Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 243 The Strongest Rebel, Zhang Yun, Unleashes His Power (Part 2)
Hanzhong King Zhang Yun launched a frenzied attack, and the Eighth King Zhang Xianzhong was so frightened that he abandoned Kaifeng Prefecture and fled.

At this point, the overall situation in the Central Plains was settled.

Zhang Yun, also known as Pan Yunteng, the King of Hanzhong, has already conquered all the territory south of the Yellow River. The remaining territory in the Central Plains is no larger than Nanyang Prefecture. More importantly, the drought in the Central Plains is becoming increasingly severe, and it is getting worse the further north you go.

In other words, the southern region occupied by Pan Yunteng is now the main grain-producing area in the Central Plains, and the area north of the Yellow River simply cannot produce much grain.

Furthermore, most of the grain belonging to the Tang, Zhou, Fu, and Chong vassal states was plundered by this kid. Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong didn't take much with them at all. With so many rebel troops being consumed, the grain belonging to the Zheng and Lu vassal states certainly wouldn't last long either.

In this situation, Pan Yunteng's forces will definitely become stronger, while Gao Yingxiang's and Zhang Xianzhong's forces will definitely become weaker.

With the balance of power shifting, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong were certainly unable to reclaim the territory south of the Yellow River.

As for whether or not to take the opportunity to cross the river and pursue them, this is a question that really needs to be carefully considered.

At this point, the combined forces of Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and other rebel kings must have numbered in the millions. With so many troops guarding the north bank of the Yellow River, it was impossible for Pan Yunteng to build a pontoon bridge to cross the river.

If a pontoon bridge cannot be built to cross the river, then the only option is to use a ferry.

Pan Yunteng would need at least 400,000 to 500,000 troops to cross the river to have any chance of defeating Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and other rebel kings with their millions of troops and seizing the remaining territory in the Central Plains.

How many ships would it take to haul it?
Nowadays, inland waterways are mainly used by ships of 800 and 400 liters. An 800-liter ship can transport a maximum of about 100 people per trip, while a 400-liter ship can transport a maximum of 50 people per trip.

If they want to cross the river and establish a foothold in one fell swoop, they would need to bring at least two or three hundred thousand troops across.

In other words, there would be at least two thousand ships of 800 liao each, and at least four thousand ships of 400 liao each. Taking an average, if we mix ships of 800 liao and 400 liao, that would be more than three thousand ships.

Do they have that many ships?

Of course there is!

Leaving aside the naval warships, there were already tens of thousands of grain transport ships. In the past two years, at most one or two thousand have been scrapped, leaving at least eight or nine thousand remaining.

In other words, as long as he dispatched grain transport ships to help Pan Yunteng transport his troops, he could easily transport all 900,000 of Pan Yunteng's troops to the north bank of the Yellow River.

The question is, did he really need to do that?
This is really necessary!
The saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle." When a commander formulates a strategy, he should try to surprise the enemy as much as possible in order to achieve remarkable results.

This is what is known as winning by surprise.

While it is best for a commander to rely on conventional strategies for stability, unconventional tactics are preferable if they can lead to victory.

This is because unconventional tactics can catch the enemy off guard and achieve the greatest results with the least loss.

At this point, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong must have both assumed that Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, would not be able to build a pontoon bridge to cross the river, nor would he be able to seize enough ships to ferry people across. If the Hanzhong army wanted to cross the river, they would have to wait until winter when the river was frozen.

In other words, at most Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong would send some scouts to check along the riverbank to prevent Pan Yunteng from building a pontoon bridge to cross the river. These two guys would never have imagined that Pan Yunteng would suddenly find thousands of ships to ferry people across the river.

Building a pontoon bridge takes time, at least several hours, but ferrying is different. You can find a river about a mile wide and cross in less than fifteen minutes!

If he were to mobilize enough cargo ships to help Pan Yunteng cross the river, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong would certainly be caught off guard.

It's almost harvest time now. Although the Central Plains region north of the Yellow River is not a large area, it still has at least tens of millions of acres of farmland. Even if a drought occurs, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong can still seize at least tens of millions of bushels of grain.

More importantly, the Zheng vassal of Huaiqing Prefecture and the Lu vassal of Weihui Prefecture had already stockpiled a lot of grain, as well as the Zhao vassal of Zhangde Prefecture. If they did not send troops to rescue them, they would surely be captured by Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong.

He couldn't possibly send troops to rescue them, so the grain that Zhao Fan had stockpiled would inevitably be seized by Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong.

If we calculate it this way, even if Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong fled to the north bank of the Yellow River, they would still have at least tens of millions of shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain on hand. Even if their combined forces numbered over a million, they could still hold out for several years.

More importantly, seeing that Pan Yunteng had seized all the grain that Zhang Xianzhong had looted, Gao Yingxiang would definitely send grain from the Zheng, Lu, and Zhao vassal states to the territories of the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants in Puzhou to the north, stockpiling it for future needs. If Pan Yunteng waited several months until the river froze before attacking the north bank of the Yellow River, Gao Yingxiang could have transported an unimaginable amount of grain to the territories of the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants in Puzhou.

Moreover, once winter arrives, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong will definitely use the riverbank to defend it to the death.

The Yellow River is a famous suspended river, with its banks at least ten feet higher than the ground, and in some places even six or seven feet higher. If Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong ordered people to continuously pour water onto the south side of the riverbank, climbing the slope would be like ice skating. It wouldn't be so easy for Pan Yunteng to attack the riverbank.

At this moment, it was quite simple for Pan Yunteng to unexpectedly ferry people across the river.

Therefore, this unconventional tactic must still be used.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then raised his hand and said, "Zheng Hua, come closer."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhenghua quickly stepped forward and carefully brought his ear close.

Zhu Jue whispered something in Fang Zhenghua's ear, and Fang Zhenghua quickly dispatched his trusted confidants to board the fastest ships and head to Huai'an and Kaifeng respectively to inform Cao Huachun and Pan Yunteng.

A few days later, Cao Huachun mobilized more than 3,000 cargo ships and went to the Northwest to pick up disaster victims in a grand manner.

Pan Yunteng also pretended to send his men to collect timber and pig iron in Sishui and Rongze, west of Zhengzhou, and Lanyang and Yifeng, west of Xiangfu, to build rafts and iron chains, seemingly preparing to build four pontoon bridges to cross the river and take over the entire Central Plains in one fell swoop.

Upon receiving the news, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong naturally rushed to move their main forces to places like Sishui, Rongze, Lanyang, and Yifeng.

As a result, around 7 PM that evening, when more than 3,000 grain transport ships arrived in a grand procession north of Xiangfu, they were suddenly robbed by Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong!
The next morning, around dawn, before daybreak, more than 200,000 Hanzhong soldiers, like dumplings being dropped into boiling water, jumped into the river with Wu Kui and began wading to board the boats.

Around dawn, more than 3,000 cargo ships carrying over 200,000 soldiers from Hanzhong crossed the Yellow River in one fell swoop, forming three shield walls on the north bank, completely blocking the riverbank for 30 to 40 miles between Yangwu and Fengqiu.

When Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong received the news, more than 3,000 cargo ships had already hauled the second batch of more than 200,000 Hanzhong troops across the river.

They were all dumbfounded, because they had all moved their main forces to the east and west sides of Sishui, Rongze and Lanyang, and the north bank of Yifeng. There were hardly any troops between Yangwu and Fengqiu!
The Hanzhong army didn't care about all that. After crossing the river, they only rested briefly before splitting into four routes and heading straight for Yangwu, Yuanwu, Fengqiu, and Yanjin.

Zhang Xianzhong and the various rebel kings were so frightened that they dared not even defend themselves and fled frantically towards Weihui Prefecture in the north.

They were truly terrified of being beaten.

If there were the Yellow River as a natural barrier, they would still dare to defend it.

Now that the Yellow River, a natural barrier, has been breached by the Hanzhong army, what chance do they have of defending it?

They fled frantically all the way to Weihui Prefecture without daring to stop. Zhang Xianzhong actually led all the rebel kings to Zhangde Prefecture, looted the Zhao family, and slaughtered all the members of the Zhao family's royal family. Then he turned west, crossed the Taihang Mountains, and headed straight for Lu'an Prefecture.

This startled Gao Yingxiang.

How did Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, manage to pull 600,000 to 700,000 people across the river in one go? Can he handle it?
He only has four or five hundred thousand men under his command, how could he possibly withstand it?
Even if the tables were reversed, with him having 600,000 to 700,000 troops and Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, having 400,000 to 500,000 troops, they still couldn't withstand it.

The Hanzhong army is too good at fighting; they could easily take on five opponents at once.

Zhang Xianzhong was so frightened that he ran away. Would he dare to stay and defend Huaiqing Prefecture and Weihui Prefecture to the death?
That's suicide!
He doesn't want to die yet.

If you don't run now, when will you wait?
Gao Yingxiang, along with his men and the looted money, hurriedly crossed the valley between the Taihang and Wangwu Mountains and rushed towards Zezhou.

As for the looted grain, he had indeed transported a considerable amount to Zezhou, enough to feed at least several hundred thousand troops through the winter. He dared not keep the rest; his life was more important. No matter how much grain there was, he had to be alive to eat it.

Zhang Yun, also known as Pan Yunteng, the King of Hanzhong, actually conquered the entire Central Plains!
By this point, he had become the strongest of the rebels.

He defeated Gao Yingxiang, the rebel leader, and Zhang Xianzhong, the Eighth King, who were forced to flee to Shanxi. He also defeated Ma Shouying, He Jin, the Left King of Jin, Liu Xiyao, and others, who were forced to hide in the Yinghuo Mountains and dared not come out.

As for the other rebel kings, they are nothing in front of him!
(End of this chapter)