Chapter Five Hundred and Seven Victory Turns Forward
After the forward troops of the Tang Dynasty King's Division arrived in Wuxuan, they naturally would not rush to attack the city immediately. According to the intelligence they had received before, Wuxuan had been managed by the Ming army for two months, and from a distance
It seems that many newly built fortifications can be seen near the city wall.
There are also very many Ming troops in the city. According to many intelligence reports, the number of defenders in the city has exceeded 20,000, and may even reach 30,000.
All this shows that Wuxuan's city defense strength is still very strong. Even if it is not as good as Liuzhou Fucheng, it should not be far behind.
Therefore, after the Pioneer Fifth Infantry Regiment of the Tang Dynasty Army arrived at Wuxuan City, they did not launch an attack immediately. Instead, they alerted the surrounding areas and sent troops to search the surrounding areas to avoid an ambush by the Ming army nearby.
However, in the afternoon of that day, they discovered that something was not right with the Ming army on the top of the city. The Ming army on the top of the city seemed to be making large-scale rotations.
However, they were separated by a city wall and the distance was quite far, so although the Fifth Infantry Regiment noticed that the Ming army on the city had mobilized, it was unable to know the specific situation.
On the contrary, the Fifth Infantry Regiment was worried that the Ming army would take the initiative to leave the city to attack, and would take advantage of the arrival of their main force to destroy their vanguard force.
Therefore, in the evening of that day, instead of approaching the city wall, the Fifth Infantry Regiment retreated about 500 meters and stationed itself on a gentle hillside on a hill about a kilometer away from Wuxuan City. The posture was still defensive.
Posture.
At night, they saw that the torches in the city were still bright, and it seemed that mobilization was being carried out. The soldiers of the Fifth Infantry Regiment were a little nervous. The troops on duty were on high alert, and peripheral troops were constantly dispatched.
Patrol to avoid night attacks by the Ming army.
But in the second half of the night, the Fifth Infantry Regiment still did not wait for the possible night attack by the Ming army. However, the torches in Wuxuan City were still bright, and this situation did not seem normal.
However, since it was night, the Fifth Infantry Regiment was also afraid of the Ming army's deception and did not dare to attack rashly. After discussion with several main officers and staff, they decided to wait a few more hours and wait until dawn before going to see more of the situation.
a little better.
Otherwise, if you attack rashly at night, you will easily capsize in the gutter!
So they waited and waited until the sky began to turn white, and then they sent out reconnaissance cavalry to check the situation under Wuxuan City.
It didn't matter if they didn't look at it, but they were shocked when they saw it, because they didn't see many Ming soldiers on the west wall of Wuxuan. They must know that there were densely packed Ming troops on the city wall yesterday, but
Although the garrison on the city can be seen today, the number is not large, and can even be said to be sparse.
Even a few brave cavalrymen approached the city wall only a few dozen meters away, but there was still no Ming army emerging from the top of the city to attack them with bows and arrows.
This is not normal!
The cavalry platoon leader who led the reconnaissance cavalry decisively bypassed the west wall and then headed towards other walls. As a result, they also saw a very strange situation. Although they saw a few defenders in other directions,
There were fewer defenders on the city wall than on the west wall.
There are no Ming troops on the city wall? Are they hiding behind the city wall or going there?
The scout cavalry are a little confused!
The platoon leader leading the cavalry thought hard for a while, and then four or five of his cavalrymen headed towards the river!
When they ran all the way to the river, they saw a scene that surprised them beyond measure!
There are many ships moored along the river, and most of these ships have already set sail. The few ships that have not set sail also have many people on board!
Seeing this scene, these cavalrymen still couldn't understand what happened. The Ming army in the city must have wanted to run away, and they had already run away.
Soon, the scout cavalry reported the situation, and the Fifth Infantry Regiment responded quickly. The army immediately set off and began to attack the city.
However, as soon as they moved, the Ming soldiers ran faster, the ship moved quickly, and the Ming soldiers who were not on the ship also ran directly towards the east!
In the blink of an eye, dozens of ships on the Qianjiang River were already sailing down the river. At the same time, thousands of Ming troops on the shore were running away, and they were running extremely fast.
Although the commander of the 5th Infantry Regiment at that time urgently ordered an attack, the guard Yan was well prepared and left several thousand young men to confuse the rebels and resist a little, while he himself
He took more than 10,000 troops and fled eastward!
As a result, the Wu Xuan war plan prepared by a group of combat advisers and officers of the Privy Council of the Tang Dynasty was completely abandoned before it was even used.
Because the Ming army had no intention of defending Wuxuan and simply fled eastward!
After the Fifth Infantry Regiment captured the nearly undefended Wuxuan City, Wei Yan had already fled with all the regular troops and some young men, officials, gentry and their families.
The Second Cavalry Battalion of the King's Division of the Tang Dynasty also followed behind and found that these Ming troops did not even stop when they entered the territory of Xunzhou Prefecture, but directly crossed Xunzhou Prefecture and continued down the river. Well, by the way
In Xunzhou Prefecture, several thousand Ming troops and officials and gentry also joined the ranks of those fleeing eastward.
The cavalry of the Tang Dynasty King's Division did not continue to follow, but from the news coming from the east, it seems that the fleeing army composed of more than 10,000 Ming troops and officials and gentry marched eastward along the Xunjiang section of the Xijiang River Basin.
Passing through Pingnan, but not entering Teng County, we went straight to Wuzhou!
Moreover, the scale of the eastward flight is getting larger and larger. When they fled from Wuxuan, there were only more than 15,000 people. However, by the time Wei Yan arrived in Wuzhou with his eastward army, it was said that the number of his troops had reached more than 20,000.
This does not include the officials, gentry and their families who fled eastward with the army. If these people were added, the number would probably reach 30,000.
Wei Yan's running was very neat and tidy, quite similar to the style of the Tang Dynasty King's master when he moved into the mountains!
From the perspective of military strategy, Wei Yan's move was quite skillful. He successfully preserved the precious vitality of the Ming army and strengthened Wuzhou's defensive strength, making it easier for the puppet Tang rebels to attack Wuzhou!
Therefore, Wei Yan's large-scale retreat can be called a "victorious advance". Well, it is not a mockery, but a praise!
Because of this, many of the Tang Dynasty king's planned battle plans came to nothing. Originally, Li Xuan's plan was to gradually defeat the Ming army. He would first defeat the 10,000 to 20,000 Ming troops in Wuxuan.
It would be even better if reinforcements came from Wuzhou.
In this way, the number of defenders on the Wuzhou side will be smaller, making it easier and more convenient to attack Wuzhou in the future.
But the Ming army ran away, and they all went directly to Wuzhou. Although Xunzhou Prefecture and even most of Guangxi surrendered, they also gathered more than 50,000 to 60,000 people in Wuzhou, and there may even be more.
's army.
Wuzhou is originally a city that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. In addition, there are many defenders in the city. It will probably be even more difficult to fight in the future.
When Li Xuan rushed to Wuxuan with his main force, he was a little depressed and angry when he saw that Wuxuan had no trace of the war. If he had known that he would not send forward troops, but would directly rush over with his main force. In this case,
Even if the Ming army fled, it would be impossible for them all to escape.
A somewhat depressed Li Xuan was too lazy to even enter Wuxuan City!
Wuxuan, which does not have a large number of Ming troops, is actually just an ordinary small county town. It does not have any great strategic value in itself, so there is no need for the army to stop in Wuxuan and continue to go down the river to Xunzhou Prefecture.
When Li Xuan and the others arrived at Xunzhou Prefecture, the situation they saw was similar to that of Wuxuan. Although there were hundreds of Ming troops staying in Xunzhou Prefecture, they were almost undefended in front of the 30,000-strong army. The city was dominated by the county government and
The defenders composed of young and strong men did not even resist, and surrendered directly under the leadership of a few low-level officials who did not escape.
Several other counties in Xunzhou Prefecture can even be said to have accepted the invitation by simply sending hundreds of people over.
But the more things go smoothly, the more depressed Li Xuan becomes!
Because when Li Xuan arrived at the capital of Xunzhou, he had already received news that Wei Yan had already fled back to Wuzhou with an army of 30,000 people. At this time, there were at least 60,000 to 70,000 troops in Wuzhou City!
Not only did Wei Yan run away with his people, but he also took away everything that could be taken away. He didn't leave any food or money in the official warehouse, he took it all away. Secondly, many wealthy people also followed.
Wei Yan ran away together.
Not to mention Wuxuan, even the capital city of Xunzhou is almost the same as an empty city.
This led to the fact that although the army marched eastward without fighting, it failed to capture much loot and prisoners.
For the Imperial Division of the Tang Dynasty, which was in extremely short supply of internal supplies and needed to rely on large amounts of seizures to maintain the supply of troops, not being able to obtain trophies was a very uncomfortable thing.
Especially when he saw that the grain and grass in the army were decreasing day by day and could not be replenished, Li Xuan had no other good idea but to ask the tax department to collect as much grain and grass as possible to supply the army.
Especially in the newly occupied Xunzhou Prefecture, it is necessary to increase the intensity of taxation and grain collection. Why?
Because Xunzhou Prefecture is one of the most important grain-producing areas in Guangxi, there are still some grain reserves among the people, especially those grain merchants who definitely have grain in their hands.
After arriving at Xunzhou, the King of Tang Dynasty, who had been running for a long time, also stopped and began to rest, because if he continued to advance eastward, he would reach Wuzhou Prefecture.
In order to avoid encountering an accident after entering Wuzhou Prefecture, Li Xuan specifically ordered the troops to rest for three days in Xuzhou Prefecture. On the one hand, he allowed the main force to rest and recuperate, and on the other hand, he prepared to send partial division troops to control the surrounding areas.
This Xunzhou Prefecture is the largest granary in Guangxi, and Li Xuan is still counting on relying on the food from this prefecture to sustain the subsequent war.
Therefore, Xunzhou Prefecture cannot tolerate any mistakes!