The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 184 Going to the Qinling Mountains to Fight Guerrilla Warfare
Inside the command tent, Zhao Sheng's chilling words, "Climb the city walls and fill the lines," seemed to freeze the air.

Commanders like Li Laowai, however, listened with shining eyes and nodded repeatedly:

"That's right! Commander, Secretary Zhao's idea is excellent!"

He looked at Jiang Han with an expression that seemed perfectly natural.
"These people are living a life worse than death. It would be better to let them die with some value, to clear the way for our army and get a full meal in return. That wouldn't be treating them unfairly!"

The other generals in the tent, though not immediately echoing the sentiment, were quite tempted.

In this chaotic world where human life is as cheap as grass, a group of burdensome starving people are used to deplete the government army's defensive equipment and manpower.
Or they could simply incite them to kill officials and rebel, thus diverting the attention of the government troops.

To everyone else, this was an incredibly good deal.

Ordinary people in this era were like weeds in the wild. Government officials, rebel armies, and Jurchens rolled over them one after another, and no one cared about their feelings.

This group of people will not fight on the front lines, nor do they have any skills to rely on. They can only be used as waste materials, constantly squeezed for their remaining value, and eventually rot silently in the fields.

The three forces at the end of the Ming Dynasty, apart from the later rebel armies, almost never cared about the lives of ordinary people.

The Ming Dynasty levied three taxes in succession, while the rebel army looted everywhere. The most ruthless were the Later Jin Tartars, who relied on a slave economy and used the lives of Han people in Liaodong to raise horses.

Jiang Han naturally understood this principle as well: compassion and love for the people have never been necessary conditions for vying for supremacy in chaotic times.

But he had a completely different opinion about the thousands of starving people in front of him.

Seeing that Jiang Han hesitated to nod, Zhao Sheng assumed he was reluctant and quickly stepped forward to persuade him:

"General, you don't mean to support these people, do you? We can't afford that."

He paused, his tone sincere.
"The brothers all know that you, Commander, are benevolent and righteous, and do not wish to harm the people."

"But in the end, this is all trouble caused by the imperial court. We shouldn't be the ones cleaning up the mess, at least not now."

After hearing this, Jiang Han waved his hand:

"You're overthinking it. There are thousands of starving people in Shaanxi. Even if I had three heads and six arms, I couldn't feed them all."

He changed the subject, his gaze falling on Zhao Sheng:

"However, Secretary Zhao, your suggestion to incite them to rebel is very much to my liking."

"Instead of letting them sit and wait to die, we might as well give them a chance. We should distribute all the weapons in the county's treasury and let them form their own army to turn Guanzhong upside down."

Zhao Sheng nodded after hearing this:

“That works too. Anyway, our goal is to recruit soldiers in Gansu and Ningxia, so we won’t stay in Guanzhong for long.”

"At that time, these people can draw the attention of the government troops and buy us some time to get out."

Jiang Han shook his head and voiced his objection:
"In my opinion, the role of these people is not just to attract the attention of the government troops."

"I plan to send a capable leader over there, and with our elite troops as the backbone, we will build a large army."

"When the government troops come to suppress us, we'll lead our troops into the Qinling Mountains and wage guerrilla warfare against them!"

As he spoke, Jiang Han unfolded a map and pointed to the Qinling Mountains that stretched across Guanzhong and Hanzhong.

“Look at this Qinling Mountains, which stretch for thousands of miles. They are high and densely forested, and rich in resources. They can easily hide a force of several thousand people without fear of government troops coming to suppress them.”

"Secondly, the Qinling Mountains connect the two grain-producing areas of Guanzhong and Hanzhong. In case of a real food shortage, they can go down the mountains to plunder, whether to the north or the south."

"The most important point is that we are definitely going to enter Sichuan. This team can go ahead to familiarize themselves with the terrain and find out the way."

Following Jiang Han's line of thought, everyone suddenly realized that the plan was feasible.

By placing a force in the Qinling Mountains, they could not only harass the government troops but also pave the way for the main army to enter Sichuan, achieving two goals at once.

But a new problem has arisen.

Who should we send?
Fighting guerrilla warfare in the vast Qinling Mountains sounds easy, but it's incredibly difficult in practice.

The generals present were all skilled at charging into battle, but when it came to maneuvering and maneuvering in the mountains, they really lacked experience.

Besides Zhao Sheng, he had previously followed Bu Zhanni and fought as a guerrilla in the mountain strongholds of Mizhi, so he was quite familiar with this.

However, Zhao Sheng's ability to lead troops into battle is truly hard to describe.

Thinking of this, the generals in the tent looked at each other, unable to find a suitable candidate for a moment.

But Jiang Han had already chosen the general to lead the team.

"Guards! Go and summon General Chuang!"

He shouted loudly towards the outside of the tent.

A rebel leader? Li Zicheng?

Upon hearing this name, all the generals in the tent were stunned and looked at each other in bewilderment.

They were quite familiar with Li Zicheng.

Last time outside Shanzhou City, Li Zicheng was severely tricked by Li Jinwang and Liu Guoneng, and he also witnessed the gap between him and Zuo Liangyu, the general of the Ming court.

Afterwards, he learned his lesson and took the initiative to lead his remaining troops to join Jiang Han.

Li Zicheng had thought it through clearly. Rather than being a bandit king who could be destroyed at any moment and cooperating with a group of disobedient leaders, he would rather obediently follow Jiang Han. Jiang Han readily accepted his request to join him and dispersed Li Zicheng's old troops, distributing them to various camps within the army.

At this time, Li Zicheng was just an ordinary squad leader in the army, with only a little over two hundred soldiers under his command.

Is it really appropriate to entrust such an important task to a newly assigned sentry officer?

Did Li Zicheng have this ability?
The generals inside the tent were all somewhat worried about this.

After all, in their minds, Li Zicheng was just an ordinary rebel leader, and they couldn't see any real ability in him.

But Jiang Han had no doubts.

Others' abilities need to be observed, but Li Zicheng's abilities have long been proven by history.

Although Li Zicheng lacked vision, wasn't guerrilla warfare his forte?

He climbed snow-capped mountains, crossed grasslands, and fought across thousands of miles. The government troops' repeated encirclements and suppressions could not defeat him.

All I need to do is give him a stage, and he will quickly grow into a qualified general.

Before long, the tent flap was lifted, and a tall, muscular figure strode in.

"This humble general, Li Zicheng, pays his respects to the Commander-in-Chief!"

He knelt on one knee, his voice booming like a bell.

"General, there's no need for such formalities. We're all family now, so please stand up and speak."

Jiang Han reached out and helped him up, then got straight to the point:

"I have an important matter to ask you to do."

Li Zicheng nodded without the slightest hesitation:
"I will obey your command, Commander!"

Jiang Han didn't waste any words and pulled him to the map:

"That's right, I want to send you out to lead a famine-stricken uprising in Guanzhong."

Upon hearing this, Li Zicheng's expression changed slightly, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated:

"General, are you going to remove me from the army?"

It's no wonder he overthinks things.

He had only recently joined Jiang Han's forces and his position was unstable. Now, Jiang Han was suddenly sending him out to "establish his own power base," which sounded like a disguised form of expulsion.

Seeing this, Jiang Han laughed and patted him on the shoulder:

"That's not true, General, don't get the wrong idea."

"This time, I want you to be the vanguard, to pave the way!"

"I want you to lead your elite troops as the backbone of the uprising and lead the famine-stricken people's uprising in Guanzhong."

"Just like when you rebelled in Mizhi, you will mold these starving people into a new righteous army."

Hearing this, Li Zicheng breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that he had misunderstood.

As long as he's not forced to leave, everything else is negotiable.

He was familiar with leading the starving people, so he immediately clasped his hands in a fist and agreed without hesitation.
"Rest assured, General, this is my task!"

Jiang Han nodded, but his face showed no sign of relief.
"Don't rush to agree. This matter is not as simple as you think."

“Besides the two hundred men under your command, I will not send you a single soldier. Weapons and provisions will be allocated to you from the county treasury.”

"But remember, the provisions are only enough for twenty days."

"Twenty days from now, what you eat and drink, and how big of a team you can build, will all depend on yourself."

Li Zicheng did not hesitate for long after hearing this:
"Understood, we'll just use war to sustain war."

Jiang Han pointed to the map and carefully instructed:

"Your mission is not to conquer cities and seize territories, much less to fight the main force of the government army head-on."

"What you need to do is harass the government troops' logistics and cut off their supply lines."

"And there's one more crucial point!"

"I need you to find out the ancient roads leading from Guanzhong to Hanzhong."

"I need to know the terrain of every road, the distribution of government troops, and the exact locations of passes and fortresses!"

Jiang Han's tone was solemn.
"This matter is of utmost importance. Once I return from recruiting soldiers in Gansu and Ningxia, I will lead my troops south and find a way to establish a separatist regime in Sichuan."

"This time you are both a scout and a vanguard, so you have a heavy responsibility."

Li Zicheng looked at the map and carefully considered the difficulty of the task.

He remained silent for a long time, finally slowly raising his head, his eyes resolute:
"No problem, Commander! You can leave it to me, Old Li."

(End of this chapter)