed that Wang Ziyong could bring Gansu's defense map to the Marshal's Mansion.
Xiao Liu is indeed doing this, but the Sanjie congregation under them are all marginalized people and cannot obtain such high-level information.
However, they arrived at the same destination by different routes. They sent over all the records of the purchase of grain, oil, fodder, clothing, bedding, and armor from various castles and piers in Gansu during the summer and winter of the sixth year of Chongzhen's reign.
To a certain extent, Liu Chengzong believed that this thing was more powerful than the defense map, because the defense map might be fake, but it could not deceive others.
There are six pieces of data in their letter, including the receiving address and the address mentioned in the letter, as well as the names of two supplies and the quantities of the other two supplies, expressed in exact amounts and percentages respectively.
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However, the six data in each letter are completely unrelated. Only by collecting the six letters and arranging the recipient addresses from east to west on the Gansu map can we obtain the intelligence data of the eighteen military forts at the same time.<
/p>
The guards of the Marshal's Mansion gathered in the west building and stayed awake all day and night. In the end, they were unable to deduce the complete result. They had no choice but to report to Liu Chengzong: "Commander, two letters are missing."
"Are you sure there are two missing letters?" Liu Chengzong frowned and asked, "How big is the impact?"
"The two guards in Liangzhou and Yongchang are missing two letters. There are thirty-seven castles in this area, and the forty-eight accounts of twenty-four castles do not match, so the general number of soldiers cannot be calculated."
Liu Shizi, who originally thought he had opened the whole map, removed the fog of war from his heart and covered the eastern part of Gansu.
"That's Songshan, Liangzhou, and Yongchang. We don't know anything about it."
Liu Chengzong looked at the map hanging on the wall, and then looked at the table where supplies and estimated numbers of troops were posted on each castle on the map. Even though the east side was blank, Hong Chengchou's deployment was almost clearly visible.
As he had guessed, the Gansu army had assembled heavy troops in the Shandan and Ganzhou areas. The expected garrison capacity of each fort ranged from full to doubled, and even more than tripled in some key areas.
The proven military strength alone is between 40,000 and 50,000.
This is a pocket formation surrounding the Qilian Mountains, so the situation of Yongchang Guards on the edge of the pocket formation can probably be guessed.
There are many troops, so it doesn't matter if they are stationed in the city, but when they move around, it will consume a lot of money.
Therefore, Hong Chengchou's army cannot be allowed to squat. Liu Chengzong wants them to move: "Tell Ahai Daiqing to lead the Khalkha camp to escort the troops and food to Zhuanglang, and then march to the east of Hedong to take a look at Songshan."