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In the winter of the first year of the Qin Dynasty, there was no snow in Guizhou, nor was there any magnificent scene of a hundred thousand troops fighting in the Jianghuai area.
There are wars here, but they are usually smaller-scale battles involving as many as three to five thousand people or as few as a few hundred people.
The proverb "There is no three-day clear sky, and no three-foot flat land" refers to Guizhou, where there are towering mountains and dense forests, making it only suitable for small groups of troops to fight. If an army of 100,000 were to be brought here, the transportation and logistics supplies alone would be a nightmare.
The Bozhou Xuanweisi, 300 miles north of Guiyang Prefecture, was originally a powerful chieftain. During the Wanli period, the Bozhou chieftain rebelled. After the "Battle of Pingbo" in the 28th year of Wanli, the Ming court implemented the policy of "changing the chieftains to officials" and divided Bozhou into two "military and civil prefectures" in the following year. Zunyi was still under the jurisdiction of Sichuan, while Pingyue was changed to be under the jurisdiction of Guizhou.
As soon as Yunnan was in chaos, Liu Wenxiu, who was entrenched in Luzhou, led his troops south. At Chishui, he encountered an ambush by the Shuixi chieftain's troops, so he turned southeast and captured Zunyi in one fell swoop.
Between Zunyi and Guiyang Prefecture, during the Yongle period, Liu Shuzhen, the wife of Song Qin, the chieftain of Shuidong, presided over the expansion of a highway. This was a rare and good section of road in the whole of Guizhou, and was extremely beneficial for Liu Wenxiu's march south.
The only strategic point that could possibly stop Liu Wenxiu from heading south to Guiyang was Wujiang Pass.
Wujiang River is famous for its rapid flow, many rapids and narrow valleys, and Wujiang Pass is known as a "natural barrier".
Guizhou originally had 3,000 troops stationed at Wujiang Pass, but because Ma Liuliang was unstoppable and headed straight for Guiyang Prefecture, Guizhou Commander Chen Ruizheng discussed with the Governor Zeng Yi and decided to leave 500 troops to continue guarding Wujiang Pass and withdraw 2,500 troops to defend Guiyang Prefecture.
When these 2,500 troops retreated south, they were attacked by the Song clan of Shuidong at Yanglongkengsi, south of Wujiang Pass, and were badly defeated. Less than a thousand of them managed to escape back to Guiyang.
The Song family of Shuidong seized a large number of weapons and equipment in one fell swoop, and their influence greatly increased.
Just as Song Ping, the head of the Song family, was preparing to go north to control Wujiang Pass as agreed with Long Guangsheng, the An family, who had been eyeing Shuixi for a long time, was unwilling to be left out. An Rupan sent his son An Kun and nephew An Zhongsheng to lead 3,000 troops to seize Wujiang Pass first.
Song Ping's 800 troops encountered An Zhongsheng's 1,500 troops who came south at Yanglongkengsi. The two sides fought fiercely. Song Ping was defeated and retreated to Xifeng in the south to hold his ground.
At this time, Ma Liuliang encountered the first difficult pass since entering Guizhou. Guizhou guerrilla Wu Sanyue led 800 troops to block the Dajiang Pass east of Longlisi, which was less than 100 miles away from Guiyang City. However, Ma Liuliang tried his best and failed to take it down after four days of attack. He was so anxious that he cursed every day.
Unlike Ma Liuliang who had not been able to make any progress for several days, He Tengjiao, the Grand Secretary of the Zhanshi Mansion, and He Jinan, the Deputy General, had only 500 men. However, they were very successful in recruiting Duyun Prefecture and Liping Prefecture.
Before He Tengjiao arrived, many prefecture officials went out of the city to welcome him. Within a few days, most of the prefectures and counties in Duyun and Liping announced their return to Qin.
This made Ma Liuliang even more anxious. He Tengjiao, whom he looked down upon, conquered two prefectures without any soldiers, but he was blocked at Dajiang Pass. After a few days, he lost more than two hundred soldiers and still saw no hope of breaking through the pass.
Furious, he went to Tang Yue and asked, "You sour scholar. You used to say a lot of bullshit. Now why don't you give me some advice?"
Tang Yue had caught a cold. The military doctor was boiling medicine while he was wearing a thick cotton coat and was sneezing non-stop.
Ma Liuliang had no sympathy for the patient, and in a hurry, he grabbed Tang Yue by the collar... ...Ah! Tang Yue sneezed again, and his snot sprayed all over Ma Liuliang's face... ..
"Fuck him, you sour scholar, are you spraying me on purpose?"
This was a very rude thing to do. Tang Yue, who always paid great attention to his image, became anxious and wiped Ma Liuliang's face with his sleeve, saying hurriedly: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, General Ma, I didn't mean it..."
“Go, go, go…” Ma Liuliang slapped Tang Yue’s hand away and wiped the snot off his face. His hand suddenly froze, and an idea flashed in his mind. He then slapped his thigh and laughed, “Sour scholar, you should take good care of yourself. I won’t bother with you about this matter… Hahaha!”
Ma Liuliang ran out of the tent with excitement, which puzzled Tang Yue. He quickly ordered Chen Dasheng, the personal soldier at the door of the tent, "Dasheng, go and see what General Ma is going to do."
"Yes, Lord Tang."
Tang Yue was also anxious. Song Ping was defeated and failed to control Wujiang Pass. No one could guarantee what the Shuixi An family was planning. After controlling Wujiang Pass, would they collude with Liu Wenxiu and lure Liu Wenxiu into Guizhou? If this was true, the problem would become complicated.
Cui Feng's 10,000-strong army had just passed Pingxi Wei and was still a few days' journey from Longli. The larger the number of troops, the slower the marching speed. Cui's speed was difficult to compare with Ma Liuliang.
Before Cui Feng arrived, the An family of Shuishui had already become restless. Not only had they seized Wujiang Pass, but they had also controlled Pushi, Chishui, Baisha, Bijie and Qixingguan in the northwest.
The establishment of Guizhou garrisons in the Ming Dynasty was mainly distributed along two important transportation lines. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Wanzhang realized that setting up garrisons only in the centers of ethnic minorities would disperse the military force and fail to implement effective control.
So in July of the 15th year of Hongwu, a decree was issued: "The soldiers are stationed on the road. If there is any trouble, the officers and soldiers of each guard will suppress it. If they are divided into different places and go deep into the mountains, the barbarians will change in an instant, and the roads will be blocked, which will be very inconvenient... ... Follow the order."
The Guizhou garrisons in the Ming Dynasty were set up according to the idea of Zhu Yuanzhang's edict. In addition to the transportation line from Huguang to Yunnan, there were garrisons such as Pingxi-Zhenyuan-Pianqiao-Pingyue-Longli-Puding; there were also 3 garrisons and 4 garrisons on another transportation line from eastern Sichuan to Yunnan, including Pushi Garrison, Chishui Garrison, Baisha Garrison, Bijie Garrison, and Qixingguan Garrison, which were quickly occupied by the Xi'an family of Shuixi.
Tang Yue felt that An Rupan was no simple man. He divided his troops into several groups and attacked first by eroding the garrisons on the transportation lines and controlling these lifelines, thus gaining the strategic initiative. This man had great ambitions.
Not only that, An Rupan also detained Zeng Yi, the governor of Guizhou. Two days ago, he personally led an army of nearly 20,000 and forcibly occupied Weiqingwei, northwest of Guiyang City, which was only sixty or seventy miles away from Guiyang.
If An Rupan were to take Guiyang Prefecture first, the Qin army would have difficulty in conquering Guizhou, let alone entering Yunnan.
Tang Yue maintained close contact with Long Guangsheng who was stationed in Guiyang by Ye Bushou, hoping to pacify the Shuixi An family, but after many contacts, there was no progress. An Rupan was ambitious and did not want to be bound by anyone. It was true that he wanted to swallow up the whole of Guizhou.
Tang Yue turned around again and asked Long Guangsheng to lobby Zhang Yao, the provincial governor of Guizhou, and Chen Ruizheng, the commander-in-chief, to return to Qin. However, Long Guangsheng has not responded so far, so it must be that things are not going smoothly.
Tang Yue's illness was partly caused by his burning worries and sleepless nights. He sighed quietly. He couldn't think of any good solution for this chaotic situation. It seemed that he could only wait for Cui Feng's army to arrive.
However, Ma Liuliang did not want to wait for Cui Feng. After Tang Yue sprayed snot in his face, he suddenly had an idea. He ran out of the tent excitedly and immediately asked someone to cut a batch of bamboo to make a "water dragon".
This kind of water dragon is usually used for firefighting in big cities. It is very simple to make. Open up the bamboo joints, keep the frontmost joint, dig a small flat hole there, wrap cloth around a wooden trunk, and stuff it into the bamboo tube as a piston. Push the wooden trunk to absorb water and spray water.
Ma Liuliang had dozens of water dragons made, each of which was ten feet long and required four or five people to operate it together.
When everything was ready, Ma Liuliang immediately sent troops to attack Dajiang Pass. He first used arrows to suppress the defenders at the pass, and then sixty or seventy water dragons came into battle together, spraying water at the pass.
The difference between water and arrows is that as long as the enemy hides under the wall, the arrows will not be able to hit the enemy due to the angle limitation. However, the water dragon does not have the problem of angle. After the water arrows are sprayed up, it is like a downpour on the top of the city.
Ma Liuliang laughed happily at the spectacular artificial rain, holding a knife and yelling, "Spray it! Spray it! Hurry up!"
If it were summer, the defenders on the city would be very happy and might even take off their clothes and take a shower happily on the top of the city wall. The problem is that it is the coldest time of the year now. Although there has been no snow in Guizhou this year, the temperature has almost dropped to freezing point.
The effect of Ma Liuliang's surprising trick was extremely good. The defenders on the city wall were drenched by the water dragon and became like helpless chickens. They were shivering from the cold, their faces were blue and their lips were black.
The group of bandit-like guys under Ma Liuliang were shouting with joy, and the frustration of not making any progress in the past few days was swept away.
Hou San flattered him fiercely, "Ma Bu, Zhuge Liang was not as smart as you. If you spray twice more, the enemy will surely fall down. Hahahaha, this water dragon battle, I'm afraid the enemy never dreamed of it..."
Ma Liuliang wiped his face subconsciously and laughed, "What water dragon battle? You know nothing about it. This is called a snot battle. The snot of the sour scholar... Hahaha!"
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ps: July is only 2 hours away. Brothers, don’t forget to cast your guaranteed votes after 12 o’clock. I hope we will have a chance to be in the top ten of the monthly ticket list in July.
Due to the small number of subscriptions, I haven't received a decent page recommendation for a long time. I hope to be on the category list so that I can have a chance to stand out and increase some clicks and subscriptions. The number of subscriptions this month is really terrible. Brothers, please be kind and help me get on the category monthly ticket list.
Hao Yuan bowed his head and kowtowed again.
.(To be continued..)
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