I

Xiangtan, Zhou family, a rich family.

Although it has not developed into "half of Zhou County", it has not developed to the point of "marrying half of Hunan" in the late Qing Dynasty. But from the Jiajing to Wanli years, Zhou Zhiping, Zhou Zhiji, Zhou Zhilong, Zhou Yu, and Zhou Xu passed the Jinshi examination one after another, and a large number of candidates were elected. The Zhou family was crazy about annexing land in Xiangtan!

Unlike the Tao family in Changsha, the Zhou family in Xiangtan is prosperous.

During the Wanli period, there were many peasant uprisings, and Zhou took the initiative to recruit local warriors each time. After repelling the peasant army, they immediately took the opportunity to annex land, which now covers more than 100,000 acres.

When he learned that Jiangxi Zhao rebels had sent troops to Huguang, Zhou Xing, who was studying at Yuelu Academy, immediately rushed back to Xiangtan to recruit troops.

Historically, he would also pass the Jinshi examination in two years.

At the foot of Hidden Mountain, Liao Sheng's younger brother Liao Jing came to secretly contact Zhou Xing.

Both parties come from wealthy families, and there is no possibility of compromise. They must fight to the death with Zhao Han.

"Brother Jingyu, how is the situation in Xiangtan?" Liao Jing asked.

Zhou Xing replied: "Thousands of rebels have besieged the city for half a month. We just received news that the Zhao thieves have occupied Liuyang and will definitely march towards Changsha. If Xiangtan is lost, Changsha will be in danger! Where is Hengyang?"

"Except for Hengyang, Hengshan, and Leiyang, all the counties in the east and south are occupied by Zhao thieves." Liao Jing replied.

After a long battle, Liao Sheng had tens of thousands of regiments under his command, and they successively recaptured Hengyang, Hengshan, and Leiyang.

The bandits in Youxian and Anren were the worst, with Zhao Han's army to the east and Liao Sheng's Tuanyong to the west.

We can no longer stay in this place!

Therefore, as soon as Liu Zhu sent troops from Chaling, the bandits in You County abandoned the city and fled. When passing by Anren, the Anren bandits also fled. The two groups of bandits merged and ran to Yongxing County to join the Little Overlord.

The Little Overlord heard about the situation in the north and felt that he could not defend it, so he abandoned the city and headed to Chenzhou further south.

They failed to attack Chenzhou, so they could only circle the city, plundering villages and towns along the way, and prepared to escape from Yizhang into Guangdong.

If we ignore the bandits fleeing south and the Yao people revolting, there are now two major battlefields in southern Hunan.

In the north, Huang Yao surrounded Xiangtan and Li Zheng surrounded Changsha. The strategic goal was to capture Changsha. The commander-in-chief of the officers and soldiers was Wang Zhiliang, the governor of southern Hunan.

In the south, there are Liu Zhu, Chen Bing, Leijiabu (the intersection of Maishui River and Xiangjiang River), Zhang Tieniu, Chen Bing, and Yongxing County. While they asked the missionary officers and farmers' associations to divide the fields, they faced off against Liao Sheng's Tuan Lian Yao. Their strategic goal was to capture Hengyang.

Liao Jing said: "My brother is preparing to attack Lukou (Lukou District, Zhuzhou City), kill the bandit soldiers there, and cut off the Zhao bandit's food route!"

After hearing about the situation in the south, Zhou Xing was surprised and said: "Brother, if you lead the troops to the north, aren't you afraid that Leiyang and Hengshan will be captured by Zhao thieves?"

"It is enough to leave three thousand soldiers in each of the two cities," Liao Jing said. "We must drive away the traitors in Xiangtan so that Changsha, Xiangtan, Hengshan, Hengyang, and Leiyang can form a line."

Zhou Xing asked: "How should I cooperate?"

Liao Jing replied: "My brother suggested that the Zhou family's regiment should go to Xiangtan to contain the main force of the rebels and delay the time for the rebels to return to Lukou. After my brother captures Lukou, he can train with the Zhou family's regiment and the defenders in Xiangtan City. , attack the rebels from three sides. The rebels are surrounded and lose the supply of food and grass. The morale of the army will inevitably be in chaos, and we can win in one battle!"

"What a strategy!" Zhou Xing praised.

It's a good strategy indeed, but the premise is that you can win the battle.

Liao Sheng defeated the bandits who escaped from Jiangxi and won consecutive victories. At this time, his prestige had greatly increased and he was a little overconfident. He felt that the Jiangxi thieves were nothing more than that. He left thousands of people to defend the city, stopped Zhang Tieniu and Liu Zhu, and actually led his elite troops north to attack Huang Yao.

He wants one to fight three!

From a strategic perspective, this approach is very smart and reasonable. If the combat effectiveness of both sides is similar, Liao Sheng will definitely succeed, and there is a high probability of annihilating Huang Yao's main force.

It has to be said that Huang Yao underestimated the enemy and did not take the enemy in Hengshan seriously, which exposed his food route to Liao Sheng's troops.

This belongs to Huang Yao's military style, dispatching troops quickly and marching extremely fast.

Li Zheng is just the opposite. He is cautious, thoughtful, and likes to discuss with his generals. If he and Huang Yao were exchanged, Huang Yao would probably have already captured Changsha and would not give Wang Zhiliang any time to reinforce.

Three days later, Zhou Xing and Tuan Yong cautiously approached Xiangtan County.

He did not dare to get too close for fear that the entire army would collapse. He just wanted to attract Huang Yao's attention and create time for Liao Sheng to cut off the enemy's food route.

"Finally here!" Huang Yao smiled.

Huang Yao besieged the city for half a month. He did not even think about attacking the city, and only waited for reinforcements from officers and soldiers. As long as the reinforcements are defeated, the morale of the defenders in the city will be low, and then there will be various ways to capture the city.

There must be reinforcements, Huang Yao had already inquired about them.

There is a Zhou family here, and five Jinshis have been produced in the past few decades. Every time there is a civil unrest, the Zhou family recruits local warriors to put it down.

If the Zhou family didn't bring reinforcements after another half month, Huang Yao would lead his own troops there.

"Boom boom boom!"

Three gunshots fired, and the Fran cannon fired.

The good artillery was used by Huang Yao as a starting cannon.

Zhou Xing is choosing a good terrain to set up camp, one that can run. Anyway, he won't fight Huang Yao head-on.

Suddenly three cannon shots were heard. Because the distance was too far, Zhou Xing thought the enemy was attacking the city.

Should I help?

Zhou Xing decided to stand still and just watch from a distance. The rebels would definitely not be able to capture the city. Moreover, there is a Xiangjiang River across the river, and he cannot cross the river to rescue him for the time being - once the rebels try to cross the river, Zhou Xing will flee immediately, and he has to save his regiment first.

At this distance and looking across the river, Zhou Xing thought he was safe.

"Dudududududududu~~~~~"

A moment later, the sound of a charge came from both sides of the Juanshui River. Zhou Xing was so frightened that his vest started to sweat: "Quickly form a formation, there is an ambush!"

Zhou Xing came along the trickling water. At this moment, five hundred Datong soldiers rushed out from Baihe Mountain and Hualonggong Mountain on both sides of the bank. They ran to the foot of the mountain before blowing the charge horn, and attacked Tuanyong who was charging towards Zhou Xing from east and west.

This incident was so sudden that the Zhou family had just unloaded the food from the ship and had not even had time to set up camp.

Zhou Xing led his troops on the east bank of the Trian River, and the 500 ambush troops rushing down from Hualonggong Mountain rushed towards them at a slow trot. The five hundred ambushes in Baihe Mountain took off their armor and jumped into the river to grab the boats that had unloaded grain.

Due to the separation by trickles, thousands of regiments of the Zhou family only had to face five hundred ambush troops, while the other five hundred ambush troops could not survive for the time being.

But, can it be stopped?

"Raise the gun!"

Zhou Xing shouted and asked the slaves to raise the flag.

Ding Jiasheng raised his spear and charged with Yan Jiu.

Yan Jiu is an old thief who followed Fei Yinggong. He was broken up and incorporated into the army. Now he can command 500 people.

Ding Jiasheng, the leader of the Duchang Rebel Army, was transferred to the army as a missionary officer. Although he joined the group halfway, he learned the Datong theory very solidly.

Langzhen cleared the way and stabbed with his spear.

Five hundred Datong soldiers broke into the formation of nearly five thousand enemies. Just like a knife cutting through tofu, creating a big gap, the Zhou family Tuanyong collapsed the moment they engaged in the battle.

"Master, leave quickly!"

A close family slave dragged Zhou Xing and ran away.

Besieged on three sides?

nonexistent.

Although Huang Yao likes to advance rashly, he does not really underestimate the enemy. He is using himself as bait to lure the enemies behind him to take the bait.

Zhou Xing's mind went blank and he had no idea how he lost.

How could he be defeated by five hundred rebels when he had five thousand regiments of brave men?

Moreover, it collapsed so neatly that there was no ability to resist at all.

The confidant slave looked back from time to time and suddenly pushed Zhou Xing away: "Young Master, get out of the way!"

Zhou Xing fell down in embarrassment and looked up to see that his book boy had been killed by the rebels.

Ignoring his grief, he climbed up on his hands and feet, ran towards the river, and jumped into the river.

While swimming, I suddenly heard a sound behind me.

The five hundred ambushes on the other side of the river had already jumped into the river and grabbed the boat. At this time, each of them was rowing shirtless and stabbing Tuanyong with spears to kill the Tuan Yong who jumped into the river to escape.

"Don't kill me, I am lifting people, I am lifting..."

Zhou Xing shouted in horror, and suddenly a spear stabbed him in the forehead very accurately.

In another time and space, the Zhou family, which was so glorious as the Republic of China, will definitely be severely suppressed this time. How many people can survive depends on fate.

Lukou.

Liao Sheng took five thousand elites and rushed here by boat. This is Huang Yao's grain and grass transfer station. Once captured, Huang Yao's grain road will be cut off.

He prepared a surprise attack at night, but unexpectedly, he was still more than twenty miles away when he encountered a sentry ship sent by the rebels.

The anti-traitor spies were actually sent more than twenty miles away?

Liao Sheng felt very unfriendly. His surprise attack plan failed, and he could only carry out a strong attack.

Fei Yinggong was basking in the sun at Lukou. Huang Yao asked him to guard the grain road, so he should concentrate on guarding it. Lying on a bamboo rocking chair, basking in the sun and sipping tea, you have a half-day of leisure.

"Dad, the spies reported that the enemy is coming." Fei Ruhui came over and said.

The bandits under Fei Yinggon's command were all dispersed and incorporated into the army. Only his daughter Fei Ruhui stayed with him.

Fei Ruhui insisted on joining the army to fight, and obtained Zhao Han's permission.

"How many people are here?" Fei Yingcong asked.

Fei Ruhui said: "There are thousands of them. The grain and grass go by water, and the soldiers go by the river. Looking at their march, they look like elites."

"I'm fighting the elite!"

Fei Yingcong stood up slowly, stretched, yawned and said, "If we don't fight anymore, our bones will become crispy."

Fei Yinggon only had 500 regular soldiers and 500 peasant soldiers in his hands, and the rest all belonged to the grain transport team.

After Liao Sheng's whereabouts were exposed, he did not return to Hengshan, but slowed down his marching speed so that his soldiers would not be so tired.

He had more than 10,000 regiments and fought for more than a year without much training.

The five thousand regiments brought to cut off the food road this time were all "elite" veterans who had experienced hundreds of battles. At least, he thought he was an elite man who could beat the bandits from Jiangxi to the ground.

What about King Zhao?

It’s not like he has never fought against Jiangxi rebels!

Liao Sheng felt that there was no hope for the imperial examination. In these troubled times, he wanted to use his military exploits to make his wife a wife and protect his family's property.

The next morning, Liao Sheng brought five thousand elite troops to Lukou to prepare for the attack on Fei Yinggon.

He even trained three hundred archers under his command!