The imperial guards at the foot of the mountain were so shocked when they saw this that they were speechless. They had already buried themselves very deep, and they crouched even lower, almost as if they were trying to dig a hole and crawl into it.
Zheng Rong was extremely happy and shouted to the sharpshooter, "Excellent archery! I will reward you handsomely!" He then shouted down the mountain, "Qian Qing! I believe you have seen my ability! If you persist in doing so, you will end up like this!"
After Zheng Rong finished speaking, without waiting for Qian Qing to reply, he turned around and went up the mountain surrounded by countless guards and guards of honor.
Qian Qing, who originally wanted to capture the leader of the Youyan Army, Zheng Rong, in one fell swoop, was now surrounded by the enemy. Even if the enemy did not launch an attack immediately under such an advantageous condition, the military rations and clean water he brought were very scarce, and he could only hold out for two or three days. He also knew the strength of the Youyan Army. If he forced the army to break through, he would surely destroy himself.
Therefore, Qian Qing had no choice but to pin his hopes of survival on reinforcements, hoping that they would arrive quickly and attack from both inside and outside. He did not expect to defeat the Youyan army, but it would be a great fortune if he could save himself and break through the siege. As for how Emperor Zheng Yao would deal with him after this great defeat, it was really not a very important matter.
Zheng Rong was also waiting for the arrival of imperial reinforcements, so he clearly saw the messenger cavalry sent by Qian Qing on the mountain, but he strictly ordered his subordinates not to pursue them and let them leave to report the news.
The imperial reinforcements followed orders and immediately gathered their troops after receiving the order from their commander Qian Qing, and marched towards Funiu Mountain with great difficulty. Not long after the imperial reinforcements left, they were blocked by the Youyan army.
If you want to help your friendly forces, the enemy will naturally come to stop you. This is nothing strange.
However, the Youyan army used a tactic of besieging and attacking the reinforcements. On the one hand, they crippled the elite cavalry led by Qian Qing and trampled them under their feet, while on the other hand, they kept their hands free and ready to attack at any time. Therefore, Zheng Rong only left a small force on the mountain to monitor Qian Qing's every move, but secretly withdrew the army and opened his mouth to eat the imperial army that hurried to rescue the commander.
However, the reinforcements who rushed over did not see through Zheng Rong's tricks. They just broke through the obstacles in front with full morale, but they were attacked from behind and on the flanks at the same time. The Youyan blocking troops in front, which had been slightly loose, also came to their senses, reorganized, turned defense into offense, and launched an attack on the government troops.
As a result, after such a great battle, most of the imperial reinforcements were lost, and the plan to rescue the commander-in-chief certainly failed. They had no choice but to find an opportunity to break out, and from then on they held the fortress and never dared to leave easily.
The news of the failed rescue soon reached Qian Qing, who was surrounded by enemies.
This was not because the Youyan army was negligent in defense, but because Zheng Rong wanted to wear down Qian Qing's morale and deliberately let in the soldiers who reported the incident to the imperial court.
After Qian Qing heard the news, he was immediately disheartened and his only remaining hope was gone. So that night, he selected more than 200 men who were still able to fight, had a good meal, and did not break through the roads at both ends of the canyon, but instead climbed over the high mountains on both sides, hoping to break out of the encirclement by surprise.
Zheng Rong originally wanted to besiege Qian Qing for a few more days, so that he could use him as bait to eliminate several reinforcements from the imperial court who came to rescue him. However, he did not expect that Qian Qing's desperate fight would be so effective that he escaped from the encirclement that was gradually becoming weaker, and fled all the way to the west.
After Zheng Rong learned the news, he was furious. After punishing the responsible general, he led his army to pursue. However, commanding two hundred elite soldiers was thousands of times more difficult than organizing an army a hundred times larger than that. The Youyan army chased Qian Qing, but he still escaped back to Tongguan.
Tongguan is the barrier of the capital city Luoyang. Without full preparation, even a strong army like Youyan did not dare to launch an attack easily. Zheng Rong could only sigh at the pass and return to the camp.
However, after this great battle, the imperial court's elite 100,000-strong imperial guards were trapped in Henan, east of Tongguan. Emperor Zheng Yao was certainly unwilling to give up the only force he could rely on, but he could no longer send out generals to coordinate.
So Zheng Yao was furious and personally drafted an imperial decree to execute Qian Qing, who was hiding in Tongguan and was still in shock. Poor Qian Qing had never wanted to lead troops on the front line. He had a narrow escape from the encirclement of the Youyan army and finally escaped back to Kinki, but he still had to lose his head.
However, the front army cannot be without a commander for a day. Among the four generals of the imperial army, the most talented Dai Luanxiang was inexplicably kidnapped by the "bandits on Shilin Mountain" on his way back to Beijing and his whereabouts are unknown; Qian Qing, who was second only to him in talent, was defeated and killed; the right general Sun Hu has always been ill and has contracted an eye disease this year, making him unworthy to be used; only the rear general Bai Wenbo is left, becoming the only choice for Emperor Zheng Yao at the moment.
The rear general has the least power among the four generals of the imperial guards, and is often used as a sinecure for veterans who have made outstanding military achievements but are old. Bai Wenbo is also in this situation. He is nearly 70 years old this year and has retired for eight or nine years. The court must have reached a point where it cannot be defeated, otherwise it would never have asked him to come out of retirement.
However, although Bai Wenbo was old, his mind was still clear. Before going on the expedition, he requested a face-to-face talk with Emperor Zheng Yao.
Zheng Yao was pinning all his hopes of pacifying the Youyan rebels on this old general who could have been his grandfather. Upon hearing the old general's request, he quickly ordered the eunuchs in the palace to set up a banquet and chose to host a banquet in the Imperial Garden in person for Bai Wenbo.
Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, there has always been a tradition of valuing civil officials over military officials, and the status of military generals has never been high. Even an old general like Bai Wenbo, who has made outstanding contributions, has never had a meal with the emperor, except for the usual Luming Banquet when he won the first place in the martial arts championship fifty years ago. Moreover, the emperor gave a banquet alone, which was probably the only one since the founding of the Han Dynasty, and Bai Wenbo could not help but be moved from the bottom of his heart.
So Bai Wenbo expressed his loyalty in front of Emperor Zheng Yao, saying that he would rather sacrifice his old bones than not protect the stability of the Han Dynasty.
Zheng Yao was also moved and asked: "General, if you have any requests before you go to the battlefield, please feel free to raise them in person."
Bai Wenbo came to see the emperor to discuss this matter, and after hearing the emperor's question, he made four demands: First, the Youyan army was strong and morale was high, so they had to defend first and then attack, and they must not underestimate the enemy and advance rashly; second, Henan had actually fallen, and dividing the troops to guard it would only be a waste of military strength. All the imperial guards who refused to take back the dangerous places in Henan must be withdrawn to Tongguan immediately to recuperate and prepare for another fight; third, elite troops must be drawn from all over the country. On the one hand, they must stabilize Lingnan King Zheng Gui and not let him rebel again, and on the other hand, they must launch an attack on Henan from Shandong to tie down the Youyan troops; fourth, power must be unified. Not only must the Tongguan Imperial Guards and Shandong's troops be under the command of Bai Wenbo, but the eunuchs who supervised the army must also be withdrawn and not hindered.
After listening to the veteran general Bai Wenbo's request, Zheng Yao pondered it word by word, and finally approved it all in person, especially the withdrawal of the eunuch who was supervising the army, which further demonstrated the emperor Zheng Yao's trust in Bai Wenbo.
Bai Wenbo had not expected the emperor to approve all of his requests, and was overjoyed that he had agreed to so many things. He kowtowed in thanks and ate the imperial meal with trepidation. That day, he gathered his troops and headed west to Tongguan.
As soon as Bai Wenbo arrived at Tongguan, he sent out numerous messengers and cavalry according to his plan to order the government troops still in Henan to withdraw to Tongguan immediately without any mistake.
Officers and soldiers from all over the country had long wanted to stop staying in Henan. Now, after receiving the order from above, they packed up their tents like a whirlwind, abandoned the heavy and inconvenient baggage, and retreated towards Tongguan in a flash.
Youyan King Zheng Rong knew that Emperor Zheng Rong had sentenced Qian Qing to military punishment and sent Bai Wenbo to replace him, but he did not expect that the old general would be so vigorous and resolute. When he found that the government troops that he was waiting to defeat one by one had been ordered to withdraw to Tongguan, he hurriedly organized his troops to chase and intercept them, but only stopped a very small part of them.
Therefore, among the hundreds of thousands of imperial guards who stayed in Henan Province, only 20,000 were captured and killed by the Youyan army, and the other more than 100,000 were all withdrawn to the capital through Tongguan. Although the imperial court was seriously injured, it still had the strength to fight, and victory or defeat was still close.
After all this, it was already late autumn, and the wind from the northern grasslands was getting colder day by day. Even the Youyan army, who had long been defending the bitter cold of the northern frontier, had changed into winter clothes and trousers to keep out the cold.
Zheng Rong knew that although he was at the peak of his power, he was after all fighting against the entire Han court with only one corner of the country. As long as the court survived this winter, when the ice and snow on the Yellow River melted in the spring of next year, they could gather the troops from Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Bashu to cross the Yellow River from the north; gather the troops from the southern regions in the south and march north through the Shandong border; the imperial guards inside the pass had also been repaired and could set out from Tongguan and attack him from the west to the east; the Lingnan King Zheng Gui, who was still waiting and watching, could also turn to the court at any time to attack his second brother, with whom he had always had grudges - then the Youyan army would be immediately attacked from three sides and in danger.
Therefore, Zheng Rong followed Zhongli Kuang's strategy and left less than 20,000 troops under the command of Wei Hu, a general who was good at defense, to monitor the movements of the Shandong government troops at all times. The remaining more than 100,000 elite soldiers of Youyan gathered under Tongguan, and they had to find a way to break through Tongguan and approach the capital Luoyang.
However, the first problem facing them was how to pass through Tongguan, which was known as the gateway to the capital.
Ever since the Han Dynasty's first emperor Zheng Bangxian succeeded in a surprise attack on Dasan Pass and gained control of the country by chance, he has been very attentive to the construction of passes in various places. As soon as he pacified the country, he took advantage of the recovery of the Han Dynasty's national strength and simply demolished several old passes that had been ravaged by the war, and built several new passes in strategic locations, finally forming the nine passes of the world - Shanhaiguan, Tongguan, Dasan Pass, Jiayu Pass, Niangzi Pass, Hushu Pass, Yanmen Pass, Jieshou Pass, Jianmen Pass (different from the real history and geography, I adapted it) - which were the key points of the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, Tongguan was built very solidly and is currently heavily guarded. If one rashly attacks Tongguan without several times the number of troops and full preparation, it would undoubtedly be like hitting a rock with an egg and bringing about one's own destruction.
Zheng Rong was a man who knew military affairs and had passed through Tongguan many times, so he knew how powerful this place was. So before he deployed his troops at Tongguan, he sent skilled craftsmen to make a large number of siege weapons, ready to seize this strategic location in one fell swoop.
He also made preparations for both scenarios, preparing a large number of ships. If the battle went against him, he would immediately abandon Henan and retreat to Youyan for a long-term battle. (To be continued)