Chapter 846: Autumn wind blows coldly and flood waves rise (4)
In Lin'an in August, the weather began to turn cooler, but the warm and tense atmosphere in the city never calmed down.
The calls for the calamity of the country, the establishment of military power, and the Northern Expedition have never subsided. Tai students take to the streets several times a month to preach, and the storytellers in the restaurants and teahouses in the city all tell the story of tragic and bloody events. The stories, the playing and singing of women in brothels, and most of them are patriotic poems. Because of such propaganda, the once fierce dispute between the North and the South gradually softened and was replaced by people's hostility. It became a temporary trend among scholars to write and join the army. There were also well-known wealthy businessmen and gentry who donated their property and contributed to the fight against the enemy and the invasion, which became a good story for a while.
After July, the warm atmosphere is still heating up, and time is passing by with an aura of terror. In the past month, at the call of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, several armies of the Wu Dynasty have arrived at the front line one after another, ready to fight to the death with the Jurchens. Later, the news of the deployment of Zongfu and Zongbi's armies The news came, and what followed was that the war in the southwest and on the bank of the Yellow River finally started.
For these things to finally come, Qin Hui didn't have any excitement. What was pressing on his back was just an incomparable pressure. Compared with his active activities half a year ago and in recent months, everything is now out of control.
As the current Privy Councilor, Qin Hui nominally has the highest military authority in Nanwu. However, under the suppression of the Zhou family's imperial power and the "righteousness" of resisting the Jin Dynasty, what Qin Hui can do is limited. A few months ago, taking advantage of the anger and fear caused by the Black Flag Army capturing Liu Yu and throwing the blame on the Wu Dynasty, Qin Hui tried his best to implement the plan he had been preparing for several years: to do his best to destroy the Black Flag, and then Use the sword sharpened by the black flag to wield the Jurchen. If the situation is good, he may be able to fight his way out.
Jianshuo Emperor Zhou Yong, who was frightened by the black flag act, once agreed to the plan, and the eldest princess Zhou Pei also stood on his side for a time. However, soon after, the entire plan was under attack during the implementation process. Obstructed. The lobbying of some troops who had private relationships with Heiqi was not a big deal. It was Zhou Yong's sudden hesitation in his will that made Qin Hui feel powerless. In the end, Qin Hui was shocked when one hundred thousand Wuxiang troops were ordered to attack the southwest. During this period, he almost mobilized the entire court. In the end, Zhou Yong's hesitant attitude made him fall short.
The Black Flag Army withstood repeated attacks by a million-strong army in the northwest, and even defeated a million-strong Qi army. What's the use of 100,000 people? If you can’t put your best effort into it, it’s better not to do it!
He was puzzled by the change in Zhou Yong's attitude - although Zhou Yong was originally an indecisive person - at first he thought it was Prince Junwu who was secretly lobbying, but later he discovered that the relationship was The aperture comes from the eldest princess's mansion. Zhou Pei, who was once furious with Heiqi, finally made a very cold speech to his father.
"...Ning Yi once killed the late emperor Zhou Zhe in Bianliang, and later captured Liu Yu in the palace. If he really ignored the threat of the Jin Kingdom and devoted all his strength to the crusade, and Ning Yi made a desperate move, what would happen to his father's safety? ?”
The three parties were fighting. The Wu Dynasty wanted to destroy the Black Flag first and then control the Jurchen. This was originally a very controversial strategy. Regardless of other opinions, it was probably the words of the eldest princess that really moved Zhou Yong. You've forced Ning Yi. Is the palace in Lin'an really safe? But given Zhou Yong's timid and fearful character, he actually took it for granted. On the one hand, they did not dare to push Black Flag to the extreme. On the other hand, they wanted to separate the armies that had been privately communicating with Black Flag. In the end, the entire strategy fell on Wu Xiang's army Lu Qiaoshan.
The plan to have a relationship with Black Flag did turn into a blow to many armies. As it was implemented, Qin Hui also promoted the order to clean up the discipline of various armies. However, this was only a rectification that was better than nothing. For several months, Qin Hui has been trying to contribute to the war in the southwest, such as deploying two more armies and at least adding more than 300,000 people, in an attempt to suppress the black flag. However, Prince Junwu carried the righteousness of resisting the Jin Dynasty, vigorously promoted the northern defense, and refused excessive internal friction in the southwest. By the end of July, news of the official start of war in the southwest came, and Qin Hui knew that the opportunity had been missed.
Since this period of time, the actions of the imperial court have not been without results. Taking advantage of the separation from the southwest and the beating of various armies, the authority of the central government was increased. The prince and the eldest princess, taking advantage of the heavy pressure of the Jurchens, worked hard to ease the increasingly tense conflicts between the north and the south, at least in the Jiangnan area. Huge effect. The eldest princess Zhou Pei and the prince Jun Wu were doing their best to strengthen the Wu Dynasty itself. For this matter, Qin Hui also negotiated with Zhou Pei several times, but the progress was not great.
This is also the collision of ideological trends that occurred during more than ten years of war, humiliation, and introspection between the Wu Dynasty and the Jurchens. The literary style of the Wu Dynasty flourished, and it once focused too much on strategy and tact. After more than ten years of being beaten, more and more people realized that only their own strength is everything, and these people are even more looking forward to the miracles created by unyielding strength. , things should be borrowed as little as possible until the last minute.
Prince Junwu is young and vigorous. This idea is most obvious. Compared with excessive use of external strategies, he values internal unity and the people from the south and the north who gather together under the banner of the Wu Dynasty to perform. power, so they are most disgusted with the strategy of raising the black flag first and then attacking the Jurchens. The eldest princess Zhou Pei was able to understand reality at first. She was not a staunch North-South fusionist. She mostly cleaned up the mess for her younger brother. In many cases, she could coordinate better with people who understood reality better. But under Liu Yu’s After the incident, she seemed to have changed in this direction.
Although taking the Black Flag first and then the Jurchen can be regarded as a desperate act, Zhou Pei has begun to subconsciously reject the desperate attempt when his own strength is not enough. During several discussions, Qin Hui realized that she also hated the black flag of the Southwest, but what she hated even more was the weakness and disunity within the Wu Dynasty. Therefore, she reduced the strategy of the Southwest to beating and purging the army. , the Jurchen pressure was directed by her to eliminate the internal contradiction between the north and the south. If it were in the past, Qin Hui would have nodded for her.
However, time is no longer enough.
In a few months, Qin Hui gained half a head of white hair on his head, and his whole body suddenly lost weight. On the one hand, there is worry in the heart, on the other hand, the political disputes in the court are by no means peaceful. After the Southwest Strategy was dragged into disarray, North Korea and China began to impeach Qin Hui's group. There were people who viewed Qin Hui's Southwest Strategy with various ideas. Although Qin Hui at this time had a high status in Zhou Yong's heart, after all, he was not as good as Cai Jing and Tong Guan back then. When the news came that Wu Xiang's army from the southwest had entered Liangshan, he wrote a note, admitting his sins and resigning from the official position.
Zhou Yong did not accept his resignation and immediately rejected it. As a father, he certainly trusted and supported his hard-working son in all matters, but at the same time, as the emperor, Zhou Yong also trusted Qin Hui's stable character. If his son wanted to fight the enemy on the front line, he had to have someone he could trust in the rear. The ministers stepped up their game. Therefore, when Qin Hui handed over his proposal, he was rejected by Zhou Yong with a scolding.
Qin Hui resigned for the second time. Although the southwest strategy has changed now, it was originally proposed by him. Now it seems that Lu Qiaoshan will lose and the situation in the southwest will deteriorate soon. He must take responsibility. . Zhou Yong was furious at his discouraging words in the court, and comforted Qin Hui for a while in private, because at the same time as the resignation letter was published, news from the southwest came again. On the 26th, Lu Qiaoshan's army was attacked head-on by tens of thousands of black flags in the Xiufeng Pass area of Liangshan. More than 30,000 people under Chen Yuguang's command were defeated in one blow, and the defeated troops scattered into Liangshan. Later, the 70,000 people in Luqiaoshan's main formation were attacked and divided by the Black Flag Army. Luqiaoshan defended each mountain, dragging the war into a stalemate.
The situation in the southwest war took a turn for the worse on the fourth day after entering the mountains. Qin Hui's foresight saved him a lot of face. On this day, many colleagues came over to comfort and retain him. Some people also say that Lu Qiaoshan was a smart man and a powerful soldier. He was caught off guard after being attacked by Black Flag, but he finally stabilized his position. As long as he adjusted his strategy in time, the situation in Liangshan would not be without improvement. Qin Hui just shook his head and sighed.
After sending away his colleagues in the court, his old wife Wang came to comfort him. Qin Hui sighed: "More than ten years ago, the mood of the first right minister, Duke Yuan, may be similar to that of his husband now." . There are nine out of ten things going wrong in the world. Even if you have the heart to fight, why not? Can you defeat Shangyi's repeated actions?"
Wang was silent for a while: "The brothers and children in the clan are outside. If you want to retreat, you should tell them."
" Retreating, how easy is it? Eighty-one years ago, I was homeless and alone three thousand miles away. Our flesh and blood are far apart, looking at China in the distance and weeping..." Qin Hui smiled and shook his head, but what he read in his mouth was the desperate poem of Cai Jing, the powerful official of the first generation, "I paid homage to the prime minister five times in the Golden Palace, and Xuanma ten times in the Yutang, recalling the past. Prosperity has turned into sleep talking at this point... has turned into sleep talking at this point, madam. Cai Yuan had been in power for decades, and one person was more powerful than ten thousand people. In the end, he was starved to death. "
When the Jurchens went south for the second time, Cai Jing was demoted to the south. He remained there for decades. He was the number one person in the court. When the Wu Dynasty collapsed, most of the crimes were placed on him. Eighty-year-old Cai Jing went all the way south, unable to buy any rice, and eventually starved to death in Tanzhou Chongjiao Temple. For more than ten years, the outside world has said that he has done many evil things, which has aroused the resentment of the people. Therefore, even if he has money, he cannot buy food, which highlights the loyalty of the world. In fact, how can the people have such discerning eyes?
At that time, Cai Jingtong was in front, and most of the party disputes in the court involved two people. Even though Qin Hui had a smooth journey, he was not the one who stood out after all. Now, he is the leader of a faction, and his tribe, disciples, and officials in the court depend on him for a living. If he really wants to quit, he doesn't know how many people will want to follow Cai Jing's old path again.
"However, madam, there is no need to worry." After a moment of silence, Qin Hui waved his hand, "At least you don't have to worry this time. Your Majesty feels guilty for me. This incident in the southwest has taken the fuel off the boiler and finally stabilized the situation. , it will not lead to Cai Jing's footsteps, but the responsibility must be shouldered. This responsibility is for His Majesty, and taking advantage is taking advantage. Don't pay attention to those people outside. I accept the punishment and let them take some beatings. What's going on in the world..."
He paused: "...They were all ruined by some young people who don't know what the world is like!"
On this night, the lights in Lin'an, the capital city, were brightly lit, and the surging undercurrent was hidden in the bustling scene, still appearing ambiguous and blurry.
Liangshan in southwest China, on the sixth day after the war, explosions sounded in the ravine after nightfall. In the foothills in the distance, there were layers of camps set up by Wu Xiang's army. On the outside of the camps, The torches were not densely packed, and the garrison's sharpshooters hid behind the wooden wall, silently daring not to make a sound.
There was darkness in the forest opposite the camp. At some point, a small voice came out from the darkness: "Cripple, how are you?"
"Don't be anxious, I saw a big one..." The tree The young man on the bus held a long musket in front of him, almost taller than a man, and was patrolling the camp in the distance through the telescope. This was Yu Wen who was lame in one leg and was following Ning Yi. Fly across. He had been practicing archery skills since his leg injury. Later, he was able to achieve a breakthrough in musketry technology. With Ning Yi's promotion, a group of people in the Chinese army were selected to practice musketry, and Yuwen Feidu was one of them.
In the R&D departments of the three southwest counties, although muskets can already be manufactured, the requirements for steel are still very high. On the other hand, machine tools and rifling have only just begun. At this time, Ning Yi gathered the research and development capabilities of the entire Chinese army and came up with a few long-range muskets and telescopes. Although these muskets can reach far, the performance of each one is still uneven, and even affected by each special projectile. Different effects, shooting effects are slightly different. But even if the accuracy at long distances is not high, relying on spiritual shooters like Yuwen Feidu can still be a strategic advantage that can be relied on in many situations.
"Don't shoot indiscriminately." After laying mines in a hidden place under the tree, Xiao Hei, his partner, raised a telescope and whispered, "Actually, from what I see, lame, you can take this gun now. It's a bit wasteful to go out. It's not very accurate to kill a few minions every time, which makes people wary. You think it would be exciting to take it to the north and kill Wanyan Zonghan with one shot. "< br>
“We should take a broad view when things change... The teacher said that war will promote technological progress. Now this thing can only hit one shot after three shots from a hundred feet away. Each shot cannot be used for too long. It is just like this I'm familiar with the place, and I can think about how to improve it when I go back. Hey, from now on, I will catch anyone I hit within three hundred feet."
After Yuwen Feidu finished speaking, he pulled the trigger. Suddenly, fire burst out in the night, and the tree trunks moved. Yuwen Feidu hugged the long gun shaft and got down from the tree like a monkey. There was a commotion in the camp opposite. . Xiao Hei cursed in a low voice under the tree: "Fuck your mother, go to your mother, I told you to be more careful. Are you sure it's Big TouTou?"
"It looks like it, I've been waiting all night. "
"Did you hit it?"
"I don't know, I didn't see clearly, let's go."
"Go over there, you go over there. The cripple wants to be blown up.”
"You have a black heart and a black heart. If you have nothing to do with it, you will be punished sooner or later."
The two of them insulted each other and left in a hurry along the dark foothills. They hadn't run very far before they found the place where they were hiding. Suddenly there was a banging sound, and light bloomed in the woods. It was probably because the scout coming over from the opposite side touched the trip mine left by Xiao Hei. The two looked at each other and smiled, heading towards the Chinese army's camp on the other side of the mountain.
On the second day of August, the sixth day of the war in Xiaoliangshan, the fighting continued. It was said to be a stalemate, but it was more like a restraint by the Chinese army to worry about battle losses. Except for July 26 and 27, which divided and devoured the entire Wuxiang Army with extreme ferocity, when Luqiao Mountain shrank its troops and began a comprehensive defense, the Chinese Army's offensive became restrained and orderly.
The so-called restraint means that the Chinese army used its superior force to pull out camps one by one on the hilltops every day, raided at night, laid mines on the mountain roads, and never launched a large-scale forceful attack.
In the past ten or even twenty years, both the Wu Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty have gone into the sunset, and they will be in a den of raging beasts. Starting from Chuhedian, Wanyan Aguda led 3,700 men to defeat 100,000 Liao soldiers, and then to the defense of Dagang, 20,000 people chased and killed 700,000 people. The myth of defeating more with less has never stopped. . In the Jurchen's first southern expedition, tens of thousands of troops under the city of Bianliang defeated the army of millions of kings of Qin. In the second southern expedition, they defeated Bianliang. In the third southern expedition, they fought all the way to the south of the Yangtze River. In order to capture Zhou Yong and search the mountains and seas, they The Wu Dynasty's armies were defeated like mountains. Black Flag also defeated Da Qi's millions of people in Xiaocang River. They seemed to be able to do it with ease. It seemed to be a routine to use their superior strength to defeat more with less.
But what has to be admitted is that when the quality of the soldiers reaches a certain level and the rout on the battlefield can be adjusted in time and a reverse rolling curtain cannot be formed, the war situation will not be as simple as solving the problem in one go. In the past few years, Wu Xiang's army has been strictly reorganized and military law is extremely strict. After the defeat on the first day, Lu Qiaoshan quickly changed his strategy and ordered the army to continuously build fortifications. The offense and defense of the various military units responded to each other, and finally the Chinese army was defeated. The intensity of the attack slowed down. At this time, the 30,000 people led by Chen Yuguang and others were defeated and scattered. There were only 60,000 people left in the entire Luqiao Mountain Formation.
After a few days, the Chinese army discovered the weakness of Wu Xiang's army's defense, and would pull out a camp of thousands of people every day. Lu Qiaoshan worked hard to manage the defense, and continued to gather the defeated soldiers. Only then did the situation stabilize slightly. But Lu Qiaoshan also understood that the reason why the Chinese army did not launch a strong attack did not mean that they did not have the ability to attack by force. It was just that the Chinese army was constantly breaking the will of Wu Xiang's army and minimizing resistance. After several years of running the army in the southwest, Lu Qiaoshan thought that he had done his best. Today's Wu Xiang army has completely changed from the original group of soldiers. It is also because of this that he can have some confidence and march into Liangshan.
In his original imagination, even if Wu Xiangjun lost to Black Flag, he could at least let the opponent see Wu Chao's will to work hard and learn from the pain, and it could cause enough trouble to the opponent. But he did not expect that on July 26, the Chinese Army's head-on attack would be so fierce. Chen Yuguang's 30,000-strong army maintained the most determined defense, but was forced to attack Lu Qiaoshan in front of 15,000 Chinese Army troops. Crushed and defeated. The 70,000-strong army launched an all-out counterattack here. Under the resistance of less than 10,000 people on the other side, they could not get even half a step past Xiufeng Pass for a whole afternoon until the woods and fields on the opposite side were filled with smoke and rivers of blood.
This was a real wake-up call. The restraint of the Chinese army since then was nothing more than Ning Liheng's coldness and stinginess. The 100,000-strong army entering the mountain was like being thrown directly into the mouth of a giant beast, being devoured step by step. Now it is difficult to turn around and go back.
It was already early in the morning, and the fire in the Chinese army tent was still burning. Lu Qiaoshan, with a bandage on his forehead, was writing quickly under the light, recording what he discovered about the Chinese army during the war:
... Black Flag's iron cannons are powerful. It can be seen that the iron cannons sold to us in past transactions were not the best. In this battle, the cannon used by Black Flag had a range that was about ten to twenty steps better than ours. I attacked with elite troops and captured two of the opponent's useless cannons. I hope that the people in the rear can restore them...
...Their soldiers cooperate with each other tacitly and have high fighting spirit. They are far superior to ours and difficult to resist. Or the people he faced this time were all veterans of the opponent's Northwest War. Now that the iron cannon has been born, many tactics in the past are no longer safe. It is difficult for infantry to form a frontal formation. Soldiers who cannot cooperate tacitly may be out of the future battle...
...There are black flag soldiers on the battlefield again. The sudden musket used is unpredictable and difficult to resist. According to reports from some sergeants, it is suspected that they have several muskets, which can reach as far as a hundred feet on the battlefield, so we must carefully observe...
...As we can see now, the method of observing objects is indeed effective when used in battle formations. Due to the effects of ghosts and gods, in the future battlefield confrontation, more new things will probably appear, and those who are willing to change will be able to seize the opportunity. We should find out the truth and pursue it...
There are mosquitoes chirping in the night, the fire is blazing, and there is a continuous and subtle sound. Luqiao Mountain has not rested for several days. His face is pale, but his eyes are writing During the war, he never acted rashly, trying to retain and send out the experience of Wu Xiang's army's disastrous defeat, so as to be wary of others. Soon, a soldier came over to report that the leader of the Mangshan tribe, Brother Lang, was injured and was brought back: The leader of the Mangshan tribe, who was highly skilled in martial arts, led his scouts to kill the Black Flag scouts outside and was unfortunately struck by a mine and was blown up. Now he is seriously injured. After Lu Qiaoshan heard this, he continued writing and ignored it.
Tens of thousands of people are stationed in camps in Xiaoliang Mountain, one after another, with campfires stretching out. The campfire was huge, and from a distance, it looked like the fire of the setting sun was about to go out in the mountains.
After dawn, a messenger from the Chinese Army came to the front of the Wu Xiang Army’s camp and asked to meet Lu Qiaoshan. Hearing that the Black Flag Messenger was coming, Brother Lang, who was covered in wounds, also came to the camp with bandages all over his body, gritting his teeth.
The envoy was in his thirties, and he gritted his teeth even more than Brother Lang: "I am Su Wenyu, Su Wenfang's cousin. I came here this time to represent Mr. Ning and show you a way out. Of course, you can arrest me. Get up and torture him Put it back again, this way, when you die... my conscience will be more peaceful."
As a messenger, he was not good at speaking, and his face was full of displeasure. It was clear that you had better not talk to me. It's a clumsy blackmail tactic in negotiations. Lu Qiaoshan's face became gloomy for a long time. Brother Lang was the most aggressive. He held back his anger and said over there: "You...ahem, go back and tell Ning Yi...ahem..."
Su Wenyu glanced at him: "Who are you? "Death to the tuberculosis ghost, fuck your mother!" He treated death as if he were going home and was full of swear words.
Well, happy Dragon Boat Festival.
(End of this chapter)