"Crackling ......"

On the 22nd day of the winter month, when the flames rose to the sky in the North Vietnamese Plain, the mountains and forests around Xuanguang City were set on fire by the Ming army, and the smoke of the fire soared into the sky.

In the face of the main force of the Vietnamese army, Mu Chun commanded the Ming army to take a frontal hard attack, because he knew that the main force of the Vietnamese army was vulnerable.

In the face of the peripheral towns and small county towns, Mu Chun asked Mu Sheng to lead the territorial divisions to fight everywhere, and at the same time called on the descendants of the Chen family to stand up and lead the people of Annan to resist the tyranny of the Hu family.

The fire burned the forests of the northern mountains of Vietnam, and also ignited the fuse of the Ming artillery, and with the sound of thunderous cannons came again, the passes that Hu Yuancheng relied on could not withstand the shelling for two consecutive days, and began to collapse one by one.

"The whole army obeys the order!"

Behind the artillery position, seeing the collapse of the Vietnamese pass, without waiting for Mu Chun's order, Qu Neng, He Fu and others, who had been working with him for a long time, pulled out the short hammer on their waists:

"Take the pass, break through Xuanguang City, wealth and glory are in front of you, follow Daxu, and kill with me!"

As soon as the words fell, Qu Neng and He Fu turned over and dismounted, and began to command the whole army to prepare for the siege.

A quarter of an hour later, when more than 3,000 Xiandeng were ready, Qu Neng and He Fu each led 1,500 men to attack the two sections of the collapsed pass.

"Beep-"

"Oak wood, hot water ready!"

On the broken pass, the Vietnamese generals blew the wooden whistle and commanded the group of Vietnamese troops who had been bombarded for two days and fought in two groups to climb the city wall and begin to prepare for the enemy.

It's just that the time is too short, when they lit the firewood and boiled the oil, Qu Neng and He Fu had already led 3,000 people and pushed the cloud cart to the front of the pass.

Some nervous Vietnamese soldiers began to drop wood and rolling stones, as well as the pot of hot water that did not boil.

"General be careful!"

Some soldiers began to guard Qu Neng, but Qu Neng pushed them away: "Don't worry about the old man, this group of thieves is still tender if they want to deal with the old man!" ”

After that, Qu Neng took three steps and two steps, jumped directly onto the cloud car, and climbed on the city wall along the cloud car.

He jumped up, and when he landed on the horse road, the Vietnamese troops around him were stunned for a moment, and after reacting, they immediately viciously pulled out their short soldiers to kill.

"Get out!"

Grabbing the barrel of the spear swung by the Vietnamese army with one hand, Qu Neng swung a short hammer to break the barrel of the gun, dropped the barrel of the gun, grabbed the Vietnamese soldier, and threw it hard at the Vietnamese army rushing towards him.

"Dad, slow down!"

Qu Yu Qu Tao, who climbed the city wall later, guarded Qu Neng's left and right, and the father and son stood here, opening up a foothold for the Ming army.

Wielding their weapons, the group of Vietnamese troops who rushed towards them were like chickens and dogs, and they were killed in an instant.

The Ming troops who followed up on the horse road saw that the main general was so brave, and they formed a formation to follow, but they killed hundreds of Vietnamese troops on the horse road in one word, and went straight to the city gate.

A Vietnamese general led his troops to form a formation, but Qu Neng's father and son led the troops to break the front formation, and the formation was disrupted.

They fought in a disorganized manner, relying entirely on the main general to bravely break the formation, and then disrupt the formation and kill the crossing army.

"Found it!"

Qu Yu entered the city gate tower and saw the winch that pulled up the jack gate.

The winch, which required four people to coil, began to twist with difficulty on his own.

When Qu Tao followed and rushed into the city gate, the two brothers relied on their own courage to coil up the jack gate.

"Daddy! The jack brake is up! ”

"Okay, you hold here, and the rest of the people will take the city gate with me!"

Hearing the voices of the two brothers, Qu Yu and Qu Tao, Qu Neng, who was blocking the Vietnamese army outside, responded, and led dozens of Ming soldiers to fight against the siege of hundreds of Vietnamese soldiers.

Some Vietnamese soldiers looked at the city gate tower, but the two brothers Qu Yu and Qu Tao with more than 20 Ming soldiers blocked the gate of the city tower, making them unable to enter an inch.

"Whoever opens the city gate first will be promoted to the next level!"

Qu Neng led his troops to kill the horse and came to the gate of the city where thousands of people were stationed.

Dozens of Ming soldiers, facing the surprised gaze of thousands of Vietnamese soldiers, resolutely followed Qu Neng to the city gate.

"Kill them!!"

The Vietnamese generals drew their swords and commanded, and in an instant, thousands of Vietnamese troops besieged Qu Neng and others, making them struggling and obvious casualties.

"The heavenly soldiers are here, how dare the thief army be murderous!!"

Suddenly, a thunderous shout sounded, and many Vietnamese soldiers heard the sound and looked, only to see He Fu leading hundreds of Ming troops to kill from the horse road, and it was difficult for any Vietnamese army to resist.

"He Fu, take the city gate, Lao Tzu will share half of the credit with you!"

Qu Neng laughed heartily, but He Fu laughed and scolded: "I will take this credit alone!" ”

"That's not up to you!" Qu Neng heard the words and immediately killed the city gate.

In the face of the Ming army of less than 300, even if the thousands of Vietnamese troops stubbornly resisted, they were still killed.

With Qu Neng taking the lead in entering the Yongdao, several Vietnamese soldiers guarding the city gate were hammered to death by him on the spot.

He threw down the golden gourd hammer in his hand and hugged the bolt of the city gate, which weighed three or four hundred pounds.

More than thirty soldiers he brought with him formed a formation to protect him, and he roared and raised the bolt of the gate.

"Squat!!"

He roared angrily, held the bolt of the city gate and turned around and threw it at the Vietnamese army.

"Uhh

The bolt of the city gate smashed into the ranks of the Vietnamese army, and at the same time that several people were stunned on the spot, Qu Neng also turned around, one hand on the left and right, and directly opened the city gate of hundreds of catties.

"Woo-"

Seeing this, the Ming army beside him immediately blew the horn he carried with him, and this was also a signal for an all-out attack.

"The whole army will send troops and take the pass!"

"Yes!"

Mu Chun ordered calmly, as if all this was taken for granted.

Seeing this, Gu Cheng, who was beside him, personally led the Shangwan Ming army to attack, and the Vietnamese generals who learned that the city gate was opened began to retreat with the remnants of the army, and were chased and killed by Qu Neng and He Fu.

A quarter of an hour later, the gate of Xuanguang City, which was relied on by Hu Yuancheng, was completely taken, and the Vietnamese troops who tried to escape were pursued and killed by Qu Neng and He Fu, and the 3,000 Vietnamese troops and thousands of people in the pass were all wiped out.

At noon, after a short rest, Mu Chun commanded the army to march to Xuanguang City, twenty miles away.

Half an hour later, Hu Yuancheng, who learned the news, burned down the houses in the nearby towns and villages of Xuanguang City, transported grain from the Sheshe warehouse into Xuanguang, and prepared enough trebuchets and ballistas.

At dusk, when the Ming army arrived in Xuanguang, there were 25,000 Vietnamese troops and more than 70,000 captured people in Xuanguang City, as well as more than 100,000 people in nearby towns and cities.

It was still the old way, Mu Chun asked Gu Cheng to command the 3,000 gunners directly under the Chinese army to build artillery positions, and more than 20,000 Ming troops and tens of thousands of people began to build camps.

During the period when they were building up the camp, the rear people continued to transport gunpowder, artillery shells and other materials to the front line.

150,000 people set out from Lin'an Mansion, and the roads for more than 500 miles were full of them, and there were thousands of cavalry escorting them along the way.

The military discipline of the native soldiers was corrupted, and sometimes they wanted to attack the baggage team, but when they saw the official cavalry that appeared from time to time at that time, their impulsive thoughts were forcibly suppressed by reason.

Such news spread from the rear to Mu Chun's ears, but at this moment, he was sitting in the military tent and did not pay attention to these, but sat in his position, looking at the sand table in front of him, and was silent for a long time.

When the sky was completely dark, and Mu Sheng walked into the tent with a plate of food, he raised his head and said:

"Is there any sign that Hu Yuancheng is going to surrender?"

"No, it looks like I want to hold on." Mu Sheng laughed at Hu Yuancheng, and at the same time asked his eldest brother: "There are no less than 200,000 soldiers and civilians in this city, do we all have to escort them back to Yunnan?" ”

"You can't bring that many people." Mu Chun's eyebrows revealed sorrow, but he didn't put the pressure on the people below, but took it alone.

"One hundred thousand men, not one more."

After a long time, he opened his mouth to say this, and Mu Sheng also bowed his head to express his understanding: "Since this is the case, then the position of the vanguard this time will be given to the toasts." ”

"Hmm." Mu Chun nodded, and then began to pick up the dishes and chopsticks to prepare for dinner.

The next day, when the cannon fire rang out again, Xuanguang City was also heavily shelled by the Ming army.

They tried to retaliate with catapults and ballistas, but the catapults and ballistae could not reach the artillery positions of the Ming army at all, and they could only be beaten passively.

At this moment, Annam had lost its local jurisdiction, and at the instigation of the remnants of the Chen Dynasty and the nobles, most of the 48 prefectures and 168 counties of Annam actually chose to revolt.

The local forces in Annan, represented by Jian Ding, Deng Xi, Ruan Shuai and others, supported the so-called Chen Jikuo, a descendant of the Chen family, to become the Emperor of Dayue and change the Yuan Dynasty.

Chen Jikuo won the support of the people of Annan under the signboard of Chen's descendants, and the people of Annan in Cilian, Weiman, Shanghong, Datang, Yingping, Shimur and other places responded one after another.

This news soon reached the ears of Fu Rang, who was besieging Jingbei, and the hundred household officials stationed in Annan Xichang stood in the tent of the Ming military camp in Jingbei, with Fu Rang sitting on the main seat, and Zhang Fu, Meng Ying, Lin Su, and Zhang Chun sitting on the left and right.

Fu Rang frowned and read the uprising information of Jian Ding and the others, and then slowly raised his head to look at Wang Xun, the official of the hundred households: "How many soldiers and horses does this group of people have, and how many cities do they master?" ”

"The time was too sudden, and we didn't have time to give specifics, but judging from last night's news, there are at least 18 counties and more than 7,000 people." Wang Xun answered Fu Rang's question.

"It doesn't make sense." Lin Su touched his mustache and analyzed: "Aren't these people supporting us? ”

"They're saying they're supporting us now." Fu Rang first affirmed their position, but then questioned it:

"That being said, they are obviously fighting for territory, and it seems that it was the remnants of the Chen Dynasty in the army who reported to this group of people the actions of our army on the way south, which caused them to react."

Fu Rang said, Zhang Fu also spoke: "The top priority now is to take Jingbei, encircle and suppress Hu Jichen, and then turn around and pacify this group of local heroes in Annan." ”

"The imperial court's will for us is that it is best to pacify Annan within six months, and then the northern expedition can be started, so it cannot be delayed."

"That's true." Fu Rang stroked his goatee, and after thinking about it, he said:

"Meng Yingling will go to Haiyang, Zhang Chun, you will go to Taiyuan."

"If this group of people makes trouble in the place we have already recovered, stabilize them for the time being, and then deploy troops to pacify them when our army exterminates the Hu clan."

"In addition......" Fu Rang looked at Wang Xun, the official of the hundred households in the West Factory: "I'm tired of Wang Xun, you go and check the identity of this Chen Jikuo to see if he is from the Chen Dynasty clan." ”

"The last general commands!" Everyone responded, and then walked out of the tent one after another.

Not long after, the sound of artillery rang out again, and the Ming army continued to bombard Jingbei.

Compared with the chaos in the North Vietnamese Plain, the Ming army's campaign on the South Fifth Road was smooth.

On the 23rd day of the winter month, Yang Zhan led his army to break through Thanh Hoa, the western capital of the Hu Dynasty, and searched for the Hu clan in Thanh Hoa.

At the same time, Zheng He led part of the navy and 8,000 soldiers and horses all the way to the south, and most of the places he passed surrendered, only a few Hu clan were die-hard and stubborn, but they were also quickly suppressed by Zheng He.

It took two days, when Hu Jichen fled and arrived in Xinghua, he got the news of the fall of most of the Qinghua and Nanwu Roads, as well as the rebellion of Jianding and other powerful people.

"If it's really heaven, I'm going to die......"

Sitting in the middle hall of Xinghua City and County, Hu Jichen was slumped on the chair.

After a moment of trance, he quickly reacted and sat up again.

"No, the Ming army and Jian Ding are not all the way, it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to send troops to support the Chen family, they want to annex Annan, and Jian Ding they want to support the puppet Chen Jikuo."

"That's right, now I can't continue to entangle with them, I should withdraw from the north of Vietnam and let them eat dogs!"

After reacting, Hu Jichen hurriedly spoke to the panicked ministers: "This news is an opportunity for Yuan Cheng and Han Cang to lead their troops to withdraw to Xinghua and stop fighting with the Ming army." ”

"If a conflict breaks out between the Ming army and Jian Ding, we can try to see if we can benefit from it."

"If it is determined that they are defeated, we can also flee to the Changshan Mountains and wait for the main force of the Ming army to withdraw to Yunnan and Guangxi before counterattacking."

After all, Hu Jichen only came to a high position by playing politics and people's hearts, and seeing that the current situation could be exploited, he did not hesitate to give up the place north of the red coat and the Shenglong that was cared about by the remnants of the Chen Dynasty.

Soon, the news was sent from Xinghua, and Hu Yuancheng and Hu Hancang, who got the news of the carrier pigeon, had different attitudes after seeing the letter.

Hu Hancang could at least transfer back the soldiers and horses of Duobang City to Xinghua, but Hu Yuancheng of Xuanguang City had difficulty breaking through, because it meant that he had to abandon more than 100,000 people in the city.

"If there is no Shenglong, how long can the grain and grass in the city last......"

In the yamen of Xuanguang City, Hu Yuancheng, who was in his early five feet, asked about his long history, but his face was sad: "Less than three months ......"

"Three months ......" Hu Yuancheng muttered, and then sighed: "Gather troops and horses, prepare to break through." ”

"Yes!" After a long history, he then began to gather 25,000 Vietnamese troops in the city, preparing to break through to Xuanguang Dongcheng, which the Ming army could not defend.

Breaking through from here was the best direction, but once the Ming army reacted, then he had to cross the river to the south bank of the Red River before the Ming army made a detour to catch up, and then rushed to Xinghua.

The anxious sound of mobilizing soldiers and horses came out, and at this time, the Xichang spies hidden in Xuanguang City also used kites to spread the news.

If it weren't for Hu Yuancheng's focus on breaking through at this moment, I'm afraid that Xuanguang City would be searched.

"Guogong! There was news in the city that Hu Yuancheng was going to lead his army to break through. ”

In the camp of the Ming army, Gu Cheng, who was in charge of inspecting Xuanguang City, strode into the big tent happily, which made everyone who was eating turn their eyes to Mu Chun, who was on the main seat.

He was still calm, and after Gu Cheng's news came, he got up and walked to the sand table in the tent, looked at Xuanguang's situation, and then put his hand on the east side.

"The west and south sides are blocked by us, and if he wants to break through, he can only cross the Lujiang River along the water gate, and then go down the river to the Red River!"

Mu Chun said, Qu Neng also showed a fierce light: "I will send troops to intercept him." ”

"No, you don't." Mu Chun interrupted, which made Qu Neng's eyes turn into doubt.

"Don't forget, what is the task given to us by the imperial court." Mu Chun reminded Qu Neng and the generals, and at the same time pointed to Xuanguang City and said:

"Let Hu Yuancheng go, once his more than 20,000 soldiers and horses retreat south, the first thing he will do is to raise at least 50,000 people, which is faster than us looking around."

Although Mu Chun didn't like this way of slaughtering people, he still had to do what Zhu Gaoxu meant.

The strength of the Vietnamese army is average, and although Hu Yuancheng has some small means, he is not his opponent after all.

Letting him go south can bring Annan a bigger blow, and he can still leave no handle.

Thinking of this, Mu Chun said to Gu Cheng and Mu Sheng: "Don't worry about him, as soon as they leave the city, they will immediately order Tusi to attack the city." ”

"The last general commands!" The two of them should go down, and no one in the tent questioned Mu Chun's decision.

Because of this, when Hu Yuancheng took advantage of the night to open the city gate and lead the army out of the city to break out, his breakthrough went very smoothly.

Of the 25,000 troops, except for a few hundred people who escaped halfway, the rest of the soldiers and horses were successfully led by him across the Lujiang River and went south along the north bank of the Lujiang River.

As they walked out for several miles, Hu Yuancheng also glanced at Xuanguang City behind him.

Although the light of the fire was unknown, Hu Yuancheng still stood in place in confusion, and did not give the order to the front of the army for a long time.

Chang Shi Zema came to his side and wondered: "Your Highness, why don't you order the army to continue to retreat, if it is discovered by the Ming army, we are afraid that we will ......"

"That's where I wonder." Hu Yuancheng glanced at the surrounding mountains and forests, and then looked at the Ming military camp in Xuanguang City in the distance.

"Mu Chun is brave and good at fighting, resourceful and decisive, it is impossible to arrange the patrol of Xuanguang City so laxly, I am afraid that there is fraud in it."

Hu Yuancheng was crushed and beaten by Mu Chun for several days, and he was not a person who knew soldiers at all, so he naturally saw a little bit of the way.

The current breakthrough is too smooth, which makes him a little unconfident.

"Your Highness, no matter whether the Ming army is fraudulent or not, now is the best time for our army to break through, and we must not delay."

Changshi dissuaded, and when Hu Yuancheng heard this, he could only lead the army to retreat in the dark.

However, judging from the fact that they fled for several miles and fled for several miles, I am afraid that there may not even be 10,000 people at dawn.

It's just that Hu Yuancheng can't control so much at the moment, he can only expect the breakthrough to go smoothly because Mu Chun underestimated the enemy.

With such an idea, Hu Yuancheng ran all the way down the river to the southeast.

However, not long after he walked out of the range of Xuanguang City, Mu Chun got the news of Hu Yuancheng's breakthrough from the sentinel.

Mu Chun did not pursue Hu Yuancheng as arranged by the daylight, but sent five hundred soldiers, each carrying fifty pounds of gunpowder packs and carrying tools for digging pits, to attack the Xuanguang City Wall at night.

"Boom, boom—"

When the roaring explosion sounded, the toasts who had not slept all this time looked at Mu Sheng and Uncle Zhen Yuan.

The two of them did not move until the sound of horses' hooves was heard in the darkness of the night, and they took a few steps forward.

A team of sentry horsemen appeared from the night with torches and waved at the two: "Mu Dudu, Zhen Yuanbo, the city gate has been blown open, no one is hindered, it seems that the thief army has really broken through." ”

"Good!" Gu Cheng looked at Mu Sheng when he heard this, Mu Sheng also turned around and spoke to hundreds of toasts: "There is no one in the city, the court only needs men, and the rest are at your own discretion, all goods are inspected and handed over at the city gate, and houses cannot be burned." ”

"Yes......" the toasts replied sparsely, their eyes full of ambition.

Soon, the army of more than 40,000 Tusi began to move towards Xuanguang City, which was bombed open, and at the same time, the entire Xuanguang City was noisy because of the explosion.

When the people found that there were no soldiers on the streets and city walls, even if they were stupid, they knew the fact that Hu Yuancheng led the army to abandon them.

A large number of people fled in the direction of the city gates, and the Tusi army had surrounded all the city gates under the command of Gu Cheng and Mu Sheng, and the 30,000 army entered Xuanguang City through the bombed West Gate.

After a while, the fire in Xuanguang City was shining, and the sound of fighting came out, even if the Ming army camp was a few miles away from the city, it could be heard.

In the tent, Mu Chun listened to those voices, and the pen of the letter paused for writing, but he still continued to write.

When the letter was finished, he greeted the tent door and handed the letter to a hundred household officials who walked into the tent.

"Send this letter to Jingbei City and hand it over to Fu Dudu in person."

"If Jingbei City has been broken, then there is no need to implement the contents of the letter."

After that, Mu Chun signaled the hundred household officials to retreat, and the hundred household officials also led more than 100 horsemen to send the letter to Jingbei City, more than 200 miles away, after exiting the big tent.

As time passed, the noise of Xuanguang Town gradually began to become quiet, and Mu Chun also lay down on the couch to rest with a slightly heavy heart.

In the early morning of the next day, when Mu Chun got up and led the generals into Xuanguang City, most of the houses in the entire Xuanguang City were burned down, and the streets were filled with blood puddles of corpses and blood.

"Didn't I decree that houses could not be burned?"

Mu Chun looked at Mu Sheng and Gu Cheng with a cold face, and the two of them also looked ugly, and explained: "The local soldiers did not obey the discipline, and they began to set fire to Xingtou when they were taken captive, and it was difficult for us to stop it, but the local soldiers who committed the crime have been executed by the Tusi,"

After the two explained, many of the toasts who followed them became empty.

At this time, Mu Chun's eyes swept over the many toasts, and the light in their eyes made them subconsciously lower their heads.

"All the seizures of Xuanguang City last night will be deducted by one percent."

He didn't give everyone room to discuss, but just announced the results and turned to go deeper.

The toasts looked at each other, and some people scolded the unruly people, but no one dared to question Mu Chun's disposition.

"When these guys saw the power of the artillery and the fate of Annan, they didn't dare to shout as before."

He Fu, who followed Mu Chun away, glanced at the toasts, said something to Mu Chun, and asked, "You should know that it is difficult to control after the local soldiers are plundered. ”

"I know, that's why I ordered that the house can't be burned." Mu Chun glanced at He Fu, and a smile curled up at the corner of his mouth.

"If you don't do this, how can you deduct 10% of the seizure?"

"Huh?" He Fu was stunned for a moment, then reacted and smiled heartily, shook his head and continued to walk deeper with Mu Chun......

(End of chapter)