Between Biyang County and Tongbai County in the southwest of Runing Prefecture, more than 14,000 troops of the Runing Army were hiding in a small valley surrounded by mountains. Here, there was originally a fortress of Zhuangzi of the Runing Army.
, but with so many soldiers and horses gathered, Zhuangzi could no longer garrison any troops, so they could only set up a dense camp around Zhuangzi.
Since this military operation needs to be kept secret, it took more than a month for the Runing Army to mobilize from the headquarters camp to here. Not only did they march in batches, but they also strictly carried out the night march. As soon as it was daytime, the troops of the Runing Army
He hid in a village that served as a military station along the way.
This time, the Runing Army dispatched a teaching corps, a cavalry corps, a baggage corps, and a battalion of the artillery regiment. In order to prevent the mobilization of troops and horses from being discovered by outsiders, a group of children from the children's camp wore military uniforms and rode horses every day.
Howling past in the distance of Runing Fucheng, the artillery regiment remaining in the camp also fired intensive artillery fire every day, giving outsiders the illusion that the entire army was in the camp.
In order to keep it secret, Wu Shigong didn't even bring Tao Xin, the commander of the personal soldiers, and most of the personal soldiers with him. He only brought 300 personal soldiers led by Quan Dashan and rushed here. So it was not until the war started that the civilian officials of Runing Mansion came here.
I knew that Wu Shigong had left the camp.
Due to the consistent performance of the Runing Army, an illusion has been formed among the peasant army. That is, as long as it is not close to the area controlled by the Runing Army and as long as it does not invade the Xinyang-Wuchang line, the Runing Army will not take the initiative to attack.
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Not only the peasant army, but also the Ming army also had this illusion. Governor Lu Xiangsheng sent several letters requesting Wu Shigong's Runing army to enter Huguang to support operations, but Wu Shigong shied away on the grounds that he "failed to get the order from Governor Li Xianfeng!"
But no one knew that Runingjun was just waiting for an opportunity, waiting for a chance to have a good meal.
Nine years after entering Chongzhen, there was another severe drought in the entire central and northern regions. Although the Runing Army has built many water conservancy ditches in recent years, a significant reduction in production this year is already certain.
The Runing Army itself was not too afraid of a severe drought, because under Wu Shigong's morbid insistence, its food reserves were sufficient. However, the impact of the severe drought on the war situation was quite huge.
On the one hand, the peasant army is eager to grab food. On the other hand, a large number of refugees who have no food have joined the ranks of the peasant army. Anyway, it is a good thing for the peasant army.
Therefore, the current peasant army has been hovering in the Huguang area, the granary of the world. At this time, Huguang also stored a large amount of grain, preparing to transport it northward via waterways to supply the capital and border areas.
Therefore, since March, the Ming Army and the Peasant Army have been engaged in fierce battles. In every frontal battle, the Ming Army always had the upper hand. However, as the battle progressed, Yu Zilian's Ruzhou Army first withdrew from the battlefield.
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It's not that the Ruzhou Army's combat effectiveness is not good. The current Ruzhou Army has already earned a reputation as a "desperate man" among the Ming and peasant armies. No peasant army dares to fight head-on with the Ruzhou Army. The reason why
The reason for withdrawing from the battlefield was mainly because the logistics supply of the Ruzhou Army was no longer available.
Among the four Ming armies fighting in Huguang, because Lu Xiangsheng also served as the governor of Huguang, there must be no problem with the supply of food and grass to the Tianxiong army. As for Zu Kuan's Liao army and Zuo Liangyu's tribe, because they were both guest armies,
The people of Huguang were treated extremely cruelly. Under the threat of the butcher's knife, they also ate until their bellies were round.
The same cannot be said for Yu Zilian's Ruzhou Army. After all, Yu Zilian was a civil servant and had some rules for doing things, so he was a little reluctant to deal with the people of Huguang. In addition, he was not under the command of Governor Lu Xiangsheng, so he was in charge of supplying troops.
The superior was made things difficult by Lu Xiangsheng. So in the end, Yu Zilian couldn't bear it anymore, so he withdrew the Ruzhou army to rest near Dengzhou in Nanyang Prefecture.
However, once the Ruzhou army withdrew, the peasant army had more room for action. Although they still did not dare to fight the Ming army on the front, the peasant army was moving around and was joined by many local people who were killed by the Ming army, so
Their strength has increased instead of falling.
What is very interesting is that the Runing Army made a fortune during this period. Sihai Trading Company organized a large caravan to purchase looted property from the Liao Army and Zuo Liangyu and other Ming armies, and sold them to the Ming Army for grain, grass, and medicinal materials.
In terms of weapons, wine and other goods, Yu Zilian also purchased a lot of supplies from Sihai Trading Company.
Moreover, Sihai Commercial Bank even did business with the Peasant Army. Of course, many of the businesses with the Peasant Army involved spies from the Shanchuan Division and the Military Intelligence Bureau. During the period of doing business, those secret conversations also established contact with many leaders of the Peasant Army.
So unknowingly, the peasant army had almost forgotten that the Runing army was a man-eating tiger, and their scope of activities gradually expanded.
As June entered and the summer harvest season arrived, the Ming army and the peasant army began to compete for the harvested grain. Because the main force of the peasant army and the Ming army were entangled in the six counties of Yunyang, many small groups of peasant armies came over one after another.
He arrived in Xiangyang and wandered between Xiangyang and Wuchang.
The Runing Army found this opportunity and wanted to wipe out all the peasant armies in this area and plunder the grain back to the Huguang area.
"Shu Mo, He Fei! You two lead the teaching regiment straight to Zaoyang County. After that, Shu Mo leads a regiment to guard Zaoyang. He Fei, you lead the rest of the troops to defend the line from Zaoyang to Xiangyang and cut off the entry and exit of Shaanxi bandits.
The road." Because this time the plan drawn up by the Military Commander was used, so Wu Shigong brought Shumo and Chuge out.
"Master, what should we do if Zaoyang County doesn't let us enter the city?" Shumo asked.
"Then take them down!" Wu Shigong replied without hesitation, "Since we have violated the rules and entered Huguang, it doesn't matter if we take down another county. But you two must master the right measures to scare Zaoyang down.
good."
Wu Shigong then ordered: "Qian Qi! You lead the Runing Army to capture Huang'an County, guard the line from Huang'an to Wuchang, and block the other end."
"Zug, Sanhe! The two of you separate the three regiments of the cavalry corps and press forward in a flat manner. The first target is Suizhou. Then push the Shaanxi bandits to the Han River and eliminate them all."
Then Wu Shigong pointed at Shumo, He Fei and Qian Qi and said: "You also heard clearly, as long as Zug and others control Suizhou, you will also press inward to reduce the space for Shaanxi bandit activities."
Finally, Wu Shigong said to Yuan Shizhong: "Shizhong, you will take the baggage regiment and follow the cavalry regiment. Anyway, the main task is to destroy the Shaanxi bandits first, and then transport back grain and grass. The more the better! Anyway, you are familiar with this matter!"
Wu Shigong’s words immediately caused a burst of laughter! (To be continued. (.).)