Preface
The Wagang Rebel Army was one of the most powerful peasant rebels in the late Sui Dynasty, which once set off a vigorous anti-Sui struggle in Henan and northern Henan, and once shook the Central Plains and became an important force in overthrowing the Sui Dynasty.
However, the interior of this rebel army is full of complex personnel entanglements, with many betrayers and renegades, and there is only one true hero.
Zhai Rang died a tragic death
Zhai Rang was a petty official from a humble background, because he was wrongfully imprisoned, and after being released by the prison officials, he fled to Wagangzhai, gathered a group of peasants, and began an armed struggle against Sui.
The Wagang Army led by him was famous for its courage and good fighting, killing the rich and helping the poor, attracting many generals and righteous men of the Sui Dynasty, such as Shan Xiongxin, Xu Shiji, Wang Bodang, etc., and the team grew rapidly.
In the turbulent era at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty did not hesitate to use a large number of troops to deal with the peasant rebels in various places in order to maintain his rule.
Among them, the most headache for him is the Wagang Army led by Zhai Rang.
In order to eliminate the Wagang army, Yang Guang repeatedly ordered his henchman Zhang Xutuo to lead the elite Sui army to the crusade. Zhang Xutuo led the Sui army and the Wagang army to fight many fierce battles.
Therefore, Zhai Rang's Wagang army, although brave and good at fighting, but in terms of equipment and numbers, is inferior to the Sui army, they have suffered heavy defeats and heavy losses in the battle with Zhang Xutuo, and were almost annihilated by Zhang Xutuo in one fell swoop.
During this period, Li Mi also devoted himself to the Wagang Army, and with his wisdom and strategy, he befriended and used many people, including Jia Xiong, the chief military advisor of the Wagang Army.
Jia Xiong is a person who is proficient in the art of war, he has a high status in Zhai Rang's mind, and after befriending Li Mi, he often takes the opportunity to praise Li Mi's talent and merits in Zhai Rang's ear, so that Zhai Rang has a deeper trust and respect for Li Mi.
Zhai Rang was originally a leader who valued talents, and his reuse of Li Mi was also out of recognition of his talent, but he didn't know that Li Mi would be the one who took his life in the end.
Later, Zhang Xutuo was sent again to encircle and suppress the Wagang army. In order to take revenge on Zhang Xutuo, Li Mi came up with a clever plan......
Soon, Zhang Xutuo led the Sui army to the territory of the Wagang Army again, and Li Mi sent a part of the Wagang Army soldiers, pretending to escape, luring Zhang Xutuo to pursue and lure him into an ambush circle.
As soon as Zhang Xutuo entered the woods, he found that he had fallen into a trap, and there were arrows and swords of the Wagang army on all sides, and he resisted bravely, but his strength gradually wore out, and he could not break through.
When Wang Bo saw that the time was ripe, he ordered to shoot arrows at Zhang Xutuo, who was shot in the vital point and fell in a pool of blood, and his death also marked the decline of the Sui Dynasty and the rise of the Wagang army.
And one of the heroes, Li Mi, also saw his opportunity, and he had the idea of usurping the leadership of the Wagang Army and replacing him as the leader of the Wagang Army. He began to secretly lay out, preparing to attack Zhai Rang.
This time, Jia Xiong was used. Jia Xiong is a figure who is proficient in divination, he took advantage of Zhai Rang's superstition, in the name of divination, to convey a hexagram to Zhai Rang, saying that the destiny of heaven has been decided, Zhai Rang should give up the leadership of the Wagang army to Li Mi, otherwise there will be a catastrophe.
And Zhai Rang actually gave up the position of leader to Li Mi.
But Li Mi not only wanted the position of leader, but also wanted Zhai Rang's life.
At a banquet, Li Mi secretly arranged for Cai Jiande to ambush in the shadows, and after Zhai Rang, his brother and nephew came to the banquet, he ordered them to be killed.
This act of his aroused strong dissatisfaction among the Wagang Army, which greatly reduced its combat effectiveness and demoralization.
The decline of the Wagang Army
In 618 AD, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty was mutinied by his close minister Yu Wenhua, killed him, and usurped the throne of the Sui Dynasty.
Li Mi heard about Yang Guang's death, although he did not have any loyalty to Yang Guang, but he used this as a name to claim to avenge Yang Guang, in fact, he wanted to take the opportunity to expand his power and serve his ambitions.
So, he led the Wagang army and launched an attack on Yu Wenhua. The war lasted for several months, and both sides paid a heavy price, and in the end, the Wagang army defeated Yu Wenhua and captured Luoyang City, laying the foundation for the fall of the Sui Dynasty.
However, because of this war, the Wagang army also lost a large number of men and materials, and its strength was greatly weakened, and it could no longer compete with other peasant rebel armies and the emerging Tang Dynasty, and since then it has gone into decline.
In the Battle of Bishan, the last stop of the Wagang Army, Li Mi tried to enter Luoyang and compete with Wang Shichong for hegemony, but met with Wang Shichong's stubborn resistance.
At this time, one of the generals of the Wagang Army, Bing Yuanzhen, took refuge in Wang Shichong, and he and Wang Shichong set up an ambush to wait for Li Mi to fall into the trap, and Li Mi was defeated.
Subsequently, Shan Xiongxin, Luo Shixin, Qin Shubao and other generals all betrayed Li Mi, either surrendered to Wang Shichong or surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and the Wagang Army collapsed, and its confrontation with other peasant rebel armies and the nascent Tang Dynasty was no longer possible, laying the foundation for the Tang Dynasty to unify the world.
During this period, only one general named Wang Bodang remained the same and served Li Mi, who could be called the only true hero of the Wagang Army.
The ending of Wang Bodang
Li Mi and Wang Bodang surrendered to the Tang Dynasty together, hoping to be reused and rewarded by the Tang Dynasty.
Unfortunately, Li Yuan, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, did not pay attention to Li Mi and Wang Bodang, but only placed them in a remote place in Guanzhong, and did not give them enough military power.
Li Mi was very disappointed and dissatisfied, believing that he was the hero of the civil uprising at the end of the Sui Dynasty and should be respected and rewarded, rather than neglected and ignored. So, they decided to raise the anti-flag again and make enemies of the Tang Dynasty.
In 617 A.D. (the thirteenth year of the Great Cause), Li Mi proclaimed himself the Duke of Wei and established a short-lived regime, he named Wang Bodang as the Duke of Langya, and appointed him as the Prime Minister of Zuo, in charge of the military.
They led tens of thousands of soldiers to attack the Tang Dynasty's various cities in Guanzhong, in an attempt to seize the rule of Guanzhong. At one point, their armies were overwhelmed, capturing Fengxiang, Huayin, Weinan and other places, threatening Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty.
However, the rebellion of Li Mi and Wang Bodang was not supported by other rebel armies, but was resisted and attacked by them. The Tang Dynasty also sent a large number of elite troops to encircle and suppress them.
In 619 A.D. (the second year of Wude), Li Mi and Wang Bodang were surrounded by an army led by the famous Tang Dynasty general Sheng Yanshi in Taolin County (present-day Meixian County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province).
brief summary
The rise and fall of the Wagang Rebel Army is a tragic chapter in Chinese history, which shows the heroism and tenacity of the peasant rebel army, and also reflects the internal contradictions and weaknesses of the peasant rebel army.
In this rebel army, only Wang Bodang is a real hero, he has only followed Li Mi alone in his life, and has never betrayed.