The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 187 Chongqing Battle (Part )

The mighty Yangtze River flows for thousands of miles, exiting the Qutang Gorge and colliding with the Jialing River, forming the Chongqing city, which is surrounded by rivers on three sides. On the western side of Chongqing, the most important pass stands: Fotu Pass.

As the saying goes: If Fotu Pass can be defended, the whole city can be protected.

During the Song-Mongol War for Chongqing over 300 years ago, the battle for Fotu Pass was a decisive factor in the conflict. Since the Song Dynasty, successive imperial courts have built fortifications and heavily fortified the area.

She Chongming, the Yongming envoy and emperor of Daliang, certainly understood this. After occupying Chongqing, he immediately sent his son-in-law Fan Long to lead 2,000 elite chieftain soldiers to guard Fotu Pass to prevent a counterattack by the surrounding Ming army.

At the same time, the main force of the rebels divided into three routes and occupied the water mouth of Kuizhou: one occupied Qijiang and Zunyi, one occupied Luzhou, and one occupied the western Sichuan plank road.

Except for Qin Liangyu, the envoy of Shizhu, all the chieftains around Chongqing were basically bribed by She Chongming.

After Yang Yinglong's defeat, the Ming court continued to implement the policy of converting the chieftains into officials in the southwest. Although the chieftains were dissatisfied, no one dared to resist.

With She Chongming taking the lead, most of the surrounding chieftains adopted a wait-and-see attitude, choosing to sit back and watch the tigers fight. No matter how much Sichuan Provincial Governor Zhu Xieyuan urged them, the chieftains refused to send a single soldier, and watched Hejiang, Luzhou, Zunyi and other places fall.

In this context, the rebels were invincible and won victory after victory. She Chongming felt that the Ming Dynasty was nothing special. He couldn't wait to try his hand at becoming an emperor, so after occupying Zunyi, he established the country "Daliang", set up officials such as the prime minister and five ministries, and formally competed with Emperor Taichang.

When the rebels were advancing smoothly towards Guizhou and eastern Sichuan, a group of a thousand white-pole soldiers were secretly sneaking in from Shizhu County and landing at Nanping Pass on the south bank of the Jialin River.

The leader of this troop of white-pole soldiers was Qin Liangyu, the aunt of Qin Jianxun, deputy commander of the Kaiyuan 3000th Headquarters and a famous female general in history.

The second day of November, the first year of Taichang.

The Jialing River was shrouded in thick fog, and the mountains disappeared and the river bank was indistinguishable under the thick fog.

Teams of Shizhu soldiers wearing iron armor and holding white spears were secretly lurking under the cliffs of Nanping Pass.

The mountains along the Jialing River are steep, with cliffs serving as walls and gaps between them as passes. Nanping Pass also lacks walls; the mountains serve as the Jincheng River, and it faces Fotu Pass across the river, forming a pinnacle of defense for Chongqing.

Last year, 7,000 White Spear soldiers came to aid Liao, but they were all killed or wounded in the bloody battle of Hunhe River. She Chongming concluded that the White Spear soldiers of Shizhu were unable to fight again.

Qin Jianxun looked up at the steep Nanping Pass, then turned to Qin Liangyu, who was dressed in military uniform, and said:

"Aunt, Crazy She is so arrogant that he didn't even send out scouts to the pass. He really thinks our Shizhu soldiers dare not come!"

"Take advantage of the fog and storm the pass in one fell swoop, and scare the madman to death!"

Qin Jianxun has experienced the Battle of Kaiyuan and the bloody Battle of Hunhe, and has long grown into a tough guy, but in front of his aunt, he is still like a child.

Qin Jianxun's father and uncle both died in battle on the north bank of the Hun River. His aunt was the only relative he had left in this world.

Qin Liangyu wore two layers of iron armor, held a sword in her waist, wore a Shu brocade battle robe, a long peach blossom tassel, and a headband on her head. Although she was over forty years old, she was still as heroic and graceful as ever.

"Nanping Pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack. We only have a thousand White Spear soldiers left, and the surrounding chieftains are unwilling to help. We must not fight recklessly. Xun'er, look at the river."

Qin Jianxun looked in the direction his aunt pointed, and saw white sails dotted along the river under the mist. All of She Chongming's ships were docked there.

"Have our men hide beneath the pass until nightfall, then burn the ships. We'll take advantage of their rest and kill She Chongming by surprise."

She Chongming was stationed in Chongqing and ordered Fan Long and She Yin to lead tens of thousands of troops to march towards Chengdu in different directions. The rebels successively captured Fushun, Neijiang, Ziyang, Jianzhou and other places.

On November 18, the rebels surrounded Chengdu.

On November 20th, the evil man Zhang Yijing in Yunyang Prefecture, Huguang, led the White Lotus Sect in the area to revolt. The White Lotus Sect broke into Fang County, forced the refugees to cross the Baihe River, passed Wuxi, entered Chongqing Prefecture, approached Fengjie City, and responded to the chieftain rebels from the east and west.

Emperor Taichang was worried that the White Lotus Sect would join forces with the chieftain rebels, so the cabinet urgently voted to promote Zhu Xieyuan to the position of Governor of Sichuan and dispatch Yang Yumao as the commander-in-chief of Sichuan to quell the rebellion.

Qin Liangyu, the envoy of Shizhu, and her nephew Qin Jianxun led a thousand white-pole soldiers to station at Nanping Pass to block the Chongqing rebels' retreat route.

On the evening of the third day of December, white fog filled the air on the river beach below Nanping Pass on the south bank of the Jialing River.

Qin Liangyu, the Xuanwei Secretary of Shizhu, gave her nephew Qin Jianxun full responsibility for commanding the night attack.

Qin Jianxun experienced the Battle of Kaiyuan and the bloody Battle of Hunhe, and was tempered in blood and fire, and was now capable of standing on his own.

"I'm telling you this seriously. That bastard She Chongming, damn him! That fool, Mang Tuo, dared to attack Chongqing Prefecture and even threatened to massacre the Shizhu soldiers just because we didn't join him in the rebellion! What are we going to do?"

When the captains heard this, they all raised their arms and said angrily:

"Damn it, let him come!"

"Shovel, shovel, if you hit my hand, I'll break it off. If you hit my foot, I'll break it off! If you hit my head, it'll be smashed to pieces!"

Qin Jianxun looked around, and saw familiar faces. Some of them were his elders, brothers of his deceased father and uncle.

Brothers fighting tigers, father and son go into battle.

"The unlucky, beheaded bastard soldiers (Note 1) have hidden gunpowder and sulfur at the dock. They'll be shipped to Chengdu tomorrow. Wait for Ha'er to light the gunpowder first, then set fire to the ship. When the bastard soldiers come down to put out the fire, I'll kill them!"

The captains immediately dispersed and arranged for the white-pole soldiers to prepare fire starters.

There were endless red horse boats (Note 2) anchored on the Jialing River, and Qin Jianxun cursed in his heart.

"Shebo, you killed so many people, and you still want to be the emperor? I will burn down Red Cliff today! Burn all your ships! And see how your son-in-law returns!"

In winter, the days are short, the sun sets in the west, the mist dissipates, and a waning moon rises over the Jialing River.

Moonlight enveloped Nanping Pass. Teams of white-pole soldiers, armed with swords and round shields, crept toward Wanglongmen Wharf. The winter night was bitterly cold, and even though Qin Jianxun wore a layer of cotton armor underneath and chain mail outside, he still felt the chill.

Wanglongmen Wharf is located between Fotu Pass and Nanping Pass. It is an important channel for the Huohuo Army to transport food, fodder and soldiers. The main force of She Chongming's rebel army has already marched to Chengdu to attack the city.

She Chongming planned to capture Chengdu to completely control Sichuan, then go north to attack Shaanxi, or go east to Huguang.

Wanglongmen Wharf is as bright as day.

Next to a few dark tents, the rebels lit a bonfire on the dock and gathered around it to drink and eat meat. Some ragged Han women were tied to the ground, many of whom were already dead.

As the twelfth lunar month approaches, the riverside is damp and cold.

I wonder how many more Chongqing residents will die tonight.

For these rebels, although there were wine, meat and women, many of them could not bear the long cold night and sneaked back to the city.

There were only two or three hundred people guarding the dock.

Qin Jianxun led three hundred white-pole soldiers and gradually reached the edge of Wanglongmen Wharf.

A woman's screams were heard in the distance, and Qin Jianxun cursed:
"This bunch of unlucky scum who deserved to have their heads chopped off, instead of going to Liaodong to fight the Tartars, stayed in Chongqing to bring disaster to the people!"

In the spring of the 47th year of the Wanli reign, the Shizhu White Spear Soldiers and the Yongning Huhuo Soldiers were simultaneously summoned by the imperial court to aid Liao. The White Spear Soldiers traveled thousands of miles and arrived on schedule. However, the Huhuo Soldiers repeatedly delayed, remaining entrenched in Chongqing. Once all the other troops had moved north, She Chongming seized the opportunity to rebel.

One of the reasons why the White Spear Army suffered heavy casualties in Hunhe River was that She Chongming planned a rebellion for his own selfish reasons and deliberately delayed the march.

If the 20,000 Xiaoxiao soldiers could have marched north on time and joined forces with the Zhejiang Army, the White Spear Army, and other powerful forces at Hunhe River, and fought an all-out battle with the Eight Banners of Jianzhou, the final outcome of the Hunhe battlefield would have been difficult to predict.

Under the moonlight, a figure staggered towards Qin Jianxun. The drunk man had his back to the campfire and was lying on a big Chinese tallow tree, peeing.

Qin Jianxun blew the whistle softly. The tiger soldiers woke up immediately after hearing the whistle and ran towards the campfire without even putting on their pants.

He opened his mouth and was about to call out when the white-pole soldiers in the front row pulled the trigger of their crossbows.

Whoosh!Whoosh!
Several short arrows shot out rapidly, piercing the darkness and hitting the man's vest.

Within five or six steps, the short crossbow easily penetrated the rebel's leather armor and shot the man to death.

Next to the campfire, an extremely strong leader of the Boars heard the noise behind him and suddenly grabbed the mace placed next to the campfire.

He was about thirty years old and was the strongest man under the command of the Yongning Tusi. He looked at the white-pole soldiers hiding in the night with a stern look in his eyes. The corners of his mouth twitched as he said to the two soldiers beside him:

"Adala, Deha, call on the warriors in the flag (Note 3) to kill the white-pole soldiers!"

Qin Jianxun pointed at the dark tent in front of the campfire, drew his Miao Dao, and said to the white-pole soldiers behind him:

"The gunpowder for the Boar soldiers is in the tent. Thirty men go and light the fire, thirty men go burn the boats, and the rest follow me to kill the Boar soldiers!"

Qin Jianxun recalled the tragic death of his father and uncle on the Hunhe battlefield.

She Chongming was definitely involved in the tragic deaths of his father and uncle in Hunhe River.

Today, we will avenge our national hatred and our family feuds.

The leader of the Huo Huo was holding a mace as thick as a human leg, followed by a dozen strong Yongning chieftain soldiers. They strode towards the white-pole soldiers against the firelight. The chieftain soldiers' bodies were illuminated blood red by the firelight, like evil spirits from hell.

"Sir, kill them all!"

Enemies are extremely jealous when they meet.

The Miao Dao crashed into the mace.

Qin Jianxun felt a numbness in his palms and was forced to take several steps back by the huge impact force.

Just as he was about to raise his crossbow, he heard dense explosions all around him, and the gunpowder on the shore was detonated by the white-pole soldiers.

The leader of the Huo Huo swung his mace and smashed it all the way. The mace was so powerful and the attack was fierce and fierce that Qin Jianxun felt numb in his palms. He just raised his knife to block and retreated repeatedly.

An explosion sounded from behind, and the pair of Tusi soldiers who were fighting for their lives were lifted up by the shock wave and flew away with the wind.

The Jialing River was engulfed in flames, and the densely packed boats were engulfed in flames one after another, making crackling sounds of wood exploding. The sleeping soldiers in the boats were awakened one after another, screaming and jumping into the freezing cold Jialing River.

The firelight illuminated the figures of the chieftain's soldiers running in panic at Nanping Pass in Fotu Pass.

At the Wanglongmen Wharf, countless weapons collided and broke, piercing into each other's bodies.

Under the illumination of the hellish night fire, the two hostile chieftain troops fought to the death and exchanged their lives.

Notes:

(1) The old name for the Yi people. Gu Yanwu's "Book of Advantages and Disadvantages of Counties and States Under Heaven: Yunnan, Guizhou and Jiaozhi" states: "The name Cuan Man has been used the longest, and there were many different types of people in the beginning. Some were called Lu Lu Man, but now they are corrupted to Huo Huo." During the She An Rebellion, the main force of She Chongming's rebel army was Huo Huo soldiers.

(2) A small boat with a sail made of cloth tied to it, found in the Sichuan and Chongqing basins.

(3) The local chieftains in Yongning, (En) Shinan and other places had military organizations called banners, with each banner consisting of dozens to several dozen people.

(End of this chapter)