The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Chapter 159 Surprise attack on Xiangyang!Be prepared

Xu Yao did not answer the words of the leader of the rural soldiers.

Because he didn't know how to answer.

You can’t say that the magistrate went back to the county office and committed suicide, right?

Fortunately, at this time, the bandit army with the character "崋" and the banner of "Generalissimo of Yuchu Xinghua" sent a rider to shout in front of the moat.

"Listen, Biyang soldiers and civilians, we are the Yi tribe rebels led by Generalissimo Xinghua of Henan and Chu, and we are here to accuse the people of crimes.

If you surrender the city, our rebel army will enter the city without hurting anyone.If the city resists, don't blame us for being rude! "

At this time, there was no precedent for Ming officials to directly offer the city to surrender to the rebels, not to mention that the visitor's words did not have much pressure.

They forced people to open their doors and offer sacrifices, and often threatened to massacre the city.

Who can you scare with just "you're welcome"?
What really made Xu Yao and others feel oppressed was the rebel army's sophisticated equipment, strict military formations, and dozens of cannons that glowed silver in the sun.

So Xu Yao watched silently without saying anything.

The riders withdraw.

Soon the Yibu rebels fired artillery at the top of the city and began to attack the city with the assistance of artillery.

This time the rebels did not send any internal response to the city.

But as the county magistrate Yu Guangjing said, Biyang County is not big, and the city wall is only one foot or three feet high.

On the contrary, the moat is three feet wide because it is connected to Bieshui.

Liu Sheng intended to let the Guards and the Fifth Regiment gain siege experience, so he attacked the city from three sides at the same time.

Except for the Xiaoqi Battalion, there are still no reserve troops left.

There are only a thousand rural soldiers in Biyang, but some of them are garrisoned at key points in the city. Only [-] are left in the city at this time.

In addition, the county magistrate was absent and the people were not mobilized to defend the city (lack of money and food, and harsh treatment of the people, so they could not be mobilized). Xu Yao, the Dianshi, alone could not support it at all.

And because the rural soldiers were severely suppressed by artillery.

Within half an hour, the North City Gate, which Liu Sheng personally supervised, was breached first.

Within half an hour, the rebels surged into the city.

Xu Yao, a classic historian, was defeated and captured. Yu Guangjing, the county magistrate, committed suicide by hanging a beam in the county government office.

After entering the city, Liu Sheng used his old tricks.

Through the information obtained by the Xunfeng Camp spies who sneaked into the city first, four large households with high public outrage were confiscated.

Then let the two standing army officers who are going to stay here be responsible for the public trial of the criminals in these four large families.

This time it was a public trial under the Ruyang model.

Through the evidence collected by the Xunfeng Camp spies and the confessions interrogated from the county officials, the victim Xin truly participated in the trial.

This stimulates empathy among the common people in the city and recognition of the Yibu rebels.

Later, the officials and government servants who had committed many crimes in the county government were also brought out for public trial in order to relieve the people's anger and continue to win over the hearts of the common people for the rebels.

Then some of the money collected from the four large households was used to provide relief to poor people and refugees inside and outside the city.

Recruit young men from these people and train at least one battalion of civilian warriors to help defend the city.

Because Biyang was Liu Sheng's first choice for retreat after his surprise attack on Xiangyang, it must be in the hands of the rebels.

It will take at least seven or eight days from the public trial to the training of civilian bravery.

Liu Sheng also wanted to defeat Xiangyang before Zhang Xianzhong, so naturally he would not delay here.

Therefore, after breaking Biyang, the rebel army only rested for one day before setting off on the morning of the [-]th day of the first lunar month.

Liu Sheng chose the road through Biyang and Tangxian instead of passing through Tongbai County because this road is all plains and there is Bi River connected with Han River, which is later known as Biyang River, Tang River and Tangbai River.

Now the heavy snow has melted, the river has already frozen, and the water level has risen sharply.

Rebel soldiers, grain, grass, and baggage can all go down the river by boat.

Marching is fast and comfortable!

It is less than a hundred miles from Biyang to Tang County.

Liu Sheng and the rebels arrived that morning and attacked the city directly in the afternoon.

The county seat of Tang County is taller than Biyang, but it is also limited in height.

The most important thing is that Wang Fubi, the magistrate of Tang County, is a ruthless official like Pan Hong, the magistrate of Wuyang County. He has already lost the support of the people for the sake of collecting taxes for Cui.

In addition, the rebels arrived in such a hurry that he did not have enough time to mobilize the people to defend the city.

In this era, many cities needed to mobilize the people to help defend the city in order to hold on.

The troops and horses controlled only by the government are often stretched thin.

For example, Tang County is in a special period when local bandits are everywhere. There are only about [-] rural soldiers and government officials in the city.

In order to defend the city, Wang Fubi fought at the top of the city with a sword and took the lead.

It did cause some trouble for the rebels at first.

But soon Wang Fubi was hit by a explosive bullet and died on the spot.

Tang County was captured by the rebels, and the whole journey took less than an hour.

In the afternoon, the rebels began to publicly interrogate large households, distribute food relief, and recruit brave people.

The next day, after leaving two standing troops behind, Liu Sheng took the remaining troops and horses and continued down the Bishui (Tang River).

This time, it took two days to travel [-] miles along the Bi River, and actually walked more than [-] miles of waterway.

It didn't stop until Shuanggou Town, where Tang River and Bai River converged in later generations.

Naturally, there was no Shuanggou Town at this time, but there was a market called "Fuli" with an inspection department.

This place was considered a key point and was easily captured by the rebels.

Afterwards, Liu Sheng asked the rebels to use the ships collected along the way to disguise themselves as a merchant fleet and enter the Han River from the Tangbai River.

Fortunately, the number of rebels was small, only about [-].

What was collected along the way were all kinds of civilian ships, and with the addition of some grain and other materials confiscated from Biyang and Tang counties, it was easy to disguise them as merchant ships.

In order to realize his idea of ​​a surprise attack on Xiangyang, Liu Sheng asked the Xunfeng Camp to send spies along this route last year to collect all kinds of useful intelligence.

There were certainly checkpoints set up by the Ming government along the way, but most of them were for the purpose of collecting customs duties.

Those responsible for handling such fat jobs are almost all corrupt officials.As long as you pay more bribes, the ships will not be carefully searched at all.

Even merchant ships that blatantly sell prohibited goods can sail freely with bribes.

In this way, the rebels disguised themselves as multiple merchant fleets, entered the Han River from the Tangbai River, and easily crossed the river near Xiangyang to the southeast.

Liu Sheng actually did this just in case.

In fact, Xiangyang City is opposite Fanchengguan, where the Han River turns a big bend and merges with the Tangbai River, creating a half-moon-shaped island (Yuliang Island).

After the rebel fleet entered the Han River, they took the east side, and the straight-line distance from Xiangyang City was more than ten miles.

If the Xiangyang defenders knew that enemies might appear in the north and wanted to take precautions, they would have set up observation posts or even beacon towers along the river.

However, it does not.

It seems incredible at first glance, but it makes sense when you think about it carefully.

Because most of the Huguang official army also fell into Sichuan to encircle and suppress Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other rogue bandits.

And at this time, the Xiangyang defenders knew at most that Li Zicheng had a "Liu Thief" in Heluo and Runing Mansion, and that Zhang Xianzhong and other main rogue bandits were in Sichuan.

We don't have enough troops, and we don't know that we are being targeted by the enemy, so we naturally have no defense.

Therefore, the rebels disguised themselves as a merchant fleet and quietly crossed the river east of Xiangyang, crossing the Han River in the Yujia Lake area downstream.

Later, Liu Sheng did not display the banner of "Generalissimo of Yuchu Xinghua", but disguised himself as an officer.

There were no passes where the Ming army was stationed along the way. Liu Sheng did this mainly to mislead the people along the way and prevent nosy people from leaking information to Xiangyang.

From the common people's perspective, the high armor coverage rate and relatively strict marching team of the Yibu Rebel Army are the best proof of the official army.

And it is also a well-disciplined army.

Because of the rebel army, he did not plunder the villages along the way like other government troops.

However, no matter how well-disciplined the officers and soldiers are, the common people dare not get close and watch.

So the rebel army swaggered around the southern section of Bianshan Mountain and passed Yinji.

Liu Sheng originally wanted to find a valley in the mountains on both sides of Guandao (later Wolong Road) to set up camp and hide it temporarily.

But he didn't expect to find a bandit village between Bian Mountain and Hutou Mountain.

This place is only a dozen miles away from Xiangyang City, so it is strange that there is a large bandit village.

But thinking that this was the end of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Sheng felt relieved again.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, bandits were not only rampant in Henan, but also in other places.

It’s really a bandit that can’t be wiped out all!
The rebels unceremoniously occupied this well-located cottage and captured or killed all the thieves inside without letting any of them escape.

On the night when the stronghold was captured, Ma Jinshui brought three spies from the Xunfeng Camp to see him.

These three people all sneaked into Xiangyang City in advance to find out the strength of the Chinese army's defense.

"See Master!"

Liu Sheng nodded and asked directly: "How many soldiers and horses are there in Xiangyang City now? How is the defense?"

The leader of the three people clasped his fists and said: "There are probably more than 2000 camp soldiers and more than [-] rural soldiers.

Most of the battalion soldiers should be newly recruited, and their combat effectiveness is not even as good as that of the rural soldiers.

As for the city defense, it is not strict and can even be said to be very loose.

The city gates will be open as usual every day, and people entering the city must pay a gate tax and will not be searched.

Only those goods loaded with loads, vehicles, etc. need to be inspected.But if the gatekeeper can be bribed, the interrogation will only be a formality. "

Hearing this, Liu Sheng smiled, feeling confident about the surprise attack on Xiangyang.

The next day, he first sent out the Xiaoqi camp to serve as scouts.

Then they asked Shengjieying to disguise themselves as business travelers, pedestrians, etc., and try to sneak into Xiangyang City.

He is making two preparations.

In the late Ming Dynasty, a famous general who could not be avoided was Li Dingguo.

Li Dingguo's early famous battle was when he disguised himself as an official messenger and sneaked into the city of Xiangyang with more than [-] cavalry, and cooperated with Zhang Xianzhong's main force to attack Xiangyang.

Liu Sheng happened to remember this because he liked reading novels about the late Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, he wanted to see if he could imitate Li Dingguo in intercepting and killing military messengers.

If you can disguise yourself as a messenger, you can let a dozen or 20 people carry weapons, armor, and horses into the city.

Unlike the guards of Shengjie Camp, except for carrying two disguised grenades, they could only enter the city with bare hands.

Even if you buy weapons after entering the city, you have to be careful, and buy at most a short sword.

Even if the Ming Dynasty officials did not prohibit the sale of long weapons, buying them would arouse suspicion.

Moreover, the guards of Shengjie Camp did not infiltrate just one or 20 people, but infiltrated as many as possible.If hundreds of people buy weapons, the likelihood of being suspected is even greater.

Generally speaking, at most, only a few dozen people who are the vanguard buy weapons.

In this case, if there are more than a dozen fine cavalry, it will be easier to attack the city.

Of course, if the situation in the city was not conducive to the rebels, Liu Sheng also allowed the guards of Shengjie Camp to create civil strife by setting fires, thereby creating opportunities for the rebels to attack Xiangyang.

···
Xiangyang Prefecture, within Nanzhang County.

A village of thousands of people turned into a fire in the night.

At the edge of the fire, the man's howl of pain and the woman's scream came one after another, intertwined.

Zhang Dingguo frowned and glanced over there, but didn't say anything.

He took several personal followers with him, and after several rounds of interrogations, he entered Zhang Xianzhong's Chinese army tent.

Zhang Xianzhong was not on guard against his adopted son, but was used to guarding against everyone, especially his generals.

The Chinese army's tent is quite large and divided into two parts: front and back.

After Zhang Dingguo came in, he didn't see Zhang Xianzhong, but he heard a woman's intermittent crying coming from the back tent.

He understood Zhang Xianzhong's habits and waited patiently.

After a while, the woman's crying finally stopped.

Only then did Zhang Xianzhong walk out with his robe on and his mind open.

(End of this chapter)