In the third year of the Taiqing Dynasty, on the first day of the first lunar month, drums were thundering near Qingtang, and a large number of rebel troops poured out from the camp, joined forces in the direction of Qingtang, and charged away.
Qingtang is located between Stone City and Jiankang City. Wei Can was ordered by the alliance leader Liu Zhongli to lead his army to camp here. However, due to the heavy fog and mist last night, and the complicated canals and roads on the outskirts of Jiankang City, Wei Can's troops were lost for a long time.
, it was not far from dawn when we arrived at Qingtang.
This is an important passage connecting Stone City, so the rebels naturally stationed soldiers here to guard the area. After Wei Can ordered his men to kill the guards, they immediately built a fort with various materials and components they brought for defense.
However, due to the time wasted on the lost road, the outer camp fence was not completed until dawn, and the strength of Wei Can's camp was exposed to the enemy's eyes and ears.
Originally, although the rebel army knew that Qingtang had been lost, they did not dare to move lightly because they did not know the strength of the enemy's army. At this time, they saw that Wei Can's troops were not the majority of the reinforcements. Even though they sounded the drum order to attack, Hou Jing personally led it.
The elite troops came straight towards the unfinished fortress.
"Hurry up and prepare for battle!"
Although Wei Can had been in charge of the guards for a long time and rarely led troops in battles, he was still born in the Jingzhao Wei family and was the direct grandson of Wei Hu. He had a good family background and was not alarmed by changes. He immediately dispatched his troops to fight against the rebels in front of the camp.
At the same time, he ordered his staff: "Quickly send an order to Liu Zhige to lead the fleet eastward and attack the rebels behind!"
Combining water and land was the usual way of fighting in the south. Wei Can's army only had a few thousand men. Fearing that he would not be able to defend the important area of Qingtang, Liu Zhongli sent Zhige General Liu Shuyin and his troops to follow and help in the battle.
At this time, Liu Shuyin's naval force was still parked in the river, and the rebels on the opposite side were swarming in. If they could move east of the river and launch an offensive from the rear, the rebels would be in chaos, making it difficult to take care of both ends.
Soon the elite rebels led by Hou Jing arrived in front of the camp. The army leader Zheng Yi who was fighting in front of the camp led his troops to shoot at the enemy with bows and crossbows. Taking advantage of the heavy casualties and chaos in the offensive, he rushed forward with a sword.
, filled the gap in the camp fence that had not been closed with their flesh and blood. The two sides fought hand to hand, fighting fiercely, and soon the front of the camp was filled with corpses. Although the rebels were outnumbered, they were firmly blocked outside the camp.
.
"The son-in-law and others fought bravely to kill the enemy, and after defeating the thief, they celebrated in the palace!"
Wearing fine armor, Wei Can personally beat drums in the camp to cheer up the soldiers. The soldiers in the camp also had high fighting spirit and were not afraid of the situation where the enemy was outnumbered and we were outnumbered.
However, the war lasted for a while, and Liu Shuyin's troops, who were supposed to be ordered to attack the rebels from behind, showed no movement at all. This caused more and more rebels to gather near Qingtang, and there was a tendency to surround the place.
While Wei Can's men were fighting fiercely with the rebels, Liu Zhongli's men and horses had also moved from Xinting to Dacheng. After mobilizing their men and horses overnight, Liu Zhongli was already quite tired.
While he was dining in the tent, he suddenly heard that the rebels were attacking Qingtang. Liu Zhongli suddenly changed his expression. He threw his chopsticks into the mat, stood up and put on his armor, and shouted sharply: "Young men, please follow me to attack the rebels. After the formation kills Hou Jing, return home."
It’s not too late for dinner!”
Soon Liu Zhongli was lightly armored, holding a horse spear, and led hundreds of fine cavalry to charge straight to the north of the big stringer.
The southerners were not good at horse fighting, but they did not include Liu Zhongli. He was a martial artist since he was a child. When he was young, he followed the prince Xiao Gang who was named King of An'an in Xiangyang to sit in Xiangyang. At that time, He Basheng traveled across the north of Han Dynasty, and no one could defeat him.
Liu Zhongli alone was able to resist defeat.
Since then, Liu Zhongli's reputation has spread throughout Hanmi, and he has been in Handong and Huainan for a long time. Even Hou Jing's attempt to get involved in the old town of Henan was met with resistance and he could not make any progress. It can be said that he is the leading Fang Bo in Nanliang.
general!
The rebels also set up a defense line to the north of Dacheng, but they were as fragile as paper under the charge of Liu Zhongli and his troops, and they were completely unable to stop the iron hoofs from running. After rushing through Dacheng, Liu Zhongli directly led his troops towards the entrenched army.
Most of the rebels near Qingtang rushed away.
Although the rebel army was strong, a considerable part of it was just a mob with low combat effectiveness, and they were no match for Liu Zhongli's enemies. Therefore, under the leadership of Liu Zhongli, this elite group of cavalry was invincible, charging and killing among the rebel troops.
As more and more rebels were stirred up, the elite of Hou Jingzhong's army, which still maintained order, became prominent in the military formation.
"That's where Hou Jingzhong's army is. Follow me and take the leader of the thief!"
Before the official battle between the two sides, Liu Zhongli was quite uneasy. After all, Hou Jing had marched all the way from Shouyang in Huainan to the Jiankang army to besiege Taicheng. However, after the battle, he found that although his troops were many but mixed, and their fighting spirit was not strong, they could not kill him.
His temper aroused, his fighting spirit was even higher, and he wanted to complete his victory in one battle. He waved his horse in his hand and went straight to kill Hou Jingzhong's army.
Of course, Hou Jing also noticed this cavalry team that had thrown his formation into chaos. They were far apart before, and the people from all walks of life were so frightened that they were completely ignored by it. Now when they saw the other party, they came straight towards him.
, a sneer suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth.
While he ordered to maintain the offensive pressure on the camp and ensure that the people in the camp could not leave the camp to attack, he slowly retreated surrounded by his soldiers, trying to attract the people to the core of the military formation and then gather the generals.
strangled.
However, Hou Jing also underestimated Liu Zhongli's combat effectiveness. Although the soldiers around him were considered elite, they were not the elite suppressing troops he led in Henan.
Liu Zhongli rushed into the battle, and his attack speed did not slow down much. He saw that he was already less than a few feet away from Hou Jing, and the troops around Hou Jing were already in danger of being defeated.
"The thief will never hurt my king!"
A loud shout came from the side, and Hou Jingbu's general Zhi Boren swung his sword and slashed Liu Zhongli down.
Liu Zhongli received this blow, his horse was unstable, and he was almost lost in the formation. The enemy soldiers nearby rushed to attack him. Fortunately, the soldiers from the rear arrived in time and successfully rescued Liu Zhongli under the leadership of the cavalry commander Guo Shanshi.
At this time, Liu Zhongli was seriously injured, his armor was stained with blood, and his consciousness was somewhat blurred. He could no longer lead his troops to attack and kill. Guo Shanshi and others had no choice but to fight and retreat, and retreated to the camp before the surrounding enemy troops recovered from the panic.
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After repelling Liu Zhongli's supporting army, there were no other disturbing factors on the battlefield, and Hou Jing was able to gather the crowd to continue attacking the enemy camp in Qingtang.
At this time, the Qingtang camp was surrounded by rebel troops. Although the soldiers in the camp risked their lives in fighting, they could not stop the decline. Instead of attacking the enemy, Liu Shuyin's boat division sailed towards the river. Apparently,
This unit was abandoned.
"Lord, the thieves are fierce, please retreat to the river temporarily..."
Seeing that the rebel army was getting more and more powerful, all the subordinates around Wei Can advised him to stay away from the enemy for the time being.
However, Wei Can's face was full of grief and anger. He drew his sword in his hand and shouted angrily: "The armies are seeking personal gain and there is no justice at all. How can they gather people to fight again after retreating to the river? My Wei family is proud of the country, and some of the soldiers of the country have died."
, There are no thieves who steal lives! Kill, kill the thieves!"
Wei Can refused to retreat, and went straight to kill the rebels who had broken through the camp fence. Seeing this, all his disciples followed him. However, this stubborn and lonely army was destined to face the swarming enemy troops. It was just that the mantis was using its arms as a chariot, and was soon submerged in the rebellious army.
It took two days for Liu Zhongli to wake up after being rescued and returned to the camp. The first thing he did when he woke up was to ask how the Qingtang military camp was doing. He learned that his cousin Wei Can and his relatives had been wiped out, and no other surrounding troops could rescue him. After hearing this, Liu Zhongli was silent for a while, and then sneered: "Brother Chang Qian, you deserved to die, but you put me in the position of a destined sinner. Huh, all the troops are willing to be content, so why should I rush to die?"
At this time, someone came to report that Xiao Lun, the king of Shaoling who had previously fled, once again led the crowd back to the south of Dacheng and asked for a meeting outside the camp. He also appointed Liu Zhongli as the leader of the alliance.
"not see!"
After hearing this, Liu Zhongli felt even worse, waved his hands and said coldly.
Xiao Lun, the king of Shaoling, was the sixth son of the emperor. When Hou Jing raised his troops, he was ordered to be the governor of the army to quell Hou Jing's rebellion. Originally, Liu Zhongli was also under his command to encircle and annihilate Hou Jing in Huainan.
However, King Shaoling marched slowly and had a negative attitude. Hou Jing raised his troops and stayed in place for nearly two months. King Shaoling also made no move to gather the troops. Even Hou Jing had already quarried stones to cross the river. King Shaoling Only then did the troops arrive at Zhongli.
It took more than a full month for King Shaoling to lead his troops back to Jiankang. As a result, he was defeated in a battle with Hou Jing and fled. He ignored the situation in Beijing and returned to Jingkou to rest.
When all the armies gathered here a month ago, Wei Can proposed that Liu Zhongli be the leader of the alliance. However, Pei Zhigao, the governor of Western Yuzhou, refused, and finally a consensus was reached under Wei Can's coercion. Liu Zhongli was also burdened by this position. When Wei Can moved to the front line to fight the rebels, they thought that the generals would respond without missing a beat, but they turned out to be silent and watched the two groups fight to the death with Hou Jing's rebels. Wei Can's army was almost wiped out, and Liu Zhongli His life is also in danger.
This battle completely made Liu Zhongli realize what the so-called coalition forces were like, and he also realized that he, the so-called alliance leader, actually had no ability to coordinate the armies, and was just a false name that was deeply burdened by it.
King Shaoling was a rebellious and disrespectful person to begin with, and he showed a lot of disrespect to the Second Palace. As the leader of the clan and the rebels, he dared to blatantly delay the military plan, but now he was willing to serve Liu Zhongli as the leader of the alliance and obey his orders. Liu Zhongli knew that King Shaoling didn't need to think about it. What's the idea in mind?
Now that the Second Palace is trapped in the city, King Shaoling is the eldest person in the clan. If the Second Palace is taken away in a wave, who will be in charge of the situation next? Liu Zhongli, the so-called leader, has become the default of the masses. The guilty person.
After thinking about his situation, Liu Zhongli felt more sad and angry, and gradually began to have extreme thoughts. Since the masses all regarded him as the leader, he ordered his generals to inform the armies and seize them in the name of preparing for war. If anyone dared to refuse to provide property, he would scold the other party for wasting the opportunity to fight, showing no intention of being a diligent king.
After the New Year, reinforcements from all parties continued to arrive, but none of them dared to go to war rashly. Some people came to the camp to ask for an audience, and Liu Zhongli did not bother to summon them.
This lasted until the middle of the month, when a paper kite floated out of Taichung City with the Taichung Edict written on it, which cheered up the spirits of the troops outside Jiankang City and began to organize a new round of offensive.
The generals all kowtowed to the camp and asked for battle, but Liu Zhongli refused because he was seriously injured. It was difficult to win over everyone. He also knew that his brother Liu Jingli was asked to cooperate, but he was unwilling to take on the military responsibility.
It was not until the end of the month that all parties reached a consensus, crossed the Qinhuai River again, fought with the rebels, captured the Dongfu City Camp and garrisoned Qingxi. Li Qianshi, the governor of Gaozhou, and Fan Wenjiao, the prefect of Tianmen, underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly.
Hou Jing's general Song Zixian was defeated and fled to death. Although the armies were close at hand, they could only wait and see the success or failure.
From this, Liu Zhongli became more convinced of his own judgment. If he went to war rashly, the bandits in front would be strong and the retreat would be blocked by the masses. Then he would be in a dilemma, so it was better to preserve his strength.
As the time entered February, news suddenly came from the city that the imperial court was going to negotiate peace with Hou Jing's rebels. When the generals heard the news, they were shocked. Hou Jing had done so much evil and the Second Palace had been disgraced. How could they still tolerate it?
Indulge?
Of course, this is from their perspective. For the Second Palace, although there are many reinforcements outside the city, they all have a negative attitude. Although the soldiers inside the city are still resisting stubbornly, supplies are extremely scarce.
Before the closure of Taicheng, the ministers' families sent their slaves to carry rice into the city, and they collected more than 400,000 shi of rice and grain, and the money and silk in the treasury of each government reached 5 billion. After entering the city, they were under the command of Yang Kan.
Building a mountain with soil underneath is the essence of building a high wall with a deep connection and accumulating grain in a wide area.
However, apart from money and food, Taichung is extremely short of other supplies. Fish, salt, and firewood are all in short supply. Rice is used to feed horses, and horses are killed for meat. The lack of salt and other condiments has made the city's soldiers bloated and sick. Even the people in the city are suffering from edema.
All the vegetables in storage had been eaten, and the emperor was a Buddhist and vegetarian, so he only ate eggs to satisfy his hunger.
When the peace talks began and Taicheng resumed contact with the outside world, they learned that the situation in Taicheng had become so difficult that all the generals felt sad and did not dare to question the peace talks anymore.
When King Shaoling learned that His Majesty the Emperor was in such a difficult situation, he burst into tears and ordered his envoys to donate hundreds of eggs. In Taicheng, while His Majesty the Emperor was preparing the eggs presented by his son with his own hands, he could not help but choke with sadness and burst into tears.
vertically and horizontally.
The reason why peace talks are needed in Taicheng is naturally because the situation has become critical. The reason why the rebels proposed peace talks is also because the reinforcements attack, cutting off the access to Dongfu City, and the rebels' supplies are accumulated in Dongfu City. Through the peace talks,
We need to transport these grains and rice back.
Liu Zhongli and other generals naturally knew what Hou Jing had in mind, and even His Royal Highness himself knew that Hou Jing was not trustworthy, but they still only held a fantasy to satisfy Hou Jing's many difficulties, and the generals naturally did not dare to violate it.
Against the second house, he is good at attacking the rebels, not to mention that they have no intention of fighting.
In order to use the peace talks to delay the transportation of rice and grain back to Dongfu City, Hou Jing also informed the city's middle road that Xiao Que, the son of Prince Shaoling, was insulting him through the fence and intending to sabotage the peace talks. He hoped that the court could remove several resolute clan members and generals.
Summoned into Taicheng.
Although King Shaoling himself missed the opportunity and passively suppressed the rebellion, he did not dare to bear the reputation of sabotaging the peace talks and persecuting the Second Palace. Because his son refused to enter Taicheng, he even ordered his son to be killed, forcing Xiao Que to do so.
Shedding tears into the city.
When all the grain was shipped out of Dongfu City and Hou Jing had sufficient supplies, he immediately broke the contract and stopped negotiating peace. He even wrote a letter to the court listing the emperor's top ten sins.
Emperor Liang was furious when he read the book. He set up an altar outside the Taiji Hall to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, and set up beacons and drums in order to fight Hou Jing again. However, the people in Taicheng were already old, weak, sick and disabled, so they had no strength to fight again.
All we can count on is reinforcements from outside the city.
So all the generals outside the city went to Liu Zhongli's camp to ask for battle, but Liu Zhongli just didn't respond. The father and son in the city had no bottom line in order to survive. They knew that Hou Jing's request for peace was impossible, and they changed their orders in the morning and evening.
Dignity is lost.
The rebel army is on the north bank of the Qinhuai River. Liu Zhongli, the leader of the alliance, has never been an official appointed by the imperial edict. If he refuses, the generals will not dare to fight? In the end, it is just to make him take the blame.
If he ordered a war, and the situation was like this, even if he rescued Ninomiya, he would still have to bear Ninomiya's anger. If he hadn't passively fought, why would Ninomiya have to endure the humiliation and make peace with the thieves? If he couldn't rescue Ninomiya, he would be guilty of the same serious crime. Both parties were originally in peace talks.
, all because he was greedy for power and took risks, which caused the Second Palace to be lost among thieves!
However, when the generals asked for battle, even his father Liu Jin, who was also trapped in Taicheng, climbed up the tower and called for him to attack the rebels. Although Liu Zhongli did not respond, he felt very anxious in his heart and simply indulged in wine and sex without paying attention to foreign affairs.
The armies outside the city were passive and lazy, just waiting and watching, and Taicheng, which had been besieged for several months, was on the verge of collapse. The soldiers and people in the city were killed and injured, but the clan still did not care about survival, such as Xiao, the son of Prince Shaoling.
He still drinks, has fun and gambles, but does not care about the people.
But the key reason why Taicheng can still be maintained is that Hou Jing's rebels are also passive and lazy. On the one hand, the city has been besieged for several months, and they have to deal with reinforcements from outside the city, which consumes a lot of manpower.
On the one hand, all the rebel soldiers knew that there was a shortage of supplies in Taicheng, but they were accumulating money and silk. Therefore, they took advantage of the siege to squeeze the dignitaries in the city, exchanging salt, seasonings and other survival supplies for the money and silk in the city. Sometimes a few taels of salt could be exchanged.
For tens of thousands of dollars, this business can be said to be incredibly profitable.
Hou Jing also deeply resented the behavior of his subordinates who were passive in fighting but actively collaborated with the enemy in business. He directly ordered the arrest of dozens of collaborators and their heads as a warning to the other armies.
However, as a result, many soldiers who had no idea about it knew about it. When they attacked the city the next day, the crowd swarmed the city, but the encirclement was not large. They just waited for the remaining people in the city to bring money and silk for trading. After all,
Most of the loot captured after entering the city belonged to the general, but there was no telling how much was extracted during the battle.
As the two sides fought to the death, the offensive and defensive battle in Taicheng lasted for ten more days, until mid-March. In the end, the Xiaoliang clan came out on top, and the Prince of Shaoling's son's department was unable to bear the consequences.
The abuse directly led the rebel soldiers into the city, and this protracted offensive and defensive battle in Taicheng was finally ended.
The Qingpao White Horse Shouyang came in the late autumn when the autumn wind was cold. By the time Taicheng was captured, it was already the late spring when the spring river was warm and prosperous.
After entering Taicheng, Hou Jing immediately sent his troops to control the key points in Taicheng, especially the emperor and the prince. He knew that the two palaces were his real trump cards now, and that Xiao Zhengde guy was just a joke, so when he met
After passing the two palaces, he immediately ordered the troops outside the city to disperse in the name of Emperor Liang.
As expected, the armies once again gathered in Liu Zhongli's camp. Xiao Lun, the king of Shaoling who had not seen each other for many days, was the first to speak: "The thieves have entered the city and the second palace has fallen. What should we do today? I am waiting for you."
We are all waiting for you, General."
After hearing this, Liu Zhongli just looked straight at King Shaoling without saying a word.
Pei Zhigao, who was originally dissatisfied with Liu Zhongli, snorted coldly: "General, as the leader of the army, he has millions of troops in his hands. The former sat in the palace and watched the palace fall. Now if he is unable to fight for a decisive victory, he will be humiliated even more."
What to say!"
Wang Sengbian, a general from the royal family of eastern Hunan who arrived in Jiankang shortly after arriving from the upper reaches, also generously said after hearing this: "The second palace is imprisoned, and the whole world is sad. The only thing we can do today is fight!"
The generals expressed their respective stances. They were all heartbroken and high in fighting spirit. They wished they could kill the rebel soldiers in the city!
Liu Zhongli just listened to everyone's impassioned speeches and never said a word. Only at the most passionate moment, he took off his upper robe and showed it to everyone. The newly healed scars on his shoulders that penetrated deeply into the shoulder blades were shocking. Then he raised the wine glass on the table and faced
I bowed deeply and sprinkled wine in the direction of Qingtang.
When all the generals saw this, their faces turned cold. The veteran general Pei Zhigao was the first to stand up, snorted coldly, and then walked away with a puff of his sleeves.
After seeing this, King Shaoling and other clan members also hurriedly left. After leaving Liu Zhongli's camp, they led their troops to quickly leave the surrounding areas of Jiankang. Now that Hou Jing has entered the second palace, there is no doubt that these clan members are the most dangerous.
Leaving as soon as possible is the best way to protect yourself.
After Wang Sengbian and other generals saw this, they no longer stayed here. They stood up, briefly clasped their fists at Liu Zhongli, and then returned to their camps.
The kings of the clans dispersed, but Liu Zhongli and other generals who were still staying around Jiankang opened their camp gates, received Hou Jing's envoy and asked for surrender, and then led by the envoy into the city to pay homage to their father.
From then on, Hou Jing, the rebel general of the Eastern Wei Dynasty who crossed the Yangtze River with 8000 troops in Shouyang and fled southward in panic with 800 remnants, finally besieged Jiankangtaicheng for more than four months.
He conquered Taicheng, entered the Second Palace, and surrendered a number of generals of Nanliang, officially assuming the supreme power of Nanliang.
In the fourth year of Zhengguang's reign in the Northern Wei Dynasty, the people of Huaihuang Town killed Yu Jing and raised their troops to cause rebellion. Soon after, the people of Woye Town broke into the Liuhan Ba Ling and raised their troops to cause rebellion. This was the prelude to the Six Towns Mutiny.
In the first year of Yongxi in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Gao Huan, a citizen of Huaishuo, defeated Erzhu's Bafu and proclaimed Yuan Xiu, a clan member of the Yuan and Wei Dynasties, as Emperor Xiaowu. From then on, the Gao family's Bafu was established.
In the third year of Yongxi reign of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Xiaowu Yuanxiu led his troops to hunt west after failing to seize power with Gao Huan. Yuwentai, a native of Wuchuan Town, welcomed Emperor Xiaowu into Guanxi and established the Yuwen clan's hegemony. The Northern Wei Dynasty also split into the Eastern Wei Dynasty.
Western Wei Dynasty.
In the third year of Taiqing in Nanliang, Hou Jing, a native of Huaishuo Town, led his army southward, captured Jiankang Taicheng, and took over the power of Nanliang.
From then on, the three kingdoms of the world were all controlled by the warriors of Beizhen.
Originally I didn’t want to write about the Battle of Taicheng directly, it was too bad. But after all, it was a very important event, and some book friends didn’t know much about the process. If I just ignored it and didn’t write about it, there would be some obstacles in connecting the plot later. I wrote about Nan
Liang was at a loss for words, because the stupid operations of the Xiao family really challenged the imagination. At least he has finished writing, today's 6,000-word chapter...