In the eyes of merchants, Yangzhou City was the trade and transportation hub of Southeast Asia and Zhoufu Department Store. In the eyes of generals, it was a choke point on the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River. When the Jin army crossed the Yangtze River and returned to the north, they left a Bohai general named Da Wei as the capital of Yangzhou, intending to stay here for a long time.
Therefore, the city defense of Yangzhou City has always been tight and there are many troops stationed there. For example, quite a few of the Wu Feng, Wu Ding, and Elite armies of the Zhenjiang Dutong Division are stationed here. Outside the city, there are also large military fortresses and supporting docks in Yangzijin and Guazhoudu, where large warships belonging to the Tangwan Navy of the Ma Army are parked daily.
Under such an environment, Yang You was able to mobilize hundreds of warriors to sneak into the city in batches, which was really a good move. This person was able to find his way into the prime minister's position in the Song Dynasty, and he was able to rise from a poor northerner to the position of commander of the new army. This was a real talent. But even if he could enter the city, in order to hide his whereabouts, he had to concentrate his manpower in several adjacent houses.
Hundreds of people stood in a dense crowd, crowded together. A few unarmored soldiers simply stood on the millstone in the courtyard, and four or five people were sitting around the edge of the well.
Yang You was suddenly shot to death, which immediately caused everyone in the courtyard to panic. When someone in the crowd suddenly drew a knife and started slashing, the situation in the courtyard instantly fell into madness.
Dense crowds huddled together. Someone was afraid that the sword would fall on him, so he used all his strength to push back. As a result, several people behind him were knocked into a rolling gourd, and Yang You's body was pushed aside. Some people drew swords to defend themselves, but accidentally injured their companions, causing more people to draw swords and attack each other.
Someone in the crowd cried miserably: "What are you doing? Are you all crazy?"
The first group of people to attack did not respond. They cut open space around them in the crowd, gathered in one place, and continued the massacre. The archers who shot Yang You to death also drew their daggers and gathered together to fight with them.
This group of people originally planned to storm Jia She's mansion, all of them heavily armed, but at this moment, they were so crowded that they didn't even have room to swing their swords. Since the party that suddenly attacked had taken the lead, the party behind them had no room to display their fighting skills and battlefield experience. They could only watch the enemy charging at them like a surging wave.
The people on the outermost layer tried to resist and were immediately killed. It was revealed that the people on the inner layer were in a hurry and were unable to form a formation. In the blink of an eye, they were all gone to hell. People on each layer continued to lie on the ground, like a bloody cabbage, being torn apart. Remove layers of cabbage leaves.
Someone in the crowd finally woke up and shouted: "Climb over the wall! Climb over the wall and get out!"
As soon as these words were spoken, hundreds of people crowded behind the east courtyard wall. With strong skills, he had already grabbed the wall with both hands and pulled himself up, but when his body was pulled to a high place, his whole body became stiff again.
Many other people didn't pay attention to him at all. They didn't have time to climb over the wall, and they crowded into the wall. The shabby house where such a poor man lives cannot be strong. It collapsed after being hit twice.
Smoke and dust rose up, and the road to another courtyard next door opened, and Yang You's men ran away in joy. Outside the blocked field of vision, a familiar sound came. The sound was exactly the same as when Yang You was shot to death. It was the trembling sound of hundreds of strong bow strings.
The dozens of people who rushed to the front immediately fell to the ground wailing, and the people behind them ran out of the smoke-shrouded area without hesitation, and stopped instantly.
In the courtyard next door, there were already people forming a formation, watching eagerly.
This operation of sneaking into Yangzhou was supposed to be a secret among secrets. Every link had been carefully considered and all kinds of dangers were carefully eliminated. Even after arriving in Yangzhou, hidden sentries were placed around the house where everyone gathered to ensure that no one could detect him.
But now that the situation is like this, it is obvious that the enemy has not only discovered Yang You's headquarters long ago, bribed or killed the sentinels outside in advance, but also quietly made no noise when Yang You tried his best to subdue Li Jue and Ying Chunzhi. The troops were deployed outside the courtyard!
There are so many people and horses waiting in the east courtyard, and there are also people and horses setting up nets on the north, south and west sides. At least two thousand people, maybe more.
Who has such a motive? Who would deal with the Zhongyi Army so deliberately? Who could mobilize so many people with the tacit approval of Song officials, troops, and local figures outside the city?
Among the soldiers of the Loyalty Army who rushed out of the smoke, there was a veteran general who was over fifty years old. In his early years, he was a wandering witch doctor.
Li Siwen, the Grand Master who followed the Red Coat Army, had some knowledge and reputation in the Red Coat Army. Seeing that he was in dire straits, he stepped out from the crowd and shouted: "Whose friend is hosting us today? The ruler of my family is already dead, do you still want to kill them all?"
Someone in the military formation opposite sneered: "You must be too old to see clearly because of your old eyesight? The one who entertains you is an old friend from Shandong!"
The veteran was shocked when he heard the local accent. He suddenly took a few steps forward, and sure enough, he saw several familiar faces in the array opposite.
He took a few steps forward regardless and rubbed his eyes: "You are the Fourth Lady's soldiers! How come the Fourth Lady is here?"
The military formation was silent, but the killing in the courtyard behind them continued, and the smell of blood floated in the wind, making people choke.
The veteran shouted again in a trembling voice: "Don't kill anymore! Where is the fourth lady? I want to talk to her!"
Deep in the military formation, Yang Miaozhen heard the hoarse shouts, moved his steps slightly, and stood still again.
The female general who was so powerful in Shandong back then had only been in Huainan for two years after the defeat of the Red Coat Army.
In the past two years, in order to maintain the survival of so many people in the Red Coat Army and maintain the continued existence of this group, she has taken on too many responsibilities and faced too many problems. Many problems could not be solved, and she had to struggle to survive in the cracks. At this moment, her face had a more weathered look, she looked more mature than the girl two years ago, and her eyes as she stared at the formation were even more cold and unusual.
The veteran general had some connections in the Red Coat Army. When he was begging, several of Yang Miaozhen's subordinates looked hesitant and turned sideways to look at Yang Miaozhen.
But Yang Miaozhen was not moved at all.
Yang An'er died that day, and the power of the Red Coat Army fell apart instantly. Yang Miaozhen and Yang You took the heads of the old faction and went south, while Liu Erzu, Zhan Hui, Fang Guosan and others established their own territory. There is actually nothing right or wrong. In Yang Miaozhen's eyes, the reason why Liu Quan and Guo Yao'er supported her, a female prostitute, was not necessarily out of loyalty, but they just couldn't accept Yang You's violent and rude style.
After the two families gathered together to go south, on the one hand they had to cope with the various demands of the officialdom of the Song Dynasty, and on the other hand they inevitably clashed with the Shanshui Village in Huainan. However, each of the two families had their own means of establishing themselves, and they chose to settle down in Chuzhou and Zhenzhou, which were neither adjacent to each other. At first, the subordinates of the two families cared about their friendship and had occasional contacts with each other, and even helped each other on several occasions.
But as Yang You began to work under Shi Miyuan, he got more money and food, and the official position he got was also scary. Since he was rich and famous, he naturally began to compete for influence in the old Red Coat Army. Immediately, the two families continued to fight secretly, and the fight became more and more fierce. Starting from the beginning of this year, Yang You completely took away the money and food of the Chuzhou Zhongyi Army, and even targeted the subordinates of the Chuzhou Zhongyi Army and carried out merciless killings.
Yang Miaozhen had no effective help in the officialdom, so he could only deal with it passively. More than 20 of his subordinates were killed successively, and more than 2,000 capable men were taken away by Yang You in four or five trips, almost occupying all Yang Miaozhen's positions in Chuzhou. Control one-third of the troops.
The important generals under Yang Miaozhen were furious at that time. They gathered their troops and wanted to go to Zhenzhou to fight Yang You or death, but Yang Miaozhen arrived after hearing the news and forcibly suppressed their revenge.
Most of these generals have followed Yang An'er for a long time, and usually regard Yang Miaozhen as their junior. Although they are friendly, they may not respect her judgment much. When Yang Miaozhen stopped their actions, they felt both unsatisfied and dissatisfied, and complained frequently.
It was not until this moment that the generals realized that Yang Miaozhen had laid such a killing plan despite seemingly doing nothing.
Yang Miaozhen was silent, and the general did not dare to ask.
After a while, Yang Miaozhen was heard whispering: "Yang You is a ruler after all. Since he is dead, he has to take some of his head to explain to outsiders! These people are Yang You's best friends and cronies, and many of them have something to do with it." He must have passed the blood of his fellow red-coated soldiers, otherwise he would not have been brought to Yangzhou City!"
The generals looked at each other, and someone asked: "What does the fourth lady mean..."
"Kill them all!" Yang Miaozhen scolded.
A general was startled and retorted subconsciously: "Kill them all? That's us..."
The surrounding companions shook their heads violently to stop,
More people rushed back to their own teams in awe and gave orders.
The brutal fighting broke out again, and screams and shouts resounded throughout half of Yangzhou City. A few miles away from here, on the mountain terrace at Jia She's home, a group of businessmen looked nervous. Some had wine glasses in their hands, spilling all the wine, and some had their eyes wandering around, looking for a way out in an emergency.
Jia She sat still and said with a smile, "Don't be nervous. We have been in Huainan for hundreds of years during the Song Dynasty. We have encountered hundreds of deserters, thieves, water bandits, salt sellers, and tea merchants in various places, so we have long been rich in experience. In front of us. These little robbers will be wiped out in an instant."
The merchants calmed down in shock and asked again: "But I don't know, who is causing the chaos? Who is quelling the chaos?"
"Jia has been doing some introspection at home these days. He has not heard anything going on outside the window. How can he know the identity of the person who caused the trouble?"
Jia She asked in surprise.
The merchants were about to respond when they heard Jia She continue: "I only know that those thieves are holding hostage Li Jue, the Jianghuai envoy, and Ying Chunzhi, the Huaidong economic and strategic envoy."
Someone asked in surprise: "What? The thieves kidnapped those two people? If anything happens to them... wouldn't they be in big trouble?"
Some people were more alert and immediately hesitated: "Those two are usually stationed in Chuzhou and Jiankang Prefecture. Why did they come to our Yangzhou for nothing?"
Jia She comforted them: "Well, the officials of the imperial court are running around for the sake of the imperial court. What should they think about? These two came to Yangzhou naturally to quell the chaos. If they die to quell the chaos, they will die. Glory! If they are not dead, they would be just witnesses!"
