In order to avoid being surrounded by the Ming army, Zhang Xianzhong decided to march west to Fang County and first meet up with Luo Rucai and other troops. On May 23, Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army arrived in Fang County. Luo Rucai, Bai Gui, Hei Yunxiang and other three troops responded immediately.
The joint siege of Fangxian County began on the 24th. The county magistrate Hao Jingchun and others resisted stubbornly. By the 28th, the city was no longer able to resist. Zhang Sanxi, commanded by Yunyang Guards in the Ming Dynasty, opened the north gate and surrendered, and the peasant army occupied Fangxian.
, Hao Jingchun, the county magistrate, was executed.
At this time, Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang who had been silent for a long time, also regrouped from the hidden Shangluo Mountains and entered Henan via the Yunjun area of Hubei. Although his strength was still small at this time, he finally survived.
On May 19, the twelfth year of Chongzhen, outside Xiangyang City.
"Kunshan! The governor's fortune will be entrusted to you." At this time, Xiong Wencan had completely put down his body and bowed to Zuo Liangyu.
"Superintendent, don't panic! You are just a clown, and the general will be captured soon. But the Superintendent must also step up and lead the main force of the army to respond. The time has come, and the general will set off first." Zuo Liangyu also immediately knelt down to return the salute.
road.
"Please! Please!"
When the news that Zhang Xianzhong rebelled again in Gucheng reached the capital, the imperial court was immediately shocked. Emperor Chongzhen immediately sternly condemned Xiong Wencan for his inability to suppress the war and ordered him to perform meritorious service. Xiong Wencan seemed to have a premonition that a disaster was coming, and quickly sent his troops
Official Zuo Liangyu led his troops to suppress the enemy, hoping that a lucky victory would end his guilt.
At this time, Zuo Liangyu's tribe was the most combat-effective unit under Xiong Wencan. Although Xiong Wencan was very stingy with other Ming troops in terms of food and salary supply, he always favored Zuo Liangyu's tribe. Because Xiong Wencan also knew that he still had to have someone around him.
It is better to support troops that can fight.
So while the peasant army was recuperating, Zuo Liangyu was also expanding his army. At this time, the troops under his direct and indirect command had reached more than 46,000 men. And the troops directly under Zuo Liangyu exceeded
Twenty-five thousand people.
However, because the army expansion was too fierce, Zuo Liangyu dispersed his troops widely and asked them to collect them on the spot. That is to say, they looted the people on the spot. Therefore, when the news that Zhang Xianzhong rebelled again reached Xiangyang, Zuo Liangyu was able to
Only 12,000 men and horses were gathered in a hurry.
According to Zuo Liangyu's original idea, he would of course gather his troops before going to encircle and suppress the peasant army. But Xiong Wencan couldn't wait any longer, because he was afraid that any delay would cause the entire situation to get out of hand.
The situation is now somewhat clear: Zhang Xianzhong has rebelled again. After capturing Gucheng, they turned to Luo Rucai and other troops in Fang County to join forces with Luo Rucai to attack Fang County. But except for these two largest peasant armies, in Junzhou
There are also more than 20,000 peasant troops in the five battalions of "approved" Wang Guangen, Wang Guoning, Hui Dengxiang, Chang Guoan, Yang Youxian and others.
If the more than 20,000 peasant troops in Junzhou rebelled against each other again, there would be wars all over the place and it would be difficult to control. So Xiong Wencan wanted Zuo Liangyu to exterminate Zhang Xianzhong as quickly as possible, and Luo Rucai to resist the peasant troops again.
The peasant army in Junzhou was not allowed to respond. In order to immediately contain the situation of the peasant army's further rebellion, it created a good condition for the main force of the Ming army to encircle and suppress the enemy on all sides.
So Xiong Wencan began to persuade Zuo Liangyu to use force and force. Finally, after offering a series of favorable conditions, Zuo Liangyu finally agreed to take the 12,000 men around him to the expedition.
After Zuo Liangyu was transferred to the mainland, he has been fighting on the front line against the peasant army. And so far, he has won more victories than lost, and has repeatedly made military exploits. After Cao Wenzhao's death, he has become a vague
In the eyes of the imperial court, he was the number one general in suppressing bandits.
Here, of course, Wu Shigong was ignored. Because Wu Shigong had a bad relationship with Emperor Chongzhen and local officials, the court treated Wu Shigong's military exploits with indifference, which led to the treatment of Runing's army.
No publicity, no rewards. In the late Ming Dynasty, when information dissemination was very limited, people in both the government and the public did not know much about the situation of the Runing Army.
Therefore, Zuo Liangyu's military talent should be recognized. However, he also has some other advantages. For example, he is very capable in commanding his subordinates, which makes other Ming army generals willing to obey Zuo Liangyu's command. Of course, his subordinates
The method is basically to make everyone rich and allow his subordinates to loot the place. So Zuo Liangyu's subordinates are satisfied, but the local people will suffer.
In addition, Zuo Liangyu was also very loyal. For example, Hou Xun was the first person to promote him from a sidekick to a general, so he always respected Hou Xun very much. In the past two years, Hou Xun was in the household department.
When he was the minister, he was dismissed from office, arrested and imprisoned. Although Zuo Liangyu and Wu Shigong did not go to court to intercede at that time, Zuo Liangyu still maintained a close relationship with the Hou family. When they marched to Hou Xun's hometown Guide Mansion, he
We also make an exception and do not rob or harass.
Therefore, when Xiong Wencan begged Zuo Liangyu to send troops, Zuo Liangyu did not hesitate and immediately sent troops. Since Xiong Wencan's food and salary supply was tilted towards Zuo Liangyu, Zuo Liangyu would contribute to Xiong Wencan. At this point, Zuo Liangyu
It is still possible to make clear the distinction between grudges and grudges.
Of course, Zuo Liangyu was also confident with these 10,000 troops. Since the sixth year of Chongzhen, when he was promoted to the chief military officer of the Suppression Relief, Zuo Liangyu, who was only 32 years old at the time, his troops also changed from the original
The number of troops increased from 2,000 to more than 10,000.
In the battles of the past few years, there were dozens of general officers from various towns who fought against the peasant armies in the Central Plains and Northwest China, but most of them did nothing. They were either defeated and killed on the battlefield, or were dismissed and punished by the court.
Zuo Liangyu stands out and always maintains strength and dignity.
Zuo Liangyu himself was also brave and strong. Although he was illiterate, he was very scheming and able to unite his soldiers. The imperial court's military pay was always insufficient, so he sent troops to plunder everywhere. This was also introduced above.
Anyway, the common people and even the gentry all over the country hated and feared the Zuo Army. The folk slogan at that time said, "Thieves pass by like a comb, soldiers pass by like a grate." Wherever Zuo Liangyu's army passed, it was like combing his hair with a grate.
The place was robbed cleanly. In particular, he also knew how to conserve his strength. He would stay away from enemies who were too tough and refused to carry out the orders of his superiors. However, the governor, Fu and the court were unable to do anything to him.
Therefore, after these six or seven years of suppressing bandits, he has gathered a group of strong soldiers and generals who often go their own way. In fact, he has gradually begun to become a warlord. Unlike Wu Shigong, Wu Shigong's Runing Army is
It was a warlordization without the support of the imperial court, while Zuo Liangyu was a warlord with the support of the imperial court.
So in this situation, Zuo Liangyu was a little proud. He didn't understand that Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other peasant armies had strengthened their strength through rest, recovery, so he thought it was enough for him to bring more than 10,000 troops.