Xuelu Town is in the west of Jingzhao, 40 miles from Wugong County to the southwest, 30 miles from Xingping County to the southeast, and less than 30 miles from Fengtian County to the northwest. It was named after Xue Rengui, a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty, who gathered food here.
Because it is located among the three counties and has convenient transportation, it has become a famous town in Jingzhao since the Han Dynasty. There are hundreds of businesses in the surrounding three counties and even Li County in the northeast, where traders gather to trade grain, local products, mountain products, Livestock, seeds, tools, etc., developed into the largest town in the west of Jingzhao in the ninth year of Qianyou.
However, this extremely prestigious Jingzhao town has already shed its cloak of prosperity, allowing the rebels to humiliate and trample on it at will. Under the scorching sun, everything is desolate, and the town is in chaos.
Wang Shun's rebel army marched across the counties, killing and plundering the people, plundering the common people, and forcing good people to become bandits. After heading west, they naturally would not let go of this famous town. It is said that the expansion of Xuelu Town was also attributed to some Shu army prisoners who participated in the hard labor of the rebel army. Many of them were arranged to build roads and ditches.
However, how hard and hard it was to build it in the first place is so careless and easy to destroy it now. The only good thing is that before Wang Shun led his people to the west, many townspeople who heard the news abandoned their homes and businesses and fled into the county to seek shelter from the government to avoid disaster.
Even so, in Xuelu Town, the rebels also plundered a large amount of buried money, silk cloth, and grain. The ability to scrape the ground three feet away seemed to be an innate ability for the bandits.
So far, after excluding the dead and injured, there are still more than 4,000 rebels, temporarily entrenched in Xuelu Town. Among them, nearly half were born as captives. Wang Shun tried hard to gather the surrender, but due to the scattered situation in various places, the state governments in Guanzhong took strict control measures, and in the end he was unable to successfully create a situation of "20,000 Shu soldiers chaos in Guanzhong".
Even so, letting him bring up nearly two thousand old soldiers is quite a trick.
The rest, except for a few scoundrels and criminals who had evil deeds, were all common people who were coerced and persecuted by the rebel army. In the early days of the "uprising", Wang Shun did not intend to carry out mass killings. He even intended to confuse the people in various villages and towns. He used the slogan "harsh government and inequality between rich and poor" to recruit people and expand his team.
However, it turns out that Wang Shun thought too much. Up to now, the taxation of the Han Dynasty is not light, and corvee labor is endless, but it is not to the point of overly squeezing the people's power. The people in Guanzhong have rarely lived a stable life for a few years. King Yong has a good reputation and the chief envoy Hu Yanke has stabilized the government and prospered the people. How can anyone be willing to follow the rebellion of the Shu-made Han Dynasty.
After understanding the truth, Wang Shun decisively changed his strategy and began to use force to force him to plunder money and food. The result was a mass killing, and rivers of blood flowed along the way. There are too many chaotic soldiers, and the pent-up anger in their chests only adds to the bloodshed.
During the initial period of the army, taking advantage of the negligence of the government and the dispersion of the garrison, when Zhao Hongyin mobilized troops and horses to suppress the rebellion in the east, the rebel army, just like Wang Shun's name, swept through the counties with the wind and the current, Unstoppable. The county officials could only gather the people to defend themselves, and the Weihe River Plain became fertile ground for rebel armies to gallop.
Xianyang, Xingping, and Wugong were all attacked by him. Although they failed to break the city, they also gained momentum. However, as time went by, the mobilization and deployment of the government and army became like a life-threatening net, covering him from which he could not escape.
Wang Shun once gave it a go and attacked Wugong County, regardless of casualties, and almost allowed him to break the city. However, Fengxiang's Han army came too fast and attacked with all their strength, causing Wang Shun's plan to fail.
Knowing the power of the Han cavalry, out of fear, he decisively withdrew his troops, crossed the desert river eastward, and burned the pontoon bridge. Even so, he left thousands of corpses of the rebels in his martial arts.
Afterwards, the situation for Wang Shun's "rebels" took a turn for the worse. Two thousand Han cavalry came from Fengxiang's side, led by Han generals Ma Renyu and Murong Chengtai. The two were mobilized from Longzhou and ran for more than two hundred miles. After taking a short rest in martial arts, they crossed the Mohe River and followed their tracks.
Killing along the way, like hunting, constantly compressing the space for the rebel army to move. If Wang Shun had not sent people to occupy Xuelu Town beforehand as a response, they would not have a foothold in the Weihe Plain. Even without Zhao Hongyinxi, Ma Renyu and Murong Chengtai would have been able to conquer them. These thousands of rebel troops were defeated.
However, every advantage has its disadvantages. Although it has a foothold, it has also restricted its hands and feet. It is trapped in the city of sorrow, waiting to die.
On the outer edge of Xuelu Town, some defensive fortifications were repaired under the arrangements of thief officers with military experience, but they were simple and simple. Fortunately, the town's earthen city was still strong and built with Sanhe soil, so it could be relied on.
However, thousands of rebel troops were stationed in the area, which looked very crowded and chaotic. Morale was low and people were confused. If it weren't for those Shu soldiers suppressing them, the rebel army would have dispersed. And the only reason why they can maintain the army and resist the official army is because of the thought of survival.
On the low town wall, there are scattered simple flags with the words "righteousness" and "king" written on them. There are few armors and weapons. There are almost four words written on the faces of the soldiers: rabble. There were quite a lot of earth and rocks prepared, and they were obviously ready for the Han army to attack.
Many thieves looked desperate and were immersed in a depressing atmosphere. Battalions composed of prisoners of the Shu army were constantly patrolling the area, not only to check the enemy's situation, but also to monitor the forced soldiers.
Others rudely preached to the soldiers, to the effect that they were already members of the "rebels" and were regarded as traitors by the government. If they did not want to die, they had to take up arms to resist, otherwise they would fall into the hands of the government. After the liquidation, he will die without a burial place...
In the center of Xuelu Town, the original official office was also crowded with some bandits. Compared with most of the bandits, they seemed to be significantly more refined. They were mostly equipped with iron weapons, and some even wore armor. This team was naturally formed by the leader of the thieves, Wang Shun, who were all former soldiers of the Shu army and the backbone of the rebel army.
The entire rebel army was organized into eight battalions by Wang Shun. Wang Shun took the title of General and led the troops. He had four "generals" under his command, who were worshiped as commanders.
The scorching sun is shining high, and all evils are avoided. Wang Shun, the leader of the "rebellion" sitting in the town office, was discussing the military situation with his brothers, and his heart was filled with chills.
Wang Shun was in his thirties, tall and thin, with a sallow complexion and looked very unhealthy. He was originally a low-level officer in the Shu army's imperial army. He was injured and captured during the battle between Qin and Feng. It was precisely because he was injured that he was not selected into the Huaiwei or Huaide Second Army. Otherwise, his fate may be to go another way and become a pawn of the big man.
"General, we have been trapped in Xuelu Town for three days, and the situation is not good!" One of the thieves general said to Wang Shun with a solemn expression: "Quickly think of a way, if the situation continues, the rebels will be waiting to die!"
"Brothers are also afraid. Those Han people are also restless and their hearts are turbulent..."
"I'm afraid the officers and soldiers are being mobilized to attack us. We can't just sit back and wait to be killed!"
The group of people talked about the difficulty of the situation, and they all seemed very nervous. They no longer had the pride and joy of raising troops for the first uprising, but were full of hesitation and despair about the future.
"Otherwise, it's better to escape from Xuelu Town as soon as possible!" someone suggested.
"How to escape? There are officers and cavalry roaming outside, ready to strangle us at any time. We have cut off all contact. We don't know what is happening with the other rebels. Where are they escaping to?" someone retorted.
"There is not much food now. If we stay any longer, we will all starve to death without an army attack!" someone warned.
"If I had known this, I should have grabbed some food!"
"How to rob? Now there is nothing to rob or kill in the surrounding villages and towns. Besides, if you go out, you will die!"
"We still have to go!"
"How to go? Where to go? If you go out, you will die!"
"That's better than waiting to die here!"
"Back then, we should have fled south to Zhongnan Mountain before the officers and soldiers could react. Maybe we could still survive!" Someone said with regret and resentment.
"Why didn't you say anything that day? You only focused on killing, robbing, and playing with women!" one person scolded.
When faced with an existential crisis, everyone's minds seemed to become more alert, and they could actually see the situation more clearly.
"That's enough!" Finally, Wang Shun spoke, his face looking particularly gloomy. He was silent for a while, then he looked around and sighed: "Now, we are staying in Xuelu Town, and we still have defenses to rely on. Once we leave this town, They will be hunted by the Han army like prey. The purpose of raising our troops this time is to fight to the death, to survive, and to lose is to die. Now that the matter has come to this, what's the use of lamenting?"
"Otherwise, let's surrender..." Someone reminded him weakly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Shun looked at him angrily: "Stupid! Confused! We have been destroying cities, killing officials, and plundering people all these days. Can the court let us go? Even if we are spared our lives, it will only I’m afraid that I will be sent back to do hard labor or labor, and the supervision will be even stricter. The work will be more tiring and painful, and sooner or later I will die from exhaustion! Sooner or later, I will die, it is better to die happily!”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was frightened, and any thoughts of surrender that Fang had had were quickly extinguished. What Wang Shun said makes sense.
Silence, silence again. Still a thief leader, he looked at Wang Shun: "General, no matter what, you make a decision, whether you live or die, we will all follow you!"
