Chapter 787 The autumn wind is bleak and the flood surges up (4)
In Lin'an in August, the weather began to turn cooler, but the warm and tense atmosphere in the city never cooled down.
The calls for the calamity of the country, the rise of military power, and the Northern Expedition have never subsided. Tai students take to the streets several times a month to preach, and storytellers in restaurants and teahouses in the city tell tragic and bloody stories, and the stories of women in brothels.
Most of the songs and songs were patriotic poems. Because of this kind of propaganda, the once fierce conflict between the North and the South gradually softened and was replaced by people's hostility. Writing and joining the army became a temporary trend among scholars, and some became famous for a while.
Wealthy businessmen and gentry donated their property and contributed to the fight against the enemy, and it became a legend for a while.
After July, the warm atmosphere is still heating up, and time is passing by with a sense of terror. In the past month, following the call of His Highness the Crown Prince, several armies from the Wu Dynasty have successively arrived at the front line.
, prepared for a life-and-death battle with the Jurchens, and the news of Zongfu and Zongbi's army was sent out later. What followed was the battle in the southwest and on the bank of the Yellow River, which finally started.
Qin Hui didn't feel any excitement about the fact that these things had finally arrived. What was pressing on his back was just an extremely heavy pressure. Compared to his active activities half a year ago and in recent months, everything is now out of control.
As the current Privy Councilor, Qin Hui nominally has the highest military authority in Nanwu. However, under the suppression of the imperial power of the Zhou family and the "righteousness" of resisting the Jin Dynasty, what Qin Hui can do is limited. A few months ago, riding the black flag
After the army captured Liu Yu and threw the black pot at the Wu Dynasty, Qin Hui tried his best to implement the plan he had been planning for several years: to use all his strength to destroy the black flag, and then use the sword sharpened with the black flag to defend the country.
Jurchen. If the situation is good, they may be able to find a way out.
Jianshuo Emperor Zhou Yong, who was frightened by Black Flag's actions, agreed to the plan for a time, and the eldest princess Zhou Pei also stood by him for a time. However, soon after, the entire plan encountered obstacles in the implementation process. Some people related to the black flag
The lobbying of the troops who privately accepted the banner was not a big deal. It was Zhou Yong's sudden hesitation that made Qin Hui feel unable to do anything. In the end, the result of one hundred thousand Wu Xiang troops being ordered to attack the southwest shocked Qin Hui. During this period, he almost launched
It took the strength of the entire court, but in the end Zhou Yong's hesitant attitude made him fall short.
The Black Flag Army withstood repeated attacks by a million-strong army in the northwest, and even defeated a million-strong Qi army. What's the use of a hundred thousand people? If you can't use all your strength, it's better not to do this!
He was puzzled by the change in Zhou Yong's attitude - although Zhou Yong was originally an indecisive person - at first he thought it was Prince Junwu who was secretly lobbying, but later he discovered that the key came from the eldest princess's palace.
.Zhou Pei, who was once furious with Heiqi, finally made a very cold speech to his father.
"...Ning Yi once killed the late emperor Zhou Zhe in Bianliang, and later captured Liu Yu in the palace. If he really ignored the threat of the Jin Kingdom and devoted all his strength to the crusade, and when Ning Yi made a desperate move, how would his father's safety be?"
The three parties were fighting. The Wu Dynasty wanted to destroy the Black Flag first and then conquer the Jurchens. This was originally a very controversial strategy. Regardless of other opinions, what really impressed Zhou Yong was probably the words of the eldest princess. You have made Ning anxious.
Yi, is the palace in Lin'an really safe? And with Zhou Yong's timid and fearful character, he actually thought so. On the one hand, he did not dare to push the black flag to the extreme, and on the other hand, he wanted to make the original private relationship
The various armies were separated from Black Flag, and finally the entire strategy fell on Wu Xiang's army Lu Qiaoshan.
The plan related to Black Flag did turn into a blow to many armies. As it was implemented, Qin Hui also promoted the order to clean up the discipline of various armies. However, this was just a rectification that was better than nothing. In a few months, Qin Hui
He has always wanted to contribute to the war in the southwest, such as deploying two more armies and at least adding more than 300,000 people, in an attempt to suppress the black flag. However, the prince Junwu, with the righteousness of resisting the Jin Dynasty, strongly promoted the northern defense
, refused excessive internal friction in the southwest, and at the end of July, news came that the southwest was officially starting war. Qin Hui knew that the opportunity had been missed.
During this period of time, the actions of the imperial court were not without achievements. By severing the relationship with the southwest and beating the various armies, the authority of the central government was increased. The prince and the eldest princess, under the pressure of the approaching Jurchens, worked hard to relieve the pressure of the past.
The increasingly tense conflict between the north and the south has at least played a huge role in the Jiangnan area. The eldest princess Zhou Pei and the prince Junwu are doing their best to strengthen the Wu Dynasty themselves. For this matter, Qin Hui also negotiated with Zhou Pei several times.
However, progress was not great.
This is also the collision of thoughts that occurred during the more than ten years of war, humiliation, and introspection between the Wu Dynasty and the Jurchens. The literary style of the Wu Dynasty flourished, and it once focused too much on strategy and change. After more than ten years of being beaten, they realized that only their own strength is the most important thing.
There are more and more people everywhere, and these people are even more looking forward to the miracles created by unyielding perseverance. They must borrow as little foreign material as possible until the last minute.
Prince Junwu is young and vigorous. This idea is most obvious. Compared with excessive use of external strategies, he values internal unity and the power exerted by people from the south and the north gathered together under the banner of the Wu Dynasty. Therefore, for the first
The strategy of flying a black flag and then attacking the Jurchens is also the most disgusting. The eldest princess Zhou Pei can understand reality at first. She is not a staunch fusion of the north and the south. She mostly cleans up the mess for her younger brother. Many times she fights with those who understand the reality better.
People are also more coordinated, but after Liu Yu's incident, she seemed to have changed in this direction.
Although taking the Black Flag first and then the Jurchen can be regarded as a desperate act, Zhou Pei has begun to subconsciously reject the idea of sinking the boat when her own strength is not enough. After several discussions, Qin Hui realized that she also hated the Black Flag in the southwest, but
What she hated more was the weakness and disunity within the Wu Dynasty. Therefore, she reduced the southwest strategy to beating and purging the army. The Jurchen pressure was directed by her to quell the internal North-South contradictions. If it was in
In the past, Qin Hui would have nodded for her.
However, time is no longer enough.
Within a few months, Qin Hui gained half a head of white hair, and his whole body suddenly lost weight. On the one hand, he was worried, and on the other hand, the political disputes in the court were by no means peaceful. The Southwest Strategy was dragged into disarray.
After that, the impeachment of Qin Hui's family in the DPRK also appeared one after another, and there were people who viewed Qin Hui's southwest strategy with various ideas. Although Qin Hui at this time had a high status in Zhou Yong's heart, after all, he was not as good as Cai Jing back then.
Tong Guan. When the news came that the Southwest Wuxiang Army had entered Liangshan, he wrote a note, admitting his sins and resigning from the official position.
Zhou Yong did not accept his resignation and immediately rejected it. As a father, he believed and supported his hard-working son in various matters, but at the same time, as the emperor, Zhou Yong also trusted Qin Hui's steady character.
If his son wants to fight the enemy at the front, he must have a trustworthy minister in the rear to hold the battle. Therefore, Qin Hui's proposal was turned down by Zhou Yong with a scolding.
Qin Hui resigned for the second time. Although the southwest strategy has changed now, it was originally proposed by him after all. Now it seems that Luqiaoshan will be defeated and the situation in the southwest will deteriorate soon. He must take responsibility. Zhou Yong was in the court
Furious at his discouraging words, he comforted Qin Hui for a while in private, because at the same time as the resignation letter was published, news from the southwest came again. On the 26th, Lu Qiaoshan's army was attacked by tens of thousands in the Xiufeng Pass area of Liangshan Mountain.
Black Flag attacked head-on. More than 30,000 men under Chen Yuguang were defeated with one blow, and the defeated troops scattered into Liangshan. Then the 70,000 Luqiaoshan main formation was attacked and divided by the Black Flag army. Luqiaoshan occupied each mountain to defend, and the war was over.
into a deadlock.
The situation in the southwest war took a turn for the worse on the fourth day after entering the mountain. Qin Hui's foresight saved him a lot of face. On this day, many colleagues came over to comfort and persuade him. Some people also said that Lu Qiaoshan was a smart man and a powerful soldier.
He was caught off guard after being attacked by Black Flag, but he finally stabilized his position. As long as he adjusted his strategy in time, the situation in Liangshan would probably turn around. Qin Hui just shook his head and sighed.
After sending away his colleagues in the court, his old wife Wang came to comfort him. Qin Hui sighed: "More than ten years ago, the mood of my first right-hand minister, Duke Yuan, was probably similar to that of my husband now. Things are not going as planned in the world.
Nine times out of ten, even if you have the heart to fight, how can you defeat the repeated will of God?"
Mrs. Wang was silent for a while: "Brothers in the clan, the children are all outside. If I retreat, I should tell them."
"Retreating, how easy is it? Eighty-one years ago, I had no home three thousand miles away, and I was alone with my own flesh and blood. I looked at China in the distance and shed tears..." Qin Hui shook his head with a smile, but what he read in his mouth was the desperate fate of the powerful official Cai Jing.
The poem, "I paid homage to the prime minister five times in the Golden Palace, and I was in the jade hall ten times. I recalled the prosperity of the past, and it turned into a dream talk... and it turned into a dream talk, madam. Cai Yuan has been in the imperial court for decades, and one man is worth ten thousand.
Above people, he eventually starved to death."
When the Jurchens went south for the second time, Cai Jing was demoted to the south. He was the number one person in the court for decades. The Wu Dynasty collapsed, and most of the crimes were placed on him. The eighty-year-old Cai Jing went south all the way, spending money to buy
He couldn't even buy rice, and eventually he starved to death in Chongjiao Temple in Tanzhou. For more than ten years, the outside world said that he had done many evil things, which made the people resentful. Therefore, even if he had money, he could not buy food, which highlighted the loyalty of the world. In fact, the people
Where do you get such discerning eyes?
At that time, Cai Jingtong was the leader, and most of the party disputes in the court involved two people. Even though Qin Hui had a smooth journey, he was not the leader after all. Now, he is the leader of a faction, and his tribe, disciples, and officials in the court have to rely on him to make a living.
, I really want to give up, but I don’t know how many people will want to follow Cai Jing’s old path again.
"However, madam, there is no need to worry." After a moment of silence, Qin Hui waved his hand, "At least you don't have to worry this time. Your Majesty feels guilty for me. This incident in the southwest has taken a step out of the fire, and finally stabilized the situation and will not lead to Cai Jing's footsteps.
But we still have to shoulder the responsibility. This responsibility is for His Majesty. Taking advantage is taking advantage. I don’t need to pay attention to those people outside. I accept the punishment and let them take some beatings. What’s going on in the world..."
He paused: "...They were all ruined by some young people who don't know what the world is like!"
This night, the lights in Lin'an, the capital, were brightly lit, and the surging undercurrent was hidden in the bustling scene, still appearing ambiguous and blurry.
In Liangshan, southwest China, on the sixth day after the war, explosions sounded in the ravine after nightfall. In the foothills in the distance, there were layers of camps set up by Wu Xiang's army. On the periphery of the camps, there were not many torches and garrison guards.
The sharpshooter hid behind the wooden wall, silently daring not to make a sound.
There was darkness in the forest opposite the camp. At some point, a small voice came out from the darkness: "Cripple, how are you?"
"Don't worry, I saw a big one..." The young man on the tree held a long musket in front of him, almost taller than a man, and was patrolling the camp in the distance through the telescope.
This is Yuwen Feidu who was lame on one leg and was following Ning Yi. He had been practicing archery skills since his leg injury. Later, he was able to achieve a breakthrough in musketry technology. With Ning Yi's advancement, a group of people in the Chinese army were
Among those who chose to practice musketry, Yuwen Feidu was one of them.
In the R&D departments of the three southwest counties, although muskets can already be manufactured, the requirements for steel are still very high. On the other hand, machine tools and rifling have only just begun. At this time, Ning Yi gathered the R&D capabilities of the entire Chinese Army to develop
There are a few muskets that can shoot long distances and are matched with telescopes. Although these muskets can reach far, the performance of each one is still uneven, and even affected by the difference of each special projectile, the shooting effect is slightly different. But even in
The accuracy at long distances is not high. Relying on intelligent shooters like Yuwen Feidu can still provide a strategic advantage in many situations.
"Don't shoot indiscriminately." After laying mines in a hidden place under the tree, Xiao Hei, his partner, raised a telescope and whispered, "Actually, I think it's a bit of a waste to take out your gun now.
It's not very accurate to hit a few minions at a time, which makes people wary. You said it would be exciting to take this to the north and kill Wanyan Zonghan with one shot."
"We should keep an eye on the scenery... The teacher said that war will promote technological progress. Now this thing can only hit one shot after three shots from a hundred feet away. Each shot can't be used for too long. It's just a good place to get familiar with it."
, I can think more about how to improve when I go back. Hehe, from now on, anyone within three hundred feet of me will hit anyone, and everyone will have to call me daddy. Catch one of them."
After Yuwen Feidu finished speaking, he pulled the trigger. Suddenly, fire burst out in the night, and the tree trunks moved. Yuwen Feidu got down from the tree like a monkey holding the long gun shaft, and there was a commotion in the camp opposite.
.Xiao Hei cursed in a low voice under the tree: "Go to your mother, go to your mother, I told you to be more careful. Are you sure it's Big TouTou?"
"It looks like it. I've been waiting all night."
"Did you hit it?"
"I don't know, I didn't see clearly, I just walked away."
"Go this way, go that way, you cripple wants to be blown up."
"You are a black person and have a black heart. If you have nothing to do with it, you will be punished sooner or later."
The two exchanged insults and hurriedly left along the dark foothills. Before they had run far, there was a sudden bang from the place where they were hiding, and light bloomed in the woods. It was probably the scout approaching from the opposite side.
The trip mine left by Xiao Hei was touched. The two looked at each other and smiled, heading towards the Chinese army's camp on the other side of the mountain.
On the second day of August, the sixth day of the Xiaoliangshan war, the fighting continued. It was a stalemate, but more like a restraint by the Chinese army to worry about the battle losses. Except for July 26th and 27th, the entire Wuxiang Army
They were extremely ferocious in dividing and devouring. When Lu Qiaoshan shrank its troops and began a comprehensive defense, the Chinese army's offensive became restrained and orderly.
The so-called restraint means that the Chinese army used its superior strength to break out camps one by one on the mountain tops every day, raided at night, laid mines on the mountain roads, and never launched a large-scale forceful attack.
In the past ten or even twenty years, the Wu Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom have gone into the sunset, and they will be in a state of turmoil. Starting from Chuhedian, Wanyan Aguda led 3,700 people to defeat 100,000 Liao soldiers, and then
When they arrived at Hubu Dagang, 20,000 people chased and killed 700,000 people. The myth of defeating more with less has never stopped. In the Jurchen's first southern expedition, tens of thousands of troops defeated millions of Qin kings in Bianliang City.
The army defeated Bianliang in the second southern expedition, and fought all the way to the south of the Yangtze River in the third expedition. In order to capture Zhou Yong, they searched the mountains and seas, and defeated all the armies of the Wu Dynasty. The black flag also fought successively at Xiaocang River.
It seems that the millions of people who defeated Qi were able to defeat Daqi with ease. It seems to have become a routine to use superior forces to defeat many with fewer troops.
But what has to be admitted is that when the quality of the soldiers reaches a certain level and the defeat on the battlefield can be adjusted in time and no reverse rolling curtain can be formed, the war situation will not be as simple as solving the problem in one go. In the past few years
, Wu Xiang's army carried out strict reorganization, and the military law was extremely strict. After the defeat on the first day, Lu Qiaoshan quickly changed his strategy and ordered the army to continuously build fortifications. The offense and defense of each army unit responded to each other, and finally the intensity of the Chinese army's attack was increased.
Slow down, at this time, the 30,000 people led by Chen Yuguang and others were defeated and scattered, leaving only 60,000 people in the entire Luqiao Mountain Formation.
After a few days, the Chinese army discovered the weakness of Wu Xiang's army's defense and would pull out a camp of thousands of people every day. Lu Qiaoshan worked hard to manage the defense and continued to gather the defeated soldiers, so that the situation was slightly stabilized.
.But Lu Qiaoshan also understood that the reason why the Chinese army did not launch a strong attack did not mean that they did not have the ability to attack by force. It was just that the Chinese army was constantly breaking the will of Wu Xiang's army and minimizing resistance. He had been running the army in the southwest for several years.
, Lu Qiaoshan thought that he had tried his best. Today's Wu Xiang army has completely changed from the original group of soldiers. It is also because of this that he can have some confidence and march into Liangshan.
In his original imagination, even if Wu Xiang's army lost to Black Flag, it would at least let the opponent see Wu Chao's determination to work hard and learn from the pain, which would cause enough trouble to the opponent. But he did not expect that on July 26,
The first blow of the Chinese Army would be so fierce. Chen Yuguang's 30,000-strong army maintained the most determined defense, but was defeated by 15,000 Chinese Army troops in front of Luqiaoshan. The 70,000-strong army was defeated.
This end's all-out counterattack, blocked by less than 10,000 people, lasted an entire afternoon, until the woods and fields on the opposite side were filled with smoke and blood flowed into rivers, and they could not get even half a step past Xiufeng Pass.
This was a real wake-up call. The restraint of the Chinese army since then was nothing more than the coldness and stinginess of Ning Liheng. The 100,000-strong army entering the mountain was like being thrown directly into the mouth of a giant beast, and was swallowed step by step. Now
Even if you want to turn around and go back, it is difficult to do so.
It was already early in the morning, and the fire in the Chinese army tent was still burning. Lu Qiaoshan, who had a bandage on his forehead, was writing quickly under the light, recording what he discovered during this war about the Chinese army:
...Black Flag's iron cannons are powerful. It can be seen that the iron cannons sold to us in past transactions were not the best. In this battle, the cannons used by Black Flag had a range that was about ten to twenty steps better than ours. I attacked with elite troops.
, captured two of the opponent's scrapped cannons, and hoped that the people behind could restore them...
...The soldiers cooperated with each other tacitly and had high fighting spirit. They were far superior to ours and difficult to resist. Perhaps the people they faced this time were all veterans of the Northwest War. Now that the iron cannon was born, many of the tactics in the past were no longer safe, and the infantry was no longer safe.
It is difficult to form a frontal formation and soldiers who cannot cooperate tacitly may be withdrawn from the future battle...
...There are also the muskets used by the Black Flag soldiers on the battlefield, which appear and disappear and are difficult to resist. According to reports from some sergeants, they are suspected of having several muskets, which can be as far as a hundred feet away on the battlefield, so we must pay close attention...
...As we can see now, the method of observing objects when used in battle formations really has the effect of ghosts and gods. From now on, more new things will appear on the battlefield, and those who can change them will be able to take advantage of them. We should try our best to use them.
Truth, keep up the good work...
There were mosquitoes chirping in the night, and the fire was blazing, making a continuous and subtle sound. Luqiao Mountain had not rested for several days, and his face was pale, but his eyes were writing without any rashness, trying to retain and retain the experience of Wu Xiang's army's tragic defeat.
Send them out to be wary of others. Soon, a soldier came to report that the leader of the Mangshan tribe, Brother Lang, was injured and was brought back: The leader of the Mangshan tribe, who was highly skilled in martial arts, led his scouts to kill the Black Flag scouts outside. Unfortunately, he hit a mine and was blown up.
, now the injury is serious. After Lu Qiaoshan heard this, he continued writing and ignored it.
Camps with tens of thousands of people stationed in Xiaoliang Mountain are lined with campfires. The campfires are so majestic that from a distance, they look like the fire of the setting sun is about to go out in the mountains.
After dawn, a messenger from the Chinese Army came to the front of the Wu Xiang Army's camp and asked to meet Lu Qiaoshan. Hearing that a black flag messenger had arrived, Brother Lang, who was covered in wounds, also came to the camp with bandages all over his body.
, the look of gnashing teeth.
The messenger was in his thirties, and he gritted his teeth even more than Brother Lang: "I am Su Wenyu, Su Wenfang's cousin. I am here this time to represent Mr. Ning and show you a way out. Of course, you can arrest me and torture me severely.
Put it back again, this way, when you die... my conscience will be easier."
As an envoy, his words were not good, his face was unhappy, and he had an expression that said you'd better not talk to me. This was clearly a clumsy blackmail technique in the negotiation. Lu Qiaoshan's face was gloomy for a long time. Brother Lang was the most aggressive.
, holding back his breath, he spoke over there: "You... cough cough, go back and tell Ning Yi... cough..."
Su Wenyu glanced at him and said, "Who are you? Go to hell with tuberculosis ghosts and fuck your mother!" He looked down upon death and was full of swear words.