Chapter 112 Shen Futai's speed is far faster than Sima Yi's capture of Meng Da
"Lord Futai, no good! Urgent report from Yuezhou! Li Dingguo's troops under Zhang Ni's command suddenly came out from the Tianmen Mountain area recently. The Yongding Guards at Shankou were caught off guard. More than a thousand soldiers had no fighting spirit, and they surrendered in half a day!"
"Li Dingguo's troops attacked Cili County day and night. Huang Renyou, the county magistrate, surrendered in a timid battle. The Jiuxi guards were cut off from their retreat and surrendered. Now Li Dingguo has advanced to Shimen and Li County. After passing through Anxiang, he will enter Dongting Lake.
Yes! This is the news sent back from Yuezhou two days ago! I don’t know whether the situation has worsened in the past two days or whether Shimen and Li County have insisted on delaying the matter."
"The banner of Zhang Xianzhong appeared in the east of Taoyuan County, Changde Prefecture two days ago. Before the city was besieged, the magistrate of Taoyuan County urgently sent a messenger to Wuling County, the prefecture, to report the emergency."
The first batch of urgent documents were delivered to Kong Zheng in Gangneung on the eighth day of June. The contents of the emergency report were only available as of the sixth day of June at the latest, that is, two days ago.
Therefore, Fang Kongzhen still doesn't know whether or how much progress the bandits have made in the past two days.
When Fang Kongzheng received these bad news, his vision almost went dark.
He had no choice. He had left his headquarters in Jiangling and his main troops in Yiling because his troops were too small and insufficient in strength. In the past two years, Yang Sichang did not pay much attention to him. He could not directly mobilize the troops.
to twenty thousand.
With such a small number of people, of course they have to defend against danger and maintain a long-term stalemate, so concentrating their efforts on the exit of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River is the safest choice. Who would have thought that Zhang Xianzhong could ignore the grain road and climb over the mountains and ridges to break through the encirclement?
In the final analysis, civil servants who traditionally read military books have too much understanding of military affairs based on the ancient adage of "before the troops and horses are moved, food and grass go first".
But the phrase "food and grass go first" is aimed at armies that need to transport their own food.
For Zhang Xianzhong's tribe, who can eat wherever he kills, as long as there are people there, this ancient saying will obviously become invalid under extreme circumstances.
We really can’t blame Fang Kongzheng for being pedantic, because the same mistake was made by Shao Jiechun on the other side of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in history——
Shao Jiechun also asked Zhang Ling to defend Baidi City and Qutang Guard, while Qin Liangyu advised him to "take the initiative to enter the mountainous terrain and not defend the isolated city alone", but Shao Jiechun did not listen (it was not that he did not want to listen, but that he could not afford to disperse the long-term garrison).
(grain and grass consumption), eventually leading to Zhang Xianzhong's detour into Sichuan regardless of the grain route.
Fang Kongzheng just made a mistake that all Ming scholars and governors would make.
But the problem has already happened, and all we need now is to solve it as soon as possible and plug the leak.
Fang Kongzhen immediately summoned his staff and subordinates, asked for opinions from all parties, and worked together to come up with a solution.
"For the present plan, what can we do? I want to lead Jiangling troops south to Baling and Huarong to prevent Zhang Ni from seizing the entrance of Dongting Lake. Then we will observe the situation and adapt accordingly. What do you think? Who dares to lead the troops?"
When Fang Kongzheng asked about the exit, there was only one general, one guerrilla, and several capital guards in Jiangling City, and they all looked at each other in confusion.
Fang Kongzheng has less than 20,000 troops in total, and more than half of them are in Yiling. How can the remaining people go south to rescue them?
General Liu Shunchen begged for mercy with a bitter face: "Master Futai! I can't help it. We have less than 8,000 people in Jiangling City, including the temporarily recruited rural warriors to defend the city! And to ensure that Jiangling is not lost, at least we must
Leave some people to guard it, right? Five thousand people is the limit.
Since Zhang Xianzhong dared to cross the Tianmen Mountain, he must have made a desperate move. With our few soldiers and horses rushing for reinforcements, even if we took a boat down the Yangtze River, the waterway to Baling would be more than 400 miles away. The future of the expedition might be unpredictable!
Master Futai, please ask Shen Futai of Wuchang for help as soon as possible! Let his soldiers and horses cross the border into our territory of Huguang to help fight the rebellion! Wuchang is only more than 500 miles away from Baling, and Shen Futai has strong soldiers and horses, and he will definitely be able to protect him after he arrives.
Baling is not lost!"
After hearing this, Fang Kongzhen almost wanted to scold Liu Shunchen in his heart for his shamelessness. Just now, when he mentioned the distance between Jiangling and Baling, he said "it's four hundred miles down the river", but when talking about Wuchang's reinforcements, he said "it's four hundred miles upstream".
It 'only' costs five hundred miles."
Chen Shuren's troops are coming for reinforcements. Not only do they have to walk an extra hundred miles, but they also have to bear the burden of going upstream. How can you be so embarrassed to "just"?
However, Fang Kongzhen also knew that there was no way to ask for help from Shen Shuren. Who made him poor and couldn't afford to raise too many soldiers? The staff of the guard station under his command were all empty, so he ordered so few soldiers. No.
Looking for foreign aid is a dead end.
Unlike Chen Shuren across from him, he made money in a good way. The staff provided by the court were fully filled, and he even recruited soldiers outside the law. Various underworlds hid his strength.
As for the military pay issued by the imperial court was not enough, Shen Shuren directly subsidized it himself. Even the Lijin Chaoguan he controlled could receive much more military support than Fang Kongzhen——
Who told Fang Kongzhen to control Lijinchaoguan mainly for trade with Sichuan? Zhang Xianzhong has been entrenched in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River between Huguang and Sichuan for a year and a half. Business travel has dropped sharply by at least 90%, and there is no business tax.
Can be collected.
However, before asking for help, you still have to put on a show. This is not for military accounts, but for political accounts.
Fang Kongzhen knew very well that asking for help from Shen Shuren was against the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Legally speaking, Fang Kongzhen had the right to report to Yang Sichang first and ask for help, and then let Yang Sichang decide who to find as reinforcements.
.
The two governors are equal to each other. How would it be appropriate to ask for help directly? Wouldn't it mean that they are taking over the authority of the Ming court and granting it to each other privately?
If he is impeached by the Yushi Yanguan, he may be dismissed from office directly.
Fang Kongzhen had no choice but to say: "Forget it, I will rush to Nanyang first and ask Mr. Yangge for instructions. Then Mr. Yangge will go to Wuchang and ask Shen Futai to send troops to help.
However, General Liu, you still have to lead five thousand troops and rush to Baling immediately. Before Shen Futai's troops arrive, you have to try your best to get ahead of Li Dingguo and defend Baling! You guys will also follow.
Liu Shen will go together!"
As he spoke, Fang Kongzhen called out a few more names, and everyone who was called was frightened, fearing that the bandits would advance too quickly and they would not be able to reach Baling in time and would be surrounded halfway.
Liu Shunchen quickly surrendered: "Master Futai can't do it! The military situation is so fierce, how can we avoid suspicion at this time? I beg Master Futai to directly ask Shen Futai for help! If you go to Nanyang to find Mr. Yang Ge, come back again and again.
Wouldn't it waste at least another five or six days?
The general will know your concerns, Mr. Futai. How about we jointly sign a blood letter and say that we couldn't stand up to Li Dingguo and asked Shen Futai for help privately? Your Excellency, you are also being coerced by public opinion, and so will the Yushi Yanguan when the time comes.
The law does not punish everyone, please bear this heavy responsibility!"
Fang Kongzheng saw that everyone had become witnesses and that this matter would be settled legally in the future, so he followed the trend and invited the civil servants in Jiangling City to discuss it together.
Including the magistrate of Jingzhou, the magistrate of Jiangling County, as well as a number of subordinate officials of the governor's office, and various professional officials, all the interests were shown.
Seeing that the military generals were in a fierce mood, and not wanting to cause the thieves to break into more prefectures and counties because of their pedantry, they took the courage to adhere to the law and not blame everyone. They jointly signed a blood letter, reported it to Yang Sichang, and directly overstepped their authority and asked Shen Shuren to send troops.
…
Liu Shunchen was finally forced by Fang Kongzhen and led thousands of people down the river. They tried their best to use long and narrow boats and arrived at Baling County, Yuezhou Prefecture within two days.
At the same time, some messengers and scouts took a few sentinel boats and continued down the river to report to Wuchang and directly invite the Chenshu people to send troops.
Liu Shunchen was lucky. When he arrived, four or five days had passed since Fang Kongzhen received the emergency report. In other words, Li Dingguo had already breached Cili County four or five days ago and made an emergency landing.
The Jiuxi Guards returned and approached Shimen County.
During these four days, Li Dingguo only spent half a day to defeat Shimen County. Then he spent another two days marching and attacking to capture Li County.
In the last two days, Li Dingguo continued to advance vigorously, captured Anxiang, successfully entered Dongting Lake, and approached Baling.
Liu Shunchen hurriedly hurried. When he arrived, Baling had not yet been besieged, but the vanguard scouts of Li Dingguo's troops had already landed and patrolled near Baling, blocking news and intercepting soldiers and civilians coming and going.
Liu Shunchen originally had the opportunity to march directly into Baling City, but he was afraid that Li Dingguo's main force would suddenly attack and intercept him halfway into the city, so his fear made him choose Chenglingji, which is more than 20 miles north of Baling County.
stationed.
Chenglingji is where Dongting Lake merges into the Yangtze River, and river defense fortresses have always been built in the past dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, there was also a fort for the garrison here, so you don’t need to build your own fortifications when camping here, you can just use ready-made ones.
And because it was backed by the Yangtze River, he could attack, retreat or defend here. Even if Li Dingguo attacked, he could escape by boat back to the Yangtze River, and he would not be afraid of being chased by Li Dingguo who only had a small boat and raft.
Liu Shunchen still had the last trace of conscience, and felt that it was too much to say nothing even though he was here, so he chose his subordinate Qian Zong and allowed him to bring ten fast sentry boats and a hundred cavalry to reinforce Baling City and publicize the main force of the reinforcements.
We have arrived so that we can boost the morale of the defenders in the city so that Li Dingguo will not surrender without a fight as soon as Li Dingguo besieges the city.
However, what kind of coward will lead to what kind of drama? Mr. Qian also had a bitter look on his face and complained with a well-founded basis:
"No, General! You have forgotten that Zhang Xianzhong is always good at letting rogue cavalry pretend to be messengers and defraud the city with reinforcements! Even if we call at the gate of Baling City and even show our seals, the city guards will most likely regard us as Zhang Xianzhong's troops and shoot back random arrows.
!
"The Point Guard Is Here"
When the time comes, the city refuses to open the door, and Li Dingguo's army surrounds them again. Aren't we going to let our brothers die in vain?"
Liu Shunchen was right at first, and then he thought of a perfect way to get rid of personal guilt: If Baling City is defended in the future, everyone will be happy, and everyone will be fine. Just pretend that nothing happened and forget about it.
If Baling fails to defend, then the defender must have surrendered to the enemy. At that time, he will say, "I have sent people to reinforce the city of Baling, and I want to enter the city to help defend. Zhang Xianzhong is too cunning. He has defrauded the city too many times before.
The guard general was so frightened that he refused to open the door to let me into the city, so I had to come back." In this way, he himself would never be questioned by the court.
After understanding this truth, he still insisted on letting his confidant Qian Zong set off, but secretly confessed: "It doesn't matter if you don't want to go to Baling City, at least pretend to leave Chenglingji and go around and come back to spy on the enemy. Later, others will ask
, I might as well say that I sent you there, but the city will not open the door. If no one asks about this, it will always be rotten in the stomach!"
His confidant, Mr. Qian, understood immediately and executed this wise and self-protective coercion move very quickly.
After being stationed in Chenglingji, Liu Shunchen calculated the days and estimated that it would take at least a day and a half for the messenger to go to Wuchang, and it was estimated that it would take more than three or four days for the army to return. Because a large-scale army marched against the current along the Yangtze River waterway, it could
Traveling a hundred miles a day is considered fast.
However, what he didn't expect was that he only slept one night in Chenglingji. Early the next morning, his confidant Qian came in to report:
"General! The messenger reports! Chen Shuren's reinforcements have arrived! They will arrive during the day today! After the messenger is delivered, hurry back and report the news!"
Liu Shunchen was startled: "How could it come so fast?"
That coward Qian Zong made his saliva fly:
"The messenger walked to Linxiang County in the middle of the night last night and encountered Shen Futai's army! Shen Futai had organized the army in advance and rushed to Linxiang County at the junction of Yuezhou Prefecture and Wuchang Prefecture to wait.
! Shen Futai's cavalry will arrive in the morning! The main force of the subsequent waterway will also arrive in the afternoon!"
Liu Shunchen was astonished: "Never among the civil and military generals of the Ming Dynasty have they rescued friendly troops so quickly? Even Sima Yi in the play who captured Meng Da didn't come so fast!"