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 attacked Xingyang, they had to capture Suoting, a small town in the middle. Speaking of which, the road from Jingyi to Suoting was 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
He supported Liu Bang and fought against Xiang Yu in the Jingsuo area, and won a great victory. This was the first time that the Han army defeated the undefeated Xiang Yu on a frontal battlefield. We can know what effect Han Xin's battle had on the spiritual world of the Han army officers.
What a huge impact. 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. This time, after nearly four hundred years, a Yellow Turban Army once again waved its arms to the giant enemy here, 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 operate with the Taishan Army, why take the risk?"
There are only He Yi and Uncle He here, no one else. So He Yi finally told the truth:
"Uncle, do you know the allusion 'The one who enters Guanzhong first will be the king'?"
"What's 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. The most critical turning point was..."
He Yi wanted to say something more, but Uncle He suddenly interrupted:
"What, the founder of the Han Dynasty was a pavilion chief just like you? How is that 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 are saying that that emperor actually
Is he the chief of Xiaoyi Pavilion?"
He Yi was a little unhappy at being interrupted, and he complained:
"Uncle, so 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, the things scholars casually see in books are secrets that you and I have never known in our lives. So, you can't read
If you want to read, just listen to the book.”
Uncle He smiled and meant He Yi to continue.
He Yi was helpless and continued:
"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 person at that time was Xiang Yu, and Liu Bang thought it was impossible. 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. And 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 a light army of two thousand, it will be twice as much
Dao attack is at your fingertips. Think about it, what will the victory of conquering Xingyang bring to us? At that time, the Yellow Turbans in the world will regard me, He Yi, as the biggest contributor to overthrowing the Han Dynasty. I will wait for a hundred years, and I may not be able to compete for it.
That location.”
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 battalion of 200 people stationed there.
But because Suoting was in the interior, it had not heard of the war for a long time. During the Yanxi period, an earthquake occurred in the Xingyang area, which caused the collapse of a section of Suoting's city wall, about a mile. The garrison commander at the time reported it to Xingyang several times.
I ordered them to allocate funds for repairs, but the superiors always used various excuses to prevaricate it.
After all, if the world is at peace, a section of the city wall will collapse. I haven’t seen the county town in the south. There is not even a city wall, just a circle surrounded by hedges and thorns.
But at this moment, this crumbling city wall became a reminder to Suo Pavilion.
As soon as He Yi arrived with his army, Suoting opened the wall. Suoting's garrison commander took his female family members and fled directly from the north wall. But there was no way he could escape. In the end, Suoting's garrison commander fought to the end.
He was captured by He Yi.
He Yi needed this person to tell him what was going on in Xingyang City at the moment. When Commander Suoting was pulled forward for questioning, he surrendered after a short time. In the final analysis, he was just a low-ranking official, and this big man had no role to play.
Come and show your loyalty, but he is not worthy of it.
With the help of Suoting's garrison commander, He Yi quickly surrendered the 200 garrison soldiers in the city. When some nearby mountain lairs heard that the Yellow Turban Army had reached Suoting, they came to surrender one after another.
There is never a shortage of smart people in the world. These Shanliao people who voted for He Yi knew that the next target of the Yellow Turban Army was to attack Xingyang. Isn’t attacking Xingyang the same as attacking Aocang? What kind of place is Aocang?
If the army grabs a handful, will there still be food shortages in the future?
Afterwards, He Yi asked the garrison commander Suoting carefully about the situation in Xingyang.
We learned from this 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 marched south to manage the city in an attempt 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 200 garrison soldiers who had just surrendered, and headed for Xingyang, which was twenty-five miles away.
At Shenshi that day, his troops rushed to a plain less than ten miles away from Xingyang City before the sun went down, and garrisoned them for repairs. In this way, from the ambush of the Jingxian reinforcements on the 22nd to the encirclement of the troops on the 23rd
It only took He Yi one day to arrive at Xingyang, 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 had too many private messages and led his army alone, one thing is for sure, his timing was really good. At this time, He Yi broke through Jingxian County and Suoting twice, driving forty miles a day.
When there is no enemy at all, it proves that the Beijing Cableway really avoids the real and takes advantage of the weak, and it is 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, and after successfully defeating Jingxian, this idea was directly and decisively executed by him. This is what an excellent general should do.
Some qualities.
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 men under his command. Before he received the ambush mission from Zhang Chong, he selected two thousand elites from the six thousand soldiers under his command, and did not bring any family members.
and baggage. It was this capable and lightly armed force that accomplished the strategic purpose of raiding Xingyang.
Due to the above, when He Yi led his troops to be stationed less than ten miles away from Xingyang City, the Xingyang Order in Xingyang City received an alarm from business travelers outside the city.
These merchants reported that there were Yellow Turban troops ten miles outside the city.
The Xingyang Order did not believe it at all, and directly beheaded these merchants for bullying the army, and their heads were still hung on the top of the city 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 desperate news to Xingyang Order:
"The yellow turban moth thief, the soldiers are pressing down on the territory."
The current Xingyang Order is named Yang Yi, and he comes from the prominent Yang family of Hongnong. He has the traditional habits of the children of the public family, that is, he is extremely confident and arrogant. However, the education of the public family makes this person quite capable.
But it is a pity that Yang Yi has already been promoted to the Ministry of Shang Shutai. He has served for three years in the county and is going to Beijing to resign. Of course, the treatment that can be promoted as soon as the seniority is completed is that they, the sons of the public family, can
Only. If this were the case, there wouldn't be so many old officials who have wasted their whole 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 councilor.
But who would have expected that at this juncture, the Yellow Turban soldiers came to kill, but at this time the new Xingyang Order had not arrived yet. There was no choice but to take over the mess and take over the defense of Xingyang again.
Yang Yi is still very capable. He has served as the Xingyang Order for three years, and he knows very well that the key point of Xingyang's defense is the water gate on the north side of Xingyang. Through this water gate, you can directly enter the Yellow River, then go down to Luoshui, and then enter Kyoto all the way. Change
In other words, even if Xingyang is lost, the Water Gate cannot be lost. Yang Yi must guard the waterway of Xingyang Water Gate. Aocang and Guangwu City behind are all on this waterway.
So, in the name of the Xingyang Order, he issued a summons to recruit eight thousand Dingkou of Xingyang, ranging from the oldest to the lowest age. As long as they could hold a spear, they were all included in the conscription. Even the Ding women were recruited.
Use it to transfer supplies to the men on the top of the city.
Yang Yi is really ruthless this time. As a Gyeonggi county, Henan County has a registered population of approximately one million. However, Luoyang alone accounts for 300,000. And Henan County has 21 cities. In other words,
Excluding Kyoto, the remaining cities have an average population of only 20,000 per city. Xingyang City is larger, slightly more, but only around 30,000 people.
This time, Yang Yi directly recruited 8,000 men, which could be said to have wiped out Xingyang City as an army. If it weren't for the large number of wealthy families in the area who all supported Yang Yi, this scale of recruitment would have been impossible.
You must know that this world is not the military system of the Qin and Han Dynasties. Administrative orders can be used to mobilize national resources. Although the Eastern Han Dynasty was Han, 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.
Before the enemy besieged the city, he immediately built three fortifications in the south of the city to complement the crossbowmen on the city wall. Then at the most important water gate in the north, he sank three giant boats to block the waterway.
Many wealthy families in Xingyang City firmly disagreed with this decision. Xiang Gong said that the waterway in Xingyang is a waterway for water transportation, and it is also the most important channel. There are many boats coming and going every day. It can be said that gold is flowing everywhere.
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 thing. If you, Yang Yi, block this waterway, if Xingyang City is destroyed later, how will the rich people 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 defend 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 Yang family in Hongnong. By doing this, he offended the Zheng family to death, and his future future would probably 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 any selfish motives? Of course they did, but for the Han Dynasty, their loyalty could not be said.
After making such arrangements, 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 worked hard, and the rest depends on how the yellow scarf thief on the opposite side will make moves.
Stationed ten miles away, He Yi's troops were also rapidly expanding.
As mentioned before, the poor people in Xingyang, the capital of Guizhou, are living a miserable life because they have to be drafted and sent out for military service every year. But now that they heard that the Yellow Turbans have arrived in Xingyang, they are 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. What if 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 scarf thief in front of them. After this soldier entered the country, the men did not plunder and the women committed no crimes. It can be called a well-disciplined king's army.
This was also the shrewdness of He Yi. He realized that although the troops at his disposal were capable, they were limited. He knew that attacking Xingyang would still be difficult without winning over the local people's support.
Therefore, he and his soldiers ordered them not to harm 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 is nothing in Xingyang City. As long as they capture Xingyang, he promised not to seal the sword for three days. During this period, the soldiers will rob as much as they want, and it will all be theirs.
.
Now, the tigers and wolves under He Yi believed it, howling and vowing to conquer Xingyang and make a fortune.
It is a pity to say that the composition of the Runan Yellow Turban was originally the best among all parties in Taiping Dao. It was because Peng Tuo, the old Qushuai, was the son of a farmer. The original intention of joining Taiping Dao was to provide benefits to Guizhou leaders like him.
A way to survive.
Therefore, he promoted countless low-level Guizhou leaders like him in the sect, and the powerful faction in the sect had no chance at all in Runan. Among the six generals in Runan, He Yi and Liu Pi had slightly better family backgrounds, but one of them was
A pavilion chief who is not a popular person is just a visitor 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, the new Qu Commander selected by Peng Tuo, Huang Shao, was low-level enough and cared about the poor. But it was also because he only
The bottom level is spinning and there is no talent or talent, so the scope of the situation is very 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 would not be like this.
But if, after all, it is just if. He Yi eventually led his army away, and the Runan Yellow Turban eventually split the two armies.
As for He Yi, he has ambitions and skills. But he lacks ideals and believes more in profit. If he is like this, then he will naturally use profit to drive people.
This is the case with these tough soldiers under him. Most of them are farmers in Guizhou Province, and they are originally poor people. Logically speaking, they understand the sufferings of poor people better, and generally speaking, they will not rob Guizhou Province.
But robbery is a very exciting thing. Once you do it once, it is difficult to stop. They find that they can also bully others like the rich landlords did in the past. They have an illusion that they are no longer
Poor people are powerful people, people who can decide the life and death of others.
It is this psychedelic sense of power that fascinates them. They are no longer unknown people, but also figures. And once this happens, they will 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 head of Guizhou, 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 and the head of Guizhou a peaceful world.
As expected, these various strategies caused those Guizhou leaders in the nearby countryside who could not survive to join the army. In a short time, He Yi's military strength directly expanded to 8,000.
Then, like this, he led this mixed army to fight towards Xingyang City.