Deng Mao finally decided to start an uprising in the city. He believed that there were only more than 500 available soldiers in Yuyang City, and the thousand Yellow Turbans sneaking into the city could seize the city gate.
So he ordered five thousand Yellow Turbans disguised as refugees to assemble in the mountains outside the west gate of Yuyang. Two days later, on the night of the first day of April, one thousand Yellow Turbans in the city seized the city gate and supported the large army in attacking the city.
Then they divided their forces and quickly seized the remaining city gates, blocking the armored cavalry from outside the city. One group seized the treasury, obtained weapons, and attacked and killed the prefect.
He also ordered people to take more than 10,000 refugees and move closer to Hunu. He only had to march slowly and pretend to attack the county town, hoping to mobilize the Yuyang garrison to rush to help.
Not to mention that the Yellow Turban troops took orders from Deng Mao and marched towards Yuyang.
Let's say that Liu Xiang took his people around the city and looked at the prefect's private troops isolated in the county barracks. He also used the excuse to check whether anyone in the army was sick and went to each city gate to check the situation of the garrison.
After getting the general information, I deduced in my mind how to capture the city gate when Deng Mao came.
The key point is the city gate, followed by the treasury.
Liu Xiang knew that there were not many iron weapons in the Yellow Turban Army. Even if Deng Mao collected folk iron materials to make weapons, the pig iron weapons would be of extremely poor quality and would not be able to fight.
Now the mainstream weapon of the Yellow Turban Army is the spear.
The spears of the Eastern Han Dynasty did not have iron spearheads, but had a sharp point cut from a long wooden stick. This was the spear of the Han Dynasty, so there was a saying that wood was chopped into spears. In the Han Dynasty, long poles with metal spikes on them were called spears, and they were used by the serious military.
None of them use guns.
There were not many regular troops during the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Including Huben and Yulin who guard the palace; the Southern Army and Northern Army camps guarding the center; the border army camps stationed on the border, Yuyang Camp is one of them; and more than thirty border commanders set up county soldiers.
The total amount is about 300,000.
The prefectures and counties in the interior are not allowed to station regular troops. There are only a few county soldiers, composed of civilians serving as corvees. They serve in turns and are led by county lieutenants. Their purpose is to capture bandits and defend against wild beasts. Their duties are equivalent to
Modern police.
Therefore, when the Yellow Turban Army rebelled, they were unstoppable in the inland prefectures and counties, but there was no movement in the border counties. This has a lot to do with the garrison situation in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Liu Xiang was sure that Deng Mao's troops were in urgent need of weapons. As long as he defended the treasury, Deng Mao would not be able to defeat Zhang Ju and Xian Yuyin's private soldiers. They would fight like snipes and clams, and Liu Xiang would be able to make a profit.
Liu Xiang was even worried that Deng Mao would be wiped out quickly, because the Yuyang County soldiers had more than 2,000 strong crossbows and more than 1,000 iron armors with the prefect Zhang Ju.
When the camp was first moved, it was impossible to bring this equipment out. The 2,400 county soldiers put down their weapons and armor and were pulled out of the city for isolation.
Even with the spare equipment of the armored cavalry, it could only arm 600 people, and there was still no crossbow. In the Han Dynasty, the crossbow was the main enemy-killing weapon of the infantry.
If an infantryman with a crossbow dares to shout, "I will hit ten of them," if an infantryman without a crossbow dares to shout, he will be the ten who are beaten.
To solve the crossbow problem, Liu Xiang made another important point.
Crossbows and armor are mainly stored in county barracks and county treasuries, and there are not a large number of private soldiers equipped with them.
Liu Xiang didn't know what Zhang Ju was thinking. He might have wanted to avoid suspicion. Hiding crossbows and armor was a serious crime. It was taboo to equip his private soldiers with a large number of military equipment. Even if there was a reason, it was taboo.
It may also be that they don't want to strengthen Xian Yuyin's power. It's easy to distribute weapons and equipment, but it's not that easy to take them back.
When Deng Mao entered the city, he had to seize the city gates, attack the county barracks, and the treasury. After capturing it, he had to defend it. There were many things to do, but Liu Xiang only had more than two thousand people.
"It's not easy to handle." Liu Xiang sighed, he had to use some unconventional means. He was not good at mobilizing troops and generals, conspiracy and so on.
The first thing Liu Xiang thought of was poisoning. In the name of curing the plague, he sent medicine to the prefect's private soldiers, adding some croton or something like that. It was so convenient.
As long as you grasp the timing well, it will be easy to capture the county barracks.
Liu Xiang still has the governor's documents and the captain's token in his hand, so he may be able to do something when Deng Mao enters the city.
He is used to doing things first, or he is about to lead troops to fight for the first time, and if he doesn't do something, he feels guilty.
The Yellow Turban Army is on the road, Liu Xiang is thinking, and time is passing.
On March 30th, refugees gathered in Hunu County, one after another, with more and more people gathering.
Everyone concluded that the Yellow Turbans were coming and were going to attack Hunu County. After all, Guangyang County next door was about to be shaken by the Yellow Turbans.
The fox slave asked Yuyang for help, but the prefect Zhang Ju did not send reinforcements and ordered the fox slave to close the city and defend himself.
The prefect sent an interviewer to inquire about the situation in the camp, but Liu Xiang excused himself by saying that the epidemic was serious and that he could not go out to fight.
During the conversation with the visitor, he learned that the Yellow Turbans were going to attack Fox Nu, so he concluded that Fox Nu must be feigning an attack and Deng Mao had already arrived in Yuyang.
Taking this opportunity, Liu Xiang wanted to move his troops into the city, so he went to see the prefect, but was turned away.
Liu Xiang had no choice but to submit a document saying that the army in the camp was weak. Can he move the army to the county barracks in the city?
The prefect doesn't allow it.
Liu Xiang submitted another submission, asking the eunuch to distribute defensive war equipment, powerful crossbows and crossbow bolts. The soldiers in the camp were unable to fight hand-to-hand and were in urgent need of long-range sharp weapons to guard the camp.
The prefect, Zhun, had 500 crossbows, 60,000 crossbow bolts, 1,000 spears and halberds, 300 heavy shields, and 2,000 swords. No armor was given.
Liu Xiang distributed the weapons and counted the combat equipment of each battalion.
Liu Xiang's personal army consisted of one hundred cavalry, fully equipped with weapons and armor.
The heroic cavalry camp consists of six hundred cavalry, fully equipped with weapons and armor.
Yan Rou brought more than 500 Hu riders, each of whom was issued with a sword, a bow, and 60 arrows.
There are nine hundred people guarding the military camp, and they are now equipped with four hundred armored cavalry, four hundred crossbows, nine hundred spears, and halberds, nine hundred ring-headed swords, and two hundred heavy shields.
There are three hundred men in the middle camp, no armor, equipped with one hundred crossbows, three hundred spears and halberds, three hundred ring-head swords, and one hundred heavy shields.
The 800 people who were still sick were also given 400 ring-headed knives and 400 halberds to guard the prisoners.
The more than 370 people imprisoned have their hands and feet bound and can only move slowly.
Everything is ready, just waiting for Deng Mao to lead his troops to attack Yuyang.
Liu Xiang patrolled the camp and said to Cui Yi and Yan Rou: "The Yellow Turban is coming, in the next few days, and when the war breaks out, it will depend on the bravery of the two brothers."
Cui Yi smiled mischievously, glanced at Yan Rou, and said to Liu Xiang: "My lord, rest assured, the best fighters in Yuyang are all in the camp. Facing that rabble, we can't lose. We will disperse them with one charge."
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Yan Rou was very happy today. The Hu Qi he brought had high-quality weapons, and the Yellow Turban was not far away. He could make meritorious deeds at a glance. He said with a smile:
"Don't worry, Mr. Liu, I've brought all warriors with me. When the battle begins, I will be the vanguard."
Liu Xiang nodded, "Brother Yan is mighty, I will see Brother Yan's meritorious service during the introduction."
After speaking, he turned to Cui Yi and said, "Zi'an, distribute the white feathers collected recently and tell the troops to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy by wearing white feathers on their heads."
"Wei." Cui Yi saluted and obeyed.
Liu Xiang looked outside the camp gate and saw that the eunuch's private soldiers who had blocked the camp gate had withdrawn into the city today. The eunuch had no spies outside the city.