When Zhuge Liang went south from Hanzhong to Jiangzhou, he was not in a relaxed mood.
Now the Han Dynasty controls half of the country, and is not much different from Cao Wei in terms of strength. It has both troops and horses, and a complete supply of food and fodder. It can be said that the Han Dynasty has a strong army and is ready to attack Cao Wei in the north at any time.
But precisely because their enemy was Cao Wei, they deployed hundreds of thousands of troops on the border. The two sides faced each other in Guanzhong, Nanyang, and Huainan, leaving the rear empty of troops.
Now Liu Bei's military strength has exceeded the 350,000 at its peak, reaching 400,000. Among them, Jingzhou alone has 200,000 troops. Except for Jingnan and Jiaozhou, which have tens of thousands of county troops, most of the troops are deployed in Nanyang and
Xiangyang front line.
Then there are about 100,000 people in Yangzhou and Xiliang each.
But again, it’s like Liu Bei in history only occupied the broken half of Jingzhou and the incomplete Yizhou, but he was able to lose more than 100,000 troops in the Battle of Xiangfan, the Battle of Hanzhong, and the Battle of Yiling.
, Zhuge Liang could also organize tens of thousands of troops to defend Soochow.
The number of soldiers and horses dispatched does not represent the total strength, because the rear still needs to be left behind. Therefore, of the current Liu Bei Group's total strength of 400,000 troops, at least one-third of the troops are not the main combat troops, but county soldiers left behind in various counties.
For example, there are about 100,000 soldiers on the Nanyang front line, and then there are about 50,000 Jiangxia Navy troops. The remaining 50,000 people are distributed in Jingnan and Jiaozhou garrison counties. For example, Shen Chen is an active overseas pioneer.
The county opened a port and ordered the fleet to go east to Yizhou and south to Zhuyazhou to open up the offshore sea.
As for Yangzhou, Guan Yu had 80,000 troops, and the remaining 20,000 were distributed in the rear counties to maintain local security and discipline.
Since the problem of the Shanyue people has been resolved, Liu Bei went to Shanyue in person, made an alliance with many Shanyue leaders, and promised them loose conditions. Therefore, all Shanyue obeyed, which made Yangzhou have fewer troops stationed in the rear, unlike Jingnan and Jiaozhou.
Beware of the barbarians in the south.
The situation in Yizhou and Liangzhou is much worse. Because the Cao Wei Group in Guanzhong is on the defensive, the front line does not need so many troops, so there are only 20,000 troops in Hanzhong, and more than 10,000 cavalry in Liangzhou plus more than 20,000 infantry. The total strength of the front line is
There are only more than 50,000 and less than 60,000. The rest of the troops are basically in Bashu and Ningzhou to guard against the ethnic minorities in the southwest.
In other words, even if you include the 50,000 navy troops who have little impact on the northern war, the current number of Liu Bei Group's frontline soldiers is only about 280,000. If you exclude the navy troops, it will be 230,000. This is the current number
The total strength of Liu Bei's group's three-way Northern Expedition.
Among them, there are about 120,000 local troops stationed in Bashu in Yizhou, Jianning in Ningzhou, Linxiang in Xiangzhou in Jingnan, Nanhai in Jiaozhou, and Kuaiji in Yuezhou newly drawn from Yangzhou.
When Deng Fang was the commander-in-chief of the Confederacy, he only had more than 10,000 troops. However, because he had appropriate policies in the southwest, he was a man who valued righteousness over wealth and made many good friends. Therefore, even with a small number of troops, he still made the southwest Yi people and the
The local disloyal Gaoding Zhu Bao and others did not dare to rebel and hid their ambitions.
When Deng Fang died, Gao Ding, Zhu Bao and others immediately launched a rebellion, echoing Cao Wei from a distance, and established their own separate regime.
Logically speaking, Liu Bei's group is now far more powerful than in history, with numerous troops and a powerful force in the south. No matter how stupid they are, they should not seek death like this.
But it's not that they want to die, but that one has collusion with Cao Wei and the inside should cooperate with the outside. The other is that the southwest is remote and transportation is extremely inconvenient. The third and most important point is that the Yi people do not accept the king's rule and have continued rebellions for a long time.
Historically, even after Zhuge Liang conquered Southwest, rebellions continued to occur, but they were mostly small-scale and not as grand as before Zhuge Liang pacified Nanzhong. This shows how serious the rebellion of the Yi tribe was.
So in the face of this matter, Zhuge Liang also planned to act cautiously.
After he arrived in Jiangzhou, Wang Ping and Ma Liang were already waiting for him. Wang Ping led an army of 10,000 people, plus 30,000 soldiers from Bashu County, totaling 40,000 horses, and headed west along the Yangtze River towards Bodao.
The ship was bumpy and turbulent on the road. Inside the flagship ship, Zhuge Liang was sitting cross-legged in the room. Although Shen Chen often said that sitting cross-legged like this was good for his waist and that his legs and knees were not good and he should often sit on a bench, he was still used to sitting on it. On the mat, it is difficult to change.
There is a map on the table in the room, which is the map of Ningzhou. This map comes from when Liu Bei and Shen Chen were fighting the Battle of Guanzhong and the Battle of Jingzhou, which caused a serious logistical burden on Bashu and led to the decline of people's livelihood. The people were in hardship, and Yong Kai, a powerful family in the southwest, took the opportunity to launch a rebellion. Zhuge Liang sent Deng Fang, Zhuo Ying and others to put it down.
It happened that some of Shen Chen's disciples were serving as clerks in the army. In addition to studying classics, Shen Chen taught his disciples that they were also good at drawing drawings. So at that time, he drew some detailed maps of Nanzhong and handed them over to the imperial court.
Ma Liang sat next to Zhuge Liang. Seeing Zhuge Liang studying the map carefully, he asked: "Prime Minister, Nanzhong is so remote that we have just been asked to go there. Why do we have to go there in person?"
Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "Nanzhong is the rear of our Han Dynasty. If we want to launch the Northern Expedition, the rear must be stable. There are many mountains and rivers here and are dangerous. According to Xiaoqing's words, it is suitable for separatism and self-reliance. Even if we send people to pacify it, what if we take advantage of the Northern Expedition? At this time, if they rebel again, they will threaten the land of Bashu."
"Does the Prime Minister intend to completely pacify Nanzhong?"
Ma Liang asked.
"Um."
Zhuge Liang nodded and asked, "Ji Chang, do you have any clever ideas?"
Ma Liang thought for a while and said: "If we want to completely make the southern barbarians submit, we can only attack them with soldiers and horses. We can only use force but cannot convince their hearts. Therefore, I think, as General Hussar said, when you attack a country, you should attack its heart." The top is the top, and the siege is the bottom.”
"Um."
Zhuge Liang pondered and said, "Yes, that's what Xiaoqing said before bidding me farewell. This Nanzhong rebellion was started by Zhu Bao, Gao Ding and others, and they also attracted Meng Huo, the leader of the southwestern Yi tribe. He is quite prestigious in the country, and if we can surrender this person, perhaps we can stop the rebellion in Nanzhong."
Ma Liang added: "Fighting the army with force, attacking the heart with kindness. Giving both kindness and force is the king's way. I heard that General Hussar was in Liangzhou, attacking the rebel Qiang and Di tribes in the big tribes, and attacking the Hu people in the small tribes in An'an who were willing to submit. Perhaps the Prime Minister You can use this method.”
"Kill the older ones and let the younger ones go?"
"Yes."
"Zhu Bao has decreed that these two evil thieves cannot be tolerated. Only Meng Huoxing can do so."
Zhuge Liang nodded slightly.
Zhu Bao was the governor appointed by the imperial court. When Yong Kai rebelled, it is said that he planned to respond. As a result, Yong Kai was quickly put down. He killed the Chang Fang in Yizhou and falsely accused Chang Fang of colluding with Yong Kai to rebel.
Since there was no evidence for this matter, and Liu Bei and Shen Chen were at war with Cao Wei at that time, Zhuge Liang was trying his best to maintain logistics and had no time to deal with this matter. As a result, Zhu Bao was fooled like this.
Now it seems that maybe the original rumors were correct. That is, it was Zhu Bao who wanted to rebel, not Chang Fang. Chang Fang discovered Zhu Bao's abnormal behavior and wanted to report it to the court, but Zhu Bao killed him first.
As for Gaoding, he was also the king of the southwestern Yi people and the leader of the Yi people in Yueqi County. The Yi people in the Han Dynasty were actually the Yi people in later generations. Yueqi County was the area around Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in later generations, and the capital of Qiong was Xichang City in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.
.
There is a deep conflict between the Yi people here and the Han people who occupy the Sichuan-Shu Plain. Historically, after Zhuge Liang pacified Nanzhong, there were many rebellions and he killed two governors of Yuexi County appointed by the Shu Han court. This made it impossible for the people appointed by the Shu Han court to
I dare not take office in the county.
At that time, Zhuge Liang had been on the front line of Hanzhong for many years in the northern expedition against Cao Wei and had no time to visit the south. Yuexi County existed in name only. It was not until Ma Zhong became the governor of Yuejiang that he and Zhang Yi, the prefect of Yuexi, worked together with kindness and power to annihilate the rebellion of Yuexi. It can be seen that the Yi tribe here and
The hatred between the Han people is very deep.
Therefore, Zhu Bao and Gao Ding were both staunch rebels. Zhuge Liang believed that these two chief culprits should be dealt with, and the rest of the southwestern Yi leaders who followed them in rebellion could be released, but they must also be defeated.
The fleet followed the Yangtze River to Bodao. Zhuge Liang personally led a group of troops to march from the middle road and set out from Nanguang along the road to attack Zhuti County. He also sent Zhang Yi to attack Yuexun County by water in Anshang County.
Finally, he ordered his subordinate Ma Zhong to attack the rebels in Zoke County from the right.
Zhuti County was the area around Zhaotong City in Yunnan Province in later generations, and Zhuti County, where it was governed, was the urban area of Zhaotong City. When Zhuge Liang's army had just entered Nanguang County in Zhuti County, they heard the latest news.
When Li Hui first arrived in Nanzhong, he wanted to wipe out the rebellion as soon as possible, so he went deep into the army alone and was besieged in Dianchi County, Jianning County, which later became Kunming City, Yunnan Province.
Since the number of rebels in Jianning County was several times that of the Han army at that time, and there was no news from Zhuge Liang, the situation was very serious. Li Hui therefore used a trick to deceive the Nanyi, telling them that he planned to surrender, but he was worried that they would be detrimental to him.
, so I hope they can relax their encirclement.
The Nanyi rebels believed Li Hui's words and slackened their defense of the siege. Li Hui seized the opportunity to take the initiative and suddenly launched a surprise attack, defeating the Nanyi rebels and chasing them all the way to Panjiang and almost to Zang.
Kejun.
After receiving this news, Zhuge Liang was very happy and praised Li Hui. Then the main force changed direction and headed west to capture Yuexi.
Because of the three-pronged attack, the main force in the middle route was to go south from Zhuti County to Jianning County to rescue Li Hui. But now that Li Hui has defeated the Jianning rebels, only the Yuexi and Zangke rebels are left, so naturally there is no need
Then go to Jianning.
Zhuge Liang's army went west from Nanguang, passed Qianjie and Mahu, and then raided Beishui. Under his personal command, the Beishui rebels were defeated, and then he and Zhang Yi from the west besieged Qiongdu.
Zhang Ni captured Suqi County to the north of Qiongdu, and encircled Qiongdu with Zhuge Liang's tribe to the east.
Qiongdu is said to be a city, but it is better to say it is a simple walled city. The outer perimeter is just built with low rammed earth walls. Because the Yi people are not good at building cities, they have been in disrepair for a long time and have long been ruined.
At this moment, on a high slope in the wilderness northwest of Qiongdu, Zhuge Liang was sitting in a four-wheeled vehicle, protected by soldiers around him, looking at the situation down the slope with Ma Liang.
Gao Ding, as the king of the Yi people in Yue, had a high prestige. He not only recruited Meng Huo, but also some Yi leaders such as E Huan to join him. He supported more than 70,000 to 80,000 people and was very powerful. Together with Zhu Bao in the east and Jianning in the south,
The rebels totaled 200,000 soldiers and horses.
Of course, in Zhuge Liang's eyes, these soldiers and horses are nothing more than a mob, just chickens and dogs.
I saw that to the east of the slope were 10,000 soldiers and 10,000 county troops led by Wang Ping, and to the north were more than 10,000 Bashu troops led by Zhang Yi. Although there were many people on the opposite side, there was almost no formation at all.
Crowded together in a mess.
Although Wang Ping and Zhang Yi's troops were relatively small in number, their troops were well organized, with an army of more than 30,000 people arranged in several square formations. Even the Taoist troops were arranged neatly under Zhuge Liang's training.
In the distance, Gao Ding shouted loudly and the trumpet sounded melodiously, and an army of 70,000 to 80,000 Yi people marched towards them in a chaotic manner.
Zhuge Liang just sat on the four-wheeled vehicle and watched quietly without giving any orders.
Soon the barbarian troops came like a tide.
"Fire the arrow!"
Wang Ping shouted.
The tall and powerful archers in the rear, with amazing arm strength, took out their arrows and threw their heads upward.
An overwhelming rain of arrows poured into the formation, splashing countless blood.
But the opponent's number is too great. With the speed of bows and arrows, they can only shoot two or three rounds and tens of thousands of arrows at most. There are still very few that can actually kill the enemy.
But after the second round of arrow rain, Wang Ping issued another military order, and the crossbowmen in the front row immediately came out, crouched on the ground, and pulled the trigger.
"Boohoo!"
Several crossbow arrows are fired in succession. This small repeating crossbow is more suitable for such close-range collisions within fifty meters.
Tens of thousands of crossbow arrows were fired at the front row of the barbarians, and screams continued in an instant. The barbarians rushing at the front were shot into hedgehogs, and one or two rows of people fell down.
The crossbowmen didn't stop at all after firing, and immediately retreated into the formation. Then the shield bearers in front took over, and spears were stretched out from between the shields to prepare for the formation.
After several rounds of crossbows, the Yi troops suffered heavy casualties, many of them were demoralized, and the momentum of the charge also dropped a lot.
However, Gaoding kept urging the soldiers from the rear to continue the attack, and the soldiers could only charge bravely. Their equipment was very primitive, with no armor, only some leather armor, their weapons were cast iron, and their shields were all made of wood.
In comparison, the Han army's equipment was much better. Before the two sides came into contact, thousands of Yi people were killed by crossbows.
Soon the barbarians crashed into their shield array like a tide, and the two sides fell into a stalemate.
But at this moment, Zhuge Liang on the hillside said: "Surround us with two wings!"
"woo woo woo woo."
A specific horn sound was played on the mountain.
Wang Ping, who was at the bottom of the mountain, heard the trumpet sound and immediately asked the messenger to send orders to the two wings.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Yi's troops in the north immediately rushed southeast towards the flank of the Yi troops. At the same time, Wang Ping's troops deployed in the east also moved towards the southern flank of the Yi troops to outflank them.
At this time, the Yi people had not even rushed through the shield formation of the Han army's front army. The people in front were constantly slashing and trying to break the formation, while the people behind were crowded forward, so that the troops were swarming together in front and back, and there was no formation at all.
It can be said.
After Zhang Yi and Wang Ping's troops outflanked them from both wings and were attacked from the sides, the barbarians on both sides instinctively retreated to the center. As a result, the originally chaotic formation suddenly became chaotic.
Some of us were running away, some were squeezing each other, and some were still fighting bloody battles. The orders could not be unified, and in an instant there was a reversal, and the army was defeated like a mountain!
Looking down from the mountain, you will see that the original 70,000 to 80,000 Yi army was surging like a flood. However, the flood seemed to have encountered an iron wall and hit its head with a loud bang, causing blood to flow.
The interception was cut in half, resulting in a disconnect between the front and rear, and the situation collapsed instantly.
Things became much simpler after that.
The Han army immediately launched a counterattack, and the Yi people were defeated in an instant. Thirty thousand Han troops rushed and killed them all. Soon, only corpses and messy weapons and equipment were left on the ground, making it a mess.
"Congratulations, Prime Minister."
When Ma Liang saw this scene, he immediately congratulated Zhuge Liang: "The prime minister will definitely defeat his army in one battle."
Zhuge Liang's face was very calm, and he just said: "Soldiers can reduce their bodies but not their hearts. If you want to prevent the southerners from rebelling, you have to use kindness and power together. Send the order, and except for Gaoding, the rest can be surrendered."
Avoid death."
"only!"
The messenger immediately went to convey the order.
Soon the Yue Yi people were defeated, and Zhuge Liang easily won the first battle after coming out of the mountain.