bookcurios Chapter 160 Zhang Xianzhong sent Li Dingguo, and the rebel army attacked Xiangyang (page 12)
Chapter 160 Zhang Xianzhong sent Li Dingguo, and the rebel army attacked Xiangyang (page 12)
"It's very cold. Father, be careful if you catch a cold." Zhang Dingguo warned and handed over a large cotton-padded jacket hanging in the tent.
Zhang Xianzhong casually tied up his trousers again, sat down on the Taishi chair, smoothed his long beard, and said with a smile: "My heart is very hot now, and there is a good charcoal fire in the tent, so I won't freeze!"
However, he did not refuse Zhang Dingguo's kindness and put on his cotton-padded jacket casually.
"What did my father ask me to do?"
After Zhang Dingguo, Zhang Kewang, Zhang Wenxiu, and Zhang Nengqi were adopted by Zhang Xianzhong (all changed their surnames to Zhang), they traveled with him all over the country for more than ten years, including more than one or two circuits in Henan, Huguang, and Sichuan.
In addition, there are not as many Shaanxi people in Zhang Xianzhong's old camp as there are in Li Zicheng's camp. Zhang Dingguo's Shaanxi accent is not strong on weekdays, but is closer to Beijing Mandarin.
Even Zhang Xianzhong is like this.
Hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong picked up a piece of cold barbecue next to him and said while chewing: "Tan Ma intercepted a few official and military messengers in the west of Yicheng, and they happened to be the messengers sent by the old man Yang Sichang to Xiangyang.
The tokens and documents are all there, and his customs seal is stamped on them.
I thought about it, eh? Isn’t this a great opportunity given to us by God to defeat Xiangyang? "
Zhang Dingguo's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he immediately guessed what Zhang Xianzhong was thinking.
"Commander Father wants someone to pretend to be a messenger and enter Xiangyang as a spy?"
"Not bad!" Zhang Xianzhong almost choked and took another sip of the wine that was warm by the charcoal stove, "That's what I think!
But you have to find someone who is smart, courageous and capable of fighting to do this. You are the most suitable person under my command.
You go back and pick a dozen cavalry to accompany you and make preparations. After the army breaks camp tomorrow morning, you will pretend to be official messengers and sneak into Xiangyang first.
When Lao Tzu's army arrived, the men set fire to the city, causing chaos. It would be easy to break the city. When it's done, I'll take credit for you! "
"Children take orders!"
Zhang Dingguo agreed without hesitation.
The next morning.
Zhang Xianzhong's army of more than 10,000 people had eaten early and set off.
Previously, Zhang Xianzhong was at his best when various rebel armies gathered in Xingyang, Henan a few years ago.
At that time, he had more than 100,000 people under his command.
After the meeting, the rebels divided into multiple groups and fought independently, and were successively wiped out or incorporated by the official army.
After Zhang Xianzhong's consecutive defeats, he only had 30,000 to 40,000 men left. Seeing that the situation was too critical, he had to pretend to surrender.
After the surrender, he did not surrender his military power and accept government reorganization.
Instead, he continued to recruit and train soldiers while he was recuperating in Gucheng.
Even he himself invited a master to teach "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and combined his personal experience with each battle to sum up his experience and learn to make progress.
In May of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, he looked for an opportunity and raised the flag of righteousness again.
After more than a year, he moved to the three provinces of Henan, Chuchuan, and Sichuan, and fought countless battles with the government troops, winning and losing.
Overall, most of the battles were defeated.
Last year, the old man Yang Sichang used the strategies of "Four Righteousness", "Six Corners" and "Spreading a Net from Ten Sides" to suppress them.
It was almost really destroyed at the junction of the three provinces of Henan, Chuchuan and Sichuan.
Fortunately, Mr. Yang Sichang was at odds with his governors and general soldiers, and they were doing all sorts of nonsense to each other.
Only then did he find the opportunity to lead Luo Rucai to a victory in Huanglingcheng, Kaixian County, Sichuan, and escape from the encirclement of the army.
Then they followed the river east and left Sichuan. However, the official army gathered a large number of troops in Yiling. He and Luo Rucai took some civilian ships and could not get across at all. After passing Zigui, they had to go ashore.
Zhang Xianzhong had long heard about the prosperity of Jiangnan, and wanted to lead his troops to Jiangnan to cause trouble. It would be best to break through Nanjing and completely tear off Zhu Ming's fig leaf.
Unexpectedly, when they arrived at Dangyang by land, they were intercepted by more than 10,000 troops led by Yunyang Governor Yuan Jixian.
Although he and Luo Rucai had won a great victory in Kaixian, Sichuan before, they had been surrounded and suppressed by the army for nearly a year. When they broke out, they only had a few thousand troops left.
Zhang Xianzhong thought that together the two of them might not be opponents of the government and the army.
He persuaded Luo Rucai to attract Yuan Jixian's troops to the mountainous area in the Xingshan area in the northwest of Jingzhou. He took the opportunity to cross Dangyang, go north along the Han River, and take Xiangyang!
Xiangyang was an important military location where the Ming army stored money, food, and supplies, and the city was tall and dangerous.
Zhang Xianzhong's original intention was to pretend to attack Xiangyang, force Yuan Jixian to withdraw his troops, and relieve Luo Rucai's dilemma.
He happened to intercept Yang Sichang's messenger, and then he thought of trying to break through Xiangyang.
Therefore, along the way, he led thousands of veterans under his command to attack many villages, killing all the squires and landlords, and burning the villages down, just to get the common people to join his team and quickly expand his army.
When attacking a city, you can't let the old soldiers who fought with him go up and consume it, right?
Counting last night's harvest, in addition to more than 4,000 old soldiers, he has more than 10,000 young and strong recruits.
If you include the family members of the new soldiers in the rear camp, there are more than 30,000 people!
But Zhang Xianzhong knew very well that these recruits could only fight with the wind and not suffer any setbacks.
It is even more wishful thinking to rely on it to attack the strong city of Xiangyang.
That's why he asked his adopted son Zhang Dingguo to take the risk to Xiangyang to serve as internal correspondent.
He knew very well that this was a dangerous job - once the officers and soldiers found out, Zhang Dingguo and others would almost die.
But the harvest and impact after conquering Xiangyang are too tempting.
Even if he gave up Zhang Dingguo, his most promising adopted son, he would still give it a try!
···
One day ago.
Liu Sheng had been hiding in the mountains with 5,000 rebels for four or five days. Not only did he further understand the military defenses inside and outside Xiangyang City, he also infiltrated the 300-strong Jie camp to infiltrate the guards.
Only the official and military messengers were not intercepted.
However, Xunfengying discovered another important news.
The soldiers recruited by the Xiangyang battalion were never fully paid, and in many cases they received less than half of their salary!
It would be fine if it were somewhere else.
The problem is that they are in Xiangyang, an important military area used by Yang Sichang to transport hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers' pay, grain, grass, and supplies.
Seeing so much pay coming in and out every day, but not receiving enough pay themselves, many soldiers who recruited soldiers were filled with resentment.
As a result, some battalion soldiers often drank and made trouble in the city, and many of them were punished. They made troubles with the government officials, county officials, and military supervisors.
If the rebels attack the city, these battalions will definitely not be able to exert any combat effectiveness.
After learning the news, Liu Sheng felt that the time was ripe to attack the city.
If we delay for a long time and encounter Zhang Xianzhong before Xiangyang is captured, it will not be beautiful.
So we decided to attack the city.
Early in the morning on the first day of February.
As the sky dawned, the rebels hurriedly ate breakfast and left the stronghold for Xiangyang City.
Because both the personal guard and the standing army were well trained, they walked more than ten miles in more than two hours and arrived outside the west gate of Xiangyang City.
Xiangyang City is bordered by the Han River to the north and Xian Mountain to the south.
There was also Fanchengguan (Guancheng) opposite in the Ming Dynasty.
It is an absolutely dangerous place militarily, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.