In recent years, Wu Shigong took a group of guards for a walk in the camp. They led people and horses to walk in circles around the school grounds.
"Sir! In fact, if the Nanyang Army sends out one town from its headquarters, plus the three-pronged troops from the Guidexie Association, our Runing Army can wipe out Henan in just one winter. Keep those bandits, trouble!" Chi Ming said to Wu Shigong.
In order to make the classification of the troops clearer, Wu Shigong upgraded the troops in Nanyang to the army, which governed Tuanlian Town and Xiongchui Town, which was expanded from the Nanyang Army. There were a total of five legions with 18,000 troops. Zhou Xun was the leader of the Nanyang Army.
Commander. In order to distinguish, the Runing Army also canceled the name of the legion and changed it to "Xie". Therefore, the current organization of the Runing Army from small to large is: Squad - Company - Battalion - Regiment - Xie -
Zhen - Jun. It really feels like a mixture of ancient and modern names.
Due to two consecutive years of severe drought, local banditry that was finally quelled by the Runing Army and the Henan army has flourished again. Although these bandits dare not approach the areas controlled by the Runing Army, it is not difficult for the Runing Army to eliminate them.
No matter how powerful it is, having these flies "flying" around makes people feel uneasy.
"What? You've only been here for a few days and you want to do some activities? You don't want to spend more than a year. Are you bored with an old man like me?" Wu Shigong joked.
"How can that be possible? How can you grow old, sir?" Chi Ming laughed quickly.
"Compared with you, I am old. As soon as you entered my personal army this time, you immediately turned the personal army into a young guard. Who dares to say that he is not old?" Wu Shigong's joke caused a stir.
There was a burst of laughter. Although Wu Shigong was not yet thirty, compared with Chi Ming, Huang Ding and others who were less than twenty, he was indeed an "old man".
"Young Guards? That's a good name! Sir! Let's call our Guards this name from now on!" Huang Ding's eyes immediately lit up when he heard a term from later generations mentioned by Wu Shigong inadvertently.
"Okay!" Of course Wu Shigong was all-powerful, "But first I have to test you. Why don't I send troops to central Henan and northern Henan to clean up bandits?"
"Sir! The Nanyang Army cannot move now!" a soldier on the side warned.
"Oh? Your name is Zhao Gan! Tell me why?" Wu Shigong said with a smile.
Zhao Gan immediately stood at attention and said: "Compared with the bandits in central and northern Henan, the Zhang bandits in Gucheng are a greater threat. The Nanyang army wants to protect the Nanyang iron mines and prevent the Shaanxi bandits from invading Ruzhou. It needs to be guarded against
Zhang thief rebels again, so he cannot move lightly."
Zhang Xianzhong's acceptance of the Ming court's recruitment in Gucheng was certainly an expedient measure, but it cannot be denied that he was wavering in his thinking at the time and also made some very deceptive actions. Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong treated Xiong Wencan and other officials
The bribes were thick and many "godfathers" were found in the court. Although the Runing Army was certain and certain that Zhang Xianzhong was faking his surrender, it was impossible to send troops rashly to annihilate Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army.
However, spies from the Shanchuan Department and the Military Intelligence Bureau also found out that after being promoted, Zhang Xianzhong accepted the position of deputy general awarded by the imperial court and also received some food and salary. In his contacts with imperial officials, Zhang Xianzhong also tried his best to abide by the conventions of Ming Dynasty officialdom.
.Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong also went to Mianyang Port to meet with Prime Minister Xiong Wencan.
But in fact, Zhang Xianzhong always maintained the independence of the peasant army in Gucheng. Although he asked the Ming government for food and salary, he did not accept the Ming government's order to dispatch him to suppress other peasant armies, nor did he accept reorganization or demobilization. On the surface,
While he had frequent courteous interactions with local officials of the Ming Dynasty and local squires, he was always on guard and maintained a high degree of vigilance. Under the cover of being "approved", he made a lot of preparations for rebellion.
In terms of military affairs, Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army still kept its troops and weapons during the period of being "patronized". They continued to train soldiers and horses, maintaining a battle-ready system. They also purchased and built warships every day and forged extremely sophisticated weapons. Buy
Horses and weapons were being made, and everything was being done day and night, lest they fail. Anyway, they were working hard and making all preparations for rebellion.
In terms of economy, Zhang Xianzhong also practiced farming in Gucheng, and used his position as deputy general to order local gentry to pay the rent collected as military supplies. Zhang Xianzhong also changed Wangjiahe in Gucheng to Taiping Town and set up checkpoints in the town.
, half of all incoming and outgoing goods were levied to cover the cost of raising troops. It not only protected private trade, but also obtained necessary materials and equipment for the peasant army.
In addition, Zhang Xianzhong recruited a group of literati with gentry background as staff members to help plan the movement of military aircraft. Among them, the more famous ones include Pan Duao, a student in Yingcheng County, Hubei, and Xu Yixian and Wang Bingzhen from Gucheng. These people probably felt under the rule of the imperial court.
Those who were suppressed and joined the peasant army. For example, Pan Duao joined Zhang Xianzhong's army because he was fighting for land with the gentry in his county and was angry after losing the lawsuit.
The joining of these literati did some useful things for Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army. For example, Xu Yixian explained "Sun Wu Art of War" to Zhang Xianzhong, helped the peasant army make three-eyed fire blunderbuss, maces, ambush repeating crossbows, and guided the layout
The regimental camp square formation and the left and right camp methods improved the combat effectiveness of Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army to a certain extent.
Moreover, Xiong Wencan, the prime minister of the five provinces, and other officials were also greedy. Because when Xiong Wencan was the governor of Fujian and the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, he extorted a large amount of treasure by recruiting and surrendering Zheng Zhilong. After Zhang Xianzhong was pacified, he repeated his old tricks and bribed thousands of gold and pearls.
There was a lot of fighting, and tens of thousands of goods were sold. Zhang Xianzhong even smiled at his subordinates and said, "You are thinking of me as Zheng Zhilong."
It would be fine to spend money to eliminate the disaster, but those court officials not only extorted property, but some who harbored hatred for the peasant army also secretly planned and suggested to the court to take advantage of the opportunity of Zhang Xianzhong's troops stationed in Gucheng to mobilize heavy troops to annihilate them.
.Ruan Zhidian, the magistrate of Gucheng County, even prepared to murder Zhang Xianzhong by poisoning him.
So all this proves that Zhang Xianzhong will definitely rebel. It is just a question of how and when to rebel. But just look at the distance between Gucheng and Xiangyang, Nanyang and Runing, which means that the Runing army must be prepared
An army is always ready for Zhang Xianzhong's counterattack.
Wu Shigong was quite satisfied with Zhao Gan's answer. However, he continued: "Tell me more, why not mobilize Jiaochang Town and Yuanyue Town in the Dabie Mountains?"
This time Chi Ming rushed to answer: "Use the eagle to win over the rabbits, eliminate the bandit troubles in the Dabie Mountains, protect Runing, and guide the southern flanks of Germany and Germany."
Wu Shigong smiled and nodded. If the Runing Army launches a full-scale war, the main battlefields will definitely be in the west and north. Therefore, maintaining the security of the southern flank is very important. The Dabie Mountains have always been a gathering place for bandits, so the Runing Army can only eliminate this
Only when hidden dangers are detected can we confidently and boldly launch military operations westward and northward.
Furthermore, if the Dabie Mountain area is controlled, plus the Tuntianzhuangzi in Huanggang, Tongcheng and Lu'an, the Runing army can effectively threaten the official troops in Fengyang and the Beijing camp in Nanjing as long as they station one town here.
This prevented the two imperial armies from attacking the Runing army casually.
"Then you know why we can't send troops!" Wu Shigong asked again.
Chi Ming and the others nodded and said: "Because after the troops were sent out, Runing returned to Dekong. They were afraid that the Shaanxi thieves would enter Henan again."
After the grand military strategy of "spreading a net from ten sides" began, the Ming army was indeed going smoothly, with good news coming frequently. Moreover, the surrender of Zhang Xianzhong and Liu Guoneng also had a great influence on the leaders of the peasant army. In the encirclement and suppression of various Ming armies
, the momentum of the peasant army has been defeated.
But Wu Shigong knew that Li Zicheng's peasant army would sweep across northern China in the future. Therefore, it is definitely a temporary low period, and it will definitely come back in the future.
Moreover, the main forces of the various Ming armies are now concentrated in Shaanxi and Sichuan. If the peasant army wants to flee, the best place to flee is Henan and Huguang. And these two areas are the combat areas of the Runing Army. Therefore,
Wu Shigong has been preparing for a decisive battle with the peasant army.
"That's one reason. What else is there?"
"Guarantee the strength of our Runing Army and wait for the future war."
"This can be considered one. Is there any more?"
Chi Ming and the others looked at each other for a while, then shook their heads. Wu Shigong suddenly laughed: "You are not just protecting me when you are by my side, you have to learn more! It looks like I want to kick you to the war department to work hard."
Stay for a while."
"Let me tell you, there are also the following reasons: the financial resources of our Runing Army can only support such a large-scale military operation. No matter how much we do, we will have to eat a lot of food. When it comes to a full-scale war, where will the food and wages come from to support it?"
"Also, don't forget! We are the Runing army, and we can only fight in Runing and in Germany. When we go to Nanyang and Huguang, we are taking advantage of the fact that there are rebels there. But when we go to central and northern Henan, there is no court.
How can I handle the recruitment order?"
"However, don't be so discouraged. No one is born to fight. If you can become my personal guard, you should all have excellent combat skills, but now you have to learn how to command and fight. The former Rusong,
Xiao Xinzi is also studying, and I will not let them out until they have reached the full level of the teacher. If you cannot reach the full level of the teacher, I will not let you out by then!"
"promise!"
After the walk, Wu Shigong returned to the inner house. The butler Liu Yuan went out to greet him. Wu Shigong asked, "Have all the New Year gifts been given out?"
"I gave them all away!" Liu Yuan quickly replied, "Yes! But everyone else accepted them, except Mr. Sun from Lu'an."
Wu Shigong returned to the study, opened the letter written by Sun Chengxiu to himself, and read it at a glance. The more he read, the angrier he became. It was clear that what Sun Chengxiu had written was a letter of renunciation.
So after Wu Shigong finished reading, he slammed the table and shouted: "Tell Xue Zhinong to get over here."