It took one month after Yu Qian, Xue Lu and others arrived in Huguang to basically understand the relatively complicated military and political situation there. (No..., pop-up window... They discovered that there were more than 2,000 Yuezhou soldiers stationed by Qin Yousheng to the east of Lizhou; and
We found out clearly that the rebel deployment in Lizhou, Shimen, and Cili counties was actually relatively fragile. At this time, there were only 300 main "rebels" in the three counties, and nearly a thousand peasant soldiers were recruited locally.
Those farmers and soldiers had almost no combat effectiveness and were still training; the main force was stationed in Lizhou. Maybe they were also aware of the whereabouts of the eastern government troops.
The three counties were far away from Chenzhou, the center of the rebel rule, and it was difficult to get reinforcements. Although Xue Lu was not ready to fight the rebels at this time, and had not mobilized troops from various places, Yu Qian still suggested that he should recover the three counties first.
, a good start.
Xue Lu immediately ordered Ma Dai, who was escorting the artillery baggage, to lead 2,000 men to leave the waterway, join forces with Tan Yousheng, and immediately raid Lizhou and annihilate the main force of its defenders.
A few days later, Kong Wuyang, the commander of the troops and horses in the three counties, sent a fast horse to Chenzhou for help, and was immediately surrounded in Lizhou. Tan defeated Ma Dai's army of more than 4,000 people, and launched an attack on the gates of Lizhou with overwhelming force. Kong Wuyang resisted for three days, and the city
The gates and city walls were severely damaged, and the soldiers suffered heavy casualties and were exhausted.
At dusk, the army sent envoys to the city to persuade them to surrender. Kong Wuyang convened the troops to discuss with the flag officer, and concluded that they had run out of gunpowder and arrows, the city could no longer be defended, and there was no point in continuing to resist until reinforcements arrived.
"Many brothers have young and old at home. I hope that everyone can at least save one life and survive." Kong Wuyang said sincerely to the generals.
Everyone was silent for a long time, and finally someone said: "What will the government do to us?"
Kong Wuyang said: "It stands to reason that they will be convicted by the judiciary. Some may be sentenced to death, some may be imprisoned, and most may be exiled to guard the border. I hope brothers can meet again in their hometowns one day in the future."
Many of the generals were Jianwen ministers, and they couldn't help but look sad after hearing this. Where is their hometown? Is it in the mountains of Wuling? Maybe the real hometown should be in southern Zhili.
Since there was no objection, Kong Wuyang met with the envoys and promised them to surrender the next morning. That night, Kong Wuyang ordered all confidential letters and files to and from Chenzhou to be burned, and more than a hundred muskets and two cannons were blown up.
In the early morning of the next day, the defenders of the three counties of the Suzaku Army played military music for the last time, slowly lowered the dilapidated military flags at the top of the city, and the entire army disarmed. The veterans cried bitterly during the military music, and the peasant soldiers were still confused because they had just joined the Suzaku Army.
Unfortunately, soon most of them were just farmers from all over Lizhou.
The south gate opened, and about a thousand of the surviving Suzaku officers and soldiers came out of the city gate unarmed, preparing to surrender to the officers and soldiers. Outside the city, a large number of Tan Yousheng and Ma Dai's troops were waiting in formation. Zhuque Army commander Kong Wuyang and others rode forward and presented them with swords and
The military flag expressed surrender. Ma Dai was furious because he suffered heavy casualties in the three-day siege battle, and asked Kong Wuyang to kneel down and kowtow to humiliate him. Unexpectedly, Tan Yousheng dissuaded him, and accepted the rebels' surrender with good words, and asked Kong Wuyang to restrain the soldiers.
Follow the instructions and avoid confusion.
Kong Wuyang was asked to lead his troops to assemble in Wengcheng. Once the front and rear gates of Wengcheng were closed and the infantry on the city defended them, they would be in a dead end. But since they had surrendered, they could only agree to the request. Kong Wuyang ordered each team to enter Wengcheng and then be imprisoned.
It's inside.
In the afternoon, the officers and soldiers brought food down in hanging baskets, and the soldiers took a moment to rest.
Tan Yousheng expressed his victory to Xue Lu, the commander-in-chief who was supervising the military movement in Changde. The letter mentioned that many troops were killed in the siege, military discipline was tightened when the rebels surrendered, and weapons and letters were destroyed. Xue Lu was thinking
There is an idol that I admire, that is the founding general Chang Yuchun. General Chang is invincible with his troops, and all the enemy troops are frightened, but this man is bloodthirsty. Xue Lu is no exception. He believes that generals who are good at fighting are all made of bones. As the saying goes.
One general's success was so great that thousands of bones withered. So Xue Lu immediately sent a secret envoy and ordered all the prisoners to be executed on the spot to deter the rebels.
After Tan Yousheng saw the military order written by the secret envoy and the commander-in-chief, he did not dare to neglect it. Ma Dai said easily that the prisoner happened to be in Wengcheng, so it was very convenient to kill him; but Tan Yousheng was a very official-minded person... A few months ago, he
They should attack the three counties. The person who gave the order at that time was Zhu Yong. Unexpectedly, Zhu Yong was defeated quickly. Tan Yousheng was afraid that he had conquered the three counties, but if the army was defeated and the reinforcements were insufficient, it might be lost again, and the city would be conquered.
The crime of losing ground was why we stood still.
This time Xue Lu ordered him to kill prisoners again. Of course, military orders could only be obeyed, but Tan Yousheng also understood that killing prisoners was not only an honorable thing, but also violated the law if it was really pursued. The Ming Dynasty always had iron laws of the country, although the court might not
Those responsible for the massacre of the rebels will be held accountable; but it is always unclear to kill someone without judicial conviction. Not to mention killing prisoners in the city, the impact is too bad.
...Two days later, Kong Wuyang received an order from the government, asking him to take all the soldiers as a unit and leave Wengcheng in batches. Kong Wuyang asked where he was going, but received no answer.
The city gate will be opened once in about half an hour, and a group of fully armed officers and soldiers will be waiting outside the city to escort more than 60 prisoners from one general banner to leave Lizhou. At noon that day, Kong Wuyang followed the troops from another general banner.
After leaving, the remaining generals all bid farewell to him one after another, looking forward to meeting again in a foreign land one day to talk about life and death. One general smiled forcefully and said: "If one day he goes back, the boy commanded by Kong will recognize me as his godfather."
." Kong Wuyang also smiled back and said: "That's it."
Under the urging of the officers and soldiers, Kong Wuyang led dozens of generals out of the city gate. Just after leaving the city, another group of officers and soldiers came, holding hemp ropes and tied all the prisoners behind their backs without saying anything, and tied them together with ropes to prevent them from escaping alone.
.
They were escorted to walk eastward, along the main road for a short distance, and then were driven onto a small road. Dozens of people lined up in a long line. In front of the small road was a mountain forest to the east of Lizhou. Kong Wuyang discovered that the Suzaku was missing on the road.
The water bags, iron helmets and other items used by the army proved that the people before them also walked the same path; instead of being detained separately as the government said, Kong Wuyang suddenly felt very bad.
His face became increasingly pale, but there was nothing he could do. His hands were tied behind his back, and officers and soldiers in armor were watching around him.
Walking to the edge of the mountain forest, he saw a loose group of officers and soldiers there. Some were sitting on the ground, eating dry food and drinking water, and some were looking at the prisoners with a sneer. Kong Wuyang was driven into the mountain forest, and after a while, he saw something in the forest.
There were several large pits. The soil around the pits was sticky and covered with blood, and a disgusting fishy smell could be smelled in the nose. Everyone was in an uproar and stopped moving forward. They wanted to run, but the rope was tied.
At the same time, there was a moment of confusion and people could not run in the same direction together. Many people fell to the ground. A small team of horses rushed over quickly, raised their whips and beat the crowd randomly, causing screams and pain.
The crowd was already in chaos. Two groups of officers and soldiers were on guard to surround more than 60 people, but they did not kill them immediately. Soon a dozen officers and soldiers came out. A young general pulled out his sword and cut the rope, and separated the dozen or so people.
First, they were whipped and driven to a large pit, and they were ordered to kneel down fiercely. Behind them stood a row of officers and soldiers with swords. After giving the order, they immediately swung their sabers and chopped off the backs of the prisoners' necks. Most of their heads were not damaged.
They were cut down, but they could hardly survive. Blood spattered on the spot, and people fell into the pit. Other officers and soldiers with long guns poked at the pit randomly to ensure that all the prisoners were killed.
Kong Wuyang was soon driven to the edge of the pit. He was usually respected by people, and even the prince Zhang Ning would not yell when he spoke to him. However, at this time, he was whipped like an animal. When he came to the edge of the pit, he was immediately beaten on the leg.
He was kicked and had to kneel down. He looked down and saw that the inside was full of messy corpses. Many dead corpses had their eyes wide open, and the soil and blood were mixed together. The scene was very terrifying. Kong Wuyang stopped struggling.
He closed his eyes, and for a moment he couldn't tell whether it was regret or what he felt. Finally, he thought of his underage children at home, hoping that their mother and son could live well.