Chapter 225 Dead End (Part 2)
General Liu Chao left a weak battalion in the west of the river to guard the pontoon bridge. He led the other two main battalions east to cross the Yachi River and built several simple defenses outside the city. Although the food shortage was the earliest, it was also closest to the rear. He finally got some food from the Zhenxi Guard and the Weiqing Guard, and the morale of the army gradually stabilized.
The soldiers were happy when they had food to eat, but Liu Chao couldn't. He had more things to think about: the army was defeated like a mountain. With only three battalions, they might not be able to divert the defeated troops. How to resist An Bangyan who was following him? A full blow? Just as he was restless with worry, Xie Zhongren led several battalions and ran into Yachi City.
Liu Chao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Deputy Marshal Xie lost all his baggage, but it didn't matter. He had some in his camp, so he just needed to spread them out. The most lacking thing now is manpower. With more than two thousand auxiliary soldiers joining the joint defense, the situation will suddenly become much better. But unexpectedly, Deputy Commander Xie only stayed in Yachi for one night. The next morning, he completely ignored Liu Chao's obstruction and continued to run away with the whole army. Moreover, he also sent troops to grab some food and injured several people who were protecting the food. Junior officer.
Liu Chao was very depressed: I am just a newly promoted general, and he is the deputy commander. What can you do? I was sulking alone in the camp for a long time, banging the table and throwing benches, cursing and sending all the auxiliary soldiers to reinforce the defense line. Unexpectedly, in the afternoon, Deputy Commander Xie's defeated troops fled back crying for their fathers and mothers!
An Wei stayed in the fort by himself and handed over all his soldiers to his uncle's general A grasshopper. This group of people sneaked across the Chenghe River and ambush at Liumuze River between Yachi and Zhenxiwei, waiting to fight back the ambush of the fleeing Ming army. Thinking that he had reached a safe rear, Xie Zhongren did not send any scouting horses. In order to run back to Guiyang as quickly as possible, of course he ran at the front, and then ran headlong into Ah Grasshopper's ambush!
The armor of Deputy Commander Xie, who was leading the way, was very eye-catching. Several archers from the Burning Castle were also eager to try the power of blood-sealing poisonous arrows... Most of the Miao soldiers were hacked to death, and the camp troops collapsed on the spot. Except for the unlucky ones who didn't escape, the rest had to turn around and run back to the duck pond again.
The first time they used this kind of poisonous arrow, the Miao soldiers were very curious about the effect, so they surrounded Xie Zhongren on three levels inside and three outside to watch. The commander-level armor is really good. After stripping off the armor, everyone discovered that only two or three of the seven or eight Miao arrows penetrated the armor, and the deepest one only penetrated the armor by two points, so the poison was not very large. Under the watchful eyes of a large group of onlookers, Deputy Commander Xie struggled for more than half an hour: the internal and external intercostal muscles and diaphragm gradually became paralyzed and slowly lost their function. Each breath was shallower than the previous one, and every part of his body was affected. The organs were deprived of oxygen and collapsed bit by bit, and finally his whole body was bruised. Amid the admiration of the audience, Xie Zhongren suffocated himself to death, and even scratched his chest to pieces before he died.
Liu Chao had already built two or three simple lines of defense. Ah Chuqian did not want to take the risk of the Firefort people being captured and An Wei being involved. This lone army had penetrated too deep and for too long behind the Ming army, so they did not try to attack Yachi. , then led the army back to Huozhuo Fort with Xie Zhongren's head.
Liu Chao once again had a blessing in disguise. Xie Zhongren was dead, and the defeated troops naturally became his property. In the blink of an eye, he suddenly became the most powerful general in the entire Ming army in Guizhou Province with five military battalions in hand - even though his title was only a general.
An Bangyan knew that Sidingzhou's sending Zhang Fang was actually just an attitude to resolve past grudges. Besides, unlike the civil servants, the Ming court would not exchange this product with itself anyway. It was not happy to do a favor, and after expressing its gratitude to the old man, according to the custom of the Miao family, he changed hands and gave it to him again. He handed it back to Sidingzhou - your enemy, you can take revenge however you want.
In a sense, Zhang Fang got what he wanted, but it was in a form that he didn't want even to death. The old man and his party took Marshal Zhang on the road again. Every time they reached a mountain, someone would come over and say bitterly: Do you want this mountain? Every inch of land here is soaked in the flesh and blood of our Miao family for generations. If you want, you have to keep some! Then they would cut off one of his hands, one of his feet, a section of his arm... and put them there. After the old man finished turning around the Xiongsuoze River, Zhang Dashuai's entire body was scattered into the land.
In Guizhou, the provincial capital is almost transformed into a ghost town after being besieged for a year. In just two years, a governor, a barbarian general, three deputy commanders, more than fifty generals on tour, tens of thousands of soldiers, and hundreds of thousands of civilians all died here.
The capital was shaken, and the government and the public were in an uproar!
On the one hand, the imperial court asked Zhang Heming to "attack the troops of Sichuan and Guizhou with all his strength," and on the other hand, Cai Fu, the right minister of the Ministry of War, was appointed as the governor of Guizhou. At the same time, Lu Qin, the chief military officer of Baoding, was appointed as the "premier of military affairs in Huguang and Guizhou" to serve as the former commander-in-chief of the enemy. Rush to Guizhou immediately.
Cai Fuyi, a native of Tong'an, Fujian, has a reputation as a virtuous man. The thing that is most praised by people at the time is that when he was doing the political history of Shanxi Province, there was a severe drought in Shanxi Province. After trying all means to pray for rain to no avail, Mr. Cai decided to take the ultimate step and use himself to impress God - this Mr. Cai was dressed in civilian clothes and wore no hat, and then locked himself in the prison of Taiyuan Prefecture! Not to mention, whether it was a hit or miss, or whether it really moved God, the end result was "it rained heavily, and everyone in Jin wept because of it."
Lu Qin, a native of the Qing Dynasty in Jinan Prefecture, was a martial arts scholar, generous as a knight, and had a reputation for bravery. His soldiers were also said to dare to fight. As soon as he became a battalion officer, he led his battalion into a field battle with several times the number of soldiers of Noqian Khan. He did not fall behind and became famous in one battle.
Judging from the two designated Cai and Lu, this time the court was serious about it. However, the overall command of the Sichuan-Guizhou Theater still lies with Zhang Heming, so the result can be imagined.
While waiting for Cai and Lu, Master Zhang did three things. 1. Report to the court, express your determination, and ask for money, food, and soldiers. 2. Give orders to the civil and military forces of Guizhou, be self-reliant, be brave enough to fight against An Ni, be good at fighting, be bold, but also be cautious. In short, if you win, it is because of my leadership, and if you lose, you bring it upon yourself. 3. Continue to hold down Sun Jie, Luo Qianxiang and other generals who are bent on fighting, and stay safely in Chengdu Mansion and never leave the city.
Liu Chao also dared to fight and wanted to fight, but he really couldn't. Most of Xie Zhongren's remnant troops were collected in front, and many of Wang Ershan and Zhang Fang's scattered soldiers also escaped one after another. Now General Liu Shen has almost ten thousand people under his command. If this kind of force can cooperate with a few friendly forces under the leadership of the Governor of Sichuan and Guizhou, it can indeed do a lot. However, Mr. Zhang has nothing to think about except the awe-inspiring official talk. The grain scraped too cleanly, and all of it was given to the Miao tribe by Zhang Fang, Xie Zhongren and Bai. As a result, except for Anbang Yanshe Chongming's troops, there was no shortage of grain. There was a grain shortage all over Guizhou. Mouth became Liu Chao's biggest headache. In this case, Liu Chao did the only thing he could do: farm and grow grain.
Liu Chao cultivated fields on a large scale near the ferry crossings such as Yachi, Luguang, Rouyuansuo, etc., and then built fortresses and fortresses, assuming the posture of I am at your wits' end with you: Of course I can't beat you, Why don't you try touching me?
An Bangyan really tried it several times. However, they didn't get much advantage: as long as the generals didn't lack courage, other things aside, the huge advantages of iron armor and guns and cannons alone were enough to keep the Miao soldiers without armor at bay. In Guizhou, An Bangyan had a broad popular base after all. After completely defeating Wang Ershan, he stayed in Shuixi to build momentum with She Chongming, and sent two chieftains, Guifei and Wumi, to attack Duyun Prefecture and Kaili separately. (Today's Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture) - Judging from these deployments, Elder An's military ability is indeed incomparable with She Chongming: the latter went to Chongqing and attacked Chengdu, with extremely clear tactical goals; while An Bangyan blindly pursued blooming in all directions , even if it succeeds for a while, it will only create a temporarily chaotic situation, and it will be difficult for itself to concentrate its superior forces to achieve more ambitious strategic goals. Of course, maybe Elder An just had a lucky idea in his heart, hoping that Daming would be troubled so much that he could talk to him about some results.
Lu Qin deserves his bad luck. When a new official took office, he lost his official position before he even reached the place - the imperial court received the news that Duyun Kaili had lost his land, and without saying a word, he fired the official of the "Prime Minister of Military Affairs" and ordered him to "be punished with crime". thing"!
Prime Minister Lu angrily went to see Mr. Cai who was traveling with him. Cai Fuyi also had a look of helplessness on his face: "Don't be upset in the army. It's useless to argue. It's useless even if I go to the memorial with you. I know the habits of those people very well. They would say: 'If you walked faster, how could you lose the land?' There is no end to this kind of skin. If the city is lost, the court must find someone to blame. This is the rule. If those places are lost, the officials We haven't appointed local officials yet, so we have to fall on you first. Anyway, it's either you or me. The military community listens to me, please be patient for a while. Let's go faster. When we get to Guizhou, we'll conquer these two places first. , I am reinstated as military gate officer."
Lu Qin's dark face became even darker with anxiety, and he stammered a few words: "Sir, that's not what I mean, that's..." He looked up and saw Cai Fuyi's bitter smile, and he could only say "Hey" Weiwei And retreat.
Lu Qin was a real man, and Cai Fuyi was indeed a good official who cared about the people. The two of them supervised the army to rush towards Guizhou at night and night, and they actually took Kaili back with lightning speed. More than 500 Miao soldiers were killed, and Wu Mi fled to Duyun with only a few confidants. Da Fei did not dare to be tough, and knew that he was defeated as soon as he fought with Lu Qin's two forward battalions. The two led the remaining troops to flee back to Shuixi.
Cai Fu was even more overjoyed when he saw Liu Chao's military camp. Liu Chao planted a lot of yellow rice and sorghum. The former has a short planting cycle and the latter has high yields. Anyway, soldiers can fill their stomachs with Amitabha. It seems that there is no need to worry about military rations. Liu Chao was also happy: this commander-in-chief Lu Qin was not even a bit better than the previous commanders and deputy commanders. After chatting for a few words, he felt particularly irritated. Moreover, not long after meeting Mr. Cai, his general Promoted to deputy commander!
Finally looking forward to a good leader and friendly troops who seemed to be unstoppable, Liu Chao reciprocated the favor and presented a great gift to Mr. Cai and Premier Lu: he unexpectedly led his main force to attack Puding from Rouyuan, killing the Miao soldiers. More than a thousand levels!
Sure enough, it was a newcomer with a new attitude. Although they did not kill many enemies, several consecutive victories not only boosted the atmosphere in the DPRK but also the morale of the Guizhou Ming Army. The morale of the Guizhou Ming Army also rose suddenly. The situation suddenly declined, and Guizhou's military situation also changed.
Unfortunately, Cai Fuyi came up with an excellent new idea, and the situation that had just improved suddenly took a turn for the worse, and Guizhou was still in a deadlock.
