Chapter 55 Entering Henan
On the way from Yan'an to Tongguan, Guan Shengyun adopted a "roller curtain" march in order to train his troops. This was standard practice for "marching into enemy territory" during this era.
When camping the day before, the Tangqi scouts at the front and rear of the army made sure that there were no large enemy threats within twenty or thirty miles. Tangqi's reconnaissance range is limited to the main directions, and it is impossible to detail all parts of the fan-shaped area. But this is enough. When there is no means of instant communication, even if a small group of troops can hide from the eyes of the elite Tangqi, it is impossible to pose any threat to the army with an absolute advantage in numbers.
After breaking camp the next day, the auxiliary soldiers dismantled the tents and packed up supplies. While the soldiers were having breakfast, Tangqi went out to explore. After the safety signal was sent back, the cavalry team first marched two or three miles forward and chose an open area to set up their formation. This mobile force must be ready to deal with emergencies at any time. Then each battle camp formed a team according to the road conditions sent back by Tangqi (for example, how many people could go parallel), dressed in casual clothes and armed with weapons, and took turns acting as the vanguard troops to pass through in turn. Behind each team were several large vehicles, carrying simple field equipment such as the armor of the soldiers of the team and the Luzhai Juma. Each battle camp protected the auxiliary troops, baggage camp and the central army in the middle of the team. The battle camp that was the vanguard the day before was changed to the rear guard, and the rear passed through. Finally, the cavalry followed up again, and the whole army rolled forward in battalion units.
When leaving Tongguan, it was You Futian's turn to be the vanguard. Que (pronounced "Wen") Township is a small town. There are only a few defenders, and no warning was received. Then again, even if it was received, it would have no effect. Rather than taking it, it would be better for You Futian to directly launch an attack. Got in. The few old and weak sergeants guarding the gate could not believe their eyes as they stared dumbly at the endless army heading towards them. They even forgot to close the city gate, and no one thought to report it. In the blink of an eye, You Futian, protected by more than thirty personal guards, rushed forward on horseback.
Since there was no threat, You Futian didn't bother to fight with a few old guys. He waved his hand and asked the guards to quickly pass through the city, blocking the land transportation from Luxiang to Lingbao. He settled his mount and fought with the city. The servants started talking. The old soldiers, who may not always have enough to eat on weekdays, looked at the dark army getting closer and closer in the distance. Although they felt that something was wrong in their hearts, no one dared to resist at all, and they all knew it. By the time the army entered the city, You Futian had almost a general understanding of the general situation in the village.
At the same time, more than thirty speedboats were sailing down the Yellow River in the north. They crossed the Nexiang County like arrows and lined up in a row, pulling out two blockades, which also blocked the two sides of the bank and Henan Prefecture (Henan Province). The area bordering Tongguan was called Henan Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty, which was on the same level as the prefectures mentioned above. Note that Henan Prefecture is under the rule of Henan Province, and the two are not the same thing.) The Yellow River waterway transportation within the territory.
Luo Yonghao was not worried about Shanxi discovering the fleet. In broad daylight, there were so many boats and rafts carrying military supplies on the river that no one could hide them. However, this is no big deal - there is no Yellow River bridge, no telephone or telegraph, and the only way to convey news from both sides of the Taiwan Strait is by ferry. As long as a section of the river is controlled, even if an abnormality is discovered, Ruicheng on the other side of the Yellow River in Shanxi is a small town with an extremely low level, and there is absolutely no possibility of self-assertion. Such major military information must be reported to Pingyang Mansion. When reporting to Pingyang Prefecture, the provincial capital Taiyuan or Taiyuan Prefecture must be verified, right? Southern Shanxi is full of mountains, with three thousand winding mountain roads and ravines. It would take at least ten days and a half to go back and forth. Even if they were conscientious, well, let’s just say they were completely irresponsible, the Taiyuan Prefecture would not further verify the authenticity of the news, but would still report it to the capital and issue an early warning to Henan - there was still a big circle to go around: either sending a memorial Defu, Weihuifu, or Huaiqingfu, these prefectures will then send one copy of the news to the provincial capital Kaifeng, and one copy to Luoyang, the capital city of Henan Prefecture... It will take at least a few months to complete this circle. time - this is only the first warning message!
Luo Yonghao's only worry was the land route from Ranxiang to Lingbao, and then from Lingbao to Shaanzhou (today's Sanmenxia City).
This section of the road is more than 150 miles long, of which more than 70 miles are narrow mountain roads. It is bordered by the mighty Yellow River to the north and cliffs to the south. Between the two, a small road winds along the valley bottom - the old Hangu Pass during the Qin and Han Dynasties was here.
Luo Yonghao's worries are not unfounded. During the Anshi Rebellion, the famous Battle of Lingbao took place here.
The famous general Ge Shuhan guarded Tongguan. An Lushan's son An Qingxu could not attack it for several months, so he lured Ge Shuhan to abandon the danger and fight in the field. He ordered Cui Qianyou to guard the old and weak people and died in Shaanjun (Ming Dynasty called Shaanzhou, today's Sanmenxia City). The elite troops lay in wait on the top of the mountain in the south. Xuanzong was overjoyed when he received the report that the rebels had "less than 4,000 soldiers and were all weak and unprepared" and forced Ge Shuhan to send troops to recover Shaanluo. Ge Shuhan's objections were ineffective, so he led the army out of the pass. It was on this mountain road that they were ambushed. Under the attack of the rebels Gunmu Leishi on the top of the mountain, the Tang army on the narrow narrow pass of dozens of miles could not escape, and suffered many casualties. Ge Shuhan made a desperate move and urgently ordered the forwards to use shield carts to make a desperate assault in an attempt to forcefully open the passage. Unexpectedly, Cui Qianyou had deployed a large number of grass carts on the front road, and the raging fire after igniting completely blocked the Tang army's path. At the same time, the rear The road was also blocked by the rebel cavalry. The soldiers trampled on each other and threw themselves into the river. Tens of thousands died. Of Geshuhan's army of hundreds of thousands, only more than 8,000 people were left when they returned to Tongguan. Later, Ge Shuhan was taken to Anying by his generals and imprisoned in Luoyang. He was eventually killed by An Qingxu...
Although Guan Shengyun's tribe is an elite soldier, such a narrow and long ancient road is a "death place" like a textbook in the art of war. Under such terrain conditions, no matter how many men and horses you have, you can't move forward. Even if your opponent only has a few hundred men, they only need to block the road ahead and occupy the commanding heights in the south. To the north is the roaring Yellow River, and the army has only one way to die. Therefore, blocking traffic and isolating news is the top priority, and it is also a task that Guan Shengyun and Luo Yonghao repeatedly mentioned to You Futian during the military meeting the night before.
As of now, the boats and rafts are all organized in the auxiliary barracks. For a while, Guan Shengyun had no plan to establish a water camp. Military Advisor Luo also agreed with this idea and felt that it would not be too late to make plans when he arrived in Huguang.
However, when heading south along the Luoshui River, Guan and Luo took precautions and arranged for the Tianyi Battalion, whose name was named after water, to take turns boarding rafts to familiarize themselves with possible water battles they might encounter in advance. At first, they did not want to break up You Futian's troops. The original plan was to let Zhang Ding's troops take a boat. But Zhang Ding is a thief. He knows that his combat power is at the bottom of every battalion. He is afraid that when they arrive in Huguang, the general and military advisor will simply organize him into a naval force on the grounds that he is familiar with boats and rafts - the Ming Dynasty's navy is considered a second-rate force. Its status is only slightly stronger than that of the auxiliary barracks, and its main task is transportation. Even if there are wars, they are mostly limited to shooting bows and arrows at each other, and fighting between gangs and killing each other rarely occurs. Second-rate troops and generals would not be popular with others, so Zhang Ding insisted that his name as Pili Battalion contained fire, and whoever sent him on board the ship deliberately wanted to kill him! In this era, this reason is too strong to refute, and Tianyi Camp itself carries water, so You Futian can't say anything.
On the day they left Tongguan, it was Yu Futian's turn to be the vanguard. He had his own troops on land and water, and he was able to command them with ease. Everyone said it was God's will. You Futian vaguely had some new ideas: simply use Tianyi Camp as the backbone when the Shuiying camp is established in Huguang in the future. He holds two important positions on land and water. No matter whether he charges or retreats, the water camp in hand will not suffer any loss. Maybe he will have the opportunity to do some business. Wouldn't it be a great thing?
Everyone knows in their hearts that Nengxiang is not a place to stay for a long time. For one thing, the place is too small, and a small county cannot afford to support tens of thousands of extra mouths. In the first few days, you could rely on robbery, but if you go a little longer, you have to eat yourself, and you will lose money. Secondly, the terrain is too dangerous. If the news is leaked, there will be no way forward. The gate of Tongguan behind you is also closed, and there is no basis for advancement or retreat. , a dead end.
The whole army was temporarily stationed in Neng Township. Gong Derun and Gu Baihua were already very good at arresting officials and collecting property. There was no need for trouble in such a small and broken place. The two of them, one in the city and one in the countryside, were able to finish Neng in less than two days. The village was clean inside and out.
Guan Shengyun sent Gu Baisong's cavalry to hide near Lingbao. At the same time, he searched on the mountain in Yibutang. He confirmed that the Shaanxi side had not secretly communicated with Henan to set up an ambush. He left most of the auxiliary troops and baggage in Nu Township. The Feishou Battalion only carried weapons, and Guo Qinglin allocated a large auxiliary force to transport armor equipment and three days of rations to raid Lingbao.
One day after Gao Tengdou led the army to set off, the raids in the village were also completed. In order to save time, Guan Shengyun and Luo Yonghao discussed it and set off directly to the east regardless of Gao Tengdou's arrival at Lingbao.
On the way from Lingbao to Nexiang, the pedestrians and postmen in both places were intercepted by cavalry. Until Gao Tengdou and You Futian followed suit in capturing Lingbao, sending cavalry and fast boats to block the traffic to Shaanzhou, and became The imprisoned magistrate and other officials only woke up from a dream.
At the same time that Guan Shengyun's troops entered Lingbao and robbed property from house to house, the capital received a good news jointly signed by the three Shaanxi divisions.
In the victory report, the adults of the Third Division first greatly boasted about the moral integrity of the Holy Emperor, insisting that this victory was entirely the result of heaven's induction of the Holy Emperor's virtue (this is called scheming - whoever dares to question this victory in the future will Is it to deny the moral conduct of the Holy Emperor)! Secondly, all the adults also conducted a profound self-examination and supported each other. They expressed their sorrow for Shengliang's painful lesson of neglecting to guard against breaking jars and smashing, and even being "taken advantage of by rogue thieves". Later, several adults expressed their infinite sympathy for the people of Yan'an Prefecture who suffered from the war. They tearfully described the tragic experience of the "Holy Sons" and sincerely begged the Holy Emperor to be exempted from paying taxes for three years and expressed that they would He set an example by donating a whole year's salary to the disaster-stricken areas. He would rather eat grass with the whole family and have a firm determination to help the victims rebuild their homes. Finally, he expressed a little worry in a subtle and euphemistic way: I heard that several provinces in Henan and Shandong had been suffering from drought for a long time and there were many refugees. In line with his full love for the Holy Emperor and his infinite loyalty to the court, he did not hesitate to risk offending his colleagues and thereby being criticized by everyone. The risk of "grievance and slander" was an early warning to the court: the thieves were causing trouble, and the lessons were not far away. Neighboring provinces must be more vigilant to prevent similar incidents from happening again in Shengliang.
The specific results of the battle were reported in another separate memorial, which vividly unfolded a splendid battle picture in front of the Holy Emperor. Especially Lieutenant General Li Changfa of the Yulin Guards, "when the enemy was just about to fall into Yanfu," he generously led his troops to attack to the death. "Three of the people who were targeted were still staring with their swords in hand," "Angrily killed the defeated soldiers to stabilize the morale of the army," and "finally won the victory." There are also touching stories such as Chang Wenping, the magistrate of Ansai County, who took advantage of the unprepared thieves and killed the thieves chieftain, held his head high and shouted, the soldiers and the people were united, and the vivid scene of "the thieves were heartbroken, covered their faces and ran howling" ...My lords and masters are all experts in writing and ink. They can write short essays at random and compile them into paragraphs. The war novels polished by a bunch of writing masters who spent many days in retreat directly fascinated the Holy Emperor. According to the news secretly spread by the father-in-laws in the dormitory, the Holy Emperor even brought this memorial back to the palace. He first read it to the imperial concubine in a mellow and emotional voice before he pushed the empress down with great courage...
At the end of the memorial, there is a list of various meritorious officials. Moreover, the adults of the three divisions of Shaanxi Province jointly submitted a petition, and the "Qin Army Exercise" campaign has been launched vigorously throughout the province. Jiujiu Lao Qin, who becomes more and more courageous as he fights, is ready to go to any battlefield at any time. Just like in Yan'an Mansion, he will defeat any bandits. For the sake of the Holy Emperor and the court, he will not hesitate to wrap his horse leather and stain the yellow sand with blood!
The cabinet, the Sixth Ministry and the Metropolitan Procuratorate have all cleared the way. Even the most evil-minded skeptics have nothing to say when faced with the results of the Ministry of War's head inspection that "all are real thieves." Two hundred and sixty-nine heads with Adam's apples attached to them were placed in the courtyard of the Ministry of War. Who can deny such impressive martial arts!
The Holy Emperor Long Yan was delighted: Reward! Chang Wenping was the governor of the country. He was directly promoted by the magistrate to the general magistrate of Yan'an Prefecture, and Li Changfa was given the title of deputy general. He was bestowed with the word "loyalty and bravery" in his own handwriting by the Holy Emperor. Although the adults of the Third Division of Shaanxi had made mistakes unnoticed, they were especially good at making up for it. Before it was too late, the Ministry of Education made a general plan and gave it a good review. The rest of the people were rewarded - those who could be promoted were promoted, and those who could not be promoted were rewarded with worldly posts. In addition to the court's reward being written off by the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Holy Emperor also received a reward from the Ministry of Household Affairs. Two thousand taels were taken out of the internal funds and allowed to be distributed by Shaanxi Province to its meritorious generals, and the land tax in the military and county counties was exempted for three years (full exemption in the first year, 70% exemption in the second year, and 50% exemption in the third year). The reported military expenses will be written off with priority and leniency by the Ministry of Household Affairs...
The culprit, Yu Shengliang, should have been cut into pieces, but the imperial court, in line with its usual lenient style, deprived him of his official position, confiscated his home, and sent his wife to exile in the misty land of Yunnan and Guizhou!
While the officials of Shaanxi Province were celebrating with smiles on their faces, the urgent documents from Shaanxi Province were finally sent to Luoyang, the capital city of Henan Prefecture (Henan Prefecture is only one of the eight capital cities in Henan Province, similar to the concept of today's prefecture-level cities. The other seven are: : Zhangde Prefecture, Weihui Prefecture, Huaiqing Prefecture, Kaifeng Prefecture, Guide Prefecture, Nanyang Prefecture, Runing Prefecture. There is also Ruzhou, which is not small in area and is considered Zhili Prefecture. The capital of Henan Province is Kaifeng) .
However, this emergency document was not sent from Shaanzhou, which was attacked, but from Mianchi County.
