In Lin'an in August, the weather began to turn cold, but the warm and tense atmosphere in the city never came down.
The voices for the disaster of the Yasukuni, the promotion of martial arts, and the death of the Northern Expedition have never been lowered. The students of Taizu took to the streets to preach several times a month, and the storytellers in the restaurants and teahouses in the city were all telling bloody and tragic stories. Playing and singing are mostly patriotic poems. Because of this kind of propaganda, the dispute between the North and the South, which once became fierce, gradually softened and was replaced by people's hostility. Writing to Congjun became a trend among scholars for a while, and there were also famous wealthy businessmen and gentry who donated their family property to contribute to the fight against the enemy and defenders, and it became a legend for a while.
After July, the warm atmosphere is still heating up, and time has been pressing down minute by minute with a terrifying aura. In the past month, in the appeal of His Royal Highness the Prince, several armies of the Wu Dynasty have arrived on the front line one after another, and are ready to fight the Jurchen to the death. It came, and what followed was the war between the southwest and the banks of the Yellow River, which finally started.
Qin Hui didn't have any excitement about the fact that these things had finally arrived. What was pressing on his back was just an incomparable pressure. Compared to his aggressive activities half a year ago and in recent months, everything is out of control these days.
As a member of the Privy Council today, Qin Hui nominally has the highest military authority in Nanwu. However, under the suppression of the Zhou Dynasty's imperial power and the "righteousness" of anti-Jin, Qin Hui is limited in what he can do. A few months ago, riding the anger and fear caused by the black flag army capturing Liu Yu and throwing the black pot at the Wu Dynasty, Qin Hui did his best to implement the plan he had been planning for years: try his best to smash the black flag, Use a sword sharpened with a black flag, Mizuma. If the situation is good, it may be able to kill a bloody way.
The Jianshuo Emperor Zhou Yong, who was frightened by the actions of the black flag, agreed to the plan for a time, and the eldest princess Zhou Pei also stood by his side for a time. However, the whole plan was hindered in the implementation process soon after. The lobbying of some of the troops who had privately exchanged with the black flag was not a big deal, but the sudden hesitation of Zhou Yong's will made Qin Hui feel powerful. In the end, Qin Hui was stunned by the result that the 100,000 Wuxiang army was ordered to storm the southwest. During this period, he almost mobilized the power of the entire court. In the end, Zhou Yong's hesitant attitude made him fall short.
The Black Flag Army has resisted the successive attacks of the millions of troops in the northwest, and even beat the millions of Qi troops to the ground. What's the use of 100,000 people? If you can't do your best, it's better not to do it!
He was puzzled by the change in Zhou Yong's attitude. Although Zhou Yong was originally an indecisive person, he initially thought that Prince Jun Wu had secretly lobbied, but later found out that the key point came from the palace of the eldest princess. Zhou Pei, who was once furious with the black flag, finally gave his father a very indifferent speech.
"...Ning Yi once killed the late emperor Zhou Zhe in Bianliang, and then captured Liu Yu in the palace. If he really ignores the threat of the Jin Kingdom and devotes all his strength to the crusade, when Ning Yi is desperate, how will his father's safety be in danger?"
The three parties contended that the Wu Dynasty wanted to destroy the black flag first, and then control the Jurchen. This was originally a very controversial strategy. Regardless of other arguments, what the eldest princess really moved Zhou Yong was probably such a remark. You are making Ning Yi anxious, is the palace in Lin'an really safe? And with Zhou Yong's timid and fearful personality, he actually took it for granted. On the one hand, he did not dare to push the black flag to the extreme, on the other hand, he wanted to separate the various armies that were originally privately granted and received from the black flag. In the end, the whole strategy fell on Lu Qiaoshan of the Wuxiang army.
The plan to have a relationship with the Black Flag turned into a beating against numerous armies, and as it was implemented, Qin Hui also followed up with the order to rectify the discipline of the various armies, but this was nothing more than a rectification. In the past few months, Qin Hui has been trying to contribute to the war in the southwest, for example, by deploying two more armies, at least adding more than 300,000 people, in order to suppress the black flag. However, Prince Junwu brought the anti-Jin Dayi and strongly promoted the northern defense, refusing excessive internal friction in the southwest. By the end of July, the news of the official war in the southwest came, and Qin Hui knew that the opportunity had been missed.
During this period of time, the actions of the imperial court have not been without results. Due to the separation from the southwest and the beating of various armies, the authority of the center has increased, and the prince and the eldest princess have tried to ease the tension between the north and the south, at least in the Jiangnan area, due to the pressure of the coming of the Jurchen. huge effect. The eldest princess Zhou Pei and the prince Junwu are doing their best to strengthen the Wu Dynasty itself. For this matter, Qin Hui has also negotiated with Zhou Pei several times, but the progress is not great.
This is also the collision of ideas between the Wu Dynasty and the Jurchen during the more than ten years of war, humiliation, and reflection. The literary style of the Wu Dynasty was prosperous. At one time, it was too much about strategy and change. After more than ten years of beatings, more and more people realized that only their own strength is everything. These people are even more looking forward to the miracles created by unyielding strength. , It is not until the last minute that you should borrow as little foreign objects as possible.
Prince Junwu is young and vigorous. This idea is the most obvious. Compared with the excessive use of external strategies, he values internal unity and the strength of the people from the south and the north gathered together under the banner of the Wu Dynasty. The strategy of hitting the black flag and then hitting the Jurchen is also the most disgusting. The eldest princess Zhou Pei was able to understand reality at first. She was not a staunch North-South fusion faction. She was cleaning up a mess for her younger brother most of the time. Many times, she could coordinate better with people who understood reality better. After the incident, she seems to have changed in this direction too.
Although the black flag is taken first, and the Queen of the Queen is also considered a kind of breaking the boat, Zhou Pei has already begun to subconsciously reject the breaking of the boat when his own strength is not enough. During several discussions, Qin Hui realized that she also hated the black flag in the southwest, but what she hated even more was the weakness and disunity within the Wu Dynasty, so the strategy of the southwest was reduced by her to beating and purging the army. , Jurchen's pressure was directed by her to the north-south contradiction within Mi Ping. If it was in the past, Qin Hui would have nodded for her.
But time is running out.
In a few months, Qin Hui had half a head of white hair on his head, and his whole body suddenly lost weight. On the one hand, there is worry in his heart, and on the other hand, the political disputes in the court are never calm. After the southwest strategy was dragged into four dissimilarities, the impeachment of Qin Hui's family from the DPRK and the central government also appeared one after another, and there were people who came to Qin Hui's southwest strategy with various ideas. At this time, Qin Hui, although he had quite a position in Zhou Yong's heart, was still inferior to Cai Jing and Tong Guan of the past. When the news came that the Wuxiang army in the southwest had entered Liangshan, he wrote a book, confessed his sins, and resigned from office.
Zhou Yong refused to accept his resignation and immediately dismissed it. As a father, he certainly believes and supports his dedicated son in various matters, but at the same time, as the emperor, Zhou Yong also trusts Qin Hui's stable character. If his son is to fight the enemy on the front line, he must have someone at the back who can be trusted. The minister stands up. Therefore, Qin Hui's document was handed in, but Zhou Yong scolded him and dismissed it.
Qin Hui resigned for the second time. Although the Southwest strategy has changed, it was originally proposed by him. Now, it seems that Lu Qiaoshan will lose, and the situation in the Southwest is about to deteriorate, so he must take responsibility. Zhou Yong was furious at his dejected remarks in the courtroom, and he comforted Qin Hui for a while in private, because at the same time as this resignation letter went up, news from the southwest came again. On the 26th, Lu Qiaoshan's army was attacked by tens of thousands of black flags in the area of Liangshan Xiufeng Pass. More than 30,000 people under Chen Yuguang were defeated by one blow, and the defeated troops scattered into Liangshan. Then Luqiaoshan's 70,000 people were attacked and divided by the Black Flag Army. Luqiaoshan defended the mountains and dragged the war into a stalemate.
The situation in the Southwest took a turn for the worse on the fourth day after entering the mountain. Qin Hui's foresight saved him a lot of face. On this day, many colleagues came to comfort and save him. Some people also said that Lu Qiaoshan was a smart man and a powerful soldier. He was caught off guard after being attacked by the black flag, but he finally stabilized his position. As long as the strategy was adjusted in time, the situation in Liangshan would not be turned around. Qin Hui just shook his head and sighed.
After sending his colleagues away from the court, his old wife, Mrs. Wang, came to comfort him, and Qin Hui sighed: "More than ten years ago, the mood of the first right minister, Prince Siyuan, may be similar to that of the husband now. Unhappy things in the world, Nine times out of ten, even if you have the heart of boxing, how can you defeat the repetition of the above?"
The Wang family was silent for a while: "The brothers and children in the clan are all outside. If the master retires, he should tell them."
"It's easier said than done to retreat? In the past 81 years, I was homeless three thousand miles away, I was alone, and I watched Shenzhou cry from afar..." Qin Hui smiled and shook his head, but what he read in his mouth was the death poem of Cai Jing, a powerful minister of the previous generation. , "Golden Hall Five once worshiped the prime minister, Yutang declared Ma Ma for ten times, recalling the prosperity of the past, and now translated into a dream... Now translated into a dream, ma'am. Cai Yuan has been in charge of the court for decades, and under one person there are thousands of people. In the end, I was starved to death alive."
When the Jurchen went south for the second time, Cai Jing was demoted to the south. He had been the first person in the court for decades, and the Wu Dynasty collapsed, and most of the charges were placed on him. Eighty-year-old Cai Jing went all the way south, unable to buy rice with money, and eventually starved to death at Chongjiao Temple in Tanzhou. For more than ten years, the outside world has said that he has done many evils, which has caused the people's disgust, so he can't buy food even if he has money, which highlights the loyalty of the world.
Back then, when Cai Jingtong was in the front, most of the party disputes in the court were attended by two people. Even though Qin Hui was stable all the way, he was not a standout after all. Now, he is the leader of a faction. His clansmen, disciples, and officials in the DPRK and China have to rely on food.
"However, ma'am, don't worry." After a moment of silence, Qin Hui waved his hand, "At least this time, don't worry, Your Majesty is ashamed of me. This time in the southwest, I have drawn my husband's bottom line, and finally stabilized the situation and won't follow Cai Jing's footsteps. But the responsibility still has to be shouldered. This responsibility is for the sake of Your Majesty. To suffer a loss is to take advantage. Those people outside don't need to pay attention. The old man admits the punishment and makes them beaten a little.
He paused: "...It was all broken by some ignorant children!"
That night, the lights in the capital city of Lin'an were brightly lit, and the surging undercurrent was hidden in the bustling scene, still appearing ambiguous and vague.
In Liangshan, southwest of China, on the sixth day after the war, explosions sounded in the ravine after nightfall. In the foothills in the distance, there were layer by layer camps built by the Wuxiang army. Outside the camp, the torches were not dense, and the garrison The sharpshooter hid behind the wooden wall, quietly daring not to make a sound.
The woodland opposite the camp was dark, and at some point, a subtle voice came out in the darkness: "Cripple, how is it?"
"Don't worry, see the big one..." The young man on the tree, with a long musket that was almost taller than a person, was cruising the distant camp through the telescope. It was Yuwen Feidu who was with Ning Yi, who was lame. Since he was injured in the leg, he has been practicing archery hard. Later, he made a breakthrough in musket technology. With the advancement of Ning Yi, a group of people in the Huaxia Army were selected to practice musket, and Yuwen Feidu was also one of them.
In the R&D department of the three counties in the southwest, although the musket has been manufactured, the requirements for the steel are still very high. On the other hand, the machine tools and rifling have only just started. At this time, Ning Yi gathered the research and development capabilities of the entire Huaxia Army and came up with a small number of long-range muskets and telescopes. Although these muskets can reach far, the performance of each one is still uneven, and it is even affected by each special projectile. The effect of the difference, the shooting effect is slightly different. But even if the accuracy at long distances is not high, relying on a rather spiritual shooter like Yuwen Feidu is still a strategic advantage that can be relied on in many cases.
"Don't shoot indiscriminately." After laying mines in the hidden place under the tree, Xiao Hei, his partner, raised a telescope and said in a low voice, "Actually, as I see it, you lame gun is a waste to take out now. It's not very accurate to fight a few scumbags at a time, so people are on guard. You said that if you take this to the north and kill Wanyan Zonghan with one shot, it will be very exciting."
"It's better to look at the scenery... The teacher said that fighting will promote technological progress. Now this thing, only one shot after three shots from a hundred meters away, and each shot can't be used for too long. When I go back, I can think more about how to improve. Hehe, in the future, if I hit someone within three hundred feet, everyone will have to call me Dad. Catch one."
Yuwen Feidu's voice finally fell, and he pulled the trigger. In the night, the fire suddenly burst into flames, and the tree trunk moved. Yuwen Feidu descended the tree with the long gun barrel like a monkey. There was a commotion in the opposite camp. . Xiao Hei scolded under the tree in a low voice: "Fuck your mother, my mother, I told you to be more careful, are you sure it's a big head?"
"Looks like, I've been waiting all night."
"Did that hit?"
"I don't know, I didn't see clearly, I left."
"Go over there, go over there, you cripple want to be bombed to death."
"You are a black heart and a black heart. If you don't have anything to do, you will have retribution sooner or later."
The two of them messed around with each other, and hurriedly left along the dark foothills. They didn't run far, and there was a sudden bang in the place where they were hiding, and the light bloomed in the woods. It was probably the scout who touched the opposite side. Touched the trip thunder left by Xiao Hei. The two smiled at each other and walked towards the camp of the Huaxia Army on the other side of the mountain.
On the second day of the eighth lunar month, the sixth day of the battle in Xiaoliangshan, the battle was still going on. It was said to be a stalemate. In addition to July 26th and 27th, the entire Wuxiang army was divided and swallowed to the extreme. When Lu Qiaoshan shrank the army and began to fully defend, the Huaxia army's offensive became restrained and organized.
The so-called restraint means that the Huaxia Army uses its superior troops to pull camps one by one every day, harass them at night, lay mines on the mountain roads, and never launch a large-scale storm.
In the past ten years or even more than twenty years, the Wu Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom have both entered the state of sunset, and they will be roaring. From the beginning of Chuhedian, Wanyan Agu beat 3,700 troops to defeat 100,000 Liao soldiers, and then to Hubu Dagang, 20,000 people chased and killed 700,000 people, and the myth that less wins more has never stopped. . Jurchen's first southern expedition, under Bianliang City, with tens of thousands of troops, defeated the army of the million-strong king successively, the second southern expedition broke Bianliang, and the third time went all the way to Jiangnan, in order to capture Zhou Yong, search the mountains and inspect the sea, Fighting to the Wu Dynasty's various armies rout like a mountain. And the black flag has also overthrew the millions of Daqi in Xiaocanghe. It seems that it is easy to use. It seems that it has become a practice to use the superior force to win the more with less.
But I have to admit that when the quality of the soldiers reaches a certain level, the rout on the battlefield can be adjusted in time, and the situation of the war cannot be formed in a situation where it is not possible to solve the problem in one go. In the past few years, Wuxiang's army has been strictly rectified and its military law is extremely strict. After the first day's defeat, Lu Qiaoshan quickly changed his strategy and ordered the army to continuously build fortifications. The intensity of the attack slowed down. At this time, the 30,000 people led by Chen Yuguang and others were scattered, and there were only 60,000 people left in the entire Luqiao Mountain formation.
After a few days, the Huaxia Army saw the weakness of the defense of the Zhunwuxiang Army. Every day, a camp of several thousand people was set up. Lu Qiaoshan worked hard to manage the defense, and constantly gathered the defeated soldiers. Only then did the situation stabilize a little. . But Lu Qiaoshan also understood that the reason why the Huaxia Army did not make a strong attack did not mean that they did not have the ability to make a strong attack. It was just that the Huaxia Army was constantly destroying the will of the Wuxiang Army and minimizing the resistance. For several years in the southwest of the army, Lu Qiaoshan thought he had done his best. The current Wuxiang army has completely changed from the original group of soldiers. It is also because of this that he was able to have some confidence and marched into Liangshan.
In his original imagination, even if the Wuxiang army was defeated by the Black Flag, at least it would allow the other party to see the will of the Wu Dynasty to work hard and resolve the pain, and could cause enough trouble for the other party. But I didn't expect that on July 26th, the head-on blow of the Huaxia Army would be so fierce. Chen Yuguang's 30,000 army maintained the most staunch defense, but was forced into the eyes of Lu Qiaoshan by the 15,000 Huaxia Army's troops. Crushed, smashed. The 70,000 army counterattacked with all their might on this end, and under the obstruction of less than 10,000 opponents, the entire afternoon, until the opposite forest was filled with smoke and blood flowed into rivers, they were not able to surpass Xiufeng Pass by half a step.
This was a real blow to the head. After that, the restraint of the Huaxia Army was nothing but the ruthlessness and stinginess of Ning Liheng. The entry of the 100,000 army into the mountain is like throwing directly into the mouth of the giant beast and being swallowed step by step. Now it is difficult to turn around and go back.
It was early in the morning, and the fire in the central army tent was still alive. Lu Qiaoshan, who had a bandage on his forehead, was writing a book under the light, recording the things about the Huaxia military discovered in this war:
… The black flag iron cannon is fierce, it can be seen that in the past transaction, the iron cannon sold to our side was not the best. In this battle, the guns used by the black flags have a range of about ten to twenty steps better than ours. I attacked with my elite troops and captured two of the opponent's useless guns. I hope everyone in the rear can restore them...
... Its soldiers cooperated tacitly and fought with high spirits, far superior to ours and difficult to resist. Or the people he faced this time were all veterans of the opponent's Northwest War. Now that the iron cannon is born, the many tactics of the past are no longer safe. It is difficult for the infantry to form a front, and the soldiers who cannot cooperate with each other tacitly may withdraw from the future battle...
… and the stun guns used by the Black Flag soldiers on the battlefield, which are elusive and hard to resist. According to reports by some sergeants, it is suspected that he has several burst guns, and the battlefield can be as far as a hundred feet.
… As seen today, the method of checking things is used in battle formations, and it really has the effect of ghosts and gods. After that, there will be more novel things appearing in the battlefield, and those who can make changes will be able to take the lead. We should be at a loss for the truth and keep up with it...
Mosquitoes were chirping in the night, the fire was blazing brightly, and there was a continuous and subtle noise. Lu Qiaoshan had not rested for several days, and his face was pale, but in the writing, there was never any rashness, trying to retain the experience of Wuxiang Army's fiasco. Send it out, be wary of others. Soon, a soldier came to report that the leader of the Mangshan Department, Lang Ge, was injured and brought back. After Lu Qiaoshan heard it, he continued to write and ignored it.
The camps where tens of thousands of people are stationed, in Xiaoliang Mountain, stretch one by one with campfires. The campfire was mighty, from a distance, but it looked like the fire of the setting sun, and it was about to go out in this big mountain.
After dawn, on the Huaxia Army's side, an envoy came to the front of the Wuxiang Army's camp and asked to meet Lu Qiaoshan. Hearing that the black flag messenger was coming, Brother Lang, who was covered in injuries, also brought a bandage all over to the camp, gnashing his teeth.
The envoy was more than 30 years old and gritted his teeth even more than Brother Lang: "I am Su Wenfang's cousin Su Wenyu, and I came here this time to represent Mr. Ning and show you a way out. Of course, you can arrest me and torture me. Put it back again, like this, when you die... I have a better conscience."
As a messenger, his words are bad, his face is full of dissatisfaction, and he looks like you better not talk to me, which is clearly a clumsy blackmail method in the negotiation. It made Lu Qiaoshan's face gloomy for a while. Brother Lang was the most agile. He held his breath and said over there, "You...cough, go back and tell Ning Yi...cough..."
Su Wenyu glanced at him: "Who are you, go to hell, fuck your mother!" He treated death like a home, full of swear words.