History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 44: The Northern Expedition of the Cao Army
【Battle of Guangzhou】

Huang Chao mobilized all the elite troops of the Cao army and issued the highest instruction: conquer Guangzhou without delay.

This is a race against time. Guangzhou must be captured before the imperial court learns of the failure of the amnesty.

The fact that Huang Chao attacked the city after receiving the letter of commission, rather than before, also indirectly reflected his unsteady revolutionary will and lack of sincerity in surrendering, that is, the "two-pronged approach" mentioned earlier. He made preparations for both situations.

In order to create a positive image of Huang Chao, some people described the surrender in Guangzhou as a "fake surrender" to delay the war and catch Guangzhou off guard. This is untenable. If it was a fake surrender, it should have been done before the letter of appointment was issued, so that he would have more time and a higher margin of error.

Now, Huang Chao doesn't have much time left.

Huang Chao attached great importance to the Battle of Guangzhou and went to the front line in person to boost morale.

Zhu Cun and Zhu Wen led their men, slowly advancing under the barrage of arrows and stones. Under their feet were the bodies of their comrades in the first echelon.

"The first one to climb the city wall will be rewarded handsomely! Anyone who retreats will be killed immediately!" The commander-in-chief roared from behind until his voice became hoarse.

The Zhu brothers' company arrived under the ladder. They continued to display their fearlessness and led the way, jumping to the front of the team.

In the eyes of the two brothers, the defenders on the city wall were the steps leading to happiness.

Zhu Cun was especially eager to make achievements and get promoted, because in the company, his younger brother Zhu Wen was the captain, while his elder brother Zhu Cun was the deputy captain.

Seeing that the team was about to crawl to the top of the city wall, happiness was just around the corner. Zhu Cun was eager to make a contribution, and finally couldn't hold back. He suddenly shouted and jumped out of the team, wanting to compete for the credit of being the first to climb the city wall.

Three steps, two steps, one step...

Just one step away, at the moment of climbing the city wall, in the chaos, Zhu Cun suddenly trembled all over, then staggered and leaned back.

Zhu Wen hugged him and said, "Brother, second brother, you..."

It turned out that an arrow had hit Zhu Cun's throat squarely, and the arrowhead was embedded in the suprasternal fossa between the two clavicles. Blood gushed out like a spring, bubbling with blood.

Zhu Wen hurriedly pressed his hand, and blood gushed out from between his fingers, sticky and hot.

"elder brother!"

Zhu Cun was not dead yet. He held Zhu Wen's shoulders tightly with both hands. His eyes were as big as copper bells and he stared at Zhu Wen. His lips were trembling and blood foam was flowing out of his mouth.

Zhu Wen quickly lowered his head, with his ear almost touching his brother's lips.

"Gurgle... Gurgle..." Zhu Wen could hear nothing except the sound of blood foam spraying, and blood poured into his ears.

Zhu Cun's hands were still tightly clasped on his shoulders, and his eyes were staring at him even more anxiously, but he still couldn't say anything.

The two brothers just stared at each other.

Zhu Cun's eyes stared anxiously, and slowly, there was no light in his eyes and his expression froze.

Life is so fragile. In the blink of an eye, we are separated by death.

The brothers who had been struggling on the poverty line for more than 20 years, ran rampant in the village together, got into trouble together, got beaten together, became bandits together, and tried to turn over a new leaf and seek wealth together... The laughter and joy of the past are still vivid in my mind, and the vows we made are still ringing in my ears. In a flash, my brother died tragically in my arms, without leaving a word, with endless regrets and unwillingness, and died with his eyes open.

Zhu Wen's pupils were filled with blood, his eyes were red, he roared, charged, hacked and killed, and broke through the last line of defense on the city wall like a madman. He rushed left and right, as if he was in an empty space, and with his knife in hand, he chopped melons and vegetables, tearing a gap for the siege troops.

His troops quickly followed up and opened the gap, followed by the follow-up troops. Guangzhou City was immediately captured by Cao's army.

Huang Chao saw Zhu Wen's heroic performance clearly.

Huang Chao had a keen eye for talent and concluded that it was a waste of talent for this man to be only a small captain. When he heard that his brother had died in battle, he admired and trusted Zhu Wen even more.

Conquering Guangzhou in one day not only made Huang Chao famous, but also made Zhu Wen famous. From then on, the squad leader Zhu Wen began to be reused and gradually approached the core leadership.

【Northern Expedition】

After capturing Guangzhou, the Cao army became even more rampant, plundering the counties under its jurisdiction. Huang Chao directly ordered the captured Lingnan East Road Jiedushi Li Tiao to write a memorial for him.

Li Tiao flatly refused. "My family has been blessed by the emperor for generations. I should repay the emperor's kindness. I would rather cut off my wrist than write a memorial for this bandit!"

"Then I will grant your wish," Huang Chao said coldly, "Kill."

Li Tiao sacrificed his life for his country.

At this point, Huang Chao had already gained actual control over the Lingnan region. As long as he controlled a few passes and defended them strictly, he could establish his own regime and compete with the central court.

However, most of Cao's army were from the north and were not accustomed to the climate of Lingnan. The plague spread among the army and the non-combat casualties were as high as 40% (there was a major epidemic among the bandits, and one in four people died)!

After high-level discussions, Huang Chao resolutely made the decision to launch the Northern Expedition.

Waiting for them in the north was the bandit-suppression commander-in-chief and Prime Minister Wang Duo.

After arriving in the town, Wang Duo carried out the war preparations step by step, manufacturing weapons and armor, recruiting and training soldiers, repairing fortifications, deploying troops... He was very disciplined and meticulous.

Giving up the fat meat that was in their mouths and trying to break through Wang Duo's defense line, it has to be said that this was another gamble by the Cao army.

The Cao army went out in full force and assembled in Guizhou. They used local materials to make dozens of large rafts. Taking advantage of the rapid flooding, the entire army took the rafts down the Xiangjiang River and unexpectedly appeared under the city of Tanzhou (now Gaoguansha City, Hunan).

Who could have expected that the greedy Cao army would abandon Guangzhou and the entire Lingnan? Who could have expected that a flash flood would break out in the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River? Who could have expected that this group of desperate men would dare to ride on a homemade raft in the flash flood?

The army dug through the mountains for seven hundred miles and descended from the sky to Fujian. This was one of the man-made miracles of the Cao army. The army sought wealth and honor in danger and appeared and disappeared miraculously to visit Tanzhou. This was another man-made miracle of the Cao army.

Tanzhou has penetrated deep into Wang Duo's defense line and is close to the core area. Its geographical location is very important, controlling the water and land transportation routes in and out of Lingnan and the interior. Wang Duo will of course arrange heavy troops to guard it and appoint famous generals to take charge.

When Wang Duo first arrived in the town, he realized the importance of Tanzhou. Whether the government army was marching south or the Cao army was marching north, the gains and losses of Tanzhou would be the turning point that determined the direction of the war.

So, Wang Duo submitted a memorial to recommend the famous general he had in mind - Li Xi, the governor of Taining.

Li Xi is a descendant of a military family. His great-grandfather was Li Sheng, a famous general, the Prince of Xiping, and known as "the enemy of ten thousand men". The Li family has been a general for generations, and many talented people have emerged. Li Xi himself was deeply influenced by his family. He was familiar with military books since he was a child, and he was quick-witted. When he talked about military affairs, he could always speak clearly and without any mistakes.

Wang Duo believed that Li Xi was capable of taking on this important task, so he recommended Li Xi as the deputy commander-in-chief of the bandit suppression campaign and the governor of Hunan Province. He allocated him 50,000 elite soldiers and led the Hunan local self-defense force (Tuan) to garrison in Tanzhou.

Under the city of Tanzhou, there will be another fierce battle of life and death.

Remember, I compared Wang Duo to Zhuge Liang in the previous article? Now I can tell you again that Tanzhou can be compared to Jieting, and Li Xi can be compared to Ma Su.

Li's faction had 50,000 elite troops, as well as the cooperation of the local self-defense forces. They were backed by a strong city and had a strategic position. His opponents were the ragtag bandits who had come from afar.

The Tanzhou defenders were well-rested and had a clear advantage.

Therefore, under the planning of Li Xi, Tanzhou surrendered to Guangzhou, but was conquered in just one day. Li Xi fled to Langzhou alone.

Huang Chao ordered that all the government troops stationed in Tanzhou be massacred and their bodies thrown into the Xiang River, which was filled with corpses and almost blocked the river.

The Cao army took advantage of the victory to attack. The second-in-command Shang Rang personally led the vanguard troops up the Yangtze River and approached Jiangling, claiming to have an army of 500,000.

The garrison at Jiangling numbered less than 10,000.

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(End of this chapter)