subvert the late Tang Dynasty

After a meal, Zhu Wen learned that Huang Chao's main generals are: Lin Yan, Meng Kai, Bi Shiduo, Li Hanzhi, Zhang Yan, Qin Yan, Xu Qing, Li Xiang, etc.Lin Yan, Li Hanzhi, Zhang Yan and others all met Zhu Wen at the dinner table, and the others led the army away.

Lin Yan is no stranger to Zhu Wen. According to historical records, Lin Yan is Huang Chao's nephew. He has been the commander of Huang Chao's personal guards and one of Huang Chao's main generals. It is said that after Huang Chao's defeat, he fled to Langhu Valley. Lin Yan killed Huang Chao He wanted to present their heads to Shi Pu, the Jiedu envoy of the Probation Army, but was later killed by the chasing soldiers, who dedicated both of their heads to Shi Pu at the same time.

Seeing Lin Yan's cold and resolute face, Zhu Wen couldn't help feeling contemptuous: Damn, hypocrisy.

Needless to say, Li Hanzhi is said in history to have courage, but no strategy. In addition, he did all kinds of evil, and often used human flesh as a meal.

Zhu Wen looked at his greasy face, just as Li Hanzhi put a spare rib into his mouth to chew, Zhu Wen felt inexplicably nauseated, as if what Li Hanzhi ate was not ribs but human flesh .

Zhu Wen looked at Zhang Yan again. He was young, in his 20s, and he was smiling and talkative.It should be the kind of person who makes people feel good at the first sight.This kind of person has always been a prosperous official no matter where he is, not to mention that Zhang Yan should not be an incompetent person, but Zhu Wen never thought that there would be such a famous person in the history of the Five Dynasties.

He thought to himself, maybe he died on the road when he moved to the south.He didn't know that this Zhang Yan was Zhang Quanyi who later took refuge in Tang Ting after Huang Chao's defeat. He was also a famous figure in the Five Dynasties.

What made Zhu Wen even more disappointed was that none of the generals who rose up with Huang Chao in the Romance of Unofficial History, such as Meng Juehai, Deng Tianwang, Ge Congzhou, Zhang Guiba, and Zhang Guihou brothers, were seen.I don't know whether these people haven't joined Huang Chao yet or there are no such people at all. These so-called famous generals may just be fabricated by the authors of those novels.

During the meeting, Huang Chao expressed his idea of ​​attacking the counties near Songzhou, and of course everyone agreed.Zhu Wen gave instructions to the generals again, Huang Chao applauded and applauded, Lin Yan, Li Hanzhi and others saw that Huang Chao agreed, of course they would not object.

At that moment Zhang Yan and Li Hanzhi led a dozen people to Chaya Mountain to send orders to the brigade led by Meng Kai.

Three days later, on July [-]th of the fourth year of Qianfu, Meng Kai led more than [-] main forces of Huang Chao's rebel army out of Chaya Mountain, and captured Suiping with lightning speed.According to Zhu Wen's instructions, the generals did not kill a single person after entering the city, and did not wantonly plunder.

Officers and soldiers who were unable to escape as they wished were allowed to surrender, and surrendered soldiers were not discriminated against, and surrendered soldiers were not killed indiscriminately.Open a granary in the county, half of the rebels keep it for themselves as food and grass, and distribute half to the poor, and recruit young and brave men to join the army, promising to make a lot of money.Including rich businessmen and gentry, if there is no serious evil, they will not kill easily, and only take half of their gold, silver and treasures.

The officers and soldiers heard that they would not be killed if they surrendered, but they could go and stay as they wished. Those who did not want to follow the rebel army were given food and money to return home, and those who were willing to follow the rebel army were paid the same as the imperial court.These people are soldiers for nothing more than to have a bowl of food to eat, which is not the same as who is a soldier.At present, more than a thousand officers and soldiers who had time to escape in the future surrendered one after another, willing to follow the rebel army.

These days, the imperial court ordered to fortify the walls and clear the wilderness, and most of the rural people went to the city to escape, so there are many people in the city, but most of them are rural refugees and have no real estate or family business.They were terrified when they saw the rebel army entering the city, and later saw that the rebel army did not burn, kill and loot as the court said, and even distributed the grain in the official warehouse to them.Seeing that the rebel army recruited new soldiers, young and strong people joined the army one after another, and more than two thousand people were recruited.

Wealthy businessmen and gentry saw that the rebels only took half of their food and gold and silver, and they could still save their lives. Of course, they were also grateful.Rich people have all read books, so they can't help singing praises to the rebels.

Under the leadership of Meng Kai, the rebel army rested in Suiping County for two days, and the generals arranged for the recruits.When they were leaving, all the wealthy businessmen and gentry bought wine to see them off one after another, thanking the rebels for not killing them.

By the time they left Suiping County, the rebel army had grown to more than [-] people.

Meng Kai was wearing a bright armor that was taken off the body of an officer who had been killed by him. He rode a tall horse surrounded by all the generals, facing the warm autumn sun, feeling extremely excited.Meng Kai laughed loudly and said, "General Huang is really amazing, but he took other people's things and gave them to those poor people who surrendered, yet so many people turned to us. If we had known that we would have gone to the city before, we would not have robbed things randomly. Otherwise, we will have at least 20 troops now, can we let that old guy Song Wei chase us?"

Zhang Yan said with a smile: "All these ideas about Anmin, surrender, and recruiting soldiers are all made by a young man named Zhu Wen, not General Huang's idea. General Huang thinks highly of Zhu Wen, and he is called him by name." Don't call him by his first name, sir."

Meng Kai frowned and said, "Zhu Wen? I haven't heard of it. How does General Zhang think that Zhu Wen is better than you?"

Zhang Yan said with shame: "He is the same age as me, 25 years old, handsome and tall, with extraordinary appearance, and both civil and military. I can't be nominated for the gold list with my humanities, and I can't gallop in martial arts. How can I compare with him?"

Meng Kai was a little dissatisfied and said: "General Zhang is too modest, who doesn't know that General Zhang is talented in culture and martial arts, and will become a great man in the future, how can he underestimate himself?"

Zhang Yan smiled wryly and shook his head.

On July 800th, Meng Kai went north to capture Xiping County, took another 3000 soldiers, and nearly [-] strong men joined the army.

Then go all the way north and fall into the counties of Dengxiang, Taocheng, Gucheng, and Fugou, turn eastward and fall into Taikang and Zhecheng counties, and turn northward to capture Ningling County, directly threatening Songcheng.Huang Chao, Lin Yan, Zhu Wen and others led hundreds of elite troops to join Meng Kai in Ningling.

Along the way, according to Zhu Wen's method, the rebel army grew to 3 people.

Wang Xianzhi saw that Huang Chao was growing so fast, of course he was unwilling to be lonely and acted according to the law.

On July 23, General Shang Rang under Wang Xianzhi marched all the way to the northeast, captured Shangcai and Shangshui counties, bypassed Chenzhou, captured Dancheng and Luyi, and then bypassed heavily guarded Bozhou. The county seat meets with Wang Xianzhi, Shang Junchang and others.At this time, Wang Xianzhi's team counted more than [-] people, not counting Liu Yanzhang's army who stayed in the south of the Yangtze River.

Shang Junchang led his army to capture Yucheng and Gushu counties to the west, and the army pointed directly at Songcheng, the military and political center of Songzhou.

So far, among the one city and nine counties under the jurisdiction of Songzhou, only Dangshan and Shanfu counties in the north and Songcheng, which is heavily stationed, have not been captured by the rebels.

On the same day, Song Wei, the "Soldiers of the Daoists and Horses Recruiting the Grass Thieves Envoy" of the Tang Dynasty, led an army of [-] into Songzhou.Song Wei is old, but his spirit is strong, and he is still radiant after running around for days.

At this time, he had already taken off his heavy armor and sighed.He was conflicted. It wasn't that he couldn't kill Huang Chao and Wang Xianzhi, but he was afraid that after he killed them, he would be like Kang Chengxun who killed Pang Xun.He knew the court very well, Tang Xizong Li Xuan was just a puppet of the eunuch Tian Lingzi.

He kept Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao because he didn't want to end up with nothing to hide. He didn't care about Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao. They were just bandits, so what could they do?Commanding an army of [-] by himself, how could he still be no match for a few thousand grassroots bandits? .

In early August, Songcheng, the prefecture of Songzhou, was besieged.

Song Wei still didn't take these two private salt dealers to heart, thinking that the two grassroots bandits in their hearts, trying to occupy Songzhou and control the lifeline of the north-south water transport, is simply a dream.

The army in the city is ready to defend the city, and thousands of soldiers are busy around the city.When the common people heard that the rogues were besieging the city, their hearts fluttered, and the city was full of noise.

Song Wei felt contempt for a while, thinking that there are thousands of grassroots bandits!What's all the fuss about?Wang Xianzhi is nothing but a defeated subordinate of someone like me, Song.

On the city wall, Zhang Rui saw the densely packed rebel army outside the city forming dozens of square formations. It seemed that there would be no less than [-] troops. He was shocked, but he looked around on the city wall, but he did not see Song Wei. .He thought to himself, this Song Zhaochao really deserves to be a veteran, the army is besieging the city, and he doesn't seem to be in a hurry, he can't even see a shadow.Did General Song already have a plan to defeat the enemy?

When I was thinking wildly in my heart, I finally saw Song Wei. I saw Song Wei's bright armor was particularly eye-catching under the autumn sun. Song Wei's expression was a little leisurely, as if he was not the one who was besieged.

Zhang Rui hurriedly sprinted a few steps to meet Song Wei, and said, "I see General Song is smiling, do you already have a plan to defeat the enemy?"

Song Wei said with a smile: "Master Zhang, there is no need to panic, but there are only thousands of refugees. This commander has confronted him dozens of times. The two thieves are defeated every time, but the two thieves are cunning and let them escape every time. This time the two If the thief came to the door by himself, wouldn't he be throwing himself into a trap?"

Zhang Rui said doubtfully: "The 8000 troops in the city plus the 2 troops of Marshal Song are less than [-], and there are more than [-] rebels in the city. It is really not easy to capture the two rebels." Thousands of people, I don't know if they will abandon the city immediately.

Song Wei's heart skipped a beat, why did the two thieves' coalition force less than 1 people half a month ago, how come there are already more than 3 people now, could it be that they have sorcery?Hurry up to the city, looking far away, the densely packed rebel army can't see the edge at a glance.

The rebel army was divided into 24 square formations, only two arrows away from the city wall.In the southeast direction, there is a large flag, with the inscription "Bendianping the Great General King" written in eight characters, fluttering with the wind in the autumn wind.A "yellow" flag in the northwest also stands high.

Song Wei's mood suddenly fell into a deep valley, and the superiority in military strength he had been relying on no longer existed.Don't talk about capturing the two thieves alive, whether they can keep Song Cheng is uncertain.The only reliance now is that the high walls and deep valleys of Song City can keep Wang and Huang out of the city.

Although Song Wei was horrified in his heart, he was a veteran of the battlefield after all, and he would definitely not dare to go out of the city, but it is still possible to defend Song City and wait for foreign aid.

At this time, Zhu Wenwen and Huang Chao were riding down the city, surrounded by Huang Chao's three hundred personal guards, all of them were wearing bright armor, holding a shield in their left hand and a knife in their right hand.The light of the knife faced Qiuyang, and Zhu Wen felt dizzy. It was the first time he saw such a scene, and the shock in his heart was beyond words.

At this time, Huang Chao's army had more than [-] people, and Huang Chao was very happy, and he treated Zhu Wen, a "superior", with even more courtesy.

Most of the generals also admired Zhu Wen's strategy of pacifying the people and accepting surrender. Only Lin Yan and Meng Kai, two of Huang Chao's most capable assistants, didn't think much of Zhu Wen.In their hearts, Zhu Wen is nothing more than a scholar who only knows how to talk, and he and others are the real heroes when they lead the crowd on the battlefield.

Meng Kai said: "Brother, when will we attack the city?" Meng Kai was an old brother who joined forces with Huang Chao, and he was used to calling Huang Chao "Big Brother".At this time, Huang Chao had not set up official positions for the generals under his command, and most of them were still called brothers.

Huang Chao said: "Song City is not as vulnerable as those small county towns. If the city is forcibly attacked, the casualties will be heavy. Song Wei's [-] soldiers and horses are currently in the city, and the outcome of the siege is unpredictable."

Meng Kai said: "Then how can we win Song City?"

Huang Chao glanced at Zhu Wen, Zhu Wen understood, and smiled at Meng Kai: "We just surrounded Song City, not to take it down. Song City is located at the throat of the North-South Canal, and is the lifeblood of the North-South Water Transport. With the Xuanwu army in Bianzhou, the Zhongwu army in Xuzhou in the west, and the probation army in Xuzhou in the east, how could the three armies sit back and watch us occupy Songzhou and cut off the water transportation from north to south?"

Meng Kai asked puzzled, "Then why did our army gather in Songzhou?"

Zhu Wen said with a smile: "We surrounded Songzhou with the army of General Wang (Wang Xianzhi), and trapped Song Wei, the envoy, in Songcheng. The three towns will definitely send troops to gather in Songzhou. The three towns are definitely empty, and we will take the opportunity to attack the enemy's rear Fang still gave up the big town and only attacked the surrounding counties, taking the opportunity to expand the army. When the time is right, the army will cross the south of the Yangtze River and take the rich and prosperous land in the south of the Yangtze River as the foundation. Keep it. If you do this, you can achieve great things.”

Meng Kai and the others were speechless, and they couldn't help secretly admiring Zhu Wen's strategy.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Wen came up with this strategy based on the experience of various Chinese warlords fighting for hegemony for thousands of years. "If the enemy is strong, we will retreat, and if the enemy is weak, we will fight." Establish a foundation where the enemy's forces are weak, and then fight the enemy when the time is right.Although the reason is simple, how many people can really do it?Zhu Wen just copied the strategy of the great man Mao Zedong, with slight changes according to the situation in the late Tang Dynasty.

Zhu Wen had seen too many war scenes like those of the Three Kingdoms, and thought that Song Wei would open the city to meet the enemy after the soldiers approached the city.Only when I got to the bottom of the city did I realize that this was not the case at all. The gates of Song City were closed, the suspension bridge was hung high, and the towers and walls were densely covered with archers and catapults, rolling wood and thunder.This is the real war. In the era of cold weapons, a strong city can keep several times its own troops out of the city.

As described in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the kind of thing that can determine the success or failure of a war with one or two strong generals will not appear on the real battlefield. And many other factors, and definitely will not depend on a person's bravery and wit.Combat on the same terrain depends on the strength of the troops and whether the morale of the army is high. If the morale of the army is low, even a hundred thousand troops may collapse without a fight.

Zhu Wen said in his heart, it's really inconceivable that Mr. Luo Guanzhong's nonsense of the Three Kingdoms can be accepted by the world.Which fool would give up the high walls and fortresses to go out of the city and fight you on the plain?Unless the general defending the city is an undercover agent of the attacking side, he has long wanted to surrender the city, but he is afraid that the generals will not accept it, and uses the reason of leaving the city for a decisive battle to create opportunities for the opponent; or the head of the defender was kicked by a donkey.

Huang Chao made up his mind to besiege the city instead of attacking it. Seeing the enemy's heavy defense, Wang Xianzhi certainly didn't want his subordinates to make unnecessary sacrifices. He just hoped that due to Song Wei's extra [-] troops, the city would run out of food and grass and had to leave the city for a decisive battle.Therefore, the army besieged the city for several days without a real war.

Wang Xianzhi even asked his subordinates to dismount from their horses and cook on the spot, sitting on the ground like that, hoping to lure the Tang army out of the city.But Song Wei has fought on the battlefield for decades, how could he fall into this kind of trick, and he is completely unmoved.

On August [-]th, Wang Xianzhi couldn't bear it first, and sent envoys to invite Huang Chao to attack the city together.Huang Chao refused to attack the city because the chances of winning were too small. Wang Xianzhi had no choice but to continue the siege.

Song Wei in the city was also very anxious. He didn't take Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao seriously, so he didn't bring a lot of food and grass.Although Songcheng is the military and political center of Songzhou, there have been constant battles in the Central Plains for several years, and there is not enough food left in the warehouse. It doesn't matter to support Songcheng's 8000 troops, but Song Wei's 2 people will be different.With nearly 3 people, how much food do they consume every day?

Song Wei was even more worried about the fodder. There were not many cavalry in the city, but Song Wei brought three thousand cavalry in, and the fodder could only last for three days.The army besieged the city, and if there was no foreign aid after three days, the grass on the roofs of the people's houses would really have to be demolished to feed the war horses.Of course he knew the importance of war horses to the army.

He had already dispatched horses to report to the Xuanwu Army, Probation Army, and Zhongwu Army, and ordered the three towns to gather in Songzhou around the Mid-Autumn Festival. Song Wei's own Pinglu soldiers in Youzhou would also arrive at that time.The troops of the four towns plus their own 8000 and Songcheng's [-] people are enough to deal with the war in terms of military strength alone.