Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 218: Control the nine borders and break through Juyong Pass!

During the more than one month that Yu Shen seized power in the capital, Zhu Youtang had already led a large army and traveled all over the border of the Ming Dynasty.

He started from Xuanfu and passed through Datong Town, Taiyuan Town, Yansui Town, Ningxia Town, Guyuan Town, Suzhou Town, Jizhou Town and Liaodong Town.

Among these nine border towns, the one that resisted most fiercely was Datong Town.

Just like when he was in Xuanfu, after knowing that Zhu Youtang was coming, Datong Town not only did not open the city to welcome him, but instead closed the city gates tightly and did not allow anyone to stand on the city gates.

He attempted to defend Datong Town to the death and prevent Zhu Youtang from entering the city.

Zhu Youtang did not hesitate and directly ordered an attack on Datong Town.

It took the 150,000-strong army less than half a day to capture Datong Town.

After Zhu Youtang entered Datong Town, he immediately ordered the imperial guards to search Datong Prefecture, just like he did in Xuanfu, and arrested all the soldiers who participated in the mutiny and executed them collectively.

The person who controlled the military affairs of Datong Prefecture at that time was Guo Pan, the lieutenant general of Datong Prefecture who was in collusion with Yang Tong.

Zhu Youtang exterminated three of his clans, and confiscated the property of the rest and executed them.

In addition to investigating the mutiny, Zhu Youtang also investigated the military affairs of Datong Prefecture, including whether the soldiers' salaries were in arrears, whether there was any empty pay, and whether there was any arms smuggling.

Like Datong and Xuanfu, they cannot withstand even the slightest scrutiny.

A large number of corrupt border generals were arrested by the factory guards, and along with those who participated in the mutiny, their properties were confiscated and their families were exterminated.

Before leaving Datong, Zhu Youtang also compensated the soldiers in Datong for their overdue food and wages.

Even so, when Zhu Youtang left Datong, the amount of silver he carried had exceeded 25 million taels.

After that, Zhu Youtang passed through several border towns including Taiyuan Town, Yansui Town, Ningxia Town, and Guyuan Town, and none of the soldiers defending the city put up any resistance.

But a large number of border generals abandoned the city and fled.

Pang Yang and Li Yan, the commanders guarding Chicheng Castle, abandoned the city and fled.

Yao Jing, the commander of Diao'e Fort, abandoned the city and fled.

The Wanquandusi commander Huang Ying abandoned the city and fled.

Jiang Kui, the garrison commander of Yongning, abandoned the city and fled.

……

In the Ming Dynasty, military generals who abandoned the city and fled were sentenced to death.

Before Zhu Youtang could get there, these people heard the news and immediately ran away with their families.

What do you mean?
It's because they are collecting salaries without paying the soldiers any wages, and the army's accounts don't match!
And they had no way to stop Zhu Youtang from entering the city to check the accounts, so they simply ran away early.

There were two incidents in history where Ming Dynasty generals abandoned cities and fled on a large scale.

The first time was when Zhu Di fought the Jingnan Campaign.

Wherever Zhu Yunwen's order reached, the troops there were disbanded immediately.

Not only did these generals run away when they saw Zhu Di attacking, they were also very considerate and left a lot of food and weapons for Zhu Di in the city.

This is telling Zhu Yunwen openly that you are colluding with that group of civil officials from Jiangnan to suppress our military generals.

Then I'm sorry, you can no longer be the emperor.

When Zhu Di led his army to Nanjing City, General Li Jinglong didn't even bother to put on a show and ran to open the door for Zhu Di.

Of course, after Zhu Di ascended the throne, he did not treat these generals badly.

The second time was before the defense of the capital, when Emperor Yingzong and Oirat Yesen's troops returned to Beijing.

From Datong Prefecture to Zijing Pass, Emperor Yingzong did not fight a single battle. Wherever he went, the generals there abandoned the city and fled.

When passing Xuanfu and Zijing Pass, tens of thousands of Ming soldiers watched Emperor Yingzong walk towards the capital.

Emperor Yingzong relied on the 30,000-strong Oirat army to arrive at the capital under the control of Yu Qian unscathed.

At that time, the generals abandoned the city and fled because they didn't want to get involved in this mess.

At this time, the generals abandoned the city and fled in order to save their lives.

Zhu Youtang was not in a hurry to chase them. As long as they were still within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, the guards under his command would be able to bring them to justice.

In this way, Zhu Youtang killed people wherever he found them.

While killing people and confiscating their properties, they also paid the overdue food and wages for the soldiers in the border towns.

At the same time, in order to better control the nine borders, Zhu Youtang appointed a loyal person as general in each border town and promoted him to commander-in-chief.

There were nine generals appointed for the nine border towns.

Zhu Youtang's border inspection this time completely established the transcendent military status of these nine important military towns.

It is known in history as an important town in the Nine Frontiers!
In this way, the border military power of the Ming Dynasty was completely taken over by Zhu Youtang.

After this, the entire north was truly brought under Zhu Youtang's rule.

In Liaodong Town, after enthroning the last General of the Nine Frontiers, Zhu Youtang finally ordered all the soldiers to return to the city.

"Everyone listen up, return to the court!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

……

After resting for a night in Liaodong Town, Zhu Youtang returned to the capital with 150,000 troops from the capital and 37 million taels of silver.

But as long as he wanted, he could transfer another 500,000 border troops from these nine important border towns back to Beijing at any time!
With 650,000 soldiers and horses, Zhu Youtang could flatten the capital city if he wanted to.

After setting out from Liaodong, Zhu Youtang's large army quickly arrived at Juyongguan.

Luo Xin, a soldier defending Juyong Pass, gasped when he saw the dark mass of troops outside the pass.

On the one hand, he sent someone back to Beijing to report the situation immediately, and on the other hand, he ordered other soldiers defending the city to fight to the death.

"Everyone listen, we have no way out. The emperor already knows everything."

"If the emperor is allowed to return to the capital, all of us, including our families, will die miserably!"

"If you want to survive, you must do everything you can to stop the Emperor from passing through Juyong Pass!"

"All the soldiers at Juyong Pass, fight to the death!"

Those who were transferred by Yu Shen to guard important places such as Juyongguan were all aware of the mutiny and participated in it.

They knew that running away would mean death, fighting would also mean death, so they might as well fight to the end. They all responded in unison: "Yes! Fight to the death! Fight to the death!"

The saying goes that an army in despair will win. It is precisely because the soldiers defending Juyongguan felt despair that this temporarily inspired their fighting spirit.

Nearly 20,000 people are stationed at Juyongguan, and with the help of the natural barrier, they are not immune to the battle.

When Zhu Youtang's imperial guard arrived at Juyongguan, they knocked on the gate as usual.

But the only response they got was a whistling sound of arrows.

Gao Shun, the Left Commander-in-Chief of the Central Military Commandery and Marquis of Wuding, came to Zhu Youtang's dragon sedan chair and leaned over to report respectfully.

"Your Majesty, the guard at Juyong Pass refused to open the gate and even shot arrows at our troops."

Zhu Youtang's cold orders came from the dragon sedan chair.

"Then fight! Conquer Juyong Pass for me!"

"All the soldiers guarding Juyong Pass will be killed!"

Gao Shun's expression was startled, and he immediately accepted the order: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

Afterwards, Gao Shun mounted his horse, came to the center of the army, drew his sword, and pointed it at Juyong Pass!
"All troops, listen up! Conquer Juyong Pass!"

"All the soldiers defending Juyong Pass will be killed!"

"charge!"

Following Gao Shun's order, the 150,000 troops behind him immediately launched a charge towards Juyong Pass!

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The shouts of 150,000 troops shook the heavens and the earth!

The 150,000-strong army started running, and the entire ground was shaking!

In a blink of an eye, these 150,000 troops rushed to Juyong Pass with murderous intent!

The iron torrent of 150,000 troops is enough to defend Juyongguan even if it has a geographical advantage.

But in the face of such absolutely overwhelming strength, their defenses were as fragile as paper.

The morale of the soldiers defending Juyong Pass, which had been hard-earned, vanished in an instant.

In front of an army of 150,000 with great momentum and murderous intent, each of them felt insignificant and had a strong sense of powerlessness in their hearts.

Who can stop such a powerful force?

boom!
The gate of Juyongguan was blasted open by soldiers from the Five Army Camp and the Shenji Camp using siege weapons.

Seventy thousand Jinshi from the Xianzhen Camp rushed into the pass and launched a one-sided massacre against the soldiers defending Juyongguan.

Wherever the butcher knife of the Xianzhen Camp went, there were only wailing and screaming.

Blood splattered everywhere and flesh was separated!
"Ahhhhh!!!"

"Don't be afraid! Don't run! Fight back! Fight back!"

"Don't come here! Don't come here!"

"Run! Run!"

"Don't run! You'll die if you run! Come back and fight back!"

"..."

There was chaos inside Juyong Pass.

Some wanted to run, some wanted to fight, and it was impossible to organize any effective counterattack.

Luo Xin, the defender of Juyongguan, led his personal soldiers and struggled to resist the massacre of the Xianzhen Camp.

He wanted to organize people to resist, but there was no trust or cooperation between these troops who were temporarily transferred to guard Juyongguan.

As long as there is one deserter, all the soldiers will flee with him.

They were so scared that their minds were blank. They just wanted to live for a while, so they didn't care about anything else.

A large number of soldiers did not even have the courage to fight against the Xianzhen Camp and fled in large numbers.

No matter how Luo Xin shouted, it was of no avail.

The defeat was like a landslide. Luo Xin looked at the collapsed defense line with red eyes, feeling anxious, angry, and a little sad.

Juyongguan is finished, and those who participated in the mutiny will also be finished!
The fall of Juyongguan was a foregone conclusion, and Luo Xin was forced to order his personal soldiers to retreat.

"Retreat! Juyong Pass has been breached, retreat back to the capital first!"

"Bring back the news that the Oirat had breached Juyong Pass to the capital!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Luo Xin wanted to lead his troops to retreat, but Gao Shun, who was leading the troops and fighting on the front line, had already discovered him.

"Follow me and kill the general! Charge!"

Following Gao Shun's order, dozens of soldiers from the Formation Trap following Gao Shun, together with Gao Shun, launched a charge towards Luo Xin!

Luo Xin was shocked and angry, and immediately led his troops to counterattack.

"You dare!"

Swords and spears were swung in the air, splashing blood and human heads.

With just one charge, Gao Shun cut off Luo Xin's head!
Luo Xin's eyes were fixed on the front, and he still had a terrified expression on his face before he died.

Kill the general and capture the flag!
The soldiers of Juyongguan who witnessed this scene were completely frightened out of their wits!
"General Luo is dead! Run!"

"Ahhhh! General Luo is dead! Juyong Pass is hopeless, run for your life!"

"Don't kill me! Stop chasing me!!!"

"..."

After Luo Xin's death, the defense line of Juyongguan completely collapsed. The remaining soldiers of Juyongguan either died or fled, and no one dared to resist anymore.

But these 150,000-strong army obviously had no intention of letting any of them go.

They continued to chase and kill those soldiers who failed to escape until there was no soldier from Juyongguan anywhere in sight!
(End of this chapter)