Late Ming Dynasty: Starting with the overthrow of the county magistrate, a rebellion was launched to

When Huang Chaoxuan saw Zhou Fengqi's head, he fled in utter defeat from the east gate, completely dumbfounded.

His fat body was jostled wildly on horseback, his armor twisted and contorted, his helmet discarded, and his hair plastered to his face with sweat, making him look greasy and disgusting.

Like a fat pig that's been chased too hard.

Fortunately, the city's garrison did not pursue him. He could only hear the sounds of battle fading into the distance behind him, and his heart gradually calmed down.

"Let me muster my troops and prepare provisions, then we will fight again another day!"

But when he finally reached the entrance to the Dragon King Temple ravine, panting heavily, he was instantly filled with despair.

The granary was really burned down. How did that bastard Zhang Da manage to do it?

Huang Chaoxuan had always believed that Zhang Da's words were merely an attempt to demoralize the army...

However, when he saw the black smoke rising upwards, the warehouses, roofs, beams, and the grain sacks, fodder, and military supplies that had been piled up like mountains... all turned into a pile of black ash, with nothing left...

When you smell the stench of burnt grain, charred wood, and roasted corpses...

Huang Chaoxuan was utterly desperate, and the remaining soldiers behind him who could barely maintain their formation immediately collapsed...

Of the thousand-strong force, only about five hundred were following him, and they all looked ashen-faced...

"Aaaaah! Zhang Da! Traitor! I'll fuck your mother!"

Huang Chaoxuan's fat body trembled uncontrollably, his eyes widened and turned bloodshot, his lips twitched, and he immediately vomited blood.

Huang Chaoxuan immediately fainted. His personal guards quickly helped him onto his horse. Then, the hundred-man team immediately ran westward. It took them several days to come, but they only took one day and one night to escape back to Wugang Camp.

Huang Chaoxuan was in a daze for a whole day and night, and only woke up when he arrived at Wugang Camp.

They couldn't defeat Zhang Da, their grain was burned, Zhou Fengqi died, and their troops were almost completely depleted.

After that battle, he became a complete laughingstock in the Huguang army, his status almost no different from that of an old yellow dog guarding the city gate.

"Bring the paper mill!"

Even hiding in the central command tent, Huang Chaoxuan could still do some things.

Fortunately, Zhou Fengqi is dead, so I can shirk responsibility.

Huang Chaoxuan dared not delay for a moment. He quickly ordered someone to grind ink and lay out paper. His fat hands trembled as he personally wrote the report and a letter of apology.

Of course, you must add something that is useful to yourself.

In his letter of apology, Huang Chaoxuan portrayed himself as incredibly wronged and desperate, recounting how he led the army in fierce attacks, how he personally led the charge, and how he persevered despite being short of troops and weapons, sacrificing almost everything he had, all for the sake of maintaining stability in the court.

After explaining their grievances, the blame was naturally shifted entirely onto the fallen general, Zhou Fengqi.

In his letter, Huang Chaoxuan hurled insults at the other side, accusing him of being stubborn, disobedient, and recklessly advancing alone, which led to the army being ambushed by the rebels, resulting in the entire army being attacked from both sides, their supplies being burned, and a complete defeat.

But... but as Huang Chaoxuan continued writing, he suddenly realized it was getting a bit outrageous.

From the time Yang Sichang ordered him to attack Zhang Da in Nanyang, to the time he sent troops, attacked the city, suffered a defeat, and fled back, the entire process took only nine days.

In the nine days, most of the time was spent traveling. The actual time spent fighting Zhang Da under the walls of Shaoyang City was less than two days, and he was defeated in such a humiliating way.

This is a difficult situation. It can't all be Zhou Fengqi's fault, can it?

Who cares, I'll just write it first.

Helpless, Huang Chaoxuan finished writing the report and immediately dispatched a trusted confidant on horseback, sending it by express courier as fast as possible to the Huguang Governor's Office in Wuchang. He just wanted to get the news over there as quickly as possible, to minimize his guilt, and to save his life and official position.

The 600-li express horse galloped all the way and rushed into Wuchang City in two days, reaching the gate of the governor's office.

At this time, Governor Song Yihe and Imperial Inspector Huang Shu were still very concerned about Zhang Da's matter and were subconsciously waiting for Huang Chaoxuan's good news.

After all, Zhang Da was just a bunch of rabble. If the government troops could capture him immediately and pacify Shaoyang in a few days, Emperor Chongzhen in the capital might be pleased and he could keep his official hat.

However, all these hopes were shattered by Huang Chaoxuan.

"Several thousand government troops... actually lost to a country rebel? Zhou Fengqi died in battle, the grain and fodder were burned, Huang Chaoxuan fled... how is this possible!" Song Yihe's hand holding the report trembled uncontrollably, the paper was crumpled, and his voice was hoarse.

Huang Shu's forehead was also covered in cold sweat, and he muttered to himself.

"It's over, completely over... Back then, Xiong Wencan forced Zuo Liangyu to fight Zhang Xianzhong, resulting in a crushing defeat and the loss of his official position; now Yang Sichang has just gone south to oversee the army, and his first battle has ended in such a disastrous defeat, exactly the same as back then!"

The two exchanged a glance, their fear even greater than when they had first heard the news of Zhang Da's rebellion.

After all, Yang Sichang was a favorite of the emperor, serving as the chief military advisor and the general in charge of suppressing the bandits. Such a huge defeat would surely enrage the emperor. Whether Yang Sichang could protect himself was unknown, but he would definitely be implicated!

The people rebelled in their own territory, and the order to suppress them was given by Yang Sichang, but the actual supervision was also done by the two of them... If the imperial court investigates, the two of them will definitely not escape.

Extremely unlucky!

"No, we have to rewrite the report, and try to get as much dirty water as possible poured on these two stinking soldiers."

After receiving Huang Shu's nod of agreement, the two began revising Huang Chaoxuan's battle report again without any psychological pressure—after all, their defeat really had little to do with them.

So Song Yihe immediately ordered someone to rewrite the report. After it was finished, he read it several times and, finding no problems, stamped it with the governor's seal and sent it to Yang Sichang's headquarters in Xiangyang by express courier.

At this time, Yang Sichang had already arrived at his headquarters near Xiangyang, only eleven days after he ordered the campaign against Zhang Da in Nanyang.

Over the course of eleven days, he marched south, reorganizing his army and gathering troops, finally arriving at the front lines to suppress Zhang Xianzhong.

The Xiangyang headquarters had become the general command center for suppressing bandits in the Central Plains. Candles burned all night in the main hall, where generals from Huguang, Henan, Shaanxi, and Sichuan gathered, their armor gleaming, creating a tense atmosphere.

General Meng Ruhu, He Renlong, Vice Generals Zhang Yingyuan and Wang Yunfeng, along with the accompanying staff officer Wan Yuanji and others, were all gathered around a huge map of Hubei and Hunan, their faces grave, arguing heatedly.

Everyone was pondering one thing—Zhang Xianzhong was now hiding in the mountains of Fang County and Zhushan, without food or manpower, and his army's morale was unstable. Where would he run next? How should they deploy their troops to completely surround and annihilate him?

"In my opinion, Zhang Xianzhong is out of food and can't stay in the mountains. He will definitely run to eastern Sichuan and sneak into Sichuan! We should immediately send troops to guard the key road at the border of Sichuan and Hubei, cut off his retreat, surround him from all sides, and we will definitely be able to annihilate him!" Meng Ruhu said loudly, pointing to eastern Sichuan on the map with his horsewhip.

"No!" He Renlong immediately stood up to refute, "Zhang Xianzhong is despicable, cunning, and fickle. He's a master of feints. He'll definitely pretend to flee to eastern Sichuan, but actually head north to Yunyang to join Luo Rucai! We should deploy a large force in Yunyang to block his northward escape!"

"Eastern Sichuan is a treacherous region; Zhang Xianzhong wouldn't go there easily!"

"Yunyang is the strategic throat; they'll definitely fight for it!"

The generals argued amongst themselves, their faces flushed and necks red, but they couldn't reach a decision.

And what about Yang Sichang? Since he arrived from the capital, he had never publicly worn his first-rank official robes, which he usually wore to court. He only appeared in his everyday clothes, but he always carried the imperial sword given to him by Emperor Chongzhen at his waist, which he cherished greatly and never let go of.

He stood in the main seat, his face gloomy, his brows furrowed, his hand on the hilt of his sword, listening quietly without saying a word.

In military strategy, he didn't think he was better than the generals below him who were arguing heatedly; he just felt that he might sometimes act impulsively when his emotions got the better of him...

Just as Yang Sichang was waiting for his generals to argue their point, the sound of rapid hoofbeats suddenly came from outside the tent, followed by the heart-wrenching cries of a courier, shattering the tranquility of the camp:

"Report! Urgent battle report from Wuchang, 600 li away! For the personal attention of the Commander-in-Chief!"

The hall fell silent instantly, all the arguing stopped abruptly, and the generals all looked towards the tent entrance, their faces showing unease.

A message delivered by express courier over 600 li (approximately 300 kilometers) must mean something extremely serious has happened.

It must be news of victory from the Shaoyang incident.

Everyone unanimously guessed this, after all, it was a victory, and the expressions on their faces were no longer as suppressed as before.

Yang Sichang's personal guard rushed in, knelt on one knee, and held a sealed report in both hands, saying loudly...

"Reported urgently from the Commander-in-Chief, Governor of Huguang, Song Yihe, via a 600-li express courier!"

Yang Sichang was also delighted. He expressionlessly reached out and took the report, preparing to open it and loudly read it aloud in front of everyone, hoping to brighten up the already dire situation in the Huguang campaign.

Yang Sichang quickly tore open the paper, pulled out the pages, glanced at them, and was about to begin reading when he suddenly stopped.

!!!

How could this be! The government troops have been defeated!?