In late August of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Yang Sichang, the cabinet minister and supervisor, moved from Xiangyang Prefecture in Huguang to Shu to supervise the war.
At that time, before this, the Superintendent Yang Sichang had ordered to supervise the army, and Dali Youpingshi Wan Yuanji had gone to Shu first, coordinating the Shu army generals to strictly guard Ba, Wu and other dangerous places, and ordered the Shaanxi Qin army generals to congratulate Renlong.
Li Guoqi, Huguang generals Zhang Yingyuan, Wang Zhifeng, Zhang Zuokai and others were dedicated to pursuing Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and the thieves.
On September 6th, the Ming army fought with Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan, but was defeated by the Guanyin Rock. As a result, Zhang Xianzhong broke through the Jingbi, and Dachang fell into the hands of Xian's thieves. Eventually, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai's troops fled into the hinterland of Sichuan.
This also caused Yang Sichang to be dissatisfied with Shao Jiechun, the governor of Sichuan.
After Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai captured Dachang, they advanced to Kaixian County. Zhang Ling, a famous general in Shu, led his troops to guard Zhujunping. They offered their thieves to divert the invaders. Zhang Ling fought hard with them for a long time, but in a melee, he was hit by a stray arrow and died.
, the Ming army under his command was defeated and retreated.
Zhang Ling was a famous general in Shu and had been in northern Sichuan for a long time. Although he was more than seventy years old, he could still use a five-stone crossbow immediately. Anyone who hit it would pierce his chest. He was known as the "God Crossbow General" in the army. He was defeated and died.
, all the armies in Sichuan were seized by it.
Soon after, the Xianthief army successively attacked Kaixian, Jianzhou, Baoning, and finally entered Hanzhong. They defeated Sichuan Governor Shao Jiechun's troops in Peijiang and captured Mianzhou. The commander-in-chief Yang Sichang was shocked to hear that the Shu army was defeated and imprisoned Sichuan Governor Shao Jiechun.
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On the tenth day of October, after a fierce confrontation in the court, with the persistence and hard work of Emperor Chongzhen and Minister of War Chen Xinjia, Zhang Cheng's request was finally agreed to.
On October 17, official documents from the Ministry of War were also delivered to Yongning City. Due to Zhang Cheng's outstanding political achievements under his rule, the number of farmland and military households increased, and for his role in suppressing bandits and putting an end to the rebellion, Zhang Cheng was promoted to the rank of commander and commander of Wandu City.
He served as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Xuanzhen Branch Guard, stationed in Yongning, and supervised the military affairs of the Yongning Guards, Baoan Guards, North Road Kaiping Guards, and Longmen Guards on Xuanfu East Road.
In addition, Zhang Cheng wrote many memorials on August 17, mentioning many things, which are also mentioned in the official documents of the Ministry of War.
First, Zhang Cheng requested to set up a garrison at Dushikou to strengthen the defense against the northern barbarians. The Ministry of War approved it in writing and appointed Sha Zhongwang, a resident of Qianhu in Dushikou, as the garrison officer at Dushikou Fort at Zhang Cheng's request.
Secondly, Zhang Guodong, the former commander of Kaiping Guards, was promoted to the rank of commander of Kaiping Guards and guerrilla general; the commanders Chen Zheng and Zhang Guangda were also promoted to the rank of commanders of Yongning Guards and guerrilla generals; for Wu Zhizhong and Wei Zhice, they were just
He was promoted from Kaiping Guard Commander Qian Shi to Commander Tongzhi, but was not appointed as a guerrilla general.
Third, Gao Jinggong, the former guard of Longmen Station, was transferred to Chicheng garrison to replace Zhang Guodong; Xu Jinyong, the former Dishuiya Thousand Household, was promoted to the guard of Longmen Station to replace Gao Jingong.
In addition, there was also a message from the Ministry of War to mobilize troops. As the bandit situation in Henan was fierce and increasingly difficult to control, Zhang Cheng, the deputy commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen, was specially assigned to lead his elite troops to assist Henan in wiping out the bandits and stabilizing the place.
Moreover, due to the urgent military situation, Zhang Cheng's official uniform, waist badges and other belongings have been sent to Yongning. He was also told not to go to the capital to thank him. After the army was prepared, it was scheduled to go to Henan to suppress bandits.
After seeing this letter, the generals understood why the Ministry of War so readily agreed to everything Zhang Cheng had requested in his previous memorial. It turned out that they were first given a sweet date, promoted to military rank, and then sent to serve the imperial court.
Work hard.
Zhang Cheng warmly entertained Zhang Ruoqi, the head of the Staff Department of the Ministry of War, who came to convey the order, and even stayed with him in Yongning for two days. The two seemed to hate each other for having met so late, and they had a good rapport with each other.
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The reason why the imperial court urgently transferred Zhang Cheng to Henan was because of the opinion of Chen Xinjia, Minister of War.
Since Zhang Xianzhong rebelled in Gucheng around the Dragon Boat Festival in the twelfth year of Chongzhen, it was convenient for Luo Rucai, Li Zicheng, Ma Shouying, Lin Chengcheng and other thieves to respond to each other at the right time, and to clash between Hubei, Henan, Sichuan and Shaanxi.
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Later, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other thieves gathered their troops and broke into the hinterland of Sichuan. However, for some unknown reason, Li Zicheng sneaked into the Yubelly Mountain alone. He was unable to support himself, and the thieves under his command were also in difficulty.
Many of Li Zicheng's men surrendered to the army. Even he himself almost wanted to commit suicide, but was dissuaded by his adopted son Li Shuangxi. Liu Zongmin, a huge thief in his tribe, actually killed his wife and children and vowed to follow Li Zicheng to the death.
When the rest heard about it, many of them killed their wives to swear an oath.
In mid-September, taking advantage of Zuo Liangyu's Ming army moving into Sichuan to intercept Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai took the opportunity to personally lead the Eighth Army to find an opening and rush out of Wuguan, passed Yunyang, and entered Henan.
After Yang Sichang heard the news, he hurriedly ordered Xing'an Dao troops to prepare for the attack, Zhang Jingdu led Liu Hongqi, Wang Guangen, Hu Congyao and other generals to join forces with the Henan governor to suppress it.
However, Henan has been experiencing severe drought for three consecutive years, especially this year. It has also been plagued by locusts all over the fields. The land is bare for thousands of miles, and countless people are hungry. Villages have been starved to death, and many people in the city are killing people and eating each other. It is extremely cruel.
As soon as Li Zicheng entered Henan, he was like a fish in water. He first attacked the inner countryside and rested temporarily while waiting for the brigade and his family members to arrive to rendezvous. Then he successively destroyed the forty-eight forts in Xiong'er Mountain, supplemented military supplies with the food and grass from the local powerful, and recruited and coerced them.
The hungry people in the surrounding areas regained their momentum.
At that time, after hearing the news, Lao Dangdang, Yi Dougu and other thieves who had been operating on the border between Sichuan and Shaanxi also brought their troops to the meeting. In addition, Henan Baofeng Juren Niu Jinxing entered the bandit camp and persuaded Li Zicheng to "ban
Li Zicheng was overjoyed and "introduced him as the mastermind".
The news of bandits from Henan spread to the capital, and the government and the public were shocked. None of the ministers had a way to control it. Only Chen Xingjia, the Minister of War, strongly recommended Zhang Cheng of Xuanzhen to enter Henan to fight against the bandits, and sent a unit of the Beijing camp to Henan to help.
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On October 18, Zhang Cheng immediately dispatched troops and generals at the General's Office in Yongning City.
First of all, it was determined that Wu Zhizhong would stay in Yongning City, and the right part of Song Shanquan, the Qian Commander of the Dushi Infantry Battalion, was moved to Yongning City. They were combined with more than a thousand people from the former Deputy General Soldier Battalion to form one battalion, and were temporarily placed under Wu Zhizhong's command.
Secondly, Chen Zheng was ordered to lead the central battalion of the Dushi Infantry Battalion to move to Chicheng Castle, and take over the central New Army battalion under Zhang Guodong to stay in the Chicastle Battalion to intensify training.
Finally, the arrangements for the expedition were made, with Zhang Guangda leading the cavalry battalion of more than 1,800 men as the vanguard, Wei Zhice commanding two carriages and one chariot, and together with Lin Fangping's escort troops, they formed the central army.
Zhang Guodong commanded the infantry battalion as the rear force, which included Qian Commander Cui Shijie's left, Chen Dakuan's middle, and Jin Yong's right, totaling more than 3,000 infantry troops.
In this expedition, Zhang Cheng led three troops with a total of 9,000 troops. It can be said that they were all elite. In the eyes of others, Zhang Cheng might have made a fuss out of a molehill.
But he himself knows that the intruder at this time has been defeated repeatedly, and the more he fights, the braver he becomes, and he has the potential to be reborn. If he is not careful in fighting against him, he will be doomed!
But the North Road and the East Road are the foundation for him to settle down in this world. Therefore, Chen Zheng was left in Chicheng to guard the North Road, and Wu Zhizhong was left in Yongning. The purpose was threefold.
The first is to properly train the more than a thousand soldiers of the auxiliary camp so that they will be both capable of fighting and loyal to themselves in the future; the second is to guard the nail that he planted on the east road; the third is because
Zhang Cheng once again raised the banner of recruiting brave soldiers, and Wu Zhizhong was already an expert in this regard.
Nothing was going right, so Zhang Cheng stood up and said loudly: "The strategy has been decided, everyone, please rise up. Five days later, on October 23, the army will set off for Yu Province."