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Many women in the village were raped to death, including girls aged four or five and old women in their fifties and sixties. Their bodies were abandoned naked beside haystacks.
The big iron pot was emitting a meaty aroma. When I looked closer, I saw human arms and thighs tumbling in the boiling water.
Seeing this, Qin Mu's stomach churned and he vomited on the spot. After vomiting, his raging anger almost made his hair stand on end.
He overturned an iron pot with his sword and shouted: "Come here, chop off the heads of all the rebels and pickle them with lime. Damn, these beasts, beasts..."
More than a thousand heads were quickly chopped off under Qin Mu's fierce roar, and the bodies were thrown into a pond, which was then filled with soil. When all this was done, it was almost the end of the world.
In a small river not far from Liujia Village, two thousand soldiers were rushing to jump into the river to wash off the mud and blood stains on their bodies. The whole river was made turbid. The soldiers were cursing while washing, and some were happily making fun of their companions who had made a fool of themselves in the paddy field battle.
Under the shade of the trees by the river, Qin Mu and generals including Meng Ke gathered around a simple map, discussing the next battle plan.
"My lord, we were able to easily win a great victory this time, which was somewhat due to luck. The main reason was that the rebels underestimated the enemy. From the fact that they rushed out hastily while maintaining a strict formation, it can be seen that Zhang Qi's 20,000 vanguards who captured Yuanzhou were not an ordinary mob. They must be the elite selected from the rebels. It seems that our previous idea of rushing straight to the city of Yuanzhou and looking for Zhang Qi for a decisive battle was a bit hasty." Meng Ke said calmly.
Qin Mu nodded silently, and Su Jin continued, "Yuanzhou is the gateway to Jiangyou. If we lose Yuanzhou, the entire Jiangxi province will be in trouble, the throat of Guangdong and Guangxi will be cut off, and the barrier of Nanjing will be completely lost. Even if we can retreat to southern Jiangxi, are we just going to watch Zhang Xianzhong take over Nanchang and Nanjing?"
Huo Sheng chuckled and said, "Brother Su, you think too much. With our current strength, we're lucky to be able to keep Ganzhou. As for Nanchang and Jinling, don't we still have Lu Daqi and Zuo Liangyu? Didn't the adults say that we are here to fight, not to protect some damn Nanchang. As long as we can show our military might and shock all parties, our goal will be achieved. Brother Su, do you really want to swallow up half of Jiangnan in one gulp? Hahaha..."
Huo Sheng's words were indeed Qin Mu's original idea, but his words were somewhat ironic to Su Jin. Liu Meng couldn't stand it anymore, so he said, "It may not be impossible to swallow half of Jiangnan in one gulp. It mainly depends on whether you are willing to raise the banner. Zuo Liangyu was defeated by Li Zicheng in Zhuxian Town and lost all his elite troops. After retreating to Xiangyang, he drove the people of a county into exile. Soon he raised another 200,000 troops. Now the whole of Jiangnan has to rely on him;
As for Zhang Xianzhong, a few months ago, he only had one or two thousand defeated soldiers hiding in the Danshui area. After capturing Huangmei, he immediately raised tens of thousands of troops and then captured Nanchang. His troops increased dramatically to 200,000, and now he controls the entire Huguang area. The number of rebels has reached nearly 500,000. This happened in just two or three months. What Zuo Liangyu and Zhang Xianzhong could do. With Gannan as our foundation, we may not be unable to do it.
Huo Sheng did not refute, but just looked at Qin Mu with a chuckle. Not only him, but Cui Feng, Ling Zhan, Ning Yuan and others also had the same expression as Huo Sheng, and they all looked at Qin Mu with a hint of expectation.
Qin Mu himself was also tempted. This was an era where everything was possible. Zhang Xianzhong's one or two thousand defeated soldiers could be transformed into an army of hundreds of thousands in just a few months and sweep across the entire Huguang region. This temptation was not something that ordinary people could resist. What's more, Qin Mu now had southern Jiangxi as his base and his conditions were much better than Zhang Xianzhong's before.
But Qin Mu, who was familiar with the course of history, knew that he couldn't do that. The Ming Dynasty would fall in a few months. If he used these months to engage in internal strife, it was unclear whether he could conquer half of Jiangnan.
Even if they really occupied half of Jiangnan and gathered a mob of hundreds of thousands of people like Zhang Xianzhong did, could they resist the Qing cavalry with just a few hundred thousand mobs
Li Zicheng still has a million troops, what will happen? At this time, we must not bite off more than we can chew.
According to the original historical trend, if the Southern Ming Dynasty was allowed to hold on, then he would at least have more than a year to develop. But if he took over half of Jiangnan, he would have to deal with the counterattack of the remaining forces of the Ming Dynasty, and directly withstand the attack of the Qing cavalry. Qin Mu did not think that he was strong enough to handle it, and the possibility of him becoming a wedding dress for the Qing Dynasty would reach 99%.
But Huo Sheng and others didn't know that the Ming Dynasty was about to fall, and they didn't know that the Qing Dynasty would sweep across the country, so they all thought Qin Mu was too conservative.
Qin Mu did not explain, but just looked up at the sky as if unintentionally. Huo Sheng and Cui Feng secretly exchanged glances with each other. No one, including Liu Meng, mentioned anything about occupying the entire Jiangnan region anymore.
Qin Mu looked at Sima An who was with the army. Sima An stroked his long beard and said slowly, "There is no doubt that Zhang Qi's 20,000 vanguards are the elite selected by the rebels. However, judging from the result of today's battle, although the enemy is the elite of the rebels, with our 2,000 strong troops, if it is a field battle, we still have a chance of winning. This is also in line with your original intention of deterring the enemy with one battle.
However, if this is done, our army will probably suffer considerable casualties. And from the intelligence we have so far, the rebel general Zhang Qi is not a reckless person. After he quickly captured Yuanzhou, the gateway to Jiangyou, he simply divided his troops to plunder the surrounding counties, and the main vanguard did not intend to continue advancing eastward;
This is clearly waiting for the arrival of Zhang Xianzhong's follow-up army, so as not to advance too deep alone. It can be seen that Zhang Qi has mastered the art of attack and retreat. It is difficult to get such a person to go out to fight in the field with all his strength. If the first battle goes against him, he will certainly retreat to Yuanzhou City and wait for Zhang Xianzhong's army to come to his aid. "
Cui Feng said impatiently: "Mr. Sima, just tell us what you have planned. Time is running out, so you'd better not keep us in suspense."
Sima An smiled calmly, pointed to Wanzai County in the north of Yuanzhou on the map and said: "Please look, Wanzai is only 70 miles away from Yuanzhou, but if you go northeast from Wanzai, through Shanggao and Gao'an, it's about 400 miles to Nanchang, and you can avoid Lu Daqi's army; if you go west through Shangsu and Liuyang, it's also about 400 miles to Changsha. These two roads are difficult for the army to pass, so Wanzai doesn't look very impressive at the moment.
But for our two thousand men, Wanzai's strategic location is very advantageous, it can be said that we can attack or defend. Why don't we cross Yuanzhou at night and quickly take Wanzai
With Yuanzhou blocking the way, Wanzai's rebels will surely relax their defenses. I think a night attack won't be difficult. Once Wanzai is taken, we can form a pincer attack on Yuanzhou with Lu Daqi's army. Zhang Qizai can't just sit back and watch. Then we can turn the tables. Wait for Zhang Qizai to fall into the trap."
Qin Mu looked at Wan Zai under Sima An's fingertips, his heart moved, and a bold idea came to his mind, making his heart pound, and the beating became faster and faster.
"Ning Yuan." Qin Mu shouted decisively.
"I will be here in the end."
"You must take fifty men and horses with you, change into the rebels' clothes, and rush to Wanzai. Try to sneak into the city. I will lead the army and set off afterwards. We will bypass Yuanzhou overnight. When the time comes, we will use fireworks as a signal, cooperate inside and outside, and take down Wanzai in one fell swoop."
"I will obey your order."
Inside Yuanzhou City, the cries still did not stop. It turned out that the defenders in the city collapsed at the first blow, so many people in the city had no time to escape and were blocked in the city. After the rebels entered the city, they had to loot. Although Zhang Xianzhong had issued an order prohibiting looting and killing, as a vanguard, they often had to take on the task of attacking. The commander Zhang Qi was not allowed to be too strict, so as not to chill the hearts of his men.
The sun had just set in the west, leaving only a hint of sunset glow. A rebel covered in mud was led by the soldiers guarding the south gate and stumbled into the Yuanzhou government office.
"General, something bad has happened, something bad has happened..."
"What happened?"
"General, General, the soldiers are coming... In Liujia Village, all our people were wiped out. Yu Da Neng and Yu Qian Hu are dead, and all the 1,000 brothers are dead too. The soldiers... chopped off the heads of all the brothers..."
"What? The whole army was wiped out?" Zhang Qi was in his thirties, a little short, with a sparse beard. At this moment, he was more surprised than shocked. Since coming south from Wuchang, the progress had been very smooth, and the officers and soldiers always fled at the sight of them, so that even he was disdainful of them;
Moreover, according to intelligence, the only army worth worrying about, Zuo Liangyu's 80,000 troops, were more than 200 miles away from Yuanzhou. How could a group of soldiers suddenly appear nearby
His 20,000 vanguards were elite troops selected from hundreds of thousands of troops. Although they had not received much training, many of them had been soldiers of the Ming army and had certain military qualities. It was really difficult for them to accept the fact that they suddenly lost a thousand troops.
"Yes, General. All a thousand brothers are dead. All dead..." The mud-covered rebel was trembling as he spoke, obviously terrified.
"Tell me quickly, where did this Ming army come from? How many soldiers are there?"
"I don't know where this group of soldiers came from, but I saw them holding a big banner with the word Qin on it. There were about 2,000 of them. They were so cruel. All the brothers' heads were chopped off..."
Zhang Qi was about to ask again when another of his men suddenly rushed in from outside the door and reported loudly: "General, General, there is a group of soldiers from the south heading straight for Yuanzhou. They are less than ten miles away from the city and are moving very fast..."
"Tell me quickly, how many troops are there on the other side?"
"General, from afar we can see torches all over the mountains and plains. Judging from the number of torches, there are at least 10,000 troops."
"Go ahead and pass on my order. All the troops are to go to the city and defend it immediately. Come, bring me my armor."
Zhang Qi hurriedly put on his armor, then led his personal soldiers straight to the South Gate. He climbed up the city wall and looked. Sure enough, the mountains and plains a few miles to the south were full of torches, like a sea of fire sweeping over. It was impossible to tell how many people and horses there were, and their speed was incredibly fast. He even suspected that they were all cavalry.
Although there were more than 10,000 soldiers in the city, it was already night and the enemy situation was unclear. Zhang Qi did not dare to go into battle rashly. He watched the sea of fire spread towards Yuanzhou City... (To be continued...)
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