I was a conman in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 164 Battle of Fengyang

Chapter 164 The Battle of Fengyang

After the Xingyang Conference, Gao Yingxiang led his army eastward, capturing Huoqiu, attacking Shouzhou, and entering Yingzhou, killing the prefect Yin Menglong, the prefectural judge Zhao Shikuan, and the minister Zhang Heming.

Then, taking advantage of their victory, they attacked Fengyang.

Fengyang is the hometown of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The city covers an area of ​​over 50 square kilometers and was meticulously built by Zhu Yuanzhang, drawing upon the architectural styles of over 2000 Chinese capitals. It was the most luxurious capital city he ever constructed. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang longed for home and wanted to move to Zhongdu (the central capital), so he truly built Fengyang as his capital.

Fengyang had seven garrisons. During the Ming Dynasty, each garrison had 5,600 men, which means that Fengyang had at least 30,000 troops stationed there.

Zhu Yuanzhang initially established the garrison system with the intention of cultivating professional soldiers, and ensuring that these soldiers would serve as soldiers for generations to come. The garrison system, through land reclamation, allowed for self-sufficiency. Zhu Yuanzhang's idea was quite good; it cost no money and could support professional soldiers.

However, due to the lack of an effective oversight mechanism, the military garrisons were later corrupted by their subordinates. The officers in the Ming Dynasty's garrisons were mostly hereditary. These officers seized all the fertile land within the garrisons, leaving ordinary soldiers so poor they couldn't even afford to eat.

Without money to spend, who would be foolish enough to go to war? By the mid-Ming Dynasty, the garrison soldiers were basically unusable.

When Gao Yingxiang's 100,000-strong army entered Fengyang Prefecture, there were more than 4000 troops in Fengyang City.

Fengyang City had three city walls, which Zhu Yuanzhang built with great effort; in fact, Fengyang's walls were even stronger than those of Nanjing. The moat outside the city was over 70 meters wide. If the Fengyang garrison had simply stayed put and not deployed his troops, Gao Yingxiang's peasants, who had just put down their hoes and started killing, certainly wouldn't have been able to take Fengyang City.

But the garrison commander, Zhu Guoxiang, was a complete idiot. He thought to himself, how could he let a bunch of peasants outside the city show off when he had so many elite soldiers under his command?

Zhu Guoxiang then ordered Commander Yuan Ruizheng to lead all his troops outside the city, intending to kill the peasants.

Seeing how foolish the government troops were, Li Zicheng smiled slightly. He looked up at Gao Yingxiang and said, "Father, the garrison commander is incompetent and dares to send out all his elite troops. I am willing to lead my troops to defeat the government army."

Gao Yingxiang hadn't expected the defending general to be so incompetent. He had assumed that Fengyang was fortified with high walls and strong defenses, and that taking it would be a difficult battle. Moreover, he had even sent men disguised as refugees to infiltrate the city beforehand, planning to launch a pincer attack and capture Fengyang in one fell swoop.

Who would have thought that Zhu Guoxiang, the garrison commander of Fengyang, would be so foolish as to send out all his elite troops?

Gao Yingxiang glanced at the leaders around him and said, "Gentlemen, the government troops are brainless. Our entire army will attack and annihilate them. After we capture Fengyang, the thirteen families will divide the spoils equally."

Zhang Xianzhong and the others nodded.

At this moment, black smoke rose from various parts of the city. The forces that had infiltrated the city had already made their move.

Gao Yingxiang burst into laughter and shouted, "All troops, attack!"

The messenger quickly relayed the order.

"Dong dong dong..." The war drums began to beat.

The peasant army launched a full-scale attack, numbering over 100,000. Even the peasants who had just put down their hoes could wear down more than 4000 government troops by sacrificing their lives.

Moreover, these government troops were not elite forces. The Ming Dynasty's true elite troops were all fighting the Manchus to the death outside the Great Wall.

Among the vast army, one unit stood out. It was an all-female army composed entirely of women from Mizhi. Gao Guiying, dressed in full military attire, rode her warhorse and led her troops into battle against the government forces.

"Kill!" Lin Qing brandished his broadsword, slashing at the neck of a government soldier. The blade flashed, and a head flew off...

Not far away, his father, Lin Mu, was also leading his men in a bloody battle against the government troops.

After fleeing Hanshan, Lin Qing and his son joined the women and children of Linjiazhuang. After arranging shelter for the women and children, Lin Qing and his son joined the peasant army.

When Lin Qing and his son sought refuge with him, they had some silver on them. Furthermore, both father and son were skilled martial artists, and had even seen blood and killed people.

So Lin Qing and his son quickly rose to the position of minor leaders, each with about a hundred men under their command.

Lin Qing led from the front, covered in blood, fighting with unparalleled bravery. He had changed; he was no longer the refined scholar among the Four Great Talents of Hanshan, but had become a thoroughly fierce general.

Everyone changes. A scumbag may have once been a shy boy, but he turned into a scumbag after meeting a manipulative woman.

Similarly, a "green tea bitch" was once a gentle and lovely girl, but after meeting a scumbag, she turned into a "green tea bitch."

Almost everyone encounters a destined person in their life who transforms them. This transformation can be good or bad, but it is often not something one actively chooses; rather, one passively accepts the shaping influence of this destined person.

Wang Wenzhou was the destined person in Lin Qing's life.

Lin Qing slashed down a soldier with a single blow, roaring in his heart, "Wang Wenzhou, I will definitely cut off your pig's head to avenge my grandfather! To avenge the more than 100 men of Linjiazhuang!"

Lin Mu glanced at Lin Qing from afar, deeply moved. Qing'er has grown up! Good son! One day, father and son will cut off Wang Wenzhou's head and avenge our Lin Family Village!

……

Inside Gao Yingxiang's tent, a little girl with red-rimmed eyes held a painting in her hands, staring blankly at the man in the painting.

The man in the painting, though portly, exudes a commanding presence. Indeed, it is Wang Wenzhou.

Gao Guilan murmured to herself, "Lei Feng, do you know? I admire you. My heart, my lungs, every organ in my body is telling me, Lei Feng, I admire you!"

The sounds of battle drifted in. Gao Guilan smiled slightly, gently pasted the painting in her hand, and put it into her inner pocket. She jumped up and walked to Gao Yingxiang's table.

Looking at the battle map on the table, the little girl's smile was simply too beautiful.

Gao Guilan was overjoyed; they had finally reached Fengyang. She had heard from her sister that after capturing Fengyang, the army would rest for a while and then likely attack Hezhou.

Gao Guilan happily found Hezhou on the map, and then found Hanshan County.

Gao Guilan smiled slightly and said, "Young Master Lei, I'm here! Will you be happy to see me?"

……

Our swindler classmate Lei Feng is currently holding his beloved goddess Sheng Lan with one arm while secretly reaching under Zhao Fengmin's skirt with the other.

"Hmph!" Zhang Jiao snorted angrily.

Wang Wenzhou curled his lip. "Little crazy girl, I don't know what's gotten into her these past few days, wearing women's clothes every day. You're flat-chested, how dare you wear a skirt? Jiaojiao, being a tomboy is the only way out; you can't be a lady!"

Wang Wenzhou was quite content. Life couldn't be better than this; he was living such a comfortable life. Even if he were a god, he wouldn't choose to be one. What would a man with money and beautiful women need to be a god for?

"Achoo!" Wang Wenzhou sneezed.

Sheng Lan quickly said, "Wear more clothes, don't catch a cold."

Wang Wenzhou nodded. His leg injury hadn't healed these past few days, so he hadn't been running. His physical condition was somewhat poor. He had no idea that the sneezing just now was either because Lin Qing and his son wanted to take his life, or because a little girl who had fallen for him was thinking of him.

Wang Wenzhou wasn't very knowledgeable about history; he only knew that the Ming Dynasty would fall in a few years. He didn't know that Gao Yingxiang's army would reach Hezhou a few months later. If Wang Wenzhou had truly known that the rebel leader would attack, given his character, he would have already fled with his beauties. He definitely wouldn't have stayed in Hanshan to wait for death.