Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

"The barbarians are so arrogant, what should we do?" Seeing the Wei army cross the Wujiang River and seize Caotang, Baini, Huangping and other places, Wu Zhou, the governor of Sichuan, Zhang Dedi, asked in a panic to the Left General Yang Hongde and the Assistant General Nan Rong who had withdrawn to Pingyue Prefecture.

"Although our army has been defeated, we still have over 20,000 men, and the city is well-supplied with provisions. The garrison only numbers around 80,000 to 90,000. If we hold the city, we can hold out until His Majesty sends troops to rescue us," Yang Hongde shouted, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his eyes flashing with a fierce light, as if to say: Whoever dares to surrender will face my blade. He was a former subordinate of Wu Sangui in Liaodong and had always been loyal to his lord.

“Waiting for His Majesty’s reinforcements will take time. The Governor might consider sending a letter to the Song chieftains of Longli and Xintian, requesting them to send troops to reinforce them first. The Song family has always been close to the Great Zhou and will surely send troops,” Nan Rong suggested. The Xintian Pacification Commissioner Song Hongji and the Longli Pacification Commissioner Song Zhiyin were both remnants of the Shuidong Song family after the Ming Dynasty abolished the hereditary chieftain system. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, they were merely minor officials with small territories and limited subjects. After joining Wu Sangui, they repeatedly distinguished themselves in battle and were promoted to Pacification Commissioners by the Wu Zhou court, gaining much more territory and population. Therefore, they were extremely loyal to the Great Zhou Dynasty. The Xintian Song family was particularly powerful, governing the Song families of Laping, Maha, Leping, and Xiaopingfa. In this critical moment, Nan Rong thought of utilizing the power of the local chieftains.

“Good! I will immediately send a letter to the two Songs, ordering them to send troops here immediately,” Zhang Dedi said, wiping away cold sweat. He had been intimidated by Yang Hongde and felt terrible, but now he had finally calmed down.

"Report! Commander Yang Yi sent Jin Gong to surrender to the Wei, and opened the city gates of Yang Yi under cover of night. Ma Youji was killed in battle!" Just as they were discussing this, the bad news suddenly came.

"What!" The three were shocked. Yang Yicheng was stuck on the main road from Guiyang to Pingyue, guarded by 3,000 elite cavalry and infantrymen and 1,500 local soldiers under the command of Commander Jin Gong. They thought they could hold out for a while and support Pingyue City, but unexpectedly, there was an internal traitor and the city fell.

"Quickly! Go and scout out the situation at Yangchang Pass!" Yang Hongde exclaimed in alarm. Yangchang Pass was located in the southeast of Pingyue City, connecting the plank road from Pingyue Prefecture to Duyun Prefecture. If it fell, Pingyue City's connection with the outside world would be severed. His intuition told him that the Wei army would surely seize this pass after capturing Yang Yisi. The news brought by the night watchmen was devastating; the Wei army had indeed captured Yangchang Pass, leaving Pingyue an isolated city.

"Now is the time to make a name for yourself! The court is generous with the bestowal of titles of duke and marquis, so strive on, gentlemen!" Prince Ergalang of Jin pointed to the not-so-high Pingyue city wall and encouraged his subordinates with a triumphant air.

The Kingdom of David highly values ​​military merit, and spurred by the promise of titles and honors for achieving merit, all armies fought bravely. During the fierce battle, generals such as Han Jinqing, commander-in-chief of Ganzhou, and Bai Yunming, military commander of Gaizhou, were killed in action. On the seventh day of the battle, Pingyue City fell, Yang Hongde and Nan Rong were both killed in battle, and Zhang Dedi knelt down and surrendered.

"Your Highness, His Highness the Prince of Liao has written you a letter." Having successfully completed his father's order to capture Pingyue Prefecture, Ergalang had barely had time to rejoice when he received another letter from his uncle, Sumur. Upon opening it, he learned that his uncle and fifth brother had already besieged Duyun Prefecture. However, Duyun was well-defended, and the defending General Wu Guogui was exceptionally brave and skilled in battle, making a siege impossible. In the letter, Sumur invited his nephew to lead his army to Duyun to join him in attacking the city.
-
Liao King Sumur and Zhao King Biligendalai, under the orders of the Great Khan, led an army of 110,000 from Ligu Prefecture to attack Duyun Prefecture. However, they were blocked by 40,000 Wu troops led by General Wu Guogui in the Niupiqing area. Wu Guogui was a skilled strategist, and although his troops were few, they were the elite of the Wu army. The Niupiqing area was full of high mountains, and the Wu army relied on the terrain to defend. The Wei army launched an attack on October 30th of the 28th year of Qianyuan (1671), and after attacking for half a month, they lost 5,000 men but could not take the city. Sumur and Biligendalai discussed that Biligendalai would lead 40,000 cavalry to bypass Niupiqing, cross the territory of Chen Menglan, the governor of Hejiangzhou in the south of Duyun Prefecture, and attack Duyun City, while Sumur would remain in Niupiqing to deal with Wu Guogui.

Wu Jun also had defenses in the southern part of Duyun Prefecture. Besides the 20,000 troops under the command of Wang Hui, the Right General of the Imperial Guard, and General Li Kuang, there were also 10,000 local soldiers under the command of Yang Maogong, the Prefect of Fengning, Zhang Qi, the Prefect of Hejiangzhou, and Wang Shiru, the She ethnic chieftain of Yange Village. In terms of numbers, they were not much smaller than the Imperial Guard. However, due to repeated defeats, too many veterans had died or been wounded, and the army had been replenished with a large number of new recruits who were rushed to the battlefield without training, resulting in a significant decline in combat effectiveness. At the first engagement, the Imperial Guard broke through the local defenses. The collapse of the local forces severely damaged the morale of the Wu army. Although Wang Hui commanded the Wu army to fight desperately, it was to no avail. They suffered a crushing defeat and fled back to Duyun Prefecture. General Li Kuang was killed in battle by San Dan, the Shaanxi Governor of Wei. Prefects Yang Maogong and Zhang Qi perished in the chaos. Seeing the situation was dire, Wang Shiru led his remaining 500-odd troops to surrender to the Wei Kingdom.

Hearing of the changes at the rear, Wu Guogui, though anxious, remained calm and ordered General Xianxi to lead five hundred elite soldiers down the mountain to launch a surprise attack on the guards. Seeing that Wu's army dared to attack them from the mountain, Sumur was momentarily confused about their intentions and dared not approach too closely. As night fell, Wu Guogui secretly left his men and sneaked back to Duyun City. By the time Sumur discovered this, Wu's army on the mountain had already fled far away.

"This man is truly a talented general! Wu Sangui had so many capable men under his command, but unfortunately he betrayed the Ming first and then the Qing, fickle and unreliable, losing the hearts of the people, and ultimately unable to achieve great things!" Seeing the enemy flee far away, Sumur praised him instead of being angry, and led his army slowly towards Duyun. Outside Duyun, they joined forces with Biligendalai, and more than 100,000 guards surrounded the city of Duyun completely.

Inside the city were Wu Guogui's nearly 40,000 troops, Wang Hui's 10,000 defeated soldiers, and Long Lu's 10,000 troops, bringing the total strength to nearly 60,000. The battle-hardened Wu Guogui had fortified the city's defenses to be impregnable, and despite the large number of defenders, they could not take it quickly. Left with no other option, Sumur wrote a letter inviting Prince Ergalang of Jin to Duyun to join forces.
-
Joining forces with the Liao King and the Zhao King was part of the Great Khan's strategy to besiege Guiyang, so Ergalang dared not delay. He and Alatan Cang led 80,000 troops swiftly to Duyun Prefecture. After listening to his uncle and fifth brother's account of the situation in Duyun, Ergalang frowned and said, "Wu Guogui is skilled in warfare, and his troops are the elite of the Wu army. It will be difficult to capture the city quickly. In my opinion, we should first attack the surrounding areas of Duyun to isolate the defenders, and then take the city in one fell swoop!"
“Nephew, you are right! I heard that you have captured Zhang Dedi, the governor of Sichuan under the puppet Zhou regime. Why not send him to persuade the surrounding cities to surrender?” Sumur stroked his long beard and chuckled.

“Uncle is right, I’ll go and do it right away,” Ergalang immediately agreed.

When you're under someone's roof, how can you not bow your head? Zhang Dedi received orders and had no choice but to use his position as governor to persuade Wei Guo to surrender. The effect was remarkable. Wang Kejiu, the deputy general of Pianqiao who was guarding the five prefectures of Sinan, Tongren, Shiqian, Sizhou, and Zhenyuan, was originally a subordinate of Zhao Tingchen, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou. He greatly admired "Zhao the Buddha." Seeing that even someone as capable as "Zhao the Buddha" was no match for the Wei army and was defeated and killed, he couldn't help but feel fear. Later, when he heard the news that the Wei army had entered Pingyue and Duyun prefectures and cut off his army's retreat, he became even more terrified. Upon seeing Zhang Dedi, he immediately led 15,000 men and raised the surrender flag.

However, Zhang Dedi encountered trouble when trying to persuade the Song chieftains to surrender. The newly appointed pacification commissioners, Song Hongji and Song Zhiyin, neither agreed to surrender nor refused; instead, they placed the governor under house arrest in the government office, providing him with lavish food and drink every day. (End of Chapter)