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It took only four to ten minutes for Li Zheng's 3000 people to cross the river at night.

Came to ambush far outside the city, and it was not yet five o'clock. Li Zheng made all the soldiers under his command lie on the ground, because the mosquito bites at night made people upset.

Li Zheng took out his binoculars to observe, waited for a long time, and finally saw the direction of the south city wall, and lit three torches as a signal.

"quick!"

All the soldiers, with bamboo slices in their mouths, trotted and charged along with Li Zheng silently.

Before rushing to the moat, he was discovered by the guards on guard.

"Dang dang dang dang!"

A gong sounded from the top of the city tower, and a sentinel shouted in horror: "The bandit soldiers are coming, the bandit soldiers are coming!"

The defenders in the city were in a panic, but it was much better than that in Xiangtan, and they did not collapse and escape directly.Mainly Wang Zhiliang's confidant soldiers, who arranged the city defense affairs very well, and also taught the regiment and training gentry various coping methods.

Wang Zhiliang lived and ate on the top of the city tower. After he was awakened, he saw the chaos everywhere, and immediately ordered: "It's too late to heat up the oil and gold juice, and prepare to throw rolling stones and logs. Also, call all the soldiers who are resting in the city." Defend the city!"

These orders were conveyed by Wang Zhiliang's confidants, and the defenders of the nearby city walls gradually stabilized.

But the city was extremely chaotic, and Tuan Yong, who was on duty to rest, was almost blown up by the noise in the city.The prefect Wang Qisheng and the county magistrate Yang Guanji each brought officials to appease them, and at the same time organized government servants to carry out various auxiliary tasks.

Changsha City is very lucky. The governor, prefect, and county magistrate are all officials who can and dare to do things.

At this moment, a fire suddenly broke out in the city, causing chaos in the city again to the rest of the group who had not assembled yet. The magistrate and magistrate had to lead people to put out the fire first.

Wang Zhiliang felt that something was wrong. There were signs that there must be bandits inside the city.

He subconsciously thought of Tao Aizhi, but couldn't believe it.

Because the regiments recruited by the Tao family accounted for [-]% of the total number of defenders in the city, once the Tao family surrendered, how could Changsha City be able to defend?

Moreover, the Tao family is a local rich family with tens of thousands of acres of land, how could they take the risk of becoming a thief?

What's more, Tao Aizhi went out on the fourth watch, and the bandit soldiers came on the fifth watch.This kind of night march without prior preparation, and it has to be done so quickly, Wang Zhiliang thought he couldn't do it, how disciplined those soldiers are!

Wang Zhiliang walked towards Tao's army's section of the city wall, and immediately became furious: "How dare you be a thief!"

All sections of the city wall have lit braziers one after another, but the section of Tao's army is relatively dark.None of the braziers were lit, but three torches were set up instead, which were obviously used to signal.

500 farmers and soldiers went to another section of the city wall to feign an attack, and the remaining 2500 Datong troops all rushed to the place where there was a signal from the torch.

Tao Zizhi stopped pretending, and shouted loudly: "My sons, follow me to kill officials and rebel."

"Kill, the young master has already taken refuge with Zhao Tianwang!" Several confidant house slaves shouted, they belonged to the grassroots commanders.

Tao's army was at a loss and fearful at first, but under the cries of the slaves, they quickly realized that the rebels who attacked the city were their own people.The one thousand Tao family troops here quickly rushed towards the friendly army next to them, and suddenly killed the friendly army by surprise.

We agreed to defend the city together, why did you follow the thief?

The gentleman surnamed Zhang who was farther away quickly understood what happened.He felt that the officers and soldiers would be defeated, so in order to keep his family, he quickly shouted: "My sons, follow me to seek refuge with Zhao Tianwang! Kill!"

Tao's army had 1000 men, and Zhang's army had 500 men, attacking the friendly troops in the middle from front to back.

The leader of the regiment in the middle, surnamed Li, was brought by the governor Wang Zhiliang. The main purpose was to separate the local regiments, but now they are facing an inexplicable attack.The regiment warriors only resisted for a while, and they knelt down and surrendered one after another. A few were killed and jumped over the wall in a hurry. If they fell, they would at least break their legs.

Wan Sitong, Hu Dinggui, and Chen Fugui had successfully boarded the city, and the addition of Datong soldiers made the battle completely lose suspense.

At this moment, the fire in the city had not been extinguished, and the rest of the team was in a state of chaos. Most of them ran to fight the fire, a few went to the tower to help the battle, and some escaped into the houses to hide.

Wang Zhiliang wanted to gather troops to resist, but Tao Yunfeng suddenly jumped back in Beicheng.

The fire and chaos in the city, the battle on the north wall, and the battle on the south wall created an illusion that there were rebels everywhere.Those brave regiments who hadn't been trained for a few days were so frightened that they fled one by one. They left the city wall and wanted to run to open the city gate.

Although the guards at the city gate were all brought by Wang Zhiliang, they also belonged to the group bravery that was temporarily organized.Instead of stopping Kaesong, they took the initiative to open the city gate, and abandoned the city to escape in the darkness.

"Surrender, we surrender!"

The soldiers of the Datong Army, leading the Tao Army and Zhang Family Army, defeated two groups of enemies one after another on the southern city wall.The rest don't fight, they can escape if they can, and if they can't escape, they surrender and beg for mercy.

Wang Zhiliang was about to fight desperately, and the soldiers around him fled one after another, and some of them were black-hearted, so they simply pushed Wang Zhiliang to the ground.

"Surrender, we surrender, we have captured the governor!"

Li Zheng glanced at the city, and said to Tao Jianzhi: "You take people to put out the fire, and all the officers and soldiers who surrendered should also go to put out the fire!"

Wang Zhiliang stopped struggling, closed his eyes and waited for death, he felt he was finally free.

Chapter 248 [Stirring the World]

There are more than 1000 defenders, and the Tao and Zhang families add up to 4000.Of the remaining [-] regiments, more than [-] were captured by Li Zheng. After all, there was no way to escape if the city gate was blocked.

Group training gentry, kill them all!

As for the ordinary regiment soldiers, the mission officer slowly explained the policy to them.As long as they can memorize the policy, they will be sent back to their hometown immediately, and they will be given a bucket of rice as travel expenses before leaving.

More than 4000 captives, after returning to their hometowns, became more than 4000 policy ambassadors.

Three more days.

Prefect Wang Qisheng and county magistrate Yang Guanji each finished their work and went to the government office.

The two happened to meet at the door, and they both looked a little embarrassed.Scholars in the same discipline, officials in the same place, and a thief at the same time, this fate is too wonderful, and the relationship in the future will definitely be stronger.

The difference in their official positions also intuitively reflects the rules of officialdom in the late Ming Dynasty.

Wang Qisheng was born in a wealthy family, from Yixing, Changzhou Prefecture, one of the strongholds of the Donglin Party.He himself was a member of Fushe, building cities, embankments, and digging ditches all the way, and was quickly promoted to magistrate based on his political achievements and connections.

Yang Guanji was born in a poor family and was born in Zhao'an, Zhangzhou Prefecture.The Jinshi was sent out, did nothing, and was directly demoted to the ninth rank governor, and he is still a county magistrate until now.

These two people were nominated on the gold list in the same year and were released as officials at the same time!

"Brother Li Qing!"

Yang Guanji took the initiative to bow to greet each other, feeling a little relieved, he finally didn't have to look up at each other anymore.

Wang Qisheng cupped his hands in return: "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 bowed in unison.

Li Zheng said with a smile: "The extinguishing of the fire in the city and the transfer of many official documents are all thanks to the two gentlemen. By the way, Governor Wang is still unwilling to surrender?"

Wang Qisheng replied: "I have persuaded you, but I was scolded back. But judging from his words and deeds, he is not unwilling to contribute, but he is afraid of hurting his children and grandchildren."

Governor Wang Zhiliang has five sons, three of whom are already officials. It is impossible for such a person to be a thief.

He would rather die himself than keep his son.

As for Wang Qisheng, although the thief is straightforward, he is not weak.

Historically, Wang Qisheng also recruited troops to fight against the Qing Dynasty, and spent all his wealth to build and train naval forces.Lu Xiangguan, Lu Xiangsheng's younger brother, went to join him after his defeat. Unfortunately, Wang Qisheng's navy was also defeated by Hong Chengchou.The final outcome is unknown, but Wang Qisheng definitely did not surrender, and he probably went to hide his name and become a commoner.

Wang Qisheng is willing to join Zhao Han, mainly because he thinks Zhao Han can make things happen.

Changsha City was taken down, and the entire Dongting Lake Plain was exposed to Zhao Han's soldiers, and the southern Hunan area could be said to be within easy reach.

Occupy Jiangxi and southern Shonan, the hegemony has just begun!

Yang Guanji is similar, and he has no ideological burden.He was born in poverty, was clean and not greedy, and had no property in his family. After Zhao Han occupied Fujian, Yang Guanji's family might still be able to get the land.

After chatting for a few more words, Li Zheng called his subordinates and ordered: "Governor Wang would rather die than surrender. Send him back to Ji'an and hand him over to the general town for his own disposal."

"Wait a minute!"

Wang Qisheng stood up suddenly, cupped his hands and said, "General, you can tie up this person and send troops to escort him to various prefectures and counties. Now around Dongting Lake, only Xiangyin has [-] defenders, and the rest of the city's defenders are only hundreds of thousands. As long as the governor is bound Going to call the city, although the two mansions of Yuezhou and Changde do not depend on the spread of the call, they will certainly not encounter any decent resistance."

"No need," Li Zheng said, "The war on the northern front will stop with the capture of Changsha City. This was decided before the troops were dispatched."

Yang Guanji also quickly advised: "General, the prefectures and counties around Dongting Lake are the essence of southern Hunan. It is time to take advantage of this good opportunity to get them quickly, and we can't leave time for the government to breathe."

"Officials are not enough." Li Zheng explained.

Wang Qisheng couldn't understand it at all: "As long as the city is taken down, do you still think there are not enough officials? Even if there are not enough officials, let's first occupy the city and land!"

Li Zheng smiled and said: "You don't understand, you can go to the countryside and observe how the mission group and the farmers' association divide the land."

Wang Qisheng and Yang Guanji looked at each other, both felt that Li Zheng was too rigid, how could such a good opportunity stop?

Of course Li Zheng would not stop his troops, it was just a different route. He and Huang Yao would fight westward next.Instead of occupying the affluent Dongting Lake Plain, they captured relatively poorer places such as Xiangxiang, Xinhua, and Shaoyang.

The reason for occupying Changsha City is that Changsha is a strategic location.

Based on defensive considerations, after occupying Changsha, it is tantamount 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 take Changsha.On Zhao Han's side, he only needs to send a small amount of troops to garrison, and he can free up more troops to expand in the south very comfortably.

If it is based on offensive considerations, after the consolidation of the south, a large number of troops will be drawn back, and Changsha can be used as a place to send troops.At the same time, the Jiangxi naval division went up the Yangtze River, marched out together with the Changsha soldiers, and attacked the Dongting Lake Plain from north to south!

Well, to say so much, there are actually three words: Not enough soldiers!

According to the established battle plan, Zhang Tieniu and Liu Zhu were going all the way to Guangdong.

There is Shen Youlong, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi in Guangdong, and his soldiers have been suppressing bandits for more than three years.Regardless of military discipline, the combat effectiveness must be stronger than the regiment's bravery, and they are all battlefield veterans who have seen blood.How could Fei Ruhe eat Guangdong by himself?Zhang Tieniu went all the way to meet him!

But Huang Yao was in Xiangtan, and when he heard that Li Zheng was conquering Changsha, he immediately led his troops westward.Occupying Xiangxiang and Xinhua one after another, there was no decent resistance at all.

Changsha, Xiangxiang, and Xinhua, the three cities, completely blocked the north-south passage.In the prefectures and counties around Dongting Lake, even if they recruit troops again, they don't want to fight south, because there are mountains everywhere.

……

Jingmen.

The governor of Huguang, Fang Kongxuan, is fighting wits and courage with Xiong Wencan.

At this time, the northwestern bandits entered a low tide period, and only a few thousand Li Zicheng fled into the mountains.While hiding in the mountains and not daring to come out, Li Zicheng married his wife by the way, and his wife was already pregnant at this time.

As for Zhang Xianzhong, after being wounded, he occupied Gucheng and studied the art of war while rectifying his troops.

At this time, troops can be sent from Xiangyang and Yunyang to attack Gucheng from north to south. Xiong Wencan actually recruited Zhang Xianzhong!

Fang Kongzheng sent six seals in a row, asking the emperor to send troops to suppress the bandits, but unfortunately, all of them went into the sea.Not only that, he was also thrown back to Jingmen to garrison, holding heavy soldiers but far away from the center of the battlefield.

Just when Fang Kongxuan was writing the seventh memorial, a battle report was handed over to him.

Changsha fell, and the life and death of the governor of southern Hunan is unknown.

Fang Kongzheng's face turned pale immediately, as if seeing a cauldron falling from the sky.

At this time, Huguang was essentially divided into two major regions, Hubei and southern Hunan.In the Hubei war zone, there are many gangsters including Zhang Xianzhong; in the southern Hunan war zone, it is naturally Zhao Han's people who are making trouble.

As the governor of Huguang, Fang Kongxuan has no energy to manage Zhao Han even though he has no skills at all.But when Zhao Han conquered Changsha, Fang Kongxuan had to take the blame!

How to do?

The soldiers in Fang Kongxuan's hands could not be moved. Once he went south to conquer Zhao Han, Zhang Xianzhong would immediately jump back in Gucheng.

Fang Kongxuan hurriedly wrote a letter, requesting Chongzhen to order an order to suppress the thieves.Get rid of Zhang Xianzhong as soon as possible so that he can move his troops south and concentrate on fighting Zhao Han.

What kind of security call is this? Zhang Xianzhong put tens of thousands of people there, restraining more than [-] officers and soldiers from moving.Officers and soldiers are still unable to attack, so whoever dares to attack Zhang Xianzhong will "sabotage the plan of recruiting and appeasement". The former governor of Yunyang is still in prison.

Under Xiong Wencan's actions, the officers and soldiers could not fight, nor could they retreat, and they were foolish enough to watch Zhang Xianzhong's training.

What's even more nonsense is that Zhao Han, who was recruited by Xiong Wencan, had already been re-sentenced, but Xiong Wencan himself was not convicted because he was carried by Yang Sichang.

Chongzhen trusted Yang Sichang unconditionally!

Yang Sichang's memorials had just been delivered to the capital, just as the Manchus entered the customs again.

Wu Aheng, governor of Jiliao, and Lu Zongwen, general of Jiliao, all died in defeat.Zheng Xizhao, the eunuch and supervisor of the army, managed to escape for his life.

The Qing army drove straight in, stationed troops on Niulan Mountain, and plundered towns and villages.

Chongzhen urgently ordered Lu Xiang to enter Beijing, bestow Shangfang with a sword, and governor of the world to help.

Qianqing Palace.

Chongzhen smashed the Huguang battle report, and was angry with Yang Sichang for the first time: "This is your plan, punish the bandits, appease the Zhao bandits, and the Tartars. Peace talks. Will you fight a war?"

Yang Sichang hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, although Bandit Zhao rebelled again, he finally did not send troops to the various prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River. Otherwise, half of the world's wealth will be lost."

"Should I still thank Thief Zhao for not attacking Jiangnan?" Chongzhen laughed angrily.

Yang Sichang avoided this topic and said: "The northwestern rogues, except for Li Zicheng's tribe, the rest of the rogues have been recruited..."

"You're also called Zhao'an?"

Chongzhen probably was provoked by Zhao Han and the Tartars, so he took out Fang Kongzhang's seven memorials and threw them to Yang Sichang, saying: "Zhang Xianzhong surrendered for several months, refused to disband the army, and refused to let go of Gucheng. .Take Xiong Wencan back and put him in jail, and replace him with someone who can fight. Immediately encircle and suppress Zhang Xianzhong. After destroying Zhang Xianzhong, send heavy troops south to fight Zhao bandits!"

"Your Majesty..." Yang Sichang still wanted to insist on his own opinion.

"Immediately do so, otherwise I will change to another minister of the Ministry of War," Chongzhen said angrily, "Go to Xiangyang yourself and wipe out Zhang Xianzhong quickly!"