20demayo Page 2155
Page 2155
Cao Cheng's camp was located south of the city.
Yang Zaixing's camp served as a buffer between the first two.
Now the Guiyang rebels are here again.
They set up camp in the southwest of the city.
In theory, Li Gong was the Guangxi Military Commissioner appointed by the imperial court.
All the rebel armies were to be placed under his command.
However, this man spent a long time suppressing uprisings in Guangxi, Hunan, and Jiangxi.
Notorious to the various ethnic groups' rebel armies,
People were more willing to listen to Cao Cheng.
Even though Cao Cheng had just suffered a crushing defeat half a month ago...
"Greetings, General Cao!"
Upon entering the camp, the various leaders greeted him warmly.
Cao Cheng was quite pleased.
After introducing themselves,
Cao Cheng described the current situation.
He's starting to make empty promises again:
"The imperial court has 200,000 troops stationed around Dongting Lake,"
"There are also 100,000 troops in Jiangxi,"
"We'll take Changsha sooner or later."
“We just need to drag the clock face here,”
"Wait for news of the battle from the north,"
"Zhong Xiang's army will surely be thrown into chaos,"
"Then we can attack the city and defeat the enemy."
"Whether captured alive or killed in battle,"
"As long as we capture Zhong Xiang,"
"Everyone here can become a high-ranking official!"
"We will all obey General Cao!"
Leaders from all sides shouted their opinions.
The rebel army also had little food.
I've specially prepared wine and meat today.
Everyone ate to their heart's content.
The banquet ended, and everyone dispersed.
Yang Zaixing, however, stayed behind.
After everyone else had left, he said to Cao Cheng:
"Shouldn't we contact Li Gong?"
"After all, we're allies now."
Cao Cheng shook his head: "It's best to avoid contact."
"He's a high-ranking official now, so we all have to listen to him."
"But he issued a military order,"
Which rebel army is willing to listen?
"It would be strange if they didn't make a scene on the spot."
Yang Zaixing hesitated, wanting to speak but then stopped.
He knew Cao Cheng's temperament well.
In the end, I didn't try to persuade them anymore.
Back in camp, Yang Zaixing summoned his personal guards:
"Send two jars of wine to Li Jinglue,"
"Just say it was sent by the Guiyang rebels."
Yang Zaixing was originally also hostile to Li Gong.
But they joined forces to conquer Shaoyang.
They then captured Xidu Town together.
After several days of contact,
Relations between the two sides have eased considerably.
Li Gong was a man who valued rules and kept his word.
Seeing that Yang Zaixing had few soldiers,
Two thousand new recruits were also assigned to Yang Zaixing.
Now, let's talk about the three leaders of the Guiyang rebel army.
They gathered for a meeting after nightfall.
Tang Danian said, "If anything changes, we must immediately retreat to Leiyang!"
"Army forces from all directions have besieged Hengyang,"
"Could we possibly suffer a defeat?" Pan Shaojie asked curiously.
Tang Danian said, "The morale of the army is low."
"Li Gong and Cao Cheng have the strongest forces here,"
"The two of them, however, were hostile to each other,"
"Cao Cheng didn't even invite Li Gong to the banquet."
"The various military camps are also quite far apart,"
"Once attacked, it is difficult to provide rapid rescue."
"Second Brother Tang is right," Fang Zhong nodded.
Of the three,
Tang Danian was a Han Chinese.
Pan Shaojie is a Yao person.
Fang Zhong, however, claims to be of mixed Han and Yao descent.
Moreover, Tang Danian was educated.
His family used to be landlords.
After Zhong Xiang confiscated his property,
All the men in the tribe were thrown into mining.
Traveling hundreds of miles in a row,
Those miners at Guiyang Prison,
Now everyone listens to Tang Danian.
......
Inside Hengyang City.
An urgent letter was delivered to Prime Minister Zhong.
In short, the content can be summarized in one sentence:
Lujiaozhai is gone.
The Ming army besieged Xiangyin.
The Chu army can hold out for the time being.
Just six days ago,
The news that Chenyang was surrounded
Zhong Xiang already knew about it.
Zhong was completely helpless in this situation.
He is currently short of soldiers and supplies.
With resources from almost half of Hunan,
How could we withstand an attack from several provinces?
Prince Zhong Zi'ang was also in Hengyang.
Seeing that no one was around, he couldn't help but whisper:
"Father, why don't we surrender?"
"Everyone can surrender,"
"Only you and I, father and son, cannot."
Zhong Xiang glared at his son.
Zhong Ziang immediately shut up.
Zhong Xiang then said, "The enemy forces in Jiangxi have been decimated."
"The enemy troops outside Hengyang City,"
"You can tell they're not united just by looking at where they've set up camp."
"Delay it a little longer,"
"Perhaps we can find an opportunity to defeat the enemy."
"Yang Hua still has eight thousand elite troops,"
"Tell him to stop interfering with the enemy forces in Jiangxi,"
"Return to Xiangyin City immediately to defend against the enemy."
"What about Dingzhou?" Zhong Zi'ang asked.
Zhong Xiang said dejectedly, "The navy suffered a crushing defeat."
"Dingzhou is destined to fall."
In the south, warfare relied mainly on water transport.
The Ming Dynasty navy completely controlled Dongting Lake.
This effectively separated the northern battlefield.
Chenyang and Yuanjiang were besieged.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Yiyang is very close.
However, in a situation of lack of soldiers and food...
The garrison in Yiyang dared not move an inch.
Three days later,
Zhong Xiang dispatched the fierce general Chen Gui,
He led a thousand elite troops out of the city for a night raid.