...

Wuchang.

The flames soared into the sky.

Crying and shouting sounded in a whole lot.

Surrounded by everyone, Zhang Xianzhong walked away from the Chu Palace, rode a war horse, looked back, and laughed: "Burn, burn, I've burned it all~~"

...

Xinyang.

The smoke and dust rolled, the flags were rolling, and the carriages were endless. A large army with magnificent appearance and bright armor was marching along the official road without any rushingness. The flying military flags were clearly visible at the central army's flags, which were the various dragons and tigers in the Beijing camp.

After fifty miles, the Huguang area was boundary. When a fast horse suddenly came from the front and came to the central army's flag. The cavalry immediately handed the urgent documents in his hand to the general who was escorting the guard. Seeing that the urgent documents were covered with three chicken feathers, the general knew that it was an emergency military service, so he did not dare to neglect it, so he hurriedly handed them under the central army's flag.

Under the order of the prince, Zhu Guobi, the Marquis of Funing, who temporarily commanded the army to march, Chen Qiyu, the governor of the former five provinces, and Yang Erming, the Censor of the Army, opened the urgent matter together.

After watching, the three of them looked at each other and reached a consensus. Zhu Guobi ordered: "Send an order to speed up the marching. This night, be sure to set up camp in the Huguang area!"

“Yes~”

The smoke and dust that was pedaled was higher, and the speed of the army's advance suddenly accelerated...

...

Anqing.

From Nanjing to the Yangtze River, cross Wuhu, and to Anqing, there were a total of 500 miles. Although it was going upstream, the warships were still moving very fast. Four days later, the Nanjing Navy arrived in Anqing? Prince Zhu Ciying stopped for a short time? Anqing Governor Fang Kongqi boarded the ship and reported to him the military situation of Anqing to him? And the latest trends of the thieves? But the report was not over yet, and a news suddenly came.

Zhang Xianzhong gave up Wuchang? Lead the army and marched together on land and water? He went to Xianning and Puqi? His strategic goal was very clear, that is, the gateway to Hunan, the northern gate of Changsha, and Yuezhou!

...

Anqing.

Above the warships on the river.

"Thirty-hundred thousand thieves? Although they failed? They are not far away..." Zhu Cixuan put down the military newspaper and his face was solemn.

This time, the military newspaper did not exaggerate, saying that Zhang Xianzhong had 300,000 troops from both sides of the river and land, and at least 100,000 elderly, weak, women and children were carried. In other words, Zhang Xianzhong carried a total of 400,000 people southward.

With Zuo Liangyu's urinary nature? After receiving the news that Zhang Xianzhong retreated and Wuchang became an empty city, he would definitely cross the river immediately and seize the great contribution of regaining Wuchang. So? At this moment? Wuchang should have been under the control of the official army? However, before Zhang Xianzhong left, the whole city was burned, and the people were either forced to leave or killed. Wuchang had almost become a ruin. The symbolicity of regaining Wuchang was far greater than the actual significance.

The key now is that Zhang Xianzhong cannot change his plan. If Zhang Xianzhong crosses the Yangtze River on the way and returns to Xiangyang, Chengtian Prefecture, the war will become complicated. Therefore, annihilation of the thieves and naval army and prevent them from crossing the river will become an urgent task at present.

Another key is Yuezhou's defense.

To the west of Yuezhou is the Yangtze River, and to the east are the natural mountains divided by Hunan and Jiangxi. It tightened the pocket of Yuezhou, allowing Zhang Xianzhong's 300,000 troops to be stopped at the city of Yuezhou. The Nanjing Navy defeated the thieves' navy and blocked the Yangtze River. After the elite troops of the official army attacked him, they could defeat Zhang Xianzhong.

But if Yuezhou cannot be defended and is conquered by Zhang Xianzhong, everything will be in vain.

"Tell Liu Kongzhao that you must speed up and within five days, you must arrive in Wuchang!"

...

Xianning.

Surrounded by everyone, Zhang Xianzhong entered Xianning County with a gloomy face. He thought he could grab a bid in Xianning, but unexpectedly, Xianning had already left the city empty, not only Xianning, but also the surrounding Tongshan and Puqi government troops and people seemed to have withdrawn.

Xianning is 170 miles away from Wuchang, and the spies will be rewarded in advance, saying that the government troops have withdrawn from these three places.

I originally thought that even if the government troops retreated, there would always be some people, but I didn't expect that they would escape so cleanly that even the surrounding towns disappeared. According to spies, half of the people in the city followed the government troops and the other half ran to the mountains near Tongshan.

Therefore, if you want no one, you have no food.

But this is not the reason why Zhang Xianzhong's face was gloomy. Xianning ran away from the mountains and saw the wind. As early as his expectations, what made him irritated was that according to the spies' response, the court seemed to have gathered a lot of troops in Yuezhou, and Yuezhou might not be so easy to take. Once it is blocked in Yuezhou, the official army catches up from behind, things may not be good. In addition, the official army also gathered many ships in Yuezhou. There was a big flood battle on the surface of the river, but Zhang Xianzhong was still unsure of the water battle.

Sitting down in the big chair in the county hall, Zhang Xianzhong looked at his adopted son and brother beside him and said, "My mother, the government army ran so fast and so anxious that he didn't even leave a doorkeeper. This is the first time Lao Zhang has seen him. What do you think?"

After Lin Yangcheng and the other four agreed to the reorganization, Zhang Xianzhong made drastic moves. Within one day, the four people and He Yilong's men were reorganized, and imitated the court to establish the Governor's Office of the Five Army. The Governor of the Central Army was Wang Shangli, the Governor of the Front Army He Jin, the Governor of the Later Army Lin Yangcheng, the Governor of the Left Army Ma Huihui, and the Governor of the Right Army Liu Xiyao. Although Lin Yangcheng and the four were named the Governor of the Governor of the Right Army, they were named but had no real name. The confidants who originally belonged to them were dispersed to other battalions by Zhang Xianzhong. The troops led by Lin Yangcheng and the others were all the troops that originally belonged to Zhang Xianzhong, which meant that the four of them had been undermined. No matter what they did, they could not do as they did in the past and would do whatever they wanted.

In addition to the governor of the Five Armies, Zhang Xianzhong set up ten major camps and twelve small camps, and the middle was established. Xianzhong lived there himself. He also ordered Sun Kewang to be the General of Pingdong and supervise the Nineteenth camp; Li Dingguo was the General of Anxi and supervise the Sixteenth camp; Liu Wenxiu was the General of Funan and supervise the Fifteenth camp; Ai Nengqi was the General of Dingbei and supervise the Twentieth camp.

In addition, Ma Yuanli was appointed as the governor of the navy, in charge of more than a thousand large and small ships seized and plundered from Wuchang.

A total of more than 200,000 troops, together with family members and elderly people, nearly 400,000 people burned Wuchang, advanced along the water and land, and headed south to Yuezhou in a mighty way.

At this time, the military advisor Wang Zhaolin, his adopted descendants Kewang Ainengqi, as well as the central commander Wang Shangli and the rear commander Lin Yangcheng. The others were all orthodox leaders of the troops and set up camps around Xianning that stretched for more than ten miles.

Hearing Zhang Xianzhong's question, military advisor Wang Zhaolin said: "The dog officials ran so fast and the treasury was completely clean. From this we can see that they did not escape hastily, but retreated in a planned manner. The following officials seem to the dog officials themselves do not have such courage, and it is very likely that it was the order of the prince of the Zhu family."

"Oh?" Hearing the words "The Prince of the Zhu family, Zhang Xianzhong's eyes immediately emitted a fierce light.

During the Battle of Kaifeng the previous year, Li Zicheng had 500,000 troops, and was full of momentum, as if he had to seize Kaifeng. Although Zhang Xianzhong, who was far away in Huguang at that time, had already had a ferocious deal with Li Zicheng, he did not dare to underestimate Li Zicheng's strength at all. He knew that Li Zicheng had become a weather, and this time he might really be able to capture Kaifeng, occupy the Central Plains, and become a prince. But unexpectedly, the Dog Court did not use Ding Qirui, Yang Wenyue and other weak civil officials, but ordered the prince to go to war in person. After a fierce battle, he actually wiped out the entire army that killed Li Zicheng. Even Li Zicheng was almost captured by the official army.

When the news came, Zhang Xianzhong was very disappointed and thought to himself: Li Zicheng, a bad child-friendly product, has a silver-like wax gun tip, which is not useful, and is better than Er Lao Zhang. If Er Lao Zhang has 500,000 soldiers, he will definitely take Kaifeng!

Then more news came. After learning the detailed process of the Kaifeng War, Zhang Xianzhong gradually changed his view. He realized that it was not Li Zicheng's uselessness. It was because the official army fought too well in Kaifeng. Even Zuo Liangyu, who had never obeyed orders and walked alone, seemed to be a beast on the shaft of a carriage, and he was determined to run forward. The official army had a good strategy and instigated Xiao Yuan's camp. Li Zicheng's final defeat was completely reasonable.

And all this is because of the prince of the Zhu family.

Hehe, the little prince of the Zhu family is really capable, and Lao Zhang really can't underestimate him.

After a year of disappearing last year, Li Xiangyun, who thought he had died in Kaifeng, miraculously returned and reported to him the case of the prince of the Zhu family repelling Jianlu. After hearing this, he did not dare to underestimate the soldiers of the Zhu family and the prince of the Zhu family.

During the previous Wuchang War, he used only a small number of troops to restrain Zuo Liangyu from Hanyang, but ordered Wang Shangli to lead heavy troops to defend Zhijiang to death, and not allow Jingying and Qin soldiers to cross the river. What he was worried about was the combat power of Jingying soldiers. Then he succeeded in his strategy. Zuo Liangyu remained unmoved. Jingying and Qin soldiers were blocked by the river. He commanded all the main forces and rushed towards Ma Shiying. A fierce battle, he killed Ma Shiying and defeated the army. Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo protected Ma Shiying to escape. Wuchang was immediately captured.

This time, he hurriedly left Wuchang and rushed to Yuezhou. On the surface, it was repaired and strategically transferred, but in fact he was worried that after the army commanded by the Prince of Zhu's family arrived, he would be caught in a jar. Now that the army left Wuchang, the Tongshan Mountain in Xianning was two completely empty cities, which gave him an ominous premonition. The prince of Zhu's family mentioned by Wang Zhaolin was the biggest concern of his concern.

"You mean, the Zhu family's children want to play with you to play hard on the wall and clear the wilderness?" Zhang Xianzhong glared.

Two years ago, the only reason why the prince of the Zhu family successfully forced Jianlu to withdraw his troops was that he was firm and cleared the fields, making it difficult for Jianlu to obtain food and grass supplies. The most obvious feature of Jianlu to clear the fields was to give up and stick to the key points.

Now Tongshan in Xianning is an empty city, and Puqi is probably not good either. It is certain that the official army will stick to Yuezhou. Isn’t this a vague way to clear the fields? Unlike the 100,000 army of Jianlu, Zhang Xianzhong has 400,000 mouths to eat. Once there is no food and grass, the army will disappear immediately...

"It is very likely." Wang Zhaolin said: "The official army withdrew the troops from Puqi, Tongshan, Xianning, to Yuezhou. On the one hand, to strengthen the defense of Yuezhou, and on the other hand, to prevent our rebels from obtaining food and supplies. Once we cannot capture Yuezhou for a long time, our rebels will be in trouble."

"What do you think you should do?" Zhang Xianzhong asked.

"For the sake of the present, we must first find out how many official troops there are in Yuezhou and whether the city defense is strong? If there are few official troops, then it goes without saying that our rebel army can capture Yuezhou. If there are many official troops and the city defense is strong, then our rebel army can only rely on the navy and walk around from Yuezhou. In short, you must not stay under the city of Yuezhou for a long time!" Wang Zhaolin said.

Zhang Xianzhong said: "If you send spies again, you must investigate the military situation in Yuezhou!"

Wang Shangli held his fists and hurriedly went to do it.

Wang Zhaolin continued: "In addition, our rebel army must speed up the marching. The earlier our rebel army is at the city of Yuezhou, the less prepared the official army will be."

Hearing this, Sun Kewang, who had never had the chance to speak, finally couldn't help saying, "Forty-hundreds of thousands of people, how easy is it to march quickly?"

"Then send a large army of vanguards, light cars and fast horses to attack Yuezhou. Even if they cannot be taken down, they can disrupt the defense of the officials." Wang Zhaolin said.

Zhang Xianzhong nodded: "Well, this important task is my son who must be the Dingguo. The order sent by Eh, ordered the Dingguo to select 30,000 elite troops, bring 15 days of food and grass, go to Yuezhou first, lead a large army, and then arrive!"

"yes."

"In addition, tell Ma Yuanli and Qian Wenxuan, and ask them to be more aware of it. I give them a lot of ships, and one less ship, so I will punish them for their crimes!"

Ma Yuanli was Zhang Xianzhong's old subordinate, Qian Wenxuan was the former Wuchang naval army guerrilla. When Wuchang city was broken, Qian Wenxuan

Before he could escape, he surrendered to Zhang Xianzhong. Zhang Xianzhong ordered him to assist Ma Yuanli and lead the large and small ships that he had looted.

If Yuezhou cannot be captured, it can only be redirected by water. However, if 400,000 people want to transport by water, the ships needed are almost astronomical. Not to mention Zhang Xianzhong, even the official army does not have such ability. However, it is possible to transport 10,000 or 20,000 elite troops, bypass Yuezhou, and even launch an attack from the rear of Yuezhou. In this case, the ships become more and more important, so Zhang Xianzhong wants to issue another strict order to Ma Yuanli and Qian Wenxuan.

Zhang Xianzhong thought about it and said, "Also, I asked the government army to pursue the urs and sent an order to Wenxiu, so he asked him to bring 10,000 people and ambush the urs in Tongshan, Xianning. If the urs arrive, he would catch the urs and kill the urs and catch him off guard!"

"yes."

...

Jiujiang.

Jiujiang City is backed by Lushan, facing the Yangtze River, backed by Lushan, and facing the east to Poyang Lake. As long as Jiujiang is controlled, the exits of the Yangtze River waterway and Poyang Lake can be blocked. Since ancient times, it has been a must-fight for military strategists in the south of the Yangtze River. Bidders emerged, especially after Wuchang was captured by Zhang Xianzhong, Jiujiang became more and more important. Once the bandits broke through Jiujiang, the bandits' navy could go down the river and take straight to Nanjing. Therefore, after Wuchang's defeat, the imperial court strictly ordered Ma Shiying to guard Jiujiang, so Ma Shiying gathered his troops, one guarded Huangmei, and the other stationed in Jiujiang.

When the prince's warship arrived in Jiujiang, Ma Shiying led the civil and military officials of Jiujiang, together with Liu Liangzuo, who was stationed in Jiujiang, to welcome him by the river. Fengyang General Huang Degong is now stationed in Huangmei for a generation and is not in Jiujiang, so Zhu Cilang still won't see him.

Zhu Cixuan had no time to get off the boat, so he only ordered Ma Shiying and Liu Liangzuo to get on the boat to meet.

Another person who boarded the boat with them was Fang Guoan, the former general of Wuchang who was tied up in many ways...
Chapter completed!