Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 322 Cope with ease

"Crackling..."

On the 22nd of the winter lunar month, when flames soared into the sky across the plains of Vietnam, the mountains and forests around Xuanguang City were set on fire by the Ming army, and smoke rose into the sky.

Facing the main force of the Vietnamese army, Muchun commanded the Ming army to attack head-on because he knew that the main force of the Vietnamese army was vulnerable.

Facing the outer towns and small counties, Muchun asked Mu Sheng to lead the territorial divisions to fight everywhere, and at the same time called on the descendants of the Chen family to stand up and lead the Annan people to resist the tyranny of the Hu family.

The fire burned the forests of the Yuebei Mountains and ignited the fuses of the Ming army's artillery. As the thunderous sound of artillery came again, the passes that Hu Yuancheng relied on could not withstand the two consecutive days of bombardment and began to collapse one by one.

"The whole army obeys the order!"

Behind the artillery position, seeing the Vietnamese pass collapse, without waiting for Muchun's order, Qu Neng, He Fu and others who had been cooperating with him for a long time pulled out the short hammers on their waists:

"Take the pass and attack Xuanguang City. Wealth and glory are right in front of you. Follow Da Bao closely and follow me to kill!"

After the words fell, Qu Neng and He Fu dismounted and began to command the entire army to prepare to attack the city.

A quarter of an hour later, when more than 3,000 people were ready to ascend, Qu Neng and He Fu each led 1,500 people and launched an attack on the left and right sections of the collapsed pass.

"Beep--"

"Saki, prepare the hot water!"

On the dilapidated pass, the Vietnamese general blew his wooden whistle and directed the group of Vietnamese troops who had been bombarded for two days. The two groups of fighting troops climbed onto the city wall and began to prepare for the enemy.

But the time was too short. When they lit the firewood and heated the pot to heat the oil, Qu Neng and He Fu had already led 3,000 people and arrived in front of the pass pushing the cloud cart.

Some nervous Vietnamese soldiers began to throw wood and rolling stones, as well as pots of unboiled hot water.

"General, be careful!"

Some soldiers began to protect Qu Neng, but Qu Neng pushed them away: "Don't worry about me, these thieves are too young to deal with me!"

After saying that, Qu Neng took three steps and two steps, jumped directly onto the cloud cart, and climbed up the city wall along the cloud cart.

He jumped up and landed on the horse path. The surrounding Vietnamese troops were stunned for a moment. After reacting, they immediately drew out their short-hand soldiers and attacked fiercely.

"roll!"

With one hand, Qu Neng grabbed the shaft of the long gun swung by the Vietnamese army. He swung his short hammer and smashed the shaft of the gun. He dropped the shaft of the gun, grabbed the Vietnamese soldier, and threw him hard against the Vietnamese army rushing toward him.

"Dad, please slow down!"

Qu Yu and Qu Tao, who later climbed up the city wall, stood on Qu Neng's side. The three father and son stood here, creating a foothold for the Ming army.

Waving their weapons, the group of Vietnamese troops rushing towards them were like chickens and dogs, and they were killed in an instant and were completely routed.

The Ming army that followed up the horse path saw how brave their general was, and formed formations to follow. In just one move, they killed hundreds of Vietnamese troops on the horse path and headed straight for the city gate tower.

A Vietnamese general led his troops into formation, but Qu Neng and his son led their troops to overwhelm the front formation, and the formation was disrupted.

They fought without any rules and completely relied on their generals to bravely break the formation, then disrupt the formation and kill the traversing army.

"found it!"

Qu Yu rushed into the city gate tower and saw the winch pulling up the thousand-jin gate.

It took four people to turn the winch, but he started to turn it with difficulty alone.

When Qu Tao followed him and rushed into the city gate tower, the two brothers raised the Qianjin Gate with only their own strength.

"Dad! The Qianjin gate is up!"

"Okay, you guys hold on here, and the rest of you will follow me to seize the city gate!"

Hearing the voices of the two brothers Qu Yu and Qu Tao, Qu Neng, who was outside to stop the incoming Vietnamese army, responded and led dozens of Ming troops to fight off the horse road despite the siege of hundreds of Vietnamese troops.

Some Vietnamese troops looked at the city gate tower, but two brothers, Qu Yu and Qu Tao, with more than 20 Ming troops, blocked the entrance of the city tower, preventing them from advancing even an inch.

"The one who opens the city gate first will be promoted to the first level!"

Qu Neng led his troops down the horse road and arrived at the city gate where thousands of people were garrisoned.

Dozens of Ming troops, facing the surprised looks of thousands of Yue troops, resolutely followed Qu Neng towards the city gate.

"Kill them!!"

The Vietnamese general drew his sword and commanded. In an instant, thousands of Vietnamese troops besieged Qu Neng and others, making them difficult to move and causing obvious casualties.

"The heavenly soldiers are here, how dare the traitor army show off their evil intentions!!"

Suddenly, a thunderous shout sounded. Many Vietnamese troops heard the sound and looked around. They saw He Fu leading hundreds of Ming troops to kill from the horse road. It was difficult for the Vietnamese troops to resist.

"He Fu, capture the city gate and I will give you half of the credit!"

Qu Neng laughed heartily, but He Fu laughed and cursed: "I will take the credit alone!"

"Then I can't rely on you!" Qu Neng heard this and immediately rushed to the city gate.

Facing the less than 300 Ming troops, thousands of Vietnamese troops were still killed and defeated even though they stubbornly blocked them.

As Qu Neng took the lead in entering the corridor, several Vietnamese troops guarding the city gate were killed by him on the spot.

He dropped the pumpkin hammer in his hand and hugged the city gate bolt, which weighed three to four hundred kilograms.

More than thirty soldiers he brought formed a formation to protect him, and he roared and raised the city gate bolt.

"Squat down!!"

He roared angrily, turned around and threw the city gate bolt towards the Vietnamese army.

"Uh-huh!"

The city gate bolt hit the Vietnamese army, knocking several people unconscious on the spot. At the same time, Qu Neng also turned around, using one hand on his left and right to pull open the hundreds of kilograms of the city gate.

"Woo-"

Seeing this, the Ming army beside them immediately blew the horn they carried with them, which was also the signal for a full-scale attack.

"Send out the entire army and capture the pass!"

"Yes!"

Muchun gave the order calmly and calmly, as if everything was taken for granted.

Gu Cheng, who was beside him, saw this and personally led tens of thousands of Ming troops to attack. The Vietnamese generals who learned that the city gate had been opened began to retreat with their remaining soldiers, and were chased by Qu Neng and He Fu's troops.

A quarter of an hour later, the gateway to Xuanguang City, which Hu Yuancheng relied on, was completely captured. The Vietnamese troops who tried to escape were chased and killed by Qu Neng and He Fu. The three thousand Vietnamese troops and thousands of civilians at the pass were completely annihilated.

At noon, after a short rest, Muchun commanded the army to march towards Xuanguang City, which was twenty miles away.

Half an hour later, Hu Yuancheng, who learned the news, burned the houses in the nearby towns and villages of Xuanguang City, transported grain from the commune warehouse to Xuanguang, and prepared enough trebuchets and ballistae.

At dusk, when the Ming army arrived in Xuanguang City, there were 25,000 Vietnamese troops and more than 70,000 captured civilians in Xuanguang City, as well as more than 100,000 people in nearby towns and cities.

Still using the old method, Muchun asked Gu Cheng to command the three thousand gunners directly under the Chinese Army to build artillery positions, and more than 20,000 Ming troops and tens of thousands of civilians began to build camps.

While they were building their camp, civilians from the rear continued to transport gunpowder, artillery shells and other supplies to the front line.

150,000 civilians set out from Lin'an Prefecture. They were everywhere on the road for more than 500 miles, and there were thousands of cavalry guarding them along the way.

The soldiers' military discipline was bad, and sometimes they wanted to take action against the baggage team when they got jealous. However, when they saw the official cavalry appearing from time to time, their impulsive thoughts were suppressed by reason.

Such news reached Muchun's ears from the rear, but sitting in the military tent at the moment, he did not pay attention to this. Instead, he sat in his position, looking at the sand table in front of him, and remained silent for a long time.

When the sky turned completely dark and Mu Sheng walked into the tent carrying a plate of food, he raised his head and said:

"Does Hu Yuancheng show any signs of surrender?"

"No, it seems that he wants to defend." Mu Sheng laughed at Hu Yuancheng and asked his eldest brother: "There are more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians in this city. Do we have to escort them back to Yunnan?"

"We can't bring so many people." Mu Chun's brows showed sorrow, but he did not put the pressure on the people below him, but bore it alone.

"One hundred thousand men, not one more."

After a long time, he said this, and Mu Sheng nodded to express his understanding: "In that case, let the chieftains be given the vanguard position this time."

"Yes." Muchun nodded, then started to pick up the bowls and chopsticks to prepare for eating.

The next day, when the sound of artillery sounded again, Xuanguang City was also violently bombarded by the Ming army.

They tried to retaliate with catapults and ballistae, but the catapults and ballistae were completely unable to reach the Ming army's artillery positions, and they could only be passively beaten.

At this moment, Annan had lost its local jurisdiction. Instigated by the Chen Dynasty's ministers and nobles, most of the 48 Annan prefectures and 168 counties actually chose to revolt.

The local forces in Annam, represented by Jian Dinh, Deng Xi, Nguyen Shuai and others, supported the so-called descendant of the Chen family, Chen Jiquan, to become the emperor of Dai Viet, and changed his name to Chongguang.

Chen Jikou used the name of a descendant of the Chen family to gain support from Annan people, and Annan people in Cilian, Weiman, Shanghong, Datang, Yingping, Shishi and other places responded one after another.

This news soon reached the ears of Fu Rang, who was besieging northern Beijing. Hundreds of officials stationed in the Nanxi Factory in An'an were standing in the Ming military camp in northern Beijing. Fu Rang was sitting in the chair, and Zhang Fu, Meng Ying, and Lin were sitting on the left and right. Su and Zhang Chun.

Fu Rang frowned after reading the uprising information from Jian Ding and others, and then slowly raised his head to look at Baihuguan Wang Xun: "How many soldiers and horses do these people have, and how many cities do they control?"

"The time was so sudden that we didn't have time to give details, but judging from the news last night, there are at least 18 counties and more than 7,000 people." Wang Xun answered Fu Rang's question.

"That makes no sense." Lin Su stroked his mustache and analyzed, "Don't these people support us?"

"They are also saying they support us now." Fu Rang confirmed their position first, but then questioned:

"Having said that, they are obviously fighting for territory. It seems that the Chen Dynasty's remaining ministers in the army reported our army's actions on the way south to these people, which made them react."

After Fu Rang finished speaking, Zhang Fu also bowed and said: "The top priority now is to capture the northern part of Beijing, encircle and suppress Hu Jiya, and then turn around and pacify these local tyrants in Annan."

"The imperial court's decree for us is that it is best to pacify Annan within six months before we can start the Northern Expedition, so we cannot delay it."

"Indeed." Fu Rang stroked his goatee and said after thinking: "Meng Yingqian is going to Haiyang, Zhang Chun, you are going to Taiyuan."

"If this group of people makes trouble in the area we have recovered, we will temporarily stabilize them and wait until our army has wiped out the Hu family before deploying troops to quell them."

"Besides..." Fu Rang looked at Wang Xun, the official of the 100 households in Xichang: "Wang Xun, please go and check the identity of Chen Jikou and see if he is a member of the Chen Dynasty clan."

"General, take your orders!" Everyone bowed in agreement and then walked out of the tent one after another.

Not long after, the sound of artillery sounded again, and the Ming army continued to bombard northern Beijing.

Compared with the chaos in the Vietnamese plains, the Ming army's conquest on the South Fifth Road was smooth.

On the 23rd of the winter lunar month, Yang Zhan led his army to attack Qinghua, the western capital of the Hu Dynasty, and conducted a search for the Hu family in Qinghua.

At the same time, Zheng He led part of the navy and 8,000 soldiers and horses to conquer the south. Most of the places he passed surrendered. Only a few Hu clans remained loyal, but they were quickly suppressed by Zheng He.

It took two days, when Hu Jiyou arrived in Xinghua after fleeing, that he got the news of the fall of Qinghua and most of the South Fifth Road, and the rebellion of Jian Ding and other powerful forces.

"God is really going to kill me..."

Sitting in the middle hall of Xinghua City County Government Office, Hu Jishen slumped on his chair.

After a moment of daze, he quickly sat up again.

"No, the Ming army and Jian Ding are not on the same side. The Ming army cannot be sent to support the Chen family. They want to annex Annan, while Jian Ding and the others want to support the puppet Chen Jikou."

"Yes, I can't continue to struggle with them now. I should withdraw from North Vietnam and let them bite dogs!"

After reacting, Hu Jisao quickly spoke to the frightened ministers: "This news is an opportunity for Yuan Cheng and Han Cang to withdraw their troops to Xinghua and not to fight against the Ming army again."

"If a conflict breaks out between the Ming army and Jian Ding, we can try to see if we can benefit from it."

"If Jian determines their defeat, we can also flee to Changshan and wait for the main force of the Ming army to withdraw to Yunnan and Guangxi before launching a counterattack."

After all, Hu Jisao got to a high position by playing with politics and people's hearts. Seeing that the current situation could be exploited, he did not hesitate to give up the place north of Hongyi and Shenglong, which was cared for by the Chen Dynasty's remaining ministers.

Soon, the news was sent from Xinghua. Hu Yuancheng and Hu Hancang, who had received the news about the carrier pigeon, had different attitudes after seeing the letter.

Hu Hancang could at least mobilize the soldiers and horses from Duobang City to Xinghua, but Hu Yuancheng in Xuanguang City had difficulty breaking through because it meant that he had to abandon more than 100,000 people in the city.

"If there is no Shenglong, how long can the food and grass in the city last..."

In the yamen of Xuanguang City, Hu Yuancheng, who was just over five feet tall, asked about his long history, but the long history looked troubled: "Less than three months..."

"Three months..." Hu Yuancheng murmured, and then sighed: "Gather your troops and prepare to break out."

"Yes!" Chang Shi agreed, and then began to assemble the 25,000 Vietnamese troops in the city, preparing to break out of the east city of Tuyen Quang where the Ming army could not defend.

Breaking out from here is the best direction, but once the Ming army reacts, he must cross the river to the south bank of the Red River before the Ming army takes a detour to catch up, and then rush to Xinghua.

The anxious sounds of mobilizing troops and horses were heard, and the Xichang spies hidden in Xuanguang City also used kites to spread the news.

If Hu Yuancheng hadn't focused on breaking out of the encirclement at this moment, he might have launched a manhunt in Xuanguang City.

"My lord! There is news in the city that Hu Yuancheng is going to lead his army to break out."

In the Ming army camp, Gu Cheng, who was responsible for patrolling Xuanguang City, strode into the tent happily, which made everyone who was eating turn their attention to Mu Chun, who was in charge.

He remained calm. After Gu Cheng's news was brought, he stood up and walked to the sand table in the tent. After looking at Xuan Guang's situation, he put his hand on the east side.

"The west and south sides are blocked by us. If he wants to break out, he can only cross the Lu River along the water gate, and then go down the river to the Red River!"

After Muchun said this, Qu Neng also showed a fierce look in his eyes: "I will send troops to intercept him."

"No need." Muchun interrupted, which made Qu Neng's eyes turn to confusion.

"Don't forget, what is the mission given to us by the imperial court." Mu Chun reminded Qu Neng and the generals, while pointing at Xuanguang City:

"Let Hu Yuancheng go. Once his more than 20,000 troops withdraw south, the first thing to do is to recruit at least 50,000 civilians. This is faster than us looking around."

Although Muchun didn't like this way of killing people, he still had to comply with Zhu Gaoxu's wishes.

The strength of the Vietnamese army was average. Although Hu Yuancheng had some tricks, he was not his opponent after all.

Allowing him to go south would inflict greater damage to Annan and leave no clues.

Thinking of this, Mu Chun said to Gu Cheng and Mu Sheng: "Don't worry about him. As soon as they leave the city, immediately order the chieftain to attack the city."

"General, take your orders!" The two agreed, and no one in the tent questioned Muchun's decision.

Because of this, when Hu Yuancheng took advantage of the night to open the city gate and lead his troops out of the city to break out, his breakout went very smoothly.

Of the 25,000-strong army, except for a few hundred who escaped along the way, he successfully led the remaining troops across the Lujiang River and southward along the north bank of the Lujiang River.

As they walked several miles away, Hu Yuancheng reined in his horse and glanced at Xuanguang City behind him.

Although the fire was dim, Hu Yuancheng still stood there in confusion, and did not give orders to the front troops for a long time.

Chang Shi came to him on horseback and asked doubtfully: "Your Highness, why don't you order the army to continue to retreat? If the Ming army discovers it, we are afraid..."

"This is what I'm confused about." Hu Yuancheng glanced at the surrounding mountains and forests, and then looked at the Ming army camp in Xuanguang City in the distance.

"Mu Chun is brave, good at fighting, and resourceful. It is impossible for him to arrange the patrols in Xuanguang City so laxly. I'm afraid there is some fraud involved."

Hu Yuancheng was crushed and beaten by Muchun for several days, and he was not a completely ignorant person, so he naturally saw some skills.

The current breakthrough was too smooth, which actually made him feel a little less confident.

"Your Highness, regardless of whether the Ming army is deceitful or not, now is the best time for our army to break out. We cannot delay it."

Chang Shi dissuaded him, and Hu Yuancheng had no choice but to bite the bullet and lead his army to retreat in the dark.

However, judging from the fact that hundreds of people escaped within a few miles of their retreat, I am afraid that there may not even be ten thousand people there at dawn.

It's just that Hu Yuancheng can't control so much at the moment. He can only hope that the breakout will go smoothly because Mu Chun underestimated the enemy.

With this idea in mind, Hu Yuancheng ran all the way southeast along the river.

However, not long after he walked out of Xuanguang City, Muchun got the news of Hu Yuancheng's breakout from the detective.

Muchun did not pursue Hu Yuancheng as arranged during the day. Instead, he sent five hundred soldiers, each carrying fifty kilograms of gunpowder bags and digging tools, to attack Xuanguang City Wall at night.

"Boom boom boom——"

When the roaring explosion sounded, the chieftains who had been awake looked at Mu Sheng and Uncle Zhenyuan.

The two of them did not make any move until the sound of horse hooves was heard in the dark night, and they took a few steps forward.

A group of sentry riders appeared from the darkness holding torches and bowed to the two of them: "Dudu Mu, Uncle Zhenyuan, the city gate has been blown open and there is no one to stop them. It seems that all the rebels have really broken through."

"Okay!" Gu Cheng looked at Mu Sheng after hearing this. Mu Sheng also turned around and spoke to hundreds of chieftains: "There is no one in the city. The court only wants men. The rest you can do as you please. All belongings will be inspected at the city gate. Turn it over, and the house shall not be burned.”

"Yes..." the toasts responded sparsely, their eyes filled with ambition.

Soon, an army of more than 40,000 chieftains began to move towards Xuanguang City, whose gate was blown open. At the same time, the entire Xuanguang City became noisy due to the explosion.

When the people found that there were no soldiers on the streets and city walls, no matter how stupid they were, they knew that Hu Yuancheng led his army and abandoned them.

A large number of people fled towards the city gate, but the chieftain army had surrounded all the city gates under the command of Gu Cheng and Mu Sheng. An army of 30,000 entered Xuanguang City through the blown west gate.

Not long after, the fire in Xuanguang City shone brightly, and the sound of fighting could be heard, even in the Ming army camp several miles away from the city.

Inside the tent, Muchun paused while writing the letter as he listened to those voices, but he continued to write.

When he finished writing the letter and it was already midnight, he said hello to the tent door and handed the letter to a Baihu official who walked into the tent.

"Send this letter to Beijing North City and hand-deliver it to Governor Fu."

"If Jingbei City has been defeated, then there is no need to implement the contents of the letter."

Having said that, Muchun signaled the Baihu officials to retreat, and the Baihu officials also led more than a hundred cavalry to send the letter to Beijing North City, more than 200 miles away.

As time passed, the noise in Xuanguang Town gradually became quieter, and Mu Chun lay down on the couch to rest with a slightly heavy heart.

The next morning, when Muchun got up and led the generals into Xuanguang City, most of the houses in Xuanguang City were burned down, and the streets were filled with corpses and puddles of blood.

"Didn't I give the order not to burn houses?"

Mu Chun looked at Mu Sheng and Gu Cheng with a cold face. The two of them also looked ugly. They bowed and explained: "The soldiers were disobedient and started setting fires when they got into the mood of looting. It was difficult for us to stop them. However, the soldiers who committed the crime have been executed by the chieftain." ,"

After the two explained, many of the toasts following them felt guilty.

At this time, Muchun glanced at the many toasts, and his eyes made them lower their heads subconsciously.

"Everything seized in Xuanguang City last night will be deducted 10%."

He didn't give everyone room for discussion, but directly announced the result, turned around and walked deeper.

The chieftains looked at each other in confusion, and some even cursed those who did not follow the rules, but no one dared to question Muchun's handling.

"After these guys saw the power of the artillery and Annan's fate, they didn't dare to make as much noise as before."

He Fu, who followed Mu Chun away, glanced at the chieftains, said this to Mu Chun, and asked: "You should know that it is difficult to control the native soldiers after they rob them."

"I know, that's why I gave the order not to burn down the house." Muchun glanced at He Fu, with a smile on his lips.

"If you don't do this, how can you deduct 10% more and seize it?"

"Huh?" He Fu was stunned for a moment, then he smiled cheerfully, shook his head and continued walking deeper with Muchun...

(End of this chapter)