Chapter 404 0399 [Zhong Xiang founded the Chu Kingdom]
The imperial court attacked Sichuan from three directions. The most unlucky person was not Tong Guan or Zhongshi Dao, but Wang Zhen who walked along the Yangtze River!
First, the soldiers pulled the cross.
Wang reported that three thousand of his troops were from the Tokyo Forbidden Army. Originally, the Forbidden Army was already very weak, but Wang reported that those Forbidden Army were the remnants of Tong Guantiao.
In addition to the imperial army, they also recruited thousands of young and strong refugees in the Kaifeng Prefecture. Then they passed by the Lianghuai River and brought the Lianghuai Xiang Army and the rural soldiers with them. When they arrived in Yueyang, they also picked up a group of Jinghu North Road troops.
A motley army of more than 40,000 people was cobbled together!
This kind of chaotic temporary mixed army, to put it bluntly, is not as good at fighting as the armed civilians under Ju Ming.
Even with an old helmsman guiding the way, Wang Zhen's army lost several ships when crossing the Qutang Gorge. This was because it was not the time to send troops at this season. It was the flood season of the Yangtze River, and it was the most dangerous time to encounter the Qutang Gorge.
After finally crossing the Qutang Gorge, we encountered the natural dangers of Kuimen again.
There are iron chains across the river, making it difficult to pass.
He wanted to send someone to break the iron lock, but was attacked by the rebels again. Wang Zhen had no choice but to retreat to Wushan with his entire army.
After wasting half a month in this way, Wang Zhen tried to go north along the Daning River (Wuxi). Daning Prison (Wuxi County) was still in the hands of the court at this time. From there, he could go over the mountains and ridges to the northwest of Kuimen.
It's just that it's difficult for a large army to pass through. At most, a small group of elites can be sent to make a surprise attack, and the success rate is extremely low.
After rummaging through the trash for gold, Wang Zhen finally picked out two thousand warriors.
After these "elites" left, the troops under Wang Hui's command were completely stretched, which was not much different from commanding a group of civilians.
At this time, dissatisfaction was brewing among the Jinghu soldiers.
Zhong Xiang, Zhong Zi'ang and his son joined Wang Zhen's army in Yueyang as self-recruited rural soldiers. They always connected with the army and relied on the believers in the army to spread Manichaeism crazily and quietly.
After Wang Zhen mobilized two thousand "elites" for a surprise attack, Zhong Xiang led a group of believers to plan a mutiny.
First, in the name of withholding food and salary, he led the soldiers to argue for payment and killed the officers who distributed the food and salary.
Then he killed the generals from Jinghu Road who came to dissuade him, and said to everyone: "Killing an official is tantamount to rebellion, and changing the army is a serious crime. The court cannot spare our lives. Now the court is unjust, corrupt officials are rampant, and all the heroes in the world are rebelling."
Zhu Xianggong has already occupied Sichuan, and the natural barrier of Kuimen cannot be defeated. Instead of following Wang Zhen to Kuimen and dying, it is better to follow me back to Jingbei Road and build a paradise where the rich and the poor are equal, and the rich and the poor are equal..."
Wang Zhen was originally in Wushan City, discussing with the county magistrate the recruitment of civilian husbands.
Hearing that someone was making a riot in the military camp outside the city, Wang Zhen quickly led the defenders in the city to suppress it. As soon as he pulled the troops out, the riot had evolved into a mutiny. The largest number of soldiers from Jinghu were chasing and killing soldiers from Kaifeng and Lianghuai.
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The defeated troops had nowhere to escape and could only run toward the city gate, instantly routing Wang Zhen's troops.
No matter how powerful the king was, he was unable to use it at all and could only flee around the city with his own soldiers.
Zhong Xiang led his troops to plunder all the Wushan County. His son Zhong Ziang also rebelled against a large number of warships and led the Jinghu navy to fight with the Huaihe navy.
Sixty percent of Wang Zhen's troops were Jinghu soldiers!
The Jinghu soldiers happened to be at the bottom of the army's contempt chain. Their dissatisfaction, which had been brewing for a long time, was exploited by a group of religious masters. The consequences can be imagined.
Zhu Meng refitted a large number of warships, and the imperial court mobilized countless money and grain, thus becoming the capital for Prime Minister Zhong and Zhong Ziang to raise troops.
The father and son led the army back home, plundering Badong, Zigui, Yiling, Yidu, Zhijiang and other cities along the way. If they could make a surprise attack, they would rush in and seize the city. If the surprise attack failed, they would leave immediately and send people to sneak into Jiangling City in advance.
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After Zhong Xiang and his son occupied Jiangling, they killed officials, monks and Taoists, scholars, merchants, and landlords, demolished Confucian temples, Buddhist temples, and Taoist temples, and incited the people at the bottom to carry out bloody revenge.
The Manichaean organizational system replaced the original bureaucratic and gentry system and quickly swept through the Public Security, Shishou, Huarong and other counties.
Even when Wushan raised troops, he thought about his country's name and sent a boat to Kuimen to inform Li Bao.
The ship hoisted the Manichaean flag and successfully met Li Bao.
The envoy was Yang Kui, the apprentice of Prime Minister Zhong. When he met, he said: "The king's army has been defeated. My master is going back to Jiangling to raise troops. Your master has sent me to deliver a letter to you."
After Li Bao read the letter, he felt extremely ridiculous.
In the letter, Prime Minister Zhong expressed his respect for Zhu Guoxiang and Ju Ming, agreed to fight against the imperial court together, and even unilaterally divided the territory.
Prime Minister Zhong claimed that he wanted to establish the "Great Chu State", and also encouraged the Zhu family and his sons to establish the "Great Shu State". From now on, they would rule by dividing the rivers, with the Zhu family and his sons ruling north of the Yangtze River, and the Zhong family and his sons ruling south of the Yangtze River.
Since everyone was rebelling, Li Bao entertained them and said that it was not his decision to make the decision on how to divert the river and rule the river, and he could only convey his opinions to the higher authorities.
With more than ten years of missionary foundation, the prefectures and counties surrounding Dongting Lake were also quickly captured by Zhong Xiang.
Moreover, the speed of advancing troops by boat was extremely fast. In just over a month, they occupied half of Jiangling Prefecture, half of Lizhou, and the entire territory of Yuezhou and Dingzhou. They also marched towards Jinghu South Road and conquered Xiangyin in one battle.
Fight again and fall into Changsha.
This clock phase of time and space is causing more trouble than in history.
Because the troops on Jinghu North Road were all drawn to fight against Ju Ming, Zhong Xiang instigated a mutiny, killing the generals and pocketing them. And the troops on Jinghu South Road had just killed Fang Qifu and hid in the mountains. Miao, Yao and other people
Rebellion began again. The officers and soldiers were suppressing the uprising of ethnic minorities. Prime Minister Zhong took advantage of the situation and captured Changsha.
Unable to wait to capture the entire territory of Tanzhou, Prime Minister Zhong established the Chu State in Jiangling and implemented the rule of unifying politics and religion.
He claimed that the Great Chu Kingdom was the Great Bright Kingdom, and all the temples of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism were demolished. If Confucian scholars, monks, and Taoist priests did not convert to Manichaeism, they would be killed immediately if caught.
The property of merchants must be confiscated, the Dharma altar in the city serves as the governing body, and a complex system of "religious societies" is established in the countryside. The leaders of the society lead the peasants to kill the landlords in rebellion, and distribute the land to believers, thereby achieving "equalization of wealth and poverty, equality of high and low"
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Countless officials, scholars, monks, merchants, and landowners were frightened and fled towards surrounding states and counties.
After Zhong Xiang became emperor, he sent people to contact Fang Qifu, the Miao and Yao rebels, and conferred a number of religious officials to make them submit.
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Li Bao led his army to Wushan, which had been looted by Prime Minister Zhong and occupied by Wang Zhen who came back with his remaining soldiers.
Wang Zhen gathered thousands of remnant soldiers and recalled the 2,000 elite troops sent for the surprise attack. There were still more than 8,000 troops in total. Unfortunately, the army rations were robbed by Prime Minister Zhong. The food requisitioned from Daning Prison (Wuxi) was not enough for a few soldiers.
Thousands of soldiers are consumed every day.
Li Bao's troops were transferred to Hanzhong by Ju Ming, with only a few thousand men left.
But he had plenty of food, so he did not attack when he came to the city. Instead, he cooked pots and shot books to persuade them to surrender.
Li Bao made some indirect inquiries and basically understood the situation in Wushan from the words of Prime Minister Zhong's envoy.
Wang Zhen's official position was greater than that of He Guan. He was the commander of the Xuanfu Division.
Historically, Wang Xun defended Taiyuan for nine months before being invaded by the Jin soldiers. He led his remaining soldiers to fight in the streets and was shot to death by dozens of bullets. His eldest son Wang Xun died by drowning himself in the river.
The situation at this time was even worse. Firstly, the soldiers' combat effectiveness was worrying, secondly, there was not much food left, and thirdly, the people in the city were hungry.
Prime Minister Zhong looted so hard that he ransacked all the rich households and grain shops in the city, while the people at the bottom had little leftover grain in their homes.
"General, I am willing to go to the city to persuade you to surrender," said Rong Jue, the secretary in charge of the army.
Li Bao smiled and said, "Aren't you afraid of being chopped by a knife?"
Rong Jue said: "If I die, please ask the general to avenge me."
"Okay!" Li Bao agreed immediately.
Rong Jue was a poor scholar from Bazhou who even joined a private salt selling gang.
He came to the city with his head held high and shouted loudly: "Who is the guard of this city? Do you dare to let me enter the city for a brief explanation?"
Wang Zhen responded: "When the two armies are fighting, do not kill the envoys, but retreat quickly, otherwise they will serve with bows and arrows."
Rong Jue asked: "How much food is there in the city? If there is not enough food, there is plenty outside the city! The general himself was loyal to the court, and he will get a good reputation even if he dies. But what about the officers and soldiers under the general? Don't mention their names when they die.
Even the bones are buried. Does the general want to sacrifice the lives of the entire city and the entire army to achieve his reputation of being loyal to the emperor and serving the country? How mean and selfish!"
Wang Zhen's face was gloomy and he didn't even order the arrow to be fired.
Rong Jue continued: "You can shoot me to death, but if I die, all the soldiers and civilians in the city will be buried with me! Our army does not need to attack by force. We only need to besiege the city for half a month, and the defenders in the city will be too hungry. We don't have many soldiers, General.
You can also lead your troops out of the city for a decisive battle! Either drop down quickly or fight quickly. It would be really detrimental to the general to delay. With that said, I say goodbye!"
Wang Chen watched Rong Jue leave without knowing what he was thinking.
His son Wang Xun said: "Father, although this man came to confuse the morale of the army, everything he said is true. Either descend quickly or fight quickly. We must make a decision before the food and grass are exhausted."
Wang Zhen hesitated for a moment and finally said: "Open the door and kill the enemy!"
The archers all stood on the city wall to prevent the rebels from attacking while the officers and soldiers were out of the city.
Wang Zhen personally led the army, opened the city gate and slowly came out.
Except for Wang Zhen's personal soldiers and the two thousand elite soldiers used for surprise attacks, the rest were all gathered from Kaifeng, and the two Huai soldiers were defeated.
Not to mention fighting, even leaving the city was trembling with fear, and the formation was chaotic for a long time. Because the original organization had been broken up and now it was reorganized. The remaining soldiers from different units were combined with temporarily appointed officers.
Military orders are not delivered smoothly!
Li Bao's troops were not large to begin with, and he still wanted to leave troops to defend Kuizhou. This time he only brought navy troops and 3,000 infantry troops.
Three thousand rebels stood in formation at the foot of the stone steps.
More than six thousand officers and soldiers marched down from the top of the steps, and two thousand archers stood at the top of the city.
Before they were out of the range of the archers, Wang Zhen ordered the march to stop and reorganize the formation. The melee soldiers stood by and ordered the archers to leave the city.
"Drumming!"
Seeing the archers of the officers and soldiers leaving the city, Li Bao immediately ordered an attack and took advantage of the absence of the archers to rush out.
Three thousand rebels went to kill more than 6,000 officers and soldiers, and Li Bao didn't even call the sailors ashore to help.
Before the battle started, the rebel shield bearer threw javelins continuously, and the squad leader kept shooting arrows along the way.
Wang Zhen led his own soldiers and two thousand elites in front. He had to do this, otherwise the miscellaneous troops would collapse at the first touch. In front of him, the rebel army rushed from the front. Wang Xun asked his son and generals to lead the miscellaneous troops to both sides.
The advantage is attack from three sides.
There was no winner or loser on the frontal front, and it soon fell into a stalemate.
Because the rebel army changed its formation during the advance, the front width was very narrow and the vertical width became thicker. There were not many soldiers fighting Wang Zhen's headquarters.
Wang Zhen finally understood Han Shizhong's feelings. When he first encountered the Yuanyang Formation, there was no way to break it. He was really disgusted and could only hope to be surrounded by two sides.
However, the three thousand rebels were besieged on three sides by twice as many enemies, and the first to collapse were the motley crew of officers and soldiers.
With their large number of troops, they besieged the rebels and were able to muster up some courage to fight.
It was found that the rebels did not flee, and were still fighting. The Imperial Army from the capital fled first, followed closely by the two Huaihe soldiers.
Li Bao changed his formation again, and the Yuanyang team in the back row advanced to both sides. The depth of the formation became thinner, but the width of the battle increased sharply, which in turn surrounded Wang Zhen's main formation.
The soldiers around Wang Chen were already panicking due to the retreat of the friendly forces. Before the rebels completed the siege, some people began to flee one after another.
Li Bao captured half of Sichuan. These three thousand people were the backbone, selected from the best.
Not to mention fighting against officers and soldiers, even when encountering golden soldiers, as long as Li Bao is still on the battlefield, these elites can fight to the end.
When the formation was scattered, Wang Xun rushed forward and was cut on the face by a wolf mill, and stabbed twice by a spear. Protected by armor, these were not fatal. He was pushed away by Boring Palladium and was stabbed twice.
One shot from the gunman.
The rest of the troops were routed. Even Wang Zhen's son was carried away by the routed troops and fled.
Wang Zhen was still leading his soldiers to fight, and was besieged by Yuanyang's squad. He was hit by countless bullets. Anyway, his armor was pierced in many places, but he still fought to the death under the cover of his soldiers.
A long poker player lost his patience and pushed forward with a huge shield, knocking Wang Zhen over and holding him down with his shield.
"The enemy general is dead!" the squad leader took the opportunity to shout.
Wang Zhen's personal soldiers finally collapsed, turned around and fled towards the city gate.