Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The Dali defenders at Longwei Pass also tried to fight to the death.

But the darkness was so chaotic that they couldn't even find their own officers.

Especially on the wall of the pass, after being bombarded, they extinguished the braziers and torches to prevent the Ming army's shells from firing at the fire. So when the fight really started, the wall of the pass was dark, which aggravated the atmosphere of fear and chaos.

Gao Zhushou was still shouting "Those who flee in battle will die", and in a blink of an eye, a large group of fleeing soldiers rushed towards him frantically. Because there was a horse path not far to his side to escape.

The personal soldiers surrounded Gao Zhushou, drew their swords and spears, and killed more than a dozen people in a row. But the darkness could not form a deterrent force, and the fleeing soldiers in the back could not see what was happening in front. The messy sounds inside and outside the pass also covered up the scolding of the personal soldiers and the screams of the dead.

Gradually, as more and more fleeing soldiers fled, Gao Zhushou's personal soldiers were knocked over one after another.

In desperation, the guards had to escort Gao Zhushou away, constantly hacking and killing anyone who dared to approach, and moved to the horse trail in the direction of the fleeing soldiers.

"Where are Gao Minghui and Liu Kun? Go and ask them to bring soldiers to guard!" Gao Zhushou got off the horse trail in a daze, and was still thinking about deploying troops.

The captain of the guards said anxiously: "Guard, where can we find anyone now? There are fleeing soldiers everywhere, and the troops of Generals Gao and Liu are probably also defeated."

Gao Zhushou shouted again: "Navy, let the navy come quickly, there must not be many enemies sneaking across and attacking the embankment!"

The guards didn't know what the navy was doing.

In fact, the navy also fled.

The Erhai Sea Navy has never been taken seriously, and usually only bullies fishermen.

Gao Yuchengsheng and Gao Guanyinlong suddenly launched a coup, and the navy soldiers surrendered to them directly on the spot. In order to strengthen the defense of Erhai Lake, Gao Yuchengsheng requisitioned merchant ships to be converted into warships, turned some of the army into navy, and made his second son the general of the navy.

Now that the real fight has started, Gao Yuchengsheng's second son wants to fight hard, but the temporarily organized navy rowed and fled in all directions, and the original regular navy fled the battlefield in an organized manner.

Why did they flee in an organized manner?

Of course, they fled to the east bank of Erhai Lake to save their lives, and then surrendered collectively after the battle was over.

They could surrender when Gao Yuchengsheng started the coup, and of course they could surrender when the Ming army won the war. The main idea is to not interfere in everything. Whoever controls Dali City will be the master of the navy.

Teams of Ming soldiers rushed to the city gate on the floating bridge.

Outside the eight-mile-long Longweiguan city wall, there were dense torches of the Ming army everywhere. The Dali soldiers who were still blocking the city walls were so frightened by the torches that they rushed forward, and some of them were even pushed off the wall.

Gao Yuchengguang led the soldiers on the mountain to rescue them. They had to enter the city from Tiansheng Pass.

When Gao Yuchengguang returned to the city in a panic and arrived outside Tiansheng Pass, the gates of the city there were occupied by the Ming army.

Nearly 10,000 soldiers on the two peaks of Dian Cang Mountain were all blocked in the valley outside Tiansheng Pass.

These are elite soldiers!

Because if you want to capture Longwei Pass, you usually have to capture the peaks outside Tiansheng Pass first. Therefore, there are not many elite soldiers stationed at Longwei Pass, and most of the real elite soldiers are arranged to guard the mountain.

Now it's over. Nearly 10,000 Dali elite soldiers haven't fought yet, and Longwei Pass has been captured by the Ming army, and these elite soldiers are blocked in a desperate situation.

"Defeat, defeat!"

These Dali elite soldiers fell into despair.

As the gunshots on the wall continued, the Dali soldiers who were farther back in the valley also understood what was going on.

Some generals led their troops back to the mountain stronghold, including Gao Yuchengguang.

Some generals and soldiers fled directly. They ran west along the valley. They could leave the battlefield by crossing the mountains and ridges.

"Go out and chase them!"

Fan Ruwei soon discovered the chaos in the valley. He took the initiative to open the gate of Tianshengguan and led his troops to charge and chase them in the valley.

The Dali elite, who were still somewhat organized, heard the shouts of the Ming army getting closer and closer, and they didn't know how many pursuers came in the darkness. They were so scared that they ran away desperately.

In the narrow valley, the Dali elite fled one after another, and soon trampled a pile of corpses.

Gao Yuchengguang was organizing the retreat to the mountain stronghold, and it was still somewhat orderly at the beginning. As the momentum of the rout began, the crowd surged like a huge wave and directly broke up his headquarters on the spot.

At first, there were personal soldiers to protect him, but gradually even the personal soldiers were dispersed.

Gao Yuchengguang only felt someone pushing him, and then the man behind him was also pushed forward. He gritted his teeth to keep his body steady, but he couldn't resist the force at all, and hurriedly rolled and crawled to the side.

As soon as he jumped out, he was knocked down by the fleeing soldiers on the side, and then his calves were stepped on hard.

"Ah!"

Gao Yuchengguang screamed and continued to crawl, tripping a fleeing soldier, and then two fleeing soldiers fell down in succession, one of whom fell down and pressed his calves.

This guy was still crawling towards the hillside in fear, and the fleeing soldiers kept jumping over his body.

Suddenly, another fleeing soldier accidentally stepped on his back, and while he lost his footing and fell, he collided with the fleeing soldiers rushing behind him.

This time Gao Yuchengguang couldn't crawl anymore. He was pressed down by the fallen fleeing soldiers, and his legs exposed outside were trampled continuously, breaking both legs alive.

He could only hold his head to protect the back of his head, and suddenly a defeated soldier fell and pressed his head down.

"Ah!"

Gao Yuchengguang screamed again, a defeated soldier stepped on his broken leg, and he fainted on the spot from the pain.

This guy didn't die, but his two legs and one arm were broken.

In the early morning, the Ming army swept the battlefield.

An auxiliary soldier shouted in surprise: "There is a high official here, wearing iron armor! Wearing iron armor!"

…

Gao Zhushou was much smarter. He hid in a safe place at the base of the wall and ordered his soldiers to take off their armor with him.

Then, they fled with the defeated troops and kept moving closer to the shore of Erhai Lake. They tore down the planks of the dike's defenses, jumped into the water with the planks in their hands, and tried to escape back to their hometowns across the Erhai Lake.

To the north of Longwei Pass, countless defeated troops fled to Dali City.

But there are also many smart people who have determined their escape routes in advance. They rushed to various valleys at the eastern foot of Cangshan Mountain, swarming into the mountains, and some even fled towards various mountain temples.

In the dark night, the city gate of Longweiguan was opened, and groups of Ming army cavalry rushed in, holding torches and killing the defeated troops along the way and rushed straight to Dali City.

With the pursuit of the Ming cavalry, the few Dali troops that fled in an organized manner were finally completely defeated amidst the rumble of horse hooves.

Dali City, Prime Minister's Mansion.

Gao Yuechengsheng was awakened from his sleep: "Why is there so much noise outside?"

"Prime Minister, Longwei Pass is gone, and the defeated troops have fled outside the city on horseback!" the waiter said in horror.

"How many days have we been waiting for?" Gao Yuocheng was shocked.

His initial plan was to seize Dali City and control the country, and summon the princes and kings as prime minister. Including the troops of Gao Liangcheng and Gao Zhenshou, he felt that he could directly recruit them.

Because this was the case in the past, using the king to command the princes, using the righteousness of fighting against foreign enemies to control the army, and then sending the local troops back to their hometowns after the battle was over.

Unexpectedly, Gao Liangcheng directly led his troops to surrender to the enemy!

Therefore, Gao Yuechengsheng decided to negotiate peace again, and continued to cede more territory in the hope that the Ming army would let him go.

Until the Ming army reached Erhai, Gao Yuechengsheng changed his plan again.

He felt that he could rely on Longwei Pass and Longshou Pass to hold on. As long as he held on for a month or two, the Ming army would consume more food and grass and suffer more casualties. At that time, it would be more valuable to surrender to the Ming army.

Can you keep it for a month or two?

Gao Yuechengsheng thought it was more than enough. That kind of pass was not easy to conquer.

He even had a vague sense of luck. Maybe the Ming army would be unable to break through even if they ran out of food and grass.

"Gather soldiers and horses to defend the city, and we must defend it until dawn!"

The night was so chaotic that Gao Yucheng Sheng planned to surrender at dawn, and at least he could get a "dedicating the city".

As soon as he rode out of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Gao Yucheng heard shouts and rushed towards him.

Someone led an army to rebel!

There were more than one or two "rebels". Dong Mingshou was the first to react. He took his family's details to form an army and quickly ran to seize the south gate of Dali.

The Zhang family led troops to occupy the palace to prevent Gao Yucheng from taking advantage of the chaos and kidnapping the king.

The Yang family and the Gao family had a big feud. They didn't have many private soldiers in the city, only two to three hundred people in total, so they simply rushed towards the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Gao Yuechengsheng was so frightened that his whole body went cold. He didn't care about his son who was still on the battlefield or his wife and concubines in the prime minister's palace. He immediately hit his horse and ran for his life.

He first went around the north gate and found that many people were fleeing there, fearing that they would be looted and killed by the insurgents who stayed in the city. The soldiers guarding the north gate also disappeared. A few returned to the city to look for their families. Those whose families were not in the city simply dispersed.

Gao Yucheng Sheng rode on horseback and chopped down the people who blocked the road. He finally got out of the city and crossed the moat, but suddenly he didn't dare to escape further north.

Further north is Longshou Pass, where the guard is Gao Guanyinlong, and Lin Chong's army is blocking the pass.

Once Gao Guanyinlong knew that Longwei Pass had been lost, he would definitely arrest Gao Yuachengsheng, and even the prime minister and Longshou Pass would be dedicated to Lin Chong.

So, Gao Yuocheng turned around and headed west.

When passing by Chongsheng Temple, he wanted to escape into the temple and hide. I also felt that Chongsheng Temple was too close to Dali City, so I rode around Chongsheng Temple and ran all the way to the valley.

There is a Zhonghe Temple deep in the mountains. Gao Yuochengsheng knows the abbot there and has donated treasures to Zhonghe Temple in the past.

Gao Yuachengsheng beat the horse and galloped wildly. When the mountain road could no longer be ridden, he took the horse into the woods and killed it. Then he took off his silk robe, untied his bun that he had pulled up casually when sleeping, and hiked up the mountain with his hair disheveled and wearing only his underwear.

Climbing from night to day, from morning to noon.

Gao Yucheng was tired and hungry, his legs were shaking as he walked, and finally he saw the mountain gate of Zhonghe Temple.

He grabbed the dirt and smeared his face with dirt, knocked on the temple door and said to the monk Zhike: "I am a merchant in Dali City, and I have a relationship with your abbot. Now that Dali City is being looted by rebels, I want to hide in your temple for a few days." "

The monk Zhike saw that he was talking well and quickly brought him in to see the abbot.

The abbot identified it carefully and finally recognized that this was the latest version of the prime minister of Dali Kingdom. He was also shocked to hear that Dali City had been breached. He immediately took a few steps back and shouted, "Hurry and catch this thief, tie him up and send him to Dali City!"

Gao Yuechengsheng roared angrily: "You thief monk, it's in vain that I donate so much incense money every time I worship Buddha!"

The abbot said righteously: "You are the thief who has harmed countless people for your own selfishness. The lives of those fallen soldiers should all be counted on your head. Even if you die, you will go to the eighteenth level of hell!"

"I'll fight you!"

Gao Yuecheng was so angry that he rushed forward, but was knocked down by the monks who surrounded him, tied tightly and sent down the mountain to Dali City.