Chapter 190: First Battle
Although he was forced to rebel by Han officials, She Chongming was still a man with clear lines of love and hate. When he led his troops to attack Nanxi, he encountered strong resistance from the county magistrate Wang Shuofu. Seventeen of his subordinates, including Luo Zugui, the commander-in-chief, took the lead and died in the battle at the foot of Nanxi city. Faced with the murderous soldiers, She Chongming warned his subordinates: "Wang Zhixian is a filial son and an upright official. On the day the city is breached, no one is allowed to kill." After the city was broken, some Yi soldiers rushed into the government office and killed Wang Shuofu. She Chongming accused him of disobeying the order and beheaded the soldier in front of the army. At the same time, Wang Zhixian was buried with generous rites and mourned in person to show his loyalty and filial piety. When attacking Chishui, Ming general Zhang Dazhuang died in battle, leaving behind two young grandchildren. She Chongming was good at raising them and hired teachers to teach them Yi language and martial arts. Later, when the She'an coalition forces attacked Wusa, the guard officer Guan Liang gathered more than 70 Han households who fled in Qingshuigou and Wuergou to form strongholds to fight against each other. Soon after the stronghold was destroyed, She Chongming did not consider it a crime, and told the Han people to live peacefully without harming anyone...
After the rebellion, She Chongming called himself the King of Liang, and An Bangyan called himself the King of Luodian. There were also several chieftains who called themselves the King of Luodian one after another without any creativity. In order to show his transcendent status, An Bangyan later changed his name to the "Great Elder of the Fourth Generation." It can be seen from the king's title that these two people were really forced to rebel - their highest ideal was just to establish their own business and have no contact with the Ming Dynasty.
but……
How can it be!
Ming's consistent style is to push people until they can't bear it and rise up, until the situation deteriorates completely out of control, and then use the world's largest physical advantage to crush them - even though every so-called victory will cause them to bleed more and make them bleed more. The empire has taken a big step towards the brink of collapse, and that's no problem!
Objectively speaking, the Ming Empire at this time was like a tree, and the officials were like borers on the tree. Every borer was desperately sucking the nutrients that the tree relied on to survive. Because they know that no matter how hard they suck, there will always be someone who sucks harder than themselves. If they stop mouthing because they can't bear it, they will immediately be squeezed aside by other moths, and they will only be the ones to suffer. Of course they also know that no matter how thick the tree is, sooner or later it will be hollowed out and collapse, but they also believe that as long as they are fat enough, they will have more chances to climb another tree!
She Chongming's main attack direction is Sichuan, while An Bangyan concentrates on Guizhou. As we all know, Ming's ability to handle trouble is far less than one percent of his ability to cause trouble. In the early stages of the war, the coalition forces of She Chongming and An Bangyan had always maintained the strategic initiative and were always suppressing the Ming army. If it were not for the emergence of these two talents, the empire might have collapsed ten years earlier.
After taking Chongqing, She Chongming successively captured Fushun, Neijiang, Ziyang, Jianzhou (now Jianyang, Sichuan), Xindu, Longquan (southeast of today's Chengdu, Sichuan) and other places, and besieged Chengdu. After the previous harassment by Zhang Hu and Fang Ge's betrayal, Sichuan Province's military equipment was already stretched thin. It happened that Chen Shibo, the governor of Sichuan, returned to Beijing after completing his term and no one was in charge. At this time, the defenders of Hecheng were less than 2,000. People in Chengdu Prefecture are in panic. The police are calling the police overnight, and everything is in danger...
It was also God's blessing that the rebels came to the city. The King of Shu had a rare understanding: he asked Zuo Buzheng Zhu Xieyuan to act as governor - the vassal king of the Ming Dynasty had no power to make personnel appointments, but when the matter was urgent, Chitose It still works. This Master Zhu can be called a capable official, and the first thing he did when he took on the responsibility of defending the city showed his talent: the suburbs of Chengdu were limited to two hundred miles, transporting grain into the city to ensure grain storage in the city. At the same time, Qin Liangyu, the envoy of Shi Ding and Xuanfu, rushed to the provincial capital to aid.
Zhu Xieyuan also wrote a sincere letter to Sun Jie. Master Zhu certainly knows that Sun Jie's troops stationed in Baoning are closer to Chengdu, but Sun Ying is not a soldier of Sichuan Province. Don't say that he is just an acting governor. Even if he is the official governor of Sichuan, Sun Jie is not under his control, so , I can only ask for good words. However, in Lord Zhu’s view, this young military officer may not be able to count on him: everyone has his or her own calculations. The number of extravagant thieves is more than ten times that of Sun’s tribe. The soldiers are the general’s private property. Which normal person would sacrifice his own livelihood for others? Sun Jie had enough reasons to shirk the blame. Of course Master Zhu from the imperial military department also dispatched six hundred miles to rush. However, the water far away cannot quench the thirst nearby. It will take more than a month to wait for the imperial court's order to mobilize troops. By then, everything may be too late! As for asking the King of Shu to come forward and give orders to Sun Jie, there is no need to think about it: under the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, the vassal king has no right to mobilize any troops except the royal guards. Even if the royal guards leave the city, they must be approved by the Holy Emperor himself! Therefore, giving orders to Sun Jie can only be counterproductive, and the general will have enough reasons to find a place to station in peace and quiet, and slowly start a lawsuit with you - the referee is of course the court, and both sides will send several memorials to the capital. , it doesn’t take much, just grind it back and forth a few times, and it will consume energy for a year or two, which is normal.
In fact, Zhu Xieyuan had another layer of worry in his heart: Even if Sun Bu came, what would happen? At such a young age, it is not possible to rise to the top just by relying on the military merits and qualifications of his father's generation. He did drive Zhang Hu away a while ago, but that was mainly because Ma Qiancheng helped, right? Now Ma Qiancheng is in danger in the capital prison. Can this young man deal with hundreds of thousands of thieves on his own? Can his generals, who are like wolves and tigers, be willing to accept his command? But don't be like Zhao Kuo, who talks on paper. That way, Chengdu will be ruined...
However, to Master Zhu's surprise, Sun Jie actually arrived in Chengdu Prefecture on the day the messenger arrived at Baoning Prefecture! Looking at the bloody and heroic young general, Mr. Zhu couldn't help but feel unexpectedly moved. Seeing this, Sun Jie quickly clasped his fists and saluted: "Sir, your whole family will receive God's grace from generation to generation. This is your duty."
When Zhu Xieyuan heard this, he was even more excited and speechless: "Okay, okay, Commander Sun understands the righteousness and went to the dangerous city personally. I, I, I really don't know what to say..." However, he saw that Sun Jie only brought six or seven hundred. The man, who had just been relieved, was raised again, "Sun Shuai only brought these few soldiers and horses, thinking that he was loyal to the country and rushed to rescue him at night. The other people, well, other people and horses should be careful. The army cannot be without a commander for a day, don't do it." Teach that extravagant thief to take advantage of the situation..."
Sun Jie laughed and said, "Don't worry, sir. The general has indeed brought only the guard battalion into the city. The other battalions have already set up camp twenty miles away from Chengdu Prefecture to provide support. This will let the boss know that the general has already arrived. Take the new capital, the thieves there have been driven away by the general."
Zhu Xieyuan was dumbfounded by these words: "What? You took the initiative to attack without waiting for my letter. You marched five to six hundred miles in only ten days, and you also took the new capital with you in the meantime?"
Sun Jie was a little embarrassed to be told by Mr. Zhu: "Back to Mr. Zhu, my father has repeatedly taught the general that if he is marching and setting up camp, the military intelligence scout must be spread out hundreds of miles away to deal with any unexpected events. The general has been stationed in Baoning Mansion for a while. At that time, several sentry posts were set up in Tongchuan Prefecture and Shunqing Prefecture, so that the scouting horses could run farther. Several sentry posts were reported one after another, and the extravagant thieves repeatedly invaded Ziyang Jianzhou in Neijiang. They did not need to look at the map to I know that this thief must want to invade Chengdu Prefecture along the Luo River. If the thief surprises the Thousand-year-old King of Shu, he will die without redemption! Therefore, the whole army immediately broke out to meet you. The entire province of Sichuan The supply of food and grass is safe, and our army fortunately has not missed its march. The extravagant bandits in the new capital only have a thousand ragtag troops, how can they defeat our Ming Dynasty King's majestic army? It's just a battle of half a day and one drum, and it doesn't take much effort."
These words made Zhu Xieyuan burst into tears, and two lines of hot tears welled up in Mr. Zhu's eyes: "A tiger father has no dog son! Heroes have been born since ancient times! God bless the Ming Dynasty, this is God bless the Ming Dynasty!"
Although She Chongming's troops are numerous, they are all mountain people. They are more than brave, but their equipment training is a weakness. It is not a problem to defeat the guards who are almost useless. How can they defeat the Ming Empire in a dignified battle? trump card? Sun Jie captured Xindu with a single charge, leaving the Huben camp to defend the city. He asked deputy general Shen Chenggang to lead the main force to be stationed between Chengdu and Xindu at any time to provide support. He ordered Shangguan Fei's cavalry to ensure that the official roads in the three places were open. Then he brought his personal guard Changjie Camp into the city to calm people's hearts.
Unwilling to be reconciled, She Chongming sent his general Liu Yangkun to recapture the new capital. On the way, he was ambushed and defeated by Shi Jingsheng of the Panshi Camp. Two consecutive defeats made him understand that this Ming army was completely different from what he had encountered before, so he temporarily gave up the idea of reinforcement and focused on fighting Chengdu.
It was a pity that King She's previous experience in fortification battles was limited to attacking other chieftains' villages, so he began to pile up mountains of earth outside the city in a strict manner - according to past experience, as long as the pile was higher than the wall of the village, not only the strength of the defense inside the village, but also the earth could be seen. Although the artillery bombardment from a high position could not hurt a few people, it could often bring a huge blow to the morale of the defenders. Zhu Xieyuan couldn't help but panic when he saw the large mound of soil dozens of feet away that was growing taller every day. He wanted to ask the defenders to fire artillery, but Sun Jie laughed and stopped him: "Sir, our cannons and shells are limited, and they are accurate." It’s hard to say, we have to save the tower to deal with the thieves’ car crash. I dare you to calm down, wait two more days, and wait for the extravagant thieves to pile it higher. This trick will be broken in half a day.”
"The bows and arrows can't be reached, and the crossbows are useless. Without the cannons, does Sun Shuai want to counterattack at night? Sun Shuai, we only have the few soldiers in front of us!" It seems that the worried Lord Zhu can still be called a Know the soldiers.
"Don't worry, boss. There is no need to counterattack. The general knows what he is doing." Sun Jie replied with a smile. After returning to the commander's tent, he called for Shen Chenggang. The two said something, and then Deputy General Shen left the city and returned to his station.
Seeing that the mound of earth was almost as big as the city wall, Sun Jie called in his personal soldier Qian Zong Sheng Degong and wrote a few instructions. Sheng Degong accepted the order and went to find Shen Chenggang. Sun Jie then invited Zhu Xieyuan to the top of the city to watch the battle. . Seeing this, Zhu Xieyuan thought that Sun Jie was going to bring the main force over for a surprise attack, so he asked: "Commander Sun, how far away is Deputy General Shen from us?"
This sentence confused Sun Jie: "Returning to the old man, Old Shen has been camping twenty miles away from Fucheng? He will not move the camp without the order of the general."
"Then... after marching twenty miles and immediately jumping into battle, will the soldiers be physically weak?"
"Back to the old man, I will definitely do it. No one can do this kind of thing. You can't wear armor when marching, otherwise you will walk twenty miles with dozens of kilograms of iron without fighting, and you will be exhausted and paralyzed." Sun Jie then turned his attention to Outside the city, he continued to give Zhu Xieyuan a popular science introduction respectfully, "During the march, armor and weapons must be placed on carts pushed by auxiliary soldiers. The enemy is about ten miles away. Oh, it also depends on the terrain. If it is easy to walk and wide, Guan Dao said that if the opponent is an unarmored or light cane-branded soldier like Luthi, it should be farther away, maybe twelve or three miles. If the wilderness is bumpy and difficult to advance quickly, it can be closer, such as five or six miles. The whole army will stop and put on armor to prepare for battle. . At this time, you can take a short rest to recover some physical strength. Therefore, it is very important to reconnoiter the military situation. You must not only observe the enemy's situation, but also pay attention to the road conditions. Hills, swamps, bridges, traffic capacity, etc. must be calculated. Dangerous places must be used. We must search the surroundings carefully to prevent the enemy from setting up an ambush... These scouts are the elite of the army. Their main purpose is to discover the enemy's situation. They pass the information back to the generals level by level. The first ones can just hide themselves. They don't need to participate in the battle. They can get it after the war. Reaching the first level of decapitation skills..." At this point, he suddenly understood and turned to Zhu Xieyuan with a smile, "Does the boss think that the general will bring up the old Shen, and then the general will open the door to attack and support him? Hahaha, no need."
As he was talking, there was a roar in the distance, and a white line was quickly approaching Chengdu Prefecture. A few days ago, Shen Chenggang had sent auxiliary officer Su Yinghui to dig up Dujiangyan in accordance with Sun Jie's order. , received the order today, ignited several buried gunpowder, and the torrent rushed down. In less than an hour, the mountain of earth that She Chongming had worked hard to pile up for many days was washed into a quagmire.
Looking at the Yi soldiers struggling in the muddy water, Zhu Xieyuan felt ecstatic at first, but then his joy turned to worry: "Sun Shuai's water attack is indeed a great idea! It's just... it's just a pity that the farmland of the people outside the city... ...Sigh, there is no other way. It is difficult to have both things at the same time, so this is what we have to do. When I come back to report, I will just waive some land taxes next year."
Sun Jie clasped his fists and said, "I admire you for serving the people wholeheartedly." Then he smiled again and changed the topic, "Please rest assured, I will be sensible and the farmland will be fine."
Sure enough, the water retreated just as quickly as it came in. In order not to cause large-scale flooding, Su Yinghui only drained the water for half a day in accordance with Sun Jie's prior order, and then filled the excavation. Zhu Xieyuan, who was full of surprises, couldn't help but look at the young general in front of him with admiration again.
She Chongming was so angry that he was half dead. After so many days of effort, the defenders did not leave the city without a single soldier. In just over an hour, they were wiped out. Although the water receded and almost drowned a few people, looking around from head to toe The men who were all covered in mud and monkeys couldn't swallow this breath: "Send the order, the entire army attacks the city!"
Well, if you can't see what the city looks like, then let's attack by force. There are a lot of people anyway, and we have to risk our lives to take down the Chengdu Mansion - then we can have a good talk with the Han people with the Ming Emperor's vassals in our hands.
