On October 24, the eighth year of Chongzhen's reign, Gujia Temple.
"That Zukuan disobeyed orders and attacked without authorization, which is very hateful." Yang Tinglin said angrily.
Although Lu Xiangsheng was also very unhappy, he still pretended to be magnanimous and said: "General Zu is also a public servant. Although his behavior was very reckless, he was fortunate to win a great victory, so there is no need to blame him.
Indeed, since Zu Kuan won a great victory, it was impossible for Lu Xiangsheng to impeach the court, so there was no need to verbally blame Zu Kuan. But what made Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin angry was that Zu Kuan's solo attack was
This completely disrupted Lu Xiangsheng's original plan.
Lu Xiangsheng himself is not greedy, but the more food and salary he needs to support his Tianxiong army, the better. Like Zu Kuan, Lu Xiangsheng also set his sights on Zhang Xianzhong's tribe, who suddenly became rich after plundering Fengyang. So Lu Xiangsheng had already asked
Zu Kuan and other Liao generals sent an order, asking them to wait until their Tianxiong army arrived before attacking together.
But now Zu Kuan's unauthorized actions completely broke Lu Xiangsheng's imagination. More importantly, Lu Xiangsheng also thought of a deep-seated problem.
In terms of food and salary, even without Zhang Xianzhong's gold, silver and silk, Tianxiong Army's food and salary can always be solved. After all, Lu Xiangsheng controls the food and salary for suppressing bandits in the five provinces, and he can't treat Tianxiong Army's biological son badly. Ke Zukuan
But his behavior completely revealed that the military attachés leading the troops were completely obeying and disobeying the orders of themselves, the governor of the five provinces.
Here, we will explain the Ming Dynasty's command system in these five provinces.
As the governor of the five provinces, Lu Xiangsheng was of course the highest commander. However, because Shaanxi was actually under the jurisdiction of Hong Chengchou, the trilateral governor, Lu Xiangsheng could only manage four provinces.
In these four provinces, the governors of each province led their own Ming troops to protect the tranquility of their provinces. In other words, if the peasant army entered a province, Lu Xiangsheng, through the governor of that province, could also indirectly command the local Ming troops in that province.
But as long as the peasant army leaves the province, Lu Xiangsheng cannot lead the local Ming army away. Of course, because Lu Xiangsheng also serves as the governor of Huguang, he can also command the local Ming army in Huguang.
However, one of the more special ones is Yu Zilian's Ruzhou Army. Because it rose like a comet, the Ming court was in a hurry. Therefore, the order issued by the court in a hurry did not specify the operational scope of the Ruzhou Army, nor did it include
The stipulation of the combat tasks of the Ruzhou Army only gave a very general order: Wherever there is a peasant army, the Ruzhou Army will fight there. Therefore, the current Ruzhou Army has completely become a free man. Of course, except for the imperial court,
Yu Zilian does not take orders from anyone. Of course, he will not take orders from Lu Xiangsheng.
It can be seen from the explanation here that although Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of the five provinces, sounds very majestic, he can only directly command three armies: his own Tianxiong Army, Zu Kuan's six thousand Liao Army and Zuo Liangyu's
More than 12,000 troops.
But now Lu Xiangsheng discovered that Zu Kuan was disrespecting orders, and he estimated that Zuo Liangyu was also a half-hearted character. Lu Xiangsheng was a little annoyed. He worked on it for a long time. Although he was promoted from Xunyang Fuzhi to the governor of the five provinces, he
The one who can be commanded like an arm is his own Tianxiong Army.
It would be fine if that were the case, but my defense zone has expanded a lot, and my responsibilities have become much heavier. This seemingly glorious promotion has turned into looking for trouble. I really can only scold my mother.
Lu Xiangsheng's mind was going over and over again when he suddenly heard Yang Tinglin sigh: "The mountain nest ahead is a good place for an ambush."
Lu Xiangsheng knew the habits of his important staff. Everywhere he went, he liked to take a look at the terrain, especially the places where troops could be used. Yang Tinglin also liked to comment on it.
Of course, Lu Xiangsheng also has this habit. As a leading commander, it is instinctive to check the terrain. In addition, Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin are both literati. One of the characteristics of literati is that they like to point out the country.
So Lu Xiangsheng also followed Yang Tinglin's line of sight and looked over. It was indeed true. The terrain of the mountain nest in front was indeed very good, which was very suitable for an ambush. So at this time, Lu Xiangsheng seemed to have remembered something and began to ponder.
Suddenly, Lu Xiangsheng seemed to have made up his mind and loudly ordered: "Stop the entire army and set up an ambush on this mountain."
Yang Tinglin beside him suddenly felt confused, so he asked: "Superintendent! The front is open and it's just right to form a battle array. Although this mountain is good, the terrain is narrow and difficult to maneuver, and it will fall into chaos. If the rebel army is caught off guard, it's okay.
It doesn’t matter, but I’m close to the bandit army, and it’s hard to eliminate the traces of the army in a short time. If the bandit army is on guard, I’m afraid I’ll suffer too much damage!”
After receiving the battle report that Zu Kuan did not listen to orders and defeated Zhang Xianzhong's troops, Lu Xiangsheng was not motivated. He still led Tianxiong's army on a rapid march, hoping to take advantage of the victory to pursue Zhang Xianzhong's troops and expand the results. And God followed people's wishes, and Zhang Xianzhong's troops also
He happened to escape in the direction of the Tianxiong Army.
Also because he was escaping, it was impossible for Zhang Xianzhong to send enough reconnaissance cavalry to investigate far away. Therefore, Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army was now able to understand the actions of Zhang Xianzhong's troops, while Zhang Xianzhong's troops were completely unaware of the Tianxiong Army.
Of course, because there are always contacts and battles between spies from both sides, Zhang Xianzhong also knows that there is a Ming army in this direction. He just doesn't know which Ming army it is? Who is the leader? How many troops are there? However, if the two sides get closer, Zhang Xianzhong will also
You can definitely know that it is Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army who is coming.
Therefore, Lu Xiangsheng's original response was to speed up the approach to Zhang Xianzhong's troops, form an array, and take advantage of Zhang Xianzhong's unpreparedness to defeat the peasant army again. However, Lu Xiangsheng's order now completely overturned the original plan.
So Lu Xiangsheng explained to Yang Tinglin: "After a long journey, the men and horses are exhausted, so it is better to wait here for work. Although it is impossible to eliminate all traces, we will try our best to eliminate them. When the rebels find out, they are close and it will be more difficult to escape.
.As for chaotic wars, is there any army in the world that can compare with our Tianxiong army?"
Lu Xiangsheng's words caused a burst of laughter from the people around him. In a hand-to-hand fight, the Tianxiong Army was really not afraid of anyone. Yang Tinglin also knew that Lu Xiangsheng was a person who would not change easily after making up his mind, and what Lu Xiangsheng said was not unreasonable.
Therefore, he stopped trying to persuade him and filled the gap by saying, "Withdraw all spies to confuse the bandit army."
Lu Xiangsheng nodded and signaled to his subordinates to also execute Yang Tinglin's order. So the Tianxiong Army immediately moved into full force to remove the traces of the army's march and began to set up an ambush.
Within half an hour, Tianxiong's army disappeared behind the mountain. They were all resting cross-legged, nibbling dry food, and quietly waiting for the arrival of Zhang Xianzhong's troops. (To be continued...)