Wang Zhihan, the commander of the Sichuan East Road Guerrilla Bureau, is the chief general of this road. In Song Liangzuo's three-pronged encirclement and suppression campaign, Wang Zhihan's route had the most abundant troops, with more than 11,000 troops. The main force came from the Pingyue Guard, Xinglong Guard and Zhenyuan Guard in eastern Guiyang.
There is a saying that the strength of the three guards in eastern Guiyang is relatively strong among the guards. The reason is not complicated. It is mainly because the surrounding chieftains are very strong. If the three guards are too weak, they will not be able to control the situation.
To the north and east of these three prefectures are Shiqian Prefecture, Tongren Prefecture, Sizhou Prefecture, and Sinan Prefecture. These four prefectures are all controlled by the local magistrates. The situation is not much like that of Cen, Huang and other great chieftains when Gao pragmatically lived in Guangxi in the early years. many differences;
The southern part is the so-called "Miao border hinterland", which is basically in a state of "three no matter". Back then, Liu Xian and Liu Wei and his son went there to exterminate the Jiu Si Barbarians and Zhangdu Barbarians. However, due to the extremely low development level of that area, it was difficult to pacify them. After that, the imperial court did not go to establish prefectures or counties, and just left it like that.
Needless to say, in the north is Bozhou Yang Chieftain, a family of chieftains for seven hundred years, stomping their feet in the great earthquake in the southwest; in the west is Guiyang Prefecture, the core area of the imperial court in Guizhou, and also the area where the three guards focus on guarding.
However, there seems to be some problems with Wang Zhihan's route of dispatching troops, because his route is the southern route, and Loushanguan is actually not far north of Bozhou. It stands to reason that it would be easier for him to directly attack Bozhou than to go eastward to Loushanguan. Be closer.
Why do we seek the far away rather than the near? Does Wang Zhihan not know how to fight? That's not the case.
Bozhou is actually Zunyi in later generations. If you are familiar with the instructor's magic operation of crossing the Chishui River four times, and carefully compare the terrain on the satellite map, you will find that the area south of Bozhou was extremely difficult to travel even during the Republic of China, and this area In the current Wanli Chao Na, let alone a decent road, there is no way to find it. If you want to cross the border with a large army, unless you bring a large number of engineers to open roads over mountains and build bridges over water, you should give up this idea as soon as possible.
The detour to the east is different. Although the road is a little farther, there is a "7" shaped mountain valley that leads north and then west into the northern part of Bozhou and the vicinity of Tongzi County in later generations (this is also a two-way repeated crossing of Chishui. Wang Zhihan chose this route and soon went south from here to seize the extremely critical Loushan Pass.
Loushanguan became famous in later generations mainly because of the teacher's "Recalling Qin'e·Loushanguan", "The road to Xiongguan is really like iron, and now we are crossing it from the beginning." And it was precisely because of the Loushan Pass that he commanded that he wrote this immortal work. The Battle of Guan was the first major victory since the Long March. Of course, this is not to talk about poetry, but to express the importance of Loushanguan to Bozhou (Zunyi).
Wang Zhihan's capture of Loushanguan was a hundred times easier than that of the Red Army, but this was not because of their combat effectiveness, but because the Miao soldiers at Loushanguan "had no intention of fighting". They gave up after a symbolic resistance and fled directly.
Wang Zhihan was overjoyed and said to his generals: "This Loushan Pass is located on the strategic road between Sichuan and Guizhou. It blocks Bashu to the north and strangles Guizhou and Guizhou to the south. It is a natural and dangerous place for military strategists. This time our army marched secretly and the enemy was caught off guard. Loushanguan has been easily acquired by me. If we occupy this place, half of Bozhou will be within our control.
Guo Canrong (Guo Cheng)'s troops arrived a little late, so our army might as well take a nap overnight and go out to the north of Hailongtun before tomorrow to see how good Yang's troops are. If Yang's army is still powerful, wait for Guo Shenrong to join forces and attack them; if Yang is frightened after hearing the news, then our army will destroy it on its own. By then Bozhou will be in peace. "All the generals and commanders congratulated together, and some even believed that this battle will definitely lead to victory, all thanks to Wang Zhihan's clever calculation.
However, just when Wang Zhihan was setting up camp and deploying further operations, he suddenly heard that there was a surrender outside. Wang Zhihan was extremely surprised. How could Bozhou know about our secret march? Immediately, he quickly ordered someone to be taken to the police station for interrogation.
The person who came was a lean man with dark skin and piercing eyes. When he saw Wang Zhihan, he kowtowed and said, "Commander, please forgive me. My name is Mu Zhao. He belongs to the subordinates of Yang Yinglong, the governor of Bozhou. He was originally ordered to help guard Loushan Pass." . Seeing the officers and soldiers coming quietly, they didn't dare to fight, so they retreated and then came here to surrender."
When Wang Zhihan heard this, he was furious and shouted: "Bold barbarian! Don't deceive me. How could you know that our heavenly troops are marching secretly? And if you don't guard the natural danger of Loushan Pass, you have clearly set up an ambush and then pretended to surrender to me. Lure me into a trap. Huh, how dare you deceive me even though you are a trivial person? Why don't you resort to real tricks!"
Mu Zhao immediately cried out for injustice, kowtowing and shouting: "Commander Rong Bing, Commander Rong Bing, the Miao people of Bozhou often walk in the mountains and fields, as if walking on flat ground, so it is difficult for the officers and soldiers to notice. Commander, Yang Yinglong is cruel by nature, I The five divisions and seven surnames of Bozhou were all struggling to survive under his harsh rule.
Among the seven surnames, four of them, Linghu, Cheng, Lou, Liang, Zhao, and Wei, were extremely dissatisfied with him. Unfortunately, they were alone and could not be compared with the Yang family. Now that the heavenly soldiers have arrived, the people of Bozhou have changed their minds. Everyone wants to help the heavenly soldiers suppress the thieves. They also think about us and our own family. They just want to overthrow the Yang family... Commander, my father also died at the hands of Yang Yinglong, so I heard that the officers and soldiers came before I was not willing to resist, so I came here to surrender and asked the commander to give the villain a chance to surrender! "
Yang Yinglong's rule was brutal. Of course Wang Zhihan knew this very well, but war was not a child's play, how could he be credulous? Therefore, Wang Zhihan changed his mind and asked again: "You want to make me believe it with just a few words. Isn't it just that you are treating national affairs as a trivial matter? I would like to ask you, how many troops do you want to surrender? Why did you abandon the pass first and then come to surrender?" What evidence do you have for me to trust you?"
Mu Zhao replied: "There were three hundred guards in Loushan Pass. They were already alienated from Yang Yinglong. How could the officers and soldiers resist when they came? So they abandoned the pass and left. But the villain thought that the crime of abandoning the pass was Yang's. It would be difficult to survive. It would be better to surrender to the imperial court and get a chance for revenge. Therefore, I persuaded the Miao soldiers to follow me and surrender to the commander-in-chief.
However, the villain has one more piece of news that must be reported to the commander-in-chief. Thirty miles behind Baishi Tun, Yang Yinglong has 3,000 troops stationed there. They are all his own confidants and will come to support him if there is a war at Loushan Pass. As for whether we sincerely surrender, we will know as soon as the commander-in-chief leads the heavenly soldiers. If the commander-in-chief does not believe it, the villain is willing to cut off one of his fingers to prove his innocence. "
When Wang Zhihan heard his last sentence, he was shocked, not so much that he wanted to cut off one of his fingers, but how to cut it off - could his subordinates be so negligent that they didn't even search the person before bringing him in? Therefore, Wang Zhihan's heart tightened, and he subconsciously held the handle of his waist knife and stared at Mu Zhao.
However, Mu Zhao didn't look at Wang Zhihan at all. He raised his left hand, clasped all four fingers, and stretched out only one little finger. Without hesitation, he put it into his mouth and bit it hard!
The bite made a "clicking" sound and blood spattered, but Mu Zhao opened his mouth and spat out the whole little finger as if nothing had happened. The little finger fell to the ground and was still bleeding. It even jumped slightly, which shocked Wang Zhihan's scalp and made him shake subconsciously.
Only then did Mu Zhao gasp, gritting his teeth to endure the severe pain, covering the wound with his right hand, but blood continued to pour out. Wang Zhihan also reacted quickly and quickly called someone to help Mu Zhao bandage and stop the bleeding.
While Mu Zhao allowed the army doctors to do what he was doing, he was panting heavily, but he still kept persuading: "Commander, when the heavenly soldiers come to attack, not only the villain should be aware of it, but Yang Yinglong will also know about it later. It is a very important matter. Please make an early decision, Commander-in-Chief."
Seeing his behavior, Wang Zhihan no longer doubted his presence. He responded solemnly and ordered the doctor to take him down and take good care of him.
After Mu Zhao was taken down, Wang Zhihan prepared to secretly accept the surrender of Mu Zhao's troops as Mu Zhao said, rely on Xiongguan to resist the enemy troops, and order Mu Zhao to return to deliver the message. Someone from his subordinates advised: "Shen Rong intends to trust Mu Zhao. Although I don't know whether it is true or not, I have to be on guard against the cruel trick. Please be careful, Shen Rong."
Wang Zhihan also believed that this statement was reasonable. As a precaution, he sent someone to contact Guo Cheng's headquarters on the North Road and suggested that he speed up the march and join together immediately.
Of course Mu Zhao was faking the surrender, so at the same time Yang Yinglong had already led his troops to wait and received a message from Mu Zhao, knowing that the Ming army had believed the fake surrender and Wang Zhihan wanted to ask Guo Cheng to join forces.
Yang Yinglong and Sun Shitai discussed and decided to divide one of their troops to seize Loushanguan secretly, so as to form a flanking attack with their own headquarters and close the door to beat the dog. They also ordered people to secretly set up fire points at Baishikou and wait for the opportunity.
Two days later, Guo Cheng, who urgently accelerated his march, finally led his troops to join Wang Zhihan. The Ming army rested for a while in Baishikou and prepared to go to the location of Mu Zhao's tribe to accept the surrender.
Wang Zhihan praised Guo Chengdao: "Guo Shenrong made countless meritorious service during the suppression of the Kuaibai Rebellion and was brave and good at fighting. This time he came to annihilate the Bozhou chieftains. He was really overqualified and overqualified. I just wanted a quick victory, so I had no choice but to ask Shenrong to help."
Of course, this was flattery. Guo Cheng did participate in pacifying the Kuaibai Rebellion, but he went north as part of the Sichuan Army. In fact, he never encountered the main force of the rebel army. He only regained some areas that had originally surrendered to Kuaibai. But in officialdom, this has been the case since ancient times. Unless there is a serious conflict of interest, it is always the person carrying the person in the sedan chair. It is better to have one more friend than one more enemy.
It stands to reason that Wang Zhihan is a staff general, and Guo Cheng is also a staff general. Wang Zhihan defined himself as the main general from the moment he came up and asked the other party to "help out". This seems a bit excessive. But things are not that complicated. Since both parties are at the same level, it is a matter of qualifications and strength.
However, the qualifications of these two men are also very different, and they can only be compared with military strength - Wang Zhihan's troops are twice as many as Guo Cheng's troops, so there is no need to say who is in charge.
Guo Cheng knew that he could not compete with Wang Zhihan for this general, so he thanked him and said: "Wang Shenrong made a serious statement. When I put down the rebellion in Ningxia, the little contribution I made is really insignificant. I have some needs for this battle, so I will do whatever I want."
So the two sides calculated that they had joined forces. The total of the two armies was 16,700. Although the Boshu Army has always been known as brave, after all, its equipment was backward and it was not its own opponent. Therefore, no matter what the situation ahead was, it was necessary to try first. It takes a try to explain.
The Ming army therefore began to march, marching along the mountain valleys from north to south. Not far away, suddenly smoke rose from the front and back of Baishikou, and shouts of killing began to ring around the mountain. Wang Zhihan ordered people to take a look. It was the Bozhou army that blocked the front and rear roads with fire. The fire was so fierce that the Ming army was not allowed to enter or exit. Then there were two people on the mountain. Thousands of arrows were fired from all sides, and the Ming army panicked and had no way to escape.
The terrain south of Loushan Pass was like this, so the Ming army actually became a long snake formation, and it was too dense, resulting in many casualties.
Wang Zhihan knew that he had been tricked and asked Guo Cheng urgently if he had any way to deal with it. Guo Cheng was unwilling to show weakness to Bozhou and ordered the entire army to risk their lives and survive. He personally rode his horse forward, followed closely by a large group of Ming troops.
Upon seeing this, Wang Zhihan also led his troops to follow up. The Ming army then began to rush forward with all its strength, regardless of what was behind them, and did not try to retreat. At this time, there was a raging fire ahead, and the Ming army in the front group was injured immediately when it touched it, while the rest did not dare to advance lightly.
Seeing that his morale was dampened and there was constant rain of arrows on both sides, Guo Cheng thought that it would be difficult for the officers and soldiers to go to the mountains to fight against the Bozhou native soldiers, so he called on the entire army to follow him and he took the lead in breaking through the wall of fire. Upon seeing this, Wang Zhihan once again boosted morale. Although the Ming army was frightened, they were inspired and broke through one after another.
In order to break through the wall of fire, although the Ming army was temporarily inspired to fear life and death, after all, they had no protective preparations under the critical situation and forced the conflict with their flesh and blood. It is conceivable that the heavy losses suffered.
The Bozhou Army led by Yang Yinglong had already been prepared for battle. Seeing Wang Zhihan and Guo Cheng rushing out with their troops, they immediately issued orders to fight. The Bozhou Army is similar to the Cen and Huang families. They have always been brave and good at fighting, especially in the mountains and forests. They are almost the same as the Guangxi Wolf Soldiers. However, the Ming army clashed with each other, and the number of people who rushed out of Baishikou was less than 8,000, and many people suffered burns. It would be difficult to confront the Bozhou army at least in a short period of time.
Yang Yinglong was watching the battle on the mountainside. Seeing this, he sneered and then personally attacked Guo Cheng. Guo Chengcheng fought bloody battles in the valleys, intending to kill the Bozhou army facing him. Unexpectedly, Yang Yinglong, who was personally leading his elite troops, rushed down from the mountain.
Only a few breaths of time passed before the two horses met. Guo Chengcai noticed that a cavalry, which was very rare among chieftains, rushed towards him. The leader was none other than Yang Yinglong himself, known as "Banzhou Yang Tianwang".
Guo Cheng quickly pulled the reins of his horse to face the enemy head-on, but at this time he had no time to speed up. Yang Yinglong relied on the strength of his horse, and his sword was extremely powerful. Guo Cheng raised his sword to resist, but he could not withstand the huge force brought by the charge of hundreds of kilograms of horses. He was injured and fell from his horse. Yang Yinglong quickly turned the horse's head, turned around and rode forward, and fought with Guo Cheng several times. Guo Cheng was killed in battle.
The Ming army was increasingly unable to sustain itself under the attacks of the Bozhou Army. Fortunately, the sky changed at this time, and a spring rain began to fall like sweet rain, and the flames at Baishikou gradually subsided. Yang Yinglong was furious but had no choice. He knew that without these advantages, once the Ming army had a chance to regain its strength and defend the valley as a regular soldier, it would be difficult for the Bozhou army to gain the advantage again, so he led the Bozhou army to rush in without hesitation. Baishikou,
Although the Ming army benefited from the spring rain that extinguished the flames and no longer had to be disrupted by the fire, their survival consciousness gained the upper hand because of the emergence of a way out. In fear, they fled one after another and forgot to resist in formation.
Wang Zhihan originally wanted to clean up his formation, but he was not Qi Jiguang after all. He tried hard and found that it was of no avail. He sighed and had to retreat with the army. However, the retreat was not smooth. Before running far, they saw that Loushanguan had been recaptured by Yang Yinglong.
At this time, the Ming army was unable to advance or retreat, fighting hard and difficult to defeat. Wang Zhihan himself was also hit by two arrows, one of which almost hit his throat. At this time, the Ming army also knew that there was no way to escape, and the mourning force suddenly became strong. Wang Zhihan knew that this was a turning point and an opportunity for survival, so he immediately ordered to defend south of Loushan Pass and wait in formation.
The Bozhou Army did not expect this Ming army to be so powerful. They attacked three times and were repulsed. Yang Yinglong became angry with shame and was about to personally attack and kill them.
However, Sun Shitai knew that the bravery of the mourning soldiers was by no means easy to defeat, so he said that nearly half of the Ming army had been lost in this battle, and the remaining people were only temporarily brave, but in fact almost all of them were injured. Even if they escaped now, they would not be alive for a year. It can't be recovered even after half a year. Considering that the Ming army still has a lot of troops that can be deployed in the follow-up, the Bozhou army needs to maintain its strength and cannot fight anymore. It is better to let them go back first. Bozhou will also have enough time to calmly arrange the follow-up.
Yang Yinglong's anger gradually subsided, and he also felt that what the military advisor said was reasonable, so he sent an order to pretend to maintain the offensive, but left a loophole in the direction of Loushanguan. Wang Zhihan soon discovered that the troops stationed at Loushanguan Pass were insufficient and their fighting spirit was not strong. Regardless of the reason, Wang Zhihan quickly mobilized his last strength to attack Loushanguan Pass, and finally re-entered.
Due to heavy losses and no more reinforcements in the rear, Wang Zhihan did not dare to stick to Loushanguan and evacuated all the way north, actually evacuating directly to the outskirts of Chongqing. When the battle report reached Chengdu, Song Liangzuo's limbs felt cold and he was speechless for a long time. When he came back to his senses, he shivered, and quickly called his close servants, and wrote two personal letters and ordered them to be sent to the north day and night.
Of these two letters, one was sent to Zhou Yong, the Minister of War in the capital, and the other was sent to Meng Yuan Jing Lue Gao Pragmatic, who was far away in Daning.
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