Chapter 284 revealed
On October 20, the sixth year of Guanghe, the outer city of Yecheng was destroyed.
The first person to attack the city was the sudden cavalry general Xu Huang. He was the vanguard of the sudden cavalry in this battle. In the previous battle at Xingyang, he killed one Han military captain, three powerful commanders, and six Han army flags. He was promoted from the team general to the general of the camp.
When leading the vanguard to gallop across the Jin Bridge in Zhangshui, he keenly noticed that several Han army officials were piling firewood and soaking in grease, preparing to burn the Jin Bridge.
Xu Huang's hands were like lightning, and he shot three arrows from his horse, directly killing the Han soldiers who were preparing to burn the bridge. Then without stopping, he led the troops to rush across Jinqiao.
The Han soldiers at the city gate were closing the door hard, but Xu Huang and others came too quickly. Facing the high-speed galloping horses, the Han soldiers at the gate collapsed without a fight.
The Han soldiers were still fleeing. Xu Huang's subordinate Yue Jin swung off his horse like an ape, and then rushed to the city gate with a few people to open the passage for Xu Huang's Tuqi Tun behind.
At this moment, two Han soldiers suddenly jumped out, one with a sword and the other with a sword, and attacked Le Jin from both sides. Obviously, when Pao Zedu abandoned the house and left, these two people chose to stay and be loyal to their duties.
Facing the sudden attack, Le Jin didn't panic at all. He grabbed the spear with his left hand and kicked the opponent over with one kick. He knocked the opponent's knife away with his right hand with a ring-shaped knife, and then knocked the man over with the ring of the knife.
The Taishan Cavalrymen who caught up behind him immediately captured the two Han soldiers. It was obvious that after having been under Le Jin for a long time, he knew that he could not kill anyone without killing them, and he particularly admired such brave warriors.
In fact, this hobby is not only because of Le Jin's nature, but also because he has benefited from it.
That day, he was picked out from the pile of dead people on the battlefield by Zheng Da. Le Jin also asked Zheng Daba to come out. This person was Wuqiu Xing, a Hedong official of the Han army.
When Guan Qiuxing was demonstrating his power in front of Guan Yu's formation, Le Jin happened to see this man on the right side of the battlefield. Later, when he followed Xu Huang to charge the Han soldiers' left formation, his horse general knocked Guanqiu Xing away. Later, he himself was knocked over and fainted.
So after Le Jin was rescued by Zheng Da, he immediately thought of this person. Because he understands that this person is his destiny.
Sure enough, because he captured a distinguished enemy general as a soldier, Le Jin not only was not punished for being knocked unconscious and left behind after the war, but was also promoted to the position of a general. Who wouldn't say good luck?
But it's a pity that Wuqiu is happy. After he was captured alive, he not only cursed the Taishan Army, but also bit a doctor who was treating him, and then the man was executed.
In fact, even if this person hadn't been like this, he probably wouldn't have survived.
Why? Because he killed prisoners in front of Guan Yu's formation. He had fought fiercely and charged heavily, causing Wu Zibu to suffer heavy losses. Guan Yu didn't mind it at all, because this was the battlefield, and everyone had his own master. But dare to kill prisoners in front of Guan Yu's formation? Guan Yufei chopped him up alive.
Le Jin casually dealt with the two loyal and brave Han soldiers, pushed open the city gate with his men, and then retreated to both sides.
After that, Xu Huang pinched the horse's belly and took the lead, leading the troops to rush in.
When one of the military officials passed by Le Jin, he threw the water bag on his horse's neck to Le Jin, and then rushed into Yecheng without looking back.
Le Jin took a look and saw that the knight was his old official Chang Mao Shao, and the one next to him was his personal companion Dang Jia Bao. Jia Bao still had time to turn around and smile at Le Jin.
Le Jin felt warm in his heart. He picked up Mao Shao's water bag and took a big sip, then handed it to his subordinates.
Seeing that Mao Shao and Xiao Jia were able to enter the city, Le Jin could only envy him. The military order he received was to guard the city gate with people at the gate.
After Xu Huang led his troops in, he was very happy to see the battalion heads of the assault cavalry department also entering from the city gate one after another. He Lejin also had the opportunity to really see the majestic appearance of their sudden riders.
The one carrying the flying dragon flag is the cavalry general Li Hu, who is also his immediate minister. It is said that the old officer was one of the seventy-five men who followed Qu Commander in the Yiyi Rebellion back then, and he led one of the most skilled troops in the cavalry army.
Seeing Li Hu looking at him, Le Jin subconsciously raised his chest and saluted. Li Hu nodded approvingly to him and continued into the city with the guards and flags. Only Le Jin, whose face was flushed, remained at the east gate of Yecheng.
After Feilong General Li Hu entered the city, he was followed by a tiger flag. It was obvious that the cavalry general Yan Gangbu was coming.
This cavalry army was as arrogant as their generals. They ignored Le Jinshi who was guarding the city gate, leaving only hoofs full of gravel and sand for Le Jin and the others to eat.
Le Jin's men yelled at the knights of Yan Gang's department, but no one stepped on them.
Soon, the cavalry unit with a giant clam flag also entered the city following Yan Gang's unit. This was the cavalry unit general Xu Zhong.
This cavalry was newly formed, and most of the soldiers were prisoners from the Yingyang and Xingyang wars. And Xu Zhong is a hero of Yingchuan. After the war in Yingyang, he led the Yingchuan rangers to join the army and now he has become a cavalry general.
Looking at these flags embroidered with various patterns, Le Jin was filled with ambition.
What is the most basic combat unit of the Taishan Army? For example, when performing some specific tasks, the unit is tens of thousands. For example, when he was happy to push the city gate, the unit was tens.
Further up, the most important thing is the general. The first branch of the Taishan Army is an independent battalion, each with its own number, military flag, and golden drum. Each unit in the Taishan Army can perform independent combat missions.
Therefore, for grassroots military officials like Le Jin, the biggest dream is to be promoted to a general, to lead an army alone, and to raise their flag on the battlefield.
Now there were three types of military flags walking past Le Jin, which meant that three assault cavalry units had entered the city. One section is for four hundred horses, which means a total of one thousand two hundred horses. How long has it been? Our sudden ride is really as fast as lightning.
Suddenly, Le Jin saw a large banner with the words "Hurious Invasion" written high on it. He became excited and knew that this was Tian Jun, the general of Mount Tai's sudden cavalry.
Sure enough, under the banner stood a heavily armored general. Although he looked short in stature, he was full of killing blows. It was Tian Jun, the general who Zhang Chong relied on as his pillar.
Four years ago, Tian Jun was just a riding slave, with a wretched figure, not to mention a murderous spirit, and his existence itself was a joke. But now, why can everyone see that Tian Jun is so powerful now?
On the one hand, it is to occupy one's position and nourish one's Qi. Someone like Tian Jun who kills many people has a cold disregard for life. Humans are also killed from nature. The temperament of such natural enemies and wild beasts is incomprehensible.
In addition to this, there is also the aura that comes with being a superior person. When a person in a lower position sees a person in a higher position, no matter how arrogant he is, he still feels that the person in the upper position must be a hero, otherwise how could he be in such a high position? So I still feel a sense of inferiority in my heart.
At this time, Le Jin looked at Tian Jun with such a color, with respect and admiration in his heart. This time he did not dare to look directly at Li Hu like he did before, but lowered his head consciously.
After Tian Jun's banner was placed at the gate of the city, he stopped entering. This position was just right. It could not only boost morale, know the situation in the city at any time so that he could dispatch his troops, but it was also relatively safe and not in danger.
Tian Jun stood under the banner, waving his riding whip casually, and then the guard pointed in the direction of Le Jin and said something to Tian Jun.
Then, a guard called Le Jin to come forward. General Tian wanted to see him.
Le Jin hurriedly went up to the foot of the big banner to pay homage to Tian Jun.
Then I heard Tian Jun smile heartily:
"Are you Le Jin?"
Le Jin was flattered and quickly said yes.
Tian Jun then encouraged Le Jin, gave Le Jin a ring-shou knife, and then let Le Jin go.
Le Jin excitedly went back to guard the city gate, while Tian Junze watched him go down with approval. In fact, Tian Jun had known about Le Jin for a long time.
There is a booklet in Commander Qu's hand, which records the names of some people in the army. Some are already famous generals in the army, and some are unknown like Le Jin. It is not clear what the criteria for Commander Qu to select people are.
In short, Qu Shuai specifically took care of Tian Jun and asked him to pay more attention to cultivating Le Jin. It was because of Qu Shuai's suggestion that Tian Jun handed over the task of seizing the city gate to Le Jin and the others. Otherwise, do you think that this kind of military exploits can happen to anyone casually?
Whenever a person in a superior position employs people, he will definitely give the people below him the opportunity to make meritorious deeds, so that they can convince the public when they rise to the top. This is deliberate cultivation. Of course, if you want to take someone down, that also gives you an opportunity to do something. Because you make mistakes when you do things.
So, doing things can be done for meritorious service or for punishment. This is the way of employing people based on reality and reality. Soon, the three cavalry units entering the city sent battle reports one after another. Li Hu's troops, who were the first to enter the city, defeated a small group of enemies and successfully captured the grain warehouse in the northeast of the city. Then they bypassed the Sheriff's Mansion, which was for Ding Sheng's tribe who would enter the city later.
Tian Jun is not a solitary person, otherwise his popularity in the military would not be so good.
There was a group of brave men who were urgently recruited in the city. When they saw that both the south gate and the east gate had fallen, they could no longer be used and fled in all directions.
When Zhang Ze, the prefect of Wei County, lost the south city gate, he was supported by the guards and retreated to the inner city.
The inner city had enough grain and armor. When the Hebei Yellow Turbans attacked Yecheng, they also captured the outer city, but in the end they were defeated in the inner city.
This time Zhang planned to repeat his old tricks.
However, the county official Feng Fang saw that his prince wanted to return to the inner city to defend, so he urged him to withdraw from the city temporarily and go north to Handan first to catch up with the 3,000 Yecheng soldiers who had been mobilized here, and then go south with the Handan soldiers to suppress the bandits.
Now the disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves is too great. We cannot focus on the gains and losses of one city, so we should quickly exit this dead place.
Obviously, this is very pragmatic advice. Let Zhang Ze keep his body available and kill him later.
Zhang Ze was obviously also moved, but he felt that he was the prefect of Wei County and had the responsibility to defend the territory, so he did not dare to abandon the city and escape. He just ordered a group of soldiers to rush out from the north city gate to catch up with Yecheng who set out two days ago. The soldiers returned to assist, and he planned to hold on in the inner city.
But the despair of the war exceeded Zhang Ze's expectations. He had just entered the inner city and was preparing to recruit the disciples from the inner city into an army with a lot of money. Almost all the people living in the inner city were government officials. In addition to the officials, there were thousands of government disciples here.
But before Zhang Ze could give the order, Chengbei Lieutenant who was guarding the north of the city led hundreds of city gate officials and abandoned the gate and left. The rest also abandoned their armor and surrendered their armor to the oncoming Taishan Army.
Because the North City was empty, the families in the city did not want to resist, so they ran out of the North City with their relatives. For a while, the people in the city were panicked and in chaos.
When Zhang Ze returned to the inner city, the officials in the southeastern city did not know at all. After they saw that the east gate was lost, they each looked for a way out.
Chief Jin Cao, who was guarding the county treasury, took the lead in fleeing in the name of going to the inner city to pay his salary. But in fact, he did not carry any money. Even after passing through the inner city, he saw Zhang Ze on the top of the city. He did not enter the inner city, but went out of the city without any regrets.
Obviously, there are many smart people in the city. They know that this time is different from before, and defending the inner city will definitely lead to death.
Chief Jin Cao was making samples, and more than a hundred other officials, big and small, imitated the example. Some changed into single clothes and sneaked into private houses, or fled north with their families on bullock carts. For a time, those who walked towards the north city gate felt like rushing into the sea.
And all these doomsday scenes were seen by the disciples in the inner city. Seeing that the great figures in the past were like bereaved dogs, these disciples were no longer willing to work for the Han Dynasty. When the elites of the Han Dynasty are not willing to bleed for it, isn't it ridiculous to expect these cows and horses to work hard? The disciples and soldiers dispersed in a hurry, and even opened the inner city gate to welcome the Taishan army.
Zhang Ze on the top of the city looked desperately at the farce below. He smiled miserably and said to Feng Fang beside him:
"I regret not listening to you, so that you and I will suffer this disaster."
Feng Fang sighed, bowed deeply to Zhang Ze, then untied his seal and lowered his ribbon, took off his sleeves, and hurriedly left the city to escape.
Zhang Ze looked in the direction of Kyoto and seemed to see Mangdang Mountain. He sighed, turned around and jumped off the top of the inner city.
Over there, after defeating a wave of dizzy Minzhuang troops, Yan Gang fought his way to the government office area of Yecheng. The household registration, gold warehouse, and money warehouse are all here, which is also a key point in the city.
There are also some county officials in the official district. They are polite and honest, but what can they do to the situation if they have nothing to do? I can only die to thank you for your kindness. Some people commit suicide by swallowing gold, and some commit suicide by taking medicine. As for why there is dove wine in the official temple, it is naturally for the honorable use of some criminals.
But there is great terror between life and death, and many hardships are worth death. Many county officials took half of the medicine, shook like chaff, and fainted. The servants wanted to escape with their husband, but as soon as they left the official temple, they encountered Yan Gang and others who came to kill them. They were all killed and their bodies were abandoned by the roadside.
As soon as Yan Gang entered, he wanted to find the chief of the warehouse. Under the guidance of several crying officials, Yan Gang cut open the wall and took out the chief of the warehouse, and got the key to the treasury.
After the war, after counting, the Taishan Army seized a total of 300 million yuan from the Yecheng warehouse, 60,000 shi of corn from the Fucang and Changping warehouses, as well as a large number of armor and countless military supplies.
Before long, Taishan's army defeated the last wave of powerful troops in the city, and finally captured all the important places in the city. After that, the various ministries that entered the city began to designate camp areas and recruit soldiers to appease the people.
The military discipline of the Taishan Army has always been very good. This time in Yecheng, the king's style of being a righteous soldier without committing any crimes was once again demonstrated.
As soon as the city was settled, the ministries hired guides from Yecheng and began to preach the Taishan Army's policy of entering the city to the people in each district. Not only did they promise not to recruit a grain of grain from the people, but they also promised to treat everyone equally, and all officials and people were given three years' tax.
Whenever a workshop is preached, a yellow cloth is posted, and those who come forward and are willing to serve are immediately appointed as workshop leaders and village leaders to supervise each other.
At the time of the Shen Dynasty, the Taishan Army's military commander entered the city, and Zhang Chong ordered the military headquarters to be in the county government. As soon as the backbone arrived, the Taishan Army officially began to open warehouses to release grain and began to provide relief to the poor in the city.
Some people who could not survive in the city were still among the former batch of official and temple disciples. After knowing that the Taishan Army was an army for poor people like them, they decisively joined the army and became the first batch of Hebei people under the command of the Taishan Army.
At this time, the Taishan Army was named Taishan, but it existed in various places. There are people from Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, Sili, and now there are also people from Jizhou. One day, this Taishan Army will uphold the aspirations of the whole world and conquer all the poor in the world, thus creating peace in this world.
The news that Yecheng was defeated quickly spread around Wei County. Especially Lu Zhi, who was presiding over the siege of the city, was even more horrified when he received the news.
The Taishan thieves use their troops so quickly. The battle lasted hundreds of miles and lasted only twenty days, and the direction of the troops was unpredictable. I thought people would appear in Hanoi, but they flew directly across and captured Yecheng. It made Lu Zhi doubt whether this soaring general was as powerful as the overlord of Western Chu, just like the Battle of Pengcheng.
In fact, Zhang Chong was able to maintain such an efficient march during the movement because the Taishan Army was good at mobile warfare.
Zhang Chong pays attention to discovering fighter opportunities in motion and destroying enemies in motion. Therefore, whether it was the Battle of Two Rivers, the Battle of Yingyang, or this Battle of Yecheng, the Taishan Army marched hundreds of miles quickly, interspersed with the enemy's weak and critical points at critical moments, and always paid attention to seizing the initiative in the battle. inside.
Moreover, this time they made use of nearly a thousand canal boats parked in Xingyang and Aocang, and used the water network of Heshuo as transportation to go down the river, fully preserving the physical strength of the soldiers, and there were sufficient Aocang millet on board. Fully fed, the morale of the whole army is high. Afterwards, the Taishan Army replaced the tired Guan Yu's troops in Liyang. While streamlining the team, their combat effectiveness was significantly improved.
Precisely because the Taishan Army was always faster than the Han Army, the so-called strategy of blocking in the north and pursuing in the south planned by General Zhang Wen of Zhendong was completely turned into a paper theory.
Lu Zhi's emotion was on the one hand, and his fear on the other. He knew that he had lost the battle with others. He did not lose to the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans in the city, but to the Taishan soldiers in Yecheng.
Because Yecheng's position on Zhangshui River is too important. It is just upstream of Liren. As long as the Taishan army moves southward along the Zhang River, Lu Zhi cannot stop it.
If Lu Zhi does not retreat now and lets the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans in the city know that Yecheng upstream has been captured by Taishan bandits, the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans will definitely come out of the city to bite him.
When the time comes, when the Taishan bandits come down and join forces with Qingzhou Huangjin inside and outside, the Han soldiers in Hebei will definitely lose.
In fact, with the appearance of the Taishan Army on the Hebei battlefield, Lu Zhi had clearly realized that the Yellow Turban Army had completely overwhelmed the Han army in terms of military strength on the Hebei battlefield.
From a purely quantitative perspective, there are 100,000 Yellow Turbans in Hebei and 50,000 Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou. The number of Taishan bandits is unclear, but more than 10,000 is still small, so there are 160,000 troops. In terms of the quality of soldiers, the Taishan Bandits alone are comparable to the Hebei Han Army. No matter what, the Hebei Han Army is absolutely at a disadvantage.
Therefore, not only did they immediately retreat from the army, but they also had to retreat directly to Handan and hold on until the Han soldiers in Henan arrived on the battlefield. No matter how ugly it is, if things go wrong, they will retreat from Handan and the Taihang Mountains to Shangdang, where they will build a second line of defense.
In short, with the loss of Yecheng, the Han army was in big trouble.
(End of chapter)