When the vanguard armies of Tian Shizhong and Qi Fang were advancing towards Yuanzhou and Longxing Mansion respectively, Han Wu was holding the beautiful concubine he had snatched from the home of a wealthy family in Nanchang city.
The important "generals" under his command were also similar to him. Together they made great changes in Nanchang City, enjoying the glory and wealth, but felt that the first half of their lives had been in vain.
Even an important subordinate under Han Wu got wind of his body due to overwork and died in bed, becoming the laughing stock of the rebels.
Even Han Wu scolded him for being useless when he found out about it, but he immediately became angry after just a few clicks. Is he still a man?
What an unlucky guy. He finally lived a good life, but he died in just a few seconds. It was useless!
With this group of people taking the lead, the rebel officers and soldiers below were also similar. After they eradicated the Southern Song Dynasty officials and landlords and gentry in the local area, they snatched their wealth to enjoy themselves, turned over and became the masters, and then there was no movement.
You’ve already become the master, what else is there to do?
So when the Song Army vanguard came in front of them, of course they had no actual preparations and just rushed to fight.
On July 26, Wu Gong, the vanguard general under Tian Shizhong and the prefect of Xiangyang, led 3,000 vanguard troops into Wanzai County. Taking advantage of the unpreparedness of the rebel army, he defeated 10,000 rebels in Wanzai County and beheaded more than 800 people. Captured more than 8,000 people and won the first major victory.
The rebel army was completely unprepared for the Song army's surprise attack, and quickly collapsed in panic. The officers took the lead in escaping, followed closely by the soldiers. There was no organized and effective resistance at all, and the battle ended.
Wu Gong got off to a good start and quickly reported a great victory, which was praised by Tian Shizhong. He then sent an additional 7,000 troops to Wu Gong's command, giving Wu Gong a strength of 10,000 people.
After obtaining ten thousand troops, Wu Gong's confidence greatly increased, and he led his army south to Yichun County, where he fought a battle with Han Wu's overlord army.
The Overlord Army in Yichun County was not more effective than the Overlord Army in Wanzai County. They did not show any strong combat effectiveness in the face of the Song Army's attack. They were quickly defeated and the entire army was annihilated.
Wu Gong successfully eliminated this overlord army and also killed Han Wu's sworn brother Liu Changgong, who had just been named Wei Wuhou.
Speaking of which, Liu Changgong committed suicide himself. After being named a mighty lord, he was very happy and made a grand show. He did not make military preparations at all, ignored military defense, and just wanted to enjoy his happiness.
He led his men to hunt for fun in the north of Yichun County every day for many days. This situation was discovered by Wu Gong's pioneer sentry and reported to Wu Gong. Wu Gong then sent his general Zhao Lu to lead an army to raid Liu Changgong's camp. Hunting grounds.
When Zhao Yan raided, Liu Changgong got interested and took the beautiful concubine he snatched from the Yichun County magistrate's house to play difficult games on horseback, and successfully developed difficult postures.
In broad daylight, on the smooth horseback, Liu Changgong was doing something pleasant and enjoying himself.
When the Song Army's cavalry rushed in quickly, Liu Changgong did not react at all, and was shot to death with an arrow while naked, and all his entourage were killed.
The Song army then quickly attacked Yichun County and defeated the Overlord Army under Liu Changgong, wiping out the entire army.
Liu Changgong's men, including about 40,000 people including his family and dependents, did not react, and they had no organization or preparation for resistance. After being raided by the Song army, they were all in chaos. More people died from fighting among themselves than were killed by the Song army. Far more died.
Yichun County was recaptured by Song general Zhao Lu. Wu Gong then came to reorganize the army and clean up the mess. He beheaded all the remaining officers of Liu Changgong's army, killed all their family members, and incorporated the remaining soldiers into the army for his own use.
Then he let the soldiers burn, kill and loot in Yichun.
Because it was a city that betrayed the Song Dynasty, no amount of burning, killing, and looting was exaggerated. Moreover, after a long-distance attack, the soldiers accumulated a lot of pressure and urgently needed to release their desires, otherwise it would be difficult to lead the troops.
As the eldest son of Wu Jie, Wu Gong grew up with his father in the military camp. He deeply understands that leading soldiers is an art. It not only requires strict laws and regulations to restrain military discipline, but also knows how to satisfy the desires of soldiers.
Appropriate strictness, appropriate laxity, and a balance between strictness and leniency can make soldiers more loyal and willing to obey the general's command. Only then can soldiers' morale be improved, so that they can win battles and finally gain fame and fortune.
Wanzai County was too small and there were not many people. The soldiers' desires were not vented, so they were in a bad mood and the atmosphere in the army was not good. Wu Gong clearly felt it.
There were more people in Yichun County, which was more conducive for the soldiers to vent, so Wu Gong gave an order to allow the soldiers to do whatever they wanted in Yichun, and they could burn, kill, and loot as much as they wanted.
The soldiers of the Song Army who had accumulated a lot of negative emotions roared and rushed into Yichun County and did whatever they wanted. After waiting for a day, the army left a mess and moved towards Fenyi County.
At this moment, the rebels in Fenyi County already knew about the Song army's destruction of the Yichun County army. They were very frightened. While sending people to deliver the news to Nanchang, they fiercely discussed whether to fight or not.
Because there were less than a thousand rebels in Fenyi County, they felt that staying to fight the Song army would be in vain, so they fled decisively.
When Zhao Yan led the vanguard army to Fenyi County, he occupied Fenyi County without any effort.
As a result, Fenyi County was preserved.
Cities that choose to surrender without resistance are not allowed to burn, kill, loot, and must be treated preferentially and military discipline must be restrained to prevent every city from choosing to resist desperately in the future. Wu Gong also deeply understands this rule.
A qualified general is nothing more than a general who knows when to restrain military discipline and when to indulge soldiers, and can really do this.
On top of this, if you are proficient in tactics, dare to fight and fight hard, and will not run away when encountering an enemy, you can basically be regarded as a famous general.
Wu Gong felt that he was moving quickly towards becoming a famous general, and he was very happy.
At this point, Yuanzhou was recaptured by the Song army, so Wu Gong's army continued to advance towards the Linjiang Army, preparing to capture the Linjiang Army along the Xiushui and Ganshui rivers, and then follow the rivers directly to Nanchang.
Since the rebel army is so vulnerable, what plans are there that they dare not make?
The news of Wu Gong's victory reached the ears of Tian Shizhong in the rear. Tian Shizhong was very happy and urgently added 10,000 troops to Wu Gong, turning Wu Gong from a vanguard general to a leading general.
He was already old and had already begged for his body earlier. He was preparing to retire from his position as commander of the Ezhou army and "retire with honor". Unexpectedly, an uprising broke out and he needed to quell it.
It is better to revolt if you want to revolt, than to be forced to go north to confront the wolf-like Ming army.
The Ezhou army under his command was formerly Yue Fei's Yue Family Army. When he took over, the Yue Family Army numbered 100,000 and was the only powerful army in the Southern Song Dynasty that could launch a strategic offensive alone with complete logistics.
The Jin army was very afraid of this strategic force.
However, after Tian Shizhong took charge of the Ezhou army, under the orders of the imperial court, he continuously squeezed out, attacked and even murdered Yue Fei's old troops, tearing the Yue family army into pieces.
What had been a strategic force had been transformed into the mediocre Ezhou army that had no advantages other than a larger number of people. The tiger full of murderous intent suddenly turned into a guard dog.
Of course, the Southern Song Dynasty court and Zhao Gou did not care about losing a powerful army that could launch a strategic offensive. They had no intention of launching a strategic offensive anyway.
Compared with this, it is most important to completely eliminate the potential risk of rebellion by the Yue Family Army.
Tian Shizhong completed this task very well, and was considered by the court to be "hard-working" and "loyal", so he became the absolute commander-in-chief of the Jinghu Theater in the Southern Song Dynasty. He held a high position, and it goes without saying that he was rich and powerful.
