Chapter 612 0607 [Set up Camp but Cannot Leave]
(Some people say that the author is forcibly boosting the morale of the Chu army. In real history, when Zhong Xiang was killed and Yang Yao had not yet established his leadership, these soldiers had to eat river clams and snails to survive when they were out of food. They could fight to the death and defeat the Song army even when they were hungry.)
During the battle of Dongting Lake, Zhong Xiang had actually returned to Changsha, but he could not take care of the battlefield in the north for the time being.
Because the two cities of Liling and Chaling were both besieged by the Ming army in Jiangxi.
Zhong Xiang hastily mobilized 15,000 elite troops, even his imperial guards were dispatched, and defeated Quan Bangyan's 30,000 Jiangxi new troops in Liling.
Quan Bangyan had fought with Zhong Xiang for a year before, and the two sides fought back and forth. It was not because Quan Bangyan was so awesome, but because he used the favorable terrain to defend the city.
Now they were fighting head-on outside the city, and all kinds of shortcomings were immediately exposed, and they were beaten by Zhong Xiang without any resistance.
Quan Bangyan retreated to Pingxiang with thousands of remnants, and no longer had the courage to go out of the city for a decisive battle.
Song Huizong is in Pingxiang...
He now uses the alias Ji Shao, and is transferred to Pingxiang as a chief clerk, and he also married Xue Su's widowed mother Zeng.
As for Xue Su, this guy who was born a bandit, was transferred to Jizhou as an officer, and is currently besieging Chaling with the army.
Zeng was worried: "How can Zhong Xiang be so powerful that he defeated tens of thousands of soldiers in two days?"
Song Huizong said: "After all, he is a grassroots emperor, and he is still good at fighting."
Zeng blindly worshipped her husband: "Xianggong is known as the 'Little Zhuge' in Quzhou, why don't you offer a clever plan to help the soldiers take Liling?"
Song Huizong blushed: "Although I have a clever plan, the soldiers are too weak and dare not fight when they meet the Chu army."
"Alas, it's also wronged my husband." Zeng felt that her husband was too unworthy of his talent.
The couple was chatting, and suddenly someone from the yamen came to invite Song Huizong to go back to the county yamen to do business.
It was the northern line troops of Jiangxi New Army. The grain and grass they went out to fight were seized by Zhong Xiang. The traces of Chu Army were found on the border of Pingxiang, so they had to quickly recruit local soldiers and military rations to defend the city.
Actually, Zhong Xiang did not chase them at all. He only sent a miscellaneous army and made more flags to scare Quan Bangyan.
But it was scary enough. Pingxiang was so scared that they quickly organized the people in the city.
After waiting for several days, they finally got the news that Zhong Xiang’s army did not come, but only consolidated the pass at the junction of Liling and Pingxiang.
At this time, a messenger came from Yichun and brought good news: when the Chu Army in Chaling was besieged, there was an internal conflict. First, the deputy general killed the main general and wanted to surrender. The soldiers loyal to Zhong Xiang were dissatisfied and mutinied and killed the deputy general of the Chu Army. The Jiangxi New Army noticed the abnormality in the city and took the opportunity to attack the city and take down Chaling.
The low-spirited Pingxiang defenders immediately rejoiced after receiving this battle report.
Song Huizong was unhappy because he knew the civil and military generals on the side that won the battle.
Xiang Zizhen was in charge of logistics in Jizhou, and Yang Yingcheng was in charge of the front-line command. Both of them were relatives of the Song Dynasty, and their ancestors had produced the queen of the Song Dynasty.
When the Song Dynasty was in trouble before, I didn't see you working so hard, but now you are helping the pseudo-Ming Dynasty to win the battle.
The more Song Huizong thought about it, the angrier he got!
"Ji Shao, why are there still so many shortages of food and grass?" The county magistrate pushed the door open and asked angrily.
Song Huizong put aside all his thoughts, bowed and smiled: "County Master, calm down, we are already urging for food, but the people in the countryside really don't have much food left."
The county magistrate said: "Within ten days, at least another 500 stones will be collected. The food from Xinyu County (Xinyu) has been transported, but our Pingxiang has not been able to meet the full amount. If the superiors investigate, you and I will both be in trouble!"
Song Huizong gritted his teeth and explained: "Pingxiang is poor, Xinyu is rich, how can we compare with them?"
"I don't care so much, just do it quickly!" The county magistrate said angrily.
Song Huizong forced a smile and sent the county magistrate away, then slammed the table and cursed: "Shameless dog thief, what's the point of forcing me? The people have no food, and I can't make food. If you continue to force them for food and grass, the people of Pingxiang will rebel!"
After scolding the county magistrate, Song Huizong was still not satisfied, and complained: "That Quan Bangyan is also, claiming to be a great general, leading an army of 30,000 to go to war, but was defeated by Zhong Xiang in one battle. Grandpa, I have been collecting food in Pingxiang for two months, and finally got some food, but this idiot gave it all to Zhong Xiang."
...
Xiangyin.
Zhong Xiang defeated Quan Bangyan in Liling and immediately led his elite troops north, leaving only a small number of troops to recruit civilians to consolidate the pass.
He had gathered more than 20,000 troops in Xiangyin, and even recruited thousands of new soldiers. He planned to go to the mouth of Guiyi River to meet Zhong Yi, and then fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Ming Dynasty at Lujiaozhai.
Urgent reports of military situation in the south came like snowflakes.
Yang Zaixing had led his troops to besiege Shaoyang.
Although Li Gong was still suppressing the Dong people in Quanzhou and could not spare his hands to attack Yongzhou, the Yongzhou Chu Army actually had internal strife.
Those opportunists surrendered to Zhong Xiang a few years ago and pretended to believe in Manichaeism. Now that they found the situation was not good, they changed their flags and surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, killed the confidants left by Zhong Xiang and rebelled.
Cao Cheng was unable to restrain the various ethnic groups' volunteers, so he simply led his troops to Yongzhou, and the rebellious Yongzhou Chu Army immediately became the guide. Now, Cao Cheng's army has passed Qiyang and may go north along the Xiangjiang River to threaten Hengyang at any time.
The miners' uprising army in Guiyang Prison also relied on internal help to set fire and successfully captured Chenzhou City.
In just one month, all six states in the south were lost!
Now there is news that the county town of Chaling was captured by the Jiangxi Ming Army. Fortunately, the fortress in Yunyang Mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as it is stuck there, the Jiangxi Ming Army can be delayed.
But there are enemies everywhere, and Zhong Xiang has no troops to mobilize.
He could only divide his troops to focus on defending Hengyang, Liling, Shaoyang, and Yunyang Village, and abandon the rest of the territory in the south. Then, he concentrated his elite forces to fight a decisive battle with Bai Qi, and then turned back to deal with the enemy forces elsewhere after winning.
Two days later, Zhong Xiang and Zhong Yi joined forces at the mouth of Guiyi River. Including the civilians who transported grain, they claimed to have an army of 300,000.
The Xiangjiang River was blocked by the Ming Navy, and Zhong Xiang's army could only be transported by land.
The distance was not long, only 60 miles from Xiangyin to the mouth of Guiyi River, and only 70 miles from the mouth of Guiyi River to Lujiaozhai.
But without the protection of the navy, the Ming army could attack the grain transport troops by boat at any time.
Zhong Xiang left a full 8,000 troops and asked Zhong Yi to guard the mouth of Guiyi River, which was the main hub for the Chu army to transport grain.
Then, Zhong Xiang led the main force of the Chu army to the north to rescue Lujiaozhai and wait for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle.
In front of Zhong Xiang were two strong camps that supported each other.
The camps were all in the shape of a "Hui" character, with a wide trench on the outer circle, and the soil dug out from the trench was used to build a barrier. Because it rained twice, the trench was full of mud and water, making it like a small moat!
Zhong Xiang went to observe the situation in person, and his scalp was numb.
The generals of the Ming army were determined to delay time and were unwilling to fight a decisive battle with him. With the help of these two strong camps, the Ming army could fight Zhong Xiang until the end of time.
But Zhong Xiang couldn't afford to delay. If the battle was not resolved within two months, Hengyang in the south would probably be gone.
After spending a few days, Zhong Xiang made some equipment and tried to launch several attacks.
But no matter how fearless the Chu army was, it was difficult to achieve much results. This thing was not much different from siege.
Wang Yuan might not be the top commander in the war, but his basic skills as a general were absolutely solid. He strictly followed the "Military Classics General Essentials" and built the camp so that it was impenetrable to water and fire, and all facilities such as Tianluo, Wuluo, Xingma, and caltrops were available.
When Zhong Xiang defeated the Jiangxi New Army in Liling, Wang Yuan shipped nearly 10,000 civilians from Yuezhou and has been doing civil engineering these days!
Facing this complete camp, it was impossible to rush into the camp at night.
What's more, there are watchtowers all around.
On each watchtower, soldiers use telescopes to observe the enemy outside in turn.
If Zhong Xiang makes any unusual movements, the telescope will clearly show his movements, and Wang Yuan can calmly mobilize troops for defense.
After fighting for more than half a month, Zhong Xiang lost his temper.
Good news came from Hengyang. The prince of Chu, Zhong Ziang, set an ambush at Shuikou Mountain and defeated the vanguard sent by Cao Cheng.
But bad news came from Shaoyang. The general of the Chu army, Yang Guang, attacked the coalition forces of various ethnic groups at night. After achieving an absolute victory and the rebel camps were successively disintegrated, Yang Zaixing led hundreds of his own soldiers to counterattack and kill Yang Guang's son in the chaos. Yang Guang retreated to the city with injuries, and Shaoyang's morale was low and in danger.
Then, Li Gong finally drove the Dong people back to the mountains and led the Guangxi Ming army into Yongzhou.
Because Li Gong and Cao Cheng had a grudge, Li Gong did not go to Hengyang to join Cao Cheng, but ran to join Yang Zaixing to encircle Shaoyang.
Shaoyang was probably about to be lost.
"Your Majesty, our army's grain route was attacked, more than 200 soldiers were killed or injured, and more than 600 stones of grain and grass were burned. The thieves did not kill the civilians who transported grain..."
Zhong Xiang was silent and could only send additional soldiers to protect the grain transport team afterwards.
The Ming Navy controlled Dongting Lake and the lower reaches of the Xiangjiang River and Miluo River. They could choose a place to land at any time and send a small group of elite troops to surprise Zhong Xiang's grain transport troops.
Two days later, Yunyang Village was in urgent need.
The Jiangxi New Army in Chaling could break through the Yunyang Mountain barrier at any time.
More and more emergency war reports from the rear made Zhong Xiang really unable to sit still.
He secretly separated the elite troops to retreat at night, and retreated for several nights in a row, letting these elite troops set up an ambush on the retreat route.
Then Zhong Xiang led the main force and hastily withdrew the troops, pretending that a big city in the rear had fallen and he was in a hurry to withdraw his troops and take charge of the overall situation.
As long as Bai Qi, Wang Yuan, and Lin Chong dared to chase him, Zhong Xiang could immediately strike back!
However, the Ming army did move, but it was not to chase Zhong Xiang, but to bombard Lujiaozhai madly.
Zhong Xiang almost retreated to the mouth of Guiyi River, but still did not see the main force of the Ming army chasing him.
Zhong Xiang was almost desperate. If he continued to waste time here, the south would sooner or later be unable to hold on. If he gave up this place, it would be equivalent to giving up the prefectures and counties west of Dongting Lake. His hometown Dingzhou would be captured by the Ming army sooner or later.
"Boom!"
Another wall of Lujiaozhai Castle collapsed, but the Ming army did not take the opportunity to attack.
Zhou Lun called his son over: "You break out at night and report to His Majesty, saying that the enemy is surrounding but not attacking, and they are trying to drag our main force here even though the city walls have collapsed. Your Majesty, please stop worrying about Lujiao Village, just divide your troops to defend Xiangyin, and lead the army to the south to quell the rebellion as soon as possible! I should be able to hold out for ten days or half a month."
"Take care, father!"
Zhou Lun called Ying Xuan over again: "Brother Ying, you can go now. Go back and tell the commander of the Ming army that I can surrender in a month."
Ying Xuan asked with a smile: "Do you want to buy time for Master Zhong?"
Zhou Lun said: "Lujiao Village will definitely surrender in a month. But the soldiers of Lujiao Village will not help the Ming army fight, and the soldiers are only willing to take off their armor and become civilians. If the Ming army does not agree, then we will fight to the end."
"Goodbye!" Ying Xuan bowed.