Chapter 44 8. Happy and clever cloth dry firewood plan

After the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty government, the armed struggle against the Yuan Dynasty in various places did not stop. Among them, in 1280, the uprising army led by Chen Guilong, the leader of the She people in Zhangzhou (now Longxi, Fujian) was a famous one. Chen Guilong is the uncle of Chen Diaoyan, the leader of the She people in southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong.After Chen Diaoyan's uprising, Guilong also raised troops to respond, and the number gradually grew, reaching tens of thousands of people.They were stationed in Gao'anzhai (northwest of Longxi). Relying on the danger of the stronghold, they fought with the Yuan army and attacked the Yuan army by surprise, which became the main obstacle for the Yuan army to advance to southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong.

In order to pacify this She army as soon as possible, wipe out the remaining forces of the Southern Song Dynasty, and achieve domestic stability, the Yuan government mobilized many strong generals, mobilized several troops, and even changed the provincial settings for this purpose. It was still difficult to win, but suffered heavy casualties every time. . In August of the seventeenth year of the Zhiyuan Dynasty (1280), those who were granted by the Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty were all the generals of Zhenguo and the Marshal of Zhengmandu. rebel army.Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty also specially gave Du Lingjia to the finished man, and instructed face to face: "Catch the thief, and let you do it."

After Wanzhedu led his army into Fujian, he first suppressed Huang Hua's uprising army with a large army, forcing Huang Hua to surrender, and appointed Huang Hua as the deputy capital marshal for conquering barbarians, and conquered together with Wanzhedu and Gao Xing.The Yuan army used Huang Hua as a pioneer. Huang Hua was familiar with the characteristics of the insurgents' cottage operations and led the Yuan army to advance step by step, causing the cottages guarded by Chen Diaoyan to be lost one by one. The situation was very critical. Chen Guilong, as part of Chen Diaoyan, guards Gaoanzhai.This Gao'an village is located on the top of the mountain, with cliffs on all sides, and the ground leads to various caves.In order to monitor the Yuan army and attack the enemy, the rebel army had already cleaned up the trees and weeds on the mountainside.Being condescending, coupled with a wide field of vision, the rebels can clearly see every move of the Yuan army at the foot of the mountain.Once the Yuan army attacked, they would immediately be hit hard by the rebel bows, arrows, rolling stones, etc., and the Yuan army could not even raise their heads.

Gao Xinghui stood side by side with the generals of the Yuan army and Huang Hua on the hilltop opposite Gao'anzhai. Seeing that the terrain of Gao'anzhai was dangerous and the Yuan army could not approach, he ordered to stop the attack. He only strengthened the siege to prevent the rebels from escaping. He and the generals went together Discuss the plan to defeat the enemy. Ele Zhetu said: "We have besieged Gao'an Village for more than two years, but the bandits in Gao'an Village have accumulated a large amount of food, plus there is a water source in the cave, and there are caves connecting several hills, so you can go out from inside. The outside cannot enter, so although we have been besieged for two years, it has not had much effect, and we have lost troops. Therefore, I think that the strategy of siege will not work."

Gao Xing said: "This time the emperor sent a large army to conquer the rebels, aiming to suppress them quickly in order to control the southeast and eliminate the remnants of the Southern Song Dynasty. Therefore, it is impossible for our army to confront the enemy for a long time. Therefore, the top priority is that our army should find ways to contact the enemy. , to lure the enemy into battle." Ele Zhetu said: "The thieves are all tricky. No matter what method we take, we can't induce them to fight. Several times we sent envoys to persuade them to surrender, but they were killed by them and thrown off the cliff. It seems that they also know that once they leave Half a step away from the cottage, they will lose their geographical advantage and have no good fruit to eat."

Huang Hua was familiar with the topography of this place, and seeing that everyone was helpless, he said: "The She people have always cultivated by slash and burn. If they want to break Chen Guilong, they must attack with fire." Ele Zhetu said: "Our army has also used fire attack. However, in order to prevent us from using fire attack, the rebels cleared the trees and weeds in the mountains. Even though our army can light the mountain fire at the bottom of the mountain, the burning It will be extinguished when they reach the middle of the mountain, and will not cause substantial damage to them. We also tried to use rockets to attack, but they are on the cliffs, and there are caves stationed there, so it is impossible to burn their sheds. No, no. !"

Hearing Ele Zhetu's words, Gao Xing suddenly had a plan and said, "Okay, there is a plan to defeat the enemy. Starting tomorrow, Huang Hua, you will lead 20,000 soldiers and horses, each with a bundle of dry firewood. Cover the arrows and stones shot down from above, charge upward regardless of losses, and do not give the enemy any chance to breathe. Once there is a loophole in the enemy's defense, our army can take the opportunity to attack the stronghold and kill them all. Do not stay." Huang Hua took the order to go and ordered his subordinates to prepare dry firewood.

In the early morning of the second day, a cannon sounded, and more than 20,000 Yuan soldiers rushed up the mountain with dry firewood in their arms.When Chen Guilong's officers and soldiers saw the Yuan army coming to die again, they condescended and shot the Yuan army like a target.But this time it was different. Because the Yuan army was blocked by dry firewood, bows and arrows could not hurt them at all, so the Yuan army charged all the way to the front of the village shed.When Chen Bing saw it, he quickly released the wood and boulders, and the Yuan army dropped the firewood and retreated quickly.

Seeing the retreat of the Yuan army, Chen Guilong asked the soldiers to strengthen their defenses, and went back to the cave to rest by himself.Just as he was about to sit down, he suddenly heard the sound of cannons, shouts of killing came up again, and the second wave of Yuan army's attack came again.Like the previous time, this time they charged up each carrying a bundle of dry firewood.Chen Guilong had no choice but to continue to organize the rebels to block the enemy with arrows and stones. In this way, at the end of the day, Chen Guilong repelled five or six attacks of the Yuan army in a row. Although his own casualties were not large, the bow, arrows and stones in the cave were consumed a lot, and thick dry firewood was piled up in front of the village.

So four or five days, every day. General Chen Junbi said to Chen Guilong: "The enemy attacked for four or five days in a row, and each time they used dry firewood to cover them. They threw firewood in front of our camp and retreated. Do they want to attack us with fire?" Chen Guilong said with a smile: "It's okay, our army has a cave to rely on. Even if they attack with fire, how can they do anything to me? They also used fire to attack a few years ago, but they still lost? I don't think they used fire to attack, but It’s just used to cover the arrowheads, the general needn’t worry about it.”

"However, with such a high-density attack, our army will run out of bows and arrows, as well as wood and rolling stones. How about it?" "Tell the soldiers, you must wait for the Yuan army to approach before attacking. You must save ammunition and ensure that they cannot break through the position." An army of more than 20,000 yuan attacked for six consecutive days, and dry firewood was piled up in front of Gao'an Village.The six consecutive days of attacks exhausted the rebels, exhausted their bows and arrows, and stretched out the trees and rolling stones. However, the rebels were still full of energy and prepared to fight the Yuan army to the death. On the seventh day, the weather was surprisingly clear, and the gentle wind blew away the mountain fog that had accumulated overnight. The sun leaped out of the top of the mountain, and the mountains and fields suddenly became clear.Seeing that the Yuan army did not attack today, Chen Guilong ordered the sergeants to bury the pot and cook as soon as possible, and fight the enemy after they are full.I also plan to go back to the cave for a short rest, recharge my batteries and prepare for another battle. Before the meal was ready, and before Chen Guilong had time to lie down, he heard the sound of trumpets firing at the foot of the mountain, and the sound of shouts and killings, so panicked that Chen Guilong hurriedly put on his clothes and stayed on the bed, and rushed out of the cave to look down. , but everyone held torches, grease, Glauber's salt and other fire-igniting things in their hands, and immediately ignited the dry firewood piled up in front of the village. More than 20,000 soldiers transported the dry firewood for six days. Once it was ignited, the raging flames flew up the mountain like a fire dragon.Chen Jun was dumbfounded, and only then did he realize that the Yuan army had been attacking with dry sticks these days, not to cover the bows and arrows, but to deliberately throw them down to light them with fire. Before Chen Jun could react, the fire had already swept in and engulfed the cottage in an instant.The soldiers who did not have time to escape were also reduced to ashes together with the stronghold, and the rest fled in all directions.The Yuan army took the opportunity to launch an attack, and captured the cottage without any effort.Although Chen Guilong and the rest of the soldiers risked their lives to fight, they were helplessly outnumbered. Seeing that they were powerless, Chen Guilong had to lead a few soldiers back into the cave and escape along the secret passage.The remaining 20,000 nominal soldiers fought to the death with the Yuan army, but none of them surrendered, and all died heroically in the end. Gao Xing used the strategy of concealing the truth to deceive Chen Jun, and was able to transport the dry firewood to the front of the village, making the fire attack successful. However, the people's resistance struggle did not end. The rulers fought relentlessly.