The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Xu Yao did not answer the words of the leader of the rural soldiers.

Because he didn't know how to answer.

You can’t say that the magistrate went back to the county office and committed suicide, right?

Fortunately, at this time, the bandit army with the character "崋" and the banner of "Generalissimo of Yuchu Xinghua" sent a rider to shout in front of the moat.

"Listen, Biyang soldiers and civilians, we are the Yi tribe rebels led by Generalissimo Xinghua of Henan and Chu, and we are here to accuse the people of crimes.

If you surrender the city, our rebel army will enter the city without hurting anyone. If the city resists, don't blame us for being rude! "

At this time, there was no precedent for Ming officials to directly offer the city to surrender to the rebels, not to mention that the visitor's words did not have much pressure.

They forced people to open their doors and offer sacrifices, and often threatened to massacre the city.

Who can you scare with just "you're welcome"?

What really made Xu Yao and others feel oppressed was the rebel army's sophisticated equipment, strict military formations, and dozens of cannons that glowed silver in the sun.

So Xu Yao watched silently without saying anything.

The riders withdraw.

Soon the Yibu rebels fired artillery at the top of the city and began to attack the city with the assistance of artillery.

This time the rebels did not send any internal response to the city.

But as the county magistrate Yu Guangjing said, Biyang County is not big, and the city wall is only one foot or three feet high.

On the contrary, the moat is three feet wide because it is connected to Bieshui.

Liu Sheng intended to let the Guards and the Fifth Regiment gain siege experience, so he attacked the city from three sides at the same time.

Except for the Xiaoqi Battalion, there are still no reserve troops left.

There are only a thousand rural soldiers in Biyang, but some of them are garrisoned at key points in the city. Only 600 are left in the city at this time.

In addition, the county magistrate was absent and the people were not mobilized to defend the city (lack of money and food, and harsh treatment of the people, so they could not be mobilized). Xu Yao, the Dianshi, alone could not support it at all.

And because the rural soldiers were severely suppressed by artillery.

Within half an hour, the North City Gate, which Liu Sheng personally supervised, was breached first.

Within half an hour, the rebels surged into the city.

Xu Yao, a classic historian, was defeated and captured. Yu Guangjing, the county magistrate, committed suicide by hanging a beam in the county government office.

After entering the city, Liu Sheng used his old tricks.

Through the information obtained by the Xunfeng Camp spies who sneaked into the city first, four large households with high public outrage were confiscated.

Then let the two standing army officers who are going to stay here be responsible for the public trial of the criminals in these four large families.

This time it was a public trial under the Ruyang model.

Through the evidence collected by the Xunfeng Camp spies and the confessions interrogated from the county officials, the victim Xin truly participated in the trial.

This stimulates empathy among the common people in the city and recognition of the Yibu rebels.

Later, the officials and government servants who had committed many crimes in the county government were also brought out for public trial in order to relieve the people's anger and continue to win over the hearts of the common people for the rebels.

Then some of the money collected from the four large households was used to provide relief to poor people and refugees inside and outside the city.

Recruit young men from these people and train at least one battalion of civilian warriors to help defend the city.

Because Biyang was Liu Sheng's first choice for retreat after his surprise attack on Xiangyang, it must be in the hands of the rebels.

It will take at least seven or eight days from the public trial to the training of civilian bravery.

Liu Sheng also wanted to defeat Xiangyang before Zhang Xianzhong, so naturally he would not delay here.

Therefore, after breaking Biyang, the rebel army only rested for one day before setting off on the morning of the 19th day of the first lunar month.

Liu Sheng chose the road through Biyang and Tangxian instead of passing through Tongbai County because this road is all plains and there is Bi River connected with Han River, which is later known as Biyang River, Tang River and Tangbai River.

Now the heavy snow has melted, the river has already frozen, and the water level has risen sharply.

Rebel soldiers, grain, grass, and baggage can all go down the river by boat.

Marching is fast and comfortable!

It is less than a hundred miles from Biyang to Tang County.

Liu Sheng and the rebels arrived that morning and attacked the city directly in the afternoon.

The county seat of Tang County is taller than Biyang, but it is also limited in height.

The most important thing is that Wang Fubi, the magistrate of Tang County, is a ruthless official like Pan Hong, the magistrate of Wuyang County. He has already lost the support of the people for the sake of collecting taxes for Cui.

In addition, the rebels arrived in such a hurry that he did not have enough time to mobilize the people to defend the city.

In this era, many cities needed to mobilize the people to help defend the city in order to hold on.

The troops and horses controlled only by the government are often stretched thin.

For example, Tang County is in a special period when local bandits are everywhere. There are only about 800 rural soldiers and government officials in the city.

In order to defend the city, Wang Fubi fought at the top of the city with a sword and took the lead.

It did cause some trouble for the rebels at first.

But soon Wang Fubi was hit by a explosive bullet and died on the spot.

Tang County was captured by the rebels, and the whole journey took less than an hour.

In the afternoon, the rebels began to publicly interrogate large households, distribute food relief, and recruit brave people.

The next day, after leaving two standing troops behind, Liu Sheng took the remaining troops and horses and continued down the Bishui (Tang River).

This time, it took two days to travel 1,560 miles along the Bi River, and actually walked more than 200 miles of waterway.

It didn't stop until Shuanggou Town, where Tang River and Bai River converged in later generations.

Naturally, there was no Shuanggou Town at this time, but there was a market called "Fuli" with an inspection department.

This place was considered a key point and was easily captured by the rebels.

Afterwards, Liu Sheng asked the rebels to use the ships collected along the way to disguise themselves as a merchant fleet and enter the Han River from the Tangbai River.

Fortunately, the number of rebels was small, only about 5,000.

What was collected along the way were all kinds of civilian ships, and with the addition of some grain and other materials confiscated from Biyang and Tang counties, it was easy to disguise them as merchant ships.

In order to realize his idea of ​​a surprise attack on Xiangyang, Liu Sheng asked the Xunfeng Camp to send spies along this route last year to collect all kinds of useful intelligence.

There were certainly checkpoints set up by the Ming government along the way, but most of them were for the purpose of collecting customs duties.

Those responsible for handling such fat jobs are almost all corrupt officials.

As long as you pay more bribes, the ships will not be carefully searched at all.

Even merchant ships that blatantly sell prohibited goods can sail freely with bribes.

In this way, the rebels disguised themselves as multiple merchant fleets, entered the Han River from the Tangbai River, and easily crossed the river near Xiangyang to the southeast.

Liu Sheng actually did this just in case.

In fact, Xiangyang City is opposite Fanchengguan, where the Han River turns a big bend and merges with the Tangbai River, creating a half-moon-shaped island (Yuliang Island).

After the rebel fleet entered the Han River, they took the east side, and the straight-line distance from Xiangyang City was more than ten miles.

If the Xiangyang defenders knew that enemies might appear in the north and wanted to take precautions, they would have set up observation posts or even beacon towers along the river.

However, it does not.

It seems incredible at first glance, but it makes sense when you think about it carefully.

Because most of the Huguang official army also fell into Sichuan to encircle and suppress Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other rogue bandits.

And at this time, the Xiangyang defenders knew at most that Li Zicheng had a "Liu Thief" in Heluo and Runing Mansion, and that Zhang Xianzhong and other main rogue bandits were in Sichuan.

We don't have enough troops, and we don't know that we are being targeted by the enemy, so we naturally have no defense.