Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1203

The fog at night was as thick as light rain, suffocating, and lasted until the next afternoon before gradually dissipating.And when the evening wind blows, it meets people unexpectedly again.

There is no big post road here, but winding field roads.

On the road, the sergeants of the brigade are moving forward bravely.

How honorable they are, you can tell from the expressions on the faces of the Youzhou soldiers and civilians who met them suddenly: they look like they have seen a ghost.

His face was haggard, his beard was unshaven, his body was dirty, and he had an unpleasant smell.They hold weapons in their hands, but they generally don't wear armor, and they look like bandits and bandits.

"You're not timid, where did you come out?" The sergeant guarding Yuzhai Pass was furious when he saw it.

These thieves would have troubled them a long time ago if they hadn't seen their love for each other many years ago.But I didn't expect that I would be so ignorant, and suddenly rushed out to seek death.

I didn’t care about anything at the moment, I immediately called my brothers out of the camp, and I was going to give them a hard time—although Li Cunzhang, who was left behind, went south to Cangzhou and took away most of the troops, but there were still 300 people left behind in the camp, fully armed, Isn't it easy to fight these weak-willed stragglers?
Unexpectedly, just as the drums were beating and the soldiers gathered here, they had already lined up skillfully on the other side, and then the first few teams stepped forward with their bows, and rained arrows on their heads and faces.

The arrow was shot quickly and urgently, and most outrageously, it was also very accurate. It knocked down the people on the wall and sentry tower in two or three hits, and then shot the Jin soldiers who rushed out of the camp gate screaming again and again.

"Kill the thieves!" An officer took the lead and rushed forward with more than a hundred people.

They did not care about their own safety, and with a posture of looking at death as if they were going home, they killed the Jin soldiers so that they could not stand, they were defeated again and again, and the camp gate was quickly lost.Afterwards, a large group of people swarmed in, slashing with knives and axes, stabbing with spears, and killed the stunned Jin soldiers in two or three hits.

Liu Zhijun walked in stepping on the blood all over the ground, grabbed a Jin army officer, and asked, "How many people were there in your army village?"

The officer of the Jin army was dumbfounded when he heard this accent.

He is a native of Youzhou, his accent is completely wrong, it sounds like Henan.Suddenly, he thought of a very frightening question: Are they really the Yan soldiers who broke up before?
"Let him wake up." Liu Zhijun ordered.

Soon, two sergeants like wolves and tigers stepped forward.One person knocked off his helmet, grabbed his hair, and the other took out a short blade, first stabbed him severely in the thigh, then pressed the blade against his throat, and reprimanded: "Quickly answer. "

The officer of the Jin army was startled, and immediately replied: "There were thousands of people, but more than 700 left."

"Affiliated to He Jun?" Liu Zhijun asked.

"Lu Longjun." The officer endured the severe pain and quickly replied.

The Lulong Army is stationed in Lulong County, Pingzhou, but that is only where the "military headquarters" are located. In fact, they are usually stationed in several places, such as Pingzhou, Shicheng, Liucheng Army, etc. The main combat targets are the Khitan outside the pass. .

"How many people are there in the Liucheng army?" Liu Zhijun asked again.

"I don't know." The Jin Army officer replied with a tremor.

Xia Bing, who held the knife against him, stabbed his other thigh again, causing blood to flow profusely.

The officer of the Jin army screamed: "I really don't know, but there should not be many people, and they were all taken away."

"What's the use of you!" Liu Zhijun snorted coldly, turned and left.

Xia Bing didn't talk nonsense, he slapped the short blade hard, and the Jin army officer struggled desperately for a while, and then gradually stopped moving—the throat was cut, and he couldn't scream even if he wanted to.

People outside the camp continued to march in, while Xia soldiers who poured into the camp had already started collecting materials.

Someone collected all the mules, fodder, and grain.

Someone counted the carts and put them together.

Armours were stripped from dead men.

Someone is picking out spare weapons, bowstrings...

Landing without a port is such a pain.Slightly larger equipment and equipment cannot go ashore, and most typically, there is no carriage.Everyone rushed forward lightly, carrying dry food for several days, few sets of armor, and few horses. They gritted their teeth and rushed all the way, hitting by surprise.

How else can I say, how many miles a day is a gamble when light soldiers advance quickly?In this state, either a big victory or a big defeat.

"Use what you can. Don't wait until it's time to fight. You don't even have armor." Liu Zhijun walked around in the camp, telling him casually.Sometimes when I see something that is not pleasing to the eye, I have to beat and scold it a few times.

People who are in a gloomy mood for a long time are basically like this-can they be in a good mood without the opportunity to raise the flag to rebel?
Rebel, dare not.Vote for Li Ke, don't want to.Continue to work for Shao Sheng, reluctantly.

Even if this sneak attack on Youzhou is successful, and he makes great contributions, and obtains a noble title, endless wealth and lofty status, so what?This is not the wealth he wants.

It's going crazy!

"General Liu." A messenger hurried in and reported: "The military envoy sent me to ask, how much food and grass are there in the camp?"

"Not much, just two or three thousand hu." Liu Zhijun said angrily.

"I know, so I will report back to the military envoy." The envoy saluted and turned to leave.

Liu Zhijun looked outside the camp. Many soldiers were still advancing, continuing to the north.

The so-called soldiers are expensive and fast, but that is the case.

Although when going north, the villages encountered along the way were all guarded, and no one was allowed to go out; all the pedestrians encountered were detained and guarded until the army left for at least three days; almost none of the enemy soldiers encountered were left alive, and all were killed , because they are warriors, it is impossible to leave only a few sergeants to guard them.But even so, no one can guarantee that the whereabouts have not been leaked.

It can even be said that as time goes by, leaks are inevitable.What they have to do is to delay this time as much as possible, even if it is good for the enemy to know one day later.

"Take a rest for two hours. After sorting out the supplies, the whole army will turn to the northwest and march towards Shicheng." Liu Zhijun found a place to sit down, and seized the time to eat some water and restore his strength.

******
The sun is setting and the new moon is like a hook.

In Macheng County, Li Cunshi, the governor, was writing something at his desk.But the autumn days were short, and it was getting dark before he finished writing, so he regretfully put away his pen, and planned to wait until after dinner and lighted the candles to write.

After stabbing Pingzhou for several months, he already had a preliminary understanding of this sparsely populated place and had his own governance plan.

But now there is a problem that lies in front of him. After Jin Wang Shizi Li Luoluo served as the envoy of Tanji Yingping, he demanded too much, and the property in the treasury was sent to the front line of Tanzhou like running water.

But Pingzhou has only three counties with a population of more than 4.Even with the addition of nearly [-] soldiers and civilians who retreated from outside the pass and behind the mountain, there are only [-] people. There is one thing to say, those people are strictly under the control of the governor of Yingzhou. Changli Town in the southeast of the state.

With such a small number of people and such a fierce search, the state government is really at a loss.

There are indeed some tribes in Pingzhou, most of them are Khitan, Xiren, Sogdian, Shiwei and other miscellaneous tribes. There are more than 3 people in total. Most of them have withdrawn from the back of the mountain. Help defend the frontier.But it's not easy to collect money from these people. After all, people need to help guard the border, so it's not bad if they don't post money.

"What a mess!" Li Cunshi sighed, walked out of the government office, and asked left and right: "Is there any news from Cangzhou?"

"No." The attendants replied: "Don't worry, if you are really defeated, even if Xia Bing approaches Jizhou, we will not lose any news. It is absolutely impossible for them to touch Pingzhou quietly. .”

Li Cunshi nodded and said, "I'll let Cui Biejia and Li Sima come over later, and I want to discuss with them about the autumn sowing. The good land in Pingzhou is left uncultivated. How decent is it? This is in the hands of the Xia people." It would be a pity if the hard-to-reach hinterland is not properly rectified."

After all, he went to eat.

The Xia soldiers mentioned by Li Cunshi had already flocked to the outside of the city, more than [-] people.

The military envoy Fan He personally led the team. When they arrived outside the city, they saw that the four gates were closed tightly, and the surrounding grass was luxuriant and desolate.Occasionally, there are a few villages where the lights are scattered and the quietness is not like the world.

"Taking Macheng, it will take two days." Fan He drank the last sip of wine in his water bag, smashed it on the ground, and said, "Do it."

The sergeants carried simple wooden ladders and divided them into two parts.A group of thousands of people circled to the north of the city, clamoring loudly, in an attempt to attack the city.A group of 2000 people rested in a grove in the south of the city, waiting for orders.

"Boom..." Not long after, the rhythmic sound of war drums sounded in the north of the city, as well as the shouts of soldiers like a tsunami.

Ma Cheng immediately moved like a beast awakened from a deep sleep.

Fan He climbed up a big tree, and under the dim light, carefully observed the city wall of Macheng.

About half an hour later, the few sergeants on the south wall hurried down the tower.The whereabouts are self-evident, they must have gone to reinforce Beicheng.

"Seize the city!" Fan He ordered without any nonsense.

Kang Huaiying, Marquis of Duyu, tied the red mop on his forehead hard, took a sip of Zhuangxing wine, and led eight hundred elite soldiers out of the grove, and rushed straight out.

The faces of the eight hundred strong men were full of expressions of excitement, madness and even cruelty.

Excitement is because you want to catch the enemy by surprise, madness is because the victory is huge, and cruelty is because you will be benevolent if you fail. After all, it is a battle to seize the city. will die.

Warriors can burn, kill, loot, play with women, humiliate, whip and even eat human flesh, which is cruel to others.But at the critical moment, you have to be cruel to yourself, you have to be tolerant, and you have to survive.

Except for a few people, the eight hundred strong men were almost without armor and not all weapons, but they did not hesitate.Under the pale moonlight, everyone's face was ferocious, even with a hint of madness, as if they were saying to the enemy: I'm fucking dead, come on, let's slash at each other, whoever blinks first is the grandson!

"Pa-ta!" Ladders climbed onto the top of the city one after another, and the warriors of the Chishui Army quickly climbed up the city wall.

The top of the city is empty, only a few dozen people are guarding and guarding.Facing Xia Bing who suddenly appeared, they turned pale with shock, and they all warned.

"Old man, what are you calling me!" Kang Huaiying stepped forward vigorously, swung the epee, and chopped off a head with force.

The crazy sergeants swarmed up and killed the remaining defenders on the top of the city like chopping melons and vegetables, and then rushed straight down the city, some of them opened the city gate, and some advanced along the street, creating noise and attracting the attention of the defenders ——In fact, there is not much need to do this, because after Lu Longjun left, there were really too few defenders in Pingzhou City.

Li Cunshi heard movement outside when he was halfway through his meal.

He suddenly got up and asked, "But the Yan people are making trouble?"

Datong soldiers, Hedong soldiers, Zhaoyi soldiers, and Youzhou soldiers are all Jin soldiers, but there are big differences inside.Since Youzhou Town was conquered by Hedong, the rebellion has never stopped.In the beginning, it was a large-scale rebellion by old generals and officials in Youzhou, and it took Li Keyong a long time to put down one by one.Later, the big rebellion disappeared, but rebellions caused by junior military officers and local tyrants were still heard from time to time.

Over the years, the generals in Hedong have gradually become localized, and rebellions have become less frequent, but they are definitely not absent, which is why Li Cunshi is so nervous-at this juncture, Youzhou cannot withstand rebellion.

"My lord, there are Xia soldiers rushing in. There are many of them, maybe ten thousand." A soldier rushed in from outside the door, covered in blood, with an anxious look on his face.

"What?" Li Cunshi was shocked. He rushed out of the gate of the county government like the wind, and stood on the side street, but he saw the sound of killing not far away.

"What are you still doing?" Li Cunshi said angrily, "Call for manpower. Officials, generals, yamen servants, servants, whatever you want to call, the sooner the better."

Before the soldiers had time to reply, a rain of arrows came in front of them, and they screamed again and again.

Li Cunshi couldn't dodge in time, and was hit by two arrows.An arrow hit his thigh, and another arrow hit his shoulder. The pain made him unable to stand still, and he knelt on the ground.

The sound of hurried footsteps came, accompanied by heavy panting and excited shouts.

Li Cunshi felt cold, and was about to get up when several long spears stabbed him like lightning, thrusting him high.

The soldiers wailed in unison, the governor is dead!

"Boom!" The city gate in the distance has been opened, and countless Xia soldiers swarmed in.

Fan He carried a Mo Dao on his shoulders, and walked quickly among the crowd. While walking, he encouraged the sergeants: "If you take down Macheng, you will have meat to eat, warm quilts, and rich rewards. You should hurry up!" .”

The soldiers suddenly agreed.

After a while, a messenger rushed over excitedly and said: "Military envoy, the thief general is dead, and the Jin people are defeated."

Fan He was overjoyed at first, then calmed down quickly. He leaned on the handle of the knife on the ground and shouted: "Choose a thousand people, and follow me to Qianjinye. Soldiers are precious and fast, Jin people are so lax, we can't let them Come back to your senses."

Qianjinye, not far from the north of Macheng County, is an important military manufacturing base, which must be captured.

To the east of Macheng, on the other side of the Rushui River, there is also the Liucheng army, or a small number of Jin soldiers who stayed behind.Fan He even thought about it, and then separated a group of people to attack the Liucheng army at night and pull out this stronghold.

This is how bold people are and how productive the land is.Xia Jun, who had played out his temper, was extremely confident. Now that they were asked to attack Youzhou, many people would dare to go.

(End of this chapter)