At Jinniuguan, more than 10,000 soldiers of the fourth division and one brigade were ready to go.
Han Shuliang looked at the soldiers under his command.
He was shocked by the transformation of these people, and he never thought that he could change so much.
When they were in the Ming army, these military households were basically defeated at the first touch, and even the rebels composed of refugees could not defeat them.
The army relies entirely on its servants to support the scene.
These people have been trained in the new military camp. They are still the same soldiers. They just changed their military uniforms, and their combat effectiveness has been doubled.
"Brigadier Han, the morale of the soldiers is high and their morale is ready.
The day before yesterday, I read letters from home to the soldiers. They all had a good harvest.
For the soldiers whose families are not here, I also asked them to strengthen their confidence. Sooner or later, we will reach northern Shaanxi."
Zhang Chujiu, a member of the brigade congratulations to the master, saw that Han Shuliang was a little nervous before the battle, so he chatted with Han Shuliang.
"Yes! Most of the soldiers in our brigade are soldiers who surrendered from the Ming Dynasty, and many of them married wives and had children here.
They were bachelors in the Ming Dynasty, but they could get wives here.
These people have high morale. In order to protect their wives and children, they train hard and even go to the battlefield with all their might.
This time I want to become famous in one battle, and let those in the army see that I am not a coward after we surrender.
In the past, the Ming army suffered repeated defeats. It was because the military system was corrupt and there were too many people holding it back. It was not because we were incompetent.
Sooner or later, I will also fight against the Lanzhou Guard.
With the current situation in northern Shaanxi, I don’t know if my family will survive.”
Han Shuliang is full of confidence in this war.
He was previously a senior officer of the Ming Military Guard.
Knowing the situation of the Ming military guards, even if they relied on Guangyuan City to defend the city, they would not be able to defeat the strong army he led.
Zhang Chujiu looked at the rising sun in front of him.
"Commander Su pledged his allegiance to the Southern Expedition in Hanzhong City. We had a huge task and were responsible for firing the first shot. There was no way to observe at the scene.
I don’t know if this is the Southern Expedition and it will go smoothly.”
Han Shuliang said with great confidence: "We did not attack as planned today, but we will also attack in the near future.
We have no conditions to sit still and wait for death, enjoy ourselves in Hanzhong Mansion, and wait for our fate, which is only destruction.
Look, in the past few months, there have been as many as 100,000 refugees who have fled.
There are not only refugees in northern Shaanxi, but also many refugees and military households in Guangyuan and other places.
In addition, we are a group of surrendered soldiers, and the land in Hanzhong Prefecture alone cannot support us at all.
Only by expanding outward can all problems be solved.
Otherwise, Hanzhong Prefecture will be like the tragedy in northern Shaanxi, where people cannibalize people."
Zhang Chujiu nodded and agreed: "Our fourth division has people from all prefectures in Shaanxi.
Some people can still communicate with their families through letters, and everyone knows the tragic situation in the area.
We must never let Hanzhong fall into the same human tragedy as northern Shaanxi."
Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta!
There was a sound of horse hoofbeats, and Li Wenfang, the chief of staff of the 1st Brigade of the 4th Division, dressed in loess, ran over on horseback.
"Commander Su gave the military order to attack immediately."
He didn't even have time to dismount and handed the military order directly to Han Shuliang.
Han Shuliang opened the military order brought by Li Wenfang.
There are three levels of military orders, top secret, secret and secret.
Top secrets require two codebooks to decrypt the military order, and at least two of the three military giants must confirm it.
The secret only requires the military chief to decrypt it and confirm that the plain text and cipher text are the same.
The secret is plain text and does not need to be decrypted.
Han Shuliang opened the order, and the two big words "Top Secret" were clearly visible.
It consists of two parts, one for plain text and one for cipher text.
He looked at the plain text first.
[Order the fourth division and one brigade to attack Guangyuan City immediately.]
Below is Su He's official seal, seal and signature.
Han Shuliang, Li Wenfang, and Zhang Chujiu all took out their code books from their pockets.
Use the codebook to decrypt the content above the ciphertext.
The codebooks of the three of them are all different, but as long as they follow the numbers provided on the ciphertext.
They can translate documents into the same content.
Only two or more documents are identical and have the same plain text content.
The military order will officially take effect.
There is this encryption method.
Even if there are masters who completely forge the contents of military orders.
But he could not understand the encryption rules of the three sets of ciphertexts, and could not forge the contents of the military order at all.
The three men decrypted the military order, and the content of the cipher text they decrypted was exactly the same as the plain text.
"Great, the plan for the southern expedition has not changed, we will set off immediately."
After Han Shuliang finished speaking, he asked the guards to convey the order for the expedition.
The team immediately took action, like a yellow dragon, heading south along the Golden Bull Road.
The soldiers wore yellow linen clothes and iron helmets.
Their legs were also tied with hemp rope to tie up their calves.
An iron kettle was slung on his waist, and cotton shoes with thousand-layer soles were worn on his feet.
The soldiers carried muskets and grenades.
They were also carrying packages on their backs.
The package contained cotton-padded clothes, dried sweet potatoes and other supplies.
"Chief of Staff Li, notify the troops to send a small group of elite troops to kill all the spies sent from Guangyuan City.
As long as the Ming army in Guangyuan City gets the news later, we can catch them off guard."
Han Shuliang said confidently.
He knew the Ming army so well that there was not a single general who did not take free money.
How can you get rich if you don't drink the blood of soldiers?
The money for marrying a concubine, visiting a brothel, and paying homage to one's superiors was all saved through free wages.
There are 10,000 Ming troops in Guangyuan City, this is the number on paper.
The real Ming army may not even have 5,000 people, but the Ming army that can fight has 1,000 people, and I admire this general.
The team advanced rapidly, and several mules pulling the artillery carts lagged behind.
Zhang Chujiu looked at the fast-moving team and said with emotion: "Our people's endurance is really strong, but the strength of the war horses is their speed.
Horses can't compare to us humans in terms of endurance.
We have walked forty miles, and the soldiers are just a little tired."
Han Shuliang also agreed: "Especially the leggings on the legs are really useful.
I have led soldiers through a similar distance before, and most of the soldiers could not hold on at that time.
In addition to the fact that they can only eat one meal a day, their physical strength is not good at all.
In addition, the equipment was not good enough, and some of the servants who were full of energy were out of breath after walking such a long distance.
We also have a lot of small equipment like leggings in our camp.
This is the gap between us and the Ming army. This small gap gradually accumulates and will turn into an insurmountable gap."
Li Wenfang suggested: "Brigadier, if you go further you will find Guangyuan City. Here, let the soldiers bury pots and make rice.
Only when you are full can you attack the city.
It’s best to capture Guangyuan City before Su’s large force arrives.”
Han Shuliang raised his head and looked at the sun. He estimated that it was past noon and it was time to eat.
"Let the first regiment guard the surroundings, while the second and third regiments rest on the spot and bury the pot to make rice.
After the second regiment finished eating, they went to take over the guard duty from the first regiment."
…
Zhang Chujiu saw the soldiers sitting on the ground resting, while the cooking team was digging earthen stoves and preparing to bury the pots to make rice.
"You guys rest here, the troops captured more than a hundred prisoners from Guangyuan City.
I will educate the prisoners and interrogate them at the same time to understand the current situation in Guangyuan City."
Zhang Chujiu asked Han Shuliang and Li Wenfang to stay for dinner while he went to the camp where the prisoners were held.
He was walking on the road and saw that the cooking team was basically building earthen stoves. They dug three small holes in the ground.
Two small pits serve as stoves, and firewood is added to the bottom of the pits for cooking.
These two small pits are connected to the small pit in the middle.
The small pit in the middle connects three three-meter-long smoke exhaust ditches.
Build branches on the exhaust ditch and cover it with soil.
This is how to build a smokeless stove.
The cooking team lit up the fire, and there was no longer thick smoke on the stove.
The smoke is dispersed through the flue, and only a few thin wisps of smoke are dispersed into the air.
Smokeless stoves are not completely smokeless, they disperse the smoke.
As long as you don't look closely, you can't see the smoke here at all.
The smokeless stove allows the army to hide its position while burying the pot to cook, and will not be discovered by the enemy from a distance.
Zhang Chujiu came to the place where the prisoners were held and chatted with them.
Let these people realize that Ming officers are constantly oppressing them.
All their suffering days were caused by the oppression of the Ming government.
Zhang Chujiu guided the prisoners' emotions.
Arousing other people's emotions is what Master Zhu is best at.
If there are really die-hard elements, they can only be punished.
The most effective punishment is to deprive the captives of water and sleep.
Most people can survive a whipping, but they cannot survive a punishment similar to being tortured by an eagle.
Now that time is tight, Zhang Chujiu can only receive simple and quick punishment.
Brigadier Han Shuliang and Chief of Staff Li Wenfang discussed the siege plan while eating.
Li Wenfang opened the military map and said, "I was trained by Chief of Staff Li Fengming before.
I simulated attacking Guangyuan City, Jianmen Pass and other important Sichuan towns many times.
Like here in Guangyuan City, the cities are built on the side of mountains.
We cannot use the traditional siege methods of digging trenches and burying gunpowder under the city.
This method can only play its role in plain areas.
Cities like Jianmenguan were built on mountains.
We cannot dig out the foundations or blast down the city walls with gunpowder.
The only way is to use traditional methods, attack the city with cannons, and climb to the city wall with a ladder.
We are still confident that we can capture Guangyuan City through traditional methods.
I really don’t know how to capture Jianmen Pass, the most powerful pass in the world.
Historically, the capture of Jianmen Pass was achieved through long-term siege, and the siege party suffered very heavy casualties.
Or there is an internal problem in Sichuan or Jianmenguan.
Chief of Staff Li Fengming is very confident, I guess we have an internal agent at Jianmen Pass."
Li Wenfang knew that Commander Su had chosen to attack Jianmen Pass.
There must be a way to deal with Jianmen Pass, otherwise Huguang is a better choice.
But he didn't know the contents of this closely guarded secret.
He is just a scholar who is familiar with military literature and can understand the current situation.
Unable to capture Jianmen Pass for a long time, their situation in Hanzhong Mansion is very dangerous.
Commander Su and Chief of Staff Li Fengming are definitely more powerful than him.
When Han Shuliang heard what Chief of Staff Li Wenfang said, he said confidently: "I am good at traditional siege tactics.
No wonder Commander Su asked me to take the lead, Commander Su just saw my ability."
Han Shuliang was very confident, he had many troops, especially his soldiers strictly abided by military discipline.
Discipline and obedience are very good. He gives orders and executes them perfectly.
This was simply not feasible in the Ming army.
He needs to consider the situation when commanding his servants.
Zhang Chujiu came over and saw the two of them chatting while eating.
He sat down and picked up a steamed bun.
"Pork stewed with sweet potato vermicelli, this dish is really good.
I just served food to the prisoners, and they all cried.
These people haven’t tasted meat for a long time.”
Han Shuliang interrupted Zhang Chengjiu's ramblings. He had a good personality, but was too wordy.
As long as you start talking about it, there will be no end to the great truth.
"To get to the point, how is the situation in Guangyuan City?
Compared with the situation we collected in Guangyuan City now, what is the difference?"
Zhang Chujiu swallowed a mouthful of vermicelli and replied:
"Guangyuan City has 3,800 military guards and 5,600 young men who were forcibly recruited.
They reported to Sichuan Governor Zhang Lun that there were 10,000 military households. How could Guangyuan, a small county, have so many soldiers?
The young men had not trained for a day, and most of them had no weapons.
As long as there are a lot of casualties and the Ming army collapses, these young men will definitely find an opportunity to escape.
Guangyuan City Guard Station has very few soldiers.
Most of them are military households who have been farming for a long time. There has been no war in northern Sichuan for a long time. They are no different from young people.
This place is not like southern Sichuan that experienced the She Chongming and An Bangyan rebellions.
In order to protect themselves, generals strengthened their retainers one after another.
Zhu Xieyuan dispatched Hongyi artillery to Guangyuan City, but was stopped by Sichuan Right Political Consultant Shao Jiechun.
Shao Jiechun accepted the order of Governor Zhu Xieyuan and took charge of the defense of Jianmen Pass.
He is the highest-ranking civil servant at Jianmen Pass. You understand the relationship between civil servants and generals in the Ming Dynasty better than we do.
There are only a few old artillery pieces in Guangyuan City.
I heard from the prisoners that the artillerymen did not dare to fire for fear that the guns would explode directly.
Guangyuan City was commanded by Zhou Quansheng, commander of the Lizhou Guards.
Several prisoners reported that the county magistrates of Guangyuan all ran to Jianmen Pass.
In fact, Guangyuan City has been abandoned by Sichuan.
As long as our offensive is fierce, Zhou Quan Sheng is very likely to surrender."
When Han Shuliang heard Zhang Chujiu's report, he knew what was going on.
The difficulty of attacking Guangyuan City was not as high as he expected.
The soldiers ate, drank, and sat on the ground chatting. Time passed quickly.
Han Shuliang saw that the army had rested for half an hour and ordered the army to move forward.
Not long after they walked, they saw the city standing in the valley ahead.
Mountains such as Micang Mountain, Motianling Mountain, and Dajian Mountain crisscross this place.
The Jialing River and its tributaries pass through these mountains.
There is only a small valley passing through it, which is the famous Golden Bull Trail.
Guangyuan City is located on Jinniu Road. It is not a military town now, but an ordinary county town.
But the geographical location is extremely important. Only by capturing Guangyuan City can the Golden Bull Road be opened.
"Guard, convey my order and immediately surround Guangyuan City.
Waiting for the 110 medium-sized artillery pieces from the artillery battalion to arrive.
Just blast it with the cannon first.
Give me a strong charge, and it's best to blow the city gate into pieces, don't worry about the life of the cannon."
The guards conveyed Han Shuliang's order, and the army began to surround Guangyuan City.
…
"Get out, get out of here.
You really made me anxious, I won’t wait for you anymore.”
Zhou Quansheng was in a very agitated mood, and the Guangyuan County Magistrate made excuses and ran away.
Originally, he wanted the county magistrate to take the blame, but now he can only take the blame himself.
Shao Jiechun had previously ordered that all family members of common people and military households who had fled to Hanzhong be captured and sent to Jianmen Pass.
Now Shao Jiechun issued an order to send his wife, concubines, and several children to Jianmen Pass.
Shao Jiechun just didn't believe that Zhou Quan was victorious.
He was afraid that Zhou Quan Sheng would surrender to the enemy and use his family as hostages.
During this time, the thieves in yellow have been mobilizing troops and horses.
Everyone said that the target of the thieves in yellow was Huguang.
But since they were so close to the thief in yellow, they had to worry about the thief in yellow coming over.
Especially because the people under his command were unstable and Guangyuan City was too close to Ningqiang Wei.
Any news from Hanzhong Mansion can reach Guangyuan City in a few days.
The military households in Hanzhong Prefecture are all allocated land, and everyone here in Guangyuan City knows the treatment of soldiers and military dependents.
Anyone with mobility would have run over long ago.
Zhou Quansheng knew that the military households under his command were extremely envious of the soldiers in Hanzhong Prefecture.
If the thieves in yellow really attack, they will be eager to surrender.
Zhou Quansheng had his servants keep a close eye on him. If he really wanted to sell the city, it wouldn't be the turn of these idiots to sell it.
"Sir, it's not good."
Zhou Quansheng heard his confidants shouting outside the room in an extremely panic tone.
"Come in, why are you so worried?"
Zhou Quansheng shouted impatiently.
"Sir, the thief in yellow, the thief in yellow are coming.
We are surrounded and there is no way to escape."
Zhou Quansheng's expression changed drastically, he took out his knife and shouted: "Are you lying to me? How is this possible?
I arranged for many people to keep an eye on the thief in yellow.
There are people standing on the top of the mountain, observing the traces of smoke.
These people all reported without any problems.
The thieves in yellow don't eat before attacking the city, so they can still fight hungry."
"Sir, everything is in chaos outside now. Go to the city wall and take a look. The thieves in yellow are just outside the city."
Zhou Quansheng immediately put on his armor and hurried to the north wall with his servants.
When he climbed up the city wall, he saw that half of the military households and young men who guarded the city wall were gone.
Without soldiers to defend the city, there is no way to fight this battle.
Thousands of households guarding the city gathered in front of Zhou Quansheng.
"Sir, we can't defeat you at all. You see the other party is dragging the cannon.
Our city cannot withstand the cannon attack, so we should surrender."
The soldiers guarding the city also started cheering.
"Sir, there is no way to fight. Let's surrender."
Seeing this situation, his confidants also said: "Sir, guns have no eyes, the thieves in yellow have too sharp firearms.
We have no reinforcements and have become a dead city.
If we resist now, we will die in vain. To save our lives, we should surrender."
Zhou Quansheng's eyes widened and he scolded: "How can you surrender? Surrender to the thieves in yellow, they want to divide the land.
After surrendering, they will definitely divide our land."
A confidant whispered in Zhou Quansheng's ear: "Sir, all of us have no land, only you have it.
Do you think these people still have morale? If you don't surrender now, the thieves in yellow will really open fire soon.
These soldiers at the top of the city are going to tie you up and surrender. What will you do?
Your family only has more than 10,000 acres of land, so you won't lose much land by dividing the family directly.
If you don't surrender now, you will be dead soon, and it will have nothing to do with you how much land you have by then."
Zhou Quansheng listened to his confidants and looked at the soldiers on top of the city. They all looked like rebels.
These people have no land and are not afraid of thieves in yellow robes taking over their land.
They are even more eager for the thieves in yellow to arrive so that they can get a share of the land.
Zhou Quansheng thought about the pros and cons, and found that he had no other way to go.
In this situation, if he continues to resist, these military households will not agree.
"I have decided that we will surrender in Kaicheng."
…
Han Shuliang saw that the artillery battalion had set up the cannon and aimed it at the gate of Guangyuan City.
He was about to give the order to fire.
I saw the north gate of Guangyuan City opened directly.
A Ming army officer rode a donkey and ran towards their military formation.
"Stop firing, our own people, we surrender."
Han Shuliang was so depressed that Guangyuan City surrendered without even firing a single shot.
In this war, his contribution was very little.
Li Wenfang praised from the side: "Those who are good at fighting have no great achievements.
Brigadier Han directly forced Guangyuan City to surrender, which is really a great achievement."
Zhang Chujiu reminded him again: "We must make sure that Guangyuan City really surrenders.
In history, there have been many tactics to lure the enemy with false surrender."
Han Shuliang sent someone to contact this man, and he demanded that the Ming garrison in Guangyuan City must leave the city to accept surrender.
Without leaving the city, they attacked the city directly.
Zhou Quansheng received the news, but he has not yet spoken.
His soldiers immediately started cheering.
"It's great that we don't have to fight anymore."
"We can also divide the land. I heard that as long as we plant it for twenty years, the land will belong to us forever.
Guangyuan is a mountainous area, but there isn’t much land, so I’m afraid there won’t be enough.”
"What are you afraid of if you don't have enough land! This is obviously going to conquer Sichuan. There is still so much land in Sichuan, so there will always be enough."
Zhou Quansheng saw how happy the military households were when they heard the news of the surrender.
If you don't agree, these people will definitely not do it.
He took all the defenders of Guangyuan City and walked out of the north gate to surrender.
…
Su He rushed to Guangyuan City, which had turned into a huge granary.
The grain stored in the Jinniu Grain Depot is constantly transported here.
Li Fengming said with emotion: "If the enemies we encounter are as aware of current affairs as Zhou Quansheng, the intensity of future wars will not be too great."
"It's impossible. It still depends on hard power."
Su He was not as optimistic as Li Fengming, and Zhou Quansheng surrendered directly. There were many accidental factors.
The most important point is that Guangyuan City is very close to Hanzhong Prefecture.
The military households there all understood Suhe's policies.
No matter how slanderous the Ming generals were, the true situation could not be concealed.
Secondly, being thorough is better than having a good nature.
He was born in the Ming Dynasty's army, and the only bad thing he did was to take empty pay.
The most evil things he did in daily life were beating and scolding his subordinates, so that they could help him farm in peace.
Zhou Quansheng considered his own interests, and he lost little by surrendering.
The extremely vicious gentry and their lackeys will never surrender even if they spend their last drop of blood.
Su He has made preparations to kill all the gentry in the world.
Whoever dares to block his way forward will be shown no mercy.
These parasites that suck the blood of people all over the world through rent should not exist.
Li Zhisheng came over to report: "Commander Su, I am going to transport enough food from the Jinniu Grain Depot to Guangyuan City for the army for two months."
"It's not enough, we need to transport more grain, and use the method of moving ants to gradually transport grain to the front line.
Every time we control an important city, we turn it into a logistics base.
Through this method, try to shorten the transportation and supply line from the rear to the front line.
If the supply line is too long, the front line will be very dangerous.
Inform Wang Zhongce and ask him to dispatch some officials to establish effective rule in Guangyuan City as soon as possible."
It is too difficult to transport food in Shu Road, so we can only use this ant moving method to quickly transport food to the front line
"Li Shangshu, you don't have to follow us to the front line.
You will be responsible for the logistics and transportation work in Guangyuan City. When we conquer Jianmen Pass, you can directly lead the logistics department and settle in Jianmen Pass.
In this way, keep up with our footsteps and move forward little by little.
This can not only ensure your safety, but also allow logistics materials to be transported to the front line as soon as possible."
Li Zhisheng received the order and discussed some issues with Su He.
Watching Su He leading the guard group towards Jianmen Pass.