In the summer and June of the first year of Taiwu, Zhang Chong decided to make an expedition to the north to capture the land of Youxi.
First, the Northern Expedition military headquarters was moved to Handan, and then Marshal Zhang Dan of the right army was appointed as the prefect of Changshan and the town of Xiang. Marshal of the former army Ding Sheng was appointed as the prefect of Qinghe and the town of Guangzong was appointed. Marshal Dong Fang of the rear army was appointed as the prefect of Zhongshan and the town of Ju.
Deer are all on holiday. Zhang Chong's personal general, the Zhonghujun, has ten thousand people stationed in Handan.
Therefore, the strategy of this Northern Expedition became very clear.
That is to say, three routes were launched simultaneously, attacking in the north and defending in the east. Zhang Dan and Dong Fang each commanded 10,000 troops. They set off from Xiangguo and Julu for the northern expedition, and Ding Sheng garrisoned Guangzong to defend against the attack of the Han army on the right.
After all the armies were dispatched, Zhang Chong personally led the Central Guard Army to move forward to Xiangguo, deciding to use this place as a breakthrough.
On June 10, 20,000 Taiping troops entered the house and broke through the city without bloodshed.
In fact, this was thanks to Zhang Chong's original deployment of troops to support his hometown in the Changshan area.
Originally, Zhao Yun returned to the Changshan area to pull troops as a support force, but then the Guangzong Incident broke out, and Zhang Chong kept Zhao Yun in the army so that he could participate in this battle and accumulate merit.
Therefore, Liu Hui, the original Queen of the True King, and a group of companions were appointed to form the team to support the people in their hometown. Liu Hui's ability was indeed extraordinary. After only a few months after returning to his hometown, he relied on connections and bribes to establish connections in Fangfangcheng.
So, on June 10, when tens of thousands of troops surrounded the house, without any effort, Ling Zaojun opened the door and surrendered.
Zhang Chong met with Liu Hui, Guo Shu, Zhang Xiang and others, and seeing that their skills were indeed extraordinary, he recruited Liu Hui to his side, and ordered Guo Shu and Zhang Xiang to join the Feilong Army as cavalry generals, still serving as the vanguard of the entire army.
After taking the house effortlessly, Zhang Chong ordered his army to quickly attack the Yuan clan in Chongyi, Changshan.
As the hub of Guangyang Road's east and west divisions, Yuanshi can reach Daidai to the west and Yanji to the east. It can be said that if Zhang Chong wants to conquer Youji, Yuanshi is the city that must be attacked.
Precisely because this city must be captured by the enemy, in the original defense plan of Ju Shuoxian and Lu Zhi, this city was an important defensive fortress.
But this was the original situation. After the Xiang Kingdom was besieged earlier, although Feng Xun, the governor of Changshan, did not have the troops to go south for rescue, he was hoping in his heart that Lu Zhi, the general of Bei Zhonglang, could lead his army south for rescue.
But until Xiangguo's city was broken, he didn't see a single soldier in the north, or even any news. Feng Xun was heartbroken, and what was even worse was that Jushou had fought so well in Xiangguo, and he couldn't escape the city.
Damn, how can he be so virtuous and capable?
Therefore, Feng Xun did not want to stay with the Yuan clan, so he took most of the county troops directly north and stationed themselves at Jiumen in the north of the county. This place is located on the north bank of the Hutuo River and east of Jingxing Pass, making it a natural defensive fortress.
Feng Xun left not only because of this, but also because his relationship with the local powerful people of the Yuan clan had reached a freezing point over the matter of worshiping the mountain gods.
In fact, Feng Xun also regretted a little. If he had known that this day would come, why would he offend these local powerful men to death just for some money?
Not to mention that Feng Xun fled in despair, the seven powerful families on the Yuan clan directly held the Yuan clan magistrate Wang Yi in check, and controlled the power of the county, dominating and dominating.
And when they learned that the Taishan bandits were heading north, they were unwilling to give up their foundation and wealth, so they decided to defend the city of Yuanshi.
As the Yuan family was an important place in Changshan and a shortcut to enter Yan, the Han Dynasty naturally attached great importance to the defense of this city.
As early as Feng Xun's period, he and Changshan King Liu Hao recruited troops and fortified the area. After that, they recruited a total of 600 soldiers and built six garrisons ten miles outside the Yuan clan.
After the city of Xiangguo was destroyed, the powerful families of Changshan State panicked and began to arm their troops one after another. They received a total of three thousand soldiers. This number is also the total number of troops in Yuanshi City now.
The soldiers from other counties had already followed Feng Xunbei and retreated to the Jiumen area. And the local powerful in the city had to rely on 3,000 soldiers and 600 battalions outside the city to defend the Yuan clan. You can imagine the difficulty. .
In the first year of Taiwu, June 12th.
The Feilong Army, the vanguard of the Taiping Kingdom, was the first to arrive at the outer defense line of Yuanshi City.
Taking advantage of the early morning camp troops to go out to collect firewood, the leader of the Feilong Army, Li Hu, took advantage of the situation and entered directly. The camp troops were already weak and were caught off guard and were defeated.
The soldiers guarding the rear camp saw the troops in front and rushed north. They had no intention of fighting. The whole battalion abandoned the camp and fled. The Feihu Army took advantage of the victory and pursued it. After that, all six garrison walls were pulled out by Li Hu in one morning. The remaining Changshan State Battalion soldiers Unable to resist, they all fled into Yuanshi City.
In this way, in just one morning, the Taiping Northern Expeditionary Army used only one unit to pull out the Yuan clan's outer defense line and clear away obstacles.
It can be said that all the weakness of the Yuan clan was exposed to the eyes of the Taiping Kingdom.
Over there, although he was nine gates behind, Feng Xun, the Prime Minister of Changshan, whose attention was always on the Yuan clan, saw that the Yuan clan was fighting like this, and he also yelled:
"The local tycoons of that generation usually fight fiercely with me. I thought I would really treat these people as human beings, but I didn't expect that when the thieves and soldiers came, they would avoid them in fear and scurry away with their heads covered. The gold and jade were lost among them."
After that, Feng Xun no longer had any hope for the Yuan family. Instead, with the help of the Zhang family, the country's top tycoon, he strengthened his troops and prepared military supplies. At the same time, he made frequent remarks to Lu Zhi, telling the truth of the truth.
On the Taiping side, Zhang Chong led a large army to garrison the Yuanshi City and did not attack the city.
Instead, he began to order generals in the tent and ordered each battalion to plunder the cities and towns around the Yuan clan. These cities were located on the flanks and rear of the army. If they were not captured, their own supply lines would be in danger.
So Zhang Chong ordered Pan Zhang to lead thousands of troops to attack Luan City, Xie Bi to lead thousands of troops to attack Gaoyi, and Wang Zhang to lead thousands of troops to attack Pingji.
Afterwards, the army rested for two days under Yuanshi City, built a nest, a ladder and a ladder, and prepared to launch an attack on Yuanshi.
Also within these two days, the remnants of the Yellow Turbans and hungry people in Changshan came to Yuanshi City to defect to Zhang Chong.
Nowadays, Zhang Chong's prestige can be described as skyrocketing. The remnants of the Yellow Turbans who used to beg for their lives in the Taihang Mountains, under the leadership of young commanders Sun Qing and Yu Du, joined forces with the remnants of the weak and weak people and came to join them in tens of thousands of people.
The same was true for the hungry people nearby. After knowing that the Taishan Army, which had strict military discipline and made decisions for the head of Guizhou, arrived, they also gathered here one after another.
It has been two years since the chaos in Hebei. It was a natural and man-made disaster. In addition, Changshan State has missed spring plowing this year. It can be said that there are hungry people everywhere and they are homeless. As for the hungry people, Changshan State in the stable period will still think of providing relief, but this In these troubled times, when food is more important than life, no one can help them.
Therefore, they could only place their hope on the great general who would do justice for heaven.
They didn't know that General Chongtian had become the Lord of Taiping at this time, and he was still called by his previous name. But no matter what the Taishan Army was called, his determination to serve the people never changed.
Facing the endless stream of hungry people, Zhang Chong managed them with the Shiwu system on the one hand, and on the other hand, he stepped up the allocation of grain and grass from the rear to the front.
And soon, many Taishan generals who were sent to attack other counties and cities sent news of success one after another and sent food and grass to the Yuan clan camp.
In fact, Changshan's troops in the southern counties had long been depleted by Prime Minister Xu Xun. He felt that in the battle of Xiangguo, the Han army was fortified everywhere, and finally found itself defenseless, so he decided to gather the entire county's troops in one place.
, be a long-term guard.
Therefore, counties such as Luancheng, Gaoyi, and Pingji have long been depleted of their military strength, and each city only has a hundred patrols to maintain daily security.
And when Pan Zhang and other tiger and wolf generals appeared outside the city with thousands of elite soldiers, the final result was naturally self-evident.
The local tycoons in the three cities had either been frightened and fled or hid far away. The remaining ones also lost all their money and food to the army in exchange for peace. As a result, the three cities were conquered without a fight.
In addition, after Wang Zhang defeated Pingji, he encountered Dong Fang's army heading north from Julu. At this moment, they also successively pulled out the Yingtao and Yang clans and were heading towards the Xiaquyang area.
They will attack Xiaquyang as planned, and then wait here for the next military order.
At the same time, the three flying cavalry battalions of Feihu, Feilong and Feibao also bypassed Yuanshi City and quickly headed north, trying to attack Chongyi Zhending on the south bank of the Hutuo River.
There, they will join up with the two thousand infantrymen assigned to the rear army by the Marshal's Mansion, and together they will launch an attack on Zhending.
It was when such good news came frequently that Zhang Chong ordered an attack on the Yuan clan.
After being fully prepared, the elite soldiers with the Central Guards as the backbone stood on the top of the Yuanshi city an hour after the siege.
Almost all the guards in the Taiping Army wore full-body iron armor. Once they stood on the top of the city, they looked like rocks. As the flags of the Han army were cut to pieces, with three cheers of long live, the Taiping Army captured the Yuan clan.
Since the Yuan clan was defeated, Zhang Chong did not rest and reorganize. He left one part of Li Wu to guard and organize, while most of the troops continued northward, preparing to join the forward army.
But on the way, Zhang Chong received a military report from the front. The five vanguard armies headed by Li Hu, Xu Huang, Xi Shen, Zhang Ying, and Li Xian were frustrated at the gate of Zhending City.
Although the loss of troops was not large, it undoubtedly had a huge impact on the situation of success since the Northern Expedition.
…
At that time, when Dong Fang's army broke through the empty Xiaquyang, there was the Hutuo River on the opposite side, and Zhongshan on the other side of the river.
At this time, Zhongshan was leaderless and in chaos, but after learning about the Taishan Army's Northern Expedition, several local tycoon forces in the southern counties still united together to defend the Hutuo River.
However, Dong Fang saw that the water surface of the Hutuo River was wide and there was no boat division to cross it. In addition, he saw that the river on the other side was heavily fortified and did not dare to go deep alone. So he temporarily left Quyang to reorganize his army.
Later, when Dong visited the base camp, Feijun Tiqi sent a military report and ordered him to divide his troops to march west along the Hutuo River to Zhending, where they would join the Feilong, Feihu, and Feibao armies to attack Zhending.
Subsequently, Dong Fang ordered Zuojun Lieutenant Zhang Ying and Deputy Lieutenant Li Xian to lead two thousand officers and soldiers westward to Zhending.
On June 14, Zhang Ying and Li Xianbu arrived at the east of Zhending City.
At this time, the three armies of Feilong, Feihu and Feibao had already wiped out all the fortresses outside Zhending City, leaving only Zhending City waiting for Zhang Ying and Li Xian to attack.
At first, the flying dragon, flying tiger, and flying leopard troops were not angry. They felt that they had spent a long time and let the cubs of the rear army marshal pick the peaches.
But when Zhang Ying and Li Xian actually attacked the city, the three generals realized how lucky they were.
It turns out that the true order at this time was not an ordinary subordinate, but a loyal man named Sun Jin.
This official is not very famous now, but in history, this person later belonged to Liu Yu, the shepherd of Youzhou. When Liu Yu was killed by Gongsun Zan, this monarch was loyal and righteous, and cursed Gongsun Zan endlessly, and finally had a fight with his master. And died by the sword.
The other side of Zhending is Jiumen, which is where Changshan Prime Minister Feng Xun was stationed at this time. It can be said that Zhending is the bridgehead of Jiumen on the other side of the river, and its location is extremely important.
Therefore, Feng Xunxun recommended Sun Jin as Zhen Ding, and he defended Zhen Ding with his loyalty and courage.
Zhending was originally a dayi, and it was one of the few large cities with ten thousand people in Changshan. And with the destruction of Xiangguo City, many aristocratic families in the southern part of Changshan Kingdom evacuated to Zhending in the north, and the population of Zhending City once reached 20,000. up and down.
With such abundant human resources, coupled with the fear of the Taishan Army, Sun Jin was able to massively expand his military strength.
Moreover, in order to prevent the powerful families from fleeing Zhending City from fleeing, Sun Jin sealed the four gates of the city and asked Feng Xun on the other side of the river to give him an order to kill anyone who crossed the river!
Feng Xun did not expect Sun Jin to be so decisive. Finally, feeling that Sun Jin was loyal and loyal, he approved the order. He specially dispatched a river patrol army of 2,000 people to patrol the Hutuo River day and night, shooting anyone who dared to sneak across the river. .
After cutting off the retreat in the city, Sun Jin asked the border general Tian Kai to be his general, and unified all the troops in the city under Tian Kai's command.
Sun Jin had a deep understanding of this fellow countryman and knew that Tian Kai was a strong general, so he asked Feng Xun to let Lu Zhi let Tian Kai go south to guard Zhending.
Sun Jin and others had known for a long time that almost none of the local chiefs of Changshan State were trained in military affairs. Even if there were one or two who were loyal and loyal, they would inevitably die due to lack of ability.
Therefore, Sun Jin flew to Lu Zhi, and Quan Tian Kai entered the city to assist in the defense and enrich Zhending's defense.
Tian Kai was still a mid-level officer in the Youbei Legion at the moment, commanding only a hundred troops. He never thought that his fellow countryman Sun Jin would take the initiative against him.
But Tian Kai needed this opportunity. At this time, he was unknown and urgently needed a tough battle to make his name. So, after obtaining Lu Zhi's consent, Tian Kai led 200 people from his headquarters and Lu Zhi sent 200 people to gather together One unit marched southward.
On June 10th, Changshan Guofang's city fell, and on June 12th, Yuanshi City was in danger. On the same day, Tian Kai led 400 northern soldiers from his headquarters to Zhending and lowered himself from the cradle into the city.
As soon as Tian Kai entered the city, Sun Jin entrusted all the military affairs in the city with his subordinates in the civil and military affairs. All war and defense affairs were subject to Tian Kai's control and dispatch. Anyone who did not obey the order would act according to military law.
In this way, Tian Kai was ordered to face the danger, and he was grateful for Sun Jin's kindness in knowing him. He decided to live and die with the city. Sun Jin, together with the powerful officials from the Zhending family, stood southwest with Tian Kai, beheaded the chicken head, and made an alliance with their blood to live and die together.
die.
After Tian Kai took over Zhending, he ordered his troops from the north to descend on the city and burn all the residential buildings outside the city. He knew that only the foreign soldiers under his command could do this job, and the local soldiers were not willing to do it.
Burning people's houses and destroying people's grass markets have always been hateful things.
But there was nothing Tiankai could do. It was determined to be a thoroughfare city in the north. Business travelers from Youzhou, Bingzhou, and Qingzhou had to pass through here, and it became one of the few commercial cities in the north.
Therefore, not only is there a large population in Zhending City, but there are also large residential areas outside the city, all of which are used for business travelers and overnight stays.
Tian Kai discovered the shortcomings here on the day he entered the city. Once the Thai thieves used this place as a nest and used it to attack the city, it would inevitably become a weak point in the city's defense.
So Tian Kai burned all the houses outside the city.
Then he recruited more troops and got a total of five thousand troops. Among them, he arranged a thousand men to guard each of the four gates in the southeast and north. He took his own troops and an extra thousand men to garrison in the city to act as a mobile.
However, Zhang Ying and Li Xian, who had just arrived, had no idea about all this. They had effortlessly defeated the city along the way from the Northern Expedition. They only thought that with the blow of their horns, the beat of the drums, and the charge of their subordinates, this
I've definitely won it.
Subsequently, they suffered a heavy loss in Zhending. The five hundred soldiers responsible for the main attack suffered a terrifying arrow rain from Zhending City. In the end, they lost a hundred soldiers and had no choice but to retreat.
Even though it was only a hundred people died, since the Northern Expedition, when their rear army marshal's troops took the entire northern part of Julu, they had not killed so many people. In Zhending, this number was reached in one battle.
At this time, the second general realized that this was really difficult to fight!
Therefore, they formed a camp and stopped their troops, waiting for the next military order from the base camp.
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