On February 17, the 14th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, banners were fluttering outside the city of Ruzhou, Henan Province, and nearly ten thousand troops gathered here.
Zhang Cheng, the commander-in-chief of the Beijing camp, Chen Jiugao, and the commander-in-chief of the Henan camp, Chen Yongfu, have been here for more than three days. They only sent troops from Kaifeng city after the Lantern Festival Lantern Festival on January 18.
It passes through Weishi, Yanling, Weichuan, Changge, Xinzheng, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, Xiangcheng, and finally enters Ruzhou City through Jiaxian and Baofeng.
At this moment, Zhang Cheng, Chen Jiugao, Chen Yongfu and other generals had all been awarded imperial decrees. Especially Zhang Cheng had learned that the imperial court was preparing to transfer him to rescue Liaodong.
Chen Xinjia even told him in a private letter that the current crisis in Liaodong was related to the survival of the Ming Dynasty. Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, wrote several times to ask Zhang Cheng's troops to come in for reinforcements.
The emperor has also agreed that this matter must be done. After Fu Zonglong, the new governor of Shaanxi and Trilateral, leads his troops into Henan, he will lead his troops into Liao, so Zhang Cheng needs to make plans early.
He also informed Zhang Cheng that the Emperor had agreed to leave a force of Xuanzang soldiers and horses stationed between Weihui and Huaiqing to protect Huaiqing Mansion in Hebei Province, especially Zhu Changzi, King of Lu in Weihui Mansion, and the Crown Prince of Fu Fan who temporarily resided in Weihui.
, In addition, we must coordinate Chen Yongfu's troops to assist in the defense of Kaifeng Fucheng.
When Zhang Cheng was in Kaifeng, he had written to Chen Xinjia, Secretary of the Ministry of War. He recommended his brother-in-law Ji Youci, the magistrate of Wu'an County, to serve as a guard and military commander.
In Mianhe Town, Meng County, Huaiqing Prefecture, a chaoguan was set up here to raise wages to support the soldiers.
Chen Xinjia's original intention was to keep a battalion of Zhang Guodong's troops in Henan Province, but Zhang Cheng explicitly refused because the military aid to the Liao was of great importance, and the only way to enter the Liao was to strengthen the army, and Chen Xinjia was helpless.
Now the army is stationed outside Ruzhou City. Yiyang to the west and Lushan to the south have also been recovered. The intruders have hidden themselves in Funiu Mountain and stepped up their training. It is difficult to encounter most of the intruders outside, only some scattered bandits.
They are still causing chaos in various prefectures and counties, but it is just a small fight.
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Along the way from Kaifeng to the west, Zhang Cheng, Chen Jiugao, Chen Yongfu and others did not experience any decent battles. There were only some small-scale battles here and there, but the long-distance march was also tiring.
Now that the three-day garrison in Ruzhou has eased, they all gathered in Zhang Cheng's tent today to discuss withdrawing the troops.
"Tomorrow I will be separated from the two General Chens. Zhang Cheng is really reluctant to part with him!"
In the military tent, Zhang Cheng raised his wine bowl and said in salute: "I'll get drunk today and then I'll rest. When someone comes back from aiding the Liao Dynasty, I'll join the two generals in killing the thieves and defeating the enemy with all our strength."
Chen Jiugao and Chen Yongfu were both sitting on the left and right next to Zhang Cheng. Their generals such as Jingying guerrilla Chen Shihu, Chen Chongchang, and Chen De were all seated on the left side of the military tent, while Wei Zhice, Zhang Guodong, and Zhang Guangda
The waiting generals were accompanied by the Prime Minister on the right, and everyone drank from their bowls.
Chen Jiugao put down his wine bowl and said, "It's just a temporary farewell. I will wait for my brother at Wei Hui Mansion. We brothers have to return to Beijing together."
Chen Yongfu also clasped his fists and said: "It is really a blessing for Chen to be able to kill thieves side by side with General Zhang. The defense in Kaifeng is tense and I dare not leave for a moment, so I asked Chen De to accompany General Zhang and his party to Wei Hui Mansion."
It turned out that they had just agreed to lead their respective armies to retreat tomorrow. Chen Yongfu and Chen Jiugao walked together through Jiaxian County and returned to Kaifeng via the original route. After reuniting with the baggage troops stationed there, they crossed the river together and headed north.
Four of the six troops from Wei Zhice's chariot camp and Zhang Guodong's infantry camp under Zhang Cheng will also return to Kaifeng with Chen Jiugao.
Zhang Guangda's cavalry battalion, Lin Fangping's Tiger Guard, and an infantry unit from the infantry battalion marched north with Zhang Cheng, passing through Luoyang and crossing the Yellow River in Mengjin County, heading for Mianhe Town in Meng County, Huaiqing Prefecture.
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This time when Zhang Cheng's troops came to Henan to aid and suppress the intruders, although Zhang Cheng's troops suffered some casualties, their ranks did not decrease, but instead grew stronger.
When he first entered Henan, he recruited Dengfeng Li Jiyu's troops in Mi County. There were 3,500 young and strong men. Because he was in a hurry to go to Luoyang, he did not have time to reorganize them, so he combined them with an army of nearly 100,000 hungry people.
They were sent to Xuan Town together. Now they have already arrived at East Road and are conducting formation exercises under the command of Wu Zhizhong.
Four thousand prisoners of the invading army were collected under the city of Kaifeng, and a thousand elites were selected and handed over to the general "Tiaojianhu" Du Youwei. The remaining 3,000 people were organized into three groups, each led by He Kuan's predecessors.
Department, the rear part of Huang Daguang, and the first part of Liu Changliang's partial division.
For these three newly formed troops, the chief officers of each department in Zhang Guodong's infantry camp were promoted to the rank of Qianzong, and then the backbone of the infantry battalion served as officers at all levels. This time they also went to war with the army and practiced while marching.
In this way, when Zhang Cheng entered Henan, he originally had eight or nine thousand troops, but by now he had more than 13,000 troops. This did not include the 3,500 troops on Li Jiyu's side. Even if Chen Zhong's troops left two
There are more than a thousand people, and there is also an army of 11,000 people, so you can make a lot of money.
According to Zhang Cheng's deployment, Cui Shijie, the left wing of Zhang Guodong's infantry battalion, had previously been assigned to the command of Chen Zhong. Now he will also assign thousands of new troops from He Kuan's department to Chen Zhong to form the Mihe Battalion, with Chen Zhong serving as the guerrilla battalion.
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In this way, Zhang Guodong's infantry camp only had four thousand headquarters left, namely Liu Changliang's front, Huang Daguang's left, Chen Dakuan's middle, and Jin Yong's right, attacking more than 4,500 troops.
The Mihe camp consisted of two infantry units, Cui Shijie on the left and He Kuan on the right, plus Tielin's Chinese cavalry sentry and more than a hundred cavalry. There were a total of more than 2,300 officers and soldiers stationed in Miuhe Town.
In order to respond to the villages that have defected to Zhang Cheng such as Yangjialou at the foot of Mang Mountain, if we add the thousands of rural warriors who will be trained here in Mang Mountain in the future, Zhang Cheng can directly mobilize the troops in Henan Province
There are only five to six thousand people, which can be said to be a big nail. Even ordinary general soldiers may not have such a military strength.
This time Zhang Cheng took Qiying and He Kuan's troops to Mohe Town. Firstly, he made arrangements for Chen Zhong's stay in Henan; secondly, he took his newly married concubine Yang Liying back to the Yang family building.
How many days to stay? After all, after returning to Xuanzhen this time, I don’t know when or what month I will be able to go back to my parents’ home again.
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Zhang Cheng continued Chen Yongfu's words and said: "That's very good. My subordinate Chen Zhong will stay in Mihe. Naturally, General Chen's care will be indispensable in the future. Chen De can also meet Chen Zhong here, which will also facilitate future communication between us."
As he spoke, he clasped his fists again and said: "My subordinates Wei Zhice and Zhang Guodong are going to return to Kaifeng with the two commanders in chief. You two will have to worry about this journey!"
"Zhang Shuai, you are so polite."
Everyone exchanged pleasantries and drank until late at night before they dispersed and everyone returned to their base camp to rest.