Chapter 619 0614 [A Stroke of Genius]

The Changsha city wall during the Northern Song Dynasty was built by the Ma Chu regime of the Five Dynasties.

The series of regime changes at that time perfectly reflected the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms: Ma Xi'e killed Ma Xiguang, the Southern Tang destroyed Ma Xi'e, Liu Yan drove away the Southern Tang, Wang Jinkui killed Liu Yan, Pan Shusi killed Wang Jinkui, Zhou Xingfeng killed Pan Shusi, Zhang Wenbiao rebelled after Zhou Xingfeng's death, and Zhou Baoquan killed Zhang Wenbiao again...

On average, a boss was replaced every two or three years, and in the most intense period, one was replaced every six months.

Zhong Xiang chose Changsha as the capital after considering many aspects.

In terms of the strength of the city wall and the number of people, the first is Jiangling, the second is Yueyang, and the third is Changsha.

But Jiangling and Yueyang are both on the Yangtze River, facing the front of the Ming army.

Then Changsha can only be chosen, and the population of other places is not enough to be the capital.

Why did Zhong Xiang not shrink his troops and retreat to Changsha for a decisive battle when he encountered attacks from all sides, but divided his troops to defend Xiangyin and Hengyang?

Because if only the capital is left, the defeat is inevitable, the population and resources will be controlled by the enemy, and the defenders will lose the will to fight to the death!

The Changsha city wall is made of rammed earth, and there are no wall bricks.

The Changsha city wall engraved by Xin Qiji was not built until the Southern Song Dynasty.

Yang Hua, the Chu general who had just surrendered, volunteered to be the pioneer. The elite Chu army under his command only retained those whose families were in the counties of Tanzhou, and all the rest of the natives were sent back to their hometowns-except for those who voluntarily stayed to make meritorious contributions.

This approach can not only reassure the surrendered soldiers, but also save food and grass.

"Boom!"

Fifty miles away from Changsha, muffled thunder suddenly sounded in the sky, and then raindrops fell very quickly.

The soldiers who were marching all looked at the sky and cheered.

After a long drought, the rice this year is saved. Although the drought is destined to be a poor harvest, this rain will not make the rice harvest a failure after all.

Yang Hua hurriedly asked the soldiers to camp to avoid the rain, and it rained until nightfall.

Soon after the next day, it started to rain again.

It rained for a while, stopped for a while, rained for a while again, and stopped for a while again, which fully demonstrated the face of summer showers in the south.

The vanguard led by Yang Hua finally arrived more than ten miles north of Changsha, planning to sweep and clean up the villages outside the city the next day.

But in the middle of the night, it rained heavily again.

This rain lasted for a whole day and a night!

The water level of the Xiangjiang River not only recovered, but also rose higher and higher. For it to become like this, a day and a night of heavy rain was obviously not enough. It is very likely that heavy rain is falling in the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River.

...

Hengyang.

Zhong Xiang looked at the rain and felt irritable. It was already the sixth day.

When it started to rain, both sides of the war were very happy, because the scorching heat made many soldiers unable to bear it, and people fainted from heatstroke every day.

It was cool and refreshing after the rain, just right for a decisive battle!

But God seemed tired of the blood, and the showers soon turned into heavy rain, which lasted for a whole day. In the next few days, it seemed as if someone had poked a hole in the sky, and the rain was sometimes heavy and sometimes light, but it just wouldn't stop.

The people nearby risked their lives to go to the rice fields in the rain to dig up the ridges.

This was the period of rice jointing, so no water was not good, but too deep water was not good either, 3 to 5 cm deep water was the most suitable.

If the gaps were not dug to drain the water, there would be big problems with the rice this year!

The scouts on the coalition side would catch a "spy" from time to time, and after interrogation, they all said that they were farmers who came to dig up the fields to drain water.

In the end, they simply stopped catching them, but only one person was allowed to come to each field, and only one hoe was allowed.

Both sides were short of food, and no one wanted to disrupt agricultural production.

There were farmlands everywhere around Hengyang City, and even the battlefield area that was flattened by the army became muddy and difficult to walk under the heavy rain for days.

People would get stuck and could only move forward barefoot, not to mention the hooves of war horses.

Yang Zaixing looked at Hengyang City in the rain, and he also seemed a little anxious. He looted the granaries of the Chu army all the way here, and even looted the people of Chu. All the food and grass depended on local supplies. If it dragged on like this, there would be no food.

This rain is really not at the right time!

A large number of drainage canals were dug in the military camp, and many tents could not withstand the heavy rain. Even the people and supplies were soaked by the rain.

The bowstrings were all soft, and the bows lacked strength.

The most terrible thing is the alternation of dry and wet, which will definitely affect the bow glue. Many bows on both sides will be scrapped and have to be taken back for re-glue and repair.

"Your Majesty, urgent news from Changsha!"

Zhong Xiang opened the letter and his face suddenly changed drastically. He held his breath and cursed: "Zhong Xu, this bastard, has ruined my big event!"

Changsha has not been lost for the time being, but the emperor's younger brother Zhong Xu has made an extremely strange move.

Originally, the Changsha defenders only knew that Xiangyin had fallen, but they didn't know how it was lost. But the Chu soldiers dismissed by Bai Qi inevitably had loyal people who quietly ran back to Changsha to pass on the news and brought back the news that Yang Hua, Chen Tang and others had surrendered to the enemy.

In Changsha, the army was in chaos.

The second prince Zhong Ziyi and the prince Zhong Xu who stayed in the capital were so frightened that they saw everyone as someone who wanted to rebel and surrender to the enemy.

Yang Hua had rebelled, so who else could not rebel?

Zhong Xu quietly found Zhong Ziyi and said, "Li Herong's hometown is in Songzi, and he is an old acquaintance of Yingxuan and Hu Yuan. Hu Yuan held the prime minister hostage and surrendered the city to the enemy. Will Li Herong also follow Hu Yuan's example? Immediately take away Li Herong's military power and don't give him the opportunity to surrender to the enemy!"

Zhong Ziyi was only fourteen years old, and he was still able to think in a panic: "But if Li Herong didn't intend to surrender to the enemy, and he was killed suddenly, what if he provoked other generals to surrender to the enemy?"

"Don't kill him for the time being, just put him under house arrest!" Zhong Xu said.

Li Herong was not a simple man. He raised his own troops and captured four counties, and then took his territory to defect to Prime Minister Zhong.

However, all the territory established by Li Herong was occupied by Li Bao last year.

Zhong Ziyi was still hesitating.

Zhongxu said: "Li Herong's soldiers all fled from the north of Dongting Lake, and the soldiers' hometowns were all occupied by thieves. They were defeated and fled in a hurry, and their wives, children, and children were all in their hometowns. Why didn't your majesty dare to let Li Herong live in his hometown? He Rong guards Xiangyin, but puts them all in Changsha? Is it because he is afraid that Li He Rong's soldiers will be homesick and defect to the enemy? Li He Rong may be loyal, but what about his soldiers? "

"But with Li Herong under house arrest, his soldiers will be more likely to rebel." Zhong Ziyi said.

Zhong Xu said: "First trap Li Herong, and then ask Li Herong to order all his soldiers to hand over their armor."

"But Li Herong's soldiers are the main force defending the city. How can we defend Changsha if we take away their armor?" Zhong Ziyi asked.

Zhong Xu said: "Recruit the young and strong men in the city as soldiers, and give these soldiers and armor to the young men."

Zhong Ziyi was hesitant, so she went to see Queen Yin.

The Yin family came from a wealthy family in Dingzhou. She was not Zhong Xiang's first wife, but was forcibly married by Zhong Xiang after he started his army.

Zhong Ziyi's biological mother died young and she lived with the Yin family when she was ten years old. Although mother and son are not related by blood, they get along very closely. Yin also taught Zhong Ziyi how to read and write poetry.

"What are the instructions from the Queen Mother?" Zhong Ziyi asked after explaining the situation.

Yin actually wanted to surrender, but after looking at Zhong Xu, she didn't dare to tell the truth. She just said, "You can make your own decisions."

Zhong Ziyi and Zhong Xu left quickly, made some arrangements, and then sent someone to summon Li Herong.

Li Herong was patrolling the city in the rain. He went to see him immediately after receiving the order. When he entered the house, he found that something was wrong. He looked at the soldiers surrounding him and asked Zhong Ziyi and Zhong Xu: "You two actually want to surrender the city to the enemy?"

This was not an honest thing to do. Zhong Ziyi immediately lowered his head, not daring to look at her.

Zhong Xu said, "General Li and his soldiers are all from the north of Dongting Lake, and General Li has an old relationship with those rebel generals. In order to protect Changsha, we have to detain the general."

Li Herong was almost furious: "Your hometown, Dingzhou, has also been occupied by the Ming Dynasty. Could it be that you will surrender to the enemy? Your Majesty's hometown has also been occupied by the Ming Dynasty. Could it be that your Majesty will also surrender to the enemy?"

"Da Chu belongs to the Zhong family, so naturally he will not surrender to the enemy," Zhong Xu said. "When the enemy army is defeated, the general will be cleared. But before that, the general will stay in this house. The general's subordinates, They must all give up their armor and be placed in the camp together and are not allowed to go out.”

Li Herong was so angry that he laughed, laughed and shed tears, and said in frustration: "What a great Chu, I only know this today. Take me to gather the soldiers, it will be good if you can save their lives." "

Li Herong's troops were summoned in the rain. After realizing what had happened, they were so angry that they almost mutinied on the spot.

But their leader was held hostage, and they were surrounded by friendly forces. They had to throw away their weapons and take off their armor one by one.

The other generals were stunned by Zhong Xu's operation.

How shocked were they?

No one even came to remonstrate. Everyone kept silent and started to have other ideas in their minds.

Queen Yin of Da Chu quietly called her brother Yin Ming and said: "Zhong Xu disturbs the morale of the army, and Changsha will not be able to defend it. You secretly send people to contact the Ming army and find an opportunity to offer the city to surrender. Maybe you can save our Dingzhou Yin family."

Yin Mingdao was embarrassed and said: "Sister, Mrs. Zhong treats me, Mrs. Yin, very well. This is really..."

But Mrs. Yin said: "My Yin family has been a scholar for generations, how can I always be a thief? I was also forced to marry by Zhong Xiang. In the past few years, I have carefully educated his second son, and I have abided by women's ethics and benevolence. If you didn't make a plan early, Dingzhou Yin The clan will be in danger of being exterminated!"

"I listen to Sister!" Yin Mingdao was convinced. This concerns the entire family.

Bai Qi was staying in the camp with a headache. The sudden heavy rain for days completely disrupted his battle plan.

Not only is it difficult to fight in the rain, but the Xiangjiang River is swollen and the currents are turbulent. Subsequent grain and grass are not dared to be transported by ship. It will be even more difficult to transport by land.

At this time, the cronies sent by Yin Mingdao arrived.

After hearing the news brought by this person, Bai Qi's first reaction was that it was fake. The Yin family must be pretending to surrender to lure the Ming army.

Only two hours later, another general sent someone over and gave the same message.

Within two days, Bai Qi received five envoys, all of whom came to contact him and surrender.

Bai Qi convened a meeting with the generals: "The more people want to surrender, the more I think it is a fake surrender? Could it be that Zhong Xu deliberately acted for us?"

Yingxuan, Yang Hua, Chen Xin and a group of other generals were unable to confirm whether this was true or not, because it was too outrageous.

It's hard for normal people to understand Zhong Xu's coquettish behavior.

Wang Yuan said: "Regardless of whether it is true or false, just take the troops to the city and try it, and be fully prepared."