Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 197 Recovering Yili City
late at night.

Suburbs of Turpan City.

In the backyard room of a small inn.

Fan Dacheng returned to his residence from the city. As soon as he pushed the door open, he saw Fang Qiang sitting in front of the table in the house with his head turned away and his face full of reluctance.

"Brother, this boy is unwilling to take refuge with General Husuda."

When Fan Sansu saw Fan Dacheng coming back, he immediately explained.

Fan Dacheng walked to Fang Qiang and sat down next to him, stroking his hands and saying, "A good boy with great ambition."

Then, he looked at Fang Qiang and asked loudly: "Do you want to avenge your father?"

"I think." Fang Qiang replied without hesitation.

Fan Dacheng asked again: "Do you want to avenge your sister?"

"Brother Fan, you have met my sister, how is she?"

When Fang Qiang heard this, his heart moved and he couldn't help but ask.

Fan Dacheng first sighed, and then said in a deep voice: "I have inquired clearly. All the young women who fled from the Turpan area to Hami City were raped by the officers and soldiers of the imperial court."

"what?"

Fang Qiang suspected that he heard wrongly and asked subconsciously: "What did Brother Fan just say?"

Fan Dacheng showed an expression of indignation and cursed: "Those thieves, who are worse than beasts, raped young women like your sister who were fleeing."

"Where is my sister now?" Fang Qiang asked with red eyes.

Fan Dacheng hesitated slightly, but did not speak.

Fang Qiang begged: "Brother Fan, whether my sister is dead or alive, please tell me."

Fan Dacheng sighed: "Those women who were harmed by the officers and soldiers were later treated as livestock by the old thief Song Sheng and sold to the Ora people as slaves."

"Brother Fan, are all these things you said true?"

Fang Qiang thought this was too unbelievable. Song Sheng, the Marquis of Xining, had always been a good general among the people in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty, and it was impossible for him to do such a thing.

Fan Dacheng vowed: "It's absolutely true. What I said is true because someone saw the tragedy with their own eyes."

When Fang Qiang heard this, his whole body was shocked, as if he had been shocked by electricity.

After he lowered his head and remained silent for a while, he suddenly raised his head, stared at Fan Dacheng, and asked, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why?"

Fan Dacheng said without changing his expression: "Your body had not yet recovered at that time. I told you that I was afraid of hurting your heart."

"hateful!"

Fang Qiang clenched his fists, stood up suddenly, and said sternly: "I must avenge this!"

When Fan Dacheng saw this, he immediately said: "Come, sit down and drink some hot tea."

"No, I will seek revenge from the Marquis of Xining now!" Fang Qiang said pretending to be stubborn.

He had noticed something strange about the three brothers of the Fan family, which aroused their suspicion, so he pretended to believe Fan Dacheng's words.

Because after Fang Qiang woke up, he had been secretly observing the three brothers and found that the three Fan brothers had not been in contact with strangers from the east recently.

Logically speaking, the three brothers naturally cannot obtain information about his sister from others, unless the three brothers have other channels to obtain information, and how can someone who can obtain information hundreds of miles away through other channels be just an ordinary businessman? ?

Fan Dacheng asked: "Can you kill Old Thief Song alone?"

Seeing Fang Qiang's silence, he continued to guide: "A gentleman's revenge is never too late in ten years!"

"Brother Fan has a grudge against the Marquis of Xining?"

After Fang Qiang's contact with the three Fan Dacheng brothers in the past half month, he discovered that the three brothers called Song Sheng, the Marquis of Xining, either "old thief" or "old man".

He was not familiar with the three of them before, so it was inconvenient to ask some questions. Now that the conversation came to the Marquis of Xining, he took the opportunity to ask them.

"It's not just a grudge, it's a life-and-death feud!"

Fan Sansu answered.

Fan Dacheng explained indifferently: "Although the old thief of Song led his troops to recapture the Seven Guards of Guanxi, he also injured many innocent people, especially the merchants who came to the various guard cities. My Fan family has been doing business for generations. , my father and uncle were accused by the old thieves of treason and collaborating with the enemy because they were selling grain in the Seven Guards of Kansai, and they were brutally executed. I was accompanying the army to transport food and escaped. The reason why the old thieves released me at that time The two younger brothers claimed that they would only kill the culprit, but in fact they were afraid of provoking a civil uprising. Do you think we, the three brothers, can not avenge this?"

Fang Qiang gritted his teeth and said, "Of course I must avenge my father's murder!"

Fan Dacheng took a deep breath and asked slowly: "Brother, although you practice martial arts, you are also a person who has read books. You should have read "Spring and Autumn", right?"

"Read it." Fang Qiang replied.

Fan Dacheng said: "In order to take revenge, Wu Zixu fled to the State of Wu, borrowed troops from the King of Wu, and fought back to the State of Chu. We must use the power of Hudada to invade Hami and kill all the corrupt officials in order to avenge his family. ah!"

It's a pity that he doesn't know that Fang Qiang is a relative of Fang Xiaoru. Although Fang Qiang and Fang Xiaoru are from the same clan, and their blood relationship has been through five servers, there is one thing about Fang Qiang that is very similar to Fang Xiaoru, that is, no one can easily Shake his outlook.

Fang Qiang had already decided that as long as he could return to the Ming Dynasty alive, he would go to Beijing to report Liu Zongqi's imperial edict. He believed that the Holy Emperor Yongle and the wise and wise Crown Prince would definitely give him justice.

Ask him to collude with foreign enemies to kill the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, but he can't do it!

Now, in order to prevent the Fan brothers from becoming suspicious, Fang Qiang pretended to be persuaded by Fan Dacheng, clasping his hands and saying: "Brother Fan is right! A gentleman's revenge is never too late in ten years! I listen to Brother Fan!"

However, God is not as good as man, and at this moment, a rumbling sound sounded in the ears of the four people.

"Don't make any noise."

Fan Dacheng's expression changed and he said sharply.

He quickly stood up, walked to the yard outside the house, leaned down and put his ear to the ground, and listened carefully for a while.

"It's cavalry!"

Fan Dacheng once transported food with the army and had some knowledge of distinguishing the movements of cavalry and infantry.

Fang Qiang followed outside the house and asked nervously: "Brother Fan, can you tell where the cavalry is coming from?"

"Coming from the east, at least thousands of riders!" Fan Dacheng said with a gloomy expression.

At this time, Fan Erdong and Fan Sansu also came to the yard outside the house.

Fan Dacheng looked at Fan Sansu, frowned and said, "Sansu, go out and check to see if it's the Ming army or the Wala cavalry."

He knew that the cavalry coming from the east at this time would not be Timur's or Khuda's soldiers, but could only be Ming or Oara soldiers.

"Yes."

After listening to Fan Dacheng's arrangement, Fan Sansu immediately went into the house and started to change into black night clothes and prepare to go out.

"At this moment, could it be that Pinghou Zhang Yu's troops and the reinforcements led by Cao Guogong have joined forces and want to take back Turpan City by surprise?" Fang Qiang wondered.

When Fan Dacheng heard this, his expression changed drastically, he stared at Fang Qiang and said, "What you said is very possible!"

When he saw Fan Sansu who had changed his clothes and was about to go out, he immediately shouted in a low voice: "Sansu, come back."

"What's wrong?" Fan Sansu asked.

Fan Dacheng explained: "I just thought about it carefully. Since the third year of Yongle, only the Ming army dared to attack the city at night. The cavalry came from the east, and it should be the cavalry led by Pinghou and Cao Guogong. If you go out to find out the news, He will definitely be discovered by the Ming army’s scouts.”

Three years after Yongle, some animal offal was occasionally added to the military rations of the Ming Dynasty's frontier troops to prevent soldiers from developing night blindness.

Of course, these slightly high-end meals are mainly provided to scouts or cavalry.

"Let's go together to find General Wakdang, the defender of Turpan City, and report the news to him."

Fan Dacheng made a decision immediately.

20 days ago, Huo Zhen led his troops to rescue Zhang Yu's troops on the order of the Marquis of Xining. At the same time, Hu Gada got the news that Timur attacked the royal city and took control of the inner city. So Hu Gada led his troops back and captured the inner city. He sent his trusted general Wakdang to guard Turpan City.

Fifteen days ago, Huozhen led his troops to defeat the Hudada Lang soldiers in the Turpan Mountains, and successfully joined forces with Zhang Yu's tribe.

Two days ago, Cao Guogong and Qihou led [-] cavalry to Turpan Mountain City and joined forces with Zhang Yu and the Huozhen tribe.

Tonight, after the four people discussed it, they decided to catch Hudada's general Wak by surprise and capture the city of Turpan.

By the time Fan Dacheng saw Wakdang, the Ming army was less than five miles away from Turpan City.

After Wacker learned the news, he hurriedly deployed troops to defend, but unfortunately it was a step too late.

This time Cao Guogong Li Jinglong and Qihou Qiufu brought twenty vehicles with general artillery. The battle lasted only two hours, and Wak Dang abandoned the city and fled. The Ming army recovered Turpan City, and the three Fan family brothers and Fang Qiang were captured by the Ming Dynasty. Captured by the army.

At the beginning of November, the Ming army regained the entire territory of Turpan, and pursued the victory to regain the Bali city.

At the same time, after Hudada returned to the royal city, he sent someone to poison Shamechagan to death, claiming that it was Mahama who had done it. Mahama had no way to retreat, so he and he defended the royal city to resist Timur's attack.

Timur saw that the situation was unfavorable and winter was coming, so he chose to retreat.

His minister Min Min Buhua suggested retreating to Alima City to collect supplies and wait for the opportunity.

In late November, Zhang Yu and Li Jinglong discussed and decided to take advantage of the cold winter to raid the inner city.

Hudada stood firm in Yili City, while the soldiers and horses in the rear raised grain and grass supplies from the vast area between the Ili River Valley.

If the Ming army wants to take the back route of Hudada, there are two main routes to take. One is to go southwest over the mountains, along the north bank of Sailimu Lake, go around to the southwest of Yilibali City, and then cross again to the north. Mountains can appear in the Ili Valley area.

The most difficult thing about taking this road is that you have to climb mountains twice. No one knows what you will encounter on the way. If everything goes well, it will probably take more than 20 days.

The other is to go north over the Boluo Mountains, then go northwest through the desert belt that stretches nearly a thousand miles, and then go directly around to the northwest of Yili Bali.

This route seems simple, but the risk is extremely high. Once you enter the desert, you will lose your direction. Even if you carry a compass, the climate in the desert is not something ordinary people can survive.

Li Yuan used 500 light troops to disguise themselves as rebel soldiers from the tribes of the Western Regions. Each man tied a red scarf on his left arm. They were divided into three groups and crossed the mountains twice. They hid day and night in key places to avoid Hudada's spies arrived in the Ili Valley 23 days later.

The winter was dry and withered grass and branches were flammable. Li Yuan ordered the burning of the grain collected by Hudada's men on both sides of the Ili River Valley. The fire burned for seven days and seven nights. The water in a small tributary of the Ili River became hot, and the fish and turtles were burned to death. All floated to the surface.

Hudada's general Tuodayak led 500 cavalry to pursue him. Li Yuan led [-] men to ambush, defeated Tuodayak's men, and captured [-] cavalry.

In mid-December of the fourth year of Yongle, Li Yuan took advantage of the ice to cross the narrow part of the Yili River and went around to the west of Yili City.

Hudada sent General Tuodayak's younger brother Tuodamuke, commanding three thousand cavalry, to destroy Li Yuan's troops.

Li Yuan was not afraid of Tuodamu Ke and decided to attack more with less, so he deliberately fled into a forest by the Ili River.

Tuo Damuke abandoned his horse and switched to infantry, and pursued him into the forest where Li Yuan's troops had designed a large number of traps. The two sides fought in the dense forest from morning until dark.

At night, Li Yuan pretended to retreat, secretly divided his troops and went around Tuo Damuke's back, and let Tuo Damuke's horses run away.

At dawn the next day, Li Yuan's troops launched a counterattack, and Tuo Damuke was forced to withdraw from the forest.

When Tuodamuke retreated, he suddenly found that he had no horses, so he was defeated by Li Yuan's troops.

This time Li Yuan's troops beheaded [-] people, captured a thousand horses, and captured more than a thousand rebels.

Afterwards, after Li Yuan rested for a day, he led his army by surprise and attacked the west gate of the inner city, catching him by surprise.

In late December, Zhang Yu, Li Jinglong and Li Yuan attacked Yilibaoli City in a flanking attack. However, due to the fierce battle, Huozhen, who was in his 50s, was wounded and died in the battle.

Afterwards, Zhang Yu and Tan Yuan garrisoned Yilibaili City with ten vehicle-mounted artillery, while Li Jinglong and Qiu Fu garrisoned Turpan City and sent troops to deliver good news to the court.

When Tamerlane learned that the Ming army had captured the royal city, he suddenly made a counterattack and planned to surround the inner city of Yili.

In the first month of the fifth year of Yongle's reign, Li Yuan, who was carrying grain and grass for Zhang Yu's troops in the field, also rushed over to the inner city to fight against Zhang Yu's blood. They made an alliance and agreed to defend the city.

When Timur's troops arrived, he also attacked the inner city and ordered people to use arrows to shoot a surrender letter written in Chinese characters into the city. After Zhang Yu saw the letter, he immediately followed this method and replied with a letter containing only four words - swear to death. Not surrender.

Seeing that Timur could not persuade him to surrender, he ordered an attack on the city.

However, Zhang Yu, the commander of the army, was determined to hold on and fired back with his general's artillery. As a result, Timur was unable to attack for a long time and had to continue to encircle.

Timur could not attack the inner city for twenty days, so he plotted to poison the tributary of the Ili River flowing into the city. He sent people to shout outside the city and threatened Zhang Yu's troops, claiming that if he did not surrender, he would be destroyed after the city was breached. Massacre the city.

In order to protect the lives of the people in the city and the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Yu decided to fake surrender and trap Timur to death.

He sent strong men to secretly set up a thousand-pound gate on the city gate, and also asked the soldiers guarding the city to cry and lament, "A disease has broken out in the city, and we are going to die."

Soon after, he removed all the oars and armor, and sent the local elders in the royal city to serve as envoys instead of the officers and soldiers guarding the city. They went to Timur's camp to kneel down and ask for surrender: "Your Majesty is a descendant of Genghis Khan, and our ancestors are all subjects of Genghis Khan. We have always been I want to surrender to you, Your Majesty. But we have not practiced military reform for a long time, and when we see the army approaching the border, we are deeply afraid of being killed by the soldiers. Please, Your Majesty, retreat ten miles and ride into the city alone. We will welcome you!"

Timur didn't know what the plan was and was overjoyed when he heard this.

Min Min didn't bother to advise Tamerlane, fearing he was being deceived, so it would be better to attack by force.

Timur was a conceited and arrogant man, and after twenty days of expedition, his soldiers were exhausted. If he could surrender the inner city, he could occupy the fertile Ili Valley, and then the entire area north of the Tianshan Mountains.

Therefore, Timur ignored Minmin Buhua's advice and ordered the entire army to move camp and retreat. He rode a high horse and only took a few cavalry guards to enter the city through the west gate to accept the surrender.

The city gate was wide open, and all the Ming soldiers who were defending the city gathered on the city wall to look down.

As soon as Timur entered the city gate, all the soldiers shouted "King Timur has arrived". The iron gate that had been placed on the door arch crashed and immediately smashed Timur's horse head. Knowing that Timur was caught in the trap, Mu'er changed horses and returned in a hurry, only to escape death. However, due to his old age, he fell from his horse and broke his right leg and arm. After returning to the camp, he fell into a coma due to excessive blood loss.

For a time, Timur's army stopped its offensive.

During the stalemate between the two sides, Zhang Yu recruited strong men and sent out surprise troops to harass and attack Timur's troops, destroying Timur's army.

Zhang Yu then joined forces with Li Yuan and took advantage of the victory to pursue and recover the towns along the Ili River Valley, which greatly boosted their military power.

After Yili rescued the inner city, Zhang Yu held a banquet in the Chinese army's tent to reward the soldiers.

Those who were spared from the war also tried their best to make the people in the inner city regard Zhang Yu as the "city god".

(End of this chapter)