Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 320 Singing and Advancing

On the fifteenth day of the winter lunar month, this may be a day worthy of special mention. Facing the Ming army's attack, Hu Yuancheng, the commander of the northern defense line of the Vietnamese army, led more than 20,000 troops and horses to swoop thousands of miles.

When Tangqi reported the news of Hu Yuancheng's retreat, Mu Chundang dispatched Qu Neng and his son to lead more than 3,000 cavalry from the southwest to pursue him.

Faced with the 50,000 civilians who were abandoned by Hu Yuancheng, Muchun did not kill them with his sword. Instead, he divided out 3,000 infantry and escorted them to Nandian, a thousand miles away. They were all handed over to Wang Xuan and his son, who used To build the Western Yunnan Post Road.

Because Hu Yuancheng escaped in time, the three thousand infantry led by Gu Cheng were not able to intercept him, but Muchun did not blame Gu Cheng. After all, Hu Yuancheng greased the soles of his feet at a speed that even he did not expect.

The next day, when he obtained from Jinyiwei, Xichang and other Xuanguang City spies that Hu Yuancheng had led the remaining soldiers to flee 200 miles away to Xuanguang, and recruited local men as civilian husbands, Mu Chun's idea changed.

"My lord, we march forty miles every day. Is this too slow?"

On the Annan official road at noon, when 70,000 Ming native officers and soldiers led 150,000 civilians southward, their target was directly at Hu Yuancheng in Xuanguang City.

Their marching speed was too slow and did not comply with the court's regulations, so He Fu raised the issue.

In this regard, Muchun, who was sitting on horseback, looked at the Red River not far away and the mountains and jungles on the left, and then said:

"It would take a lot of time for us to send troops to mop up the troops ourselves, but Hu Yuancheng's forceful recruitment of civilians was very fast."

"The spies from Xichang and Jinyiwei came to report that after Hu Yuancheng retreated to Xuanguang, he immediately began to recruit men to serve as husbands in Xuanhua Prefecture, Guihua Prefecture and other two prefectures."

"His move is undoubtedly contrary to the people's sentiments, and we can give him time and take the opportunity to capture the civilians this time and take them to western Yunnan, or they can stay in central Yunnan to reclaim wasteland."

Muchun expressed his thoughts, but He Fu frowned and worried: "But what His Highness means..."

"I know what His Highness means, and my move can still achieve the goal." Muchun interrupted before He Fu finished speaking, and added at the same time;

"I won't take too many people away. After all, Yunnan can't feed that many people, so capturing two or three more batches will be enough."

"How many things were rescued last night when fighting the fire?" Mu Chun changed the subject. He Fu heard this and looked at a policeman who was following the two of them.

"My lord Huiguo, we put out the fire last night and rescued more than 54,200 kilograms of Annan rice and more than 30,000 kilograms of various sundries."

"Not bad." Mu Chun nodded, looking at the road ahead with bright eyes.

"Taking this opportunity, we can use these captured men to build a wide and strong official road from Xuanguang to Kunming. If something happens here in the future, Yunnan can also rush to help immediately."

Muchun has an excellent vision. He has realized that Annan will not be peaceful. Even if Zhu Gaoxu has given the order, they cannot turn Annan into a scorched earth, so the turmoil in Annan will last for a long time.

Under this situation, the number of Ming troops stationed in Annan was definitely less than the population of Annan, so it was difficult for them to cope with a large-scale rebellion on their own.

At this time, Guangxi and Yunnan became reinforcements rushing to help the local area.

Guangxi is not under Muchun's jurisdiction, so he has no control over whether to build official roads, but Yunnan is.

It is more than 700 miles from Kunming to Xuanguang. As long as an official road can be built from Kunming to Xuanguang, it will only take about twelve or three days to reach Xuanguang at the normal marching speed of the Ming army.

As long as Xuan Guang is not lost, the Ming army can send out cavalry to sweep the Vietnamese plains and encircle and eliminate the rebels trying to occupy the area one by one.

Since having the terrain sand table of the southwest and the Indochina Peninsula provided by Zhu Gaoxu, Muchun has a clear grasp of the key passes in the southwest and the Indochina Peninsula and the key points of various countries.

He has decided that after solving Annan, he will have to make adjustments to the pass cities in Yunnan, and he will also have to make corresponding adjustments to the direction of suppressing the rebel chieftains.

As for whether his adjustment would be recognized by Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu, he had not thought about this. He just wanted to finish what he should do and then protect this land for the court.

"drive!"

Shaking the horse's reins, Mu Chun led He Fu and others forward from the marching team. The team of more than 200,000 people stretched for more than ten miles, but they were managed by Mu Chun's hands. There is no possibility of being attacked and ambushed.

This is Muchun, a famous southwestern general who should have fallen in the Hongwu Dynasty in history, but is still shining in the Yongle Dynasty.

At the same time, the Western Route Army hundreds of miles away also launched a general attack on Lang Son City on Fu Rang's order.

"Uh-huh!!"

"Boom boom boom——"

The dull sound of cannons continued, and the flying stone bullets smashed through the wall stacks. The flying gravel hit the person's face. Even if it did not penetrate the head, the power still broke the person's neck bone. There were countless casualties.

There was an endless stream of screams, cannonballs hitting the city walls, and the sounds of wall battlements.

Some iron cannonballs with poor accuracy flew into the city and hit the ground heavily, sending sand and soil flying several feet high. If they were unlucky enough to be hit, blood and flesh would fly everywhere on the spot, and pieces of flesh would rot all over the ground.

Ruan Kang's heroic words yesterday turned into a shadow in such a terrifying scene. At this moment, he took the high-ranking military attachés in the city to hide in the arrow tower.

Even so, they could still feel the vibration caused by the iron cannonball hitting the outside of the watchtower.

"The Ming army has begun to cross the river!"

"We don't have the strength to go out of town to intercept."

"The catapults and ballistae were all shattered by the Ming army's iron cannonballs."

"What should we do now!"

"Don't make any noise! ​​Don't make any noise!"

In the arrow tower, the Vietnamese generals in Lang Son City were quarreling. They did not have the courage to leave the city, so in the face of the Ming army's river crossing movement, they could only vent their quarrels.

Ruan Kang's eyes flickered, he knew very well that without the protection of Qiqionghe, the more than 5,000 of them were about to face the siege of tens of thousands of Ming troops in Hebei.

Judging from the power of the Ming army's artillery that could break down walls across a distance of 300 steps, Lang Son City might not be able to be defended.

"According to my military order, Hu Shaoji will lead four thousand men to defend Lang Son City. I will personally lead a thousand men to break out and go south to ask for reinforcements from the two towns of North Beijing and Taiyuan!"

Ruan Kang gave such an order, seemingly leaving the most dangerous task to himself, because yesterday they had seen the Ming army's cavalry, and all the way south from Lang Son was downhill, so if he was overtaken by the cavalry, there would be only death. One piece.

However, Ruan Kang knew very well that as long as he walked out of Lang Son City, he could lead people into the mountains and forests, and then easily escape the pursuit of the Ming army's cavalry.

The generals are not fools. Although they don't know Ruan Kang's thoughts, they know Ruan Kang's character.

Ruan Kang looks sanctimonious on the surface, but actually competes with the generals below for credit many times. Such a person will never put himself to death, so you can definitely survive by following him.

"I am willing to go with you!"

"The last general..."

For a time, a large number of generals asked to follow Ruan Kang south.

"Straight bitch!" Looking at the actions of the generals, Ruan Kang didn't know that his thoughts were exposed, but he was not ashamed and agreed to the generals.

Facing the threat of Ming army artillery, they quickly gathered hundreds of soldiers.

It was a pity that the Ming army moved faster than them. In just two quarters of an hour, they had successfully crossed the Qiqiong River and started preparing to attack the city.

After hearing the news, Ruan Kang ignored the number of troops and directly chose to open the south gate. Before the Ming army encircled Lang Son City, he fled southward with four to five hundred people.

After they left, the remnants of the Vietnamese army in Lang Son City all huddled to the base of the city wall to defend. The entire Lang Son City was surrounded by the Ming army led by Fu Rang without any resistance.

After a while, the sound of artillery stopped, and the artillery and artillery carriages were separated and crossed across the river.

It took two hours to station two hundred artillery pieces less than fifty steps away from Lang Son City, preparing for the bombardment.

"At such a close distance, the bandit army still doesn't know how to fight back?"

Not far from the artillery position, Zhang Chun sighed as he looked at the nearby city wall. Zhang Fu and Meng Ying on the side also nodded in approval.

Obviously, the Vietnamese army was scared out of their wits. After all, even bows and arrows could hit the artillery positions at a distance of fifty steps, let alone other medium and long-range cold weapons such as ballistae.

"put!"

"Boom boom boom——"

The dull sound of artillery was like the horn of death. This time the Ming army did not fire iron cannonballs, but fired a round of shotgun shells.

At a distance of fifty steps, these two hundred artillery pieces loaded with one thousand kilograms of ammunition roared out and shot out shotguns, covering Lang Son City like dark clouds.

"Uh-huh!!"

The screams came out after a few breaths. The wailing sound was like a ghost in the eighteenth level of hell, and it was horrifying to hear.

It is unlikely that a shotgun shelling from such a distance could hit the armor of the Vietnamese army after falling into the city, but Fu Rang did not want to use shotgun shells to harvest the Vietnamese army. His target was the civilians who lived in Lang Son City and were responsible for escorting food.

"Reload solid ammunition and prepare for shelling."

Fu Rang used his binoculars to see that no Vietnamese troops were showing up at the top of the city and the archery tower, and then ordered Zhang Fu to adjust the bombardment.

Zhang Fu bowed his head and listened to the order, and then sent Tangqi to convey the military order.

An hour later, when the iron cannonball was stuffed into the barrel, the gunner began to light the firing line. In the sound of burning, the two hundred artillery roared again.

"Boom boom boom——"

Two hundred iron cannonballs hit the city wall. Such a powerful bombardment at such a close range soon caused cracks in the Lang Son city wall.

The city walls that had been able to cope with returning artillery and muskets in the past were unable to cope with cannons, but after four rounds of shelling, the rammed earth layer had begun to be exposed.

"continue!"

Fu Rang's expression remained unchanged, and Zhang Fu continued to command the artillery battalion to continue shelling Lang Son City.

After two hours of non-stop bombardment by two hundred artillery pieces, the eastern section of the city wall in the north of Lang Son City began to collapse on a large scale. Seeing this, Fu Rang just glanced at the yellowing sky and said without mercy: " The army attacks the city and leaves no trace behind!"

"Yes!!" Zhang Fu, Meng Ying, and Zhang Chun bowed in return.

Two quarters of an hour later, tens of thousands of Ming troops rushed towards the gap in the city wall that was no more than twenty paces wide and no more than one foot high.

The Vietnamese army in the city was already frightened. When a large number of Ming troops climbed onto the cloud chariots and jumped into Lang Son City in groups, the Vietnamese army was caught off guard, allowing the Ming army to gain a foothold.

This foothold continued to expand, and the Ming army used the tactics of swordsmen, spearmen, and matchlocks to achieve outstanding results in street fighting.

The sword player half-crouched to cover the lower body of the pikemen, and the pikemen attacked in formation, advancing step by step.

As the Vietnamese army formed a spear formation and charged forward, the spearmen half-crouched, and the musketeers raised their guns and started firing at a distance of less than thirty steps. After the three rounds of volleys were over, the pikemen and swordsmen launched a charge, slaughtering the Vietnamese troops whose formation had been disrupted.

Since the Ming army launched an attack on the city at 18:30, the shouts of killing in Lang Son City lasted for three full hours.

Three hours later, as the city gate opened, the entire Lang Son City had been cleared of "enemy troops".

At the same time, the sound of Tangqi's horse hooves was also heard from the south.

A team of Tangqi reined up their horses and turned over, half-kneeling on the ground and handed out Lin Su's waist badge: "Hundreds of enemy troops fleeing south have been wiped out by Lin Tongzhi, and guard Ruan Kang has been killed by Lin Tongzhi's formation!"

"Okay!" Fu Rang's tone was calm, but firm.

He set his sights on the Lang Son City burning in the dark night: "All the seizures will be handed over. After counting, 40% will be distributed to the soldiers tomorrow morning, 10% will be distributed to the generals above the 100th household official, and the remaining 50% will be sealed until the war subsides." Submit it to the court."

"Anyone who dares to hide it secretly will be prosecuted by military law!"

"General, take your orders!" The generals around him bowed one after another, and Fu Rang also walked towards Lang Son City.

At six o'clock on the 16th day of the winter month of the second year of Yongle, the Eastern Route Army captured Lang Son City, and all the defenders in Lang Son City were wiped out...

In the early morning of the next day, the warning and smoke from Lang Son City reached the towns of North Beijing and Taiyuan, and the two towns sent the news to Thang Long City.

Like them, there was Hu Yuancheng who had retreated to Xuanguang Town. Therefore, when Hu Jishao saw the three military reports, his whole person was as sluggish as an eggplant beaten by frost.

"The Ming army has marched down the city and has now entered the Vietnam Plain..."

Hu Jiyou was in low spirits and completely lost the high spirits he had before the war.

"Your Majesty, we still have more than 80,000 troops. We can withdraw to Thanh Hoa, the western capital."

In the Qinzheng Hall, more than fifty Hu officials from the left and right squads expressed their opinions one after another. They were obviously shocked by the news that the Ming army advanced for more than a hundred miles in three days and tens of thousands of troops were wiped out.

"Yes, there are still 80,000 troops..."

Hu Jima thought of his soldiers and horses in Thang Long, Tuyuan Quang, Taiyuan, Jingbei, Haiyang and other towns. After feeling alert, he immediately gave the order:

"Pass a message to the soldiers and horses in each town. If it is difficult to defend the city, they can retreat to Duobang City and rely on the Xuan, Tao, Tao, and Fuliang rivers as barriers!"

"I'm waiting for the order..." The ministers of the Hu family returned the greetings one after another, and Hu Jiyao's uneasiness receded a little.

However, as the leader of the Annan Kingdom, at this moment, he seemed to have forgotten how the emperor in the north obtained the throne.

"Crash-"

Almost at the same time as Hu Jishen gave the order, a huge fleet came from the north and circled an island with cliffs on three sides to its southwest.

Here, a natural harbor appears, and a relatively basic pier has been built on the island.

"Uuuuuu——"

As the horn of a certain warship began to sound, hundreds of ships with a length of more than ten feet or even twenty feet responded with their horns.

The sound of horns sounded one after another, declaring the Ming Dynasty's sovereignty over this place.

In the fleet, a treasure ship worth five thousand materials sailed towards the simple dock under the sunlight.

The whistling wind sounded in my ears. The treasure ship rode the wind and waves, and the waves it stirred up were like an invisible python sliding on the sea.

As naval commanders and envoys to the Western Seas, Yang Zhan and Zheng He stood solemnly at the bow of the ship, looking down at the approaching pier intently.

When the treasure ship entered the dock under the guidance of several sand ships and stopped, the ladder was quickly lowered. Zheng He and Yang Zhan stepped off the treasure ship one after another and met Cui Jun, who had arrived early.

At present, Zheng Jun is staying at the Yinqi Islands and is responsible for the construction of Jinghaiwei. Therefore, many important tasks of the Western Fleet have been left to Chen Xuan and Cui Jun. As for his father, Yang Qiu, he has stayed in Nanjing. , in order to report to the emperor and the East Palace at any time.

"How is this island?"

After Yang Zhan and Zheng He saw Cui Jun, they took a look at this unnamed island with rich vegetation.

"Yes, there is fresh water, a harbor where you can anchor, and there is farmland that can be developed. It is the harbor island with the best conditions in the Beibu Gulf to XSQD."

Cui Jun said, while taking Yang Zhan and the others to the beach on the island.

As far as the naked eye can see, thousands of people including Cui Jun, who arrived here first, have built rows of concrete bungalows, with more than a hundred rooms in two rows.

"I'm afraid you used all the cement on the ship here?"

Zheng He looked at Cui Jun with a smile, and also walked towards the row of bungalows.

Upon hearing this, Cui Jun also led the way and explained with a smile: "There is always some worry when ships are anchored at sea with food, so these bungalows can be used for living or as warehouses at critical moments."

Cui Jun opened one of the bungalows. The interior area is about one minute (61 square meters). The floor is also paved with concrete, and there is no sign of moisture return. It can be seen that Cui Jun runs the place very carefully.

"There are also cultivated vegetable plots over there."

After Cui Jun finished speaking, he personally led the way and led Zheng He, Yang Zhan and others not far behind the bungalow.

Here, more than ten acres of farmland reclaimed by human labor are revealed to everyone.

"It's dry land, but it can still be planted as long as there is water. I think this piece of dry land can be cultivated at least three to four hundred acres, but I don't know if there is enough water."

Yang Zhan squatted down and grabbed a handful of soil. After feeling the dryness, he sprinkled it on the ground and clapped his hands. He looked back at Cui Jun.

"There are enough fresh water pipes. In my opinion, dozens of families can be relocated to live here, or a hundred troops can be stationed to ensure that the imperial court can control the island."

After Cui Jun said this, Yang Zhan also nodded: "The place here is good, but the Japanese pirates are raging, and it is not easy to protect the immigrants. It is better to directly garrison one hundred households."

After saying that, he turned back to look at Zheng He, who also smiled and said: "It can be managed like this in one month. This place is quite good. In the future, it can also provide vegetables for official ships traveling between Guangxi and Annan, and can station troops. "

"Okay, just keep one hundred households here permanently, and now start loading the fresh water onto the ship."

Yang Zhan gave an order, then took out the map from his arms, spread it on the ground and said to the two of them:

"It's still three hundred miles from this island to Thanh Hoa. Today's north wind is just right to help us get to Thanh Hoa."

"If we set off before nightfall, with the speed of the fleet, we can arrive in Thanh Hoa early the day after tomorrow at most, just enough to catch them off guard."

"Indeed." Zheng He squatted down without any pretense, looked in the direction pointed by Yang Zhan, nodded and approved his idea, and at the same time measured the "Five Roads" in southern Annan with his hands.

"There are three Fifteen Roads in Annan, and five roads in and south of Thanh Hoa, namely Thanh Hoa, Yen Chau, Nghe An, Tan Binh, and Hue."

"The total of the five defenders will not exceed 30,000, of which Thanh Hoa will account for at least half."

"Capturing Thanh Hoa means directly cutting off Hu Jima's escape route to the south, so this battle must be fought quickly enough."

"In addition, these five roads are where Hu Jiyou started, so they will not be as easy to incite as those in the north, and they must not be benevolent."

Although Zheng He was a eunuch, he was not a weak person, otherwise he would not have captured the capital of Ceylon and captured its leader.

Since Zhu Gaoxu had promised to be cruel to the enemy, he would naturally not be soft-hearted.

In order to avoid rebellion after capturing the South Fifth Road, he could only use ruthless measures to deter Hu's diehard loyalists on the South Fifth Road.

"His Highness said, we can't dirty our own hands..."

Yang Zhan frowned. Although he supported Zhu Gaoxu, he did not support letting the army do such a thing.

In his opinion, this kind of thing can be left to the chieftain soldiers in Muchun's hands. Not only can the matter be done beautifully, but this incident can also be used as an excuse to organize the Annan army to conquer the chieftains, intensifying the conflict between the two parties. At the same time, the future expansion of the southwest will continue to consume the Annan and southwest chieftain population.

"If this is going to be the case, then we have to leave enough troops in the south to prevent rebellion."

Zheng He looked at Yang Zhan, trying to read his attitude on his face. However, although Yang Zhan was deep in thought, he did not argue with him and said straight to the point:

"Zheng Zhengshi led 10,000 troops to stay on the southern fifth route. Cui Jun and I led 10,000 troops to go north and attack the east and west routes from north to south."

Yang Zhan and Zheng He already knew each other very well, and naturally knew that Zheng He was also a man who knew soldiers well and was good at fighting. Therefore, both Yang Zhan and Cui Jun were very relieved to hand over 10,000 navy to him.

"If there are 10,000 soldiers left behind, then I can guarantee that there will be no problems on the Fifth South Road."

Zheng He nodded solemnly, and Yang Zhan saw this and simply planned: "In that case, the three of me will lead 20,000 troops to capture Thanh Hoa, and then leave 10,000 troops for you to go south to manage your strategy. Cui Jun and I will take the remaining troops. Go north to Jianxing Road."

"it is good!"

After assigning the tasks, the three people stood up and put away the map, and then began to direct the one thousand defenders on the island to pack fresh water into barrels and transport it to the fleet in sand ships.

Time passed little by little, and it wasn't completely over until dusk.

Yang Zhan, Zheng He, and Cui Jun, who returned to the fleet, began to give orders to set sail and headed toward Annan in the southwest at dusk.

Standing on the deck, a eunuch walked up to Zheng He and scratched his head with a memorial, which attracted Zheng He's attention.

"What's wrong?" Zheng He turned around and asked. When the eunuch saw this, he smiled awkwardly and said, "Your Majesty, today the island has no name in the history books. How should we respond to this news to the palace?"

"Nameless?" Zheng He thought thoughtfully, then turned to look at the island that was gradually disappearing on the sea level.

"I think it has spring water and can cultivate vegetables. It looks like a floating island on the sea. Why not call it Fushuizhou Island."

"Yes!" The eunuch smiled when he heard this and quickly wrote the four characters Fushuizhou Island on the memorial in his hand.

　"Records of Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "On the seventeenth day of the winter lunar month, Zheng He led his fleet to the northwest of Qiongzhou and encountered an island. There was no one on the island and there was a spring, which could be cultivated. He named it Fushui Island."

　　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "On the 16th day of winter, the commander-in-chief Fu Rangkelang killed more than 20,000 bandits in the mountain city of Langshan. The Duke of Guizhou, Mu Chunba, killed thousands of people and captured 50,000 bandits."

　　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "Ji You heard that the heavenly troops were attacking Langshan, and fearing that the Annan Chinese were internal collaborators, he sent troops to capture tens of thousands of Chinese on the riverside, set them on fire and burned them to death, and abandoned their corpses to cover the wilderness and block the river. His army was destroyed in order to collect wealth. Regardless of the Huayi people, those who refused to comply were burned, causing the people in Northern Vietnam to become displaced and three to four out of ten people died of hunger."

　　"Southern Expedition": "The officers and soldiers first entered Annan. The local soldiers robbed the women's belongings along the road without being able to control them. Many people died."

　　

　

(End of this chapter)