Late Ming Dynasty: Starting with the overthrow of the county magistrate, a rebellion was launched to

When General Zhang rescued Wu Lian'er, who was covered in blood and completely naked, from the bathtub, let's rewind a few days and shift our perspective to the gate of the Wugang camp.

The weather was terrible then, with torrential rain every day.

However, this did not dampen the good mood of Huang Chaoxuan, the military commander of Huguang—at least not before he received the proclamation sent by Yang Sichang.

At this moment, Huang Chaoxuan was originally leaning against the pear wood chair in the central command tent, but after casually glancing at a proclamation handed to him by a personal guard, he immediately became so frightened that he could not sit still.

"Damn Yang Sichang! What have I ever done to offend him? How dare he cause me such trouble! I'm no match for Zhang Xianzhong!"

Huang Chaoxuan was originally a bandit leader in Wugang, Baoqing Prefecture. In the eighth year of Chongzhen's reign, he was recruited by the Huguang government and bribed his superiors with the gold and silver he had looted. That's how he managed to get the position of Assistant General under the Hunan General and was stationed in Wugang.

Wugang is great! All these years he has been guarding Wugang, embezzling rations and hoarding grain, living a carefree life. Why would he want to go to Yunxiang to die this time?

What's Yang Sichang's temper like? What should I do if I don't go to him? He won't just focus on suppressing Zhang Xianzhong and come after me, will he?

Huang Chaoxuan was anxious, angry, and somewhat fearful. Just as he was about to burst into curses, a personal guard took the proclamation, read it, and quickly reminded him...

"General, please don't worry. Look more closely... The urgent proclamation from the governor's office doesn't seem to be targeting Zhang Xianzhong. It should be someone else, who also seems to be surnamed Zhang!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Chaoxuan's hope was rekindled. He snatched the proclamation from his personal guard and began to read it carefully.

"By imperial decree, Song, Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Provincial Administration Commission of Huguang and other places, and Governor and Military Commander of Huguang and other places, was ordered to suppress the rebels: It has been discovered that the rebel Zhang Da has killed officials and occupied cities, committing heinous crimes..."

Huang Chaoxuan was an extremely obese man. The fat piled up on his face made his eyes look very small, so he didn't seem to be used to reading court documents. Whenever he came across a crucial part, he had to rub his eyes hard to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

After Huang Chaoxuan squinted his triangular eyes and finished reading word by word, he let out a rough "good!" and then burst into laughter.

"I suppose this year will be my turn, Huang Chaoxuan, to soar to great heights!"

After all, the five hundred Wugang soldiers under his command were his old troops, and these soldiers, including Huang Chaoxuan, didn't even know what they were fighting for. They were only good at suppressing bandits. If it weren't for the lack of troops in the heart of Huguang, and the fact that there were no other troops available besides his own, he really wouldn't have had a chance.

"As expected of someone from the capital, Lord Yang is truly a remarkable man. I remember I didn't bribe him, but it's alright! After we've wiped out the bandits and made our fortune, we'll definitely thank him properly when we get back."

The thought of the entire granary and treasury of Baoqing Prefecture belonging to him in the future, and the women in the city helplessly stripping off their clothes to please him in their desperate need to survive...

Huang Chaoxuan's chubby, round face flushed slightly.

"Gather the troops! We will set off for Shaoyang at dawn tomorrow! Send the order to the brothers below: After the city falls, capture or kill Zhang Da, and the reward will be fifty taels of silver and twenty acres of fertile land! Brothers under your command, within three days, you may take any wealth and women from the rebel Zhang Da's mansion!"

After uttering this statement with boundless pride, he turned and grabbed the deputy sentry officer beside him, lowering his voice to add...

"Just between us and the brothers, if we can take the city, I need three days to treat my eye ailment."

The deputy sentry understood immediately, bowed in agreement, and turned to go out of the tent to muster the troops. Soon, shouts and laughter from the soldiers rose and fell outside the tent, sounding particularly jarring in the rain...

The next day at dawn, the rain in Wugang subsided slightly, but the sky remained overcast. Five hundred soldiers from the Wugang Fubiao Battalion lined up at the front, each clad in mismatched armor, long spears slung across their shoulders, copper coins stuffed into the gaps in their armor, wine jugs and dried meat hanging from their waists, their faces bearing arrogant smiles.

How can one not laugh when one can indulge in eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, burning, killing, and looting?

The rear column of a thousand men presented a different picture—two hundred old and weak soldiers from each of the Changsha and Hengzhou garrisons were assigned to escort grain and guard the camp, while the remaining six hundred were militiamen temporarily conscripted to fill trenches and erect ladders.

These thousands of people were emaciated, dressed in tattered clothes, and their "weapons" were all mixed up and disorganized, making them look like beggars.

Huang Chaoxuan, riding a well-fed black horse, frowned deeply upon seeing this scene and began to curse the garrison commander.

"Damn it, are you leading soldiers or beggars? What if they starve to death before we even reach Shaoyang?"

The centurion was in great distress and quickly bowed to explain.

"General, please calm down. The garrison's rations and pay haven't been issued for three years. The brothers are surviving by digging for wild vegetables and cultivating barren land. Gathering two hundred men is already the limit. The militia were also recruited by going door to door, and they are all starving. They are only relying on this battle to try and survive."

……

Huang Chaoxuan choked, his face twitching. He suddenly realized that it was because he had drunk too much of the soldiers' blood that this had happened. For a moment, he didn't know how to react, so he could only snort coldly and ignore the matter for the time being.

"Forget it, let's set off! If we're too late, all the wealth and women of Shaoyang will be snatched away by others!"

Sigh, it's been a long time since we've fought a war. The garrison troops and militia have become expendable. The real fighting force still depends on our own 500 battalions.

The army marched onto the official road in a grand procession. The soldiers of Wugang rode their horses in the middle of the road, occasionally whipping the garrison soldiers and militiamen beside them with their whips to urge them to hurry up.

The soldiers in the garrison were starving and freezing. Those who could not walk were dragged aside by the sentry officers and beaten. Some were simply thrown on the roadside to fend for themselves. The militia were even worse off. If they were even slightly slow, they would be whipped until their skin was torn and bleeding. The bloodstains in the mud were washed away by the rain and quickly covered by new mud.

When they arrived at Hengshan Town in Hengzhou Prefecture—a wealthy market town in central Hunan—Huang Chaoxuan raised his hand to signal a brief halt. He sent only a hundred soldiers into the town to plunder grain and fodder. Some soldiers even carried the women they had robbed, laughing heartily on horseback.

Finally, when the army reached the outskirts of Hengzhou Prefecture, a scout from Zhou Fengqi, the deputy general of Yunxiang, rode up in light armor, turned and bowed to deliver the message.

"My lord, Vice General Zhou has led 500 light cavalry to garrison at Longshan Pass. He has ordered his men to deliver a message: the rebels in Shaoyang have adopted a scorched-earth policy, and the area outside the prefecture is heavily fortified with trenches. He requests that you advance your troops immediately. The vice general has already dispatched scouts to investigate the movements at the north gate and to guard against any breakout by the rebels."

Hearing this, Huang Chaoxuan, who had been marching for days, felt somewhat relieved. Zhou Fengqi's Yunxiang light cavalry were based on border troops and had decent combat strength. Although they were stationed at Longshan Pass and only responsible for patrolling, it was still good. It would prevent Huang from stealing the credit and save Huang from worrying about breaking through.

The traitors can't escape!

Overjoyed, he took out ten taels of silver and rewarded the scout, saying casually...

"Go back and tell Deputy General Zhou that I will arrive in Shaoyang in three days and immediately launch an attack on the city for a swift victory!"

However, the journey of these three days was far more difficult than expected. Central Hunan is mountainous, and the official roads are rugged. The autumn rains in September were incessant, so the soldiers could only move stones to fill the road, stopping and starting along the way. In the villages along the way, nine out of ten houses were empty, and the crops were all burned, leaving only charred straw.

When the army finally reached the border of Baoqing Prefecture, they saw several deep trenches lying across the middle of the official road. They were ten feet wide and two feet deep, filled with turbid mud and water and sharpened hardwood. The sharp points pointed upwards and gleamed coldly under the dark clouds. They stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Oh ho, this lowly peasant actually knows these things. Could he perhaps be a true master?"

Huang Chaoxuan reined in his horse and gazed at the deep moat, feeling quite intrigued.

"Otherwise, how could this person have taken over such a large county as Shaoyang?"

Huang Chaoxuan ignored his adjutant's reply and began shouting to the messenger beside him.

"What are you standing there for? Quickly get the militia to fill the ditch! Anyone who slacks off will be thrown into the ditch to be fed with sharp logs!"

The garrison commander dared not disobey and hurriedly ordered the sentry officer to drive the militia to the edge of the ditch. Thus, those poor militia were driven to the edge of the ditch and dug mud to fill it with their bare hands.

The autumn rain lashed against them, chilling them to the bone. Their fingers were pierced by sharp pieces of wood, drawing blood, and the muddy water clung to their wounds, causing excruciating pain. It took a full half-day to fill the trench, and of the six hundred militiamen, few were dead, but many were wounded. They all sighed and lamented, their morale low.

Another day passed, and as dusk fell, Huang Chaoxuan's army finally reached the territory of Shaoyang and joined up with the scouts sent by Zhou Fengqi.

At the Longshan Pass, Zhou Fengqi's five hundred light cavalry were on high alert, sending out scouts to relay messages but not daring to approach the city wall.

Huang Chaoxuan immediately ordered a camp to be set up outside the city, and sent scouts into the city to investigate.

After nightfall, the scouts finally reported back to their guide.

"Commander, there is not a single person or soldier outside Shaoyang City. All the timber, stones, and grain have been transported back into the city. The city wall of the East Gate has been raised and thickened, and the battlements have been covered with bricks and stones. A moat ten feet deep has been dug at the base of the wall and filled with water."

There were over a thousand able-bodied men inside the city, training daily on the city walls, their battle cries deafening. The walls were covered with flags bearing the character "Ming," indicating high morale. As for the specific objects on the walls, it was unclear, but there seemed to be three old yaksha (demon) logs, and mostly simple rolling logs. I also saw some old three-barreled guns as ranged weapons.

"broken"

This was Huang Chaoxuan's first reaction upon hearing the intelligence report.

If the scout wasn't mistaken because of the darkness... then Shaoyang County could indeed be described as impenetrable, making it quite difficult to conquer.

"How about we try to persuade them to surrender first?"

In fact, throughout history, most generals preparing to attack a city have always tried to persuade the enemy to surrender as their first step. Huang Chaoxuan should have done the same when he arrived at the gates of Shaoyang County, but perhaps his inherent arrogance made him look down on the peasant named Zhang Da in the county and he didn't consider this option...

However, just as Huang Chaoxuan was about to put on his armor and have a chat with Zhang Da, the county magistrate, when he suddenly noticed the scout's hesitant expression, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Hmm? What else is it? Tell me quickly!"

"My lord, when I was gathering information, the rebel Zhang Da discovered me and asked me to bring you a letter."

Huang Chaoxuan took the letter with his chubby hand.

He knew that the letter mostly contained righteous and forceful rejections, but human curiosity is always strong, so he opened it regardless.

The note was opened, but there was no letter inside, so naturally there were no words of righteous indignation or scathing insults directed at family members.

The only thing there was a clump of brownish-yellow filth mixed with grass clippings; a strong, foul stench instantly filled the air, assaulting the nostrils.