Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume VII The Bloody Battle in the Southwest

Chapter 2 Gather and annihilate stragglers to defend Chengdu

Section 2 The Rebels Are False and Real

When Wen Poyu and Wu Hang rode their horses to the gate of Liu's Mansion, it was already the second half of the night, but the dozen or so old soldiers guarding the gate of Liu's Mansion were still in good spirits, and they did not relax at all, and they all held their weapons tightly and constantly looked at the situation around them. The dozen or so old soldiers did not stop Wen Poyu and his entourage when they saw that they were back, but the first one of them stepped forward and said: "General Wen, the old lady knew that the general would come back, so she left a message in advance, and asked the old man to tell the general: Everything is fine at home, please General Wen put state and military affairs first, and don't worry about home." In addition, regarding the rebels, the old lady has collected some information after many inquiries, which may be helpful to General Wen. After speaking, the old man handed a notebook to Wen Poyu.

After Wen Poyu took the notebook, he arched his hand and said: "There is a labor transfer to the old lady, the little general is very concerned about the old lady, this rebel rebellion, the little general is also very worried about the safety of the old woman." This time, I led the army to come, and the little general specially told me to ensure that the old lady was thorough. ”

The old man nodded and said, "The old man must bring the general's wishes, so the general should please go back." The old lady said that after the little general and the generals completely wiped out the rebels, the old lady would kill pigs and sheep at home and reward the soldiers. ”

Wen Poyu, Wu Hang and others heard that they all had respect for the old lady, so they clasped their fists and saluted together, and returned to the Chengdu prefect's yamen one after another, and used the prefect's yamen as the temporary Chinese army tent of the Changshui camp, so as to command the war to defend Chengdu.

After Wen Poyu returned to the prefect's yamen, he immediately ordered the whole army to come to discuss the matter. While waiting for the generals to come, Wen Poyu opened the book given by the old lady and read it carefully.

"Since the 40th year of the first emperor Wanli, Sichuan Yongning Xuanfu envoy Hao Chongming, Guizhou Xuanwei Si Tongzhian Bangyan as the mainstay, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi four provinces of the size of the 29 Tusi clan began to connect, in the face of the imperial court decrees are ignored, and secretly accumulate armor, expand the army, the intention of not to obey.

The rebellion of Xuan Chongming and An Bangyan has been planned for a long time, and the two of them have repeatedly instigated 27 Tusi clans of all sizes in the four southwestern provinces to rebel together before raising their troops, and all Tusi are very moved. Today's siege of Chengdu is done by extravagant Chongming to instigate several Tusi in Sichuan, and many other Tusi clans saw that the imperial court was unfavorable for conquest and suppression, and the soldiers and horses in Shuixi, Yongning and other places were defeated one after another, and they were all ready to move, ready to take advantage of the chaos. The old body expected that Chengdu would definitely suffer another military disaster, and General Wangwen would do it himself.

At the same time, I also ask General Wen to inform my son that the strength of the rebels this time is more than the number in front of them, and that Yu Chongming and An Bangyan are still looking for participants while making trouble, so we must be very careful! ”

After reading the old lady's book, Wen Poyu's heart was very heavy, and he was very worried about the development of the war in the future. Originally, I thought that as long as the two troops of Hao Chongming and An Bangyan were defeated in this counterinsurgency, the four southwestern provinces would be able to spread the word, but who knew that this was just the beginning! Due to the rebellion of Xuan Chongming and An Bangyan, dozens of Tusi clans in the four southwestern provinces are now ready to move, and if they don't get it right, it will be a catastrophe of the overturning of the southwest, which will shake the country's foundation!

"Someone! Immediately send a hundred people to send this book to the general town account without delay! ”

After Wen Poyu sent this book out, the generals and officers of the Changshui Battalion also came. So, Wen Poyu briefly talked about the situation faced by the soldiers of the Changshui Battalion, and finally said: "The only task of our Changshui Battalion this time is to hold Chengdu at all costs and wait for the main army led by the town to come to rendezvous!" During this period, not a single soldier of the rebels was allowed to set foot in Chengdu! Chengdu's gains and losses have a bearing on the success or failure of this counterinsurgency. If Chengdu is here, the rebels will be defeated! If Chengdu is lost, the rebel army will gather and grow rapidly, and the southwest will be completely overthrown! Therefore, you must work with this guerrilla to defend Chengdu to the death, otherwise, we will all become sinners of the dynasty! ”

When the seven Changshui Battalion commanders heard this, they all felt their blood boiling, and at the same time they got up and responded: "I am willing to defend Chengdu with the general and fight the rebels in blood!" ”

Next, Wen Poyu continued: "Although there are many cities in the vicinity of Chengdu, most of them have been broken and looted by the rebels, and now they are all in an undefended state, so once the rebels attack, we will not be able to get a warning in time." Therefore, the battalions should expand the scope of their investigation to a radius of 50 miles from Chengdu and report back in time when they discover the movements of the rebels. ”

Wen Poyu thought for a moment and said: "In addition, the defenders in Chengdu City will be reorganized, and before noon tomorrow, I will know the real strength of the defenders in the city." Moreover, the strong men in the city should also be reorganized, with one strong man from each household, two strong men from large families with more than ten people, and ten strong men from large families with more than ten people; In two days, I want to know how many strong men can be gathered in the city! ”

Two days later, with the efforts of Wen Poyu and the soldiers of the Changshui Battalion, the more than 5,000 defenders in Chengdu were reorganized into 5,000 headquarters, and one thousand headquarters were arranged on each of the four city walls for defense, and the remaining 1,000 headquarters were used as reserves, ready to support everywhere at any time; As for the situation of the strong men, due to the urgency of the war and the large number of people in the city fled, the soldiers of the Changshui battalion only organized 20,000 strong men in the city, and Wen Poyu divided the 20,000 strong men into four battalions, each with 5,000 people. In order to motivate everyone to kill the enemy and defend the city, Wen Poyu also opened the official treasury in Chengdu City and awarded a reward: whether it is a strong man or a defender of the city, anyone who wins a rebel head will be rewarded with ten taels of silver, and the defender of the city will be promoted to one level; Those who died in battle, whether they were strong men or soldiers defending the city, all had a settlement fee of five taels! However, if there are those who retreat without a fight, disturb the morale of the army, or collaborate with the enemy, the soldiers defending the city will be beheaded! Zhuang Ding implicated his family, and the whole family, regardless of men, women, and children, was imprisoned and severely punished!

As soon as this award was issued, the entire city of Chengdu was boiling, and the 25,000 soldiers and strong men who defended the city were all gearing up and eager to try, ready to make a fortune in this war. But there are also some people who are greedy for life and afraid of death, and want to pretend to be sick or injured and not to defend the city, but they were immediately pulled out by their companions and twisted into the hands of the soldiers of the Changshui Battalion.

Joke! Now it's a joint sitting system, and it will implicate the family, no one will keep such a coward by their side, who knows when they will be implicated by such a soft egg?

And Wen Poyu did not hesitate at all, and directly arrested all the hundreds of deserters who were found, and then beheaded these more than 100 deserters in front of the soldiers and civilians in the city.

Suddenly, the morale of the officers and soldiers in the city was greatly boosted, and all kinds of materials for defending the city were also quickly moved to the city wall.

And Wen Poyu left the thousand general battalion under the command of Wuhang to sit in Chengdu a day later, and he led the main army of the Changshui battalion out of Chengdu, and the 10,000 Changshui battalion iron cavalry army disappeared without a trace immediately.

On the third day when Wen Poyu led the main force of the Changshui Battalion out of the city, a team rushed back to Chengdu without collecting their horses at night, and reported to Wuhang: Twenty miles south of Chengdu, rebel soldiers and horses were found, with more than 30,000 troops!

Wu Hang was shocked when he heard the news, and hurriedly ordered the whole city to be under martial law, and all the defenders and strong men in Chengdu City went to the city to defend, and at the same time sent the main army that went out of the city at night to find Wen Poyu, and informed Wen Poyu of the news.

For a time, there was a lot of noise in the city of Chengdu, and the 25,000 defenders of the city all boarded the city wall and waited for it, and the people in the city were also temporarily organized, cooking and delivering food, carrying materials, treating the wounded, and carrying the dead under the city wall, all the laborers in the city were assigned tasks, even the strong women and older children were no exception. At the same time, the wealthy families and clans in the city also donated money and grain to reward the soldiers and strong men who defended the city; The old lady also walked on the city wall and comforted the soldiers guarding the city as a first-class lady. After all, if Chengdu is really broken by the rebels, everyone will not be spared, and they will all be swept and persecuted by the rebels like wolves! Therefore, although Wu Hang's order was a little impersonal, no one complained, and everyone did their job with all their hearts.

Two days later, more than 30,000 rebels finally arrived at the city of Chengdu, and on the same day surrounded this important town in Shuzhong, cutting off all contact between Chengdu and the outside world.

When Wu Hang heard the news, he immediately climbed the south city wall, looked at the endless army outside and observed, and found that except for a small part of the 30,000 rebels in front of him under the banner of luxury Chongming, the vast majority of the rebel soldiers and horses were not subordinates of the luxury family and the An family, but belonged to more than a dozen Tusi families of all sizes in Sichuan and Yunnan.

"It seems that the old lady is right, and now the matter is serious! Once again, the scale of this rebellion has grown! ”

Wu Hang suddenly felt a huge pressure on his body, although the rebels in front of him belonged to more than a dozen Tusi, but they could also be called soldiers with sufficient food and sharp soldiers, and I don't know if the soldiers and strong men temporarily organized in the city can withstand the attack of the rebels.

Suddenly, a trumpet sounded, and the 30,000 rebels outside the city suddenly thundered with joy and began to assemble in formation. These rebels did not take the slightest rest, and prepared to directly start a siege battle!

Wu Hang did not show weakness, and immediately shouted loudly: "Thunder war drums!" It's time for war! ”

"Boom! Boom! Boom! ”

The war drums of the Ming Dynasty resounded all over the world, and the monotonous horn sound of the rebels was immediately overshadowed, and the soldiers and strong men of the Ming army defending the city waved their flags and shouted loudly, as if they wanted to shout out all the fear in their hearts.

At this moment, the rebels had already lined up and launched an attack towards Chengdu, attacking from all sides!