The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 181 Fake Surrender
Yu Guanyu was somewhat dazed as he looked at the mocking gaze of the young general in front of him.

Why did Emperor Taizu rebel?

Even if you gave Yu Guanyu ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare mention this matter.

He originally thought that it was just that small amount of pay that caused the border troops to rebel and mutini, and he never thought carefully about what the underlying reasons were.

After sending Yu Guanyu away, Jiang Han also began preparing to set off on his march.

Taking advantage of the time when the Yellow River is frozen, he plans to lead his troops from Fenglingdu, bypassing Tongguan, and into the Guanzhong Plain.

To be honest, marching in winter is quite difficult, but fortunately, the government troops are mostly taking shelter from the winter, so Jiang Han can stay in Shanzhou City and collect various supplies to withstand the cold.

Compared to Jiang Han's composure, the Eastern Route rebels were in a much worse state.

Since Wang Jiayin died at the hands of an internal traitor in September, Left Chancellor Wang Ziyong was appointed to a critical position and was elected as the new leader by a group of leaders, both large and small.

Faced with the fierce offensive of the government troops, Wang Ziyong knew that he could not fight them head-on, so he immediately decided to split up and take action in smaller groups.

At a single command, troops from all sides plunged into several mountain ranges in Shanxi.

Wang Ziyong, Tuo Yangkun, Zhang Yingjin, and others led their remaining troops into the towering mountains of the Taihang Mountains, where they played hide-and-seek with the government troops.

Luo Rucai and Zhang Yichuan led their troops back to Jinzhong and infiltrated the Taiyue Mountains near Qinzhou, where they used the complex terrain to outmaneuver the government troops.

Meanwhile, Gao Yingxiang and his men led their elite troops back to southeastern Shanxi, hiding in the deep mountains and forests of Yangcheng and Zezhou to evade the champion's pursuit and wait for an opportunity to strike.

Wang Ziyong's idea was good, and the various rebel armies were also experienced guerrilla fighters, but they couldn't withstand the arrival of winter, and the mountains were simply uninhabitable.

It was only early November, but the biting cold wind had already blown into the mountains, freezing the rebels like frostbite.

They had fled from the battlefield in a panic, with most of their food and supplies burned. Many of them were still wearing straw sandals and thin clothes, and they couldn't withstand the sudden drop in temperature in the mountains.

Under the combined pressure of hunger and cold, non-combat casualties among the rebel army increased dramatically. Countless soldiers froze to death, starved to death, and died of disease. The casualties were so severe that they even exceeded the losses in direct confrontations with the government troops.

On the other hand, according to custom, the government troops would cease their operations after the snow fell in the mountains, temporarily halting their campaign to suppress the bandits, and making further plans in the spring of the following year.

Just as Hong Chengchou was deploying government troops to repair and strengthen defenses, a group of arrogant eunuchs suddenly arrived from the direction of the capital.

These angels and courtiers, each carrying a royal mandate, parachuted into the camps of various bandit-suppressing government troops.

It turned out that Emperor Chongzhen, far away in the capital, saw that the various civil and military officials in charge of suppressing the bandits at the front were arguing and shirking their responsibilities. Fearing that the grand plan to suppress the bandits would go wrong, he immediately sent palace eunuchs to the front to supervise the army.

Although Emperor Chongzhen trusted Hong Chengchou, as an emperor, he was destined not to trust his ministers completely.

Whether it was the Donglin Party members who clamored for the "execution of the eunuch faction" or Governor Yuan who repeatedly proclaimed "pacifying Liaodong in five years," without exception, they all severely betrayed Chongzhen's trust.

Having learned from these past mistakes, Chongzhen became increasingly suspicious and eventually followed in his brother's footsteps, sending eunuchs to supervise foreign officials.

Hong Chengchou received an imperial edict, which was sternly worded, ordering him to completely wipe out Wang Jiayin's remaining followers who were entrenched in Shanxi and Henan before the beginning of spring.

When the emperor opens his mouth, his ministers run themselves ragged.

Upon receiving this imperial edict, Hong Chengchou dared not be negligent in the slightest.

Yang He, the previous governor of the three border regions who failed to suppress bandits, had already been exiled to Yuanzhou by Emperor Chongzhen. He did not want to repeat the same mistake.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou immediately convened his generals to discuss and plan the encirclement and suppression of Wang Jiayin's remaining forces.

At the end of November, the main forces of several government armies poured out, braving the biting cold wind, and launched an even more frantic pursuit and suppression of the various rebel armies in the deep mountains.

In the direction of the Taihang Mountains, Hong Chengchou wrote to the imperial court, ordering Lu Xiangsheng to mobilize all his elite troops to encircle the area from the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains, and to drive out the bandit troops of Wang Ziyong, Tuo Yangkun and others who were entrenched in the mountains and force them into the pre-arranged encirclement.

In the direction of Taiyue Mountain in Jinzhong, veteran generals such as Zhang Yingchang and He Renlong led 8,000 Qin soldiers, like a comb, inch by inch, deep into the heart of the mountain to search for the hidden forces of Luo Rucai, Zhang Yichuan, and others.

As for the southeastern Shanxi region, Hong Chengchou personally took charge, mobilizing a large force to launch a sweeping crackdown on Gao Yingxiang and his troops who were hiding there.

The rebels in the mountains were already shivering from the cold and starving, and they were eagerly hoping that the heavy snow would close the mountains and the government troops would have a few days of peace.

But for some reason, these government troops insisted on going into the mountains to kill them, even in the bitter cold and through knee-deep snow.

In an instant, flames of war broke out in the Taihang Mountains, Taiyue Mountains and other places, and the originally snow-covered mountain areas were turned into chaos by the government troops searching the mountains.

Even Zhang Xianzhong, Ma Shouying, and others who were hiding deep in the Wangwu Mountains were forcibly driven out of their lair and fled for their lives in a panic.

The various rebel armies were in dire straits. Under the encirclement and suppression of the government troops, their space for maneuver was repeatedly compressed, leaving them with virtually no way to escape.

Seeing his brothers suffering increasingly heavy casualties, Wang Ziyong, as the leader of the alliance, was so worried that he couldn't even eat.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and came up with a desperate solution—a feigned surrender!
Inside the commander's tent, the oil lamp flickered dimly, casting a suffocatingly oppressive atmosphere.

As soon as Wang Ziyong proposed the idea of ​​feigning surrender, Gao Yingxiang abruptly stood up and voiced his opposition:
"Prime Minister, this plan is probably not advisable!"

"Who doesn't know who Hong Chengchou is?"

"That bastard's reputation for slaughtering those who surrender has already spread throughout Shanxi and Shaanxi. Even if we are feigning surrender, we will probably not escape the executioner's blade!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Rucai, who was inside the tent, also stepped forward and said in a deep voice:
"Alliance Leader, please reconsider! Hong Chengchou is cunning and ruthless."

"A feigned surrender is too risky. What if Hong Chengchou takes advantage of us laying down our weapons and slaughters us?"

He stroked his sparse beard, his brows furrowed, clearly showing extreme fear of Hong Chengchou.

On the other side, Zhang Xianzhong also looked worried and said in a muffled voice:
“During the Battle of Hancheng, Wang Zuogua easily trusted Hong Chengchou, and as a result, he was killed by him.”

"That Hong the Barber is a liar; we must never surrender to him!"

The generals in the tent nodded in agreement, and a flurry of discussion ensued, clearly showing their deep fear of Hong Chengchou's infamous reputation and cruel methods.

These men, who risked their lives on the edge of a knife, were not afraid to die on the battlefield, but they were afraid of dying a pathetic and unjust death.

Wang Ziyong looked around at everyone and shook his head:

"Brothers, please calm down. I never said that I would surrender to that scoundrel Hong Chengchou."

"The army I'm planning to contact is the government troops on the other side of the Yellow River!"

Upon hearing this, the tent fell silent. Everyone looked at each other, filled with doubt.

Seeing this, Wang Ziyong continued to explain:
"For the past two months, we have been hiding and dealing with various government troops."

“I have observed carefully and discovered a peculiar phenomenon.” “The government troops in Shanxi and Shaanxi, whether they are border troops or garrison troops, are incredibly fierce when they fight us.”

"But one particular group of soldiers was out of place; they were clearly just going through the motions."

"Which army?" Everyone's eyes lit up, and they quickly asked.

Wang Ziyong's lips curled into a cold smile, and he said in a deep voice:
"It is the government troops stationed on the north bank of the Yellow River, in the Mengjindu area."

“A few days ago, the scouts I sent out brought back definite news that this is a force of about five thousand Beijing garrison soldiers led by Wang Pu, the deputy general of the Beijing garrison.”

"We can fight our way to Mengjin Ferry and retreat as we go. When the time comes, we can send people across the river to pretend to surrender to Wang Pu and offer them gold and silver treasures to lull them into a false sense of security."

"As long as the government troops lower their guard, we can find a way to cross the river."

Gao Yingxiang was still somewhat uneasy after hearing this:
"The commander-in-chief of this encirclement and suppression campaign is Hong Chengchou. What if he bypasses Wang Pu and orders us to surrender directly to him?"

Wang Ziyong shook his head:
"Probably not. I've found out that Hong Chengchou is the military commander of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces."

“Wang Pu commands the Beijing Garrison, which is the Emperor’s army. Hong Chengchou shouldn’t dare to bypass Wang Pu, right?”

His eyes narrowed, and he continued to add...
"If all else fails, we'll just stall. If we can stall for ten days or so, the Yellow River should be completely frozen."

"Then we will be able to cross the ice and head straight for the heart of the Central Plains."

Wang Ziyong had a keen eye and successfully found the easy target among a group of elite troops.

The Beijing garrison on the opposite bank of the Yellow River was the easiest to breach among the various armies.

This Beijing garrison not only had a complex composition, but also extremely low-quality soldiers.

Of the 5,000 soldiers in the Beijing garrison, most were old, weak, sick, or disabled men temporarily conscripted from the vicinity of the capital. Their armor was incomplete and their weapons were rusted, so they were jokingly referred to as "beggar soldiers" by the border troops.

The remaining small portion consisted of sons of nobles and dignitaries from various dukes and earls in the capital.

These young masters only know how to eat, drink, and be merry, indulging in debauchery, cockfighting, and dog racing—they do whatever they please.

He was forced into the army by his elders, ostensibly to suppress bandits, but in reality to gain prestige. He hoped to earn some minor military merits by following Hong Chengchou so that he could inherit a title when he returned.

In the early years of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, the Beijing Garrison became a place where Ming Dynasty nobles lined their own pockets and received salaries without working.

Take Wang Pu's battalion as an example. On paper, it had five thousand men, but in reality, less than a thousand were actually in the camp. The rest became silver in the pockets of nobles.

Later, the emperor issued an edict to reorganize the system and ordered the Beijing garrison to participate in the bandit suppression campaign.

These nobles panicked and began arresting starving people, beggars, and street ruffians all over the capital, stuffing them into the army to make up the numbers.

On the other hand, they also incorporated their own sons, servants, and guards into the army, ostensibly to share the emperor's burdens, but in reality, they just wanted to gain some merit to report back.

The combat effectiveness of such a force is self-evident.

In previous encounters with bandits, this imperial garrison had even collapsed before the battle even began.

Upon hearing the bandits' shouts of battle, these old soldiers and the weak and disabled below turned tail and ran, almost allowing the bandits to break through their encirclement.

Fortunately, friendly forces from nearby arrived in time, which repelled the bandits and saved these good-for-nothings.

Even if Hong Chengchou was shrewd and capable, he had no way to deal with such a force.

After all, these people were all sons of noble families who shared the fate of the country. If a few of them were killed by the rebel soldiers, Hong Chengchou would have a hard time explaining it to the emperor.

These sons of noble families didn't take Hong Chengchou, the governor-general of the three border regions, seriously at all.

War? What kind of war?

Why should we, the pampered young masters, have to fight like those peasant soldiers from the border towns, battling bandits in the freezing cold?
What a joke!
The battles that we men were supposed to fight were already fought for us by our ancestors, when they followed Emperor Taizu to establish the dynasty and Emperor Chengzu to raise an army to quell the rebellion!
Want us to wipe out bandits? Dream on.

Hong Chengchou was well aware of the character of these arrogant soldiers and didn't bother to waste his breath on them.

With a wave of his hand, he placed them all on the north bank of the Yellow River, far from the main battlefield, at the Mengjin ferry crossing, ostensibly to guard the strategic pass and prevent thieves from crossing the river.

In reality, it's just a matter of out of sight, out of mind. I just hope these old men won't wander around in front of me and cause trouble.

To be on the safe side, he also specially arranged for Xuan Mo, the governor of Henan, and Zuo Liangyu, who had just been transferred, to be stationed at the ferry crossing to assist in the defense and act as a shield for these old lord soldiers.

Hong Chengchou himself led his seasoned and hardworking border troops in a relentless pursuit of various rebel armies within Shanxi Province.

Wang Ziyong astutely discovered this flaw and ultimately succeeded in persuading the various leaders in the tent.

There's no other way but to try anything, since there really isn't any chance of a breakthrough right now.

Hong Chengchou and his Qin soldiers put immense pressure on the rebel army.

Rather than waiting to die, it's better to take this risky move; perhaps it will offer a glimmer of hope.

As a result, leaders of all ranks responded to the call, reluctantly taking out their most treasured possessions and piecing together over thirty boxes of gold and silver jewelry.

Subsequently, Wang Ziyong dispatched a group of trusted confidants with some gold and silver to secretly contact Wang Pu on the other side of the Yellow River, earnestly expressing their willingness to surrender to the imperial court.

When Wang Pu heard that the bandits had offered to surrender and even presented him with generous gifts, he was overjoyed.

He accepted the bandits' gift without hesitation, and then, with a wave of his hand, sent a messenger on horseback to inform the frontline commander-in-chief, Hong Chengchou, of the bandits' surrender.

Upon hearing this, Hong Chengchou, who was stationed in Zezhou, sneered repeatedly.

Having dealt with rebels for so many years, he was intimately familiar with their tactics of feigning surrender.

If they hadn't been truly driven to the brink of despair and had no other way out, would these unruly people have laid down their weapons and surrendered on their knees?

Even a fool would know that it's absolutely impossible!

However, Hong Chengchou thought again that since these rebels wanted to surrender, he could go with the flow and agree to it first.

Regardless of whether it's true or not, just slaughter all these people to save the court from wasting food and settling these troublemakers.

At that time, the banditry that had plagued the court for years would be largely quelled.

This would free up his hands so he could focus on dealing with the notorious bandit Shangshanhu, who was entrenched in Shanzhou.

(End of this chapter)