Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

On the vast expanse of white land, cavalrymen criss-crossed and arrows flew in disorder.

Yuan Xingqin changed a horse in the air and quickly caught up with one of them.The thief looked back, horrified, and urged the horse hard, almost reaching the extreme speed.

Yuan Xingqin also urges the horse to go straight forward, stabbing fiercely with a spear.The sharp lance did not stab anyone, but cut the horse's butt.The horse was thrown back and forth in pain, and the thief was caught off guard and was thrown into the snow.

"Don't kill me, surrender!" The thief was uninjured. After getting up from the snow, he ran two steps first, avoided Yuan Xingqin's killing blow, and then knelt down to beg for surrender.

He knew that as long as he was recognized by others, he would surely die in the snow without a horse for transportation, but now he can only survive from death.

"General Yuan!" Shao Siwu shouted.

Yuan Xingqin gave up the idea of ​​beheading the bandit chieftain, and Ma Qiang passed over his head, snorted coldly and left.

Shao Siwu got off his horse.

Cao Yijin signaled with his eyes, and several knights got off their horses, surrounded the thief, and escorted him over.

"Inspector Li, why run away?" Shao Siwu walked up to him and asked.

This "Inspector Li" was named Li Neng, whose ancestors were Khitan people, and lived in Youzhou during Zhang Shougui's time.

After Shougui's adopted son An Lushan took charge of Fanyang Town, he slowly began to make a fortune. Now he is a tribal inspector in Shunzhou. It has been passed down from generation to generation for many years and has great influence-their family is not only the chieftain of the tribe, but also many people in the secluded village. As an official and in the army in Zhouzhen, his contacts are very complicated.

"Your Majesty of the Mountains and Fields, when I saw the noble man suddenly, I was terrified, so I led the crowd to run away." Li Neng was kicked in the bend of the leg and fell to his knees in the snow.

"I don't eat people, what are you afraid of?" Shao Siwu said gently.

Wang Jiao rode over and rushed over. Hearing these words, he subconsciously thought of the saint.

Shao Sheng was equally amiable to the warriors.Zhao Wang has been with the saint all year round, but he has learned this trick.

"Your Majesty, I beg your Highness to spare your life." Li Neng kowtowed twice in the snow as a bachelor, and said loudly.

You don't eat people, but you eat my sheep, can you not run away?
"Now that the general situation has been decided, Li Luoluo fled to Fanyang, Li Cunzhang retreated to Jicheng, and the cities, towns, and armies either surrendered upon hearing the news, or raised their troops to kill the Jin people. Li Xunzhi should know the current affairs, fear the power of the sky, and the sooner he descends, the better. Maybe there will be a fortune." Shao Siwu said.

"Don't talk about it, Your Highness. I'm a vulgar person. Since I was caught by Your Highness, I will surrender." Li Neng said repeatedly.

"Li Xun will definitely not regret today's decision." Shao Siwu was overjoyed and pulled him up himself.

Afterwards, he ordered another prisoner to be brought in, and asked, "Bie Jia, Li, the Great Xia king's divisions are marching in parallel, unstoppable. Li Cunju, Li Cunshi, Li Cunhao and others are overconfident, and they have all given their heads. Shan Tinggui, Li Cunhao, etc. Yuan Xingqin and other thieve-killing generals have merit but are not guilty anyway, you..."

"Don't say it, don't say it, I will surrender too." Li Biejia said bluntly.

Li Biejia is a Biejia from Shunzhou, but a native of Sogdia.

Although there are no Sogdian tribes in Youzhou, there are indeed many Sogdians. They herd, farm, smelt iron, trade, join the army, and serve as officials. They are all connected with each other very closely. Through the Persihu Temple as a link, Cohesion is very strong.If this person surrenders, he can indeed drive a large number of people to vote.

"With the help of the two of you today, it's like adding wings to a tiger." Shao Siwu untied the rope for him with his own hands, and said with a smile.

He now commanded a lot of soldiers and horses.

There are nearly 2000 serious warriors, about 5000 soldiers from Huaihai Daozhou, and about [-] soldiers from Youzhou. There are more than [-] tribal soldiers temporarily recruited, and the total army is more than [-].

There are quite a lot of soldiers, so the supply pressure is very high, and they have to loot everywhere.The Shufan tribes in Ying, Ping, Ji, Tan, and Shun prefectures were almost all robbed by him, and the homes of the common people were also patronized. Food, grass, mules and horses could be snatched away to supplement military supplies.

This winter is not so easy for the Han people in Youzhou.

"Your Highness, there is not enough food and grass in the army, do you think it is..." Wang Yanwen walked over appropriately and asked.

When the two descendants heard the words, they sighed secretly almost at the same time, they were bound to bleed profusely, so there was no way.And they are also very sensible, knowing that these words are intended for them, so they immediately said: "Your Highness, I am willing to donate cattle, sheep, grain, and grain to help the army."

Shao Siwu was overjoyed again, and said: "When you conquer Youzhou and reward you for your merits, there must be two of you."

"Your Highness, Youzhou City is high and deep, and there may be insufficient troops." Wang Jiao said suddenly.

Shao Siwu was shocked and asked, "What should we do?"

The two descendants sighed again, and said in unison: "Your Highness, my son-in-law is willing to join the expedition and fight against the Jin thieves together."

"General Cao, it's rare that they are full of sincerity, so you can incorporate them into the Crane Control Army." Shao Siwu said: "The limit is 5000."

"Of order." Cao Yijin responded immediately.

The Crane Control Army is a newly established temporary army. With the 5000 Dunhuang warriors brought over by Cao Yijin as the backbone, it has incorporated more than [-] tribal soldiers. If the [-] people to be accepted are included, the total force will approach two Ten thousand.

Well, the Crane Control Army was established relatively hastily, and it has not been reported to the court yet.Cao Yijin didn't know how long he could serve as an envoy, maybe he was ordered to disband after the war ended?

But at the moment, he has really passed the addiction of the general.

Back then, the Guiyi Army governed Shazhou and Guazhou, with a total force of only 2 to [-], not as many as the Hejun Army.The Central Plains is really vast and rich in resources, which is not comparable to the small Guiyi Army.

It would be great if we can officially obtain the establishment of the Forbidden Army in the future.Of course, Cao Yijin is not very optimistic about this, because disarmament is a major trend.There are too many warriors in the world, and there are so many money and food rewards, it is really too difficult to raise them.

It's really hard to say whether the Crane Control Army can keep it.On the contrary, Cong Mazhi under Shao Chengjie's tent, King of Qin, has a great possibility to stay. This is because of the difference in background and status of the two princes, so there is no way.

"By the way, General Gao mentioned earlier that Li Cunxiao from Guizhou could be recruited, what do you all think?" Shao Siwu asked.

"General Gao" is naturally Gao Youqing.

The idea was actually given by "Liu Mian". He thought that since Li Cunxiao was short of food, he might as well send him south to eat in Youzhou.At this critical moment when Youzhou is about to besieged, the more strength, the more chances of winning.

"There are only a few thousand soldiers in Guizhou. Is it useful to come here?" Wang Yanwen frowned and said, "They may not be willing to fight to the death, but they will hinder our army's supplies."

Shao Siwu turned his attention to Wang Jiao.

"It's not short of these thousands of mouths." Wang Jiao said, "It doesn't matter if you come or not, Your Highness can decide on his own."

"Okay!" Shao Siwu immediately found a messenger and ordered him to go to Guizhou to send a message.

After giving orders to the messenger, he gave another order: "Sweep again, after collecting food and grass, we will join the troops of General Fan and General Liu and march into Youzhou."

"Obey." All the generals responded in unison.

******
What is outrageous is that Li Cunzhang is also grabbing food recently.

It's not that there is not enough food in the city.In fact, as an important military town, Youzhou City has a considerable amount of grain, grass, ordnance and other materials all year round.What he did was purely an attack of insecurity, like a squirrel desperately stockpiling food for the winter, because he didn't know how long this winter would be.

He didn't expect much reinforcements from Hedong.

The King of Jin personally led the army, but failed to break through the Yongji Canal, threatening Xia's army's food supply. What else can you expect?
The only possibility to keep Youzhou now is to stick to it with all our strength, so that the Xia people can't survive and have no choice but to retreat.

The so-called Luoyang Forbidden Army, whose family members are not in Youzhou, cannot accept fighting outside all year round.Everyone is a martial artist, so don't play with those imaginary things. Xia Bing can go on expeditions for more than one year at most. After this time, the morale of the army will decline, the combat effectiveness will weaken, and the risk of mutiny will increase. Most people will not gamble.

This is their only chance of victory.

Based on this consideration, Li Cunzhang sent troops out to collect food and grass, and at the same time conscripted local bravery into the army, making preparations for long-term persistence.

On November [-], Li Cunzhang personally went to the city to check the placement of the defense equipment.It was at this time that he saw Li Si'en, the envoy of the Jingsai Army returning from outside the city.

"Bring everyone back." Li Si'en breathed out his hot steam, and said, "I saw Xia Bing in the north of the city. There are not many people, about two thousand, both on foot and on horseback. They are coming to Jicheng."

Because of the huge loss before, more than half of the more than 2 Youzhou soldiers and horses were lost. Now there are only more than [-] defenders in the city, and half of them are allocated to collect food in the wild. If they lose, the defense force will be even more insufficient.

"Could it be the Chishui, Guide and other armies commanded by Shao's son?" Li Cunzhang asked.

"It should be right." Li Si'en nodded.

"Is there a way to surprise him?" Li Cunzhang asked: "If the little thief can be captured, the old thief may be afraid."

"Stay behind, it's best to keep quiet now." Li Si'en couldn't help but persuade.

Li Cunzhang glanced at him and said nothing.

With a timid heart and a fear of the enemy like a tiger, relying on this group of people to defend the city, can they really drive back Xia Bing?Immediately, I was a little discouraged, who can I rely on if I don't rely on them?There are no soldiers available.

"Alright, let's be more on the safe side." Li Cunzhang said, "I'll send people to inform the ministries and quickly withdraw to the city. Over there in Zhuozhou, alas, I hope An Fuqian will hold on."

An Fuqian and Shao thief had a grudge against killing his brother and nephew, so he should not surrender.But he had few soldiers and suffered another defeat, so it was impossible for him to have spare energy to support Youzhou.Even creating a threat to Xia Jun's flanks depended on whether the Yiwu Army worked hard.

There is also Chengde Wang Rong, who is still moaning all the time.If you are brave enough, you should personally lead the army, suppress the whole army, raise [-] people, storm Jingzhou, and then kill Cangzhou to see if the Xia people are afraid.

But he also knew it was impossible.Zhao Bing has always been famous for his good defense, but his field combat ability is relatively weak. If he counts on them, he might not know how he will die.

Alas, these rubbish!Is it true that the three towns of Heshuo are going to end like this?
On November [-], the wind and snow stopped for a while.

On the snowfield a few miles northeast of Youzhou, there are many flags and drums.

More than ten thousand soldiers and horses led by Zhao Wang Shao Siwu of the Great Xia encircled and suppressed a Jin army that had returned from requisitioning food, captured and killed more than a thousand, and then felled trees and set up fences, and entered Youzhou.

This is the first Xia army to arrive.

It is foreseeable that more and more Xia soldiers will arrive in the next time.