Tuanlian judge Wen Tinghao analyzed the current situation for Cui Yanzeng and summarized it as "three difficulties and five harms": Today, there are three difficulties in defeating thieves, and there are five harms in following thieves.
The imperial court issued an edict to pardon him, but we killed him without permission, which was a difficult situation;
Leading their fathers and brothers to attack their children is a dilemma;
The intertwined relationships involve many people, which will inevitably lead to too many killings and three difficulties.
If the garrison soldiers return home without punishment, other garrison soldiers will follow suit one after another, causing harm;
A soldier who kills an officer without guilt also sets a bad example, the second evil;
They make weapons, recruit bandits, and increase their strength. If they are not suppressed in time, they will become a big trouble, three harms;
The officers and soldiers in the city are all relatives of them. If they unite with the remnants of the Silver Sword Army again, they should cooperate internally and externally, and the consequences will be unimaginable, causing four harms;
Now they have forced the government to remove the imperial officials and form an independent regiment. Isn't this the resurgence of the Silver Sword Army? Five evils.
There is repetition in this. We can briefly summarize:
There are only two fundamental tangles: you can’t ask for it, and it’s not easy to ask for it.
If you can't ask for it, it's a political risk. The imperial court's soothing policy was restrictive, which troubled Linghu Fu and Cui Yanzeng.
It's not easy to discuss, it's a military risk. Pang Xun's gangsters and the soldiers and civilians of Xuzhou City are a family that loves each other, and they are afraid of each other. Even if peace is successfully achieved, follow-up disposal work will still be a big problem. Killing too much will arouse public resentment, and killing too few will leave hidden dangers.
At the same time, through the discussion at this meeting, it is not difficult to see that Pang Xun's so-called "secret decree" does not exist at all. The imperial court never gave Cui Yanzeng a secret order to capture and kill Xu Zu who had returned without permission. Otherwise, there would be no political risks, and Cui Yanzeng would not have to be in such a dilemma.
You will be outside, and your orders will not be accepted.
The imperial court may not be aware of what Pang Xun's followers are doing in time, and the plan is not as good as changing. The generals of the feudal town should adapt to the situation and flexibly change untimely policies. Even if he has to take huge political risks, he will not hesitate to remove him from office. Cui Yanzeng finally made up his mind: suppress the Xu thief!
The Pang Xun gang openly threatened the court, violently resisted the law and obstructed official duties. From now on, the name for them will also be changed from "Xu Zu" to "Xu Thief".
On the one hand, Cui Yanzeng dispatched troops and generals, and on the other hand, he quickly sent people to inform the court of the latest special situation and explain the rationality and necessity of sending troops.
Before the expedition, Cui Yan once conducted important pre-war mobilization and announced to the soldiers several major crimes committed by the Pang Xun gang, saying that they not only dragged innocent Xuzhou people into dire straits, but also tarnished the image of the military, especially seriously damaging the The reputation of Xuzhou soldiers has increased.
At the same time, Cui Yanzeng also emphasized that this counterinsurgency will only punish the culprits as usual and leave the others alone. Your father, son, and brothers trapped in the rebel army will not be implicated.
Finally, Cui Yan repeatedly warned the general Yuan Mi that he must ensure the safety of Zhang Jingsi, the imperial emissary in the bandit army.
Zhang Jingsi was a senior eunuch sent by the imperial court to comfort Pang Xun's army, and was taken hostage by Pang Xun.
If we look at history, we will find that if you get an order to ensure the safety of someone in the enemy's army before going to war, you will basically lose the battle. This time is no exception.
The two armies are fighting, swords and guns are blind, and it is much more difficult to protect one person than to kill one.
Yuan Mi led the army to set off. The issue he focused on was not how to quickly quell the rebellion, but how to save the eunuch Zhang Jingsi.
Finally, Yuan Mi came up with a clever plan: ambush.
The specific plan was to set up an ambush near Renshanguanyi, send soldiers disguised as woodcutters, and spy on intelligence. After the target person, the eunuch Zhang Jingsi, appeared, the place of detention was determined, and then the network was closed.
In the evening, Pang Xun's troops rushed to the vicinity of Guanyi. Something fishy can be seen at a glance.
First of all, not only was there no one in the hotel, it was also empty. Is this still a highway service area?
Secondly, the sun has set, and there are woodcutters at the foot of the mountain. Isn’t that too hardworking?
Once again, the woodcutter has been working hard for a day, but what’s the harvest?
All they had to do was put up a big sign at the entrance of the hotel that said "There is no ambush here." Pang Xun came here before and found out that he didn't have 300 taels of silver. Now Yuan Mi replied that he didn't steal the silver from Wang Er.
Thief Xu immediately caught the woodcutter and asked him the truth.
So Pang Xun ordered people to make a batch of scarecrows and set them up near Guanyi to confuse the officers and soldiers, and then the whole army retreated urgently.
It was not until late at night that the officers and soldiers realized that the ambush plan had been leaked. Worried that the bandits would set up an ambush on the trail, they did not dare to pursue them. Wait until dawn the next day before catching up.
By this time, the bandits had already arrived in Fuli County, which was about 15 kilometers away from Suzhou City.
There are five hundred officers and soldiers stationed here. The sudden appearance of the rebel army caught them off guard, and because they were so outnumbered, the officers and soldiers fled. Pang Xun's bandit army marched straight towards Suzhou without losing any blood.
The city of Suzhou was empty, and the chief executive abandoned the city and fled after hearing the news. Suzhou City immediately declared its fall.
Pang Xun took over Suzhou City and did two very representative things. Through these two things, we can also get a glimpse of the reality of Pang Xun's gang.
First, Pang Xun claimed to be an alternate commander (the soldiers and horses were left behind); second, he opened the official warehouse, gathered supplies in the city, and informed the people: Take whatever you want.
Good news, good news, big opening bonus, free things, free for everyone, really free...
During the day, people gathered from all over the place, and the people went there happily.
There is no free lunch in the world.
Pang Xun's gang members secretly screened and selected strong men and gave them a multiple-choice question: "Choose us, otherwise, the butcher's knife will choose you."
On that day, Xu Thieves expanded to thousands of people.
It took another whole day before Yuanmi's army caught up to Suzhou City, and then launched a fierce attack on the Xu thieves. More than 300 people were successfully killed by the thieves, and the stalemate was successfully entered.
Two days ago, news of the collapse of the army in Fuli reached Suzhou. Before the chief executive abandoned the city and fled, he ordered the Bianshui River to be opened, hoping to use the flood to save Suzhou.
Bianshui is not the Yellow River, it is not that rough, and the breaching work is very hasty. So when Pang Xun's rebel army arrived in Suzhou, they could wade through the water. When Yuan Mi chased him here, he discovered that there were many sea view rooms outside Suzhou City.
The flood instead became a moat for the Pang Xun gang.
Yuan Mi ordered a forcible crossing of the river, hoping to build fortifications inside the moat to give the bandits a place to catch turtles.
At the critical moment, a strong wind blew, and the rebels took the opportunity to launch rockets, igniting the houses outside the city. The fire took advantage of the wind and the wind to help the fire, and the fire quickly spread to the Yuanmi military camp. In front of them were arrows and stones flying from the city wall, and in front of them were ruthless fire and water. The Yuanmi Army was in a dilemma.
The opportunity was not to be missed, and the bandits attacked decisively. Yuan Mi's first army suffered heavy losses.
After the defeat in the first battle, Yuan Mi, the commander-in-chief of the army and the army, had an unshirkable leadership responsibility. He underestimated the enemy too much and believed that the bandit army could only rely on the tall city to huddle up and defend, so he did not formulate a plan B at all. Who would have thought that the bandits would dare to go out of the city to fight, how cunning and cunning they are!
After all, the Yuanmi Army was large in number and well-equipped. Although they suffered disadvantages, they were still at an advantage. So he retreated to the other side of the river, made some adjustments, and continued to formulate an siege plan.
