After winning the Battle of Dangyang, the Xinghan Army expanded rapidly and received support from the local Communist Party. It not only had the 4th Infantry Division, but also the 1st Navy Brigade with local fishermen as the chief staff, with a total strength of more than 30,000 people.
In order not to be threatened by the Qing army pursuing from the Sichuan direction, in June, the Xinghan Army suddenly returned with two divisions to attack Nanjinguan in Yichang Prefecture. They had just led more than 2,000 troops from their camp to Chengdu here.
Lieutenant General Wang Fu was caught off guard and hurriedly responded to the battle. As a result, he was defeated and fled to Huangling Temple, losing countless weapons.
Shu Jing'an, the right deputy general of Dingxi, who led the main force of Sichuan's pursuit troops and horses to Xintankou, Badong, heard first of the defeat of Dangyang and then of the defeat of Nanjinguan. He became timid, fearing that a rash advance would repeat the defeat of Yunmen, so he
The main force of the army was ordered to stop advancing, and detective horses were sent to investigate the details of the bandits' use of troops before making a decision.
There were rumors spreading in the army that the reason why General Shu refused to die was because his son fell into the hands of the rebels. The defeat of the previous army at Yunmen in Chongqing was also closely related to this incident.
This matter was somehow discovered by Ding Yizhen, the censor of Sichuan, and he immediately wrote a letter to the court to expose the matter.
After the Xinghan Army guarded the Nanjing Pass with a brigade of more than 2,000 troops, the main force began to storm Yichang City under the command of commander Gu Shidao to ensure that the next attack on Jingzhou would not be flanked by the Qing army.
There were not many Qing troops in Yichang, only the prefect Song Hui put together thousands of battalions of Ding Xiangyong. Knowing that he could not resist the attack of the Xinghan army, the prefect of Song had no choice but to ask for help from Jingzhou General Shang Jianbao.
Shang Jianbao had been frightened out of his courage by the Xinghan Army since the defeat at Dangyang. He could still hold on to Jingzhou, but he had no courage at all to ask him to lead troops to rescue Yichang. No matter how urged by Chen Huizu, the governor of Huguang, he did not move.
There were no defenders inside and no reinforcements outside. Although Song Hui, the prefect of Yichang, was determined to die to serve the country, Yichang City was still captured by the Xinghan Army on the third day of July.
After the Xinghan Army entered the city, Song Hui, wearing court uniform, sat in the lobby of the government office. When he saw the rebels rushing in, he cursed angrily. As a result, he was killed on the spot by the angry Xinghan Army soldiers.
After Gu Shidao entered the city, he said that although Song Hui was a traitor, the people of Yichang said that he was a good official, and ordered him to be buried in a blanket in the Yamen, so that his body would not be damaged.
Hundreds of soldiers and soldiers captured in the city camp joined the Xinghan Army. Then the Xinghan Army opened the treasury and distributed more than 30,000 taels of silver in the treasury to various ministries as rewards. It was also called opening the grain depot. In addition to collecting military supplies, any surplus was
Distribute it to the poor in the city.
Posts were also posted, and the slogan "I would rather be the soul of China than a slave of the Tatars" was painted with lime water in the streets and alleys of the city, calling on the people of Yichang to join the Han Dynasty Army to "drive out the Tatars and restore China."
All the articles posted on the list use the year number of the former Ming Dynasty and Yongli era.
This was also the first political call for restoration of the Ming Dynasty after the Xinghan Army rushed into Huguang.
Wang Ang, a scholar in Yichang Prefecture, was nearly sixty years old. Hearing that the rebel army had breached the city, he attempted to hang himself from a hanging beam. As a result, the rope broke under the load and was dissuaded by the students.
He was tied to the commander of the Xinghan Army. Everyone thought that the old scholar was stubborn and wanted to die. Unexpectedly, they asked him to cut his long braid with a knife. They knelt in front of Gu Shidao and touched the Confucian shirt of the Ming Dynasty he was wearing. They cried: "The country will be destroyed."
After a hundred years, I finally saw the clothes of the Han family!"
After that, he looked up to the sky and smiled: "The Hu people have no luck for the country for a hundred years. Today, the Han family has heroes, and we can rebuild the Han Dynasty!"
The fall of Yichang completely opened up the waterway for the Xinghan Army to enter Jingzhou.
On the eighth day of the seventh lunar month, Gu Shidao issued a proclamation, ordering 40,000 troops from both land and water divisions to march eastward to Jiangling along the Yangtze River and sound the bugle call to attack Jingzhou.
The land of Jingzhou can help Chengdu above, and Jiangning and Hangzhou below. It is also the heartland of Hubei. If Jingzhou is lost, the war situation in Hubei will instantly deteriorate, and even the whole territory of Huguang will fall.
In order to defend the city of Jingzhou, Chen Huizu, the governor of Huguang, not only sent people to report to Shu Jing'an, the right deputy general of Dingxi, and asked him to rush for help, but also gathered the battalions, flood soldiers and soldiers from various places in Huguang who could rush there.
He was transferred to Jingzhou, and even government officials were sent there, and more than 9,000 people were assembled.
Who should lead this army has become a big problem.
General Shang Jianbao of Jingzhou was extremely incompetent, and he would definitely not be counted on if he was as timid as a mouse. However, there were no generals available in Huguang. Hubei Governor Zheng Dajin suggested that he should be promoted to deputy general Zheng Tai as the chief military officer and command the reinforcements.
However, Chen Huizu rejected this proposal because Zheng Tai was not promoted by him. Finally, at the suggestion of his staff, he actually invited the 80-year-old veteran Meng Yingrui to take charge of the overall situation.
Meng Yingrui's ancestors and grandsons were all famous generals for three generations. Meng Yingrui has made many military exploits and won the honors of Li Wei, the former governor of Zhili, Ortai, the bachelor and prime minister of the Ministry of War Affairs, Omida, the former governor of Huguang, and the minister of the Ministry of War and the administrator of the vassal.
Famous ministers such as the Academy Affairs Team praised him.
After sixty years of military service, he became famous.
After the recruitment order came to Meng's family, Meng Yingrui's descendants all advised him not to leave the mountain, because the peace in Huguang had lasted for a long time, the Eight Banners soldiers were no longer useful, and the camp was in decay, and the main force of the Xinghan rebel army was Xiaojinchuan bandits, and
The imperial court has been fighting for hundreds of years, and all of them are elite soldiers. Judging from the current situation alone, the strength of the Xinghan Army is obviously better than that of the Qing Army.
Moreover, the ancestor is already eighty years old. How can there be any reason in the world to wear armor and go to war at the age of eighty!
"My ancestors Meng Ao, Meng Wu, Meng Tian, and Meng Yi were role models for all Chinese civil servants and generals to learn from. As a descendant, how can I lose the reputation of my ancestors? Today, the court is in trouble and traitors are rampant. Even though I am eighty years old, how can I sit back and ignore it?
Grandsons, put on your armor for me!"
Meng Yingrui ignored the dissuasion of his descendants and resumed his journey on the orders of the Governor of Huguang.
But Meng Yingrui was already eighty years old after all, so Chen Huizu, the governor of Huguang, assigned him another deputy, Yue Jing, the second son of the famous official Yue Zhongqi, the chief military officer of Huguang Town.
The Xinghan rebels came from Xiaojinchuan. General Yue once went to Jinchuan back then. Although the general is not here now, how can the tiger father have a son?
Huguang used all its resources to help Jingzhou.
Under the urging of General Feng Sheng'e of Dingxi, Shu Jing'an did not dare to stay in Badong any longer, and personally led the main force to attack Yichang City. He also ordered the Chongqing deputy general Ma Dayuan, the Jinchuan deputy general Zu Yingyuan, and the Chengdu deputy general Wang Fu to march over the mountains by land.
Ling reinforced Jingzhou.
The war is about to break out.
Shandong, Linqing.
Just two days after the arrival of the Sauron soldiers and the Mongolian cavalry from outside the customs, Asha, the censor of the capital, became restless. He accused Jia Liu, the prime minister of Shandong military affairs, of looking after the siege but did not know how to attack. He suggested that the enemy should be attacked in a few days.
Puritan bandits attacked.
However, he was repeatedly pushed back by Jia Liu, saying that the time to attack the city had not yet come, and the main thing to do now was to induce surrender.
The Chief Envoy of Zhili and the Governor of Tianjin, Xu Ji, and others also believed that it was not suitable to attack the city in the hot weather. The work of recruiting and surrendering the Prime Minister was progressing smoothly, so it would be better to wait until autumn before attacking the city.
When Asiha was indignant, Jia Liu personally met with the Yan Jiren brothers who came to surrender from the city. In addition to petitioning the Yan brothers for the title of Chief Qian, he also selected 400 people from the 3,000 people the two brothers brought out of the city.
Enrich the Changwei army, thereby achieving the effect of "controlling bandits with bandits".
"Sir, the Yan brothers have all come to surrender. Except for the cavalry, the religious bandits in Linqing City can still see the battle, and the rest are not of concern."
Fan Wei's newly shaved head was shiny and shiny. He was wearing the clothes of a seventh-rank official and looked very energetic.
"The time has not come yet, it has not come yet."
Jia Liu was still saying that it was not the right time, and when he was asking Fan Wei if there was any way he could tell Wu Sanniang to come, a secret message came from Jingling.
It's a letter from Liu Heyi.
The letter said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Industry had recently organized a group of people to re-examine the underground palace of Emperor Shengzuren. It seemed that they were preparing to open the underground palace. If the emperor really decided to open the underground palace, then Jia Liu, the director of the management committee, would
I have to rush back immediately to take charge of the overall situation.
After putting down the letter, Jia Liu frowned slightly and was silent.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
My grandfather is Zhu Yuanzhang, and my father is Prince Zhu Biao, so I want to be the grandson! I want to be the emperor!
Because only in this way can I live a life of idleness.