Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 710 Sun Chuanting's Judgment
Since taking office as the governor of Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting has been encircling and suppressing bandits in Shaanxi. As time went on, Sun Chuanting, with Gao Jie's troops and his newly trained Shaanxi Army, basically wiped out all the bandits in Shaanxi. As the bandits gradually disappeared, the situation in Shaanxi also improved greatly.

Although Zhu Shenzhui took over the capital, an imperial decree soon came from the central government, which not only informed Zhu Shenzhui that he had become the regent, but also ordered the cabinet to appease the local areas in the name of the emperor, and especially sent a personal letter to Sun Chuanting.

It was not until this time that Sun Chuanting knew who Zhu Shencui was. Although he had met Zhu Shencui before, and had not only competed with Zhu Shencui in martial arts, but also discussed military and political views with each other. It can be said that the two of them hit it off and admired each other.

But no one expected that some things would happen so suddenly. Zhu Shenzhui became the regent of the Ming Dynasty in a flash, and he became the regent by leading troops into the capital and controlling the government. What does this mean? Sun Chuanting, who was well-read, naturally understood it very well. At this time, he felt extremely complicated, which was somewhat similar to Lu Xiangsheng. He felt that Zhu Shenzhui's behavior as a minister was simply treasonous, but from a rational point of view, he felt that Zhu Shenzhui was much better than Emperor Chongzhen as the regent. Based on his understanding of Zhu Shenzhui, Emperor Chongzhen was far inferior to Zhu Shenzhui in terms of ability, vision or means.

It was for this reason that after the imperial order came, Sun Chuanting admitted the fact and no disturbance occurred in Shaanxi. In addition, because of the relationship between Sun Chuanting and Wang Jinwu, and because he was an old friend of Zhu Shenzhui, Zhu Shenzhui had enough trust in Sun Chuanting's character and ability, which made Sun Chuanting free to do things in Shaanxi and more comfortable.

Even Sun Chuanting's subordinate, Gao Jie, was extremely shocked at first, and then ecstatic when he learned about this.

You should know that when Gao Jie voluntarily surrendered to the Ming army, he chose Wang Rong, the commander of Luzhou Guard at that time. Wang Rong is now the commander of Shanxi and the highest officer of Shanxi Guard. Not only that, Wang Rong is also the uncle of Regent Zhu Shenzhu. Wang Rong's only son, Wang Jinwu, is now the first general under the Regent. He holds a high position and holds military power?

What about his immediate superior, Sun Chuanting? He was Wang Jinwu's elder brother-in-law, so they were all his own people. Gao Jie never thought that his choice would make him a "heroic minister". Although Zhu Shenzhui was only the regent at the moment, everyone in the world knew that the so-called regent was just a transitional title. Zhu Shenzhui would definitely become the emperor in the end. Wouldn't he be very successful by then?

As expected, not long after, the imperial court sent an edict, which not only promoted Sun Chuanting, but also promoted Gao Jie to a higher level. He was promoted from deputy general to general not long after taking the position. Even Guangen's guerrilla general was promoted to lieutenant general, and Zuo Guangxian was also promoted to deputy general.

Everyone was happy, and everyone was as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood. Not only Sun Chuanting, but also Hong Chengchou was not left out. The court promoted him and encouraged him a lot.

Without any worries, the government troops in Shaanxi continued to encircle and suppress the bandits, striving to completely pacify the entire Shaanxi. At this time, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong and other troops suddenly rushed to Hanzhong. Upon learning of this, Sun Chuanting personally led his troops to Hanzhong, ready to cooperate with Hong Chengchou and other troops to wipe out Gao Yingxiang's troops.

But when Sun Chuanting arrived in Hanzhong, he found that Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong's army had already gone east. Judging from the direction of the army's advance, Sun Chuanting thought that the enemy's route should be to go directly from Shaanxi to Huguang. Sun Chuanting immediately led his troops to chase them, but when he chased them to Xing'an, he only found a part of Zhang Xianzhong's army, but not Gao Yingxiang's main force.

At this time, Chen Qiuyu's subordinates sent news that they encountered Zhang Xianzhong's troops on the border of Shaanxi and Huguang. The two armies fought a fierce battle. Zhang Xianzhong was defeated by the government army and broke through with more than 10,000 people and fled towards Huguang. Gao Yingxiang's main force did not appear. They were also looking for where Gao Yingxiang's troops were, and asked Sun Chuanting whether he had found the other party's location.

When this news came, Sun Chuanting frowned immediately. According to his intelligence, Gao Yingxiang was definitely in Hanzhong when he went to Hanzhong, and there would be no problem for Gao Yingxiang's troops to march eastward afterwards. But how come this army suddenly disappeared in just a few days?
You have to know that Gao Yingxiang's main force has tens of thousands of troops. There are not just a few hundred people, and they can be hidden in that lump.

With an army of tens of thousands, the daily consumption is an astronomical figure. Besides, how could such a large-scale army disappear without a trace unless it could go to heaven and earth?
For a moment, Sun Chuanting felt something was extremely strange. Gao Yingxiang was not a god, and he certainly didn't have the magic to escape into the sky or into the earth. So where did his army go?
After thinking for a moment, Sun Chuanting asked someone to take out the map and look at it carefully. He carefully studied Gao Yingxiang's marching route from Hanzhong to the east. Looking at it inch by inch, suddenly a place jumped into his eyes. Sun Chuanting instantly cast his gaze to a certain place on the map, and this place was Ziwu Town.

"Ziwu Town? Ziwu Valley?!"

Sun Chuanting's eyes widened, and he said to himself, "Could it be that Gao Yingxiang has gone to Ziwu Valley? Can he be so brave?"

"No! Maybe they really left Ziwu Valley. If the army hadn't entered Ziwu Valley, how could they disappear without a trace?" Sun Chuanting suddenly slammed the table and shouted, "Someone come!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a personal guard hurried forward and asked Sun Chuanting if he had any instructions.

Sun Chuanting immediately ordered his personal guards to take a few scouts to Ziwu Town to carefully check the situation in Ziwu Town and inquire nearby whether they had seen any traces of Gao Yingxiang's army. After the personal guards took the order and left, Sun Chuanting issued several orders in succession, asking the troops to begin to assemble and prepare for the transfer as soon as possible.

Hanyin is not too far from Ziwu Town, and a fast horse can go back and forth in one day. By late night of that day, the guards who went to inquire about the news returned.

Sun Chuanting quickly summoned him for questioning, and learned from his personal guards that Ziwu Town had become a ruin, with broken walls everywhere, and the local people had not seen any of them, let alone inquire about Gao Yingxiang's whereabouts.

Hearing this answer, Sun Chuanting was not angry, but laughed. In his opinion, these circumstances were enough to prove his judgment. Gao Yingxiang, Gao Yingxiang, he thought he was smart, burned down Ziwu Town with a big fire, and also involved (slaughtered) all the people in Ziwu Town to cover up his tracks.

But he never expected that Gao Yingxiang's move would backfire. This was exactly the case with the saying "there is no silver here, but there is three taels of silver". Gao Yingxiang's actions also meant that he had indeed led the army into the Ziwu Valley, intending to emulate Wei Yan in the Three Kingdoms period and come up with a Ziwu Valley strategy for himself, preparing to give Sun Chuanting a ruthless blow.

As the governor of Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting had a total of more than 18,000 troops under his command, of which nearly 10,000 were his elite troops. They were composed of the elite troops of Luzhou Guard transferred to him by Wang Rong, as well as Gao Jie's troops and Shaanxi Army.

Now, these nearly 10,000 elite troops have arrived in Hanyin under the command of Sun Chuanting, and only local guards and thousands of garrison soldiers are left in the capital Xi'an. These troops are not strong in combat effectiveness and are poorly equipped.

Once Gao Yingxiang's tens of thousands of main forces came out from the northern part of Ziwu Valley, they would be able to reach Xi'an in one day. At that time, Xi'an, which was completely unprepared, would inevitably fight back hastily, and Gao Yingxiang would capture Xi'an in one fell swoop and control the important city of Shaanxi.

By that time, the situation that Sun Chuanting had worked so hard to open up in Shaanxi would be destroyed by Gao Yingxiang, and the fall of Xi'an would be unacceptable to the entire Shaanxi, including the Ming Dynasty.

Faced with this result, how could Sun Chuanting not be nervous? However, he had now determined that Gao Yingxiang's main force had entered Ziwu Valley. He was surprised and relieved at the same time, and even laughed out loud.

Sun Chuanting never expected Gao Yingxiang to be so adventurous and dare to take such a risky move to leave Ziwu Valley. Could it be that he really thought he was the Wei Yan of the past? Moreover, this guy called himself the King of Rebellion and had been running around everywhere in recent years, breaking into here and there, and now he broke into Ziwu Valley. He was really a talent.

Sun Chuanting, who was extremely knowledgeable about military affairs, had an idea the moment he determined that Gao Yingxiang's main force had left Ziwu Valley. According to the time, Sun Chuanting estimated that it would take Gao Yingxiang about half a month to leave Ziwu Valley at the fastest speed. Now, only two days had passed since he lost the trace of Gao Yingxiang's main force, which meant that he, Sun Chuanting, had at least ten days to make plans in advance.

After determining Gao Yingxiang's marching route, Sun Chuanting did not hesitate and prepared to set out that night. The next day, Sun Chuanting led thousands of elite troops to return quickly from the main road to Xi'an. At the same time, he sent a messenger to inform Hong Chengchou in the west that Gao Yingxiang was going to attack Xi'an through Ziwu Valley, and asked Hong Chengchou to lead his troops to meet him in Xi'an. After the two armies joined forces, they set up an ambush in Heishui Valley north of Ziwu Valley, waiting for Gao Yingxiang to fall into the trap.

After much haste, Sun Chuanting finally returned to Xi'an within seven days. At this time, Hong Chengchou, who received the news, also arrived with his troops.

When Hong Chengchou arrived, Sun Chuanting asked Hong Chengchou to lead his troops to set up an ambush with him at Heishui Valley without saying anything. Heishui Valley is the northern exit of Ziwu Valley, with dangerous terrain on both sides and a trumpet-shaped mouth near the entrance of the valley in front. As long as the middle is blocked and Gao Yingxiang is surrounded on both sides, he will be unable to escape if he enters this hole.

Sun Chuanting's troops were on the left, Hong Chengchou's troops were on the right, and in the middle, Yukou was Sun Chuanting's most elite standard-bearing troops, carrying many cannons and firearms.

After the arrangements were completed, they began to wait patiently for Gao Yingxiang's arrival. After waiting for two full days, there was still no movement in Ziwu Valley, and no one appeared at all. Hong Chengchou, who had been observing, couldn't help but get a little anxious and asked Sun Chuanting, "Will Gao Yingxiang really go to Ziwu Valley? Is he wrong?"

(End of this chapter)