Chapter 623: Tune the Tiger away from the Mountain
In fact, until now, everyone, including Zuanshan Bao, still does not believe that Liu Guoneng colluded with the government, because Liu Guoneng also used his old foundation in the battle against Huang Degong.
Besides, in the late Ming Dynasty, when wars were fought, it was quite common for the Ming army and the peasant army commanders to have contact, and both sides would exchange information. It was not an exchange of ideas, but at least it was a function of propaganda and psychological warfare, so
These leaders didn't think in that direction at all.
Why did Zhuanshan Bao say this? It was just to find a reason to prove the justice of his inferiority. But the reason he was looking for happened to be the truth.
On September 15, Zhuan Shanbao volunteered to be the vanguard and led more than 10,000 people to conquer the dilapidated Wuwei County again. After that, he invited Liu Guoneng, Jin Xiong and other leaders of the Chinese army into the city for a banquet.
Although Liu Guoneng entered the city, his long career of licking blood made him very cautious, so Liu Guoneng refused the banquet on the grounds of being tired and just spent the night in the city.
The plan failed, so Zhuanshan Leopard immediately used the second plan. He attacked Liu Guoneng's residence in the middle of the night. However, Liu Guoneng, under the desperate protection of his guards, climbed up the city wall and jumped out of the gap, saving his life. But Jin Xiong did not.
Unfortunately died.
After daybreak, Liu Guoneng learned that the mutiny was in chaos. Liu Guoneng could not distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, and he did not dare to gather his troops. With only more than 10,000 people from his old camp, he immediately surrendered to the following Runing army.
On September 18, Xue Yong suddenly heard of the mutiny and immediately ordered his three legions to pursue in three directions. Since Liu Guoneng's remnants were scattered all over the mountains and plains, these three legions were entangled in chasing the mountain leopards.
Unsuccessful.
On the same day, Tao Xin's troops, who had already reached Lujiang River, encountered nearly 20,000 people from the Zuanshan Leopard Division who had fled in a hurry. Tao Xin thought that the Zuanshan Leopard Division was Liu Guoneng's unit, so he did not let his troops move from the marching state at all.
Changed to combat status. Just sent people to contact the Zuanshan Leopard Department.
However, as soon as the liaison officer approached Zuanshan Leopard's headquarters, he was ordered to shoot by Zuanshan Leopard. So the two sides immediately started an encounter.
At the beginning of the battle, Tao Xin's tribe was quite passive. They were not prepared for the battle, and they encountered a group of poor bandits, so they were caught off guard, and the battle once reached a state of hand-to-hand combat.
What followed was a hard fight. Because there were too many recruits in the newly formed legion, many recruits were panicked when they encountered the enemy's rear in a hurry, and even forgot basic tactical movements. They only knew how to run around like headless flies, and the entire army was in chaos.
It wasn't until Tao Xin personally went into battle and rushed to the front line with 300 soldiers that the entire front line stabilized. During the battle, Tao Xin's ax and gun handle was also broken. His armor was also hit with holes and holes, but fortunately he only suffered a few blows.
Got some minor injuries.
Taking advantage of this gap, the newly formed army finally formed its formation. The subsequent battle was lackluster. The Zuanshan Leopard Division was just a piece of cake. When the Runing Army started a formal battle, they immediately collapsed.
It wasn't until after the prisoner interrogation that Tao Xin learned that Liu Guoneng's troops had mutinied. But by this time, the Zuanshan Leopard had already left with more than 6,000 remaining troops, and it was too late for Tao Xin to pursue him. So, he could only wait.
Stay where you are, waiting for Xue Yong to join you.
This time Liu Guoneng's recruitment was completely anticlimactic, which made Xue Yong and Tao Xin feel dejected. They immediately sent the news back to Runing, but Wu Shigong did not criticize him. He still wrote a kind letter to comfort these two people.
After the Diamond Mountain Leopard returned to the Dabie Mountains, he immediately went on a killing spree, killing thousands of the family members of Liu Guoneng's soldiers. To this end, according to Wu Shigong's order, Liu Guoneng's old battalion was organized into a corps, and was combined with the Huguang Army to form a corps.
Yuanyue Town. Tao Xin also became the commander of Yuanyue Town, and Liu Guoneng was the deputy commander.
Yuanyue Town and Jiaoji Town, each with two legions, also started to suppress bandits in the Dabie Mountains, in order to completely wipe out Zuan Shanbao and others.
This bandit suppression operation was carried out very hard, lasting eight or nine months. During this period, it was impossible for these two towns to launch military operations elsewhere. Fortunately, this period of time was also rare.
During the period of calm, these two towns regarded the bandit suppression as actual combat training for new recruits.
"Eunuch Lu! You can't delay any longer. We are the officers and soldiers of South Zhili. Now we are in the land of Prime Minister Xiong. We are afraid that dogs will get rid of mice. It will be a thankless task!" one of Lu Jiude's staff advised.
After hearing this, Lu Jiude's bloodshot eyes looked straight ahead. He sat motionless, seemingly without any reaction. After a while, Lu Jiude came back to his senses, and he sighed.
In a tone of voice, he said: "The Zajia family just can't figure it out. Why are they so clearly divided in fighting the bandit army? It's just a matter of breath!"
After Lu Jiude joined Liu Yuanbin and Xu Ming, the entire army reached 25,000 people. After resting for a while, Lu Jiude led this army to chase the Zhang and Luo coalition forces.
But Zhang and Luo's armies were very cunning. They moved at the right time, and their whereabouts were erratic. From time to time, they would drop some cannon fodder and play a trick of a golden cicada escaping its shell, causing Lu Jiude and Zuo Liangyu's tribe to suffer miserably.
At this time, news came again that Liu Guo was able to pass through Chuzhou and invade Yangzhou.
An urgent message was sent to Nanjing City every day, urging Lu Jiude to lead his troops back. Because the place where Lu Jiude was chasing was already Huguang, which was already the territory under the responsibility of Xiong Wencan, the prime minister of the five provinces, Nanjing City asked Lu Jiude to
Don't mind your own business.
Gradually, Lu Jiude couldn't resist anymore, but he was unwilling to do so. He was about to block the Zhang and Luo coalition forces. If he returned eastward now, wouldn't all his previous efforts be wasted?
But Lu Jiude also understood very well that he had just taken up the post of Nanjing garrison eunuch, and his foundation in Nanjing was not yet solid, so if he didn't go back, impeachment memorials might be flying all over the sky.
"The captured spy said that the bandits will take this road. Just wait for three more days!" Although Lu Jiude was in command here, he still discussed with everyone in a pleading tone.
Seeing Lu Jiude like this, everyone at the meeting felt soft in their hearts. But just when they were about to nod, a general rushed into the tent excitedly. He reported: "The bandit army is in the northwest three
Appeared ten miles away."
Lu Jiude suddenly stood up excitedly and loudly ordered: "Gather the whole army and follow the Za family to kill the thieves!"
"Godfather! The Eight Kings were generous this time and gave us this road. We are not like the Eight Kings who have so many burdens. As long as we hurry up for a few days, we can get rid of the official dog."
Yang Chengzu said cheerfully.
"The Eight Kings are unambiguous in their conduct." Luo Rucai also touched his short beard and said with a smile: "If he hadn't taken the initiative to speak, I would have been embarrassed to divide the troops. We have to be righteous. After getting rid of the official dog, if we can help,
Just give the Eight Kings a hand!"
"Hey!" Yang Chengzu nodded quickly in agreement.
At this moment, a fast horse suddenly galloped up. Before the horse could stop, the spy loudly reported: "Your Majesty! Eunuch Lu's troops were found ten miles ahead."
But before Luo Ru could wake up from the shock, another spy came flying over, and he reported again: "Your Majesty! On our right, the officers and soldiers of the left thief are coming!"
Luo Rucai suddenly thought that this road was recommended to him by Zhang Xianzhong, and he immediately understood it, so he cursed: "You bad guy wants to send us into an ambush and let him escape on his own. What the hell is that right?"
Bo Yuntian’s Eight Kings? Bullshit!”
"Godfather! What should we do?" Yang Chengzu was also worried.
"What else can we do? Run away! If you escape one by one, what the hell! This place in the south of the Yangtze River is so evil. After we get out, we should go back to Shaanxi." Luo Rucai was so angry that he started to speak indiscriminately.
"Then I'll get someone to stop me! Godfather! Take the brothers away quickly!"
Zhang Xianzhong, who was entangled by the army, came up with a trick to divert the tiger away from the mountain. He took the initiative to give Luo Rucai a way, and then sent someone to secretly report to Lu Jiude and Zuo Liangyu, and threw Luo Rucai out as an abandoned son.
Luo Rucai was indeed fooled, and he was ambushed by Lu Jiude and Zuo Liangyu. Under Yang Chengzu's desperate resistance and abandoning almost all his belongings, Luo Rucai barely escaped.
Fortunately, Zuo Liangyu helped a lot. When his soldiers saw the property all over the ground, they immediately stopped chasing and looted on the spot. Moreover, the looting was very lively, and even chased Lu Jiude's troops.
The road was also blocked. So in the end Luo Rucai's losses were bearable. He suffered nearly two thousand casualties. At least the skeleton of his army was completely preserved. After that, Luo Rucai led his troops and headed towards the direction without looking back.
Traveling to Shaanxi.
After Zhang Xianzhong took advantage of Luo Rucai, he also successfully withdrew his troops to Hubei. As Lu Jiude's army returned eastward, Zhang Xianzhong, who only faced Zuo Liangyu's Ming army, was under great pressure. However, this time South Zhili
The trip also caused him a lot of wear and tear. Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't wait to take some time to recuperate.
Unexpectedly, his drowsiness met his pillow. Xiong Wencan, who was serving the prime minister's campaign in Xiangyang, followed the policy of focusing on appeasement and sent people to recruit Zhang Xianzhong. Zhang Xianzhong also expressed his willingness to accept the appeasement and sent people to give Xiong Wencan a batch of treasures, including two
A piece of jasper more than a foot long and two pearls of diameter.
Xiong Wencan, who was greedy for money and good stuff, was of course very happy. He thought that by recruiting Zhang Xianzhong, he could easily defeat Zhang Xianzhong and collect endless treasures, so he tried his best to propose to the court to recruit Zhang Xianzhong.
And these success stories were reported to the court, which made Emperor Chongzhen elated. The two great lords Zhang Xianzhong and Liu Guoneng were successfully recruited one after another. Wouldn't it mean that the world would be peaceful without any effort?
At this time, the soldiers and pay for the "Net on Ten Sides" presided over by Yang Sichang had also been prepared.