Break the divide and worship the hearts of the army, and break the mouth of the river to flood the three armies

In June of the twentieth year of Wanli, Wei Xuezeng had surrounded the city of Ningxia, but the city defense was strong, the rebel firepower was strong, Wei Xuezeng had repeatedly attacked the city with low results, in order to alleviate casualties, Wei Xuezeng ordered to besiege but not attack, and stationed on the spot. After that, Wei Xue once found Ye Mengxiong to discuss together: "I want to divide the rebels by dividing the rebels, Liu Dongyang, Xu Chao and others were originally lower-level officers, and they were forced to obey Yu Bai for their livelihood. ”

Ye Mengxiong replied: "I don't agree with the plan to surrender and discord now, although Liu Dongyang and others are persecuted, but now their hearts are unpredictable, and they are deep in the enemy camp, there are many ears and eyes, and it is difficult to protect in case." If Wei Du insists on separation, there is also a proposal in the next that is expected to be adopted. ”

Wei Xue once asked Ye Mengxiong to speak clearly, Ye Mengxiong said: "The military attaché rebels, even if he surrenders to Cheng and makes meritorious contributions, it will be difficult to escape the reckoning in the future. ”

Afterwards, Wei Xue once summoned the old Ye Dexin to serve as an envoy. Wei Xuezeng moved to Guyuan, Ye Dexin entered Ningxia, was hospitalized, and asked Ye Dexin: "I only have a few faces with the Inspector Wei Xuezeng, and I don't want to see each other now, why did the Inspector Wei send Mr. Ye to come this time?" ”

Ye Dexin said: "Prince Bi is brave and brave to the world, my lord also knows that Prince Bi's rebellion is really forced, although our army is besieging Ningxia, but Ningxia is a soldier of the Ming Dynasty, how can I bear to kill each other?" The hundreds of thousands of people in the city should not be implicated in the crime, and for this reason, the governor hopes that the old man will negotiate with the prince and you, make a decision with the imperial court, and withdraw the troops as soon as possible. ”

Bi Bai laughed and said: "Ye Lao, don't you deceive me like a three-year-old child, and I am easy to be coaxed?" Ningxia is easy to defend and difficult to attack, plus our department can fight well, with firearms inside, and strong reinforcements outside, what can Wei Governor's department do to me? The military town mutinied, abducted and killed the feudal officials, the imperial court has a clear decree, how can it be lenient to us? In my opinion, Wei Xuezeng wanted to transfer reinforcements again, and asked Mr. to delay the time. ”

Ye Dexin waved his hand again and again, and said earnestly: "The prince misunderstood, if the prince is suspicious, he can send a scout horse to investigate, but it is necessary to transfer reinforcements, although the prince is extremely brave, but how can he defeat the soldiers of the whole country in a corner of Ningxia?" You might as well inquire about the news and prepare for the war, and on the other hand, you can consult with me about the details, and ask the prince to let the old man rest here for a few days. ”

Bibai left Ye Dexin for the time being, and sent Liu Dongyang and Xu Chao to discuss the details with Ye Dexin. After discussing for a long time, Ye Dexin talked about the court's reward, was extremely sympathetic to Liu Dongyang and others, and secretly handed over a secret letter to the two. The city of Ningxia heard that the imperial court had the intention of appeasing, and they were all excited and looking forward to it, so the city was impetuous.

That night, Liu Dongyang and Xu Chao quietly came to Ye Dexin's residence, Ye Dexin and the two of them had a secret conversation: "The two were originally lower-level officers, and they were forced to cooperate with the father and son to rebel, and now the water outside Ningxia City is impassable, and the soldiers who come to aid and suppress are endless, and the court only wants to worship the head of the father and son. If you stick to the stubborn resistance, when the city is broken, the six animals will not survive, how is it good? ”

Liu Dongyang said: "Shangguan is greedy for ink, the court is unreasonable, and he listens to the rumors and forces us to rebel. Now I am afraid that it will be difficult to recover. Xu Chao saw that there was a glimmer of life, so he persuaded Liu Dongyang: "Ningxia is besieged, and sooner or later the army will be defeated and killed, it is better to kill it early and surrender, there is still a way to live." ”

Ye Dexin also persuaded: "How can you be guilty of killing the enemy, the court knows the truth, and knows the soldiers' wishes, the new governor of Ningxia, Zhu Zhengse, is honest and capable, has been in the military for a long time, and will treat the soldiers well." Liu Dongyang and Xu Chao hesitated and reluctantly agreed, and decided to assassinate Bibai's father and son on a later date, and asked Ye Dexin to reply to Wei Xuezeng on the spot, and Ye Dexin was overjoyed and sent Liu Dongyang and Xu Chao out. Liu Dongyang and Xu Chao then went straight to meet Bi Bai and tell the truth. Bibai knew that Ye Dexin's coming was determined to be a separation, so he deliberately sent Liu Dongyang and Xu Chao to contact Ye Dexin, and Bibai and the two made a blood alliance and vowed to live and die together.

Ye Dexin was preparing to return to the camp in the room, but Liu Dongyang and Xu Chao led troops to break in, and Ye Dexin was broken off his calf and imprisoned before he understood the reason. Only then did Ye Dexin know that he had been deceived by Liu Dongyang and Xu Chao. Ye Dexin forcibly endured the leg of the broken leg and asked Liu Dongyang sharply: "Loyalty, filial piety, courtesy, righteousness, and shame, you should not know that you are exploited by the cool officials and have your own court to call the shots!" I have made it clear to you again and again that I hope to abandon the darkness and turn to the light, and make meritorious deeds. The Governor and the Emperor will forgive you and others for their crimes, and reorganize the military to prevent the soldiers from being exploited again. Who knew that you would be willing to stoop to be a thief! Betraying loyalty and treason, surrendering to thieves, and swallowing the old land. Embarrassed, heaven and earth do not tolerate! ”

Liu Dongyang hated the word betrayal the most, and he was angry when he heard it: "You are just an old man in the central district of Wei Xuezeng's mansion, no matter how fanciful what you say, what is the use of how to say chiseled words?" What is the purpose? If there is no decree of the Son of Heaven, it will be all empty talk, which shows that the imperial court is determined to kill. Prince Bi treats us like brothers and sisters, and can give the soldiers the confidence and belief to join the army, so that the leader should follow. Why bother to say more about your approaching death, or rest sooner. ”

Bibai, Liu Dongyang, and Xu Chao made a plan, and Bibai sent a letter to Wei Xuezeng and Zhu Zhengse, proposing to send additional negotiators. The next day, Zhu Zhengse met with Wei Xuezeng after receiving the letter, and Zhu Zhengse said: "Inspector, I said that I was discussing with the envoy of the Inspector to dedicate the city, is this really the case?" ”

Wei Xuezeng replied: "This is true, I sent the elder of the family to divide the rebel generals, and today I have received a reply, saying that Liu Dongyang and Xu Chaoer can choose a day to capture and kill Bibai father and son, Bibai should not know at this time, but whether Liu Dongyang will do it on time is not known, just in case, since Bibai has asked for additional sending, he can also send a messenger to persuade Bibai to trap Liu Dongyang and others, according to your opinion, who do you think can be this important task?" ”

Zhu Zhengse, the governor of Ningxia, said: "Zhang Jie, the current commander-in-chief of Ganzhou, was once the chief military officer of Ningxia, and he was deeply favored by him. It can be used to invite the messenger to surrender and bow. Wei Xuezeng agreed, so he sent Zhang Jie, the chief military officer of Ganzhou, into the city to recruit surrender. Zhang Jie came, and he was very happy, and when he bowed to Zhang Jie, Zhang Jie helped him up: "The general in front of the camp actually rebelled today?" When I first learned about this, I didn't dare to believe it, until the overseer invited me here. I should have personally led the troops into the city to take you down, but I also knew that you were victimized by Dang Xin and had to do it. If this is the case, why confront the imperial court? ”

Seeing Zhang Jie straight to the point, he also smiled and apologized: "Zongzhen, this matter is extremely complicated, and it is not something that can be explained in one or two sentences. It is my sin to alarm the town to come, and I have not been able to sleep well since the occupation of Ningxia. Please also sit down in the town first, wash the dust for you first, and then tell the town for details. Then he warmly invited Zhang Jie to drink. During the banquet, Zhang Jie was suspicious and asked why Ye Dexin was not there, Xu Chao replied that Ye Dexin was sorting out the documents, and he would arrive later, Zhang Jie repeatedly signaled to Bibai to retreat left and right, and Bibai had to order Liu Dongyang and others to retreat first and lead Mr. Ye to come.

Then he asked Zhang Jie: "Zongzhen, you and I haven't seen each other for a long time, although we are enemies now, please allow me to repay the favor of carrying you, Zongzhen's intention is known to everyone, why do you want to retreat?" Zhang Jie replied: "Bi Bai, the court intends to surrender to your father and son, your father and son have made great achievements, and they were killed by Dang Xin and other villains for no reason, and the court is at the time of employing people, so I want to open up to your father and son, if you kill Liu Dongyang and others, you can also atone for the crime, and open the city to surrender, and your father and son can still be the general soldier of Ningxia." "I heard that there was a difficult color in the back, please Zhang Jie later, and when Ye Dexin came to discuss together, Zhang Jie had no choice but to give up.

When Liu Dongyang led Ye Dexin to come, Zhang Jie saw that Ye Dexin's calf was broken and he was in prison, so he wanted to get up and draw his sword, and was immediately taken down by the guards, and said: "Ye Dexin persuaded Liu Dongyang, Xu Chao and others to take the heads of my father and son, open the city and surrender, and be innocent." Zongzhen, you also persuaded me to kill Liu Dongyang and others to save their innocence, which shows that the court has no trust. Therefore, I must fight to the end, it is not my wish to worship the general, and it is my generation's pursuit to tear the soil and call the king, as for the court's strategy of aiding and suppressing, I have my own strategy to break. Zong Zhen, you did not treat me badly back then, and I also treated you with courtesy, and only kept you under house arrest and temporarily held hostage. Then Zhang Jie was detained, Ye Dexin scolded, provoked a lot of anger, and stabbed his heart to death with a sword.

Bibai detained Zhang Jie, beheaded Ye Dexin, and made the court's pretended appeasement public, and Liu Dongyang and Xu Chao also came forward to testify. The Ningxia soldiers were shocked and indignant at the measures taken by the imperial court, and they were determined to follow Bibai to fight to the death, but there were still more than 100 people in the army who were still dedicated to the imperial court.

Wei Xue had waited in Guyuan City for more than ten days without replying, and secretly screamed in his heart that it was not good, and went to Ningxia to discuss with Ye Mengxiong, Ye Mengxiong concluded that the plan had been leaked, Zhang Jie and Ye Dexin should be more auspicious, and asked Wei Xuezeng to order the siege of the city again. Just when Wei Xuezeng hesitated, a report was spread outside the door, and the arrow was found outside the city of Ningxia There was a letter, Wei Xuezeng opened it to see, and the letter wrote that Yao Qin and Wusheng Zhang Yaoling were willing to lead the troops to surrender, and they should respond to the city in the city, and open the city gate in the middle of the night with the letter fire as the number, and break Ningxia together. Wei Xuezeng and Ye Mengxiong were suspicious, so they decided to lead the army to wait and see for the time being, and if it was really true, they would march into the city again.

In the middle of the night of the same day, the letter fire in the city of Ningxia rose, the city gate was opened, Wei Xuezeng led the army to wait and see, Yao Qin did not see the official army appear for a long time, and was puzzled, at this time Tuwenxiu led the troops to chase, Yao Qin and Zhang Yaoling more than 50 people fought fiercely with Tuwenxiu, Yao Qin and others could not resist Tuwenxiu at all, and saw that no one answered outside the city for a long time, Zhang Yaoling urged Yao Qin to quickly go out of Ningxia, and his palace was behind. Yao Qin led several people out of the city gate, and Zhang Yaoling was killed. Seeing this, Wei Xuezeng urgently ordered Ma Gui and Dong Yikui to lead the troops to respond, but Neiying had been defeated, and Wei Xuezeng immediately ordered the army to return to the camp.

Wei Xuezeng and Ye Mengxiong asked Yao Qin about the situation in the city, and Yao Qin replied: "The garrison in the city is nearly 50,000, well-armed, well-guarded, and the grain and grass can still be supported for more than half a year. Ye Mengxiong said: "The stubborn enemy in Ningxia refuses to surrender, and can no longer make a divisive move, please supervise the army and give a military order as soon as possible." ”

Wei Xuezeng replied: "Previously, I asked the emperor for an order to appease the rebels and give them compensation. Yesterday, a decree arrived, and the emperor reprimanded me, saying that I would worship a thief and immediately break the city and kill him. Mei Guozhen has not yet arrived in the army, and he has already joined me in two books, impeaching the generals and dereliction of duty. However, today's plan should break through Ningxia as soon as possible, but it is difficult for the Ningxia military town to storm for a while, and it is better to divert water to irrigate the city. I immediately ordered the design of the river, the construction of embankments, and the diversion of rivers to irrigate Ningxia, and asked Huayun to cooperate more. Ye Mengxiong agreed.

Bibai looked at the Ming army from afar to build a dam, guessing that Wei Xuezeng had decided to lead the Yellow River to break the embankment to irrigate Ningxia, and immediately ordered to speed up the construction of his own embankment, Bi Chengen asked Bibai about the military aircraft, Bibai said: "Our army and Wei Xuezeng have been holding each other for a long time, in order to wear out Wei Xuezeng's patience, but he knows that Ningxia is easy to defend and difficult to attack, in order to alleviate casualties, he must choose to divert water to irrigate the city, our army built and strengthened the embankment outside the city in advance, relying on the Ningxia city wall, there is no embankment and there is a thicker than this." Our embankment must be several times higher than the official army, the official army in order to avoid affecting themselves will be controlled on the water potential of the flood city, we will look for an opportunity to secretly change the waterway outside the city, send elite soldiers to take advantage of its unpreparedness to break the estuary, the water surge is unstoppable, so that the water of the Yellow River will be poured into the camp of the Ming army, then we will take a boat to cover the killing, so that the set of Mongolia cut off the grain road, Wei Xuezeng, will be able to break the Ming army, and then take advantage of the victory to occupy Shaanxi, open up Gansu, Qinghai, great things can be done! ”

Bi Chengen listened to the order, the Ningxia rebels and the Ming army acted almost at the same time, both of them were in full swing of military engineering, Ningxia garrisoned Dagu, and Wei Xuezeng only wanted to break the city before the follow-up reinforcements and Mei Guozhen arrived in order to save face in the court. Wei Xuezeng arranged a suitable and portable Ye Mengxiong returned to Guyuan to supervise the grain and grass, and asked Ye Mengxiong to supervise the construction of a small boat, which arrived in Ningxia, and when the Ningxia city wall could break through, he would take a boat down the river and occupy Ningxia. Dong Yikui, the chief soldier of Ningxia, Li Yun, the general soldier of Guyuan, Liu Chengsi, the general soldier of Sichuan, Jiang Xianmo, Niu Bingzhong, and Ma Gui, the chief soldiers of Yansui, were on standby, and ordered Zhu Zhengse, the governor of Ningxia, to supervise the construction of the embankment.

Five days later, the Ming army had completed the construction of the embankment, and Zhu Zhengse asked Wei Xuezeng, who ordered the embankment to be broken. So the Ming army broke the Yellow River and diverted the river water to extend the preset route to irrigate Ningxia. Bibai ordered the whole city to stay on standby, constantly measuring and observing according to the water level, and using ten preset stacks of water outside the city to stand by, and then secretly slightly changing the irrigation waterway. Since the Ming army did not envisage the subsequent increase in the levee, after a few days of fighting, the city of Ningxia flinched, and the officers and troops relaxed. Zhu Zhengse and other generals of the general army suddenly heard the galloping of thousands of horses, shouting to the sky, out of the tent to see the river water poured in, a vast ocean, tens of thousands of Ming troops have taken the road and fled, the army can not be formed, the war horses are frightened, panicked, and countless grains, grass and ordnance have also been discarded.

Zhu Zhengse, the governor of Ningxia, didn't know why the flood used to wash the city wall of Ningxia actually flooded the camp of the Ming army? I saw that all the men and horses of the battalions were withdrawn in a hurry, and most of the officers of the various units were scattered in the chaotic army and could not be gathered. There were only more than 20 attendants left around Zhu Zhengse, and they were all frightened in the face of the flood, and urgently persuaded Zhu Zhengse to leave this place.

Seeing that the Ming army was defeated and the victory and defeat had been divided, he shouted: "Wei Xuezeng, Ye Mengxiong, Zheng Luo and others all think very highly of themselves, boast of being proficient in the art of war, and have the talent of slaughtering and assisting, who would have guessed that today I used the Yellow River to flood the three armies." The Ming army has gone, but unfortunately the Beijing division is not close at hand, otherwise it will be the opportunity for me to change the dynasty. Now go down to Xi'an Mansion as soon as possible and establish yourself as the king! ”

Bi Bai took the opportunity to take the territory of Wenxiu, Jiyun, Bisai, Liu Dongyang led Liu Chuanbai, Zhang Wenxue, Bi Chengzhong led Bi Hong, Wang Wende, Bi Chengen led He Yingshi, Chen Lei, Xu Chao led Bai Luan, Feng Jiwu took a boat to cover up and kill, the water was surging, it was more than four zhang deep, the Ming army followed the waves, and there were many drowned. Zhu Zhengse, the governor of Ningxia, led several people to take refuge in the hills, and when he saw that the general situation had gone, he evacuated to the south.

Dong Yikui, the general soldier of Ningxia, Li Yun, the general soldier of Guyuan, Liu Chengsi, the general soldier of Sichuan, Jiang Xianmo, Niu Bingzhong, and other leaders of the remnants of the army were defeated and retreated but were intercepted and killed by the main force of the leader of the set, Dong Yikui, Li Yun, Liu Chengsi, Jiang Xianmo, Niu Bingzhong, etc. were all wounded and defeated, and were chased and beaten by the set, and they were extremely embarrassed. Fortunately, Ma Gui led the Cangtou army to the rescue, and the rabbit no longer fell in love with the war to lead the troops to the north, and the Ming army retreated to the south for another sixty miles, and the monk of the set department led the department to cut off the grain road, snatch the baggage, and forced the Ming army to continue to retreat south. The Mongols of the set of horses occupy the flower horse pond.

Wei Xue once heard in Guyuan that the river water was pouring in, and tens of thousands of people were killed and injured, and he suddenly felt lightheaded and almost fainted. Ye Mengxiong immediately ordered all the departments to be retracted, to join Guyuan, and asked Shen Sixiao, the governor of Shaanxi, to requisition 60,000 soldiers from the garrison again.

When the rebels invaded south, Wei Xuezeng knew that Ma Gui was the only person who could fight a big war, so he asked Ma Gui if he could stop the enemy's offensive? Ma Guili military order: "Please let the superintendent be relieved, the last general will work hard to protect the original!" And defeat all the enemies who come to attack, and if you can't win, please behead your master! Wei Xuezeng was at ease because of this, so he ordered Ma Gui to lead the army to block and break the enemy, and Ma Gui led 7,000 troops to line up in the north of Guyuan to meet the general Jiyun of the Bibai Department.

Ma Gui ordered people to fire cannons to demonstrate, and shouted in front of the battle: "The deputy commander-in-chief Datong Ma Gui is here, whoever comes will report his name, and he can also be a nameless ghost when he dies." After the cloud report, Ma Gui laughed: "What kind of hero should I be?" It turned out to be an unknown young player under the account, and your name should not be reported. Ben will not meet the opponent in the vertical and horizontal side plugs, this time I came only to take the head of Bibai, Ben will ask you, where is Bibai?! ”

Jiyun had also heard of Magui's name for a long time, and the troops he brought were not enough to think that he was not Magui's opponent, so he replied: "The court has been defeated in all directions, and the prince will lead the army to come, even if you are brave and good at fighting, it will be useless in the end, it is better to get out of the way and survive!" ”

Ma Gui shouted, resounding through the two armies, and then laughed again: "The mere grassland bandits dare to call themselves princes? Overestimate one's strength or oneself! Come over and show Ben what he's capable of! Look at the soldiers and horses you lead, although they are a rabble, there are not a few, and they have the courage to attack! See how many pounds and taels you have! Jiyun led an army of 4,000 soldiers to be tempted, and when he saw that Magui's army was strictly disciplined and the garrison of Guyuan was still there, he retreated north after a few moments of confrontation.

Bibai found out that the follow-up reinforcements of the Ming army were about to arrive in Guyuan, and Bibai thought: The arrival of the reinforcements has made it difficult to occupy Shaanxi quickly, and it is difficult to ensure that both sides are defeated in the raid on Guyuan, so they have to hold on to Ningxia again. He then ordered the collection of surrounding grain and grass and the ordnance discarded by the Ming army to hold Ningxia again, and informed that all the Mongols had entered the customs. At this time, 20,000 Guyuan soldiers have returned to Guyuan Military Town, Xuanfu General Li Rusong led Xuanfu and Datong 30,000 elite soldiers, and the supervising army Yu Shi Mei Guozhen led the headquarters to Guyuan, and 5,000 Jiangsu and Zhejiang infantry had not yet arrived. After repairs, the Ming army had reached 200,000 soldiers and horses at this time. Ningxia can be encircled again at any time.

Mei Guozhen, the imperial historian of the supervising army, met with Wei Xuezeng and Ye Mengxiong, and Mei Guozhen immediately said to Wei Xuezeng: "Inspector Wei, you have no way to lead the troops, you can't dispatch it, you neglect your duties, you are gullible to the enemy, you are addicted to appeasement and don't know how to change and delay the military plane, you even plan to hide it when you hear about the flooding of our army, and this official must impeach you again." In addition, I also brought the emperor's decree, that is, Wei Xuezeng's military department secretary concurrently served as the imperial history of the right capital of the Inspectorate, and replaced the governor's military affairs with Ye Mengxiong. Please check the two of you. Ye Mengxiong and Wei Xue once knelt down to thank the Holy Grace.