There were more than 11,000 defenders, including 5,000 from the Tao family and 5,000 from the Zhang family. The remaining 6,000 regiments were captured by Li Zheng, and more than 4,000 were captured. After all, there is no way to escape once the city gate is blocked.
Kill all the gentry in the regiment!
As for the ordinary young soldiers who were brave in the regiment, the missionary officer slowly explained the policy to them. As long as they could memorize the policy, they were immediately released to return to their hometowns, and before leaving, they were given a bucket of rice as travel expenses.
More than 4,000 prisoners, after returning to their hometowns, became more than 4,000 policy propaganda ambassadors.
Three more days passed.
The prefect, Wang Qisheng, and the county magistrate, Yang Guanji, each finished their work and went to the government office.
The two of them happened to meet at the door, and their expressions were a little awkward. They were Jinshi in the same discipline, officials in the same place, and thieves at the same time. This fate is so wonderful. Their relationship will definitely become stronger in the future.
The difference in their official positions also intuitively reflects the officialdom rules of the late Ming Dynasty.
Wang Qisheng came from a wealthy family and was a native of Yixing, Changzhou Prefecture, one of the strongholds of the Donglin Party. He was also a member of Fushe, building cities, embankments, and canals, and was quickly promoted to prefect based on his political performance and connections.
Yang Guanji was born into a poor family and was a native of Zhao'an in Zhangzhou Prefecture. He was not popular simply because of his geographical location. Jinshi were sent to other places and did nothing. He was directly demoted to the rank of ninth-grade governor. He is still a county magistrate even now.
These two people were named on the gold medal list in the same year and were promoted to official positions at the same time!
"Brother Liqing!"
Yang Guanji took the initiative to bow and greet him, feeling a little relieved that he finally no longer had to look up at the other person.
Wang Qisheng raised his hand and returned the gift: "Brother Ji, please!"
"Please!" Yang Guanji smiled.
The two walked into the government office side by side, which was Li Zheng's temporary office.
"Meet the General!"
Seeing Li Zheng, the two of them bowed in unison.
Li Zheng said with a smile: "The fires in the city were put out, and many official documents were handed over, all thanks to these two gentlemen. By the way, Governor Wang is still unwilling to surrender?"
Wang Qisheng replied: "I tried to persuade him, but he was scolded back. However, looking at his words and deeds, it is not that he is unwilling to obey, but that he is afraid of harming his descendants."
Governor Wang Zhiliang had five sons, three of whom were already officials. It was impossible for such a man to be a thief.
He would rather die than keep his son.
As for Wang Qisheng, although he was a quick and efficient thief, he was no weakling.
Historically, Wang Qisheng also raised troops to fight against the Qing Dynasty and spent his family wealth to train a navy. Lu Xiangsheng's younger brother, Lu Xiangguan, went to join this man after the defeat. Unfortunately, Wang Qisheng's navy was also defeated by Hong Chengchou. The final outcome is unknown, but Wang Qisheng He must not have been cleared. He probably went to live as a commoner incognito.
Wang Qisheng was willing to serve Zhao Han mainly because he felt that Zhao Han could achieve success.
Changsha City was captured, and the entire Dongting Lake Plain was exposed to Zhao Han's military front. The southern Hunan region was easily accessible.
Occupying Jiangxi and southern Hunan, hegemony has begun!
Yang Guanji is similar, and he has no ideological burden. He was born in poverty, is honest and not corrupt, and his family has little land. After Zhao Han occupied Fujian, Yang Guanji's family may still be allocated land.
After chatting for a few more words, Li Zheng called his men and ordered: "Governor Wang would rather die than surrender. Send him back to Ji'an and hand him over to the main town to deal with him personally."
"Wait a minute!"
Wang Qisheng suddenly stood up, cupped his hands and said: "General, you can tie this man up and send troops to escort him to various prefectures and counties. Now around Dongting Lake, only Xiangyin has three thousand defenders, and the other city defenders only have hundreds or thousands. As long as the governor is tied up, Even if we don't send a message to the two prefectures of Mingcheng, Yuezhou and Changde, we will definitely not encounter any decent resistance."
"No need," Li Zheng said, "the war on the northern front will end with the capture of Changsha City. This was decided before the troops were sent out."
Yang Guanji also quickly advised: "General, the counties around Dongting Lake are the essence of southern Hunan. We should take advantage of this opportunity and seize it quickly, and we cannot leave the government time to breathe."
"There are not enough officials." Li Zheng explained.
Wang Qisheng couldn't understand it at all: "As long as we capture the city, why don't we have enough officials? Even if we don't have enough officials, let's capture the city and seize the land first!"
Li Zheng smiled and said: "If you don't understand, you can go to the countryside and observe how the missionary groups and farmers' associations divide the fields."
Wang Qisheng and Yang Guanji looked at each other and felt that Li Zheng was too rigid. How could he stop his troops with such a good opportunity?
Of course Li Zheng would not stop his troops, but the routes were just different. He and Huang Yao would fight westward next. Instead of occupying the rich Dongting Lake Plain, they would capture relatively poorer places such as Xiangxiang, Xinhua, and Shaoyang.
The reason why Changsha City was captured was purely because Changsha is a strategic location.
Based on defensive considerations, after occupying Changsha, it is equivalent to dividing southern Hunan into two, completely cutting off the connection between the Dongting Lake Plain and the south. If the officers and soldiers in the north want to attack, they must first capture Changsha. As for Zhao Han, he only needs to send By garrisoning a small number of troops, you can free up more troops and expand in the south very comfortably.
If it is based on offensive considerations, after consolidating the south, a large number of troops will be transferred back, and Changsha can be used as a place to dispatch troops. At the same time, the Jiangxi Navy will go up the Yangtze River, join forces with Changsha, and attack the Dongting Lake Plain from the north to the south!
Well, after saying so much, there are actually only three words: not enough soldiers!
According to the established battle plan, Zhang Tieniu and Liu Zhu were going to fight all the way to Guangdong.
There is Shen Youlong, the governor of Guangdong and Guangdong, and his soldiers have been suppressing bandits for more than three years. Regardless of military discipline, their combat effectiveness is definitely stronger than that of Tuan Yong. They are all battlefield veterans who have seen blood. How can Fei Ruhe eat it alone? Going to Guangdong? Zhang Tieniu fought all the way to meet him!
But Huang Yao was in Xiangtan. When he heard that Li Zheng had conquered Changsha, he immediately led his troops westward and occupied Xiangxiang and Xinhua one after another without encountering any decent resistance at all.
Changsha, Xiangxiang, and Xinhua, the three cities, completely blocked the north-south passage. Even if the prefectures and counties around Dongting Lake re-recruited troops, they would not even think about fighting southward, because there are mountains blocking them everywhere.
…
Jingmen.
Fang Kongzhen, the governor of Huguang, was competing with Xiong Wencan in a battle of wits and courage.
The northwest bandits entered a low ebb at this time, and Li Zicheng only had a few thousand people who fled into the mountains. While hiding in the mountains and not daring to come out, Li Zicheng took the opportunity to marry a wife, who was pregnant at this time.
As for Zhang Xianzhong, he settled in Gucheng after being wounded, reorganizing his troops and learning the art of war.
At this time, troops can be sent from Xiangyang and Yunyang to launch a north-south pincer attack on Gucheng. Xiong Wencan actually recruited Zhang Xianzhong!
Fang Kongzhen went to Shuliu Feng in succession and asked the emperor to send troops to suppress the bandits. Unfortunately, all the troops were thrown into the sea. Not only that, he was also thrown back to Jingmen to garrison, holding a heavy army but far away from the center of the battlefield.
Just when Fang Kongzheng was writing his seventh memorial, a battle report was handed to him.
Changsha fell, and the life and death of the governor of southern Hunan was unknown.
Fang Kongzheng suddenly turned pale, as if he saw a big pot falling from the sky.
At this time, Huguang was essentially divided into two major war zones, Hubei and Southern Hunan. In the Hubei war zone, there were many gangsters including Zhang Xianzhong; in the southern Hunan war zone, it was naturally Zhao Han's group who was causing the trouble.
As the governor of Huguang, Fang Kongzhen had no skills and no energy to take care of Zhao Han. But when Zhao Han conquered Changsha, Fang Kongzhen had to take the blame!
what to do?
Fang Kongzhen could not move his troops. Once he went south to conquer Zhao Han, Zhang Xianzhong would immediately rebel in Gucheng.
Fang Kongzhen quickly wrote a letter, requesting Chongzhen to quickly order the suppression of the bandits. Kill Zhang Xianzhong as soon as possible so that he could mobilize his troops south and concentrate on fighting Zhao Han.
What kind of recruitment is this? Tens of thousands of Zhang Xianzhong were left there, and more than 100,000 officers and soldiers were restrained and unable to move. The officers and soldiers could not attack yet. Anyone who dared to attack Zhang Xianzhong would be "ruining the recruitment plan." The former governor of Yunyang is still in jail.
Due to Xiong Wencan's behavior, the officers and soldiers could not fight or retreat, so they stupidly watched Zhang Xianzhong's military training.
What's even more ridiculous is that Zhao Han, who was recruited by Xiong Wencan, was obviously demoted and re-sentenced, but Xiong Wencan himself was not punished because he had Yang Sichang to help him.
Chongzhen trusted Yang Sichang unconditionally!
Yang Sichang's memorial had just been delivered to the capital, which coincided with the Manchu Qing's re-entry into the country.
Wu Aheng, the governor of Jiliao, and Lu Zongwen, the commander-in-chief of Jiliao, were both defeated and died. Zheng Xizhao, the eunuch and supervisor of the army, actually managed to escape.
The Qing army marched straight in, stationed troops in Niulan Mountain, and plundered towns and villages.
Chongzhen urgently ordered Lu Xiang to ascend to the capital, gave Shang Fang a sword, and commanded reinforcements from all over the world.
Qianqing Palace.
Chongzhen smashed out the Huguang battle report and became angry at Yang Sichang for the first time: "This is your plan, to punish the rogue bandits, to appease the Zhao thieves, and the Tatars. The rogue bandits were not killed, and the Zhao thieves surrendered and were sentenced again, and the Tatars were unwilling to do so.
Peace talks. Will you fight or not?"
Yang Sichang quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, although the Zhao thieves have rebelled again, they have not sent troops to the Jiangnan mansions. Otherwise, half of the world's wealth will be lost."
"Should I still be grateful to Zhao for not attacking Jiangnan?" Chongzhen laughed angrily.
Yang Sichang avoided the topic and said: "Except for Li Zicheng's tribe, all the northwest bandits have been recruited..."
"You call that Zhao'an?"
Chongzhen was probably provoked by Zhao Han and the Tatars. He took out Fang Kongzhen's seven memorials and threw them to Yang Sichang and said: "Zhang Xianzhong has surrendered for several months and refused to disband his army or leave Gucheng. He will definitely rebel again in the future."
.Capture Xiong Wencan and put him in prison, find someone who can fight, and immediately surround and suppress Zhang Xianzhong. After destroying Zhang Xianzhong, send heavy troops south to fight against the Zhao thief!"
"Your Majesty..." Yang Sichang still wanted to stick to his point of view.
"Comply immediately, otherwise I will change the Minister of War," Chongzhen said angrily, "Go to Xiangyang yourself and wipe out Zhang Xianzhong quickly!"
Yang Sichang said: "But here in the capital..."
Chongzhen scolded: "There is Lu Xiangsheng here in the capital!"
Zhao Han finally brought about a huge change. Xiong Wencan was jailed early, Yang Sichang left Beijing early, and Lu Xiangsheng might not be tricked to death.
As for Zhang Xianzhong, he could no longer train his troops with peace of mind and had to flee with his troops again.
Chongzhen has always been prone to war and peace. Zhao Han expanded wildly in Huguang, forcing Chongzhen to the main battle side. If the front line continues to lose, Chongzhen may be inclined to advocate peace. Anyway, he does not have the perseverance to persist to the end.
Li Zheng's capture of Changsha stirred up too many things.
Especially in the counties around Dongting Lake, the officials were timid and the gentry were frightened. The reputation of King Zhao could stop children from crying at night in every county.
Moreover, the reputation of King Zhao Tian spread throughout the world, and everyone knew that there was such a giant bandit.
It is one thing to monopolize Jiangxi, but it is also necessary to occupy Huguang. Everyone knows that the situation in the south has changed.