The reason was simple, because Zhao Huan discovered that the two men's political disagreements in many areas were due to different starting points. Sometimes friction between military and political officials was not necessarily a bad thing for the emperor, at least it was better than the two men joining forces to secretly oppose the court.
Zhang Ma and Wen Zhengming, these two people used to not get along with each other. But now, because of the coming of war, they begin to sympathize with each other.
In some aspects, the two have similar personalities. They are both stubborn and once they make up their minds, nothing can change them.
"Commander Wen, you'd better think carefully. There are tens of thousands of enemy troops on the opposite side. If you only bring a thousand people to attack, it will be tantamount to suicide." Zhang Ma said.
Wen Zhengming sighed: "So what? The city is in imminent danger. We can't hold it with our limited forces and equipment. Rather than waiting to die, we might as well give it a try."
"I never thought that the Dali Kingdom would do such a kind thing. The imperial court has always maintained good relations with Dali, but never thought that it would raise such a wolf." Zhang Ma was furious.
Wen Zhengming actually thought it wasn't anyone's fault; each served their own master. Dali certainly didn't want to be under someone else's control, so they took the risk. But he didn't say this out loud, because Zhang Ma understood.
"Report!" A spy rode back from outside the city at full speed.
Wen Zhengming seemed to be waiting for information from the spy: "How is it?"
The spy bowed and said, "The first to arrive were the Dali army. According to our investigation, the commander of this Dali army is Gao Liangcheng."
Wen Zhengming was taken aback. Gao Liangcheng was a very sinister fellow. Meeting him was indeed a formidable opponent.
The spy continued, "According to a pigeon message sent by the imperial court to Dali, the Dali emperor appears to have been imprisoned by Gao Liangcheng."
Wen Zhengming and Zhang Ma were shocked again when this was said. No wonder Dali, which had always maintained good relations with the Song Dynasty, had colluded with the Tibetans. It turned out that the emperor was imprisoned.
"Sir Zhang, please send someone to Beijing immediately to inform the court that the King of Dali has been imprisoned. I hope the court can make a quick response plan. I will take my men out of the city right away." Wen Zhengming gave the order. He was going there with the determination to die and had no intention of coming back alive.
"Brother Wen, come back alive, I'll wait for you to have a drink." Zhang Ma's voice was a little choked.
This was a gay moment. It was the first time Zhang Ma had called him "Brother Wen." Wen Zhengming was stunned for a moment. He said nothing and then left.
The two went from being at odds with each other to empathizing with each other in a split second, and then parting ways. Heroes' farewells don't favor sentimental romances. Zhang Ma wanted nothing more. Wen Zhengming's departure was essentially a whistling wind and a chilling Yishui River, and he himself was unlikely to be able to defend Chengdu. Both would ultimately die here.
When Wen Zhengming returned to the barracks, the soldiers had already known about the situation. These old, weak, and sick soldiers wore ragged clothes and worn weapons. Even the soldiers were mostly elderly.
Many of them were in their forties and fifties, some even with gray hair on their temples. Young and middle-aged men in their twenties and thirties accounted for less than a third of the total number. Expecting such a force to stop the Tubo-Dali coalition was like trying to stop a chariot with a mantis arm.
Without needing to assemble, the soldiers spontaneously came to the outside of the tents. In the past, this was where the soldiers would brag to each other during their leisure time. This one had killed three Liao soldiers in the past, and that one had defeated the Iron Harriers of the Western Xia. Of course, more often than not, their topics of conversation were wine and women.
Wen Zhengming found a conspicuous place and said, "I don't need to say more, everyone already knows! The Tubo and Xixia coalition forces have reached Kagong Town. I don't have any big words, because the battle I'm going to take you to is a battle of life and death.
I know, and you know, that even if we go to talk, we won't come back alive. But I want to!" Wen Zhengming's voice suddenly rose eight degrees: "Behind you is Chengdu Prefecture, your wives, your children, your families are all here. We have no way out, it's either death or death!
Calling ourselves the Victory Army is just flattery. What victories have we ever won? Since the founding of the Victory Army, we haven't fought a single battle in Chengdu. We only know how to joke around, how to get together and insult and flatter each other. The common people scoff at us, and the imperial guards look down on us.
What I'm thinking is, let's show them today that the Shengjie Army is not cowardly! We are men too! Soldiers, I will send you to the battlefield, and then mold you into human form, so that the world can see that we, the Shengjie Army, are also men of steel!
"Commander Wen, I'll go with you!"
"I'm going too!"
"And me!"
"Damn it, it's just a death, take me with you!"
Wen Zhengming's mobilization was undoubtedly powerful, and many soldiers rose to the occasion. Of course, some hesitated. Passionate, perhaps, but some already had wives and children. Their humble existence, mired in the dust, had long since worn out their heroic spirit.
The Xiang army has always been looked down upon as a local armed force. Their salaries and equipment are inferior to those of the regular army, and their duties are mostly limited to maintaining local security. The common people scold them for eating the emperor's food but doing nothing, and the regular army despises them for not even having seen the battlefield.
Wen Zhengming's blood boiled, his blood boiling. "Soldiers of the Shengjie Army, listen to my orders! Those with only sons at home, stay. Those with wives and children, stay. Those with elderly parents who need your support, stay! The rest of you, follow me to fight, Kagongzhen!"
The Shengjie Army still had some young men, and they were very passionate. So some of them stood up and said, "Commander Wen, we brothers have followed you for so many years. We will follow you until death!"
"I will follow you till death!" Many people also stood up.
Wen Zhengming nodded, his eyes moist. These people knew that following them would mean death, yet so many still followed. Wen Zhengming's heart was moved: "Those who wish to follow me, set off immediately! The rest of you, stay in Chengdu and obey Zhang Ma's orders! Let's go!"
Their weapons were spears, most of them rusty. They did have shields, probably to protect against bandits. They lacked crossbows, but they had about three hundred bows and arrows, though they were short on arrows, with fewer than twenty per person.
There were horses, but they were mostly old horses that had been eliminated by the regular army. Fortunately, the first thing Zhao Huan did after defeating the Jin Dynasty was to prepare more horses for the army. Although the Song soldiers were not as good as the Mongols who usually had three horses each, at least the Xiang army, with a thousand men, still had more than a hundred horses.
Chengdu Prefecture had over 3,000 soldiers and 500 horses. Wen Zhengming led 200 horses and about 800 men out of Chengdu Prefecture in a mighty procession, heading towards Kagong Town.
These eight hundred brave warriors were determined to fight a battle of no return, and their actions proved that the Song Dynasty was not to be trifled with.
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