Chapter 245 Avoiding the Truth
On August 23, the sixth year of Guanghe's reign, an army of two thousand people marched between Jingsuo and Jingsuo.
This army is naturally the Runan Yellow Turban He Yibu who decided to attack.
But before they attack Xingyang, they must first capture Suoting, a small town in the middle. Speaking of which, this section of the road from Jingyi to Suoting is also called the Jingsuo Road.
In the confrontation between Chu and Han that determined the fate of the Han Dynasty, there was a small but decisive battle between Jingsuo and Jingsuo, which was the Battle of Jingsuo.
In May of that year, Liu Bang, who had just experienced the defeat of Pengcheng, fled to Xingyang in a turbulent way. Xiao He sent all the old and weak in Guanzhong to support Liu Bang on the front line, but they still could not withstand the attack of the overlord of Western Chu. At this time, Han Xin led his troops to support Liu Bang, and fought Xiang Yu between Jingsuo and won a great victory. This was the first time that the Han army defeated the undefeated Xiang Yu on a frontal battlefield. It can be seen how much impact Han Xin's battle had on the spiritual world of the Han army officers. After this battle, Chu soldiers could no longer advance westward.
It can be said that the battle of Jingsuo was the beginning of Liu Han's destiny. And this time, after nearly four hundred years, a Yellow Turban Army once again waved its arms towards the giant enemy, but what was the result this time? ——
Uncle He, who was running in the team, couldn't bear it anymore. He asked He Yi, the commander on the side, and asked:
"Nephew, what are you thinking? It's obviously safer to act with the Taishan Army, why take the risk?"
There are only He Yi and He Bo here, no one else. So He Yi told the truth after all:
"Uncle, do you know the allusion 'The one who enters Guanzhong first will be the king'?"
"What is that?"
"Uncle, I have long told you to listen to more useful things. There is still something in what those scholars say."
"What are you talking about? Just tell me what you want to say."
He Yi sighed and said:
"Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, was also a pavilion chief like me. But in the end he conquered the world, and the most critical turning point was..."
He Yi wanted to say something else, but Uncle He suddenly interrupted:
"What, the founder of the Han Dynasty was a pavilion chief like you? How is it possible? Aren't the emperors of the Han Dynasty all sons of heaven on earth? I have heard the story of the Red Emperor slaying the white snake since I was a child. Now you say that the emperor actually Is it the director of a small pavilion?”
He Yi was a little unhappy at being interrupted, and he complained:
"Uncle, that's why I tell you to listen more to scholars talking about ancient times. None of the things you listen to all day long are true. On the contrary, what scholars casually see in books are secrets that you and I have never known in our lives. So, you can't read Just listen to the book.”
Uncle He smiled and meant He Yi to continue.
He Yi had no choice but to continue:
"Back then, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were both granted the title of King of Chu. At that time, the King of Chu made an agreement with the two of them. Whoever could enter Guanzhong first and destroy Qin could become the new King of Qin. Then the two fought for each other in their own way. Entering Guanzhong. The strongest one at that time was Xiang Yu, but it was impossible for Liu Bang to do so. But in the end, Liu Bang entered Guanzhong first. Do you know why?
"Why?"
"It was because Xiang Yu was the strongest that he attracted all the attention of the Qin army. When Xiang Yu and the Qin army were fighting, Liu Bang made a sneak attack from Wuguan and entered Guanzhong first."
"Um, nephew. What do you want to say when you say this?"
He Yi's eyes lit up and she said solemnly:
"Don't you think this is the case between us and the Taishan Army now? The Taishan Army is indeed stronger, but it is precisely because of its strength that it has attracted all the attention of the Han Army. And now Xingyang must be empty. If I pretend to have only two thousand soldiers, it will be twice as much Dao attack is at your fingertips. Think about it, what will the victory over Xingyang bring to us? At that time, the Yellow Turbans in the world will regard me, He Yi, as the greatest contributor to the overthrow of the Han Dynasty. I might not be able to compete for it. That location.”
The corners of Uncle He's mouth became astringent and he muttered:
"I understand, but..."
"What's wrong?"
"I told Zhang Chong about our attack on Xingyang."
"You...that's all. Anyway, if the Taishan Army wants to stop it, it's too late."
——
Suoting is only fifteen miles away from Jing County.
After only half a day's march, He Yi led two thousand troops to the outside of Suoting City.
Suoting City is very small, but because the city is a military fortress, the person responsible for defense is not the county magistrate, but a garrison commander. Suoting is the outer military fortress of Xingyang, so there is a camp of 200 people stationed there.
But Suoting has not heard of the beacon fire for a long time because he is in the interior. During the Yanxi period, an earthquake occurred in the Xingyang area, causing a section of Suoting's city wall to collapse, about one mile. The garrison commander at that time reported to the Xingyang Order several times to allocate funds for repairs, but the superiors always used various excuses.
After all, in the final analysis, the world is at peace, and if a section of the city wall collapses, then a section of it will collapse. I haven't seen the county town in the south. It doesn't even have a city wall, it's just surrounded by fences and thorns.
But at this moment, this crumbling city wall became a reminder for Suoting.
As soon as He Yi arrived with his army, Suoting opened the wall, and Suoting's garrison commander fled directly from the north wall with his female family members. But there was no way he could escape. In the end, the garrison commander Suoting fought until he was exhausted and was captured by He Yi.
He Yi needed this person to tell him what was going on in Xingyang City at the moment. When the garrison commander Suoting was pulled forward for questioning, he surrendered not long after. In the final analysis, he is just a low-ranking official. It is not his turn to be loyal to this big man, and he is not worthy.
With the help of the garrison commander Suoting, He Yi quickly recruited and surrendered the 200 garrison soldiers in the city. Some nearby Shanliao people came to surrender one after another when they heard that the Yellow Turban Army had reached Suoting.
There is never a shortage of smart people in the world. These Shanliao people who voted for He Yi knew that the next goal of the Yellow Turban Army was to attack Xingyang. Isn't attacking Xingyang the same as attacking Aocang? What kind of place is Aocang? It's a mountain of grain and a sea of millet. As long as you follow the Yellow Turban Army to grab a handful, will you still be short of food in the future?
Afterwards, He Yi asked the garrison commander Suoting carefully about the situation in Xingyang.
From this, we learned that Xingyang was indeed empty at this moment. It originally had two thousand soldiers, but half of them had gathered soldiers from several nearby counties and went south to take charge of the city, hoping to stop Zhang Chong's troops stationed in Yuanling.
Obviously, Xingyang did not expect that a bandit army would fly across Songshan Mountain and attack from the secret ropeway.
After receiving this information, He Yi was overjoyed and decided to speed up and seize the opportunity to fight. Therefore, he did not repair at Suoting, but only slightly reorganized the two hundred garrison soldiers who had just surrendered, and then headed for Xingyang, twenty-five miles away.
At the time of application that day, his troops rushed to a plain less than ten miles away from Xingyang City before the sun went down to garrison and repair. In this way, from the ambush of Jingxian reinforcements on the 22nd to the siege of Xingyang on the 23rd, it only took He Yi one day to arrive, which can be said to be quite smooth.
In fact, things developed exactly as the surrendered garrison commander Suoting said. Xingyang was extremely empty at this moment.
Regardless of whether He Yi sent too many private messages and led the army alone, but one thing is for sure, his timing was really good. At this time, He Yilian broke through Jingxian and Suoting, marching forty miles in a day, and there was no enemy at all. This proved that the Beijing Cableway did avoid the real and the weak, and it was the wonder of the art of war.
In addition, He Yi's decisiveness in using troops is also an important factor. After He Yi ambushed the Jingxian soldiers, he had the idea of attacking Xingyang. When Jingxian was successfully defeated, this idea was directly and decisively executed by him. This is the quality a good general should have.
Moreover, in order to ensure that the raid was not discovered and to achieve the purpose of extracting enemy information, He Yi specifically chose to travel through remote paths in the mountains. If he encountered woodcutters along the way, he would also kidnap them into the army to prevent them from reporting to the official. .
Of course, He Yi's successful completion of this raid is also inseparable from the two thousand subordinates under his command. Before he received the ambush mission from Zhang Chong, he selected 2,000 elite soldiers from his 6,000 soldiers without any family members or luggage. It was this capable and lightly armed force that accomplished the strategic purpose of raiding Xingyang.
It was precisely because of the above that when He Yi led his troops to be stationed less than ten miles away from Xingyang City, the Xingyang Order in Xingyang City was alerted by business travelers outside the city.
These merchants reported that there was a Yellow Turban Army ten miles outside the city.
The Xingyang Order didn't believe it at all, and directly beheaded these merchants for bullying the army, and their heads were still hung on the city wall outside.
While the heads were still dripping with blood outside, the county governor who was patrolling the county hurriedly fled into the city with his team and brought a desperate message to the Xingyang Order: "Yellow scarf moth thieves, soldiers are pressing down on the border."
The current Xingyang order was named Yang Yi, who came from the prominent Hongnong Yang family. He has the traditional habits of a son of a noble family, that is, he is extremely confident and arrogant. But the education of the public family made this person quite capable.
But it's a pity that Yang Yi has already been promoted to the Ministry of Education at Shangshutai. He has served in county office for three years and is going to Beijing to resign. Of course, this kind of promotion upon completion of seniority is only available to the children of the public family. If this were the case, there wouldn't be so many old officials who have wasted their entire lives serving as county magistrates.
It is precisely for this reason that Yang Yi did not want to cause more trouble and ignored the defense formation in the city. He only waited for the new Xingyang order to take office. As soon as he took over here, he could return to Beijing to be his counselor.
But who would have thought that at this juncture, the Yellow Turban soldiers came to kill, but at this time the new Xingyang Order had not arrived yet. With no choice, Yang Yi could only take over this mess and take over the defense of Xingyang again.
Yang Yi is still very capable. He served as the Xingyang Order for three years and knew very well that the focus of Xingyang's defense was the water gate on the north side of Xingyang. Through this water gate, you can go straight into the Yellow River, then down to Luoshui River, and then all the way into Kyoto. In other words, even if Xingyang is lost, Shuimen cannot be lost either. Yang Yi must guard the waterway of Xingyang Water Gate. Aocang and Guangwu City behind are both on this waterway.
Therefore, in the name of the Xingyang Order, he issued a summons to recruit eight thousand people from Dingkou of Xingyang, ranging from the octogenarian to the age of their hair. As long as they could hold a spear, they were all included in the conquest. Even Ding women were recruited to transport supplies to the Ding men on the city walls.
Yang Yi is really ruthless this time. Henan County is a Gyeonggi County with a registered population of approximately one million. But among them, Luoyang alone had 300,000 deducted. There are 21 cities in the counties and counties of Henan. In other words, excluding Kyoto, the remaining cities have an average population of only 20,000 per city. Xingyang City is bigger, slightly more, but only about 30,000 people.
This time, Yang Yi directly recruited 8,000 men. It can be said that Xingyang City was wiped out as soldiers. If it weren't for the large number of wealthy families in the area who also supported Yang Yi, this scale of recruitment would have been impossible.
You must know that this world is not the military system of Qin and Han Dynasties after all, and administrative orders can be used to mobilize national resources. Although he was a Han in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was different from the Western Han Dynasty.
Yang Yi recruited these eight thousand men and more than a thousand county soldiers in his own hands, and made the following arrangements.
Take advantage of the fact that the enemy has not yet laid siege to the city. Immediately build three fortifications in the south of the city, which are at the horns of the crossbowmen on the city wall. Then at the most important North Gate, Water Gate, three giant boats were sunk to block the waterway.
Many wealthy families in Xingyang City firmly disagreed with this decision. Mr. Xiang said that the waterway in Xingyang was a waterway for water transportation, and it was also the most important channel. There were many boats coming and going every day. It is not an exaggeration to say that gold is flowing. If it sinks here, it will cost more than ten thousand yuan a day.
Personally speaking, although this is not on the table, it is the most important. It was you, Yang Yi, who blocked the waterway. If the city of Xingyang was destroyed later, how would the rich people like them escape?
But Yang Yi knew this, so he secretly scuttled three giant boats at night in order to cut off the escape route of these wealthy families in the city and force them to stick to Xingyang with Yang Yi.
Of course Yang Yi knew the backlash of this move. The Zheng family in the city was as powerful as the Hongnong Yang family. By doing this, he had offended Mrs. Zheng to death, and his future was probably going to be bleak.
But so what, does Yang Yi care about this?
Don't tell me, before the Three Kingdoms, the descendants of the Han Dynasty still had their own ethics and ideals. Do you think they had selfish motives? There must be, but there is nothing to say about their loyalty to the Han Dynasty.
After this arrangement, Yang Yi sent out three more messengers to rush for reinforcements to the captain of Hulao Pass behind him.
After doing this, Yang Yi consciously put in all his efforts, and the rest depends on how the yellow scarf thief on the opposite side makes his move.
Stationed ten miles away, He Yi's troops were also expanding rapidly.
As mentioned before, the poor people in Xingyang, the capital of Guizhou, are living a miserable life because they are drafted and sent to work every year. But now that they heard that the Yellow Turbans had arrived in Xingyang, they were both excited and hesitant.
It is easy to understand that they are excited, but the reason for their hesitation is that they do not understand the Yellow Turban Thieves. In case these people are also a gang of thieves, although they are not as rich as the wealthy family, they still have some food rations and some clothes. , so they are also worried about being robbed by these bandits.
But after a night of observation, they no longer had any doubts about the yellow turban thief in front of them. After this soldier enters the country, the male and female will not plunder and commit no crimes. It can be called a well-disciplined army of the king.
This is also the shrewdness of He Yi. He felt that although the troops at his disposal were elite, they were limited. He knew that it would be difficult to attack Xingyang without winning the hearts and minds of the local people.
Therefore, he and his soldiers ordered them not to offend the surrounding settlements.
At that time, the fierce soldiers under He Yi refused to agree. If they could be restrained, they would not have burned, killed and looted in Jing County before.
But He Yi told them that the people in the nearby settlements and towns were all poor, and the most valuable thing on their body was probably the hakama. What could you get by robbing them?
But please look north, yes, that is Xingyang City. There was nothing in Xingyang City. As long as they captured Xingyang, He Yi promised not to seal the sword for three days. During this period, the soldiers would rob as much as they wanted, and it would all be theirs.
Now, the tigers and wolves under He Yi believed it, howling and vowing to conquer Xingyang and make a fortune.
It's a pity to say that the ingredients of Runan Yellow Turban are the best among all in Taiping Dao. It was because Lao Qushuai Peng Tuo was the son of a farmer, and his original intention of joining Taiping Road was to find a way out for Guizhou leaders like him.
Therefore, he promoted countless low-level Guizhou leaders like him in the church, and the powerful faction in the church had no chance at all in Runan. Among the six generals in the south of Ru, He Yi and Liu Pi have slightly better family backgrounds, but one is a low-ranking pavilion chief and the other is just a traveler from the countryside.
But with Peng Tuo's death in battle, the Runan Yellow Turban commanders also split due to competition for the position of Qu Commander. For example, Huang Shao, the new commander selected by Peng Tuo, is low-level enough and cares about the poor. But precisely because they only work at the bottom and have no talent or talent, their horizons are extremely small.
Huang Shao hated people like He Yi who tried to encroach on his status. If Huang Shao could be more generous, maybe the Runan Yellow Turban wouldn't be like this.
But what if is just if after all. He Yi finally led his army away, and the Runan Yellow Turban finally split the two armies.
As for He Yi, he is full of ambition and skill. But he lacks ideals and believes more in interests. If people are like this, then they will naturally use profit to drive them.
Such is the case with these tough soldiers under his command. Most of them are farmers in Guizhou, and they are originally poor people. Logically speaking, they understand the sufferings of poor people better, and generally speaking they will not rob Guizhou.
But robbery is a very exciting thing, and once you do it once, it's hard to stop. They discovered that they could bully others just like the rich villagers did, and they had the illusion that they were no longer poor, but powerful people who could decide the life and death of others.
It is this psychedelic sense of power that fascinates them. They are no longer unknown people, they are also people. And once this happens, they plunder the poor even more.
Such stories will be repeated again and again in countless peasant uprisings in the future. In the final analysis, it is because human nature is generally similar.
But no matter what, whether He Yi was cheating or something else, relying on the promise not to seal the sword, He Yi's subordinates finally restrained their behavior and acted as if they had done nothing wrong.
In order to further win over the local Guizhou leader, He Yi even took out the magic weapon of the Taishan Army. Along the march, He Yi used the slogan of dividing the fields for the people of Xingyang, and wanted to give Xingyang, the capital of Guizhou, a peaceful world.
These various strategies indeed caused those Guizhou leaders who could not survive in the nearby countryside to defect to the army one after another. For a time, He Yi's military strength swelled to 8,000.
Then, he led this mixed army to kill Xingyang City.
The first battle of Xingyang officially began.
Later I will take the time to make a map of the march northward during this period. Many students may not know the geography of Henan County, but I still want to draw it. Family members, please continue to use your monthly tickets.
(End of chapter)