Volume 4 Chapter 34 Earth Ridge
Before dawn, Zhang Xian's troops, the vanguard of Yue Fei's imperial camp, entered Yijin Township in the north of Xingguo County, Qianzhou. Then the entire army dismounted and took advantage of the night to seize an unnamed red soil ridge between Yijin Township and Xingguo County, near Pingjiang, and deployed defenses on the spot.
It is said that Yue Fei's troops crossed the Fushe Mountain from Jizhou (later Ji'an) in the northwest, and then went south along the Pingjiang River.
Considering the incident a few months ago when Yue Fei set up his base in Jizhou and asked for grain from Fuzhou, some people might think that Yue Fei had been keeping his troops in Jizhou for the past two or three months.
But in fact, during the past two months, the vanguard of Yue Fei's imperial camp successively left Qianzhou, crossed the Five Ridges, entered Guangnan East Road, then turned into Guangnan West Road, entered Guizhou, and joined forces with Wu Min to cross the Five Ridges from south to north, and then arrived at Yongzhou on Jinghu South Road, and then left Guiyang Prison from Yongzhou and returned to Jizhou.
In other words, Yue Fei did not wait in Jizhou for more than two months without doing anything. Instead, he made a big circle around the entire Wuling area, broke through the Nanling Mountains twice, and fought in more than a dozen prefectures and military stations in Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Guangxi. He just "happened" to return to Jizhou in the end.
And this certainly works.
It must be understood that those bandits who occupied various places in the Five Ridges mostly relied on geographical advantages and the so-called miasma of the Nanling Mountains. However, these things seemed so vulnerable under the strict discipline, grand and rigorous tactical arrangements, and calm and proper logistical control of Yue Fei's troops.
As a result, after this round, not only the well-known Qian thief, but also the rest of the Miao villages and bandits were driven out of the Nanling Mountains by Yue Fei like ducks... At this moment, more than 400 bandits, rebel villages, and military thieves who had lost their bases, under the call of some big leaders, gathered in Xingguo, with a total of more than 100,000 troops, and were forced to fight a decisive battle with the front army of the imperial camp.
However, more than 400 heroes, hundreds of thousands of people, finally gathered together. They were beheading each other and becoming sworn brothers, forming gangs and choosing leaders, fighting for control of villages and water sources, and fighting for loose property. They had no idea that Yue Fei had already led the main force back and passed Fusi Mountain.
At daybreak, the more than 400 heroes were even more shocked to find that the high ground on the north side of the plain had been occupied by the government troops. The flags of the Song Dynasty government troops, including the large flag with the word Zhang that they had been familiar with for the past two months, had already been flying on the red soil ridge.
Faced with the sudden military pressure, panic began to spread. Some people tried to escape, but with more than 400 rebels gathered, how could they find a proper retreat route? Some people tried to launch a surprise attack, but again, with more than 400 rebels gathered, how could they mobilize troops?
You must know that among these more than 400 rebel armies, there are some prestigious leaders, such as Li Dunren from Qianzhou, Li Dongtian who was chased from Jizhou by Yue Fei, and Peng Tieda who was originally the king of Jinghu South Road and was chased all the way from Hunan by Yue Fei... These groups have more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, and the following people such as Chen Yong, Zhong Chao, Lu Tian, Zhun Daya, Liu Badawu, Xie Bao, Xie Da and so on are also well-known bandits in the Wuling area, each with more than a thousand soldiers and horses.
But no matter how famous or powerful they are, what can they do in this situation? You know, they have been making trouble for many days, but they haven't even found a leader.
In the chaos, Li Dongtian and Peng Tieda, two big leaders in the north of the city, were forcibly carried by the heroes to the foot of the mountain, where they raised flags, built a straw hut, set up several tables, killed a cat, stewed a snake, and served wine. During this time, tens of thousands of troops gathered under the leadership of the heroes, but they were still unable to move forward... They wanted to dispatch their own troops, but they didn't know where to mobilize them from. They wanted to send the rest of the heroes stationed in the north of the city to go up together, but they only heard countless complaints. Everyone said that Zhang Xian was powerful and occupied the mountain. They were from small mountain villages and had no complete weapons and armor. Going up would only lead to their deaths, which would destroy their morale.
In the end, the two kings Li and Peng were so angry that they stamped their feet repeatedly, holding realgar wine and shouting that there was no real hero at the moment.
But, you know what, among the more than 400 heroes, there are all kinds of people, and there must be some who are not afraid of death. Since Li and Peng cursed like this, there must be someone who can't stand the provocation. In the morning, a group of heroes from the Yongzhou mountain area of Jinghu South Road, only 300 to 400 people, actually took the initiative to launch a surprise attack on Wuming Hongtuling without any support, led by their own leader.
There were three or four hundred people, half of them were Miao and half were Han. The Miao people could still speak Chinese and the Han people were still rough in temperament, so it was impossible to tell who was Han and who was Miao.
It was the height of summer, and the strong ones were mostly wearing leather armor, holding knives and forks in front, while the unarmored ones in the back were mostly shirtless, holding bows in the back. There were even Miao girls wearing silver headdresses and holding scimitars, shouting and giving orders at the back, while dancing and praying... This was a typical Nanling mountain village model, and not surprising at all.
The only difference was that the leader was more than eight feet tall. He was wearing a loose iron armor that didn't fit him well, an iron helmet that he had found from somewhere, and holding a large iron spear. He was leaning forward in front of everyone, which was really amazing.
As this man started to climb up, King Li Dongtian patted his knees with a glass of wine in his hand and said to the leaders around him that this man had the bravery of Zhao Zilong and would definitely succeed... This led to the other heroes flattering him while imitating King Peng and pouting.
As for Zhang Xian's unit which was attacked head-on by this small armed force, they were in a high position and had seen this group of "heroes" early on, but they did not care. Instead, they watched and laughed on the mountain... This cannot be said that they underestimated the enemy. After fighting with these Nanling "heroes" many times, they already knew the characteristics of these people. They were not afraid of death and were brave, but they were poorly equipped and had no organization or discipline.
According to their experience, if they get close to them and fire a few rounds at full speed, they will be able to defeat the attack.
This was also correct. After a moment, seeing the feint-attack group approaching, Zhang Xian's general Han Shunfu immediately commanded a counterattack. For a moment, bows and crossbows were fired, and arrows rained down. The reckless "heroes" were immediately defeated and retreated. The leading iron-clad man had several arrows pierced through the armor on his back, and he and the surrounding group of people fell into the bushes and could not get up. It seemed that they were shot to death on the spot. As for Miao Gu, who was commanding the battle in the rear, she was so angry that she threw away the knife in her hand, and stopped shouting and jumping. She just squatted there wiping her tears.
The victory was easy, and the government troops did not go down to clean up the battlefield. It was obvious that they knew the difference in numbers and just wanted to defend this nameless red soil ridge.
"What a pity for such a good man that I didn't even get to ask his name." In the tent at the foot of the mountain, it was King Peng Tieda's turn to pat his knees repeatedly.
"You are so reckless that you can't be considered a real hero." Li Dongtian Li Da Wang had a different opinion, as if it was not him who had just praised Zhao Zilong as his reincarnation.
Peng Tieda was disdainful when he heard this, but he simply turned around and called his confidant: "Take 20 pieces of cloth and 100 strings of money and send them to the Miao girl in this hero's family, so that she can find another strong son-in-law like him."
King Peng's generosity immediately attracted enthusiastic praise from the leaders of the surrounding small villages, which temporarily suppressed King Li's momentum, as if King Li, who also gave out twenty pieces of cloth, was stingy.
However, at this moment, something miraculous happened.
The Song army won the victory easily, and seeing that the bandit leaders below were busy and no longer probing, they relaxed their vigilance, and the general Han Shunfu in front of them simply ordered the troops to bury the pots and cook in preparation for the upcoming battle . But at this time, in the eyes of a few sharp-eyed heroes at the foot of the mountain, the leader who was not sure whether he was a Miao or a Han was just faking his death, and had already crawled up the mountain again. Not only that, more than a dozen "heroes" around him who were similar to personal guards also followed suit, but took advantage of the slackness of the Song army above and suddenly rose up again.
A moment later, with thunderous cheers suddenly coming from the bottom of the ridge, the big man in the iron helmet jumped up with a big iron spear in his hand and attacked directly into the Song army's position with the force of a tiger, killing several people in a row.
Even though Han Shunfu had experienced the battle of Yaoshan before, he was still caught off guard at this moment. He drew his sword to fight, but the big man came right up to him, blocked his sword with a spear, and then easily snatched the sword away, as if he was snatching a bamboo pole from a child... Now that he had the sword in his hand, he chopped off Han Shunfu's arm with another strike.
Fortunately, the surrounding soldiers had strict military discipline, and when they saw this scene, instead of fleeing, they swarmed forward and rescued Han Shunfu. They then dragged their own general and carried the severed arm away.
However, the Song army's most forward position was seized by that man.
The man seized the position, quickly lifted up the Song army flag with his iron spear, and waved it from a distance, signaling the "heroes" below to come up and support him.
However, although the heroes below had shouted loudly to cheer before, they hesitated for a moment when they saw this situation. Only two or three heroes were probably excited by the big man above, and they led their subordinates to climb forward, while the rest of the heroes just looked at the two kings Li and Peng.
Li Dongtian was obviously moved, and wanted to order everyone to move forward.
But unexpectedly, King Peng Tie at the side shook his head solemnly: "It can't be robbed. Others may not know Zhang Xian's ability, but how can we not know it? Although this hero is a hero, he only took advantage of the surprise attack. I'm afraid he will soon lose his life in vain... In this battle, we still need to mobilize a large army."
Li Dongtian and many heroes around him were also hesitant after hearing this.
However, it didn't take long for the heroes to stop hesitating, because the situation on the ridge really took a turn for the worse just as King Peng said... Zhang Xian's troops were obviously stimulated by this surprise attack, and the entire Hongtu Ridge came alive in an instant, with countless flags waving and the sound of clappers being rapid and loud, which could be heard clearly on and off the ridge.
In sight, Zhang Xian's big flag appeared directly at the front line where the position was lost. Uniform shouts of killing rang out in that area, instantly drowning out the noise below the ridge. Several mountain strongholds that were feinting attacks also encountered direct and fierce attacks from the Song army, and retreated on the spot.
This time, the Song army simply sent people down to make the final move with swords, just in case.
As for the big man who had just won a miraculous victory, he did not die immediately. Instead, he jumped down the ridge almost alone after a moment. The spear in his hand was obviously discarded. Then, he carried a rattan shield that he had snatched from somewhere, and rolled continuously in the mountains using the terrain, trying to avoid arrows while struggling to escape downwards.
Later, just as the big man miraculously rolled down the ridge alive, Han Shunfu, who had lost his position and an arm and was on the verge of death, was executed on the spot by Zhang Xian. His head was chopped off and hung on the position together with the broken arm... and Han Shunfu's deputy general also received a military order to take over the position.
At the same time, Zhang Xian's troops received an order from Zhang Xian that they must capture the sneak attacking general in this battle.
Overall, it was a surprise attack, but it did not affect the overall situation.
Hundreds of heroes gathered around the two kings at the foot of the mountain and discussed for a long time, but they still could not organize an effective attack. Even the escaped man in the middle came to make trouble, but he was driven out by Li Dongtian before he even got close, which caused a lot of dissatisfaction.
Half a morning passed in this chaos, and the heroes were still unable to organize an attack. But at this moment, the third king, Li Dunren, who was born in Qianzhou, suddenly came from the south with dozens of other heroes, and told the heroes here a terrible bad news.
"The government troops came from the southwest and southeast!" Li Dunren had read books and described the situation clearly. "The flag of the southwest is Wang, it should be Wang Gui, and the flag of the southeast is Fu, it should be Fu Xuan. The two families came together along Pingjiang, one on the left and one on the right, and have blocked both banks of the lower reaches of Pingjiang, blocking the road to the south... Together with Zhang Xian on Hongtuling, they have locked more than 400 of our heroes in the valley of Xingguo County. I don't know when Yue Jiedu will come to make the final blow?!"
"In this case, we have to capture this ridge before Yue Jiedu arrives, and then turn around and attack the river?" Peng Tieda understood immediately.
"This should be the only way." Li Dunren said earnestly.
The people around were in a panic, but they did not dare to go into the shed and say much. Under the straw shed, a dozen big leaders looked at each other, and finally turned their attention to the three biggest kings, namely Peng Tieda, Li Dunren and Li Dongtian.
The three of them also looked at each other, but remained silent for a while... Of course, everyone understood that, after all, it was all about who would be the head coach.
There are more than 400 heroes, among whom there are no less than ten big leaders who claim to be kings, and the strongest among the ten are these three. After many days of turmoil without a leader, isn’t it because these three have always had some ideas?
Of course, this is not an exaggeration. If you want to defeat the government army, you need all four hundred heroes to work together.
"The western valley entrance is the most dangerous." After a while, Peng Tieda suddenly stood up and took a sip of realgar wine, then opened his chest, showing half of his chest black hair to the other two kings. "I'll lead my troops to the west..."
The other two were stunned.
But soon, Li Dunren also nodded and said: "King Peng is a real hero... If this is the case, I will give up Xingguo City and cross the river to the east of Pingjiang to prevent Fu Xuan from attacking from behind."
Li Dongtian was stunned, but he couldn't hide his excitement: "Both kings are real heroes!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the other heroes who were able to speak to them all gave them a thumbs up and praised the two as true heroes.
Of course he is a real hero.
It is said that this time two of the three people showed their sincerity. Peng Tieda volunteered to go to the most dangerous west side, while Li Dunren took the initiative to cross the river to the east bank. Although there was suspicion of preserving strength, as a native of Qianzhou, who had previously occupied Xingguo County, it was very telling that he voluntarily gave up Xingguo County at this time.
Two of the three big bosses have shown sincerity, and the last one must also show sincerity.
So, after a little hesitation, Li Dongtian put forward the title he had thought of, and he wanted to give Peng Tieda and Li Dunren the title of deputy king respectively!
How could the two deputy kings bear such a great favor? They elected Li Dongtian as the Great King of Pingjiang on the spot and asked him to lead 400 heroes including Chen Yong, Zhong Chao, Lu Tian, Zhun Daya, Liu Badawu, Xie Bao, Xie Da and more than ten other great heroes. They also asked him to gather their main forces at the foot of Hongtu Ridge and capture Hongtu Ridge first for subsequent response.
As the saying goes, one should return a favor. Although Li Dongtian had become the Great King, he still felt uneasy, so he forced Peng Tieda and Li Dunren to drink blood wine together, and became brothers with the two of them, which was considered as another level of status. Only then did he allow the two of them to leave in a hurry.
After the two men left, it was already summer afternoon and the weather was extremely hot. Since Li Dongtian had become the Great King, he ignored the heat and personally gave orders. First of all, he put aside their past grudges and appointed Zhong Daya, who had an old grudge against him, as the vanguard, asking him to attack Hongtuling first to achieve unprecedented merit.
Unexpectedly, Zhong Daya was ungrateful and unaware of the critical situation. He just fought hard for a while and was easily chased down by Zhang Xian. However, he was discovered on the spot by Li Da Tianwang, who captured him under the straw hut and chopped him to death as a demonstration.
However, due to the shamelessness of Zhong Daya, the war was delayed. By the time Li Tianwang regrouped troops from various places, transferred his core troops, selected Lu Tian and Xie Bao as the left and right wings, and prepared to mobilize all the heroes to work together, the sun had already set and the heat had dissipated a lot.
It seems that there are only one or two opportunities for large-scale attacks.
However, this is not the end, because Li Tianwang suddenly remembered that there was a strange thing in his rear camp, that is, a flag of the Great Heavenly King appeared for no reason. It was not until today that he realized that it was a divine will. He then brought the flag of the Great Heavenly King back and placed it respectfully in front of the thatched hut.
He also asked heroes from all walks of life to gather a dozen Miao girls, bringing bronze drums, to perform the famous Lingnan drum dance for this flag. It is said that after this, this flag will be invulnerable to water and fire.
However, after an intangible cultural heritage performance that was destined to make someone in Tokyo envious was over, just as Li Dongtian, full of pride, stood under the banner of the Great Heavenly King, arranged his troops, and prepared to command 100,000 heroes to capture Tuling in one fell swoop, there suddenly came a sound like a landslide in the direction of the valley entrance west of Yijin Township.
Then, countless soldiers and horses came from the west, with clear flags, dazzling armor, and distinct formations. They were like a huge wave rushing towards the side below the ridge.
Li Dongtian was stunned, and at this time Zhang Xian did not hesitate and counterattacked from the ridge. Hundreds of heroes led a hundred thousand people and dispersed.
"Run, Li Tianwang!"
Someone came from the west and passed by here. He shouted to Li Dongtian who was still stunned. "Peng Tieda was originally a spy of Yue Jiedu. He went to the west to meet the government troops. Now he has directly changed from the rear to the front and let Yue Jiedu's 100,000 troops in!"
Li Dongtian remembered that this alliance was originally Peng Tieda's idea, but he was so angry that his eyes were red with anger that he headed eastward to Pingjiang without hesitation.
However, when he hurriedly arrived in Pingjiang, seven or eight miles away, he was no different from many other heroes who had fled. He could only look at the empty east bank, the ferry that had long been sunk by Li Dunren's troops at the ferry crossing on the opposite bank, and the untied iron chain suspension bridge, and was speechless.
At this time, some people who thought they were good swimmers jumped into the river to escape, while dozens of brave men became ferocious and simply turned west to prepare for a battle with their backs to the river.
However, most people instinctively looked at the newly appointed King Li.
After all, this is the king who dropped the Great King Flag from the sky before he became the king, right?
However, only a moment later, Li Dongtian personally burned his own Heavenly King flag, which was said to be impervious to water and fire, in front of many stunned heroes, and wrapped the unburned fragments with stones and threw them into Pingjiang. Then, on the one hand, he sent his trusted troops to join Zhang Xian in attacking those bastards who were ready to fight with their backs to the river, and on the other hand, he turned his back, took off his armor, lowered his flag, and sent envoys to surrender respectfully to the west.
In the hottest month of May, huge waves came from the western mountains and poured into the Xingguo Basin. The 100,000 pious bandits and 400 heroes who had been causing chaos for eight years completely disappeared on the west bank of the Pingjiang River in one day.
The speed with which the war ended was incredible.
In fact, after Yue Fei easily subdued more than 100,000 people without a single drop of blood, it was not yet sunset, probably because the summer days were too long. So the commander of the front army of the imperial camp simply set up a seat in front of the thatched hut under the Red Earth Ridge to entertain the newly surrendered kings, vice kings, big chiefs, and small chiefs, and was ready to deal with them today.
Hundreds of heroes had exchanged weapons and had not yet taken their seats when Yue Fei suddenly saw Guo Jin, a famous warrior in the army and the head of Zhang Xian's personal guards, nicknamed "Big Ladle", personally leading seven or eight armored soldiers, dragging a tall and strong man with a swollen face and tightly tied up. Then they walked around the seats to look for Zhang Xian, saying that they had fulfilled their mission.
Among the former brothers from Xiangzhou, Tang Huai had a calm personality and led the central army, often following Yue Fei. Wang Gui was recognized as the second in command of the entire army, and Zhang Xian now also led an army in the army, basically second only to Wang Gui and Tang Huai, and on par with Fu Xuan. Of course, he was qualified to issue military orders and rewards, so Yue Fei did not care.
However, the man was dragged to the front of the straw shed by Guo Jinru like an animal. He looked around and could not help but roar to the sky, and then shouted to Yue Fei: "I don't accept it! I don't accept it!"
Yue Fei was puzzled, but he still responded sternly: "How many of you who are defeated in the army would not submit?"
"I have two objections!" The man said, "If I hadn't been injured when I rolled down the mountain, and my wife and brothers in the village were surrounded, how could I have been captured so easily by this big ladle?!"
Guo Jin's nickname was "Big Ladle" because he had a big appetite. He usually tied a big copper ladle for feeding horses around his waist, which replaced the rice bowl when he ate. As the head of the personal guard, he could also carry the ladle to enforce military discipline... But at this time, he accidentally got his nickname exposed by the other party. However, the nicknames of comrades in the army were intimate, but what did it mean when a prisoner called them?
Therefore, when Guo Jin heard this, he immediately became furious, grabbed the rope with one hand, picked up the ladle in the other hand, and slapped the spoon on the other person's face, making the other person's nose bleed.
But the man was also fierce in temper. He continued to struggle even when being beaten. When Guo Jinyi was stopped by Zhang Xian, he continued to speak in a nonsensical manner: "That's all! Anyway, you, Yue Jiedu, are really good at fighting! But all of you in this room are fake heroes. Why don't I, a real hero, have a seat? Instead, I have to come to see you tied up? Is it just because I killed your general during the battle? Your general was a useless man! I don't accept it!"
Yue Fei found it funny and knew that this man was a bastard. He also roughly guessed that this man had killed one of his generals before and attracted the attention of Zhang Xian's troops. He was not prepared to cause trouble and just wanted to push him down and execute him to be done with.
But when he turned around, he saw hundreds of heroes sitting in front of him, staring at him, and countless surrendered bandits not far away. He remembered that this battle took a long time, and his heart was moved again. Instead, he laughed at this man:
"Then let me ask you, what is your name, this real hero?"
"My name is Yang Zaixing, and I was chased here from Hunan by you." Blood kept dripping from Yang Zaixing's nose, making his mouth and chin full of blood, but he looked up and faced them proudly. "Jiedu Yue, I am really a real hero. Give me a chance today, and I will definitely let you know my ability one day!"
Yue Fei said nothing and just went to see Zhang Xian.
Zhang Xian thought about it and nodded slowly: "If we only talk about ability, this man is indeed a good man, worthy of being a general! Unlike the others, they don't even dare to fart, they are really a bunch of cowards!"
Yue Fei ignored the changed expressions of the leaders around him, raised his head and laughed, then stood up and personally untied the rope with the man, preparing to personally lead the man to his seat.
Unexpectedly, Yang Zaixing was a bad guy. When Yue Fei personally came to pull him, he tried to test him and refused to move. He was injured when he rolled down the ridge in the morning, and then he was beaten by a ladle. Besides, Yue Fei was not a fake hero. So when Yue Fei pulled him, he could not stand steadily and was directly pulled over.
Yue Fei led him to his seat, where a personal guard had already placed a stool in front of it. However, Yang Zaixing, who had failed in his attempt, was unwilling to sit down: "The governor is a capable and brave man, who is good at fighting and strong. I can just stand."
Yue Fei nodded slightly, said nothing more, and sat down. But after sitting down, he remained silent.
In the setting sun, Peng Tieda and Li Dongtian looked at each other, then quickly stood up from the table, causing hundreds of heroes to wake up and stand up, attracting the cold eyes of the soldiers in the front army of the imperial camp.
"I have made up my mind." After hundreds of leaders stood up, Yue Fei finally spoke slowly. "Among the four hundred of you, you must pardon one hundred of those who were forced to do so as a token of the court's favor, exile one hundred of those who refuse to change their ways to rectify the court's laws, and execute one hundred of those who have committed many evil deeds to serve as a warning to others... The remaining one hundred people will be assigned to the Jingxiang military garrison or the imperial camp according to their abilities... I have finished speaking, and whoever agrees or disagrees, please speak up."
As expected, there were still some real heroes. Immediately, more than forty people stood up to oppose it, so only more than fifty people were needed to serve as a warning to others.
It's a happy occasion.
