There are two lakes in the southeast of Xiong County, Baiyangdian in the southwest and Wugongdian in the northeast. There is a passage several miles wide between the two huge lakes, which is the only way from Xiong County to Renqiu County and even Hejian Prefecture.
road.
Around Baiyangdian, reeds are densely packed and overwhelming. In previous years, harvesting reeds to make straw mats, curtains and other items would be a huge income. However, last year, the people in Hebei were too busy to take care of themselves and were imprisoned on the land, with no chance to harvest reeds. So this year
The reeds are exceptionally dense.
The two-mile wide reed marsh is a natural shelter. Ma Zhongxi and Zhang Wei never imagined that nearly 16,000 rebels would be hiding in the dense reed marsh around Baiyangdian.
After all, who would have thought that in the severe cold of the first month of the year, some people would risk freezing to death by hiding in the reed marshes. Now that the snow has not disappeared, although the reed marshes are tangled with aquatic plants and reed roots, they are all growing in shallow shoals.
It's a cold and humid environment, and you can't light a fire. This is not something ordinary people can endure.
But in order to survive and avoid the encirclement and suppression by the army of officers and soldiers, the Liu brothers, Yang Hu, Zhao Sui and others had no choice. They made this unconventional and unexpected choice. This idea was proposed by Zhao Sui,
His nickname is Crazy Zhao, which is evident from this.
Not only that, after watching the two guards of Hejian Prefecture pass through the gap between Baiyangdian and Wugongdian and arrive at Xiong County under their noses, the rebels came up with the idea of sending two thousand soldiers and horses to attack Renqiu County. This is a comprehensive defense against the enemy.
The first step of the plan is to divert the exhausted troops away from the mountain.
The Liu brothers, Yang Hu, Zhao Sui and others all agreed that if Renqiu was attacked, the opponent would definitely come back to encircle and rescue him. So what should Xiong County do? What should Wen'an do? The opponent would definitely divide their troops. Once they divide their troops, they would divide and annihilate them.
the best time.
Using the snail shell as a dojo, taking advantage of the three county towns within a hundred miles of each other, and the blocking and sheltering effects of the two reed swamps, you can definitely move around a lot.
Of course, there are risks in doing so. When he learned a few days ago that the imperial court's three-pronged army was encircling and suppressing them, Liu Liu planned to abandon Xiong County and break out west. Liu Liu's idea was to go west along Yishui to conquer Rong.
Cheng, Dingxing, Yizhou and other places. Directly
Arrive at the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains and settle near the Emei Wujie and other mountains in the Taihang Mountains. In this case, the officers and soldiers will have no choice. If they really can't hold on, they can at least retreat into the mountains and hide. The officers and soldiers will not dare to enter the mountains under any circumstances.
This plan is a very safe one, with almost no risks. But the only drawback is that if you do this, it will almost inevitably be blocked by officers and soldiers on the mountainside, compressing the rebels' space for action. The final result is almost certain
He retreats like a mountain king and becomes a mountain king.
This is a result that none of the rebel leaders want to see. If they just want to be the king of the mountain, why should they make such a big show of it.
Zhao Sui believes that the rebel armies in Hebei, Shandong and even the Jianghuai area are currently rising. Although they are all small groups, it means that the time is ripe for big things to happen. At this time, the rebel armies everywhere are looking at their troops. It is precisely
Seeing the massive force of the Wen'an Rebellion, the thieves hiding in the mountains and the green forest villagers dared to come out for public activities. Only then did many ordinary people participate.
In this case, if this large army is forced back to the mountains and becomes the king of the mountain, it will actually be equivalent to the failure of the uprising. The rebel armies from all over the country will also cease their activities. The court will also achieve its purpose of calming the situation. After all, those who returned to the mountains will
The rebels were reduced to bandits, and blocking them would not be a big problem, and the harm would be minimal.
There were so many bandits in various places in the Ming Dynasty that one more was not a big deal.
In view of this, Zhao Sui proposed a plan to surround and suppress hundreds of imperial troops. It was a strategy of mobilizing opponents, defeating them one by one, and swallowing them up one by one. Zhao Sui said that if the plan succeeds, it will be a turning point for the rebel army. They will be defeated.
Without the Shenwu Central Guard and the Hejian Prefecture Second Guard, the entire Hebei Province will have no heavy troops to compete with the rebels, and the entire Hebei Province will fall into our own hands.
Zhao Sui also said that if this could be achieved, the momentum of the rebels would be unstoppable, and rebels and people from all over the country would flock to surrender. What a scene it would be like.
Yes, what a scene that would be! Zhao Sui's words made Liu Liu, Liu Qi, Yang Hu and others' eyes shine with excitement. Crazy Zhao is indeed a madman, but his words are fascinating.
Rebellion is an adventure, and they are actually mentally prepared to accept the final outcome. Therefore, instead of trying to be safe and being beaten back to their original shape, why not make this adventure more exciting.
Because of this, this bold plan was implemented.
At this moment, the remaining snow covered the dense reeds. The cold wind made the rebels huddled in the reed shacks miserable. However, the noise of soldiers and horses in the distance was fading away, and a large army stretching for miles was approaching.
He hurriedly walked through the muddy official road between Baiyangdian and Wugongdian towards Renqiu for rescue.
Liu Chong, Yang Hu, Zhao Sui and others huddled on the edge of the reeds and climbed on the cold reeds. The moisture and cold air below soaked into their chests, making their bodies cold and stiff.
However, their hearts were burning, and there was even sweat on their foreheads.
"After leaving the two guards, there is only one guard left. More than 6,000 people are in Xiongxian County." Liu Chong said in a low voice.
"The plan was successful, that's what we asked them to do. The stupid guys didn't notice us hiding in the reeds from beginning to end. Even if we send troops in to search, they will probably find us," Zhao Sui said.
"How could they think we would take such risks? Besides, who would stay in the reed swamps waiting to die in this kind of weather? In the eyes of these people, no one can endure this kind of environment. But we can. Because we are all
There is nothing that cannot be endured by those who have died and been reborn." Liu Chong said.
Everyone nodded heavily.
"There are more than 6,000 officers and soldiers. We now have 13,000 people. Three thousand people are pretending to attack in Renqiu County to lure the enemy. Can we resolve the battle when these people turn around and come back for rescue?" Yang Hu said solemnly.
"It must be possible. Otherwise, give me two thousand archers, and I will lead them to ambush the reinforcements here. Once the city is attacked, the soldiers and horses coming back to rescue will still have to pass through here, so we will ambush them in the reeds. Call them
It’s difficult to move even an inch." Zhao Sui said.
"No, I have left some manpower in the city who will open the city gate for us. As long as we enter the city, they will be finished." Liu Chong said with a smile.
Yang Hu and Zhao Sui both looked at him in surprise and silently raised their thumbs. As expected of Liu Chong, he actually thought of leaving manpower in the city to serve as an internal response, and he kept it secret for so long, probably because he was afraid of leaking the news.
"We will attack when it gets dark. Let us sleep for a while and chew some cold rice balls." Liu Chong said with a smile.
As night fell, a big battle began. Under the cover of darkness, the rebels hiding in Baiyangdian arrived in the wilderness outside Xiongxian County.
Amidst the howling north wind, the lights in Xiongxian County were brightly lit. The soldiers and horses of Shenwu Zhongwei were stationed in the city. What the leaders of the rebel army did not know was that Zhang Wei had already sent 2,000 troops to Wen'an County during the day, so the people in the city
There were only more than 4,000 soldiers and horses, not the more than 6,000 soldiers and horses they thought.
But no matter how many enemy troops there are, the battle is imminent.
During the first watch, a fierce battle broke out at the gate of the south city. More than a hundred people appeared from nowhere, pretending to be ordinary people in the city, and rewarded the officers and soldiers at the top of the city with hot mutton soup.
While the officers and soldiers were happily drinking mutton soup, this group of people took action and killed most of the more than 100 defenders at the city gate in a very short period of time. Although the officers and soldiers who escaped sent a warning signal, the suspension bridge was lowered.
, the city gate was opened, and in an instant, the dark rebel army outside the city poured into the city like a tide.
The fighting began.
Thirteen thousand rebels filled the entire county seat of Xiong County, and in a very short period of time, fighting began that filled the streets and alleys.
The panicked officers and soldiers of the Shenwu Central Guard were suddenly attacked by so many rebels and could not organize a decent resistance. After fighting for more than half an hour, Hui'anbo Zhang Wei led more than a hundred riders out of the city and fled, leaving Shang behind.
Soldiers who fought bloody battles.
The results speak for themselves. By midnight, more than 4,000 officers and soldiers had fled, and more than a thousand soldiers had fled, and the rest were all annihilated by the rebels. The rebels had more than 2,000 casualties, but this was already a great victory.
Liu Chong and others were not satisfied with this. After figuring out the situation of the opponent's two thousand troops sent to Wen'an County, Yang Hu and Liu Qi led five thousand troops to attack Wen'an County. They arrived in Wen'an County in the afternoon of the next day and began to attack the city.
Hui'anbo Zhang Wei urgently asked for reinforcements from the three Tianjin guards who had arrived in Bazhou. When the reinforcements arrived halfway, Wen'an County had already been captured.
Wen'an County already has no city defenses, so how can it be defended?
Zhang Wei continued to flee to Bazhou with his remaining soldiers. In two days, more than 6,500 soldiers and horses of Shenwu Zhongwei, which belonged to the Chinese Army's Dudu Mansion, were annihilated and more than 3,000 people were wiped out. The rest fled in all directions.
When Ma Zhongxi led his army to arrive at Renqiu County, he had already discovered that he had been fooled. However, he was exhausted and had to rest in Renqiu. The next morning, he received news that Xiongxian County had been re-captured and the rebels had annihilated thousands of Shenwu Central Guard soldiers and horses. Ma Zhongxi led the army to Renqiu County.
The army returned for reinforcements, and on the way they received news that Wen'an County had been captured.
While Ma Zhongxi was astonished, he also realized that he had encountered a formidable opponent. Almost the entire Shenwu Zhongwei army was wiped out. Was this still the ragtag mob he imagined? Even his own thirteen thousand troops could not guarantee victory. So he immediately returned to Renqiu County.
Do the calculation again.
Three days later, the news that the rebels defeated Shenwu Zhongwei spread throughout Hebei and the Gyeongsang Province. While the government and the public were shocked, the rebels and people throughout Hebei were also excited. Rebels and people from all over the country rushed to Xiong County to seek refuge. Within a few days, the rebel soldiers
The number of horses suddenly doubled to 30,000.
After being supplemented with a large number of weapons and armor, this is already a formidable opponent.