Chapter 1336 The final outcome of the Central Plains
"Seeing that the Tokugawa shogunate and the Daimyo coalition could not achieve a breakthrough by land, they all turned their attention to the sea. The two sides fought a fierce naval battle in Osaka Bay. One of the warships we sold to both sides was sunk. But let's talk about it.
The most seriously injured was Deputy Commander Huang. It is said that he watched the whole battle and fainted from anger."
"Hahaha, Deputy Commander Huang is so innocent!"
After hearing Japan's military intelligence report, all the people in Jinan fell down laughing.
Zuo Mengeng clapped his hands happily.
"The Tokugawa shogunate and the Daimyo coalition must fight in such a way that both sides suffer losses, without any distinction between the winner and the loser. When we turn around and pick this fruit, it will be easy."
Regarding the situation in Japan, Xia Guo has now felt at ease.
According to research and judgment, given the strength of the shogunate and the daimyō, it would be difficult for both sides to decide the winner without five or six years.
Such a long time is enough for Xia Guo to take care of the country for the time being.
"Your Highness, the military situation in the Central Plains. Sun Chuanting... lost."
Liang Fa came in a hurry and brought news that touched people's hearts.
Zuo Mengeng couldn't sit still and took the information himself. After reading it in detail, he handed it to Hou Xun with a look of sadness.
"With Sun Chuanting's defeat, the Ming Dynasty has come to an end. Our preparations must also speed up and we must not slack off."
Just last year, Li Zicheng attacked Kaifeng for the third time.
Under the pressure of Chongzhen, Sun Chuanting could only send troops hastily. Although he missed the time and failed to rescue Kaifeng, the two sides still fought for Henan.
Trapped in the dilemma of lack of food, Sun Chuanting originally had an advantage on the battlefield, but Li Zicheng still achieved a great victory after getting help from Luo Rucai.
The little strength Sun Chuanting had worked so hard to accumulate was completely lost, and he had to retreat to Shaanxi in embarrassment to regroup.
This time Chongzhen had no military spending for him.
After losing the battle, Sun Chuanting had no shame to take care of Chongzhen anymore.
He set his sights on the local wealthy gentry in Shaanxi.
When he held a grand Hongmen Banquet to entertain the landlords and gentry, he suddenly went on a killing spree and then ransacked his homes to seize their wealth.
Through this method, Sun Chuanting finally obtained a relatively sufficient military expenditure to implement his Qin army plan.
But because of this, the landowners and gentry in Shaanxi hated him deeply.
These people have backstage and background, and their energy in the court is as high as the heavens.
They acted quickly to find a way to deal with Sun Chuanting.
Sun Chuanting was also unlucky and encountered endless difficulties.
Finally, they got money and food, and recruited enough soldiers. But before they could be trained into an army, the terrible plague came.
The plague was rampant throughout Xi'an and inside and outside, and countless people died. Even the army was not immune, causing normal training to be unable to continue.
Sun Chuanting was so worried that he could only support himself and search for doctors everywhere to treat his illness.
Zhao Yunshu's father, Zhao Chuan, entered the army at that time. Not only was he unable to cure the disease, but he himself died from it.
This great plague greatly reduced Sun Chuanting's strength, making him even less confident about leaving Tongguan east to fight Li Zicheng.
But while he was in dire straits, Li Zicheng was rapidly destroying cities and villages and sweeping across the Central Plains.
Li Zicheng first conquered Ruzhou and eliminated the last Ming army in Henan, which relieved his worries.
Later, Li Zicheng personally led an army of 400,000 people to Huguang and captured Xiangyang.
He also killed Luo Rucai and Yuan Shizhong successively, completing the integration of forces within the peasant army.
At this point, Li Zicheng can be said to have begun to show his hegemony, and he has a slight appearance of a king.
Li Zicheng formally established a political power in Xiangyang, which was called the Fengtian Advocacy Civil and Military Marshal's Mansion.
Although there was no founding of the People's Republic of China, nor was there any change of Yuan Dynasty, under the Generalissimo's Office, government agencies at all levels have been established to carry out local governance.
In the center, a prime minister was established, with Niu Jinxing as the prime minister.
Under the prime minister, there are six ministries, each with a minister responsible for government affairs.
This top-down construction of the political system is enough to prove Li Zicheng's ambition.
The news reached the center of the Ming court, and Chongzhen and all the civil and military officials finally felt fear.
At this time, rumors about the landlords and gentry in Shaanxi also spread.
It is said that Sun Chuanting did not go to war for several months, but in fact he was plotting something evil in order to support his troops and respect himself.
In fact, Chongzhen did not believe this rumor.
He knew very well that Sun Chuanting, a civil servant, did not have that ability.
However, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong began to establish political power respectively, which effectively threatened the foundation of the Ming Dynasty's rule, and Chongzhen could not bear it.
In August, Chongzhen arrested Wu Sheng and imprisoned him on the charge of "therefore delaying the term of the army, causing Chu Province to fail to defend it and basically shocking its neighbors."
He also deliberately revealed the news to Sun Chuanting.
Now Sun Chuanting understood that he could not continue to delay.
The helpless Sun Chuanting swore his allegiance at the Guandi Temple on the first day of August, and once again left Tongguan eastward with one hundred thousand soldiers and horses whose combat effectiveness was doubtful.
Li Zicheng knew even more clearly that Sun Chuanting's troops were the last obstacle to his determination to conquer the Central Plains.
So he gathered his best troops and marched westward to fight.
Sun Chuanting came to Jiaxian again and returned to the place where he was defeated. He didn't know what his inner mood was.
Anyway, the first battle ended with his complete victory.
Bai Guangen and Gao Jie, two peasant army traitors, worked closely together. One used firearms and the other led cavalry, and defeated Li Zicheng to a complete defeat.
General Guoyi Xie Junyou was captured and killed.
Even Li Zicheng himself almost became a prisoner.
In fact, through this battle, we can see that Li Zicheng was able to end the Ming Dynasty not because he was so powerful, but because the Ming Dynasty was bad enough.
After the tragic defeat, Li Zicheng learned from the experience and decided to use his own advantages.
What are his advantages?
That is food.
Henan has already fallen into the hands of Li Zicheng early. He has also established political power in various places and stabilized the people, so there is no need to worry about food problems for a while.
But Sun Chuanting couldn't.
Sun Chuanting came to Henan to fight, and now he can be regarded as a guest army.
Moreover, the people in Henan hated the Ming army so much that they would not help at all.
Li Zicheng began to avoid the battle and at the same time retreated step by step to lengthen the front.
How could Sun Chuanting not know what he was thinking?
But there is no way.
The lack of food forced Sun Chuanting to make a quick decision.
He could only lead his troops step by step into Li Zicheng's trap with despair and helplessness.
It was autumn, with continuous rain, and the Ming army's situation became even more difficult.
Li Zicheng sent Liu Zongmin and 10,000 cavalry to outflank the Ming army's rear from the alley and cut off the Ming army's food route.
A very simple strategy, but very effective.
Sun Chuanting looked up to the sky and sighed, so he had to return to the army to open up the grain road. At the same time, Chen Yongfu was left to besiege Jiaxian County and block Li Zicheng's main army.
But by this time, the soldiers of the Ming army could no longer endure hunger.
After Sun Chuanting left, Chen Yongfu was completely unable to restrain the army, and the soldiers began to flee one after another.
Under an extremely unfavorable situation, Bai Guangen and Gao Jie had another conflict.
Sun Chuanting was at a loss and didn't know how to fight this battle.