Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 226 The Rebel King Gao Yingxiang's Continuous Advances
Wang Jiayin's troops looted every inch of Yan'an, taking away the last of the city's food and valuables, along with able-bodied men.

An old woman knelt by the roadside, pleading with Wang Jiayin to take them with him, saying they could wash clothes, pound rice, and cook for the rebel army. Wang Jiayin glanced at the old woman with pity, then led his troops away from the city, leaving the remaining elderly and weak to fend for themselves. Perhaps not eating them was the greatest mercy Wang Jiayin could show them.

"Brother, where are we going?!" Wang Ziyong, known as "Purple Gold Beam," rode up from the back of the group and asked.

“Let’s head south, attack Xijing, and lend a helping hand to the rebel leader!” Wang Jiayin replied.

Upon hearing this, Wang Ziyong fell into a long silence, but still nodded heavily to Wang Jiayin.

The massive army of 70,000 peasant soldiers began to march south along the Nanchuan River Valley. In fact, Wang Jiayin was the most powerful force among the rebels in northern Shaanxi at that time, and he was on the verge of being elected as the leader of the rebel army. However, among these 70,000 troops, only 20,000 to 30,000 were the "old troops from Fugu" directly under his command.

The others were small and medium-sized forces who had defected to him because of his growing power, such as Wang Zishun, Miao Mei, Huang Hu, and Xiao Honglang. During the siege, the various camps remained inactive, only serving to bolster his morale; however, after the city fell, they were very active in looting the people, and their military discipline was deteriorating, with almost no one obeying his orders.

Seventy thousand men—a vast, overwhelming force, covering the entire mountainside. However, due to the extremely poor quality of most of the rebels, the ranks stretched out, and gradually, some of the lagging troops quietly departed, disappearing into the ravines and gullies of the Loess Plateau.

Upon hearing this news, Wang Jiayin actually felt relieved. This lightened his burden and reduced his guilt. He knew that his journey was fraught with peril, and he didn't have the heroic ambition to lead his brothers to conquer Xijing. In the end, he might just die a glorious death, which would be enough to make his life worthwhile.

Half a month later, Wang Jiayin's rebel army emerged from the eastern foot of Ziwu Ridge and advanced towards Luochuan County.

Seeing the rebels' overwhelming strength, the magistrate of Luochuan County fled in the dead of night, carrying gold, silver, valuables, servants, and concubines. The county clerk sought him out to discuss strategies for repelling the enemy, only to find the county office deserted. He then launched into a tirade of curses. After much deliberation, the clerk decided to welcome the rebel army and plead for their mercy towards his family's power.

The next day, while the people of the city were still in a daze, they were betrayed. The county magistrate opened the city gates and welcomed the rebel army into the city. Wang Jiayin took Luochuan County without lifting a finger.

Wang Jiayin initially did not intend to kill the sensible county magistrate, but the magistrate could not produce the grain he needed. In order to appease the army, he had no choice but to reluctantly behead the magistrate and use his head.

Wang Jiayin rested for two days in Luochuan County and counted the number of his troops. He found that the army of more than 70,000 had been reduced to more than 50,000. His most valiant general, Zhang Xianzhong, had also fled.

So be it, he thought. He felt that Zhang Xianzhong was a rough-around-the-edges but shrewd and ruthless man, someone who could accomplish great things. His departure was like leaving a seed for the rebel army; if it took root and sprouted, it might very well achieve great things. But why couldn't he have told him before leaving? He hadn't treated this brother unfairly.

Luochuan is located north of the Luo River. The next step is to continue south along the Luo River, attack Tongchuan, then take Weinan, and advance towards the east of Xi'an. This distance is not far, but to cross this route, one must fight one's way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Because northern Shaanxi was almost abandoned by the imperial court, their progress in conquering cities and seizing territory in northern Shaanxi was not smooth. Of the brothers who started the uprising together, only three or five out of a hundred are still alive today.

Although the imperial court allowed officials in northern Shaanxi to leave, many did not: some, like Zhu Tongmeng, the prefect of Yan'an, were concerned about the people and unwilling to leave; others, like the magistrate and assistant magistrate of Luochuan County, had deep-rooted power in the local area.

……

Meanwhile, another force on the western front was also plotting to capture Xi'an. Gao Yingxiang's attack on Xi'an was not, as Wang Jiayin had guessed, a proactive offensive launched due to food shortages and a search for a way out, but rather more like a desperate last stand when cornered.

Gao Yingxiang's forces were the first rebel army to attempt to break out of northern Shaanxi. Their initial target was Shanxi, but they couldn't penetrate it. They then turned west, only to be blocked at the gates of Pingliang. In truth, given his strength, he could have easily taken Pingliang with a bit of grit, but he had to consider:

Is heading west a way out or a dead end? The south is better than the north, and the east is better than the west—this is a fact that even a fool knows.

However, while they were stranded within the territory of Pingliang Prefecture, the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions sent troops to arrest them. They numbered fifty thousand—a full fifty thousand! Facing them were only a few thousand government troops pushing some wooden carts. The moment the fighting began, they were completely overwhelmed!

The rebels, armed with hoes, pitchforks, and even clubs, charged forward, but before they could even touch the government troops, thousands were shot dead. Have you ever seen wheat being harvested? People, like wheat, fall in swathes.

Gao Yingxiang was not convinced and led his proud cavalry of more than a thousand men to charge again. As a result, he almost did not make it back. He was shot in the inner thigh and the bleeding was almost stopped. He was just an inch away from injuring his genitals! As a result, they were chased all the way out of Pingliang Prefecture.

He naturally wouldn't tell Wang Jiayin about his tragic experiences. Although the rebel armies were allied, they were actually in competition with each other, because everyone wanted to be with the winning leader, and if they weren't careful, their troops would be swallowed up by another!
Gao Yingxiang fled all the way to Fengxiang Prefecture, but unfortunately, he encountered Hong Chengchou's cavalry again. Again, it was a few thousand against tens of thousands; unsurprisingly, their 40,000-strong force lost completely! Gao Yingxiang was almost captured alive by the government troops, but fortunately, the old Hui Muslim Ma Shouying showed loyalty and pulled him out of the way at the crucial moment.

Then they fled west to Qinzhou, but were fiercely attacked by the local soldiers and civilians in Tianshui. One of the young generals was particularly fierce!
Gao Yingxiang was skilled in archery and horsemanship, and possessed extraordinary strength. He fought the opponent for thirty rounds, and they were evenly matched. If it weren't for the fact that the opponent was young and he was strong, and that he could hold on with brute force, he would probably have been knocked off his horse. In a few years, he would probably be no match for the opponent at all.

Upon arriving at the walls of Qinzhou, they found the city heavily fortified, with over a dozen cannons mounted on the ramparts. Yu Guangyao, the commander of Qinzhou, called out from the ramparts that they were allowed to surrender, their men spared death, and their leaders granted a proper burial.

Enraged, Gao Yingxiang launched an attack, engaging in fierce fighting throughout the night. He lost two thousand men and returned empty-handed. From then on, Gao Yingxiang suffered defeat after defeat, his army nearly disintegrating. The reason they didn't immediately disband was that they were still being pursued by the Ming army, facing a life-or-death crisis. To survive, their men had no choice but to follow out of habit.

The people of Qin Prefecture were known for their fierce and unruly nature, being both herders and farmers, and were quite poor. Gao Yingxiang could not gain any advantage and had no choice but to flee again, heading south to Hanzhong Prefecture.

Gao Yingxiang suffered repeated setbacks and lost confidence in himself. However, he was not as bad as he thought. Just by the fact that he was able to escape from the government troops time and again, he had already surpassed most of his peers. Not to mention that he had also torn apart Hong Chengchou's defenses and penetrated deep into the heart of the Central Plains, something that many of his peers had risked their lives to achieve.

Hanzhong is wonderful! Upon arriving in southern Shaanxi, Gao Yingxiang felt his life suddenly improve. The defenses here were weak, most of the local troops had been transferred away by Hong Chengchou, and the people even had surplus grain in their homes, while the government granaries were overflowing!

When Hong Chengchou learned that Gao Yingxiang had fled to Hanzhong, he was furious. Hanzhong was the core grain-producing area in southern Shaanxi! Although the drought in southern Shaanxi was not severe, it was located in the Qinling-Bashan Mountains, and there was not much arable land. So Hong Chengchou urgently redeployed his troops south to Hanzhong to besiege Gao Yingxiang.

By this time, Gao Yingxiang was completely terrified of Hong Chengchou. Even though the government army's vanguard consisted of only 1,500 cavalry, while he still had over 30,000 veteran soldiers and more than 20,000 newly recruited troops, he dared not engage in battle. For bandits, running away was the essence, so he planned to continue south to the legendary Land of Abundance.

Unfortunately, he hadn't even made it into Sichuan before he was soundly defeated by the White-Spear Army on the border. It turned out that when Qin Liangyu passed through Shaanxi, she saw the serious local unrest and predicted that Hong Chengchou would not be able to hold the city. So she left several thousand White-Spear Army soldiers to defend the area in advance.

Of course, this matter was reported to the imperial court and approved by the emperor at the time. It was originally just a precaution, but it unexpectedly came in handy.

Hong Chengchou was impeached even more, and Zhu Youjian began to waver: the eastern defense was well done, so why was Hong Chengchou's side leaking air and failing everywhere!
(End of this chapter)