The World of Yellow Sky

The Ming army was indeed as expected, only attacking Qingzhou, and only Chen Bing north of Yanzhou, while Shangyong and Wuguan were completely defensive, and there was no sign of attack at all.

This is indeed an opportunity, if used well, as long as Shangyong and Wuguan are defeated, the situation can be reversed.

But, after all, things backfired.

After the Ming army entered Qingzhou, it has been overwhelming all the way, and no one can stop it.

If you don't move, you are done, and if you move like a thunder, it is exactly the style of Xu An's use of troops.

On the western front, however, the offensive force composed of more than [-] Jingzhou troops and his imperial guards was defeated in Shangyong and Wuguan at the same time.

For a long time, the Ming army has maintained external suppression, so the Han army has little knowledge of the information about Wuguan and Shangyong.

When the [-] carts were transported to Wuguan Pass, they thought it would be easy to break through Wuguan Pass, which only had walls of rammed earth.

But who would have thought that the rammed earth city wall outside Wuguan was just a layer of camouflage. When the outermost rammed earth city wall was knocked down, the Han army discovered that the inner wall was actually covered with bricks.

The boulders thrown by the throwing carts did not have much lethality at all when they hit the brick-clad city wall. After seven or eight days of continuous bombardment, there was no way to open the gap. Not to mention, the new bed crossbow of the Ming army not only improved Accuracy, but also improve the range, and even threaten the soldiers manipulating the throwing car.

They are studying the Ming army and imitating the Ming army's equipment.

It's just that they are not the only ones who are making progress, the Ming army is also making progress, and it is making progress faster than them, and has come up with targeted weapons.

The offensive and defensive battle of Shangyong was even more bloody. Relying on the strong city, although the Ming army stationed in Shangyong was small in strength, only more than [-] people, they were tenacious and did not retreat.

Those Ming soldiers wearing leather armor, even those without armor, were indeed the third and fourth line troops of the Ming army. Some of them came from the militia in Mintun.

The actual local garrison numbered only 2000.

The garrison system implemented in the Ming Dynasty stipulates that both military and civilian garrisons must receive certain militarized training, but the military garrison must receive more detailed training.

It is actually not appropriate to say that Shangyong's offensive and defensive battles should be described as Shangyong's bloody battles.

The Ming army stationed in Shangyong City was poorly equipped, but it was better than the Yellow Turban Army during the Yellow Turban Uprising.

At that time, all the attacking Han troops felt that Shangyong City could be captured easily, because many people were obviously dressed as farmers, and they only held short knives or long spears.

What fighting power can a group of farmers have?As long as they climbed the city wall, most of them would collapse and retreat.

But in the end the reality was that the Han army was slapped severely.

Those farmers who were dressed in sackcloth and didn't even have armor did not retreat after they climbed up the city wall, but swarmed in.

They were not afraid, and their eyes were filled with killing intent and hatred.

The Han army's several attacks were all repulsed without exception. When the Han army was at its deepest point, it sent a heavy armored soldier, who almost occupied the tower, but was finally repelled by the swarming Ming army.

In the end, when the army formation was in complete chaos, those Ming soldiers almost fought with their lives for their lives.

The weapons in their hands failed to break through the heavy armor, and some Ming soldiers even rushed up just to fall down the city with them in their arms, and they died together.

The armored soldiers of the Han army who ascended the city were completely intimidated by the Ming army's fearless style of play.

There is no Ming army in Shangyong City at all, they are a group of lunatics, a group of lunatics who are not even afraid of death!

The Han army was timid, and no matter how the generals scolded them, they could no longer inspire their fighting spirit.

Huang Zhong, the general of the Zhonglang, even went into battle in person, but was repulsed by the Ming army in the end. He also understood why the generals under his command were so afraid.

He once participated in the war to exterminate the Yellow Turbans in the first year of Zhongping. Although the Ming army in Shangyong City is poorly equipped, their fighting will is like the yellow angels he has encountered before. .

Then, when the Han army was preparing for the next attack, the Ming army who reinforced Shangyong City had already arrived, and they had no choice but to retreat.

The Raiders Shangyong and Wuguan went bankrupt, and they did not wait for their comeback.

The main force of the Ming army led by Xu An even broke Qingzhou and Xuzhou, and the forbidden army sent to support was also recalled to Chendu.

The strong combat power of the Ming army shrouded everyone's hearts like a haze, and it also made Liu Xie almost breathless.

No matter how Liu Xie thought about it, he couldn't understand why not only the main force of the Ming army was so powerful, but also ordinary militiamen could repel his heavily armed soldiers.

The same is true for the battle reports from the Battle of Qingzhou.

The ambush at Yuquan Pavilion was successful, but Cao Cao surrounded the forward of 8000 Ming troops with an army of 5000 and trapped them on a narrow river beach. Ann was defeated.

The Ming army is like a big mountain, pressing down on the hearts of everyone in the Han court.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Taipingdao seems to have never lost a single battle, not even a battle.

The Han court's cognition is actually a bit biased. The fighting power of the main force of the Ming army is indeed strong. The main force of the Ming army is indeed an army armed with ideas and has the concept of family and country. It has begun to draw a clear line from the feudal army.

However, the ordinary garrison soldiers, military and civilian troops in the Ming court were not much different from the ordinary feudal army, which was the reason why the Shangyong offensive and defensive battle was so tragic.

It's just because of the combat power of the soldiers stationed at Shangyong because of defending their homes and land.

When the Ming Court ruled, they only needed to pay a certain amount of land tax, and they could live and work in peace and contentment. They lived a good life day by day, and they didn't need to pay any heavy taxes, and they didn't need to be oppressed by those powerful families.

So when the Han army approached the city, after Shangyong gathered troops, the soldiers in the military and civilian villages fought desperately.

Those Taiping Dao talismans who told them in the past that they had to fight for their rights and interests did not hide at the end like those dignitaries, but stood at the front with their weapons, which greatly boosted the morale of Shangyong City .

The residents of the city, old and young, all joined in Shangyong's defensive battle and did their best to contribute their own strength.

All people are of one mind, and the top and bottom share the same desire.

Coupled with the fact that the city wall of Shangyong City still has a lot of defensive equipment, Xu An was cautious at first, and he never felt that the Han army would not have the guts to dare to attack.

Under such circumstances, how can the Han army be undefeated?

But Liu Xie and the others were not clear about all this.

The entire Han court was pessimistic, and despair lingered in everyone's hearts.

Under the leadership of Xu An, the main force of the Ming army invaded the two counties of Xiapi and Guangling. The navy of the Ming army even appeared in the sea area of ​​Yangzhou, which made Yangzhou people panic.

Yangzhou is already empty as the rear, and the same is true for Xiapi and Guangling counties. The fall of these two counties is inevitable.

Xiapi and Guangling fell, and the Huai River fell into the hands of Ming Ting.

If you defend the river, you must defend the Huai River. Without the Huai River, the south cannot defend it at all...

Now they have really been driven to a dead end, even if they want to retreat to the south, it is impossible to survive.

The fire started by Xu An was only a single spark at first, but now the flames have turned red in the sky, and the fire has intensified, and it can no longer be extinguished. It will only be extinguished after all combustible materials are burned. down.

A sense of powerlessness surged in Liu Xie's heart, everything that happened before was like a dream.

He clearly saw the opportunity to rejuvenate the Han Dynasty, but in the end it failed at the last moment.

The situation has taken a turn for the worse and has reached the point where it is out of control.

As the Ming army marched south, the counties of Langya and Donghai changed their flags and flags, and they set up ocher-yellow banners early on.

Those aristocratic families are powerful, both at the beginning and the end, I am afraid that they have already thought about what the Ming army should do when they call.

Although Ming Ting's methods are tough, after all, apart from the assassination of Xu An, Ming Ting has never committed an act of extermination.

The land and property are handed over as soon as they are handed over. Even if it is a public trial, it is only based on the evidence collected to arrest and punish a group of people.

The Ming army's offensive route and its purpose do not need other people's analysis at all. Liu Xie has already seen it clearly.

The reason why Xu An took Qingzhou, which was more difficult to attack than Yanzhou, was to capture Xuzhou and then control the Huaihe River.

The purpose was to seal off any possibility of his fleeing south, so that he had nowhere to escape and was trapped to death in Chendu.

Although the Pengcheng states of Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Jiaozhou, and Xuzhou are still under the control of the Han court, it doesn't look like they are in a desperate situation.

But in fact, now is the last moment.

It seems that the Han court still occupies the land of five states, but Jingzhou is trapped to death by Yizhou, while Yanzhou has no danger to defend, and Yangzhou is empty. As long as Xu An wants to take it, he can easily take it down.

Jiaozhou was originally located in a remote place, out of reach, but not long ago, a worse news came.

There was no exception for Jiaozhou's attack on Yizhou, and all of its offensives were blocked by the Ming army.

And in the southern county of Jiaozhou, that is, in the two counties of Jiuzhen and Interweave, traces of the Ming army appeared.

In the confrontation, the Jiaozhou army lost consecutive battles and was defeated all the way.

According to the news sent by the embroidered clothes messenger, the Ming army attacking Jiaozhou seems to have come from the southern border of Yizhou.

In that Ming army, most of them are not the real Ming army. Many of them are tribal soldiers from southern Xinjiang. It seems that some of the soldiers are wearing the clothes of the two countries in southern Xinjiang, Shan and Pyu. Military attire.

In addition to the tribal soldiers, there were also a large number of elephant soldiers in the Ming army. It was these elephant soldiers that caused the Jiaozhou army to lose consecutive battles.

If it is an ordinary war elephant in southern Xinjiang, the Jiaozhou army is not afraid of it, but what is frightening is that because of the joining of the Ming army, the war elephants in its army were able to wear strong armor.

Those armored war elephants on the battlefield are as terrifying as the giant beasts in the tales of ghosts.

Now that the Ming army is sweeping the world, any enemies and things that stand in its way will be crushed to pieces.

It is not a lie to say that the sky is dead, and the yellow sky should be established.

"The king of subjugation..."

Liu Xie raised his head, looked at the map in front of him, and slowly clenched his fists.

He has made up his mind.

"Wang Yue."

Liu Xie looked at the map in front of him.

"The minister is here."

Wang Yue came out slowly from the shadows and knelt down.

"Call together the three armies and spread the word to the world."

Liu Xie turned around slowly, his eyes were extremely firm.

"I want..."

"Personal conquest!"

Chapter 878 Unrest

The news that the Son of Heaven was going to take the imperial conquest in person spread throughout Yuzhou in just a few days, and then quickly spread to other states and counties.

Since the founding of the country by Emperor Taizu Gao, there have been 27 emperors in the Han Dynasty, and the only emperors who have been personally conquered by the emperor are Taizu Gao and Shizu Guangwu.

Emperor Taizu Gao and Emperor Shizu Guangwu both spent the first half of their lives in the iron horse and golden arms, but today's son grew up in the boudoir, and his strategy and military methods are not known at all.

And the most important thing today is that today is just a talent, not even the year of the crown.

Qingxu suffered a disastrous defeat, with more than 97 troops in the two prefectures wiped out, and [-] towns in nine counties fell into the enemy's hands.

At this time, the Ming army was imposing like a rainbow, and under the leadership of Xu An, they were continuing to advance towards the south, preparing to occupy the Huai River in one go.

No one expected that the Ming army would advance so fast, and the Huaishui navy did not have time to react. Most of the Huaishui navy was concentrated in the middle reaches.

By the time the Ming army reached the lower reaches of the Huai River, it was already too late.

Some of the lucky boats of the Ming navy even sailed into the Huai River to cooperate with the army to attack Guangling, which made Guangling's few defenders miserable.

The two counties of Guangling and Xiapi were almost collapsed at the first touch, and the soldiers who defended the city even lost the will to resist. As long as the Ming army approached the city, the defenders would choose to surrender within a day or two.

The strategic intention of the Ming army is clearly revealed, which is to cut off the attempt of the Han court to move south, and they have now achieved their strategic intention.

There is no suspense about the main cities in the lower reaches of the Huai River, and they will all fall into his hands.

But at this critical juncture, the emperor suddenly announced that the royal conquest would be personally conscripted, which caused a shock in the court just in a blink of an eye.

After Wang Yun, Liu Chong and others heard the news, they immediately asked to meet the king, but their requests fell silent and did not get a response.

The little emperor seemed to know that his decision would inevitably be opposed, so he simply rejected all requests to enter the palace, and only set a time for a court meeting.

Since Sun Jian's death, Chendu and Yuzhou have not set up state herds. In fact, Yuzhou and Chendu have been firmly controlled by Liu Xie ever since.

On weekdays, Liu Xie has always respected courtiers, but since the reform began, everyone has realized it.

The little emperor is no longer the boy he used to be, but has become a young man, a real emperor who holds the military power, controls the authority, and has wrists.

Relying on the power of foreign relatives and cronies, embroidered clothes envoys, and the implementation of reforms, the Ninth Rank Official Personnel Law has also eliminated a lot of dissatisfaction in the hearts of a large number of powerful families. Liu Xie's authority has been gradually established and is growing day by day. .

Everyone's meeting was fruitless, and in the end they could only wait for the court to discuss.

While waiting for this period of time, the ministers of the Han court also discovered the changes in various places.

First, part of the Yanzhou Army began to withdraw southward, moving towards Suiyang, the seat of Liang State in Yuzhou.

At this time, Pengcheng, the seat of the Pengcheng Kingdom in Xuzhou, is also continuously increasing its military strength. The Han army in many places has received the imperial edict issued by the emperor himself. They gathered in the direction of Pengcheng.

Except for the guard soldiers, the Jingzhou army marched towards Yuzhou. The destination they received the order was the same as that of the rest of the army—Pengcheng, Xuzhou.

Martial law was imposed in Yangzhou, the whole army was prepared, and defenses were deployed along the river to resist the Ming army going south.