Chapter 485 484 Peaceful Battle Report

"Bang, bang, bang"

The sounds of muskets and artillery fire came one after another, and from time to time there were clusters of arrows flying across the sky.

At this moment, a team of Ming troops retreated from the front. The leading general quickly ran to a general in full armor and reported: "General Yu, there are too many fences in the Lian bandit fortress opposite. We attacked and burned two of them in one breath, but there are still fences inside, and there are traps in between. Many of my soldiers were shot dead or injured by Lian bandits' arrows. We really can't fight anymore."

The general who led the troops was Yu Dayou. At the beginning of the month, he received a report that Zhang Lian's troops had expanded too fast in recent months, almost 200,000 people, but the increase in the number of people and the consumption of food and horses increased sharply.

In the absence of food and grass, Zhang Lian led his troops to attack Pinghe County, Fujian, hoping to capture the county's grain depot in one fell swoop to replenish military supplies.

At this time, the magistrate of Pinghe County was dismissed for his poor resistance to the last attack by the rebels. The new magistrate had not yet arrived, so the prefectural governor Hu Qiheng was temporarily in charge of the county affairs. After a brief discussion with the historian Tan Yun, he sent people to pass on military information everywhere to request reinforcements, and at the same time led the local soldiers out of the city to fight.

They knew that the local soldiers in Pinghe County were weak in combat, so they chose to set up a strategy of false troops, bluffing, and beat drums all the way after leaving the city.

At this time, the Lian bandit army was not as sharp as last year. After the failure of attacking Jiangxi and Zhejiang, although they felt that they could not beat the troops of Zhejiang and Jiangxi, they were still able to defeat the Fujian soldiers led by Fujian Governor You Zhende and Commander Wang Hao and the Guangxi wolf soldiers led by Zhang Gao, the chief censor of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Especially the wolf soldiers led by Zhang Gao, after being recruited and stationed in Fujian and Guangdong, the foreign soldiers harmed the local area, "the villages of 70 to 80 miles were all harmed by them", the people suffered more from the soldiers than the "bandits", and the brutality of the officers and soldiers drove more people to join Zhang Lian, which is also the main reason for the recent significant expansion of Zhang Lian's power.

Hu Qiheng and Tan Yun naturally knew the current situation, and they did not raise the banner of Fujian troops, but embroidered the name of Yu Dayou, the deputy general of Nan Gan, on the military flag, so that the rebel scouts mistakenly believed that the troops that came out of Pinghe County were Yu Dayou's troops.

Before, Zhang Lian's troops fought against Yu Dayou's army several times in Nan Gan, and they would be defeated if they fought. They no longer had the courage to continue fighting with him, so they collapsed without fighting in great fear, and were chased and killed by the local soldiers led by Hu Qiheng and Tan Yun all the way.

Just when Zhang Lian led his troops to withdraw from Pinghe County to gather troops, Yu Dayou, who received the news, reported the military situation to the governor and general Liu Xian, and took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack with light troops, leading his troops to attack Zhang Lian's lair, intending to take it down in one go.

However, after the army arrived at the lair and attacked for several days, they made little progress.

Zhang Lian's old nest was arranged according to the mountain terrain, and large and small castles were built on each hilltop, and then the castles were connected with fences for several layers.

It was completely different from the siege war that Yu Dayou had imagined. It was not over after breaking through the city wall and the army entered the city. Instead, after breaking through several castles, they found that there were still castles on the hills ahead.

It was unknown how much time it would take to take down the castles one by one. Seeing the peaks in the distance, Yu Dayou fell into deep thought.

In this way, attacking layer by layer like peeling bamboo shoots, it was unknown when Zhang Lian's lair would be completely flattened, which was really a bad idea.

"Da Da Da"

The crisp sound of horse hooves sounded, and a scout came from a distance.

Soon, the horses and men were close. The scout turned over and dismounted and ran to Yu Dayou, kneeling on one knee to report: "Report to the general, the rebel Zhang Lian has learned that our troops are attacking the nest. The rebels have left Pinghe County in four groups and are returning here."

"Four groups?"

Yu Dayou heard the scout's report and asked in surprise, "Do you know which group Zhang Lian is in?"

"Report to the general, no group has raised the flag of Zhang Lian's bandit, and we can't judge it."

The scout replied hurriedly.

Getting such an answer, Yu Dayou was also a little confused.

The terrain in southern Fujian is complex and all mountainous. Most of his troops are from Jiangxi Weisuo and reinforcements from Guangdong and Guangxi. They are not familiar with the terrain in this area. Moreover, he has to focus most of his energy on how to control these people. Naturally, he can only choose to concentrate his troops to attack one route and try to wipe out one of the enemy forces at one time.

As for which route to choose, even a fool knows the principle of capturing the thief and the leader.

But now he doesn't know which route Zhang Lian is in, which is difficult to deal with.

Calling scouts to ask about the direction of the four bandits, Yu Dayou quickly outlined the route of Zhang Lian's troops on the map.

There is not much time left for him.

Decisively choose the defeated troops in the north, they are the farthest troops from his troops, hoping that Zhang Lian will choose this team for safety.

After that, according to the speed of the bandits reported by the scouts, Yu Dayou began to calculate the marching time of both sides and choose the most suitable ambush point.

Fighting this group of bandits was a choice made entirely by gambling on luck. The next step was to issue orders, deploy troops and set up ambushes.

In recent days, the most sensational news in the capital was the retirement of Yan Song, the cabinet chief for fourteen years, and the imprisonment of Yan Shifan, the young cabinet chief, and the fall of the Yan family.

With the issuance of the imperial edict, the Yan party officials felt that they were in danger and began to look for ways to successfully land before the storm came. They did not want to sink with the Yan family.

Although he was very disdainful of these people, Yan Song would not waste them when he accepted them as his disciples. Many of them were promoted to important positions in the six ministries, so whether it was Xu Jie or Prince Yu's Mansion, they still hoped to accept some of them in their hearts.

Wei Guangde originally didn't want to go out to socialize, but after all, he was from Prince Yu's Mansion, so he could only accept invitations to eat and drink with him these days.

"Everyone, this is the news I just received."

Just as Wei Guangde was communicating with Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng about yesterday's harvest, Li Fang walked into the room with a smile.

"What are you so happy about?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously, reaching out to take the note from Li Fang's hand as he spoke.

After browsing briefly, Wei Guangde also had a smile on his face, "Yes, it looks like the Fujian thieves have been broken by the officers and soldiers, and the annihilation of Zhang Lian and his group of rebel thieves is just around the corner."

"Oh? Fujian had a great victory?"

Yin Shizhen asked in surprise.

"Brother Zhengfu, let's take a look."

While talking, Wei Guangde handed the note he copied to Yin Shizhen.

Faced with Zhang Juzheng and Tang Ruji's probing glances, Yin Shizhen simply read out the contents transcribed on the note.

"Fujian Newspaper reported that in mid-March, Guangdong Sanrao thief Zhang Lian led an army to attack Pinghe County in Fujian Province. The governor of the prefecture, Hu Qiheng, was in charge of the county affairs and Dian Shi Tanyun led the rural troops out of the city to fight. Fang proposed to suppress and mobilize Fang. The thieves were not gathered to detect Pinghe Danxu. Therefore, there was a sudden attack and he was not afraid of his army. When he saw his drums beating very sharply, he thought that a large army was coming. He was frightened and ran away. Yun used all the speed to attack, captured five thieves and beheaded thirty-two people. Lu Wen, the censor of the southern Jiangxi capital, I heard that Zhang Gao, the imperial censor of Guangdong and Guangdong, also reported that twenty-five of the bandit leaders, including Wang Ziyun and Chen Fubao, had been captured."

After Yin Shizhen finished reading the message copied on the note, his face was still full of joy. Tang Ruji on the side was also beaming at this time, as if he had won a battle.

"Eunuch Li, have you ever told His Highness this good news?"

Yin Shizhen asked at this time.

"Your Highness hasn't gotten up yet. I'll go over and take a look later and tell His Highness the good news."

Li Fang said cheerfully, "Hey, why is uncle looking like this?"

At this time, Li Fang, who was speaking, noticed that Zhang Juzheng had a strange expression on his face, as if he had something to say.

"Uncle, you don't think this report is untrue, do you?"

When Yin Shizhen heard Li Fang's question, he looked at Zhang Juzheng and noticed the expression on his face, so he asked.

"No."

Zhang Juzheng's answer was very straightforward, but the hesitation on his face disappeared after a moment. After thinking for a moment, he said: "I just feel that this matter is weird."

As soon as Wei Guangde heard this, he knew where Zhang Juzheng's suspicion came from.

In fact, he noticed it from the beginning and guessed that there might be something concealed in the report and did not report the truth. However, Lu Wen, the censor of Southern Gansu Province, confirmed that Pinghe County won the battle and there was no lie.

For civil servants, it is understandable that they have some considerations when it comes to finally winning military honors such as defeating Zhang Lian's thieves.

As for what they concealed, Wei Guangde did not intend to go into detail. If he thought of writing a letter to Yu Dayou later, he would naturally know the inside story.

What he saw from this news was that, as he himself said, the Lian bandits had been killed by the army.

Now that the Fujian thieves have been expelled from southern Jiangxi by Yu Dayou, the defenses of Guangdong and Guangxi have also been strengthened. Judging from recent news, although the Lian thieves are still growing, they have lost their courage and can only toss in Fujian. This It is a sign of destruction.

It is strange to say that Zhang Lian's tribe has been losing consecutive battles with the government troops recently, but the number of tribesmen who surrendered to him is increasing, which makes Wei Guangde a little confused.

This is also because Wei Guangde’s so-called leading troops before, and the soldiers he had the most contact with were actually from the important towns in the north. The only battle he conducted with the Jiujiang Guards in the south of the Yangtze River was also because it was in South Zhili, not far from Nanjing City. The soldiers of Jiujiang Guard did not let Wei Guangde see what it means to "pass through thieves like a comb, and fight through soldiers like a grate".

Therefore, Wei Guangde never imagined that a large number of guest soldiers gathered around Fujian to encircle and suppress Zhang Lian's tribe, which would instead become a catalyst for strengthening Zhang Lian's tribe.

For these things, until something serious breaks out, local officials will try their best to cover up the past. Even most history books will not record it, and only a few words will be recorded in local annals.

Therefore, although he knew that Fujian was hiding something, Wei Guangde didn't take it seriously, as is human nature.

But if Wei Guangde knew that they had achieved this military success under the banner of Yu Dayou, would Wei Guangde still think so.

At the moment, the attention of everyone in the room was attracted by Zhang Juzheng's words, and they were also thinking about where the "weirdness" in Zhang Juzheng's words came from.

"Are you saying that when the local soldiers attacked, the enemy thought there were large soldiers and they were so frightened that they ran away?"

Tang Ruji asked at this time, breaking the moment of silence in the room.

"That's right. An urban or rural soldier can frighten Zhang Lian's troops. How strong must this soldier be?"

Zhang Juzheng said: "Previously Shandai said that Zhang Lian's troops were defeated by the officers and soldiers. This is the reason, but I always feel that there is something very strange about it."

Following Zhang Juzheng's words, everyone else's eyes shifted to Wei Guangde. After all, Wei Guangde was the only person in the room who had ever led a soldier.

"I can't say what the reason is, but I can understand the reason why Hu Chiheng and Tan Yun reported it like this. They just didn't want to share the credit. As for the inside story, it's not important. What's important is that they really won the battle."

Wei Guangde could only laugh.

"As long as we win the battle, it's fine. If this continues, Zhang Lian's troops will soon lose the power to fight. By then, it will be a matter of course for the army to dispatch to destroy them."

Li Fang also said that he completely agreed with Wei Guangde's words. No matter whether they defeated the enemy in an upright manner or used conspiracy and trickery to win, winning was the hard truth. Prince Yu would be happy when he saw it, and he would be happy if Prince Yu was happy.

It was a very simple and plain truth.

"Yeah, yeah."

Zhang Juzheng heard this and knew that he had thought too much. Although what he thought was definitely right, it was indeed inappropriate to say these words when he was happy.

"But the Ministry of War is probably going to have a headache."

At this time, Wei Guangde suddenly laughed.

"Why?"

Zhang Juzheng asked in surprise.

"Previously, Yang Shangshu made a plan to sneak attack the rebels' nest, but Yu Dayou went to Jiangxi and defeated the rebels in Nan Gan in the past two months. There was no time to rush to the rebels' nest. The rebels had retreated and gathered together. Didn't the Ministry of War's strategy fail?"

Wei Guangde explained with a smile.

"Haha, that's right."

Zhang Juzheng agreed with a smile.

Some time ago, Xu Jie and Yan Song were fighting, and everyone's attention was naturally attracted to it. Only Wei Guangde was still paying attention to the military situation in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, including the Liaodong border outside the Shuyi Wang Gao and others led the enemy to invade Dongzhou Fort, Fushun Hetao Mountain and other places, and the internal strife between the deputy chief Tushe Handian and the chief Tushe Zhang Wen of the Bozhou Rongshan Chief Office in Sichuan.

Wei Guangde also kept a considerable attention on the progress of the suppression of bandits in Fujian. Moreover, this was the time when the Japanese pirates came from the west. After Yan Song left the capital, it was estimated that the court's attention would soon be attracted by the Japanese situation on the coast of Jiangnan.

While everyone was still laughing and talking about the victory in Fujian, a Ming army was surrounded by the enemy chief Tuman a hundred miles outside Fenghuang City in Liaodong to the north.

The Ming army had been surrounded for nearly two days, and the medicine, arrows and food had been consumed. The only fate left was to be annihilated.

"General, we can only try our best to break out of Fenghuang City. There may be a chance of survival if we break out."

Deputy General Li Si and General Tian Geng half-knelt on the ground to report to Hei Chun, Deputy General of Liaodong.

A few days ago, Hei Chun led his troops to reinforce Yangzhanbao and encountered the Tuman tribe. After a fierce battle, the Tuman tribe was repelled.

In order to achieve greater results, Hei Chun led his troops to pursue, but unexpectedly fell into an ambush by the Tuman tribe and was surrounded in the Xifu Mountain near Fenghuang City.

"Slaughter the injured war horses, and after a full meal, the whole army will break out of Fenghuang City."

At this time, Hei Chun no longer had the high spirits when he defeated the Tuman two days ago, and issued the order in a slightly decadent manner.

The enemy invaded Liaodong again, and failed to attack Fenghuangcheng and turned to plunder Yangzhanbao. Deputy General Hei Chun led his troops to fight back. The enemy pretended to be defeated and fled. Chun took advantage of the victory to pursue and fell into an ambush. The enemy knew that they would be surrounded several times. Chun and the guerrilla Li Si and General Tian Geng fought hard for two days and nights and died.