Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 14 The Battle of Zhonglingshui ([-])

The sun is still hanging in the air, and it is logically time to march on the road.However, the soldiers of the Tiande Army stopped and started camping instead.

Dutou and the supervisor still lived in the village, but the place was small, and it was full after Hao Zhenwei's [-] personal soldiers and Qiu Weidao's [-] guards.The other sergeants still had to camp out on the outskirts.

They chose a good place. The terrain is slightly higher, overlooking the entire river bank and flat land. At the same time, it is not far from the river on the side and back, and there is a small forest. The woodcutter is very convenient and fast.

The scouts from the former army came to report that they had found traces of the enemy army. The flags, chariots and horses and queues they saw alone probably numbered no less than 3000 people, maybe more.The Tiande army didn't dare to neglect, so they stopped and set up camp to wait.If the enemy wants to fight, let's fight, the matter has come to this point, there is nothing more to say.

After Shao Shude finished his duty, he walked around the village.During this period, I met a scout who was slightly injured and was placed there, and chatted with him.

He has always been very interested in how scouts count enemy soldiers, thinking that this is a fairly professional technique.

The scout did not go into details, but only briefly said that it is mainly estimated by the number of flags, horses, and baggage vehicles, and then verified with the situation of the enemy lineup observed by him in multiple directions. If the difference between the two values ​​is not large, then it is almost OK Guarantee.

In the end, it's up to estimates, Shao Shude finally understands!
This is not a modern face recognition scan, automatic counting, ancient counting the heads of the enemy soldiers, the method is primitive, and even guessing.If you are experienced, you can guess correctly. If you are inexperienced, the estimated data may be outrageous.

Of course, the general will not only listen to the information reported by one scout. He will compare and weigh in many ways, and at the same time use some intelligence information he has to confirm, and finally decide which data to accept.

Misjudging the number of enemy soldiers is deadly!
Because of the war, the soldiers set up the camp very carefully. Not only did they cut down a lot of trees, they also demolished a lot of houses in the village, and the materials were used to strengthen the camp.

Shao Shude watched from a distance for a while, and felt that if there were several more military disasters in this place, the mountain would soon be bare, the big trees would be cut down, and many small trees would be knocked down. Will there be a mudslide?

Construction of the camp continued into the evening.Shao Shude did not participate this time because the people in the village were recruited to work.But he didn't waste time, he was on duty when he was on duty, and when he was not on duty, he sorted out his experience in the house.

Review is also a learning process, and sometimes certain insights are generated during this process.

For dinner, there were Hu cakes, two for one person, and it was delicious with pickles.But because there was going to be a war, there was some extra mutton, all of which were robbed from the village.This is the advantage of following the supervising army. It is good to be able to eat meat, ordinary soldiers, and to drink some soup.The general Hao Zhenwei sent people to inform the battalions and rewarded them with three pieces of silk to boost morale.

Old Lu complained, this must be worthless miscellaneous silk, perhaps Hao Zhenwei ripped it from the women in the village.Li Yixian and the others laughed, and there was no respect for Shangguan in their words.Shao Shude reprimanded twice, and everyone said nothing.

Leader Shao, everyone is still convinced, not only because of their bravery, but also because of their fairness, not collecting money, and caring about their soldiers.If any soldier in the team had difficulties at home, he would give generously, regardless of the reasons.Over time, the soldiers have developed a psychological sense of dependence and are closely united around them, which is commendable.

The camp was heavily guarded at night, and each battalion returned to its own camp without making any noise.

The scouts came to report that the forward cavalry brigade of Shuozhou Xue Zhiqin's department was still thirty miles away.But that was the main force. The small group of cavalry in the vanguard were closer, harassing and peeping from left and right, and they were all driven back by Tian Xing, the ambassador of You Yi.

He selected hundreds of party members and Turks who could ride horses and shoot arrows from the auxiliary soldiers, and their strength had increased, and he could already ensure that the enemy rangers would be driven far away, so as to prevent the army from fluctuating.

Hao Zhenwei was relatively calm at this time.After all, he was born as a side general, and he still has basic qualities. He still stayed in the village and did not leave, and summoned the supervisor and several core generals to come over for a military meeting.

"Xue Zhiqin is self-confident in martial arts. He has been overwhelmed for years, and he is still so aggressive. He wants to swallow us all in one bite." Hao Zhenwei sat on the Hu bed and sneered.

"Dare to ask Dutou, how many troops does Xue Zhiqin have?" When things came to an end, Qiu Weidao was not as calm as the warriors. Shao Shude stood behind him, and from his many unconscious little actions, you could see how uneasy he was.

"It's like our army." Hao Zhenwei replied bluntly: "Li Keyong recruited and surrendered the rebels in Yunzhou, and there were tens of thousands of people. Li Guochang led the Zhenwu army to the army. The three tribes of Shatuo and the five tribes in the north should also recruit Quite a few, and the total strength should be more than 20,000. However, the main force is in Xinzhou, and Yunzhou and Weizhou are also facing the pressure of the imperial army, so they have to stay there. Xue Zhiqin in Shuozhou can gather thousands of people, so he should also win Li The general judges that Xue Zhiqin's mission is not only to defend Shuozhou, but also to mobile reinforcements to Yun and Weizhou. Therefore, seeing that we are coming in three ways, I want to go first Destroy one route, and then support the other two routes."

"Xue Zhiqin is arrogant and looks down on us!"

"If there is a battle tomorrow, let Xue Zhiqin see our means."

"Defeat Xue Zhiqin, enter Shuozhou City, and rob his mother!"

The generals scolded all the time, but did not mention anything constructive.But the ten generals are all about killing Han. What can you expect?Good morale is enough to be gratified.Shao Shude glanced quietly. The room was basically filled with officials from Beicheng, and he didn't know any of them. Neither Sun Ba nor Tian Xing, who had made the show a while ago, were there.

"Okay!" Hao Zhenwei slapped his thigh, got up and said, "Today, the generals will return to the camp, encourage their soldiers, and organize their equipment. The battle is just a few days away."

Shao Shude was also a little excited when he was told, and when he thought of the war, he unconsciously got goosebumps all over his body.It is a complex emotion mixed with excitement, fear, longing, and worry. The battle will kill people, and once the success is completed, the bones will die. Can all the fifty brothers under him survive?

It was only at this time that he deeply felt what a wonderful errand Sun Ba gave him before.Following the supervisors, without having to go to the front line to form an array, facing the enemy's sharp arrows, this kind of kindness is really too great.

After the military discussion was over, Shao Shude held a torch and escorted Qiu Weidao back to a house at the west end of the village.He wanted to persuade the supervisor to live in the camp at night, but he didn't know where to start. After all, the top military general Hao Zhenwei was still living in the village. He wasn't afraid. Why are you panicking?
For some unknown reason, Shao Shude remembered the events of Zhang Zizhong, Li Zongren and other important officials during the Anti-Japanese War in later generations, who passed by the Japanese cavalry who sneaked and attacked the headquarters several times.Nima, do you want to fight like this!Although the main force of the enemy's vanguard cavalry is still [-] miles away, and Tian Xing's troops are in the middle of the enemy army, there must be a small group of people who can sneak in. The risk is not high, but everything is not afraid of ten thousand, just in case!
Shao Shude didn't sleep soundly all night.Even if it wasn't the second half of the night when he was on duty, he got up several times, and after patrolling outside the hospital, he returned to the room to wipe the horizontal knife.

Guan Kairun saw this, his face was a little blue with anger, and he felt that this fellow was too disrespectful. Is it because he is worried that his team can complete the escort task?Simply humiliating!
Shao Shude could only smile bitterly.Before dawn, he once again took out a pen and paper, wrote the words "Every time a major event comes, there is stillness", and recited it three times in his heart.I am still too young, and I have too many things in my mind, which may be more prone to mistakes, and I will change it in the future!

Fortunately, the whole night was fine.Early the next morning, everyone moved into the camp.The people in the village did not dare to come back, and they all fled into the mountains.

Having lived in this troubled world for so long, everyone knows what is coming next.It was a face-to-face slaughter of tens of thousands of horses, and the bloodshed might be exaggerated, but it was certain that there were a lot of casualties.No matter which side wins, it is conceivable that the people in the village will not end well.

But don't say that those Shatuo people will not harm their own people. There are so many Shatuo soldiers in Yunzhou, but they have suppressed many Shatuo riots.Killing soldiers with red eyes, you still expect them to be rational, is it possible?

On August 21 and 22, the enemy army approached step by step, and the scouts continued to send news.

The [-]-odd Tiande army had already completed the camp completely, but they did not appear to be guarding it, but left the largest piece of flat ground in front of the camp.The area there is not small enough to accommodate tens of thousands of horses on both sides.

The Tiande army has been at war with the Hu people all year round, and they still have a little psychological advantage over Xue Zhiqin's troops, who are dominated by the five northern clans and the three Shatuo clans, and feel no fear at all.

On August 23, the main force of the enemy cavalry had gathered on a small high ground three miles away.Their actions suddenly became violent, and they wanted to drive and kill the German scouts who dared to approach their side without hesitating casualties.

Tian Xing lost many of his men, only to find out that Xue Zhiqin's battalion was standing in an open space by the river five or six miles away.Looking at the tents, there are still three 4000 people.In other words, the two sides have about the same size of troops, and no one should take advantage of the other, just a showdown.

In the early morning of August 24, a large cloud of smoke and dust rose from the open fields in front of the camps of the two armies.

Shao Shude accompanied Qiu Weidao to climb up the high platform in the camp to look out, but he saw that on the autumn field, the grass and trees were withered and yellow, and the knights lined up neatly, sometimes rushing to kill each other.

Among the main force of the cavalry on both sides, the scouts who were squeezed and had nowhere to hide fled back to their original formation. Some of the more ruthless people did not forget to fight with their counterparts on the opposite side before escaping, and a few more would be good. Go back for the reward.The scout's reward is also ten pieces of silk, which is worth the elite pro-military.

"Dong dong dong..." The drum sounded in the camp, the camp door opened wide, and the soldiers were noisy.The officers ran around in a hurry, kicking with their feet, whipping them with whips, and beating them with scabbards, so that these killers hurried out of the camp.

The war is about to begin.

(End of this chapter)