Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 404 0399 [Zhong Xiang Jianguo Great Chu]

The imperial court encircled and suppressed Sichuan from three directions, and the most unlucky one was not Tong Guan, nor the way of being a teacher, but Wang Zhi who walked the Yangtze River!

First, the soldiers pull across.

There are 3000 troops under Wang Zhi's command, which are the Tokyo Imperial Army.Originally, the forbidden army was already very weak, so the king told the forbidden army, what the hell was Tong Guan picking the rest.

In addition to the forbidden army, thousands of young and strong refugees were recruited in the Kaifeng prefecture.Then pass by the Lianghuai, and take the Lianghuai Xiangjun and the township soldiers with them.When they arrived at Yueyang, they pulled up a group of soldiers from Jingbei Road.

Forcibly scraped together a motley crew of more than 4 people!

This kind of messy temporary mixed army, to put it bluntly, is not as capable as the armed civilians under Zhu Ming.

Even with the old helmsman leading the way, Wang Zhi's army lost several ships when they crossed the Qutang Gorge.Because it is not appropriate to send troops in this season, it is the high water season of the Yangtze River, and it is the most dangerous time to encounter Qutang Gorge.

After finally crossing Qutang Gorge, we encountered the natural danger of Kuimen again.

Hengjiang is locked in iron, making it difficult to pass through.

He wanted to send someone to break the iron lock, but was attacked by rebels, so Wang Teng had to retreat to Wushan with his whole army.

After spending half a month in this way, Wang Ting tried to go north along the Daning River (Wuxi).Daningjian (Wuxi County) is still in the hands of the imperial court at this time, and it is indeed possible to go around to the northwest of Kuimen from there.It's just that it's difficult for a large army to pass through. At most, a small group of elites will be sent to make a surprise attack, and the success rate is extremely low.

Digging for gold from the trash, Wang Tin managed to pick out two thousand warriors.

After these "elites" left, the troops under Wang Zhi's command were completely pulled apart, which was not much different from leading a group of civilians.

At this moment, dissatisfaction was brewing among Jinghu soldiers.

Zhong Xiang, Zhong Ziang, father and son, joined Wang Zhi's army in Yueyang as self-recruited soldiers.And has always been in series in the army, relying on the believers in the army, quietly and crazily spreading Manichaeism.

When Wang Teng transferred two thousand "elites" to make a surprise attack, Zhong Xiang led a group of believers to plan a mutiny.

First, in the name of withholding food and salary, he led the soldiers to make a fuss about the salary and killed the officer who paid the food and salary.

Immediately he killed the general of Jinghu Road who came to dissuade him, and said to everyone: "Killing an official is tantamount to rebellion, and changing the army is a serious crime. The imperial court will not spare our lives. Now the imperial court has no morals, corrupt officials are rampant, and heroes all over the world are rebelling. Zhu Xianggong has already occupied Sichuan, and the natural danger of Kuimen cannot be defeated. Instead of following Wang Zhi to Kuimen to die, it is better to follow me back to Jingbei Road and build a paradise where the rich and the poor are equal, and the high and the low..."

Wang Ting was originally in Wushan City, discussing with the county magistrate about recruiting civilian husbands.

Hearing that there were people in the barracks outside the city making a noise, Wang Ting hurriedly led the defenders in the city to suppress it.As soon as the troops were pulled out, the pay quarrel had turned into a mutiny, and the soldiers from Jinghu with the largest number were chasing and killing the soldiers from Kaifeng and Lianghuai.

The routed soldiers had nowhere to escape, so they could only run towards the city gate, and they routed Wang Zhi's troops in an instant.

Even though Wang was gifted with great abilities, he couldn't show them at all, so he could only flee around the city with his own soldiers.

Zhong Xiang led troops to plunder Wushan County, and his son Zhong Ziang also instigated a large number of warships, leading Jinghu sailors to fight with Lianghuai sailors.

Sixty percent of Wang Tin's troops are Jinghu soldiers!
However, Jinghu soldiers are at the bottom of the army's contempt chain, and the dissatisfaction that has been brewing for a long time is used by a group of masters who play religion. The result can be imagined.

The large number of warships refitted by Zhu Xi and the countless money and food collected by the court became the capital of Zhong Xiang and Zhong Ziang's army.

The father and son led the army back home, looting Badong, Zigui, Yiling, Yidu, Zhijiang and other cities along the way.If you can surprise the city, you will rush in to grab it. If the surprise attack fails, you will leave immediately, and send people to sneak into Jiangling City in advance.

After Zhong Xiang and his son occupied Jiangling, they killed officials, monks, scholars, merchants, and landlords, demolished Confucian temples, Buddhist temples, and Taoist temples, and incited the people at the bottom to take bloody revenge.

The Manichaeism organizational system replaced the original bureaucratic and squire system, and quickly swept through the counties of Gong'an, Shishou, and Huarong.

Even when he raised troops in Wushan, he thought about his country name, and sent a boat to Kuimen to inform Li Bao.

The boat raised the Manichaeism banner and met Li Bao smoothly.

The emissary was Yang Kui, Zhong Xiang's apprentice, and when they met, he said: "The army of the king has been defeated. My master wants to go back to Jiangling to raise troops. My master sent me to deliver a letter to you."

After reading the letter, Li Bao felt extremely absurd.

In the letter, Zhong Xiang expressed his respect for Zhu Guoxiang and Zhu Ming, and made an appointment to fight against the imperial court together, and also unilaterally divided the territory.

Zhong Xiang claimed to establish the "Great Chu Kingdom", and encouraged Zhu's father and son to establish the "Great Shu Kingdom".From now on, the rivers will be ruled, Zhu's father and son will rule the north of the Yangtze River, and Zhong's father and son will rule the south of the Yangtze River.

Since everyone was rebellious, Li Bao treated them well, and said that it was not up to him to make decisions about planning to rule the river, and he could only convey his opinions to his superiors.

With more than ten years of missionary foundation, the counties around Dongting Lake were also quickly captured by Zhong Xiang.

Moreover, the speed of advancing troops by boat was extremely fast. In just over a month, they occupied half of Jiangling Mansion, half of Lizhou, and the entire territory of Yuezhou and Dingzhou.And headed towards Jinghu South Road, defeated Xiangyin in the first battle, and fell into Changsha in the next battle.

The clock phase of this time and space is even more troublesome than in history.

Because all the troops on Jinghu North Road were dragged to fight Zhu Ming, Zhong Xiang instigated a mutiny, killed the generals, and took them into his pocket.However, the army on Jingnan South Road had just killed Fang Qifo and hid in the mountains, when the Miao, Yao and other people began to rebel again.Officers and soldiers were suppressing an ethnic minority uprising, and Zhong Xiang took advantage of the opportunity to capture Changsha.

Can't wait to win the whole territory of Tanzhou, Zhong Xiang established the Great Chu State in Jiangling, and implemented the rule of the unity of administration and religion.

He claimed that the Great Chu State is the Great Bright State, and all the temples of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism were demolished.Confucian scholars, monks, and Taoist priests, if they do not convert to Manichaeism, they will be killed immediately if they are caught.

The property of merchants must be confiscated, altars should be used as ruling institutions in cities, and a complex system of "religious societies" should be established in rural areas.The head of the meeting led a large number of farmers to kill the landlords and rebel, and distributed the land to the believers, so as to realize "equalization of the rich and the poor, and equal status".

Countless officials, scholars, monks, businessmen, and landlords were frightened and fled towards the surrounding counties.

After Zhong Xiang proclaimed himself emperor, he sent people to contact Fang Qifo, the Miao, and Yao rebels, and conferred a bunch of religious officials to submit to them.

……

Li Bao led his army to Wushan, which had been plundered by Zhong Xiang, and was occupied by Wang Teng with the remnant soldiers.

Wang Ting collected thousands of remnants and recalled the two thousand elites who had been dispatched to make a surprise attack, leaving more than 8000 troops in total.It's a pity that the army rations were robbed by Zhong Xiang, and the rations conscripted from Daningjian (Wuxi) were not enough for thousands of soldiers to consume every day.

Li Bao's troops were transferred to Hanzhong by Zhu Ming, and there were only a few thousand people left in his hands.

But he had enough food, so he didn't attack when he came to the city, but set up a pot to cook and shoot books to persuade him to surrender.

Li Bao has heard about it from around the corner, and from the mouth of Zhong Xiang's emissary, he basically understands what is going on in Wushan.

Wang Tin's official position is greater than that of He Guan, and he is in charge of the capital of the Xuanfu Department.

Historically, Wang Zhi defended Taiyuan for nine months before being captured by Jin soldiers.He also led the remnant soldiers to fight in the streets, and died of dozens of gunshots. The eldest son, Wang Xun, threw himself into the river to die for his country.

The situation at this time was even worse. First, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers was worrying;

Zhong Xiang robbed so hard that he ransacked all the rich households and grain stores in the city, and the low-level people had no food left.

"General, I am willing to go to the city to persuade you to surrender." Rong Jue, the secretary in charge of the army, said.

Li Bao smiled and said, "Aren't you afraid of being hacked?"

Rong Jue said: "If I die, I ask the general to avenge me."

"Okay!" Li Bao immediately agreed.

Rong Jue is a down-and-out person from Bazhou, and even joined a private salt trafficking gang.

He came to the city with his head held high and his chest held high, and he shouted loudly: "Who is the guard of this city? Do you dare to let me enter the city?"

Wang Ting replied: "When the two armies are fighting, don't kill the envoys, and retreat quickly, otherwise they will serve with bows and arrows."

Rong Jue asked: "How much food is there in the city? If there is not enough food, there is plenty outside the city! The general himself is loyal to the court, and he will get a good name even after death. But what about the soldiers under the general's command? Don't mention their names when they die. I don't even know where the bones are buried. Does the general want to use the lives of the entire city and the entire army to achieve his reputation of being loyal to the emperor and serving the country? How mean and selfish!"

Wang Tin's face was cloudy and uncertain, but he didn't give the order to release the arrow.

Rong Jue continued: "Just shoot me to death. If I die, all the soldiers and civilians in the city will be buried with me! Our army does not need to attack the city by force. We only need to siege the city for half a month, and the defenders in the city will be exhausted from hunger. Our army has not many soldiers. You can also lead troops out of the city for a decisive battle! You can either drop down quickly or fight quickly, and it will be really bad for the general if you procrastinate. That’s all for now, let’s say goodbye!”

Wang Ting watched Rong Jue leave and didn't know what he was thinking.

His son Wang Xun said: "Father, although this man is here to confuse the army, what he said is true. It is either a quick retreat or a quick battle. A decision must be made before the food and grass are exhausted."

Wang Ting hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Open the door, kill the enemy!"

All the archers stood on the city wall to prevent the rebels from attacking when the officers and soldiers left the city.

Wang Jin personally led the army, opened the city gate and came out slowly.

Except for Wang Zhi's personal soldiers and the [-] elite soldiers who were used for the surprise attack, the rest were all gathered defeated soldiers from Kaifeng and Lianghuai.

Not to mention the war, even going out of the city was trembling, and the formation was even more chaotic for a long time.Because the original organization has been broken up, it is now reorganized, remnants from different units, and temporarily appointed officers are combined together.

The military orders are not delivered smoothly!
Li Bao's troops were not many in the first place, and he had to stay to defend Kuizhou. This time he only brought the navy and [-] infantry.

Three thousand rebels stood in formation at the bottom of the stone steps.

More than 6000 officers and soldiers marched down from the top of the steps, and there were still [-] archers standing on the top of the city.

Before they got out of the range of the archers, Wang Teng ordered to stop the march and rearrange the formation.The melee soldiers were on standby, and the archers were also sent out of the city.

"Drum!"

Seeing the archers of the officers and soldiers leaving the city, Li Bao immediately ordered an attack, taking advantage of the absence of the archers.

Three thousand rebels attacked more than 6000 officers and soldiers. Li Bao didn't even call the sailors ashore to help.

Before the battle, the shield players of the rebel army threw javelins continuously, and the team leader kept shooting arrows along the way.

Wang Ting led his own soldiers and two thousand elites to the front. He had to do this, otherwise the miscellaneous troops would collapse at the first touch.In front of the rebel army rushing from the front, Wang Teng asked his son and generals to lead the miscellaneous troops around to the two sides, relying on the advantage of the large number of soldiers to attack from three sides.

The frontal front was tied, and soon fell into a stalemate.

Because the rebel army changed its formation during the advance, the width of the front was very narrow, and the longitudinal direction became thicker. There were not many soldiers fighting against Wang Ting's headquarters.

Wang Ting finally understood Han Shizhong's feelings. There was no way to solve the mandarin duck formation when he first encountered it.

However, the [-] rebels were besieged by twice as many enemies on three sides, and the first to collapse was the miscellaneous army of officers and soldiers.

They besieged the rebels with more soldiers, and they could muster up a little courage to fight.

It can be found that the rebel army did not flee, and continued to fight. The forbidden army from the capital fled first, and then the soldiers from the Huaihe River also fled.

Li Bao changed his formation again, and the mandarin duck team in the back row moved forward to the two sides.The depth of the formation became thinner, but the width of the battle increased sharply, which in turn surrounded Wang Tin's main formation.

The soldiers around Wang Ting were already panicked by the retreat of the friendly army. Before the rebel army could complete the siege, some people began to flee one after another.

Li Bao took down half of Sichuan, and these 3000 people were the backbone, selected from the best.

Not to mention confronting officers and soldiers, even encountering golden soldiers, as long as Li Bao is still on the battlefield, these elites can fight to the death.

When the formation was scattered, Wang Ting rushed forward, was cut in the face by the wolf, and was stabbed twice by the spear.Protected by armor, these were not fatal, and he was pushed away by the palladium again, and took another shot from the spearman.

The rest of the troops were routed, and even Wang Teng's son was carried away by the routed soldiers.

Wang Ting was still leading the soldiers to fight, and was besieged by the mandarin duck team.I don't know how many shots were shot on his body, anyway, many armors were punctured, and he still fought to the death under the cover of his own soldiers.

A long poker player lost his patience, and held up a giant shield to charge forward, knocking Wang Zhi over, and pinned him down with the shield.

"The enemy general is dead!" The squad leader took the opportunity to shout.

Wang Jin's soldiers finally collapsed, turned around and fled towards the city gate.

(End of this chapter)