The three armies were surrounded, the enemy was outnumbered, and we were hungry and exhausted. The enemy also set up a large pot in front of the battle line to kill sheep and pigs and stew meat, and loudly called for them to surrender.
But those who were surrounded in the middle of the river valley at this time were the best warriors that the Ming Empire could produce. Even though they were at a disadvantage, they still refused to lay down their weapons and surrender, and ordered them to rise and fall, forming formations to attack twice.
For the first time, they attacked westward for the emperor, but were driven back by Wang Wenxiu's troops who were recuperating and using heavy guns and guns.
The second time they attacked eastward in order to go home, but were semi-surrounded and forced back by Yang Yao's horse battalion who was marching on the bridle.
When the army was extremely exhausted, the hunting camp's prayers to gods and the fishing camp's overtone shouts resounded throughout the valley. The soldiers in front of the battle loudly conveyed the ultimatum of Generalissimo Liu Chengzong to the battlefield. The general attack was about to begin. Don't blame the swords when the time came. Eyeless.
The armies of the two towns, with no reinforcements from outside and no food or fodder inside, finally loosened their grip. When all the psychological defense lines were broken through, no one knew who started the attack first, and cries broke out everywhere.
Layers upon layers of sergeants knelt and kowtowed devoutly toward the east, climbed out of the trench and took off their armor, and passed through the fighting area in front of the two armies. After a brief exchange, they launched another charge.
But this time, it was for the sake of his own belly that he pounced on the meal prepared behind the formation.
The general soldiers of the two formations were deeply popular. In the middle of the empty position surrounded by trenches, there were still six to seven hundred soldiers who were determined to live and die in a square formation. Liu Chengzong looked at this square formation that was stubbornly resisting and ignored them for the time being.
He saw that these people were only superficially willing to die. When the Mongolian horse soldiers wandered into the shooting range, they neither fired cannons nor arrows. They were very contradictory. They couldn't beat them and were unwilling to surrender, so he braced his spine. .
Pull the cannon over and fire two rounds of volleys, and they will be gone; if you don't fire the cannon, you may not be able to hold on for a while and there may be a suicide charge.
However, Liu Chengzong finally felt sympathy. He called two surrendering soldiers and said: "Go and tell He Huchen and Yang Qi to fight the Donglu with their lives to the end. There is no shame in surrendering during the civil war. Let them come to see me."
The surrendered soldiers walked towards the enemy line tremblingly. Liu Chengzong sent several stewards to take charge of the surrendered soldiers. The food was not ready yet, so they were not allowed to eat for the time being and asked them to dig graves for the soldiers who died in the battle.
Having just experienced two assault operations, the sleepy and hungry surrendered soldiers were at their weakest. Taking pickaxes and pickaxes to work at this time was just the right time for the soldiers in charge of the surrendered soldiers to make them feel at home.
Too many troops surrendered. Seven to eight thousand people were disarmed on the main battlefield. Yang Yao also brought more than 2,000 wounded soldiers from the east to surrender. It is very troublesome for these people to cause chaos. If you want to prevent people from having second thoughts, you need to choose the best management. Very important.
The several officers were Dai Daozi in charge of the Ningxia soldiers, Hu Sanhuai in charge of the Guyuan soldiers, Zhong Bao in charge of the Yansui soldiers, Yang Chengzu in charge of the rebels, Wei Qian'er in charge of the flag army, and Li Tianyu in charge of the native soldiers.
The surrendered soldiers were clearly arranged according to their origins.
Yang Qi found that He Huchen was a little too calm. In his eyes, after two failed breakouts, the Guyuan army disappeared almost without warning.
In the ten years since he joined the army, Yang Qi has seen collapses and routs, but he has never experienced anything like this, where a huge military formation suddenly collapsed.
To say they didn't collapse, it's true that the entire army was out of control; to say they collapsed, but the surrender was pretty damn organized.
It was like an army fighting and fighting, but suddenly reached the critical point of collapse and turned against each other en masse.
Yang Qi was panicked. The more a person relies on experience, the more he will pretend to be calm when encountering a situation he has never experienced before, so he did not run away.
But people who pretend to be calm will always see who is truly calm and learn from them.
Compared with Yang Qi, He Huchen, who was standing in the formation with a declining expression, was very calm.
It seems so similar.
Everything seems to have returned to the ninth day of June in the third year of Chongzhen. The air in Huanglong Mountain was fresh after the rain, and the wounded soldiers abandoned him with a cane.
Mr. He is a person who has been here before. It’s a small scene.
Yang Qi said anxiously: "Let's break out eastward and run to Lanzhou."
He Huchen smiled miserably: "So what if I run to Lanzhou?"
When the army was defeated last time, he had immediately thought that he had dishonored the divine grace and wanted to kill himself, but this time he had no such idea... because he was the only one who led the army last time.
As a general, if he has never fought head-on with his opponent, he will be ashamed of everyone.
But this time it was different. The Fifth Route Army had never fought, which meant that the problem did not lie with He Huchen.
But he really didn't know what to do now. The same thing happened to him twice. The Ningxia army was gone and he couldn't go back.
At this time, a servant reported: "Commander, some troops have returned to send a message to the enemy!"
Before He Huchen and Yang Qi could speak, the servants had already lined up a passage and called for the surrender troops to come over.
He Huchen closed his eyes in pain. He knew this would happen. Although these soldiers were still on the battlefield, they were only loyal and not tired of living.
If there was a chance to survive, or to live without going against the general's wishes, the servants would be happy to live... so they let the surrendered soldiers in without the general speaking.
On the contrary, he surrendered his troops and returned to the formation. He felt guilty in his heart and was too timid to step forward. It took him a long time to pass through the formation of hundreds of people and arrived in front of Yang Qi and He Huchen. He bowed his head and said: "Commander... …”
Yang Qiting was angry that his subordinates dispersed without saying hello and ignored the surrender. But He Huchen, after all, was not defeated by Liu Chengzong for the first time. He was an old man and said: "Get up, General Liu, what do you want to say?"
Upon hearing the surrender, Marshal He's title was quite gentle, and he felt a little more courageous: "General Liu said that if you save your life and fight to the death with the Donglu, there is no shame in surrendering during the civil war. Let you and Marshal Yang go over and talk."
There is no shame in surrendering in a civil war.
Yang Qi looked at He Huchen: "Are you going?"
He Huchen thought to himself that Liu Chengzong would really find a way out for others, and Yang Qi next to him was really nothing.
It was up to him to decide whether to save You Shilu or not; he was still allowed to make up his mind whether to see Liu Chengzong or not. This guy didn't want to take on the responsibility of any psychological guilt.
But now that the matter has come to an end, He Huchen doesn't bother to worry about anything. They are all old monsters. Who can use his ability to shirk responsibility? He said on the spot: "What else can we do if we don't see you? Do you want hundreds of brothers around us to die here?"
After saying that, He Huchen let the surrendered soldiers lead the way. They each followed with two personal followers, and walked dejectedly through the trench to the opposite side.
The servants and soldiers who remained in the formation looked at the two men leaving, feeling worried and happy at the same time. Of course, they were worried about the personal safety of the two generals, but they were happy because they had some hope of escaping.
Approaching Liu Chengzong's military formation, Xie Erhu and Guitutai Jida's horse generals stopped the two men and their personal followers. Xie Erhu said in stiff words: "The two generals have disarmed their weapons, and the personal soldiers will follow here."
Immediately afterwards, Gututaiji jumped out from behind Xie Erhu, pointed at He Huchen and muttered, regardless of whether He Huchen could understand his Mongolian language.
What he was talking about was He Laohu, you little bitch, when you beat me up in Ningxia, did you ever think that you would be here today too!
Before He Huchen sent his troops south, he beat up Hu Duntu who was hitting the side wall crazily.
Unexpectedly, Yang Qi frowned directly at Xie Erhu and said: "We can understand the Chinese language, so there is no need for this Tatar to be an interpreter... Is General Liu still afraid of us assassinating him?"
Gulong
Guitutaiji was so angry that he beat his horse and circled all over the ground. He had nowhere to vent his anger.
Xie Erhu only had fun secretly. It was none of his business as a pirate to get beaten up by interfering with the Han tribe anyway. After laughing enough, he said seriously: "You lose, don't be arrogant. Do you want to be tied up to see the commander without weapons?"
Yang Qi was so angry that his teeth itched. He felt that Liu Chengzong had deliberately used the two Northern Tatar soldiers to disgust him.
But He Huchen could understand Mongolian and looked at Qututaiji in confusion, thinking that I have beaten so many Mongolians, who is your translator?
However, He Huchen was obedient and the battle was lost. He climbed down the steps even if there were no steps. He no longer asked for anything. He took off the sword from his waist and handed it to He Zan, asking him to wait here.
But he didn't expect that He Zan changed hands and took off the war sword together with his own saber, handed it to Yang Qi's servant, and said: "Father, I will go with you."
He Huchen blew his nose and glared at that time. I used to discuss the surrender. You bastard has been confused and staring since you were captured in the Battle of Huanglong Mountain. You feel that there is something wrong with the Ming Dynasty all day long. Why do you go to see Liu Chengzong? Do you want to study?
"You can't..." Halfway through his words, He Huchen realized that he might not be able to go back, so he sighed and shook his head and said, "Forget it, this moment is the other moment."
When Yang Qi saw that the father and son had untied the sword, he also angrily untied the sword.
In fact, he had no psychological burden. In his mind, he lost this battle entirely because of the incompetence of others. His Guyuan Army had nothing to ask for. He had no involvement in the formulation of tactics. He would fight according to other people's plans. He was fighting anyway. In the process, he tried his best.
He lost this battle because others overestimated the capabilities of each town. He did not overestimate the combat effectiveness of the Guyuan Army. He did not even dare to talk about tactical planning and put himself on the toes.
The biggest flaw was that the commander-in-chief of the towns did not expect that they would not even be able to hold the battle line until Liu Chengzong's army was infected by smallpox.
Of course, they had no idea that even if time was delayed, Liu Chengzong's army would not be infected with smallpox at all.
But being at peace with the defeat does not mean accepting it. He was very unhappy when the two Mongolian soldiers asked him to untie the sword.
He said in his heart that he was a general military officer after all, and even though he was here, Liu Chengzong didn't show the slightest courtesy to a virtuous corporal. He actually sent the Northern Tatars to disgust them. It was so rude.
In fact, Liu Chengzong did not send Xie Erhu here.
It's just that Erhu felt that the commander-in-chief had always been too kind to surrendering soldiers and generals, and actually let them stand. He just wanted to find an excuse to tie the two of them.
But because He Huchen was too obedient, Xie Erhu, who was bent on causing trouble, returned angrily.
Entering the military formation, He Huchen still remembered the last time he met with the rebel leader Liu Chengzong; he also remembered the ridicule in his heart when he heard that Liu Chengzong was about to enter Qinghai.
But he didn't expect that just a few years later, Liu Chengzong really came out of Qinghai.
From a distance, He Huchen saw the tent of the Marshal's Mansion on Tushan Mountain. The tent looked very familiar, but it was a little older and the color was worn off in many places.
There is a handsome case outside the tent. Liu Chengzong, wearing a helmet and whipping armor, is sitting behind the handsome case. In front of the case, there are more than ten generals standing on the left and right, surrounded by two rows of guards. Further away, there are Tang soldiers and golden drums and horns holding flags.
He Huchen kept a good attitude all the way, but just looking at Tushan from a distance, his head started buzzing and he almost suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.
The commander's tent is his commander's tent; the commander's case is his commander's case; the golden drums and horns are his camp drum music; even the Tang soldiers waiting for orders outside the tent are all Tang soldiers from Ningxia Town in the past.
Except for the change of the flag, Liu Shizi did not waste any of these things, and retained all the rituals of the former Ningxia Town Chief Military Officer.
On the mountain, Liu Chengzong, Yang Yao, and Wang Wenxiu were summarizing the spoils of the two victorious battles and the harvest of prisoners on the table. They also gained a lot of weapons and equipment. The artillery weighing more than 500 kilograms alone included two Fran machine guns. There are ten cannons, six more Tianzi general cannons firing eight-pound bullets, and two useless cannons. There are plenty of gunpowder and shells.
On the other hand, the harvest of military rations was pitifully small. Wang Chengen, He Huchen, Yang Qi, and You Shilu together only had more than 2,700 dan of military rations.
Even before the Hehuang chieftain's family had a lot of grain reserves, the Ye chieftain who rebelled earlier confiscated more than 3,000 stones of grain and more than a thousand livestock.
When all the granaries seized by local officials from various chieftain families involved in the rebellion were counted, Liu Chengzong estimated that he would be able to obtain more than 30,000 shi of grain and tens of thousands of livestock.
But correspondingly, this war gave him more than 15,000 mouths. An increase in population is a good thing, but what makes Liu Shishi painful and happy is that these people are all good soldiers.
He calculated in his mind that the number of professional soldiers under his command in Xining Mansion, excluding the miscellaneous soldiers recruited temporarily and the native soldiers from various places in Hehuang, had reached more than 35,000.
This number means that the entire Hehuang has been militarized to an extreme level. There is one professional soldier among the nineteen people.
Among these nineteen people, there are old people, children, women, disabled people, and fools. Among the adults who are suitable to be soldiers, they are equivalent to one out of six.
The more than one million acres of farmland in the Hehuang Valley must be taxed at a rate of three out of ten to support these retired soldiers after the autumn harvest.
If the army is further recruited and surrendered, this ratio will further increase to one out of every four soldiers, and it will take 10% tax or even 10% tax 7% to support the army... This is simply unrealistic.
Liu Chengzong sighed. He knew this would be the result before the war started.
Fifty thousand troops are close to the total strength of a town in Jiubian; but anywhere in Jiubian, 60,000 to 70,000 troops include the garrison guards. Even so, no border town can support itself without relying on local support. Own.
The only fertile land he owns is in Hehuang, and the number of fields is far less than that of any other border town.
Therefore, whether you are marching to Gansu, Lintao, Guyuan, or Lanzhou anywhere, it is like driving a carriage towards hell. If you lose, you will lose your life, and if you win, you will lose your food.
However, he was asked to vomit all these people back... but he didn't want to.
This is not a problem that can be solved by war. Although the battle was won, the situation is more serious than before the war started.
Liu Chengzong said: "In Lintao Prefecture, Lanzhou and Hezhou, the native soldiers are empty and the guards have been lost. The remaining troops are less than 10,000. We must digest these surrendered troops as soon as possible. The flag troops and native soldiers inside are familiar with the local conditions. We must We have sent troops to besiege Lanzhou City."
Yang Yao and Wang Wenxiu looked relaxed. They always believed that Liu Chengzong would have a solution regarding the overall strategic direction. Not only were they not worried at the moment, but they were also very surprised by the news. Yang Yao said: "Commander, are we going to attack Lanzhou?"
Liu Chengzong shook his head: "Lanzhou and Hehuang can only defend one. We have no time to fight with them. We have to cross the Yellow River and seize the granaries of all the rich and powerful families in this land. 20% will be distributed to the local poor people, and the rest will be moved." Come back and lay a solid foundation for popular support for marching eastward within two years."
In the next two years, the chain reaction caused by this war will ferment in the northwest. Liu Chengzong doesn't know what it will eventually become. He only knows that there is not much time left for him.
Once he is about to run out of food, he can only advance his troops eastward, and if he doesn't advance, he must be prepared to penetrate all the way into Guanzhong.
At this moment, Xie Erhu ran up Tushan and said, "Commander, the two generals are here."
Liu Chengzong ordered them to come over, and He Huchen and Yang Qi climbed up Tushan Mountain.
He was just thinking about how to surrender to Liu Chengzong. He had just walked to a position two feet away from the person who was familiar with Shuai's case, when suddenly the figure dwarfed from the corner of his eye and Yang Qi disappeared.
Before he could lower his head, a voice came from his side: "The defeated general Yang Qi, the commander-in-chief of Guyuan, came to see the Grand Marshal of Qinghai. Yang Qi is willing to surrender. He also asked the Marshal to send troops to Lanzhou and bring his family members to Hehuang!"
He Huchen opened his mouth and looked at Liu Chengzong, who was temporarily absent-minded after Shuai's case. Then he lowered his head and looked at Yang Qi. He was stunned... Is it so neat?
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