I

When Liu Mang was granted the title of Uncle Qiao, war finally broke out in Yunnan.

Huang Yao led 10,000 Datong troops, 5,000 peasants and soldiers, and 30,000 civilians. He sent troops from Wusa Prefecture (Weining) in southern Sichuan and went straight to Zhanyi Prefecture (Xuanwei) in Yunnan.

Liu Xinyu and Ding Jiasheng led two divisions from Guangxi to attack Guangxi Prefecture (Luxi) and Guangnan Prefecture respectively.

Outside Zhanyizhou City.

The puppet emperor of Yunnan, together with Mu Tianbo and more than 3,000 remaining soldiers, went several miles out of the city to welcome Huang Yao's arrival.

There were many snakes, insects, rats, and ants crossing the mountains and ridges. Huang Yao's march was extremely slow, and the military doctors were busy all the way.

"General, after climbing over this mountain col, you will reach the prefecture city more than ten miles ahead." A burly young man said.

Huang Yao nodded and said: "Excellent."

The young man is called Wang Feng, and his ancestor is Wang Ziru. He followed Mu Ying to conquer Yunnan in the early Ming Dynasty. Wang Ziru was extremely brave. He conquered three passes in the day and set foot in eight villages at night. He was ordered to guard Yuhu Haikou for generations.

Chieftain Sha Dingzhou rebelled, and Mu Tianbo's mother and wife committed suicide because they had no time to escape. The Wang family of Dongshan was also wiped out by Sha Dingzhou because of their desperate resistance. Only Wang Feng, a young man, managed to escape.

Historically, Wang Feng eventually defected to the Qing Dynasty. Due to his meritorious service in conquering Wu Sangui, he was granted the title of Dongshan Chieftain by Kangxi, which lasted until the Republic of China.

Now he has joined the Datong Army and serves as a guide, always following Huang Yao.

The teenager is nearly 1.8 meters tall and has a handsome appearance. He was also proficient in swords, spears, cavalry and archery, and had learned the ancestral art of war. He was particularly familiar with the terrain of Yunnan, and Huang Yao admired him as soon as he saw him.

Getting closer and closer to the capital, Huang Yao said: "When Yunnan is recovered, you can go to Nanjing Military Academy to study. You have studied since you were a child, can write and do calculations, and understand martial arts and the art of war. After three years of studying at the military academy, at least what will you be able to do?" You start with a long career, and you can become a captain with a little military merit."

"Thank you for the advice, General," Wang Feng said through gritted teeth, "I have nothing else to ask for, I just want to kill Sha Dingzhou with my own hands and avenge my Dongshan Wang family!"

Huang Yao looked at the dilapidated mountain villages in the distance, frowned and said, "People's livelihood has been declining along the way, and Mu Tianbo has already made people resentful here."

Wang Feng sneered and said sarcastically: "Mr. Mu fled in such a hurry that he couldn't even take care of his mother and wife. Naturally, he didn't have time to take away the Mu family's money and food. All the family property accumulated by the Mu family in Yunnan over the past three hundred years was lost to Sha Dingzhou. Take it away. If he wants to continue to raise his army, he has to rob the people."

The army resumed its march for a while, and the welcoming team could already be seen.

More than 3,000 remnant soldiers were defeated. The military appearance was extremely poor. They were not fully equipped with weapons and equipment, and their mental outlook was not as good as that of Datong peasants and soldiers.

The puppet emperor of Yunnan and Mu Tianbo stood in the road and led dozens of officials to kneel down.

Huang Yao glanced at them and said: "These two people will be escorted back to Nanjing to wait for their fate. The rest of the puppet officials will go out with the army and may still be of use."

The false emperor of Yunnan and Mu Tianbo were very honest and obedient, and just wanted to survive.

They were lost dogs and were beaten steadily by Sha Dingzhou. Now he has nowhere to go, and his survival to this day is all due to the support of the Datong Army in Wusa Mansion, which prevents Sha Dingzhou from attacking easily.

Huang Yao asked Wang Feng again: "How many of these defeated generals do you recognize?"

Wang Feng replied: "I recognize most of them."

Huang Yao said: "Well, you will be in charge of the remaining troops in Yunnan for the time being. I will send a few officers to help you reorganize the troops."

"Thank you, General!" Wang Feng was overjoyed.

The army moved outside the city of Zhanyizhou, and along with the officers and officials, they quickly took over the government offices in the city.

Huang Yao called the Yunnan puppet officials and asked for more detailed information.

Wang Shide, the puppet chief assistant, said: "General Qi, Sha Dingzhou stole Kunming and falsely called it the 'General Palace'. His wife, Wan, called herself the 'mistress'. The mastermind was named Tang Jingbin, Wan's brother-in-law, who was originally from Lin'an. Fu Sheng Yuan. Sha Dingzhou’s ability to rebel and occupy Kunming was all planned by Tang Jiajia.”

Huang Yao asked: "How are the Han people in Yunnan?"

Wang Shide said: "The false emperor was greedy for enjoyment and ordered the eunuchs to exploit the people. Many of the powerful gentry in Yunnan were ruined by the eunuchs. After Sha Dingzhou took over Kunming, with the advice of the mastermind Tang Jiajin, he visited all the places near Kunming. The Han people are powerful. Many of the local gentry were deceived by Sha Dingzhou and actually regarded a chieftain and barbarian as a wise master."

Huang Yao sarcastically said: "You are arrogant and proclaimed emperor in Yunnan. You don't know how to win people's hearts. You are not even as good as a chieftain."

Wang Shide's face turned red and he did not dare to speak any more.

Military camp outside the city.

Wang Feng, with the help of Datong officers, reorganized the more than 3,000 defeated soldiers.

He was a boy of more than ten years old and knew that he could not be recognized by the soldiers, so he said: "My surname is Wang, my name is Wang Feng, and my home is in Jinning. Sha Dingzhou rebelled and killed everyone, and everyone fled with General Mu. My Wang family But he fought bloody battles in Tieluguan. The whole Wang family was killed, and I was the only unfortunate person left. I am not blaming you, I just want to say that I, like you, have a blood feud with Sha Dingzhou..."

Suddenly, Wang Feng screamed loudly: "You and I have lost our homes and left our hometowns. Are you willing to follow me back to Kunming to take revenge?"

The remaining defeated generals looked at each other and were all moved by these words. Whether they were generals or low-level soldiers, most of them had relatives killed or their property taken away by Sha Dingzhou.

"Go back to Kunming and take revenge!" Finally a young officer shouted.

"Fight back to Kunming and take revenge!"

More and more soldiers started shouting together, and their demoralized morale began to rise.

A few days later, the army went south and headed straight for Qujing Fucheng.

The defenders of Qujing Mansion were the Han forces who surrendered to Sha Dingzhou. Seeing the incoming army, regardless of whether Sha Dingzhou was the master or not, he surrendered the city with great skill.

The Datong army continued southward to the Yuezhou Acropolis, where the Han generals surrendered directly ten miles out of the city.

Luliang Prefecture City and Luliang Acropolis surrendered one after another, and the war went smoothly to the point where it was overwhelming.

The reason is simple. The defenders of these cities are all Han Chinese. Either they were local powerful tribes, or they were guard soldiers left behind by the Ming Dynasty. Their combat effectiveness was not even as good as that of Datong peasants and soldiers. How could they dare to resist stubbornly?

At the same time, the two Guangxi divisions of Liu Xinyu and Ding Jiasheng encountered difficulties as usual. One attacks Guangxi Prefecture, and the other attacks Guangnan Prefecture. Both have high mountains, dense forests, and numerous chieftains. It is not difficult to win the battle, but it is very troublesome to fight it.

…

Kunming.

Sha Dingzhou received battle reports from various places and was undecided.

He didn't know whether to fight Huang Yao who was approaching Kunming first, or to leave part of his army to defend Kunming, and secretly sent a large army to ambush the two Guangxi divisions. Because after the two Guangxi divisions occupied the two prefectures they were attacking, the next goal was to jointly attack Mengzi, the home base of Shadingzhou.

"General Mansion, the Datong army is outnumbered. We should send another envoy to ask for surrender," Tang Binbin said. "It doesn't matter if we don't let him be the Yunnan consolation envoy. We will sacrifice most of Yunnan and continue to be the chieftain of Mengzi." "

Sha Dingzhou said anxiously: "We have already sent them, but I'm afraid the Datong Army will not agree. As a soldier, I know that if they accept surrender, their military merit will be greatly reduced."

Wan suddenly said: "In my opinion, we need to fight hard twice first. Only after we beat the Datong army to pain will they know the pros and cons, and then they will agree to us being the consolation envoys."

Tang Jingbin was Wan's brother-in-law. He said to this eldest sister who didn't know anything: "My mistress doesn't know that the Datong court is the Han people's Zhengshuo, and the Datong army is also the imperial army. There are tens of thousands of Datong soldiers, and the soldiers came in three directions. We Even if an ambush is planned, it can only be a small victory or two. If all three Datong armies are defeated, Emperor Zhao of Nanjing will definitely be furious. If he sends an army of 100,000 or 200,000 troops in the coming year, how can our local soldiers withstand it? ?”

Wan said disdainfully: "It's not like I haven't seen the Han army before. How can they defeat our warriors? Brother-in-law, please don't scare yourself."

Tang Jiabin hesitated to speak. He didn't know how to explain to the ignorant woman.

What's more, this is a poisonous woman.

He committed adultery with his brother-in-law (Sha Dingzhou) and killed his second husband. In order to expand his lover's territory, he killed himself and his first husband's son. He was so shameless and so bold that even Emperor Zhao didn't look down upon him.

The three of them discussed it over and over again, but they had no choice but to continue waiting for the chieftains from all over the country to gather troops.

Waiting left and right, all the big and small chieftains in southern Yunnan were flying pigeons from Shadingzhou. Some said they were sick, and some said there was not enough money and food for the troops, but not a single soldier was sent.

"Headquarters, it's bad, the Han army in Zhenxiong has rebelled!"

"What?"

Sha Dingzhou stood dumbly on the spot. Zhenxiong Mansion was to the west of Kunming, and Huang Yao had already attacked the east of Kunming. The Han army in Zhenxiong Mansion turned against him, and Sha Dingzhou was waiting to be attacked from both sides.

After being stunned for a long time, Sha Dingzhou became furious: "The Han people are indeed unreliable. We should have killed all the Han people in the first place!"

Tang Binbin said: "General Administration, how about we escape?"

"Where else can you escape?" Sha Dingzhou asked.

Tang Binbin said: "Mengzi can't go back, and Kunming can't be defended. The wealth accumulated by the Mu family for three hundred years is all in our hands. Let's take the soldiers and wealth and simply go to Annan Kingdom, or kill Go to the southwest and occupy Mubang."

Mu State is Meng State, which already belongs to Myanmar.

The leader of Mubang was also a chieftain enthroned by the Ming Dynasty. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, he reported to the court to take up the post, but was blackmailed by Yunnan officials and refused to issue a certificate to succeed the chieftain. Mubang simply betrayed the Ming Dynasty and surrendered to Donggu. As the saying goes: The government cherishes a piece of paper and loses it two thousand miles away.

But Sha Dingzhou was a ruthless man. He clenched his fist and said, "What's the point of running away without a fight? I really don't believe it. His Datong Army really has three heads and six arms. Since the southern chieftains are unwilling to send troops, then we can do it ourselves." Beat him until the man surnamed Huang is hurt!"

Wan actually clapped her hands and applauded: "That's the truth. The Han people are very weak, and the Han soldiers don't know how to fight. The Datong Army will definitely not be able to defeat us!"

Sha Dingzhou slapped the case and said: "Assemble your troops and horses, I will personally lead the army to go to war!"

As a counselor, Tang Jiabin was dumbfounded at this moment.

He retreated without saying a word, and overnight took his belongings, concubine, son, and more than a dozen confidants with him, and crossed the mountains and ridges to join the Northern Dynasty in Vietnam.

Pig teammates cannot be brought along, and counselors can only run away.