Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 504 Tranquilizing Shiqian
When the main force of the high-power Eastern Route Army arrived and the soldiers approached the city, outside Shiqian's small city, [-] Ming troops gathered, plus nearly [-] chieftain Miao soldiers and gentry militias.

In today's chaotic world, the scale is indeed not as good as the great battle between the Ming and Qing Dynasties, nor the battle between the Qing army and the Western army in Sichuan, but it is enough to make the enemy terrified when placed in front of Shiqian City!

When the defenders on the city saw the Eastern Route Army approaching wildly, they had already lost their fighting spirit.

On the evening of the day when Gao Yigong's main force arrived, the defenders of Shiqian South City mutinied, broke through the city gate, and went out to surrender.

Zhang Xianbi was shocked, and hurriedly sent his brother Zhang Xianzhen to stand up, but who would have thought that Zhang Xianzhen saw that the people in the city were panicked and had no hope of holding the city, so he also took hundreds of people and ran outside the city to surrender In the end, it was Huang Chaoxuan who arrived with his confidantes and stabilized the city gate, otherwise Shi Qian would break down without attacking, and the two of them would really be a joke.

Wang Ji waited for the military order, prepared all night, and began to attack the city the next day.

Under Wang Yan's command, Wang Ji and Wang Shixiu were somewhat similar to Wang Yan. They were born as literati, and they did not fight as fiercely as other generals. They were not as brave as Dai Zhifan, Gao Yigong and others, but He acted calmly and never wavered.

Right now, he is attacking a small city in Shiqian, and he is still doing his homework. There are many ladders, building carts, and siege cones. If it is not for the lack of time, he will get a few more siege towers.

This couldn't help making Liu Tichun and others laugh at him, and even his three Wang brothers felt embarrassed for a while.As for what?If you fight a small city, there are still internal responses in the city.

At this time, the preparations for the siege troops were completed, and the [-] brave soldiers and [-] Miao soldiers were the main attackers.

"General, everything is ready!" Wang Guangen rode up to Wang Ji and reported to him.

At noon, Wang Ji covered the sun with his hands and looked towards the top of the city. "Remember, there are internal responders in the city. They wear red scarves on their left arms as a sign. When the army passes through the moat, they see which section of the city wall is in chaos first, so they set up the ladder on the top of the city." Which city wall, let the army go up it with all their might." Wang Ji ordered, and after finishing speaking, he added: "The city must be broken today, there are too many mosquitoes outside the city, and the governor is waiting to enter the city for the night."

The Eastern Route Army has very little firearms and equipment, with more than 4 people and only more than 30 old artillery pieces. They first made a deafening sound, and the shells hit the low city wall.

All the men and horses under the city were armed with various siege equipment, and as the war drums were beating, the roar of the soldiers soared into the sky, and the shouts of killing shook the earth.

This is the difference between the elite soldiers who have been on the battlefield and the local security forces. Gao Yigong looked at the group of chieftains in the distance, and was very satisfied when he saw the shocked expressions on their faces.

Chieftains in the Southwest were also a very serious problem within the Ming Dynasty. During the Chongzhen period, it was said that there was a two-front war, but in fact it was a three-front war. In addition to dealing with the slaves outside the pass and the peasant army inside the pass, the Ming army also had to deal with the chieftain rebellion in the southwest.

One of the main achievements of the Ming Dynasty was to open up the Southwest, and along with the expansion, there would naturally be conflicts between Han Miao and Han Yi, etc., so the chieftains of the Ming Dynasty continued to rebel, and the most harmful to the Ming Dynasty was the one that broke out during the reign of Tianqi. The chaos of extravagance.

The cause of this rebellion was that the Ming Dynasty wanted to transfer chieftain soldiers and horses to Liaodong to fight against the establishment of slaves, and She Chongming took the opportunity to rebel. It can be seen that many events during the Chongzhen period were related, and it was not accidental.

The rebellion lasted for 17 years from the first year of Tianqi to the tenth year of Chongzhen. It spread to the four provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Guangxi, and the large-scale fighting lasted for nine years.

In the Ming Dynasty, the rebellion was put down at the cost of two governors, several general soldiers, and millions of casualties among soldiers and civilians.

Now that the power of Ming Dynasty is declining, and the rebellion in Shadingzhou, the chieftain of Yunnan, has not yet been put down. Who knows if there will be any troubles in Guizhou, so Gao Yigong is happy to show his strength in front of the chieftain.

At this time, at the forefront, the soldiers holding the trench bridge were pushing their equipment, shouting loudly, and rushed towards Shiqian City as fast as they could. With a bloody mouth, he intends to devour the precarious small town in front of him.

The soldiers watching the battle shouted in unison to cheer for the friendly troops.All these gathered into a torrent, which invisibly pressed against the city of Shiqian, hitting the hearts of the defenders heavily.

Faced with this elite division that had fought against the Qing army, everyone on the top of the city was heartbroken. The soldiers tremblingly pulled out their feathered arrows, put on the string tremblingly, suppressed the fear in their hearts, and prepared to fight.

An officer of the garrison had a pale face and kept cursing obscenities. The soldiers beside him were surprised when they heard this, because it was Huang Chaoxuan and Zhang Xianbi who scolded none other than Huang Chaoxuan and Zhang Xianbi.

At this moment, there was another commotion in the city, but someone turned his back and killed Zhang Xianbi.

In less than two hours, Shiqian City declared its fall. Under the fierce attack of the Ming army, the troops inside the city had no intention of resisting. When the Ming army climbed to the top of the city, the defenders began to collapse.

It took less than half a day from the start of the siege to Gao Yigong's entry into the city, and the fight was very easy, a bit like a father beating a child.

The battle was easy, and the statistics of the losses are naturally simple. The Ming army killed more than 200 people and injured a little more. Most of the defenders in the city surrendered as soon as their gates were broken. Therefore, the casualties of the defenders were only more than 500. people.

The reason for this situation is that the soldiers did not want to fight. They were serving as soldiers in Chu to eat food, but they were brought to the barren Guizhou by Huang and Zhang for no reason. Most of them are children from Hunan. Even if they don't think about themselves, they have to think about their families.

The Ming army broke through the city, but this autumn they did not commit any crimes. Gao Yigong entered the city and was welcomed by the people in the city. Huang and Zhang had to raise [-] soldiers, and the exploitation was naturally severe. their oppression and persecution.

Gao Yigong ordered someone to post a notice to appease the people, and ordered the city to be sealed off, Huang, Zhang and others to be arrested, and a banquet was held in the government office to appease the gentry, the people and the chieftains of the villages.

During this journey, Gao Yigong knew the topography of Guizhou. Once there was a rebellion in this place, it would definitely cost a lot of money to calm it down.

It's not that the rebels are difficult to fight, the main reason is that the roads are difficult, and most of the losses are spent on the way of transportation.

Historically, the Yongli court was able to persist in the southwest for so long, largely due to the locality of Yunnan and Guizhou. It is a pity that after Sun Kewang surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, the Qing court got a character who was familiar with the terrain and the characteristics of the Western Army. In Guizhou, the Qing army finally occupied Guiyang in just over two months.

If the Ming army wants to conquer Guizhou, it still needs to establish a good relationship with the chieftain. Today's siege battle showed its strength, but it is definitely not enough to rely on force and intimidation.

The gentry in Shiqian city, the chieftain outside the city, and other dignitaries flocked to the government office to pay homage to Gao Yigong. When the two were in eastern Guizhou, they exploited the place and slaughtered the Miao people. Gao Yigong comforted the people and said that they would be severely punished.

Not long after, Huang Chaoxuan, Zhang Xianbi, their father, and their son were found by soldiers, and they were all taken to Yamen, where they waited with the captured officers for processing.

(Thanks to gdrthg for the reward)
(End of this chapter)