After the imperial court announced the crusade against Yizhou, the generals under Chen Cheng cheered loudly and eagerly waited to achieve martial arts achievements so that they could be promoted and reach the pinnacle of life. But then they resigned from the Ministry of War.
News came out that only 100,000 people would be dispatched to attack Yizhou this time, half of which would be used to guard various places. Only 50,000 people could go into battle and fight.
Is this enough? There are so many military officers graduating every year, and there are still many government soldiers waiting to fight and make a fortune. A mere 100,000 people have been booked in less than three days. There are many generals who are powerful
The general's old subordinates went to the war department and made a fuss, insisting that they be added to the order of the expedition.
The newly appointed Minister of War, Yan Xing, is the nephew of Zhongshu Ling Yan Zhong. He is the biggest figure in the imperial court. How could he be afraid that the generals below would cause trouble? After several attempts to persuade him to no avail, Yan Xing directly asked the Imperial Army to arrest those generals.
Anyone who dares to resist will be beaten first and then thrown into prison.
The prison has not been opened for a long time, and the prisoners inside were either sent to the mines or to the Western Regions, and even the rats were about to starve to death. At this time, many people suddenly came in, and it immediately became a lot more lively. Logically speaking,
People who enter prison must be careful no matter how high they were before, but these new people are extremely arrogant.
After coming in, not only did he not show respect to the jailers, but he instigated the jailers to do this and that. Although the guards in these prisons were dissatisfied, they could only serve them with smiling faces. There was no way, these people had too much background, and they still
I can talk to the general directly.
Even if this is not the case, they still have many old troops outside. If they are really anxious, the soldiers will just kill people in the street. Those fighting soldiers are lawless masters. They are not afraid after killing people and go straight to the Yamen to surrender.
, and then packed up and went to fight in the Western Regions.
This kind of thing happened several times, which made the jailers feel overwhelmed when they saw so many generals crammed in. They quickly bought good wine and food to serve them.
The generals below fought hard to get a spot in the battle, and the senior generals also ran to the palace over and over again. Now that the appointment of the commander-in-chief has not been announced, they feel that they still have a chance. Only those who have served as commander-in-chief have
Only by having the experience of being in charge alone can you enter the decision-making circle of the imperial court and have the opportunity to become a general or a prime minister.
Even Yan Xing took the opportunity to implicitly suggest to Chen Cheng that he could go out to lead troops to fight without being the Minister of the Ministry of War. Chen Cheng smiled and said at that time: "You just resigned from the position of Bingzhou Mu, are you still
Now let’s rest in Luoyang for a few years and then talk about it. The affairs of the Ministry of War are complicated and need a talented person like Ling Ming to manage them.”
After the quarrel for more than half a month, which made people anxious, the imperial court issued an edict appointing Tian Yu as the commander-in-chief of this troop dispatch. He was allowed to form the shogunate on his own and had the power to draw officers from each army. This appointment was unexpected.
It was unexpected by many people, but when you think about it, it is natural.
The friends and old subordinates of the general in his later years are now in high positions. Zhao Yun is the Mu of Jizhou, Xu Rong is the Mu of Yanzhou, Liu Bei is the Mu of Xuzhou, and Lu Fang is the Mu of Yuzhou. In addition, Xu Wen is the Mu of Zhengxi
General Zhengzheng commanded the entire army on the western front to fight the Kushans. The rest, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Wei Ran, Zhao Si and others, all held high positions, and many of them already had titles.
Tian Yu is an old friend of the general, so it is normal for him to get this kind of opportunity. Originally, Tian Yu was the fawning object of many people in Luoyang, but now he has become a hot shot. Many people brought carloads full of money with them.
Waiting at the door of Tian's house, hoping to have a chance to give gifts.
There are also people who come directly with their beautiful daughters at home, planning to give them to Tian Yu as a concubine. But unfortunately, although Tian Yu appears gentle, he has his own ideas in his heart. He is a round person on the outside and square on the inside. For these people who come to give money to Tian Yu
His daughter's and his daughter's are completely missing.
He didn't go home at all. Instead, he lived in the military camp and began to select people from the army and the Ministry of War. Those who wanted to send money to send girls had no choice but to give up. That's it for other places. The military camp has tens of millions.
You can't break in. Even if you stay there for a long time, you may be arrested as a spy.
In recent years, Luoyang has arrested countless spies for the artillery matter.
In the spring of the eighth year of Jian'an, Tian Yu was ordered to go to Yizhou. Most of his troops were infantry and there were only 10,000 cavalry. However, they were equipped with more than 200 large and small artillery, which was unprecedentedly powerful firepower. Because Zhang Lu, the prefect of Hanzhong, surrendered
Because of this, the imperial army first captured Qi in Nanzheng and then launched an attack on Yizhou.
This expedition had been made known to everyone in advance, and there was no suddenness in it, so the fight was a real effort. The army was divided into two groups, with the main force going out of Micang Road, and the partial division taking Jinniu Road, heading straight to Yizhou.
Kill.
Most of the imperial soldiers and horses were equipped with steel armor and artillery. Several infantry battalions of the Ya soldiers were equipped with heavy muskets, which gave them an absolute advantage in the battle. The Yizhou army also equipped some artillery, which provided Tian Yu with
The soldiers under his command caused some casualties, but were quickly turned into scrap metal under the crazy bombardment.
Liu Zhang sent troops to the front line one after another, but they were beaten to pieces amidst the roar of guns and artillery. After all, times have changed, and the era when one can conquer the world just by relying on personal bravery is gone forever.
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In addition to generals such as Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Ma Chao, Pang De, Meng Da, Zhang Heng, and Bao Chu, Tian Yu also specially transferred Gan Ning, Xu Sheng, and Ding Feng from Yizhou to the army.
The army was advancing rapidly. After the first two or three major battles, it was no longer Liu Zhang's troops that caused the most trouble to Tian Yu's army, but the poor roads in Shu.
In many places, infantry can pass through, but it is difficult for horses to pass, let alone push those heavy cannons. However, Liu Zhang's army does not have many artillery, and most of them have been damaged in previous battles, so
Tian Yu ordered Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and others to advance quickly with light troops, carrying only swords, spears, crossbows, tiger squat cannons and other infantry equipment, and fought all the way into Shu.
In field battles, lightly-armed tooth soldiers could easily defeat several times the number of enemies, but they soon encountered difficulties.
Zhang Ren, the general under Liu Zhang, held on to the city and only sent a small group of troops to harass Tian Yu's army's grain road. Xu Huang, Zhang Liao and other generals tried to attack Mianzhu, and then kicked them into the iron plate. The Tiger Crouching Cannon had no effect on the city wall.
No, the shells hit it, but there were just a few more craters.
After losing more than a hundred soldiers, those who are as good at fighting as Zhang Liao and as brave as Xu Huang can only surround Mianzhu first, and then wait for the cannons to be sent up from the rear. If there are no cannons, they can only fight
There were casualties to capture the city. With Zhang Ren guarding Mianzhu, it would take at least four or five months to take down the city using traditional methods.
But Tian Yu stopped this approach. He waited patiently for the twelve-pound Napoleon cannon to be transported to the front line, and then began to bombard around the clock. The continuous bombardment lasted for more than ten days, and the defenders in the city suffered heavy casualties.
Zhang Ren could grit his teeth and continue to persevere, but his soldiers and generals couldn't stand it.
Being beaten without being able to fight back is the worst thing for morale. The defenders in the city couldn't stand this situation, so they launched a counterattack out of the city, but they were crushed in front of muskets and artillery. After repelling the defenders' attack, Tian Yu
He commanded the troops to launch a strong attack. Under the cover of artillery fire, Mianzhu was captured, and Zhang Ren retreated to Luocheng with the remaining defeated troops.
Luocheng is almost the last barrier in Yizhou. If it is lost again, there will be no place behind it and no troops to defend it. Even if there are still troops, their morale will be lost.
Liu Zhang burst into tears when he saw Zhang Ren returning with his remaining defeated troops. He cried out sadly: "The late king spent a lot of energy to pacify Yizhou. After he passed it to me, he never neglected political affairs. Why?"
But ended up like this?"
Zhang Ren said with shame: "It's because the general is incompetent that he..."
Liu Zhang stopped Zhang Ren and sighed: "How can I blame you? The imperial army has so many cannons. Even if Wei Huo comes back to life, what can we do? General Zhang, do you think Luocheng can be defended?"
Zhang Ren was silent for a while and said in a low voice: "After all, we can't defend it."
Liu Zhang sighed again, stroked the hard brick wall, and said: "Oh, I also know that we can't hold it. In this case, let's surrender, right? The general is reasonable at least, and he won't kill people indiscriminately."
Zhang Ren said anxiously: "This is absolutely impossible!"
"But we can't defeat it. What else can we do if we don't surrender?"
Zhang Rendao: "The general has defeated all the princes, and the heroes of the world have seen it, won't they rise up to oppose it? As long as we persist, maybe things will turn around!"
"A turning point?" Liu Zhang smiled bitterly, "Although Liu Biao, Sun Ce and others secretly sent a lot of money, they did not dare to send troops at all. How can there be any turning point? General Zhang, you are a good general in the world, but it is a pity that you followed me.
It is useless people who are reduced to their current situation."
Zhang Ren couldn't help crying, but he still couldn't stop Liu Zhang's determination to surrender.
Tian Yu led his troops to Luocheng, digging trenches and waiting for the cannons to be brought up from the rear. However, the city gate suddenly opened. Liu Zhang, dressed in white, holding the seal and ribbon of Yizhou Mu, led the soldiers out of the city and surrendered.
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Tian Yu first sent a small number of soldiers and horses to control the city gate and set up artillery on the top of the city, and then sent a large army into the city.
Liu Zhang knelt down on the ground, raised his seal and ribbon, and said, "The guilty minister Liu Zhang has met the general of the imperial court."
Tian Yu stepped forward to help Liu Zhang up, and said warmly: "The general is so magnanimous that since you have surrendered, he will definitely not hold you accountable. It's just that there are still some places in Yizhou that have not surrendered, and I need your help to persuade him."
Seeing that Tian Yu was not arrogant, Liu Zhang felt relieved and said repeatedly: "Definitely, definitely!"
