The Yunhui Army garrison stationed in Jincheng was organized by the imperial court into a force of three thousand men.
However, under the "wise" leadership of Wu Qingyun, the Northwest General, the actual number of troops defending the city was only slightly over two thousand, and the quality of the soldiers was uneven.
This practice of embezzling salaries without working and exploiting soldiers was commonplace under the command of Wu Qingyun, the Northwest General.
Even in inland cities across the entire Great Xin Dynasty that were neither bordering nor coastal, this practice had long been a tacitly accepted practice among the generals of various regions.
After all, for these powerful generals in various regions, the primary task was to amass troops to guard key border towns and ensure that the territory of the Great Xin Dynasty was not annexed and encroached upon by foreign tribes.
As for these inland cities that are neither on the border nor on the coast, there is absolutely no need or reason to heavily guard them.
Under the diligent rule of the late Emperor Zhao Mang, the entire Xin Dynasty prospered.
Even though the second emperor, Zhao Gan, was ambitious and eager for quick succession, he launched a series of costly and extravagant projects in the six months since taking the throne, such as digging the Grand Canal, rebuilding imperial tombs, and sending his navy on three voyages to the Western Ocean.
For the people of the whole country, it did increase the burden of taxes and corvée labor, but it was far from the point where officials forced the people to revolt.
Therefore, for the generals in various regions, there was even less reason to recruit and train the full number of soldiers to defend the cities in accordance with the garrison structure of the inland cities provided by the imperial court.
It's better to take this opportunity to embezzle funds and exploit soldiers to fill your own pockets first. After all, if you don't do it, someone else will, so you might as well fatten yourself up first.
Therefore, when Chang Yuchun, the most valiant general of the Ming Dynasty, the deputy marshal of the Longcheng army, and the general who conquered the south, led 20,000 elite troops to launch a lightning attack on Jincheng, the 2,000 Yunhui soldiers defending the city were unable to put up any decent resistance before the city was breached.
Even the messengers who sent the message for help hadn't had a chance to ride out of the city before they all became prisoners of the Longcheng Southern Expeditionary Army.
It was noon.
Chang Yuchun, a fierce general clad in bright armor and wielding a ring-pommel sword, rode his horse to the gate tower of Jincheng. Looking at the large number of surrendered soldiers and generals of the Yunhui Army kneeling before him, a look of lingering satisfaction appeared on his chiseled face.
The siege just now could almost be described as one-sided.
Chang Yuchun only killed three or five soldiers, and the entire Yunhui army defending the city surrendered without a fight.
General Chang's long-awaited broadsword hadn't even had a chance to taste the enemy's blood before the siege was declared over.
Seeing this, Chang Yuchun had no choice but to sheathe his sword.
In any case, the slogan "surrender and you will be spared death" was personally shouted by Chang Yuchun. As the deputy marshal of Longcheng and the general who conquered the south, he couldn't go back on his word, could he?
Chang Yuchun stood proudly atop the city wall on his horse, exuding an air of dominance, and issued the order: "Pass down the order to leave two thousand elite soldiers to guard the prisoners and await the arrival of the main army!"
"The rest of you, follow my banner and continue the charge, marching towards the next city, Chizhou. Do not fail!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
Soon, Chang Yuchun led 18,000 elite troops to continue the blitzkrieg offensive, marching towards Chizhou, another city on the army's southward expedition route, 120 li away from Jincheng.
The two thousand elite soldiers left behind in Jincheng followed the strategy and policy for pacifying the rebellion formulated by Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin before the army set off. They were responsible for maintaining order in the city and posting the "Imperial Edict for Pacifying the Rebellion and Punishing the Rebels" issued by Prince Chen Huai'an in various places.
On one hand, he announced the King of Jin's policy to the people of Jincheng: within ten years, the taxes of the people of Jincheng would be halved, and if anyone was willing to join the army and become a member of the Polu Army, their family would be exempt from all taxes for five years.
The news shocked the entire city.
Over the past six months, the people of Jincheng, who had suffered enough from the extortion, oppression, and ravages inflicted by Wu Qingyun's troops, have expressed their support for Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin and their willingness to contribute to the Longcheng Jingnan Army.
For a time, the recruitment office of the Polu Army was crowded with people, and countless people inquired about joining the army.
......
Hutou Pass, part of Yunzhou.
An army of about 100,000 men was marching slowly in a long, serpentine formation across the rugged northwestern land. This was the Yunhui Army, stationed in Yunzhou and personally commanded by Wu Qingyun, the General of the Northwest.
According to the plan, the army will arrive in Jincheng in five days, and will join forces with another 100,000 Yunhui troops and 20,000 Turkic cavalry who are coming from the north to march on Longcheng.
At this moment, Wu Qingyun, dressed in the uniform of a military officer, was still riding on his horse. His extremely ugly face was solemn and troubled. His left eyelid, which had been twitching incessantly for the past few days, was twitching even more intensely now.
"Could it be that these northern barbarians came south with ill intentions?"
Wu Qingyun asked himself.
He had already received an urgent military intelligence report from Liang Erhu, the former commander of the army, sent from Shuobei.
Tell him that Timur originally promised to lend 50,000 cavalry, but only 20,000 troops actually came. However, he took the troop deployment pay and 3,000 girls to reward the troops, which was agreed upon by both parties.
Upon hearing this news, Wu Qingyun couldn't help but reflect on himself. Had he considered the matter of borrowing troops from the Northern Barbarians to deal with Chen Huai'an? These Northern Barbarians were wolves in sheep's clothing.
They have huge appetites and are utterly devoid of integrity.
The troop deployment funds and the girls to reward the troops were minor matters. What Wu Qingyun was worried about was whether Timur would take advantage of the fact that he had mobilized the Yunhui army stationed in Shuobei to march south and quell the rebellion in Longcheng to lead his troops to attack the city.
After capturing the strategically important border town of Shuobei, the Northern Barbarian cavalry could now freely roam the northwest.
Before borrowing troops from Timur, Wu Qingyun had already considered this point, which is why he made the request to borrow 50,000 troops.
According to the intelligence Wu Qingyun possessed, Timur could mobilize at most 100,000 troops. He could borrow half of his troops to go south and deal with Chen Huai'an.
This was not only to eliminate Chen Huai'an and the remnants of the Prince of Jin in one fell swoop, but also to use this as leverage to ensure that Timur would not take this opportunity to march south and wreak havoc in the northwest.
These 50,000 Turkic cavalry were both reinforcements and "hostages".
Little did anyone expect that Timur, that old fox, would outwardly agree to lend him 50,000 troops, but secretly pull this trick on him.
This put Wu Qingyun in a very difficult position.
On the one hand, Prime Minister Qin Ruhui had already written to him, urging him to resolve the Longcheng matter as soon as possible. Otherwise, the longer it dragged on, the more suspicious Emperor Zhao Gan would become, and in the end, even he might not be able to cover it up.
On the other hand, Timur only brought a mere 20,000 cavalry south this time. These 20,000 men are not enough to threaten Timur. The real fear is that no sooner had the Yunhui army stationed in Shuobei left than Timur launched a full-scale attack on Shuobei.
Compared to the allure of sweeping across Northwest China, robbing money, grain, and women, the mere 20,000 men held "hostage" by Wu Qingyun seemed less important.
Therefore, after receiving Liang Erhu's message three days ago, Wu Qingyun had been repeatedly weighing the pros and cons.
It wasn't until yesterday, when another urgent letter from Prime Minister Qin Ruhui arrived in Yunzhou, inquiring about the progress of the suppression of the rebellion in Longcheng, that Wu Qingyun finally made up his mind to set off with his army to Longcheng.
Throughout the entire journey, Wu Qingyun's left eyelid never stopped twitching.
Although he was not a superstitious person, the sight of this omen on the eve of the army's departure made him feel that it was not a good thing, and he had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.
"Report—"
"Reporting to the General, urgent military intelligence!"
Just as Wu Qingyun was feeling uneasy, he suddenly heard the sound of galloping hooves, followed by the hurried and anxious shouts of a messenger:
"General, our scouts report that the Longcheng Polu Army has captured three cities in three days, advancing from north to south and successively conquering our garrisoned cities of Jincheng, Chizhou, and Yangquan!"
"At this moment, the vanguard cavalry of the Po Lu Army is less than a hundred li away from Hu Tou Pass!"
"What did you say?"
Upon hearing the messenger's words, Wu Qingyun felt his blood rushing and his vision went black. He almost stumbled and fell off his horse.
Then, forcing himself to stay awake, he dismounted, grabbed the collar of the kneeling messenger, and stared at him with eyes that seemed to pop out of their sockets.
With a ferocious expression, he asked, word by word, "Say that again to this general?"
The messenger, his legs trembling, forced himself to reply: "General, the Longcheng Polu Army has successively captured the three cities of Jincheng, Chizhou, and Yangquan that our army was stationed in. More than 100,000 troops are advancing towards Yunzhou, and the vanguard cavalry is less than 100 li away from Hutou Pass!"
puff--
Wu Qingyun could no longer hold back and spat out a mouthful of blood. His vision went black and he collapsed, losing consciousness on the spot.
Subsequently, a deputy general of the Yunhui Army took over command and decisively ordered: "Pass on the general's order, the entire rear guard will become the front guard, and immediately retreat to Yunzhou City to set up defenses!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
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