The Mei family has a profound influence in the Juma area, and the local villagers have been exposed to the wind of fighting for a long time. They are simple and strong. In ten days, tens of thousands of people gathered, almost setting off a prairie fire.
Originally, Mei Zhihuan had no idea of starting an army to cause chaos. After all, he was also a member of the officialdom and had served as a feudal official. Even Feng Quan, the eunuch, was his friend. All he had to do was write a letter to the big boss in the DPRK and ask for mediation. I'm really not afraid of Song Yihe's difficulties.
But Mei Zhihuan was seriously ill as early as the beginning of this year, unable to manage, and could not control the impulsive actions of the young children of the family. The younger generations of the Mei family were also very worried that if Mei Zhihuan died, they would not have the appeal to rally the crowd to fight against Song Yihe. When the time comes, won’t the Mei family of Shenzhuang be allowed to be manipulated by Song Yihe?
These young men, accustomed to being sons of aristocratic families, were dandy and did not pay attention to the laws of the court at all. So they made up their minds and continued to go their own way, despite the pleading and dissuasion of their old father on the bed, and gathered the crowd to fight.
In fact, this kind of situation is not uncommon in the late Ming Dynasty. For example, Hou Fangyu, the son of Donglin boss Hou Xun, relied on his father's power to dare to directly attack the government office. It was not that they really wanted to cause rebellion, but they felt that As a member of a famous family, the court's laws could not restrain me at all. In the end, it was just a big plank raised high and gently lowered, so I acted without any scruples.
When Mei Zhihuan heard on the sick bed that Shen Zhuang's army actually raised troops to cause chaos due to the pressure from Huguang Governor Song Yihe, he finally vomited several liters of blood. He was unable to cure the situation and died suddenly on the spot.
Because Mei Zhihuan, a member of the Mei family, died violently just after they launched an army, they ordered Shen Zhuang's army to wrap their heads in white cloth and call themselves the "Baitou Army".
At that time, all the cities in the Juma area were undefended and relied entirely on the Shenzhuang army to maintain public order. Among the Shenzhuang army were many gentry sons. They had extensive connections in various counties and had deep influence. Therefore, they were invincible wherever they marched and were conquered in the blink of an eye. From the counties of Huang'an, Macheng, Huangpi and Luotian, they surrounded Huanggang, the capital of Huangzhou.
Shen Zhuang's army was invincible, and the whole Chu was shocked. They killed more than ten Taoist ministers, guards, and officials. They also defeated the Huangzhou Prefecture garrison in the east of Huanggang City. They carried blunderbuss and cannons and attacked day and night, flying lead and molten iron. People's hearts are horrified.
Song Yihe, who was mobilizing troops in Wuchang to prepare for Mei Zhihuan's plot, received the news that Shen Zhuang's army had gathered all the people to rebel in advance. On the one hand, he lamented that he had the foresight to see Mei Zhihuan's evil intentions early, and on the other hand, he was filled with regret. I only regretted that I had a comradeship with Mei Zhihuan and did not take action as soon as possible. As a result, Shen Zhuang's army was now crossing Handong and sweeping Huangzhou, making the situation difficult to end.
The Huguang official army did not have many mobile troops. At this time, there was no way to deal with emergencies, so they had to mobilize separate garrison troops from Xiangyang, Hanyang, Anlu and other places, and even seconded soldiers and horses to Yunyang Fuzhi in order to reinforce Huangzhou and block the blockade. Prevent Shen Zhuang's army.
Troops were mobilized throughout the three Chu states. However, due to the sudden incident, Song Yihe still felt that the force of the government and army to suppress and suppress the people was insufficient. In addition, the Shenzhuang army was not ordinary homeless farmers. Some of them were still working in the fields, and some were traders. , and even called various students, the great ones even recommended gentry, there are countless of them.
Most of these gentry sons who "abandoned their youth" and rose up to raise the army were very wealthy, which made the Huguang officers and soldiers who were advancing in the suppression very jealous.
Shenzhuang soldiers surrounded Huanggang, and the rescuing officers and soldiers marched to the Xinshengzhou area to help. Along the way, they burned, killed, looted, and looted everything they passed. The Jute people, who had always had a custom of forming strongholds to protect themselves, began to defend their villages and strongholds against the enemy.
As a result, the government troops were at a loss of ground. They originally came to suppress the rebellion, but in the end they became the common enemies of the rebels and the local people. As a result, they suffered consecutive defeats.
Song Yihe panicked and hurriedly dispatched more troops. He transferred all the elite Fubiao troops originally stationed in Xiangyang and Wuchang to Huanggang to relieve the siege, and granted the general the power to carry out the siege. In fact, it was a hint that after their victory You can plunder the property of those gentry at will.
Finally, the morale of the officers and soldiers was stimulated, and the Shenzhuang army was defeated in Tuanfeng Town near Huanggang, and the siege of Huanggang was lifted.
Under the vigorous encirclement and suppression by the Huguang official army, the strength of the Shenzhuang Army was gradually weakened. As a unit of gentry regiments training for armed joint operations, its commanding authority was not centralized and its weaknesses were riddled with internal contradictions. Song Yihe then changed his offensive. , they successively recaptured Huangpi and Luotian counties, and directed their troops towards Macheng.
At this time, Li Laiheng, who was actively mobilizing troops and generals in Suizhou and concentrating his forces to prepare for the conquest of Zaoyang, had already set his sights on the chaos in Huangzhou Prefecture.
He had received specific information about Shenzhuang's military rebellion from Xiao Weisong and Kendeji very early. However, most of the Chuang army thought that the internal strife between Song Yihe and Mei Zhihuan would at most weaken the strength of Shenzhuang's army to a certain extent, and completely Unexpectedly, it would eventually develop to the point where the Huguang army and Shenzhuang army would fight.
Some time ago, Li Laiheng focused entirely on Zaoyang, and all military deployments gave priority to Zaoyang. He even transferred back Guojun Town, which was passing through the Dabie Mountains.
After he learned about the chaos of Shen Zhuang's army, he smiled bitterly. First he laughed at himself, and then apologized to Guo Junzhen, saying to him: "Unexpectedly, Song Yiniao's sudden change led to such chaos! Who could have imagined the ability of this guy?" So big, can it force all Shenzhuang's army to rebel? Now the situation in Huangzhou Prefecture has become a mess. Xiongli (Guojunzhen's original name is Xiongli, with the word line, Junzhen is his cousin), now I have no choice but to trouble you again, we still have to fight back to Huangzhou Mansion from the southern foot of Dabie Mountain."
Fang Yiren shook his fan and laughed and said: "The officers and soldiers and the regiments are killing each other. According to the report from the red team, Huangzhou Mansion is now in chaos. There are no guards in all the states and counties, and many of the city walls have been damaged. The master of the mansion is doing something right now. The troops marched straight into Jute, and while Song Yihe and Shen Zhuang's army were fighting fiercely, they might be able to gain a victory over Hulao."
The "success of Hulao" mentioned by Fang Yiren is Li Shimin's Battle of Hulao Pass during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In the Battle of Hulao, Li Shimin eliminated the main forces of Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, the two major princes competing for hegemony, and laid the foundation for Li and Tang's unification of the world. Base.
However, in the late Ming Dynasty, the closest thing to the Battle of Hulao was the Battle of a Stone that allowed the Manchus to establish their country...
"It is said that Song Yihe has relieved the siege of Huanggang. Shenzhuang's army was severely attacked by the official army in Tuanfeng Town, and its strength was greatly reduced. It had to temporarily withdraw from Huangpi and Luotian counties and retreat to the Huangma area to defend itself." Bai Bai Wang Ye analyzed, "This means that the strength of Shenzhuang's army has declined. They did not really revolt in the first place. Under the unfavorable situation, it is very likely that Song Yihe will quickly pacify them with appeasement strategies."
"Yes." Gao Yigong nodded and said, "If Song Yihe focused on pacifying, he probably wouldn't need to spend a long time to attack Macheng, but could defeat Shen Zhuang's army in a short time. If we don't catch him quickly, Stay tuned, I'm afraid the opportunity will be fleeting."
Li Laiheng knew that everyone was suggesting that he give up his plan to attack Zaoyang and prioritize sending troops to intervene in Jute.
Although capturing Zaoyang is a predetermined plan, the benefits that may be obtained by sending troops to Jute are indeed far away. After all, Huangzhou is a populous city with more than one million household registrations. If it can be used for business, the Huguang Army can immediately Ushering in rapid development.
Moreover, Song Yihe now concentrated all Fubiao's elite troops on the Jute Battlefield to confront the Shenzhuang Army. According to the news sent back by Xiao Weisong, Song Yihe did not leave enough troops to deal with the possible intervention of the Chuang Army.
So by sending troops to Juma now, it is very likely that the two armies of Shen Zhuang's army and Song Yihe's Chu Fu Fubiao will be eliminated at the same time, and all the official and military forces in the eastern Han region will be wiped out at once.
"Song Yihe and Shenzhuang's army are attacking each other. This is God's gift to Huangzhou for our business, and I will not let its fighting opportunities pass away. Anyway, in order to prepare for the attack on Zaoyang, the soldiers and horses of the Chuang army have already packed up their supplies and supplies. All the gunpowder and arrows are fully prepared, and the soldiers are ready to fight. After resting, all we need to do is turn our swords around and attack Zaoyang instead of entering Huangzhou."
"After the plan was decided, the big brother, Lao Bai, Xiong Li, and the flag waving, all the teams immediately returned to the team to lead the troops and mobilize the troops. The horsemen went first, the infantry transported the baggage, and the artillery followed...Xiong Li, You and Zhang Pilu lead the cavalry to Niuxin Village first and recruit local soldiers to participate in the Battle of Jute."
Guo Junzhen didn't have any grudges about the fact that he had just rushed back to Suizhou from Niuxin Village and now he was rushing back to Niuxin Village. Instead, he stood up and replied cheerfully: "Soldiers are more valuable than speed. I think it's better to use troops than speed." Leave all the infantry of our unit under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, and Zhang Pizhu and I will rush to Niuxin Village with only our own knights."
Li Laiheng was also impressed by Guo Junzhen's decisiveness and concentration on military affairs. He also laughed at himself slightly. Guo Junzhen has a straightforward personality and speaks unscrupulously. As a superior and a leader, he cannot make good use of this kind of behavior. It is really inappropriate for my subordinates to forget about it and still harbor resentment.
"Okay, the most important thing in using troops is speed. Now that the food, grass and baggage have been prepared, and the decisive battle between Song Yihe and Shen Zhuang's army is imminent, we really can't delay it. After the meeting, everyone went to prepare immediately. Xiongli and Pihu rushed to Niuxin Village as soon as possible. Recruit the village soldiers, and the others will act quickly as mentioned above."