Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 335 0330 [Soldiers approaching the city]

Gong Xiu led 1000 men and took a boat as a pioneer.

The soldiers under his command include gold miners, gold gorge trackers, Han River gold diggers, and tea porters who escaped death and returned home.Counting the miscellaneous servants in the army, there are actually more than [-] people.

There are also a variety of weapons, including spears made in Tiemao Village, and weapons from the Yangzhou Bingzhang.

Of his four grown sons, only the second son was with him.The eldest son was assigned to listen to orders under Li Jinyi, and the third and fourth sons became Zhu Ming's personal soldiers.

Without any food and supplies, the whole army went straight to Chenggu County by boat.

The residential areas and docks outside the city looked very depressed, and few people could be seen at all.

The second son, Gong Yi, led a group of soldiers ashore, turned around the streets outside the city, and soon saw the city gate was wide open.

A clerk, leading a group of yamen officials, knelt at the gate of the city and begged to surrender.

"There is no one in the city?" Gong Yi asked.

The clerk replied: "The county magistrate, county lieutenant, and escort took away yesterday with the officials. Many wealthy households also fled. The county magistrate said that thieves... said that the rebel army did nothing wrong with burning, killing and looting, and that they would often raid their homes. Although the gentry and merchants in this county admire Mr. Zhu's benevolence and righteousness, they would rather believe in it than fear that their property will be robbed."

Gong Yi asked: "Who are you? Why don't you run away?"

The clerk said: "I am Jiang Youqi, the secretary of the Chenggu county government office. I don't do any evil in ordinary times. I am willing to work for Mr. Zhu! As soon as the county government responds to the documents and accounts, I have sent someone to seal them up and wait for Mr. Zhu to accept them."

"Very good, lead the way into the city!"

Gong Yi was afraid of an ambush, so he led a group of people into the city first, and then reported to his father after controlling the city gate.

Chenggu County was taken in this way.

Gong Xiu sent someone back to report the letter, rested for half a day, and then headed towards Xingyuan Mansion.

Chenggu County is only more than 50 miles away from Xingyuan Mansion, and all the vanguard troops arrived on the same day by boat.

All the dwellings outside the Fucheng were demolished, so as to make defensive equipment and prevent rebels from using it as siege equipment.

Most of them are young and strong, and they are organized into an army to defend the city, and their family members can also enter the city to escape.

The people who were not selected stayed outside the city to fend for themselves, their houses were demolished and they had to sleep in the open.

The civil and military officials on Lizhou Road stood at the top of the city and looked at the bandits.

Liu Yan said: "These are just the vanguard of the bandits, they are not many in number, they can go out of the city and wipe them out to dampen the enemy's spirit."

Xu Fuyan shook his head: "The whole army of bandits can leave at any time in a boat, and they can't catch up with them. If you try your best to chase the bandits and pretend to be defeated, what should you do if there are ambush soldiers on the way? It's important to hold on to the city."

The strategy presented was not adopted, and Liu Yu said: "There are too many defenders in the city, so we can divide the troops and set up camp at the foot of the mountain in the west of the city. In this way, we can support each other, and can attack and defend, instead of blindly defending and waiting for help."

Xu Fuyan still refused to listen: "The officers and soldiers have not practiced for a long time, and their morale is very low. What if the troops are divided up and set up camp in the west of the city, and the bandits break the camp first? At that time, the people in the city will definitely be in panic."

Both had a point.

Liu Yan was an official in Shaanxi, so he had some knowledge about wars. Looking at problems purely from a military point of view, he knew that defending an isolated city was not a good strategy.Dividing the troops to camp at the foot of the mountain in the west of the city can not only use the troops rationally, but also cooperate with the battle in the city.It can also keep the rear passage to meet the food and soldiers sent later.

But Xu Fuyan was worried about the morale of the people. The army in his hand was too bad, how could he dare to divide the troops?If one is not good, the whole army will be defeated, and some people may be so frightened that Xiancheng surrenders.

Gong Xiu led his troops ashore and never left the ship too far.

He personally went to the city and shouted: "Listen, officers and soldiers of Xingyuan Mansion, my family manager and the general have already occupied Yangzhou and Jinzhou, and a hundred thousand troops will come later. If you are sensible, open the city and surrender, maybe I can give you an official job!"

"Archery!"

Xu Fuyan ordered.

Arrows rained down from the top of the city, and Gong Xiu had nothing to do.

Several soldiers who were born as trackers carried a two or three meter long boat as a shield, and all the arrows they shot were blocked by the bottom of the boat.

Liu Huiyuan's face was ugly: "This thief said that the Zhu family and his son also took Jinzhou?"

Xu Fuyan nodded and said, "It's very possible. Zhu Ming has been the prefect of Jinzhou for two years, and he still has some foundations. He can easily win the five counties of Jinzhou."

Liu Yan said in a low voice: "If you occupy Yangzhou and Jinzhou, I'm afraid you can really coerce [-] people to follow the thieves."

The words were not loud, but the expressions of Wang Minwen and Han Siyan next to him changed dramatically.

The two looked at each other, quietly left the city wall, and each went home to look for an opportunity to escape.

One hundred thousand bandits, how can Xingyuan Mansion defend it?
Liu Yan watched the two leave, and whispered in Xu Fuyan's ear.

After Xu Fuyan heard this, he said worriedly: "If we do this, even if we repel the bandits, we will be retaliated by the royal party afterwards, and we will be demoted to idle positions on charges of weaving."

Liu Yan said: "Xingyuan Mansion is in danger, how can we count personal gains and losses? If these two people are allowed to escape, the civil and military officials in the city will definitely lose their minds."

Xu Fuyan thought over and over again, gritted his teeth and said, "Go ahead and do it, I'll take care of it if something goes wrong!"

Liu Yan bowed his hands and retreated, called two teams of officers and soldiers, and went straight to the mansion of Wang Minwen and Han Siyan.

The two birdmen dragged their families and were blocked before they could leave the house.

Without further ado, Liu Yan ordered the arrest and collective house arrest in the transfer office.

Then he led troops out from the west city gate, confiscated all the goods on the two official ships and brought them back to the city as military supplies.

……

Ju Ming's main force has more than ten thousand people.But there are only a thousand elites who can really fight.

After he came to Chenggu County, he appointed the county magistrate and county lieutenant, and left five hundred soldiers to guard the city. Let these people be responsible for transshipment of grain in Chenggu County, and then continued to move forward with the army.

Not far after departure, a small boat caught up.

"Brother!" Bai Qi clasped his fists in salute, holding a spear in his hand and a pair of bows and arrows on his back.

And behind him stood Fu Yuanheng and Lei Guan.

Ju Ming asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Bai Qi is 15 years old this year, and he has grown into a pretty boy, with a somewhat solemn shadow between his brows.

He said: "Father left me to work as a civilian in Yangzhou. In the past few years, I have practiced martial arts with Brother Zhang and read some military books. I plan to come to the army to show my skills. These two gentlemen were sent by Jinzhou, so I brought them together to see my brother."

"Very good," Ju Ming asked the two again, "Have you figured it out?"

Fu Yuanheng and Lei Guan are both Tai students who were dismissed.

Fu Yuanheng said: "Fu Yuanheng has died of illness in Jinzhou. The student will change his name to Fu Shou from now on."

Lei Guan said: "Lei Guan also died of illness, and changed his name to Tian Wendao from now on."

"I have wronged you, and I will definitely restore my real name in the future." Zhu Ming said solemnly.

Changing the name and surname is nothing more than not wanting to implicate the family.

Fu Yuanheng and Lei Guan are two people, the former is from Zhejiang, and the latter is from Fujian.Being repeatedly harassed by Fang La and the officers and soldiers, the family property has been wiped out. They hate the court and feel that Song Dynasty is really hopeless.

Bai Qi, Fu Yuanheng, and Lei Guan all stayed in Zhu Ming's account to listen to orders.The army rested at noon, and they sat down to eat by the way. Bai Sheng took them to get acquainted with their colleagues.

It is relative to say that Bai Sheng does not know a lot of Chinese characters, and he has been with Zhu Ming for many years.Reading, writing and computing are definitely no problem, and they are immersing themselves in the ears and eyes, and they also understand some major principles.

It is impossible for tens of thousands of troops to take boats. Most of them walk along the river, and the ships accompanying the army are mainly used to transport luggage.

That evening, ten miles away from Xingyuanfu City, Zhu Ming ordered the whole army to set up camp.

Continue to move forward the next day and come to the city of Xingyuan Mansion.

Zhu Ming took out his binoculars and carefully observed the situation of the city's defenses: "There are people in the city who know the soldiers, and the layout is quite decent. A blind attack will inevitably cause heavy losses. The main force can stay here and divide the troops to occupy Baocheng (Baocheng) and Xixian (Mianxian), turning this Xingyuan Mansion into an isolated city."

"General, I'm going to occupy the west city," Li Jinyi volunteered, "the throat of control is guaranteed to block the officers and soldiers of Lizhou, Xingzhou, and Sanquan, and not let a single officer come to rescue Xingyuan Mansion!"

"Go," Zhu Ming nodded in agreement, and then said to Tu Shen, "Lead your troops to capture Baocheng. After capturing the city, immediately organize the people to reinforce the city!"

"Yes!"

Both Tu Shen and Li Bao's troops were brought from Jinzhou by Zhu Ming.The rest of the Jinzhou army ordered Zhang Guangdao to practice well, and must train thousands of elite soldiers to guard the east gate.

Shi Yuangong said: "I know merchants in these two cities, but I can shoot arrows and send letters to persuade them to surrender. I can't let those merchants sacrifice the city, but I can also take the opportunity to alienate them."

After speaking, take out a pen and paper and write down the names of those merchants.

In the past few years, Shi Yuangong has been running around with Yuandang paper, deliberately befriending gentry and merchants.

Once the rebels cast letters into the city, with the names of merchants written in black and white, the defenders would definitely suspect that those merchants were internal agents, and might directly force the merchants to rebel.

Of course, what is more likely to happen is that the defenders of the two cities surrendered directly under the surprise attack.

Zhu Ming smiled and praised: "Mr. Shi has a clever plan."

Shi Yuangong said modestly: "It's all trivial skills, and it's hard to be elegant."

Since the defenders did not separate their troops and set up camp in the west of the city, Li Jinyi and Tu Shen swaggered past the city with their troops.

Seeing this, Liu Yan was shocked: "The bandits are going to Xixian County and Baocheng!"

Xu Fuyan fell into an ice cave: "It's over."

Xixian is stuck to the west and Baocheng is stuck to the north.

If the two cities are lost, the entire Hanzhong Basin will be blocked, and Xingyuanfu City will be completely reduced to a turtle in an urn.

Especially Baocheng, which is located at the exit of Baoxie Road.As long as they occupy this place, the Shaanxi government army will not even think about coming out of Baoxie Road.

Liu Yan suggested: "It's better to go out of the city and fight."

Xu Fuyan said bitterly: "The defenders in the city haven't practiced much. They are just a group of people who have taken up weapons. There are less than 1000 soldiers who can fight. It may be possible to defend the city, but they will be defeated if they go out to fight."

Liu Huiyuan complained: "At the beginning, I should have abandoned Xingyuan Mansion and retreated to Lizhou with my soldiers and luggage. From Hanzhong to Lizhou, the mountains and rivers are steep, and there are many powerful passes. I will definitely be able to stop the bandits. Even if I lose Hanzhong, I can kill them back!"

"What's the use of talking about that now?" Liu Yan said angrily.

They dare not give up Xingyuan Mansion, otherwise the entire Hanzhong Basin will be gone.

After what happened with Fang La and Song Jiang, the imperial court punished officials who lost their cities and lands more and more severely.

Zhu Ming ordered: "Conscripts go to cut down trees, carpenters make leveling cannons, and stonemasons make stone bullets!"

Tiemao Village had already cast iron heavy cannons, but they were too bulky, so they stayed in Jinzhou to defend the city.

The army only brought some tiger squatting cannons, which were too weak to attack the city.

It's better to return the cannon!
(End of this chapter)