At dawn on March 20, the 15th year of Chongzhen, the generals and supervisors of the Zuo Army stationed in Xiangyang, Fancheng and other places along the river, including military supervisors, Zan Hua and other civil servants, except those who had to stay in the flood areas, all gathered to "pacify the thieves"
General's headquarters hall.
It was still dark, and the lights in the lobby were bright. At first, everyone was chatting with each other in the lobby and talking in low voices. When the three o'clock in the morning came, the drums sounded from the second door, and the hall was silent for a while.
After a while, Zuo Liangyu, surrounded by the generals of the Chinese army and several generals, left the backyard festival hall, entered the lobby through the back door, turned around the screen, and appeared in front of the civil and military personnel who stood respectfully.
Although his body was not as good as before after the defeat of Zhuxian Town, on the surface, he still looked as normal and very majestic.
Zuo Liangyu sat down on the tiger-skin-covered chair in the middle. Without speaking, he coughed lightly and glanced at a Chinese general standing next to him.
The general immediately placed a yellow and a red brocade box in his hands respectfully on the case. Everyone knew that the yellow box contained the emperor's imperial edict, while the red box contained the Ministry of War or other central government offices.
As well as emergency messages, military messages and urgent reports sent by governors.
Seeing that Zuo Liangyu had sat firmly, the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Army said to everyone: "All civil and military personnel are divided into groups to attend!"
After everyone had finished attending, Zuo Liangyu said softly: "Sit down!" Everyone said in unison: "Thank you for your seat." Then they all sat down on the stools arranged.
Everyone was in a nervous mood, and they all looked at the commander, hoping to tell the good or bad fortune of the entire army from his face.
Zuo Liangyu glanced at the civil and military personnel and began to speak: "Today I am sending a message to all of you..."
All the civil and military officials suddenly stood up and listened solemnly. Zuo Liangyu did not ask everyone to take a seat, but continued: "It is because the vanguard of the bandits, led by the famous leader Gao Yigong and Guo Junzhen, has attacked Jingshan and Jingling in Chengtian Prefecture yesterday.
In the second county, there is another Li thief coming to Heng to accuse the trespassers and hundreds of thousands of soldiers. They will also come soon. Chengtian Mansion is where the emperor's mausoleum is located, so there cannot be any negligence. The emperor has repeatedly issued strict orders, instructing our army to stick to Chengtian.
, Defeat the enemy's fierce attack, then advance to suppress it, restore virtue, Huang, don't let a single thief leave Chu."
Standing next to Zuo Liangyu was his confidant Dong Yuan. Dong Yuan also said: "The warnings from the Ministry of War are flying like snowflakes, hoping that our army will stick to Chengtian and prevent the traitors from attacking the emperor's mausoleum again. All the princes and generals will suffer from this."
I am so kind to you. No matter how dangerous the situation is, we should not let down the entrustment entrusted by the imperial court and let the royal mausoleum fall into the hands of thieves."
Zuo Liangyu didn't wait for the generals to speak and thought to himself: "King Jing who was granted the title of Qizhou has just died for his country in the past few days, and the emperor is already furious. Chengtian is where the imperial mausoleum is. If one of them falls, we will not be able to escape the death penalty."
Everyone was shocked when they heard the word "death penalty". Some people turned pale, but others thought it was nothing special. Ma Jinzhong, for example, didn't think the emperor's strict decree had any power now. He whispered: "
The King of Heaven is not short of hungry soldiers. The general has repeatedly urged the emperor to pay more, but there has been no movement from the emperor. How can we go to defend Chengtian Mansion?"
When the generals of the Zuo Army heard this, they nodded one after another, but Huang Shu, the patrol commander of Huguang next to Zuo Liangyu, turned cold and scolded: "The intruders are said to have hundreds of thousands of troops, but after all, they only have 20,000 soldiers.
There are not as many soldiers as Zuozhen. You are all people who have received the country's favor. How can you bear to watch the important land of the country fall into the hands of thieves? What's more, there is a widespread rumor that Li Thief came to Heng, and in Germany, Huang Erfu pretended to be benevolent and righteous, and pretended to practice good government.
, The money and food accumulated are like mountains. If we can kill this thief, won’t all the money and food belong to the generals?"
Although Huang Shu was a speculative person, he also regarded "suppressing the intruders" as his promotion ladder. Therefore, when he failed to persuade the generals with righteous words, he used the words "Dehuang, Taiping and Fushu" rumored on the road to come.
To seduce people.
Ma Jinzhong wanted to retort a few words, but Jin Shenghuan looked at Zuo Liangyu's expression and his posture today, and understood that the general must have made his decision. He pulled Ma Jinzhong from behind and told him not to say any more.
Sure enough, Zuo Liangyu said first: "The situation is extremely serious at the moment. I hope that you will all work together, serve the country with all your loyalty, and strictly abide by the military orders of this branch. If anyone acts without authorization or flees first when seeing the enemy, he will not be spared! Everyone is staying here this morning.
When you go to the camp, don't leave without taking a step before eating. Wait for the call from the army, and go to the festival hall to listen to the instructions from the camp. Everyone, please retreat!"
Then General Zuo returned to the festival hall, and the commanding army invited the important generals, supervisors, staff, and state officials into the festival hall in turn.
"You all know the current situation very well. The safety of the whole Chu and the good and bad luck of the three armies are all on my shoulders. I read poetry and books, was promoted from a soldier to a commander, and was awarded the title of general of ping thief. To this day
, exhausted mentally and physically. If any of you have any clever ideas, please tell me quickly and let me make a decision."
The generals and civil servants looked at each other, but no one stood up to speak. After waiting for a long time, the deputy commander-in-chief Li Guoying came out and said: "I have bad opinions in my humble position, so I dare not speak out rashly."
"If you have any good advice, just tell me."
"Commander, recent thieves have falsely claimed the name of benevolence and righteousness. Li Laiheng's military governor is very strict. He has the so-called six-point order to kill the army, and the restrictions are extremely strict. The people of Xiangchu are attracted and bewitched by this, and they are afraid that our soldiers will kill too much, so they often let the thieves know.
Report the news, transport food and carry guns. Our troops march in Xiangchu, as if they were in the enemy's country, and the thieves will be at ease. If the situation remains like this for a long time, our troops will be exhausted by the Chu people, and the intruders will benefit the Chu people."
The "Six Orders to Kill Military Orders" stated by Li Guoying were a set of military laws formulated by Li Laiheng after repeated discussions with the first batch of students from the Suiying Academy and based on the specific conditions of the army.
First, the men and women of the army were prohibited from entering the countryside to collect food, destroying people's houses, looting property, and raiding medicinal shops and prefectural and county offices.
Secondly, it is forbidden to catch and sell tea and water indiscriminately, sell porridge and rice as porters, and conceal and defraud brothers in the army from their luggage.
Thirdly, the orders are not to allow shopkeepers to make fires and sleep on the way, which will delay the journey. They must keep in touch with each other and must not fall out of line.
Fourth, it is forbidden to burn houses or go out on roads or houses.
Fifth, it is forbidden to kill the old, weak and unable to carry men.
Sixth, everyone must obey the commander's orders and distribute them, and must not be willful and push forward or backward.
These six military orders cover all aspects of military discipline, and even govern the hygiene of soldiers. Although military discipline has always been among the "robbers" and is called the highest, it lacks explicit restrictions after all. Li Laiheng gradually formulated new military regulations and laws, which will further strengthen the military discipline.
The marching and combat discipline of Huguang's army naturally played a big role.
But when Zuo Liangyu heard this, his face turned completely gloomy. Could Li Guoying be mocking Zuo Zhen for his poor military discipline?
However, when Zuozhen's army was in full swing, there were 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers, and now there are 30,000 soldiers. However, Chongzhen only paid 20,000 soldiers. Didn't the soldiers and horses have to rely on "feeding the people" to feed them?
Zuo Liangyu looked hesitant and reprimanded Li Guoying a few words. He said that he was not loyal, filial, and righteous, and was good at calling Ma Renyi, and was suspected of trying to rebel against Zhang. Thanks to the dissuasion of Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shenghuan, and others, Dong Yuan also persuaded Zuo Liangyu,
Now we are in a hurry to "handle the invasion", and we should not punish the general for a small mistake, so Zuo Liangyu was given a break.
"According to the detailed reports over the past few days, it seems that the intruders are currently mainly attacking Chengtian. Since Germany and Huangqian are rich in food, it is just right. Our army can enter Zaoyang, rush to Suizhou, break through De'an, and then occupy Yingcheng and march
Huangzhou. If all the money and food accumulated by the invading army is in my hands, the vanguard army will be like a lonely hanging. If it wants to defend, it will have no support. If it wants to leave, it will have no way to retreat. At that time, all the generals will rise up and they will be able to defeat the bandits."
Huang Shu still wanted to use the money and food savings of De'an and Huangzhou to stimulate the fighting spirit of the Zuo army. He repeatedly emphasized that De'an and Huangzhou were rich, but Zuo Liangyu did not express his position directly. The general must have a full set of plans to defend against the enemy.
Strategy, but no one could see through his mind, not even his close adviser Dong Yuan and his son Zuo Mengeng.
Zuo Liangyu hummed twice without answering directly, and the conversation ended.
After dawn, notices from "General Ping Tie" were posted on important roads inside and outside Xiangyang, saying that he was "siting in Xiangyang to suppress the traitors" and asked the people to "live their lives in peace and not to panic", and reiterated the ban on rumors and investigation.
Take the spies' strict orders and ask the soldiers and the people to "obey them with all sincerity."
After Zuo Liangyu had breakfast, he rode out of the camp gate under the protection of a large group of generals. After inspecting the defenses of Xiangyang City with Huang Shu and others, he suddenly shook his hands and said to Huang Shu and Dong Yuan: "Chengtian City is strong
, thieves will not be able to defeat them. Nowadays, there is a shortage of food in Xiangyang. Although the army is gathering food everywhere, the Chu people are unruly and do not use it for me. The food is so poor that we have to find a way out for the army. I cannot repeat Fu Zonglong's failure in fourteen years.
, we should crush the Li thieves and recapture Suizhou!"
Zuo Zhen was defeated after returning from Kaifeng, and his military discipline was so poor that it was now difficult to maintain logistical supplies even by carrying out food raids. These factors prompted Zuo Liangyu to make up his mind not to send troops to rescue Chengtian Mansion, which was under threat from the invading army.
Attack Suizhou with the main force, seize the grain and grass stored by the Chuang army, and regain Germany, Huang!