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

Chapter 60 Breaking the Siege of Anse City and Yan'an Prefecture
On Jiang Han's side, after successfully repelling Wu Ze's troops, the soldiers finally breathed a sigh of relief and had a good night's rest.

The next day at noon, Jiang Han ordered the entire army to pack their belongings, take the captured supplies, and prepare to return to Majia Village.

Upon receiving the order, Dong Erzhu and the others were taken aback and approached with puzzled expressions, asking:

"Second Brother Han, why are we going back?"

“Wangzhuang has city walls for protection, farmland for cultivation, and places to hide soldiers. Why don’t we set up camp here?”

Jiang Han sighed, looking at Wangzhuang with eyes full of regret:

"Do you think I don't want to occupy this territory?"

"This place is good, but it's too close to the border wall. The border troops from Ningxia Town and Guyuan Town can rush over along the border wall at any time."

"At that time, tens of thousands of border troops will surround us, and we won't be able to escape even if we want to."

"How many people do you think these city walls can hold back?"

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized what was going on and quickly began packing their belongings, loading all the captured grain, weapons, and other supplies onto the carts.

The group left Wangzhuang in a grand procession and headed towards Majia Village.

When the army arrived at Majia Village, Jiang Han was still taken aback by the scene before him, even though he was mentally prepared.

The once bustling village is now a scorched wasteland, with corpses scattered among the broken walls and a pungent, burnt smell permeating the air.

Amid the ruins, some tax collectors in official robes were still ransacking the place, greedily plundering the remaining valuables.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Han was furious and immediately ordered Hei Zi to lead his men forward and arrest all the tax collectors.

After being subjected to severe torture, Jiang Han finally learned what had happened yesterday.

"It really was a trap!"

Jiang Han gritted his teeth and slammed his fist on the earthen wall beside him.
"First, they sent men to use Wangzhuang as bait to lure us in; then they had the border troops of the Jingbian Camp hide in Wangzhuang to create the illusion of a weak defense; thus deceiving us into attacking."

"While we were attacking Wangzhuang, they sent troops to capture Majiacun, and then headed north to try to annihilate us in one fell swoop."

"Who came up with this insidious idea? Zhang Nian?"

Seeing this, Li Laowai, who was standing nearby, quickly stepped forward to comfort him:

"This was really dangerous; we almost got surrounded and killed."

"But Lord Jiang, if you do the math, we've really made a fortune on this trip."

"The government troops never expected that we could take Wangzhuang so quickly and even kill many of their people. No matter how you look at it, we have gained more."

Jiang Han nodded. He knew he had made a huge profit, but it was a pity for the people of Majia Village.

Li Laowai, standing to the side, shrugged:

"There's nothing to regret. These are the people of the Ming Dynasty, not ours. The more ruthless the government troops and tax collectors are, the easier it is for us to act, isn't it?"

"They can only blame their bad luck; they were born in a year of great disaster and had to deal with such an emperor."

Li Laowai pointed at the group of tax collectors in front of him, sneering repeatedly.
"Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, which dynasty in northern Shaanxi has not suffered from disasters?"

"But after a disaster, which emperor didn't reduce or exempt some taxes as appropriate?"

"Only our new emperor! Not only does he not reduce taxes, but he keeps increasing them. Isn't he blatantly trying to drive us Qin people to our deaths?"

Jiang Han shook his head, saying nothing more, but simply ordered Li Laowai to drag all the tax collectors away and behead them. At this moment, Shao Yong, who was standing nearby, came over again:
"Lord Jiang, those tax collectors just confessed that yesterday the government troops caught a petty thief in Majia Village and brought him back to Yan'an Prefecture."

"This kid is most likely Yu Chengye. What do we do next?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han frowned, pondered for a moment, and then asked:
"Did they give an account of how many of the remaining soldiers followed Wu Ze back?"

Shao Yong nodded and replied:
"About seven or eight hundred men, that's probably all the troops left in Yan'an Guard."

"A full-strength garrison has no more than 5,600 men. The officers in the Yan'an Garrison are definitely drawing salaries without working. The actual number should be around 4,000."

"The number of surrendered soldiers we captured yesterday was roughly the same."

Jiang Han snorted coldly after hearing this:
"They really think highly of me, mobilizing the entire garrison's troops. Aren't they afraid someone will take advantage of the situation and steal the city?"

"Now that the Yan'an Guard's troops are almost wiped out, I want to see how they'll defend the city!"

Jiang Han waved his hand.
"Let's go! Take all the troops, attack Ansai first, then besiege Yan'an!"

After the Battle of Wangzhuang, Jiang Han's army now numbers over three thousand, all border troops, whose fighting strength is beyond question.

The team led by Dong Erzhu and his platoon leaders also increased from more than two hundred to six hundred people.

Taking Ansai County would be a piece of cake.

Jiang Han led his three thousand troops and marched menacingly toward Anse County.

When the news reached the county seat, Sun Xiuyuan, the magistrate of Ansai County, was so frightened that he was terrified and restless.

The previous magistrate of Ansai County had just been beheaded by Gao Yingxiang, the rebel leader. He had only been in office for less than two years when Jiang Han suddenly appeared.
Sun Xiuyuan was sweating profusely with anxiety and hurriedly instructed the county magistrate:
"Quickly! Send someone to report to Yan'an Prefecture and order the prefect to immediately mobilize the Imperial Guard to suppress the bandits!"

"Immediately summon the archers and constables from the patrol office to block all the city gates. We absolutely cannot let these rebels break in!"

"Also, quickly send men to the city to conscript militia, open the armory, and drag all those who can carry knives to the city wall!"

Logically speaking, Sun Xiuyuan's arrangements weren't bad, but unfortunately, his subordinates were simply incompetent.

Seventy to eighty percent of the Yan'an Guard troops who were closest to the city had been killed, and the remaining remnants were hiding in their garrisons, not daring to show their faces at all.

When the archers and constables of the city heard the news that the rebel army was coming, they were so frightened that their legs went weak. They had no intention of defending the city.
As for the militia? You're kidding. After years of disasters, less than one in ten people around Ansai survived. Where would we find militia to recruit?
Jiang Han led more than 3,000 border troops and captured the entire county town almost without bloodshed.

Sun Xiuyuan, the magistrate of Ansai County, refused to surrender and set himself on fire.

Jiang Han was also taken aback when he heard the news.

The officials of the Ming Dynasty were mostly incompetent, and all they knew how to do was prey on the people.

But when faced with a life-or-death situation, they suddenly become loyal to the emperor and patriots, preferring death to surrender, which is truly strange.

After capturing Anse City, Jiang Han pressed on relentlessly, his troops advancing straight towards Yan'an Prefecture.
The three thousand-strong army marched south along the Yan River and arrived at the north gate of Yan'an Prefecture, outside the Anding Gate, in less than half a day.

Jiang Han stood across the Yan River, gazing at the city gate before him, and began to ponder how to breach the city with minimal cost.

Meanwhile, Yan'an Prefecture was in a state of high alert, with the city gates tightly closed and many guards standing on the walls, ready for battle.

However, these guards looked at the thousands of troops outside the city and were somewhat timid, obviously having been frightened by the attack last night, and only dared to hide inside the city walls.

(The north gate of Yan'an Prefecture is Andingmen; outside is the moat, Yanhe River; you can see the square barbican in the middle, as well as the corner towers on both sides of the city wall.)
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(End of this chapter)