Although the rumors are vivid and detailed, they are very ridiculous and contain many unreasonable things. For example, Shen Yingdan, the magistrate of Xiangfu County, was only the sixth-rank magistrate of the county, and Wang Ziyong was the commander-in-chief of the 36th Battalion of the Rebel Army. There is no reason to surrender to such a low-level official, and it is impossible to exchange ten thousand lives for one official rank, so not many people believe it.
But because the rumor was so interesting, the rebel soldiers simply relayed it as a joke after hearing it, so it spread very quickly. In just one day, it spread throughout the rebel company camps outside Huaiqing City, almost to People don’t know how much people don’t know.
In the end, of course, it inevitably reached Wang Ziyong's own ears. The commander was so angry that he ordered his soldiers to find out who made such rumors. However, among the tens of thousands of people in the army, everyone spread the word from word to mouth. It's not that easy to find out clearly, not to mention that there are many rebels who don't listen to his orders, so after searching for a long time, there is no result.
This is naturally the masterpiece of Hua Bushi. "Qianhuafang" has already placed many informants among the rebels. Hua Bushi once heard Chu Yiyi talk about it, and this kind of rumor-mongering is their fault. Good show.
By the next day, the rebel army was still defeated in their attack on the city, but the contents of the rumors circulated among the army had changed.[
The latest rumor is that the court official Wang Ziyong wanted to surrender to was Henan Governor Shen Jingwen, and Wang Ziyong gave his sister to Shen Jingwen's third son as his seventh concubine, and Shen Jingwen became Mr. Wang Dashuai's biological uncle. Mr. Shen took great care of his nephew and promised to give him a sixth-grade Qianzong after he led more than 10,000 men to surrender to the court.
This new version of the rumor is much more reasonable than the previous ones. Shen Jingwen, the governor of Henan, is a third-rank official. To accept Wang Ziyong's surrender, he is at least high enough in official rank. Wang Ziyong's ancestral home is Yingzhou, Datong Prefecture, Shanxi. Before joining the rebel army, he was a rich farmer in the countryside. He did have a younger sister in his family who was not yet married, and Shen Jingwen happened to be from Shanxi, so it was appropriate for the two fellow villagers to form an in-law family.
If the morale of the thirty-sixth battalion of the rebels was high and Wang Ziyong's prestige was still there, no one would believe these rumors. But now that the rebels have lost consecutive battles, their morale is low, and they are on the verge of disintegration. Except for Wang Ziyong's own "Jinliang Village" Eight out of ten soldiers in each battalion were dissatisfied with the commander-in-chief. Once these rumors spread that were originally unbelievable, some people began to believe them.
In fact, whether you believe it or not, it is good to have an excuse to scold this handsome man.
Encouraged by their brothers, several upright rebel leaders even went to Wang Ziyong's handsome tent to question the matter. Wang Ziyong became furious and repelled the direct cannons who came to the door, and ordered his men to investigate. The source of the rumor was revealed, and an order was issued prohibiting soldiers in each battalion from spreading the matter any further.
Naturally, the source of the rumor could not be found, and with the commander's order, all the people in the rebel army who did not know about the rumor were also aware of it. After all, this Marshal Wang was only a country squire, and he lacked the firepower in terms of scheming and scheming, so he threw stones at him in anger. He cut his own feet and fell completely into Hua Bushi's plan.
On the third day, not only Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong, but also other battalions of rebels refused to obey Wang Ziyong's order to attack the city. In desperation, Wang Ziyong could only send out troops from his "Jinliang Village". Another purpose of doing this is to refute the rumors so that the rebels from all walks of life can restore their trust in him.
The men and horses of "Jinliang Village" are indeed much stronger than the Yuba troops who attacked the city a few days ago. Using shields to resist the flying arrows and torches thrown on the city, the rebel soldiers quickly rushed under the city wall and built a
They climbed up the ladder and began to storm the city wall. The offensive and defensive sides finally had their first face-to-face combat since the war began.
However, the officers and soldiers in the city are now well-equipped and have a variety of tools for defending the city. They have won consecutive battles and their morale is high. The commander-in-chief Yu Jue is also able to command effectively. If the rebels attack by force, they will not be able to gain the slightest advantage.
After half a day, by noon, the rebel army had lost more than a thousand people, while the officers and soldiers on the opposite side suffered about two to three hundred casualties.
This kind of damage ratio is normal when it comes to besieging a fortified city. The defenders occupy the advantage of the location by holding the wall. Of course, they have a great advantage during the battle. The attackers can only pay more sacrifices as a price. In terms of the art of war,
It is said that at this time, the defender must not be given a chance to breathe. Only by continuing to attack hard and constantly wearing down the defenders can the opponent be finally defeated.
However, as the saying goes, a country is easy to change, but a person's nature is hard to change. Wang Ziyong's selfishness broke out again, causing him to make another big mistake. He saw that in just one morning's storming, the troops of "Jinliang Village" suffered thousands of casualties.
There were so many people that he had to lose two to three thousand people in one day. These were all elite troops from the "Jinliang Village", which really made him heartbroken. So before noon, Wang Ziyong ordered the withdrawal of the troops.
Lead the troops back to camp.
A few days ago, the rebels attacked the city. Even though they suffered heavy casualties, they fought for a whole day. Today, they only fought for half a day and then retreated. It was obvious that Marshal Wang could not bear the loss of his own troops. Could it be that the lives of other rebel brothers are not worth anything?
They can be sacrificed at will, but only the men and horses of their "Jinliang Village" cannot die?
Wang Ziyong's withdrawal not only failed to refute the rumors and calm the morale of the army, but instead aroused the anger of other battalions of the rebel army.
It was at this time that the fake letter from Wang Ziyong surrendering to Shen Jingwen finally appeared.
The person who intercepted the letter was a few subordinates of the 36th Battalion Rebels nicknamed "Deng Lengzi" Zhao Sheng. They were patrolling the perimeter of the company camp at the time and spotted a flying horse galloping eastward, and immediately chased and intercepted it.
The knight was in a panic and his horse stumbled and fell. He fainted from the fall. Zhao Sheng's men rushed closer and recognized that the man was a messenger from Wang Ziyong's camp. After a search, they immediately found the letter.
Letter.
Hua Bushi and Chu Yiyi arranged this matter very cleverly, and it was not difficult to bribe a soldier in Wang's private camp.
The letter fell into Zhao Sheng's hands. He was shocked when he read the letter and quickly took it to find Zhang Xianzhong, who was usually close to him. Zhang Xianzhong did not hesitate and immediately summoned the leaders of the various rebel armies to make the letter public.
The crowd, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng and others also got the news and rushed over.
The content written in this letter not only states that Wang Ziyong is willing to lead his army to surrender and accept the recruitment, but also the words "send his sister-in-law to Kaifeng Mansion to marry Mr. Ling as soon as possible", which coincides with the rumors that have been circulating for several days.[
The leaders immediately decided to go to Wang Ziyong to settle the score, but one person actually questioned the authenticity of the letter.
This is the principle of "walling down everyone". When everyone is dissatisfied with Wang Ziyong and everyone wants him to fall, as long as there is evidence that he collaborated with the enemy and surrendered, whether it is true or false, it is already said. Anyway, we must take the opportunity to bring him down.
Just knock it down.
Of course, Wang Ziyong refused to admit that this was a crime that was not his fault, but he had a hard time defending it. The black and white letter was right in front of him, and the captured soldier also insisted that this letter was Wang Ziyong's order to deliver it to Kaifeng.
It can be said that the evidence is as solid as a mountain.
Inside the commander's tent, Wang Ziyong's generals and a group of rebel leaders almost fought with swords. Fortunately, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng and others dissuaded them in time, so both sides did not use force.
Wang Ziyong was ashamed and angry, and he was so angry that he couldn't do it anymore. He took out his seal of command and threw it on the case, and ordered the tens of thousands of people in "Jinliang Village" to break camp immediately and leave the camp overnight.
Withdrew from Qingcheng and walked away.
As the saying goes, if a snakehead can't do it, the army can't live without a commander for a day.
Wang Ziyong left with his men, and the leaders of the rebel armies immediately discussed and appointed a new commander. Considering the number of men under his command and the prestige among the various rebel armies, the only one who has the ability to be the new commander-in-chief is "King Chuang".
"Gao Yingxiang and "Eight Kings" Zhang Xianzhong.
After some debate and voting, a slight majority of people supported King Gao Chuang. Gao Yingxiang himself also firmly stated that he would lead everyone to attack Huaiqing City and get out of the current predicament. You must know that even though the commander of the Thirty-sixth Battalion is majestic,
Now it was really difficult to take on the task, and the task of capturing Huaiqing City was even heavier. Even Zhang Xianzhong also flinched a little.
Under this situation, the leaders of each battalion finally came to a consensus and welcomed Xiang as the new commander-in-chief of the rebel army, while Zhang Xianzhong was appointed deputy commander-in-chief.
After the commander-in-chief was established, Gao Yingxiang was immediately promoted to the post and ordered all the rebels to re-camp outside the city, assign patrols, and form a siege to Huaiqing City. This was just because the rebel company camp had many flaws, and Wang Ziyong angrily led his troops to leave the camp.
, a big gap appeared in the encirclement, and the camps had to be readjusted and the defense zones of each battalion had to be defined.
An hour had passed since Wang Ziyong left, until the leaders elected a new commander, and Gao Yingxiang sent an order to reorganize the company. The gap in the rebel encirclement was wide open, and numerous officers and soldiers had been watching from a distance outside the city.
The military scouts took advantage of the opportunity to rush through the gap and entered Huaiqing City despite being blocked by people. It was not until an hour later that the rebels from each battalion re-encircled and blocked the gap.
Suddenly, the new commander-in-chief Gao Yingxiang ordered his troops to attack the city.
This is already the seventh day since the rebels arrived in Huaiqing City. In the first six days, under the command of Wang Ziyong, the rebels attacked the city and advanced a few inches without causing much consumption to the defenders in Huaiqing City. There were only four days left. If
Before the city could be captured, the reinforcements from the governor of Henan were approaching, and the rebel army would be attacked both internally and externally, and would not be able to escape destruction.
Although the commander-in-chief was changed, the fighting strength of the rebel army did not improve. Instead, it was greatly weakened due to the loss of more than 10,000 people in the "Jinliang Village". Gao Yingxiang sent his own troops and several small groups of rebels to attack the city, but the battle situation was different.
There is still no improvement. The morale of the officers and soldiers on the city wall is high, and there are sufficient weapons such as crossbows, torches, and hot oil to defend the city. It is not an exaggeration to describe the current Huaiqing City as impregnable.