The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 850 Battle of Yunyang
"Princess, Crown Prince Liu Wuji falsely conveyed the Emperor's will and killed Deng Junyou at the gates of Xiangyang, seizing command of the Central Army. Now that the Qi army is invading Henan, local gentry have flocked to Liu Wuji. He promised them a three-year tax exemption and said he could convince Liu Kan to retain the imperial examination system in Henan for three years..."

"What a bunch of short-sighted peasants! This is all Liu Wuji's trick to win people's hearts! The imperial examinations were once a thing, but Liu Kan abolished them, and now he wants his son to pretend to be a good guy!"

"We shouldn't have sent Deng Junyou to attack Xiangyang!"

Kaifeng, the residence of King Zhou.

A group of generals gathered around the eldest princess, and curses were heard one after another in the smoke-filled living room.

The central army that the Jingnan army relied on rebelled at the gates of Xiangyang ten days ago.

Almost all of the 50,000 troops surrendered to Liu Wuji and turned to attack Henan. All the prefectures and counties in southern Henan fell to the Jingnan Army, and the Central Plains offensive carefully organized by Liu Yufei and others was thus thwarted.

Not only the central army, but the other two armies also did not make smooth progress.

The Shaanxi Corps encountered fierce resistance from the defenders at the gates of Yunyang City. After the Eastern Route Army entered the canal, it was subjected to heavy artillery fire from the defenders along the line. The Qi troops in Suqian and Huai'an, which had originally been ready to surrender, immediately changed their attitude after hearing that the rebel Central Route Army had been defeated, and launched a heavy artillery attack on the rebel navy.

Han Wang Liu Qian advised: "Princess, now that Deng Junyou is dead, we can no longer rely on the central route. The Huaiyang area also has no support for us. Now we can only make a move in the west, attack Yunyang with a large force, and then, from a high position, conquer all the cities in the world in one fell swoop."

This statement was immediately met with opposition. Although Yunyang was small, it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. It was also the western gate of Tianxin City. A direct attack on Yunyang would surely result in heavy losses. If a quick victory was not achieved, these warlords, each with their own ulterior motives, would inevitably undermine each other and lead to their own defeat.

Liu Yufei lowered her head and looked at the map spread out on the table. While everyone was talking, she remained silent, with a determined look in her eyes.

In this battle, only victory is allowed, not defeat. The emperor's last wish and the future of Da Qi are now firmly in Liu Yufei's hands, and the opportunity is fleeting.

Liu Qian urged, "Princess, that red-haired missionary went to Manila two years ago not to discuss trade, but to ask the Europeans for reinforcements! So there's no time to waste. We must enter Huguang as soon as possible. Since the central attack is unfavorable, we should concentrate our forces on attacking Yunyang. As long as we occupy Yunyang, the advantage will still be ours."

Liu Yufei was silent for a long time and finally made up her mind.

"Then withdraw all the troops from Suqian and Huai'an and focus on besieging Yunyang! If Liu Kan gets help from the red-haired barbarians, the battle will be even more difficult."

~~~~~~~~~~
In October of the 19th year of Guangde, the armies from various northern provinces gathered around Yunyang, and the eldest princess was determined to capture this small city.

Yunyang is located at the junction of Shaanxi, Henan and Chu provinces. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times.

As the northwest gateway of Xiangyang City, Yunyang Prefecture City had less than 4,000 residents, hundreds of miles of thorny bushes, a desolate place, and poor people.

After the establishment of the Great Qi Dynasty, Liu Zhaosun attached great importance to Yunyang. Emperor Wuding specially issued an edict to expand the city of Yunyang, increase the garrison, and migrate tens of thousands of people from Sichuan, Henan, Wuchang and other places to enrich the capital city.

Around the tenth year of Guangde, the number of soldiers and civilians in Yunyang City reached 50,000. The city walls were high and the moats were deep, and its strength was no less than that of Xiangyang.

When the eldest princess was "pacifying the rebellion", the Ming officials stationed in Yunyang included the Censor Gao Doushu, the Garrison Commander Xu Qiyuan, and the commander-in-chief Wang Guangen.

All three were former subordinates of Emperor Guangde, Liu Kan, and their lands, houses, and families were all in Tianxin City, making them incredibly loyal to the court. Gao Doushu was skilled at comforting and motivating his troops, Xu Qiyuan was adept at offering strategic counsel, and Wang Guangen was a skilled warrior.

The storm was brewing and the rebels were coming in force. Xu Qiyuan repeatedly asked for help from Tianxin City. He waited anxiously and finally received 3,000 reinforcements before the war.

These three thousand soldiers were Liu Kan's last reserve. He knew very well that once Yunyang fell, Tianxin City would be difficult to defend, and the prefectures and cities across the country that were still watching would also surrender to the rebels.

Therefore, Liu Kan invested heavily this time. Not only did he send more troops, he also donated the most valuable firearms in Tianxin City to Yunyang, hoping that Gao, Xu and Wang could hold on.

On the sixth day of October, Liu Yufei led her troops to the city of Yunyang. The eldest princess first presented the emperor's will and urged the defenders to surrender immediately.

"During the reign of the Supreme Emperor, Da Qi was a land of equality, of abundance and warmth. Everyone for one, everyone for one! All under heaven are one family, the land belongs to all, the gold and silver belong to all... Liu Kan, born to the enchantress Zhang Yan, was born of humble origins, yet he stole the throne. Before the late emperor's body was even cold, he slandered him and perverted his ways, threatening to divide official power and disband the army... Now he's colluding with the red-haired barbarians to massacre the eldest princess and the various vassal kings. Such a traitor and such a madman deserves death!"

Hundreds of letters of surrender were shot into the city by archers. As expected, the defenders of Yunyang decisively rejected the princess's good intentions.

Gao Doushu, protected by a rattan shield, climbed up the Ying'en Gate wall and, from a distance of a hundred or so steps, shouted to the rebels below:

"I appreciate the Princess's kindness! But Emperor Guangde has said that returning power to the people is the inevitable trend of the times. It cannot be stopped by a few dozen or a few hundred people. Even if the Emperor Emeritus were reborn, he couldn't stop it!"

The two sides fought fiercely in the area of Qinglong Temple on the outskirts of the city.

To Liu Yufei's surprise, the morale of the Yunyang defenders was high. Although their equipment was not very sophisticated, they were all fearless and rushed to throw grenades and Molotov cocktails at the city. The gunners fired at the field artillery below the city like crazy.

The Jingnan Army retaliated by bombarding Ying'en Gate with Molotov cocktails, grenades and field artillery. When the battle reached its most intense, both sides raised hot air balloons. Two huge hot air balloons continuously dropped shells over the heads of both sides. Flames shot up into the sky around Ying'en Gate, and large areas of stockades, horse camps and military tents were set on fire. Both the attackers and defenders suffered heavy losses.

The battle lasted until dusk. As the artillery fire from the Ying'en Gate city wall increased, the rebel artillery fire was gradually suppressed by the city wall. After the frontmost tents were destroyed by the defenders, the rebels had to begin to retreat.

The rebels lost the first battle and went around to Huaiyuan Gate in the north of the city the next day and continued their fierce attack.

Liu Qian and others did not expect that Gao Doushu had made careful arrangements in the north of the city in advance.

Mr. Gao buried thousands of mines in front of the seemingly weakest part of the city wall, and these mines were set up in a multiple-fire manner.

In other words, the rebel vanguard scouts stepping on the mines would not trigger the explosion. However, after hundreds of people entered the minefield, hundreds of musketeers who had been ambushed in advance at the Huaiyuan Gate fired together, and thousands of mines within a mile radius exploded at the same time. The rebels who were concentrating on attacking were blown to the ground, and blood and flesh splattered everywhere.

The King of Han realized that the north gate was not easy to take, so he turned to the west gate. However, just as he sounded the horn to call back his troops, the Ying'en Gate suddenly opened and the cavalry inside the city rushed out, pursuing the rebels. The rebels had no intention of fighting anymore and fled in panic, trampling each other to death. Countless people were killed.

After a day of fierce fighting, Liu Qian lost more than a thousand soldiers and horses, corpses were left in large numbers under the city, and blood flowed like a river. However, the isolated city of Yunyang still stood firm.

(End of this chapter)