"Gao Bingtou, why are you here?"
Song Guoying, the chief of Sha Dingzhou's troops stationed in Heyang, was shocked when he saw Gao Abao, another chief of the army stationed in Yiliang, leading his troops to Heyang where he was stationed.
Gao Abao smiled bitterly: "Song Bingtou, you don't know yet, Kunming is lost."
"What! Kunming is lost! How is it possible? Did the Ming army fly there?"
"Alas! The chieftain of Luliang, Zihong, surrendered to the Ming army. The Ming army circled from his territory to Kunming and descended in one fell swoop. Once Kunming was lost, Yiliang was surrounded by enemies on three sides: east, west, and north, and could not defend itself. I had no choice but to lead my troops to withdraw.
Arrive at Heyang and join forces with Song Bingtou."
Song Guoying smiled bitterly: "But this Heyang has just been bombed once by the Ming army using the "collapse method", and the city has not been completely repaired. How to defend it?"
Gao Abao said: "Heyang is a strategically important place and must be defended. Besides, to the east of Heyang is our army's Lunan chieftain Qin Zugen's tribe, to the west is the towering chieftain Wang Shuo's tribe, and in Tonghai City in the south is the military leader Du Qifei's tribe.
, they can rescue Heyang at any time. As for the dilapidated city, a fence can be set up at the gap in the city."
The two were discussing at the top of the city when they suddenly saw smoke and dust billowing in front of the city.
Li Dingguo's army has arrived.
After capturing Kunming, Li Dingguo suggested to Shi Qiwen that Sha Dingzhou was a Yunnan family and should not be given time to recruit troops. He should immediately take advantage of the situation and capture Yiliang, Heyang, Tonghai, Lin'an, Ami, and Wangnong. He also volunteered to
I am willing to lead 20,000 troops as the vanguard, enter lightly, and march directly to Yiliang and Heyang.
Shi Qiwen felt that Li Dingguo's words were very reasonable, so he ordered Li Dingguo to take Jin Tongwu, Wu Sansheng, and Wu Zisheng, with 3,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry, without baggage and only ten days of dry food, and march directly to Yiliang and Heyang with light equipment;
He then led a large army to respond, and ordered Zhao Yinxuan, Hu Yiqing, Yu Tai, Li Chengjue and Zhang Hu to lead 20,000 troops to garrison Kunming.
Li Dingguo's troops marched to Yiliang and found that guard Gao Abao had fled to Heyang.
"Old man, don't be afraid. When did Gao Abao leave Yiliang?"
Li Dingguo asked the people of Yiliang pleasantly.
"General, I've been gone for about half a day."
After Li Dingguo appeased the people, he told the generals: "The high bandits have just withdrawn from Yiliang, and they are chasing them with light cavalry. They can still catch them. I and General Jin led three thousand cavalry to pursue them, and the two generals Wu followed them with infantry."
Generals take orders.
Li Dingguo and Jin Tongwu led three thousand cavalry to pursue Gao Abao.
Hurry up and hurry up, but you're still a little late. Gao Abao's troops have already entered the city.
Li Dingguo almost clung to Gao Abao's buttocks and chased him to Heyang.
He observed Heyang City and found that the city wall that had been blown down by the "Fang Beng Method" had not yet been repaired. A rough fence had been built at the gap in the city. Moreover, the defenders were in a mess and smoke was everywhere. They did not seem to be prepared.
Looks like.
It turned out that Gao Abao's troops had just withdrawn to Heyang, and Song Guoying ordered his subordinates to cook sheep and slaughter cattle to welcome Gao Abao's army. Everyone was eating messily in the city, and they didn't expect the Ming army to arrive so quickly.
Li Dingguo made a decisive decision and immediately attacked the city without waiting for the rear troops.
The cavalry attacked Heyang, and he created a legend in the military history of the Ming Dynasty.
Li Dingguo ordered two hundred cavalrymen to tie branches behind the horses and gallop outside the city with smoke and dust billowing in a bluff, creating the illusion of an overwhelming force.
Jin Tongwu led his men and rushed directly to the gap in the city.
The riders galloped to the fence, either dismounted and tied ropes, or directly tied the fence with poles on their horses. Several horses pulled back hard, dragging down rows of fences.
Three thousand cavalry entered the city through the gap, lighting torches with one hand and wielding cavalry swords with the other, slashing people and burning houses.
Gao Abao and Song Guoying stood at the top of the city. They saw smoke and dust billowing, and they didn't know how many Ming troops were coming. They also heard shouts of killing and fire broke out everywhere in the city.
The two generals were horrified, thinking that the main force of the Ming army was coming.
The enemy army has entered the city, and it seems that Heyang City cannot be defended!
Gao Abao and Song Guoying had no choice but to lead their troops out of the city from the south gate and retreat to Tonghai City. Li Dingguo's cavalry pursued them.
The 18,000-strong army was chased by 3,000 cavalry for more than 30 miles. After escaping to Tonghai, half of the troops were lost.
Li Dingguo had few soldiers. After pursuing him for thirty miles, he returned to Heyang and waited for the rear army.
Wu San Province, Wu Zisheng's 20,000 rear army had just arrived in Heyang, when suddenly there was another gust of wind and smoke.
Sha Dingzhou's subordinates, Lu Nan Chieftain Qin Zugen, heard that the Ming army was attacking Heyang and led 3,500 native soldiers to rescue him. Unexpectedly, when they arrived, the city had been lost.
Li Dingguo led his army to attack Qin Zugen fiercely. Although Qin Zugen's troops were brave, they were too few and were defeated. He lost more than a thousand troops and fled back to Lunan.
??
"Damn it! These chieftains, village owners, and leaders in Yunnan are all just outsiders! How despicable!"
Sha Dingzhou, the capital of Yunnan Province, is full of hatred.
He fell into the Ming army's plan to seize the opportunity to attack the east and attack the west, so he led the main force back to Ami. After the king made his move, he found that there was no Ming army on the opposite side.
While I was wondering, news came that Kunming was missing again.
Knowing that he had been tricked, he was furious and wanted to retake Kunming. Before he set out, bad news came. The chieftains from all over Yunnan who had defected to him saw that the Ming army had captured Kunming, so they defected to the Ming army one after another.
Forget about the Na clan of Yuanjiang, the Long clan of Shiping, the Lu clan of Ningzhou, and the Diao clan of Jingdong. These chieftains were originally at odds with themselves. But it turned out that the towering chieftains Lu Yi, Luliang chieftains Zihong, and Vimalakia were attached to them.
Chieftains Shen Yinglin, Shen Zhaolin, Wang Chengzu, Wang Yi, Wang Xianren, Wang Xianlun, Jiaohua Chieftain Long Shengxiao, and Gumu Chieftain Long Yuanzuo all surrendered to the Ming army. This is not good.
These chieftains sent troops one after another to assist the Ming army, adding nearly 40,000 troops to the Ming army.
Now that the total strength of the Ming army is not inferior to itself, what should we do?
"There is no need to worry about the general government. People go to higher places, and water flows to lower places. When they saw that I had lost Kunming, they abandoned me and returned to the Ming Dynasty. It is human nature. To fight the war, you have to rely on Ami, Wang Nong's disciples. As long as
If you win the battle, those villains will defect to you again."
Wan Meiren poured a glass of wine for Sha Dingzhou and comforted her husband with warm words.
Sha Dingzhou drank it all in one gulp and laughed loudly: "What Madam said is true. When I make a comeback, I will definitely kill these villains with heads rolling in their heads."
The two discussed the military situation for a while, and suddenly reported that Yiliang had lost Heyang, and the Ming army was approaching Tonghai.
"The Ming army bullied people too much. Madam, you are here to guard Ami, and I will personally rescue Tonghai."
"No. Du Qifei of Tonghai and Li Achu of Lin'an are both veteran generals of our army who have been on the battlefield for a long time. The Ming army will not be able to attack Tonghai and Lin'an for a while. Now the Ming army He Jiuyi, Long Zaitian, Zhang Guoyong, and Zhao Desheng's troops have advanced to the east.
Yang Jiafang is frequently in emergency at the mountain pass. The east mountain pass is the gateway to Ah Mi and must not be lost! The general government should lead the army to defeat He Jiuyi first, and then rescue Tong Hai.
Sha Dingzhou thought for a while: "What Madam said is reasonable. I will deal with He Jiuyi first, and then deal with Li Dingguo."
??
Gao Abao and Song Guoying led the remaining troops and retreated to Tonghai City. The defender of Tonghai City was Du Qifei, a fierce general of the Sha army. Du's army had five thousand soldiers.
The old Du family has been loyal to the old Sha family from generation to generation. Sha Dingzhou's father, Sha Yuan, was very brave in battle, and his troops were called "Sha Bing". Du Qifei's ancestor was a general among the "Sha Bing".
"Du Bingtou, the Ming army has captured Yiliang and Heyang. Hurry and reinforce the city and prepare to defend the city!"
Gao Abao and Song Guoying quickly informed Du Qifei.
Du Qifei asked: "Can the two generals find out how many Ming troops came?"
Gao Abao and Song Guoying blushed. Li Dingguo attacked too fast. They lost Heyang in a muddle and couldn't figure out how many Ming troops came.
But when someone asks, it’s definitely not okay if you don’t answer. It’s not okay if you answer less, it will appear that you are incompetent
The second general thought for a while: "The Ming army's vanguard Li Dingguo's troops came with about 50,000 troops, and the total strength is no less than 150,000."
When Du Qifei heard this, he took a deep breath. The Ming army actually came with 150,000 troops! He only had 5,000 troops, plus Gao Abao and the remnants of Song Guoying, the total strength was less than 15,000. It was only the Ming army.
One out of ten.
Although he is known as a fierce general, he is not stupid. Using 15,000 men to attack 150,000 people is something only a fool can do.
It seems that we can only defend the city and ask the headquarters for help!
While Du Qifei asked for help from Sha Dingzhou, he, Gao Abao and Song Guoying, worked hard to reinforce the city wall.
Li Dingguo has no time to break through Haicheng for the time being. He is attacking Qin Zugen, the chieftain of Lunan.
Lunan (near today's Stone Forest in Yunnan) is located in the northeast of Tonghai. Unless this nail is pulled out, the Ming army will not dare to open up Tonghai with confidence.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The Ming army's Crouching Tiger Cannon opened fire.
Because they came all the way lightly, Li Dingguo's troops did not carry medium or heavy artillery.
However, these small cannons are still powerful weapons for covering infantry.
Under the cover of small artillery, the Ming army formed a group of five, holding a shield in their left hand and a knife in their right hand. They huddled up and hunched their waists, and bravely climbed the mountain.
The ancestors of Qin were not directly related to the Sha army, and they did not have many artillery. They could only use bows, crossbows and earthen guns to fight back from a high position.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
"Bang bang bang!"
Arrows and bullets fell like raindrops.
A Ming military captain was hit by an arrow in his left eye and roared in pain. The roar stopped, and another arrow hit his throat.
A soldier of the Ming Army was hit by a gun and squatted down. The range of this gun was not as far as that of the Ming Army, but its lethality at close range was greater than that of the Ming Army. The soldier's intestines were blown out. He squatted down and tried to stuff it back. After a while, he stopped stuffing it and fell down softly.
The Ming army's firecrackers and bows and arrows began to fight back. Although they were at a disadvantage when shooting from bottom to top, their numerical advantage made up for their geographical disadvantage.
After fighting for several days, Qin Zugen could no longer hold on.
"Quick, go to Tonghai City and ask General Du for help." Qin Zugen sent his generals to Tonghai to ask for help.
Du Qifei received Qin Zugen's envoy: "How is the situation in Lu Nan? How many people from the Ming army came?"
"About 20,000 to 30,000 troops."
"Two or thirty thousand? Doesn't that mean the total number of troops is 150,000? Where are the 120,000 Ming troops?"
The more Du Qifei thought about it, the more he realized that this was a trick of the Ming army: he would first send a small force of 20,000 to 30,000 to pretend to attack Lu Nan, while a 120,000-strong army was secretly ambushing him. As soon as he left the city to rescue Lu Nan, he would be surrounded and annihilated by the main force of the Ming army. Lu Nan Just throw it away, but Tonghai cannot be thrown away. Once Tonghai is lost, Ami Prefecture and Lin'an Prefecture's Zhijianshui will be exposed to the front of the Ming army.
"Go back and tell Lord Qin Dong that it is only a small force of the Ming Army that is attacking Lunan. Let him hold it back. The main force of the Ming Army is in Tonghai, and I have no troops to send."
The envoy begged repeatedly, but Du Qifei refused to send reinforcements and had no choice but to return to Lunan.
Qin Zugen persisted for ten days, and the stronghold was broken.
"Kill!"
General Jin Tongwu of the Ming Army reached the top of the mountain and struck with his sword. Qin Zugen fell headfirst into a pool of blood.
After Li Dingguo pulled out the nail in Lu Nan, the main force led by Shi Qiwen also arrived.
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"Commander, you came so quickly! I thought you would arrive at least ten days later."
"There's nothing we can do, Hongyuan, if I don't run faster, I'll lose all my military exploits by you alone."
Shi Qiwen made a joke about Li Dingguo. The two looked at each other and laughed.
"Tonghai" means communicating with overseas. Historically, Tonghai City was established by Nanzhao, a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. It was located on the main transportation road to Tianzhu and was an important town in the Tang Dynasty. "Send the Young Master with Gold" by Zhang Ji, a poet of the Tang Dynasty "The Deputy Envoy Returns to Silla" wrote: "When you pass the sea, you should send the country's letter, and when you get home, you should still wear court clothes."
At this moment, this world-famous city is completely surrounded.
The brutal siege begins.
A master fights against Yi and seizes the day. Shi Qiwen and Li Dingguo’s combat policy is just one word: fast.
Fight quickly and slowly. Before Shadingzhou can react, quickly seize Tonghai and then attack Lin'an Prefecture's Zhijianshui and Amizhou.
On the first day, Shi Qiwen gathered more than 30,000 chieftain soldiers and launched a heavy attack.
He ordered Long Shangdeng and Lu Huang to attack the east city; Zihong and Lu Yi to attack the west city; Long Shengxiao and Long Yuanzuo to attack the north city; and the six chieftains of Weimo Prefecture were Shen Yinglin, Shen Zhaolin, Wang Chengzu, Wang Yi, Wang Xianren, and Wang Xianlun. Attack Nancheng.
In the ancient Tonghai City, the sound of killings shook the sky.
Du Qifei, Gao Abao, and Song Guoying resisted desperately.
Although Tonghai City is small, it is well built. Sha Dingzhou deployed Xiyi artillery purchased from Annan State in Tonghai City. These artillery caused great damage to the Ming army attacking the city.
The chief chieftains of the Ming army led the local soldiers, braved artillery, bullets, arrows, mounted ladders and carriages, and bravely attacked the city. They attacked fiercely. They rushed to the city again and again, and were defeated again and again. Beat it down.
Du Qifei had experienced battles for a long time. He built a fort on Xiushan Mountain in the south of the city. Xiushan is one of the four famous mountains in Yunnan, as famous as Jinma Mountain, Biji Mountain, and Diancang Mountain. It is only a few hundred steps away from Tonghai City. The artillery on the mountain, Can cover the entire south of the city.
After building the fort, Du Qifei deliberately concealed himself. When the Ming army in the south of the city was halfway through the attack, he suddenly opened fire.
At this time, the six chieftains of Weimo Prefecture who attacked Nancheng suffered a big loss. Half of the six thousand native soldiers were lost. Chieftain Wang Xianlun was hit by artillery and turned into a pile of minced meat.
Shi Qiwen took a breath of air. Fortunately, he used local soldiers to attack the city on the first day and did not send his most elite troops. However, even so, more than 5,000 people were lost in one day, which still made Shi Qiwen feel heartbroken.
The south of the city is difficult to attack, so attack east, north, and west.
Shi Qiwen mobilized twenty general cannons and sixty thousand-jin Fran machine cannons to bombard the city wall.
The fierce artillery fire ravaged Tonghai City, but it still stood firm.
"Commander, the wall of Tonghai City has been blown loose by our army's heavy artillery. The general believes that as long as we use the underground blasting method, the city will be destroyed," Li Dingguo offered advice.
"Hongyuan, I have used the underground blasting technique once in Heyang. Gao Abao, one of the Tonghai guards, suffered a big loss and must be prepared. This strategy should not be used again."
Li Dingguo smiled: "Commander, why don't you dig a tunnel from the south of the city to blow up the city? The enemy will never think of it."
Shi Qiwen was shocked: "The south of the city was covered by artillery fire from the enemy's Xiushan Fort. After the city wall was blown open, were the soldiers allowed to brave the enemy's artillery fire to enter the city?"
"The commander-in-chief cannot expect it, and the enemy must not expect it either. As for the artillery fire at Xiushan in the south of the city, you can first send people to pretend to attack the south of the city for two hours. When the enemy's artillery is overheated and needs to cool down, then let it go, so that the soldiers can quickly enter the city through the gap. Send first The fast cavalry enters, and the infantry comes in behind. While entering the city, send another group of troops to attack Xiushan and contain the enemy."
Shi Qiwen thought for a while: "Hongyuan, just follow your method."
??
Beside the city wall leading to the sea, the soldiers dug deep pits every twenty feet. A large urn was placed in each pit, and the urn was covered with leather. Beside each urn, there was a blind or hearing sergeant listening.
Except for the southern city wall protected by Xiushan Fort, the east, west and north sides were filled with large urns.
The urn listening method was invented 2,500 years ago. "Mozi·Preparing Acupoints" contains detailed instructions on the manufacturing and use of listening urns.
This method is a powerful weapon against blasting tunnels and caves. In history, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom used this method to defeat the Hunan Army many times when they were defending the city.
"How's it going? Is there anything unusual?"
Gao Abao worriedly asked Tu She, who was in charge of listening to the urn.
"Big soldier, there's nothing happening."
"You must not be careless. Heyang City was captured by the Ming army using the Fengbeng method."
Suddenly a sergeant reported: "Soldier, there is movement in the east city."
"What?"
Gao Abao rushed to Dongcheng and listened to the sound.
"Sure enough, there is movement!"
Gao Abao sneered: "Come on, dig ditches and get wormwood."
The Shajun first dug a deep ditch horizontally where there was movement, and the ditch was covered with mugwort.
"Dig against each other!"
The Shajun also dug tunnels in the direction of the sound.
Digging tunnels in the direction of the enemy's lair is a good way to deal with enemy tunnel blasting.
With a "swipe" sound, the sand fell, and the tunnels on both sides were connected.
"Yeah!"
There was a scream, and a frightened face of a Ming army soldier appeared in the tunnel.
The Sha army, who had been prepared for a long time, drew out their daggers and stabbed them with the sword. The Ming army fell to the ground.
When fighting in a tunnel, long weapons cannot be used, so short swords and daggers are best used.
The Ming army behind saw that the defenders were ready and quickly climbed back.
The defenders did not pursue them, but lit wormwood in the ditch and stuffed it into the tunnel. More and more people were stuffed into the tunnel, and then they blocked the tunnel head with wooden boards to allow the fireworks to reach the enemy as much as possible.
If the tunnel blasting is discovered by the defenders and filled with smoke or water, the engineers will be smoked to death or drowned in the tunnel if they are slow to escape.
"Hahaha, you guys, you've done a good job! I have a lot of rewards for you! Cheer up and listen carefully!"
Gao Abao laughed heartily and left the city to rest.
??
The Ming army's siege began again, attacking from all sides at the same time, and even sent troops to attack the south of the city.
Song Guoying, the general of the Shajun army stationed in Xiushan, laughed loudly: "Come on, let the fort fire hard! Let these ignorant Ming troops have a taste of the power of artillery!"
The roar of cannons sounded in the south of the city.
Lu Yi, the majestic chieftain in charge of attacking the south of the city, was bleeding from his heart.
His men suffered heavy losses, but they did not dare to retreat. Shi Qiwen gave him a fatal order not to stop until the attack was completed for two hours.
After two hours of continuous bombardment, the sound of artillery on the Xiushan Mountain began to become sparse. The gunner took the artillery wash handle (similar to a mop) and dipped it in water and wiped it back and forth in the barrel to cool down the artillery."
"Big soldiers, the Ming army is attacking the mountain."
Song Guoying saw that the Ming army at the foot of the mountain began to attack the mountain.
"Why panic? Beat them down!"
He drew his sword and attacked the Ming army.
Seeing that Xiushan's artillery began to sparse, Li Dingguo ordered the fire to collapse the city.
Under the Hainan City Wall, the Ming army dug three tunnels, all filled with coffins and explosives.
Lei Qisheng's men lit the match.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
After three earth-shaking loud noises, three huge gaps appeared in the south of the city.
"Kill!"
The Ming army, which had long been hidden at the foot of Xiushan, rushed towards the gap.
Li Dingguo led three thousand cavalry, leading the way, rushed into the city, cut open the south gate, and followed the city wall to seize each gate. The infantry followed the cavalry and swarmed into the city.
Du Qifei was shocked when he heard the report, and hurriedly ordered his subordinates to push a knife cart to block the gap, when he met Li Dingguo.
Li Dingguo didn't say much, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow, and shot it, hitting Du Qifei's forehead.
Seeing the Ming army entering the city and Du Qifei dying in battle, Gao Abao and Song Guoying led their troops to break out of the siege without hesitation and fled to Lin'an Prefecture to control Jianshui.
Tonghai City fell.
This chapter has been completed!