"Brother Side! Thank you for your hard work." Wu Shigong said to Zhou Junwu who had just arrived in Runing.
Although Zhou Junwu looked tired, he was still full of energy. He quickly returned the courtesy and said: "Brother Chang Jing, thank you for your trouble. My mentor sent me to ask, is Brother Chang Jing's Runing camp ready?"
Due to the unfavorable situation of Pingjing, Xuanmo, the governor of Henan, sent someone to contact Wu Shigong, asking him to stop restricting his Pingjing area and cooperate with Xuanmo to pacify the bandits throughout Henan. The liaison person sent was none other than Zhou Junwu.
As soon as he heard Xuanmo's order, Wu Shigong readily agreed, and carried out the mobilization of the Runing Army without any delay. For Wu Shigong, digesting the areas gained by the Runing Army and stabilizing the entire province of Henan,
Preventing the peasant rebels from entering Henan again was the established strategy of the Runing Army. Therefore, Wu Shigong would definitely choose to cooperate with Xuanmo.
Xuan Mo was also very satisfied with Wu Shigong's cooperative attitude. However, an official at this level would not clearly tell Wu Shigong what compensation he would give. Anyway, everything was kept secret. Xuan Mo would definitely not treat Wu Shigong badly.
The military plan to pacify Henan this time was formulated by the Runing Army, and the Runing Army would also become the main force for this pacification. Wu Shigong proposed to Xuanmo that the main force of Xuanmo's official army should move frequently along the Yellow River to attract Henan.
Attention of the rebels, Xue Yongli's army and a part of the Guide Army were in Guide, and the southern part of Kaifeng was slowly pressing up, putting pressure on the rebels.
As for Wu Shigong, he will lead the main force of the Runing Army along the line of Ye County and Ruzhou, and go straight to the back of the bandits, striving to defeat and wipe out the main force of the Henan bandits with one blow, and then drive the remnants of the bandits to the Yellow River.
To the north or in the Dabie Mountains, bandits will no longer be a big threat in Henan. Wu Shigong vividly named this military plan "Left Uppercut".
After that, Zhou Junwu communicated back and forth, and today, after Xuan Mo fully agreed with Wu Shigong's plan, he sent Zhou Junwu to inform Wu Shigong of his arrival. Of course, he also wanted to urge Wu Shigong to send troops.
Of course Wu Shigong understood Zhou Junwu's purpose of coming here, so he said with a smile: "Brother Side, please wait a moment, my younger brother Erlang is almost ready. In three days, I will personally lead the army to go out."
Because the bandits they dealt with during this expedition were not very strong, but in order to limit their movement, the Runing Army mainly emphasized mobility. Therefore, Wu Shigong will bring a cavalry corps with nearly 4,000 cavalry and additional cavalry.
It consists of half of the teaching corps and the direct artillery regiment, a total of 6,500 men and horses. However, this unit has a very strong combat effectiveness. Its mobility is also outrageous, almost reaching the level of one mule and horse per man.
After arriving in Ye County, Wu Shigong will also bring the eight thousand guards of Changmeng's reclamation trading company as auxiliary troops, so that these trading company guards can also experience the atmosphere of war and receive some basic military training.
The Runing Army Corps and the Marine Corps are busy guarding the Runan area and opening up the supply route to Wuchang. The Nanyang Army Corps also has to bear the defense of the western front and cannot make major moves. Therefore, the Runing Army Headquarters only has the Engineer Corps and the
The heavy artillery unit of the artillery regiment stayed behind. Therefore, this military operation of the Runing Army was prepared for a quick victory.
On June 7, the eighth year of Chongzhen, Wu Shigong led the main force of the Runing Army to set out, and Zhou Junwu also accompanied him. However, neither of them expected that at the same time, the war situation in Shaanxi had undergone tremendous changes.
In May, Gao Yingxiang and various peasant rebel armies joined forces in Shaanxi and combined 200,000 troops. They marched directly to Xi'an, which was fifty miles away.
Ensure that Xi'an is not lost.
So Gao Yingxiang moved west to attack Pingliang. General Li Zicheng's troops besieged Ningzhou (now Ning County) in Gansu Province. After hearing the news, Hong Chengchou sent deputy commander-in-chief Ai Wannian and Liu Chenggong to Liu Guozhen, and guerrilla Wang Xi ordered three thousand troops to help.
In Xiangle Town, Ningzhou, the Ming army encountered more than 31,000 peasant rebels commanded by Liu Zongmin. A fierce battle broke out between the two sides. Seeing that Liu Zongmin's troops were indeed powerful and rescue was impossible, Ai Wannian ordered the Ming army to retreat.
Bajiazhai.
He waved the flag, Tian Jianxiu, Li Guo and other generals gathered around Li Zicheng, nervously waiting for the news of the fast horses coming to investigate. After hearing that Ai Wannian's troops had withdrawn to the direction of Bajiazhai where he had set up an ambush,
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's nothing important, it's just an ordinary battle! Why do you look like the little daughter-in-law in the bridal chamber tonight?" Li Zicheng's witty words made the generals laugh.
However, people familiar with Li Zicheng's habits also noticed that he kept taking off and putting on the Fan Yang felt hat he had worn on his head for many years. They all knew that this was a subconscious action Li Zicheng made when he was nervous.
There was no way not to be nervous. This was almost the first time that the peasant rebel army took the initiative to attack the main force of the Ming army since the rebellion, and the troops were led by famous generals such as Ai Wannian. Although this time Li Zicheng brought over more than 10,000 of his old soldiers and horses,
It was another ambush battle, but these people still had no idea.
"General! The official dog has been ambushed." Another rider came galloping to report.
"Tell the people in front to wait. Wait until all the official dogs come in before we fight!" Li Zicheng said as he put on the felt hat and fastened it. Since you have decided to fight, let's hit him hard! People who are afraid of wolves in front are afraid of tigers in the back.
Never.
On June 5, Ai Wannian, Liu Chenggong, deputy commander-in-chief of the Ming Army, and guerrilla Wang Ximing of Liuguozhen encountered Li Zicheng's troops when they retreated to Bajiazhai, and were ambushed and surrounded. Aiwannian and Liuguozhen were killed.
, Liu Chenggong and Wang Ximing were seriously injured. The Ming army was defeated and more than a thousand people died.
Ai Wannian, the news of Liu Guozhen's defeat and death soon reached Cao Wenzhao's ears. At this time, Cao Wenzhao still looked down upon the fighting power of the peasant rebel army, so he cursed with anger and drew his sword to chop him.
land, and asked Hong Chengchou to let him go out and fight the peasant rebels to the death.
At this time, Hong Chengchou was already in dire straits. Since he took office as governor, he first lost Fengyang and now two generals. He could not explain himself to Emperor Chongzhen and the court no matter what.
So when Hong Chengchou heard that Cao Wenzhao, the number one general in suppressing the bandits, took the initiative to join the army, he was immediately overjoyed and said: "No one but a general can do this. My troops have been divided and there is no one to respond. General, I will move from Jingyang to Chunhua."
, I think the general has great stamina."
Hong Chengchou just wanted Cao Wenzhao to win a big victory to save his face. However, because the peasant rebels were attacking all over Shaanxi and their military strength had expanded to an exaggerated level, Hong Chengchou's military strength was already stretched thin. So he only promised to give Cao Wenzhao
With three thousand soldiers and horses, he led the main force to follow up.
But the arrogant Cao Wenzhao didn't take it seriously at all. He thought that the current peasant rebel army was still the same one as before. So on June 15th, Cao Wenzhao's three thousand soldiers and horses went towards Zhenning.