Huang Wan's letters were numerous and miscellaneous. Most of the letters to Liu Hong contained military information, and those I picked up said that. The letters to the ministers of the DPRK were full of pessimism and the desolation of sacrificing one's life for the country. The letters to his nephew in Beijing were full of pessimism. The letter contains the teachings of the elders, instructing his nephew to read more scriptures and not indulge in hunting. He also summarized and refined some of his military management experience in the army to his nephew, hoping that they would pay attention to military affairs.
Ding Sheng passed all these things in one go, and the most important of them were three letters. One was sent by Lu Zhi, the current Bei Zhonglang, which clearly stated that the war in Hebei had reached a stalemate, and that Youzhou, which was originally assigned to him, After the war is over, please be sure to send the Tuqi back and let him go north. This letter is about Hebei. It seems that the decisive battle between the Han army and the Yellow Turbans in Hebei has reached a critical period.
The second letter was from Zhang Wen, the general of the Zuo Zhonglang. He said in the letter that he and Zhu Jun, the general of the Right Zhonglang, had organized the power in Runan and would march to Xingyang with 30,000 troops. Please Huang Wan must strengthen the walls and clear the country and not fight with the Taishan thieves.
What shocked Ding Sheng was this letter. Who would have thought that Huang Wan had just been beaten here, and there were still 30,000 Han soldiers behind him? Could these Han soldiers be inexhaustible?
And Ding Sheng was also surprised. With his military literacy, he could see that Zhang Wen's plan was very good. He knew the situation himself, and the Taishan Army's logistical pressure was always very heavy. If Huang Wan chose to fortify the wall and clear the country, and could not escape, When the Han army from the south arrives, it is possible that the Taishan army will be defeated in this battle.
I just don’t know why Huang Wan gave up on this.
In fact, what can Huang Wan do? It was Liu Hong who kept asking Huang Wan when he would send troops to exterminate the Taishan bandits. The powerful people also complained that they had to go back before the autumn harvest, otherwise there would be no manpower to collect millet. Give it to them. Huang Wan could not withstand the pressure and had no choice but to send troops.
This was the second letter, and what made Ding Sheng even more frightened was the third letter. The content of the letter obviously came from a senior military officer or staff member in the Taishan Army. The general wrote all the true and false information to Huang Wan, and most of the letters were written to Huang Wan. Part of the text talks about Qu Shuai's character, experience, and decision-making.
After reading this, Ding Sheng had one thought at the time:
"There is a traitor among us!"
Since the Taishan Army experienced the Zhang Goudu incident, it has been pulling the strings of traitors. But now there is a traitor who is bigger than Zhang Goudu. What kind of storm will this set off for the Taishan Army?
Thinking of this, Ding Sheng called Jinquan and asked him to stay behind, and then he sneaked back to the camp with a few guards and letters under the cover of night.
This matter is too important, and the fewer people know about it, the better.
…
Because Xingyang was not far from the battlefield, Xingyang County Magistrate Yang Zan knew about the afternoon defeat in the evening.
This time Huang Wan led his troops to the expedition, and the Yang family of Hongnong also went out under the leadership of his nephew Yang Gan. But now, there is no news from his troops. As an uncle, Yang Zan is heartbroken and does not know how to communicate with his clan. People said that originally, he should have chosen some capable people to go to the battlefield and check whether his nephew was killed in the battle or captured. Different results lead to different handling methods.
But at this moment, he could no longer care about his family nephew, because Xingyang City was already in chaos.
Each family in the city has its own connections, either having sons and nephews in the army, or patrolling the battlefield to listen to the war. And because they selected capable tribesmen, they were more concerned about the development of the war than Yang Zan's county soldiers.
These powerful people in the city knew the result faster than Huang Wan.
At this time, Xingyang City was in chaos. Every family was tying ox carts and moving large boxes. They were about to run to the west. There were Chenggao and Hulao Pass, the largest passes in the world. Where to run
It will be safe. If the Taishan army takes advantage of the victory to attack Xingyang City at this time, it can even catch the Han army off guard and capture Xingyang City at a very small cost.
But it's a pity, if only, Ding Sheng's troops were originally the most promising to attack with victory. However, because his men returned to the Yuegang camp of the Taishan Army overnight, Jin Quan was the only one in the army to command.
At night, the city of Xingyang was full of fire, and the noise of carriages and horses kept coming. When the nearby sentinel got this information and told Jin Quan, because there was no military order, he did not dare to raise his troops rashly, so he could only watch the fighter planes pass by.
The chaos in Xingyang City continued until dawn. During this period, Xingyang had no defensive capabilities at all. Xingyang's powerful forces had given up hope of defending Xingyang City, and the four walls could no longer bring them a sense of security. So even if Tian
Staying here, they can only endure the pain and cut the flesh. Only by running outside Hulao Pass can they have a chance.
As soon as the powerful people left, one of the consequences was that the number of soldiers in Xingyang City was immediately reduced by nine levels. There were only more than 800 county soldiers left in the city. The other soldiers were mobilized as the powerful people rushed westward.
After all, these soldiers are still powerful.
During this process, Xingyang made Yang Zan look at him completely coldly, and did not refuse the powerful people to leave. Some friends tried to persuade him to go with him. With his status as Yang family, even if he abandoned the city and left, he would definitely be dismissed from his post and his life would be saved.
preservation.
But Yang Zan refused, saying that it was precisely because I came from the Yang family that I couldn't leave. My nephew had already sacrificed his life for the country, how could I, an uncle, be worse than a nephew?
At dawn, after all the power in Xingyang City was gone, Yang Zan immediately had the four gates sealed. He said to those still left in the city:
"In this battle, I will die together with the city. If I am here, the city will be there. If the city is lost, I will die. If there are two or three sons who dare to surrender, they will be executed."
At this time, Yang Zan no longer expected to be kind and gentle. He wanted to use iron and blood to unite these people in the city, regardless of whether they were willing to defend or not? Concentrate all the corn in his hand, and only those who go to the top of the city can eat. And once
Once you reach the top of the city, can you still control your own life and death?
Can the Yellow Turban Army coerce you? I, Yang Zan, can’t coerce you?
In this way, Zhang Chong didn't know that there would be such a madman in Xingyang City. What kind of variables would this bring to his subsequent war?
…
The Taishan Army did not attack the city, and after Zhang Chong obtained Ding Sheng's letter, he did not investigate who was the traitor. He focused all his energy on transporting and treating the wounded.
The Taishan Army did not transport all the injured Taishan Army officers and soldiers back to the camp until the afternoon of September 16th.
Later, the Taishan Army, who had rested for the night, returned to the battlefield and began to clean the battlefield. There were many armors and weapons that they needed to carry, and the warriors did not dare to take these things privately.
The battlefield at this time was much quieter than yesterday. Obviously, many of the seriously injured Han soldiers did not survive until now, and some were weak and could only moan. These were obviously slightly injured.
When they saw the Taishan Army coming back, they cried out for help, begging them to save them. They were lucky, because this time the Taishan Army came to save them, because those who survived to this day were generally with minor injuries.
Members can recover with a little treatment. And these people will be the new source of soldiers for the Taishan Army.
What the Han soldiers asked for the most was water. Among them, those who were thirsty the longest had not had water for two days. Of course, many of them asked for wine, which was ignored by the Taishan soldiers.
What a joke, if they want to drink, they have to wait for a big victory, so where can they get the wine to drink?
Birds and beasts have begun to appear near the battlefield, and the strong smell of blood has kept them hungry all night. It wasn't the bonfires burning everywhere last night that hindered them. They had already come here to feast. But now that the flames are gone, only those who don't look so...
The threatening Twolegs, nearby wild wolves, tigers and leopards all rushed over. In the end, they all became the Twolegs' meal.
Without the cover of the night, the horror on the battlefield is directly exposed to everyone. There are broken pieces and corpses everywhere, and you can see the various forms of death here. Some are smiling, some are curled up, and their faces are full of pain.
Yes, this kind of death must have been preceded by great pain.
If those hard workers came to clean the battlefield last night, they might have been frightened to death. But this time they are veterans who have been on the battlefield. They have become numb to life and death. This is a slaughterhouse, and they are butchers. Lying here
It's not a human being, it's just a beast with two legs and a head.
There was a wave of wounded soldiers on the edge of the battlefield, and the care they received was obviously better than that of the Han army. These people were the Ruying Yellow Turbans. With the support of the Taishan Army, these people limped back to the Yuegang Camp, where
There is food and water, as well as basic care.
One thing to say is that the Taishan Army is definitely not as concerned about these Ru Ying Yellow Turbans as its own wounded soldiers, otherwise it would not have been delayed until the next day and some of the wounded soldiers had not been transferred. But based on past experience, these Ru Ying Yellow Turbans will undoubtedly be lucky.
Much more. In the past, they were injured and left to fend for themselves on the battlefield.
The Taishan Army picked up the armor of the Han soldiers. These were the most important captures of this battle. As the Taishan Army moved further and further away from the Taishan area, it was difficult for them to supply their own-made armor in the outer battles, so every battle
The clothes and armor ripped off from the Han army became the only supplement for the Taishan army.
There were about four thousand soldiers of the Han army in this battle, which was undoubtedly a very large elite. There are at least three thousand armors left on the battlefield. With the addition of these armors, the Taishan Army
Although there were a lot of casualties in the first battle, the overall strength did not drop much.
After taking off their clothes and armor, and cleaning up the battlefield and seizures, the Taishan Army returned to camp. There will be a huge bonfire party tonight, and all the officials will participate. They should go back early to clean up after themselves, and participate in this event with a decent image.
A banquet for the whole army.
The Taishan Army returned to camp, leaving corpses all over the ground. These are no longer under their control. Later, a group of civilians will come from the Heji area, Guansuo, Xinzheng and other areas of Xinzhan, and these corpses will be buried by them.
.
…
In order to hold this banquet, the Taishan Army prepared a lot. Not only were pigs, sheep, and horses hard to eat on weekdays, but everyone also had a bowl of wine. Of course, these supplies were all captured from the Han Army's camps.
It was the seizure list brought by Ding Sheng that gave Zhang Chong the confidence to hold such a large-scale bonfire party. This battle was the most brutal battle fought by the Taishan Army. If he wanted to calm down the irritability of the soldiers, he had to come.
A big banquet with wine and meat is not allowed.
The cooks were busy cleaning up the pigs, sheep and horses. The cooks from Huangwan were very helpful. With their help, the feast began to be prepared in an orderly manner.
The soldiers were naturally thinking about wine and meat, but the officers and soldiers of the Taishan Army were eagerly thinking about another thing, and that was the ranking of meritorious service in this battle.
Commander Qu is very strict about military merit, but as long as there is merit, Commander Qu is very generous and will never let the officials down or be wronged. For example, Yu Jin was only born in Shanliao, but he was defeated and surrendered, but after all his great achievements, he was
Now he has achieved the position of Colonel of the Zuo Department of the Central Guard Army. There is also Guo Mo, a general like the Colonel of the Zuo Department, who also achieved this position by gaining advanced skills with one sword and one gun.
In short, although the Taishan Army was very strict in terms of military merit, its promotion channels were very smooth. Just by allowing those with meritorious service to be given positions, I don't know how much better it was than the Han Army.
In addition to the grading of meritorious service, the officials are also concerned about one thing, and that is reward. Reward, reward, as the saying goes, there is a reward and there is a reward. The banquet tonight is a reward for the whole army, so the reward is naturally indispensable.
Because the Taishan Army implements the holy treasury system, there is no salary on weekdays. It’s not that Zhang Chong is stingy, but the Han army on the opposite side also has no salary, and they only receive millet and clothing. But these things have long been included in the holy treasury system implemented by the Taishan Army.
It's inside.
But the lack of salary does not mean that Zhang Chong does not need to pay. Just like the Han army, the Taishan army will give out a batch of rewards after a victory, whether it is wine or meat, clothes or millet. In short, those who have made meritorious services should be rewarded to encourage them.
function.
In fact, this is also a psychological factor. The daily supply of food and clothing is necessary, and only distributing these can ensure that the Taishan soldiers are not dispersed. But if nothing is distributed after the war, then there will be such a problem in the mentality:
Since I work hard and get the same treatment as before, why do I have to fight so hard? If you ask me to go to the battlefield, I can't refuse, but can't I just mess around? Can't I win a bad battle? Can you control me?
Therefore, rewards after the war became a means to satisfy everyone. Especially since this time it was such a hard battle, and the army was increasingly demoralized and unwilling to avoid war, there was an even greater need for rewards.
Zhang Chong has thought about all this. This time he will give gold to those who have meritorious service. Yes, it is gold, and it will be melted into gold medals by him and distributed.
Ding Sheng's troops transported a batch of gold from the Han army camp, which was probably several thousand kilograms. Zhang Chong also thought about the smelting style, so he asked the craftsman to make a clay mold and write seven words inside:
"Zhang Chong bestowed gold upon Xingyang"
These gold medals are honors awarded by Zhang Chong to meritorious officials, allowing them to pass them on to their children, so that their descendants can remember and cherish the merits of their ancestors for generations to come.
This is Zhang Chong's method. Not only material rewards, but also spiritual rewards must be achieved in one step.
Most of the gold medals have been poured out and will be distributed after the banquet. The reason for being so anxious is that Zhang Chong learned the lessons of Song Taizong of later generations. During the Northern Expedition, he repeatedly postponed the reward for conquering Taiyuan.
It is not to say that the Northern Expedition failed and the rewards were all gone. It is difficult to say whether the failure of the Northern Expedition was related to the lack of timely rewards, but the soldiers were definitely unhappy.
Zhang Chong will continue to fight in the future. If he follows Zhao Er's approach, it will be really unpopular. Therefore, Zhang Chong not only plans to hand out the gold medals after the banquet, but also plans to pile up the gold medals and hand them out one by one himself.
.We must maximize the incentive effect of this reward.
In this way, the account owners and clerks hurriedly counted the merits; the cooks and soldiers were busy collecting the ingredients; the officials carried water to wash themselves and put on clean military uniforms; the military officials silently looked forward to the rewards of this battle.
Everyone is looking forward to the big banquet tonight.