On the last day of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, after Li Laiheng received the news that Guo Junzhen had captured Anlu, he immediately decided to move the Suizhou Commander's Mansion and Macheng's headquarters to Anlu.
After all, Anlu is the capital city of De'an Prefecture. Although De'an Prefecture is a state capital with a small population and a relatively poor area in Huguang, the capital city is more grand and majestic than the prefecture city and county seat after all. Anlu City is spacious and has a relatively poor area. Located on the northern edge of the Jianghan Plain, it is richer than Suizhou and Macheng, which extend from the southern foothills of the Dabie Mountains. Moving the headquarters of the Huguang Army here does have many benefits.
The fourteenth year of Chongzhen was an extremely important year for the Chuang Army. After one year of development, the overall strength of the Chuang Army had grown from thousands of elite soldiers and tens of thousands of subordinates to 50,000 to 60,000 combat soldiers, with a family of nearly 200,000. the point.
The strength is strong enough to compete with the imperial court.
When Li Laiheng took advantage of Shenzhuang's military coup to send troops to sweep across Juma, Li Zicheng also ordered all battalions to march around Kaifeng. He asked Tian Jianxiu to lead a force of troops to go west, passing by Zhongmou, and captured Zhengzhou, Xingyang, and Xinzheng , Changge Zhuxian, cut off Kaifeng's west road to provide relief, and at the same time collected food and grass for Cao's army.
Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai, together with the elite main force of Cao's coalition forces, stepped up the siege of Kaifeng City. Only Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan who stayed behind in Kaifeng, Gao Mingheng, the patrol commander, and general Chen Yongfu, Gao Qian and others were not easy people. They spread rumors in the city. After Li Zicheng broke the city, he massacred the entire city, leaving no chickens or dogs behind, forcing the Bian people to defend with all their might. The intruders attacked Bianmen for more than 20 days, but still failed to capture Bianmen.
At this time, Zuo Liangyu led another 20,000 troops to the south of the Chuang army. Although the Chuang-Cao coalition army had the numerical advantage, due to the long siege of Kaifeng, the soldiers were tired and unable to attack the Zuo army, so they could only fight with the Zuo army. The army held a stalemate near Yancheng, resting soldiers and horses, collecting grain and socks, and waiting for an opportunity to surround the left army.
Zuo Liangyu, who was outnumbered, went on the defensive in order not to be surrounded by the rebels, and pinned his hopes on reinforcements from Qin Governor Wang Qionian.
Although Wang Qiaonian knew that coming to Henan to suppress bandits was to feed tigers with meat, he did not have the excuse to go to Jiangbei to pursue Zhang Xianzhong like Ding Qirui, so he had no choice but to disobey the imperial edict. He had to take He Renlong, Niu Chenghu, Zheng Jiadong, and Fang Guoan and other four generals, with a total of more than 40,000 horses and infantry, first arrived in Luoyang, and then defeated Tian Jianxiu's partial division in Xingyang, preparing to break the siege of Feng.
The official army includes 40,000 Wang Qiaonian's Qin soldiers in Xingyang, and 20,000 Zuo troops in Yancheng. In addition to the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians trapped in Kaifeng City, the total force is still higher than the 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers who broke through Cao's coalition forces.
Moreover, Wang Qiaonian defeated Tian Jianxiu's partial army in Xingyang, which further enhanced the fighting spirit and morale of the officers and soldiers.
He Renlong was not convinced by the Chuang army. He believed that Fu Zonglong was defeated in the Battle of Xiangcheng because the governor had problems with his troops, which made the officers and soldiers exhausted, so he was defeated by Li Zicheng. This time the officers and soldiers won first in Xingyang. He also sent troops to plunder Xingyang, Zhengzhou, and Mi County, and replenished the supplies of grain, fodder, mules and horses, which greatly increased his strength. With Zuo Liangyu's cooperation, he will surely win a great victory.
The plan of the official army was that Wang Qiaonian marched east from Xingyang and Zuo Liangyu went north from Yancheng. The two armies met at Zhuxian Town to lift the siege of Kaifeng. He Renlong took the lead and led the elite troops from He Town to Zhongmou. Wang Qionian then sent troops to He Town. Many more cavalry were added, and the horses' hooves were heard shaking the ground, like a storm. Wherever it passed, yellow dust billowed, and the force was extremely strong.
After Tian Jianxiu was defeated in Xingyang, he was unable to resist the eastward advance of the army, so Li Zicheng had to send Li Guo to Zhongmou to reinforce Tian Jianxiu and Li Shuangxi.
When the situation was at its most critical, Li Guo himself was slightly wounded and his horse was killed by He Zhen's artillery. He had to dismount and fight on foot, fighting hand-to-hand with the officers and soldiers, killing several people in a row, and seizing the horse to break through, and then he could hold Zhongmu.
A nearby pass.
He Renlong knew that Li Guo was Li Zicheng's nephew and a first-class general of the Chu army, so he personally led hundreds of cavalry and galloped left and right in an attempt to capture and kill this man.
But Li Guo's character was known for his tenacity. He stood firm in Zhongmu and fought with He Renlong for two days and two nights. He Zhen could not gain any advantage, but suffered heavy casualties. Tian Jianxiu and Li Shuangxi's
The defeated troops had successfully retreated to the rear. Seeing that Li Zicheng mobilized several more troops to aid Zhongmu, He Renlong had no choice but to give up the raid on Zhongmu.
It was only at this time that Zuo Liangyu seized the fleeting fighter opportunity and quickly moved north from Yancheng to the front line of Zhuxian Town. Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai briefly discussed it and both agreed that they must capture Zhuxian before the army arrived.
Fairy Town.
Zhuxian Town is a very famous town in Henan. It has been famous since the Song and Jin Dynasties. In ancient times, there were two roads from the south to Kaifeng, or from Kaifeng to the south. The east road went from Shangqiu to the southeast and crossed the Huaihe River.
It goes to the north bank of the Yangtze River, and then either goes to Nanjing or Yangzhou, and the road splits again. The west road passes through Zhuxian Town, from Xuchang, Ye County, Nanyang to Xiangyang, and then goes to Hunan and Guangdong and Guangxi via Wuchang, or to Jingzhou along the Yangtze River.
Sichuan.
When the gentry, sons, and merchants from Yunnan and Guizhou want to go north, they also go through Xiangyang, Nanyang, and Zhuxian Town, and then cross the Yellow River from Kaifeng to the north. As for people from the prefectures and counties in southern Henan, they go to the provincial capital, Beijing, or Shandong.
Zhuxian Town is also the only way to go. Therefore, Zhuxian Town has always been famous, not just because Yue Fei once stationed troops here during his attack on Jin Wushu.
Both Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai believed that the rebels could never give up Zhuxian Town easily, so they decided to withdraw Li Guo who was guarding Zhongmou and gather troops for a decisive battle with the official army in Zhuxian Town.
Most of Liu Fangliang and Luo Yanqing's troops were cavalry, so the rebels sent them south to seize Zhuxian Town first. But Zuo Liangyu moved very quickly, and he sent Ma Jinzhong to rush into the town almost at the same time.
It had just snowed, the fog was very heavy, and the sky was dark and unclear. Many cavalrymen of the intruder army lost their way halfway and did not arrive at Zhuxian Town on time. Therefore, they did not have an advantage in terms of strength. Liu Fangliang and Luo Yanqing had to drop everything and go back.
They fought a bloody battle in the town. In the end, Ma Jinzhong was not determined to fight. After a small defeat, he did not dare to fight, and took the initiative to withdraw from Zhuxian Town while the fog was heavy.
Liu Fangliang was also afraid of being ambushed, so he did not continue the pursuit. He only occupied Zhuxian Town and all the key passes outside the town, waiting for the arrival of the main force of the coalition forces.
Soon, a huge army of more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, both official and rebel, gathered within and outside Zhuxian Town for twenty miles.
With the Yuewang Temple in Zhuxian Town as the center, the Allied Forces of Invading Cao spread out, dug trenches, and built forts; while the official army centered on Shuipoji and faced Zhuxian Town, built many camps and dug trenches outside the camps.
The trench.
Both sides had equal strength, and the battle gradually evolved into a stalemate of positional warfare and a war of attrition. The confrontation lasted for more than ten days to see who could hold on longer.
Who can occupy the Central Plains and who can gain a favorable situation in the world depends on the outcome of this battle.
Luo Rucai was an experienced commander. At this juncture, he was wary of being used as cannon fodder by Li Zicheng and his strength being weakened. He was also afraid that the army would focus on him and incur unnecessary losses.
That night he did not call Luo Dain, Luo Yanqing, Yang Chengzu and other close associates, but secretly discussed with Ji alone. Ji persuaded Luo Rucai to seize the opportunity and not to make Li Zicheng's wedding dress in vain.
He advised: "Today, the imperial court spent a lot of effort to gather these 60,000 elite soldiers. Together with the auxiliary troops, the number of troops is no less than 100,000. It is not easy to get, but it is also a desperate move. If the official army is completely defeated, it will be
In the current situation, King Chuang will definitely chase him to the north. How many soldiers can Wang Qiaonian and Zuo Liangyu withdraw? I am afraid that even one tenth of them will be difficult! Once things develop like this, Li Zicheng will dominate the Central Plains, and he will be very proud by then.
, the commander-in-chief is in danger."
Luo Rucai lowered his head and thought deeply. He also believed that the reason why Li Zicheng valued him very much and tried his best to win over him was just because the court still had the power and had to do so. If this battle really wiped out all the officers and soldiers, maybe King Chuang would attack him
A poisonous move.
Over the past ten years, he has experienced a lot in the rebel army. Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimps, you want to find my loopholes, I want to take advantage of you, Cao Cao not only saw these things many times, but also himself
I've been through a lot.
"Now that the matter has come to this, we must fight. But judging from your point of view, it seems that you do not advocate the elimination of the army. So what should we do?"
Ji smiled coldly, his eyes turned cold, and replied: "Today we want the officers and soldiers to suffer defeat, or if we want the officers and soldiers to fall into great difficulties, this will be easy to do. Even if they want their entire army to be defeated, it will not be difficult. Now
It depends on how far we want it to be defeated. In my opinion, we can let it suffer defeat and get into trouble, but we don’t have to make it completely defeated. It must be noted that as long as the power of the official army is there, we, Cao Ying, are here. Today all the official army is there
If it is destroyed, it will be difficult for our Cao camp to join forces with King Chuang tomorrow. This matter is so clear, can it be that the commander-in-chief still doesn’t see clearly?"
"I understand everything you said. Just tell me. How do you do it?"