Cars rumble, horses rustle, flags fly, and dust rolls.
Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses gathered on the land of Xinyang Mansion like trickles and returned to the sea. They meandered all the way north, gathered in Ruyang, and crossed Shangcai.
As the gathering place of the officers and soldiers continued to move forward, the atmosphere for the outbreak of war became increasingly intense.
On the opposite side, Li Zicheng's army had also gradually divided its forces from outside Kaifeng City and moved south, returning to the Yancheng area. It returned to the front line where it had stalemate with Zuo Liangyu half a year ago, and faced off against the Shen family's army that had just moved north.
The only difference is that Yancheng was still in the hands of Zuo Liangyu half a year ago, but now it is controlled by Li Zicheng. Therefore, if Chen Shuren wants to go north via this road, the geography will be more disadvantaged and there will be more key nodes to overcome.
Already.
Of course, everyone who knows military knowledge is aware of this geographical disadvantage, and will naturally be even less optimistic about Chen Shuren because of this.
It was September 18th. A Ming army of about 15,000 men, led by a general who looked like Zhang Fei with a steel needle-shaped beard on his face, slowly marched to Ruyang.
This person is Huang Degong, one of the four towns of Nanming in history.
Almost half a year has passed since he was assigned to Chen Shuren's control in March this year. This is the first time Huang Degong has received a combat mission to join up with friendly forces and fight side by side.
Who told him that there were no bandits to fight around the area he was responsible for before. After Lin Yangyang surrendered in the first month of the year, the area around the Dabie Mountains became completely peaceful. Huang Degong's troops were suddenly idle and had a rare rest of half a year.
At most, they can just beat those escaped bandits who are not controlled by Lin's training to warm up and maintain their condition.
As an aside, Huang Degong's troops were considered elite among the Ming army, at least not bad among the troops in the southern towns, and were second only to the Liaodong frontier army.
Among his 15,000 men, there are also 5,000 cavalry, which is a force that cannot be underestimated. The Chenshu people had been farming and developing for so many years, and they repeatedly beat Zhang Xianzhong and robbed the horses of the old camp in the north, which was nothing more than
Of course, Huang Degong's troops were not included in the six thousand cavalry.
After Huang Degong and Shen Shuren joined forces, the number of officers and soldiers assembled in Xinyang and the total number of cavalry could exceed 10,000.
At this moment, Huang Degong's men and horses were still more than twenty miles away from Ruyang City, but they suddenly saw smoke and dust billowing to the north, and a group of cavalry was coming towards them, but there were not many in number.
Huang Degong was not overly alert. He just held down the stick. When the distance was only two or three miles, he had clearly seen the opponent's flag. It turned out to be Zuo Zixiong, the commander-in-chief of Wuchang, so he relaxed.
After a while, Zuo Zixiong galloped up to Huang Degong, rolled his saddle and dismounted, raised his hands and saluted: "I have seen Mr. Huang, and Futai has been waiting in Ruyang City for a long time. Please ask Mr. Huang to discuss military aircraft."
Huang Degong originally did not expect that the other party would dismount, so he had no choice but to dismount when he saw this. However, he was not so strict in returning the salute. He just cupped his hands casually, unlike Zuo Zixiong who had to lean forward and bow slightly when cupping his hands.
While returning the courtesy, he sighed in a complicated tone: "Brother Zuo, why should you be so polite? You and I are both general soldiers, so we don't deserve it."
Zuo Zixiong was very sincere: "I deserve it, so how can I not! I will always remember that three years ago we were just a thousand households under the command of Mr. Huang. It was just a coincidence that we followed the right civil servants and moved here three years ago."
To the commander-in-chief.
Huang Zongzhen's tactics, military management, and martial arts skills are still admired by the general. If Huang Zongzhen had such an opportunity back then, and made meritorious service under a famous official like Shen Futai, who knew people well and was good at appointing people, he might even have been granted the title of Uncle
, received the title of general."
Huang Degong blushed at the compliments of his old subordinate. Fortunately, he had some understanding of the character of a rough guy like Zuo Zixiong back then. He knew that the other person was telling the truth and was not flattery, so he felt better.
.
However, although Huang Degong is also a rough man, after all, he has experienced so many years in officialdom, there are some factors in Zuo Zixiong's words that may offend people, and he still has to correct them.
Huang Degong coughed lightly and said: "The court is fair and the emperor is wise. Those who have made meritorious deeds should be rewarded. Your ability to be the commander-in-chief is the result of your own hard work. Of course, you have a civilian superior who is willing to fairly report the military exploits of his subordinates.
It is also very important and indispensable.
Huang stayed in the position of commander-in-chief for three or four years, but I had no opportunity to perform meritorious service and had no battles to fight. Governor Shi was also very kind to me in those days, but I failed to live up to my expectations."
Huang Degong had to say this, after all, there were so many generals from the Paoze department listening to him.
Zuo Zixiong could carelessly say that he was lucky to be with the right civil servant. If Huang Degong didn't say so, wouldn't he have forgotten his roots and "felt that Shi Kefa was not a good leader, at least not as good as Shen Shuren, and he could not get promoted even if he followed Judge Shi Ke."
No new boss would dare to re-employ a person who has forgotten his roots.
What's more, Shi Kefa was really good to Huang Degong in the past few years, and his treatment was at least as equal as a bowl of water. But he himself didn't have the ability to quickly achieve meritorious service and get promoted, so naturally he couldn't take Huang Degong with him.
Shi Kefa is simply lacking in ability, not in character.
"Mr. Huang is right. The general made a mistake. Let's not talk about it. We can't let Shen Futai wait in a hurry. In any case, the battle is right in front of us. If you follow Shen Futai, you will definitely make a contribution.
The opportunity to be rewarded. Last year Liu Guoneng was awarded the title of General Polu, and Mr. Huang is loyal and courageous. Is it still far behind?"
Zuo Zixiong obviously realized that he had offended people with his words, and quickly made up for it. He didn't mean to praise anyone, but Shen Futai was really awesome. To be honest, he could make other colleagues feel uncomfortable.
Head.
Only then did Huang Degong nod with satisfaction. He had a thorough understanding of his old subordinate's thoughts. At the same time, the other party's personal experience made him full of enthusiasm. He secretly thought that he must follow Shen Shuren this time and get the title of general.
…
The group quickly entered Ruyang City and met Chen Shuren.
Chen Shuren was also full of joy. In the past few days, he temporarily requisitioned the county government office in Ruyang City as a temporary headquarters to convene the generals to discuss matters. Huang Degong had just arrived today, and it was indispensable to set up a wine to welcome the wind.
Of course, alcohol is prohibited in the army during war, but the troops have just joined forces, so there is no need to get too serious. Moreover, Shen Shuren also knows that Huang Degong is addicted to alcohol. Every time he goes to charge and fight, he will "drink more than fight"
", so the control over alcohol cannot be very thorough.
"Mr. Huang, hello and well. I haven't seen you for a few years. With you and General Liu working together, our army will definitely save Kaifeng in this battle."
As soon as the two sides met, Shen Shuren was very friendly, showing no respect for civil servants at all, and got along well with the generals.
"Shen Futai is too polite. I will just follow the others and fight with my life. We will fight as Futai tells us." Huang Degong also hurried over to greet him, and he couldn't help but compare Shen Shu and Shi Kefa in his heart.
Shi Kefa was also a very upright person and would not embezzle the credit of his subordinates. He had clear rewards and punishments. Unfortunately, as the leader of the Donglin Party, Shi Kefa always felt alienated from military commanders.
Chen Shuren, on the other hand, could not see the pride of being a second-ranked Jinshi at all. Even for a general like Liu Guoneng, who was once a bandit, he could offer a cup of wine to him with all his heart. Liu Guoneng was so moved that he refused to give up.
After having a few drinks, Liu Guoneng couldn't help but talk about Shen Shuren's righteousness back then: not only did he send troops to reinforce him, but he also took his son to Nanjing to join the Imperial Academy, and he was also a decent "yin prison", allowing him to serve in the old Liu family.
You can also become a scholar from now on.
If it weren't for Shen Shuren, he might have died in Ye County and Yancheng area last year. So he would do whatever Shen Futai asked him to do.
(Note: Historically, Liu Guoneng was attacked and killed by Li Zicheng in Ye County and Yancheng area in the 14th year of Chongzhen).
Huang Degong had heard about these things before, but today was the first time he witnessed Liu Guoneng's respect for Shen Shuren and his obedience to orders. He was secretly frightened and a little hot-headed at the same time.
However, Huang Degong still knew the soldiers after all. He also knew the current strength gap between the two sides. Li Zicheng had 300,000 or 400,000 troops. How could it be easily defeated by the army?
After drinking too much, Liu Guoneng, in order to show his loyalty, blindly preached, "As long as Shen Futai lets us attack, we will do our best to attack, and we cannot let Shen Futai down." This also made Huang Degong a little worried.
He found an opportunity and asked tactfully: "I wonder how Futai and Ruyang, who have gathered together this time, plan to fight the intruders and rescue Kaifeng? The intruders have newly broken up Yangge Lao, Governor Sun, and are in great power. And Yang
The old and the new in the pavilion will inevitably affect the morale of our army."
As soon as Huang Degong said these words, Shen Shuren just smiled slightly, but before he could answer, Liu Guoneng became unhappy. He didn't drink as much as Huang Degong, so he got a little more energetic, so he patted the table and said:
"Huang Chuangzi! Everyone in the world says that you are not afraid of death, but it seems that you are still inferior to us. I will fight how Shen Futai tells us to fight! There will be no frown on my brows!
As for Mr. Yang Ge who just died of illness, can this also be used as a reason to be timid in fighting? Shen Futai and I have both been appreciated and supported by Mr. Yang Ge, and we are just in time to repay the favor. This is called a sad soldier who will win!"
Huang Degong was not a good-tempered person and retorted directly: "Who is afraid of death! This is not to ask Futai what his plans are. If you really kill more enemies to serve the country, I will rush faster than you!"
Chen Shuren saw that both of them had hot tempers and were about to quarrel, so he quickly talked and laughed calmly and said, "Now we are asking the two generals to work together, how can they argue over such a dispute?
It is understandable that Mr. Huang is worried that I will make a desperate move. But don’t worry, do I look like that kind of reckless person? Of course Mr. Yang Ge’s kindness of knowing me and meeting him must be repaid, and it is true that the soldiers who mourn will win.
, but I will never worry about it.”
When Shen Shuren said this, he paused calmly and glanced at Liu Guoneng and Huang Degong, and both of them became quiet.
When Shen Shuren continued to glance at Zuo Zixiong, the other commander-in-chief who was accompanying him at the bottom, Zuo Zixiong directly stated that he would obey orders. The atmosphere in the venue was completely calm, and no one dared to say anything again.
They were all talking and listening to Shen Shuren's orders.
Chen Shuren nodded and continued: "For the current plan, the enemy is strong and we are weak, but our army can last for a long time with more food. It is beneficial to us to continue the stalemate. What we want is to work step by step, ensure the food route, and achieve the goal of success."
Fight hard and fight hard to advance.
In this way, we can force the Chuang army to fight with us instead of us going to find a decisive battle with the Chuang army. By then, the weather, time and place will be on our side, and when the weather cools down, it will be even more unfavorable to the attacking side, and the Chuang army will inevitably have to endure more
of weakening.
There were grains stored around Kaifeng Prefecture, and it was barely enough to last until this year's autumn harvest. Li Zicheng attacked from April to September, destroying Henan's farming throughout the year. I heard that the invading army had already begun cannibalism.
Now our autumn grain has just been harvested, but the two or three houses closest to the intruders have almost no harvest. That is to say, Liu Zongmin and Li raided Huaiqing in July, and Wei Hui grabbed some of the uneaten summer grain.
If the delay continues, as long as winter comes and Li Zicheng has not yet conquered Kaifeng City, he is afraid that he will start to kill each other. The old and weak in the army will start to eat, or at least eat the women and children who have been kidnapped, and the morale of the invading army will inevitably be low.
"
Liu Guoneng and Huang Degong listened very quietly. After Chen Shuren's analysis, they became more confident and more determined and confident in serving Chen Shuren.
I know that this is a good leader who values the lives of his soldiers, rather than those civil servants who only regard casualties as numbers and have no idea.
But things are definitely not that simple. Huang Degong has been fighting for so many years and knows the importance of logistics. He immediately pointed out some common sense:
"Although our army has food after the autumn harvest, can the defenders in Kaifeng City hold on for so long? Will they run out of food? According to common sense, each city's food reserves are generally eaten after the autumn harvest, with at most a slight surplus.
Quantity. It is already the autumn harvest season, and there is no new food supply in Kaifeng City, so it will surely be exhausted soon, right?"
Chen Shuren nodded approvingly: "Of course, both sides will think of this. A siege battle, in the first one or two months, may be a fierce attack. Once it cannot be attacked by force for two months, the rest of the time
The morale of the city's side must have been low, and it will be difficult to quickly defeat the city by relying on tough battles and heaping lives.
Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng from April to September, which made it clear that he was not sure of a quick victory. I estimate that starting from July, he was already thinking of waiting for the people in the city to starve to death and the soldiers to have no desire to fight.
Hope to use siege etc. to turn things around.
Therefore, it was only in July that Liu Zongmin and Li sent troops to attack Huaiqing Weihui. This led to His Majesty mistakenly believing that Sun Chuanting and Yang Gelao had the opportunity to defeat the intruders one by one - unfortunately, it was a misjudgment in the end.
For the current plan, what we need to consider is how to ensure that our grain road can be pushed as close as possible to the fortress, and to build a strong fort at the front and store more grain. Then we try to divide our troops to open one direction of the siege camp.
Try to send a batch of food and supplies and ammunition into the city.
As long as the food route can be opened and the invaders realize that after their offensive has weakened, the few months they spent besieging the city without food were in vain, and the morale of the invaders will naturally collapse."
Huang Degong frowned after hearing this, but he felt that Shen Futai was a bit idealistic: "We don't seek a decisive battle with the Chu army, but we want to transport food to Kaifeng City? How should we do this?"
Shen Shuren: "We don't know yet, but we can take the first few steps and plan every step to create opportunities for the enemy to make mistakes first.
At the same time, we must also try to build momentum and disperse the forces of the intruders to ensure that when we advance, there will never be too many enemies in front of us, at least we will not have to face the entire force of the intruders at the same time - I already have some ideas for this step, but for now
I can’t say yet, just wait and see the results.
In three to five days at most, and in six or seven days as slowly as possible, you will be able to see that the invading army in Yancheng will be divided. By then, our pressure will be even less, and it will be much easier to continue to advance."
Chen Shuren knew that there were some individuals in Liu Guoneng's army who had maintained inextricable ties with the bandits. Before he could completely reorganize the army, it was better for his confidants to know some things.
After all, those deceptions and rebellions in civil wars do not require the intervention of military generals. Civilian staff are enough to handle them.
Liu Guoneng and Huang Degong had no objections and did not think that Shen Futai was wary of them. They happily accepted this setting and decided to follow Shen Shuren to observe for a few days.
It is Shen Futai's job to deal with the mental matters. They are only responsible for the part of the knife after Futai gives the order. At least for now, it seems that Shen Futai's ideas and overall policy are correct.