Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 300 Siege
Sichuan Province, when the Ming imperial army defeated Nikan at Loushan Pass, Yang Zhan, Sun Kewang and others had already led their troops to Chengdu
After Yang Zhan and his men received the order from Wujiang and returned, they immediately began to prepare for food and money, and began to gather troops to prepare for the expedition to Chengdu.
The situation in Sichuan Province was complicated at this time. Not only were there various Green Camp soldiers sent by the Qing court, but there were also countless local bandits and vagrants. Therefore, although Yang Zhan and others were ordered to go to war, they did not dare to go out with their entire army.
In this expedition to Chengdu, Yang Zhan sent 8000 troops out of his 15,000 men, and Sun Kewang sent 10,000 troops out of his 20,000 men. After Sun Kewang led his troops to Jiading and joined forces, the two sides marched northwards towards Chengdu.

When the army reached Meizhou, Cao Xun and other former Ming army members stationed in Hongya also led 3,000 troops to join them. After the troops gathered, they quickly marched towards Chengdu.
When the Ming army entered Chengdu, all the counties along the way surrendered. It is not accurate to say that they surrendered, because there was no one guarding the counties in Chengdu at that time, and they were completely left to fend for themselves.

The people in the city defended themselves. When they saw the Ming army arrive, they sent out supplies to show their submission, but they did not dare to open the city.

After confirming that there were no Qing troops stationed in these counties, Fan Yiheng and his companions collected the supplies and continued to head north.

Yang Zhan and his men set out from Jiading and reached Chengdu in just six days without a single battle along the way.
Under the city of Chengdu, 20,000 Ming troops were divided into three groups and each group was lined up. Yang Zhan surrounded the South City, Sun Kewang surrounded the East City, and Cao Xun and his 3,000 troops surrounded the West City.
Li Guoying, the general of Chengdu of the Qing Dynasty, discovered the traces of the Ming army only after the Ming army entered Chengdu Prefecture. However, in just two days, the Ming army had arrived at the city, leaving Li Guoying no time to react.
The four gates of Chengdu were closed, and the Ming army had finished forming their battle array. Then a few Ming soldiers rushed to the city to persuade them to surrender. However, before the Ming soldiers could finish their shouting, a rain of arrows fell from the top of the city, dispersing the Ming soldiers who were trying to persuade them to surrender.
Under the banner of the Ming army commander in the south of the city, Fan Yiheng looked at the rain of arrows falling from the top of the city wall with a calm expression on his face. He said

"The Eastern Tartars in the city are determined to defend the city. It is impossible to persuade them to surrender. Let's prepare to attack the city."

Yan Zhan, Sun Kewang and others below nodded slightly when they heard this. Cao Xun glanced at the densely covered flags on the top of the city and said

"How many Tartars are there in this city?"

Upon hearing this, Fan Yiheng looked at Sun Kewang who was standing beside him, and Sun Kewang also spoke up.

"My camp sent people to infiltrate the city ahead of time. The time was too short and the information we obtained was not accurate, but there are no more than 5,000 Eastern Bandits in the city."

"The situation I have investigated is similar. There should be about 3,000 to 4,000 people, and no more than 5,000. The flags on the top of the city should be a trick by the Eastern Tartars to confuse the enemy."

The generals confirmed that there were not many Qing troops in the city and were preparing to attack the city. Sun Kewang looked at Yang Zhan and others who were about to leave, but suddenly spoke

"Which side will take the lead in this siege?"

When attacking a city, you must attack from three sides simultaneously, but you still need one side to carry out the main attack. The main attacking side will obviously have to invest more troops and bear greater casualties.

Yang Zhan glanced at Sun Kewang and said directly

"General Sun has also read the intelligence sent from the court yesterday. The Qing army has begun to withdraw from Bozhou."

"Chengdu is an important place in Sichuan Province. When the Eastern Tartars come to their senses, they will surely send a large number of troops to support them. We must capture Chengdu before the Eastern Tartars' reinforcements arrive."

"The Eastern Tartars in the city are few in number. Our army is coming by surprise. The people in the city must be in a panic. This is the best time to capture Chengdu. We must not miss it."

Yang Zhan looked at Sun Kewang, Ai Nengqi and others across from him, a hint of sternness flashed in his eyes, and he said

"There was no feint attack this time, all three parties were engaged in the main attack"

"We will each send supervisors to each other in our two camps. Whoever retreats will be killed. No matter how many casualties there are, we must capture Chengdu within three days!"

Upon hearing this, Fan Yiheng nodded slightly to Yang Zhan, then looked at Sun Kewang opposite him and said softly

"All of you generals are veterans in Sichuan. I don't need to say much about the importance of Chengdu. Before I left, His Highness personally told us that we must capture Chengdu."

"I think what General Yang said is correct. Now is the best time to capture Chengdu. We should not worry about casualties. What do you think, General Sun?"

When Sun Kewang saw Fan Yiheng, Yang Zhan and other Ming army generals coming, his expression changed slightly. Sun Kewang was coerced and lured by Zhu Lang. The Ming court had already stated its ownership beforehand. Even if Chengdu was captured, it had nothing to do with Sun Kewang. At this time, Sun Kewang naturally did not want to attack by force and waste his troops.

However, Yang Zhan even suggested sending military supervisors to each other, so Sun Kewang had no choice but to agree to attack the city with all his strength.

The Ming army camps decided to attack the city, and Yang Zhan, Sun Kewang and others dispersed. Soon, the siege horns sounded in the Ming army.

Yang Zhan and his men rushed to Chengdu, so they naturally had no time to prepare large siege equipment. The Ming army just held up door panels and other items, and carried ladders and rushed to the city of Chengdu.

The Ming troops in Sichuan Province not only lacked siege equipment, but also had armor and equipment far inferior to the imperial guards in Bozhou City.
At this time, thousands of Ming troops rushed to the city wall, but only the hundreds of elite soldiers in the front were wearing armor, while the ordinary soldiers carrying ladders in the back were only wearing half a piece of leather armor, and some were simply wearing only tattered military uniforms.

The Ming army rushed to the city, and the Qing army on the city immediately began to counterattack.

Arrows rained down from the top of the South City. Before the Ming army even got close to the city wall, the shields of the vanguard soldiers were already full of arrows, and dozens of soldiers in the rear were shot dead at once.

The vanguard of the Ming army had just rushed to the foot of the city with casualties, and then rocks fell from the top of the city like rain, knocking down nearly a hundred people in an instant.
The Qing army on the top of the city counterattacked fiercely. Before the Ming army could set up the flying ladder, hundreds of people were killed and wounded. The first round of Ming army attacked the city and suffered several rounds of arrow rain and rock bombardment. At this time, they also collapsed.
The supervisory team in the rear watched the soldiers flee, but ignored them and killed the fleeing soldiers according to the military order, and drove the soldiers back to the city. It was not until more than a thousand Ming soldiers were killed or wounded that the supervisory team allowed the Ming army to retreat to the rear.

In the first round of the Ming army's siege, more than a thousand people were killed or wounded, but they only set up ladders. After the soldiers climbed up the city wall, they could not stand on the top of the city wall for a quarter of an hour before they were all driven down the city.

The counterattack in the city was so fierce that the attackers had come from afar, so they should temporarily stop fighting and set up camp, and make plans tomorrow.

But the Ming army under the city did not care at all. After the first round of 5,000 soldiers were repelled, the second round of siege soldiers immediately began to attack the city wall again.
The Qing army in the city launched a fierce counterattack in the first round, but when the Ming army attacked in the second round, they suddenly showed signs of weakness. Arrows continued to rain down from the city, but the arrows were more than half as sparse as in the first round.

When the Ming army arrived at the foot of the city, rocks also fell from the city walls. However, the Qing army in the city was short of arrows and rocks. The number of rocks falling from the city walls was far less than that in the first round. In the first round, the Ming army was driven down as soon as they climbed onto the city wall. However, in the second round, the Ming army had already climbed onto the city walls and fought back and forth with the defenders.

As the two sides began to fight on the city walls, the true situation of the defenders in the city was completely exposed.

The top of the city wall was filled with Green Camp soldiers, not a single real Tartar was to be seen. These Green Camp soldiers not only lacked armor, but also arrows and other city defense supplies. Their numbers were also far less than the Ming army had estimated.

The abnormality of the defenders in the city immediately made Fan Yiheng and others realize the weakness of the city. Fan Yiheng and others sent all the soldiers originally used for the third round of attack to
As the main force of the Ming army marched out, the defenders on the city wall were defeated and began to disintegrate.

In the evening, Wang Zuntan, the governor of Sichuan Province appointed by the Qing court, and Li Guoying, the general of Chengdu, led hundreds of remaining soldiers and fled hastily from the north gate, and the city of Chengdu was occupied by the Ming army.
The Ming army arrived at Chengdu in the morning. It took only half a day to completely recapture Chengdu.
Li Guoying's failure to defend Chengdu was actually not due to any crime committed in battle. The Ming army thought that there were at least 3,000 to 4,000 Qing troops in Chengdu, but in fact Li Guoying only had 2,000 troops.

Chengdu was so big, but after the massacres by Zhang Xianzhong and the Qing army, there were less than 10,000 people in the city.
Moreover, among these nearly 10,000 people, there were many with one arm or even no arms. These people could not even help defend the city.
Given the situation in Chengdu at that time, the Ming army suddenly attacked and besieged the city. Li Guoying did not abandon the city and flee directly, which was already commendable for his loyalty and bravery. It was impossible for Li Guoying to defend Chengdu from the Ming court.
After Yang Zhan and his companions entered the city and discovered the true situation in Chengdu, they regretted it greatly. If they had known that the Qing army in the city was so weak, they would definitely not have been able to survive in the North City.

After the Ming army captured Chengdu, the situation within the Ming army changed again. Yang Zhan and Cao Xun marched directly into the city, while Sun Kewang and Ai Nengqi's Loyalty Camp was left outside the city by Yang Zhan and others on the grounds that the city was too small to accommodate the entire army.
Yang Zhan and his men did not allow the Loyalty Camp to enter the city, not to monopolize the spoils in the city. At this time, Chengdu had long been destitute after being plundered by the Western Army and the Qing Army. Sun Kewang and his men knew this best.

The reason why the Ming army stationed the Western Army outside the city was to prevent the Western Army from staying in Chengdu after entering the city.

In the early morning, a group of Ming soldiers were searching and burning the bodies under the city. Sun Kewang and other generals of the Loyalty Camp stood at the camp gate. Lieutenant General Zhang Sheng looked at the Ming army flag flying on the top of the city with a look of dissatisfaction on his face.
"We conquered Chengdu together, but they live in the city, and we can't even enter the city. It's clear that the imperial court is guarding against us."

Ai Nengqi, Di Sanpin and others were silent when they heard this. Sun Kewang looked at the Chengdu city wall in the distance, but his face was calm. He said

"Chengdu Prefecture has fertile lands for thousands of miles, and was originally the foundation of a king, but the old man simply abandoned it. Now Chengdu Prefecture has nothing to do with us anymore, what a pity!"

Zhang Sheng didn't take it seriously and said directly

"It doesn't matter. We also contributed to the capture of Chengdu. If the imperial court takes Chengdu, then we can also take Xinfan and Pi County."

"The Ming court can't just eat everything by itself and not even leave us some soup, right?"

Sun Yinglong, the new governor of central Sichuan, heard this and his face changed. But before he could say anything, Ai Nengqi beside him spoke in a deep voice.

"Don't talk nonsense. The Ming court is powerful. If we occupy Xinfan and other places, the Ming court will definitely not let us go. Fan Yiheng and Yang Zhan are not easy characters to deal with."

"Now that we have submitted to the imperial court, we should not speak nonsense, otherwise it may bring us trouble for no reason."

Zhang Sheng was dissatisfied when he heard Ai Nengqi's scolding, but Sun Kewang spoke directly to stop everyone.
"We are all brothers, why should we hurt our relationship over these things?"

"If we cannot capture Chengdu, it is meaningless to take just one or two counties. Let's leave Chengdu to the Ming court."

Zhang Sheng stopped talking after hearing what Sun Kewang said, and then he spoke again

"So what should we do now? Just wait outside the city and wait for the northwest wind to blow?"

Sun Kewang glanced at the silent crowd and said softly:

"We had an agreement with the Ming court in advance. This time we are only helping the Ming court capture Chengdu. Now that Chengdu has been captured, the rest of the matter has nothing to do with us. We don't need to cause trouble here anymore."

Sun Kewang discussed with Ai Nengqi and others and decided to lead his troops eastward to Tongchuan immediately and no longer stay in Chengdu. Compared with Chengdu, Tongchuan Shunqing was what they could legitimately get.

The people of the Loyalty Camp decided to break camp and leave. Sun Kewang went directly into the city to find Fan Yiheng, Yang Zhan and others, and informed them of his decision to march eastward to capture Tongchuan. He also asked Fan Yiheng and others for food.

Although Sun Kewang's Loyalty Camp had captured Luxu and other places, the army was still short of food. This time, the Loyalty Camp's food and wages were all provided by Yang Zhan's Jiading Prefecture.

Moreover, the two sides had agreed in advance that after the capture of Chengdu, the imperial court would be responsible for half of the food and wages for the Loyalty Camp's expedition to Tongchuan. This was why Sun Kewang agreed to send troops to assist so readily.
Fan Yiheng knew Sun Kewang's intention and agreed to it after discussing it with Yang Zhan, Cao Xun and others.

Although Yang Zhan and others and Sun Kewang were all under the banner of the Ming army, they basically kept to themselves and each took care of their own business.

The Sichuan Province Western Route Army's actions were not limited to Chengdu. After capturing Chengdu, Yang Zhan and his men would continue to march northward. If the Loyalty Camp stayed outside Chengdu, Yang Zhan would not dare to mobilize a large number of troops in order to prevent Sun Kewang and other western bandits from seizing the city.

At this time, Sun Kewang proposed to leave, which was exactly what Yang Zhan and others wanted.
Fan Yiheng directly allocated 3,000 dan of rice to Sun Kewang, and agreed to deliver another 3,000 dan of food and wages one month later.
After receiving the food and money, Sun Kewang had no intention of staying. On the third day after the capture of Chengdu, Sun Kewang led the Loyalty Camp to break camp and attack eastward towards Tongchuan Prefecture.

The Sichuan Province West Route Army successfully captured Chengdu, and the East Route Army also made good progress

After Qin Liangyu and others returned, Shizhu Tusi Mansion mobilized Tusi from nearby places to provide food and money. Qin Yiming, San Tan and others gathered 15,000 soldiers and set out from Wanxian to attack Kuizhou directly.
Even a city as important as Chengdu only had 2,000 soldiers, and the Qing army garrisoning Kuizhou City was even sparser. The Qing court ordered Kuizhou General Lu Guangzu to have only a thousand men under his command.
After Lu Guangzu discovered that the Ming army was besieging the city, he only symbolically defended the city for one day, and then abandoned the city and fled at night. Qin Yiming and others successfully occupied Kuizhou.
After the Ming army occupied Kuizhou, they left some troops to guard Kuizhou, and the rest of the troops, led by Qin Yiming, continued to pursue Lu Guangzu westward. The counties along the way to Kuizhou surrendered to the Ming army just as they did when the Qing court arrived.
Qin Yiming and his men pursued all the way to Tieshan Pass outside Dazhou, but were stopped by the Qing army of Baoning Prefecture and the remnant of Lu Guangzu's army, and a standoff began.

(End of this chapter)