Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 24 The only way
If you ask what is the most pleasant thing in the cold winter months.Of course, it is to boil a pot of turbid wine, chat and laugh with three or five friends, recall the past, and look forward to the future.

Of course it was a time of peace.In the late Tang Dynasty, when wars were still frequent, this seemed very extravagant.If you want to continue to maintain this so-called quiet time, you don't know how much you will have to pay, or how many people will be asked to bear the price for you.

The Tiande army on the expedition to Hedong naturally did not have this treatment. It was very difficult for Lan and Shi Erzhou to supply them with military supplies. As for wine and meat, it was not that there was no such thing, but it was really very little, and it was not enough to stuff their teeth.At this moment, the Tiande army can only nest in the camps in the city, shivering against the cold weather, waiting for the unpredictable war to come.

"Some of the auxiliary soldiers who went out to collect woodwork yesterday did not return. They all sent people out to investigate and found traces of blood and fighting. They should have been attacked. Li Thief and his son, it seems that they have turned their attention to this place again. Lan and Shi Erzhou are their goals in the next stage, and our Zhelu army city bears the brunt." After adding some dry wood to the fire, Ren Yuji said worriedly.

In fact, the primary target of the Datong rebels going south should be Jinyang, the mighty city in the world.

After all, Hedong has a large population on the ground and is rich in products. It is one of the three famous towns in the world. In the past, it was usually the prime minister who led the governor.The full name of the Hedong Jiedu envoy is "Hedong Jiedu, Observation and Disposal, Abei Mountain Zhufan and other envoys, and Taiyuan Yin and Beidu stay behind." The prefecture and Duandi are the famous wealthy places in the north.

However, Li Guochang and his son occupy Daibei, lead the three prefectures of Yun, Wei, and Shuo, and support two 30,000 people.

The reason is also very simple. It cannot be supported financially. Unless the three Shatuo and the five northern ones sell livers and kidneys to support them, but they are afraid of the imperial court and do not dare to do so for the time being.

Of course, the imperial court also knew the goal of Li's father and son, so they hoarded heavy troops in the two states of Xin and Dai, and strengthened the defense of Yanmen Pass, the main communication link between the Xindai Basin and Shuozhou, making it difficult for the rebels to be like when they first attacked. Going deep into Xin, Dai, and looting supplies.

In order to win over the military, Li Keyong also acquiesced in allowing the soldiers to burn, kill, loot and burn down the cities in Tanglin County and Nao County in Daizhou. Now it seems that this is a serious mistake.Xin and Dai people already knew what the rebels were, so their resistance was fierce, and they were very supportive of the court officials and troops stationed there, which made Li Guochang and his son's attempts to go south repeatedly failed, and it was difficult to move an inch in the Daizhou area.

If the Daizhou line of defense cannot be broken through, then the flanks should be detoured.From Shuozhou to Caochengchuan, after resting and resupplying here, they went south to attack the Kuilan army and plundered the two states of Lan and Shi.

Of course, grabbing some money is the second thing. After the Lanzhou army was defeated, the elites of Lanzhou were completely lost, and the remaining town soldiers did not have the courage to stop the Datong rebels. It is not difficult for Gujiaocheng and Ganzhugu to reach the outer barrier of Jinyang in Yangqu County.

This can be regarded as a flanking detour. The imperial court is weak and rich in materials along the way. Food, grass, war horses, gold and silver are readily available. If you take the opportunity to shoot down the empty Jinyang, then big things can be determined!
Of course, the officers and generals who ran the camp on behalf of the north were not fools.In September, when Li's father and son attacked the Kuilan army, Cao Xiang personally led the army to come to the rescue, which shows how much he attaches importance to it.It's just that they didn't know how to do it, the rebels suddenly gave up the Kelan army and did not fight, sneaked more than ten miles to Honggu and set up an ambush, defeating the troops in Hedong and Zhongwu led by Cao Xiang.

However, Cao Dashuai is also a veteran, and he will not be defeated. He still organizes a tight defense of Lanzhou and Loufan, leaving the rebels helpless and unable to defeat them.Seeing that the situation in Yuzhou was getting tight, the father and son together had no choice but to give up this roundabout battle plan and return to Daizhou with the main force to deter the court officials and troops, and then go east to Yuzhou to confront the enemy.

After fighting in Weizhou for two months, due to the absent-mindedness of Youzhou Town, as well as Shi Jingcun, the governor of Anqing, Mi Haiwan, governor of Sage, and Li Youjin, governor of Shatuo, who were "fight-fixing" and released water, the situation in Weizhou quickly turned to safety. Li Guochang's father and son, for a major event, led the main force to Daizhou.

After the southern attack on the official army was unsuccessful, they were considered dead, and they really couldn't move the front, so they made a decisive decision and went west again to Shuozhou, planning to repeat the old trick to attack Lan and Shi.

Shao Shude doesn't know where the main force of the rebels is now, but Caochengchuan is the only way and the best way to go.From Ningwu County to the south, take the circuitous route of Loufanling, Furong City, and Jingle County to Loufanjian Mucheng. Because the mountains are rugged and the road is difficult, it is actually not as good as the west.

Therefore, when traveling from Daibei to Taiyuan, in addition to going through the Xindai Basin, the only way to go is Lanzhou.

"His grandma's, he has become the scapegoat of the Kelan Army." Lu Huaizhong spat, dissatisfied: "The last time the rebels went south, they first broke Zheluping, and then based on this, they attacked the Kelan Army south. This time, I have to try the knife with us. Although I also want to play against the Datong Army, the feeling of being treated as a dead ghost is too damn aggrieved."

"Actually, why fight to the death?" Li Yanling whispered from the side: "If the rebels come, we will send envoys to seek peace, and the two sides can be at peace with each other."

"How can it be so simple!" Guan Kairun, who has become more and more silent recently, said: "6000 people are stationed in the city. How big is Li Guochang's heart to turn a blind eye to us? Are you afraid that after his main force goes south, we will leave the city and cut off his food supply? "

"Food? Rebels have food?" Lu Huaizhong snorted and said, "Isn't it where you can eat, there is a fart food!"

Guan Kairun glanced at Lu Huaizhong, but did not speak.In today's collective, his position with the Chang'an officers and soldiers under his command is somewhat awkward. Usually, he tries to keep a low profile and does not fight with others, so as not to be deliberately targeted.

However, his show of weakness was also despised by his gang of "sudden generals" from Fengzhou. They secretly showed affection to Shao Shude, which made Guan's prestige in the squadron somewhat lost.Taking the initiative to speak this time may mean that he exists, this fellow really has a sense of crisis.Moreover, the original benefactor Qiu Weidao is indeed a little colder. Although there are factors of life-saving in battle, but how can I put it, it is really not enough to take care of the elderly.

"Lu Huaizhong!" Shao Shude reminded him heavily, and seeing that this guy was a little more honest, he turned his head and said to Guan Kairun: "Actually, the Guan team is speaking well. Although the rebel army relies on robbing, it is absolutely impossible to rely solely on robbing. I can’t afford the material supply and demand of a large-scale army. What about 20,000 people? What a joke! Even if food can be robbed, what about weapons and military supplies? This is not easy to get! Therefore, the rebels must have logistics transportation lines, and most of them will Caochengchuan, they can’t just let us go, unless our entire army surrenders and surrenders the city of Zhelu.”

"That's the fight..." Li Yanling sighed, her emotions complicated.

"It can't be helped." Shao Shude stood up, looked at the heavy snow that was falling outside the house, and said with a smile: "But we also have an advantage, that is, at least there is a 'kennel' of Zheluping. The first two It’s not a problem to support March now. What’s wrong with the Datong rebels? They’re quick to make a quick decision, and it’s not good for a long battle. , I’m afraid they still won’t be able to defeat the Zhelu Army City. Besides, they’re probably unwilling to pay a high price to attack the city, right? The casualties here are heavy, but they won’t be able to fight a decisive battle with the battalion army. Li Guochang is not stupid, he won’t do this of."

Indeed, dealing with the poor gang of Li Guochang and his son will be over.

They can win once or twice or even three times, but so what?As long as they don't form the main force to annihilate the battalion army, as long as they don't sweep the seven states and one prefecture in Hedong, expand their territory, and consume them for a long time, they have no chance of winning.What's more, according to the military envoy, the imperial court is urging Youzhou Town to dispatch a large army as soon as possible to occupy Weizhou and cut off the rebel army.

With such a huge advantage in the imperial court, how could it be lost?
"Anyway, I wait for a warrior, since we eat the food and salaries of the imperial court, we will naturally have to work hard. Moreover, Li Guochang and his son, who are not strict in their control, have extremely poor military discipline, and have caused disasters to various prefectures and counties, and their crimes are indescribable. Hope he will be the envoy of the Datong army or even the Jiedu envoy of Hedong?" After that, Shao Shude looked at the core officers sitting around him, and saw that some people disagreed, some were thoughtful, and some seemed indifferent, and he sighed inwardly. , Have you set your own moral standards too high?Asking people to have a bottom line, have a conscience, and have a morality, is it not playing the piano to the bull for these warriors?
"I don't really understand what the lieutenant means. But Li Guochang and his son really deserve to die. They wantonly sent donations and conscripts in Daibei, which are several times more vicious than those of the Turks, Tuhun, and Uighur. Forget those people who die." Seeing that everyone didn't speak, Li Yanling said.

After speaking, he felt that something was wrong.I think that when Bandit Li first started the incident, Dou Han, Commander of Hedong Festival, sent 2000 Uighur cavalry to patrol the border, and fought several battles with Shatuo cavalry, but few of them were able to return.There are more than [-] Shatuo soldiers in Jinyang City. They also participated in the Honggu battle a while ago, and they fought endlessly with Daibei Shatuo, causing heavy casualties.

These people seem to be quite loyal to the imperial court, and they are not so vicious, just like the Turkic, Dangxiang, and Uighur soldiers that can be seen everywhere in the Tiande Army.Old Li felt that he had knocked down too many people with one shot, and it was a bit inappropriate, so he remedied: "I mean that Li Guochang and his son should die, and no other people are involved. Alas, they are all people in troubled times, so why kill them? ."

"Old Li's words are good." Shao Shude praised: "Even if it's not for the imperial court or for fame and fortune, our Tiande army should be of one heart and one mind, and kill these two scorpions as soon as possible, otherwise, I don't know how many people in the world will be blamed for them. And die. The Zhelu army is the path of the thieves, and it is the only way for the rebels to go south, so let's prepare as soon as possible."

(End of this chapter)