On October 17, the eleventh year of Chongzhen, in the study room of the Wu Mansion in the Runing Army Camp.
"Hey——! When the time comes for the troops to be used, I will regret the lack of them!" Facing the staff who had gathered together again, Wu Shigong couldn't help but sigh.
"Chang Jing! Who is writing this letter?" Deng Qifan's question caused a burst of laughter.
"It's Liu Hezhou of Caozhou." Wu Shigong also said happily, "He wants our army to march along the canal, take care of each other, and escort them to the Tongzhou camp."
"Isn't this disrupting our march time? The longer we delay, the more rampant the Tatars will be, and we are afraid of being blamed by the court!" Xue Yongli immediately frowned.
Since Yu Zilian from Ruzhou and Li Lu from Nanyang wrote letters one after another, the plans for sending troops and deploying troops of the Runing Army have changed, which annoyed Xue Yongli, who was in charge of the Military Command Department, so he had an instinct for Liu Zeqing's letters.
Disgusted.
"Liu Hezhou is hard to refuse!" Knowing Xue Yongli's displeasure, Wu Shigong explained with a smile, "Liu Hezhou has 20,000 Lu soldiers across the canal from Guide. It is very important to have good relations with him. If anything changes, at least
It remains neutral. Alas—! The Fourth Battle Area where the Runing Army is located is too troublesome."
"Actually, this is not a bad thing. It is always better to go to the capital later." Zhang Zhiheng on the side interjected.
Zhang Zhiheng's words caused everyone to nod. When they received the order from King Qin a few days ago, the top brass of the Runing Army had reached a consensus: they must go, but the later the better.
Because there has been a gap in the relationship between Wu Shigong and the imperial court, if the Runing army resists the imperial edict, it will immediately intensify the conflict. The removal of King Qin has at least maintained the relationship between the two parties and will not let the imperial court take the lead.
Point your gaze towards yourself.
But the Runing army does not want to bear the brunt. The Qing army has just entered the pass and is at the peak of its momentum. If the Runing army engages in a fierce battle with it, the best result is that both sides will suffer losses. In case of a disastrous defeat, it is more likely to be irreversible. So you
The Ning army planned to let other Ming armies consume part of the Qing army's strength first, and then follow them to pursue them when they retreat, trying to gain some advantages.
But now that we are marching along the canal, there is a reason to delay for some time, which is actually in line with the consensus of the Runing Army.
"But how can the court explain it?" Xue Yongli asked again.
"If you don't bother the two masters, let's let Ye Jianjun report it!" Wu Shigong replied, "It's still to prevent Shaanxi bandits."
This is not the excuse that the Runing Army is looking for. Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and the others surrendered too close to Runing. Although Xiong Wencan was full of promises, the Runing Army unanimously believed that these peasant soldiers were faking their surrender. In addition,
Yu Zilian once again threw the burden of Ruzhou to Wu Shigong, so the Runing army needed to rearrange its forces.
Zhou Xun's Nanyang army could not move at all. Because of the departure of Yu Zilian and Li Lu, he had to defend a vast area from Nanyang to Ruzhou, and his troops were actually stretched thin. Moreover, his troops still needed to be transferred to the defense area.
The two towns of Xue Yong and Tao Xin in Huguang cannot be moved. They want to defend against the peasant army in the west and frighten Fengyang in the east. The official troops in Nanjing are afraid that when the main force of the Runing army is dispatched, these troops will make a surprise attack on their nests.
The Runing headquarters also has to leave a considerable number of troops. This time, it has left two assistants, commanded by Yang Rusong. All of this requires appropriate mobilization. If the mobilization is not completed, Wu Shigong will not trust you.
The main force of Ning's army took it away.
Of course, Wu Shigong also used the supervisor Ye Zhong. He asked Ye Zhong to report secretly to Emperor Chongzhen: In order to prevent the resurgence of civilian thieves, General Ye Zhong would supervise the remaining Runing army to prevent the surrendered peasant army from rebelling again.
But Ye Zhong has nothing to be unhappy about. At least this time he escaped and went to the battlefield again and can enjoy peace of mind in Nanyang. So this is just mutual use!
"Do we need to adjust the troops going out? I learned from the people who escaped across the Yellow River that the Tatars have more than 100,000 troops!" Xue Yongli asked again.
Wu Shigong thought for a while, and finally decided: "Let's stick to the original ones! With these troops, we can protect ourselves! Then send a fast horse to chase Gang Commander, tell him not to go to Yizhou, and join Qifa first. Sit down
The ship went north along the coast to the northernmost unfrozen port, and then rushed to join the main force."
After such a long stalemate, Zheng Zhilong finally agreed to send a ship to rotate to Huang Qi's headquarters in Taiwan. This time, the Marine Corps led by Gonzalez was transferred. The ship replacement location was at the dock of Songjiang Prefecture. In order to increase
With his own strength, Wu Shigong also mobilized this army.
"But the time of the expedition needs to be adjusted later. Let's set it in early or mid-November! Smart! This matter will be left to you. Choose an auspicious day."
Wu Shigong's words caused a burst of laughter, and Zhizhi protested with a bulge: "The monk is a Zen Buddhist, and it is Taoist priests who choose the auspicious days of the zodiac." The laughter in the room became even louder, and no one paid attention to Zhizhi's complaint.
"Then let's do this for now. When I lead the army to go out, you will have to work hard here in Runing." Wu Shigong finally said.
Everyone also stood up and said goodbye, but at this time, Zhang Zhiheng and Zhi Zhi were at the end. Seeing Wu Shigong looking at them in confusion, they said in unison: "Sir! The student (junior monk) has something to say."
Seeing the tacit understanding between the two of them, Wu Shigong laughed again. The others also excused themselves firstly. Seeing that there were only three people in the room, Wu Shigong first said to Zhi Zhi: "Little monk, I know what you want to say!"
You want to go on an expedition with me. I'm not willing to do that. But why is a monk like you so murderous?"
"Of course it is our duty to eliminate demons and protect the Tatars, but the monk's several expeditions failed to defeat the Tatars. It's really... Oh! But the monk has one more thing to ask for: when he returns from this expedition, the monk will be appointed as the Department of Medicine.
If you want to resign, you should choose another hero!"
Zhi Zhi was a fool, and Wu Shigong couldn't convince him for a moment, so Wu Shigong shook his head, turned around and asked Zhang Zhiheng, "What's the matter with Mr. Zhiheng?"
Zhang Zhiheng smiled and replied: "Working with the intelligence master. I hope you will bring your students with you. If you have any official documents, the students can do a thing or two for you."
Wu Shigong thought that during this expedition, he might have to deal with the imperial court, and he really needed a staff member who was familiar with the imperial affairs. And Zhizhi couldn't persuade him, so he might as well agree to the two of them!
So Wu Shigong nodded and said: "Forget it, I won't stop you. But you must stay in the Chinese Army. The military is too dangerous and the sword is ruthless, so you need to be more careful!"